Guys. My dearest readers. I am so so SO sorry this chapter took so long to get put up! Life and school have been bogging me down with tedious other things, you know how it is ;) Anywho, thanks for sticking with me! (and with Nat and Rebecca of course) I really love you guys and appreciate all your support! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Happy reading! :)

She had been to New York City before, numerous times. But she had never before appreciated how truly big it was until she was trying to pinpoint one person's location within said city.

Ever since they had gotten there the three of them had been following lead after lead, each one eventually bringing them to a halt with no new information. She had been joyfully optimistic when they had first arrived, feeling a lot better now that she was actively searching for Natasha. Any kind of progress was better than sitting on her ass just waiting for something to happen. But after a few days with continuous dead ends she was starting to feel as if they might never find her.

The trio had just followed up on another lead that Clint had turned up. There had been a woman who said she had been saved from thugs by a red haired woman just the week before, and after hearing the story Clint had been pretty positive that it was Natasha. There were apparently a whole bunch of stories like that cropping up all over the city. A mysterious red-haired woman protecting the streets from danger. It sure sounded like something Natasha would do. Protecting the innocent, bringing people to justice her way. But most of the assailants had ended up in the hospital, and Rebecca was hesitant to believe that her girlfriend would leave such an obvious trail of violence behind her.

"It was her," Clint confirmed after they had spoken to the women. "I'd bet my life on it."

"I don't know," Rebecca hedged. "It doesn't really seem like she's trying to cover her tracks very well for someone who doesn't exactly want to be found. It's not very...spy like."

He snorted. "Normally, I'd agree with you. But this is her typical MO when she starts to self destruct, and from what it looks like that's what she might be doing."

Rebecca felt her throat close with panic.

Bobbi saw her face and grabbed her hand. "What Clint means," she said while shooting him a dirty look, "is that she isn't necessarily in trouble, just that she doesn't care if she eventually ends up that way." She squeezed her hand. "We'll find her."

Rebecca smiled wanly and nodded. They would find her. No matter what. They had to find her. She had to tell her how she felt about her. No matter how badly she might be afraid of being rejected after being completely honest with her feelings, she couldn't bear to keep it to herself any longer.

"We will," Clint confirmed. "She'll turn up." He grunted. "Especially if she keeps leaving behind a trail of people she's putting in the hospital."

Rebecca nodded again and continued walking. They were in lower Manhattan, just turning onto Fulton Street. It was the middle of the afternoon, yet the streets were still thronged with people. They walked past a little café that was still serving breakfast pastries despite the late afternoon hour. There was a couple seated at an outside table, and as Rebecca and her two companions walked past them she caught a whiff of the croissants and beignets they had on their plates. Her mind immediately associated it with that last morning her and Natasha had shared in Prague. Famished from spending the night in each others arms and feasting on pastries in bed that had long since gone cold. She suddenly felt the loss of her like a shard of glass through her heart; each breath causing a new stab of pain. What if she never saw her again? How was she supposed to bear it?

Rebecca stopped for a minute to gather her wits She walked off the sidewalk and leaned up against the wall of the café. The stone was cold and hard against her back. She felt like banging her head against it.

"You okay?" Bobbi asked, walking over to her.

"Yeah," she replied. "Just frustrated that we haven't turned up anything solid yet."

Bobbi pursed her lips thoughtfully. "As much as I hate to ever admit it, I think that Clint's right. She's going to turn up. Especially after the way she's beating up on all the city's lowlifes." She rolled her eyes.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow at her. "I take it you don't approve?"

Bobbi sighed. "It's not that I necessarily disapprove," she said slowly. It's just that I think she could be a little less...intense about things."

Rebecca bristled. "I'm sure she has her reasons."

The blonde woman smiled. "Still defending her, are you? Even after she abandoned you?"

Rebecca looked away and didn't answer.

Bobbi sighed again. "Look, I'm not trying to put her down or anything, but maybe it's time for you to come to grips with the fact that even when we do find her, she might not want to rekindle your relationship."

Her stomach plummeted. She was painfully aware of this, of course. But hearing someone say it out loud made it somehow even harder to bear. "I know," she said softly. "I'm more worried about how it will affect the Avengers if she doesn't return more than how it will affect me."

She didn't look convinced. "I just don't want you to get hurt if things don't go the way you're hoping."

Rebecca mustered up a smile. "Thanks, Bobbi."

Bobbi linked her arm around Rebecca's and pulled her back out onto the sidewalk, where Clint was waiting for them patiently.

"You ready?" He asked them. "I'm starving. We could pick up a few pizzas if you guys want?"

"Pizza sounds great," Rebecca said, sighing happily. They hadn't stopped to eat since they left the hotel in the morning, and all she had had at that point was a banana and a granola bar since they had left in a hurry. She hadn't even noticed how hungry she was getting, being fueled throughout most of the day on adrenaline and the hope of a reunion with Natasha. After that last lead was debunked however, she felt her body starting to crash.

...

