Wow. You guys, I just came over with a massive writer's block and I have ideas again! Woohoo! So there's not much, and I just want to let this go here. This chapters kind of long, but you guys have waited a really long time, so it's all good. Well, enjoy guys!
Natasha cursed under her breath as T'challa spun her around. "What's wrong?" He asked again, catching his eyes with hers. "Why are you here?"
Natasha sighed, pushing a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. "I know you're not here for the social benefits, your highness. You know what I'm doing here."
T'challa nodded his head solemnly. "I'm here with my partner. That's who I was talking to. We have been keeping an eye on Daniels for the whole party, but now he disappeared."
Natasha swung out, holding T'challa's hand, and bowed. "Thank you for the dance, your highness." She said, voice bubbly and drunk, becoming Emily once again.
T'challa brought her hand to his mouth, kissing it gently. "My pleasure, Miss Austen." T'challa winked, and turned away, grabbing a drink and chatting up another couple. Natasha smiled shyly, and using her fake personality, walked confidently back to her partner.
He was still surrounded by the same group of women, but his smile was forced due to the news of the situation. Natasha's mouth turned into a frown, uneasy by the sight of all the women. He was her partner! Not theirs. She felt emotions rise up inside her, but she pushed them back down, just like she had been taught in the Red Room. When Clint saw Natasha walking towards him, he relaxed and started to pry away from some of the ladies. When they protested, Natasha jumped in.
"Ladies, Ladies, three feet at all times, please." Natasha drunkenly stumbled past the ladies and pushed them aside. She sat down on Clint's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as if she was protecting him. She had never been this close to him before.
It's just an act. Only for the mission are you a couple, she told herself, but she felt otherwise. Every time she was with him her feelings grew. But the Black Widow couldn't have feelings. She was an emotionless killer.
But, oh, God she loved him. She would never say it out loud. She never could. But she couldn't deny those feelings, no matter how hard she tried. So seeing him with the millionaires and billionaires, flirting, laughing, she was jealous. She couldn't help it.
But she had to focus on the mission, not her emotions. She could deal with those later.
"This one's mine so hands off!" She smiled playfully and smacked off a jeweled hand that was slowing working its way up Clint. The ladies frowned, and after a little more convincing, they walked away to find another man to bother. Clint rubbed his hand over his face, the party not even being 9 o'clock yet and exhaustion had already set in.
"You good, Barton?" Natasha asked, looking around the room. He was right, she couldn't see Daniels anywhere. The deal must already be underway.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Women are just a piece of work." Clint smirked and winked at Natasha, who smacked him on the arm playfully, not giving a full smile.
"Well, all work and no play, right? Time to go back to work." Natasha and her fake husband stood up, arm in arm, and walked away from the dance floor.
The couple's smiles were fake, along with everything about them. Their eyes were open, looking like they were taking in the sights, but they were really scanning the area, looking for any sign of Daniels.
"Balcony, two guards each at 12 o'clock, 5 o'clock, and 8 o'clock," Clint said softly, but Natasha could hear him loud and clear over her comms.
"No guests upstairs, so off limits," he continued, searching some more. "Guards have guns, so tighter security. I'd say the best chance of finding him would be upstairs."
While Clint was watching the upper portion, Natasha was looking on more ground level. The couple took a sharp turn, refilling their glasses, and walked the opposite directions.
"Guards down here at both front and back exits, three in each room. Security cameras appear about every ten feet, so I'd say that it was more guarded down here. We need to check down here first," Natasha growled, those discarded feelings coming back up. The more and more she thought about it, the madder she got. Why was he flirting with the women when they were supposed to be on a mission? He was selfish, reckless, and stupid!
Clint dropped his act and looked down at Natasha. "Tasha? You alright?"
"No, I just-" Natasha started to say, but cut herself off. She would not voice her feelings out loud. That was not how she did things.
On the inside, she was dying. She rage, anger, and mostly jealousy building up inside her. She didn't understand it herself, but when she saw her partner talking with those women, flirting and laughing with them, she couldn't help it. And it wasn't even like he was doing anything then to help stop Daniels, he was just flirting.
If she ever cared to admit it, she liked Barton more than she thought she would. As partners, they were supposed to have a relationship, based on trust and support. She had never had a romantic relationship, and she didn't know if she was ready for one.
Clint's eyebrows were raised as he stared at his fuming partner. "Is this because of the floors? We can check the ground first if you want then-" He tried to compromise but Natasha growled at him.
