Here we go guys. Chapter six! I hope you enjoy it. The musical inspiration was Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson and Supermassive Black Hole by Muse. I don't own the Avengers. The next chapter will jump a bit and recap the events of the movie. I just felt it was important to establish the Widow / Hawkeye back story in detail, or at least the version I created in this story. But don't worry, there will be flashbacks to important moments of theirs throughout the story. Feel free to review.
Chapter Six: Fury
Clint Barton
Natasha's arm was still bleeding pretty badly by the time we got back to the new car I'd technically stolen. I'd parked it a few blocks away. I'd done my best to bandage it up with a torn piece of my shirt, but the white fabric was stained red. I turned on my comm link. "Coulson."
"Clint, thank God!" Phil exclaimed. "I've been worried sick! Are you ok?"
"Yeah, uh, about that…there's a medic on the plane right?"
"Yes, of course, Clint, are you alright?" I was actually touched that Phil sounded so panicked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm on my way to the plane now." I looked over at Natasha as I tore down the street. I knew she must be in real pain even though she kept her emotions in check. I could only occasionally see a flicker of discomfort flash across her face.
"And the mission?" Coulson asked.
"Complete." I lied. Coulson was going to have my head on a platter when he found out what I did. But I looked at the dangerous, ruthless Black Widow sitting in the passenger seat, bleeding from a gunshot wound she received after saving my life, and I knew I was making the right decision.
"Excellent. Good work Barton. Fury will be pleased to hear that. Have a safe trip home, and take it easy. God only knows how much pain you're in right now. I mean Marius Belov and the Black Widow. You deserve a medal kid."
"Yeah ok, thanks Phil." I said, turning the comm link off again.
"Do you often lie to your superiors?" She asked immediately my conversation with Coulson ended. Her voice was gentle and soft, its musical quality ever present.
"Uh, no, not usually, but I consider this a special circumstance." She used her left hand to pull her hair behind her ear.
"What did you tell them about Belov?" She asked genuine curiosity present in her musical voice.
"I told them what I had to in order to get S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help in finding you. I told them I thought Belov was hiring you to take down Edward James." She laughed slightly.
"You're gonna have to some explaining to do when Fury finds out what you did." We were stopped at a red light. I looked over at her, reaching over to pull the strand of red hair that had fallen loose yet again back behind her ear. I felt her shiver slightly under my touch.
"Yeah, I am. And he's gonna be pissed off about it, but Fury doesn't scare me."
"From what I hear, he probably should." She said, as I ran my hand down her cheek. I let my hand linger there on her cheek.
"Well normally he would, but I know I'm right on this. I'm so right on this that I'm not intimidate or afraid of Fury's reaction. At this point, there's nothing he can say that would change my mind about bringing you in." She stared at me with those amazing green eyes, and I felt her leaning in to kiss me again. We were so close to each other when the sound of the car behind us honking broke the spell. She pulled away and looked down. The light had turned green. I swallowed and continued driving.
"Thank you," she said finally after a few moments of silence. I looked at her.
"For what?" I asked. In reality I should be the one thanking her. She saved my life. I was going to die. If she hadn't been there, Marius Belov would've murdered me.
"For coming to save me…and for not killing me like you were supposed to." Her voice had gotten quieter.
"You don't have to thank me for those things. I could thank you for the exact same things. Looks like that's our ride," I told her as we pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse. A small plane was waiting.
I turned the car off, leaving the keys on the dashboard and moved to open the door. Natasha sat very still, not making any movements. I shut my door again and looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I just need a moment to soak it all in. Once I get out of this car and get on that plane, my life is in your hands. I can't go back to the Red Room; they'll kill me on sight. And there's still a chance that Fury will have me killed when I get to S.H.I.E.L.D. with you. This is a big risk for me. I don't normally trust people." She stared straight ahead. I reached over and touched her hand. At the feel of my touch, she looked down at our intertwined hands.
