Chapter 6

"Son is everything alright?" His father asked as he came up the stairs of the loft where Clark was standing looking at the stars.

"Everything's fine dad." He replied, making Jonathan walk in front of his son.

"You know, I may not be a trained spy, but I know when something's wrong. Now what's going on Clark?"

"I can't say, it's classified."

"But it's bad." Jonathan surmised, and Clark nodded.

"There could be a lot of lives at risk. A lot of innocent people could get hurt or worse, and I'm not sure if I can stop it. All I can think about is what could happen to you or mom or Chloe or Natasha..."

"Nothing's going to happen son. We're protected, and Natasha can handle herself. You know, I may not like the idea of you working for the government, but Colson and Natasha showed me that not everyone is out to get you. Some of them want to help you." He finished, and Clark nodded.

"I wish I had all the answers but I don't. All I can tell you is to have faith that everything will work out. You'll stop whatever this is Clark." He said, before walking out of the barn, leaving the Last Son of Krypton alone with his thoughts. He wished he shared his dad's optimism, but there was a part of him that was worried. What if he failed? What if he was unable to stop this Clairvoyant, and his friends and family died as a result?

His mind flashed back to his meeting with Cassandra more than a year earlier. The old blind woman had shown him the future, had shown Clark standing alone surrounded by the graves of everyone he cared for, the young man forever doomed to a lonely existence. He shook his head, trying to clear the images from his mind. He wouldn't allow that to happen, he couldn't. The thought of losing his parents, Pete, Lex, Chloe, Natasha... those thoughts were too much to bear.

He sighed and walked out of the barn, knowing he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

"Isn't it a little late for target practice?" Director Fury asked as he walked into the room that housed SHIELD's shooting range. It was just after four in the morning, and Fury had been at SHIELD all night trying to find something on the Clairvoyant without any success. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, except he didn't have the first clue where the haystack was.

He watched as Clark expertly took apart the gun he had been using before turning to face the Director, his expression blank.

"Couldn't sleep, figured I'd get in some practice. That a crime?"

"Not at all. It's commendable actually. Now what's on your mind Agent Kent?"

For a moment Clark was silent, and then he spoke.

"We potentially have a leak, there's a madman planning who knows what, and we know nothing! How are we supposed to stop someone we can't even find?"

"We'll find the Clairvoyant. It's only a matter of time."

"Time we don't have. By the time we find out who the Clairvoyant is the war could already be lost."

"That's not going to happen. I'm keeping everything under wraps-"

"And that's another thing! You're keeping things from me, from Colson, from Hill, from Natasha, things you know or suspect about the Clairvoyant."

"Director's prerogative."

"Bull. You don't trust us, plain and simple."

"I don't trust anyone. Occupational hazard."

"That's your problem. How are we supposed to trust you if you can't trust us?"

"Trust isn't the issue. Obedience is."

"Obedience? You're so full of it. But since you want to talk about obedience, let's talk about it. Natasha has been nothing but obedient to you, but the second it suits you, you hang her out to dry. You blow her cover with a band of physcos, and for what? To test me, to see if you could make me tick?"

"I trusted that you would want to know where she was."

"You gambled with her life! But then again, I guess everyone's expendable."

"It's the risk we take when we decide to do this job and protect humanity."

"Don't talk to me about protecting humanity. You don't care about humanity, you only care about your end result, and what's worse you don't care how many people die as long as you get it."

"If it comes down to one life lost versus a thousand then you're damn right."

"No matter who's life it is?"

"Like you said, everyone's expendable."

"Maybe to you, but not to me. So let me make one thing clear right now...you pull any shit like you did in Budapest ever again and I will personally put a bullet in you."

"So what, if a SHIELD agent dies you'll try to kill me?"

"Let me spell it out for you Nick. If anything happens to Natasha Romanoff and I even think that you're responsible, I'll kill you myself, and I will go through all of SHIELD if that's what it takes."

With those words he walked out of the shooting range, leaving Nick Fury alone. The Director smiled at the young man's retreating back; whether he knew it or not Clark had passed his test.

"Is this a movie theater or a coffee joint?" Natasha asked, and Clark laughed as they got out of the car and walked towards the Talon.

"Both actually." Clark replied as they walked in, seeing the local hangout mostly empty at the early hour.

"Well well Clark Kent. I have to admit, you're the last person I thought would walk through the door." Lana said by way of greeting.

"So what can I get you?" She asked a minute later when he didn't respond.

"Two coffees." Natasha spoke up.

"Coming right up." She said before walking away to make them, Clark sighing as she left.

"I'm sorry Natasha, I shouldn't have brought you here. I guess I wasn't thinking."