A few hours later, and a few pizzas and beers later, Clint was passed out on the small loveseat in their hotel room. Aside from the piece of furniture her was sprawled out on, there were two small beds, which Clint had graciously bequeathed to the ladies. It was a small room, just shy of being cramped, but they rented it on the fly once they had arrived in the city, and since they were using their own funds rather than Shield's they had figured that sharing the one room between the three of them wouldn't be too big of a deal. And it wasn't, not really.

At least...not at first.

Rebecca had been one hundred percent comfortable around Clint from practically the first time they met. He was like a big brother to her. Or even a goofy uncle. But with Bobbi...with Bobbi it was quite different. Not to say that she necessarily felt uncomfortable around her, but there was a tension between them that seemed to be getting worse rather than better. She fought against it from the first. But the harder she tried to ignore it, the worse it was. The very last thing she needed while she was tracking down her girlfriend was to start being attracted to another woman. Another flirty woman.

It didn't help that she was fucking gorgeous. Her tumbled wavy blonde hair, electric blue eyes, and endlessly long legs made her avert her eyes before being consumed with dark thoughts.

She felt like a louse. The lowest of the low. But she couldn't seem to help it. It was a physical knee-jerk reaction that randomly occurred whenever Bobbi leaned in close or reached over to pinch her arm or teasingly punch her shoulder. She didn't feel any emotional connection to her...but she couldn't deny the physical attraction that was there. It hung in between them, a heavy and metallic taste that clung to the back of her tongue.

But every time Bobbi laughed, or looked at her with playful eyes, she would think of Nat...and how much she missed her...and the hollow ache in her heart returned full force and threatened to shake her to the core.

As Clint snored on the loveseat and Bobbi slumbered peacefully, Rebecca sat up, alone, in her own bed, in the dark. She rubbed her eyes wearily. Where are you Nat? she thought sadly.

...

Matt Murdock shook his head. "I haven't seen Natasha in over eight months," he said.

Clint sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Really."

"Really," Murdock replied.

Clint folded his arms and remained silent.

Rebecca cleared her throat. "So Mr. Murdock, you haven't heard from her at all?" Despite Clint and Bobbi filling her in on Matt Murdock's history, she hadn't been prepared for the utter intense presence of the blind man.

He turned his head so that he was facing her. "Not once," he said.

She felt her heart plummet. Bobbi had said that if there was anyone that Natasha would have contacted when reaching the city, it would have been Murdock. But it seemed as if they were back to square one.

"Well," she said as she started to stand, "thank you anyway for your time."

"What makes you think she wants to be found?" He asked her suddenly.

She froze in the middle of standing, held rigid by the presumptuous question. "Excuse me?"

He steepled his fingers together. "What if she came here to get away from you, from all of you? Doesn't she deserve your respect in this decision?"

"Don't be a dick, Murdock," Clint hissed.

Rebecca waved a hand to calm him. "It's alright, Clint. It is, after all, a legitimate question."

Silence filled the room as they waited for her response. Rebecca drew in a shaky breath, forcing herself to not be intimidated by this man. She knew that Nat had a past with him. Clint had filled her in on that lovely piece of information on their way up to his office. Part of her wondered if he was testing her. But another part of her recognized that he truly was interested in her answer.

"I think..." she started, "that if she wanted to truly disappear, she would have done so. She's a spy. The best of the best. I think she only came this far because deep down she wants us to find her. She's confused. She's hurting. She needs us as much as we need her." She slammed a fist down on his table, causing Clint and Bobbi to both jump. "And I'll be dammed if I'm leaving this city until I find her!"

Murdock retained his composure. He smiled softly. "That's very interesting," he said quietly.

"C'mon, you two," Clint said, motioning for them to go. "We're done here." The three of them left the office, closing the door loudly as they left.

Left alone in the quiet office, Matt Murdock chuckled softly to himself. "Nat, you have your work cut out for you."

...

Rebecca let out a deep breath as they got outside. The stuffiness of the lawyer's office was stifling.

"He was lying," Clint said grimly. "I'd bet my life on it. He knows something about Nat and he's keeping his mouth shut."

"So what do we do now?" Bobbi asked.

They had pulled over to the sidewalk in front of an electronics store. "We keep searching," Clint said.

The three of them looked at the ground, no one wanting to be the one to voice the truth that they were running out of leads.

Rebecca's eye caught a flash of movement from inside the store. A television display in the window was replaying an interview with Norman Osbourne. His oily sneer turned her stomach.

"I can't stand that man," Bobbi said suddenly, furiously. "What do people see in him, anyway? I wish there was some way to call him out on his bullshit."

Rebecca continued staring at the screen, lost in thought. She thought of something Steve had said to her before they left. About doing the right thing, always, even if it wasn't the popular opinion.

Suddenly she realized that there was something she could do, something that might not only help Nat but help the rest of the Avenger's as well.

"Hey guys," she said as a smile grew across her face. "I have an idea..."

~*~ To be continued