Answers
"I hate your friend.." Darcy bent over the toilet and continued to retch into the bowl while Natasha held her hair back and patted her shoulders as she gagged and vomited over again.
"I don't even blame you."
There was no response just more dry heaving into the toilet and the redhead cringed. She looked back as she felt someone in the doorway; Clint was staring uncomfortably at them from the hallway. She glared at him and he put his hands up and backed away.
Darcy attempted to stand up and Natasha helped her, holding underneath her arms, watching her worried. The princess put her hand up, "I'm good, thank you."
Natasha took her hands off the brunette and took a step away to give her room. The princess took a stuttering breath and closed her eyes, getting more comfortable on her feet again.
She sighed and for a moment Natasha thought that she was starting to feel better, until she doubled over again and began retching all over again. Natasha exhaled and dropped down next to the princess and pulled her gorgeous lochs away from her face. It was at least an hour later until Darcy felt comfortable enough to leave the toilet and let herself be taken back to the bed. She clung possessively onto Natasha's arms until the redhead put her on the bed and checked her stats and temperature.
Natasha looked concerned as she read the reading on the device; she glanced up, "What is the average temperature of your people?"
Darcy had her head in her palm, rubbing her face lightly, "It's like 104 degrees." She said dully.
Natasha breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, you only have a small fever."
The princess didn't respond and Natasha sat down sideways on the bed, watching her critically. She was about to open her mouth to speak when Darcy said in a whiny voice, "I'm hungry."
The pirate leaned back. "You're in luck." Came Clint's voice from the doorway, he was holding a tray that had some sort of steaming drink and some food of various kinds.
Natasha seemed to debate something for a moment but then she decided against speaking and stood up to let Clint place the tray on the princess’s lap. She smiled lightly as she saw the food in front of her.
"There's that smile." Clint said, watching her take a bite out of the noodly substance.
She looked up, "I'm still mad at you."
"Fair enough. Natasha?" He turned to face the redhead, "I got some of the information you wanted."
She nodded, "We'll be right back."
The princess nodded absently as they left the room. Clint led her to the kitchen where he had a handheld ready for her to read through documents. He gave it to her and went around the counter, taking a big gulp out of the coffee pot without pouring it into the cup.
Natasha glanced up, "I don't want any coffee, thank you."
He didn't respond and only took another big swig of his precious coffee. Natasha moved quickly through the documents. "This isn't anything, what is this?"
Clint grabbed the handheld and glanced through the documents, "Oops, that's my reading material. Nevermind." He changed something and then handed it back to the pirate. "Here you go."
"Turns out Fury wasn't the only one going after the stone. The information your looking for should be with this guy."
Natasha's face scrunched her face up, "Nelson? I've never heard of him."
"Look at who he's affiliated with."
Clint leaned over the counter to get a better look. She swiped at something, "Fury was right. Murdock. But why should I give a shit about this Nelson?"
"Foggy Nelson's been Murdock's right hand man for years, the reason why he's important is that the Daredevil is nearly impossible to find and of all your options they would be the best."
"Why?"
"Because Murdock's stationary right now. It's probably the reason why he wasn't there when you guys went after the key, Foggy was arrested a few weeks ago and I know for a fact that Murdock's not going to leave him in there."
"Yeah, arrested and put into a Venus prison."
She continued to read through the documents while Clint nodded. "This isn't terrible." She said grinning, "Well, we know where we have to go next."
"And you better hurry, If I know Mathew Murdock, Foggy isn't going to be in that prison for long."
Natasha raised a skeptical eyebrow, "You know The Daredevil?"
"I mean, theoretically. From a creepy distance."
She chuckled and put the handheld down, looking towards the bedroom, "Before we do that, I need to get some answers."
"Yeah I think that would be a good idea."
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"Hey MAC! What are you doing?" A small pink creature that was about the size of a Pomeranian and had a body that resembled a bipedal marsupial. She had big, bat like ears with thick fuzz coming out of them and little arms and hands. She wore what looked like overalls except they were designed to fit her body comfortably.
She hopped quickly to a young girl crouching next to a large round door with a combination pad in front of her face. The pad was taken off and a tangle of wires were falling out of the square.
America Chavez worked diligently with a tiny pair of tools, not even looking back as her friend came up behind her and leaned over to get a better look.
Miss America was young but her eyes were fierce and dedicated even as she slumped forward while she worked. Her clothes were casual with rolled up pants and sleeves over a star studded button up shirt.
"Just practicin' Clava."
Clava looked around at the disembodied practice vault and shook her head, her ears swinging lightly as her head moved.
"You've been at it for four hours, why don't you take a break."
America pulled out a red wire and raised an eyebrow, "Gotta keep practicing, when we're doing this and there's a city's guard outside with guns just waiting to shoot us down, I need to know exactly what I'm doing."
