Welcome to he Moon
“So—this is the moon…?” Darcy stared down at the port they were currently descending upon.
“Yup.”
“It’s, uh—“
“Filthy, yeah.” Natasha finished her thought and then turned away from the rust bucket of a docking center.
From where they were they could see the sprawling and muggy city just to the east of the port. The old buildings were falling apart and sparse and despite the many roads that went in and out of the city, they didn’t help to make it look less like a slum.
The port they were landing in looked downright dangerous and it was easy to see where the dome had been patched again and again. There was one person waiting for them when they got out, an old man with a five o clock shadow and bored, droopy eyes.
Darcy, who, as far as Nat was concerned was a incredibly positive person and had been reading facts off about the beginnings of colonization of the earth’s moon, looked slightly taken aback by the state of the world that they were about to enter.
Natasha smirked over at the princess, “Yeah, the books don’t do it justice do they?”
“What happened to it?” Darcy looked wistful as she continued to watch out the window.
“It used to be a milestone. Now it’s barely even worth a visit.” The look of the moon didn’t really bother the pirate. They had been there many times as a lot of fugitives liked to gather here when they were running and when it came to off the wall items and information, this grease bucket was just the place to check.
“That’s… Sad.” Darcy’s usually perky face was pensive.
Natasha didn’t know why, but the face she was giving right now, the pouty lips and the slow blinks, she already hated it. It gave her a twinge of panic in her stomach and made her both irritated and guilty even though she had nothing to do with that face.
She looked over at the princess and handed her a secure bag and container, “Hey, cheer up, you want to know what else The Moon is famous for that the program didn’t mention?”
Darcy took the bag and took her eyes off the window and the dismal scene in front of them, “What?”
Natasha grinned, “The circus.”
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“And what exactly do you plan to do about this, Hill?” Captain Fury stood outside of Maria Hill’s quarters where she was putting things into an oval container.
She stood up, stopping what she was doing and thinking for a moment, “I believe that the best course of action would be to go after our crew member.”
Fury took another step inside and looked at his commander critically, a mixture of pity and admiration on his face. “You do understand that finding Romanov is not a priority. We have a goal and I plan to keep that in sight. I’m sorry that your new buddy got taken but shit happens, Hill and I need you focused.”
“With all due respect, Captain but that is exactly why I am going after her alone. I would not want to waste valuable time that could be used searching for the key. However, a personal sense of duty to that treasure is not going to keep me here. I see potential in Romanov and more importantly, I see what could become a very important ally in the future. A friend. I understand the consequences of my decision but I would not be doing this unless I felt a strong need to do so.”
She looked at him and then turned around, pulling a two handed gun out of a drawer and putting it neatly inside her travel capsule. Fury didn’t say anything as she pulled her belongings out and reorganized them inside the capsule.
A few minutes later Fury turned to leave, not arguing anymore with Hill, he glanced back at her before he exited the room, “I think this is a waste of time, you know that, but I trust you.”
Hill stood up tall to face him again, “Thank you, sir.”
“But that doesn’t mean they’ll be a place for you when you come back, at least not one you won’t have to fight for.”
Maria smiled lightly, “I didn’t expect any differently, Sir.”
“Good” Was all he said as he left her alone to finish her packing.
He face was calm and thoughtful as she pulled the capsule off the bed and made her way calmly through the ship until she ended up in the shuttle docks. She picked out a plain and easily overlooked shuttle and boarded.
The inside of the shuttle lit up as she entered and a smooth voice greeted her calmly, “Welcome, Maria . I did not think I would see you this soon. Unfortunate.”
“I believed the same, Isaura. But life has a way of changing our plans.”
“Poetic, where are you going to now?”
Hill sat down and clicked on a few sections of the control panel, “I’m looking for someone.”
“Oh, that’s different. Is this someone special?”
“I think so.” Maria said, her eyebrows furrowing slightly in a question.
“It’s not like you to be so unsure.”
Maria sighed, "Just get me on my way, Isaura. I've got things to do."
"Fair enough."
After that the AI didn't say anything else and the ramp was closed and they left the safety of the Righteous Man.
