Avengers: Las Vegas
Sorry for the delay in updating, but I'm writing this on holiday, so hopefully I'm forgiven :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I merely muse.
Chapter Six
If I just spread my wings, I can fly
R. Kelly
Reflexively, Clint reached for the bow and arrows on his back.
"Ah, fuck it," he muttered, remembering that he was still buck-ass naked.
The fiery-haired woman peered at him, looking in equal parts bemused and annoyed. She tilted her head slightly in a question.
"I normally have a bow," said Clint, defensively.
A smirk appeared on her beautiful, fine-boned features.
"You were in the bar last night," said Clint, thoughtfully, desperately willing his hungover mind to work faster.
"Correct," the woman said, not lowering her weapon. "And how, exactly, did you find me? Tracking device?" Her voice held a slight Russian accent.
"What? No, I just woke up here."
Her piercing green eyes stared at him coolly. "You woke up here? Just like magic?"
"I have no idea how I got to the desert," Clint said, honestly.
She let her eyes sweep over his body. "And why are you naked?"
"I can't explain that one either," he admitted, uncomfortably.
She flicked off the safety with a practised finger. "Try. What are you doing here?"
Clint spread his arms wide. "Can a bloke not just wake up naked in the desert? I mean, how rare can this actually be?"
The woman eyed him steadily. "And you just happened to find me here?"
"Yep. Wishing I hadn't now, to be honest." Clint sighed. "Can you put the gun down? You're making me feel seriously exposed right now."
"I don't think so," she said, sharply.
"OK, then. So, who are you? You're obviously not just a waitress with some impressive home security."
"Says who?" she challenged.
Clint summoned up as much dignity as he could. "Says a SHIELD agent."
"Ooh," she said, darkly. "Not the right answer." She raised the gun, aiming for a head shot.
-~(*)~-
People were laughing at him.
Tony Stark -sunglasses firmly in place, suitcase suit in hand- was walking the streets of Vegas, and everyone was pointing, laughing, and taking photos.
It didn't help that Steve Rogers was walking alongside him, proudly clothed in his Captain America suit.
Every bar that they ventured into, the manager would snort with laughter at the sight of Tony, before addressing themselves to Steve.
"Yeah, I remember them. Pretty hard to forget having the Avengers in your bar," they all seemed to say.
"Did they all leave together, or separately?" Steve asked, his pen hovering hopefully over his notepad.
"Yeah, they all stumbled out together," they all said, before handing Tony a bill for damages caused.
Until...
"Nah. The doctor left first. The others followed afterwards," said a barman.
Steve smugly wrote in the notepad. "Can you remember what time this was?"
"I'd say around one in the morning," said the barman, with a smirk.
Tony became flustered with the indignity of it being implied that he was some sort of light-weight.
"And what happened when they all left?" Steve asked.
"Well, you've seen the news footage, right? Stark here was running up the street, tearing his clothes off. Thor was picking them up, shouting at him to behave with decency. The other guy was whining about a waitress and singing 'I Believe I Can Fly'."
Steve, to his credit, didn't sigh. "That's... great. Can you remember what happened with the waitress?"
"Er... I think he fancied her, and she turned him down." The barman seemed to think that this was common.
"Which waitress?"
"The blonde one," piped up Tony. "I remember her. She was gorgeous, but Clint said something stupid and scared her off."
"Blonde?" the barman frowned. "That'll be the new girl. Natalie Rushman."
"Natalie Rushman?" Tony held up a finger. "That seems awfully coincidental. I need some suit time. Back in five."
"I don't think we should split up," said Steve, in his most sensible voice.
"Then come with me to the bathroom," Tony snapped, getting irritable with how... awake Steve was, how unhungover.
"There's a lot of press around, Tony," said Steve, doubtfully.
Tony grabbed Steve's sleeve, and dragged him into the mens' room. There, he opened the suitcase suit, and put on the helmet.
