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halfamoondisclaimer: not mine.
Fandoms: The Avengers (movieverse), Captain Britain & MI-13 (comics), Pryde & Wisdom (comics), St. Trinian's (recent movies), Primeval.
Characters: Natasha Romanoff, Pete Wisdom, Kelly Jones, Abby Maitland, Anoushka, Polly; also: Captain Becker and Kitty Pryde in brief appearances.
Genre: Theoretically, this is action/adventure/gen, but Kelly continues to flirt with Natasha, so it's also a bit femslashy.
Rating: PG13, language, violence, Wisdom leering.
Length: 7,000+
Pairings referenced: Kitty Pryde/Pete Wisdom, Natasha/Kelly
Notes: this came about, originally, from a whiny conversation I was having withbluediamond421 (whiny on my part, not hers), about how there weren't a billion crossovers with St. Trinian's, Avengers, and/or Primeval. Not to mention the wider community of spies as hinted at in Captain Britain & MI-13/Wisdom's original Excalibur run. It was also an attempt to widen the universe I half-created in Green Light District (which itself was mostly an excuse to have Kelly Jones flirt outrageously with Natasha)
Summary: Natasha needs intell Wisdom promised her, but during the exchange dinosaurs happen. It's just another day for the ARC, of course. (also, Kelly Jones keeps flirting. What is up with that?)
Red Herring
by ALC Punk!
Natasha Romanoff entered The Crown for a meeting with Pete Wisdom and flipped her shades up onto her head, eyes scanning for entry-points and exits automatically. Wisdom's intell was always solid, and since Fury had given her the leeway to track down information on their recent little contretemps in her own way, she was going about it like an old spy. Her lips twitched at that thought.
The quick scan of the interior of the somewhat quiet pub netted her five other operatives and at least one agent from a rival country. Well, it was The Crown, that was to be expected. There were no loyalties inside of it, only alcohol and chatter. Sometimes, the chatter was friendly, even if the atmosphere wasn't.
A decidedly cold look shot her way from the ex-KGB (of course, they were calling themselves something much cuddlier these days, but Natasha recognized the type) man curled over his pint near the back corner, and Natasha almost flashed him a grin.
Rattling the cage of her ex-employers wasn't in the cards today, though, despite the temptations presented.
Noting the table Wisdom had mentioned in his email, she went to the bar and ordered. Anoushka was a good bartender, almost better than the man she'd replaced a few years back. Harry had been known by everyone--he still sometimes came in for a shift or two, but the less he put stress on himself, the better. Word had it that Harry's problem was his liver. Natasha didn't give that rumor much heed, however. It was more than likely that Harry's grandchildren had finally become more of a priority.
Vodka in hand (the good kind, Anoushka had promised while reaching for a bottle that was dustier than most), Natasha stepped over to the table and sat down.
When she'd mentioned her possible contacts to Fury, he'd raised an eyebrow over Wisdom, but let her choice of (not-so-choice) contacts slide. His surprise had probably been because the last time SHIELD had tapped Wisdom for intelligence reports, Maria had ended up punching the man in the face. Not something Natasha would ever blame her for, Wisdom could be incredibly obnoxious. But he knew his shit, and he had more contacts in the community who were still speaking to him than Natasha did.
And they weren't the sort of contacts that SHIELD could be seen to visibly cultivate.
Movement to one side caught her attention, but she planned to ignore it unless it became a threat (a laughable proposition inside The Crown--no one would dare ruin its neutrality). "Hey hey, stranger." The voice followed the movement, oddly familiar. Kelly Jones took the seat next to Natasha before an objection could be raised, a smile on her lips.
She was in leather pants and a top that left little to the imagination. For once, Natasha couldn't quite stop herself from looking where she probably shouldn't. Then again, looking wasn't disobeying rules and regulations, and there was nothing to say that looking at Kelly Jones and her smile was asking for trouble. Trouble might easily find her, though.
Tipping her head to the side, Kelly leaned her elbow on the table, expertly avoiding the damp patch from a recent drink. "I do hope you didn't miss me."
Natasha simply looked at her without answering. It was an inopportune moment for Wisdom to arrive--so of course, he did. He dropped into the chair across from them, eyes lighting up as he looked between them. "You need a minute, ladies? I don't mind watching."
Despite not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd annoyed her, Natasha found herself giving into the urge. Besides, it had been months since she'd been in close proximity to Wisdom, and it always startled her anew how little his mind worked outside of the gutter. She turned to look at him, her voice dry as she replied. "If I castrate you, Pryde can find other means of getting herself off."
He chuckled, as if having anticipated that sally, then turned his gaze to Kelly Jones. Whether he recognized her or not wasn't given away by even a flicker of an eye-lid. He merely studied her before raising his brows high.
Taking the hint, Kelly stood up with a chuckle of her own. She bent and murmured to Natasha, "Come find me when your business is done."
"You should take her up on that," Wisdom suggested, his eyes watching Miz Jones as she walked away from them.
Debating Wisdom on the merits of his puerile intentions wasn't the reason she was there. Natasha ignored the suggestion and nodded to the folder he was carrying. "Did your people have any luck in finding out the information I asked about?"
It was in Wisdom's nature to be obstructionist, if only to annoy her. But he apparently had other things to do that day, so he merely pushed the folder across the table to her and dropped a USB drive on top of it. "This is all we could find. Short version? Para-military organization, calling itself the Sons of Baal. Very organized, but not very interesting outside of the one thing your medical people noticed."
"Any intelligence on operations?" she asked, flipping up one side of the folder and scanning it swiftly before she tucked the drive into her pocket. Most of what was there seemed to match what she'd already dug up. She closed it again and held out a hand to Wisdom. "Thank you."
"I'd say anytime," he said, trying for a leer and missing. "But you know this isn't free."
"Trade's a trade." The other thumb drive in her possession dropped to the table and she nudged it across to him. "Don't lose that, the encryption on it is ridiculous."
"Password?"
"Same as always." Natasha picked up her shot glass and downed the liquid in one smooth swallow. Definitely the good stuff, and she'd have to thank Anoushka on her way out. Then she stood, turning to put the folder into the briefcase she'd brought with her. "Nice doing business with you, Wisdom."
"And you, Romanoff."
Possibly a lie--though at least they weren't being shot at, and London was much less taxing than Prague. Barton liked to joke that anytime she went to Prague, he had nightmares. Having been there with her more than once, she supposed he might have good cause for them--for herself, Prague was a routine that made sense, even when she was pinned down by snipers and bleeding out.
Stopping at the bar, she raised her brows at Anoushka. "Good stuff, thanks."
The bartender smiled. She wasn't much to look at, on the surface. A pretty blonde, tall and buxom enough to keep most people distracted from the intelligence in her eyes. But Harry would never have hired her if she wasn't up to the job, and Natasha knew she was. Anoushka might not look like much, but Natasha would never attempt to cross her, even over something as simple as a bar-tab.
She pulled out a handful of money, setting it down. "Keep the change."
"Yes," Anoushka replied agreeably, then she inclined her head towards the table Kelly Jones was conspicuously sitting at, her feet on the edge and her chair tipped.
Natasha raised her eyebrows, "She's none of mine."
"I don't believe she wishes to be," said the bartender before she turned away to deal with another customer.
Debating with herself was a fruitless exercise. That same magnetic pull that had led to her helping Jones escape from the facility was drawing her to the table. Natasha balked at the very idea that her judgment was questionable, even though she sat down across from Kelly and planted her elbows on the table.
Feet dropping the floor, Kelly leaned onto the table, copying Natasha's posture. There was a glitter in her eyes that wasn't laughter or anger.
"I am too old for games," Natasha warned her, ruthlessly quelling the warm feeling in her gut when she recognized the admiration in the other woman's eyes.
"So I've heard."
Perhaps they would have remained utterly silent for the next hour, each waiting for the other to continue the conversation. But an interruption came when a tall, attractive redhead burst out of the backroom. She scanned the room and headed with intent towards Kelly, stopping to give Natasha a disinterested look before she bent to whisper in Kelly's ear.
Jones straightened, her eyes widening. "You're joking."
"I never joke about dinosaurs," said the young woman, pushing her glasses up her noses and giving Natasha another look, this one rather assessing. As though she weren't sure she wanted to know just who Natasha was, but might have a good idea.
"Right. Polly, this is Natasha Romanoff. I'm sure you'll have heard of her. Natasha, this is Polly, and she's just told me that there are dinosaurs loose in London a few blocks from here." Kelly was standing as she spoke, pulling her jacket from the back of her chair and zipping it up as though in preparation for something.
Studying Polly, Natasha had the impression that she was a steady, intelligent person. One not prone to making up tales. Dinosaurs were an outlandish idea, but nevertheless, given what Natasha had seen in the last few months with the Avengers, she wasn't about to dismiss the idea out of hand. Getting to her feet, she pulled the flash drive from her pocket and added it to the briefcase.
"Anoushka," Natasha said, hoisting the case over the bar to the young woman, "See this delivered to Director Fury, if I don't return."
"Of course."
