What now? [winterwidow]

2 - Finding Clues

Natasha POV

I turn around to Coulson and remind him "Barton, how do we find him?" Coulson simply directs me to an area in the base where I would guess, they brief/debrief agents on missions. It is a small area surrounded by tinted glass with a glass table in the middle of it. There is a large screen in the front of the area. "Wow, you sure like glass. Wouldn't you just, I don't know... DIE if this aircraft crashes, I mean, with all the glass around?" I ask. "Mmhmm, not my choice Romanoff, go complain to Fury". I don't even bother to think about it any longer, except how terrible S.H.I.E.L.D designers are in terms of safety. After a few seconds of Coulson fiddling with his tablet to control the screen, things start popping up. I request for the tablet from him and he happily hands it to me. I flip through files, mostly redacted to get as much information about Barton's mission as possible.

It doesn't help. Everything is irrelevant to finding Clint and I certainly won't spend my time looking for information about his mission. He can tell me about it when I find him, alive. Every second counts and for all I know, he could be being tortured, dying or running for his life. I quickly ask Coulson for access to a car or some sort of commute. I ready myself with all the tactical gear I imagined I would need and left the base, just after I got there.

I put on my S.H.I.E.L.D uniform and cover it with a coat to cause less suspicion. I put on my inconspicuous widow's bite, they look like golden bracelets ( shoots 3000 volts of electricity ). I also take my guns, knives, mini bombs and other things, as well as a small briefcase with a small but lethal sniper rifle in it. It's my favourite model, I've killed almost 100 people with it.

I look around for clues on how to find him. I skim through the dense population and spot specific people heading to the same area. That of course, wouldn't be enough information to know if someone has a hidden agenda. So I look carefully at one of the men, trying to look for any clues that would lead me to something, anything. I notice that the man I've been looking at through my scope has a tattoo on the side of his neck. I normally wouldn't care about tattoos but I've seen this symbol somewhere before, and I know it. I search through all my memories and find the one about that symbol. It's a hydra tattoo. But, according to the S.H.I.E.L.D files hydra is 'dead'. I quickly check all the others and everyone one of them has something on them pointing towards hydra.

I think about telling Fury about this but Barton's more important, selfish I know. I slyly pack away my equipment into the small briefcase and head to the streets. I tag after one of the suspected 'hydra' members as he walks up to a small nearby cafe. They all sit near each other but not next to each other in order to decrease suspicions, but for someone like me, this is far from inconspicuous. Rookies. I take out a small remote-controlled item disguised as a fly, I manoeuvre it while one of the eyes is a miniature video camera. Also tiny microphones are attached all around it.

I carefully manoeuvre the fly and record everything it's getting. Those rookies didn't even notice me nor the fly throughout they're whole conversation. I couldn't hear what they were saying there and then because it would look out of place too be staring at a screen attached to earphones in a cafe, so I decide to take a look when I get back to base.

I arrive at the base and link the fly with the screen Coulson had showed me information through earlier today. There were five men, which I already knew but I was more interested with what they were saying so I turn up the volume and carefully listen to their conversation, making sure not to miss anything important.

Coulson walks in, curious about what I'm doing, he doesn't ask but I know he wants to. "I'm viewing what I found while I was out" I explain. I slowly look through it, ignoring Coulson's presence. I notice at the corner of my eye, his shocked facial expression after he sees a certain caption. "Is that a hydra tattoo?!" He asks me. I reply in a calm manor, "Yes, Fury might want to know". He quickly grabs his secured-line S.H.I.E.L.D phone and dials Fury's number.