Author's Note: Sorry for the extreme delay. Without further ado and added hoohah, here's your next chapter.
Chapter 25:
Things were relatively mild in the tower given that the entire team was actually in the same place at the same time for once. Bruce expected that the first thing Tony would do was throw a party, yet now it was four days later and instead the billionaire was currently muttering under his breath about rings while browsing jewelry websites on his computer. "How the hell does somebody just pick one ring out of all these choices?" he heard the man grumble out.
Bruce chuckled as he swiveled his chair in Tony's direction before he dared to comment, "I'm not an expert, but most people actually go to the store to pick the ring, they don't just look on the internet and hope for the best."
"I pride myself on not being most people, Brucie."
Bruce smirked at that before he turned back to his own computer. "You could at least pop the actual question in a more dignified manner than a bet when you give her the ring," he tacked on for good measure.
"One knee isn't enough? I could do both knees."
"That's called begging," came Natasha's voice and Bruce covered his mouth to smother a ridiculously loud laugh. "And getting on your hands and knees suits you, you should definitely do one of those graceful little bows at her feet when you do it," she added.
"Nobody asked your opinion, Red," Tony grumbled. "Did you two really drink wine and have girl talk?" and Bruce refused to turn around because he knew he would give everything away, like the fact that Natasha knew about the bet, and the fact that her and Pepper were messing with his best friend. He hadn't seen much of Natasha since their discussion, giving her the space she needed to think things over, and using it to think about things himself. It was also probably terrible to help them, or rather, not to hinder them with their prank. Bruce was almost certain Tony wanted to ask Pepper to marry him, the man was just too pathetically confused on how to go about it, thus that had been the idiotic way that he managed to feel the situation out.
"There was also pizza," Natasha stated. "Unfortunately we stopped just short of braiding each others' hair. Now then, do I have this right? You and Pepper are getting married?"
"Er..." and Bruce could already tell that his best friend had a deer in the headlights look without actually turning around. "Sort of? Yes? I need a ring..."
He glanced to the side and saw Natasha's amused expression, "Well, as the apparent Maid of Honor, I suppose I could help you with that."
"The—the what?!" Tony practically screeched out and Bruce turned and watched as the man turned so fast in his chair that he almost fell out of it in near hysterical fashion.
"Well, I thought she was joking, but it seems I was wrong," Natasha stated with a rather serious expression. "I could help you pick the ring."
Bruce glanced between both of them but Tony was rolling his eyes, "I think I can pick a damn ring, Romanoff."
Her eyebrow quirked up slightly as she perched herself on the edge of the desk and Bruce was barely hiding his continued amusement, especially with her next statement, "Jeez, that thing is gaudy and hideous, you do know she would never wear something like that, right?"
Tony cleared his throat and exited the browser, "Yes... of course I do."
"Mmhmm," she murmured and Bruce blinked when he noticed the bottle of scotch she hid behind her back. Soon enough, she brought it into view and set it on Tony's desk before she grabbed two test tubes in one hand, then twisted open the scotch and poured some into each one. One she handed to Tony, the other she kept in her hand, "You and I are going to have to work together on these plans, Stark. Pepper's a busy woman with an entire company to run."
Tony guffawed and Bruce nearly blew it in that moment as he covered his mouth and turned away, almost choking on his laugh at the billionaire's response, "That—that's an illegal usage of test tubes. You don't even know if that was sterile. That's definitely not even remotely sanitary..." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that it didn't stop Tony from downing the entire test tube of scotch.
"So how much are you willing to spend on this wedding?" Natasha questioned next as she refilled Tony's test tube and Bruce tried to nonchalantly listen in, "because I'm pretty sure you need to go big or go home."
"I always go big and I never go home," Tony reminded her as he drank the entire test tube again within seconds. "Let's not talk about this right now," he mumbled next, "Jarvis, show Red here what we've got for the next mission."
"Certainly, sir," Jarvis agreed. "The most prominently named city in the files you retrieved from the last mission was Mangalia. It's..."
"A port city just off the Black Sea in Romania, I'm familiar with it," Natasha stated as she emptied her test tube of scotch and placed it back in its holder, much to Tony's dismay. Bruce smirked a little as the billionaire grunted, took the dirty test tube, and tossed it into the trash can.
