Echoes

“You shouldn’t be here.” Natasha Romanoff waited on the rooftop of an old apartment building in Brooklyn. It had been over twenty four hours since the incident in the parking garage in Boston and she’d been so busy she’d barely slept. No one could know that by looking at her.

The Black Widow didn’t need sleep, not when more important things required her attention. These days, sleep was unworthy of her time. Between the attack near the wharf, the murders in Calcutta, and Scarlett’s deterioration she wasn’t sure she could sleep even if she tried. Scarlett had been friends with Natasha for years and while she'd tried to admit it didn't bother her, it absolutely did.

Well, maybe they weren't friends. Not really.

Then again they were more than acquaintances too.

It was complicated.

The two women had met long ago on a job in western Asia. Both had been hired by the same company to complete a seemingly impossible task. In the end they'd been double crossed by their employers. They’d fought against one another tooth and nail, thinking the other had been hired to intercept their mission by a rival. Each had proven to be clever adversary and battle had nearly killed them both. Eventually Scarlett put down her gun and forced Natasha to listen to her theory. They were both working for the same person. If she hadn’t Natasha wasn’t sure which one of them would have won. Thanks to Scarlett, they'd realized they'd ultimately been manipulated. They turned the tables on their dirty employers and in celebration had gone out for a drink.

From there they’d been allies at the very least.

Whenever the other needed help they’d be there. There had been more than one drunken night that was happily blurred in Natasha's memory. So maybe they were friends. Why else would it upset her so much?

Scarlett had always been reliable and ready for a good time. Most of The Black Widow's memories of the woman were fond ones. After Natasha had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. she’d lost touch with Scarlett but that had been by design. Part of her had always wanted to reach out and recruit her old acquaintance but she’d avoided it, unsure why. People in their line of work only went straight for two reasons: desperation or necessity. Natasha didn't want to be the person who'd pushed Scarlett one way or the other. She knew if the time ever came, Scarlett would find her. Even still, Natasha had done what she'd could to keep an eye out for Scarlett. That hadn't always been an easy task, since Scarlett usually operated under the radar.

This was not the sort of desperation that Natasha had hoped would drive Scarlett to turn her life around. It was amazing just how much Natasha had found herself attached to people without meaning to be. For years she’d needed no one. Now as she watched her friend in such dire straits she was experiencing feelings she’d never dealt with before. Yes, she had a few people she regarded as friends now, but they were few and far between. It wasn't like she hadn't dealt with death before, but death had never bothered her. Death was a part of life. But it was too soon for Scarlett. Far too soon.

Natasha was afraid. Fear had never been part of her vocabulary.

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for secret rooftop meetings.” Clint Barton chuckled but receive any response from the assassin, not even a smile. His blond hair was a little too long for his liking and he’d developed the tiniest scruff of a beard but it looked more like dirt smudged on his face. Beards always looked funny on him. Either he looked homeless or dirty, sometimes both. He was wearing an unseasonably warm coat with the collar flipped up to obscure his face. “Besides, I missed the city.”

“You know what I mean. Don't get all... you. This better be important."

“I had to talk to you.” Clint sat on the edge of the building and rubbed his fingers over the scruff self consciously. “I saw the papers.”

“Of course you did.” Natasha’s gaze flitted to Clint and then into the distance. She really was a sucker for meeting in the shadows and Clint knew it. She could see everything from the rooftops of the high rise buildings. No one could possibly be hidden nearby spying on her. The environment was entirely in her control. “You weren’t due to check in for another week. This could have waited.”

“No, it couldn’t.” Clint shook his head. The last six weeks for Clint Barton had been very trying. He’d changed his identity, forged a new life, and gotten himself hired to work with a company that was suspected to work very closely with MedCo. They even could have been MedCo. Ever since Scarlett had come to S.H.I.E.L.D. they'd had agents all over the world searching for the company at its source. Several credible resources had led them to a security company operating in the Mid-West. So Clint had gotten a job amongst the security officers. His considerable experience in security with the help of a forged résumé had sent him flying into the ranks.

It had turned out that S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence had been more than accurate. Shortly after being hired by the security company, he'd been recommended for a high level operation. Then he'd been approached about working under the table if he was willing to bend his morals. First he'd played hard to get but then he'd agreed to the work for the extra money. As far as MedCo knew, his daughter was dying of cancer in Colorado and he'd taken the job with the security company to make extra money to save her.

Now that Scarlett had returned to the United States so had MedCo and its owners. Clint had even caught sight of them a few times and managed to steal a few discreet pictures. He’d worked his way up the security ladder and kept his nose clean. Now he was finally able to do some snooping and sit outside of rooms where semi-important conversations had taken place. It wasn’t enough, but undercover work was rarely easy and took more time than they’d had available. Clint had volunteered for the job after he’d seen how upset Natasha had been by the situation. The two went way back. He'd do anything for her. If Natasha thought that Scarlett was worthy of their help, so did he without question.

