"You shouldn't be here." Natasha Romanoff stood on the rooftop of an old apartment building in Brooklyn. Only a day had passed the incident in the parking garage and she'd been so busy she'd barely slept since. No one would know that by looking at her.

The Black Widow didn't need sleep, not when there was work to be done. Between the attack near the wharf, the murders in Calcutta, and Scarlett's deterioration she wasn't sure she could sleep if she tried. Scarlett and Natasha had known each other for years. While Natasha pretended all of this didn't bother her, it absolutely did.

Friendship wasn't exactly the right word for what they were either. Not really. But they were more than acquaintances.

It was complicated.

They'd met on a job in western Asia years ago. Hired by the same company to complete a seemingly impossible task and both double crossed by their employers. They'd fought on opposing sides, thinking they'd been hired to intercept each other's mission. Each had proven a clever adversary. They would have killed each other too if it hadn't been for Scarlett.

She'd put her gun down and convinced Natasha to listen. They unraveled the betrayal and ended up working together to turn the tables on their employers. In celebration, they'd gone for a drink. From there, they'd always helped each other out when they had the chance. At the very least, they were allies. Whenever one needed help the other would be there.

They had more than one drunken night of happy, blurry memories.

Maybe that was why it broke Natasha's heart so much to watch this unfold.

Not only to watch it, but to be in charge of it.

After Natasha joined SHIELD she'd lost touch with Scarlett by design. People in their line of work only went straight for two reasons: desperation or necessity. Natasha hadn't wanted to push her friend into an uncomfortable choice. If ever the time came, Scarlett would find her. And she had.

It was amazing just how much Natasha found herself attached to people without meaning to be. For years, she'd needed no one. Now, as she watched her friend struggling, she was dealing with emotions that she wasn't fond of. Death was part of life. Natasha knew that. But it was too soon for Scarlett. Far too soon.

Natasha was afraid.

Fear was not part of her vocabulary.

And yet there she was.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for secret rooftop meetings." Clint Barton joked but received no response from the Black Widow. His hair was too long and he'd developed scruff but it looked more like he needed to scrub his face than a beard. He wore an unseasonably warm coat despite it being autumn. "Besides, I missed the city."

"You know what I mean. Don't get all you about this. It better be important."

"I saw the papers." Clint sat on the edge of the building.

"Of course you did. And?" Natasha watched the skyline. She was a sucker for meetings in the shadows too and Clint knew it. That and she could see the whole of Brooklyn from the rooftop. It was a nice view. "You're due to check in next week. This could have waited."

"No, it couldn't have." The last six weeks for Clint Barton had been difficult. He'd changed his identity, forged a new life, and been hired by a company SHIELD suspected was working very closely alongside MedCo. They could even be MedCo under another alias. Ever since Scarlett's arrival they had agents all over the world searching for the nefarious terrorist organization. Several credible sources led them to a security company operating in middle America. So Clint got a job as a security officer there. His considerable experience helped forge a resume that guaranteed he'd be hired.

And SHIELD intelligence was accurate. Shortly after being hired, he'd been promoted to a higher position. Shortly after that he was approached about doing some side work if he was willing to bend his morals. First, he'd played hard to get but after the second approach he'd agreed that he needed the extra money. As far as MedCo knew, he had a daughter dying of cancer in Colorado so he'd taken the job to afford her treatment.

With Scarlett working openly in the United States, MedCo, and the people who ran it, were there too. Clint had seen them in person a few times and managed to snap a few discreet photos. He'd worked his way up the ladder and was now in a good place to do some snooping without being caught. It wasn't enough to do what they needed, but undercover work took time and patience.

Time they didn't have.

"What's so important that you'd risk blowing your cover to tell me?" Natasha disapproved of his calling a meeting. Even so, she was grateful to see a familiar face.

"I was called for an emergency shift on Friday night. There was a huge caravan coming in. No idea what was in it but my guess is that it's related to our guy."

"Aaronson?"

"He's on the move."

By all accounts, Scott was dead.

Scarlett had killed him.