Clava hopped expertly on the girl's shoulder and gazed down at the realistic puzzle she was working on. "You know you know what you're doing, the youngest vigilante in the galaxy, what you need is a break. "
America chuckled and snipped a wire in half, the fake vault beeped and swung open. She grinned, and watched as it shut down and opened to the other side of the room.
"Yeah, A break would be cool but do you know what would be even better?"
Clava's nose twitched, "What?"
"This." America stood up, balancing her partner on her shoulder expertly and jogging swiftly to one of her work tables.
They were inside of a large warehouse and the entire expanse was covered with various projects and loot from projects that were already finished.
She leaned over and let Clava jump down onto the table's surface, The small alien gazed upwards as a hologram appeared above her head. A sketched out diagram of an artifact that had just recently become a topic of interest for many powerful parties. America wasted no time in explaining the Anima stone's story to Clava.
"So basically, there is practically nothing solid known about it's whereabouts but that's all about to change and I know where to start." America grinned and spun the hologram in the air proudly.
Clava sighed, "It probably doesn't even have powers, you know how these things are exagerated through the years."
"I don't care if it's plastic; I want to be the one to find it."
Clava thought about it for a few moments and then exhaled, her thin tail whipping in the air absently, "Where are we going?"
America gave a proud toothy grin, "I hope you brought your swim trunks, Clavs' 'Cause we're going to Venus."
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"I've trusted you this far but I'm going to need some answers before we go any farther." Natasha was sitting on Clint's couch watching the princess sip nervously from a coffee mug filled with some kind of tea that Clint swore would help her with the nausia.
"And you deserve some." Darcy took another sip and then put the cup down, keeping a hand on the edge of the container.
"Last night, you said you were dying. Is that true or was that just some drug induced delirium?"
"Okay, here's the thing--" Darcy began, "You know that Pacian's are immortal right?"
Natasha nodded.
"The reason why is that we're not born--" She thought for a moment, "We're not born as infants like you, we wake up as adults with all basic needed knowledge to survive. The reason why we're immortal is because of an ancient process where we artificially..."
She made some hand movements that looked like she was unscrewing a large bolt, "Fix the soul-- I guess you would call it that... It's complicated--" She waved the rest of her explanation,
"My teacher Jane would be able to explain everything.."
Darcy seemed to doze off, looking at the edge of her cup with wide eyes lost in some kind of thought of home.
"What does that have to do with the stone?"
"You know the civil war?"
"Yeah..."
"It's been going on for over five hundred years, which isn't long for our people but when I was chosen to become the next in line for the throne.. The process that fixes and completes our souls-- They broke it-- The other side did in an attempt to disrupt my family's mission and now my soul is, well, broken."
Natasha had her chin resting in between her thumb and forefinger as she listened to Darcy's story closely.
The princess continued, "They're plan worked and when our city became occupied instead of just killing me and risking a riot from the people they just decided to wait for me to die, since I don't have long to live."
"How long to do you have?" Natasha asked, a strong urge to hold the other woman's hand came over as she saw the defeated and scared look in the princess's face.
"100 to 120 years at best."
"That's my lifespan." Natasha said dryly,
Darcy nodded and took a sip of her drink, "Yeah, it's not long. But that stone originated on my planet and I know that it will be able to fix my soul. I'm not letting them leave me to rot. I've been trapped there long enough." Her voice became passionate as she spoke.
When Darcy spoke again she was smiling and there was that sparkle in her eyes that Natasha had originally fallen for, "Now, with a dangerous pirate such as yourself I'll be able to do it and see the universe while I'm at it!" She waved her arms to gesture to the entire universe.
Natasha was still staring blankly at the surface of the small table between them. She didn't comment on what Darcy had said and instead, "We got a possible lead. It's at a prison on Venus."
Darcy's eyes widened, her energy finally coming back to her, apparently Clint's tea was actually helpful, "Venus? I've read about that planet, it's gorgeous! And named after a gorgeous woman if I'm correct?" She winked and Natasha shook her head with a chuckle.
The next thing Darcy said was more serious, "So you'll help me? You trust me?"
The pirate sighed, "Trust you? No. I don't trust anyone." She paused, "But I will help you."
Darcy literally clapped and began thanking the pirate over and over again.
Natasha leaned back in her chair, "Has anyone ever told you that you're very hard to say no to?"
Darcy smirked and batted her eyes, "It's the eyelashes."
Natasha laughed. They both glanced up suddenly as there was a knock at Clint's door and they heard the archer move quickly to the door and opening it.
"Unless you're selling cookies I'm not open." He said from the other room and apparently through the door.
Natasha smiled and turned to speak to the princess again before there was a crunch from the front of the apartment and Clint's raised and annoyed voice became clear.
