Budapest

Prologue

Thank you so much for the votes on the last chapters! I'm so happy and I hope you'll enjoy it!
Also, plain italics are said in Russian.

***
July 28, 2006
(6 years before the events of Avengers)

Clint Barton was ready for a mission. After a mission gone wrong, Clint had spent the last week on medical leave and was beyond eager to get out. Unable to go out in the field, the man had been stuck with desk duty, which was by far, one of the worst parts of his job working at SHIELD. After being released, Clint eagerly enters Agent Coulson's door after knocking twice.

Opening the door, Phil Coulson raises his eyes in surprise at the appearance of Clint, "Aren't you on medical leave?"

"Last day," Clint responds nonchalantly. "Got a mission for me, Phil?"

Coulson sighs before pushing a file across the table, "Ever heard of the Black Widow?"

"Isn't she some Russian assassin?" Clint asks as he glances at the file.

"Spy, assassin; she's got skills the U.S would kill for, however she's killed one too many for her to be considered. It's an assassination mission."

Clint looks through the file before glancing back up at Coulson, "My mission is to kill her... Seems easy enough," Clint says cockily, confident in his abilities although intrigued at the list of crimes in front of him.

"Don't get in over your head, Clint," Phil warns him as he hands him a plane ticket.

"When have I ever?" Clint asks as he leaves the office and Coulson rolls his eyes.

A few hours later...

Clint Barton taps his feet impatiently as he sits in the airport, reading his mission file for the 5th time. A voice rings out over the loudspeaker, "Gate 305 with a flight to Moscow is now open," the female voice announces. Clint quickly gathers his belongings and walks towards the gate.

*****

Natalia Romanova is not ready for a mission. After graduating from the Red Room last year, Natalia had been sent on countless missions with seemingly no end. Yesterday, she was ordered a kill a man wanted for treason and his screams joined the many others that will forever haunt her mind. Natalia is exhausted, but she knows there is nothing else, only the Red Room and its teachings. As her teacher used to say to her, "You have no place in the world."

"Natalia!" A stern Russian voice interrupts her thoughts and she looks down towards her phone.

"What is your mission?" Madame B; Natalia's headteacher asks.

"Tomorrow, I will gather intel, find and eliminate Agent Krofsky, then report back to you."

"Very good Natalia. Do not disappoint me," Madame B. warns.

"Yes, ma'am," Natalia confirms obediently as the phone line disconnects. She looks at the screen for a few seconds before shaking her head and putting the device back in her pocket. She looks at the clothes laid out on the bed in front of her and picks an elegant red dress and black heels. She picks up a gun to put in her thigh holster and secures it with a click as she looks around the room. Before she changes her mind, she grabs the dress and leaves the room, acutely aware of the cameras watching her every move.