Ghosts
Morning came far too quickly for Natasha’s liking, with sleepy eyes she stares out the window next to Wanda’s bed, the sun had yet to rise, but the hue of the sky was much too light to still be in the later hours. This time she wouldn’t be able to stay in bed, revelling in the feeling of having someone that close, of having her that close. No, this morning she had to make the trip back to her room, throw her mission suit in a bag, with all the gear she already had packed.
She pulls from the bed, missing the warmth of it instantly – not that the compound was cold, but artificial heat stood in pale comparison to the warmth of another person. She stills when Wanda shifts in the bed, she hadn’t told her she was leaving that morning, and lord knew what would happen should the younger woman, with sleep-filled eyes, would ask her to stay.
She watches with a smile as the woman stretches, then curls into the blankets, completely unaware that Natasha had left the bed. She could have sent one of the boys to join Bucky, she thinks bitterly, she still could. She entertained the idea for a moment longer before shaking her head. She’d send her a message from the air, telling her she’d be back soon.
On her way out she runs into Tony, who just happens to be hanging out in the hanger bay with the quin jets.
“Do you ever sleep?” She asks, walking the distance from the door to the first jet. Her bag falls to the floor once she reaches him, an action he watches with an amused smirk.
“On occasion.” He supplies. “So, we’re headed to Romania?”
She eyes him. “Maria called you.”
“Mm she was concerned you’d try to make this a one-man mission. Or one-woman mission, as it were.” His smile reaches his eyes, begging her to argue.
“I’ll be meeting Bucky once I land.”
“Forgive my mistrust in the broken super soldier born of Hydra.” She knew it wasn’t personal, but more self-preservation on his part.
“You should trust more.” She counters, smirking at him.
“Says the spy who trusts no one.” He counters before reaching down to pick up her bag.
“I trust you.” She says as the man straightens catching her eye.
“Yes, well we know all of my flaws.”
He starts towards the jet and Nat follows him. In all their time together, even while she’d been undercover at Stark industries, she can’t recall a time when it had just been the two of them. However, this was to turn out the only thought on her mind was the fact that she’d not had near enough coffee to deal with Tony stark this early in the morning.
Once they are on the jet, she lets Tony take over the controls. She’s already called Maria by the time they were in the air, getting every detail she can before they head into this. A lot of what they’d done so far was blind, and she hated it. Someone had to know who was behind this, and what their motives were.
Once they’ve hashed out a rough game plan, one they’d run by Bucky on arrival, of course, a silence had fallen over the jet. Apparently, Tony didn’t do silence well.
“So, Pepper told me that I should apologize to you.” He spins in his seat, putting full focus on her.
“For?” Nat questions, knowing full well that he’s referring to his warning her off Wanda.
“Jumping to conclusions, assuming that you were just… I don’t want to be crude, but assuming that you were just going sleep with the little witch and not that you know.” He looks at her pointedly, apology written on his face. “Not that you actually cared for her. In my defence, I didn’t see that Pepper was into me for an embarrassing amount of time.”
“Tony, it’s fine. Quite sure everyone else knew well before I did.”
“You are Kinda slow sometimes. Gosh, how could you not have known.” He teases.
She rolls her eyes at him, “Denial.”
“Ahh, a dear old friend of mine. I get it.”
“How are things, by the way, with you and the little witch?” She could tell her was genuinely trying to make up for his assumptions earlier on – and despite what the world thought of Tony Stark, he was a good friend.
“Tentative.” She says, shifting in her seat to pull a leg up underneath her. “but after some prodding from Clint and Steve, mostly, they got me to a place I could at least accept the idea that happiness is, in fact, a possibility in my future. And Wanda.” She smiles, not missing the look on Tony’s face as he listened intently. “Wanda didn’t take my shit from the start; she didn’t let me run – pushed me in the way that couldn’t be ignored.”
“Redheads, know how to be persuasive.” He jokes, adding a light air to the weight settling in the jest.
“She’s more than I could have ever asked for, hoped for.”
“People like us," HIs finger points between them "The ones that arguably see ourselves as worse than we are. We get blessed from time to time. I got Potts, and her innate ability to deal with the chaos that is me. Maybe Maximoff is your Potts.”
“There’s only one Pepper Potts in this world, no one else could deal with you.” She throws back laughing gently at his reaction.
“You, miss Romanoff are a rude lady.”
“Truthful. There’s a difference.” She grins. They'd come so far since she'd been planted at Stark Industries so long ago.
He narrows his eyes before turning in the chair again, looking over his shoulder. “I’m glad you found someone to make you happy.” She smiles at him but doesn’t comment further. She had found someone to make her happy, and she would like to think she could offer the little witch happiness in return.
