The Unseen Avenger ∘ Marvel

Chapter Five: Smells Funky

Later that day, I'm just strolling around the carrier. Fury gave me the rest of the day off, which he knows will start to drive me insane. Instead of subjecting myself to this form of torture all day, I find Natasha in her room, typing furiously at the computer screen. Still searching for Clint, independently it seems.

"Sienna, leave the room." She says without turning around. I stay planted, crossing my arms over my chest. The clicking of her fingers on the keyboard stops, followed by a reluctant sigh.

"You need to rest." I chide her, walking over to sit on the bed, "Besides, I've tried too. Clint knows how to go under the radar as well as you."

She stops for a minute, not bothering to look up at me, "I know him. I should be able to find him."

"We don't know him," I respond, trying to let my tone soften the harsher truth, "At least who he is right now. Stark and Banner will find the cube, that'll lead us to him."

"Do you really believe that?" She finally turns to me, tone clipped, "Barton would think of that. He'd know we'd search endlessly for him. He'll use that to his advantage."

"So what are you doing right now?" My head tilts toward the screen, Natasha keeping her fac placid as I do my best to reassure her, something neither of us is used too, "Once we find the cube it will be that much easier. No matter want he does. Once we find it, I'm almost betting they'll find a way to break the spell."

"How do we know the spell isn't permanent?"

That possibility makes me quiet for a moment. Clint, same body but never him again?

"We can't afford to think like that." I state, knowing it's I lie as soon as I say it, "We get him back, we work from there."

"Sienna, don't be naive. We have to think like that, the possibilities. For all we know, tomorrow we could suffer an alien invasion. We have to lay all are cards on the table."

I am being naive, thinking everything will go back to normal once we find the cube. It could even go more wrong once we do have it.

Natasha's form sags forward, revealing to me just how tired she really is, "I don't want it to be that way. I want to believe we'll find the cube, get Clint back, then everything will go back to normal. But this is reality. Some many things can and will go wrong. We've learned we aren't the only people out there anymore. We're human. That thing in the cage isn't."

I look at Nat. I believe she is like an onion. You peel off a layer only to find another one. In the years I've known her, I've seen so many sides of her. Here is another one, a young woman who is expecting the worst because she knows it's true, and is afraid of it, but will face it anyway. I like her this way, because I believe this was a part of who she was years ago, before I met murderer Black Widow. In this part of herself, she's the strongest human on earth.

I let my gaze go down to the floor, digesting what she had said. It was true, we weren't alone anymore, "Then what part do we play in this universe? We're minor children compared to the things we've seen."

She shrugs before regaining a more confident posture, "I was scary as a child. We'll give them a run for there money."

She manages a smile out of me. I see hers to, pearly and beautiful, but curved into a smirk that feels real and organic. I've only seen Nat's true smile on certain occasion. It's one of her best qualities.

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I'm starting to resent Fury more. The man wasn't even decent enough to give me a low-level job that I was over-qualified for. Instead, I'd earned myself no work at all. The longer that persisted, the more torturous it became.