Title: Red Herring
Author: I_llbedammned
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters/Pairing: Natasha
Rating: G
Word Count: 500

Notes: Originally written forcomicdrabbles 's challenge. Just a little ficlet for now, but I may run with it more in the future


Natasha would remember the scene perfectly when asked in the interrogations about where she was when he died. The sky above was crystalline blue with a few puffy white cumulus clouds crawling their way across the expanse on a slight breeze that did not quite reach the ground. The sun was very bright and all the colors looked super-saturated. She was standing in the middle of a farmer's stand purchasing blueberries and had just handed the man running the stand a five dollar bill to pay for her purchase. She was dressed in black shorts and a grey T-shirt with black leather sandals on her feet. There was a Desert Eagle in the canvas bag she was putting her berry spoils into, covered by a darker grey sweatshirt. The Desert Eagle had eight rounds left in the clip.

Her cell phone rang with the dulcet sounds of "Sinfony" from Handel's Messiah and she took out her black smart phone that she kept really only to keep abreast of S.H.E.I.L.D operations. Everyone who really knew her never bothered to call since she never did like talking on the phone. It was very hard to read the other person's body language through a receiver.

"What's the deal?" she asked the phone tersely, expecting to hear one of her bosses on the other end.

"Ms. Romanova?" said the muffled voice of a disinterested public employee on the other end.

She took the change from her five dollar bill from the nice farmer, smiling politely and wishing him a good day. "Who is this?" she asked, the smile falling from her face as she made her way back to her tan sedan.

"This is Floyd from the Los Angeles Police Department. We have some news regarding your father."

"I think you must be mistaken."

"No it says here on the hospital records and in his will that you are listed as his last of kin."

She cursed in her head a variety of colorful curses in five languages. It would be just like Ivan to have the records altered so that she would be caught. What was his game now? She doubted he was truly dead. If he was actually dead there would be no polite call from the sheriff's office.

"Why are you calling me?"

"We need you to come claim the body."

Thoughts processed in her head. He knew where she was, or at the very least knew her phone number even though it was a burner phone and she had never given it to him. That meant he probably had access to the government files. She made a note to tell S.H.E.I.L.D. to check their computer technicians to see if they were spies when all this was done. She knew the way he worked. If he didn't see her he would just send more people. She could not risk the lives of everyone she worked with, of everyone who had given her a second chance.

"Yeah, sure. I'll come get it.”