Echoes

"What's going on?" Scarlett no longer appeared as the persona S.H.I.E.L.D. had gotten used to seeing her as in the media. Now she looked and felt more like her old self. Ragged old black jeans, leather jacket, tank top, hair pulled out of her face in a braid so it wouldn't get in her way, Scarlett had prepared to get to work on the flight over. Waiting so damn long on the jet had practically been torture but now as she walked through the busy Manhattan streets, Scarlett no longer felt nervous. Instead she was anxious.

Natasha gestured for Scarlett to come closer and she did as she was told. The redhead led her around the corner past a street vendor and into the doorway of a café. Inside S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents had taken over. The windows had the curtains drawn and the televisions still played to provide the illusion of staying in business. Even as they first walked inside, Scarlett would have simply guessed the café was overcrowded and the wait would be too long. S.H.I.E.L.D. was clever, they always had been. For a brief second Scarlett was grateful they were helping her. However, it was a very brief second.

"Wow, subtle."

"Can't tell if that's sarcasm or not." Natasha walked through the tables to the far back of the café where a coffee bar had once been. "Good people own this place. Old friends of one of the agents. They let us use this place as long as we compensate pay and promise not to destroy it if we can manage that."

"Don't look at me like I'm going to start a firefight in here. I don't even have a gun yet." Scarlett scoffed, leaning against the counter.

"I'm not taking back the look." Natasha turned a laptop screen toward Scarlett and pointed at it. "This is the Gershwin Theatre."

"Oh man," Scarlett grimaced, "I love this place. They're not going to blow it up are they? It's so pretty."

"Well, maybe you should have chosen to flirt with someone a little less Broadway famous." Natasha rolled her eyes. "Nathan has no idea what we're planning. We're waiting until intermission to make a move."

"What?" Scarlett's face fell. "Intermission? That's cutting it close. What information did you receive exactly?"

"Agent Barton provided us with news of an oncoming attack. From what we can figure it should take place sometime during the second act. That would be ideal for the biggest impact."

"And what if you're wrong?" Scarlett folded her arms over her chest. "What if they're not looking to make an impact? What if they're looking to kill Nathan? They're not trying to send a message to all of America, they're trying to send a message to me."

"That's why you need to get him out of there." Natasha pointed to her knowingly.

"I didn't come all this way to stay in the shadows, Tasha, I came here to put a stop to this and be of some use." Scarlett immediately argued. "And what about Clint? Where is he? Shouldn't he be running this operation after being under cover for so long? If anyone could get into their heads it's him."

"He's still under." Natasha placed a small device in front of her and tapped away on the laser keyboard that responded to her touch.

"Oh, come on." Scarlett banged her fist against the coffee bar and the bustling of the teams behind her stopped for a second before resuming with a wave from Natasha. "You guys can't really be that stupid, right? He's in trouble! For all we know this could be bullshit to lure out a mole." Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"I know that."

"And you let him stay under?"

"He refused to come in." Natasha nodded her head. "He was confident his cover wasn't blown so I trusted him. He was going back with or without my approval."

"Cool, so you still trust people, that's nice to know." Scarlett nodded but felt uneasy. Clint was in trouble. Scarlett knew Clint was in trouble.

"The threat is viable. We've seen signs of it already. Something's going on."

"So you're hoping to wait them out." Scarlett nodded and let go of the tension that had already settled in the back of her neck. "Well, if I'm going in there at all you're giving me guns. I brought my own knives." Scarlett offered a smile at last, but it was more confident than encouraging.

"Already ahead of you." Natasha nodded to a corner of the café where several cases of weapons had been set up for agents. "We have men on every street corner, prepared to set up a perimeter. There are Agents inside who are ready to evacuate the building as quickly as they can if anything goes wrong."

"You mean if anything blows up. You know evacuations take time, right? People become sheep when they panic."

"I know. But they're not going to blow anything up. Explosives are too risky. Besides, this particular threat seems to be biological. They don't want to kill people as much as they want to poison them."

"This keeps getting better." Scarlett scoffed. "So we're just going to slowly kill innocent people instead of blowing them bits. Fun. Did you at least do a sweep of the area to make sure this isn't a trick?"