“What’s so important you’d risk blowing your cover to tell me?” Natasha folded her arms over her chest in disapproval. Despite her annoyance with him it was good to see Clint. He was a comforting face though it was something she’d never outwardly admit. In a way, she thought he knew. But if he had shown up just to check in on her she was going to smack his familiar face.

“Friday night I got called in for an emergency shift. There was a huge caravan that came by. No idea what was in it but my guess is it has something to do with our guy.”

“Aaronson?” Natasha clarified.

“I think he’s on the move.” Clint felt his stomach turn. By all accounts Scott had been dead.

Scarlett had killed him.

Yet there was concrete proof that he was alive and out for blood.

“He’s here? In the U.S?” Natasha took a step closer, intrigued.

“Yes, I’m positive he is.” Clint cleared his throat. “I overheard orders. They’re expanding their reach. Most of their operations are overseas. From what I gather they were very concerned with their reputation reaching forces in America to combat them. Now it seems they're more reckless. They're desperate.”

“That’s not good.” Natasha almost asked Clint to come in. If anyone even suspected he would double cross them that would be the end of him. Sure, the skilled archer and swordsman could handle his own but MedCo had a network of terrorists working with them. For as skilled as he was, as any of them were, there was only so much they could do against such force.

“There’s an official hit on Scarlett and anyone she was close with.” Clint exhaled deeply and kept his eye on Natasha. "Not just amongst the company, but to anyone who will bite on the market."

“We guessed that would happen. That’s why we put her in the public eye. It keeps people like us from taking the contract.”

“Did you think that would stop them forever?”

“I think it will delay them.” Natasha nodded affirmatively but Clint didn’t seem so sure.

“You’re on the list.”

“The list?”

“The hit list.”

“I’m not surprised by that either." She nodded. "Let them try."

“So is Julianna.” Clint winced and Natasha grimaced.

“Jinx? Why Jinx? She's listed as an employee of Refuge. We assumed they would know the company was a cover and leave the employees be.”

“They know she’s from S.H.I.E.L.D. Any S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that associate with Scarlett are on the list. Right behind family and old friends.”

“Good thing for Scarlett most of her old friends can handle themselves.” Natasha made a mental note to send guards to those she knew Scarlett had made herself familiar with in the past. A few of them would be fine but there were scientists she’d worked with that could become targets simply because of jobs they’d been a part of. “I don’t know anything about her family. To be honest I thought they’d died a long time ago. She's never brought them up.”

“I guess there must be some relatives somewhere.” Clint shook his head and cleared his throat. “About Julianna…”

“I’ll make sure she’s taken care of, Clint. Jinx is stronger than we give her credit for. Besides, she’s with Scarlett or Mickey half the time so she should be okay.”

“Don’t let anything happen to her. She’s not like us.”

“I know that.” Natasha couldn’t help but smile. As elite a warrior Clint had become over the years he still had a heart of gold, even if he didn’t always properly express it.

“I shouldn’t have this.” Clint reached into his pocket and withdrew a small pen drive. Taking Natasha’s hand he placed it in her palm and then curled her fingers around it.

“What the hell did you do, Clint?” She gave him the most disapproving glare he had ever seen.

“I’ve been gradually sneaking files whenever I see a computer unguarded. Mostly science stuff. You know, Scarlett stuff.” Clint nodded though he didn’t seem to be bearing good news, judging by his tone. “They’re experimenting on people, Nat. They’ve been doing it for years. The atrocities these people have committed it’s… unbelievable. I've seen plenty of terrible things but this is a new level of horrific.”

“I know.” Natasha stared at her clenched fist before placing the drive securely in her pocket. “Any medical history on any other patients who may exhibit similar symptoms? Besides the obvious?”

“Tons of experiments. Dating back decades. Apparently they specialize in biological weaponry.”

“Anything similar to Scarlett?” Natasha was eager for good news but Clint was avoiding the subject now. He nodded his head to indicate there was. “And?”

“Recently things have gotten weird. People are disappearing from the inside. A couple low level guys never showed up one day and when I made a report it was expunged. Then I asked about it, because I feigned being interested in punishment. They told me they were taken to Basement Level 3. I’m not allowed down there. No one is except for the science guys… which there are a lot of. Some of them are hacks and some of them are mad. None of them are good people.” Clint frowned. "It's like they scoured the world for all the madmen with a degree."

“What does that have to do with Scarlett?”

“They’re trying to recreate the drug Scott used on Scarlett. At least that’s what I guessed from what I found. Medical jargon still goes over my head no matter how many times you explain it.”

“Recreate it? If they made it to begin with then why would they need to do that? Is it possible it wasn’t registered? Was Scott working under their noses? Maybe that’s why he’s still under their thumb. Shouldn’t he be infected too?”

"Technically he is infected but apparently it's reacting differently between the two of them."

"Well that's obvious, probably has something to do with the bullet she put in his head, I guess."

"They're saying it's more than that."

"I still don't understand."