"But you trust me. You trusted me enough to accept my proposition. You trusted me enough to get in a car and drive here. You trusted me enough to save me. But I guess the real question is do you trust me enough to step on that plane with me?" She looked at me with desperate eyes. "Hey, I won't let anything happen to you. I promised you I wouldn't let Marius touch you and technically he didn't. That makes me a man of my word. You can trust me Natasha. I'll take care of you. Now, do you trust me?"
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
Natasha stayed close to me as we boarded the plane. The medic was waiting near the door. I walked on first. "Agent Barton," the medic greeted me. He looked me up and down and gave me a confused look. "I thought Coulson said you would need medical attention. You don't appear to have any major wounds. I can see the marks on your neck, but I can't do anything about those." This was the moment of truth. I was going to have to share my proposition with someone other than Natasha or myself. It was just as well. I'd need to practice for my conversation with Fury.
"The medic's not for me," I started, prompting more confusion from him. His name was Jeffery Davis. He had been the medic on the majority of my S.H.I.E.L.D. missions. He'd patched up bullet holes, deep cuts, and cleaned numerous amounts of wounds on my body. I'd like to think we were friends of sorts, that we'd formed even a tiny relationship during the significant amount of time he'd spent saving my life. "It's for her," I said, waving Natasha forward. I thought Jeffery was going to pass out when the Black Widow showed herself.
"Barton," he warned. "What did you do? You realize everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks she's dead."
"I did what was best. Now would you please do your job Jeffery! She's been shot. I tried bandaging it, but she's losing a lot of blood." Droplets of her blood were starting to drip off the white fabric tied around her arm.
"Why should I help her?" Jeffery demanded. "Besides, Fury wouldn't want it. He's gonna have your job for this."
"Yeah? Well you let me deal with Fury. Now just please patch her up"
"No." Jeffery was adamant. I was starting to get annoyed with this. I gently grabbed her arm and brought it closer to Jeffery. The metallic smell of blood wafted through the air.
"Do you this? She got shot in the arm by Marius Belov after she shot him." I was going to make him understand. I was going to make him take my side.
"The Black Widow…kill someone…well I never would've thought," Jeffery said with bitter sarcasm. "At least this time it was that scum Belov and not another innocent."
"Not the point Jeffery," I started, my voice getting cross, "You wanna know why she shot Belov?"
"I can only imagine."
"Belov was choking me. I had maybe sixty seconds before I was done for. I couldn't reach my gun. I was gonna die. But she shot him instead. She got shot saving my life. So I'd appreciate it if you took care of her." Jeffery hesitated at first before nodding and waving Natasha over. He took off the torn piece of shirt and began wiping away dried blood.
"Coulson's gonna kill you." He said simply. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Tell me about it."
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
- Natasha Romanoff
My arm hurt like hell, but I was glad the bullet had been removed. After the medic Jeffery finished, he silently left me and Barton alone, disappearing up front by the captain. Barton had taken a seat next to one of the windows and patted the seat next to him. I sat down and looked out the window too, watching the white puffs of clouds. I felt his thumb stroking my hand again, sending waves of warmth through my body. "You should get some sleep," he said. "You're gonna need to be well rested for the confrontation with Fury."
I nodded. "You should probably get some sleep too. You're the one who's really gonna need it."
"I won't sleep until you sleep," he confessed. I leaned over and kissed his cheek lightly before settling in my seat. I laid my head on his shoulder. I was consciously aware of him, how close we were, and how was still rubbing small circles on my hand as I easily drifted off. It was by far the best sleep I'd had in years.
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
I woke up sometime later. My head was still laid on Barton's shoulder, and he was asleep now too, his head gently lay close to mine. I looked down to find our hands intertwined. The closeness was nice. I hadn't been openly close with someone like that for years. And then I became unnerved by the fact that I was so connected to Agent Barton even though I'd known him for only such a short time. This was going to be a problem. I could feel it. As easily and quietly as I could, I untangled our hands and shifted seats. I needed some distance to help clear my head.