"They're not going to do anything with you in there." Natasha looked to her seriously. "I'm good at my job, in case you forgot."

"Ah, I'm bait." Scarlett nodded her head. "Is it weird I like being bait better than being kept in a box like some useless twit who can't take care of herself?"

"Not for you it isn't." Natasha offered a smile and then pointed again to the screen. "There's already a perimeter setup, it's just silent. We don't want them to know we're here until the time comes."

"They know we're here. I'd say they're counting on us being here." Scarlett poked at the laptop and took in the lay of the theater. "Do I get a fancy little earpiece like everyone else?" Natasha reached behind her and pulled just that for Scarlett off of the counter and handed it to her. "Thank you." She pushed it in place and synced it with her phone before waiting for someone on the other side.

"Scarlett? You made it." Jinx didn't sound incredibly happy on the other end of the line, but Scarlett hadn't expected her to. "Is everything alright?"

"As fine as a biological terrorist threat can be. Jinx I need you to send me the layout of this theater. I need GPS inside the theater. I need old schematics, from its inception to now, preferably soon." Scarlett tapped at the counter and couldn't help but notice a smile from Natasha. "I want to know more secrets about this theater than the… Phantom of the Opera." Scarlett heard wincing across the counter but Jinx stifled laughter. "It was bad, I know, but it worked."

"All being sent to your phone, boss." Jinx cleared her throat over the radio and at once images appeared on Scarlett's phone.

"You're good." Scarlett nodded and scrolled through the layouts of the building, leaning over so that Natasha could get a better look at them. "Here, hold on, look…" Scarlett fiddled around with the screen, pressed a few buttons and then a holographic display of the blueprints floated a few inches above her phone. Natasha cocked a curious eyebrow. "So our exits are… here, here, and here." Scarlett pointed to the hologram which expanded and changed with her tug. "I mean, obviously other exits here… but not ideal. Biological weapons are difficult. One wrong move and you infect yourself. My guess is that if they're serious about hurting people they'll want to be long gone by the time that they set this thing off." Scarlett waited for Natasha to argue, as she was sure she would, but instead she simply stared at her. "What?"

"You have been spending way too much time with Stark."

"I was inspired. Jarvis is kind of amazing." Scarlett laughed but then spun the blueprints in front of her. "What, you don't like that my tech is getting better?"

"No, I do…" Natasha drifted off. She didn't like that her tech was only getting better when her time was running so low. "Look, we think that the people working from MedCo are willing to risk life and limb to make sure this thing goes off. I don't think they care if their employees are infected."

"So, you're thinking suicide soldiers?" Scarlett sighed. She was hoping that wouldn't be the case. "But you also think they won't set it off if I'm in there."

"Exactly. You're our bargaining chip."

"Except that you're sending me in there, guns loaded." Scarlett smirked, hoping that Natasha agreed. "Look we can handle this between the two of us but we have to be careful. I'm not going to put it against those jackasses to use anyone in that theater against us. They know S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't condone the death of innocent people."

"They don't think that about you though. For all they know, you're still as ruthless as ever. They probably expect you to be livid too." Natasha tapped the table and then pointed to the phone. "May I?" Scarlett gestured the okay and Natasha zoomed in on a back room. "There's a staircase back here for the stagehands to man the huge props in this place. The theater is massive and beautiful…"

"Are you familiar with it?"

"Yeah, I love Wicked. Is that a problem?"

"Just didn't take you for a thespian, that's all." Scarlett chuckled, holding her hands up innocently.

"I'm going in the back with a team. We suspect that they're doing something behind the stage or in the attic. We'll investigate and see what we can do from there. You go in the front door."

"Wow, you really do want to send me in there guns blazing, don't you?" Scarlett smirked but still had a playful smile on her face.

"No, I want you to pretend to be the person we want you to be and get Nathan out of there. He's the target and if we remove the target? Then there's less of a chance he can be held against you."

"Right." Scarlett nodded and leaned against the table, looking over the blueprint once again. She caught Natasha's gaze and smiled once more.

