Whiskey for My Men

“Romanov.” Fury’s voice came through the speaker in the jet, all of the Avengers snapping to attention.

“Yes?” Natasha asked as she glanced over at the prisoner they were taking back with them, they had just captured Loki in Stutgart, however they had been too late to save the man that Loki had attacked.

“I need you to make a stop on your way back to base.” Fury’s voice echoed in the cabin.

“Where?” Natasha was instantly wary, not wanting to stop anywhere with Loki onboard, less he find a means of escape.

“Texas, pick up Gunslinger and get back to base.” The speaker buzzed slightly.

“Are you sure that’s wise sir?” Natasha asked as she started to reroute the jet.

“We brought Stark in, didn’t we?” Was Fury’s dry reply and Natasha nodded, although Fury couldn’t see her actions. The speaker cut to silence and in an instant Stark was in the copilot’s seat.

“Who is Gunslinger?” He demanded obviously not happy about not knowing what was going on. Natasha said nothing as she shook her head and pressed forward on the throttle.



Jewel panted, pulling the cowboy hat from her head and swiping the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead. She leaned against one of the many bales of hay that she had been putting in her barn, her body instantly glad of the rest in the unrelenting Texas heat. Her gaze swept over the lands that surrounded the barn, everything was hers for as far as you could see, a large ranch house not too far away, and close to that were pastures of horses and cattle, grazing or fighting for shade.

She walked to the old, beat up, red, Ford truck, reaching through the open driver’s window and pulled out a water bottle, taking a swig before squirting a healthy amount over her head. The white tank top that had already been clinging to her skin because of sweat was now a second skin, the blue and grey flannel shirt over top of that starting to soak in the water. The blue jeans she wore were stifling in the heat, but kept her legs from getting scratched as she moved the bales of hay, and the ends were tucked into a worn pair of cowboy boots.

A gust of heated air passed by her and she sighed at the relief that it didn’t offer, the air too baked to do much to help her already overheating body. She pulled the tie from her black hair and flipped her body forward, combing her fingers through her hair before gathering it again into a smoothed ponytail. Pulling tightly on her hair she placed the hat back on her head and walked to the back of the truck climbing nimbly into the bed of the truck, pulling on the strings of another bale. Biceps protesting she drug the bale to the edge of the tailgate and pushed it over, jumping down next to the downed bale.

She quickly stretched her fingers, curling them into fists to get motion back in them before she once again slid them under the twine that held the bale together. Letting out a low grunt she pitched her knees into the side of the bale and forced it up into the air, before staggering over to the barn, dropping the bale where the others were. Dry dirt wafted up from the impact only to add to the dark streaks on Jewel’s already sun tanned skin. As she swiped her hand across her cheek she could feel the dirt stick in a streak, paying it no mind as she went back out to get the final bale.

A gust of unnatural wind, mixed with the telltale sound of a jet filled the air and Jewel looked up, one hand holding her hat to her head with the wind, and the other shielding the sun from her eyes. The jet that landed in front of her was completely black, with a giant dent on the top. Jewel raised an eyebrow as the back began to open up, a small group walking down the ramp, at the front was none other than Natasha Romanov.

“Well, well, well, what do I owe this displeasure to?” Jewel called out as she walked to meet them half way, her southern texan accent was strong.

“Fury wants you to come in.” Natasha’s face was closed and cold as she stopped in front of Jewel who kept her hat low on her face.

“Fury knows I’m on vacation for another month.” Jewel shook her head and slid her hands in her back pockets, kicking her hips out to the side as she looked over the group. She instantly recognized Tony Stark, Iron Man, and celebrity, beside him stood a man in a uniform themed after the U.S. flag, and she would be willing to bet all the whisky in her house that he was Captain America, or Steve Rogers. Beside them stood a tall, steroidal, blonde hunk of very fine man meat, and next to him a thin, pale man, his face drawn in a amused smile despite the handcuffs he was wearing.

“Well, Fury need you to come in now, you’re being put on the Avenger Initiative.” Natasha pressed, although it was apparent to both girls that Natasha couldn’t care if Jewel came or not, the women had never really gotten on well. Competition between the girls as both being top spies and assassins had stopped any attempt at friendship years before both of them had been forcefully pulled into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s employment when they seemed to constantly encounter each other on opposing sides of missions. Jewel raised an eyebrow, at Natasha, she knew that Fury had lied when he said the Avenger Initiative had been scrapped.

“Are these them?” Jewel asked as she once again focused on the group behind Natasha, all of them shifting around as they looked at the rural surroundings, her nearest neighbors were ten miles away.

“Yes.” Natasha turned to look at the group, glaring as she caught Tony making a face at Loki.

“Lord, you’re gonna need all the help you can get.” Jewel muttered and shook her head. She spun on her heel and walked back to the red truck, leaning in through the driver’s window again and pulling out with two pistols that she slid into the holsters on her hips, reaching back in to grab a couple of knives that she ducked from sight to hide on her body, before making one last reach into the truck and pulling out a large black shotgun.

“Let’s get this over with so I can get back to my horses.” Jewel muttered as she began to walk back to the jet, Natasha falling into step a few paced ahead of her. The men trailed silently after the women as they all entered the jet, taking their respective seats, however Jewel chose to take the copilot’s seat, having never trusted Natasha to fly by herself. As the jet rose from the ground she gazed out the window at her ranch down below, she wasn’t worried about leaving the animals without supplies, they had everything they would need in their pastures, and if that wasn’t enough, S.H.I.E.L.D. had agents watching her ranch at all times, she could always send out a request that they take care of the animals.

“Who are you?” Jewel swiveled in her seat, coming face to face with a crowd of curious men, steroidal Blondie and the pale man were sitting next to each other, across from them the Captain and Stark, it was Stark that had spoken.

“Jewel Reed, codename Gunslinger.” Jewel introduced as she kicked her legs over the arm of her chair and leaned back to observe the group, shotgun settled firmly in her lap. “Who are you?” She pointed a finger at both of the men that she didn’t know.

“I am Thor Odinson of Asgard.” The blonde man introduced and Jewel rolled her eyes, so this was the man that had gotten Phil in such a twitter last year in New Mexico. “This is my brother Loki.” Thor provided after it became apparent that Loki wasn’t going to say anything, rather he was completely focused on Jewel, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he blatantly stared at her.

“It ain’t polite of you to be starin’ at a woman.” Jewel drawled as she narrowed her eyes to meet Loki’s gaze. A sly smile spread over his lips to reveal white pearly teeth a cold glint shining in his eyes. Jewel held his gaze for a moment more, showing that she was not backing down before turning in her seat to look out the window a sigh on her lips, she knew that this mission would not be a short one.