Natasha Romanoff, a Red Room assassin, is hired to kill the glorious Captain America before he changes the world in all his star, spangled glory. However, as she gets closer and closer to her target, she begins to fall harder and harder for the man...
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Nick Fury had wanted "proof."
Clint Barton, well... he thought the S.H.I.E.L.D. director was quite frankly ridiculous.
How much more proof did he need to see that Natasha Romanoff was an agent working for the Red Room?
Fury had argued that they couldn't arrest her on international charges - that could very well start a war if the KGB were to seek retaliation on bringing down one of their best assassins - if there wasn't physical proof that couldn't be brushed off as mere coincidences. It was obvious to him and Wanda who had seen everything, but apart of him - way deep down - knew Fury was right. They needed solid evidence. They didn't need it for themselves because Clint knew Fury believed him, but they needed it for the case in court.
As vexatious as it was, Clint never backed down from a mission.
He had started this, and he would end it.
It was how he was raised by his parents, how he was trained as a spy.
It was a quiet, Sunday afternoon that he, Wanda, and Lila walked into Elegance Studios two days after their initial meeting with Natasha. The city was blanked in fresh snow, a stillness to the world that seemed so peaceful in contrast to the disarray of emotions whirling inside him. Lila was beaming with excitement and eagerness for her first dance lesson, and it was almost... almost contagious. He was her father, and he loved to see her smile. He would do anything to make her happy. However, there was a certain devastation to his personal mission in bringing down Natasha: the heartbreak Steve would experience finding out the woman he loved was actually assigned to kill him. He could hardly fathom what his friend was about to go through. Hundreds of miles away in Brazil, unknowing the truth he'd return home to, the life he'd built with Natasha entirely uprooted and burned. No, this was personal to Clint because he'd watched Steve struggle in adjusting to the new century, in losing everyone he'd ever known. His friend didn't deserve this heartbreak that was going to shatter him, another devastation upon devastation of tragically bad luck.
It didn't matter if Natasha loved Steve or not.
At least, that's what Clint told himself.
Wanda was sure that she did, and Clint believed her. If Natasha didn't, she wouldn't have stuck around for months on end. If she didn't, she wouldn't have stolen sensitive intel on Steve, just to hide it from the Red Room, as Wanda had seen when she made contact with Natasha. The agent may very well be compromised but that only made her more dangerous - her actions unpredictable. They could theoretically use her love for Steve against her and apart of Clint - a small part of him - wondered if they could strike a deal with her.
If she really and truly loved Steve, would she be willing to cooperate with them? To work with them if Steve was involved in the investigation?
It was a thought that had crossed Clint's mind, but it was ever so brief. Just because she was compromised didn't mean she wouldn't complete her mission. He had to assume she would.
