The Search 03

Night.

Surrounded by a blanket of fog two unique women were seemingly alone in a cemetery.

Alison Blaire, the mutant more commonly known as the Dazzler, aimed her hand beam at the ground below them.

The ground of a recently made grave. 

"Here."  She said.

Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman, pointed her hand and made that particular patch of earth seemingly disappear. Obviously it was still there.  But it was now transparent.  Much like the fog in the immediate area.

Ali's light illuminated the coffin buried beneath. Sue concentrated and it became transparent as well.

And within the coffin was the bound Natasha Romanova. The avenging spy known as the Black Widow.

Dazzler, through sound absorption, had managed to home in on her heartbeat.

The sudden light startled the Widow. She heard the stories about near death experiences in which there was a bright light at the end of a tunnel.  Was it possible that it was all true?  And if the Almighty was waiting for her then SOMEbody had a lot of explaining to do.

But just as suddenly the light was gone. Once more she was encased in confined darkenss.

It had to be a hallucination.  The trick of an oxygen starved mind. Despite the bio-feedback, which slowed her heart and thus her breathing, the air was almost gone. And she was no closer to getting loose than she was when she first woke up in this cramped prison.

Suddenly the ground shook. Now she had to deal with an earthquake?

Sue formed a forcefield around the casket. At the same time the ground and the immediate fog became visible once again.

"Find some cover." She told Ali.

Dazzler simply created her own forcefield. A glowing wall of solid light between her and the grave.

"Go for it."

And with a thought the ground burst apart as the Black Widow's coffin-prison shot out and hovered in the air. Once the dirt stopped flying Dazz dropped her field. And once the coffin was safely on the ground the Invisible Woman dropped hers and then "dissolved" fog once again.

Dazzler rushed over and flipped open the coffin lid.

After peeling off the gag Ali asked, "You okay, 'Tasha"

Only one person can glow like that, the Widow thought. And the voice confirmed it. Then she saw Susan Richards standing behind her.

"D-Dazzler? Susan? How did you...?"

As Ali lasered Natasha's bonds Sue did the talking. 

"Thank Jan. When you didn't show without calling she got concerned. And when you didn't answer your cell, or your Avenger ID, she knew something serious had to be happening.

"So she used her connection with the insect world to track you down. According to various 'witnesses' you were ambushed by two men. They tied you up and placed you in a van. You were taken to a cemetery, placed inside a coffin, and then buried alive.

"But we had no idea which cemetery. So we broke up into three teams to search all the graveyards in the area. Ali and I were lucky to hit a homer first time at bat."

After freeing Natasha from her restraints, and helping her to her feet, Dazzler said. "That reminds me. I should call the others and let them know we found you."

As Ali unclipped her cell phone and called the Wasp & She-Hulk, Sue asked, "What's going on, Natasha?"

The Black Widow sighed. "After all you've done for me I hate saying this. But it's classified."

It was the Invisible Woman's turn to sigh. She's had smug, self-important, government officials throw "Classified," "National Security" and "Need to know" into her face so many times in her career that she swore she'd strangle the next Federal prick that said it to her again. Especially that hyper-bitch, Maria Hill.

Yet the Black Widow was as much a government agent as she was a super hero. And she always managed to keep the two aspects of that identity separate. Out of respect for the super hero, and not really wanting to see the Widow's darker, dirtier side, all Susan said was...

"Fair enough."

Natasha could tell Sue was disappointed. But it WAS a classified matter. And, besides, she didn't want Sue and the others seeing her darker, dirtier, side either.

"Guys?" Dazzler said with her hand over her cell. "Hospital or hotel?"

"Hotel." The Widow answered. For R & R. Reequip and retaliate. She then turned back to Sue. "I'm afraid I'll have to bow out of the tour for a while. If I can return before it's over I will."

"I hope you can."

Ali rejoined them. "Since Wanda and Carol are Avengers Jan's gonna call them via their cards."

"Thanks, Ali." Sue replied.

"Guys." The Widow said. "I want to thank you all for what you've done for me tonight. I'm in your debt."

"Nonsense." Sue said back.

"What are friends for?" Ali added.

The Widow smiled. No more need be said.

And together the three members of the Miss America Foundation left the cemetery.


The conclusion of the search by Productions.

Dazzler, Invisible Woman, The Black Widow (c) MARVEL