Jeffery appeared from what felt like thin air and gave me a somewhat surprised look. "You're awake." He said. I nodded. "And you moved." I gave him a skeptical look.
"Yeah I did." I could tell that he wanted to say more, and he even opened his mouth. But he promptly closed it and nodded. "Are we close?" I asked. I had no idea how long I'd been out. I couldn't recall ever having been that relaxed while sleeping. It'd been sweet and warm. I couldn't help but smile thinking about it, and then I caught myself. No, I thought. I couldn't get into this.
If Jeffery noticed the flashing emotions across my face, he didn't let on. He looked outside and nodded. "Yes, we are actually about to start our descent. You should wake him up." He pointed at Barton before leaving the same way he came.
I sighed and leaned back against my seat, and that's when I felt the pang in my shoulder. I was going to definitely be sore a couple of days, but I'd been worse off and was even well trained enough to tune the pain out. That was definitely a benefit because I didn't know what I was going to walking into with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Barton. I might need to make a fast escape.
I noticed the plane starting to get lower, so I leaned over and gently shook Barton. He jerked away, catching me off guard, and lurching forward, stopped by his seatbelt. I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's just me." I whispered. He looked at me wide-eyed before realizing who I was. He breathed deeply and nodded.
"Sorry about that. I'm not used to having someone else accompanying me. Usually if someone is waking me up, it's a bad sign." He rubbed the back of his neck, obviously embarrassed. I gave him a half smile.
"Don't worry about it. The plane's about to touch down." I pointed to the window where the New York city scene had come into view as we neared the airport. Barton turned and eyed the cityscape himself.
"It's time for you to meet Fury."
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
- Clint Barton
It was the moment of truth, I thought, as the plane landed on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personal runway. I could see Coulson waiting outside for me to exit the plane so he could debrief me on my mission and give me details about what was expected in my report even though I'd written enough reports that I could tell you the format in my sleep. I stood and held out my hand to the Black Widow. "Ready to make your entrance?"
She raised an eyebrow at me. "Just like that?" The words slipped off her lips with ease and rhythm and it was hard to not reply in something that would rhyme. I looked towards the door where Jeffrey was exiting. He stopped at the door and turned to look at me, then from me to the Black Widow. He shook his head, looking down, before finally walking through the doors. I met her deep green eyes.
"Just like that."
As we exited the plane, I noticed the wind was blowing. Natasha ran one hand through her hair as we took the stairs to the ground. I could see Coulson's polite smile drop instantly, even from across the runway. "Just let me do all the talking," I told her as we approached Phil.
"Wouldn't dream of interrupting," She teased back, hiding her eyes under a pair of black sunglasses. I had to smile. I'd expected Phil to look pissed, but instead he was too shocked to look like anything but someone obviously caught hopelessly off-guard. His eyes never left Natasha as we walked to him. In fact, I could feel everyone's eyes on her as we stopped in front of Coulson.
Phil didn't say anything, not even when I cleared my throat. Finally I broke the silence that surrounded the three of us. "Hey Phil, I'm back. Did you miss me?" It was as if the sound of my voice broke the spell. Phil glared at me, anger boiling in his irises.
"Barton, what did you do?" He muttered. I smiled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I brought you a present," I said, casually motioning to the calm, cool, and collected woman standing beside me. Phil's mouth dropped a little lower and his eyes even bugged out a little. "Phil Coulson," I said, not missing a beat, "Meet Natasha Romanoff, the otherwise elusive Black Widow." Natasha held out her hand that Phil reluctantly took. Natasha used her free hand to push her sunglasses to the bridge of her nose.
"Charmed," she said, giving Phil one of those smiles that only she was capable of making, the one that melted any guy's heart, especially mine.
"Barton, did your mission details mean anything to you? I mean are you just trying to get Fury to kill you?" Phil practically shouted at me. Everyone around pretended to be doing something else, but it was apparent they were all eavesdropping. But in reality, if I were one of those people, I'd be eavesdropping too. This was, after all, the scope of the lifetime.
