Weakness ↣ Natasha Romanoff

Chapter One

When Maria Hill told Jaxon that Director Fury wanted to meet him, he had of course thought she was kidding.

Jaxon wasn't the best SHIELD agent out there. He was pretty much nothing compared to the likes of Phil Coulson or Maria Hill.

So, sitting in the room with Director Nick Fury, Jax was sure there was a prank being pulled on him.

Fury had his hands behind is back, his one good eye fixed on Jax. "Agent Wren," he began, "did you hear what I said?"

Jax swallowed. "Yes sir. You, um, want me to be a part of the Avengers Initiative."

"That is correct, Agent Wren."

"But...you can't be serious," Jax stammered. He bit his lips, surprised by his own audacity, then rushed on. "I'm...I'm nothing special, Director. You have to be joking."

Fury sighed. "Son," he said, "I was shot in the chest less than twenty-four hours ago, and Clint Barton has been compromised. You know who turned him? A god. An alien god with a Halloween costume and a really annoying smile. He has a magic glowing stick and he'll tap you in the chest and you'll be his mind slave. He stole the Tesseract, Agent Wren. So no, I am not joking."

There was a silence. Jax became aware that his mouth was open and shut it quickly.

"But sir, why me?"

Fury lifted an eyebrow. "What does SHIELD stand for, Agent?"

"Er...Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"And what do we do?"

"Espionage, law-enforcement—"

Fury cut the young man off. "That's right, Agent Wren. Espionage."

"You want me to spy on the Avengers?"

Fury sighed. "Son, I've observed something about you. You're nice."

"Um, thanks."

"People trust you, Agent. Hell, I trust you. You're exactly what I need—Agent Romanoff can't keep all of the freaks in check herself."

"Freaks?"

"It's a layman's term for superenhanced individuals. You've heard of Captain America?"

"Yes, of course, Agent Coulson told me about him—"

"Well, he's the tamest one of the bunch you'll be working with. So I advise you, Agent, to prepare yourself."

"They'll be assembling here?"

"No. We're taking an aircraft there. Now."

Jax paled. "Yes sir."

Fury stood. Jax wilted a little but jumped to attention once the director's eye fell on him. He didn't dare ask yet what there was, but he had a growing suspicion about it.

The pair finally made their way onto the carrier. Maria Hill, who was standing by the pilot, turned and greeted them in turn. "Director," she said. "Agent Wren."

Natasha Romanoff, who had been observing her black boots like they were the most interesting thing in the world, turned her gaze to Fury. "Director," she said smoothly as Fury took a seat beside her.

Jax watched as Romanoff's gaze went right over him and back to the floor. He decided that Maria Hill would be infinitely better company and sat beside her.

"Why doesn't she like me?" Jax whispered to Hill.

"Don't take it personally, Wren," said Maria easily, leaning back in her seat. They were beginning to take off. "She's just stressed over Barton."

"I can hear every word you're saying, Agent Hill," said Romanoff clearly.

Maria's lips twitched, but she said nothing. As the trip went on, however, it became clear that Romanoff apparently did have a personal vendetta against Jax, although he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. Fury filled them in on the details as they went on--mostly Jax, since Maria had been there when the Asgardian appeared and had passed the information on to Romanoff.

"We'll be meeting Agent Coulson there, then?" Jax asked. His question was more to Romanoff than the others, so of course she ignored him completely.

"Yes, and Steve Rogers. Stark should be there as well, although we can't really tell with him," said Maria. "You've sent Banner ahead, haven't you?"

"Yes I have," said Romanoff. Jax sank a little in his seat and stared at the floor as well, allowing himself to properly process the information—something he hadn't really been given the chance to do.

The Avengers Initiative. He had heard barely anything about it, but one thing he was sure of, it sounded time-consuming. Which meant that any personal projects would have to be put aside.

Jax felt his chest hitch a little. Alex.

Two years had passed since he'd joined SHIELD. Two years searching for his sister's murderer. Two years' worth of unsuccessful attempts to track the lunatic down—all for nothing. He'd have to push it all aside for this Loki, whoever he was.

"You okay, Wren?" Maria asked, and Jax gave her a faint but convincing smile.

"I'm fine."

They lapsed into silence once more, and Jax tried desperately to think of something other than the memory of his sister's body being shut away forever in a white casket.

So, Captain America. Jax hadn't been there to witness them defrosting the super soldier, but according to Phil Coulson, it had been surreal. The stuff of war veterans' legends, Steve Rogers, living in the present day.

It wasn't a surprise that Rogers would've been roped into the Initiative; in fact, it was almost a given. But the others... Tony Stark. The Iron Man.

Jax had seen him on television. He'd heard interviews with the man's secretary, Pepper Potts. Newspapers sported photos of his new building, Stark Tower, and some scientific jargon about the tower's power. Coulson had gone to recruit Stark, and Jax felt a little pang of pity for his fellow agent.

Then there was Bruce Banner—except for his ability to turn into a green monster, Jax didn't know anything about the man. He would ask Romanoff if she didn't look ready to cut someone's throat.

Which left their adversary, Loki. Jax knew virtually nothing about the man, or alien, or whatever he was, except that he was dangerous. And he needed to be stopped.

And Jaxon Wren was the worst possible choice for that job.

•••

A/N: God that exposition though. Is it just a coincidence that Matthew Daddario has a younger sister?

Lol I'm doing horrible