"Did you ever find the mole?" Steve asked, breaking his long silence.
"Yes" Fury answered, but at the same time Natasha gave an answer of "No".
Steve raised an eyebrow: "well, which is it?"
"We apprehended Agent Yates while Romanoff and Barton were in medical. He had known all the details of the mission, including their cover stories, he had the opportunity and the means; we found evidence on his personal computer of contact with Arvin's inner circle and a large money transfer was made into his account the morning the mission went south. It was pretty simple" Fury stated matter of factly, despite the fact Tony, Steve and Clint all had their eyes on Natasha.
"It was too easy" was the explanation she offered, clearly too exhausted to offer a more in depth answer. Clint nodded his agreement; it was obviously something they'd discussed in detail before.
"Agent Romanoff you were out cold for three days in the medical bay on your return from that mission, I assure you; there was nothing easy about it"
Natasha's eyes darted up, meeting Fury's gaze.
"Believe what you wish" she said defiantly; standing unsteadily, Clint joining her, and the two of them walked from the room without another word.
Wow she must be tired Tony thought! Natasha didn't normally settle allowing someone to think her wrong.
There was a moment of silence before Steve continued the questioning: "Were there any other suspects?"
"Yes, none of those lines of investigation led anywhere"
Tony wasn't sure that it was comforting to think SHIELD could suspect more than one of its operatives of turning on them; or whether it was good that they had a place to start.
"Well, I'm with Tasha on this one. It all seems too cut and dry, too neat; it was clearly a set-up. Well, either that or you have a serious mole problem!"
Tony paused a second to let his words sink in; "So if it's all the same to you, I'd like to take a look at all the paperwork from the Latvia mission and your investigation"
Fury, recognising defeat, nodded and looked to Coulson expectantly. The agent scurried from the room before returning with a crate of newly copied paperwork. Tony hadn't expected quite so much, but at least the notes would be thorough.
"Can I take all this back to the tower to..." Tony had begun to ask before Fury interrupted with a sharp "No"
"Yes, that will be fine Mr. Stark" Maria answered, glaring at her boss while gathering her own notes from the table.
Fury looked shocked for just a second before shrugging and storming from the room.
"Let me know if I can do anything tohelp" Maria added before Tony turned to leave; Coulson nodded in agreement, smiling encouragingly as the last two Avengers left the room.
They all returned to New York, it was safer there. They had better resources too, there was no need to stay in Chicago any longer.
