Vengeance [Avengers Fanfiction]

[Chapter 14]

[Clint Barton- Hawkeye]

    I watched as everyone exited the room. Coulson, Thor and Steve walked out the door with Quinn and Hill strode towards the direction Fury went in, leaving Natasha and I in the room alone.

    "Why do you think Fury paired you to fight with her? I thought he was done testing her." Natasha commented, standing.

    "I honestly don't know. But I do understand why he wants to discover her identity so badly. It's driving him crazy that they have nothing on her. He said that he had some clues, but they didn't add up and led to dead ends."

    Natasha gave me a serious look, locking her blue-green eyes with mine.

    "What do you think about her?"

    That was a good question. I honestly wasn't sure what I thought about her. She was dangerous, mysterious, a threat, but I could tell she was against the League and honestly wanted to stop it. But I was still unsure about the reasons why she thought it was her job to stop Vermont.

    "I- well, of course I don't trust her. She's a threat; nobody knows who she is and where she came from. There's stories of how she just appears out of thin air, and then disappears. Stories about people meeting her in dark alleys, but not remembering what happens next and how they ended up beaten up and bleeding. But..."

    "You can see the good in her. I can too, but I don't know why. She has that dark aura about her, of death and smoldering anger, but I can still get the sense that she isn't evil. Almost like she's avenging something." Nat admitted softly.

    I didn't have to say anything to let Natasha know that I agreed, there was a silent language between us that had developed over years of us being partners. We understood each other better than anyone.

    We started walking towards the training arena in companionable silence, side by side, each lost in our own thoughts. Agents that passed us gave us nods of respect as they carried on with their various duties.

    "She's young. But gives the impression that she's seen much more in her life that most people should ever see." Natasha muttered, her face set in stone but her eyes a bit glazed over. I could tell what she was thinking about.

    "Reminds me of someone I met on a mission once. I had my arrow locked over her heart, but at the last second decided to follow my instincts, not my mind. Look how that turned out." I gave Nat a look, a soft smile on my face.

    "You got the best damn partner you've ever had." A smile was twitching at the corners of her lips, but she was trying to suppress it.

    We reached the doors of the training arena and stepped in, finding everyone else waiting for us.

    "You two finally decided to come down here?" Coulson commented flippantly as he casually flicked away at a tablet in his hands.

    "Everyone else's just early." I replied, walking over and joining everyone else, who then turned and watched Coulson expectantly.

    Coulson put the tablet away and faced the room. "I assume Fury already told you about the specialized weapons we have for training. They will bruise, but aren't lethal and they stick to the person it hits. Once the system registers the hit as a lethal or debilitating one, the winner will be announced. Questions?"

    When no one answered, he gave a nod of approval. "Good. Phantom, Hawk, you can go to the observation room and choose your weapons. Leave any weapons you currently have on you on the table in there. Everyone else, you will observe through the windows, but there won't be much to see. Fury has ordered that the lights will be turned off during the round."