A Life With You

“Again with the music?” Natasha looked over from her table where she was currently scrolling through live streaming footage of various places. They had been on the hunt for the mysterious thief for almost three days now and Natasha, being the lowest ranking had to do the tedious and boring work.

Darcy was currently laying on her back with her headphones in and listening to some lightly rhythmic song and tapping her foot along to the music. She glanced over and pulled one of them out of her ears.

“What?” She asked.

Natasha shook her head, “You and that music, again?” Her work was boring and the computer would alert her if something was caught, she might as well bide her time.

“Oh, come on, everyone likes music.” Darcy said skeptically, sitting up on the bed and watching the redhead closely.

“I like music alright, but I don’t feel the need to have them rupturing my eardrums every time I have a moment of peace.”

“Pacis ears are a little stronger than yours. Besides, it calms me down.”

“It seems like you’re already calm enough given the circumstances.” Natasha turned around in her chair to face the stowaway.

“See—“ Darcy said gesturing to her ears, “Music. You should try it, it would probably help you relax a little.”

Natasha scoffed, “I’m plenty relaxed.”

Darcy laughed at that, “What?”

“You are the least relaxed person I know, and I know general Matakahn personally.”

“That is not true at all, I have to be relaxed, have you seen my job? Just by doing this work I already have 3 that have decided to blow up and I give it another three hours before one of the androids does something to hurt themselves.” She explained.

“See!” Darcy bounced slightly on the bed, “That’s the opposite of fun! What do you even do for fun around here?”

“We have a bar, I go and drink a lot.”

“With?” Darcy urged a little frustrated scrunch in her nose.

“”With” What?”

“What’s the point of drinking alone? That’s the opposite of fun!” Darcy fell back on the bed as if she felt bad for the other woman’s situation.

Natasha rolled her eyes, “You know, I’m beginning to think you and I have wildly different views on life.” She said with a smirk.

“You think?”

Natasha laughed but she stopped short with the small buzzer sound that rang through the room. Someone wanted to come inside. She jumped up; more pieces of bots fell on the floor. “Someone’s here! Hide!” She whispered forcefully.

Darcy rolled off the bed and slid underneath it as the buzzer was hit again and Natasha moved to the middle of the floor, attempting (but failing) to look natural.

“Come in.” She said, her voice cracking slightly.

The door slid open and Commander Hill took a step inside, looking around at the dirty quarters curiously.

Natasha prayed that she wouldn’t notice the presence of another person through the mess, “What can I do for you, Commander Hill.”

Hill looked up, “ I came to check in on your progress.” She glanced at the live video footage playing through over and over again.

Romanov took a step back and gestured lightly to the screen, “I’ve been going through all of their hotspots and nothing out of the ordinary has been happening. I’m afraid it’s a dead end, at least with Murdock.”

Hill nodded, “We have come across the same problems with America, not only are we having problems finding her but we haven’t found any other activity on her part for the past month, so unfortunately we can’t cross her off the list.”

Natasha nodded, “I am almost finished with Murdock’s places of residence and then I’ll start on Gamora.”

“That should be easy considering her style.” Hill mentioned more in passing.

“What do you mean?”

“Gamora has a reputation for being very open about her criminal activity, if you remember the time she hung one of the dukes of Oh’Nah by their own flag in the middle of the city then you’ll understand her general M.O.”

“Damn.” Natasha’s eyes widened as she imagined that scene.

“Yeah, she’s great at doing what the rest of us want to do but don’t for the sake of safety and profit. Which is why we think she might be apart of this; Intentially fucking over Fury just for the thrill of it.”

“That makes sense, she’s definitely brash. I’ll begin investigating her cohorts immediately.”

Hill nodded and turned to leave but just as Natasha was convinced the danger was over the commander turned around, “That was one of the reasons that I came over here, the other reason was to ask you if you would like to have a drink with me sometime?”

Natasha’s face flushed, “I--, I mean, of course I would, commander.”

Hill gave a quick smile, “Wonderful, today?”

“Sound’s perfect.”

Hill made to turn around and looked back just as she was about to exit the door, “And you can call me Maria, at least off the clock.”

“Sounds perfect, Maria.”

The commander nodded curtly and then left, the door slid closed behind her and Natasha let out a long breath. She jumped slightly when Darcy slid out from underneath the bed and looked up at her from the floor.

"Aww, someone's got a date!"

"She probably just wants to go over the mission together over some food." The redhead sat down and glanced at the brunette currently lying on her floor.

"Yeah, no one believes that." Darcy sat up on the side of the bed and then gave the other woman a gentle punch on the shoulder, "But, hey, she's cool, right?"

