Part two is out! Yay! Let's hope that things go smoothly for our two favorite assassins! Well, they never do, but maybe this time will be the exception. Thank you Grammarospey! I hope you all enjoy part two! Also, the conversations they have in different languages, that was all Google translate, so if I said something wrong, sorry! Blame Google. Jk, kind of.
Chapter 11: Budapest Part 2: Closure
Clint groaned. His entire body hurt. A lot. He cracked an eye open and jerked up, knife in hand.
He slowly got his bearings and looked at the girl. She glared at him in a daze, and her movements were slow. That should make his life easier. He struggled to his feet and began trying to talk to Coulson. "Coulson? I need back up. I got the girl but… Coulson?" No response. "Coulson?" Clint was starting to feel nervous. He always answered even when he was ticked off.
"You turned off the comm придурок." The girl was smirking at him while leaning against a wall.
"I'm not sure what you called me, but Merci, je serais perdu sans un psychopathe pour m'aider. (Thank you, I don't know what I would do without a psychopath to help me.)"
"Votre bienvenue crétin. (Your welcome moron.)" She replied with a cocked eyebrow.
"Vedo che parli francese, ma che ne dici dell'italiano?(So you can speak French, but what about Italian?)" Clint smirked. He'd like to see her get out of this on-
"Du, sono fluente in diciotto lingue.(Duh, I'm fluent in eighteen languages.)" She smirked as he stared at her. He began to turn on the comm.
"Are not!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Prove it!"
"You prove it!"
"I asked first!"
"I-"
"Barton." Clint froze as Coulson entered the conversation. "Clint, what are you doing?"
"I, um, well," he took a deep breath. "I um, I thought that she could be a helpful asset. Like, as an agent, or something."
"And you didn't think to follow orders?" Coulson was furious. His voice was cold.
"Umm. You're breaking up sir. Sorry, I can't-you-off-" he turned off the comm, and leaned against a wall. "I am so dead."
The girl laughed, humorlessly. "Welcome to the club, as you Americans say." They sat together, both trying to regain strength.
"What's your name?" Clint asked eventually.
"Didn't you get information on your mission?"
"Yeah, but I just read the basics. I don't like to know anything more personal about my targets."
The girl rolled her eyes. "Americans. So soft-hearted. My name is Natalia Romanova."
"That's quite a mouthful," Clint commented. Natalia sighed. "Can I call you Nat?"
"No," Natalia replied shortly.
"Great. So, Nat, I was thinking, if you want to defect to the US, you should change your name."
"I said don't call me that! And what gives you the idea that I even want to go with you?"
"Because you're miserable here." He replied bluntly. "You wanted to die. You were just too scared to run or do it yourself. Though I can tell you thought about it. Whoever has a hand on your lead, you're terrified of them. You want out but you can't do it yourself."
Natalia blinked. She hadn't expected him to be able to read her that well. Clint continued speaking. "I'm offering you a chance to not only escape to freedom but to do the right thing. To go straight, and to wipe the red out of your ledger. I-"
"No!" She snapped louder than she intended. "Don't. Don't give me hope." She whispered. "You don't understand. Have you ever had someone gut you and stuff you with whatever they want? Take you and break you until they get what they want? Use you until you're useless, then dump you like the miserable trash you are? No, how could you understand?" She chuckled dryly. "You better finish your mission now, Hawkeye." She spat. "That's the only way we'll both get what we want." Silence filled the alley. And Clint stared at her.
"I know." He said shortly. "When I was young, my parents were killed. The circus of crime took me and my brother in. I stole for them, did tricks for them, and what did I get in return? They got their claws into me. They got me hooked on their drugs and rum, kept me dependent on them. Then one day, I made one of the higher-ups angry. So they sent me on a suicide mission." He scoffed. "They just sent me out to steal from the government. I failed, of course. And I was on the run for three years. Then shield found me. Changed my life."
Natalia was silent. "Well," She said eventually. "I guess we both have a pretty miserable past."
Clint chuckled dryly. "Yeah."
They stayed there for a while until Clint began walking towards Natalia. She didn't move. "Come on." He said holding out a hand. "Let's go."
"Where? Where can we go?" Natalia asked. "Cause I don't think your boss really wants to meet me right now."
"Don't worry," Clint said confidently. "You'll warm up to him. He won't kill us, probably. Most likely."
Natalia eyed him suspiciously. "How sure are you?"
Clint chuckled nervously. "Just...cross your fingers."
"You better finish your mission now Hawkeye. It's the only way we'll both get what we want."
Coulson rubbed his hands over his face. Why me? He wondered. He sighed. Of all the assassins Clint had to find one that he and Coulson now had to help. Fury was going to kill him. He groaned again. The two master assassins were arguing like school children.
"I already told you I'm not defecting to the US!" Natalia cried.
"Well, you were on board with it five seconds ago!" Clint replied exasperated.
"No, I wasn't! I just thought you would get me out of this mess! I didn't think you would actually make me join shield!"
"What else would I do?"
"Look, I owe you for not killing me, so I'll help get you to your precious shield, in return for letting me go."
"No! We're in this together."
"Since when?"
"Sir!" The technician called. "There are hostiles approaching them! They're surrounded!"
Coulson ran over to the computer. Sure enough. They two dots were surrounded by a bunch of other dots. "Clint," he sighed. "At this rate, I'm going to go bald faster than The Director."
The two assassins were supporting each other down the alleyway, both not completely trusting the other. They both froze and cursed in unison. "I bet you five buck were surrounded," Clint muttered.
"I bet you five more that they're here for both of us," Nat replied. Shots began ringing out in the dawn and the two ran.