"Calm down Phil. I understood your mission details, but the plan I came up with was better. And I think once I explain it to Fury, he'll agree." Phil rubbed his face in frustration.
"Is this a game to you Barton? I mean I know you've pulled your share of stunts here at S.H.I.E.L.D., but this…this is pushing the limit way too far. You are out of line. Do you realize what Fury will do when he finds – " Phil was caught off by the sound of his own phone ringing. His eyes went wide. It rang again.
"You gonna get that?" I asked, a hint of humor in my voice. Phil shot me a look before answering the phone.
"Coulson," he said, "I know sir…I'm aware…I know…But I'm sure…I'm pos…" Phil trailed off. Man Fury wasn't letting him get a word in edgewise. "Yes sir, right away sir." He said, hanging up. He looked at me, a grave look on his face. "He wants to see you."
"I expected nothing less," I said.
"Well come on, better not keep him waiting." Coulson sighed and began walking towards the main building where Fury was sure to be waiting, fuming as usual when things didn't go exactly like he'd planned them too. I gestured for Natasha to go first and she followed Coulson towards S.H.I.E.L.D., never missing a beat. I followed closely behind.
Everyone stared as we walked through the halls. Gossip sure spread like wildfire around here. People shot Natasha all kinds of looks, and I made sure I was right there to give them evil glares right back. She just walked along, as if oblivious to everyone's wondering eyes. But I knew she knew they were watching. She was just probably used to people watching by now.
Agent Maria Hill was waiting at the door as we turned down the corridor that led to where Fury was waiting. When she saw me, she crossed the hallway within seconds. I knew exactly what was coming. I'd known Hill long enough. So I knew to brace for the feel of her hand on my cheek. And sure enough she slapped me right there in front of everyone, the sound resonating through the building. I wouldn't be surprised if the agents in the cafeteria had heard it. "Agent Hill, always a pleasure," I quipped.
"How could you be so stupid?" She yelled. "I mean come on Barton! Do you know who she is?! Of all the irresponsible shit you've ever pulled Barton, this has to top the cake! You do realize you compromised that mission! You brought a Russian agent into S.H.I.E.L.D.! What were you thinking?!" I didn't get a chance to reply to that. I opened my mouth to speak, but was silenced by a deep, hard voice.
"That's enough Agent Hill." Maria turned around to face Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., in all of his intimidating glory. Maria didn't say another word, but made sure to glare at me as we entered the room.
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
- Natasha Romanoff
The man that I knew was Nick Fury had his back to us, his long black overcoat the only thing we could really focus on. I stayed quiet like Barton had asked and intended to let him do all of the talking until it was my time to speak. I knew that time would come and I knew that it would be smart to keep my mouth shut until that time. "Agent Barton," Fury called as he slowly turned around to face us. Barton stepped forward to meet him.
"Director Fury," Barton greeted him with a nod.
"Agent Barton, would you care to tell me what you thought you were doing when you deliberately disobeyed orders and purposely compromised your mission?" Fury demanded, getting right down to business. Barton didn't even bat an eyelash.
"I was thinking what a waste it would be for me to actually carry out my mission Director." He said it in a matter-of-fact tone, keeping his face absent of emotions.
"And why is that?" Fury quickly followed up. Barton pointed towards me.
"Because S.H.I.E.L.D. would be damn lucky to have an agent like her," He said, not flinching, just remaining still and solid in his opinion. Fury looked at me curiously before turning back to Barton.
"And how did you come to such a conclusion Agent Barton? It didn't have anything to do with personal feelings, because I could see how a woman of her caliber could be distracting." It was my turn to not flinch as Fury eyed me curiously. But I refused to be intimidated by one man.