"This is the most logical choice to go next, according the some of the files in the experiments. The files show that this was the next testing city for the experiments and holds the most promise for more answers," Jarvis explained. "Unfortunately, no precise facility location was named in any of the files, leaving us uncertain as to where to begin our search."
Natasha glanced from Tony to the enlarged computer screen that appeared before her, showing a map of the city. "Alright, let's do this a little more old-fashioned," she stated as she moved from her perch on Tony's desk and stepped in front of the map. "Remove any residential buildings first and foremost."
"Certainly," Jarvis agreed as he adhered to the request. Bruce turned and watched as all buildings on the large map showed up as little blue lit up dots and easily, more than half of them went dark within a minute.
"Now remove any buildings that aren't outputting a serious abundance of electricity. We know there's a lab inside, they've got to be racking up a serious power bill."
"With pleasure," Jarvis answered.
Bruce watched again as more of the dots disappeared, leaving a good two dozen dots still lit up.
"That still leaves twenty-six possible choices," Tony mumbled out with a shake of his head.
Something on Natasha's face said that statement wasn't entirely true and Bruce watched her with interest as she spoke again, "I don't think it does. Jarvis, what's this building here?" Bruce watched as she tapped the blue dot closest to the water and she ignored the fact that Tony gave her questioning looks for her choice of one building out of twenty-six, instead waiting for Jarvis to answer.
"According to records, it's a hospital."
"Two hospitals?" she questioned. "It's not exactly a large city."
"Indeed you are correct, there is a second hospital at the northern sector."
"What was it before it was a hospital?" came Natasha's next question.
Jarvis was silent for a moment as he searched before replying, "No records, but the hospital went on record nine years ago."
Bruce mulled that over with interest before he commented, "In other words it didn't exist."
"No, it did," came Natasha's reply, "except it was a research facility."
Tony's brow ruffled in an instant, "And you know this how?"
"Because I'm the one who killed everyone inside it ten years ago and stole the research," she said it without any emotion. The simple answer left Tony with an 'o' shape to his mouth and left Bruce a little shaken. "Thirteen scientists and four armed guards. I'm sure Jarvis can find an article or newspaper retelling the tale." Sure enough, the AI brought up a front-page of a Romanian news story stating exactly what she just had. "Guess I cleared out the place for HYDRA to set up shop."
"So you know the layout?"
"I'm sure the layout inside has changed in a decade, but I can do you one better because I know a way to get in undetected," she answered with a neutral expression. "There's tunnel that can be accessed from the port underwater, I used it the first time."
"And you're assuming HYDRA didn't take note of that in your mission report?" Tony questioned with a roll of his eyes.
"They might have, but that mission wasn't assigned to me by Fury, it was assigned by Pierce," she answered. "Pierce didn't want the mission on record, therefore, no mission—"
"No mission report," Bruce finished the statement for her.
"Exactly. He just wanted the research," she tacked on with a wry little smile, "guess now I know why he didn't want it on record."
Tony looked a little impressed, "So we have a way in?"
"We have a way in."
Bruce raised his hand, "And how can we be sure it's not just a hospital?"
"If it is, it won't matter," Tony stated as he waved him off, "There'll be nothing to see, nothing to steal, no threats to worry about."
"Barton and I can go in, scope it out," Natasha suggested next, "I did it alone ten years ago so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to do it again. You guys can wait on a boat, see what we come up with, if there's anything to actually find."
"All well and good, but you and Barton won't know what you're reading if you do find something, and this time I'd really prefer we not blow up the intel," Tony mentioned with a smirk.
Bruce sighed a little at that as Natasha rolled her eyes, "Yes, because that was my fault."
"Sort of was, but hey, let's not play the blame game," Tony retorted.
"Well you're not exactly stealthy in your big metal suit and I'm not playing the 'make sure Stark doesn't get a bullet in his ass' game," Natasha replied with a pointed glare. "It would take way too long for you to call for your suit if things get dicey," she added.
"Fine, fine, we'll take this discussion upstairs. Team meeting, Jarvis?"
"I'll alert the others, sir."
"Brucieboy, be a dear and go on ahead," Tony ordered and Bruce frowned as he was dismissed from the lab. That had never happened before.
"Er...okay?" Bruce mumbled out as he glanced between Natasha and Tony. "Is this about wedding plans?" he couldn't resist the parting jab.
