The Budapest Objective

Seven

"What? I thought you killed that guy," Clint said, keeping his voice low.

"So did I," Natasha said.

"Couldn't he just look like him?"

"No, that's the guy. He's got the same scar on his face."

"Where is he?"

"Dancing with some blonde a few feet away from us."

Clint spun Natasha around, so he could see the guy who'd made an attempt on his life. "Which one is he?"

"Brown hair, grey eyes, scar on his left cheekbone."

"If we could get him alone-"

"-we could tie him up, take him back to the hotel, and interrogate him until he cracks," Natasha finished.

"Exactly. We'll just have to be very careful..."

They didn't have to wait long for an excuse to talk to him, though. The guy bumped into them accidentally a few minutes later.

He took one look at Clint and Natasha, and his face went white. "Ex... excuse me," he muttered.

"Is that for almost killing my partner, or for bumping into me? I'm confused," Natasha said sarcastically, still keeping her voice low.

The man's face took an ugly, green tint. He began to back away slowly. Clint caught his arm right as he turned to run, and Natasha grabbed his girlfriend's arm. They led the two suspects to a dark corner as inconspicuously as possible.

"I... I think you have me confused with... someone else..." the man said, his fear reflecting in the way he shook.

"How did you survive that bullet?" Natasha asked, ignoring his former statement.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't. Maybe this'll jog your memory!"

Clint caught Natasha's arm before she could hit the guy. "Not here," he whispered in her ear. "Wait until we get back."

Natasha's eyes had never left the man. She gave him a murderous look that made him shrink back a little further. "Fine!" She jerked her arm out of Clint's grip.

The guy's girlfriend looked pretty calm. "You people must be the entertainment for tonight," she said in a very strong Hungarian accent, clearly not getting it. "Remind me to complain about this to the host; you two aren't very entertaining."

Natasha, trying to stay calm and not do anything rash, said in a voice shaking with the effort to not hit them, "You two, follow us very closely. If you try to run away, I will shoot you in the back of the head - No, Clint, I won't hold back! - and you will die. Make it look like you know us and are close friends. If you draw any attention to us, I will shoot you. Got It?"

The man nodded, and told his girlfriend to agree. They made their way slowly out of the dance room, laughing and talking. Their 'old friend' thing worked OK. The guy and his girlfriend were good actors, except for the terror in the man's eyes and the confusion in the girl's.

Eventually, they got to Clint and Natasha's car without anyone stopping them. Natasha shoved the two suspects into the back seat, and crammed in next to them. Clint hopped into the driver's seat, and in a few seconds they were driving away.

"I guess this is kind of given, but if you try to get out of the car and run for it, my partner will shoot you without a thought," Clint said, looking at the criminal and his girlfriend in the rearview mirror.

The man hesitated, then nodded. Natasha was on the left, the man was in the middle, and his girlfriend was on the far right, up against the window of the car. She looked to be seriously considering asking them to take her back to the dance. She blew a strand of blonde hair out of her eye, and looked at Natasha with her startlingly green eyes. She obviously didn't take them seriously, and was just going along with this because her boyfriend told her to.