Budapest

Chapter 23

Clint Barton
As I open my mouth to speak I am met with a branch whacking me in the face. I hear Natasha smirk as I blink to get over my initial shock. Talk about Russians being mean. She just held back a branch for herself and then let it go as I was walking past. Geez.
"You know I heard a story about when the direction of the wind changes, your face freezes and I would just like to say that a permanent scowl on your face would not do anything to soften your complexion." Says Natasha.
Mean. Just as I said. I watch as she jumps over a rock instead of walking around it.
"So are we getting close to that hideout yet?" I ask, contemplating jumping over the rock also.
Natasha bends down to avoid another tree branch.
"I told you, we need to get further into the...forest." She checks her left to find the source of a rustle. A bird flies past through the trees.
"It's going to get dark soon...are we going to use that as an advantage or are we going to wait until morning?" I ask as I walk around the rock. I follow her lead and duck under the branch.
"I'm going to do a scout tonight and tomorrow we will plan. We will use tomorrow night to our advantage. I need to check who is on guard now, and whether the shifts have changed. Ivan was always very particular about...order and changing things around every now and then but only slightly. He couldn't handle change." She pauses to slightly change her direction, I follow her as she veers to the right.
"I swear sometimes he was OCD." She says.
"Must have been a nightmare to uh work for him." I look around me and take in the scene. The trees stretch to heights of about 20-50m, each with its branches spreading out to touch the trunk of its neighbor tree. The leaves of the canopy...is that what they call it? Oh well I'm an agent I didn't always pay attention to geography...shade us from the setting sun.
"I only worked for him a couple of times...he was mainly just a figure-head of the operations." She says.
As she looks to the side, her hair flicks out in a shimmer of red.
"There is a water source that way. You can hear it flowing." She says.
I stop walking and listen very closely. Yes I can hear it...it sounds like a waterfall of some sort.
"We will camp here." Natasha sits down, her back resting against a tree. She wouldn't say anything but I knew she had been longing for a break, not having her enhancers was taking a massive strain on her health.
I shrugged of my bags and placed them down next to a different tree. I swing my arms back and forth to loosen them. I notice Natasha rubbing her temples, her head close to resting on her knees.
"Want some water?" I ask her, kneeling to open the side pocket of the first bag. I grab out three empty water bottles and some water purifier.
"Yes." She still has her fingers at her temple.
I begin to walk past her towards the sound of rushing water when I catch her mumble something else.
"Thank you....Clint" I smile to myself as I make my way through the trees. When I finally reach the waterfall, I audibly sigh. After all that walking, this sight has almost made it all worth it. The waterfall itself is small, but the water at the end of it spreads at least 5 meters in diameter. The water has a little bit of a green tinge but that's fine with me, I can purify it. Around the edges of the pond-type thing, are rocks and mud, the rocks look like puzzle pieces, with each rock fitting against the one next to it perfectly. I sit down on one of the big ones that is half in the water. I unscrew the lids of the bottles and fill each one, putting drops of the purifier in each. I place the bottles down on the thinning grass beside the mud and sit back on the rock. The sun just reaches the very edge of the rock, warming my fingers. Something tells me it's about to get really cold. I take in the sight of the birds landing on the branches nearby, singing. I almost forget what I came here for, it's so peaceful. I am brought to my senses when the light starts to disappear behind the horizon, leaving my fingers cold. I exhale, already I'm able to see my breath. I pick up the bottles, the green tinge of the water had gone. They must be safe to drink now. When I get back to the campsite, I see Natasha has gone through the bags to set up the camp. What I do notice is that there is only one sleeping bag out.
"Either you're making a move or the second sleeping bag is invisible." I say, passing her a bottle of water. She scowls at me slightly.
"At the moment I believe that the latter is more probable."
She stays silent for a little while, sipping her water. Slowly her shoulders loosen as she begins to relax. Her face still remains tense though.
"One of us is always going to have to be on watch so I figured what's the use of setting up two sleeping bags if it will just take longer to pack away. And anyway, this means that whoever is still alive tomorrow can just walk away with the bags." She says.
"Wow Natasha, I'm shocked at how optimistic you are. Don't strain yourself."
She smirks.
"You know I was beginning to think that you only spoke two languages but now I know it's actually three. English, idiocy and sarcasm. My, my Barton how did you have the time to learn all those languages?" She batts her eyelashes at me, the corners of her mouth upturned.
"Yeah, yeah just keep drinking your water." I sulk. No one ever has sneaky comebacks...well there is the occasional one from Coulson but nothing so ego-stripping as this. I had to hand it to her, she was pretty cool.
"So what's the plan now?" I try to not let her revel in her victory-she won this time but I'll get her.
I notice her expression and demeanor change. No longer is she the sassy Natasha but the deadly Black Widow. And she's ready to catch some bastards in her web.