12267/Not Betty from accounting.

Not Betty from accounting.
Date of Scene:	30 September 2020
Location:	Two Bridges (Chinatown), Manhattan
Synopsis:	Natasha torments Cap while at work.
Cast of Characters:	Black Widow (Romanoff), Captain America

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Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Things were looking bad. They were out numbered by ten to one.

The recon mission had turned into a rescue when they found the AIM agents had captured a few SHIELD agents. Those agents had been freed but they were really no help in the fight due to their injuries. They had made it to the exit thanks to the work of the two SHIELD agents who were on this mission.

Considering who those agents were, it was bad odds against AIM.

"What about Lily in R&D?" Natasha asked this question as she leapt into the air, both feet slamming into the chest of one AIM drone and kicking off him to flip in the air and give a spinning kick to the head of another.

She landed easily, throwing up a block to keep a punch from a third connecting with her head.

Captain America has posed:
    The red white and blue shield rang with the resonant /SPANGS!/ of rounds bouncing off of it, the circular defense giving the man behind it and those SHIELD agents he was covering time enough to get through into the next room, closer to the exit but still a ways to go with the strike team closing in behind them. They advanced two by two providing a bounding overwatch of cover firing while their comrades were moving, but it didn't seem to be enough.
    Falling into the old practiced roles, the two Avengers backed each other up, providing support when the other needed it and keeping their people moving and on point.
    "Are you sure now is the best time to discuss this?" He says as a beekeeper rushes toward him with a shock prod that is smashed to the side as the shield is turned and the edge thumping hard into the attacker's face shield, cracking it with a heavy /KRAK!/
    "Maybe we should focus on the mission?" Though, to be fair, this isn't the first time they've talked a bit as they could while fighting.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"You discuss better when we're fighting. When I try to talk about it in the mess hall, you just clam up and drink your coffee or change subjects," Natasha points out as she ducks under another swing them comes up with a left, right, stomach punch then as the guy bent, double handed /SLAM/ to the back of his head. He went down like a sack of potatoes.

That got her clear again and she pulled out a Glock, firing a round in the direction of Cap.

It went over his right shoulder and hit the guy behind him, atop a stack of crates trying to get a shot at the Avenger's back.

"Lily is sweet. And with her love of barbershop quartets, I thought you might have a lot in common."

It's impossible to tell if that was a joke or not. It would be likely the same even if they weren't in the heat of battle.

Captain America has posed:
    "You mean change the subject like I'm trying to do now?" Cap says as he spins around in a smooth gyre, heavy boot slashing up and around and catching the chin of a rushing cyber-enhanced AIM soldier who had leapt up seeking to slam metal arms down into the star-spangled Avenger... only to be sent crashing.
    Then that round fires over his shoulder and the man doesn't even flinch, so in sync with Widow as he spins back the other way, letting loose with his shield and causing it to ricochet off two walls and then through the group of four enemy agents who had been trying to approach from the other side of the building.
    He nimbly leaps up and catches the shield on its way back then gives her a nod as he mouths, "Thanks."
    For then there's a small lull as the remaining AIM operatives gather behind cover. "Okay people, let's move, you got this." Even as he helps one of the other SHIELD agents up with a shoulder under his arm to help him forward.
    "Lily's a Mets fan." As if that was the worst condemnation he could come up with.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Should have known that would be a deal breaker. Natasha ducked back to the door, a Glock in each hand now as she provided cover fire for them to get through the next door with the agents. One covering the rear, the other checking the next room to be sure it was clear then quickly ushering the two agents through to the other side into the next safe space.

It wouldn't stay that way for long as the bees were ticked to have their hive disturbed. "Clear!" she called out to Cap, letting him know to stop covering the door the AIM agents would be busting through in 3-2-1...

She had reloaded during the lull and opened fire with both guns at once, laying down suppressive fire so Cap could get across the room and through the door she was beside.

"Betty in accounting?"