"What? It's a beautiful story of being different and acceptance, okay?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Idina Menzel is amazing." Natasha spoke threateningly.

"Yes, a goddess, now can we focus?" Scarlett flicked the hologram away and picked up her phone and shoved it deep inside her pocket.

"You're the one who got all judgy."

"I thought it was cute."

"It is cute, I'm very cute."

"Yeah, cute as a berretta."

"You're not much better."

"It's why I always liked you, Tasha." Scarlett clasped her friend's shoulder.

"Let's get going. Are you okay going in alone?"

"Honey, I do my best work alone."

Despite how much they joked, how they teased, it was very serious business. Natasha felt better knowing Scarlett was in such good spirits. For weeks she hadn't been herself, but then again they had forced that upon her. Sometimes Natasha also regretted getting S.H.I.E.L.D. involved but she knew it was the only way to get Scarlett the care she needed. By herself, Natasha wasn't much of a doctor. Yes, she could handle wounds, that was no big deal. But complex biological chemistry? With time she was sure she could manage, but S.H.I.E.L.D. already had what they would need. Scarlett's best shot was with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"One problem." Scarlett clicked her tongue after checking her weapons and ammunition. Natasha looked to her expectantly while her team prepped behind her. Michelangela Pierce could be seen a few feet behind her, distributing weaponry.

"What's that?"

"I don't exactly look like what Nathan's used to seeing." Scarlett gestured to herself and then placed her hands on her hips.

"Trust me, that guy is so head over heels for you he's not going to care that you're not all dolled up." Natasha rolled her eyes and Scarlett grumbled beneath her breath. Waving her hand in the air, she pointed toward the door. "Positions, everyone."

Natasha disappeared with her team and Scarlett waited until she received word from Jinx that it was time to go.

Scarlett would have been nervous if she hadn't been so eager to do some actual work. Part of her was frightened that people would get hurt, but there was only so much Scarlett could do. Worrying wasn't helping anyone, but what they did next possibly could. Hopefully they were as prepared for an evacuation as Natasha made it sound. Was it really morally appropriate for S.H.I.E.L.D. to allow this kind of operation to go underway? It was one thing when Scarlett or Natasha had done this sort of thing on their own on a mission. It was entirely another for a big organization, supposedly out to protect humanity, to put so many people at risk.

Crisis of conscience aside, Scarlett was ready for action. She made her way from the cafe and walked across the street and into the theater. With a few quick words and a flirtatious smile she was granted access to the theater. It was easy to manipulate people, particularly when their day was otherwise boring. These poor employees had no idea what lay ahead.

It took little work to get backstage and soon Scarlett was walking through cast members and stagehands in search of Nathan. He wasn't hard to find. The man was all business when it came to his work and while he was still charming as he went about it, Scarlett couldn't help but admire how well he handled his business. It was part of what had drawn them to each other in the first place.

Slowly she moved through the stagehands, drawing little attention to herself. Tapping Nathan on the shoulder, Scarlett was surprised when he held up a hand to signal that it would be a moment.

"Do you see how this works? They changed the way it releases so when you place the props you could perhaps place it this way and not... like this." Nathan smiled, turning the dagger in his hand before holding it out for the stagehand to take. "Now what can I do for you... Scarlett?" Nathan's eyes sparkled with excitement and surprise. "What on earth are you doing here? Look at you!" He laughed, stepping back to take in the image of her.

"I know, it's a real surprise. Do you have a moment?" Scarlett reminded herself to tell Natasha that she told her it wouldn't go unnoticed to be all dressed in black like some burglar. For the everyday person, they wouldn't even recognize her without her hair and makeup done and in a form fitting dress. But for Nathan? He knew her well enough to notice the difference.

"For you? Absolutely." Nathan smiled and was even more delighted when she took his hand and led him through those working backstage. "I don't have long, you see... Curtain and all that."

"It's important." Scarlett led him into the hallway and when she found it still full of people she started back through the winding paths that led to storage closets where props and costumes long since retired were now stored. Confident she was alone with Nathan at last, she took a deep breath, released Nathan's hand and prepared herself for a conversation she guessed wasn't going to go so well.