"I'm not selling anything, scram! If you're that desperate go talk to Kate! Jeezums!"
They heard the door locks being put into place and then another crack which definitely sounded like someone had broken down the door.
"Hey, lady, what did I just sa-- Come on in.." There was the distinct sound of a gun clicking safety off and Clint's voice went from angry to nervous as he chuckled forcefully.
Natasha stood up as she heard his voice change and she motioned for the princess to stay put on the chair she was sitting in. The pirate pulled a gun out of one of her boots and snuck through the house to get a better look at what was happening.
She heard Clint muttering nervously and she peeked around the corner, she couldn’t see anything for sure, whoever had forced their way in was being quiet about their intentions.
She glanced around and jumped, nearly making a noise as she realized that Darcy was just about a foot away from her, staring around the corner as well, waiting for someone to make a sounds.
Natasha growled irritated and made a few hand gestures telling the princess to leave only to have Darcy shake her head and move closer. Natasha quietly cursed and turned back to the situation. If the princess wanted to get herself killed in the name of curiosity that was her choice.
“Alright, but you’re not going to find anything and you can’t have my dog, lady.” Clint explained in a fake calm.
Natasha got closer to the wall as Clint came into view, walking forward with his head up and his hands up, a gun was pointing into his back and whoever was behind him shoved him forward.
“I need to ask you a few questions.” The calm and collected voice demanded and Natasha’s eyes went wide and she continued to curse.
Clint was pushed forward and Maria Hill pushed the gun into his back, leading toward the hidden women. Darcy leaned to the pirate, “Man, she found us fast. I wanna be pissed but I’m actually kind of impressed.”
Natasha elbowed the other woman in the ribs and took a step from the wall, her face as cold as stone although her heart was beating fast.
“Commander Hill.” Natasha stated as she faced the cyborg and her hostage.
“Romanov?” The slick haired woman pushed the archer to the side and walked up to the shorter woman. Hill didn’t say anything, although it seemed rather obvious especially when Darcy moved behind the redhead, watching the interaction with bright eyes.
Hill never spoke but Natasha still felt a pang of guilt go through her chest just at the commanders slightly betrayed face.
“I can explain.” Natasha put the gun down and attempted to move towards the slender woman.
“Can you?” Was that a break? Natasha could have sworn that she heard the commander’s voice crack slightly even in those two words.
Natasha braced herself, “Yes, I can.” She looked down, suddenly understanding the shock in the other woman’s face and she put the gun up and offered her hand. “You came to find me and I let you down, let me explain.” Natasha’s voice softened as she waited patiently for the other woman to take her hand.
“I’ve never done anything like this before.” Hill said sadly, “I was a fool.”
“And so am I. Give me a chance?” The redhead asked sweetly.
Hill’s lips thinned and she glared down at the ground but she took the shorter woman’s hand nonetheless.
The moment was sweet but it was slightly ruined by Darcy in the background who followed it with a loud “Aww!”
It took Natasha about an hour to explain everything that had happened to Hill because the commander required details and motives to nearly everything that the redhead told her about the escape.
When she was finished Maria looked her straight in the eye, “This is stupid. You know that right?”
Natasha smiled, “Yeah, I do but—“ She leaned in closer to the taller woman and whispered, taking heed to the fact that she knew Darcy was in the other room listening on their conversation. “For some reason I’m not afraid. In fact, I feel like smiling all the time.”
Hill raised an eyebrow, “This princess must have quite an effect on you.”
Natasha chuckled, “Maybe but for once in my career I don’t know where I’m going and even though it scared me at first, it only inspires me now. I’m… ready for whatever is ahead of us.”
“I’m intrigued.” Hill sat back, the both of them speaking at full volume again, “And it’s not like I can just go back to Fury with my pride intact. I’m in.”
Natasha grinned but she seemed slightly shocked, “Really? I didn’t take you for the valiant adventurer.”
Hill smirked, still managing to look professional, “Don’t underestimate me, Romanov. Plus, you’re going to get yourself killed without my help. I’ve seen you shoot a gun. It’s a little pathetic.”
Natasha smiled at the playful jab and put her hand out, the cyborg shook it and they both looked up as Darcy jumped up from behind the door where they both knew she was listening in.
“We’re going to be the greatest trio of badass women ever!” She said punching the air, “Hill can beat them up, Nat can trick them and I can surprise them with my cuteness!”
The two sitting women glanced at each other, “Who’s “Them”?” Hill asked dryly.
Darcy shrugged and sunk down to their level, looking between them with an excited and childlike grin, “Anyone who gets in our way!”
Hill sighed and looked at the redhead, “I see what you mean by “Infectious”. This is going to be an interesting journey.”