"They don't have it…"

"Why would they want to recreate something that's just killing valuable people?"

“She should be dead.” Clint clarified, speaking over Natasha as she spouted theories. Finally she silenced and for a split second Clint saw sorrow in her usually deep blue eyes. “Everything I read says she should be dead. Scarlett shouldn’t be breathing. She shouldn’t have made it two weeks after that big a dose of what they’re cooking up. From what I read, neither should Scott. But whatever happened to Scarlett... it's what they're interested in. She's still alive. That's important to them. They'll do anything to find out why.”

“I can’t let that happen.” Natasha nodded affirmatively. She'd stopped listening after the word dead. Natasha wasn't one to give up but death was the one thing she couldn't fight. Clint shoved his hands in his pockets and then turned away.

“What if we can’t stop it? If they can't then how the hell can we expect to? They created this and even they're perplexed.”

“It’s not an option, Clint.”

“I know.” He nodded and took a deep breath. “Each of the experiments, from what I can tell, have ended in death. They’re not giving up but they’re getting desperate… and crazy.”

“Maybe it’s time you come in with me. You don’t have to go back there.” Natasha offered. As much as she wanted to save Scarlett, she knew Scarlett would want to save Clint.

“No, I can still do some good here. They’re too preoccupied to notice me right now.” Clint offered a weak smile. “One of them has gone missing, by the way.”

“One of who? As usual you’re being too vague.”

“Part of getting used to being undercover I guess.” Clint chuckled. “One of the three founders. You know… the schmucks who put this organization together in the first place. Scarlett told us about them when she came to S.H.I.E.L.D. originally.”

“And one of them is missing?”

“I think they turned on him.” Clint grimaced. “I could be wrong but for some reason I get the feeling they sent him… to the basement. It's why they're more reckless now, bolder. He was holding them back, keeping them in line.”

“Which one of the three. Scarlett had names for them… but they were silly nicknames.”

“Glasses.” Clint smiled a little. “His real name is Erick Reno. He was in charge of us for awhile but he’s recently been replaced by this tight lipped woman, Marcia Edmonton. She’s a lot meaner than he was. He had a hot temper but he was easily manipulated. That’s probably how he got involved in this in the first place. My guess is he was in it for the money."

“Disgusting.” Natasha curled her lip and then sighed. “Keep digging. But stay safe.”

“Of course. I’ll be in touch next week in the usual way.”

"Any chance Marcia Edmonton is the uptight bitch Scarlett described?"

"I'd bet money on it."

“I'll let Fury know. No more cryptic meetings unless it’s an emergency.” Natasha felt a surge of relief after seeing Clint. The news he brought was no more devastating than the situation currently was. Sure, there was an official threat to their lives now but they had already guessed there was an element of risk. “Is that it?”

“Yeah, just about.” Clint knew he should leave but he lingered. The breeze was warm and muggy, but not so much that it was uncomfortable. There was just the slightest hint of a chill from the ocean. It smelled like home, at least to Clint.

“What is it, Clint?”

“Did you tell her about her contact?” Clint was so out of the loop with reality it hurt sometimes. He was allowed minimal contact with only Natasha and Nick Fury. While he hadn’t been a friend of Scarlett’s for very long he was close with Natasha and had become emotionally attached to the case at once.

“I did.”

“How’d she take it?”

“Not well.”

“I was worried about that.”

“Me too.” Natasha closed her eyes and waited for Clint to get to his point.

“Do you think she’s gonna run?”

“Run?” Natasha peeked one eye open and then smiled. “What, are you suddenly a professional on the way Scarlett behaves? You’ve only known her for a short time, Clint.”

“She seems the type to want to take matters into her own hands. If she realizes that her friends are dying because of her I can’t imagine she’d sit idly by. She reminds me of someone I'm pretty close to.”

“She has no choice.”

“Would you sit and watch if the tables were turned?” Clint scolded. He very much sympathized with Scarlett. He wondered why Natasha couldn’t seem to. She was too close to her, perhaps. Worry overshadowed sympathy. Natasha’s usually stern features softened and she nodded her head.

“I’d do anything I had to do.”

“That’s what I’m worried about. She wants to protect her friends. You, mostly, I think.”

“Don’t worry, Clint. Scarlett’s in good hands. We’ve got an eye on her and she’s too smart to throw her only chance away. They won’t kill her if they get her, they’ll… ruin her.” Natasha knew that there were fates far worse than death. She’d suffered through a few of them in her lifetime and she knew her friends had too. Scarlett wouldn’t come back from what MedCo and Scott wanted to do to her. Recovery would be impossible.

Natasha wasn’t about to let that happen.

“You mean you have your eye on her.”

“You know I do.”

“Good.” Clint stepped toward the door to the roof. “One more thing, Nat.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s good to see you.” He offered a weak smile before stepping through the door and disappearing out of sight. Natasha watched the door long after he was gone and then brushed her fingers over the drive in her pocket. They were playing the most dangerous game and unfortunately they were the ones being hunted.