"Welcome back, sir," came JARVIS's familiar voice.
"JARVIS, tell me about Black Widow," Tony requested.
"Black Widow, born Natalia Alianovna Romanova, in Stalingrad, Russia. Height, five feet and seven inches. Weighing in the region of 131lbs. Trained from a young age by the KGB's infamous Red Room Academy. Other aliases include: Nadine Roman, Nancy Rushman, Natalie Rushman, and Natasha Romanoff," said JARVIS, smoothly as always.
"What's her skill-set?"
"She is an expert martial artist, athlete, aerialist, marksman, and weapons specialist. She had extensive espionage training, and is also an accomplished ballerina. According to all reports, she is incredibly intelligent, an excellent strategist, and has a fondness towards psychological manipulation."
"Weapons?"
"The Black Widow has proven to be highly capable at using many forms of weapons. However, she owns three customary weapon sets. Her 'Widow's Bite' consists of two bracelets which fire electro-static energy blasts, which can deliver charges of up to 30,000 volts. Her 'Widow's Line' grappling hooks have also been used many times, to success. And lastly, her 'Widow's Kiss' is an aerosol containing instant knock-out gas, which she has modified."
Tony clicked his tongue a few times. "What does she want? What's in it for her?"
"Her work has mostly been done alone, with remarkable secrecy."
"Try and pinpoint her, in any way you can."
"I shall do my best, sir," answered JARVIS.
Tony removed the helmet, and turned to Steve. "I have reason to believe that Thor, Clint and Bruce have been kidnapped by Black Widow."
-~(*)~-
"You don't want to do that," Clint insisted.
"And why not?" the lady challenged.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Think about it. If you're with SHIELD, you should have heard of me."
Clint thought for a moment, before lunging towards her. She dodged with ease, and tried to line up a shot again. He struck out with his left arm, trying to disorientate her. His blow hit her in the ribs, not hard enough to break them, but enough to bruise and confuse her. She retreated two steps, her face angry.
"So, gun's not your weapon of choice," deduced Clint. "You're good with one, but you prefer hand-to-hand combat. Why?"
She dropped the gun, and powered up her Widow's Bites.
"Thought as much," mused Clint. "Black Widow. Natalia Romanova. You're very much a thorn in SHIELD's side, you know. Some of the agents think you're just a myth. Very few people have ever seen you."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Natalia said, with a dark little smile.
"Why are you here?" Clint asked. "What do you want?"
"I'm just doing my job," she replied. "And you're distracting me." She made the first move this time, leaping with amazing agility towards him. Her leg snapped out at the last minute. It would have been a perfect, knock-out roundhouse kick, if Clint hadn't been expecting it. He ducked, and wove past her, staying low. She whirled around, looking faintly pleased at this new challenge.
"Who do you have in there?" Clint demanded, nodding towards the trailer.
"What do you Americans say?" she asked. "'None of your goddamn business'."
"No, I think it is my business," insisted Clint.
She launched towards him again, and they sparred blows off their forearms. Natalia's reinforced padding on her arms meant that her hits left bruises on Clint. She twisted, using her legs as leverage to try to dislodge him. He stayed firm, so she kicked out strongly, trying to dislodge him. He grabbed her booted foot, and tried to twist it. She kicked out, getting him square in the chest. He fell, but pulled her with him.
Natalia landed on top of Clint, and wasted no time in elbowing him in the face. He grunted, blood almost immediately starting to run from his nose. Leaving him no time to recover, she tased him with her Widow's Bite, leaving him sprawled unconcious on the ground.
-~(*)~-
Gradually, Clint regained conciousness. He was handcuffed to a chair in what appeared to be a glass tank.
"I just wanted a fucking bacon sandwich," he muttered, trying to twist his wrists in order to regain feeling in his hands.
"Welcome to the party," said Bruce, who was sitting on the floor opposite him.
-~(*)~-
See you next chapter, when Tony and Steve continue their detective work :)