Captain America has posed:
    The door slams open, ushered by the shoulder of the Captain as he swings the agent around to the side and into cover. He takes a deep breath and slams against the wall beside the door and holds the shield up in case of an errant round. Once the last agent is through he grimaces and checks the small data display on his arm, reading the schematics of the building and shaking his head. "Any word on our ride?"
    A round careens through the round and then a grenade is hurled through the opening, which has Cap rolling across the side and slamming the shield over top of it until it makes a soft /whumpf!/ from underneath it.
    "Everyone make it through okay?" He quickly asks the other agents, checking for injuries as he returns to cover.
    But then he says over his shoulder, "Betty has a pet snake." As if that was a disqualifier.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
A tap of the ear and Natasha demands. "Update on evac?" A moment later, she glances over. "Thirty seconds. We just need to get through the next room. I've got cover, you get them through."

Natasha continues to lay down fire. When one Glock is out of rounds, she manages to drop the magazine and slam in another in a fraction of a second, continuing to fire with the opposite. It's something that comes with years of training. Decades. Longer than most people could imagine. Of course, back then the models were different but that was another tale to tell.

"What's wrong with snakes?" she asks curiously as she makes a head shot, the impact strong enough on the reinforced mask to send the guy sprawling. Likely not dead but certainly out. Others try to find a way through that door. Even if they make it, they still have the room to get across.

She has to run out of bullets soon. There are only so many magazines that belt could hold.

"Nevermind. Ashley! Over in WAND." She already knew that would be a no but had to hear what his reasoning was for this one.

Captain America has posed:
    "I don't know," Cap says as he leans forwards, frowning as he takes a gander back into the other room, seeing the weapons teams moving forwards again. "Snakes are weird." She can tell he's likely distracted now, focused more on the fight that he's not able to come up with a nicer explanation than just... weird.
    But then she starts the covering fire and he makes the break, "Ok people move it, move it! Van's waiting." And as he says that he makes the charge across the open while Natasha fires, holding the shield forward as he becomes a human battering ram and /slams/ into the last door, smashing it open and snapping it off its hinges with the aid of the vibranium weapon.
    Once through and once the van rolls up he slams his hand on the side of it, thumping twice to signal an opening of the door which once it's fully open he starts helping people into it.
    Then, when Nat makes her run to join them he says, "Don't think I've met Ashley." He confesses, which he knows will just egg her on.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
When she gets the word through the commlink that everyone is in the van outside of her and Cap, Natasha backs through that other door and slams it. Then she quickly turns and hoofs it, running as fast as she could toward the door Steve had taken out.

She didn't have to outrun the bad guys completely. Once she was through the shattered door, she knew Cap would have her covered with his shield. He would keep her from getting shot in the back when the bad guys busted through the last door.

More vehicles were screaming up, SHIELD agents in battle gear leaping out and rushing the building as well. There was a low enough number now, the AIM agents should be easy to take down now. The agents should have no problems, allowing Nat and Steve to help with the rescued agents.

Natasha leapt into the van, grinning over at Steve. "I'll introduce you to her!"

Captain America has posed:
    With the prisoners secured and safe from AIM then the SHIELD teams can move in and take control of the situation. Yet even as he's taking a seat in the vehicle, Cap frowns and looks toward the door. "You know, some people might take your pre-occupation with my dating life as a bad sign." Not even to mention the codename the Black Widow, that's gotta throw some shade on things.
    Once the vehicle's rolling he looks across the way at her and smirks, "But I suppose no harm in an introduction." But she can see the way he looks back at the door, the way he bites his lower lip, that pensiveness. He's probably not going to be staying long.
    "You got this, Romanoff?" And as he asks he gains his feet, hand resting on the handle of the door even as the vehicle hits thirty miles an hour, forty.
    And if she says yes, she knows what's going to happen. He's going to leap right out of that van...
    Because Cap can't rest easy when there's a fight going on.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
That's the main difference. He has to be there. Has to be at the front to protect others. Natasha was trained differently. While she could stay and help, she knows these people need to get to safety. She also knows that AIM had these agents for a reason. They didn't just kill them. They wanted them alive. So why? And were they going to let them go this easily? SHIELD wasn't the only ones with commlinks. They might be intercepted during escape.

"Go get 'em," Natasha says. "I'll stay in case we run into complications." Translation: I'll deal with the other half of the fight if it happens.

And as she knows exactly what he is about to do, she has to shake her head a smile a bit.

Captain America has posed:
    A small smile is given back, but then the door slides open with a whoosh of rushing wind. He slings the shield on his back, then grabs the frame of the door...
    And in the next instant he's gone.