Chapter 2: An Offer and a Spider

Exactly three weeks, five hours and 23 minutes (not that Tony had been counting) after Clint had returned from his mission, Phil Coulson steps back into SHIELD's HQ. It takes an hour till he has been properly debriefed and another one to make a compromise with Director Fury about something and being dismissed afterwards.

Phil's first destination was not his own room but the one right next to it and he can only take one step into said room before a figure tackles him and tries to hug the life out of him. The Agent's first reaction is to stiffen but after realising, who it is that is burying his face into Phil's body, he relaxes and returns the hug with one of his own.

From a corner of the room someone speaks up and surprises the older Agent a bit, who had been completely concentrating on the boy in his arms instead of his surroundings (for this trainee error he mentally slaps himself, it's not something an experienced agent like himself is normally allowed to make).

"Sir, if I'm allowed to say it: you two look really cute like that."

Phil diverts his look from his ward to Barton who hides something behind his back and out of sight, and answers to Clint's comment in his deadpan voice (but with a twinkle in his eyes): "I would be careful of what I'm saying if I were you Agent Barton, because if you don't I will hit you with my Taser you and hide you bows where you will never find them."

That shuts Clint up, but his eyes are still smiling - but Phil can make out the hidden worry in his eyes as the flicker to Tony - as he swings himself out of the nest that Tony had made for him in the upper corner of the room when he had heard that the Hawk preferred higher places.

This short glimpse of worry in the younger agents eyes caused Coulson to take a closer look at the boy in his arms and slowly he loosened his hug and steered his hands on Tony's shoulders to signalize him that Phil wants to look him in the eyes. Reluctantly the young genius lets go of him and now that Phil can finally take a closer look he can see the embarrassment as well as the worry reflected on his face.

"Has something happened? Tony, you know you can tell me everything and it won't get out of this room if you don't want it to."

At first Tony didn't answer and Phil almost feared that he had read Tony wrong and he was only seeing what he hoped to see but then he saw that Tony was just struggling what he should say or more precisely how. After another few seconds ticked by the former Stark finally mumbled something that sounded like "missed you…" As soon as he has said that a metaphorical stone falls from Coulson's heart (he had feared the worst) and a small smile slips through his normally stoic mask and replies: "I missed you too."

The Agent steers Tony to the couch where they sit down and Hawkeye perches on the armrest. "Jarvis do you have a good movie for tonight?"

"Don't I ever?" comes the reply from the British sounding AI as he lets a list with different movies appear in front of the three. Tony has snapped out of his mood and starts bickering with Clint who wants to watch Robin Hood with Kevin Costner while Tony wants to watch Matrix with Keanu Reeves and Phil just listens to them while enjoying this routine that he had missed while being undercover. They had really grown into a small family and the news he had to share with Tony could wait till tomorrow – right now he just wanted to enjoy the time with his boys…

The next day Phil approached Tony and Clint while Tony was crafting a few new throwing knives for himself (Tony had surprised everyone – even himself – with his natural talent with them).

"Tony, I have to speak with you."

Tony didn't stop working on his knives and only the waving hand signalled 'then start talking, I'm listening' and was the indicator that he had heard him.

"Director Fury wants to make you an offer and he would like it if you would think about it since it wouldn't just benefit SHIELD but you too."

That arouse Tony's interest and he laid the unfinished knife aside, turning around to Phil and even Clint looked curious.

"And what kind of offer would that be?"

Phil had slipped on his usual mask calmness on his face that he always used when it concerned something important as well as SHIELD related, as he replied: "He wants you to take the test that every trainee has to go through since he heard of your abilities and if you pass it, then you will have a choice."

Here he hesitated and so Tony asked: "What kind of choice?"

The older Agent took a deep breath and looked Tony deep into the eyes. "If you pass, you can choose if you want to go on missions as a partner to Clint – without becoming an official agent, which leaves you the chance to decline missions if you don't want to take them. In exchange for the work you are doing, you will get time outside the base but in company of me or Clint or even both of us."

