Chapter: 11

The day was actually turning in to something that Clint would call enjoyable. They had gone through five different tests. The obstacle course, a five-mile run, a four step test that required them to hack into a computer so that they could break a code in order to locate a hidden safe that they then had to break in to, breaking down and putting together ten different weapons, and a shooting test. So far, Natasha had proven to be amazing at everything, the only test in which she didn't surpass him was the shooting. Then again he suspected that there was no one he had met that could beat him with their natural skills. She did come the closest though. The best part about it though was the fact that Massey was pissed. Clint could tell that he was growing frustrated because he couldn't beat her, he found it quite amusing. Secretly, he suspected that Coulson shared felt the same way.

"Ok everyone," Clint turned to see the last of the remaining group. There was six of them, including Natasha, staring back at him. "I'm sure you can guess what happens here." He indicated one of the enormous padded areas. This was the part of the gym that you went to in order to practice your sparing. "Now, we're fortunate enough that we have an even number so I'm going to split you up into pairs and..."

"I wanna be paired with Red.." Massey spoke up with a smirk. Clint had to work to keep from rolling his eyes at the man. "We'll have fun." Yep, Clint decided that the man in fact did have a death wish. Natasha didn't spare a glance at him.

"While I would love to see you get thrown around the floor Massey, The pairs will be picked at random." he said as he got a piece of paper from the clip board he was holding. He ripped it into three parts and wrote down three different names. He then folded them in half and held them spread out in his hand. "Will Bryan Harris, Keith Brennan, and Robert Olson please step forwards. The three men did as they were told. "Ok, Harris." Clint held out the slips of paper and Harris hesitantly picked one.

"Leanne Morrison." Harris said with a slight relief in his voice. Clint nodded and Harris went to stand next to his partner.

"Olson," Clint held out the last two options and the man looked a bit nervous as he reached out and picked one. There was a mixture of relief and annoyance on his face when he looked at the name he had gotten.

"Frank Massey." He said and went over to where the other man stood. Out of all the recruits Clint had to admit that he didn't know much about Keith Brennan. The only thing he knew, and liked, about the man was that he almost never complained and was quiet about eighty percent of the time. He worked hard and had come in third place in all the tests besides the obstacle course. He was almost always only a minute or two off of Massey's score. The man didn't show any signs that he was against the idea, he simply nodded and walked over to where Natasha stood.

"Romanoff," he said and held out his hand to her. She looked at it then back up at him, he had surprised her.

"Brennan," she replied and shook his hand.

"Nice to finally meet you in person, the rumors don't do you justice." He said and Clint almost hit the floor. He had never heard Brennan use that sort of sarcastic tone that he spoke with. "Hope you aren't here to kill us all and that everything works out for you." Natasha's face remained passive. She turned back to where Clint was standing and waited for his direction.

"Umm," Clint was still trying to figure out why that had come out of Brennan. The man didn't speak in a disrespectful or offensive kind of way, it was just, kind of sarcastic joking but with a seriousness underneath. He had only ever heard the man speak in a strict respectful and orderly type of way and it just kind of surprised him. "Well, who wants to go first," he asked. Massey, of course. He studied each pair closely as they fought. Massey was strong and he knew how and where to hit someone, his problem was that he took a second or two to figure out where he wanted to hit and then execute. Olson was better at being faster but really didn't have a strength that stood out, he was an average fighter, and Massey didn't take long to get him to the ground. Harris was good with his hands but needed work with his feet. Morrison was good at blocking herself but would need work on her attack. They took longer than Olson and Massey but Harris did eventually win the fight. When it came time for Natasha and Brennan to start Clint could feel the slight anticipation in the air. Everyone, while being scared of her, was curious about the russian. Also, Clint expected that they wanted to see just how brutal she'd be with him.

Brennan was strong as well and a lot more clever about how he used it. His problem was that he left himself open too often and needed to speed up his actions. Natasha ended up surprising everyone. She struck fast, blocked and attacked with a sense of grace to her movements, and she used her smaller figure to her advantage, Clint could find no fault in the way she fought. That wasn't what surprised them though, they expected her to be better than the rest of them, though some may have been impressed with just how much better she was. No, the reason that she surprised them was because, while she fought impressively, everyone could tell that she was holding back in order for Brennan to show off his skills. A couple of times Clint even caught the way she made him move so that he could show his advantages more, but she also forced his weaknesses to show. Also, when she landed her strikes on the other man, they were softened so as not to cause any real damage. Natasha fought him so that she was up to his level of fighting and no further. She understood that they knew she was good and that they would have to be studying Brennan more than her. So, she allowed them to study him, she kept the fight going long enough to see all that there was to be seen before brining it to a close by pinning him to the floor with an easy hold. She had contained herself and the others couldn't quite believe it. Clint took his eyes off of them for only a moment, the fighting was over, and he went to write some notes on his clipboard. Natasha was getting up from where she had pinned Brennan to the ground. Brennan nodded and left the mats but as Natasha turned to do the same she felt a strong arms wrap around her waist.

