Part 5 - 2012
2012
You watched the TV in shock. New York was under attack, shaky footage showed a giant wormhole open above Stark tower, large metallic worms slithering out, accompanied by aliens.
Aliens!
Vampire you’d heard of, you’d befriended on, you’d been kidnapped by one, and, as far as you were aware, you were one.
You knew of super soldiers too. You’d been living in Dublin during the war, there had been plenty of drinking when it was found out that Captain America was in fact Steve Rogers, a boy of Irish descent.
And superheroes, Tony Stark, the billionaire owner of Stark Industries. Now, for the last four years, better known as Iron Man.
Superheroes, super soldiers, supernaturals. Perhaps aliens shouldn’t have been that surprising in the end. Seeing her however was a surprise.
The news mentioned an ‘Avengers Initiative’, listing the figures they knew, shots of Iron Man, Captain America, and Hulk dominating the footage. They introduced Thor as well, the God of Thunder, another alien. Supposedly he’d been to Earth before, hence how he was identified.
But the other two slipped unnoticed, their supposed lack of abilities and bright costumes meant they blended in, looked just like and other agent or solider or police office defending the people. But you knew better.
You searched through numerous videos uploaded to YouTube, finding any that featured her. You paused one. She was looking directly at the camera. That only confirmed it. It had to be her.
“Hey man, I’m gonna need a favour” you called, on the phone to Michael, one of the closest friends you had in this town, and the only one you knew who had a plane.
“And what would that favour be now?”
“I need to fly to New York”
“Are you aware of what’s been happening, like, have you seen the news?”
“I have”
“You’re not borrowing my plane”
“It’ll be grand, there won’t be a scratch”
2 hours later and you were at Dublin airport, ready to take off on his very nice private jet. Sometimes it paid off to have rich friends.
“Bring it back in one piece” he warned, “any damage, you’re paying”
“Big words for someone flying to a literal war zone” he muttered as he left, leaving you in the pilot’s seat. You’d lived a lot of lives, and obtained a pilot’s license in one of them. In fact, it was the last time you were living in Ireland, back in World War 2.
“I’m sure it’s still the same” you reassured yourself, pushing some buttons as you began your seven and a half hour flight. But it would be worth it.
You weren’t permitted to land in New York City itself; the fight was still ongoing. So you landed at the nearest possible airstrip and rented a car, driving into the city. Unsurprisingly, not much traffic going in, a lot of traffic going out.
The news notifications were active on your phone, and you panicked a little bit when you saw that a nuke had been sent to destroy the city. You hadn’t expected that. That they’d sacrifice the millions that hadn’t been evacuated just to prevent it spreading. You almost turned back, you had time to get to safety. But if it was that drastic that they were willing to sacrifice New York, they could use your help. So you continued forwards, racing through the streets and pulling civilians out of harms way.
It was the middle of the day and, while you were old, you weren’t old enough to build up a full tolerance to the sun. So you were clad in a full jumpsuit and gloves, with a balaclava covering your face. It did make you look slightly like a criminal, but it allowed you to be exposed slightly longer, and it would stop anyone recognising you.
It went through and the aliens suddenly dropped as if their tether had been cut. When the wormhole closed soon after, you knew it was over.
You continued to rip through the aliens and cover for the humans, rushing to get them underground. Even when the nuke came in sight, you continued, though even with your best efforts, no-one would be surviving this.
But then it tilted upwards, began moving towards the wormhole, and you squinted, realising Iron Man was beneath it, carrying it up.
Hopping through a broken window, you made your way to the back, removing yourself from the sun’s rays. You waited there as you regained your energy, checking your face in the bathroom mirror. There was no sign of sun damage, and you hadn’t been reduced to a pile of ashes, so the day could be worse.
Eventually though, you remembered the reason you were here, and you didn’t want to lose her. So you masked up and headed out, running (at a regular human pace) to see where she might be. It was a big city; you’d tended to stick to smaller towns and villages, so you had no idea where to look. You knew she was here, but where…
It beamed at you, Stark tower… although it was more like A tower now. She’d fought alongside him, so if there was anywhere to be, it’d be there. It wouldn’t hurt to look.
Getting in wasn’t difficult. Stark had outfitted several security systems into the bottom floors, but he didn’t protect above it, and the nearest building over had no such measures. You strolled right in and climbed to the roof. You’d made large jumps before, you were pretty sure you’d survive.
Taking a breath, you ran, leaping off of the roof and falling towards the open platform. As you hit it, you rolled, coming up perfectly fine and on the tower. You exhaled, it had been a while since you’d last attempted anything similar.
