Chapter: 3
The eight armed and dangerous agents that had met them by the jet escorted them down the hall. They formed a U-shape with the Widow leading the pack. Clint suspected that a lot of them were too nervous to have her walk behind them. That made him smirk at the thought that the tough little agents could be scared of one person, a woman at that. To be perfectly honest he knew that without a doubt they had a damn good reason to be scared of her. There was no doubt in his mind that she could take them out, even with her hands cuffed like they were, and walk away without a scratch on her. They were right to be afraid. However, he would definitely remember this moment if any of those men ever gave him hell for anything ever again. He made sure to memorize each of their faces. As for him and a very pissed off Phil Coulson, they walked in the middle of the little parade heading towards the director's office.
"I don't know what the hell was going through your head kid," Phil whispered. They were far enough away that Clint didn't think that Coulson thought she'd be able to hear the conversation, Clint didn't doubt that the Widow could hear every word.
"Not now Phil," he said quietly.
"Don't not now me Phil," he seethed "I don't know if you noticed but you're about to be in a hell storm if you can't give a damn good explanation for this."
"Hope you came prepared," Clint returned as they came face to face with the director. The other agents moved so that they all had a clear shot of the Russian assassin. Clint's nerves jumped, if she even flinched she'd probably be dead. The director's good eye stared them all down before settling on the woman in front of him.
"I only need Agent Barton," his eye never moved from the Widow's.
"Sir..." Coulson stepped forward and Fury held his hand up to cut him off.
"Only him." He repeated and went back to his office. A woman that Clint recognized as Agent Hill put a hand to her ear piece and nodded even though it was clear whoever was on the other side couldn't see her.
"Yes sir," she said then looked at Coulson. "You are to escort the prisoner to interrogation room 5A."
"She's not a prisoner." Clint muttered under his breath as he was walking to the director Fury's office. Hill grabbed his arm to stop him and he had to fight to hold back a glare.
"Until further notice that is exactly what she is Agent." She said then released his arm. He glanced back at Phil who shot him the better behave look before carefully placing a hand on the Widow's shoulder and leading her away. The fact that she had just let him spoke wonders. Clint highly doubted that even his handler could make her go somewhere if she didn't want to, no matter the situation. Clint rubbed his eyes then finally stepped into the director's office. The man signaled for him to take a seat and so he did. The tension in the air was thick and made Clint feel as though he could choke on it. As the silence between them continued questions ran through Clint's mind almost too fast for him to comprehend everything that was being screamed at him.
What the heck did you do?
Can she really change?
Is Fury going to have someone else finish his job?
Is Fury going to kill me?
What if she was faking just to get close to SHIELD and at this very moment was planning to kill them all? Clint fought the urge to shake his head to clear out the disturbing thoughts. On the outside he kept himself perfectly calm so as not to lead on that he was internally freaking out. Fury just continued to stare at him. Clint couldn't help but wonder what was going through the director's head at the moment. Was it possible for the director of SHIELD to be internally freaking out as bad as he was? Was that even allowed?
"Are you going to explain to me, Agent Barton, why your assignment is sitting in one of our interrogation rooms right now?" The sudden break of the silence caught him off guard but judging from the outside you'd never be able to tell it.
"Sir, after observing the Widow for quite some time I've come to believe that she would be of better use to us alive rather than the alternative," Clint stated as professionally as he could sound. Fury raised his eyebrows at the statement and folded his hands on top of his desk.
"And you do realize just how dangerous this woman is right?"
"Yes sir," Clint said.
"So how, may I ask, do you know she purposely didn't get herself brought here to kill us all, or worse, to steal the information we have." Fury's voice stayed at a calm level. "There are some secrets we keep that in the wrong hands become very dangerous Agent Barton."
"I'm aware of that sir, but with all due respect, she hasn't killed anyone yet and I think we both know she could if she wanted."
"The key word being yet," Fury stared directly at Clint. He felt as if his director could see everything that he was trying to hide, it was very uncomfortable. "Agent Barton I'm going to ask you this one time, be completely honest with me, are you compromised." Something in Clint's chest tightened but he couldn't identify what or why.
"No sir." He replied just as calmly as Fury had been speaking the entire time. They held each other's gaze for a bit longer before Fury nodded once and stood. Clint followed his lead and got to his feet as well.
"I'm going to go talk to her," Fury said and headed towards the door. "I'll then make my decision on whether this is even worth bringing to the council."
Fury walked down the hallways with that air about him that just warned people to stay away as soon as you saw him. He figured that word must have already spread around base because every few minutes or so there would be at least two agents whispering to each other and going stone silent as he walked by. Any other day he would have found their behavior somewhat amusing but today wasn't one of those days. He didn't have time for those agents and their antics when one of his best agents could have possibly just made the biggest mistake in his life. Even if he were to agree to this convincing the council would be absolute hell. Barton sure knew how to give him the worst headaches.
