STRAYS
*Chapter 11*
"She's on a date with Captain America." Natasha replied with an implicit grin. "He finally had the guts to ask her out." The two women shared an amused smile before sobering: "What do you need?"
"It involves breaking a locker and retrieving a USB device." Naoto said, deadpan. "I was hoping I could borrow Jeremy to fetch it."
Natasha's response was immediate.
"I'm not teaching Jer to be like us, so don't even think about it. And fetching is for dogs, which my boy is not." Natasha remarked with a serious expression, but she knew her colleague wouldn't be offended.
In fact, Naoto laughed and was about to answer when she suddenly narrowed her eyes and stared over the redhead's shoulder. Natasha followed suit and saw Clint sanding in the corner, watching them warily. An idea popped in her mind, and she waved at him to come closer.
"What…" Naoto started, but Natasha shut her with a wave of the hand.
"Meet Jer's dad" she said as an introduction and the Japanese woman's indignation turned into genuine curiosity. Barton stared at Natasha expectantly. "Clint, this is Naoto, who's in need of a man. Mind helping her out?" she added, and reeled in the disbelieved expression on her ex-lover's face.
"Excuse me?"
"I was dumped" Naoto added, completely serious. "Natasha says you're good at distracting. Please?"
The man switched from her to Natasha, to Naoto and back to Natasha again.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked warily.
The two women exchanged glances. The Japanese said:
"Plan 69? I hold the camera." When Natasha raised an eyebrow she added: "Hey, he's attractive enough and you said he's your kid's father. And he might be SHIELD, I don't trust him."
"Things have been tensed unless you've forgotten already" the redhead commented dryly. "And really? Can't you come up with something classier that plan 69?"
"It's the only alternative I can think of, lady. This locker is always busy. I need someone to cause a good enough distraction. And you know men well enough; that's the perfect distraction."
Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Fine. You've got what you need?" she asked skeptically. Naoto showed her briefcase.
"That usually fits Heine and I playing tourists plan. Thank God I was the one carrying the tools today."
"Ladies" Clint interrupted, looking more and more at loss. "What the hell are you talking about?"
The two women exchanged a glance before staring at him. With a perfectly straight face, Naoto asked:
"You've ever starred in a porn movie before?"
-STRAYS-
"I can't believe you talked me into doing this." Clint spoke in disbelief. "And I can't believe I'm letting you of all people do this."
"Either that, or Nao uses Jer, which I am not allowing." Natasha replied dryly as they stood near the entrance, waiting for Naoto to confirm the coast was clear. Clint was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed. "I teach him self-defense, not how to kill. And Nao's been on that guy's tail for weeks; she really needs that device, or she's screwed. STRAYS are sometimes sent for information withdrawing for SHIELD Agents future missions. Maybe it'll be used for you too."
"Whatever." He muttered. He knew the drill about improvising with a colleague in case of emergency. It didn't mean he had to like it. "I'm doing this for Jer, not you or…Nao?"
"Still, thank you." she replied, and the genuine tone of her voice did make him feel less annoyed.
The plan was easy; Natasha and Clint were to sneak in a deserted part of the men's locker room and make just enough noise to attract attention if anyone came in. The break-in wouldn't have taken over five minutes, but in their job anything could happen and without her male partner, Naoto would need a good excuse if she was even found in the men room. The locker holding Naoto's interest was in the far back, so they chose a location in somewhere in the middle. While the Japanese assassin did her job, they stood awkwardly face to face, waiting for something to happen or someone to come in.
Five minutes weren't long, Clint thought. If Natoto was quick enough, they would just be in and out without anything having to happen.
Unfortunately, fate wasn't on his side. Barely four minutes in, the door creaked opened.
"C'me here" Natasha whispered, getting rid of her shirt and pulling him against her to play her part. Clint landed hard against the wall, one hand next to her head, the other by her hip. She wrapped her arms around his neck and arched her body against his. He felt her breasts pressing against his chest –purple lace, low cut, he never missed details –and her lips nuzzling his neck. He reacted on impulse, both hands over her hips, not yet knowing whether he wanted to pull her close or push her away. But then she did that thing with her teeth on that particular spot and although he still wondered what the heck was going through her head, he dipped a hand down her ass and another in her hair to pull back her face, stared at those emerald eyes with wide dilated pupils and heavy breath and kissable lips and he was about to…
"WHAT THE –"
Out of reflex, Clint nearly pulled out a knife to throw at the newcomer, but Natasha's hand was suddenly firmly holding his wrist and stopping him from moving. The man looked too embarrassed or too angry to do anything about it.
