Late night communications

[agentphilcoulson]

There were certain things that Phil did not look forward to doing. Calling his boss to let him know bad news was one of those things. But as he sat in the safehouse, snow falling out the window, the quiet hum of electronics the only noise against the howling wind, he knew it was time. It'd been 28 hours since he'd last been able to track her movements. Contacting the boss at 24 was protocol on a mission like this. He knew where she'd been headed last and being incommunicado was not unheard of on a mission like this, but it was still noteworthy. Reluctantly, he switched channels on the comm to connect to a secure line to SHIELD.

"Agent Coulson here. I need to speak to the Director."

Comments

[the_spy]

Fury was getting ready for bed after a long day, but the message coming in was marked priority and he knew Coulson didn't talk to him like this directly unless it was serious.

Dragging himself to the computer terminal, he input his security code and waited for Coulson's face to fill the screen. The serious look didn't make him feel better.

"Talk to me, Phillip."

[agentphilcoulson]

Phil spared a glance at Fury on the screen and his lips twitched. "Am I interrupting something, Sir?" he quipped.

[the_spy]

"My beauty sleep," Nick deadpanned, "but I assume you contacting me at ass o'clock in the morning means that its important. Does this have to do with Black Widow?"

[agentphilcoulson]

"We've lost contact, Director," Phil said simply. "As of 28 hours, 18 minutes ago. We have her last known whereabouts and I have reason to believe she's still there, but I thought you ought to know."

[the_spy]

"Understood," Nick answered, scratching the back of his head. Intellectually he knew that Coulson was doing his job, letting the director know about a situation (mostly) within the correct time parameter.

But something about Phil's face left him feeling unsettled. "What does your gut tell you?"

[agentphilcoulson]

"Between you and me, sir?" Coulson asked, waiting for the confirmation nod that told him this would be off the record, unless necessary. When he received it, he continued.

"Last surveillance puts her at the Red Room. I'd feel more comfortable with some sort of surveillance but she wouldn't kill it without reason. I'm looking to reestablish surveillance and if I don't here from here in 24 hours, I pull her out."

Fury didn't need to know about the flashbacks.

[the_spy]

Nick's hands rested behind his back, his chin falling as he began thinking about Natasha's past, what he knew of it. "If she went in, she knew what she was doing. Give her some rope here, Phil, but trust your gut. Get her out when you think it's time, don't worry about the repercussions."

Wouldn't be the first time he'd had to clean up after a FUBAR mission, and it wouldn't be the last. "Bring her home in one piece."

[agentphilcoulson]

"Affirmative, sir. Never leave an agent behind," he said as he set his jaw. He was worried. Not worried enough to interfere. Yet.

"How's everything back home?"

[the_spy]

"Quiet," Fury replied. "Looks like even the bad guys took the week off for our holiday, but you know how things pick up at the end of the year. Thor and Loki are still gone, your boy Barton's in Denver with that finance house security assignment."

[agentphilcoulson]

"Quiet can be good. Unless it's the calm before the storm," Phil said, running a hand over his hair.

"Is Barton behaving himself?"

[the_spy]

Fury snorted. "He's keeping it together, from what I understand. A little stir-crazy, but I think he'll settle down once he gets something to do. And learns to trust the handler running his mission."

"Keep in touch, okay?"

[agentphilcoulson]

"Will do, Boss."

Coulson stifled a yawn. "I'll let you know what happens. Let me know if I need to spank Barton."

[the_spy]

"Go to sleep, Agent Coulson, it's gotta be near dawn there." Then he cracked a grin. "If you need to manhandle Barton, I'm sure you'll hear from more people than just me. Night, Phil."

With that, he closed the window, but his thoughts were full of worry about Natasha, and it was a long time before Nick got to sleep.

[agentphilcoulson]

"Good night, Sir," Coulson said as he closed the connection. Nick was right. Sunrise wasn't far away so there was no point in going to sleep. Maybe he'd go for a run and then see if he could get a location on Tasha.