"Sir," Coulson said and stood from the chair he had set up outside the interrogation room. Fury looked at him with an unasked question. "I was just standing guard sir," he said.
"Has she said anything?" Fury asked and Coulson shook his head.
"Not a word since getting off that jet. Would you like me to accompany you sir?"
"No," was all Fury said. Coulson glanced uneasily at the door.
"No offence sir, but you're the director of SHIELD. If the Widow does have some master plan to take over the base I'm sure you'd be high on the list to take out first. Are you sure you want to go in alone?"
"I said no Agent Coulson, besides if you can't convince Barton to stay away then I need you to keep him in the monitoring room where he belongs." Coulson wanted to argue but there was no argument to be made with that last statement. The boy has already caused enough trouble for one day.
"What's going to happen to Agent Barton?" Coulson couldn't help but be worried. Despite the fact that Barton could be a complete pain in the ass, he was like a son to him. Fury's face softened ever so slightly at the question.
"Suspended for a month effective immediately. Also, if this works out I plan to make her his responsibility, and I expect you to make him drown in all the paperwork he has fallen behind on." Fury thought for a moment then added "I think we can also throw in some junior agent training."
"He'll love that." Coulson said and couldn't wait to go to Barton and beat his head in, just a little. Fury nodded then went to open the door. "Good luck sir," Coulson said as the director stepped into the room. He let out an exhausted sigh then after a moment to collect himself he went to the direction of the monitoring room. He had a certain archer to find.
She remained silent as he entered the room. The first thing that he noticed was that her wrists where still handcuffed behind her, it didn't look all that comfortable. He walked over and hit a button on the wall and waited until a group of guards came running to the room. Fury raised his eyebrows at them. Only one mabe two guard where required to show up when that button was pushed and if more where needed after that then they'd call for backup. This woman clearly had everyone on edge and Fury couldn't help but feel a small amount of respect for that. He told one of the guards to hand him his set of keys and after a confused look the man complied. Fury then dismissed them and shut the door when they had all left. He silently walked over to the Widow and undid the cuff on her left wrist, brought both wrists in front of her, and locked the cuff back on. He wasn't a stupid man. Fury was quite aware that she could kill him even with the handcuffs on and that she could probably kill him even with her hands behind her back, there was no reason for her to be in that uncomfortable position. She wasn't a proven threat to them yet. He didn't expect a thank you and she didn't give him one. He took the seat across from her and their eyes instantly locked on each others, starting yet another intense staring contest.
"My name is Director Fury." He waited for a moment but she remained silent. "Would you care to share your name?"
"Black Widow is fine for now." She replied and from inside the observation room Clint rolled his eyes at the statement.
"If you insist," Fury said then gave her a very serious look that didn't threaten her at all. "Why are you here Widow?"
"A little bird insisted." She said without missing a beat. Clint held back a groan only because Coulson had entered the room as well.
"I don't want to play games Widow." She leaned in a little further. Coulson tensed at the movement but didn't comment.
"Good because neither do I. Are you going to kill me?" Fury folded his hands on the table and leaned in closer as well.
"That would depend on your intentions here," he replied. "How many SHIELD agents have you killed over the years?"
"Five," she answer without hesitation and Clint wanted to face-palm right there. Then she spoke again "How many have you killed over the years with your assignments?" Fury didn't respond and Clint swore the woman was going to kill him right then and there.
"The agents that have died while in the field knew what they were signing up for when they took the job." He said after a brief silence.
"I have no intentions here," She said back.
"Do you plan to join us?"
"I haven't decided."
"Doesn't look like you have that many options, or time Widow," Fury said.
"I always have options," she said and Clint swore he heard just a hint of desperation in her voice. Like she needed that last statement to be true. Fury must have heard it too because his face relaxed just slightly. The two went silent again and Clint held his breath until the director spoke again.
"I would like to offer you a job here with SHIELD," Fury said calmly and sat back a little. She continued to stare at him then finally she answered and Clint felt like he could breathe again.
"Fine." Fury nodded and some of the tension eased out of the room. Fury indicated for her to raise her arms and she did. He spoke as he unhooked the handcuffs.
"You do understand that this isn't just my decision and that your death may still be ordered from the council right?" She nodded and dropped her now free hands back to the table. "But if and when I convince them that you're better use to SHIELD alive you'll be monitored closely for at least a few weeks. Agent Barton will be the one responsible for you seeing as he's the one who brought you in. He'll explain the basics of how we work and you'll have a training schedule by next week. The first few days will be to test your abilities to see just how skilled you are." She nodded and he sat up again. "I'm going to need a name Widow." She looked at him then turned her eye to where she knew Clint was watching. She seemed to be looking right at him though there was no way for her to actually see him.
"You may call me Natasha," She said and Clint's eyes widened. All traced of the Russian accent where gone from her voice. "Natasha Romanoff."
"That's american," Fury pointed out also silently impressed. She turned her eyes back to the director. "What's your Russian name."
"It doesn't matter."
Hope you enjoyed reading and let me know your thoughts.