Under or Over: Hawkeye & Black Widow

CHAPTER #23

"Barton, good of you to come for a visit," Tony said.

Clint replied, "you know I'm not here to socialize.  What did you find out about that black diamond?"

"Jarvis, give him the run down." 

"The black diamond is an alien gem, that has its own power. It can act as an energy conduit, but is also a live organism."

"What the hell?  It's alive?  And it has it's own power, like that cosmic cube of Thor's planet?"

Jarvis continued, "it is alive, but not like the Tesseract. That cube has unlimited potential.  The black diamond has limitations, we just haven't had time to determine what they are."

Clint looked at Stark, "so can it be used to make weapons or was the portal device all it can be used for?"

"That is a question my friend, that I haven't solved yet.  But to answer your next question, no I am not giving it to Fury.  At least not for the time being."

Barton walked over to the bar and helped himself to a glass of scotch.  Then he downed another.  Stark narrowed his eyes.  Jarvis who automatically observed everything and everyone, alerted Stark to Barton's high heart rate, via a wristband screen.

"There's something else you're not telling me. Come on man, spit it out." Tony said, joining him for a drink.

"On agent Hill's screen I saw a report that said that the Black Widow had been missing from her operation for two weeks."

"And?"

"And that she was seen working with HYDRA agents.  Tony what the hell is she doing with them? They had her flagged."  Clint rubbed his hands over his face, before finishing the glass.

"Interesting.  I wasn't contacted.  Did you talk to Cap about it?"

"Rogers has been on an operation for a month, I don't know where he is. Does Jarvis still have access to the S.H.E.I.L.D. computers or did they block him out when they did those ship repairs and enhancements?"

Tony looked at him with disbelief, "seriously?  You have so little faith.  Of course we do."  Then he pulled up a screen in mid air.  "Jarvis show him the file on Natasha Romanoff that has been flagged."

They looked over the data before them.  The file said she had left her team suddenly, right in the middle of interrogating a Russian HYDRA agent.  The next time they found her on the grid, was protecting a HYDRA man, who was being brought in by S.H.E.I.L.D. She even paralyzed one of her former fellow agents, so the HYDRA agent could get away.  

Clint wanted to hit something and kept clenching his fists.  "You got a gym or a punching bag here?"

"Jarvis direct him to the gym.  You'll find a speed bag and a heavy bag.  When you calm down, we'll discuss this further," Tony said and watched his friend and fellow Avenger go.

While Barton worked the heavy bag, Stark had Jarvis dig deeper into the files.  He wanted to know if there was any secondary reason of why agent Romanoff suddenly betrayed S.H.E.I.L.D.  Did she find something on the agency that made her change sides?  But he could find nothing. When Barton finally returned, he was wearing a change of clothing from his pack.

"The shower in your gym is  amazing."

"Only the best in this place.  I dug deeper and nothing explains why she left.  Could be she's brainwashed or being manipulated by HYDRA," Tony suggested.

"I could accept that, but then why haven't I been sent after her.  Or any other team sent to retrieve her?" Clint asked.

Stark shook his head.  He had Jarvis give them the probability statistics of all the possible reasons why agent Romanoff was with their enemy.  Still nothing made sense.  "Staying for dinner?" Tony asked.

"Do you mind?" Clint asked.

"Not at all.  You should stick around and check out some of my new toys.  Oh and that modified motorcycle you requested is in my garage, if you want to take it for a spin."

"Now that sounds relaxing."

"Jarvis make sure the guest room is ready for Barton to stay the night."

"Yes sir. I can direct you to the garage, if you would like to take that ride now."

Clint smiled for the first time since he'd arrived.  "Jarvis you read my mind."

After Barton left, Stark returned to investigating the alien gem.  It disturbed and intrigued him at the same time.  What he couldn't determine yet, was what alien planet it had come from. Was this something that could potentially affect world security? He wouldn't call in the other Avengers unless absolutely necessary.  And they had to determine if Natasha Romanoff was a confused friend or a foe.  He was pretty sure that Barton was going back to S.H.E.I.L.D. to confront Fury and then go after Romanoff by himself.

** ~ ~ ~ ~ ~**~ ~ ~ ~ ~ **

When Barton returned from his exhilarating motorcycle ride, he joined Stark for dinner.  They were not joined by Pepper Potts, who was away on business for Stark Industries. For desert they sipped on cognac as Stark showed off his new toys and gadgets.  Then they wound down the night, playing an old fashioned game of pool.

The next day Barton said good-bye and returned to where the quinjet was picking up it's final load of supplies.  Once back on board the hellicarrier, he went straight to Fury.

"What's happened to agent Romanoff? Why is she with HYRDA and why haven't we gone after her?" Clint demanded of his Director.

"I'm handling it.  Stay out of it Barton. That's an order," Fury replied, answering nothing.

"What? You can't just let her go!" Clint stated, his anger growing.

"Agent Barton, I know I'm speaking english. I said leave it alone. I'm aware of the situation."  Director Fury was loosing his patience and was done with his agent.

"You know what Fury, you can shove your order up your ass," Clint said.  Then he left and took a quinjet without authorization.  He knew he'd be tracked, so he left it at the airport, where he knew Romanoff kept her modified plane.  He'd go to her compound first, see if she was there or find some answers.   Then if Barton had to, he'd use the tracker he attached to the HYDRA vehicle and go find her. He'd get some answers, one way or another.