"You believe in dinosaurs?" Kelly Jones asked, having followed her and given Anoushka an approving nod.
Something about the body language between the three younger women told Natasha that they had known each other for a while. Possibly longer than could be covered by simply crossing paths in The Crown. Something to look into another day, perhaps. But for now, there was a possible alien threat to attend to. She could feel her breathing quicken in anticipation.
It had been too long since her last fight, and training exercises with the recruits didn't count.
"Let's say I don't not believe in them," she suggested as she turned to find Wisdom watching them. Well, if he was going to be a voyeur--she moved to his table. "Feel like some excitement, or are you too old for that sort of thing now?"
"Oi," he grumbled before he got up and handed his flash drive to Anoushka as well.
No one else in the pub looked in the least interested, and Natasha wasn't surprised. Wisdom was probably simply bored, and none of the others were in the business of fighting alien incursions, anyway. If reports were to be believed, Wisdom might have fought something demonic, once upon a time. But Natasha wasn't sure she gave credence to those, and Wisdom certainly was reticent about the whole matter. His boss wasn't so reticent, and even believed in magic. Not something Natasha really considered her bailiwick.
"Four blocks east," Polly told them as Natasha checked the snub-nosed pistol she'd brought with her and Wisdom rumpled his coat further. Kelly Jones was already bouncing on her toes, excitement and interest crackling off of her. Natasha hoped that boded well for their chances. "One of the people chasing them has paused to call for back-up, but there's no one close enough to aid her."
"Right. Romanoff, Wisdom, let's go."
Jones was out the door, Natasha half a step behind her and Wisdom still grumbling under his breath as he brought up the rear.
Stepping from the quiet pub and into the street, they found a wave of sound and commotion. People were running, shrieking; in the distance were sirens and what sounded like some sort of automatic gunfire. With the distortion, Natasha couldn't pin-point the caliber, but that didn't matter. Everyone was running away from the source, which was the smart thing for them to be doing.
It was five blocks east, not four, that they finally found signs of disturbance. Something large had knocked over signs and broken out store-fronts. At the corner, a small blonde girl was rummaging in the back of an SUV, her voice clipped and worried. "No, Jess, I need backup now, this one's been injured and it's unpredictable."
"Oh my God," Jones breathed, suddenly sounding delighted. "Abby Maitland!"
The young woman whirled to stare at them all, then snapped, "You need to move away from the area, there's a, a gas leak of some sort. Very dangerous."
"She doesn't remember me. I'll try not to feel crushed," Kelly whispered in an aside to Natasha as they reached Maitland. She raised her voice and continued, "St. Trinian's, Abbs. I know it was only one half-term, but even you can't have repressed it all."
Natasha filed St. Trinian's away in her growing Kelly Jones-Anoushka-Polly mental file, then nodded to Abby Maitland. "I'm Agent Natasha Romanoff, is there anything we can do to help the situation?"
Best not to bring SHIELD into it without prior authorization, and Maitland didn't look the type to ask for visible credentials.
It was obvious that Maitland was overwhelmed for a moment, then she seemed to shake herself and gave Kelly Jones a narrow look before addressing Natasha. "Are you any good at shooting tyrannosaurus rexes with tranquilizer darts?" A nearby roar drowned out anything else she might have been planning to say.
Pistol suddenly in hand, Natasha turned to scan the area. Most of the civilians seemed to have scattered, and for that, she was grateful.
"That was sarcasm," Maitland said tersely, "You're not needed, this is an ARC operation."
Wisdom spoke, his tone bored. "Tell your boss that several members of the security services and an agent of SHIELD are here at your disposal for the time being. I'm sure he won't mind."
The politics of inter-departmental squabbles had never been one of Natasha's favorite subjects, and she winced as Pete's words made Maitland's eyes narrow. So much for keeping Fury out of things. "Security services aren't equipped for this. Please leave before I have to write a report on your deaths."
"Honor of St. Trinian's, Abbs," Jones interrupted. "My handler says you've got no backup on the way, and you need us. Now stop arguing and start handing out the weapons we'll need to do this job."
The sentence made Maitland freeze for an instant, then she nodded. "All right. On your own heads, then--Jess, I'm handing out inventory to three agents from various secret services, get them keyed into the communications matrix under Jones, Romanoff and--" she raised her eyebrows at Wisdom.
"Wisdom."
"--Wisdom." She opened up another case and pulled out a medium-range rifle that had been modified. She hefted it for a moment, before handing it off to Jones with several modified magazines. "No, Jess, don't argue. Just do it. I've already wasted enough time as it is."
The thing, whatever it was, roared again.
"You'll need one of these," Maitland handed around comm-units, and Natasha tucked hers into her ear and clicked it on. Just like the ones at SHIELD, really. A babble of voices broke out and she started automatically filtering out the people she didn't know as she tucked her pistol back into its holster and accepted the modified handgun.
"It's an electric-stunner. Don't break it or we'll bill you."
When Maitland went to offer another to Wisdom, he shook his head and flexed his fingers. "I'm armed already."
"Right." Maitland picked up her own gun and looked between the three of them before pointing at Jones, "You take the rear, Wisdom to your right and forward, Romanoff, you're with me. Take the shot if you can get it, but be aware that we're only trying to drive it back to the anomaly."
Asking what an anomaly was would take too much time, and Maitland looked like she'd be reticent, anyway. Besides, Fury probably already had the details on this ARC thing.
Broken glass crunched under their feet as they walked up the street. Natasha scanned the shadows, then the windows, noting the occasional person watching from an upper story. They weren't her problem, though, and shouldn't be once they got the roaring thing contained. There was another bellow of rage and they walked around a building to find what was definitely a dinosaur.
Barton was never going to believe her, she decided as she stared at it. The thing was massive, gigantic, almost too big to really comprehend. But it was definitely akin to the pictures that children saw in storybooks, or in the horrible movies that Darcy insisted were 'educational' for Rogers.
Once she'd taken in the giant creature, she turned her attention to their surroundings. "Shit. We've got a civilian casualty," she called.
"Jess, we'll need a medical team here, ASAP," Maitland said, her voice echoing through the comm-links. Then she gestured, "Jones, Romanoff, try to draw it off while I get her dragged into cover."
Natasha nodded and glanced at Jones. "Get ready."
The dinosaur roared again, pawing at the building next to it. Huge chunks of wall showered the street and the hapless civilian below. Glass broke, and Natasha wondered if this were even worth it. She wished, briefly, for the Asgardian to make an appearance and pound the thing into the street. Then she discarded the wish. They were here, and they could handle it. Maitland might have been angry at having them along, but she was obviously competent, and she was risking her life for the woman lying under the dinosaur's feet.
"I have a better idea." Kitty Pryde was wearing jeans and a battered leather jacket. She sounded winded, but unafraid. "All of you distract it, and I can get her clear."
"What the hell?"
"Pryde's good," snapped Natasha, not bothering with the introductions--not with several tons of enraged lizard nearby. "Let her go."
Maitland shook her head, "I can't--"
It was just as well that the civilian was probably unconscious and couldn't see them arguing over who got jurisdiction. Pryde interrupted Maitland by the simple expedient of pushing her hand through the other woman's arm.
"Shit."
Looking like she wasn't sure whether to faint, be sick, call the cops, or just shoot them all, Maitland jerked her head. "Go, we'll get it headed back to the anomaly."
Raising his hands, Wisdom suddenly shouted, "Oi! Over here!" at the dinosaur. Then he began waving his arms like an idiot and almost dancing. Natasha revised her opinion on how much he'd had to drink earlier, and moved to cover him should the giant lizard take exception to Wisdom.
Not that she would blame it were it to do so.
Jones stepped back, steadying herself and sighting along the barrel of her rifle before she asked, "How much will these weapons injure it?"
"Should only knock it back, push it where we want it to go," Maitland replied.
"Ain't that a pity."
Natasha agreed, but didn't see the point in antagonizing their host. A burst of static over their comm-links presaged a frantic curse from the woman on the other side of their communications channels, "Fuck. Abby, Becker's group report another creature incursion. We've got a cordon in effect, but these are something smaller and could slip through."
"A little busy, Jess," Maitland said as she took aim at the now-moving creature and fired.
The electric charge made it roar, but didn't seem to do much else. Natasha loosed a shot of her own, then reached out and shoved Wisdom towards the side street that Maitland had indicated, "Go be useful bait."
He shot her a look, then did as he was told, shouting abuse at the dinosaur before running away from it. Natasha fired again, then heard the deeper growl of Jones's rifle. The combined abuse seemed to disorient it this time, and it shook its head before roaring and then swiping at another building. Another volley from Maitland, and it turned to give chase to Wisdom.
"Good. Keep it moving," Maitland ordered, moving ahead of them and following the lumbering beast.
Watching it, Natasha wondered what would happen if it truly decided to run. Then she decided that she didn't want to know. There was already enough property damage around them, not to mention possible injuries. She glanced back to see Pryde finally reach the civilian and bend down to check her over.
"Abby, if you can spare anyone, there's--" static broke over the radio links, and whatever else Jess had been going to say was lost.
