CHAPTER #38

With careful planning, Barton managed to convince S.H.E.I.L.D. that Nick Fury was dead, due to an explosion in his secret location. He took some pictures of the equipment that Fury left behind and then before blowing up the place, Barton took video evidence of Fury going into the building and never coming out. Fury had even provided a tooth for DNA evidence. It would buy him more time. If Agent Hill analyzed the ashes from the blast, she would find out that there was no way it could have disintegrated Fury's entire body. But for now, Agent Hill was satisfied and too busy hunting Romanoff and HYDRA to care. As was to be expected, S.H.E.I.L.D. covered up the explosion by having an agent tell the press that it was a gas leak that caused it.

"Since you took care of Fury, you're back on the mission to capture or dispatch ex-agent Romanoff," Agent Hill ordered agent Barton.

Clint accepted the mission, "are you going to be on my ass if I don't constantly show up on radar or report in?"

She frowned and then snapped, "I have better things to deal with. Just make sure you report in at least once a month. My guess she'll lead you all over the globe."

Barton grinned, agent Hill was giving him the freedom he wanted. This way he could do his own investigating and throw in a little Romanoff time too. Having a steady pay-check didn't hurt either. Bird cloaked him and blocked his signal once he returned to Manhattan. Then he went to talk to Stark about any progress with the black alien diamond and on tracking who was stealing his tech.

Stark and Banner had already heard about the explosion and Jarvis reported the truth based on S.H.E.I.L.D. files. Barton didn't elaborate on what happened, so they stopped questioning him. Stark wasn't 100% convinced that Fury was gone for good, he suspected that the former S.H.E.I.L.D. director had got away and just fooled Barton.

Most of Stark and Banner's focus was still on working with the black diamond, as each day they discovered something new that it could do. It was almost ridiculous how much time they spent on it. So much so, that Stark had ignored investigating his missing tech. Jarvis insisted no one had hacked his system, so Barton went back undercover as an employee on the night shift at Stark Industries. The first two weeks revealed nothing and that included footage from the undercover cameras too. It was in the last week of the month, that the footage showed an unknown black van arrive at 3 am and talk to Hong Duk the evening security guard of the shipping and receiving area. Hong Duk talked to a man, who was definitely Quentin Beck, while the evening shift guys were all on break. Barton now knew one of the spys of Beck, but he needed more information. Some how he would make Mr. Duk trust him and introduce him to Beck.

"Why don't we have Barton steal one of the new prototypes for the missile your making for your Iron Man suit? If Hong Duk catches him doing it, first I doubt he'll turn Barton in and second he may just introduce him to Beck," Bruce suggested.

Tony thought about it, "that might work. But instead it will be one of the devices that requires the black diamond to operate. That way if it isn't returned, no harm no foul."

"Works for me. Let's set this up for Friday night," Clint said. "In the mean time I have to look for Romanoff to keep Agent Hill off my back."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think that you and Natasha love this cat and mouse game," Bruce smirked.

Barton shrugged and left. Let those two science geeks think what they wanted. He'd rather be working with Romanoff, then against her. Once he solved the Beck problem, he would try and get Romanoff to meet up with him. Even if it meant she'd kick his ass, it was worth it just to reconnect. He missed her more than he wanted to admit.

While Barton was trying to get closer to Beck, Romanoff was busy with HYRDA and keeping S.H.E.I.L.D. out of her way. She was able to confirm that at least 50% of her former agency, was in league with HYRDA. And thanks to a bug that HYRDA themselves had developed, she finally got a name for one of the Council members. The breakthrough was astounding, but she had no time to pat herself on the back. She was in the office removing the bug, so that her deception went unnoticed.

"Natuska was there something you needed?" Baron Von Strucker asked as he walked into his office.

"No Baron, just checking in to see if there is anything you needed. As you know I am scheduled to return to S.H.E.I.L.D.'s airship to plant that virus into their system."

Baron Von Strucker shook his head. "Change of plans. Agent Hill has become a nuisance, we… that is I, want you to kill her.

She wondered if what he had just said was a freudian slip. Natasha raised an eyebrow, "how and when do you want this done?"

"Now and with this poison dart. It will look like she is just not feeling well, but slowly her energy will be drained and then a painful death. Once she is dead, you are to take over running S.H.E.I.L.D. until the council assigns a new director."

"They will never let me be director."

"We have people in place to influence those not under our control. Your transition to director, will be seamless."

She grinned, "taking down Agent Hill will be a pleasure Baron."

He smirked, which was more of a grimace. "I knew that you would, just make sure you use the poison Natuska. Timing is everything."