In you strolled, and saw her. She was on the edge closest to you, her black leather uniform hugging her body tightly and- Nope. Not going through this again. In the 200 years since you’d met, you’d learnt more about love. Learnt that romantic attraction wasn’t solely between a man and a woman. And you concluded that maybe you had always had a slight crush on her.
The six Avengers didn’t notice you, their eyes on the black haired man on the floor. He surrendered and they arrested him.
You stood back as agents filled the room, until it was just the Avengers and the prisoner, Loki.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Captain Rogers asked.
It was Iron Man who turned first, instantly aiming his repulsors up to threaten you, causing the rest of them to spin as well.
“JARVIS I swear to God. If one more intruder gets in” Stark yelled
You ignored them both and stared at Natalia. Shock had crossed her expression when she turned, however, she’d masked it in seconds; firm expression and red eyes indicating her distrust.
“Ты кто? (who are you?)” she interrogated, a slight tremble in her voice.
You tilted your head at her, leaning against the nearest pillar. It was off to head her again. It had been so long. You finally answered her in English, though you didn’t hide your natural Russian accent. “I thought you were American now Tsarevna. Why else would you go by Natasha?”
“Y/N?” she hesitated, taking a step forward. You noticed her eyes had faded back to green.
“You know her?” Steve asked. She didn’t reply, but waved a hand, indicating for them to lower their weapons.
You nodded and she gasped, running up closer to you, but still faltering an arm’s length away. “You’re dead. You’re meant to be dead” she said at last.
You rolled your eyes and smirked, “so are you but you don’t see me rubbing it in”
“Does anyone know what’s going on here?” Tony Stark asked in the background.
At last the two of you were alone and you huffed, sliding down the pillar to sit cross legged on the floor. “I watched you die Natalia. You were stabbed”. It was an accusatory tone, but you were too relieved to be truly mad. 190 years you had thought she was dead, but she was alive, and had a life in America.
“Can you give us some privacy Stark?” Nat snapped back. He held up his arms in surrender and went downstairs with the others, muttering,
“you’re in my tower but ok”
She undid her catsuit, revealing a scar on her stomach. Unlike your 16 year old self, you had to force yourself not to just stare at her breasts. “It takes a stake to the heart to kill a vampire. I came close to death, but it wasn’t instant. It took weeks to heal and even longer to get to full strength. Then I came after you, but I couldn’t find you.”
“I was in the Arctic… that’s where they took me.”
She was close to you now, hands hovering just off of your shoulders, as if she was scared to touch you. “Did they- I mean- I assume… vampire?”
You nodded, “I- I think. The vampire guy, the one who stabbed you? He wanted to experiment, see if vampires can be made, um… non-traditionally”
“And… that’s what they did to you?”
Another nod and she ran up, finally holding you and pulling you into a hug. “I should have kept looking. I’m sorry Y/N”
You hugged her back, whispering softly, “you didn’t know”. She had to know you didn’t blame her. You were glad, in fact, that she had a life, that she didn’t waste it fruitlessly looking for you.
“So… do I get to meet your friends?” you asked after a long pause.
She smirked, “if you think you can handle them”
“I can handle anything Tsarevna”
“Just be thankful this lot is tired” she joked, before leading you down to them.
“Nat we’re going to get shawarma” Tony interrupted as soon as you two entered the lobby, “bring your friend. I want to hear the whole story”. You shrugged and followed the crowd, no-one speaking until you were all settled around a table in a ruined shawarma restaurant.
Even then Steve, Bruce and Clint looked ready to fall asleep and Thor and Tony were too transfixed on their own food to speak. So Nat had to start the conversation. You were sharing a seat and she whispered in your ear, “so, technically, only Clint knows what I- we… are”
You tilted your head at her, “well they’re in for a surprise then. If you’re ok with telling them…”
“It’s going to be hard to explain without telling them” she replied at a normal volume, making Tony sit up in his seat.
“Tell us what? Are you dating?”
“You literally saw her say ‘who are you?’ about half an hour ago and you immediately jump to dating?” you ask
“Well in fairness, you clearly know each other so that was a weird question”
“So what is the reveal?” Thor spoke through a stuffed mouth.
“Take it away Tsarevna” you prompted, turning to the lady next to you.
She took a deep breath, then started, “Sooo… I’m actually a 363 year old vampire. 200 years ago I saved Y/N, all was good, she decided to move in with me. We lived together for 10 years then I got stabbed and Y/N was taken and it all went to shit. I spent 80 years looking for her before I gave up. I assumed she had died. She thought I had died, and then she turned up today.”
