Her Hidden Past

- Chapter Seven -

Fury stood and moved back behind his desk, "Coulson, call the others up."

"Are we still on the same track for the mission?" Coulson asked, "Do we need to make any changes?" He glanced over at Natasha and Clint who had shifted to stand across the room. At Fury's head shake to the negative he nodded, sending a message to Agent Hill.

"Ты в порядке, Таша (You ok, Tasha)?" Clint asked quietly, resting a hand lightly on her back.

"Я буду (I will be)," Natasha whispered leaning into his side, putting her head on his shoulder. Clint wrapped his arm around her, holding her close as they stood quietly waiting for the others to arrive. Natasha pulled away quickly as there was a knock at the door. Steve and Maria entered the room, taking the empty chairs ready for the mission briefing.

"Here are the missions you are being sent on as far as SHIELD is concerned," Fury threw several files down on his desk. "We need it to look legitimate." He waited as Maria took the files, handing them around. "As you can see we've put you all on different missions leaving from the same airport in Canada."

"We've organised a team to leave from where we drop you to take the missions," Coulson announced. "They should be gone before you arrive."

"Your real mission is to get off the grid and stay off. You'll travel as a group. The four of you can split into pairs to help confuse your trail. 24 hours at most." Fury eyed each of them individually. "You will keep close contact with myself and/or Coulson at all times. If Lisov tracks you down we will make alternate plans."

"Sir, I'm Lisov's target," Natasha reminded him. "They'd do better without me. I don't want anyone else getting hurt." She left the 'because of me' hanging unsaid in the air.

"They are already targets anyway," Fury frowned. "Garrett knows they're here, Hill will be a target for being my second, Rogers has already been shot at. Barton's been a target ever since he brought you in. Unfortunately, the only way to stop that is to get rid of Garrett, Lisov, Medvedev, Sitwell and whoever else is involved."

"Unless you want to go back to Lisov?" Clint questioned harshly. "You know we would be your first targets, and you would be back on our kill list. Is that what you want?" Clint kept his voice low, knowing it would be the only way to get through to her.

"No," Natasha didn't bother apologising. "I just want to stop being the reason other people end up in danger."

"It's not your fault," Both Coulson and Barton assured her at the same time.

"You need to believe that," Fury fixed his eye on her. "You need to break any remnants of Lisov's hold on you." He paused glancing around at the others. "I expect you all to look out for one another, stay off grid and be careful. Travel light and quickly, don't stop anywhere for more than one night. Don't become predictable; trust your instincts." He glanced at Maria and Clint, "Commander Hill, you are in charge, with the expectation that you will all work together to keep each other safe."

"Of course Sir," Clint nodded. "Where are we starting from?"

"Near the Canadian border," Coulson took over. "I've organised a car with a few supplies at a cabin near where we will land, however, you will need to move from there as quickly as you can. We don't know if it is secure."

"Each of you will be logged as in deep shadow conditions," Fury informed them. "It will be more suspicious, but it will also be a lot harder to confirm your actual locations. I'm putting you in countries we don't have jurisdiction in and highly classified missions. Only I will have access to the details. That should slow them down if anyone tries to confirm where you are."