"Let's go," she didn't even register that it was Massey's voice before she was was breaking out of his grip and landing a hard blow to his stomach. The air was knocked out of him for a moment but she didn't seem to notice. Clint had looked up when the others had gasped in shock, just managing to see the hit she landed on him.

"Romanoff!" He snapped but at the same time Massey had foolishly lashed out at her again. He had a smirk on his face as he brough his fist back, it faded quickly when she caught his fist in her hand before it could hit her. She didn't even wince at his fist coming in contact with the palm of her hand. At that point Natasha's body reacted out of instinct rather than where they were at the moment. She lifted the man into the air and let him fall on to his back. The guards rushed at her but again her instincts took over. Something in the back of her brain must have connected something because she didn't kill them, only knocked them unconscious. Everyone else seemed to stunned to do anything. Clint tried to go to her as well but was held back by Coulson who had his fingers to his comm unit. Massey just wouldn't stay down. He got to his feet, his face was contorted with anger and embarrassment. It was then Clint realised that Massey wasn't just sparing anymore, he was trying to hurt her. She must have sensed that as well. He rushed at her again and managed to land a hit that barely made her wince but the adrenaline pumping through her didn't allow her to feel any pain. She quickly grabbed his hands as he reared back for another hit. Almost in one motion, she twisted his arms, knocked his feet out from under him, and had him pinned to the floor. Clint thought that it was over until he saw something that made his blood run cold. In her hand she was holding a knife to Massey's throat. The man went pale as she stared at him and for a second it seemed that the whole room had frozen. Her eyes seemed to scream for the man's death. He had attacked her when she wasn't expecting it and this was his punishment. Clint felt his heart about to give out and just as Colson opened his mouth to say something, she blinked. Just like that the murderous look in her eyes was gone.

"I wouldn't suggest you do that again," she said in a voice that was completely void of emotion. She lifted the knife away from his neck and calmly stood up. She ignored the shocked, and somewhat terrified, faces that stared back at her. She only briefly noted the two guards that she had knocked out, and walked back to where Clint and Coulson stood. Coulson lowered his hand from his comm unit and looked back at her with an equally blank face. He didn't say anything only held his hand out to her. She raised an eyebrow at him before taking the knife and placing it in his hand. He gave her a look that she didn't respond to.

"Ok," he said putting the knife in his pocket.

"I'm just going to assume that, since we had guards check you for weapons and found none, that this is your last weapon." He said and gave her another look that clearly said to not prove him wrong.

"Ok," Clint said, finally snapping out of the daze he had found himself in, "well, let this be a lesson to you all." He looked back at the recruits who looked from where they were staring at Natasha with a renewed guarded look, to him. "It is never wise to attack a highly trained individual by surprise." Massey stood a bit off from the rest of the group as he tried to bounce back from what had happened. "Ok, I guess we're moving on..."

"Not quite Agent Barton," Fury's voice cut through the gym as he approached the group. He came to a stop in front of Natasha, Clint, and Coulson. "I've got a medic team coming for those two," he said pointing at the guards. "I expect that there was no real damage?" He looked down at Natasha who slightly shook her head.

"They'll be fine," She replied and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Good, Coulson,"

"Yes sir," he responded.

"Take Romanoff back to her cell," he said and Coulson nodded. He motioned for Natasha to start walking and she did. Fury then took a step forward to address the recruits. "Twenty minute break." The recruits responded by breaking away from each other, though they all waited a minute or two before leaving the gym and going their separate ways.

"What was that about sir?" Barton spoke up from where he stood behind his boss.

"What do you meant Agent Barton?" Slowly Fury turned to look at him.

"You sent her to be tested with a group of recruits whan we all know what she is capable of, the guards you sent were not even close to being any help, Coulson obviously heard someone talking to him through his comm, he also stopped me from interfering, and you happened to show up after the incident meaning you knew what happened but you didn't bother ringing any alarms to stop it." Clint replied "you had a plan and I would like to know what it was." Fury had the slightest hint of a smirk on his face. He folded his arms over his chest and looked Clint in the eye.

"I looked over the files of these recruits. We had a lot of complaints about one in particular. It's interesting how people react when their ego is challenged don't you think so Barton?"

"You purposely put her in this group because you knew that Massey would try something stupid," Clint asked. "So you weren't testing her skills then. What, where you testing her patients?"

"That was part of it," Fury admitted "but mostly I wanted to see if she could stop herself." Clint gave him a slightly confused look.

"How did you know that she'd have a hidden weapon?"

"I didn't, but you and I both know that she doesn't need one to kill Agent Barton," Fury replied.

"That was playing with fire sir," Clint said.

"It was important to know if she could stop herself."

"What if she would've killed him?" Clint already knew the answer but asked anyways.

"Coulson had orders to terminate immediately. That's what he heard over his comm Agent Barton." Fury said then turned and walked towards the door. Clint took a deep breath and felt the weight of the fact that it all could have just ended for her right then and there.

Well, hope you all enjoyed and thanks for the reviews everyone, you're awesome :)