D A R K

F R E E D O M

"Sir, I can explain." Maria wanted to face palm herself, quite literally any person who says 'I can explain' or 'it's not what it looks like' can either not explain or dispute what it looks like. Fury didn't bother to acknowledge her, he knew exactly what it looked like. Afterall, he was the one that orchestrated it. He didn't expect either of them to get on so well as they did, and he didn't know that either women were attracted to the same gender, but he wasn't displeased with the results.

Maria had learnt from a young age that when your father doesn't reply to your question, you don't ask it again. This was only reinforced in the army, joining freshly at 18 you're very much a child playing soldier. You take your orders, you don't question authority. She bit her tongue, trying so hard to continue her work ethic that she had lived by her whole life but S.H.I.E.L.D was a new start. She wasn't going to simply fade away into the background anymore, Maria Hill deserved to be heard.

"Director Fury, Natasha Romanoff is not A threat!" She stood her ground, she stood tall, she stood proud. Nick wasn't pleased to have stopped in the middle of a S.H.I.E.L.D corridor, with timid agents rushing past the two of them, but admittedly he was amused.  "She needs to be assimilated into S.H.IE.L.D effective immediately. Yes, she is still a world class assassin and don't get me wrong Romanoff is irritating. Excruciatingly irritating, but you cannot let her wither away. It is a waste of S.H.I.E.L.D resources, potential and time!" She finally let out a deep breath, clearly impressed with her ability to speak. S.H.I.E.L.D would most certainly make a commander out her.

"Agent Hill, are you done?" Fury stated matter of factly.

"If you didn't hear me loud and clear enough the first time, sir, and you're not willing to take up my proposals then no I am not done. I have all day." She stood her ground again, one thing Maria did have was spine. She was stubborn, both a blessing and a curse.

Fury simply stared at her for a moment, she could've sworn she saw a slight smile creep up on his face. "She's been assimilated, from the moment I received your report Hill." Now it was her turn to just stare at him. She couldn't understand why he would make her go through all of that for, well, she didn't know what for. "I came to you, personally to discuss another issue."

She didn't reply, simply nodded her head. Straight to business as usual. Fury admired her efficiency.

Romanoff had grown bored, Director Fury had taken her only source of entertainment hours ago thus being Agent Maria Hill. The very same agent she was caught making out with like a fucking school girl, she cringed at her own actions. At the rejection, Maria had pulled away. She got more irritated at the fact she cared more about Maria's reaction than being caught. God, what was S.H.I.E.L.D doing to her?

She had grown restless, when her door was finally opened she felt het heart palpitating in hopes it would be Maria behind the door. It was not. It was Barton. She simply sighed, and ignored his presence becoming the inconsiderate bitch every one thought she was. Except Maria.

"Come on! You can't lie, you so missed me." he joked, he pulled his hands back as if to imitate holding a bow and arrow, great Natasha thought. She's stuck with the man child. "Okay, I'm sorry I'm not the person you wanted to see" and at that she whipped her head round to glare at him.

"What do you mean by that?" she threatened. He held up his hands in fake surrender.

"Woah, woah, woah slow down. Nothing, it's just usually you have Mia right?" he defended himself, she only glared at him more when he called her 'Mia' and not 'Agent Hill'. The thought of anyone being close to her agent made he feel aggressive. God, she really did need help.

"What do you want?" somehow her Russian accent was accentuated through her annoyance.

"I thought you might be restless, we could go to the gym?"

"Why would I be restless?" she snapped back.

"are you okay? You seem paranoid" he questioned her awkwardness.

"Paranoid? Why, do I seem paranoid?" for a renowed assassin with years of training, she was doing a poor job. She was choosing to blame it on S.H.I.E.L.D corrupting her ability to think straight.

"Right" Barton scratched his head, maybe he should've asked Bobbi or Hunter to do this instead. "Do you want to go to the gym? Or?"

She didn't reply, simply shut up and followed him out. He laughed at her action, it reminded him of Hill.

Clint had given up an hour ago, the Black Widow had beaten the absolute shit out of him. He wondered if he'd be dead right now if she had wanted to kill him back in Russia. He chose not to dwell on it, plus she seems pretty content with replacing him for an actual punching bag. He continued to watch her until her knuckles were bloody, he really did see Agent Hill in her. They both don't know what's good for them or when to stop. He was surprised when Fury told him that they got on so well, he would've assumed that their personalities we're too similar and yet so different that they would've clashed.

"Romanonva, that's enough"  he shouted across the gym when he noticed bruising forming on her wrists. She froze instantly at his term of address. He noticed fairly quickly his mistake and muttered a quick 'shit' under his breath before standing up and correcting himself "Sorry, Romanoff. I forgot" she didn't reply back to him, she was even more pissed off.

"I'm done" she muttered towards him, escorting her own way back to the cell.

"Hey! Wait up, I have the code to let you back in!" he shouted, jogging to catch up with her.

"vy Amerikantsy, vy takiye idioty" (you are Americans, you are such idiots) she mumbled under her breath, punching the seven figure code, 3733366 (equivalent to the word 'freedom' in dial form) into the keypad letting herself in, Barton just stared at her gobsmacked. When the actual fuck did she learn the code for her own cell? Fury would kill them if he found out, then again maybe he already knew.

She was frustrated, they promised her freedom but this is what she got in return. A shitty cell, a bed and more loneliness. At least when she worked for the KGB she could take advantage of their safehouses at the cost of killing others, but that was not who she wanted to be anymore. She did not want to be a weapon trained to kill, in another reality she hoped she'd be a normal woman born into a  western country who somehow stumbled across an American brunette and asked her for coffee.

"Suka" she sighed, collapsing onto her bed.