"Don't do her the disservice Fury," his eyes narrowed, "You and I both know her stats. And now that I've witnessed them first hand in the field, it seems obvious to me that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be making the biggest mistake of all to eliminate her instead of utilizing her known talents." I had to admit I was impressed by his answer. He didn't seem bothered at all that Fury had called his judgment into question because of personal feelings, especially considering the moments that were known by only us two.
"How dare you talk to your Director like that?" Agent Hill finally spoke up, only for Fury to silence her with the wave of his hand. He took a step towards Barton and the rest of us.
"You're not wrong Barton. S.H.I.E.L.D. would be damn lucky to have an agent like her. However, it's not her abilities that are in question." Fury bypassed Barton and stood in front of me. I'd long since removed my sunglasses, tucking them into my pants pocket. So we just stared at each other, neither set of eyes wavering or looking away. "Agent Romanoff I presume."
"You presume correctly," I said. I think he was mildly caught off guard when I spoke with a perfect American accent.
"Agent Barton is completely correct is implying that your file is impressive. Your abilities are known far and wide. You've made quite a name for yourself; unfortunately that name happens to be for the other side. How could S.H.I.E.L.D. ever possibly trust you when you've made your career and name in the blood of innocent people?" I twisted my head to the side in my playful manner, although my face was kept dead serious.
"With all due respect, you and I can both vouch for the fact that the majority of the people I've taken out weren't innocent."
"But you have killed innocents. That's not what we do here." Fury narrowed his eyes slightly, not used to being so freely challenged.
"Oh please, don't act like S.H.I.E.L.D. is above that either. Your agents have killed innocent people too. It comes with the job."
"The difference, Agent Romanoff, is when S.H.I.E.L.D. kills innocents, it's by accident. The Red Room, however, has a different story."
I glared daggers at him. "You don't know anything about the Red Room."
"You're exactly right Agent Romanoff, so why don't you enlighten me." I eyed him curiously, trying to figure out if he was serious. He waited patiently, eyes presenting the test.
"If you really wanna know: in the Room, it's kill or be killed. And when everyone is trained to be a cold-blooded killer who wouldn't think twice about snapping your neck or putting a bullet through your head, you get with the program or you die. I kill to survive." It was the harsh truth, but it was the truth nonetheless. I knew for a fact that half of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents wouldn't last a week in the Red Room. They trained hard-core assassins.
"And it's that kind of mentality that prevents S.H.I.E.L.D. from being able to trust you," Fury said simply.
"What, you mean the mentality everyone has in a life or death situation? Don't mistake the fact I'm not so different from the agents you already have."
"Except for the fact none of agents have allegiances to Russia. How do we know that we can trust you?" He asked. It was the question I'd been waiting for and that I'd thought a lot about. They had no reason to trust me. I was a Russian agent. I was known for playing elaborate games to carry out the hardest missions. For all they knew this could be one of my elaborate schemes.
I looked Fury dead in the eyes. "Because your agent is still alive, even though I could've killed him at six different openings in Spain, not counting the plane ride here."
Barton stepped back and decided to speak up again. "That's right Fury. She did have the chance…." He trailed off as he processed my words. "Really six times?" Barton looked at me in disbelief, trying to replay the mission over and over in his head to count up all six times. I looked at Fury, a smile spreading across my face slightly.
"My point," I said, couldn't help but feeling a little cheeky. Fury considered this while Barton regained his composure.
"Besides that Fury, she took a bullet to the arm after saving my life. Marius Belov was killing me. I knew I was dying and she took him out to save me. Look I know she has the rap sheet and we've always consider her the villain, but can't you see what an opportunity this is? She's one of Russia's best agents."
"I am Russia's best agent." I cut in.
"Is that so?" Fury asked. He made eye contact with someone behind me and I felt someone's arms wrap around me, holding me in place. This was so easy I actually laughed and shot him a look of disbelief. He just waited. If he wanted a show, I would give him one. I'd thoroughly looked the room over when we first entered and not counting Coulson, Hill, or Barton, there were five S.H.I.E.L.D. agents hanging about, and one of them was holding me.