Once they arrived and met with Bucky -who was not surprised to see Stark tagging along -they went to the source of Bucky’s information. There’s be no waiting this time. Nat also got the feeling that Barnes didn’t want to be around Stark any longer than he had to if the looks he kept casting the man were any indication. She’d chalked it up to Tony’s somewhat abrasive personality.
The man hadn’t looked too happy to see Bucky walking in, two avengers in tow that were supposed to be dead up until that moment.
“Guess the guy was just crazy then.” Was the answer he’d tried to give them in an American accent, making a not so valiant attempt to remove himself from the situation altogether.
“Sit,” Natasha says, hand finding his shoulder before he can lift himself fully from the barstool they’d found him in. “You’re going to tell us everything you know, or I’m going to make you wish you had from the start.” Her fingers dig in with the last words and no one is surprised when he starts talking.
“Alright.” The man lets out a breath, visibly shaken. “His name is Bykov, I don’t know the first name. He’s a Russian.” His eyes flick between them, stopping on Nat. “Like you.”
“Get to the part where we can find him,” Tony interjects, not liking the way he’d said those last two words to his friend.
“All I know is he likes to frequent a bar in town, the type that will shoot people like you on-site before they let you in.”
“Ahh, so you must be an upstanding citizen to be allowed entry to such a place.” Tony deadpans.
“Never said I went there.” The man fires back, clearly angered at the implication.
“How do you know Bykov likes to go there then.” Nat takes a step back, they’d gotten him taking, and something holding on to the man-made her skin crawl.
“Word travels. Guy says he’s killed the Avengers and people take notice.”
Bucky who’d been standing back a bit narrows his eyes, a realization tugging at his mind. “People would take notice, enough to get back to the same people that are supposed to be dead.”
Nat catches on the second the last words fall from his lips, her head spins to the man, already taking a step back. It was too late. The sound in the room falls away, all eyes on them as guns are lifted. There’s be no easy way out of this one.
The smile on her face let her know that they were already in danger – walked into another damned trap – they were getting sloppy. The unmistakable sound of guns
“Hello, Natasha.” The American accent falls away, a thick Russian one in its place. “You know me, do you?”
Her head tilts, eyes searching the man's face.
“Can’t say I do. Care to enlighten me?” She kept her demeanour calm.
“Some say I look just like my father.” He stands from the stool then, towering over her, intensity staring down at her. “You may remember the day he died. October 15th, 2000.”
She’d never seen his father's face. But she remembers the sobs escaping the man when he knew what was coming. He’d been her final assignment before graduation.
Her mouth opens but closes again a moment later, there was nothing she could say to this man for what she’d done but what he was doing now – trying to kill the avengers – for what she’d done all those years ago, it wasn’t right. 3
“Nat?” Tony starts to ask more, but Bucky’s hand on his shoulder stops him.
“Not now.” He knew of the red room, and what they were capable of, the methods that they’d used to train the girls that suffered through that program. There’s no way Nat would want to talk about any of it.
“So, what this is revenge?” She flipped back from her horror at the fact that the man she’d been forced to kill had a son at the time – probably no older than she was when her finger had squeezed at that trigger like it was a normal thing, snuffing out a man's life as a test. It was despicable.
“Oh, it’s so much more than that.” He sneered, taking a step towards her.
“How about you tell me what it is then because it seems like a scared little man that wants revenge for his dead daddy. You want revenge? Go after the red room, they pulled him from the streets, an innocent man as a test.” It killed her to be saying those things, to act like what she had done was so simply passed off on the Red Room. She felt entirely responsible and there was nothing she could do to take those actions back – but giving in and showing weakness is what would get them in trouble. It's what he wanted.
“Nat, we’re outgunned here,” Tony says hand already at the ready to call in the suit. This was supposed to be a simple meet with a low-level guy.
“Do you really think I’d just let you walk away?” He looks around the room that’s filled with his men. “Do you really think you can get out of this one?”
She nods. “If you know me as well as you think you do, then you should know I could get out of here without the help of these two.”
“So cocky.” Bykov nearly yells, visibly holding back his anger as his blue eyes bore into Natasha.
“I’ve had enough.” Tony had called in his suit moments ago. It came flying through the door, sending the old wood splintering in every direction, distracting the other men in the room long enough for him to get the gloves on, firing off a couple of shots. Bucky flew into action as well, blocking bullets with his arm. A shot directed at Tony is blocked and he nods his thanks at Bucky before the rest of his suit joins the party.
“Alright boys, showtime.”
Bykov immediately sets in on Natasha who is surprised at the level of skill he displayed. He’d been trained – much the same as she had after the Red Room by the KGB.
