03. Hideouts
"A Bond education."
"What made you like braiding hair so much?" Nat asked Becca as the brunette plaited the redhead's hair before they climbed into the car to get groceries in town. The two had been on their own for almost a week now, getting things situated for the both of them while being on the run was tricky. You couldn't tell anyone who you really were, and for Natasha, that was a little easier than Becca despite being an Avenger.
Becca was the daughter and niece of the most famous people in the world at this point. Her brother was the Tony Stark. Her father and mother were hiding in Wakanda with her brother Jamie. And her Uncle Steve was on the run with Sam and Pietro who knows where, they moved locations frequently to keep the governments on their toes.
"Uncle Thor." Becca responded with a smile, "He showed me how to plait hair like his people, the intricacies of it are so pretty." She explains as she finishes up Nat's hair, the few pieces of hair that would fall into Nat's eyes, Becca plaited out of her way. "It's a sign of love for them. The night before a battle or siege, the Vikings would plait each other's hair. At least that's what Uncle Thor told me." She says with a small smile, she missed her Norse uncle dearly, she hadn't seen him since before Ultron happened. He had left Clint's farmhouse so abruptly and then she was shipped off to Queens.
"Right. And now we're in his territory." Nat quips with a smirk as she looks over her hair and smiles at Becca.
"It's so pretty." Becca says as she looks out the window, watching the fog lay heavy on the mountains, the lush greenery of everything around them. "I've always wanted to visit Norway. It was on a list i made."
As Natasha drives to the little market in a town near them, she glances over at Becca. The teenager had been through so much. Being sheltered and trained away from the world, only when she found her family again did she finally feel free. "What list?" Natasha asks curiously.
Becca looks over at her aunt and smiles weakly. She zips up her fleece jacket and looks at her hands, "A list i made with Ned and Peter of places i want to visit..." She whispers. Talking about Peter was still hard for her to do, the ache in her chest wasn't going away, nor was the guilt for leaving so abruptly. "Norway was on it."
"Mind sharing the other places?" Nat asks, trying to help her niece anyway she could. And she knew talking about it helped every once in a while.
"No.. i don't mind." Becca says softly and then looks ahead at the road. "Greece was one... Uncle Thor always talked about how the Greek gods were lesser than him. I'd like to see if that's true." She says with a laugh playing on his lips. "Egypt as well." She adds. Her uncle would always boast about being better than the other gods, that he fought Hercules once before and won. "Italy and France were others... Austria for Doctor Erskine... Ireland for my grandparents..." she lists off.
Natasha smiles, "You'll have fun in those places. Were there any others?" She asks curiously, wanting to know her niece more and more since they'll be spending a lot of time together.
Becca hesitates and looks down at her hands, "Russia..." She whispers and Natasha's eyes widen in surprise.
"Really?" Natasha asks, she was genuinely surprised that Becca would want to willingly go back to that country. The country that caused her so much pain and suffering for decades.
"Yes. I want to make happy memories there... to cover the bad ones." Becca explains, "I was there for so many decades but i never was able to see the beauty in that country... and i know there is beauty there." She says and Natasha nods, taking in the words her niece has said.
"Then... that one we'll do together some day." Natasha says and Becca's eyes light up in surprise.
"Really? You'd visit Russia with me?" Becca asks as the car rolls to a stop and Natasha climbs out. Becca follows after her aunt and the smile won't leave the teenager's face.
"I would. It should be something that helps us both." Natasha responds and smiles, cupping Becca's cheek with her hand, "You're not the only one with scars from that country." She reminds her niece.
The two women do their small grocery shopping and then make the drive back to their hideout. But the man speaking on the radio is not what the girls want to hear. "Etter Sokovia -avtalene er jakten på de resterende Avengers. Steve Rogers, Mary Barnes, Sam Wilson, Pietro Maximoff og Natasha Romanoff er for tiden på flukt." After the Sokovia Accords, the hunt is on for the remaining Avengers. Steve Rogers, Mary Barnes, Sam Wilson, Pietro Maximoff and Natasha Romanoff are currently on the run. The announcer says as Natasha stops the car adjacent to the small mobile home.
Natasha notices something is off with the surroundings and motions to Becca to ready her weapon. Becca glances around and nods, slipping on her window bites around her wrists as she exits the car. Natasha pulls out her gun and aims it in front of her as she opens the door cautiously. The two women then move into the mobile home with ease and stealth. It was easy to maneuver around seamlessly for the two of them because of their training as Widows. They could go as far as to control their breathing and heart rate to not be heard. They were the very definition of silent killers.
Snoring from Natasha and Becca's shared room caught them off guard and made the redhead smirk, lowering her gun as she stepped towards the door. Becca retracted her cuffs and they turned back into bracelets as she walked up alongside her aunt. Both of them watched the man sleep on their bed. Until Natasha kicked his foot and he jolted awake.
"You're in our bed." Natasha quips.
"That's not very nice." Becca adds, the aunt smirking at her niece.
"I'm... i'm not even underneath the covers..." Mason grumbles as he rubs his face.
