Broken Glass | Natasha Romanoff

an avenger situation.

There was a loud crash as Lin threw her phone across the room, trying to muffle the awful beeping of her alarm. She was what you could call someone who was definitely not a morning person.

She grumbled and threw her hands over her ears, wanting more than anything to block the muffled ringing coming from her phone. She wanted to sleep. The mattress wasn't what you would call comfortable, and she'd been too tired to buy sheets or pillows or pillowcases, but it was still a mattress.

Besides, she'd slept on much worse before.

The sun shone in rays through her window, painting golden lines across her face. She sat up to admire the sky as shades of golden-yellow danced across the clouds paining the horizon. This right here was why she woke up early every morning; nothing, in her opinion, was more beautiful than the sky before the world started to wake up.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, Lin heaved a sigh that was promptly followed by a yawn. She had all day to find the weapons she required, a dealer with no baggage, and study her target and his routines. Then she had all night to explore the less-than-reputable side of Washington, where she needed to learn as much about her client and target as possible.

It was going to be a long 24 hours.

~ ~ ~

Lin pulled open the door carefully, keeping her hand covered with her coat to avoid touching the concerning combination of substances coating the door handle. She entered the small shop as a little bell rang to alert the owner that someone had come in.

The room was lit by a few dim light bulbs, casting an ominous light over the rows of shelves that took up most of the floor space. The store's front windows were painted black to prevent unwanted passerbys from seeing inside, but this also blocked out all of the natural light that could've helped this store seem much less sketchy.

But, Lin thought, that wouldn't change the fact that this shop was sketchy. Everything from the floor that made her shoes stick to it as she walked and the stale air filling her lungs as she breathed made it sketchy.

"Hullo?" Lin almost jumped as a voice sounded from just behind her shoulder and she whirled around. A small man was looking up at her with a smile that raised goosebumps on her arms. He had a beetle-like face that was framed with shoulder-length greasy dark hair that matched the color of his eyes.

For a minute, she was hit with the force of wanting to escape the tiny shop as fast as possible, to run away from this man who had probably done things she didn't even want to begin imagining. But she shook her fear away. She was Tenebris, a reputable assassin no one dared to cross. She had no reason to be afraid. Besides, she was also significantly taller, which always counted for something.

"I'm looking for some long-range weapons and ammunition. I need them to be untraceable, along with the transaction." She met his gaze with her own steely one and pushed her fear far behind her well-built walls. The man nodded once and hobbled behind the counter. She watched him bend down to reach for something and her eyes locked onto the gun in his hand.

It was long and made of a smooth black metal that shone faintly in the dimly-lit store. The man put it down on the counter, bent down again, and came up with a large bucket of bullets and three more guns. He put down two handguns on the counter along with a basic rifle. Lin handed the money to him wordlessly, trying to keep her hand from making contact with his own. He smiled at her as he snatched the money and gave a wink that made her shiver uncomfortably.