ATTF: Budapest

[i-llbedammned.livejournal.com]

Hello there Denizens of our Dear Bar,

Today's topic of discussion is Budapest. It wasn't mentioned much, only a line or two about it, but something big clearly happened there. I'm curious as to what you think happened there.


Personally I am a big fan of them first admitting that they had feelings for each other in Budapest. It wasn't the reason they were there in the first place, they each had their own missions. Natasha was sent there to recover a file from an important Hungarian diplomat and Clint was sent to kill the same diplomat. They met up while on the mission and at first clashed with each other. They had met each other previously, but never had the exact same target before. So to save them both a lot of effort they decided to work together. This lead to them getting closer together and eventually developing feelings for each other. In my mind though, Natasha would not admit to having feelings yet though. Clint remembers them sleeping together, Natasha remembers having to flee the city after being betrayed after accomplishing their goal.

What do you think happened in Budapest? What did Clint remember? What did Natasha remember?

Why were they even there in the first place? Was it a mission or a vacation with interesting side effects? Do you think they knew each other before hand or was that the first time they met? Do you think Budapest is where Clint spared Natasha?

Natasha and Clint are already close by the time that the Avengers movie takes place, was Budapest what brought them together or just what made them closer?

Did they get together as a couple in Budapest? Were they already together by the time that happened?

Do you have any fics or fanart pieces that you are fond of that involve Budapest or give an explanation?


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Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_samalander/]

So my headcanon is like, totally different from everyone else's.

I think Budapest was nothing more than a huge street fight/gun battle. They were fighting hard and killing things. And so when they're fighting hard and killing things in New York, Natasha is all "Hey, we did this before remember?" and Clint is like "I DON'T REMEMBER THE PART ABOUT THE ALIENS OR THE SUPERSOLDIER OR THE BRAINWASHING, NO."

Because to Natasha, killing is killing. People and aliens and whatever else. A fucky mission is a fucky mission. But to Clint, NY is a much more person thing, one where he's trying to retain normalcy after his ordeal, and it's nothing like any other fight he's been in.

[xonceinadream]

I've adopted this Budapest head canon because I think it's perfect and hilarious and so them.

I think if not then it wouldn't really be a big deal. Just a big mission that took a wrong turn but had no aliens certainly. About what _samalander said.

[lar_laughs.livejournal.com]

I saw a head cannon once (does anyone know who this belongs to?) that says that Budapest was never anything. Neither one of them have ever been there. It's simply a code they use with each other. One of them says "This is just like Budapest" and then the other one responds in a specific way.

There is something about that idea that resonates with me. A moment that is completely theirs in the midst of chaos. A moment of connection.

I also feel the same about the moment in my icon. I think, if we'd heard the "joke", we wouldn't have understood it. It's something between the two of them.

[hanorganaas.livejournal.com]

I follow this headcanon someone suggested for me......and that was Budapest was this big trip they were planning around a mission in what else? Budapest.

They were very excited however the trip was canceled and suddenly Budapest was a long running joke they share as the Trip that never was.

I acutally wrote a fic for a friend about it XD.

[alphaflyer.livejournal.com]

Actually, I always thought that little clip on the carrier monitor that has them fighting back-to-back must have been Budapest, until I got the DVD and freeze-framed the thing and it turned out to be "Operation Abidjan". This made me very happy as I was working on a mission fic at the time which took place in Abidjan.

But anyway. In the context of another ATTF I came up with this little three-sentence minific, based on a prompt from Frea_O:

Budapest

She's right; the whistling of ammunition around their heads, the adrenaline rush of picking off hostiles like a bloody game of whack-a-mole, the rubble and smoke and the panicking civilians - in all those ways, it really is like Budapest all over again.

But what she seems to have forgotten is that in Budapest, they were fighting on opposite sides.

He hopes that when this is all over they will both have the chance to re-learn the difference.

[happilydancing.livejournal.com]

Also the way they deliver their lines, along with "Hawkeye!". " Nat, what are you doing?" gives insight into the way they probably typically interact with each other. He seems to always be kinda ribbing her.

[sgteam14283.livejournal.com]

I have so many headcannons about Budapest that it's all one big mess ;)

I actually feel that it's in line with most, that it was some huge street fight where they were on opposite sides but knew each other from previous missions. And it was where Clint convinced Nat to defect and come to the "good side." Natasha remembers the debt she owes him while Clint remembers the fight and how he killed more than her (because he always remembers joint missions that way ;D).

There's actually a Tumblr post where there was a gif of a fountain in the shape of a book and the water spraying was like the page turning. The notes on it was that the fountain was what Clint remembered from Budapest, and I find that in line with his character-that he would remember something as whimsical as that instead of whatever assignment they had to do in the city.

Also, a friend pointed this out to me after seeing the movie and then watching the first episode of Buffy; Darla mentions to Angel that she hadn't seen him since Budapest. Given that the element looked like Serenity, Budapest could be a Wheadonverse reference (a very obscure one) but I like to think of it as something us fans can spend eternity talking about.

[anuna-81.livejournal.com]

So, in my version of Budapest, they were already partners and it was just another mission, not particularly hard one, but it did go sideways. One of the bad guys shot Clint with something that looked like tranquilizer shot, only it caused him hallucinations. Oops. So "You and I remember Budapest differently" translates into you were shooting things and I was stoned. The very line in the film functions as something that lets us know these two have shared history, and while it is a running joke (on tumblr for example), it never really bugged me, I always thought it's a hint in the direction of having history together, in fact enough history to make jokes while shooting at ugly aliens in the middle of New York.