"Bruce, I will hire Romanoff to kill you."
Bruce saw the amused yet equally annoyed expression that crossed Natasha's face as Tony made the joke but he just shrugged it off and headed for the exit of the lab.
Natasha watched as Bruce exited and only turned to Tony once the scientist was long gone. He was studying her inquisitively and she had a feeling either Bruce or Pepper had divulged that she had nearly ended this thing between herself and Bruce several days ago. She was proven right only seconds after the thought crossed her mind, "Upcoming nuptials and mission aside...are you and him okay?"
"Define okay."
"Bruce said you were thinking about, you know, breaking things off?" came Tony's response, "and the last few days he's mostly been in here and you've been either training with our star-spangled leader or playing footsies with Barton."
She sighed slightly at that as she folded her arms across her chest. She supposed she couldn't entirely blame Bruce for it, those were the types of conversations people typically held with their best friends, and Tony was doing a rather impressive job of not blabbing the semi-relationship to every living soul in the tower. "Here's the thing, Tony, I'm a private person, so what I do and who I do it with, I prefer to keep between myself and that person."
"I know that."
"And yet you and Pepper keep pushing Bruce, pushing him into pushing me," she added and she watched his brow furrow slightly. "Regardless of the fact that I know you're both doing it with the best of intentions, I was a little annoyed when Pepper showed up at my door to talk about what I wanted when it came to Bruce."
"I can sort of see how that might be annoying..."
"And then he asked me if I wanted to have a date, because you and Pepper thought we should have an actual date," she added for good measure. "You're backing him into a corner when he doesn't have a clue what he wants, and backing him into a corner means you back me into one too," she explained, "I don't do well backed into corners."
"Clearly..." Tony deadpanned.
Natasha frowned slightly as she shook her head. "I get it, I really do. You're his best friend and you're looking out for him." She watched him nod but the weary expression on his face didn't change, "The more you try to push us to be more than we're ready to be, the further you're going to drive us apart, do you get it now?"
"I suppose," Tony agreed halfheartedly. "Look, like you said, he's my best friend. Much as I want to trust that you know what you're doing here—"
"I have no idea what I'm doing, which is exactly what I told Pepper, which is why I wanted to stop all this the other day," she stated in annoyance. Natasha rubbed at her eyes and leaned back in the chair, "I don't do this."
"Do what, exactly?"
"Romance, relationships, dating," she explained with a roll of her eyes.
Tony raised both eyebrows up and she shook her head as she awaited whatever ill-mannered comment he was about to make, "Didn't you have missions where you had romance, or, you know...dated people?"
At least he made it less colorful than he could have and she supposed she had said just as much to Pepper, and even Bruce, the other day. "Dating? Not so much. As for the romance, the day you enjoy what's happening, that's the day you die, in more ways than one."
Surprisingly, he let that last part fly under the radar and let it be. "You've never bothered to be with anyone as just yourself, have you?" came the sudden question. It certainly wasn't one she expected and she knew she didn't school the pissed off expression that crossed her face fast enough. "Er...my bad. I just meant, in any form, not just under the covers so to speak, little play on words there in case you didn't catch that."
"I'm not having this conversation with you, Stark."
"And now I'm Stark again," he huffed out in clear annoyance. "You need to stop putting all of us at a distance. We're a team, we're friends, and we share a very common interest in Bruce."
"You constantly put people at a distance so I don't see how you're one to talk," she retorted as she finally forced neutrality back into her features.
Tony was quiet for a moment at that before he spoke up again, "I haven't done it with Bruce, or with you."
Not entirely true, he just didn't do it with her often, mostly because they didn't spend much time in the others' presence unless Bruce was nearby. "Are you afraid I'm going to switch sides of the fence again here, Tony? As I recall, it is in my nature."
He rubbed wearily at his face at her comment and she quirked a single eyebrow up as she waited for him to think of a reply. "Natasha...I didn't mean that," he attempted to tell her once more. She hadn't believed him that night of the party when he said he hadn't meant it and she certainly didn't believe him now. She hadn't even realized she was still pissed about it until this very moment.
