A/N: Hello everyone chapter 13 is finally here. Little bit shorter then normal but that doesn't really matter. I'm uploading this in the middle of the Day of the Doctor repeat so it's been a hectic Whovian day, plus a crazy week. Kind of left me stuck in the mud with this chapter but it's here so please read, review and enjoy as always.
All Clint remembered after he saw Phoenix toss a ball of fire at Natasha was a blur of orange and white, the smell of smoke and a roaring heat. Then he was unconscious again for the second time that night. He remembered screaming though. His own voice shouting the name of his fallen partner.
The very thought of Natasha being dead was almost too much for Clint. If anyone was going to die on the job it was most likely going to be him because she was just too good at what she did. He never remembered what he thought when he was unconscious but the gut feeling of despair and grief was something he would never forget after Natasha vanished into the flames.
So you can imagine his surprise when a certain red haired assassin pulled him out of unconsciousness by slapping him in the face.
Another painful tinge across his right cheek and Clint finally opened his eyes. "Ow what the?" He sat up and looked at his assailant, his sentence dropped off as he lost all ability to speak until reality slapped him hard in the face again. "Natasha what the hell? I'm awake you don't need to keep slapping me. How are you alive? Where's Phoenix? How long have I been out for?"
"I don't know I only just woke up myself," she answered and helped him up off the ground. He watched her put a hand to her earpiece radio. "This is Agent Romanoff someone please report."
A crackle of static and then a reply. "Copy that Agent Romanoff," it was the voice of an Agent neither of them recognised. "Director Fury requests the presence of you and Agent Barton at Stark Tower. Phoenix has escaped."
"Copy," Natasha responded grimly.
"Seriously Natasha I'm glad you're not dead or anything but how are you alive?" Clint couldn't help himself from pestering his partner as he followed her down the stairwell of SHIELD's building towards the garage. "You're awesome truly, but I still didn't see you back flipping out harm's way."
"I don't know Clint," she answered as she opened the door to SHIELD's garage. "I got knocked unconscious."
"You got knocked unconscious?" he was shocked. "I can't even remember the last time you got knocked out by anybody."
Natasha huffed at him and selected a shiny silver car. She had absolutely no concern for breaking and entering so she cocked her gun and shot the window. The car alarm rang loud and Clint winced, but it didn't affect Natasha. It was a little bit scary whenever Natasha got so determined about something that she did not care about any laws whatsoever.
"The fire was coming at me and I tried to dive out of the way but it moved faster than I anticipated," she continued talking as if the blaring car alarm didn't exist. She reached her hand through the broken window and pulled the door handle, unlocking the car. She and Clint climbed inside and Natasha began to hotwire the car as the conversation continued normally. "I felt the heat and the force of it pushing me backwards. I hit the wall and collapsed on the ground. There was smoke in my eyes and I couldn't see anything, I was choking but not burning. I fell unconscious, and then when I woke up the fire was gone. It was almost like nothing had happened."
The car alarm finally shut off as Natasha managed to override the controls and the vehicle purred to life. Clint wasn't even sure how she did it seeing as how all SHIELD cars were encrypted and supposedly impossible to hotwire. Natasha punched the gears into action and the car sped out of the garage and onto the crowded streets of Manhattan.
"I don't think she was trying to kill me," Natasha stated as she drove onwards.
"You're right, she could've killed us both anytime she wanted, but she didn't," Clint agreed. "But I don't know if that's good or bad."
"I guess we'll find out," Stark tower came towards them ominously as Natasha turned a corner and came onto the right street. "Whatever Fury has to say it's not going to be good. This is the second time she's slipped past us and we were lucky to escape from Fury's wrath the first time."
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Clint snickered to himself at his joke.
Natasha however was not as impressed as she pulled the car into an empty parking space of Stark Tower's garage. They exited the car simultaneously and headed for the lift at an anxious pace. Natasha jammed the button for the top floor so hard Clint was worried for a second that it might never be able to be pressed again and they'd have to use the stairs every day.
Their arrival on the top floor was met with an angry looking eye patch. It was a childish notion but every time he saw his boss Clint would always look to the eye patch. Maybe to clarify it was there or to just simply stare at it, he didn't really know. For some reason Fury's mood seemed to actually effect the eye patch, making it look really pissed off.
"Sit down," with Fury's words sounding far too menacing, Clint wasted no time in following Natasha as they dodged around Fury and went to sit among the rest of the Avengers. Every eye in the room fell onto Natasha who stood against the attention, seemingly unfazed. "You mind telling us what happened Agent Romanoff?"
"I was interrogating Phoenix when she used her ability to break free, despite me being told that while she was unable to move her hands, she couldn't use pyrokinesis," Natasha spoke calmly, which not many people could do when Fury was standing over them looking angry. "It's not my fault that I was misinformed."
"And why didn't either of you report when I attempted to contact you?" Director Fury continued to question her.