"I'm glad you came to see me. You can stay side stage if you like." Nathan was smiling like a stupid teenage boy with a crush again. Scarlett knew at once he had gotten the wrong idea.

"I can't stay for long. I need to talk to you."

"I'd like to talk to you too." Nathan stepped a bit closer and placed his hand on her shoulder. When Scarlett made a move to shrug him away he let his hand gently slide down her arm and then picked up her hand. "Perhaps a late dinner after my show? For now I'd like to make the most of my time..." Nathan urged her hand to his shoulder and placed his hand on her cheek. Before he could make a move to kiss her, Scarlett backed up and held up both her hands.

"Oh, no, no, you very much have the wrong idea." Scarlett chuckled but Nathan grunted in annoyance.

"You're going to have to let me in, let someone in, eventually, Scarlett." He pinched his nose in annoyance. Scarlett could tell he was embarrassed.

"That's not why I'm here, it's not what I wanted. You've jumped to conclusions but it's fine."

"Then what is it you want, exactly?" Nathan was finally frustrated with his failed attempts to woo her.

"That was never what I wanted, Nathan."

"What have I done wrong, Scarlett?" Nathan ran his fingers through his hair and slumped his shoulders. Turning away from her, he wiped his hand over his mouth and then stared down at his feet. "What is it you could possibly want if not me? Stark? Really?"

"This is not the time or place for this conversation, Nathan. It is the last thing on my mind actually." Scarlett walked around him to force him to face her since when she grabbed his shoulder he refused to budge. "We can have this talk just not right now."

"Then when? All you do is avoid the obvious, Scarlett." Nathan stood his ground and Scarlett again felt that guilt in her stomach but it was mixed with something else. Frustration. Why did everything she did with the opposite sex have to become about romance? She was tired of people getting the wrong idea.

"You're in danger." She decided to ignore the drama. There really wasn't any time for it and if she continued on she might actually say what she was thinking and that would be trouble. "We need to get you out of here as soon as we can."

"What?" Nathan shook his head in confusion and blinked his eyes shut for a long moment as if trying to process something very difficult. "What do you mean? If I'm in danger then the whole cast is in danger."

"Yes, I know." Scarlett had known this was going to be the hardest part of this particular task. Nathan was angry with her and embarrassed that she had outright rejected him. "And there are other people in here who are going to handle the full scale evacuation with time. But... you're in immediate danger."

"I don't understand."

"What don't you understand? We've got to go." Scarlett nodded down the hall.

"You come in here, interrupt my work and then expect me to just..."

"Nathan, christ! You're in danger. Everyone here is in danger! Will you just trust me?" Scarlett snapped at last and Nathan at last shook out of his dismay.

"You're serious?" Nathan's expression changed entirely.

"Yes." Scarlett sighed at last then started down the hallway. Nathan followed along behind her.

"Why? What's happening." He lowered his voice and looked around to make sure no one was listening or perhaps in search of some unseen villain. Either way, Scarlett was just grateful he was at last following her.

"There's no time. I'll explain when you and everyone else are safe." Scarlett closed her eyes and recalled the blueprints she'd overlooked and pointed toward a hallway down the right. "This way." But Nathan grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a stop. "What? What now? We have to go."

"If I'm in danger then you must be too." Nathan tightened his grip on her wrist. "Am I right?"

"Yeah." Scarlett nodded. They didn't have time for this. "Which is why we should, maybe just maybe, go."

"I can protect you." He straightened his back and furrowed his brow.

"Nathan, that's very sweet but I'm going to protect you." Scarlett smiled and while Nathan didn't quite understand, she knew it was the truth. "Alpha, how's it going?" Scarlett spoke into her earpiece.

"Dark." Natasha responded. Her team had spread out across the back of the theater, slowly moving through old rooms and then up stairs throughout the building. Natasha had split her units into four teams and sent them in each direction, searching each floor in silence, looking for any sign of MedCo. Natasha herself had gone to the topmost floor and was searching through long abandoned attics riddled with machinery that no longer worked. "What's the word?"