She kept her gaze stone-cold and empty as she watched him and for a moment Tony looked like he felt absolutely terrible all over again. Natasha forced herself to remember that it was one time, that he had been drunk, and that he had saved her life back on that island when she had very nearly drowned. She let that last part guide her for her next comment, "Bruce and I are alright, I think so anyways. I don't know what I'm doing, he doesn't know what he's doing, and we'll manage just fine if you stop trying to force us into something we aren't sure that we want."
Tony cleared his throat, sighed, then nodded, "Alright."
"It's been two weeks, Tony, that's all. I need slow, I need it that way because I've always skipped to the end and just once I'd like to see the beginning."
It was more than she had admitted to herself in two weeks and she blinked at the sudden clarity. Even Tony's expression softened completely at her comment and she shifted slightly with discomfort at the turn their conversation took before she stood up and made her way for the door. "Natasha," he called out.
She turned back to him.
"I'm sorry."
Natasha merely gave him a courteous nod in reaction to the apology before she headed up for the meeting with Tony not too far behind her. When she stepped into the room for the meeting there were two seats available, one between Thor and Steve, one between Bruce and Clint. She quickly snatched the one between Bruce and Clint, watching as Tony stepped in and gave a sour look at the seat that she had left him. She could see the smirk playing on Bruce's lips as the billionaire took the seat a bit reluctantly.
"So...I take it we have a target?" Steve piped up first.
"Mangalia," Tony answered as Jarvis brought up the 3D map across the table for all of them to see. "Thanks to our pint-sized resident assassin, we've got a good suspect for what might be the HYDRA base in the city, plus a rather decent spyway."
"Spyway?" Thor questioned. "What is this spyway?"
"Red?" Tony offered to floor to her.
Natasha inclined her head to the side slightly. "What he means, Thor, is that there's a way in that HYDRA likely doesn't know about. It's the perfect entry for spies to go in to gather intel unseen." She stood up and placed her hands on the virtual map, spreading out the docks of the port. "There's an underground waterway that leads into the basement of the building, and considering that they've remodeled the former research facility into a hospital, the basement is the most likely place for where they'll be hiding any information. Barton and I can go in, check things out, and let you guys know what we might be dealing with."
"Just yourself and Barton?" Thor asked next.
Tony snickered, "That's what I said. Romanoff has a tendency to blow up the information that I want, but she has deemed me unninja-ey enough for this mission."
"That's not even a word," Natasha managed not to groan as she made the comment and she could see Clint chuckling into his coffee cup. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, "If you really want us to take someone who understands your scientific mumbo jumbo, then we'll take Bruce."
The scientist's reaction was immediate and she very nearly laughed at it. "No, no you will not take Bruce," Bruce told her with wide eyes.
"No offense, Natasha, but The Hulk isn't exactly stealthy either," Steve reminded her.
"Ninja Hulk," Tony spouted out with a grin and it only caused Clint to further choke on his coffee as he snorted.
"We don't need a ninja Hulk because we're not taking the Big Guy, we're taking Bruce," she commented dryly, "and unlike Tony, if things get dicey, he's rather indestructible."
"While causing destruction!" Bruce reminded her, "wouldn't that ruin the entire point of this?"
"Only if something goes wrong," Natasha stated with a smile.
She watched as Bruce looked to Tony for help but his friend gave nothing of the sort, neither did the rest of the team as they all seemed to shrug their agreement. "I'm not getting a choice here, am I?" Bruce grumbled out in a sigh.
Natasha planted herself back in her seat but it was Clint who spoke up before she could, "Of course you have a choice, Banner. If you don't wanna go, you don't go, simple as that."
It was one of those voices that made the person feel like the worst person in the world if they didn't agree and Natasha barely hid her smile as Bruce rubbed at his eyes, sighed, then nodded. "Alright, I'll do it..."
"Alrighty, that's settled," Tony mentioned. Let's make our game plan. Team A includes Ninja Red, Ninja Katniss and Ninja Bruce."
One corner of Natasha's lips curled upward as Bruce face-palmed and she saw Clint grinning from ear to ear.
It was tough to decide whether someone would say it was late at night or early in the morning as Natasha readied herself on the speedboat by the docks with Clint and Bruce. Either way, it was pitch black and perfect for the job they needed to do. It was probably twisted to admit, but she actually enjoyed a little B&E from time to time, especially at this time of day. Breaking and entering, not getting caught, it was one of the first things she had mastered in the Red Room besides murder. She might have become their best asset but she certainly hadn't started that way. She was always the tiniest, always the quietest, always the underdog. That also meant she was always underestimated in the beginning. That was a lesson all the other girls learned quickly. Never underestimate your opponent.
