Echoes

The Refuge building was still well lit even after workings hours. Usually the building closed around five but often some of the more dedicated scientists Scarlett had hired would stay later working on their projects. It was an honor to watch them work but at the same time it interfered with what would often happen after hours. Scarlett would have meetings with S.H.I.E.L.D. on the upper levels of Refuge and if one of those unsuspecting employees happened to notice what she was up to they could unintentionally be put in harm’s way.

Once inside the front doors after waving her keycard at the security lock she walked to the front desk and tapped on it. The security officer behind it at once stood upright and gave her an alert smile. Everyone who worked for her seemed to want to impress her every chance they got. It was both admirable and incredibly annoying. Sometimes Scarlett didn’t want to be impressed. She wanted people to do their job and then go about their business so she could go about hers.

“I need you to close shop for the night.” Scarlett had once had this argument with the security guard who had asked far too many questions about why everyone had to be sent home after hours. Thankfully they had since then gotten the hint. What Miss Damien says goes, no questions asked. Without another word the guard nodded and turned away. Scarlett walked past him and to the elevator that she rode to the top floor where her office was.

Once at the top after the door opened she nearly leapt back inside and slammed the button to shut the doors since she found Jinx waiting right outside for her. Leaning her head back to look at the ceiling Scarlett took a soothing breath and tried to remember her temper. Jinx often did things like that without meaning to; appearing out of seemingly thin air, sneaking around corners, standing right outside doors. When it came down to it, Jinx was one of her only friends and one of the very few people who knew almost everything there was to know about her. There were still some secrets Scarlett vowed never to tell.

“Widow is waiting for you upstairs.” She said without greeting but a playful smile lingered on her lips. Even behind that Scarlett could see that whatever Widow was doing there it was troubling. Jinx was terrible at hiding her true feelings.

“Doesn’t she know I have an office? That’s where I prefer to have my meetings, even clandestine ones.” Scarlett walked past Jinx and through the hallway. Jinx walked alongside her and opened her mouth to talk but Scarlett stopped abruptly and held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t bother.” Jinx pouted instantly.

“You’re no fun.”

“Oh, I’m plenty of fun, there are just more important matters at hand than your silly prediction from this morning.” Scarlett waved her off. “I’ll be back down after Natasha’s done with me.”

“Maybe we can go grab dinner or something afterward.” Jinx suggested, obviously hungry for a chance to gossip a bit about their impromptu guest rather than actually eat.

“I’m not very hungry.” Scarlett opened the door to the stairwell that would lead her to the roof.

“You’re supposed to eat…” Scarlett didn’t hear the rest of what Jinx had to say before the door to the stairwell closed. Somehow the climb to the roof felt foreboding. It wasn’t that Scarlett didn’t like Black Widow, or as she had always referred to her, Natasha Romanoff. No, they were actually friends, as much as Scarlett could call anyone a friend. They’d done some work in the past together and while it seemed like a faint memory at times like this, it was at least a fond memory. That was back when life wasn’t so complicated. On the roof, Scarlett saw no one but knew that somewhere nearby Natasha was lurking in the shadows. Well, maybe lurked wasn’t the right word, but she was definitely not in plain sight.

“Why are you all dolled up?” A quiet, monotonous voice spoke from the shadows at the far end of the roof. The red headed Natasha Romanoff was dressed from head to toe in black looking more like a militant spy than ever. Though she was shorter than Scarlett by at least five inches, Natasha was a force to be reckoned with. There was a very good reason her codename had been Black Widow.

“Why do you insist upon perching like a gargoyle on my company’s roof?” Scarlett countered. The redhead approached with a stern look on her face, her curls bouncing just short of her shoulders. She stopped a few feet in front of Scarlett before cracking a smile.

“Old habits. I like to stick to the shadows.”

“I had a big press thing this morning and then a working lunch.” Scarlett acknowledged the dress she still wore when she felt her friend’s gaze become incriminating.

“How are you feeling?” Natasha seemed to be skirting around what she really came to say so Scarlett rolled her eyes and ignored the question.

“Why are you here?”

