Budapest

Prologue: A Long Way From Budapest

  "Just like Budapest all over again."

  "You and I remember Budapest very differently."

Fighting off an alien invasion was a far cry from their first mission. She shouldn't have been able to find any similarities, except she did. Just her and Barton against an army.

They ducked and weaved behind cars to avoid enemy fire. Pinned down, holding the line. Explosions flipped cars, the impact sending a spray of glass and shrapnel. Yep. Just like Budapest.

  "You with me, Natasha?" Clint sprang out from behind the yellow taxi cab they hid behind to launch an arrow before ducking down again. A purple laser zipped through where Clint's head had been a moment before.

Natasha blinked and the Hungarian architecture vanished. New York skyscrapers took its place, no less demolished than Budapest had been.

  "Yeah." She reloaded her pistols. "I'm with you."

* * * 

  "I killed him."

Her pseudo little sister shot her a disbelieving look, blonde eyebrow raised in a challenge. In her memory, Yelena was a sweet, innocent child. When did she become so grown up? So mature? So infuriating?

The moment the Red Room took her back.

  "You don't actually believe that, do you?" she scoffed, her Russian accent still thick. Natasha stared at her quietly until it dawned on the younger assassin. "You really do believe that."

  "Dreykov's dead," insisted Natasha. "It took almost destroying the entire city just to get to him."

Once upon a time, eight years ago, this beautiful city had been turned to fire and rubble because of them. They didn't mean to. They were supposed to be discreet.

By any and all means necessary, S.H.I.E.L.D. had said. Dreykov was a high priority target, and he did not make it easy. Sometimes, buildings had to be torn down and sacrifices had to be made just so she and her partner could live another day.

  "If you're so sure, then tell me what happened. Tell me exactly."

  "We rigged bombs."

  "Who's "we"?"

  "Clint Barton. Killing Dreykov was the final step in my defection to S.H.I.E.L.D."

  "Simple as that?"

  Natasha scoffed. "Yeah, sure. Simple. That's what I'd call imploding a five-story building and then shooting it out with the Hungarian Special Forces." That's the part that reminded her of the Budpest Operation during the Battle of New York. It felt like ages ago she and Barton were fighting aliens straight out of a sci-fi movie. Now the Avengers had fallen apart, she's on the run, and Clint's being held prisoner. Is he waiting for her to break him out as they've done for each other countless times before? "Took ten days in hiding before we could even get out of Budapest."

Often, the memory of those ten days made her smile. They were by no means easy or comfortable. With Hungarian Special Forces and vengeful Black Widows closing in around them, their chances at making it out were slim.

Clint made a point to fill those long hours with entertainment and distraction. Even injured, he did his best to comfort her after she killed her former employer... and his young daughter. He taught her games like tic-tac-toe and hangman, scratching them into the wall of the cramped ventilation ducts with his knife. He told jokes and stories to make her smile. Most importantly, he listened to her and refused to judge her for her actions. He forgave her.

  "And you checked the body?" Yelena inquired, dragging her back to the present. "Confirmed the kill?"

Assassin 101: Always get visual confirmation on your kill. Natasha swallowed. There had been no time. Once the bombs went off, they had been swarmed by HSF and had to fall back.

  "There was no body left to check," she lied instead.

  "You're forgetting Dreykov's daughter."

She never forgot. She remembered her like she remembered every single one of them.

Muffled footsteps cut their conversation short.

* * *

  "We're a long way from Budapest."

The two assassins shared a laugh as they remembered old times. With the blue and white swirl of space streaking past them outside the literal spaceship, Clint's words couldn't be more true.

Who would have thought two spies with a lifetime of bloodshed and deception in their books would find themselves fighting side-by-side with heroes? Calling themselves one of them? They certainly didn't see their lives becoming like this: saving the world several times over in the spotlight and being honored for it.

The assassins who lied, stole, and killed in the shadows were gone, turned into something better.

  Well, at least Natasha has, Clint reminded himself bitterly. When the world needed its Mightiest Heroes most, he fell back into old habits while Natasha rose to the occasion, keeping the Avengers together and being a beacon of hope. She had grown so much from the deadly, cold assassin the Red Room made her to be. He was so proud of her.

This was his chance to prove he changed, too. That he could be better because of her.

They have come a long way since their first mission together. They were still partners, friends, but now they have become something more.

Avengers.