"I'm going to hate this..."
Natasha snickered as she glanced over at Bruce. The man looked hilariously uncomfortable in a wetsuit and she waited until Clint hopped into the water before she helped the scientist adjust wetsuit to sit a bit more properly. "Relax, Bruce, we do this all the time," she assured him. She could see that he easily wanted to disagree with the ease she was giving to this infiltration and she clamped a hand on his shoulder, "There's nobody I trust to watch my back more than Clint, but you and the Big Guy are turning into a real close second, alright?"
It seemed to do the trick because he nodded his head with less hesitation now. "I suppose, just trying not to remember how your last two missions went," he admitted with a frown, "and last time you had back-up."
"Last time was different and we both know it," she reassured him. "Right when a mission starts is typically a bad time to air out your uncertainties, by the way," she reminded him with a chuckle. It was effective in making him smile just the tiniest bit. "I trust you and now I need you to trust me, at least to do the one thing I'm actually really good at."
Bruce looked hesitant before he smiled a little more, "Alright. So... how does this thing work again?"
She chuckled as he held out the rebreather before she helped him put it on his mouth and strap it on correctly. Natasha attached her own rebreather, then dropped into the water from the speedboat with Bruce. She swam her way to the waterway where Clint already waited and she was the first to dive under and lead the way. Once they were a good twenty feet below, she nodded her head the to oval entryway with large metal bars that was supposed to block their way. It seemed that in the last ten years, nobody had ever bothered to fix the one single bar she had cut through and removed, or perhaps nobody had ever noticed.
She could see Clint's amused face at the fact that her ten year old infiltration of this place was still ready for them and she swam through with both men just behind her. Going down this exact path she used so long ago left her with the reminder of the seventeen men and women whose lives she ended the last time. Natasha pushed the unbidden thoughts from her mind as she swam onward for several minutes before she came to a stop. She motioned to Clint and within a few seconds he was in front of her as they both began removing screws on the grate that would lead them up into the basement. It didn't take long before Clint lifted it just enough for Natasha to poke her head up slightly to see. Nothing. No one. She turned and found the same nothing and no one in the other direction. Just shelves and boxes. She nodded her head to Clint as he popped the grate completely off and onto the floor before she pulled herself up. Clint came up next and a moment later, Bruce followed.
"Ten points for the creep factor of this basement..." Clint whispered after pulling off his rebreather.
Natasha smirked. "It's sort of the basement of the basement," she admitted in an equally quiet tone. She placed the rebreather in Clint's bag before removing her gun and rummaging through some of the boxes. She found lab coats, test tubes, syringes, any number of things that equally pertained to being a simple storage room of a hospital. In the basement of the basement... a long way to go for supplies. Then she froze, hearing the tap tap tap of footsteps. Given the weight bearing on each step and the way the person carried themselves, it was either a rather stocky man or an extremely stocky woman. Fortunately, she was pretty sure wet and in a wetsuit, she could distract just about anybody for a good minute or two no matter their gender. She motioned both of them behind the door before she placed the grate quietly back in place, yanked a lab coat from the box, then pulled it on. It wasn't exactly the most elegant of disguises, especially given the slick wetsuit beneath, but she tugged the zipper down for an abundance of cleavage and watched as Clint grinned and Bruce turned beet red. She shoved the gun into Clint's hands and then she just buttoned the lab coat in the perfect place when the door opened to cover both men. She froze, a look of stunned innocence as she sat with her hands just under her breasts.
"What are you—uh...um..." the man spoke in Hungarian, not a language she expected but she could work with it. Then he froze, stunned and baffled at the sight of her, and she could practically hear Clint laughing to himself behind the door.
"Oh, wow...you have the perfect timing," she drawled out in Hungarian as well. "You see, I'm all wet and I could use a little help." Again, she could hear Clint's laughter even though he wasn't actually laughing. She rested her hand on the guard's chest and gave him the most sultry little look beneath her eyelashes, "You must work out."
His confusion changed to interest and he grinned as he took her free hand into his own. "I do, I could show you."
