Seducers At Heart

chapter two

When Kelly wakes up, the room smells of disinfectant and she knows where she is without opening her eyes.

She's in SHEILD's health clinic.

Opening her eyes slowly, she finds 'Tasha and Fury sitting next to her bed, wide-eyed and awake. "Might've messed that up a bit, director. 'M sorry."

Fury smiles. "Ya think, Romanoff?"

Kelly suddenly remembers Clint shooting her leg, and she sits up quickly; only to be laid back down by 'Tasha's hands on her shoulders. "Barton. He's been compromised," she says angrily.

"I know." 'Tasha answers.

"He shot me."

"I know that too."

"Are we gonna do something about it?"

"We're not gonna shoot his leg if that's what you're implying."

"Why'd he shoot me? And Fury? He's got an unhealthy love for the both of us." Kelly frowns at 'Tasha.

'Tasha starts frowning too. "I don't know. But Loki declared war on Earth when he said everything had to get messier." She has the most determined face on and it makes me very happy to know that we're on the same boat.

"When I knelt down, he said 'this is your natural state.' Then proceeded to push me down so I was laid down. He's an мудак. Can I shoot him in the leg?"

"We'll see." 'Tasha smiles.

"How can I help?" Kelly asks Fury straight-on, even if he's halfway to the door.

"Help Natasha bring in Doctor Banner."

"Yes, sir."

/

"Should have got paid up front, Banner." Natasha and Kelly suddenly appear from behind the curtains. Banner turns around, quietly.

Kelly looks straight at Banner, and offers a hand. "Doctor Banner."

He looks at the preferred hand and moves his arm up to shake it. "Miss...?"

"Romanoff. Kelly Romanoff. This is my sister, Natasha."

"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle." 'Tasha says to Bruce.

"Avoiding stress isn't the secret." He says, rolling his cufflinks up.

"Then, what is it? Yoga?" 'Tasha questions.

"You brought me to the edge of the city,smart. I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?"

"No. Just us." Kelly answers Banner's question, smiling.

"And your actress buddy, is she a spy too? Do they start that young?"

"We did."

"Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff? Because that's not gonna work out for everyone." Banner looks at Kelly when he asks this. He knows she's ruthless, then. Smart.

"No. Of course not. We're here on behalf of SHIELD." Kelly states, pulling a chair up so she could sit down. Her leg was beginning to hurt.

Banner looks down at Kelly, and goes on. "SHIELD. How did they find me?"

"We never lost you, doctor. We've kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent." 'Tasha replies, understanding Kelly's weakness at that point.

"Why?"

"Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in."

"What if I said no?"

'Tasha gives Kelly a look. "We'll persuade you." Kelly responds, her face a bit impassive.

"And what if the... other guy says no?"

"You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you wanna break that streak."

"I don't always get what I want." Banner says to Kelly, lifting an eyebrow.

"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe." 'Tasha cuts in.

"Well, those I actively try to avoid."

Kelly rolls her eyes at Banner's attempt at humor.

"This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet."'Tasha pulls her phone out, and shows him a photo of the Tesseract. Banner leans forward to take a closer look.

"What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?"

"Well, he wants you to find it. Usually I'd be the one on these missions but... It's been taken. It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was,that's where we'd be." Kelly admits.

"So Fury isn't after the monster?"

"Not that he's told us."

"And he tells you everything?"

"Talk to Fury, he needs you on this."

"He needs me in a cage?"

"No one's gonna put you in a..."

"STOP LYING TO ME!"The thunderous tone in is voice makes 'Tasha quickly grab for her gun under the table, and point it at him, while Kelly grabs for her dagger in her boot. But something is now off in the atmosphere. Banner stands straight up, smiling. "I'm sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do. Why don't we do this the easy way, where you don't use that, and the other guy doesn't make a mess? Okay? Kelly... Natasha..."

Natasha, still wary, doesn't lower the gun. Kelly instantly lays her dagger down in a sign of trust. 'Tasha finally lowers her gun and speaks into her earpiece."Stand down. We're good here."

Kelly rolls her eyes at her sister, and looks up at Banner. He's got a distractingly charming smile on. "Just us, huh?"

'Tasha fidgets now that she's let her guard down.

"So is that a yes, Doctor?" Kelly asks.

"It's a yes, Miss Romanoff."

"Good. Let's move out," Kelly motions for 'Tasha to help her up, while Banner is stuck looking at her, a confused look on his face. "I got shot in the leg, if you're wondering."

Banner answers with a small "ah," and walks out with Kelly and 'Tasha.