Natalia turned away from the windowed wall, the city skyline already forgotten as her eyes rested on her target. He lay in the large bed, facing away from her, his muscular upper body exposed. She couldn't help but admire it. But it didn't distract her. She had been able to admire it for a while now. This wasn't a 'get the target alone and kill him the same night' kind of mission. This had been a long term hit; where the information gathered had been as important as the target, if not more. But it was over now, she had everything she needed from him, and she could finally finish this.

Not taking her eyes off the man, she bent over and retrieved a knife from her discarded dress. As she drew closer to the bed she noted his arm resting over the spot where she had been laying. Sentimental fool. She smirked. It would have been the same if it had been one night; she could make them love her with a tilt of her head. She remembered going through the pockets of one of her long term targets and finding an engagement ring. She wished she had known he had been planning to propose; she would have enjoyed, even more, the shock on his face as he died. He was a human trafficker who specialized in children and she had felt satisfaction watching the light fade from his eyes.

Her grip tightened on the knife as her target drew a breath and shifted on the bed. There was a pause and she silently cursed; he was awake. She readied herself. She was only a few feet away; she could finish this in less than a second. He rolled over toward her and she shifted her posture to look seductive, holding the flat knife, out of sight, against her thigh.

The light from the city illuminated the bed but left his face in shadow as he sat up, leaning on his elbows. "You alright?" he asked, sounding still half asleep.

Natalia smiled and moved smoothly toward the bed. "Yeah, just needed a drink." She couldn't get to her side without him seeing the knife, so she sat down next to him. She raised her left hand, caressing his face and running her fingers through his hair. "Go back to sleep."

Instead of relaxing, his shadowed features grew wary. He studied her and she felt his gaze shift to where she was concealing the knife.

She mentally sighed. She much for an easy kill.

Her fingers tightened around his hair and she held his head in place, as she slashed forward with her knife. He caught her arm, jerking the knife away; using her momentum against her, he moved her to his right, as he knocked her other arm away from his head. He tried to pin her down but she continued his move, rolling him and twirling her body so he was beneath her.

She jerked his head back, wrapped her legs around his throat and squeezed, shutting off his air supply. She didn't feel the need to make him suffer too much so this would work fine. In fact, he should feel relieved; there were far worse ways to die than having a woman's bare legs wrapped around you.

He didn't seem to feel the same way. He struggled to pry her legs off. "Nnnaackkk..."

"You're wasting air." She cautioned, her voice smooth.

"Paaac...plkkkeeeasahck..."

"Begging for your life? How disappointing."

There was a pause, a moment where she thought he had finally given up, then hot pain as a knife slashed through her right leg at the knee. She clenched her jaw and released her hold rolling away and off the bed. Continuing the roll she had another knife from her dress and was up and ready to fight in one swift movement. Where had the knife come from?

The target was up as well, on the other side of the bed in the shadows, coughing, knife ready, his stance defensive. When he spoke his voice was raw, "What..." he coughed, "what are you doing?"

Natalia lifted an eyebrow and dropped her American accent, "I thought it was obvious."

His entire body stiffened. After a moment of silence he slowly made his way around the bed. "Who do you think you are?"

The question made her pause. He wasn't demanding. Didn't sound conceded. He seemed to truthfully want to know. She hadn't realized he was so good at lying. She wouldn't fall for whatever he was trying to do.

Natalia prepared to strike. Her mind had already found a way around his defences and had planned her first five strikes when he stepped out of the shadows into the light.

"Tasha?"

She froze, staring at his grey-blue eyes.

Natasha's eyes widened and she felt the knife slip from her grip.

"Clint?"

A/N: Had my husband read this and apparently I need to make this more clear. This is not when Natasha and Clint meet. This is, in fact, after the Avenger's movie. Something triggered Natasha and she slipped into her Natalia persona from the Red Room.

I have some other ideas for this but I don't want to bother unless some people are interested in reading more.