Broken Glass | Natasha Romanoff

a dumb decision.

Lin crept around the doorway while wrapping her fingers around the familiar hilt of a gun in her pocket.

The man who'd previously had his hood pulled up now had it down, revealing a head of short blond hair. Lin recognized it in an instant and froze in her tracks as she stared at Captain America and Black Widow.

Two Avengers, again, she almost whispered and shook her head. It almost as if she was asking to get royally fucked over and thrown in jail.

The Captain was leaning in towards the red-head.
His intentions would've seemed almost romantic had it not been for his tense stance and white knuckles and Lin smiled to herself. Under other circumstances, she could see how they would've been a sweet couple.

Mentally slapping herself, she leaned her head farther into the room to try to make out his whispered words. She only managed to catch a sentence or two out of their aggressively whispered conversation. Her eyes widened as she noticed the thumb-drive being held up and the conversation came to an end.

But before she could make anything of the situation, Black Widow's eyes flitted over the Captain's shoulder. She locked her startling green eyes with Lin's own and shoved the Captain back.

Lin stood stock-still as the Avengers looked her up and down and she tried to make herself look as meager as possible. That was a slightly pointless effort after all the time she'd put into her makeup and hair that morning, but everything was always worth a try. Also, she'd run into Black Widow earlier that day and she had her fingers crossed in her pocket that she wouldn't be recognized.

Despite her fear, she couldn't make herself break the gaze of Black Widow, and the two women stared at each other. It felt like an eternity before Lin broke the silent standoff, but it had probably been no more than two minutes.

Lin held out her hands in front of her as if holding out an invisible olive branch.

"I'm not here to spy or anything," she started, proud that her voice was quiet but firm in the face of two superheroes that were idolized and despised by the world. "I just saw you," she pointed to Steve, "push her into the closet and I jumped to conclusions. Sorry for interrupting your... superheroeing." She breathed out an irritated sigh directed at herself. Superheroeing? What the hell was she saying?

Captain America turned to Black Widow and a wordless conversation passed between them that would've made Lin smile under other circumstances. The party remained silent though, and Lin's thoughts began to move at the speed of a cheetah high on caffeine.

She needed to get close to Pierce; these two were Avengers and SHIELD agents who had direct, virtually unlimited access to the Triskelion, which meant access to Pierce, as well. If she could somehow build an alliance of sorts with them, her job would be cheaper and less complicated, ignoring the fact that if either of them discovered who she really was, she'd be arrested in an instant.

Forgetting her alphabet's worth of plans plus plan I-don't-fucking-know, Lin spoke up. "After what I've seen across literally every news broadcast in the city, you two seem to be in a bit of a hot mess." She regretted the words as soon as she said them out loud. The Widow and Captain remained silent as Lin scrambled for something to say that would make her look less like a bumbling bumble bee.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she physically cringed at herself. Here she was, being stared down by not one but two Avengers and all she could think about were bumble bees and how cute and fluffy they were.

What kind of hitman was she?

"I think I might be able to help you," she muttered and the two heroes glanced at each other.

"I used to work for SHIELD," she continued, making shit up off the top of her head. It wasn't like she could just say hey, I'm Lin and I'm a hitman who's been hired to kill Alexander Pierce. If I help you, you'll help me, I'll get paid, and we'll all be happy.

"I know places in this city where you can hide. I also know people who can help, if you really need it. You guys are Avengers; if the government is hunting you without a real reason, then something is definitely off."

The two shared another silent conversation that made Lin smile and note how adorable of a couple they would've made.

"And why should we trust you?" Black Widow asked as she stepped away from the Captain, who let her take the lead.

"Well, you two really seem to be running out of options here. There's a state-wide man hunt going for you," she pointed at the Captain. "And soon enough, they'll be hunting down you, too." She looked at Black Widow with a steely gaze that didn't invite challenged but was challenged all the same.

"If you can help us, why would you help us? You don't seem like the type to put yourself in the middle of a, as you put it, state-wide manhunt just for the sake of helping two people." Lin couldn't help but see her point and agree with it, which didn't help her come up with a good comeback at all.

"You two are Avengers, you saved the world. You saved my brother and his family in New York. I can't think of why, after doing all that, you two would do something bad enough to really merit getting chased by SHIELD." She mentally patted herself on the back at the comeback that had just rolled off of her tongue and the horseshit she'd made up on the spot.

It was the Captain's turn to step forwards and he nodded at her with a slice of respect that made Lin's heart flutter. No, she wasn't into Captain America. But no one could deny his physical attractiveness.

"Nat, we do need some help." He looked at her with his piercing-blue-puppy-dog-eyed stare and the woman sighed.

"Fine. But if this goes south because of her, it's on you."

"Deal."

Lin smiled at the two of them and stuck out a hand. "I'm Lin."

The Captain reached out and shook her hand in his own firm grip. "Steve,"

Black Widow just nodded as she muttered, "Nat,"

Lin couldn't help the spark of excitement she felt; here she was, about to help two Avengers. This was something her much younger, more innocent self would've dreamed to do.

"First, we gotta get you both some disguises." She looked them both up and down and her eyes settled on the Captain -- Steve. "You're not exactly an average person, you know."

He shrugged and in a sudden burst of confidence, Lin walked over and pulled up his hood. Then, she marched over to Nat, as she'd introduced herself, and held her arm out.

"We'll switch jackets because the security cameras will have recorded you both, and SHIELD will be here to check them out soon, if not now."

Nat took Lin's cost and handed Lin her own hoodie. Lin smiled as she put it on; other people's hoodies were always so much more comfortable than her own.

"Alright, let's do this."

This chapter is so late and so bad, and I'm so so so so sorry. Also, every time I write state-wide, I write province-wide first. We love being Canadian and stupid.