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Darcy followed closely behind the redhead, clinging on tightly to her jacket as they weaved their way through the dome on Earth's moon. Natasha seemed to know where she was going but the general atmosphere of the place seemed to overwhelme the princess.
It was crowded here, and damp for some reason, as if the weather controls had malfunctioned and no one bothered to fix it. The people gave them suspicious side glances and everyone kept their head down.
There was a variety of people, from all over the universe but none of them seemed to be in good condition. Natasha had warned the princess when they entered the city that she should keep her head down and not look anyone in the eye but she ignored her and stared at everything.
A disfigured person that Darcy had no idea where they came from moved away from one of the many leaning walls. They shouted something at the brunnette and she jumped back. Natasha grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward, ignoring the person who was still glaring at them.
"Keep your eyes down." The pirate reminded her curtly.
This time Darcy listened to her and dropped her head, keeping her eyes on the hem of Natasha's coat.
They kept moving at a quick pace until Darcy realized that the road beneath their feet began to improve slightly and when she looked up they were coming up on a large circular platform.
There was a gathering of people around it and Darcy felt like she wasn't in danger for the first time. The people were clapping at every other interval. The princess was led around the crowd until she could see the performer on the makeshift stage.
He was a average heighted man with messy blond hair and a band aid over the middle of his nose. He had a bow and arrow set on his back and at the moment he was grinning and juggling a purple fruit with black stripes.
"Have any of you lovely people ever tried a Frodagawan peach?" He was saying, the audience shook their heads and he began to throw the fruit higher in the air.
Well, I wouldn't recommend it. Their taste can be quite--” He threw the fruit above the crowd and pulled his bow out, "Explosive." He shot a perfectly timed arrow at the target and he the peaches just above the crowd. As the arrow pierced the skin of the fruit it exploded into a shower of orange gunk and seeds.
The crowd erupted into cheers and Darcy even laughed and clapped as the blond man bowed and grinned. He looked over his shoulder and whistled, "Hey, Lucky, you wanna get that for me?"
From underneath a table an old three legged dog hobbled out of it's bed and happily jumped off the small stage and picked up the arrow with practiced accuracy. On closer inspection it was easier to see that the dog was robotic and whirred loudly as it panted and brought the arrow back to his owner.
Darcy clapped and awed loudly at the new entrance and she even frowned when she realized that the show was over and the blond man was bowing and laughing as people threw varying amounts of money into a hat in front of the stage.
Natasha gestured her head to where he was and it clicked for the princess, “I thought you were just taking me here to see this.” She said with a wink.
Natasha shook her head and then began to move through the crowd, holding onto the other woman’s wrist. When they made it to the front where the man was standing, his back now turned to the crowd that was shuffling away in different directions.
Natasha poked his shoulder. He didn’t look back but he acknowledged her presence, “How much do you want?” He asked in a low but casual tone.
The pirate sighed, “I’m not here for drugs, idiot.”
He stopped what he was doing and turned his head, a second later his face broke out in a huge grin and he began shooing the people that were around him. “Nat!” He cried and embraced her stiff form.
He patted her arm and looked her over, “You’re looking good, how’re you doing? I didn’t know ol’ Fury was coming here or I would have met you when you got here!” He seemed genuinely excited although he still hadn’t noticed Darcy standing behind the pirate.
“It’s good to see you too, Clint.” Natasha responded in a much calmer and dryer tone, “But I’m not here with Fury.”
He looked confused and for the first time he glanced to Darcy, “What do you mean?”
Natasha moved a little closer, “I’m here for personal reasons. I need your help.”
He glanced around them now, as if looking for anybody who could be following them but he didn’t question any further and instead he gestured for them to follow him. They didn’t say anything else but Natasha tugged lightly on Darcy’s wrist and they stayed about four feet behind Clint.
“You brought us to a drug dealer?” Darcy asked incredulously.
“He’s got contacts.” Is all that the pirate said rather than making an excuse, “Trust me, he’s a professional.”