"It's not about the floors." She hissed, breaking her stare from her surroundings and looking up at Clint. Making sure the area was clear, Natasha grabbed Clint by his arm and pulled him with her. They hid behind a thick column, and Natasha pushed him up against it.
"You're the reason we lost Daniels," She hissed, her finger poking him in the check twice. Her anger had finally bubbled to the surface, and she wasn't about to just let it go. "You had to spend your whole time flirting, didn't you? Well now we lost him, and it's all your fault."
Clint's face flipped from concerned to angry in less than a second. Here he was trying to figure out to find Daniels, and figure out why Natasha was mad, and she's blaming him.
"You're telling me I was flirting? Who danced with the Prince of Wakanda for the whole time. I'm assuming you didn't talk about anything relevant since you two were just staring into each other's eyes the whole time?"
"I know T'challa from an outside mission. We kept connected in case something ever happened again."
"Oh, so you two are on a first name basis now. I thought the Black Widow never had any 'connections,'" Clint mocked, using his fingers to put quotations around connections. He was mad too, not because Natasha was mad at him, but because he had some of the same feelings too.
Natasha watched wearily as Clint flirted with the elegant millionaires, with them flaunting their expensive jewelry and showing a little too much cleavage. She kept one eye on him as she walked the perimeter of the first floor, memorizing it.
Clint peeked over his shoulder and saw Natasha dancing with T'challa, the ease, and comfort she displayed. He watched jealously as they danced until the call of his name brought his attention back to the drunk ladies providing information willingly.
Both assassins scanned the room for each other, making sure they were still there. They made eye contact and immediately turned back to whoever they were with.
In the next second, unseen by everyone, Geoffrey Daniels slipped through a back door, leaving the party.
The assassins held their stares until Clint made the first move. His fingers dug into his ear, and his other hand grabbed Natasha's pulling it out and opening it. He pulled his comm out and dropped it into her hand, and closed her fingers around it.
"Here. I'm done. You can go dance with Prince Charming. I'm going upstairs to finish the mission, and find Daniels." Clint turned on his heel, and with a huff, he smiled his way through the crowd, and made his way across the room, near the stairs. He disappeared behind a column on the opposite side of the room from Natasha.
At the same time, both Clint and Natasha leaned their head up against their respective pillars, shutting their eyes.
Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose, and with the other hand toyed with the flower Clint had out in her hair.
'He didn't mean it. Did he?'
Clint rubbed his hands over his face, and played with his bow tie, remembering how Natasha had teased him about it.
'She didn't mean it. Did she?'
Clint shook his head, putting it aside for now. He would sort out emotions and thoughts later. He had a mission to complete. He weaved in between the crowds, making his way towards the stairs. Running into a guard, he started to talk his way up, a specialty of his.
Natasha still had her eyes shut and was trying to figure out what to do next. She was running Clint's comm in between her fingers, debating whether or not she was going after him.
"Miss Austen? Are you alright?" A voice caught her attention and her eyes flew up open. Daniels was standing in front of her, with two drinks in his hands. Subtly, Natasha brought her hand up, Clint's comm hidden in her palm and pretended to fix her hair. Instead, she hid the comm behind the flower, in her hair, so it wouldn't fall out.
Natasha put on her Emily voice and sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just, commitments, you know?" She gave a little knowing smile, and Daniels winked.
"Here," He said, and offered Natasha one of the glasses in his hand. "To take your mind off of them. Relax a little bit."
Natasha looked at it wearily, not really wanting to drink it. She didn't need alcohol to mess with her senses right then. She needed to be focused, focused on the mission. Not on emotions. So she politely shook her head and waved away the drink. She pretended to stumble and catch herself to make it look real.
"No, thank you, Mr. Daniels. I've had a few too many of those, tonight," "Emily" admitted reluctantly and gave a little laugh. She nodded to excuse herself and turned her back on the host, attempting to walk away while searching for her partner.
When she found him, she gave a tiny sigh of relief. He was ok. He was still stuck with the guard, trying to talk his way up the stairs. Before she could make her way back to the rest of the party, Daniels slipped up behind her. He had transferred the two glasses into one hand and grabbed Natasha's hand with his free one.
"I insist, Miss Austen," he said smoothly as he dragged her away from the big group of people. They continued walking along the back walls, out of sight from most the people.
"It's the specialty. On the house, of course." He said it with a wink and a smile, but neither were very inviting. Natasha figured if she didn't take the drink soon, things would get ugly. But the question was, did Daniels think that he was going to drug and take her to his bedroom for the night? Or did he know who she really was, and the whole mission was compromised?
