The Black Widow is an international legend... in the circles that even know about her. The Punisher, on the other hand, has done a better job of avoiding the radar, if only because he operates more locally. Natasha considers herself relatively savvy when it comes to vigilantes and potential antagonists anywhere she goes, but this is one she hasn’t met in person. From the few whispers she’s heard, she’s not entirely sure that she wants to. That kind of righteous anger could get her killed.
It’s late — four in the morning — and the kind of weather that prevents most people from being anywhere but the safety and comfort of their beds. They’re the perfect circumstances for catching criminals on the prowl.
Natasha wasn’t planning on being out on any kind of patrol. That’s more the territory of people like Spiderman or Daredevil or even Hawkeye. Still, she has a restless kind of energy tonight that she needs to burn off, and if that involves finding shady people and possibly shooting them, well... she can only shrug and smile. People get their just desserts.
The light is on in an office building down the street, and her eyebrows go up. Nobody should be working at this hour, especially not in a real estate office. The industry is pretty strict on when they go home, and cleaning crew would never be in this late. Whoever is in there is either working on the worst project ever, or sloppy. She’s betting on the latter.
She jimmies open a window, overrides the security system, and heads in with her gun drawn. There’s sounds of fighting coming from the floor below, so she slinks down the stairwell, only to find a body at the bottom. Another is sprawled in the hallway, head bashed in, and a third’s head is lolling in the hands of... oh. Well then.
Natasha approaches cautiously, and speaks gently. “He’s dead already. You can let go now.” She looks over the man, who looks strangely distant, like he’s not quite there, not quite himself. All of the signs point to the men who were in the hallway as being part of some kind of souped up local militia out to cause trouble, so she’s going to take his side for now. Besides, even if he is in the wrong, she’s not about to put herself up for a fight without preparation if this guy can take out all of these people at once.
