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Fury was unsurprised when Natasha stormed into his office this time. In fact, he was surprised she hadn’t shown up sooner. Though he was a bit surprised at how openly irritated she looked. “You let him go off the clock?”
“I couldn’t stop him, Natasha.”
“You’re supposed to be keeping him safe!”
He snorted. “Not if the kid refuses our protection.”
“Is that why you also agreed to debug his house?”
Fury smiled slyly. “You didn’t.”
Natasha paused, and then relaxed, irritation draining away. “How did you know I had the house bugged separately?”
Fury chuckled. “Because I know you’re you.”
Natasha shook her head. “I don’t know why I bother with this kid. If he ever met me-”
“He probably wouldn’t know what to make of you,” Fury injected. “Much like the rest of us a good deal of the time.”
She sighed. “How is he?”
“Alive and well, aside from being half-drowned.”
“Any leads on this ‘Doctor Octopus’?”
“None so far. But Doc Connors is checking out the cybernetics Parker brought back. I’ll update you as soon as I know more.”
She seemed a bit taken aback at that. “Sir, you don’t have to-”
“Romanoff,” he interrupted, raising an eyebrow. “I’d rather work with you on this one than against you. So let’s make a deal. I keep you updated on whoever this is that’s after Parker, and you notify me if anything goes on in that house that you think I need to know about that my own surveillance doesn’t tell me. Agreed?”
To Fury’s surprise, the Black Widow gave him a surprisingly genuine smile. “I thought you didn’t like me taking an interest in Parker.”
“Well, a very wise man reminded me that you taking an interest in fellow agents tends to lead to great things. I see greatness in Parker’s future, and if you want to help him, I won’t stand it your way. All I ask in return is that you trust me to do what I think is best for him. I can’t guarantee that we’ll always be on the same page, but damn it, I’m tired of constantly being at odds with my best agent.” He stood up and extended his hand. “So what do you say, Natasha?”
She clasped his hand and shook it without hesitation. “I say we’re in agreement.” Beat. “Sir.”