The young genius stared at him and after a few seconds of silence, he asked slowly – as if afraid of the answer: "What kind of missions would that be?"

A look of sadness filled the agent's eyes as he let out a heavy sigh. "Mostly it would be assassinations. Fury sees your close combat specialties as a good way to balance out Clint long-range skills. … But you don't have to do this Tony" Phil took Tony's calloused hands into his own "Right now you still have the chance to turn away and not choose to have blood on your hands." Tony strengthened his hold on Phil's hands and if you looked closely, you could see how he was running all his options through his head in rapid speed and finally came to one conclusion.

He took a deep breath and told his only real friends his decision: "I don't have really much of a choice: if I ever want to get out of here again, then I have to accept it… Maybe that's better than just being here day for day and feel relatively useless, while everything that is truly important happens out there in the world."

Phil squeezed Tony's hands one last time before he let go, Clint moved closer and laid a hand on his best friend's shoulder as well as soon to be fellow assassin, while Phil said: "If that is your choice then we will help you where ever we can and don't hesitate to ask us, even if it's just our presence that you need. I will always stand by your side."

"Why?"

Phil smiled at Tony and ruffled his hair. "Because that's what family does for each other and you are like a little brother to me after all this time." Clint nodded in agreement and a few tears escaped Tony's eyes, which he immediately wiped away. "Thanks you two."

The two agents smiled at their youngest member and after a long moment in comfortable silence, Phil moved towards the door but then he remembered something and turned back around. "Ah, before I forget it: we should choose your cover name before I tell the Director of your choice. Any ideas?"

The boys thought for a moment until Clint's eyes fell on the dark blue knives that were Tony's specials that he had designed himself, so that they wouldn't reflect the light once it fell on them. "How about 'Blue Knives'?"

The other two thought about it and then Tony just shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Phil nodded "Blue Knives it is then." And with these words he turned around and left the other two alone again.

As expected Tony passed the test with flying colours and was allowed to go on missions with his best friend. Together they became a great team. Hawkeye and Blue Knives (but mostly just called Knives) went on several missions together and once Fury saw them as fit enough for it, he gave them a special mission: find and eliminate the threat 'Black Widow', a Russian spy and assassin.

They accepted it (Clint because he had no other choice but to follow the orders and Tony because he wouldn't let Clint go alone on what was supposed to be a dangerous mission), which they had tracked down her movements to an apartment in Berlin, Germany.

Hawkeye had positioned himself on a roof from where he could easily intercept in case their plan went wrong – he had already one of his new grabbling arrows, that Tony had designed for him, ready.

Knives had already crept into the apartment, keeping to the shadows and now all they had to do was wait for the famous Black Widow.

According to SHIELD's records the Black Widow was a young woman at Clint's age who had been tried to be a spy and an assassin since she had been a small child and was now running from the ones who had trained her. This made her unpredictable and because she was trying to get into the States an unknown factor that the board of director didn't want to risk and have her eliminated before she could even set foot on American soil.

"She is moving towards the apartment, Blue."
"Understood. Don't forget our plan Hawkeye."

"Don't worry, I won't."

As soon as she had stepped into the apartment, the feeling that she was being observed increased and her instincts told her that something was slightly of. A hidden knife appeared in her hand as she slowly walked through the hall, controlling every room until she reached the living room where a hooded figure clad in midnight blue stepped out of the shadows. The hooded figure had their hands up in the air and Natasha wondered what another assassin wanted here if they weren't even trying to kill her on sight. As if reading her mind the figure opened his mouth to speak and the words that left it revealed the person to be a boy with a voice, which told her that he had a grasp on many languages that had left feather light traces behind: "I am not here to harm you. I just wanted to talk to you."

