Avenge | Book 2

Agents Quill & Barton

File Room

"Level 6 agent/doctor and assigned to go through files of some 90 year old 26 year old." Agent Payton Quill complains as she looks through an old file cabinet from the SSR days.

"Technically she is 94 years old then." Agent Madison "Madi" Barton, Clint Barton's little sister, corrects as she pulls out a file. "She was born in 1917, the plane crashed in 1943. So she would be 26 plus the 66 years in the ice; 92 year olds."

Payton just turns around with the file open in her arms, giving her best friend, Madi, a 'really' look.

"Sorry." She shrugs sheepishly.

"You guys shouldn't be complaining, I'm a highly trained assassin and I'm stuck in here with you guys." Natasha whines.

"Well, not for long." A too familiar voice calls as he walks in making the girls turn that way. "Fury has a team assigned on finding information on Ms. Barnes." He looks behind him as a bunch of agents come waltzing in.

"So we can leave?" Payton asks hopefully, setting down the file.

"Sadly, no." Coulson walks up to them. "You're on the team of finding info about her. But, Agent Romanoff." He turns to her.

"What?" She looks up from the file she was reading.

"Fury wants you to keep her company while we find the information." He commands.

"Thought Hill was watching her."

"She was but Ms. Barnes kind of scared her away." He smirks a bit. "So we need someone who can withstand her, you can."

"How am I eligible to look over her?"

"Gracelyn Barnes has the same amount of confidence as Mr. Stark, same sarcasm level as Clint, and she isn't messing around when it comes to things like you are." He explains.

"Well." Natasha takes a glance at her friends. "Why don't you send Agent Quill and Barton? They can handle all that, they deal with Clint and I."

Coulson looks between the two hopeful blonde agents.

"Fine." He sighs, giving in. "But if Fury says anything, I was never here."

"Yes!" They cheer, dropping the folders onto the top of the filing cabinet. "Thanks, Nat!" They run out.

"Wait." Payton reappears at the doorway. "Where is she?" She smiles sheepishly.

A Debriefing Room

"Agent Hill!" Someone calls making me spin around in the spinning chair to face two blonde women in similar uniforms. "We'll watch her, you're off duty."

"Thank God." Agent Hill mumbles as she stands up.

I watch her with a smirk as she walks over to them.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Hill." I call out to her sarcastically.

"You too, Ms. Barnes." She sighs and walks out of the room.

*•*•*•

"Who are you dames anyway?" I question as they sit in the chairs to the left of me, unlike Hill who sat across.

"Dames?" The both say at the same time.

"Women, sorry." I apologize.

"I'm Agent Payton Quill." The blonde with lighter blue eyes smiles.

"And I'm Agent Madison Barton, but you can call me Madi." The dirty blonde with darker blue eyes smiles also.

"I think you know who I am, I'm guessing if you're the Quill and Barton Mr. Coulson was speaking of about the files." I connect from what I overheard Coulson telling the redhead.

"Yep." Payton nods. "Gracelyn Barnes part of the Howling Commandos. Only woman to be in it."

"Well Peggy Carter helped us out a bit, so I would like to think she was part of the team at times." I say. "I heard she founded this organization."

"Yes, along with Howard Stark and Chester Phillips." Madi adds.

"I heard." I nod. "But Fury gave me the rundown on this place a bit and so did Coulson."

"They usually do."

"So what other things can you tell me about?" I ask.

"Well..." They give each other a look.

"Don't mess with Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow." Payton warns.

"Is that the redhead?"

"Yes." She nods. "Don't mess with her."

"Why?"

They both laugh a bit.

"She will take you down in a heartbeat." Payton explains. "Like, don't get on her bad side."

"What's her background?" I ask a bit interested in this Natasha character. "Like what made her like that?"

"Honestly." They look at each other. "We don't know it completely. She doesn't really talk about it."

"We just know it involved the red room." Payton adds.

"The red room?" I sit up straight remembering the stories from what the transferred soldiers and agents told us at the bars. "That's... Let's not talk about that." I suggest, they nod. "How about..." I tap my fingers on the table. "How 'bout you tell me your guys' story?"

"What do you mean?" Madi asks.

"How are you here today?" I clarify. "What has led you up to being here?"

"Ok." Madi nods. "Who do you want to go first?"

"I don't really care, honestly." I shrug.

"I'll go then." She moves around in her chair to get comfortable. "Born in Iowa in 1986. Had a normal childhood till my parents died. My brothers and I joined a circus that taught us how to trickshots with bows, I got the crossbow. But when I started to notice weird things going on in the circus like that they were teaching us fighting tactics, I left.

"I finished high school, went to three different colleges. I went to BS, Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA; Pennsylvania State University, and Empire State University. I joined SHIELD as an agent and a physicist. I also help with the tech, but that's not what I joined for." Madi finishes her story.

"Did you ever reconnect with your brothers after you left the circus?" I question.

"One of them." She nods. "Clint, he works here. But, I don't know what happened to Barney."

"Mkay." I nod, processing the information. "What's your story, Quill?"

"I was born in Missouri. My mom died when I was about seven. My brother disappeared that day too. I had to stay with my Grandfather but when I was about 13 we moved to New York, the bad part of New York where violence was a regular thing. So I taught myself karate.

"When I was old enough I went to college, got a medical degree. Joined SHIELD as a doctor, down the line as an agent because Madi, Natasha, and Clint taught me the stuff they knew." Payton tells her story.

"Why did you want to join SHIELD, though?"

"I merely just wanted to help people." She answers.

I lean back in my chair with a bit of a smile.

"I like you two." I simply state.