“It’s about Scott.” Natasha watched her curiously as she spoke, waiting to see her reaction. Scarlett turned her gaze away from Natasha and clenched her jaw. Hearing that name put her nerves instantly on edge. Slowly she walked toward the edge of the roof and away from Natasha. Scott Aaronson was a man that Scarlett had once known very well on many levels. Or at least he had been a man she thought she’d known so well. For years she’d lived with him while she’d traveled the world. That was no longer the case and the terms of their departure had been far less than amicable.

Scarlett never would’ve come to Boston if it hadn’t been for what Scott had done to her. She never would’ve become a public figure, never would’ve founded Refuge or gotten involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. Taking slow deep breaths, Scarlett focused on the city lights in the distance. Close up they didn’t seem like much but the further they were from her the more beautiful they became.

“Don’t call him that.” Scarlett finally spoke but didn’t turn her gaze away from the twinkling lights of the Boston skyline. “There’s nothing left of the man he was. I don’t know what he is now, but he’s not Scott anymore. He hasn’t been Scott for a long time.” Scarlett grimaced. The last time she saw Scott she’d knocked him unconscious after he’d attacked her. Wounded and confused, Scarlett had run in a panic right into the arms of S.H.I.E.L.D. who hadn’t even realized she’d been in the country. Her life had once been like that, running from shadow to shadow. Now she couldn’t seem to stay out of the light.

“Regardless of what we call him, I have some news.” Natasha slowly approached Scarlett, concern setting off alarms in the back of her mind. Scarlett was avoiding looking at her; it was the oldest trick in the book. She already knew her friend was emotionally compromised, but it struck her then just how severely.

“Stop scrutinizing and tell me.”

“There was an attack in India. Just outside of Calcutta.”

“Was there?” Scarlett’s eyes lit up. The name hit close to home. In fact, Scarlett was rather fond of India, though she was never sure how fond the country had been of her. “Unless you found his smoldering corpse, I’m not seeing the point of this story. Since you’re not looking exceptionally celebratory I’m guessing that’s not the case.”

“There was a bunker outside of the city you might remember.” Natasha stood next to Scarlett and watched her curiously. “The attack was by a series of drones.”

“Get to your point.”

“We cleaned up the mess but there wasn’t much left by the time we arrived. However the few drones we were able to destroy had a very familiar signature to them.” Natasha scowled. “You designed them. They’re straight from your playbook.”

“You know as well as I do that the only robotic weapons I’ve designed have been on paper. Nothing I’ve created has come to fruition until recently via Refuge. I always put off my ideas for other work.”

“Except for what Scott stole…”

“Stop calling him that, please.”

“Fine, except for what he stole from you, Scarlett.” Natasha snapped. It was hard to watch her friend struggling with her past. Even she didn’t know the whole story. Scarlett had refused to tell her and it had been instantly classified the moment it had been shared with S.H.I.E.L.D. “It was a message to you. He knew that we would find the remnants at the site and we would report it back to you. He couldn’t get to you directly so he went through us.” Scarlett turned away from the twinkling lights of Boston and back to the dark shadows that hung over the roof of Refuge. The name had been symbolic at the time. S.H.I.E.L.D. had offered her refuge, this company was supposed to be her refuge.

It turned out that moving to Boston and turning her life upside down had been far from the refuge she’d desired. There was no refuge to be found, not for her. Scarlett didn’t even want refuge anymore. She wanted something far more fulfilling. Instead she played a character while people like Natasha did the footwork for her.

“Were there casualties?” Scarlett folded her arms over her chest and finally exhaled. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath.

“It was a bloodbath.” Natasha walked in front of Scarlett again, attempting to get a read on her. “But there was only one that mattered.”

Scarlett narrowed her eyes at Natasha and her thoughts drowned out what was said next. Her eyes burned with emotion and her heart raced so hard it pounded in her ears. She twisted up her face to avoid an emotional response but her thoughts raced frantically still. Natasha didn’t have to tell her who she’d been referring to. Scarlett already knew.

For a time a very friendly Indian man, one whose name Scarlett had never known, had been her handler. He’d confessed once that he could get her out if she wanted and she could spend her days in Calcutta living a simple, honest life.

