A Different Call

Assembled

A.N. I will say that there are some scenes in this chapter that did occur in the Avengers, but I decided to put my own dialogue in there, instead of using what was in Avengers. Let me know if you guys are cool with me continuing to do this in future chapters.

Natasha's P.O.V.

"Did you miss me, Agent Romanoff?" I heard an all too familiar voice ask.

I rolled my eyes and looked up at Tony, who had taken a seat next to Rogers. Meanwhile, I was leaning back in my chair with my feet on top of the table, maybe Clint was rubbing off on me a little too much. "Let me just say this, I was just called away from an interrogation with Russian arms dealers, and I would rather be back there than have to work another day with you."

Tony put a hand over his chest, "You're breaking my heart Rushman."

"Didn't think you had one, I thought you just ran on batteries," I shot back, smirking. Tony chuckled and was about to shoot back another response but was cut off by Rogers.

"You two know each other?" The captain asked.

"Oh yeah, we go way-"

I cut Stark off, "I was sent to assess his aptitude for the Avengers program. Sadly, his suit passed."

"You didn't see that sad when you were using one of the gauntlets at my birthday party."

"I was undercover I had to do something to lure you in."

"Whatever, now how did they rope you into this whole shebang, I mean I understand why Ole Glory is here," Stark stuck a thumb out towards Rogers, "But this doesn't really seem like spy work to me."

"She doesn't have to explain why she's here any more than you do Tony," Steve said, trying to defend me.

"Stark's fine, annoying, but fine. The first reason I'm here is because I'm part of the initiative just like you or Rogers are and second that's my partner that got kidnapped and he owes me way too much to go off and be killed by some wannabe villain. He's also supposed to be a member of this team we're forming." In all reality, it was Clint who I owed my whole life to, but I wasn't going to let that information out around Stark. "Now if you boys will excuse me, I am going to try and found out what our resident lunatic's plan is."

With that I got up from the table and made my way to the holding center, hoping to get some answer from Loki.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I laid my hand on Barton's bicep as he was coming to. "Calm down Clint, you're okay. You're on the helicarrier and it's just you and me I promise." I knew that the restraints they had on him wouldn't feel good when met with resistance. I ran a hand through his sweaty hair as he tried to examine the borderline cell/hospital room we were in.

"What did I do Nat?" He asked as soon as he made eye contact with me. I knew that my eye's still had to be red after hearing what had happened to Coulson.

"You didn't do anything Clint, none of what happened was your fault, just like how nothing I did in the Red Room was my fault."

Clint's steely blue-grey eyes didn't leave me, and it began to make me a little uncomfortable, something that I didn't think I would feel around Clint since we had begun dating. "Nat, something big happened. Please tell me. We promised to never sugarcoat anything with each other."

I bit my lip, looked down, and took a deep breath to try and steady myself, "When Loki escaped, there were some casualties...which included Coulson." I could see the anger in Clint's eyes and noticed in my peripherals that his fists were clenched. "Hey," I said in a semi-stern voice, "I'm mad too, but you can't show that right now. There are still agents out there right now, including our team members who are wary of you. So, if you really want to avenge Coulson's death you need to keep yourself in check until we can take down the bastard that did this. Got it?"

Clint slowly nodded and I began to undo his restraints. "So how is whole team thing doing?" He asked as he slowly made his way to the attached bathroom.

"Well, Thor showed up, although his time he was able to get the hammer up." Okay, so maybe the joke was a little childish, but we needed a bit of childishness right now. "I had to bring Banner here, though he seems to have gotten along with Stark, which is fairly surprising considering that I'm pretty sure that could buy a mansion like Stark's if I had gotten a nickel for every time he tried to bring out the Hulk. Meanwhile, Stark and Rogers have been at each other's throats since they bordered the helicarrier and honestly, I can't tell what the real reason behind their rift is. Currently, my money's on a combo of daddy issues, world views, and trying to figure out who's really running the show amongst ourselves."

"Sound like one hell of a team." Clint chuckled out. "Where are they right now?"

"Thor and Banner are both MIA, but I think that Rogers and Stark are still licking their wounds. We're pretty shaken up, but you know it's SHIELD and that means that we're on our A-game when everything falls to shit."

As soon as I said that Rogers opened the door asking if I could fly a quinjet. I shook my head no, knowing that Clint would step in. With how old-fashioned Rogers was and stuck in the view of everything being black or white, I knew Rogers would need someone to vouch for Clint.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We had just finished eating shawarma and were gathered in Central Park to see Loki and Thor's sendoff.

I leaned over and whispered in Clint's ear, "Maybe we should ask Thor if we could borrow that muzzle for new recruits."

Clint just responded with a low chuckle. He was still processing the mind control from Loki as well as coming to terms with Coulson death, I mean we both were, but Clint was always more emotional than me.

As soon as the Asgardians left Clint and I made the way to a SHIELD issued SUV. "DC and then Iowa?" Clint asked turning to me. Fury had given us a few weeks of leave, though I'm pretty sure it's because the Word Security Council is breathing down his neck, but I wasn't going to argue time off right now.

"Seems like a pretty good idea." I lace my hand with Clint's, which had been resting on the center counsel. "From what Laura told me, Lila might be in need of an archery instructor."

Clint looked over at me and smiled, and I knew that even though we had been launched into a world that was out of our paygrade, we would be okay as long as we had each other's back. We owed that debt to each other.