Natasha couldn't help the small smirk over her features, "Yeah, she's cool. She's an amazing strategist and she's powerful and honest."

Darcy glanced down at the floor, "Well, that's good then, yeah?"

The mechanic gave the other woman a quick look, "Sure, but my personal life is none of your business, stowaway."

"Right--" Darcy grinned, "So what about your work life? What are you guys even working on? I didn't know pirate work was so technical, I thought you guys just pillaged and drank and sang old folk songs."

Natasha laughed, "Well, maybe some of them but no, we're looking for possible candidates as to who exactly stole our item out from under us." She pulled up the photos and the profiles.

Darcy leaned forward to get a better look at them, "Ooh, neat, pirates wars. What are you guys going to do with the unlucky bastard who took your stuff?"

Natasha shrugged, "That's for Fury to decide and us to carry out."

"So who are they?" The princess pointed to the holograms.

Natasha pulled up one photo and turned to it, "Well, this is Mathew Murdock, he's heavy hitter in this part of the universe, he's a treasure hunter and part time vigilante. He doesn't usually get in our way, but when he does, he always goes big."

She pulled up the next photo, "This is Gamora--"

"Just Gamora?"

"Yeah, she's only got one name. Anyway she's a feisty and ballsy thief; she likes to go after items that prove hard systems weak. We don't even think she needs any of this stuff, she just does it to give some of the bigger empires a middle finger."

"Ooh, I like her already." Darcy smiled, she had her knees up and her chin resting in her palms as she listened to Natasha explaining the criminals.

"Yeah, and here's Wanda Maximoff." She pulled up a photo of a red haired woman with a dangerous look in her eye. "She's the ultimate vigilante in this part of the solar system. She equalizes the wealth, so to speak. She comes, she goes, and she unapologetically crumples anyone who stands in her way. Also, she's the reason for the rescue of the two thousand mine workers on Mars. As swift and easy as this hit was, this could have easily been her."

Darcy nodded, "And that woman?" She pointed to the photo of the woman with neat hair and dark lipstick.

"Peggy Carter. We've eliminated her so far; She used to work exclusively in the Milkyway and Andromeda galaxies but recently she's been spotted in the Oh'Nahn galaxy and so far she hasn't moved. We don't know why."

"Yeah, but what's she like?"

Natasha thought about it, "She's ex-military and has fought in two different separate wars, she became a soldier for hire and she's been know to go after valuable pieces in the past. She's organized, logical, and is said to one of the most brutal fighters this side of the universe. If she's aligned herself with the Tah'Rehn rebels then they have a much better chance of success."

Darcy's eyes were wide and she was looking at Natasha as if she was telling the most interesting fairy tale in the world. "And the young one?"

"This is--"

There were four consecutive buzzes at her door. She jumped and shooed the princess back underneath the bed. Natasha kicked a few pieces of metal on the edge to help cover her up.

The buzzer continued to be pushed, "Yeah, what is it?" Natasha asked, slightly annoyed.

Jack practically fell into her room, out of breath and wide eyed. The redhead stood up, "Jack, what's wrong?"

They put a finger up, still breathing heavily, "Nat, I have something to tell you--"

"Out with it."

"I think Hill's going to ask you out today." They practically spat out.

Natasha's shoulders fell and she shook her head, "You're late, jack, she's already been over here."

Jack looked at her, "For real? Damnit, I wanted to warn you.."

"It's alright, I handled myself."

"Well, did you say yes?" They urged.

"Of course I did. Wouldn't you?" Natasha crossed her arms and sat back down.

"Probably yeah.. Congratulations then!"

Natasha ignored them, "How’s your searching going?"

They paced the room in a circle, "Awful, shitty, you know, completely unhelpful. I can't figure out for the life of me who would have the opportunity--" They began to number off on their fingers, "The ability, the tech, the knowledge, or be foolish enough to steal The Anima key out from underneath Nick."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, "Nick?"

"Yeah, Fury, Nick Fury, Captain Nicolas J. Fury. I gotta go, failing takes a lot of time and there isn't that many breaks." Then they added with a chuckle, "Did you hear that Pua accidentally punched herself in the face today while working."

She tilted her head with a smirk, "No, I heard that was you."

They paused then put a ginger hand onto their forehead, "So it was.. I gotta go Romanov."

Then they walked out the door as Natasha shook her head, she was really quiet fond of that loopy engineer. Darcy slid back out, "The Anima key? Is that what you're looking for?"

"Yeah, it's supposed to unlock the chamber where the Anima stone is being kept, or something like that. Some stone that can bring the dead back to life or something like that, anyway, it's going to be worth a fortune and an amazing trophy for any criminal."

Darcy's eyes widened and she looked toward the floor, "Anima.. You don't mean the Soul stone, do you?"

