Her Hidden Past

- Chapter Six -

"Garrett didn't give you two issues on the way up?" Fury asked, watching the two young agents cautiously enter his office. They stood to one side of the chairs in front of his desk.

Natasha stepped forward. "No, Garrett just wanted to chat."

"You said you found something?" He accepted the flashdrive Natasha offered.

"It's all on there," Clint answered, as Fury plugged it in.

"I remember this op," Fury mused as he scrolled through the file. "Sit, tell me what we missed."

Clint perched on the back of an armchair with his feet on the seat as Natasha sat down on the edge of it.

"The report itself wouldn't throw up any red flags, sir," Natasha began. "It's what isn't in the report." She paused, taking a deep breath. "Lisov gave us 48 hours to clear the base. The date lines up with just before the week the observation began. The most valuable items were cleared quickly in case they moved up the timeline. I was ordered to organise trucks to come and go on schedule to clear the last of it. That's why the observations looked so normal."

"You say the base was clear before the week of observation began?" Fury fixed his eye on her.

"Yes Sir," Natasha nodded. "It stands to reason Lisov was warned in advance."

"And Garrett was the one to go inside and set the charges so there's no way he wouldn't have noticed the base was empty," Fury sighed.

"I watched the building blow up from a few blocks away," Natasha looked down. "Sir, it's possible they were still communicating. I was told when to get out. Nothing was left. I believe Lisov knew when they were going to blow the building, and knew it didn't need to look occupied because there was a plan in place to stop SHIELD looking in the rubble."

"Damn it," Fury glared at the screen. "Anything else you've found?"

"Agent Ward was present on that mission," Natasha informed him. "We don't have any evidence to suggest he was part of the cover up. And Commander Hill and the Captain have been unable to find anything on Agent Triplett."

Damn it," Fury repeated. "With Garrett in bed with Lisov, this must go even deeper."

"How have we not seen this before now?" Clint asked. "If it goes this deep there must have been signs."

"We're meeting here because I noticed, Barton," Fury snapped. "Just not soon enough."

"You got us out before it could get any worse," Natasha reminded him, concerned by their boss's reaction."

"Damn it, Natasha," Fury shook his head. "I promised Phil, hell I promised you, I would keep you and Clint safe from Lisov and Medvedev. I promised you could stay with SHIELD and that Lisov would never get you back. That promise has come far too close to being broken."

"You couldn't have done much more," Natasha reminded him. "We couldn't have known the mission was compromised when we went in. Coulson understands that. We understand that. We don't blame you; we never have. And this-" She gestured to his slightly slumped posture. "-this isn't like you, Nick."

"You're right Natasha," Fury nodded, directing his gaze to Clint. A meaningful nod was all he received, enough to know the young man agreed with his partner. "Thank you, both of you." He straightened, shrugging on his usual masks. "Back to business."

"Garrett is the biggest threat right now," Clint spoke up. "He's probably already let Lisov know we're here."

"You're right," Fury nodded. "We need to get all four of you off this plane and away from Garrett. Lisov cannot be allowed to know where you two are for long. I'll get a mission organised for the four of you. Send Hill up and I'll call Coulson. Give us a couple of hours."