Chapter Ten
Natasha saw Juliette rub her eyes again and decided it was time for them to leave the screens for one night. Or morning actually, it had to be about five am. Juliette had gone back to her frantic search through the records for any whisper of Horizon or Hemlock.
"Sleep," she ordered the brunette firmly.
"And let Hemlock kill more people?" Juliette took a sip of tea and waved Natasha's concerns off.
"Then get some air, you can't think cooped up in here. I can't." Natasha stood up, ready to pull her partner up with her. Air was quick and Juliette could let herself have a short break, which Natasha planned to use to get back up in the form of Phil and Clint to get her to go to sleep. She knew she had won when Juliette stood up.
"Five minutes for air," muttered Juliette and Natasha made the most of the surrender to usher her out of the room and towards the door that led to the roof. The morning air was crisp and already the sun was rising. Natasha perched on the edge of the roof to look out at the city, Juliette on the floor at her feet with her back to the skyline. There was a warm head leaning against her leg, Natasha noticed pleasantly.
"Phil gave me this." She pulled a scrap of paper out of her pocket. Of course Phil hadn't had time, Natasha had found it a few days before but Juliette was more likely to read it out if she thought it could have come from Phil.
Juliette unfolded the paper and gave Natasha a weary look as if to ask if she really had to read it out.
"I know a solemn secret to keep between ourselves." Natasha looked away out at the skyline; she had found the poem and decided it would sound nice if Juliette read it out. "I heard it from a sparrow who heard if from the elves." Clint, Natasha thought, she couldn't help but make it appropriate to them. "That always after 2 am before the first cock crow, the elfin people fill the Tubes just to overflow." That ought to earn her a smile, Tubes not Subways. "The grown-ups do not know it, they put the trains to bed, and never guess that magic will drive them in their stead. All day the goblin drivers were hiding in the dark, if mortals catch a fairy's eye they take it for a spark." Natasha kept looking straight ahead to avoid making eye contact at that line.
They both turned around as they heard someone step through the door Natasha had left open. Steve was quiet, almost silent in his movements and it was hard to tell how long he had been just inside. He was staring at Juliette oddly, almost not noticing Natasha.
"Please don't stop," he said quietly, a catch in his voice.
"Elves patter down the subways, they crowd the moving stairs. From purses full of tiddly-winks they pay the clerk their fares." Natasha was watching Steve's face intently, seeing the shadows pass over it as Juliette read the poem out. She thought she should at least pretend to leave. At the door she stopped just inside, still within earshot.
"A Brownie checks their tickets and says the proper things: Come, pass along the car there! Now, ladies mind your wings! Steve-" Juliette broke off with a tiny sigh. "There are recordings of that sort of voice that sound much similar than mine." They were talking about Peggy. Natasha had heard her voice once on a Captain America show Phil had been watching. "BBC English. I could-"
"It's fine," answered Steve. "It's- I'm sorry." Natasha melted away into a corner as Steve came back in from the roof quickly, hurrying away from them. Natasha poked her head back out to see Juliette sitting on the edge of the roof, her feet dangling down into thin air as if it was water she was paddling in, each leg circling in a sort of psychotic rhythm. Natasha said nothing, sitting down beside her.
"It's a funny little verse," Juliette said at last. "We should go back in." Natasha debated catching her arm as Juliette stood up with a sigh. Instead it was Juliette's hand that pulled her up and they resignedly went back in. Natasha doubted they would find much, what was one homeless girl in a world of faces when they had neither name nor any kind of profile? It was rare that SHIELD knew nothing about anyone, especially a threat.
At the door to the small computer office Tony had put aside for them to use, stood Steve, waiting with a contrite expression on his face.
"Agent Mede?" he asked, conveying a mixture of some old man's upsets and the nervousness of a teenage boy at the same time. "Could I-"
"See you in a minute," Natasha murmured and passed them, shutting the door to give Steve some piece of mind that they were alone. Absently she began to stir the computers back to life. "So?" she asked when the door opened.
"I think Phil's rubbed off on me. I now have a second outing with Captain America." Juliette shot her a smug and somewhat confused smirk. It suited her better than the stressed scowl the computers forced upon her.
"You could just send him the audio tapes," muttered Natasha.
"My theatre days are over," Juliette began. "Hello, what's this?" Suddenly their attention was fixed on the screen, both of them staring cross eyed at it. "Do we have aerial surveillance over that area?" Juliette asked.
"Montana? No, I can get Hill to move something there though." The link was already up on Natasha's screen before she finished saying it.
"Use Google Maps, it's quicker." But hardly professional, Natasha added silently. "See anything? I've got satellite readings, bugger."
"Blocked?"
"No, there's more than you could shake a stick at. It's going to take hours to sift through and find anything on geo-phys. Why is everything always underground?" Natasha shrugged. "Maybe they're an Indie crime ring or something."
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More filler, sorry. Stuff will start happening and the chapters will stop being the same. Thanks to those who reviewed, all comments are welcome. The poem Juliette was reading is called: The Elfin People Fill The Tubes by Winifred Letts. Most of the other quotes are Shakespeare.