"I'd like that," she agreed with a little smile as he pulled her closer. She waited until he pressed his lips to her neck and pushed her back a few steps before she gave him a playful tap on the chest. "Maybe you should close the door."
"Sure," he agreed.
The guard turned to close the door and as it swung closed she could see his surprise when Clint grinned at him. "Hi, how ya' doing?" her partner questioned just before he slammed the gun that Natasha had passed off to him over the man's head. She smirked a little as Bruce shook his head before Clint handed the gun back to her, "Really, Nat? I'm all wet? That was the best you could come up with?"
"Sure, mock me. Next time you can seduce the guard," she suggested and she could see the amusement plain on Bruce's face, though it was mixed with some semblance of discomfort, and she imagined that was from her seducing a man while he was just two feet away.
Leave it to Clint to kick the hornet's nest... "You look a little uncomfortable, Doc. Nat's tactics take some getting used to."
Bruce's smile was halfhearted at best, but he didn't comment either way and she was grateful for that. She refused to feel bad for doing her job, for doing what she was trained to do, even if it made Bruce a little uncomfortable. She wouldn't change for somebody, not who she was, and certainly not the way she did her job. "If you two are done hand-holding, let's get a move on. I'd prefer not to linger."
"Yeah, yeah," Clint mumbled as he removed the guard's radio and handcuffed him to one of the shelves. He rolled his eyes at Bruce and Natasha watched the scientist give a real smile when her partner mumbled out, "This is why I can't set her up on dates. She's so bossy, guys hate that..."
Even she had a hard time hiding her smile at that. "Shut up, Clint. You talk too much on missions," she ordered as she took point exiting the room. She was pretty sure she just heard him say, 'Told you so...' to Bruce, and if she was right, the dorky scientist was probably grinning. At least he also knew how to defuse a rather uncomfortable situation, even if he didn't know he was doing it. Fortunately, they didn't find anyone else down in the 'basement' of the basement. "Alright, scout the actual basement for us," she informed her partner.
"On it," Clint replied without a second thought.
She watched as he kicked off one wall, shifted his weight to the other wall, leaped off of that one and got his hands on the rafters. "Show off," she muttered with a smirk.
"Only for you," came his instant answer as he pushed up the grate to the vents and slid up inside with ease.
It only forced another eye roll from her and she finally caught Bruce's eye as she kept herself steady against the wall that led to the stairs. It was the only direction for anyone to come from and she shifted her eyes from Bruce to the stairwell. He seemed to understand this was certainly not the place for a conversation but she was surprised when he moved to stand next to her and his elbow brushed her arm.
"I'm all wet?" came the teasing whisper. That was certainly not what she expected but it did force the corners of her lips to curl upwards.
"Don't get too excited, Doc," she quipped. She heard him choke a little on the air he was breathing and she heard Clint snort out a laugh over her ear piece, which seemed to remind Bruce that they could be heard by the archer. Fortunately, Clint wouldn't be surprised to hear her tease a man like she was about to, "I shower on the same floor as you, you should be used to me being all wet."
It worked like a charm. Bruce's murmur of, 'Oh boy...' had Clint snorting before his whispered voice commented with, "Not while I'm working, Nat..." She chuckled quietly at the comment and they continued to wait in silence when Clint spoke again, "One guard, just to the left of the stairs." She held her hand up to show Bruce to wait and watched him nod in understanding. Slowly she moved in silence up the stairs, waiting just at the edge where she wouldn't be seen. Clint's voice spoke again, "He's the only one in this hallway and the next...take him out. He's looking away, do it now.."
Natasha moved in an instant, her footsteps completely silent as she stepped into the hall behind him. Even so, it was as though he knew she was there. Just as she went to wrap her arm around his neck, he turned and gripped her arm with his hand. His free hand swung around and hit her just under the chin. She only barely avoided the full-brunt of the blow by tilting her head back, but it was still enough to push her back a step towards the edge of the staircase. The balls of her feet teetered on the edge and she did the only thing she could, she grabbed his shirt with her free arm, spun him behind her and used him like a surfboard as she drove him down the stairwell first.
He was dead before they ever hit the bottom of the stairs, his head twisted at an unruly angle, and she removed herself from atop him as she looked at Bruce. Before either of them could say a word, Clint's voice spoke up from her comm, "Well...not your most graceful takedown, but callabunga, dude." She could see Bruce grinning at the comment and she barely managed not to roll her eyes. Natasha wiped the tiny speckle of blood that had trickled from the corner of her lip and moved back up the stairs. "You're still clear, nobody heard your body-boarding down the stairwell, small favors," came Clint's next words.