He’d been her eyes and ears in the field for a decade. From what she could tell he was a kind and gentle man who had disagreed with the way things had been handled in the world. That was how he’d gotten involved with her. He knew she was a good, strong woman who was willing to do the dirty work to make change happen. He had known his way around the rougher channels of the world so they’d made a perfect team.

Her vision went in and out of focus as she got lost further in her head. When she’d gone dark she’d done so without telling him. Had he any idea why he’d died? Maybe he had caught a glimpse of her on the news or in the papers and had realized what had happened. She should’ve warned him. Scott was sending her a message. Scott and the people he worked for now were coming for her one way or another. They would take out anyone in their way.

Had he suffered much? Scarlett wanted to know. She needed to know the details but somehow she knew that Natasha would never give them to her. Natasha shouldn’t have been working her case; she was too emotionally attached to Scarlett. Maybe she could fly to India in the night and no one would notice. Before S.H.I.E.L.D. had realized she left she could be out of the country and back under the radar.

Something was shaking her out of her thoughts. Her ears were ringing and her body was swaying back and forth from whatever was pulling and pushing at her. Scarlett snapped her head up and for a moment saw nothing but a blur of darkness and a swirl of color in front of her. The ringing in her ears went from a [a name="here"][/a]slight hum to a scream; a scream she swore she could recognize. Dizziness flooded her senses. Her heart was beating far too fast.

“Scarlett!” Natasha’s voice rose and broke through her thoughts. Almost too fast Scarlett’s vision focused on her shorter friend’s face though the ringing in her ears remained. She stumbled in place “Scarlett, are you alright?”

Scarlett opened her mouth to tell Natasha she was just fine and wished to see proof of what happened in India when her lungs suddenly constricted. She hadn’t forgotten to breathe this time but no matter how many times she swallowed or desperately tried, she couldn’t seem to properly inhale. It was as though something large was caught in the back of her throat, so much so it made her gag. Swiftly pulling away from Natasha’s grip on her shoulder Scarlett coughed in an attempt to clear her airways. Her lungs ached, her chest growing sore from the great effort of coughing.

Time seemed to pass slower than usual with Natasha staring her down while she tried to collect herself. Scarlett knew what she was thinking and wanted to put a stop to it but how could she when she was too busy hacking up a lung? Finally, breathing labored with her hands on her knees, Scarlett managed to clear the obstruction in her throat though she wasn’t sure if anything had actually been there at all.

For a moment it felt like her throat had closed. Maybe it had. Perhaps it had been a reaction to something. Either way she knew what she had to do when she sat upright. Instantly she turned her attention, eyes watering from coughing so much, to Natasha who was staring at her with concern. The corners of her mouth were turned so far down it was almost comical. Almost.

“I’m fine.” Scarlett’s voice sounded scratchy from coughing but confident. Natasha turned her gaze away from Scarlett and to her left. Scarlett followed it and her eyes landed on Jinx who stood by the door, leaning against the wall and shook her head no to contradict Scarlett’s word. “Seriously?” Scarlett cleared her throat and stood up straight, taking a deep breath. Her heart was still racing away and she couldn’t shake the tinnitus in her left ear but other than that she felt better. Jinx turned her gaze away and looked at the ground but the worry was radiating off of her.

How long had Jinx been standing there anyway? Scarlett didn’t remember her coming onto the roof or even hearing the door.

“Bullshit.” Natasha scoffed and placed her hands on her hips condescendingly. “When do you see Michelangela?” Scarlett rolled her eyes and had barely opened her mouth to answer when Jinx spoke for her.

“She’ll see Percy tomorrow. Fitz Simmons are supposed to stop by during her appointment.”

“Who cares?” Scarlett threw her hands to her sides in frustration. “Who gives a shit when I’m seeing them? I’ve got to find him and put a stop to all this nonsense. It’s gone too far. This plan isn’t working.” She walked back to the edge of the roof, clearing the remaining cling in her throat. “I know what you’re going to say. S.H.I.E.L.D. is taking care of it. But he’s already long gone. He was long gone before S.H.I.E.L.D. even knew what was happening. My guess is that the Russian orchestrated it.” Before she’d said her goodbyes with Scott he had gotten in bed with a nasty corporation. Behind that corporation were three people who pulled the strings, faceless to Scarlett and to S.H.I.E.L.D.. One of them she’d heard on a transmission and had gathered that he was Russian. Since then she’d referred to him as such.