"You get everything on our list?" Natasha asks and then looks at Becca. "Becca, this is Mason. Mason, this is my niece, Becca." She introduces the two.
Becca nods with a small smile towards Mason who returns the same gesture, "Barnes, right?" Mason asks curiously.
Becca nods, "Aunt Tasha says you're trustworthy." She responds.
Mason offers Becca a small smile in return then looks back at Natasha, "Got passports, entry visas, a couple of local driver's licenses." He states as he hands an envelope to both women containing their own passports and other necessary items. "Mix and match, you should be able to stretch it to twenty or so identities."
Natasha pulls out a passport and looks over the name, "Fanny Longbottom?" She questions.
"What?" Mason asks innocently. Becca smiles softly at her new passports and visas. She then looks at the driver's license and chuckles. She has a license to drive but she doesn't know how to drive.
"What, are you twelve?" Natasha comments with a raised eyebrow.
Mason scoffs, "That... is a legitimate name." He chuckles in response. "We've got a generator outside. It's petrol-power. And the septic tank will need a flush in a couple of weeks, but you know, i've got a guy coming for that." He rambles as he lists off the things they'll have to do while they stay in this mobile home. "You have to haul your rubbish into town. It's just a twenty minute drive. I've got your basic hardware kit stashed under the stairs." He finishes and then looks at the two women.
Natasha nods in understanding and forces a small smile, "Thanks." She says weakly and Mason notices. Becca notices.
"You okay?" Mason asks.
"Why wouldn't i be? I got my best girl with me." Natasha questions as she wraps her arm around Becca's waist, pulling her niece into her side.
"I hear things. You know, something about the Avengers getting divorced...." Mason trails off and Becca glances downward.
"Ugh. It's fine. I'm actually better off like this." Natasha comments, she couldn't let Mason know that the team breaking apart hurt her more than it did.
"Are you sure?" Mason asks, trying to see through the cracks in his friend but she was covering them well. "Because you can tell me, you know. That's the way the whole friends thing works."
"I know. I have friends." Natasha retorts.
"People who have friends don't call me." Mason responds casually but worriedly.
Natasha breathes out and the arm around Becca slightly tightens, "And i don't pay you to worry." Nat states. That was all Mason needed to know it was his time to leave. When he steps out of the mobile home, Natasha and Becca watch from the open door. "Oh, hey." Natasha calls for Mason and then nudges the box of papers with her foot, "What's all this junk?"
"Oh, just some mail and personals from the Budapest safe house." Mason responds casually and Becca looks at her aunt, she could see that the name alone strikes a cord with her aunt.
"Budapest?" Natasha asks.
"Yeah. Budapest." Mason says and Natasha shakes her head.
"No, it's Budapest." Natasha corrects his pronunciation.
"Budapest..." Mason states, correctly Nat. "It's Budapest." The two continue their correction game for a little longer and Becca snickers at the two of them.
"It's Budapest..." Becca whispers her own pronunciation.
"Whatever. I knew you weren't going back there, so i've got someone else in the flat now." Mason comments with a shrug, his hands in his pockets.
"Sorry you went through the trouble. I would've told you to chuck it." Natasha says as she looks down at the box.
"Well, if you don't want it, throw it in the rubbish." Mason comments and then walks off to where his car is.
A little while later, Becca helps Natasha load up their car with the box of papers and parcels from the Budapest hideout, "Are you really going to throw it away?" Becca asks her aunt curiously. She knew that place was special to Clint and Nat.
"Why not? It doesn't have any value to me anymore." Nat states as she and Becca walk back into the mobile trailer. "What do you want for dinner?" She asks, changing the subject without a second thought.
It's night time when Natasha decides they should watch a movie, "What movies have you not seen?" Nat asks curiously, going over the dvds they have in the trailer. "Any Bond films?"
"Bond?" Becca asks with a tilt of her head.
"That settles it." Natasha quips with a smirk as she slips the dvd into the player and the movie begins, "You're in need of a Bond education." She teases as she grabs a beer and opens it. Becca settles onto the couch in front of the small tv, pulling a blanket over her that she bought a little while ago when they first arrived in Norway. It was a magenta colored knitted blanket and it made Becca feel like it was hers, just hers.
"You going to join, Auntie Nat?" Becca asks as she turns around on the couch to see Natasha holding a blonde hair dye box. "Auntie?"
Nat sets it down with a shake of her head and then moves to sit down beside her niece. "You're not a sportsman, Mr. Bond." The man on the TV says before Natasha joins in, "Why did you break up the encounter with my pet python?" She says the lines of the film, causing Becca to giggle. "Because i discovered he had a crush on me."
The lights in the trailer begin to flicker just as Nat settles into her spot beside Becca. The two girls look up and around them in curiosity. "Moonraker one on preset launch program... minus two minutes..." the tv says.
"Oh, great..." Natasha grumbles and stands up.
"Need my help?" Becca asks and Natasha shakes her head.
"I'm just going to see what's up with the generator." Natasha responds. She didn't want Becca to deal with the faulty generator if it didn't require the both of them. But after several minutes, Natasha comes inside frustrated with an empty gas jug. "Fuse in the generator is busted and we're out of fuel." She says. "Get your jacket, we're going to head into town."
