A Different Call

Ghost Sighting

A.N. Can I just say thank you to all my readers. When I started my process of editing/adding more to this story I was really nervous since it had been so long since I had last posted anything and the fact that when this first started Clintasha was still a possibility in the MCU. So I was shocked by how quickly I amassed some faithful readers. In fact, only a few days ago I officially had at least one read, if not more, a day for a whole month so I just wanted to say thank you.

Natasha's P.O.V.

"We're only a few miles out from Odessa, ma'am. If you need to stop for any reason you need to tell me now, I need to really the information to the rest of my team. I would also like to warn you that you won't have another chance to stop for at least three more hours." I said, using the review mirror to glance back at the engineer in the backseat. We had been driving for about three days and still had about a day left of driving.

"No thank you, I am fine," My passenger responded. I had to admit I did like spending time with her, she was fairly quiet, but when she did speak, they were often deep conversations. We had spent our first day discussing our backgrounds, granted mine was mainly fictional. I did learn that SHIELD had been trying to convince her to relocate for almost a year, due to threats that were being issued by various terrorist groups. It wasn't until SHIELD had gotten its hand on the specific plan form one group about how they were planning on attacking the lab that she was working at that she finally agreed upon the relocation.

"May, Phil. Odessa is a drive through, no stops." I said into my comms.

"Roger," The two replied. We had been driving in a manner that made certain that neither car was more than thirty minutes away from me during our trip.

It seemed like we were going to have smooth sailing until we reached Kiev where we were staying for the night. The moment that the thought popped into my head though, one of the tires were shot out.

"Hold on tight," I instructed as the car began to fish tale toward cliff edge. I tried to correct as much as I could but knew that with the speed that we were going the only thing I could really do was prepare us for the fall.

The car tumbled down the cliff side, but luckily it was more of a slope than a straight drop. Once the car finally came to a rest on its roof, I checked back for the engineer, who while dazed, was still conscious. I knew that the moment that car went off its designated course Coulson and May would both be notified, so I turned my attention to the engineer.

"Can you move?" Asked unbuckling myself for my seat, she nodded and did that same.

"What do we do?"

"Other members of my agency should be here soon, but for now what we need to do is get of this car, we're fish in a barrel right now. What I am going to do is get out, and then open your door. I want you crouched behind me the whole time got it?"

The engineer nodded and I got out of the car. My plan was to get us into the woods that lay at the bottom of the hill.

"Report Natasha," I heard Coulson call over the comms.

"Tires got shot out and we rolled down the hill. Both of us are okay, though our package may have a bit of a concussion. The plan is to backtrack down the hill into the wood line." I reported, getting the engineer out of the car. We then began walking backward toward the patch of trees that would hopefully work as camouflage for whoever was attacking us.

"Any sign of the shooter?"

"Not yet sir, but I am keeping my eyes out. ETA?"

"With this road condition fifteen minutes for me, thirty for May. Think you can make it till then?"

"Don't think I really have a choice," As I said my response, I spotted a man standing at the edge of the cliff face, scanning the wreckage that was the SHIELD S.U.V., through the scope on his shotgun. The odd thing was that he had one arm that appeared to be encased in metal while the rest of him was dressed in rather normal tac gear.

"Get down," I whisper, practically shoving the woman to the ground. I pulled out my pistol and was about to line up a shot when he shot first. The bullet went right through my stomach and hit my engineer in the skull. I gasped out in pain and dropped to the ground.

"Natasha?! What happened?" Coulson cried through the intercom.

"Assailant shot at us. He shot right through me to the engineer. She's gone."

"And what's your status?"

"GSW to the lower left side of my abdomen. Hurts like a bitch and is bleeding pretty heavily. Trying to staunch the bleeding now."

"Okay, I am ten minutes out now and a SHIELD medi-copter is on its way. Any sign of the assailant?"

"Left the scene as soon as the shot was fired," I said, applying pressure to my wound.

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can, just stay awake got it?"

"I'll try," I reply through gritted teeth, I had been shot before, but it just never gets easier. I leaned back and closed my eyes, focusing on slowing my breathing. I knew that lying on the ground probably wasn't the cleanest option for me, but I figured that an infection was a lot easier to recover from than losing all of my blood. After a few minutes, I heard the sound of a car door closing, I couldn't tell if the muffled sound was due to distance, or the blood loss. I knew that by this point if I opened my eyes spotting would most likely take over my vision. A couple more minutes and I hear footsteps approaching.

"Natasha?" Coulson questioned.

I raised my hand to show that I was both still alive and conscious. "Any idea for that helicopter?" I asked, opening my eyes and turning to face him, my voice weak.

"Should be here in a few more minutes," He knelt down and moved my hand to examine the wound. "Sure took a bite out of you."

"Tell me about it," I replied, a small smile crossing my features.

Coulson opened the first aid kit that he and brought with him and began to try and clean off the area around the wound. "This isn't going to feel great," he said before rubbing an antiseptic around the and partially on the wound, before reapplying pressure with a gauze pad.

It was around that time that I heard the chop of helicopter blades, along with the feeling that my eyelids weighed about a thousand pounds each.

"They're almost here Nat, I just need you to stay awake for a few more minutes," Coulson said, taking hold of my hand, which at this point looked like I had dipped it in a vat of red paint, and giving it a squeeze.

"Mhhm," I murmured in agreement. I was going downhill and quick. I just saw the helicopter land a few yards away from us when everything went black.