Yet they knew he was alive and out for blood.

"He's already in the US?" Natasha stepped closer, intrigued.

"Yes. I'm sure of it." Clint cleared his throat. "I overheard orders. They're expanding their reach. Most of their operations are currently overseas. They're desperate. Willing to be reckless."

"That's not good for us." Natasha almost asked Clint to drop his cover and come in. If anyone so much as suspected him he'd be killed. She was sure he could handle his own. Clint was a skilled archer and swordsman but MedCo led a network of terrorist cells worldwide. There was only so much he could do alone against that sort of force.

"They're out for blood. Scarlett's specifically. And anyone she was close with." Clint got to his point. "Not only using their considerable resources but offering the work to anyone on the market willing to bite."

"We knew that would happen eventually. It's why we made her so public. It keeps people like us from picking up the contract."

"Do you think that will stop them all?"

"No. But it'll delay them." Natasha frowned. "That and Scarlett was allied with many of us. There are plenty who won't take the contract because of that or would fear those who might retaliate on her behalf." Scarlett had been deeply intertwined with quite a few others including herself and The Hunter, a man who was legendary in their line of work. If The Hunter knew anyone was going after Scarlett they'd be dead before they so much as got close.

"You're on the list."

"The list?"

"The hit list."

"I'm not surprised by that either. Let them try."

"So is Julianna." Clint winced.

"Jinx? Why Jinx? She's an employee of Refuge! How could they…"

"They know she works for SHIELD. Any SHIELD agents associated with Scarlett are on the list. Right behind old friends and family."

"Good thing most of her old friends can handle themselves." Natasha made a mental note to send agents to warn those Scarlett once associated with. "I don't know much about her family. Just assumed they were dead. She's never talked about them."

"I guess there must be some relatives somewhere. About Julianna though."

"I'll make sure she's safe. Jinx is stronger than we give her credit for. Besides, she's with Scarlett or Pierce half the time."

"Don't let anything happen to her. She's not like us."

"I know." Natasha couldn't help her smile. Clint had a heart of gold, even if he couldn't properly express it.

"I shouldn't have this." Clint withdrew a small thumb drive and placed it in Natasha's palm then folded her hand over it.

"What the hell did you do, Clint?" She glared disapprovingly.

"I've been gradually sneaking files when I get the chance. Mostly science stuff. You know, Scarlett stuff." Clint didn't sound like it was good news. "They've been experimenting on people for years, Nat. The atrocities they've committed, it's disgusting. I've seen plenty of awful things but this is a new level of awful. The stuff of nightmares."

"I know." Natasha secured the thumb drive in her pocket and zipped it closed. "Anything on anyone with similar symptoms or mutations? Besides the obvious?"

"Tons. Dating back decades. They specialize in biological weapons."

"Anything similar to Scarlett, I mean." Natasha was desperate for any good news but now Clint was avoiding the answer. "Clint?" He nodded. "And?"

"People keep disappearing. A couple low level guys never showed up for their shifts one day. When I reported it, the report was later expunged. I asked about it, feigning interest in punishment. I was told they were taken to Basement Level 3. I'm not allowed down there. Just the science guys are. And there are a lot of science guys, Nat. Some of them hacks, others with no morals. Not a good person amongst the bunch." Clint frowned. "It's like they scoured the world for all madmen with a degree."

"What does that have to do with Scarlett?"

"They're trying to recreate the drug Scott used on her. Medical jargon goes over my head most of the time, but that's what I picked up."

"Recreate it? They made it to begin with. Why would they need to do that? Did they not register it? Was Scott doing work under their noses? That could be why he's still under their thumb. Shouldn't he be infected too? And getting weaker like she is?"

"Yeah, he is, but his reactions are drastically different than hers. That and from what I saw, they continued to experiment on him."

"Probably has something to do with the bullet she put in his brain."

"It's more than that. The reason he's reacted differently."

"I still don't understand. Why would they want to recreate something that's just killing people who were once valuable to them?"

"Scott was dead." Clint interrupted and Natasha nodded to agree. "Because of Scarlett but also because of the poison. They brought him back. They changed him."