"Package acquired." Scarlett signaled quietly through the earpiece. "And you?"

"Nothing yet." Natasha, gun drawn, slowly crept around corners and ducked under passages. Just then there were quiet voices from somewhere ahead of her. Crouching low, Natasha crept toward the sound and soon saw a soft glow coming from the far end of the attic. There, hooked up to the ventilation system of the old theater was some kind of terrible looking contraption. A closer glance and Natasha knew exactly what it had to be. It was some kind of a bomb. Where were the voices she'd heard coming from? Natasha knew she wasn't alone and moved closer and more carefully.

If she moved quietly enough, meticulously enough, perhaps she could get pictures of the bomb sent to her teams to find out how to disarm it. There was a gas canister on one side, filled with something horrible, no doubt. Natasha screwed up her ears and listened, careful to search for any footsteps behind her. Even her own had been muffled on the old worn wooden flooring. Carefully she looked over the bomb but as she leaned back something cold pressed against the back of her neck.

It was a gun.

Natasha stood up straight and held her hands up on either side of her.

"Ah, the lapdog." The cold voice of a woman met Natasha's ears. One glance at the reflective surface of the gas canister told Natasha she was face to face with Marcia Edmonton, one of the three heads of MedCo.

"Pretty quiet for an old hag." Natasha spoke carefully and weighed her options.

"Almost unnatural, you'd say." Marcia leaned close and spoke sinisterly. "Step away from the device, Miss Romanova."

"You were expecting me." Natasha did as she was told, carefully. From three directions people came. Guards, warriors, hired by MedCo. Each looked prepared to put Natasha in her place.

"Of course we were." Marcia's cold voice was arrogant. "Do you really think we'd care about some clueless actor?"

"It was me you wanted then." Natasha watched as the group surrounded her. They had guns but they weren't holding them. Natasha might have been able to take out a handful of them but they were likely familiar with her skills. "You set us up. Very smart."

"Yes. Finally we have someone Scarlett actually cares about."

"Delta, proceed." Natasha spoke into her earpiece but said little more. She was planning her escape.

"I'm going to need you to take a step back." Marcia instructed once again. Natasha nodded her head slowly to comply and did as she was told. "Good dog."

Natasha at once ducked low, grabbed Marcia's wrist to point the gun away from her, gripped the pressure point on her wrist and forced the gun from her hand. Then she kicked it underneath the bomb and sunk low to the ground where she slid around Marcia's legs. With a twist and a sweeping leg she knocked Marcia right onto her back with a thud. Marcia shouted orders to her team but Natasha knew just by the count she'd done earlier that she was outnumbered.

She had two options. Escape or be captured. One of those wasn't an option.

Flipping onto her hands and knees, Natasha grabbed Marcia's leg and dragged her beneath her. If she could get the head of MedCo at gunpoint she could use her as leverage. As she reached for the woman's throat she was kicked in the stomach by her sensible heels and then grabbed as she lurched backwards on either side.

Dragged a few feet backwards, Natasha gathered her footing and walked backwards with them then with a twist of her wrists triggered the rounded tasers wrapped around them. Each man twisted and seized with electricity as it coursed through them. Steadying her feet, Natasha twisted free and grabbed their arms and shoved the two warriors together. The woman who had grabbed onto her left arm smacked her head so hard that there was a dull thud and she collapsed in a heap.

The man however didn't fall so Natasha grabbed him, punched him the stomach then knocked him on the floor where he didn't get back up.

A metal baton hit her with a thwack on the side and she grabbed it as it came for a second hit. Pulling her assailant closer she leaned narrowly out of the way as a second and third person came toward her. They were so covered from head to toe in gear that Natasha had difficulty discerning their true gender, height, and weight without getting closer or hearing their sounds. Marcia was egging them on, she didn't sound at all worried.

Twisting the metal baton free, Natasha swung it at the first assailant, then at the next before it was pulled from her hand. She grabbed an arm that came behind her with a gun and it clattered to the ground.

"I want her breathing!" Marcia warned overhead as she dusted herself off. Her lip was swollen from where she'd smashed into the floor.

