UNEXPECTED ▶ L. Laufeyson

two.

Clint sighed as his sister left the room. Sometimes, when he watched her, he saw himself. This presented a problem whenever they had an argument. They were just too much alike. He turned the TV back on and watched Tony Stark and Pepper Potts talk in glowing terms about the new Stark Tower they were building in New York City. Just another skyscraper, he thought changing the channel. He glanced towards his cell phone, lying on the coffee table.

Picking it up, he dialed Tasha's number without a second thought.

"Tasha here," said Tasha's voice, muffled by static.

"Hey Tasha, this is Clint."

"Hey Clint," she replied. "What do you need from me this time?"

"You act as though I call you all the time, asking for petty little favors."

"No, that would be Fury." He chuckled at her words.

"What I really want to know is why you've been training my sister without my knowledge." His voice was openly accusing and he could almost see her reaction.

"She said you knew," she stated, her tone cold as ice. "I didn't think she was doing anything wrong."

"She was going behind my back! You could have at least told me! I trust you Natasha. I would think that you of all people would tell me, at least that you were training with her. We've not exactly kept secrets since those days in Russia." He could guess what his words had inflicted upon her; a barrage of memories of her days as an assassin. She had once confided to him that she still occasionally had nightmares due to all of the memories. The silence on the other end of the phone was interminable.

"I trusted your sister to do the right thing. If she did not, it's not exactly my fault. You can't really pin it on me, you know."

"Well, I know that, but I just don't see why you didn't mention it! You know how I would feel if anything happened to Christina."

"Look Clint, I know. But if you're looking for someone to stick the whole issue to, then don't look at me. And keep in mind...Christina is an adult." The buzz of static filled his ear. Tasha had hung up.

>>>

Natasha Romanov slammed her cell phone shut indignantly, somewhat angry. Yes, she had actually agreed to the training thing, but no, she had not agreed that Christina should keep it from Clint. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, finally gaining her composure. She had had some inclination that Christina had not been telling the full truth when she said she had told Clint. During the past weeks, however, she had pushed any doubts from her mind and went on with her SHIELD duties and her now secret weekly ritual of training Clint's little sister to be an agent.

Of course, she reflected, that was not exactly how she'd planned it. She could have been doing other things at SHIELD rather than playing nursemaid to one of her most trusted confidant's little sister. Don't kid yourself Tasha. If not that, you would have been at home, stuck with only memories of the past for your comfort. Better to be doing something worthwhile than to be dwelling on things that couldn't be changed.

She sighed and focused on the mission ahead. The line in front of her seemed unending and she checked her phone once more for the time, gritting her teeth in apprehension as the deadline for her plane's takeoff neared. She would be spending a week or so in Russia, collecting information on illegal dealings of several magnates there, who were making a profit off of illicit goods. Walk in the park, she thought. Somehow, she would much rather be doing that than trying to explain to one of whom she considered to be her best friends, her reasons for training their little sister.