So Natasha grabbed the drink, but held it in her hand, as far from her face as she could.
"Go ahead, drink. It is quite delicious." Daniels made the example and drank from his own glass, draining it.
"You are too kind, Mr. Daniels, but-"
"Please. It's Geoffrey."
"Ok, Geoffrey, thank you, but I really need to go. It's getting late, and I must go find my husband before he gets into any more trouble," Natasha exclaimed, trying to get away. Natasha smiled grimly, fully recognizing that this night was not going to go as planned.
"Ah yes. The husband." Daniels said with a fake smile, stretching out the word so it was obviously sarcastic. Natasha scanned the floor area, she needed to find him and get his attention. When she spotted him, he had finally made his way past the guard and was working his way up the stairs.
"Brad, yes?" Natasha's attention snapped back to Daniels who kept her arm locked in an iron grip. "He is very handsome. Perfect for a lady, such as yourself." Natasha faked smiled and held the glass tighter in her hand, wondering where in the world this conversation was going. A waiter walked by and Daniels placed his empty glass on the tray he was carrying.
"I really think you should take the drink. Just a little sip." Daniels encouraged, giving her a little nudge. Natasha shook her head, refusing to give in. They continued walking while Daniels looked around, making sure no one could really see them.
Coming up on an empty hallway, Daniels dragged Natasha around the corner and pushed her up against the wall. The fight was now to his advantage. Daniels snagged his handkerchief from his suit jacket and used to cover his hand while he grabbed an object from the waistband of his pants. He pushed the object up against Natasha's stomach and she immediately knew what it was. This all happened in a matter of seconds. But not too fast for the Black Widow.
She could feel the cold metal of the gun through the fabric, and she already knew three ways she could disarm and kill him. But it wasn't time for that yet. She needed to let this play out, figure out what he knew.
"It'd be a shame if that pretty dress got ruined," Daniels said mockingly, but Natasha smiled grimly. Jokes on him, Natasha was not afraid of death. She had worked past it, but there had been times in her life that she ever wished for it. To be put out of her misery. But that was with the Red Room. Joining SHIELD, she had a new purpose, a life that she could live for herself. She had done things wrong in the past, and she was not scared to die. The red in her ledger would be wiped out completely.
"Go ahead," Natasha taunted. "Shoot a defenseless woman." Even though she wasn't scared to die, she was scared for Clint. He would take the blame all on himself. She didn't want to do that to him. And she couldn't leave him, not like this. Besides, Natasha knew that Daniels wouldn't shoot her.
Daniels chucked. "You and I both know you're anything but defenseless." That confirmed it. Daniels knew that she was not Emily Austen. She needed to warn Clint that it was a trap.
"Then you'd have no problem killing me. Eliminate the problem." Natasha gave him the perfect opportunity. Any other person would have discreetly killed her and continued on with whatever they were doing. But Daniels caught on and saw what she was doing.
"You don't care if you die," He already knew it was true, but he just wanted to confirm it out loud.
Then Natasha let the glass slip from her fingers, sending it falling to the floor. Just before it hit, Daniels' free hand shot out and grabbed the neck of the glass, only spilling a drop of liquid. Natasha sent a kick to his head while he was near the floor, but he knocked it aside with the gun. He stood up fully, and shoved the gun in her face. He rested his finger on the trigger, and held the glass beside him, just far enough away.
"You may not care to die," Daniels continued, but made a signal with his gun to unseen eyes. Natasha watched with a silent but sharp intake of breath as a laser from sighted guns appeared on Clint's head and back. She couldn't tell where they were coming from, she couldn't see any of the men.
"But what about your husband? Drink."
Daniels ordered and handed the drink to Natasha. She took it, eyeing the liquid sucisiouly. She looked over wearily at Clint, who continued to look around oblivious her the man who was standing right in front of Natasha.
"You have three seconds before I shoot him. Three." Daniels moved, staring at Natasha intensely.
"Two." Natasha shared at the liquid in her cup.
"One." She looked back up at Daniels and and drained the glass.
No matter how mad she was at Clint, she loved him. More than she would care to admit. And she couldn't let him die.
Whatever was in the drink worked quickly, black spots appeared in the vision and she dropped the glass. It fell to the floor, shattering as soon as it hit. Natasha lost her balanced and tipped forward, then Daniels caught her in his arms.
"Commitments are such a let down, aren't they?" He whispered in her ear as they slipped to the floor. Natasha got one last look at the back of Clint's head as she lost her vision completely. She heard one last order from Daniels before she fell into unconsciousness.
"Shoot him."