I kept my eyes on Fury as I made my move. I swung my leg back and kicked the agent in the shin as hard as I could. It took him by surprise. I know I didn't look like much of a physical threat, but I was. I took my window of opportunity and elbowed him in the ribs. The agent audibly gasped in pain and took a step back. I took hold on his arm and pulled him forward just far enough to put my elbow to his head with enough force that he hit the wall just about a foot away. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.
I turned as I heard the next agent starting to approach me. I stood still as he fast approached me, waiting until the perfect moment. When he was just the right distance away I flipped myself backwards, hands pressing into the floor, bringing my leg swinging up to kick him flawlessly in the face. I landed on my feet effortlessly as the third agent came at me. I dodged his punch and grabbed his arm and threw him into the wall behind me. He turned back around and came at me but I slid across the floor beside him, pulling his foot out from under him. He hit the ground with a thud. He'd have one hell of a concussion when he woke up. The fourth guy was behind me. I saw him coming as I threw the last guy down. I flipped backwards, wrapping my legs around his waist flipping him to the ground, while landing back on my feet, much like a cat was supposed to. I'd managed to take his gun out of the holster on his belt in the process, and immediately used the butt of the gun to hit the other guy in the head, leaving him momentarily out of it. I took the opportunity to throw one good punch that left him seeing stars as he fell backwards.
In one swift motion, I'd flipped the gun around and had it pointing at Fury. I felt the situation grow tense. Then, probably to everyone's surprise in the room with the exception of Barton, I discharged the gun and dropped it to the floor and stood there, staring Fury down. "That's how you know you can trust me."
"Well, I have to admit, I am impressed, something that doesn't happen often. And you managed to do that with a hurt arm." He said. I'd almost forgotten about the bullet wound in my arm.
"I've fought with worse. The Red Room made sure of that." I think that caught everyone off guard with that. I knew as well as everyone in this room that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have much info on the Red Room. Its members were good at covering their tracks. It was how we were trained.
"Care to elaborate Miss Romanoff." I noticed he didn't call me Agent. I couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing.
"The Red Room puts all of its members through a week-long program to train them to fight through injury."
"And how did they accomplish that?" Fury asked with genuine curiosity. The habits of the Red Room were taboo to everyone except members.
"It's simple sir. Every day you get a new wound. You either complete the obstacle course with the wound, or you die." Everyone grew quieter than silent, and I didn't think that was even humanly possible. "Day one," I started, sensing Fury wanted me to elaborate, "stab wound to the side. Day two, two stab wounds, one to each side." I waved my hands around my sides for effect. "Day three, a bullet wound to the shoulder, day four, a bullet wound to the leg." I could tell they were all sickened by the obvious torture. "Day five a broken arm, day six, a broken leg." Fury's eyes had grown cold and hard on me as he listened to what would cause apparent suffering and anguish.
"And day seven?" He asked, and I could tell that even Nick Fury was afraid of what was going to leave my lips.
"A bullet to the stomach," I said, "It's by far the hardest one." My eyes had glazed over with memories. "You have to be quick or you'll bleed to death right there on the floor. And then you have to be fast enough to give them enough time to patch you up. I can't tell you how many kids I watched die."
"How old were you?" Maria Hill chimed in from behind me, catching my use of the word 'kids'. This time Fury didn't silence her, just waited for my response.
"I was thirteen years old. It was right before they started to send me on regular missions." I think it was this story that ultimately convinced Fury to let me stay. One, he realized I could give him intel on the Red Room that no one ever could before. Two, I don't think he could live with himself if he sent me back to that hell hole where death plagued you constantly and the metallic smell of blood was normal. He looked at me for a long time before nodding his head at Agent Barton.
"She can stay." I'd just worked my way into S.H.I.E.L.D., and I wanted to be excited for it, but I kept my face a mask clear of emotions. "Barton, she's your responsibility now. I hope you two like each other because you two are partners from now on. Barton, teach her the ropes." I scoffed at the idea. Fury looked at me interested.