CHAPTER #39

As much as Romanoff found agent Hill annoying, she didn't want her dead. So the first thing she did after leaving the HYRDA compound was meet up with Fury. Together and with help from some of Fury's connections, they were able to make an antidote. How it worked, was that it would slow agent Hill's heart, just like a hypothermia victim. So to everyone else she would appear dead. Then Romanoff would take Maria Hill to Fury, so he could keep her locked up during recovery. HYDRA wouldn't think twice about agent Hill's complete disappearance. Once the operation was complete, both Hill and Fury would return to S.H.E.I.L.D. once more. That was the intent, but things never went as they should, so Romanoff had contingency plans just in case.

One such plan required Barton's assistance. It wasn't hard to make contact with him and have him meet her in secret. They didn't have much time, so Romanoff quickly told him what was going on and what she needed from him. He didn't like it, but she knew he'd do it for her. When they were done discussing strategy, they got a little more personal.

"I almost miss the days when we were hunting for that scientist. Things have gotten so complicated, too fast," Natasha sighed.

Clint nodded in agreement. "That island and sleeping on the boat, doesn't look so bad now. I miss you Nat."

She looked at him and gave him a spontaneous hug. "I miss working with you too."

He tilted her chin up and searched her eyes. "Is it always just about work?"

Natasha tried to look away, but he held her chin firmly. "No it's not and you already know that."

"Show me, because words mean nothing."

Her eyes dropped to his lips and then she let him kiss her. It was a soft, sensual kiss, with no urgency driving it. As she responded, he could tell there was no deception laced into their exchange. Sexual tension did jump forward, but there was no time for that. Her hands clutched his biceps and she pulled away.

"We can't let feelings interfere with our operation," Natasha said putting on the brakes.

Clint sighed, "always a professional. Sometimes that makes me hate you and sometimes it makes me…." He realized what he had been about to declare and stopped before he bared his soul to her.

She looked at him with something like longing, but she didn't finish what he'd been about to say. Part of her knew that he had meant to finish with the words 'love you' and another part of her denied that those words held any truth. "I've got to go. Don't forget what you need to do and when."

He watched her retreat from her emotions once again. "You know I won't fail you Nat."

Their rendezvous concluded and each went their separate ways. Now Barton had to figure out when and how to fill Banner and Stark in on what was soon to happen. With the two men being distracted by the black diamond, he wasn't even sure if he could depend on them to care and react. He had some time to work it out, as the first phase of Romanoff's plan would only begin at the end of tomorrow. She didn't need Barton for at least a week, if all went as it should.

For now Barton would continue his investigation into Beck and Stark Industries. Everything was ready, for Mr. Duk to catch him in the act of stealing. So that night, Stark watched the video feed from the secret cameras, as Barton stole the equipment. What they didn't expect was that Duk would shoot at Barton, but his skill was no concern, as his target's agility prevented any harm. Barton easily escaped.

"Bird bring up the audio please," Clint said.

"From the camera or the bug you put on Mr. Duk?" Bird asked.

"Just the bug is fine."

He knew that Stark and Jarvis would hear the same thing he would, but he still had Bird record what Duk was saying to Beck. He was surprised how quickly Hung had reported the incident to his partner in crime.

"I might have a way for you to get deeper into Stark Industries. We have a new employee who just stole one of the new prototypes that Stark has been developing."

Quentin asked, "how did he get it?"

"Don't know. That's why I think we keep this secret and maybe you can work with him."

"Maybe. Who's he selling it to?"

Hung Duk shrugged, even though Beck couldn't see him do it as they were talking on a cell phone. "I don't know," he answered again.

"I wonder if HYDRA is trying to replace me. Alright set up a meeting with this guy."

"Yes sir. I will call you back when everything is in place," Hung replied.

As soon as the conversation ended, Clint called Stark. "Did you hear that Tony?"

"Looks like you're in Barton. Keep me posted. Bruce is away, he's looking into something that came up with the black diamond."

There was something that Stark was leaving out, Clint could hear him purposely being vague. "Tony what are you two doing? Where did Bruce go?"

Tony knew Barton would get upset, so he dodged the questions. "Don't worry about it, we have it under control. Just concentrate on Beck. I have to go, bye."

Now Barton was really concerned. Stark never said bye, he usually just hung up or said some smart ass comment. But Stark was right, he had to focus on the task at hand. If he had to rescue Banner, he would when the time came. He was beginning to regret ever giving those two the black diamond. Life was getting a little too complicated, he hated all the scheming. Baton like simple solutions, not that he couldn't handle when things got so complex, but he preferred leaving that kind of living to Romanoff. She was a pro at it. They needed to go on a vacation together, for a month. Then he could break down her defences and get her to open up to him.

"Damn it," Clint swore.

Bird asked, "something wrong sir?"

"Life."

"I don't understand," Bird replied.

"Neither do I. Let's get to Stark Industries, my shift is about to start."