The shadows in the alley way shift with the passing search lights. He watches the beam slip past the entrance to the alley way, beginning to count for the fourth time. Another light passes and he flashes a ten-ten-five to his partner. Twenty five seconds in between. Natasha shifts in the shadows behind a crate, the flickering streetlight bringing her face into his view.

She puts two fingers together, tapping her forehead twice and motioning in the direction of the warehouse they're set to break into. Ready to go?

Clint looks back at her, bring a finger to his nose, tapping it and pointing at her. He adds a smirk to the end of their sign. Let's get shit done.

She nods, flashing a breathtaking smile of her own. Bring it on.

Without a sound, she slides over the top of the crate, landing on the other side. He hears the softest click as her loads her gun and he does the same before moving after her. The weapon is awkward in his hands and he silently wishes he could be using his bow. They both flatten themselves against the brick wall as the search light passes again and move slowly forward.

They haven't taken two steps when the phone beeps.

Natasha immediately spins around to glare at Clint, opening her mouth to yell at him. She stops when he shakes his head and points at her pocket.

"Dammit," she whispers, fumbling with the zipper in the dark. "Dammit, dammit, dammit." The light of the phone glows in the shadows and it continues to beep.

Shrieking alarms sound from the direction of the building and Clint and Natasha watch as black clad figures begin pouring out of the doorway.

"Nat," Clint says, all need for silence thrown out the window. He nods towards the oncoming men.

"I know, I see them." Natasha finally hits the right button, shutting off the noise. Stark Tech is much too complicated for her liking. She shoves it pack in her pocket, checking their surroundings. They're at a disadvantage, trapped between a dead end, two rooftops, and a seemingly endless army.

"System override in progress." The shrill automated voice cuts through the momentary silence.

"Where am I? Red, Katniss! Hello? Anyone home?"

Clint turns his focus from the impending doom for a second, turning to his partner. "Is that…Tony?"

"You have got to be kidding me." Natasha rolls her eyes, pulling out the phone again. "What the hell do you want, Stark?"

"Oh goodie. I knew you were there and not actually ignoring me or anything. Because that would hurt my feelings." His voice is laced with mock sadness.

"Dude, this is not a great time," Clint yells, backing into Natasha and scanning the rooftops as Natasha focuses on the front entrance to the alley. They both can hear the shouting and heavy footsteps growing closer. "Ten," he whispers, beginning his estimated countdown.

"We are kind of in the middle of something here."

BAM! She shoots a guard at the entrance to the alley between the eyes, almost as if to prove her point. The man crumples to the ground.

"So I'll repeat: what the hell do you want?"

"You know Red, I'm almost getting the feeling that I'm bothering you somehow-"

Natasha snorts. Bothering is an understatement. "Watch your three," she says over her shoulder to Clint. The guard in question immediately falls from the roof, hitting the ground with a sickening crunch.

"-but then I think to myself, 'no, that can't be true.' Because no one could be bothered by me, not ever. Wait, are those gun shots? Are you shooting things?"

"Like I said, jackass. We are in the middle of something." She rolls her eyes. "I cannot do this right now. You talk to him," she growls, handing the phone to Clint.

"We're sitting ducks in this alley," he whispers to her hastily before taking the phone with a sigh. Natasha pulls out her second gun with her now free hand and begins taking down the advancing mob. "Are you calling for a reason, Stark?"

"Yeah, yeah. I was just getting to that. So Pepper's coming home late tonight and since none of us can cook worth a shit except Captain Freedom Pants over here, who claims he's too tired to-"

"Wait one second," Clint says. He and Natasha switch positions and he tosses her the phone as she tosses him her second gun. Clint shoots a path and they move out of the alley and into the gravel and pavement, but mostly pavement, and empty parking lot in front of the warehouse.

"Continue," Natasha barks into the phone, sidestepping another body as she walks backward behind Clint.

"Where was I? Right. Capsicle doesn't feel up to cooking Thor dinner, so we were going to-"

They exchange the phone for the gun again and Natasha shoots a man over Clint's shoulder.

"-my question is: what do you two want on your pizza?"

"You called to get our pizza orders?" Clint shouts into the phone. "It's really not that important!"

"Your love of food is on the line, bird man. Of course it's important!"

"What the hell, Stark!" Natasha yells, hoping he can hear the full irritation in her voice.

Clint rolls his eyes. "Okay, okay. I'll have…what do they have with bacon on it?"

"Barton!" Natasha yells, sliding between his legs to shoot a man that was far too close. The body falls, joining the growing ring surrounding them. She groans, even more annoyed now, and tosses her second gun to the side, the barrel jammed. This is what happens when she lets tech mess with her weapons. The phone drops into her open hand. "He'll take anything with bacon, Stark. Just no pineapple or mushrooms."

"Okay well technically that's not any-"

The end of his sentence is lost as she tosses the phone back to her partner, rolling backward into a kneeling position to take out two more men.

"And Nat wants…" Clint pauses, glancing at Natasha. She raises an eyebrow, meeting his gaze only briefly with exasperated look. "She'll have pepperoni, nothing else. Try and add something and she'll probably kill you."

Natasha motions for the phone and Clint throws it to her. "If that's not ready by the time we get home, you are a dead man Tony Stark."

"So, um, how much longer do you think you'll be exactly?"

She doesn't give him the comfort of answering, hitting the end button and slipping the phone into her pocket before turning to hit another guard.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Three gunshots and the final two enemies fall to the ground. The partners turn to each other, barely having time to survey the scrapes and bruises before the lights go out and they are engulfed in darkness.

"Shit."

"Nat?"

"Right here."

He can feel her presence and they are back to back again, waiting on whatever's next. Natasha reloads her gun.

"Simulation complete." The computerized voice echoes around the chamber and one by one the overhead lights flicker back on, assaulting their eyes with their brightness. The white paneled walls cause Natasha to shudder, as they always do. White and walls always bring back bad memories.

Clint turns to her, wiping a bit of blood from her face. "Nat, we are so badass," he whispers in case Fury or Hill or Coulson are listening in from the surveillance room now. "And I'm really hungry."

She rolls her eyes, sliding her gun back into her belt. "C'mon bird brain. There should be pizza waiting for us."