Chapter Five

Somewhere in downtown New York, three members of the X-Men were attempting to retrieve a briefcase suspected of containing biochemical weapon in a subway station. Identifying the location of the case, Shadowcat went into pursuit, passing through the tower blocks in her haste to get to it.

"Shadowcat, duck!" Iceman yelled as he sprayed a blast of ice to block the two men in shadow masks from attempting to escape.

Reacting to the order, Shadowcat let her body sank to the concrete floor to avoid the incoming ice. She got back up to the sight of two frozen bodies ahead of her, between herself and the abandoned suitcase.

"Piece of cake," Iceman bragged, with a self-satisfied grin and Shadowcat rolled her eyes in response.

"We've got incoming, guys!" Rogue's voice warned though the earpiece. She was eyes and ears on this mission. "Grab the suitcase quick and let's head on out of here."

Shadowcat voiced her affirmation and once again sprinted to her objective. She had one hand on the briefcase when she felt her world go black. She went down quickly, Iceman's screams of anger the last thing she heard before hitting the ground.

Natasha swallowed a curse as she quickly fished inside her backpack for her newly purchased phone. Her eyes were locked to the tv screen as she quickly dialed a number she has remembered by hard. Her jaws clenched as the newsperson recited the capture of 'three unidentified super powered' in downtown New York. How could this happen and why? The Sokovian Accords that she signed and upheld only restrained the hands of those who signed. What grounds do they have to act against three superheroes attempting to avoid a terrorist attack?

The phone rang for a long time before a harassed-sounding Tony Stark answered, sharply, "Not now, Nat!"

If anything this made her angrier. "Not until you explain to me what the fuck happened, Stark!"

"Do you really think I have a hand in this?" he retorted, angrily and even in her anger, she recognized the note of genuine disbelief in his voice. But she could not make sense of this.

"You expect me to believe that they managed to apprehend three enhanced without the help of the Avengers? Or what's left of the Avengers, anyway," she replied, sharply.

"Believe what you want, Romanoff. But I'm at the UN HQ right now, demanding the same answers you're seeking from me. And nobody seems to want to talk right now!"

"You're going to have to do better than that, Stark!"

"I'm fucking trying, believe me! Are you with me or not?" he asked suddenly.

Natasha fought the urge to roll her eyes. "This doesn't seem the time to discuss this, Tony!"

"I can't do this by myself, Nat. Your tip checked. We had an intruder just as you said. Look, I can't get into this right now. So I'm asking one last time, are you with me or with Cap?"

"Oh my god! Are we five right now? If I pick you, can I no longer be friends with…"

-"Let me make this clear, Nat. As you and Fury probably have figured out by now, something freaking big is going on right now. The UN is arbitrarily picking up super powered people they suspect of vigilante. Now, do you want to figure this out from within, by my side, or do you want to hedge your bets with the Cap and his band of renegades?"

Natasha took a deep breath. She's picked a side before, didn't she? It was easier before though when she knew she was backing up the voice of authority. The voice of law. The situation seems to have changed now. On one hand, her loyalty remains with Steve Rogers but he had his pick of friends and allies to back him up. Tony, on the other hand…

"Get them off my back, and we'll talk."

There was no hesitation on Tony's end. "Done," he agreed, quickly. "Keep your knives off my back this time, Widow." He hung up the phone, leaving Natasha to wonder if she's made the right choice.

Over in the secluded kingdom of Wakanda, the same news was the issue of a heated debate between Sam, Sharon and Clint. The latter threw his arms in the air in frustration, shooting a beseeching look to Steve, who stood with arms folded, listening to their arguments but not contributing his own.

"Cap, tell them Tony wouldn't do this!" Clint implored, eyes on Steve.

"Yes, because that scene at the airport was totally not his doing?" Sharon retorted, sarcastically. Sam pointed at her and nodded emphatically as if saying yes, exactly.

"She has a point, Clint," Steve stated, quietly.

Clint rolled his eyes in response to this and turned to face Sharon Carter head-on. "Look, I was there, okay? So you might want to bring the condescension down a notch," he replied in a similar tone of voice. "But in Stark's defense, we were harbouring a terrorist. An alleged terrorist," he corrected as Steve opened his mouth to say something. "But as far as Stark knew, Barnes was the only suspect in the Geneva bombing. When he knew different, didn't he come to you to give his support, Rogers?" He turned now to Steve and waited for his terse nod before continuing. "So there, different circumstances. For what it's worth, I don't think Stark did this," he insisted, waving his arm at the news displayed on the flat-screen tv.

"Regardless of who did what, we've got to do something to retaliate against this!" Sam argued further. "I mean, come on, man, they're just kids!"

Clint watched as Steve's jaw clenched at this. He knew that the captain was sensitive about the issue of apprehending underage super powered, case in point Wanda. Clint sighed inwardly, knowing that his promise to Natasha to keep Steve Rogers safe just got a whole lot harder. He steeled himself for what he knew was coming and sure enough, Steve Rogers stated calmly, "We'll just have to figure out how to set them free."

Clint let out a heavy sigh and kept his eyes on the elaborate ceiling of Tchalla's penthouse, currently occupied by Steve. Making up his mind suddenly, he looked sharply at Steve. "Fine, but we're gonna need Nat's help." It might have been his imagination but he thought he saw Steve's eyes quickly shot guiltily in Sharon's direction at the mention of Natasha's name.

"Natasha's with Stark, Barton," Sam stated in disbelief.

Clint rolled his eyes at the obtuseness of the man. "Let's ignore for a moment that Nat let Rogers and Barnes escape the airport," he started, sarcastically. "I know for a fact that Nat never really took a side between Stark and Rogers to begin with."

This time he knew he did not mistake the hopeful gleam in his eyes as Steve turned sharply at his words. "What do you mean?"

"She's the only reason I'm here, man," he said, with a non-apologetic shrug. "She told me to keep an eye on you."

"Spy on him, you mean?" Sharon interjected, sharply.

Clint turned to her and rolled his eyes. "No, Agent Carter. To keep this one's ass," he pointed at Steve," from being kicked, okay? If you knew Natasha, you would have known that for her, loyalty trumps everything. She might not agree with what brought us here in hiding in the first place, but you sure as hell can believe that her primary objective remains our safety."

He was relieved to see Steve nod his head at this. "Do you have a way of reaching her?" he asked, his voice holding a note of what sounds like a hint of resentment that Clint might know more about Natasha then he does.

Clint shrugged. "Not directly, no. But I'm familiar with her usual hidey-holes. I can probably…"

- "Don't bother," a new voice interrupted as T'challa stepped in the room. "I just got a call from Tony Stark. He wants me to rescind my report on the Black Widow and I agreed. She's being reinstated as an Avenger as we speak."

Clint kept his eyes on Steve and did not miss the look of disappointment he tried to hide in his blue eyes.

T'challa shrugged and looked around at Sam, Sharon, Clint and lastly Steve. "We'll just have to do this without her."