The blond tripped on an old food can and nearly fell into a wall causing everyone standing at the wall to protest angrily and he put his hands up and went back to his original path.
“Mostly.” Natasha fixed.
He led them to an apartment at the corner of the bad neighborhood, the door didn’t seem to be locked and he pushed his way inside. He held his arms out proudly, gesturing to the horrible mess that was everywhere in the small flat. Dishes were piled up and he had clothes in random piles around the place. “Welcome to my HQ.”
Darcy turned to leave at that moment and Natasha stopped her, “Give him a chance.”
Darcy sighed but turned back. Natasha looked down as Lucky brushed past her feet and she bent down to talk to the robotic dog. He wiggled and whined as she patted him and asked him rhetoric questions.
“So—“ Clint began, “What the hell is going on?”
Natasha glanced back at the brunette, “Clint, this is Princess Darcekanequinama.” She looked at the princess, “Darcy, this is Clint Barton. Local circus clown of the moon.”
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“How important to you is it that she is brought back alive?” The masked man on the screen addressed a political figure, which was on the currently winning side of the civil war.
The woman on the other side wore traditional elder garments of the Pacis people and had a long and drawn face. She looked tired and she looked slightly disgusted.
“I would prefer alive.” She stated coldly.
“What does the counsel say? I work for them, not you.”
The woman’s jawline tightened and she looked away from the screen, the masked man, which was normal attire for a bounty hunter, especially one all the way from Oh’Nah, didn’t look away from her.
“The counsel would prefer her dead. But make it look like an accident. She may be rogue but she’s still a figure of inspiration to the people.”
“I am not here to keep the people happy. The counsel wants her dead and she is going to die.”
The woman looked sick as he spoke, “Please, I will pay extra if she is brought in alive.”
“What makes you think they’ll let you live long enough to uphold that promise? Your niece knew what she was doing when she abandoned her people. She’ll face the consequences.”
The screen went black and the woman sat down shakily on a chair, from the outside of the chambers she could hear the angry yells of the counsel and the rioting people outside the building.
She bowed her head and let herself cry for the first time since this petty war split apart her family, and her life. Darcy was so young and yet so full of life and anger and passion. She reminded her so much of when she was young, she hoped that she would live long enough to see the princess’s return. Her nieces return.
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“Oh. My. God. Yes!” Darcy grinned to herself and walked over to the green decorated bowl on Clint’s counter. Inside it had a small pile of small round chocolates, it had been ages since the princess had had any candy and as stressed as she was it was all that she wanted.
She had tried to ask the replicator on the shuttle if it could make her some but that’s when they learned that the shuttle’s AI was, in fact, very angry about being stolen and proceeded to surse and yell at her until they turned the extra processors back off.
In the other room Natasha was telling Clint everything that had happened, he was a nice enough guy and he even showed her around and let her take a bath. But when she imagined this adventure she didn’t exactly imagine staying with a pirate’s drug dealing friend.
But, hey, at least he had some sweets lying around.
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“So.. You’re harboring an escaped princess and helping her find some magical stone—That she has not told you why she wants— And you need help finding this thing because apparently it’s a myth?” Clint leaned forward and clarified everything that the pirate had told him.
She nodded, Lucky laid happily in her lap, his head over her arm and his tail wagging every time she shifted. “Yes.”
He raised an eyebrow.
She sighed, “Oh come on, this can’t be the strangest thing that’s come to your doorstep.”
He thought about it. “Maybe not, but it is extremely worrying when it comes to you.”
She sat back and he went on, “I mean, come on, do you even know anything about this girl. You said she never told you her circumstances. That’s not a good sign.”
“Don’t act like my mother Clint, you’ve met her, do you really think she’s going to kill me when we get there?”
“No—I just—“
“That was some weird ass candy…” Darcy walked in slowly to the living area and sat down on a chair, her eyes were distant and unfocused. Clint and Natasha glanced at each other.
“Candy? What candy? I don’t have any candy.”
Darcy looked like she was about to pass out but she was smiling really strangely, “Really..” She pointed to the kitchen, “But you had all those little chocolates on the counter..” She began to giggle and she fell over on the arm of the chair.