Becca nods quickly, pulling on her sneakers and grabbing her jacket. She follows her aunt out of the trailer and into the car. The car ride is silent as Becca leans her head against the cold glass window, watching the darkness sweep over Norway as Nat drives. Natasha felt bad for taking Becca out of the trailer for something like this, but it was always better for the two of them to be together. Becca had never been on her own before. And Nat didn't want that starting under her watch.
When Nat pulls onto a well lit bridge, something hits the car as she turns left onto the bridge. The car explodes and both Nat and Becca go spiralling in the car as it rolls. It tumbles on the bridge and nearly goes over but it stops just in time. The car teeters on the edge of the bridge, both girls were unconscious from the explosion.
Natasha wakes up first, her head screaming out in pain. Her joints were screaming as well. Her vision takes a moment to clear but when it does, she instantly takes in what's happened. Her eyes then find Becca, her head bloodied and scraped by the broken glass and rolling the car just did. "Маленький волк." Little Wolf. Natasha whispers to her niece, trying to take in their surroundings and what had actually just happened to them.
Becca grunts in pain as she wakes slowly. But the panic that soon follow wakes her up quicker. "Auntie..." Becca winces at the pain in her head.
"Becca, we need to go. Now!" Natasha states quickly once her eyes look out her window and sees a hooded and masked man stalking towards the car. She grunts in pain when she undoes her seatbelt, Becca yanks hers off within seconds due to her super strength. The car teeters on the brink of falling into the freezing cold river below them. "Get yourself out of the car." She grunts out to her niece.
Becca's eyes widen, "But the car-"
"Just do it!" Natasha shouts at Becca. The girls both knew that if either of them moved, the car would fall into the river with them in it. But the hooded figure was coming closer by the second. The aunt was trying to reach for her gun as the car tilted more. Becca tapped her bracelets and they turned into her widow bites just in case it turned into a fight. But as the hooded figure walked closer, Nat knew she needed to speak to them, "I'm pretty sure Ross has no jurisdiction here." She shouts as she looks at Becca with a stern look, telling her niece silently to get a move on. The car was held for the moment and so the girls took that chance to get out. "And you should know i'm a better shot when i'm pissed off." Nat snaps at the figure. "You hurt my niece. Don't expect me to go easy."
Becca grabs hold of the backseat and carefully watches as her aunt fires a shot at the hooded figure who whips out a shield similar to her uncle's and deflects the bullets. "Auntie Nat..." Becca says, scared. She hadn't felt scared like this since her mother was dying in the operating room two years ago.
"When i shoot again, you use that to get out." Natasha tells her quickly. But when Nat readies her gun to shoot again, the hooded figure throws their shield at the car, lodging itself in the window of the car that Natasha was looking out of. The car was creaking and making noise indicating it was going to fall, "Out. Now." Natasha states in a hurry and Becca grabs onto her aunt and pulls the both of them out of the car.
Becca aims her widow bites at where she last saw the hooded figure and Natasha aims her gun. Both women breathe heavily as they look at the car that is on the bridge as well. Natasha watches the car but Becca's enhanced hearing picks up on movement above them. She whips her head upwards and sees the hooded figure jumping off the roof of the car with their shield. Becca and Nat both shoot at the figure. The figure kicks Nat's gun from her hands. Natasha uses her technique and wraps her legs around the figure's neck but unlike before, the figure knows the fighting move and does the exact same move, throwing Natasha onto the ground.
Natasha eyes the figure and then gets up, but the man gets up the same way. Becca's eyes widen in fear when she realizes who this person is. The person the girls feared in the Red Room. The man that could mimic any move. When the figure looks away from Natasha and looks over at a small case that fell out of the car when it exploded.
"You're not here for Aunt Tasha and I." Becca whispers in surprise and she makes the rash decision to go after the same case the man is walking towards. She dives for the case and grabs onto it as Natasha pulls out a knife and attacks the man, giving her niece a chance at escaping with the case. Becca grabs the case but the man knocks over Natasha after a small fight.
Natasha pulls out her retractable cord and wraps it around his legs and then launches it upwards to connect with the bridge. It stops the man and pulls him into the air just long enough for Natasha to reach Becca. Becca hands the case to Natasha and grabs the shield the man had and deflects the sword. "I know how to use a shield too." Becca snaps at the man as she holds it up, shielding herself. She then begins to fight the figure. She launches the shield towards the bridge and it recoils, hitting the man in the back, sending him forward slightly. Becca jumps over the man and kicks the shield back onto her arm to block another advance from him. The two continue to fight almost evenly until the man launches a kick onto the shield and it sends Becca into the river below.
"Becca!" Natasha shouts and dives into the river after her niece. Natasha wraps her arms around her niece in the air as they fall, the contents of what was in the case tucked safely in her jacket pocket. The two then plummet into the freezing Norwegian water below as thunder booms overhead in the sky. If Thor was watching, his reaction was known clear in the skies as thunder clapped loudly, lightning striking with anger.
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