Broken Glass | Natasha Romanoff

world's best grandpa.

They all left the hospital separately and through different exits to avoid any detection.

Lin went out last and only had to take out one man in the stairway who'd been searching the floors for the two Avengers before she was able to join Nat and Steve, as they'd introduced themselves.

She stood with them in a copse of big oak trees a few blocks away from the hospital where her brother was currently lying unconscious. She couldn't — she wouldn't think about that.

There might have been more than just conventionality behind her sudden jump to help Natasha and Steve, but she wasn't going to confess that to anyone, let alone herself. Besides, the two of them seemed in genuine need of help. And lots of it, if she was really being honest.

Natasha clearly had the being-on-the-run-from-the-government-look under control. Steve, on the other hand, was evidently much less experienced. He had his blue hoodie on with the hood pulled over his blond hair and he was the picturesque definition of suspicious. He had his shoulders slightly hunched and was trying to disguise his height by slouching, which only drew more attention to him. 

The first rule of being on the run: don't run, walk. In Lin's eyes, this encompassed all that came with being on the run. You looked as regular as unsuspicious as possible, you stuck with crowds and large spaces, you wore simple disguises that would pass you off as someone else after a quick glance, you always walked and never ran.

Steve glanced over his shoulder at a couple walking by as they giggled and Lin heaved a sigh. This was going to be a disaster.

"So, you two have this drive that's clearly very important and shadowed in mystery." Lin looked at them as Steve actually shifted from one foot to the other. He was in desperate need of a crash course, she decided. 

Forgetting her earlier statement, she opened her mouth. "Steve," she began. "I know that you haven't really been on the run before. But, please, stop looking so unnecessarily suspicious. The hoodie, the nervous glances, the hunched shoulders, the slouching! It's like you're asking to be noticed here." She was shocked with her own boldness but it was too late to take it back, so she rolled with it.

"We're gonna find the nearest mall and get you something better to wear, with a hat and some glasses. And you really really need to roll with not worrying about who's watching you. By thinking about it, you just make yourself all the more noticeable." Natasha smiled as Steve looked down at Lin with his wide blue eyes.

"I know how to be undercover," he stated while looking at her in a cold fashion. Natasha rolled her eyes at that and stepped over to back Lin up. 

"Just listen to her. She's right; you look too suspicious." Nat met his blue eyes with her green ones and held his gaze unflinchingly. He gave in after about a minute and nodded in defeat as Lin and Nat shared a smile.

A sudden fluttering in her chest startled Lin and she growled at herself quietly. Yes, Natasha was very very very pretty and she'd just smiled at Lin and Lin only, but she was a goddamn Avenger. She would not develop a crush. No sir. Not on someone who had the ability to toss her in a jail cell for the rest of her life at any given moment. Nope. No thank you.

Lin shook her head to clear her intrusive and equally unnecessary thoughts. She had priorities here. 

'We need somewhere to check the drive," Natasha said and Lin, who hadn't realized that they'd still been sharing a glance, looked away as her face turned a light shade of pink. "As soon as we open it, we'll have about five minutes before SHIELD can access our precise location and they'll send out a team after us right away." She looked to Lin and Steve and they both nodded in understanding.

"Once you access whatever the hell is on this drive, you'll need to get out fast, yeah?" Natasha nodded and Steve just stared with his startling blue eyes that seemed to see right through Lin. "You'll need a distraction to attract the SHIELD guys to one area, leaving at least one other exit clear. So when we're ready to head out, I'll cause an obnoxious scene that sends most of them my way and then you two can get out."

She waited for a response and when she didn't get one, she artfully cocked her well-manicured eyebrow. "Yes?"

'Yes," Steve affirmed. "But how will you get out if you're surrounded?" Shouldn't I be the one to create the distraction?

"That would make sense, but they don't know me. They think it's just you two working together, so they won't suspect a third party for a while."

"But can you handle them? They'll send out the Strike team, who aren't exactly your average agent."

Lin held in a sigh; she couldn't exactly say that she was a hitman and she could handle herself quite well. "I have it covered," she said, going for vague.

Steve didn't argue again and just gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Now that that's over with, can we get going, folks?" Natasha phrased it as a question but she clearly wasn't waiting on an answer and she opened her phone. "The nearest shopping center is a six minute drive, so let's go wave down a cab." She lead the way through the trees, the trios' feet crunching over the twigs, dead leaves, and trash scattered over the forest floor.

~ ~ ~

Natasha held up a blue baseball cap to Steve's head. "I'm liking this one," she said and Lin let out an undignified snort as read the words written across the hat. 

"He's definitely the world's best grandpa," Lin added with a smile as Steve sighed and Natasha returned her grin.

"Hahah, you're hilarious." Steve deadpanned and Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She stuck a plain black baseball cap on his head to check its size. After glancing around, she pulled the tag off with her teeth and tucked it inside Lin's coat, which made Lin's stupid heart flutter and she groaned internally at herself.

The three headed out of the store with their disguises complete. Steve had a brown denim jacket pulled over his navy blue hoodie, a black baseball cap to hide his air, and a pair of Clark Kent glasses that Lin had insisted on to complete the look. Nat had Lin's red jacket on and a pair of glasses that made her look cute as hell, along with her hair pulled back into a straggly pony tail. 

Lin tucked her hands into the pockets of the grey and black striped sweater she'd been given by Natasha and relaxed her grip over the hilt of her gun. She walked a short distance behind Steve and Natasha as a lookout while they headed towards the Internet café where they planned to open the drive.

It was nice, Lin had to admit. Being part of a group, no matter how odd, was slightly comforting. You knew that someone had your back. For a second, she almost wished that she was who they thought she was, if only to avoid the whole betrayal and manhunt situation that would follow after she killed Pierce.

Lin felt a sense of longing wash over her as she followed Natasha and Steve into the café. It had been a long time since she'd had sort-of friends.

A/N: We love not being able to write! Next chapter, things will be more interesting, sorry!