Lightening's Shadow

Chapter Three

Natasha tore her house apart the minute she locked her front door, searching for more cameras and bugs, a scowl on her face. The second she found them, she piled them all up, raised her middle finger to the camera pointing up, not caring if it belonged to SHIELD or the other side, and smashed them all, shattering them to pieces with a hammer. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and swept them all into a bag to use for the bin, tossing them straight into the outdoor bin to keep them out of her house. She put tape over her laptops camera, knowing she left it unattended the day before. She heard a soft tap on her front door and instantly had a gun in her hand, unsure of who it would be. She only opened it a crack to start with, looking down to see a girl scout. She kept the door mostly closed, in case she was sent by the Winter Soldier and had been trained to fight and disguise herself - after all, by that age, she had been a wonderful little fighter.

"Do you want any cookies?" The girl asked hopefully and Natasha smiled but shook her head.

"No, thank you. Stay safe." She said before closing the door fully again, leaning with her back against it. She closed her eyes, the gun hanging loose in her hand. She took a deep breath and moved to put it back under the kitchen counter, drumming her fingers on the counter before pulling her laptop out again, looking at the new submissions.

Upon the clock turning 8pm, she grabbed her phone and ordered a pizza, walking around the kitchen to stretch her legs and grab a glass of juice.

She jumped at a loud ringing sound and she looked down at her phone, sighing at the contact name, denying the call. It began to ring again until she snapped.

"What do you want?" She snapped down the phone, and she heard a familiar chuckle.

"You haven't changed a bit, Nat, have you?" Clint said, and she could tell he was grinning. "Fury wants us to bring you in. I'm giving you a heads up."

"Why?" Natasha asked, frowning.

"Because we were friends, once. I miss you." Nat sighed, her head in her hands.

"You lost the right to call me a friend after what happened, Barton."

"That was three years ago! I was following orders." He insisted, making her roll her eyes. "Nat, come on. You of all people can't hold a grudge at someone for following orders, the sort of things you did before SHIELD took you in -"

"Shut the hell up, Barton." Her voice had regained its edge from years ago and she heard him gulp.

"Please. Just consider coming and talking to him. I won't let anyone arrest you or hold you there. Please?" He said softly.

"I'll consider it, Barton. But one more SHIELD member breaks into my house or sends a girl scout to trick me, and my answer returns to a definite no. Ring me in a week. Not before." She said firmly, hanging up her phone.

"Girl scout?" Clint mumbled, confused, staring at his phone. "We didn't send a girl scout." He shrugged it off, assuming it was just Natasha being paranoid. He jumped to his feet and jumped into the lift just before the doors closed, riding it all the way up to Fury's office.

"If you have news, Agent Barton, make it quick. Another Agent was just taken out by Romanoff."

"Can't have been her. I was just on the phone with her." Clint said, raising an eyebrow. "And she said she would consider coming in to talk if nobody forced her to stay and we stopped sending agents to her. I'm going to ring her again in seven days, sir."

"And you're sure she wasn't doing anything while you were on the phone with her?" Clint nodded, and Fury sighed. "I trust you Barton. But you better be right about her."

She stared down at her phone, chewing on her lip. She's jolted by the door knocking, and goes to open it, mumbling a thank you, paying, and ignoring the attempted pick up line from the young delivery boy. She wasn't interested in him, or in that kind of thing - there's no space in her life, she thought as she sighed, getting tired of shutting people down.

She sat cross legged with the tv on, a random show quietly chattering in the background as she ate the pizza, relishing in the taste of the bbq sauce, not having had it for a long time.

"Nat, come on. Come home." Clint pleaded, reaching out for her.

"This is the only way I can be free." She whispered, her voice shaking. "I have to do this. It's the only way I can ever be free of them, and of SHIELD. Otherwise you'll never stop coming for me." She looked down at her feet, wobbling half over the edge of the cliff.

"Nat! Please don't do this." He begged her, yelling out as she stepped backwards, and he ran to the edge, watching her fall with blurred vision.

She woke up, panting, the falling sensation lurching her stomach and she ran to the bathroom, throwing up, coughing violently.