Maitland fired again, then glanced back at Natasha and Jones, before she said, "Jess, give me the coordinates, I can spare one person."
With the t-rex on the move, there was nothing that said three of them had to herd it. Natasha could see the logic in that, and waited for the static to clear.
"Two north of your current position. Thanks, Abby."
"Romanoff?"
Natasha nodded curtly and peeled off to head in the correct direction.
-=-
If anyone had told Abby Maitland that she'd be sharing a dinosaur hunt with Kelly Jones when she'd gotten up that morning, she would have laughed in their face and probably gone and grabbed a shot of something to ward off the entire idea. Of course, here she was, herding a tyrannosaurus rex, with Kelly Jones two feet behind her, keeping pace. And there wasn't any alcohol in their vicinity for her to drink.
Then again, given the idiot in front of the creature waving his arms like a deranged madman, perhaps she didn't need the alcohol.
Rehashing her past was for another time, Abby firmly told herself as she fired again at the back of the beautiful specimen in front of her. The creature might have been a killer, and she herself might have nightmare memories of living in the past with them hunting her, but Abby couldn't deny that the part of her which had grown up wanting to be a zoologist wasn't jumping up and down in glee and clapping her hands.
She had just been buried a little further, over the last few years.
A different bellow sounded further ahead of them, and Abby veered to the side to see a different rex approaching theirs. She cursed. "Wisdom, we've got company, get out of there."
But the idiot either wasn't listening or was having trouble with his comm-link, as he continued his mad, flappy waving. Behind him, the second tyrannosaurus rex quickened its pace, bellowing in counter-point to the first. They were both moving fast now, and Abby put on a burst of speed, firing at the side of theirs to keep it distracted.
"Oh God!" Connor's voice suddenly cut across their comm-links, "Abby, you've got to slow yours so Becker's men can get the first through the anomaly!"
"Wisdom--"
It all happened so fast, Abby wasn't sure afterward that she'd seen what she thought she saw at all. Connor's shout must have finally penetrated, as Wisdom turned to find the other beast behind him. The look on his face would have been amusing, at any other time. Jerking back to dinosaur about to step on him, Wisdom raised his hands and fire shot out from his fingers.
With a wounded bellow, their tyrannosaurus rex reared back, almost knocking Abby off her feet as it swung its tail, trying to get away from the sudden painful obstruction in its way.
The second tyrannosaurus roared as well, bugling a challenge that Wisdom met with another blast of fire, aimed at its shoulder, and sending it stumbling into the brilliant shimmering of the anomaly.
"NOW!" Abby shouted, raising her gun and firing, knowing they were about to lose their advantage.
Behind her, Kelly Jones followed her lead, the rifle's blast knocking the t-rex forward again as Wisdom dodged out of the way, one last blast of fire searing into its rump before he was clear of the zone.
Angry and wounded, the tyrannosaurus reared up one last time, then dove forward, chasing the scent of its rival back through the threshold of time.
"Connor, was that all of them?" Abby asked, when he didn't immediately lock the anomaly off.
"Not quite. Abby, we've had an incursion of juvenile rexes." Jess was sounding less harried, as though some of her worries had been cleared off her desk. "Becker's team are rounding them up with tranquilizers--Connor, you're to lock the anomaly until they can be sent back through."
Abby shuddered, "Don't need another rex terrorizing London, eh?"
On Jess's command, Connor had quickly typed in a series of commands. The device aimed at the free-floating, shimmering ball of light gave a shudder, then spat electricity at it, locking the portal to intrusion, for the moment.
"Does Becker need backup?" Abby asked, motioning the other two to follow her to where Connor was crouched behind his equipment, one lone soldier at his back. They'd learned early to leave someone with him, or risk the portal disgorging further contents.
"No, he's good. Matt's pissed, though." Something in Jess's tone told Abby that the last statement had been for her alone.
Abby winced, but didn't reply. It was understandable that Matt would be angry at her having drafted civilians into helping. "What about our casualty?"
"She's been triaged. Just a broken bone from falling debris and concussion. Should be fine."
That was a relief. Abby relaxed a little and gave Connor a grin. "Good."
"So how's this thing work?"
Pryde had returned, concrete dust on her jeans and one smear of blood on her hand that she hadn't seemed to notice. Her focus was on Connor's laptop as she knelt to inspect it.
There was the other thing Abby had been carefully not-thinking about. Time travel, anomalies, the future, the past, living and breathing dinosaurs--Abby could handle that. She'd had to, there'd been too much to pretend it was all a dream. But a woman had put her hand through Abby's arm, and it hadn't been an illusion. Biting her lip, she turned away, determined not to put a name to what Pryde was. Not just yet. And not to Wisdom, either, she decided as she watched him reach down and poke Pryde in the shoulder, then turn away, watching the anomaly with a professional disinterest.
Fire from his fingertips. Ghosting from hers.
Abby firmed her resolve and checked her weapon over instead, changing out the magazine.
-=-
Running, Natasha arrived where the other 'incursion' was, and found two men injured and one man checking over the lax bodies of two smaller versions of the tyranosaurus rex that she'd just left.
"Looks like you don't need me after all."
"We do, there's at least two more--" the man looked her up and down, then gave a curt nod. "Captain Becker."
"Agent Romanoff." They didn't shake hands. Noting the way he handled himself, eyes scanning the area, Natasha classified him as ex-black ops. Good. "How are they?"
"Just unconscious." He gestured with the rifle in his arms. "Did Abby give you a dart gun?"
"No."
"Damn."
Natasha started to say something else, when a change in the air pressure behind her coincided with Becker's eyes widening. She was already turning, gun coming up when the mini-rex slammed into her, clawing inexpertly and shrieking. It was taller than her by perhaps a foot, and definitely large enough to take out Rogers on his own.
Dodging the swipe, she retaliated by swinging her gun up into its face, then back-flipped out of the way.
Clear the space, never let yourself get too engaged, stay on the move. Her instructors had taught her well, adrenaline surging along her veins as the thing lunged at her again.
Becker fired, a dart slapping into its neck, and it still came on. Natasha raised her own weapon to fire and realized that using it as a blunt instrument had cracked it. She threw it at the rex's head, then yanked her pistol out and targeted the creature's eyes.
Three shots, and it was plunging backwards, blind and angry. It crashed through a store-front, then fell over and lay still.
"How many more?"
"Two, at most," Becker replied.
Natasha nodded, not pointing out that he'd said 'maybe', half a minute ago. "Anymore backup headed our way?"
"No." He pulled another one of the electro-shock weapons from a holster at his side, and held it out. "Bullets just piss them off."
"I noticed." Re-holstering her pistol, she took the other from him and checked the magazine quickly. then she nodded to the two men still on the ground. "I'll go hunting, herd 'em back to you."
He looked torn at the idea, but then gave a sharp nod. "Good luck."
"Don't need it."
Following the trail of broken glass and scattered debris, Natasha stalked the other creatures. Slipping between two buildings, she came out into a courtyard, and found both of them there. They were paying no attention to their surroundings, tussling over a ripped-open bag of trash. Several more littered the area, and she wrinkled her nose at the stench while considering her options.
The buildings were several stories tall, brick and mortar things with easily used hand and foot-holds. Natasha holstered her weapon by tucking it through her belt, and took advantage of the architecture, swiftly climbing up to the small balcony above. Pulling herself over the edge, she turned to look down at the two creatures again.
Still fighting and grubbing amongst the trash, they hadn't noticed her entrance or climbing. Good.
Gauging their positions and the wind, Natasha took several steps back, and then ran forward. Her hands closed on the railing as she launched herself up and over, releasing at the perfect moment where the arc of her body sent her hurtling downwards. Her boots slammed into the left shoulder of the nearest target, and she felt things crunch from the impact.
It fell, and she pushed off, flipping out of the reach of the second mini-rex. Landing on her feet, she fired as soon as her weapon was free, then fired again with deadlier accuracy, the second electric shock knocking it towards the little pass-through she'd come from.
A third shot, and the mini-rex roared and then ran in retreat. Natasha spared one glance for the downed creature, then sped after the other, keeping it moving and firing at an angle so that when it shot free of the buildings, it was aiming for Becker and his tranquilizer darts.
"Hope you're awake, Captain," she shouted. Any reply from him was lost in the sound of her weapon firing again.
She could almost get to like this, she decided as she watched Becker take aim from his position and then fire. Chasing dinosaurs was a lot less stressful than sharing a building with Dr. Banner.
The creature tripped over one of its fallen comrades and then collapsed.
"Not bad."
"One more on its way," she replied, turning and heading back to corral the other.
It was on its hind legs again, lopsided, one limb hanging uselessly at its side. Natasha circled it, then lashed out with a quick kick to knock further off-balance before herding it in the same manner as the previous one.
Becker eyed it after it had collapsed, frowning a little. Whether he was annoyed at the damage to the dinosaur, or just disgruntled at having to draft a civilian into the entire affair, she wasn't going to ask.
One of his men was sitting up, head in his hands, and Natasha could see the other stirring.
"Jess," Becker said, "I'm going to need transport for five juvenile rex's."