"Please, I should be teaching him the ropes."
"Do tell, Agent Romanoff," he said, calling me 'agent' again, although this time I was his agent. I raised my eyebrow at him.
"Barton was sloppy. It was immediately evident he was tailing me." I said. Barton stared at me incredulously.
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
- Clint Barton
"What are you talking about?" I demanded. She was obviously out of her mind. I wasn't sloppy. I was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agents.
"Number one, you pointedly looked away as soon as I was close enough to see you, and focused on a group of birds I might add. At least pick something believable to stare at. Number two, you made a point to ask for directions to make yourself appear like a tourist, but you ignored the advice of the locals and took back roads that they didn't mention. Number three, you were trying to pass yourself off as a tourist, but you failed to do any touristy things. Number four; I could see you watching me through those sunglasses of yours. And five, you didn't check your scotch for drugs before you drank alone in your hotel room. It made it really easy to drug you. I could've easily killed you right then and there." I listen to her rattle off those things and felt embarrassed. Her attention to detail was accurate, almost perfect. No one would dare doubt that she was Russia's best agent. "But don't feel bad," she told me. "You were compromised the minute you were chosen for this mission. I recognized you immediately."
"You two knew each other before?" Fury's voice boomed off of every available surface in the room.
"No sir, we didn't. I don't know what she's talking about."
"Don't worry Director, I'm not surprised he doesn't remember it. I was younger and a lot more blonde." She held a piece of her red hair in between her fingers. "We first met five years ago in New York. I had just killed Sven Belov at his party. I was into theatrics back then, they made everything more interesting. So to raise the stakes a little, instead of taking the easy exit out, I actually inserted myself back into the party as the character I'd used to infiltrate it. I was only about seventeen at the time. I'd gone undercover as one of Beatrice Belov's friends." And that's when it clicked in my head.
"That was you?" I asked in pure disbelief. She smiled a grin that was all the answer I needed. "I got you out of that party. I rescued you."
"That's right Barton. You 'rescued' me and successfully led me out of the party. It was the perfect plan. That way if anyone would've recognized me, you would've never let them get close enough to harm an innocent. It was the best form of protection." My head was spinning from the revelation. I'd unknowingly helped the murder out of the scene of the crime. Maybe I was sloppier than I thought. Fury looked in between us.
"Fine then, Romanoff, teach Barton the ropes for all I care. What matters is that you're partners. You have each other's backs from now on, is that clear?"
"Yes Director Fury," Natasha said softly.
"Yes." I said back, irritated at my own stupidity. I couldn't believe this.
"Agent Hill, why don't you show Agent Romanoff around." Fury suggested. Hill reluctantly left the room with Natasha to show her around S.H.I.E.L.D. while I still fumed with anger over my mistakes. Natasha had looked even less comfortable with the situation, but I couldn't think about her right now. All I could think about was how I screwed up in New York five years ago, and that mistake could have easily cost me my life, but somehow it didn't, somehow she didn't. And just like that I was back to Natasha again.
"Don't feel bad Barton," Fury said, letting out a laugh as Coulson came forward towards me. "You were right: S.H.I.E.L.D. is damn lucky to have her. Good call, never do it again." His voice got serious at the end and I knew bad things would happen if I did. I nodded and followed Coulson out after being dismissed.
"Well it looks like your risk paid off this time Clint." Coulson said. "I don't know how you always manage to do that." I looked at Coulson.
"I just follow my instincts Phil."
"And your instincts led you to her." I droned Phil out as he gave me a speech on being more careful because Natasha could very well have killed me. I stopped listening though never gave away the fact that I wasn't. I was too focused on the first thing Phil had said. Your instincts led you to her. Your instincts led you to her. Your instincts led to her. They sure had, I thought, unsure of where our partnership would go from here. I had a feeling we were dangling from a tightrope with no net to catch us if we fell for each other. And the worst part was I was this close to falling, barely hanging on by a thread.