Natasha looked at her curiously, "It's called that also, yes. Why?"

"The key to the soul stone is what you're looking for?" Darcy turned away and covered her mouth."Shit.. Shit... Oh shit.."

Natasha stood up, "Darcy what's wrong?"

The princess looked toward the ceiling, it took her a few moments to speak and when she did, her voice was higher than usual, "I may... Have--" Then she added in fast and barely audible words, "Stole the key, please don't kill me."

"What." The pirate asked in a low and dangerous voice.

"I didn't know that someone else was trying to steal it!"

The redhead took a step forward and held a hand out, practically snarling at the brunette on the bed, "Give it to me." She ordered.

At this Darcy shook her head and turned away from the pirate, "No, I need it. Okay? It's my only chance."

"Give me the goddamn key, Princess."

Darcy rolled around her and got back on her feet to face the pirate at eye level, "And what are you going to tell them?" She gestured to outside the door, "They're going to kill you if they think that you've been holding out and their going to kill both of us if they find out about you stowing me away. You can have it later, but i have got to keep it right now. Until I find where the stone is hidden." The brunette stood up tall and held her ground against the slightly shorter redhead.

Natasha kicked one of her work benches in response and despite her attempts to stay quiet, her voice raised, "How did you even get it?! That thing was the most guarded item on your entire planet!"

"They wouldn't let me go anywhere, I've been cracking that thing open slowly for the past five months. I got it the night that I escaped and the only way to get it is to kill me." She held the item close to her stomach and stood back.

Natasha huffed loudly and drew a knife, putting it to the princess's throat, Darcy squeaked but she closed her eyes and didn't move. When she opened her eyes Natasha was still holding the knife to her neck and breathing heavily.

"You can't kill me." The brunette stated, taking a step back from the angry pirate. "A pirate who can't kill someone, I guess I got lucky again."

"Natasha pointed to the air with the knife, "You're a bigger pain in the ass than I could have ever imagined."

Darcy actually laughed, "You're not the first person to tell me that."

The intercom beeped, "Romanov, are you ready to eat?" Hill's voice came through and both the women looked up on instinct.

Natasha hit her button and said in a voice filled with fake calm and sweetness, "I'll meet you there. Maria."

It clicked off and the pirate glared at the princess, "This isn't over." She stated just before she turned off the holograms and stomped past the other woman.

Darcy glanced behind her, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go eat some fucking food. I'll deal with you later." Then she left the room in a huff.

As she moved down the hallway after making sure that her door was locked so that no one could go in or get out, she felt a pang of guilt through her chest. She felt for this woman, which was why she didn't kill her right then and there. At least that's what she told herself, she had never killed anyone and the idea of it made her want to curl up and hide.

She decided that she would figure out a way that everyone would be happy when she was done with this meal. She would tie up the princess, take the key and lie to Fury, maybe telling him that she found and killed a stowaway with the key. She would sneak Darcy off on at the next dock and she would be able to go on with her life.

She nodded to herself with a little smile that was a good idea.

When she arrived at the bar Maria was already seated and she looked up as the red head walked up. She stood up and nodded politely, sitting down with her. They ordered some food, and Maria shooed as she grinned and made some insinuating remarks.

"I think that I should clarify why I asked you to join me today." Maria said, pushing her drink to the side and placing her hands on the table.

"I am from the planet 889 in the 6th sector of the Andromeda Galaxy, if you didn't already know."

Natasha nodded and raised an eyebrow, "A very logical people. They are also enhanced with technology. Cyborgs almost." She examined.

"Exactly. So, in the spirit of cultural exchanges, would it be appropriate for me to tell you why I wanted you to join me?"

"I would prefer it."

Maria smiled and Natasha couldn't help but feel slightly affectionate to her commander since it seemed like she had a hard shell but a sweet and awkward side as well.

"I think that you waste your potential everyday on this ship and the fact that you have never attempted to stand on your own, for whatever reason is saddening to say the least." Natasha made a face and Maria continued as if she didn't see it. "But I think you're attractive and you seem to have a kind heart, I admire that in you. This mission was the first opportunity that I have had to engage you and I am thankful for that."

"So, is this courtship?" Natasha asked her heart beating a little faster just from saying the words.

"Yes."

"Casual or serious?"

"I believe that the best course of action would be to remain casual and then determine whether or not we are compatible for a long term commitment."

Natasha smiled.

"What?"

The redhead took a sip of her drink, "I was just thinking how easy this seemed, no mystery just honesty. I like it."

As much as she was enjoying this exchange, her mind was being constantly nagged by the thoughts of Darcy and that key. This was a possible dream come true, Maria was dependable and loyal and as pretty as she could be, Natasha was definitely looking forward to this relationship.

