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ʙʀɪᴇғɪɴɢ ʀᴏᴏᴍ: #1
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Ⓐⓛⓕⓨ, Dɪʀᴇᴄᴛᴏʀ Nɪᴄʜᴏʟᴀs J. Fᴜʀʏ
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Nov 12, 2015 05:14AM
"Please be seated and await further instructions."
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Wearing S.H.I.E.L.D. standard issued uniform, made from 9-ply Kevlar (able to withstand ballistic impact up to .45 caliber bullets)and beta-cloth, a fire-resistant material whose kindling temperature is 1,700 °F (930 °C), Nicholas walked into the conference room awaiting the arrival of Natasha. He told her he had something for her - a mission. Nick didn't know how to tell her that her ex husband was alive and well. He paced the side of the room questioning whether this was a good idea to bring Natasha into this knowing their history. Nick shook his head knowing all too well that she can handle her emotions, its part of the reason she's one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top spies. This case, this mission, is a mystery. That's why we need Natasha, the only person who knows Alexi, how he thinks and how to get to him. Nicholas wished he didn't have to bring her into this. He knew it left a hole in her after he supposedly died. Now that he's back there's no telling how she could react, however he did know that she would get up from it, dust herself off, and be ready to do what's necessary, no matter what.
Having quickly changed into her S.H.I.E.L.D.-issue uniform, Natasha walked into the briefing room looking ready for a fight. The room looked the same as ever, but there was one key difference: the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was pacing. Which was rare, incredibly rare, especially around her. She had shown time and time again that she could get missions done with speed and efficiency. So for him to be nervous, or even just displaying nervous behavior before a briefing on a mission involving her? It had to be bad. Or unrelated, but that was unlikely. Fury was a professional, and in their line of work, that mean controlling emotions to be effective and concentrated--although few took it as far as Natasha. Not commenting on his unusual behavior, Natasha took a seat at the table and waited for the director to begin.
Nick stopped in his tracks and turned around towards Natasha with his hands on his hips. "Look, there's something you should be aware of, S.H.I.E.L.D. satellites picked up someone through facial recognition," He asked skipping formalities and diving right into the root of the conversation. He continued with a somber tone, "Alexi Shostakov. He's alive, Natasha," He said, saying it the only way he knew, by ripping off the band aid. Nick let it sink in and began to pour a glass of water for her from the jug in the corner of the room and sat it down the table in front of her. He was too agitated to take a seat and remained standing awaiting her response.
Natasha was suddenly extremely glad that she had sat down, she had the sickening feeling, that, if she had been standing, her knees may have given out. She blinked a couple of times, forcing her wild emotions down, and focusing only on logic. The first bit of rational thought that came through her mind? It wasn't possible. She had seen the footage of the plane her husband had been in, seen how it had gone. The body had been unrecognizable, that's how bad it had been. She started to say so, but cut herself off sentence, so what she said was: "That's not possi-". Of course it was possible. The body had been unrecognizable. And, in her world, that meant that there was no guarantee it was the right body. It was just the red room's twisted style, and it had worked. Natasha forced herself to control her breathing, forced herself not to acknowledge the tiny bit of hope rising in her chest. He had been with the Red Room for ten years now, if this was true. SHIELD would not have told her this so she could have a happy reunion. Before speaking, she took a sip of the water that had been set down in front of her, and hoped her voice didn't break. "I'm guessing you don't want him alive for much longer."
"Precisely. However, we've noticed activity within the crime underworld. Your, husband.. ex-husband, is stirring something up and I want to know exactly what that is. We have reason to believe that The People’s Republic of China and the SOviet Union re working together, on what, we don't know. That's where you and your own preferred assembled team will come in. You are to infiltrate the ranks and get close enough to find out what they are planning," He paused glancing away for a second before looking at her in the eye. "Natasha, are you sure you're up for this?" He asked despite knowng her answer, "I need to hear you say you can do this," All this time its right to assume Alexi has been working with the KGB, training him. There's no telling how much he's changed. Shostakov has most likely become a cruel, ruthless man, very different in personality from what he was while living with his wife.
Natasha closed her eyes briefly. She would be going undercover. She had met Alexi undercover, fallen in love with him undercover...Fury knew all this, and she knew it wasn't the case, but it felt like this mission had been engineered to be as hard as possible. She spoke almost without thinking, answering the question in almost a robotic way. She was still in control of her emotions. She had to be. "I'm up for it. Have I ever let you down before?" She would rationalize it until she didn't care any more, until there was no possibility of emotions apart from logic. The Alexi now, he wouldn't be her Alexi. He would be different, colder, crueller. But she knew all of this because she had come back from it, and if she could join the right side, so could he...No, he couldn't. She would not give herself hope, not give herself the possibility of being let down. She had survived, even thrived, for this long without her ex-husband, and she would continue to do so.
