The Story of a Bird and Spider || Clintasha

4

"Correction. 'Biggest bump in the road' is being stranded in Budapest.

"Anyhow, the best memory I have of Bobbi is when she chose to leave. It's not exactly a happy memory, but it's the first time she was straight out with what she was thinking. She was always full of kisses and love, though her cup was filled to the brim with the urge to be free, a feeling I can understand. Despite this, I still wish she'd stayed.

"There's nothing quite like doing my job. Bobbi had made it better, but with a rotten childhood that always made adults look at you with sorrowful eyes, I've never had a lot of empathy for the other side of the chalk line. However, if I were to slit their throats and watch them bleed to death, it would be a little different. Usually I'm in and out before they even see me. There are assassins who thirst for blood stained clothing. I just do what I'm told. Most of the time.

"If I could go back in time and change that fatal car crash with my parents, I honestly don't think I would do it. But maybe I'm only saying that because I don't understand what normal people do, and most normal people have parents."

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5. Hungary: Budapest, Wednesday, August 12, 6:06

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She wakes slowly, letting the events of yesterday slowly trickle into her mind. Every moment is in her head, though the whole thing seems rather surreal. Just yesterday she was certain she was going to die any minute.

To be clear, she still is wary on the matter.

Lying still, she hears the splashing of water and turns her head to the right. The fire has completely died out, and she shivers slightly from the morning chill, her clothing still damp. Her attention averts when she hears another splash. Sitting up, she sees Agent Barton's bullet proof chest armor and his black shirt on the grass nearby, along with his bandanna and boots. Her body tenses, thinking immediately that he must be cleaning himself up.

"Nat!" she hears, and she slowly looks into the river, seeing Barton's head. His hair is slicked back with water and she can his blue eyes from here. Otherwise, her vision isn't superb enough to make out any details.

"What?" Her tone is sharp and demeaning. She hopes to upset him a bit so he knows not to tread on her. She doesn't need super-vision to see him grin in response; she can practically hear it.

"I'm diving under. Trying to find some stuff that's in the jet. Are you going to be alright on your own, holding down the fort?" She rolls her eyes in response, and to her surprise, he says, "I've heard your eyes could get stuck that way. Better be careful, hm?" Then he slips under the surface.

Barton holds his breath tightly, feeling the trapped air push around his throat. Opening his eyes, he sees through the relatively clear water of the Danube River. The coolness pierces his tired eyes, and he fully awakens as he travels deeper down.

The crash is closer to the bank, so he doesn't have to go too far to feel the frigid metal touch of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s jet, where mud has already settled around it. He swims around once until he finds the opening, then swims stealthily through.

He heads directly to the emergency air tank on the side. Letting all his air out of his lungs, he takes the mouthpiece and breathes in deeply. Everyone of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s heard rumors about the supposed Homo Mermanus, or 'the Atlanteans,' but no one's quite sure. Whether real or not, Barton finds himself wishing he could breathe under water, too. With renewed oxygen, he then pulls himself around the interior of the jet.

Opening one cabinet, a dozen tools spill out slowly in the water. The jet is tilted severely, nose down, and gradually sinking to the middle of the river. He picks through the wrenches and hammers before deciding not a single one will be of use. They're there to fix the jet when it's damaged. Unfortunately not for when it's demolished in all its entirety and slowly sinking to its final resting place.