Her Hidden Past

- Chapter Three -

"Ready to head up?" Clint asked, tapping on the partially open door.

Natasha shook her head reluctantly, "Let's go meet the rest of the new team."

"Nat, we have time," Clint pushed the door open a little more and slipped inside pulling it closed behind him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Natasha sighed. "Just..." She trailed off as he sat next to her.

"Lisov?" Clint asked.

"Yeah."

"He can't get to you here," Clint reminded her.

"I know."

"You're safe. I don't want you to face him alone again," He gently put an arm around her. "Tasha, you have to let me help you."

"Thank you," Natasha whispered, leaning into him for a moment.

"Always," Clint tried to hide his surprise at her reaction.

"Let's go," Natasha pulled away a few moments later. Clint stood waiting as she pulled a jacket on, carefully pulling it to rest over the sling partially hiding it from view.

"Fresh coffee in the pot, Phil," Clint called from the lounge as Coulson passed them, headed for the kitchen.

"Thanks, Clint," He called back.

"Wait, why do you get first name privileges?" Skye asked.

"Perks of being Coulson's first stray," Clint replied.

"Really?" Skye looked at him in wonder.

"Yes, really," Coulson joined the conversation, coffee in hand. "Picked him up off a street in Vienna instead of killing him like The Council wanted me to."

"Wait, you disobeyed orders, AC?" Skye stared shocked, as Coulson took a seat.

"He did," Clint replied instead. "Picked me up before I could make my life worse."

"Your life was a mess?" Skye asked. "Is that why Coulson brought you in?"

"I was on the run," Clint smirked, thinking back to all the people who wanted him dead or in jail. "It was definitely a mess."

"He seems to have a soft spot for people in a jam," Skye admitted.

"You're his latest stray so I can only assume your story isn't much different from mine?" Clint asked.

"Rising Tide hacker," Skye pointed to herself. "AC picked me up before I could drown."

"You were in deep already," Coulson reminded her. "She wasn't as tough to convince as you."

"I wasn't tough. Nat was the tough one," Clint smirked.

"You were bad enough," Coulson laughed. "Took me a week to get you to say more than yes or no and even longer to actually trust me."

"Yeah well," Clint shrugged. "I got paid more before."

"Took me a week to get Skye fully onside," Coulson replied.

"I tried to leak Shield documents," Skye admitted. "AC stuck a tracker on me and stopped me using any computer."

"And you didn't rebel more?" Clint raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem like you'd follow the rules without a fight."

"I learnt some important things about Shield. Why some information is freely available and some is not," Skye sighed. "I learnt there are things the public is better off not knowing about."