Way We Go Down ｡ Natasha Romanoff

8 - AND INTO THE FLAMES

The day to show Director Fury, what Alec Thayer was truely made of had come. Today, he embark on his very first mission for the organisation he had pledged his life to. With nerves fanning through his body, he waited quietly in the quinjet. He kept replaying the mission orders in his head, so many times his mind sounded like a broken record. Alec Thayer was made of stone and steel, he was soldier, born and bred. He had seen many battlefields, today would not be his last. But he was not a stupid man, nor a foolish one, he knew these nerves were not his mind or body telling him he was not ready for this, because he sure as hell was, it was his body telling him to be smart, to be calculated in every move he took tonight.

"You're quiet, that's a first." Natasha noted beside him, watching as his chest heaved with each deep breath he took. She could feel the waves of neves coming off him but noticed the calmness in his eyes and how his jawline ticked with strength. She found it most interesting that he was remaining strong and focused. Usually, with new recruits, they were eager to show off their training and became cocky, over confident. But not Alec Thayer, he was born a different kind of man and she liked that about him. She often thought if a man was not nervous about such things, then he was very stupid. 

Alec snapped his eyes towards her, knowing very well this woman was testing him. Despite this mission being very real today, it was nothing but a test and he would pass with flying colours, he was determined like that. "I suppose you've learned how to shut me up." 

"Ah, well I think I could probably find a few other ways to do that too." Natasha grinned, her red curls bouncing as she pushed herself to her feet, clicking her gun into its rightful holster. She didn't mind flirting with him, she enjoyed watching him fluster for only a second, then his face would smooth over. 

This time, he did not reply with his very own flirty comment, knowing tonight was too far important. He already had his theory of why she was flirting, trying to calm down his racing mind and it worked, only for a second. "Remember the mission. We get in, we locate the data tower. While you safeguard our way out, I transfer the coded files and we get out. No dead bodies, no highlight reels on security footage. We're nothing but ghosts." 

Night had fallen and within the shadows of midnight, their mission was to acquire sealed and coded documents from an army based government facility sector in the outskirts of West Virginia. Fury wanted documents about some under the table deal with a foreign country weapons dealer. That was all the information given to Alec, apart from being warned this facility was highly guarded. "No dead bodies. We're ghosts. Nothing but shadows." He gave a blunt nod, his stomach flipped strangely as the quinjet made it's descent. 

With a steady landing, they were exiting through the cargo drop door, the night dark around them. They had landed in the dense woods that surrounded the facility and together, they paced through the thick trees. Natasha was checking her guns again, not that she planned on using them tonight. Once they reached the tall wire fence, they paused in the tree line, completely out of sight by any guards. There was a fierce darkness around them and Alec found himself whispering out words his mother used to say to him as a child. "The night is for the Devil's work."

Natasha eyed him, doubt flooding through her mind. Her past was splattered in hate, coloured in blood and it darkened her own soul. She never questioned if the work she did for Director Fury, for S.H.I.E.L.D was God's work or the Devil's but suddenly, tonight she found herself tossing the question around in her head. 

As silence stretched on, Alec scanned the guard points, small towers spread out around the grounds. He counted four men on the ground already, gun by their sides. "The data tower is towards the back of those buildings to our right," Natasha whispered, leaning in close. "Once guard shift happens--"