Chapter 10

"Let's take a break. Dad, mom can I have a word?"

"Pete, you too. Good work Chloe." Natasha said, making the blonde smile as she watched her two best friends walk off to the side. They had been up since three a.m. and as Clark and Natasha had predicted, it had not been fun. In fact, it had been brutal, and that was putting it mildly. However, as she watched the sun begin to rise above the Kent farm Chloe knew that it was worth it. She knew that Clark would always protect her, but she liked the idea of being able to protect herself.

"You're holding back." Natasha said as soon as they were out of earshot of the others.

"What are you talking about?" Pete asked, making her glare.

"You're holding back because you don't want to hurt Sullivan. Now I need you to be perfectly honest with me...do you love her?"

"I have for a long time, but what's it matter? She never noticed me...it was always Clark." He replied, and Natasha smiled softly.

"Look, I don't think you need to worry about that anymore. But listen to me...if you love her you cannot hold back."

"If I hurt her-"

"She's doing fine, so I doubt you will. But even if you did, better it happen now then when someone's trying to get you. Because if it happens when someone's trying to get you, and you can't stop them they will take Chloe, and they will torture her in ways that you cannot possibly imagine. They would make you watch as she is abused in the worst possible way, until you are both begging for them to kill her. When they finally did, it would be a relief. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, one other thing. Get your head out of your ass, and tell her how you feel. Just wait until we're done okay?"

"Got it, and Natasha...Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now get back to work." She told him, and he nodded before he walked back over to where Chloe was standing. Natasha looked over towards Clark and his parents, and she sighed. It looked like Pete wasn't the only person who needed to be convinced.

"This isn't a game." Clark said as soon as they were out of earshot of the others.

"We know that son." His father spoke up, making Clark laugh coldly.

"Do you, because you're sure not taking this seriously. I could have killed you fifteen different ways without my powers because you refused to fight back."

"You're my son!" Jonathan burst out, and Clark shook his head, grabbing his mothers wrist and shoving her to her knees where he put his gun to her head.

"Right now, I'm not your son. I am the man with a gun to your wife's head. You need to start taking this seriously because one day it won't be me holding the gun. It will be someone who will make you watch as they murder the woman you love most in this world in front of your eyes. If you're lucky they won't make you deal with the body."

"You're asking me to potentially harm the woman I love."

"No because that would imply giving you a choice. There is no choice. This is what has to be done to protect you both."

"He's right you know? It's harsh, but it's the truth." Natasha said as she walked up to them.

"Listen to me dad. I love Natasha more than anything on this earth, but the first three months I knew her were spent with the two of us fighting. I had to repeatedly fight, and win. I had to hold a knife to her throat and make her believe that I would kill her. That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but it had to happen. You can't afford to do what Natasha and I do if you aren't willing to make the hard calls. Now if anyone finds out who I am they will use you and mom to get to me. Now I know this is hard, but it has to be done."

"Tell me something Mr. Kent...If I had shown up at your house dressed like I am now and demanded you hand Clark over what would you have done?"

"I would have told you to kill me because that is the only way you would ever take my son from me." Jonathan replied coldly, a steel in his voice that no one present had ever heard before.

"Exactly. You would have tried to kill me."

"No Natasha. I wouldn't have tried to kill you. You would be dead, plain and simple."

"Then prove it. Start taking this seriously. Now let's get back to it." Clark said, putting his gun away and helping his mom up.

"Mom, dad I-"

"Don't apologize Clark. You made a point that needed to be made. Now what's next?" Jonathan asked, and Clark smirked.

"They're doing well." Natasha commented as they drove away from the Kwnt farm, taking to the air as soon as they were out of sight.

"You're right they are." Clark replied, not meeting her eyes.

"Clark, I know this is hard. But you did the right thing."

"I put a gun to my mother's head to make a point."

"You did what you had to. Just like I did what I had to when I taught you."

"What are you talking about? I asked for you to train me."

"But I didn't want to. I agreed so Fury wouldn't order me to do it. You remember the first couple weeks I trained you?" She asked, and he nodded.

"How could I forget? I barely got two hours of sleep a night if that, and even for a guy that dosen't need sleep that's tough. Then there were the endless fights and drills, tactics training until I felt like I was going to pass out. I don't remember hurting so much in my life."