“It’s not a lead, Scarlett. You can’t follow it. It’s a warning and you should heed it.” Natasha walked a bit closer to Jinx, having a few questions to ask her if she got the chance while Scarlett brooded.

“And what do you propose I do?” Scarlett turned away from the city lights that no longer offered her any solace and instead toward the bearer of bad news. Neither Natasha nor Jinx had a response for her and instead watched sadly. “Stand idly by while those who kept me safe while I played spy are murdered by those monsters? That’s bullshit.” Scarlett clenched her fists and took slow breaths to prevent another coughing fit.

“Scarlett you’ve been emotionally compromised, you shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t have told you.” Natasha watched her friend sadly, unsure of what else she was supposed to do.

“You’re damn right I’m emotionally compromised, Tasha!” Scarlett swung at the air in frustration. “What else am I supposed to be?”

“It’s more than that and you know it.” Natasha took a cautious step closer to her pleadingly. “You’re no help to anyone lying in a morgue.”

“I’m no help to anyone here either so what’s the difference?” Before Jinx or Natasha could object Scarlett continued. “I made a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D. to use my unusual set of skills and knowledge to aid them in the apprehension of my ex and these assholes he’s working for. Now my skills are going to waste. I can go after them, after him! I should be out there hunting them down and collecting their heads.” Scarlett rubbed her temples in frustration, trying to work away the headache that had crept into the back of her skull. How long had it been hurting? Was it new or had she just not noticed it until now? “I can stop MedCo or whatever their real name is. I stopped counting the aliases.”

“I know you can.” Natasha nodded much to Scarlett’s surprise. Jinx shook her head behind Natasha, clearly not fond of the idea of Scarlett going on a manhunt. “I’ve seen you in action and I know that if you could you’d be hunting them down.” Scarlett stayed quiet cautiously. She kept waiting for the follow up about rules or a lecture about how she’d be going on a personal vendetta that could only end in the loss of more life but none came. “If you want then I will have a discussion with Nick Fury to see what I can do for you.”

“Really?” Scarlett felt the grip in her chest lessen though she was somehow skeptical that Nick Fury would agree with their line of reasoning. Pursuing MedCo was a good idea and all that but how exactly did she propose to go about it? She’d hoped that by this time S.H.I.E.L.D. would have already taken care of her loose ends and she could have paid back the debt she owed them. But nothing had been taken care of and now MedCo seemed to be on the offensive. Her nasty past was finally catching up to her and she didn’t want to wait until it swallowed her whole. Scarlett wanted to spend every minute she had left fighting to take back her life.

“Yes, definitely. I don’t know how soon I can get in to see him but I can try and convince him that maybe you and I can work together. If we can put a stop to this before it gets any worse… before more lives are lost then I’m more than willing to help.”

“Help, not babysit, right?” Scarlett narrowed her eyes at Natasha. Ever since she’d set up Refuge she’d had someone over her shoulder making sure she was doing alright. It had been flattering at first and reassuring considering the horrific events that had let up to the company’s inception but over time it had become annoying. Scarlett was very much a strong and capable woman even if those who ran S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t seem to think so.

“Help.” Natasha reassured her and Scarlett finally relaxed a little. Letting the pent up rage go had left her exhausted. “We will have to check in with S.H.I.E.L.D. every so often for reasons you don’t need me pointing out. But it can’t be any worse than this, can it?”

“Alright, that’s fair.” Scarlett coughed. Now that she’d started coughing she couldn’t seem to relieve the cling in her throat. One minute it’d be gone and then before she knew it she was desperately clearing it away again.

“I have a bad feeling about all this.” Jinx chimed in once silence had fallen between the two formidable women. “If anyone cares.”

“You always have a bad feeling about everything.” Scarlett scoffed, but there was no anger or frustration in her voice.

“I was right about this morning, wasn’t I? It’s very likely I’m correct about this too. My feelings are always on par. I’m surprised you don’t trust them by now.” Jinx stepped away from the door and pointed an accusing finger.

“This morning?” Natasha inquired curiously. “What happened this morning?”