"SUVs are on their way already," reported Jess, her voice sounding relieved under its brisk tone.
"And the medical team?"
"Should be there now."
Natasha turned as glass crunched behind her, then relaxed as a four-man stretcher party appeared from around the corner. They looked a lot fresher than Becker did, but then, the emergency services usually were. She'd never begrudged them the rest, given all they had to deal with in the aftermath.
"You!" A fifth person appeared behind them, rapidly passing them. His rifle was pointed at Natasha. "Drop your weapon. Now."
"Matt--" Becker sounded annoyed, but still went silent at Matt's glare.
Slowly, carefully, Natasha held up the gun she'd been using. Then she crouched down, remembering how the other had broken so easily. Then again, between the force of her punch and the hide of the mini-rex, perhaps dropping it wouldn't harm the damned thing. Better to make nice with their toys, though. She knew how annoyed Fury or Stark got if she broke one of theirs, after all.
"Now back away, hands where I can see them."
It wasn't a position new to Natasha, but she still felt a little amusement as Matt came closer, then glanced at Becker. "Do you know who this is? Some civilian Abby pulled in off the street."
Becker snorted, but didn't reply as he turned to answer the question one of the medics asked him.
"Hardly a civilian--Matt, isn't it? I apologize, I didn't get your last name." Natasha smiled slightly, working on her 'innocent and pure' persona. It usually worked on the stupider people she encountered.
Sadly, Matt whatever wasn't stupid. "I want your full name and an explanation of why you're here."
"I don't think you'll want that, old man." Wisdom was strolling up, hands in his pockets and a look of positive glee in his eyes. "Knowing who she is might make this official."
"Who the bloody hell are you?"
Wisdom shot Natasha an eye-roll, then turned to smiled. "Pete Wisdom, MI-13. I suggest you put that pea-shooter away, and say thank you to the nice lady for her help."
"This woman could be a reporter, I need--"
"You don't." The tone cut through Matt's bluster, and he subsided, eyes narrowing. Wisdom nodded at Natasha, "You can rest assured that she is not a reporter. She eats them for breakfast, don't you, Tasha?"
It was her turn to roll her eyes. "Wisdom."
He shook his head. "Jurisdictional nightmare, Tasha. Do you want to deal with that paperwork?"
At the thought of that, and the forms she would have to fill out in triplicate just to appease the regulations, she groaned. "Point."
Matt had lowered his rifle, still looking angry. But he looked again at Becker, and whatever he saw in the man's face made him relax. "I don't like this," he said to Wisdom and then turned to Natasha, "And you're bloody lucky you're not injured."
"Yep," Wisdom patted him on the shoulder, then gestured. "You all seem to have this in hand, we should leave you to it."
Reaching up, Natasha pulled the comm-link from her ear and held it out to Matt.
He took it and stepped back, giving her the room to walk past him and join Wisdom. She knew by the sudden intake of breath that he had spotted the gun at the small of her back, but he said nothing else as they walked away.
-=-
"Jurisdictional nightmare?" Natasha demanded, once they were out of earshot. "And what the hell is the ARC, Wisdom?"
"Anomaly Research Center. Little project of the Home Office's that they like to pretend doesn't exist, while funneling far too much cash into it." He snorted, hands back in his pockets. Even with their recent exertions, he didn't look more rumpled than he had when they'd met in the pub. "They track a specific phenomenon that is currently endemic to the United Kingdom."
She considered that for a moment, then asked the next logical question in the chain. "Why isn't it your bailiwick, then? Why all the soldiers and tech, and not something more useful, like Stuart's crystal balls?"
There was a cordon ahead of them, two uniformed soldiers standing to attention at their approach.
"The ARC has managed to remain outside our jurisdiction 'cause Stuart has a bloody-minded brain, and has no interest in dinosaurs," Wisdom explained as he waved them through the check-point and into the next deserted street. "But you didn't hear that from me."
"Of course I didn't," she replied dryly. Reaching back, she tapped her pistol, "If we're keeping this off the books, I'll need replacement ammunition."
One thing Natasha had learned to hate was the endless rounds of paperwork that accompanied the firing of even one bullet from her service weapon. It was why, if she were on an assignment, she generally took at least one clean weapon to use. Made things a lot less messy when she didn't have to lie about the caliber of the bullet they'd found in someone after the fact. One more hold-over from her earlier life that she couldn't quite shake.
"We should have something that matches."
"I'll be briefing Hill, though," she added, her voice low. "A threat like this needs to be recorded, and she's a lot more discreet than some others I could name."
"Oh, I'm hurt, Tasha."
"And stop calling me that."
"Can I call you that?" Kelly Jones had returned, casually walking out of one of the stores they had passed.
Wisdom made an annoyed noise, but ignored her in favor of asking Natasha if she were injured. That would generate more paperwork for the both of them.
"Nah, she looks fine, at least from here."
Really, Natasha told herself firmly. There was nothing about Kelly Jones that should make her obvious ogling cause a flush to start somewhere. She controlled her reaction and shook her head. "Just a few scratches and bruises."
"Good."
She made another mental note in her file on Kelly Jones, and then looked around. They'd reached the street that housed The Crown. "If Hill has any questions, whom should she talk to?"
"I'll give Stuart the heads-up." Wisdom stretched and pranced ahead of the two women into the pub, shouting for all manner of booze to award the returned hero.
Natasha shook her head and exchanged a glance with Jones. "Sometimes..."
"You wonder why we bother?" Jones suggested, then she reached out and touched Natasha's arm. "Listen, I should thank you again--"
"Don't."
"All right. But I do owe you. Anytime. Anyplace."
That flush was starting again. Natasha cleared her throat and nodded to the pub, "Shouldn't we be in there, stopping Anoushka from shooting him?"
"Oh, I'm sure she's got him in hand. I heard a new batch of very good whiskey came in the other day. Trin's, or something like that."
Trin's? Not a name Natasha had ever heard. Pushing the door open, she stepped into the dim lighting of the room and moved to the side so as not to present a clear target. Old spies didn't die easily, after all. She pulled her sunglasses off and found Wisdom at the bar, tipping his head back and downing a shot.
He gave a strange sound when he'd swallowed, then swayed for a moment before slamming the glass back onto the bar and rasping, "Another."
Natasha was surprised to note the twitch of Anoushka's gaze which denoted that she was impressed with Wisdom's display. She made a note to avoid Trin's, no matter where she was, then moved to join him at the bar for the case she'd left earlier.
Time was money, after all, and the sooner she got the report back to SHIELD headquarters, the happier she would be.
To that end, she elbowed Wisdom before he could down a second drink. "I need that ammunition, Wisdom."
He glared, and proceeded to drink swiftly, sputtering a little as he came up for air. "Fine. Right. This way--" He weaved away from the bar and Natasha grabbed for his arm to steady him as she took her case in the other hand.
Wisdom tried to pull free of her grip and fell into a table. She hauled him back up, and got him pointed towards the door.
"Until next time," Kelly Jones said, too close inside Natasha's personal space for comfort, but unavoidable with the weight of Wisdom on one side.
Maneuvering to the door, Natasha didn't bother to reply.
-=-
Kelly watched the Black Widow shove Wisdom out the door, and slipped out to watch them get down the street, though her eyes were less on their lurching progress and more on the woman she owed a favor to. It didn't thrill her, owing favors, but it was a necessary part of the game these days. And if rumor were true, had always been a part of it.
"What the hell happened out there?" Polly's voice sounded less than thrilled, as she joined Kelly in the doorway. There was a mug of tea in her hands that smelled suspiciously doctored.
"Dinosaurs in the streets of London."
"Bollocks."
"'Struth," Kelly defended, though more for the form of it than because she thought Polly doubted her. She was watching Natasha Romanoff walk away, and could be forgiven for being slightly distracted by the view. It was an enjoyable one, if more for the imagination of one Kelly Jones than the reality of the Black Widow's practical and not skin-tight trousers.
Once Natasha had vanished, she gave Polly her full attention, gesturing with a shoulder for the other woman to go back in. "You'll never guess who I ran into."
"I don't have to guess, their encryption frequencies could be hacked by a first-year," Polly replied, derision in her tone. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at Kelly. "But you might want to confirm that it wasn't just a hoax."
"Very much not." Accepting the glass Anoushka handed her, Kelly looked down into it, "I told them you were my handler."
"Kelly--"
"You're not, I know. And it wasn't a good idea if it gets back to, well, anyone." Kelly raised a shoulder in a half-shrug, then took a sip of the surprisingly mellow tequila in her glass. "But I needed something official for you, and it popped out."
Polly shook her head, but let it pass for the moment, settling herself onto the stool next to Kelly's. "Tell me everything."
"Could take a while." And Kelly was rather wistfully hoping to have some time to herself. Preserve a little more of the Black Widow's image in her mind.
"No shit, Sherlock."
With a sigh, Kelly began from the beginning while Polly simply listened. Neither of them bothered to object when Anoushka drifted closer. From Kelly's point of view, Anoushka would never betray the confidence of a St. Trinian's girl. From Polly's, it made sense to have one more person with a clear accounting of the events of the day.