Natasha who still held the knife in her hand gestured for him to sit down and asked him in her own accented voice: "And what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Maybe I should introduce myself first: I am called Blue Knives, but you can just call me Knives. My Boss wants me to take you out since his bosses believe you to be a threat but my partner and I, we believe that it's not necessary to take such actions."

Now that had Natasha's full attention. She had heard of Blue Knives and Hawkeye, a whisper that ignited fear in most people who had heard some of their stories. But what had made her curious had not been the stories about them, instead it was how Knives had said Boss, with hidden contempt and besides that he was disobeying orders. "What would make you say that?"

A small smile spread over Knives' face as he said: "I believe that you don't wanted to make these kills that left red in your ledger, which is why you ran away. They are without a purpose that you choose and so Hawkeye and I thought to give you a choice: you can come with us and work for our government or we will give you a small head start before we take up our original mission again. Your choice."

The Black Widow's surprise was only shown through the slight widening of her eyes. It was the first time that someone had given her a choice and not just tried to control her to do something for them. "For whom do you work for exactly? There are only rumours about the agency you are supposed to work for and I want a bit more information before I make my choice."

Knives inclined his head. "Of course. The organization is called SHIELD. They are responsible for the safety of the US."

The hooded assassin stood slowly and turned towards the windows. "I will give you exactly one day to decide. If you want to join us, just wait here otherwise see that day as your head start."

And then he was gone through the windows, leaving a slightly perplexed Natasha behind.

Outside, on the roof Hawkeye stepped back from his look out post and turned around to his partner who was just landing on the roof. "That went better than expected."

Knives just smiled at him. "Lets go to our hotel room. We will have our answer tomorrow."

Clint nodded and together they disappeared into the darkness.

As promised, Knives and Hawkeye turned up at Black Widow's apartment, at the exact time as the night before. Natasha Romanov, glad in her Black Widow outfit greeted them, with a duffel bag in her hand.

Knives grinned as if he had just gotten a new toy and Hawkeye just smiled slightly. The first took of his hood and special sunglasses he always wore on missions and stuck out his hand towards Natasha. "I think a proper introduction is at order: the name's Tony aka Blue Knives and that" he jabbed a finger at Clint who waved "is Clint aka Hawkeye, my big bro. Nice to meet you."

Natasha stepped forward and shook his hand. "Natasha Romanov, Black Widow. Nice to meet you too." A ghost of smile appeared on her face and together they made their way to SHIELD's HQ where Fury was at first wary at their new addition and ordered Coulson to keep an eye on her, which was why Natasha had started hanging out with Tony and Clint even after their mission had ended. After a month of really getting to know each other, Tony suggested to take some of his out time that they had gathered to introduce Natasha to America and to give Tony the chance to finally going outside.

Tony acted like a little kid in a candy store as he stepped outside without a mission waiting for him and wore his casual clothes, which consisted of a washed-out jeans and a blue shirt combined with his favourite pair of sunglasses. Clint wore clothes similar to his mission suit, except that his weapons and the protection for them were missing. Phil was wearing his typical suit but instead of having the suit jacket buttoned-up he had left it open and was still radiating this feeling of total calmness and a bodyguard-like feeling. Meanwhile Natasha had chosen like Tony casual jeans and was wearing a dark blouse, her face revealing nothing but her eyes showed the excitement she was feeling.

They walked for hours through New York, visiting well known tourist spots as well as shops were Phil paid for things like new clothes for Natasha and Tony, and electronic parts for a few of Tony's projects. Every time Tony saw something that had changed during the four year he couldn't really leave HQ, his face lit up like Christmas had come early, which amused the others greatly as they tried to keep up with him.

After their big tour, they practically collapsed in a small restaurant, surrounded by their shopping bags, exhausted but happy.

It became something like a tradition to at least go once a month into town to forget what they did day for day.

Natasha had fitted right into their little family and through their time together away from HQ, they had the chance to let masks fall completely and be themselves.