Coulson watched in horror as the gun went off.
"How could they both be so stupid?" he thought.
Then he noticed Nat was sat calling Ward all the names under the sun. That's when he realised that the bullet had been a blank and the game a prank.
"That was not funny." He told them.
"It wasn't meant to be" Romanov replied.
"So why do it?"
"Teaching" Ward told him.
"Teaching?" Coulson replied. Amber and Kain were sat behind him, still in shock.
"We just showed them that sometimes you need to pull the trigger as heartlessly for someone you know and care about as you do for a stranger."
"You two are assassins. They aren't!"
"They will be one day. Isn't that the plan?"
Coulson stormed off, reeling. Why did Fury keep doing this to him?
Skye had heard the shot and went to investigate. She saw Ward and Romanov sat opposite each other; a gun lay on the table. She saw Coulson shouting at them and the AIT's looking a little green around the gills. When Coulson had finished shouting at them and left, Skye went up and stood behind Ward. She put her right hand on his shoulder and he reached up to hold it.
"What were you guys doing?"
"Quick game of Russian Roulette"
Romanov felt that power again. The word suddenly came to her. Unity. Then she saw it; a small brown band on the little finger of Ward's right hand, and a matching one on Skye's.
"Holy Crap" She said, staring at them.
Ward and Skye looked at each other then back at Romanov. Taking one hand each they pulled her to the most private place they knew. The showers.
"Holy Crap!" She repeated and started pacing.
"Nat?" She waved her hand in his face to stop him talking.
"You two disappear to Asgard for one night and you end up. Holy Crap!" She stopped pacing and sank to the floor in disbelief. Looking back at them she asked:
"How the hell did they convince you that getting married would be a good idea?"
"It's a long story." Skye admitted.
Once Romanov had calmed down they told her the reasoning behind it. Once they had finished even she agreed it made sense.
"No wonder you both look so calm and peaceful."
"It's a weird feeling that's hard to describe" Ward admitted, looking at Skye.
"How are you going to tell the others? How are you going to tell Tilly? Holy Crap I can't take this!"
It took a few days for Romanov to get used to the idea of her best friend having got married in secret. They were laid on their backs on their sofa, heads on each other's shoulders, throwing a ball from one hand to the other. If you watched closely enough you could see a pattern: Ward's left hand, Romanov's right, Ward's right and finishing on Romanov's left, before starting again. Ward was also practising his skill and was spinning a knife in the middle of the room.
They were talking in very hushed voices. Coulson, who was watching the cameras was getting nervous.
"So it wasn't a wedding like we would have."
"No. It was more like a binding. Thor tied a silk rope around our hands, said some words, the rope glowed and that was pretty much it."
"Really?"
"Well they did carry us out of the hall on chairs." He told her with a grin.
"Well that explains that feeling I've been getting when the two of you are in a room together."
"Could well be"
"What did he make you promise?" She asked, trying to find out how Asgardian weddings differed from theirs.
Amber came into the room, followed by Skye and Kain. She screamed when she saw the spinning knife and ran behind Kain. Skye, looking at Ward approached the knife.
"Don't Skye, it might be dangerous!" Amber whined as Skye moved closer. The second Skye touched the knife it fell to the floor with a clang.
The memory seemed to have jolted something in Ward because he sat bolt upright.
"I know how to find the Covenant." He said.
Everyone gathered in the lounge, as the Lab was now too small for so many people.
"That's crazy!" Amber said as Ward outlined his plan
"It might just work" Romanov pointed out. It was crazier than the plan they had come up with the previous year.
"You would need to have a very large team to pull that off" Kain pointed out.
"No, we only need five"
"Five people"
"Two assault, One IT, One Cover Fire and One back up."
"Who would you have as cover fire? Whoever you choose, they would have to be the best."
"Hawkeye" Romanov, May, Ward and Skye all said together.
"Fury will never sign off on this" Coulson told them. "Especially seen as though it involves Ward, Romanov and Hawkeye"
"Why would Fury decline the mission because of who is running it?" Amber asked.
"Last year Ward and Romanov were the agents that infiltrated the Covenant hideout. Fury put Ward on the inactive list for a year, even when he passed all of his physicals after six months. Hawkeye was the same! He got shot on a mission and was inactive for a long time."
"Does Fury have to know?" Skye asked.
"In order to get Hawkeye on the 'bus he will."
"Or not. Nat do you have a EMC number for him?"
Romanov pulled out her phone and dialled Hawkeye's emergency number.
"You free to talk?" She asked, putting him on loudspeaker.
"Sure. What's up?"
"We have a mission we need your help with. Low Key, under the radar"
"By under the radar you actually mean under Fury's radar?"
"Precisely."
"Whose we?"
"Hey dude!"
"Blue Eyes? Is that you?"
"Sure is!"
"I hear congrats are needed."
Ward looked at Romanov who avoided his gaze.
"We'll talk about that later. Can you help?"
"Sure. Pick me up?"
"Where are you?"
"Prague"
"Meet us at the airport. We'll be there in five hours." May told him.
"Copy that" Hawkeye told her hanging up.
"Well that's the cover sorted. What's next?"