“You remember your age” you grinned.
“364 in November” she continued, looking directly at you, “you remember your birthday still?”
You blanked. It had been centuries since you last told someone your true age. You were born in 1796 though. “215″ you said hesitantly, before getting more confident, “216 in May”
Her face fell, “you calculated”
“So did you when we met, and you were only 163″ you defended, a little too harshly, trying to deflect from the fact that you’d forgotten.
Before Nat could say more than just the pitying glance, Stark interrupted again, “ok, ok, so two vampires casually dining with us tonight. And, ‘only 164′? You’re making me sound young”
“You are” Thor, Natalia, Steve, and you replied in unison, waking Clint and Bruce up to join Tony in shock
“Out of everyone here… I would not have bet on us three being the youngest” Bruce grimaced.
“But how old are you four like, biologically?” Tony asked
“27″ Natalia muttered
“I was 26″
“I was 27 when I went into the ice, so I guess, almost 28?”
“How long do you mortals live?” Thor asked, “I am 1492, but my grandfather lived to 5000″
“So about 1500 over 5000″ Bruce calculated,
“and say we live to 90″ Tony added, “you’re about 27 too”
Clint grumbled, “great, there’s the oldness coming back”, making Nat laugh as he thumped his head back on the table.
“If I met you as a baby, then I’d have been the old one. I can’t help that you decided to overtake” she reasoned,
“Watch it Romanoff”. He tipped his head back up again, a mischievous glint in his eye when he met yours, “by the way Y/N, I never introduced myself. But I’m Clint, Natasha’s mission partner. When we used to do stakeouts together she’d talk about you all the time. How much she missed you, that she had a cr-”
The man was cut off by Natalia’s hand over his mouth, “go back to sleep Barton”. With her words the archer’s eyes drooped and he fell forwards onto the table.
“What was that?” Bruce laughed nervously
Nat shrugged, “I’m very persuasive”
Tony and Steve exchanged a worried look, while Thor chuckled merrily. “Ah, my brother used to play tricks such as that.” Your eyes widened in realisation.
Nat didn’t notice and continued speaking, despite your slow head turn in her direction, “where is Loki anyway?”
“Oh I left him in the tower under Mjolnir. He wont be getting up until we’re back.”
You were staring at your vampire companion at this point, waiting for Thor to finish speaking before confronting her. “Vampires have mental influence…” you began,
“mmhmm, I thought you would have worked that out by now?” she replied, not working out where you were going,
“when we met… and I asked about your powers. You neglected that one.”
“Oh. Oops”, humour glimmered in her eyes and she tried to hide the grin spreading across her face.
“and you used to tell me to sleep every night”
“Only those first two weeks” she teased, looking directly at your pouting face with a grin, “I can’t believe you never clocked it”
“How did you not?” Tony interjected, giving you a baffled look, “Did you not remember passing out as soon as she told you to sleep?”
You threw your arms up, “Is everyone teaming up against me? Nat was younger, she wasn’t as strong. She’d tell me to sleep when I was already in bed and I’d realise how drowsy I was.”
“Still, it seems unlikely”
You turned back to Natalia, seeking permission to change tact. The small smirk on her face was all you needed before you turned to the billionaire.
“I mean, you’re tired already, aren’t you Tony?” you asked, inquisitive tone not giving away your actual intention.
“Well yeah, we just spent a day fighting aliens” he yawned, “and I flew through a giant wormhole and almost died”
You nodded seriously, keeping the grin off of your face, “see, that’s how I’d feel every night. And she’d say ‘sleep’ and it would sound so appealing. Like, I bet you’d be up for sleep right now.”
“Yeah, kind of”. His eyes were drooping now too, a relaxed expression on his features.
“So there’s no point trying to stay awake really. Clint’s already asleep. I used to be trying for sleep anyway.”
A few more seconds and then he lay his head against the table, eyes shut, and drifted into a peaceful sleep.
“I think you’ve perfected it Y/N/N” Nat beamed at you,
“Learnt from the best Tsarevna”
Natalia leant across the table and quickly flicked the top of Tony’s head, waking him right up. He looked up groggily and scowled, eyeing Nat with annoyance, “what was that for?”
“For falling for Y/N’s influence”
He stared at you while you smiled back innocently, “still think it’s unlikely?” you asked sweetly and he grumbled, blaming it on his lack of sleep rather than just you.