They ate and talked for nearly two hours about a variety of things, and Natasha had almost forgotten about her other responsibilities when an alarm went off and the entire bars stood up in a panic. Hill wasted no time in figuring out what was going on. She turned on her communicator.

"Fury. What's the situation?"

Fury's voice was quick and distracted, "Someone's sabotaged the engines. We're at a stand still."

Natasha felt like throwing up. Hill gave her a quick kiss on the cheek after asking permission and then left to return to her post by the captain's side. As soon as she was gone Natasha bolted out the other side of the door.

She ran to her quarters first, and sure enough, the room was empty. After that she ran towards the shuttle dock at a sprint. Of course this would be happening to her right now, she honestly didn't expect anything different anymore.

She flew through the ship and went a back way to the docked shuttles; everyone seemed to be flooding in the opposite direction. Something must have sent them to a different part of the ship.

Before she could react to anything Darcy appeared in her field of vision, watching her closely. Natasha jumped down from her perch on one of the engineering entrances.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Darcy seemed to be in the middle of rewiring one of the shuttles and she looked over, only mildly concerned about Natasha's presence. "I'm getting out of here, Nat."

"Not with that key, you're not."

Darcy turned to face her as the ramp to one of the shuttles opened, "Why? So you can bring it to your captain and let him get the treasure? You're not a pirate; you're just another minion for some warlord." She looked around as the sounds of footsteps became noticeable in the hallway, she turned back to face the other woman, "Look, you can have the key, and the treasure just as soon as I get my stone, what are you going to do?"

Natasha practically growled and then kicked the ship a few times, "Fuck it." She said and then grabbed Darcy's wrist and pulled her into the cabin of the shuttle.

The ramp was closed and Natasha immediately set a course on high speed to get them away from The Righteous Man. So far the pirate ship was not firing on them which she didn't know why; she was prepared to be dodging torpedoes at this point. Instead, the monitor at the front of the cabin beeped on and Natasha ducked. She was not ready to be caught dead betraying Nick Fury and his crew.

“Whoever, you are, you better have a good goddamn reason for stealing one of my ships.” Fury’s voice was deadly and Natasha ducked down further away from the screen.

Darcy was next to her on the floor and she glanced up at her as they tried to ignore what Fury was saying. They would know as soon as they began to investigate that Natasha was the one who betrayed them and then stole the shuttle. As far as they would know, it was Natasha by herself.

Darcy grabbed a gun off of one of the racks that she could reach and she stood up, pulling Natasha with her, the pirate struggled against her and then stopped in confusion when the princess put the gun to her head.

On the screen, Fury’s eyes darkened and Hill moved forward with the slightest hint of concern on her face.

“Let us go or I’ll shoot her, I swear.”

“Who the hell are you?” Fury demanded.

Darcy took a step forward, “I’m the girl who outsmarted you, that’s who and If I think for one second that you’re following us, I will shoot her.” She jostled the redhead slightly and she grunted angrily.

“What makes you think that we care?” Fury asked, obviously stalling for time.

“That’s not my problem, it’s hers. Now, if you’ll excuse us we’ll be off.”

Hill took a step closer to the screen, “You have made a grave mistake. You should not poke the monster here in the void, no one will ever know if you go missing.”

Natasha felt Darcy tensing up behind her but she remained silent and then turned the screen off. She let the other woman go and ran to sit at the controls.

“What the hell was that for?” Natasha asked, stepping up behind her.

“You’re name is cleared. You’re my hostage.” Darcy said, smiling up at the redhead proudly.

“No, you’re MY hostage.” Natasha corrected her and Darcy laughed as Natasha’s words bounced off of her.

The pirate sat down on the next chair and Darcy looked at her,” Now, if you want to kill me, you can.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow, “You’re putting a lot of trust into someone you barely know, princess, out here in the void, that’s not a good idea.”

“I’m running on a little faith here.”

“That may not be the best idea.”

“Maybe, but it’s my choice.” Darcy reaffirmed.

Natasha shrugged, “Yes it is, now what’s your brilliant plan now, princess?”

Darcy thought about it for a moment, “We need to find out where the stone is being held, it won’t be on public info so we need to figure out where to go next.”

“Hhmm..” Natasha glanced at her, feeling electrified fior the first time about the situation that she had gotten herself into, “A real, powerful stone that’s practically myth by now. I think I know someone who may be able to point us in the right direction. An old friend.”

She punched the coordinates into the ship, and Darcy watched her closely, “Earth’s moon?”

Natasha nodded, “Yeah, he likes to lay low. He’s—Uh—an interesting guy, knows a lot of people; really likes arrows.”