-f-
Fandoms: The Avengers (movieverse), Captain Britain & MI-13 (comics), Pryde & Wisdom (comics), St. Trinian's (recent movies), Primeval.
Characters: Natasha Romanoff, Pete Wisdom, Kelly Jones, Abby Maitland, Anoushka, Polly; also: Captain Becker and Kitty Pryde in brief appearances.
Genre: Theoretically, this is action/adventure/gen, but Kelly continues to flirt with Natasha, so it's also a bit femslashy.
Rating: PG13, language, violence, Wisdom leering.
Length: 7,000+
Pairings referenced: Kitty Pryde/Pete Wisdom, Natasha/Kelly
Notes: this came about, originally, from a whiny conversation I was having with
bluediamond421 (whiny on my part, not hers), about how there weren't a billion crossovers with St. Trinian's, Avengers, and/or Primeval. Not to mention the wider community of spies as hinted at in Captain Britain & MI-13/Wisdom's original Excalibur run. It was also an attempt to widen the universe I half-created in Green Light District (which itself was mostly an excuse to have Kelly Jones flirt outrageously with Natasha)Summary: Natasha needs intell Wisdom promised her, but during the exchange dinosaurs happen. It's just another day for the ARC, of course. (also, Kelly Jones keeps flirting. What is up with that?)
Red Herring
by ALC Punk!
Natasha Romanoff entered The Crown for a meeting with Pete Wisdom and flipped her shades up onto her head, eyes scanning for entry-points and exits automatically. Wisdom's intell was always solid, and since Fury had given her the leeway to track down information on their recent little contretemps in her own way, she was going about it like an old spy. Her lips twitched at that thought.
The quick scan of the interior of the somewhat quiet pub netted her five other operatives and at least one agent from a rival country. Well, it was The Crown, that was to be expected. There were no loyalties inside of it, only alcohol and chatter. Sometimes, the chatter was friendly, even if the atmosphere wasn't.
A decidedly cold look shot her way from the ex-KGB (of course, they were calling themselves something much cuddlier these days, but Natasha recognized the type) man curled over his pint near the back corner, and Natasha almost flashed him a grin.
Rattling the cage of her ex-employers wasn't in the cards today, though, despite the temptations presented.
Noting the table Wisdom had mentioned in his email, she went to the bar and ordered. Anoushka was a good bartender, almost better than the man she'd replaced a few years back. Harry had been known by everyone--he still sometimes came in for a shift or two, but the less he put stress on himself, the better. Word had it that Harry's problem was his liver. Natasha didn't give that rumor much heed, however. It was more than likely that Harry's grandchildren had finally become more of a priority.
Vodka in hand (the good kind, Anoushka had promised while reaching for a bottle that was dustier than most), Natasha stepped over to the table and sat down.
When she'd mentioned her possible contacts to Fury, he'd raised an eyebrow over Wisdom, but let her choice of (not-so-choice) contacts slide. His surprise had probably been because the last time SHIELD had tapped Wisdom for intelligence reports, Maria had ended up punching the man in the face. Not something Natasha would ever blame her for, Wisdom could be incredibly obnoxious. But he knew his shit, and he had more contacts in the community who were still speaking to him than Natasha did.
And they weren't the sort of contacts that SHIELD could be seen to visibly cultivate.
Movement to one side caught her attention, but she planned to ignore it unless it became a threat (a laughable proposition inside The Crown--no one would dare ruin its neutrality). "Hey hey, stranger." The voice followed the movement, oddly familiar. Kelly Jones took the seat next to Natasha before an objection could be raised, a smile on her lips.
She was in leather pants and a top that left little to the imagination. For once, Natasha couldn't quite stop herself from looking where she probably shouldn't. Then again, looking wasn't disobeying rules and regulations, and there was nothing to say that looking at Kelly Jones and her smile was asking for trouble. Trouble might easily find her, though.
Tipping her head to the side, Kelly leaned her elbow on the table, expertly avoiding the damp patch from a recent drink. "I do hope you didn't miss me."
Natasha simply looked at her without answering. It was an inopportune moment for Wisdom to arrive--so of course, he did. He dropped into the chair across from them, eyes lighting up as he looked between them. "You need a minute, ladies? I don't mind watching."
Despite not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd annoyed her, Natasha found herself giving into the urge. Besides, it had been months since she'd been in close proximity to Wisdom, and it always startled her anew how little his mind worked outside of the gutter. She turned to look at him, her voice dry as she replied. "If I castrate you, Pryde can find other means of getting herself off."
He chuckled, as if having anticipated that sally, then turned his gaze to Kelly Jones. Whether he recognized her or not wasn't given away by even a flicker of an eye-lid. He merely studied her before raising his brows high.
Taking the hint, Kelly stood up with a chuckle of her own. She bent and murmured to Natasha, "Come find me when your business is done."
"You should take her up on that," Wisdom suggested, his eyes watching Miz Jones as she walked away from them.
Debating Wisdom on the merits of his puerile intentions wasn't the reason she was there. Natasha ignored the suggestion and nodded to the folder he was carrying. "Did your people have any luck in finding out the information I asked about?"
It was in Wisdom's nature to be obstructionist, if only to annoy her. But he apparently had other things to do that day, so he merely pushed the folder across the table to her and dropped a USB drive on top of it. "This is all we could find. Short version? Para-military organization, calling itself the Sons of Baal. Very organized, but not very interesting outside of the one thing your medical people noticed."
"Any intelligence on operations?" she asked, flipping up one side of the folder and scanning it swiftly before she tucked the drive into her pocket. Most of what was there seemed to match what she'd already dug up. She closed it again and held out a hand to Wisdom. "Thank you."
"I'd say anytime," he said, trying for a leer and missing. "But you know this isn't free."
"Trade's a trade." The other thumb drive in her possession dropped to the table and she nudged it across to him. "Don't lose that, the encryption on it is ridiculous."
"Password?"
"Same as always." Natasha picked up her shot glass and downed the liquid in one smooth swallow. Definitely the good stuff, and she'd have to thank Anoushka on her way out. Then she stood, turning to put the folder into the briefcase she'd brought with her. "Nice doing business with you, Wisdom."
"And you, Romanoff."
Possibly a lie--though at least they weren't being shot at, and London was much less taxing than Prague. Barton liked to joke that anytime she went to Prague, he had nightmares. Having been there with her more than once, she supposed he might have good cause for them--for herself, Prague was a routine that made sense, even when she was pinned down by snipers and bleeding out.
Stopping at the bar, she raised her brows at Anoushka. "Good stuff, thanks."
The bartender smiled. She wasn't much to look at, on the surface. A pretty blonde, tall and buxom enough to keep most people distracted from the intelligence in her eyes. But Harry would never have hired her if she wasn't up to the job, and Natasha knew she was. Anoushka might not look like much, but Natasha would never attempt to cross her, even over something as simple as a bar-tab.
She pulled out a handful of money, setting it down. "Keep the change."
"Yes," Anoushka replied agreeably, then she inclined her head towards the table Kelly Jones was conspicuously sitting at, her feet on the edge and her chair tipped.
Natasha raised her eyebrows, "She's none of mine."
"I don't believe she wishes to be," said the bartender before she turned away to deal with another customer.
Debating with herself was a fruitless exercise. That same magnetic pull that had led to her helping Jones escape from the facility was drawing her to the table. Natasha balked at the very idea that her judgment was questionable, even though she sat down across from Kelly and planted her elbows on the table.
Feet dropping the floor, Kelly leaned onto the table, copying Natasha's posture. There was a glitter in her eyes that wasn't laughter or anger.
"I am too old for games," Natasha warned her, ruthlessly quelling the warm feeling in her gut when she recognized the admiration in the other woman's eyes.
"So I've heard."
Perhaps they would have remained utterly silent for the next hour, each waiting for the other to continue the conversation. But an interruption came when a tall, attractive redhead burst out of the backroom. She scanned the room and headed with intent towards Kelly, stopping to give Natasha a disinterested look before she bent to whisper in Kelly's ear.
Jones straightened, her eyes widening. "You're joking."
"I never joke about dinosaurs," said the young woman, pushing her glasses up her noses and giving Natasha another look, this one rather assessing. As though she weren't sure she wanted to know just who Natasha was, but might have a good idea.
"Right. Polly, this is Natasha Romanoff. I'm sure you'll have heard of her. Natasha, this is Polly, and she's just told me that there are dinosaurs loose in London a few blocks from here." Kelly was standing as she spoke, pulling her jacket from the back of her chair and zipping it up as though in preparation for something.
Studying Polly, Natasha had the impression that she was a steady, intelligent person. One not prone to making up tales. Dinosaurs were an outlandish idea, but nevertheless, given what Natasha had seen in the last few months with the Avengers, she wasn't about to dismiss the idea out of hand. Getting to her feet, she pulled the flash drive from her pocket and added it to the briefcase.
"Anoushka," Natasha said, hoisting the case over the bar to the young woman, "See this delivered to Director Fury, if I don't return."
"Of course."
"You believe in dinosaurs?" Kelly Jones asked, having followed her and given Anoushka an approving nod.