"STOP!" Naoto stepped out from the back, an expensive camera in hand. She glared at her target. "You just messed the whole thing!"
The man, taken aback, stared at her with a wide opened mouth.
"Wha-"
"This was to be the best amateur porn on my channel ever!" Naoto went on angrily. Clint did a double take on the Japanese woman and felt Natasha shake, laughing quietly. He did his best not to look exasperated. Porn movie. Plan 69. Camera. Riiiiiight. He'd thought STRAYS had more subtle entitlement for cover operations.
Back in her role, Natasha threw the newcomer a shy look before hiding her face in his chest. The archer played along and wrapped his arms protectively around her shoulders. Clint hoped they'd get out of there fast; he wasn't sure he could control his heartbeat that well. Or his lower regions. He couldn't help it but the word 'porn' associated with Natasha would make anyone react. Even the newcomer looked appealed after seeing her face.
Before he could open his mouth though, Naoto threw Natasha her top, which she slipped on quickly and hurriedly stormed out of the room, clinging on Clint's hand.
"Let her deal with him, she got what she needed" she whispered once they were out of hearing's range and walking back to the rink. "Jeremy must be wondering where we are; let's go back."
-STRAYS-
Naoto weaseled her way out with the device in hand, he heard later on. Jeremy, much to his surprise, has sulked for hours after hearing he had been denied the chance to be a badass spy –direct quote. But in overall, no-one died, no injuries or casualties were reported so Clint thought they had managed all right. Even though he and Natasha hadn't exchanged a lot of words, he deemed their first impromptu family gathering a complete success. Of course, he briefly reconsidered his assessment of 'success' when Natasha not-so-subtly offered him to drive him home by the end of the day, but Jeremy's puppy eyes had won her over (again) and the archer had returned to sleeping in the guest room.
It took him most of the night, tossing and turning and mumbling aloud, but Barton came to a conclusion. There were issues to deal with, things they hadn't talked about yet but in the end, he wanted to be part of the little family. Romanoff and her boy were close, and it was obvious she adored him as much as he looked up at her. Barton wanted that too. He wanted the past weeks spent with his son to turn into his everyday life. He wanted to see how Jeremy would grow up, what would he become. He didn't care if they sorted out an arrangement like most divorced parents did, as long as Natasha didn't kick him out of their lives…
Brushing the thoughts aside, Barton headed to the kitchen and decided to keep busy until the two other rose. It was still early morning now and he didn't expect Natasha or Jeremy to be up before seven. Jeremy had mentioned something about pancakes awhile back, perhaps he should make some of these? The Hill twins always begged for his when he babysat them, maybe Jeremy would…
He paused mid-movement. Hill twins. Babysitting. Hadn't one little guy slept over at their place a couple of years ago? And Lily had mentioned some kid she liked. But wasn't his name 'Remy'? Short for Jeremy, he suddenly realized. So Maria and Natasha might have been even closer than he originally thought…
The sound of a gun clicking made him turn immediately. Natasha was in the doorway in a fighting stance, already lowering her weapon.
"Uh…Hi." he greeted awkwardly, the pan in his hand raised in defense.
"Hi" she replied warily. "Sorry I forgot…"
"It's fine." Barton said quickly, avoiding her gaze. He took a deep breath and added: "Nat –Romanoff?" the redhead tilted her head on the side, trying not to react at the use of her nickname. "I wanted to thank you." He could feel her puzzled stare on him. He cleared his throat, turned around to face her and went on: "For keeping Jeremy."
Natasha smiled weakly and nodded.
"No problem." She hesitated in turn before saying: "Thank you for giving him to me."
The kitchen wasn't that small, but both felt smothered. The previous' day's events had brought up things they had both forgotten existed. Natasha reached for the cutlery and bowls, actively avoiding his gaze. To her dismay, Barton kept glancing at her as he finished cooking the pancakes. It wasn't until Jeremy popped in the kitchen that the tension relaxed. Slightly.
The phone rang and Natasha left to answer. Jeremy took advantage of her absence to stare a little too intensely into Clint's eyes.
"Do you still like Mom?" he asked with keen interest. Barton blinked and stared.
"If I still..."
"Yeah, like mom, you heard me right. I mean, she got a lot of guys asking her out but she never said yes. Even uncle Sammuel tried once."