This time she did roll her eyes but she waved Bruce to follow her nonetheless. Bruce followed like a puppy. Another plus to bringing him along rather than Tony. Tony didn't follow orders particularly well and she sincerely doubted he would do well following them from her. "You find the anything besides guard dogs?"
"Nothing weird, not yet..." Clint answered. "Well, I found something you might want to see," came his answer, "I'll lead you to it."
She glanced up and caught her partner's eye through the grates of the vent above and she shook her head as he disappeared forward. Natasha cut her eyes to Bruce and gave him a slight nod. "Follow the rat," she whispered as she pointed up.
"Very funny," Clint grumbled in her ear and she saw the light of amusement glimmer in Bruce's eyes. "Next hallway is clear, turn right." She did, with Bruce right behind her, and she moved into the next hallway with Clint's all-clear. "Two people in the next hall, one guard, one's wearing a lab coat, neither one facing your way." Natasha gave the signal for Bruce to wait again and he did, albeit reluctantly, then she slipped quietly towards them down the hall. She came up behind them without them ever noticing and before either of them could bat an eye, she slammed their heads together. It was effective. Both men dropped to the floor unconscious when Clint's voice hit her, "Incoming. Three labcoats, hall to the left."
"Great..." she grumbled out.
"They look like they don't get out much." Normally that would make her laugh, but with Bruce watching, she instead felt a little like she was about to crucify whatever had sparked between them these last few weeks. "Get over there before they round that corner and see bodies," Clint warned.
She waved Bruce up behind her and pulled a small gadget from her pocket, putting it into his hand. "When I tell you to, I need you to throw that at their feet, got it?"
"Um...yeah, sure...sure," he agreed as he followed her.
"And don't drop it," she added. She picked up the folder that the unconscious man in the labcoat was carrying and then hustled in a faux-clumsy hustle around the corner. Just as planned, she careened right into the three men which sent the folder and its' contents sailing all over the floor. "Oh...oh no," she mumbled out quickly in hurried Hungarian. "Not again, I'm always dropping things...if I lose these papers, I'm done..."
"Let me help," the offer came from the shorter and more rotund of the three, but all of them quickly went to work gathering the scattered papers.
Ironically, none of the three had even paused to take a good look at who they were helping. It seemed they were actually just that nice. By the time they all turned to hand the papers to her, she had shifted herself behind them and it worked like a charm. Suddenly their mouths were left open a little, their eyes were all a little wider, and it seemed not one of the three expected her. "Something the matter, boys?" she questioned. She glanced down at her chest, where short and too skinny was currently staring, "Too much?"
"Uh...uh...n—no," he said quickly. "They look great. I—I mean...you—you look great."
Natasha gave a real laugh the moment he said it. She actually felt bad but this needed to be done. "Now," she ordered Bruce. Just as she said, Bruce poked his head around the corner and tossed the device she gave him at their feet while she took a few steps back. The electricity coursed through all three and they dropped like flies.
"Shit...did I kill them?" Bruce questioned quickly.
She snorted, "No. But I think the big one pissed his pants."
Bruce shook his head with a bit of disbelief.
"What you wanna see is in the room at the end of this hall, door on the left," came Clint's voice. "I'll keep an eye out in the halls."
Natasha had the distinct feeling that she wasn't going to like what she was about to see, but she went towards the door and opened it nonetheless. The sight before her froze her in place and Bruce came up beside her. "Crap..." came Bruce's instant comment.
That was putting it mildly.
In the center of the room was a chair. Not the chair that zapped her memories, that electrocuted her on and off for nearly fifteen hours back in Russia, but an equally torturous device. Stainless steel, though not so stainless, given the dried and cracked brownish-red that marred the shiny chair. A tray of drills and scalpels lay next to it, that same brownish-red stained all of the instruments, it also stained the metal restraints for the hands and ankles.