Natasha gave Clint a deadly look, “What the hell, Barton?”
He threw his hands up and ran into the kitchen; he came back with a half empty bowl of little brown chocolate covered “Product.” His face twisted and he held out the bowl for the pirate to see.
She stood up and knelt down to where Darcy was leaning over sideways and giggling loudly at nothing. “Goddammit, Clint, you drugged my princess!”
“I didn’t mean to!”
She groaned and moved the hair out of the princess’s face, watching her with an extremely worried expression on her face. “You just left it out there like a damn party favor?”
“Well, excuse me for not cleaning up before you and miss naïve showed up on my doorstep.” He put the bowl down and moved next to Natasha.
The pirate cursed loudly which caused another fit of giggles from the brunette, “I think she’s overdosed, Clint. We need to take her to the hospital.”
“Right. A hospital for some girl who got to many drugs. On the moon. Think about what you’re saying, Nat.”
“Well, help me out here!”
“Okay.. Okay..” Clint looked around, “We need to get her into bed and keep her hydrated. She didn’t really eat all that many, she’s probably fine.” He said struggling to keep optimistic.
“Keep her hydrated? That’s your plan?”
“Well, it’s something! It’ll wear off eventually; we just need to keep her safe until then.” He cringed looking at the giggling woman, “She’s about to have a really bad trip.”
Natasha glared at him but helped him moved her noodly form out of the chair and into the bedroom. Clint moved some of the piles of random stuff out of the way and Natasha moved her into the bed, covering her up and pulling a blanket over her wiggling body.
Lucky whined and jumped on the bed, worried about the sick woman he curled up next to her and laid his head on the princess’s hip protectively.
“Nooo! Co’mere.” Darcy reached out for the pirate, gripping onto her wrist and pulling her down. Natasha struggled slightly but gave in with a look from Clint and ended up on top of the covers, on her side, facing the princess who had not closed her eyes once since she laid down.
“I’m going to go get some water, keep her calm.” Clint left the room.
Darcy’s face went from a giggling mess to a crying mess before Natasha even knew what was happening. She scrunched up her face and began to sob. This was not something Natasha even knew how to handle.
She put a tentative hand on the girl’s shoulder, “Hey, it’s okay. This’ll all be over soon.”
Darcy shook her head, “That’s not it.” She said through sniffling tears.
“What is it then?” Natasha asked, more trying to keep her busy than actually listening to what she was saying. She heard a crash from the kitchen and immediately decided that Clint wasn’t going to be any help at all.
“I’m gonna die!” Darcy cried before bursting into another fit of tears.
“No, come on, you’re not going to die. You ingested some drugs, that’s all. It’s Clint’s fault, he’s an idiot sometimes. I'll punch him in the morning for you, okay? Will that make you feel better?”
The princess shook her head, “No, I’m going to die. I’m broken. My soul is broken!
“What are you talking about?”
Darcy struggled through hiccupping breaths, she opened her eyes however and she began to calm down, staring sadly into Natasha’s green eyes. “Pacis. We’re immortal.”
Natasha nodded, “Yeah, I knew that.”
“I’m not. They broke me and now I’m gonna die.” She began sobbing again, this time Natasha opened her arms and let the princess curl up next to her, crying and saying random words.
The pirate’s eyes opened wide in shock, was that why she wanted to get to the stone so badly? She tried to coax out more information from the woman but she was completely out of it and it was hard enough getting her to drink water, much less explain any of her high ramblings.
Natasha, still really annoyed with Clint made him leave and ended up spending the rest of the night with Darcy curled up in her arms alternating between crying, laughing, and shouting angrily.
It was definitely one of the worst nights that Natasha had ever had, and she had been there when another pirate found away to screw up the entire ship, sending the bots and the androids into murderous rages all over the ship.
She wanted, more than anything, answers, but there was no way to get them until her sickness passed so she held onto the princess protectively and waited patiently for the night to end. She kept a hand on Lucky’s head, grateful that the dog was there to keep her company through everything.
In the morning, she was going to get some answers.