Hello again, dear readers! This is my second installment for the Avengers, and it is the companion piece to my first story, "The Ledger." I do recommend reading that story first, although I did try to write this in a way that it could stand alone. I do have several other short stories for this series in the works, some one-shots like my first one and some multi-chapter, as is this one. There may be a long-chaptered epic in the future (much like my Inception stories), but I really need to try to keep myself to a maximum of five writing projects at a time. Anyway, I hope you enjoy them all as much as I've enjoyed writing them.

Prologue – The Hearing

When Coulson and Director Fury saw Agent Clint "Hawkeye" Barton walk into the SHIELD base closely followed by the target he had been sent to neutralize, Coulson was almost certain he could hear a blood vessel burst in his boss's brain. Fury didn't say anything. He just pointed to Barton and pointed to his office before turning on his heel and strode off.

When Barton disappeared into the office after the clearly livid Director of SHIELD, Coulson gestured to a seat in the sparse reception area, and Natasha "Black Widow" Romanoff sat with a quiet "thank you."

She sat on the edge of the chair staring fixedly at the hands that she had clasped tightly in her lap, but occasionally her eyes would flicker to potential exits, an action that Coulson was certain was involuntary. She couldn't have stopped herself from noting her escape routes any more than she could have stopped her heart from beating. She put him in mind of a wild animal cornered, her body tensed for a fight or flight response, and, for some reason, Coulson was under the impression that, if it suddenly came to it, flight would be her first choice - not the assumption he would have made prior to this current moment.

"He's going to regret bringing me back, isn't he?" she said, breaking into his train of thought. "He's going to get into so much trouble that he's going to wish that he had just shot me when he had the chance." She sounded rueful, like she was just coming to appreciate how obviously foolish this plan was now that it was too late.

"We'll see," he said noncommittally, his passive smile remaining fixed. This statement was punctuated with the sound of Fury shouting behind the closed door, which dampened the sound enough to make the exact words unclear but their feeling was more than apparent.

Natasha gave him a look that managed to convey her complete disbelief that this could possibly end well for her, and any attempt to try to convince her otherwise would be taken as an insult to her intelligence. Coulson's expression never wavered.

Fifteen minutes later, the door to the director's office slammed open, and Director Fury strode into the reception area like the wrath of the gods, followed by Barton who was wearing an expression that Coulson recognized as a combination of relief and satisfaction.

"You," Fury snapped at Romanoff, "are here entirely on my forbearance. Barton is your sponsor and your supervisor. You will stick to him as though your life depends on it. Agent Coulson here is your handler. You will do everything that he tells you even if he tells you to do his laundry and clean his toilet. You are not even on probation until I decide you are allowed to begin probation. You are so low on the ladder that we are adding a new rung to the bottom of the ladder just for you. Let's be clear; if I have any reason to end you, I will, in a heartbeat, and just so you know, my having a bad day is more than enough reason."