Something about the body language between the three younger women told Natasha that they had known each other for a while. Possibly longer than could be covered by simply crossing paths in The Crown. Something to look into another day, perhaps. But for now, there was a possible alien threat to attend to. She could feel her breathing quicken in anticipation.
It had been too long since her last fight, and training exercises with the recruits didn't count.
"Let's say I don't not believe in them," she suggested as she turned to find Wisdom watching them. Well, if he was going to be a voyeur--she moved to his table. "Feel like some excitement, or are you too old for that sort of thing now?"
"Oi," he grumbled before he got up and handed his flash drive to Anoushka as well.
No one else in the pub looked in the least interested, and Natasha wasn't surprised. Wisdom was probably simply bored, and none of the others were in the business of fighting alien incursions, anyway. If reports were to be believed, Wisdom might have fought something demonic, once upon a time. But Natasha wasn't sure she gave credence to those, and Wisdom certainly was reticent about the whole matter. His boss wasn't so reticent, and even believed in magic. Not something Natasha really considered her bailiwick.
"Four blocks east," Polly told them as Natasha checked the snub-nosed pistol she'd brought with her and Wisdom rumpled his coat further. Kelly Jones was already bouncing on her toes, excitement and interest crackling off of her. Natasha hoped that boded well for their chances. "One of the people chasing them has paused to call for back-up, but there's no one close enough to aid her."
"Right. Romanoff, Wisdom, let's go."
Jones was out the door, Natasha half a step behind her and Wisdom still grumbling under his breath as he brought up the rear.
Stepping from the quiet pub and into the street, they found a wave of sound and commotion. People were running, shrieking; in the distance were sirens and what sounded like some sort of automatic gunfire. With the distortion, Natasha couldn't pin-point the caliber, but that didn't matter. Everyone was running away from the source, which was the smart thing for them to be doing.
It was five blocks east, not four, that they finally found signs of disturbance. Something large had knocked over signs and broken out store-fronts. At the corner, a small blonde girl was rummaging in the back of an SUV, her voice clipped and worried. "No, Jess, I need backup now, this one's been injured and it's unpredictable."
"Oh my God," Jones breathed, suddenly sounding delighted. "Abby Maitland!"
The young woman whirled to stare at them all, then snapped, "You need to move away from the area, there's a, a gas leak of some sort. Very dangerous."
"She doesn't remember me. I'll try not to feel crushed," Kelly whispered in an aside to Natasha as they reached Maitland. She raised her voice and continued, "St. Trinian's, Abbs. I know it was only one half-term, but even you can't have repressed it all."
Natasha filed St. Trinian's away in her growing Kelly Jones-Anoushka-Polly mental file, then nodded to Abby Maitland. "I'm Agent Natasha Romanoff, is there anything we can do to help the situation?"
Best not to bring SHIELD into it without prior authorization, and Maitland didn't look the type to ask for visible credentials.
It was obvious that Maitland was overwhelmed for a moment, then she seemed to shake herself and gave Kelly Jones a narrow look before addressing Natasha. "Are you any good at shooting tyrannosaurus rexes with tranquilizer darts?" A nearby roar drowned out anything else she might have been planning to say.
Pistol suddenly in hand, Natasha turned to scan the area. Most of the civilians seemed to have scattered, and for that, she was grateful.
"That was sarcasm," Maitland said tersely, "You're not needed, this is an ARC operation."
Wisdom spoke, his tone bored. "Tell your boss that several members of the security services and an agent of SHIELD are here at your disposal for the time being. I'm sure he won't mind."
The politics of inter-departmental squabbles had never been one of Natasha's favorite subjects, and she winced as Pete's words made Maitland's eyes narrow. So much for keeping Fury out of things. "Security services aren't equipped for this. Please leave before I have to write a report on your deaths."
"Honor of St. Trinian's, Abbs," Jones interrupted. "My handler says you've got no backup on the way, and you need us. Now stop arguing and start handing out the weapons we'll need to do this job."
The sentence made Maitland freeze for an instant, then she nodded. "All right. On your own heads, then--Jess, I'm handing out inventory to three agents from various secret services, get them keyed into the communications matrix under Jones, Romanoff and--" she raised her eyebrows at Wisdom.
"Wisdom."
"--Wisdom." She opened up another case and pulled out a medium-range rifle that had been modified. She hefted it for a moment, before handing it off to Jones with several modified magazines. "No, Jess, don't argue. Just do it. I've already wasted enough time as it is."
The thing, whatever it was, roared again.
"You'll need one of these," Maitland handed around comm-units, and Natasha tucked hers into her ear and clicked it on. Just like the ones at SHIELD, really. A babble of voices broke out and she started automatically filtering out the people she didn't know as she tucked her pistol back into its holster and accepted the modified handgun.
"It's an electric-stunner. Don't break it or we'll bill you."
When Maitland went to offer another to Wisdom, he shook his head and flexed his fingers. "I'm armed already."
"Right." Maitland picked up her own gun and looked between the three of them before pointing at Jones, "You take the rear, Wisdom to your right and forward, Romanoff, you're with me. Take the shot if you can get it, but be aware that we're only trying to drive it back to the anomaly."
Asking what an anomaly was would take too much time, and Maitland looked like she'd be reticent, anyway. Besides, Fury probably already had the details on this ARC thing.
Broken glass crunched under their feet as they walked up the street. Natasha scanned the shadows, then the windows, noting the occasional person watching from an upper story. They weren't her problem, though, and shouldn't be once they got the roaring thing contained. There was another bellow of rage and they walked around a building to find what was definitely a dinosaur.
Barton was never going to believe her, she decided as she stared at it. The thing was massive, gigantic, almost too big to really comprehend. But it was definitely akin to the pictures that children saw in storybooks, or in the horrible movies that Darcy insisted were 'educational' for Rogers.
Once she'd taken in the giant creature, she turned her attention to their surroundings. "Shit. We've got a civilian casualty," she called.
"Jess, we'll need a medical team here, ASAP," Maitland said, her voice echoing through the comm-links. Then she gestured, "Jones, Romanoff, try to draw it off while I get her dragged into cover."
Natasha nodded and glanced at Jones. "Get ready."
The dinosaur roared again, pawing at the building next to it. Huge chunks of wall showered the street and the hapless civilian below. Glass broke, and Natasha wondered if this were even worth it. She wished, briefly, for the Asgardian to make an appearance and pound the thing into the street. Then she discarded the wish. They were here, and they could handle it. Maitland might have been angry at having them along, but she was obviously competent, and she was risking her life for the woman lying under the dinosaur's feet.
"I have a better idea." Kitty Pryde was wearing jeans and a battered leather jacket. She sounded winded, but unafraid. "All of you distract it, and I can get her clear."
"What the hell?"
"Pryde's good," snapped Natasha, not bothering with the introductions--not with several tons of enraged lizard nearby. "Let her go."
Maitland shook her head, "I can't--"
It was just as well that the civilian was probably unconscious and couldn't see them arguing over who got jurisdiction. Pryde interrupted Maitland by the simple expedient of pushing her hand through the other woman's arm.
"Shit."
Looking like she wasn't sure whether to faint, be sick, call the cops, or just shoot them all, Maitland jerked her head. "Go, we'll get it headed back to the anomaly."
Raising his hands, Wisdom suddenly shouted, "Oi! Over here!" at the dinosaur. Then he began waving his arms like an idiot and almost dancing. Natasha revised her opinion on how much he'd had to drink earlier, and moved to cover him should the giant lizard take exception to Wisdom.
Not that she would blame it were it to do so.
Jones stepped back, steadying herself and sighting along the barrel of her rifle before she asked, "How much will these weapons injure it?"
"Should only knock it back, push it where we want it to go," Maitland replied.
"Ain't that a pity."
Natasha agreed, but didn't see the point in antagonizing their host. A burst of static over their comm-links presaged a frantic curse from the woman on the other side of their communications channels, "Fuck. Abby, Becker's group report another creature incursion. We've got a cordon in effect, but these are something smaller and could slip through."
"A little busy, Jess," Maitland said as she took aim at the now-moving creature and fired.
The electric charge made it roar, but didn't seem to do much else. Natasha loosed a shot of her own, then reached out and shoved Wisdom towards the side street that Maitland had indicated, "Go be useful bait."
He shot her a look, then did as he was told, shouting abuse at the dinosaur before running away from it. Natasha fired again, then heard the deeper growl of Jones's rifle. The combined abuse seemed to disorient it this time, and it shook its head before roaring and then swiping at another building. Another volley from Maitland, and it turned to give chase to Wisdom.
"Good. Keep it moving," Maitland ordered, moving ahead of them and following the lumbering beast.
Watching it, Natasha wondered what would happen if it truly decided to run. Then she decided that she didn't want to know. There was already enough property damage around them, not to mention possible injuries. She glanced back to see Pryde finally reach the civilian and bend down to check her over.
"Abby, if you can spare anyone, there's--" static broke over the radio links, and whatever else Jess had been going to say was lost.