"That was on purpose. I was actually pushing you a lot harder than I had to. I wanted you to quit."

"What changed your mind?" He asked, and she laughed softly.

"You did. I could see how much you were hurting, how much you wanted no needed a rest. But you never asked for one, you never complained. You proved to me that you were here to stay."

"As long as you'll have me." He replied, and she smiled before taking his hand.

"Always."

"So how was London?" Colson asked when the two entered the Bus.

"Interesting. Now I know we have a mission, but we need to talk to Ward. Now." Clark said, and Colson nodded.

"You can use my office."

"The interrogation room would work better." Natasha said, making Colson raise an eyebrow.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" He asked, and the two just looked at him, expressions blank.

"Dammit you two! You want to interrogate one of my team, but you won't tell me why. If we are going to stop the Clairvoyant, we have to trust each other. Now Clark, I have cut you a lot of slack, but now I want answers."

"Fair enough. Do you know the details of our mission to London?" He asked, and Colson nodded. He was one of the few that did, as all of the Black Widow's missions were classified level eight or higher. There were some missions that only she and Fury knew about, but London wasn't one of them.

"I interrogated the target, and he let slip that agent Ward was a double agent. Now before you fly off the handle, I think he can be shown that he's on the wrong side."

"Skye." Colson said, and Clark nodded.

"So you've seen it too."

"It's hard not to. By the way, Barton owes me twenty bucks." He said before walking away.

"He'll be in interrogation room two. Try not to kill him." Colson called over his shoulder.

"I'm kicking Barton's ass next time I see him." Clark muttered, and Natasha chuckled.

"Get in line."

"We know Ward." Clark said without preamble as soon as they walked into the interrogation room.

"You know what?"

"Don't play games. We know that you're a spy for the Clairvoyant." Natasha said quietly from where she stood against the wall.

"If that's true than why aren't I in handcuffs already?"

"You're not in handcuffs because I think that you aren't a bad guy. You've just made some mistakes."

"You don't know anything about me Kent."

"I read your file. Your parents weren't exactly the best, your older brother was always the favorite. Your younger brother died, and you got sent to jail. But then you got out. Someone offered you a chance to join SHIELD or rot in prison. Based on the fact that he was your SO I'm going to assume it was Garret."

"What do you want?"

"What I want is for you to make a choice."

"Oh yeah? And what choice is that?"

"Skye or the Clairvoyant." Natasha said, and Ward glared, but didn't say anything.

"I've seen the way you look at her Ward. You love her, don't you?" Clark asked, and Ward sighed.

"What's it matter?"

"It matters, because as much as I would like for you to just tell me what you know voluntarilly we all know that isn't going to happen unless you have something to lose. So here's how this is going to work...you are going to tell us everything you know about the Clairvoyant and then you are going to go tell Skye how you feel. Then as far as we're concerned you were never a traitor."

"Or, you could refuse and I will tell Skye exactly what kind of man you are. Then I will make you watch as I put a gun to her head and kill her." Natasha said, making Ward lunge forward.

"Don't even think about it." Clark said, placing his gun to Ward's throat.

"You touch her, and I'll kill you." Ward snarled, and the other two just looked at him.

"So, let's talk. What do you know about the Clairvoyant?" Natasha asked, and Ward just sighed before he spoke.

"Not much. Garret recruited me, and last year he told me of a secret group within SHIELD, one that took it's orders from someone or something known only as the Clairvoyant."

"So Garret's not the Clairvoyant?" Clark asked, and Ward shook his head.

"No, he's just a soldier. I don't even think he knows who he takes his orders from."

"And this secret organization within SHIELD, did it have a name?"

"He never said, said I didn't need to know."

"And what has he been wanting you to do?" Natasha asked.

"Just pass on information as to what we've been doing, but there's something else...he knew that you were coming Clark. He knew that you were going to be recruited to join SHIELD."

"You know what that means." Clark said, and the other two nodded.

"It means that whoever this Clairvoyant is, it can only be one of six people... and one of them is the Director of SHIELD." Natasha muttered, voicing what they all feared. If Nick Fury or one of his inner circle was dirty, then they were all already dead.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review and the next chapter will be up soon!