Clint woke up with a pounding sensation in his head and a ringing in his ears. When he opened his eyes the world was blurry and out of focus, he was seeing double of everything. He struggled and then remembered that he was wrapped in chances by the mysterious shadow. After the world shifted back into focus he saw his bow wedged between a pile of rocks and the floor, (which is probably the only reason it was still intact and not broken by the Russian ninja). He moved his hands around and found the hook which he unhook from the chains and slowly but surely got himself free. Getting up he braced himself against a close wall and got his bearings. He didn't know how long he had been out, probably a few hours by the hunger in his stomach. He tried to think of the last honest to god meal he had and it escaped him which probably wasn't good. His ear was suddenly filled a loud beep as his ear piece turned on and next thing he heard was Fury's usual unemotional voice.
"Barton, status update." He demanded automatically.
"Well I found her, kinda." Clint admitted in a sighing tone as we went to go get his bow.
"What do you mean kinda?" Fury's voice went stone cold.
"I mean I did find her but she is way more advanced than you all predicted." Clint rubbed his forehead as he told Fury.
"She took you out didn't she?"
"Maybe…" Clint reluctantly admitted.
"You got anything on her?"
"Other than she has highly trained skills that would even make our best look like first timers, I did manage to pellet her with some tracking devices so I'll be able to get her signal whenever I decide to activate them." Clint was happy to remind himself about the tracking pellets the Black Widow only thought was a distraction.
"Great, I'll check up tomorrow night."
"Wait Fury what time is it in D.C?"
"It's 3:32, why?"
"Curiosity," And quickly Clint disconnected from Fury and shook his head. If it was the afternoon there it must be at least midnight or later there, he had been out for hours! The realization made his body work faster picking up the bow and walking out of the warehouse onto the white and nearly empty streets of Russia. He quickly retraced his steps until he got back to hotel and that's when he finally pulled down his mask from his face and got out of the winter cloths; he thanked the Lord that he had the mask on so that the Widow didn't see his face, that would have been a big blow to his mission.
Examining his arms he saw some forming bruises and his skin turning red and purple. Taking off his gloves his fingers were an unnatural white, he was just glad there were no signs of frostbite. He walked into the shower and let the hot water wash off the coldness from his skin. He thought about his target and who she was. Her skills were more advanced than anything that he had ever seen, it seemed like she was bred for this- he was impressed.
After the shower and toweling off he flopped into the bed just enjoyed where he was for once. He rarely got to enjoy the places that he got assigned to, hell he had been to Jamaica, twice and never even got a day off to enjoy the scenery or the culture. Lying on the bed his eyes started to take longer blinks and the bed acted like it was swallowing him whole. Finally he took one last look at the beautiful ceiling with the chandler and his eyes finally let him rest.
When he woke he was bombarded with the sound of construction. Forcing himself up and looked out the window he saw trucks and bulldozers working on the street. Since he was up he decided to get a move on and try to get started on his day. He suddenly remembered of the trackers and was filled with unusual warmth knowing that his search wasn't going to be as hard as he originally intended.
Turing on the tracking device the screen lite up at first black with an annoying beeping sound. A grid suddenly appeared with tiny red dots appearing on it. There were a group of them in one place which he guessed was the abandoned building that he shot the arrow off. As for the others the screen zoomed out and he saw what he was hoping, a group of 2 red dots that seemed to be moving in unison, the Widow. Smiling to himself he dropped the tracker on his bed and started to suit up, with new arrows of course, and a special pair of glasses that had a targeting system in it. He would admit SHIELD had the best tech out there, well besides the Stark Industry weapons. Putting in his earpiece it did it's little turn on thing then a voice ended up coming through.
"Message from: Agent Coulson." The robotic voice said. Coulson had been the one who found Clint and asked him to join SHEILD, so Clint had the upmost respect for him.
"Barton, I know your probably wrapped up in your mission right now but I just wanted to tell you that… well I know Fury warned you about the Widow but I want to tell you- be cautious around her. One second can mean the difference between winning or losing against her. We'll see you when you complete your mission." The message went off. Clint grinned to himself; Coulson was the closest thing that Clint had ever had to a father figure or a good mentor. He was glad Coulson called; they hadn't seen each other in a while since Coulson had been assigned to something that involved a radioactive plant gone wrong.
Clint sneaked out the same way he did the last time, bringing the tracker with him and looking at it every few minutes. The 2 red dots that was his destination, he passed the cluster that was the warehouse and continued north. They didn't seem to do a lot of moving which gave him a cautious sense.
Walking he pulled the scarf over his face to keep the cold from his face and hopefully wouldn't let the Widow see his face. He reached up and turned on the target glasses and the lens were filled with circles and lines that would help Clint target the assassin, not that he needed it. He picked up his pace and got closer to the red dots, looking around where he was the took noticed of the weather, still the same gray, blank slate as before but at least it wasn't snowing although it would probably later today.