Maitland fired again, then glanced back at Natasha and Jones, before she said, "Jess, give me the coordinates, I can spare one person."
With the t-rex on the move, there was nothing that said three of them had to herd it. Natasha could see the logic in that, and waited for the static to clear.
"Two north of your current position. Thanks, Abby."
"Romanoff?"
Natasha nodded curtly and peeled off to head in the correct direction.
-=-
If anyone had told Abby Maitland that she'd be sharing a dinosaur hunt with Kelly Jones when she'd gotten up that morning, she would have laughed in their face and probably gone and grabbed a shot of something to ward off the entire idea. Of course, here she was, herding a tyrannosaurus rex, with Kelly Jones two feet behind her, keeping pace. And there wasn't any alcohol in their vicinity for her to drink.
Then again, given the idiot in front of the creature waving his arms like a deranged madman, perhaps she didn't need the alcohol.
Rehashing her past was for another time, Abby firmly told herself as she fired again at the back of the beautiful specimen in front of her. The creature might have been a killer, and she herself might have nightmare memories of living in the past with them hunting her, but Abby couldn't deny that the part of her which had grown up wanting to be a zoologist wasn't jumping up and down in glee and clapping her hands.
She had just been buried a little further, over the last few years.
A different bellow sounded further ahead of them, and Abby veered to the side to see a different rex approaching theirs. She cursed. "Wisdom, we've got company, get out of there."
But the idiot either wasn't listening or was having trouble with his comm-link, as he continued his mad, flappy waving. Behind him, the second tyrannosaurus rex quickened its pace, bellowing in counter-point to the first. They were both moving fast now, and Abby put on a burst of speed, firing at the side of theirs to keep it distracted.
"Oh God!" Connor's voice suddenly cut across their comm-links, "Abby, you've got to slow yours so Becker's men can get the first through the anomaly!"
"Wisdom--"
It all happened so fast, Abby wasn't sure afterward that she'd seen what she thought she saw at all. Connor's shout must have finally penetrated, as Wisdom turned to find the other beast behind him. The look on his face would have been amusing, at any other time. Jerking back to dinosaur about to step on him, Wisdom raised his hands and fire shot out from his fingers.
With a wounded bellow, their tyrannosaurus rex reared back, almost knocking Abby off her feet as it swung its tail, trying to get away from the sudden painful obstruction in its way.
The second tyrannosaurus roared as well, bugling a challenge that Wisdom met with another blast of fire, aimed at its shoulder, and sending it stumbling into the brilliant shimmering of the anomaly.
"NOW!" Abby shouted, raising her gun and firing, knowing they were about to lose their advantage.
Behind her, Kelly Jones followed her lead, the rifle's blast knocking the t-rex forward again as Wisdom dodged out of the way, one last blast of fire searing into its rump before he was clear of the zone.
Angry and wounded, the tyrannosaurus reared up one last time, then dove forward, chasing the scent of its rival back through the threshold of time.
"Connor, was that all of them?" Abby asked, when he didn't immediately lock the anomaly off.
"Not quite. Abby, we've had an incursion of juvenile rexes." Jess was sounding less harried, as though some of her worries had been cleared off her desk. "Becker's team are rounding them up with tranquilizers--Connor, you're to lock the anomaly until they can be sent back through."
Abby shuddered, "Don't need another rex terrorizing London, eh?"
On Jess's command, Connor had quickly typed in a series of commands. The device aimed at the free-floating, shimmering ball of light gave a shudder, then spat electricity at it, locking the portal to intrusion, for the moment.
"Does Becker need backup?" Abby asked, motioning the other two to follow her to where Connor was crouched behind his equipment, one lone soldier at his back. They'd learned early to leave someone with him, or risk the portal disgorging further contents.
"No, he's good. Matt's pissed, though." Something in Jess's tone told Abby that the last statement had been for her alone.
Abby winced, but didn't reply. It was understandable that Matt would be angry at her having drafted civilians into helping. "What about our casualty?"
"She's been triaged. Just a broken bone from falling debris and concussion. Should be fine."
That was a relief. Abby relaxed a little and gave Connor a grin. "Good."
"So how's this thing work?"
Pryde had returned, concrete dust on her jeans and one smear of blood on her hand that she hadn't seemed to notice. Her focus was on Connor's laptop as she knelt to inspect it.
There was the other thing Abby had been carefully not-thinking about. Time travel, anomalies, the future, the past, living and breathing dinosaurs--Abby could handle that. She'd had to, there'd been too much to pretend it was all a dream. But a woman had put her hand through Abby's arm, and it hadn't been an illusion. Biting her lip, she turned away, determined not to put a name to what Pryde was. Not just yet. And not to Wisdom, either, she decided as she watched him reach down and poke Pryde in the shoulder, then turn away, watching the anomaly with a professional disinterest.
Fire from his fingertips. Ghosting from hers.
Abby firmed her resolve and checked her weapon over instead, changing out the magazine.
-=-
Running, Natasha arrived where the other 'incursion' was, and found two men injured and one man checking over the lax bodies of two smaller versions of the tyranosaurus rex that she'd just left.
"Looks like you don't need me after all."
"We do, there's at least two more--" the man looked her up and down, then gave a curt nod. "Captain Becker."
"Agent Romanoff." They didn't shake hands. Noting the way he handled himself, eyes scanning the area, Natasha classified him as ex-black ops. Good. "How are they?"
"Just unconscious." He gestured with the rifle in his arms. "Did Abby give you a dart gun?"
"No."
"Damn."
Natasha started to say something else, when a change in the air pressure behind her coincided with Becker's eyes widening. She was already turning, gun coming up when the mini-rex slammed into her, clawing inexpertly and shrieking. It was taller than her by perhaps a foot, and definitely large enough to take out Rogers on his own.
Dodging the swipe, she retaliated by swinging her gun up into its face, then back-flipped out of the way.
Clear the space, never let yourself get too engaged, stay on the move. Her instructors had taught her well, adrenaline surging along her veins as the thing lunged at her again.
Becker fired, a dart slapping into its neck, and it still came on. Natasha raised her own weapon to fire and realized that using it as a blunt instrument had cracked it. She threw it at the rex's head, then yanked her pistol out and targeted the creature's eyes.
Three shots, and it was plunging backwards, blind and angry. It crashed through a store-front, then fell over and lay still.
"How many more?"
"Two, at most," Becker replied.
Natasha nodded, not pointing out that he'd said 'maybe', half a minute ago. "Anymore backup headed our way?"
"No." He pulled another one of the electro-shock weapons from a holster at his side, and held it out. "Bullets just piss them off."
"I noticed." Re-holstering her pistol, she took the other from him and checked the magazine quickly. then she nodded to the two men still on the ground. "I'll go hunting, herd 'em back to you."
He looked torn at the idea, but then gave a sharp nod. "Good luck."
"Don't need it."
Following the trail of broken glass and scattered debris, Natasha stalked the other creatures. Slipping between two buildings, she came out into a courtyard, and found both of them there. They were paying no attention to their surroundings, tussling over a ripped-open bag of trash. Several more littered the area, and she wrinkled her nose at the stench while considering her options.
The buildings were several stories tall, brick and mortar things with easily used hand and foot-holds. Natasha holstered her weapon by tucking it through her belt, and took advantage of the architecture, swiftly climbing up to the small balcony above. Pulling herself over the edge, she turned to look down at the two creatures again.
Still fighting and grubbing amongst the trash, they hadn't noticed her entrance or climbing. Good.
Gauging their positions and the wind, Natasha took several steps back, and then ran forward. Her hands closed on the railing as she launched herself up and over, releasing at the perfect moment where the arc of her body sent her hurtling downwards. Her boots slammed into the left shoulder of the nearest target, and she felt things crunch from the impact.
It fell, and she pushed off, flipping out of the reach of the second mini-rex. Landing on her feet, she fired as soon as her weapon was free, then fired again with deadlier accuracy, the second electric shock knocking it towards the little pass-through she'd come from.
A third shot, and the mini-rex roared and then ran in retreat. Natasha spared one glance for the downed creature, then sped after the other, keeping it moving and firing at an angle so that when it shot free of the buildings, it was aiming for Becker and his tranquilizer darts.
"Hope you're awake, Captain," she shouted. Any reply from him was lost in the sound of her weapon firing again.
She could almost get to like this, she decided as she watched Becker take aim from his position and then fire. Chasing dinosaurs was a lot less stressful than sharing a building with Dr. Banner.
The creature tripped over one of its fallen comrades and then collapsed.
"Not bad."
"One more on its way," she replied, turning and heading back to corral the other.
It was on its hind legs again, lopsided, one limb hanging uselessly at its side. Natasha circled it, then lashed out with a quick kick to knock further off-balance before herding it in the same manner as the previous one.
Becker eyed it after it had collapsed, frowning a little. Whether he was annoyed at the damage to the dinosaur, or just disgruntled at having to draft a civilian into the entire affair, she wasn't going to ask.
One of his men was sitting up, head in his hands, and Natasha could see the other stirring.
"Jess," Becker said, "I'm going to need transport for five juvenile rex's."