"It's fine. But what's her problem?"

"She's my ex. I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to-"

"Clark, enough. It's fine. Just tell me do I need to be worried?"

"Of course not." He told her with a smile which she happily returned.

"Now what's really going on Clark? There's more to your mood than an ex-girlfriend with some issues."

"It's just stress from the job, that's all." He replied. Natasha knew it was more than that, but she just nodded allowing the matter to drop; Clark would tell her when he was ready.

"So what's the job?" Clark asked once they were off the ground and away from prying ears. The trip to London would take the better part of fifteen hours so the two spies had plenty of time to go over mission objectives.

"You make it sound like we're going to rob a bank." She said with a laugh, which the Last Son of Krypton returned.

"I've done that actually. Took about thirty seconds."

"Twenty-five actually." She replied, and he chuckled.

"Okay, twenty-five. The point is we're not actually robbing a bank, so I guess the correct term is what's the mission?"

"Our mission should we choose to accept it is to infiltrate a party being thrown by the British Defense Minister, Mr. Franklin Hughes. Once that's done, we find a way to get him out of the party and to a prearranged SHIELD safe house at which point we interrogate him, and discover what his connection is to the Rising Tide."

"You're not going to detonate in five seconds are you?" He asked, and she grinned, but shook her head.

"Why do we think Hughes is connected to the Rising Tide, and just how far are we allowed to go when it comes to 'interrogating' him?"

"A contact of mine told me that he had captured a member of a Rising Tide cell operating in Great Britain. It took a while, but he broke just before you came out of Fury's office, and confessed that he was getting his information from Hughes or someone in his inner circle. It's how they managed to find out about Jonas Green, and also why Green's incident with his powers stayed out of the media. Instead, it was classified under the State Secret's Act, which means only Hughes and his team have access to it. At least in London." She finished, and Clark laughed at the truth in her statement. SHIELD had people everywhere. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that eventually that would pose a problem.

"So let me guess...your contact called you because officially SHIELD has no jurisdiction in London. We get what we want, and the British government avoids a major incident."

"Exactly. Now as for how far we can go when it comes to Hughes interrogation...we go as far as necessary." She said darkly, and Clark just nodded. The thought of using torture may not be pleasant, but he would do whatever it took to stop the Clairvoyant.

"So, how are we getting into this party?" Clark asked, knowing that they couldn't very well go in guns blazing.

"We've got false identities. I'm supposedly a Russian fashion model and you're a wealthy American Defense Contractor who's there to talk business with Hughes since they're looking to outsource some contracts."

"It makes sense. Hughes would be so focused on you that I could get a better deal, or in our case we find a way to get him out of the party."

"Exactly. But there is one thing that absolutely has to happen."

"What's that?"

"You have to save me a dance." She said, and he grinned.

"That's one order I will happy to comply with. Now, enough shop talk. Tell me about you."

"It's all in my file."

"No, that's the Black Widow's file. I want to know about Natasha Romanoff. What are your favorite type of flowers, what do you do on your days off, that sort of thing."

Natasha didn't answer for a few minutes, and then she suddenly started laughing.

"Did I say something funny?" Clark asked, and she shook her head.

"No, not at all. I just can't believe the situation I'm in. I've never had a conversation with anyone where they've wanted to know about me as Natasha and not the Black Widow. It's always been the mission, the next kill...I never would have thought that anyone would care about me for anything besides my skill set. But then I met you, and everything changed. I'm happy Clark. For the first time in my life I'm truly happy and it's all because of you."

"I know the feeling. You remember the first night I managed to beat you?" He asked, and she nodded, smiling with pride at the memory. In that moment he had truly earned her trust, because he proved he would do anything to defend those he cared for.

"Right before I knocked you out the window, I had a thought. You were cordial with me, at times you were even borderline friendly, but there was one thing that I knew with absolute certainty. I wasn't Natasha Romanoff's type." He finished, but she shook her head.

"That's not true. At the time, I was keeping myself detached, trying to remain professional. In other words, I was the Black Widow, not Natasha Romanoff. I'm sorry about that by the way. I was just trying to protect myself, even if I wasn't willing to acknowledge it at the time."

She fell silent, but Clark knew that now was not the time to say anything. Natasha was opening up to him, and if he spoke now she would just retreat back behind her walls again. So he stayed silent while she gathered her thoughts, and after a moment she spoke.

"I...I spent so long being alone, hating myself and the person who betrayed me that I didn't know anything else. I didn't know any other way to live, and I...I just don't want to be alone again." She whispered softly, and Clark wrapped his arms around her.

"I promise you Tasha, you will never have to be alone again."

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be up soon!