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The Black Widow lay along one of the rafters of the arena underneath a mimic blanket, disguised to hide her among the shadows and steel. She had been in position for more than a day now, having slipped in with the bump-in crew and made her way unnoticed to her position. The arena below was now filled with people, and a rather garish stage, awaiting the arrival of her target. She shifted slightly and heard the soft rustle of the mimic blanket as it compensated her outward appearance to hide her movement. The blanket had been carefully programmed to match the background of shadows and rafters around her. The inside of the sheet, however was matte black, with a small pair of red triangles painted in one corner. The Widow thought this was a tacky move on the part of her employer - she certainly didn't want the attack traced back to her, but this was what her employers wanted. They wanted it traceable, and they were paying her enough to go to ground for quite a while. For something so simple, it was well worth it.
The lights in the arena dimmed, and she focussed her attention on the stage, helpfully lit up by spotlights. She lowered her head to the scope and waited for her target to step onto the stage.
"Please welcome to the convention, the man who has led America since the Battle of New York, remained strong through attempts on his life, and has demonstrated his dedication to returning stability to America through the negotiation of the Sokovia Accords. President Matthew Ellis." The voice boomed over the sound system.
Ellis walked out onto the stage lit by a red, white and blue spotlight. He was waving amicably at the crowd, who were all clapping and cheering. The Black Widow smiled slightly. They wouldn't be cheering happily for long. She waited until he was standing behind the lectern before thumbing the button on the side of her glove, waiting half a second for all the lights to turn off and then firing two shots. As she expected, the cheers of joy turned to screams of terror. The little she could see in the wildly swaying lights of the torches being shone on the president on the stage was enough to tell her the mission was complete. She slid the mimic blanket off, leaving it draped over the rafter, and even leaving the rifle in place for them to find later, before slipping down to the floor and joining the thousands of people stampeding for the exit in the dark.
It was easy than she expected to get out of the arena. Now it was time to find her way to a nice tropical location somewhere and enjoy the spoils of her efforts.
***
Natasha put her feet up on the footstool and stretched out comfortably. The sun in southern Thailand was a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of being in one of the big cities. She was enjoying spending her time between the water and the beach too. It was just so relaxing. Even though she knew it wouldn’t last forever, it was nice to take a break after saving the world multiple times. She had a few more missions lined up; breaking some friends out of a high security prison to start with and then tidying up some loose ends from the Red Room. After that she wasn’t too sure what she was going to do, but there were always people looking for her skillset, and she could be a lot more discerning this time around.
“Mind if I sit here?”
Natasha looked up and behind her as the very familiar voice spoke. She had been waiting for whatever intel Fury could get her that would help break the others out, but she hadn’t expected him to deliver it in person.
“Depends if you’re going to hog all the sun, or not, boss.” She smiled and sat up a little straighter.
“Didn’t think I’d hear you calling me that any time soon.” Fury sat down on the other chair.
“Old habits?” She offered with a chuckle. “What’ve you got for me?”
“Some good news, some bad.”
“That seems far too normal for you.”
“You hung around with Barton and Stark for too long. Glib remarks are really more their thing.” He passed her a small tablet. “The good news is Rogers busted the others out, so you don’t need to do it. They’ve gone to ground and I haven’t had a chance to track them down yet. The bad news…” He pointed to the tablet and she unlocked the screen. “I’m guessing that you’ve been a little out of the loop while enjoying the beach - or you’ve been jetsetting around a lot more than I expected.”
President Matthew Ellis Assassinated at Democratic Party Convention
President Ellis was killed last night just as he was taking the stage to speak at the DNC. An unknown shooter targeted the president from inside the arena, firing two shots in complete darkness - one into his heart and one into his head. It is believed that the shooter made it out in the chaos as all convention attendees attempted to evacuate the building, fearing a mass shooting.
“We would have been like fish in a barrel in the dark in there,” an agitated witness spoke to our reporters outside the arena this morning.
The shooter left behind their gun and camouflage gear marked with the symbol most recently associated with Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, sometime Avenger and now fugitive from more than just the Sokovia Accords…
Natasha stopped reading the article and lowered the tablet. She didn’t need to keep reading the rather unflattering description of who she might be.
“Someone’s trying to flush me out.”
“It would seem that way. It’s a lot more hamfisted than Zemo’s efforts to draw Barnes out, though. It’s more like they’re…”
“Copying and hoping that it will work.” Natasha handed the tablet back. “So are you here to take me in? Or give me the heads up?”
“Did you do it?”
“Would I have been that obvious?”
“I would hope not. Any idea who would have?”
“No, but when I find out, they’re going to regret it.”
Fury nodded and stood up. “I’ll do what I can to keep people off your trail, but I can’t promise anything.”
Natasha smirked. “You never could.” She stood up and gathered her towel and shoulder bag. “ If you see him, tell Barton I’m ok.”
“Just try to stay that way until I can get to him. If you need anything, you know how to contact me.” Fury nodded his goodbye and headed off down the beach.
Natasha looked up at the sky and ran her hands down her face, allowing herself one moment of frustration at the world. At least the others were out of the Raft. She just needed to find out who had actually done this before they found her.