"But that means…"

"It means that Scarlett should be dead too." Clint clarified. Finally Natasha silenced and her heart dropped. "Everything I read says she should be dead. Scarlett shouldn't have made it this far. With that big a dose of that shit? She shouldn't have made it two weeks. Even Scott, as he is, is constantly deteriorating. But it's not him they're interested in now. It's her. She's still alive without their help. That's important to them. They'll do anything to find out why."

"We can't let that happen." Natasha was horrified. Death. It was the one thing she couldn't fight. Clint shoved his hands in his pockets.

"What if we can't stop it? If they can't then how the hell can we? The stuff they've done to Aaronson is awful. He's… a walking petri dish. His blood is toxic. They created this shit and even they're perplexed."

"It's not optional, Clint."

"I know." He took a breath. "From what I can tell, all attempts at recreation have ended in death. They're not giving up but they're getting desperate. And crazy."

"I think you need to come in. Don't go back." Natasha offered. She wanted to save Scarlett but not at the expense of Clint.

"Not yet. I can still do some good. They haven't noticed me." Clint smiled confidently. "One of them has gone missing, by the way."

"One of who?"

"One of the founders. You know, the assholes who put this thing together in the first place. Scarlett mentioned them when she came to SHIELD."

"One is missing?"

"I think they turned on each other." Clint grimaced. "Not sure but I get this feeling that he's down there in that basement and not because he wants to be. He was holding them back, I think. Keeping them from doing anything too reckless."

"Which one? Scarlett had names but they were silly nicknames, not real names."

"Glasses." Clint smiled at the memory. "Erick Reno is his real name. He was in charge of our facility for awhile but he's been replaced by this woman, Marcia Edmonton. Mean. Real mean. He had a temper, yeah, but it is nothing like this lady. I think that's how this started. They were in it for the money. Then it became something more."

"Disgusting. Keep digging. But stay safe. One sign they're onto you and you get out."

"Of course. We'll touch base next week."

"Is this Edmonton woman the uptight bitch Scarlett told us about?"

"I'd bet money on it."

"I'll let Fury know. No more contact like this unless it's an emergency." Natasha was relieved to see Clint despite her objection. While the news he provided was devastating, it was still an update and more than they had. "Anything else?"

"That's it." Clint lingered anyway. The breeze that night was warm and muggy. The ocean offered just enough chill for it to be a comfort.

"What is it?"

"Did you tell her about her handler?" Clint was out of the loop and Natasha couldn't blame him for wanting to be brought back into it.

"I did."

"How'd she take it?"

"Not great."

"I was worried about that."

"Me too."

"Do you think she's going to run?"

"Run?" Natasha smirked. "Are you suddenly an expert on her behavior? You don't know her very well, Clint."

"She seems the type to take matters into her own hands. If she realizes her friends are dying because of her, I don't picture her sitting idly by. She reminds me of someone else I know pretty well."

"She has no other choice."

"If it was you, would you sit and watch?" Clint scolded. Natasha frowned. This wasn't about what she would do. This was about what Scarlett had to do.

"I would do anything I needed to."

"That worries me. It should worry you too. She wants to protect her friends. You most of all, I think."

"She's in good hands. She's not going anywhere. Scarlett's smart. She won't throw away the only chance she has. I don't think they'll kill her if they get her either. They'll… destroy her." Natasha knew that was a fate worse than death. She'd suffered through her own personal hell and she knew most of her friends had too. People didn't end up going from what they did to working for SHIELD for trivial reasons. If MedCo got a hold of her friend, Scarlett wouldn't come back from it.

Natasha wouldn't let that happen.

"You mean that you have an eye on her."

"You know I do."

"Good." Clint shoved his hands into his pockets. "One more thing."

"What's that?"

"It's good to see you." He offered a weak smile before pulling up a hood and disappearing out of sight. Natasha stayed long after he'd gone then thought of the thumb drive he'd given her at great risk to his life.

They were playing too dangerous a game and they were the prey.