Barton assumed 'uncle Sammuel' was that French guy they had eaten with the previous evening, just like Alice turned out to be auntie Milla. He didn't let the feeling bother him. Well, he tried anyway.
"And so what?"
Jeremy stared at him with Natasha's inherited 'do I need to spell it for you?' look.
"Whatever. But mama looked happy this morning. Maybe that you're here makes it better."
Someone's gotta work on their subtlety, Clint thought, amused. The boy suddenly picked up a pancake and started eating. Barton realized Natasha had returned.
"We got a job." she said, an unreadable mask set on. He picked up the plural right away. "Hill just called me in and is ordering you to tag along. We are partnered on the next mission."
-STRAYS-
Maria Hill watched out through the large glass panels of the control room. Clear, blue sky with barely any clouds. She bit back a smile. Nice weather out there, but it wouldn't help her. Barely an hour ago, a situation had arisen and demanded her full attention. Fury had agreed that using STRAYS would be a good idea, and Romanoff was the ideal candidate. But for once, Hill wasn't keen on sending her alone. Alice had requested a full day off for her daughter –which she had granted after their latest mission, and even then she doubted the mercenary could properly protect her partner this time.
"Are you sure about this Hill?" Fury asked again. "We keep SHIELD and STRAYS agents separate for a reason."
"This mission requires infiltration and back-up. Our agents are good actors but none of them have Romanoff's abilities. And on the reverse no matter how good as they are, none of the STRAYS have Barton's perfect aim. Also, Agent Romanoff has a very specific skill set. I believe both combined will be perfect for this mission, sir."
"You are sending the Black Widow and Hawkeye together. Do I need to remind you that the former nearly killed the latter nine years ago?"
"I am perfectly aware of it sir."
"Then what makes you think they will agree to work together?"
"Do you have kids, Director?"
The black man stared hardly at his Deputy. She was efficient in her field, level-headed and obeyed him even if she was reluctant to. He had no questions about her loyalty but sometimes, he couldn't figure out what she had in mind. The STRAYS branch was a perfect example of the kind of stunt she could pull in his back. He hadn't known about her intentions when she had recruited the Black Widow until she had needed his signature on the paper to properly launch the project.
"I have" he replied, thinking of his ex-wife and their son. Maria turned around to face him.
"Then you should understand that urge to do anything to protect them." She crossed her arms and stared straight at him to make her point. "Most STRAYS have a child or children and each care about them. When I approach them, I tell them SHIELD will protect those children if they work for us. It's nothing but a power play; in the end, the children are protégés and hostages at the same time. STRAYS will obey because they know as long as they do, those kids will live in the safest circumstances."
"Really?" Fury asked, raising a skeptical eye. "How does any of this has to do with our situation?"
"Most of the STRAYS have no links with their former lovers. We have the Widow's son in our care and Hawkeye has met him recently." Maria replied with a shrug. "If only for that kid's sake, I know they will put their problems aside and work together if we ask them to."
"What if you are wrong?"
Hill didn't answer. The door of the briefing room slid open and both assassins stepped in. Both faces held a perfect mask of professionalism. Hill took a deep inward breath and stood straight.
"Agents" she greeted. The two returned a sharp nod. Hill pulled out two files and set it on the table. "The mission is basically an in-and-out for information retrieval. Everything you need to know is in there." She slid them towards the agents. They took their respective file wordlessly. "You're flying to Texas."
"You will be able to work together without a hitch." Fury said, although it sounded more like a question. Neither assassin blinked at the understatement.
"Yes sir" Barton grumbled. Romanoff nonchalantly shifted from a foot to another, a bored expression on her face.
"In and out?" she repeated questioningly at Maria. The deputy shrugged.
"Read the file first. Then you'll get it. Good luck."
"I won't need it." The redhead replied with a haughty tone. Fury and Barton raised his eyebrow at her arrogant confidence, but Maria smiled.
"No, you won't."
A silent message was exchanged between the two agents and Natasha seemed to release the tension in her shoulders, something the men hadn't realized was there. She threw at her new partner an expecting eyebrow, to which he replied with a shrug.
"No questions?" The two assassins didn't reply. "So get ready. Wheel's up in thirty."
I'm not quite happy with this chapter (I feel it's more a fill up, but hey, I've been neglecting this fic long enough). Next one should show up faster ^^
And yes, Jeremy is playing matchmaker :)
Hope you enjoyed! See you next chapter