“Until next time, Natasha. Maybe I’ll take what you love this time.” She knows the look on her face betrays her and worry takes over at the threat. He would know about Wanda, or at the very least how much she meant to one another. He’d been watching at the base, taunting them through the cameras.
She loses him in the fight, but figures that was the plan, why else would he have surrounded himself with so many men It was to keep them distracted while Bykov slipped away.
No, this was not revenge. It was payback. He’d wanted her there, wanted her to see his face. Now, she was sure she’d never forget it.
By the time the dust in the bar settles, the rancid smell of different alcohols all melded together in a puddle behind the bar stings at her nose as she sucks in a deep breath. Nat straightened, having taken out the last of them with a quick punch. She could have let him run away, but the finality of the last man hitting the floor was better.
Sometimes she thinks people underestimated them – two dozen untrained men with guns could do some damage but firing wildly meant there were more casualties than there needed to be, all on their side. That’s not to say they weren’t tired, bruised and bleeding. They were standing, that is all that mattered.
“You know, I’m really getting tired of these attacks. How hard is it to simply meet a sketchy guy in a bar, he tells you what you need to know, and you walk away?” Tony says after his mask pulls up, revealing the annoyance on his face.
“Ha, keep dreaming pal.” Bucky laughs and Nat can’t help but smile.
“We need to get back. We know who he is now, and we can work on a plan.” The boys both nodded at her, the smile had faded from her face and was replaced with worry. He would go after Wanda, there was no doubt about it.
“She’ll be safe.” Tony attempts to ease her mind. “FRIDAY was on high alert the second he threatened her.”
“Still, I’d – “ Her words trail off.
“You’d rather protect her yourself; I get it. Not like she’s not in the most secure facility ever.”
She nods as Tony turns to Bucky.
“Alright old man, you’ve been made, and there will be a target on your back – you should come stateside.”
It had taken a bit of persuasion from them both to get Bucky to agree to come back home, but he’d relented eventually. They were right, as capable as he was – he did not need to be taking on whatever forces Bykov had behind him. Especially not alone.
On the jet Nat was suddenly hot with everything that had just happened, the man they were facing, why he was so hell-bent on their destruction – her pain. It washed over her like a wave, siphoning all that she had left. She pulls herself to the back, phone already pressed to her ear. She sighs when the voice mail picks up instead of Wanda.
“Hey, little witch.” She pauses, searching for the right words. “We walked into another trap, but we know who we’re looking for now. He uh – well that’s a story for when I get back. I just wanted to call and talk to you. Machines good too, I guess. Uh, just stay safe until I get back okay? “I.” She pauses, letting out a breath of air.“I miss you.” Something else had almost come out, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words, not like that. Not out of fear of loss. She was weak and emotional “I’ll see you soon.”
When the wheels touch down Natasha is relieved, she’d stayed quiet the whole flight back sleep had evaded her despite her intention to. She wished she could say that meeting Bykov hadn’t affected her, that she could section off that part of her mind that still felt guilty for actions that were out of her control. She’d have been killed herself otherwise. Black and white wasn’t an option for her past, or for her future she suspected. They lived in seas of grey.
Wanda was waiting when she bolted from the jet, not giving the boys time to catch up to her. They’d want to meet with the team, go over what they knew and learn all they could about Bykov. And Nat? She wanted to hide away from it all.
“Hey.” Wanda looks at her with concern and she knew she’d received the message. “Want to talk about it?”
She shakes her head, no she didn’t want to talk about it. She wanted to end it.
“Alright.” She smiles softly and the older returns it the best she can. “Do you want to be left alone?”
Nat shakes her head again, eyes flicking around the room. She needed to get used to Wanda wanting to be there for her, and she wouldn’t do that by hiding herself away, tormenting herself with guilt. “I do, but maybe don’t let me?”
Wanda nods. “Okay, let's go.” She turns and starts walking away Nat instantly following her.
Normally she’d hate relinquishing any amount of control in her life, but she was exhausted in more ways than one – following Wanda’s lead and not acting like she was a wall of stone didn’t seem so bad. Maybe that thought should scare her, but she can’t find it in herself.
She’d assumed the witch would lead her to her own room, but it’s Natasha’s door that Wanda comes to a stop at. “You look exhausted, милый. Go, shower, I’ll come back with something to eat.”
Natasha nods, again, annoyed at herself for closing in so much. Her voice would shake and waver under the weight of turmoil swirling inside her. Not speaking was easier.
She watches Wanda step forward and leans into the kiss that’s pressed to her cheek. “Go, shower, wash away all that ugliness, I’ll be back soon.”
Natasha watches her walk away and of all the moments they’d been sharing, it was this one. This small interaction that she knew for sure. She loved this girl.