From the position of the dots and where he was he looked and saw the oddest thing that we would have expected- a diner. He was thankful that his arrow didn't look all threatening, more like a tube that you'd put a poster it. Quickly putting the tracker away he walked in and quickly surveyed the small place and- jackpot. A vibrant red head was sitting in a corner with her eyes glued to the paper sipping a cup of coffee, if Clint didn't know who she was she would seem someone that Clint might start up conversation just for the hell of it, he'd admit she was attractive.
"Здравствуйте мед, хотите место?" a large Russian woman came up and asked if he wanted a seat.
"Да, пожалуйста, и чашка кофе." He accepted and asked for a cup of coffee, as he cautiously pulled off the scarf exposing his face while looking over at the woman every so often out of the corner of his eye. The only other people in the place was what looked like a student over their studies at the counter, an old woman and her husband in front of Widow and finally the waitress and the cook. It was a nice cozy little place that Clint thought he would come to often if he lived here.
He sat down and picked up a paper and started reading, he didn't understand half of it but he wanted to look as casual as possible. When the waitress brought him his coffee and hot cup burned his palm but it felt good. He read and sipped his coffee keeping an eye on the Widow who hadn't seemed to move in the time that he had been there. He did a little routine, read, sip, and glance up. He didn't glance often to raise suspicion. The paper wasn't interesting besides some of the pictures which helped him reading the Russian. Suddenly the red head got up, left money on the table and walked out the door. Clint knew he had to follow her but he didn't want it to be to abrupt, he quietly finished his coffee, left money and walked out the door looking for the vibrant red hair. He saw it a few blocks down and started walking. He followed her for a few blocks; he memorized the route- right, left, right, right, go down two streets, left.
She turned into a building and closed the door. They were on the outskirts in the run down part of the city by then. Clint went around back and shot an arrow with a grappling hook on the end and clamped onto the edge of the roof. As quietly as he could he scaled the building until he ended on the roof.
"Barton," Fury's sudden voice made Clint jump a little.
"Christ Fury, give me a warning or something." Clint calmed himself down quickly.
"Sorry, have you located the target?"
"Bout to take care of her." Clint said quiet calm which worried him. He was talking about killing someone and he was totally ok with it.
"I want to stay on the line until you have absolute confirmation that she is taken care of, we can't afford to lose this one." Fury informed him.
"Just don't scream in my ear anymore, deal?" Clint took Fury's silence as an agreement. He scouted the roof and thankfully found a door that lead inside, even more surprisingly he found it unlocked. He didn't let the good fortune go to his head, he was as cautious as ever. He slipped inside quickly and found he was on top of a balcony overlooking down below- perfect. The lights were flickering and very dim although Clint could make out everything in the room. He quickly grabbed his bow and loaded an arrow that carried a small explosion when he clicked a button.
"Вы предали нам Наталья," a deep voice said. From what Clint could make out they said something about betrayal.
"Я не сделал ничего плохого Иван." The red head spoke. She was defending herself.
"Ты под нашим командной сукин ты не забыть." The man said quiet fast Clint could barely understand that he was saying that she was still under their command. He grapped her cheeks and held her head in him hand.
"Wait for it Barton," Fury said into Clint's ear, he had almost forgot about him. Clint was a little jumpy and twitchy, he didn't want to miss the shot.
"Вы будете платить за предательство." The man spat in her face. She was physically gritting her teeth. The man was in the way to hit the girl.
"Take out the man," Fury seemed to agree with Clint's thought of killing the man.
"Вы маленькая сука." The man called her a bitch and threw her on the ground; Clint was surprised that she wasn't fighting back. She laid on the ground and took it, this reminded him of the times the circus he would mess up on a routine and the owners would beat him and he learned to take it. The woman who had taken him down with no problem was now on the ground holding her stomach and bleeding in various places
Before Clint could register it he let the arrow go and hit the man straight in the back; the explosion was quick and small. It tore open the man's back and he fell to the ground in an unconscious thud. The woman looked surprised and focused her attention on Clint. He quickly started to grab an arrow and looked at the woman, the one he assumed was the strongest and bravest, now had the look of scared and surprised on her face.
"Barton, take out the target." Fury commanded. Clint's fingers lingered on what arrow he wanted to choose. What was he doing? He was wasting time. "Take out the target now Barton!" Fury yelled into the ear piece. Clint took an arrow and shot it at the wounded Widow before she had time to react. It hit her square in the chest, letting out a cry of pain and then slummed to the ground.
"Barton?" Fury questioned. God he was going to get fired for this, hell this was basically treason. "Did you take her out?"
"I did, just not in the way you wanted me to." Clint admitted. He hadn't picked a kill arrow, just one that sent out a massive electrical pulse and knocked you out.
"Clint, I swear to God that if she's alive…" Fury began.
"I'll be out by the morning, you can yell at me more when I get home." Clint took out the earpiece before Fury could respond. He looked at the target he was supposed to take out and he let her live. God this was stupid taking in a class A assassin and Clint had let her see another day just because he felt a little sympathy for her. He picked her up and she was quiet light for the power that she punches. He started walking out trying to think what the hell he was going to when he brought back a fugitive to SHIELD.