"SUVs are on their way already," reported Jess, her voice sounding relieved under its brisk tone.
"And the medical team?"
"Should be there now."
Natasha turned as glass crunched behind her, then relaxed as a four-man stretcher party appeared from around the corner. They looked a lot fresher than Becker did, but then, the emergency services usually were. She'd never begrudged them the rest, given all they had to deal with in the aftermath.
"You!" A fifth person appeared behind them, rapidly passing them. His rifle was pointed at Natasha. "Drop your weapon. Now."
"Matt--" Becker sounded annoyed, but still went silent at Matt's glare.
Slowly, carefully, Natasha held up the gun she'd been using. Then she crouched down, remembering how the other had broken so easily. Then again, between the force of her punch and the hide of the mini-rex, perhaps dropping it wouldn't harm the damned thing. Better to make nice with their toys, though. She knew how annoyed Fury or Stark got if she broke one of theirs, after all.
"Now back away, hands where I can see them."
It wasn't a position new to Natasha, but she still felt a little amusement as Matt came closer, then glanced at Becker. "Do you know who this is? Some civilian Abby pulled in off the street."
Becker snorted, but didn't reply as he turned to answer the question one of the medics asked him.
"Hardly a civilian--Matt, isn't it? I apologize, I didn't get your last name." Natasha smiled slightly, working on her 'innocent and pure' persona. It usually worked on the stupider people she encountered.
Sadly, Matt whatever wasn't stupid. "I want your full name and an explanation of why you're here."
"I don't think you'll want that, old man." Wisdom was strolling up, hands in his pockets and a look of positive glee in his eyes. "Knowing who she is might make this official."
"Who the bloody hell are you?"
Wisdom shot Natasha an eye-roll, then turned to smiled. "Pete Wisdom, MI-13. I suggest you put that pea-shooter away, and say thank you to the nice lady for her help."
"This woman could be a reporter, I need--"
"You don't." The tone cut through Matt's bluster, and he subsided, eyes narrowing. Wisdom nodded at Natasha, "You can rest assured that she is not a reporter. She eats them for breakfast, don't you, Tasha?"
It was her turn to roll her eyes. "Wisdom."
He shook his head. "Jurisdictional nightmare, Tasha. Do you want to deal with that paperwork?"
At the thought of that, and the forms she would have to fill out in triplicate just to appease the regulations, she groaned. "Point."
Matt had lowered his rifle, still looking angry. But he looked again at Becker, and whatever he saw in the man's face made him relax. "I don't like this," he said to Wisdom and then turned to Natasha, "And you're bloody lucky you're not injured."
"Yep," Wisdom patted him on the shoulder, then gestured. "You all seem to have this in hand, we should leave you to it."
Reaching up, Natasha pulled the comm-link from her ear and held it out to Matt.
He took it and stepped back, giving her the room to walk past him and join Wisdom. She knew by the sudden intake of breath that he had spotted the gun at the small of her back, but he said nothing else as they walked away.
-=-
"Jurisdictional nightmare?" Natasha demanded, once they were out of earshot. "And what the hell is the ARC, Wisdom?"
"Anomaly Research Center. Little project of the Home Office's that they like to pretend doesn't exist, while funneling far too much cash into it." He snorted, hands back in his pockets. Even with their recent exertions, he didn't look more rumpled than he had when they'd met in the pub. "They track a specific phenomenon that is currently endemic to the United Kingdom."
She considered that for a moment, then asked the next logical question in the chain. "Why isn't it your bailiwick, then? Why all the soldiers and tech, and not something more useful, like Stuart's crystal balls?"
There was a cordon ahead of them, two uniformed soldiers standing to attention at their approach.
"The ARC has managed to remain outside our jurisdiction 'cause Stuart has a bloody-minded brain, and has no interest in dinosaurs," Wisdom explained as he waved them through the check-point and into the next deserted street. "But you didn't hear that from me."
"Of course I didn't," she replied dryly. Reaching back, she tapped her pistol, "If we're keeping this off the books, I'll need replacement ammunition."
One thing Natasha had learned to hate was the endless rounds of paperwork that accompanied the firing of even one bullet from her service weapon. It was why, if she were on an assignment, she generally took at least one clean weapon to use. Made things a lot less messy when she didn't have to lie about the caliber of the bullet they'd found in someone after the fact. One more hold-over from her earlier life that she couldn't quite shake.
"We should have something that matches."
"I'll be briefing Hill, though," she added, her voice low. "A threat like this needs to be recorded, and she's a lot more discreet than some others I could name."
"Oh, I'm hurt, Tasha."
"And stop calling me that."
"Can I call you that?" Kelly Jones had returned, casually walking out of one of the stores they had passed.
Wisdom made an annoyed noise, but ignored her in favor of asking Natasha if she were injured. That would generate more paperwork for the both of them.
"Nah, she looks fine, at least from here."
Really, Natasha told herself firmly. There was nothing about Kelly Jones that should make her obvious ogling cause a flush to start somewhere. She controlled her reaction and shook her head. "Just a few scratches and bruises."
"Good."
She made another mental note in her file on Kelly Jones, and then looked around. They'd reached the street that housed The Crown. "If Hill has any questions, whom should she talk to?"
"I'll give Stuart the heads-up." Wisdom stretched and pranced ahead of the two women into the pub, shouting for all manner of booze to award the returned hero.
Natasha shook her head and exchanged a glance with Jones. "Sometimes..."
"You wonder why we bother?" Jones suggested, then she reached out and touched Natasha's arm. "Listen, I should thank you again--"
"Don't."
"All right. But I do owe you. Anytime. Anyplace."
That flush was starting again. Natasha cleared her throat and nodded to the pub, "Shouldn't we be in there, stopping Anoushka from shooting him?"
"Oh, I'm sure she's got him in hand. I heard a new batch of very good whiskey came in the other day. Trin's, or something like that."
Trin's? Not a name Natasha had ever heard. Pushing the door open, she stepped into the dim lighting of the room and moved to the side so as not to present a clear target. Old spies didn't die easily, after all. She pulled her sunglasses off and found Wisdom at the bar, tipping his head back and downing a shot.
He gave a strange sound when he'd swallowed, then swayed for a moment before slamming the glass back onto the bar and rasping, "Another."
Natasha was surprised to note the twitch of Anoushka's gaze which denoted that she was impressed with Wisdom's display. She made a note to avoid Trin's, no matter where she was, then moved to join him at the bar for the case she'd left earlier.
Time was money, after all, and the sooner she got the report back to SHIELD headquarters, the happier she would be.
To that end, she elbowed Wisdom before he could down a second drink. "I need that ammunition, Wisdom."
He glared, and proceeded to drink swiftly, sputtering a little as he came up for air. "Fine. Right. This way--" He weaved away from the bar and Natasha grabbed for his arm to steady him as she took her case in the other hand.
Wisdom tried to pull free of her grip and fell into a table. She hauled him back up, and got him pointed towards the door.
"Until next time," Kelly Jones said, too close inside Natasha's personal space for comfort, but unavoidable with the weight of Wisdom on one side.
Maneuvering to the door, Natasha didn't bother to reply.
-=-
Kelly watched the Black Widow shove Wisdom out the door, and slipped out to watch them get down the street, though her eyes were less on their lurching progress and more on the woman she owed a favor to. It didn't thrill her, owing favors, but it was a necessary part of the game these days. And if rumor were true, had always been a part of it.
"What the hell happened out there?" Polly's voice sounded less than thrilled, as she joined Kelly in the doorway. There was a mug of tea in her hands that smelled suspiciously doctored.
"Dinosaurs in the streets of London."
"Bollocks."
"'Struth," Kelly defended, though more for the form of it than because she thought Polly doubted her. She was watching Natasha Romanoff walk away, and could be forgiven for being slightly distracted by the view. It was an enjoyable one, if more for the imagination of one Kelly Jones than the reality of the Black Widow's practical and not skin-tight trousers.
Once Natasha had vanished, she gave Polly her full attention, gesturing with a shoulder for the other woman to go back in. "You'll never guess who I ran into."
"I don't have to guess, their encryption frequencies could be hacked by a first-year," Polly replied, derision in her tone. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at Kelly. "But you might want to confirm that it wasn't just a hoax."
"Very much not." Accepting the glass Anoushka handed her, Kelly looked down into it, "I told them you were my handler."
"Kelly--"
"You're not, I know. And it wasn't a good idea if it gets back to, well, anyone." Kelly raised a shoulder in a half-shrug, then took a sip of the surprisingly mellow tequila in her glass. "But I needed something official for you, and it popped out."
Polly shook her head, but let it pass for the moment, settling herself onto the stool next to Kelly's. "Tell me everything."
"Could take a while." And Kelly was rather wistfully hoping to have some time to herself. Preserve a little more of the Black Widow's image in her mind.
"No shit, Sherlock."
With a sigh, Kelly began from the beginning while Polly simply listened. Neither of them bothered to object when Anoushka drifted closer. From Kelly's point of view, Anoushka would never betray the confidence of a St. Trinian's girl. From Polly's, it made sense to have one more person with a clear accounting of the events of the day.
-f-