“You were not right about this morning.” Scarlett laughed and ignored Natasha’s question. “You said I would have a meeting with a dark haired stranger. I have meetings with people every single day.”

“Not just a meeting! One that would lead to romance.” Jinx pursed her lips in amusement and Natasha’s blue eyes sparkled. It was far easier to talk about romantic rumors than it was the news she’d come to bring Scarlett in the first place.

“Romance? Oh, please, not all that garbage in the papers that people keep printing about you, right?” Natasha seemed to side with Scarlett on the matter and for that she was grateful. “Jinx, I love a good story as much as the next person but you know better.”

“What are the odds that I predict you’re going to have a meeting with someone new in your life, a dark haired man specifically, that will lead to budding romance and then so and so flies right through your door? You do the math; I’m no good at that. I know they’re astronomical though.”

“She does all this computer crap and still won’t calculate the odds?” Scarlett looked to Natasha for help but she seemed to want to know more about whoever had flown through her window earlier.

“I noticed you had a tarp set up, I was going to ask about what happened but I hadn’t gotten around to it.”

“Iron Man flew through the window after her press conference.” Jinx grinned from ear to ear at Natasha, completely ignoring Scarlett who had opened her mouth to object.

“Stark?” laughed Natasha, “she’s talking about Tony Stark?”

“Stop right where you are.” Scarlett pointed at them both but was secretly grateful for the distraction from her destructive thoughts. “Tony Stark is not a romantic interest! He’s not even a potential romantic interest! He’s a pain in my side. He came with a business offer not with an attempt to get in my pants. He’s got a girlfriend and I’m not looking for that. According to the papers I’m dating Nathan anyway. Though that’s not true either, for the record.” Natasha and Jinx stared at Scarlett for a long moment before turning back toward each other.

“So is that why she’s all dolled up? Stark?” Natasha gestured toward Scarlett who mentally deflated.

“Sort of, she did really have a press conference this morning. But then they went to the cigar club for drinks and a “business” lunch.” Jinx giggled, making air quotes.

“You know what Stark’s notorious for, right?” Natasha turned her attention back toward Scarlett who was walking past them both toward the door.

“Oh, so you’re finally talking to me now and not just about me.” Both women laughed. Jinx opened her mouth to continue on about the afternoon’s exchange excitedly but Scarlett interrupted again. “Stop gossiping ladies, the rest of the world does enough of that for both of you.”

“You’re no fun.”

“I’m plenty of fun. You’ve never seen me at parties.” Scarlett opened the door and gestured downstairs though she smiled in fond memory of her lunch. She was well aware of Tony’s reputation but it wasn’t like that.

“Where are you going?” Natasha followed despite her question.

“Inside. One, because it’s cold and two because you guys are ridiculous. Then we’re going to S.H.I.E.L.D. so that you can try to work your magic on Nick Fury.” Scarlett grinned and Natasha considered whether or not it was even possible. Was it worth putting Scarlett’s hopes up that high? “Even if he can’t see you until the morning it’s good to put it out there.”

“That’s fair.” Natasha relented.

“Come on, ladies.” Scarlett started down the stairs slowly, careful not to push too fast too quickly. After the coughing fit on the roof she didn’t want to over exert herself, not in front of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at least. “It’s time for me to get permission to start fieldwork. Permission to stop being a good girl just to fit the image S.H.I.E.L.D. has made of me.” From behind Scarlett heard Jinx practically snort.

“Well, I don’t think a good girl is something you have ever been.” She responded with a wary smile. “Even in the papers.”

“I don’t think that S.H.I.E.L.D. ever intended for my image to change the way that it has either. They were probably looking more for an America’s Sweetheart thing. Somehow I managed to turn it into a dirty, dirty smut novel.” Scarlett laughed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how this happened. There must be something about me that people assume I’m about to do something naughty.”

“Either way, it’s worked toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. initiative in a positive way or they would’ve taken steps to change it.” Natasha interjected. “But you’re right. Let’s go see what we can do.”

“Good.” Scarlett was relieved as they walked into the elevator.

“And get you something to eat.” Jinx chimed in as the door closed.

“Oh, and we’re not done talking about Stark.”

“I hate you both.”