She was right. She definitely didn't like what she saw. Either the discomfort with the room shone on her face, or Bruce was getting ridiculously good at reading behind her blank expressions because his fingertips grazed her wrist. Natasha was willing to bet it was the latter. It didn't matter either way as she shifted away from his grasp before it could become a thing, before Clint would notice, and she moved further into the room. She kept her eyes anywhere but on the chair, instead glancing over at plexiglas window that led into what she assumed was a viewing room, also a safe room, in case whoever was strapped in that chair got loose. She had been that person a few times, the one who broke free from chairs like that. Other times she was the enforcer for people who were strapped in the chair.
Natasha had been on both sides of the glass.
She hated both.
Bruce's worried brown eyes were like a beacon shining on her, but she paid him no mind as she stepped into the viewing room and found what she was looking for. "Computer is in here, might have what we're looking for," she told him as she booted it up.
"Right..." came Bruce's reply, "Okay...I'll um...I'll see what I can find."
She nodded her head but said nothing else as Bruce replaced her at the computer. Instead she moved back into what she could give no other name except for, 'The Torture Room'. Her eyes shifted to the chair once more, which seemed to catch Bruce's eye, but he made no comment one way or the other. She released a sharp breath before she moved towards the door to keep a lookout, even though she knew Clint would take care of that, it was the best way to keep her mind off the torture room. That chair was a cruel reminder of who she was and what she was capable of, and every so often she could feel Bruce's eyes shift towards her, worried and uncertain.
He always talked about the monster he thought he was.
But he wasn't the monster, or even if he was, he certainly wasn't the only one.
Natasha's eyes remained ever-watchful into the hallway until Bruce came up behind her and spoke, "I uh...we're good. I got what we need, or...well, I sort of got everything they had."
She managed not to laugh at that. "Okay, you get that, Clint?" she questioned.
"Got it."
Those fingertips once again brushed against her arm and she glanced over and caught Bruce's eye once more as he held up the thumb drive to her. "That thing waterproof?" she questioned with a small quirk of her lips.
"Yes," he answered with a chuckle and she accepted it from his fingers, tucking it safely inside her wetsuit before zippering it up. Bruce's cheeks took on a ridiculous shade of red as he cleared his throat and she glanced over as Clint hopped down through a vent beside them. "Guess we're swimming again..."
"You guessed right," Clint answered with a smirk as he led the way back towards the basement's 'basement'. "I checked around...upstairs really is a hospital. Nothing but scientists and armed guards down here. Whoever they used to put in that room? They aren't here anymore."
"Then let's go..." she replied without a second thought. The few hallways they came through were still littered with the same unconscious bodies that she and Bruce had left behind and they moved quickly past them and down the stairs. Clint picked up their bag and handed the rebreathers back to each of them, actively ignoring the guard who was yanking at his handcuffed hand and yelling at them in Hungarian. He hopped back into the water without a word, Bruce followed behind him, and then she sank down immediately after.
Other than bodyboarding a man down the stairs, at least this mission hadn't gotten completely and utterly screwed up in some manner.
Small favors, Natasha supposed.
It was only when they were all on their way home that she sat alone with Clint. Her best friend gave her a rather shit-eating grin before he made the comment, "You need me to talk to Banner about personal space?"
She arched an eyebrow up at the question almost immediately.
"That was twice I counted where he touched your arm, the first time you were pretty clear you weren't interested, the second time you just sort of ignored it," Clint remarked.
"He's fine," Natasha assured him. "I'm...getting used to him."
That actually seemed to draw a laugh from him, "Coming from you...that's saying something, Nat. You hate people touching you."
Clint wasn't exactly wrong. "True enough," she admitted, not daring to shift her eyes back to where Bruce was sitting with the other Avengers. "But he's a good friend, like you," she tacked on for good measure, "Bruce doesn't bother me."
And there was a real smile from her partner, "Well, good. You need more good friends."
"Gotta replace you for a while, babies keep you busy," Natasha teased with a grin.
"Don't remind me," and Clint actually looked a little horrified for a moment, "let's just hope she doesn't get her namesake's attitude. I can't deal with a firecracker in diapers, too."
And the laugh that left her lips was immediate and genuine.
Again, sorry for the extreme delay in this update. I know there's not much left to this story, but I was forced to head out of town for a family emergency. Hopefully I can get back on track here now that things have calmed down.
Also, thank you to everyone for the reviews and the very sweet concerned messages, and I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to get back to them until yesterday. Thanks also to everyone who stuck around for more :)