Fury was satisfied and showed it with a nod. "Okay," was all he said, "Call in your team and I'll brief you all on the specifics," Fury knew this wasn't going to be easy, for any of them but he also knew that they can do this despite the circumstance, or else he wouldn't have assigned it to them. Nick was concerned, usually when assigning missions he's aware of exactly what is going on, but missions like these, where we're blind going in; it made him nervous. Whatever the Soviet Union is planning he knew it wasn't good. He ran his hand over his bald head as he spoke, "Natasha, while undercover with the Soviet Union and The People's Republic of China there will be no direct communication with outside sources, it's too dangerous for you. You could all be compromised. You're on your own, Romanoff. Be careful,"
Natasha nodded, already forming a plan and multiple contingencies in her head. She couldn't go back to the red room, she'd have Clint shoot her first. And yes, she was bringing Clint, because if things got personal, she needed someone she could trust. Her gut told her, however, that this mission was bigger than a two-person one. She pulled out her phone to text Harper and Clint, the two agents within SHIELD that were closest to her. "I'd prefer if no one else knew my prior relationship with the target." She said, staring rather intently at a glass of water. Her mind was still set on Alexi, and she felt closer to breaking down into tears than she had in years. But she didn't want the director thinking she had lied about her feelings in relation to the mission, so she looked up, and added, "I don't want their pity."
Harper tapped on the door to the briefing room three short and sharp times before pushing the door inward and stepping into the room. She had expected to see Nat there, but it came as almost a shock to see Nicolas Fury in the flesh in front of her. Of course, the red head did not let these emotions display on her face. "Sir," she greeted with a polite nod of her head. Automatically, her senses flared, getting a quick reading on the room. Fury seemed in a traditional state of semi-calm. It was Natasha who seemed slightly...off. Her hearting was beating almost unnoticably faster, just a slight little bit that the assassin barely could pick it up with her advanced hearing. But, it couldnt be nerves of course, that would be incredibly out of character for the Black Widow. Perhaps, she simply shared the excitement of a mission, as Clint and Harper had when they had received their messages. "What's the scoop?" Harper didnt sit, instead she stood behind a chair, placing her hands on the back of it to prop herself up. She was itching to hear the plan, to get back out there and do some good.
((Does anyone know when Jess is going to be able to post?))
As soon as Clint entered the room he noticed something was off. He knew Nat to well to think otherwise. Anyone else might say she was fine but, Clint could pick up on the tiniest things that not many other people noticed it kind of came with the territory of being a sniper and an agent. He knew something was wrong and it had something to do with the mission he sent Harper a quick glance and he hoped that she would get the message that something wasn't right if she hadn't picked up that fact already. He sat down beside Nat "What do you need us for?" He said the question aimed at Nat he hoped that she would be able to pick up his slight double meaning in the words.
Ｅｍｍａ wrote: "((Does anyone know when Jess is going to be able to post?))"((About an hr and 10 min ago(; ))
In reply to Natasha's claim he obliged and gave a nod. "I understand," He said. Soon after a woman came in with a knock. She acknowledged you, "Dawson," You replied as a formality just as Clint walked in behind her. "You're going on a mission to infiltrate the Soviet Union and The People's Republic of China," He said in reply to Dawson and Barton. With a control he turned on the monitor at the head of the room that presented the face of Alexi. "Your target is Alexi Shostakov," He said throwing three identical files about what S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about him onto the conference table for each of them. Some of it was redacted to keep Nastaha's past hidden. It explained how he was recruited into the KGB with his wife. However, later on presumed dead due to the explosion of an experimental rocket he was testing. "Our satellites picked up this footage of him leaving the international airport in China. We have a dead man walking people. We have intel to believe that he is working with The People's Republic of China, on what, is where you come in. Your job is to infiltrate their base and find out exactly what they're doing and dismantle their operation. Now listen, this guy (referring to Alexi) was.. I mean is, the KGB's top operative. He is not a man that can be easily fooled," He said leaning forward with both his hands outstretched at the end of the table. "We have no idea what he is capable of,"
