Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair....

San Francisco was not what it used to be. It looked like an earthquake had hit it, and Natasha did consider that idea for a brief moment. Perhaps Ultron had done something to the fault lines, activating them in some fashion to increase the death toll and property damage. She was reminded of the Great Earthquake in 1906, not that she had been alive at that time. No, that was actually one thing she could say that happened before she was born. But she had seen pictures. Fires had spread after that quakes, and fires were evident in this area as well as other indications of… she had started to say resistance, but there really wasn’t any. A few police cars here and there, maybe a quinjet and a vehicle from the National Guard, but for the most part the city had rolled belly up rather quickly. The Golden Gate Bridge was in shambles, with only the towers left standing. It was rumored that a group had hid out on Alcatraz, but Natasha would never have picked that as a refuge. It was designed to keep people in, not keep robots out. High walls, steel and concrete that was weathering and rusting due to no maintenance, and no stockpile of food or weapons. Worst of all, the currents that surrounded the island tended to pull any swimmers and rafts out to sea. Natasha was almost happy to see that rock decimated when it was.

She had spent her time in San Fran carefully. She had commanded a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents when the initial attack hit, but, unlike others who didn’t know a futile battle when they saw it, rather than have more deaths on her hands, she old them to retreat and survive on their own. That’s what she had been doing; living in the shadows, hiding out in damaged buildings, sleeping in areas you had to squeeze into. Honestly, it reminded her of home. She wondered how Russia had faired. The size of it, was one of the few good things about that country. Most major cities were located in certain areas; bordering eastern Europe or China. Then you had that large expanse in the center. It was a cold, unforgiving expanse, but sparsely populated and therefore not a major target to Ultron. Maybe there were survivors there and in other remote areas.

She had waited a long while before making a move. Ultron knew there was a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in the area, so he had concentrated his efforts there and the number of robots seemed abnormally large for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually though, the patrols dwindled to a reasonable number, and Natasha was able to explore the interior of the city more easily. The building she was looking for was a barber shop. Why a barber shop? Because Fury loved had little, out of the way places be the entrances to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. In fact, Natasha had almost passed it right by. Not because of it being tucked away in some alley corner, but because of the sign having been blown away and most of the store-front collapsing in on itself. She could only hope the entrance hadn’t been destroyed. Taking her time, and being wary of her surroundings, the woman known as the Black Widow carefully slipped into the shop. Inside was a mess, with the main control panel having been ripped from the wall. Of course, why have it done the easy way? There had been a manual override installed at the back most station; turn the wall clock hands five minutes to twelve, lift up the top of the comb jar, and, while seated in the chair, press down the lever in the back.

For a moment it didn’t work and Natasha feared that not only was it broken, but a signal would be sent out to nearby patrols. Thankfully the chair tilted back and the floor beneath her opened, dropping to the slide below. The trip was short and smooth, the slide not having been damaged at all. Landing in a crouch, Natasha stood and dusted herself off, surveying the interior. Now for the fun part: seeing if Bobbi was actually here.