"We were both incapacitated and quite frankly I think it's insulting that you didn't send a medical team to our last known location," Clint tried to copy Natasha's innocent but sassy way of responding. It clearly didn't work because Fury just gave him an annoyed look so he decided to leave the talking to Natasha.
"It was a timed escape," Natasha spoke up. "Phoenix kept looking at the clock quickly and then directing her attention back to me, it was obvious that the whole thing was planned from the moment we caught her. I bet she even anticipated her own capture and planned for it."
"That's not the most sinister thing we've discovered about Phoenix's attack," Fury passed photos lifted from security cameras to Natasha and she began to pass them around the room so each Avenger could get a look. "This situation had now been upgraded to a Level 7. Just for a casual reminder that means that this just as bad as New York."
"Two days ago Phoenix, along with four other powerful teenagers, infiltrated SHIELD," Fury began briefing them. "Phoenix entered via floor 27 of the building and proceeded to incapacitate ever Agent on that floor. A lockdown was initiated by the intruders while Phoenix was still at the top of the building. And yet somehow she managed to go from the 27th floor to the basement."
"The basement," Clint repeated with his eyes bugging, Natasha was as equally stunned by this as him.
"It's where SHIELD keeps all the information we have ever collected," Fury clarified before Tony could ask. "Only a handful of people have access to be down there and I know for a fact that Phoenix is not one of those people. We managed to discover what mainframe she accessed and we also found out that a data chip was inserted and the files were copied and uploaded."
"Hold up there big guy," Tony held out a hand, telling Fury to stop. "You are actually admitting that a kid broke into your building a stole secure files. What'd she steal anyway?"
"That's highly classified," Fury replied irritably.
"And you let her steal these files? That was a smart move."
"Sir we scanned Phoenix and we found no evidence that she had any suspicious materials on her," Natasha cut across Stark before Fury turned around a shot him. "X-rays showed nothing either. Unless she lodged the data chip inside bone or has a hidden box in the back of her throat it's highly unlikely she actually made off with anything."
"Guess again," Fury snatched a photo off Thor and tossed it to Natasha. It showed a grainy picture of Phoenix in the basement of SHIELD with a small object in one hand and the data chip in the other hand. She looked closer at the small object and realised what it was.
"A false tooth," Clint's sharp eyes picked it up before Natasha and he looked up at Fury. "Probably lined with metal compounds to stop our scanners from seeing inside it. Clever."
Fury collected the photos back off them and sat down where he could look them all gravelly in the eyes. "We are facing a potential global catastrophe now that Phoenix has this information. She has more than likely reunited with Doctor Blake, which means the two have just become even more deadly. Alone we are capable of taking them down, but together," the director shook his head. "We're going to need a lot more firepower."
"Captain," Fury turned to Steve. "As co-leader of this team I'll leave it to you to determine a plan of action. I would also recommend you include Agent Romanoff in your plans as she knows the most about Phoenix and will able to help anticipate her next move."
"I'd be willing to help formulate data and determine the most likely places for Phoenix and Doctor Blake to hide out," Clint offered.
"Good then get on it," Fury nodded. "And Stark I want you and Banner helping in any way you can. Make some gadgets, do some science experiments, I don't care."
"You had me at gadgets and science," Tony saluted from where he casually sat on the couch.
An odd thudding sound came from above them as the building shook. Natasha and Clint looked at each other before being the first to rush to the window and look up above them for the source of the noise, the other occupants of the room followed suite and crowded around the two master assassins.
Looking upward, Natasha spotted what looked similar to a small and colourful tornado on top of the building. Having seen the occurrence before in a report Natasha immediately rolled her eyes and Clint, who had been in New Mexico at the time, recognised it as well.
Within a minute the lift dinged and Thor made his arrival. Natasha hadn't even noticed that he was gone, but then again she still wasn't used to having him around so it was more or less normal for him not to be there. He strolled in like it was no big deal and took a seat on the couch while everyone watched him from the window, except for Fury who hadn't moved at all.
"If you broke any part of my roof you're paying for it," Tony threatened.
"Thor did you seriously think it was ok to open your magical space portal at the top of Stark Tower, in broad daylight, in the middle of New York?" Clint asked as he walked back over to the sitting area.
"I meant no harm Agent Barton," Thor shrugged. "I spoke with my father and told him that I would be staying longer than planned so I can help with the matter of Phoenix. Heimdall told me before I left Asgard that she escaped from SHIELD."
"Did he say where she went?" Fury asked.
"I'm afraid not," Thor replied.
"So we're back at square one," Bruce sighed.
Fury stood up with his folders in hand and looked down at Natasha and Clint. "Make sure you find her before she strikes again because now that's she's been reunited with Doctor Blake there's no telling what will happen." With those words, Fury exited the room swiftly and dramatically.
Although his words were grim Fury still had a point. Phoenix was probably acting on old orders, but now that she and Doctor Blake were together again she would be getting new orders. Whatever they were planning now, there was no chance that it would be good.