"If you remember how I was," Natasha added, looking at Clint, "he's probably worse." And it was her fault. She had believed he was dead, she had let the KGB recruit him, do whatever they wanted... Her fault, her problem, and now she had to fix it. She didn't want to open the file, didn't want to read about what she already knew, but it would look weird if she didn't. She mentally prepared for a moment, still careful not to show anything on her face, though she was sure Clint and Harper knew something was up. That didn't mean she was going to tell them what it was. She read through the file quickly, noting that she knew all of it, either from memory of what fury had told her. Details were changed and fabricated, keeping her history out of it. Good. "I'm going to need a photostatic veil." Natasha said, her voice still slightly robotic. Also called nano masks, they were technology that disguised a person's face and voice. "There's a chance that the target may recognize me." The target. Not Alexi. She had to believe that Alexi was dead, that this person was not him. She had to keep it impersonal. "This is going to be dangerous, we're going to have no contact from SHIELD." She was speaking to Clint and Harper now, both of whom deserved to know what they were getting into, deserved a chance to back out. She didn't want either of them hurt or dead because of this...because of her.((Done on my phone so I have no idea how long this is, hopefully it's ok))
Harper quickly skimmed over the file in front of her, paying attention to every small detail SHIELD had obtained on the KGB agent who was back from the dead. After a thorough reading she set the folder back on the table in front of her and looked over at Natasha. Perhaps the reason she seemed so...off...was because this was going back to her homefront, the country she had left behind. And more so, she could be recognized. Surely, memories of the Red Room which had been so deeply buried were surfacing for the other assassin. Harper cracked her knuckles before replying, "Wouldn't have it any other way." The danger would only add more to the triumph. And she would do anything to help Nat, of course. She looked over at Clint, giving him a quick nod and a smile. "We're honoured that you have chosen us to aid you on this mission," she continued. "When do we leave?"
Clint read the file carefully the feeling of unease within him grew, if this guy was worse than Natasha was at first then this mission was going to be difficult to say the least. Plus no contact from Shield meant that if anything went wrong they were on their own. "We're in." He said looking at Natasha "There is no way in hell we'd let you do this on your own ." He added "And is there anything specific you want us to bring." He said after Harper's question
Fury gave a nod to Natasha, "Due to Romonoff's history with the KGB, a nano mask would be necessary so we don't compromise the mission," He said reminding them of her past. "Like you said, there'll be no contact to the outside world. You're on your own," Nick was obliged to warn them of the risks despite knowing his agents wouldn't back out from a fight. He gave a nod of satisfaction at Dawson and Barton's commitment as he stood straight, hands rested behind his back. "You leave at first light tomorrow, the jet will take you, along with all your supplies, to the south of China where an operative of S.H.I.E.L.D. will get you into the base of The People's Republic of China through cargo shipping that will be delivered there," He said. Fury paused, "From there, it's all you," He looked towards Natasha as he said his next words, "I'm counting on you," He knew Natasha was most qualified to lead the team, he didn't doubt it.
Natasha met Fury's eyes, and she knew that even though she had Harper and Clint, they were only backup. She needed to be the driving force behind this mission. The only question was one that she refused to acknowledge-would she be able to? She gave the director of SHIELD a small nod; she had said earlier she wouldn't let him down, and the words did not need to be spoken a second time. She addressed Clint and Harper. "Since we'll be leaving early and you both recently arrived from other assignments, I want you to get some good rest before tomorrow morning." She could trust them to gather their weapons and decide what was needed, she thought. She wasn't leading two new agents into something (though she had before). Dawson and Barton did not need a babysitter, nor was it in her job description. She knew she should follow her own orders and rest, but she knew she'd be unable to sleep. So Natasha planned to go down to one of the training rooms, beat up on a punching bag until she had to leave, and then go. She'd sleep on the plane, or something. Maybe.
Harper almost immidiately began to make a mental checklist of everything she would bring. Who knew what sort of occasions they would face? She would need a few sets of clothes in different styles, for different instances they might find themselves in. And her uniform, of course. Weapons? She would need an ample supply of those. Planning was something Harper truly enjoyed. It was nice, neat, and it felt like it would keep her in order. When the animalistic side would take over, a plan would always pull her back to reality. Harper listened to Natasha's words and nodded curtly, although her mind couldnt help but momentarily wander. Any mention of Clint and sleeping....she snapped back to her planning. "With your permission then, I will head back to my room," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Clint also started to make a mental checklist of everything he would need. He'd probably forget half of the items on his checklist but he's improvise and at least he tried. He nodded showing he heard Nat but he had slept all morning and a good portion of the afternoon he knew it'd be al pst impossible to get more than a couple hours of sleep which was fine he didn't need that much sleep anyways.
