An Unlikely Romance - The Avengers (Part 1)

Executive Privilege

"What, is that it? You're not even going to taunt me? Tell me about all the tests you're gonna run? C'mon Fury, you barely even took anything this time."

Your voice came out tauntingly, cocky, even headstrong to a faulty degree. That was exactly what you were going for... and it was exactly the opposite of what you felt at the moment. It had been only two days since you confronted Natasha over her unknown past, since you had vainly attempted to get a proper read on the woman who acted as one of your two primary caretakers. She had passed her time as your guardian in silence, avoiding any significant answers to the many questions you posed to her. Clint's turn was coming up tomorrow, and you'd thought it would be a bit of a relief.

That was before Fury marched into take his usual samples of blood, with none of his normal bluster. Usually the one-eyed agent rapidly altered between taunting and threatening you. It was actually kind of amazing how much time he spent talking, considering how few of your questions he actually answered. But this time was very different from those other visits. Fury didn't say a single thing to you, and he barely bothered to look you in the eye as the nurses did their duties. You were so thrown off that you didn't manage to taunt him until they were pulling the needle free, cleaning up and preparing to leave.

"We have what we need. I don't see any reason to stick around."

"Seriously, what is going on with you today? You talked more to me when you thought I was a Hydra spy!"

"I still think you are," Fury responded, ushering the nurses out of the room and following quickly behind them. "Quit trying to antagonize me before it works. Barton is waiting for you back at the room."

With an aggravated sigh, you stood from your chair, but just as you were about to reach the doorway, Fury slammed it behind him as he left. The door came so close when it slammed that a wall of air slammed into your face, and the door was very lightly touching the tip of your nose.

"Holy shit," you mumbled, "did I piss all of them off at once?"

--------

"Agh, fuck, that was rhetorical!" You grunted at the impact of the wall into your chest, with Clint's arms pinning you against it once you were settled. One hand locked both of your arms there while the other hand patted down your sides, legs, and feet, all the way down to actually shaking at the hem of your shirt.

"Stop struggling or this is just gonna take even longer," Clint ordered, though you realized at that point he wasn't even searching you. In fact, most of his little pat-down hadn't even been thorough - just sort of forcefully slapped you a lot. You were pretty sure you were going to have some bruises later, actually.

"What the hell is with the security theatre?" You half-shouted, twisting your head to look back at him. You were rewarded with a further twist of your arm by Clint, keeping you pressed firmly where you were and sending a shooting pain up your shoulder.

"New security protocol - Fury thinks someone might have smuggled some contraband into the base, so we're doing crackdowns on all civilians. Have to be sure you didn't bring anything in with you or smuggle any of the needles or other medical devices from the nurses that could be used as a weapon."

"Bring things in? From where?! I'm the only civilian in this base that I know of, and I don't get to leave!"

"Yeah, funny how that works," Clint grunted, giving your arm one last twist before he stepped away. You immediately started wincing as you gently rotated your shoulder, making sure it wasn't actually damaged in any major way. It had felt like he was about to pull it clean out of its socket.