Natasha swung around onto the back of her attacker. She slammed against his arm several times until his gun fell from his grip. Quickly she withdrew two small discs, slid them together and a thin wire appeared between them. In a flash she had this wire around the throat of the man she had climbed on top of.

He choked and sputtered and he stumbled backwards at first then continued to do so on purpose until Natasha was forced against a beam and hard. With a second smash, Natasha's head hit the wood hard enough to disorient her. Her grip weakened on the wire so she pulled it free and allowed it to retract.

As she was slammed a third time she released her assailant, grabbed onto the beam above her and flipped upside down out of reach. The attacker lost their balance and fell onto the floor. She twisted behind the beam as a taser gun shot toward her. The needles pierced the wood and shorted out.

Natasha made a move to swing forward but was grabbed by one of the attackers in black who made a running leap and bounced off of the wall.

"Shit..." Natasha mumbled in an attempt to swing out of the way but her leg was grabbed. She placed her foot against the side of her attacker's head but was surprised when she was twisted hard enough for her grip to be lost. She slammed hard onto the floor and twisted onto her back. Kicking with her free leg she smashed the gas mask of her attacker, then flipped backwards and leapt forward to jump on her attacker. Grabbing the strong woman beneath her on either side of her face she twisted hard until she heard a pop and felt her neck go limp.

She had a very short window. The door was in front of her and if she ran, dodged, ducked and used the beams overhead for help she could get away.

Then she was grabbed by her shoulder and knocked in the side by another baton. Natasha twisted and kicked one of her attackers hard in the face. She was smacked hard across the face with another baton, blood spraying from her now split lip.

Stumbling, she dodged a kick at her legs but couldn't escape a second blow and fell to her knees. Smacked a second time hard across the face, she was dazed at last and fell to the ground. Before she could get up, she was kicked in her ribs. Someone grabbed her and pulled her to her knees but as she struggled, several others grabbed onto her to subdue her.

One of the remaining attackers drew a gun and held it to the back of her head. Natasha's vision was blurry so she closed her eyes tight and concentrated. She focused quickly and opened her eyes though the left one stung with blood. Half a dozen men and women lay on the floor out of commission. It was a considerable dent in those who had come for her.

She'd known there was no way for her to take out that many men at once in such a confined space. Without an advantage she had merely been buying time.

Marcia walked in front of Natasha, standing a few feet in front of her with a smile on her face.

"Did you think I'd come for you and not be prepared for a fight?"

"Not at all." Natasha spit away the blood that pooled in her mouth.

"I'll make a trade off."

"Rot in hell."

"I know she's here." Marcia was impatient. Despite her smile, Natasha could see it now. Marcia had been panicked that so many on her team had been taken out. Just out of the corner of her eye, she could see the bomb. If she could just get to it and stop it from being detonated, she'd be lucky. "Call her to you. Call for help. I'll let you go once we have her."

"You don't know us very well, do you?" Natasha scoffed, regaining her vision. She wasn't the type to let something like a bump to the head and a smack to the mouth get her down for very long.

"Oh, we know desperation when we see it." Marcia stepped closer and crouched down to look Natasha in the eyes. The Black Widow didn't look away. How much did they know? "Did you think we wouldn't know? You're evacuating this very moment. You didn't take that very small window you had, Miss Romanova."

"That's not my name." Natasha whispered.

"Evacuation won't save anyone." Marcia stood up, fixed her jacket and turned toward the man closest to her. He spoke into an earpiece and for a second there was silence.

Then the ground shook and there was a terrible explosion.

The lights flickered, dust fell from the ceiling. Natasha's earpiece came to life in a panic. Someone had set off a bomb on the street corner outside.

"How many more lives are you willing to end today?" Marcia tested Natasha whose thoughts were racing. How had they known their plan? Was there a mole working for S.H.I.E.L.D.? Was someone passing their secrets just as Clint had been passing theirs?

"Scarlett?" Natasha spoke into her earpiece, not taking her eyes off of Marcia. "I'm going to need some backup." She could only hope that her friend would recognize a setup when she saw one.

"That's a good dog."