My door is waaay open.



Edited 2014-10-25 12:38 am (UTC)

Trick or treat! :D

:-)

And I give up on inserting the image. SIGH. Consider my first post an Ode to Incompetence.

Edited 2014-10-25 12:41 am (UTC)

With apologies for the delay ... Here is your belated treat! :-) It's Three of Six (100-word drabbles; the whole thing can be found here (http://archiveofourown.org/works/2582153)).

Three

Barton brings in the Black Widow, and Maria is appalled. The most ruthless product of a brutal system, Romanoff is a weapon to be destroyed, not brought home for a playdate.

“She’s not what everybody thinks,” Barton insists, but he doesn’t explain – as if it should be obvious, and Maria is just being obtuse.

But then she sees Romanoff in her holding cell, staring at a book she’s not actually reading, looking lost. And right there, Maria understands what Barton means.

As she heads out for her morning Starbucks, it occurs to her that Romanoff could probably use a latte.

TRICK OR TREAT

Happy Halloween -- and apologies for the delay! RL had me by the throat this week, so I can only do one treat per trickster... :-( Your treat is the same as the one on my LJ -- Part Five of Six. The whole thing can be found here: (http://alphaflyer.livejournal.com/60287.html)

Five: London

The mission had been an unqualified success; even Hill had texted a “Congrats!” All things considered, an evening at the Lamb and Flag seems like a reasonable thing to do.

Four pints in, and Clint is mellower than she’s seen him in months.

“I always thought you preferred vodka, Romanoff.”

She rolls her eyes.

“I live to subvert clichés.”

The bar is crowded and they’re already close, but he moves even closer.

“Anything else you feel like subverting tonight, Tash?”

She shivers involuntarily, but recovers quickly.

“If you expect me to do your paperwork again, you’re drunker than I thought.”

Trick or treat!

With apologies for the delay ... Here is your belated treat! :-) It's Four of Six 100-word drabbles; the whole thing can be found here (http://archiveofourown.org/works/2582153)

Four

The stakes in the pool are at an all-time high after Budapest. Rumour is, when Coulson had come for Delta Team, their … position … was sufficiently obvious to settle the issue, once and for all.

Problem is, Coulson isn’t talking.

Maria silences the chattering lunchroom with an icy glare. Some situations, you need to tackle head on.

“Now hear this. Barton was injured. Romanoff stitched him up. He took his shirt off for that. That is all.”

Maria takes her sandwich and stalks out, heading straight for Victoria Hand’s office.

“Barton and Romanoff no longer get an extraction plan.”

Trick or treat (again ;)) :D

Happy Halloween -- and apologies for the delay! As we (kind of?) agreed, it's two-for-the=price-of-one, so your treat is the same as on my LJ: Part One of Six. The whole thing can be found here: (http://alphaflyer.livejournal.com/60287.html)

One: Rabat

She is walking down one of those narrow, winding streets in the Medina when she becomes aware of a presence. She can’t see his face, but judging by the way he moves, he’s lithe and not particularly tall; not one of those steroid-and-PCP-soaked killing machines the Red Room has been sending after her. Good.

Natasha dives into the crowded bazaar, immediately aware of the hesitation in his step. American or European, then – they have that … thing about innocent bystanders. He won’t shoot here.

She smiles and drives the knife into her mark’s neck, before melting back into the crowd.

We totally agreed, and I'm still working on yours as well ;) Happy Halloween and thanks for the lovely treat!

:-) (And sorry you got stuck with the post-redemption, knife-in-the-throat Natasha -- I decided to go in the order in which people "knocked" on my door on my LJ ...) ;-)

*hugs*

I like pre-redemption Natasha and there can never be enough ingratuitous violence ;) *bearhugs you*

Is it cheeky to ask twice? :P Trick or treat!

Happy belated Halloween -- and apologies for the delay! RL, and all that. Your treat (due to the aforementioned RL) is the same as on my LJ -- and Part Four of Six. The whole thing can be found here: (http://alphaflyer.livejournal.com/60287.html)

Four: Budapest

“I told you not to come back for me.”

“We’re partners, Clint.”

“You could have been killed.”

“But I wasn’t, was I? Besides, wasn’t it you who told me we’re supposed to call for back-up?”

“That’s … different.”

“Sure. When it’s the girl that’s in trouble?”

“That’s not what I said. Don’t twist my … ouch.”

“Just shut up and lean on me. Pretend you’re drunk. Coulson’s meeting us at the Oktogon in ten.”

“No medics though, ‘kay? Sitwell’s a hundred bucks on who gets shot next and I don’t…”

“You’re kidding, right? Three bullets, Clint. I’ll pay him myself.”

Trick or treat? :D

With apologies for the delay ... Here is your belated treat! :-) It's Five of six 100-word drabbles; the whole thing can be found here (http://archiveofourown.org/works/2582153)

Five

Word that Barton has been compromised races through the helicarrier like a wildfire. His picture is on every monitor -- thanks to Sitwell.

As if people don’t know what Hawkeye looks like.

Or what he is capable of. (Does the Council?)

And Fury? First, he prioritized his Phase II toys. Now, he is assembling his misfit gang. The world needs an army -- not a mercurial billionaire, the perp’s big brother, and a couple of science experiments.

The world also needs someone who remembers the rules – and how S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to deal with crises.

Maria picks up the phone.

Heh, no worries about the lateness. I haven't gotten to all of mine yet either. /o\

Love this! Ahh, Maria. ♥

Trick or treat!

With apologies for the delay ... Here is your belated treat! :-) It's the last of six 100-word drabbles; the whole thing can be found here (http://archiveofourown.org/works/2582153)

Plus One


“Was that not protocol?”

Her own words to Fury ring hollow, as Maria recalls the eagerness with which the Council welcomed her report of Barton’s alleged betrayal. She compares that memory to the look in Barton’s eyes in Medical: self-hatred, anger, shame, pain.

The coffee room is empty when she stops for a late-night hit of caffeine. And there it is, smashed and broken: Hawkeye’s ‘Archers Do It With A Recurve’ mug. No doubt the work of someone else who’d been quick to judge.

Slowly, she bends.

Superglue will not make it new. But maybe it can hold coffee again.

Just read the whole thing over at AO3, and I love it. You get a lot of Hill's contradictions into a short space. I like the way she considers a situation, learns more for herself, and then does something about it--whether for good or ill, but always with good intentions. Other things I like: Clint/Melinda (*lol*), her getting Natasha coffee, the real reason behind their lack of extraction plan. Thank you for the ficlet!

Trick or treat!

your treat is coming ... honest ...!!!! :-)