Dedicated to Kyla, who fangirls just as hard as I do over Avengers

CHAPTER FOUR

After spending a decent amount of time making themselves at home in the Tesseract lab and inputting their file data into the computer system, Sharon and Angela returned to their room finished unpacking and settling in (well… Angel unpacked, Sharon just laid on the bed talking about her plans to set Angel up with the Captain, much to Angel's chagrin).

Soon enough the time came for them to head down to the bridge to prepare for the briefing. They made their way there early in order to prepare themselves and find their bearings. They made themselves comfortable at the table while they waited for the rest of the team to gather, idly chit chatting in order to keep themselves from getting uncomfortable in the silence of the room.

One by one the members trickled into the room. Thor and Bruce sat together, seeming to be in a light discussion on fighting. Agents Romanoff and Barton walked in and sat beside one another, neither speaking to the other but both seeming comfortable.

Sharon noticed Barton eying her out of the corner of her eye and felt the hair on her neck rise a bit and her face heat up. She kept her façade calm and relaxed, her 'natural sloth state' as she and Angel liked to call it. She could tell that Agent Barton was suspicious of them and curious as to where they came in on this mission. She smirked a little, if only he knew…

Steve entered and sat closest to the ladies, smiling amiably, "I hope you're all settled in." He said, having eyes for Angel but lightly acknowledging Sharon's presence. She smirked again, the boy had it for her girl and she was more than ready to encourage it.

Angel smiled, "The place seems great, I'm just happy that Director Fury was kind enough to let Shar and I keep a room together, we're not fond of sleeping apart from each other." She said, looking at Sharon happily, it was rare that they spent nights apart from each other.

"Good, I'm glad you're feeling comfortable." Steve smiled, "It's good to have friend's near by, Bucky and I were the same way."

Angel nodded with a sympathetic look on her face, "I know it was a long time ago, but I'm so sorry for your loss."

Steve nodded, "It doesn't feel so long ago to me…" he muttered under his breath.

Angel closed her mouth, not feeling sure as to how to respond to that statement. She wanted to smack herself in the face for always finding the most callous comment and saying it to Steve. She had a growing knack for unintentionally insulting him and she wanted to nip it in the bud.

Sharon noticed the air get tense between her friend and the Captain and came to her rescue, "You know Captain, Angel here is quite the shield enthusiast."

Both Steve and Angel gave Sharon odd looks at her comment. Sharon had to work hard to keep herself from falling off her chair laughing at the expression on Angel's face.

"I thought you two weren't SHIELD agents…" Steve said, looking incredibly enthused.

"We're not," Angel said quickly, turning to glare at Sharon, shield enthusiast!? REALLY!?

Sharon bit the inside of her cheek to regain control of her composure so she wouldn't laugh, "I meant as in your weapon of choice, Angel knows all about vibranium technology."

"Oh!" Steve perked up a bit, "Do metal components interest you?"

Angel felt lost in the exchange but tried to regain footing while explaining to Steve about Howard's discovery of the element and Tony's plans to seek more out for different developments.

Sharon tuned out Angel and Steve's awkward flirting to glance around the room. She took care to avoid looking at Barton, feeling his own curious gaze on her already and knowing if she returned it there would be a potential problem…

She continued to glance around the room when she realized someone was missing. She counted in her head; someone was missing. She looked again, "Angel where's your dillhole brother?"

Angel snapped out of her flirting to look around, "I haven't the foggiest idea." She said, looking around some more, feeling frustrated that Tony was late, he's probably doing this to humiliate me she thought.

At that moment, Director Fury walked in, "Let's begin the briefing."

"Director, it shouldn't be surprising, but Tony is late." Angel said through her teeth, getting more annoyed at her brother's petulance.

"Mr. Stark has elected not to take part in this mission, instead he chose to fly back to Stark tower." Fury said, slightly apologetic in his tone while also sounding annoyed.

"You have GOT to be kidding me." Angel growled, turning red with anger. Sharon put a hand on Angel's and held it for a moment before leaning over to whisper in her ear.

Barton watched the exchange with keen interest. It was only moments before Angel seemed to radically calm down and reclaim her demeanor. What just happened? Clint thought, looking at Sharon curiously. She met his gaze briefly before looking away suddenly, choosing to focus on Angel, who was beginning the briefing.

"Very well, we shall continue without him." Angel said, taking out her data disk and uploading the data onto the table computer so the team may see the mission laid out before each of them, "Yesterday evening at 2200 an energy signature was read in the area close to New Mexico. The force was much like that of the Tesseracts, but it was only brief. Normally these readings would not be cause for such concern, being that it only lasted for roughly 30 seconds. However, the strength of it may foreshadow a further problem. With the help of Doctor Banner, we would like to study the Tesseract and compare it to the energy signature for signs of gamma radiation and other significant findings."

"I would like to send Agent Romanoff and Thor over to New Mexico to look a the area of the reading," Nick said after Angel concluded her speech, "The reading was not to far off from Thor's place of entrance from his last visit. Agent Barton and Captain are to stay with Ms. Carver and Ms. Stark. Any questions?"

Everyone seemed to understand, so Nick dismissed the meeting. Everyone dispersed in their respective directions to prepare for their missions. Barton slipped down the corridor and made his way to his nest to observe and maybe learn something about the girls' odd exchange in the meeting.

His eyes locked on the girls as they entered the room, more specifically on Sharon. She made her way over to her desk and sat down and resumed her relaxed pose she seemed to always maintain. By now Clint was sure this was her default posture, calm and relaxed like a sloth with a lazy smile to reel in people around her and make them feel comfortable.

Sharon turned toward Angel and began to chat, they laughed a bit and continued to chat for a while.

Clint wondered to himself what was really going on here. They were two fine arts students who seemed to have neither scientific training nor knowledge pertaining to the field; and yet, they were the ones heading the project. Even so, Angela seemed to be the brains of the operation, he'd yet seen Sharon do or say anything on the subject of the mission aside from getting files. To an amateur she would seem like a secretary or assistant, but Barton's training taught him to know better than to go off appearances.

Things didn't entirely add up in his head. He assumed that Director Fury knew what he was doing and Clint trusted him with his life, but the mystery of the situation made him slightly uncomfortable.

He watched closely as Sharon let out a loud laugh at something Angel said, he felt his chest squeeze at the sound. She is mysterious, but she sure as hell is a beautiful one at that he thought to himself.