Caged
Chapter 16
Natasha woke with a start realizing that the spot beside her was empty once again, she reaches over to find that the sheets were still warm.
“Wanda?” She calls out, looking around the room with sleep blurred eyes. A sound from the bathroom draws her attention to the partly open door and relief washes over her enough to fall back into her pillow.
“I’ll be right out.” She hears the witch call back.
She doesn’t respond only curls into the pillow further, tugging the blankets up around her face.
Wanda comes out of the bathroom and stares at her for a moment. “Are you going to stay in bed all day, or are you going to get up - we have been missing our training lessons.”
She was right, they had missed most of their training lately – most of which was beyond their control – but they were back now, might as well get back to normal – if that was even an option at this point. Natasha groans into the pillow at the thought that she’d done irreparable damage to their dynamic. She didn’t want anything to feel forced.
“I’m going to go.”
That catches her attention; she pulls herself into a sitting position, eyes searching Wanda’s face. For once though the younger woman remains stoic, a trait usually reserved for herself.
“Get that look off your face,” Wanda says as she pulls a hand through her hair.
“Is it always going to be like this?” Nat blurts out before she could think about it – though if she wanted this to work maybe communicating her worries would help.
“If you keep looking at me like I’m broken then yes, it is,” Wanda answers surprising them both.
Nat’s brows pull into one another, confusion outweighing anything else.
“The sad thing is in my incredibly limited experience in this life – I have more than you in some ways. You were trained to use your body in ways that most people couldn’t imagine. You were trained not to equate love to touch, and I get that I do. However – “ She starts pacing and Nat knows better than to interject. “It doesn’t excuse what you did – for me, nothing will.” She looks to Nat and the spy can’t hold her eyes.
“No, look at me!” Wanda demands, and the control in her voice has Natasha wondering If she had a choice in turning eyes back to her or not.
“I’ve cried, I’ve been mad, I’ve reconciled your actions to us not actually being together.” She sighs. “But we were, almost and someone else in my position may say fuck you and walk away.”
Nat’s breath stalls in her throat at that.
“But I’m selfish and I know damned well that you love me – that you hurt yourself in a way no one else will. So yes, I forgive you. Yes, I still want to be with you. But Natasha if you look at me like that one more time I’m going to scream.”
She shifts on the bed and starts to reply but it became apparent that the little witches’ tirade was not finished. “You fucked up, but we’re adults in a world that isn’t black and white – so we’re going to do the adult thing and work past it. Build trust and be happy damn it.”
“I don’t.” Nat resists the urge to yell when she’s interrupted again.
“You don’t derive it? There are worse things you’ve done that the world has forgiven you for – the ones that matter. I almost helped end the world – as mistakes go, we’re all drowning. So drown with me, and promise it’ll always be with me.”
She only stares at her, wondering how in the hell she was still lucky enough to have her love.
Nat pulls herself from the bed as tears fill the younger woman’s eyes, making her way to her. “Do I just say okay here, or would you like something else?” There was a smile pulling at her lips, though she’d not sure how well a joke will be perceived.
“Just kiss me.” Wanda pleads voice quieter than it had been since she started in on Nat.
“That I can do.”
She’d have to have her say on this, but right now she thinks Wanda may kill her should she try, so she leans in and kisses her gently.
“Thank you,” Wanda says when she pulls back. “Now, I’m going to go and get changed – meet me in the training room?”
“Whatever you want.”
Wanda pressed a quick kiss to her lips before making her way out of the room. Nat Stares after her long after she’d out of sight after she hears the door to her room close and it takes her a moment to get herself moving.
Having forgone a shower where she’d just need another after working out with Wanda Nat makes her way into the training room moments after Wanda. The younger woman was shrugging out of the sweater she’d thrown over her workout gear.
“Ready to have your ass kicked?” She might as well do as Wanda wanted, settle into how they usually were with one another.
“Hah, you’re cute if you think you can.” Wanda of course knew that she had nothing on Natasha’s hand-to-hand skills, but the woman had been training her well. “I’ve got a good teacher remember?”
Nat walks to the center of the sparring mat, already stretching out her limbs when Wanda starts her own stretch. Before she’d always keep her eyes trained on anything but the pulling muscles and toned stomach of the little witch, but now she took her in entirely.
“What’cha looking at?” Wanda grins over at her as she pulls her arms over her head, stretching out her shoulders.
“My exceptionally beautiful girlfriend?” Nat says, knowing exactly the words she’d chosen.
Wanda arches a brow and a smile pulls over her face that she seems to have no control over. “Bout’ damned time.” She says before shaking her arms out.
“You know what this means?” She asked coming to a fighting stance in front of Natasha.
Nat settles into her own stance. “How about you tell me?”
Wanda takes a quick step forward, throwing a closed fist that Nat pushes away easily. “If you mess up again, not that you’re officially mine, I’ll destroy you.” She grins and uses the distraction to catch Nat in the side with a kick.
She sounds the discomfort at the hit and moves back, stopping another one. Okay, so she was still a little angry. If this was how she wanted to let that out, Nat would let her. She moves quickly, side-stepping another hit coming for her, and takes Wanda’s legs out from under her with a low kick.
“Come on, I trained you better than that.” She prods, provoking her further.
“You asked for it.” Even with the warning, Nat wasn’t ready for the red mist that pulls her ankles together, throwing off her balance enough to have her crashing to the mat.
“Since when are powers allowed?” She glares up at Wanda who’s standing above her looking very smug.
“Guess you’ll have to figure out how to work around them.” Wanda quips, moving back quickly as Nat rolls and climbs to her feet again.
“Alright then.” Nat had always held back with her – but she has a feeling that is about to change.
Wanda comes for her again, and she narrowly avoids the punch the with threw, so much so that she feels the wind from it against her cheek. Her eyes flash to Wanda’s for a beat then she grabs her arm before it can be pulled back, and steps around her twisting it back.
“Ah.” Wanda winces and tries to pull out of her grasp but Natasha uses her free arm to wrap around her chest holding her in place.
“You sure you don’t want me to hold back?” She husks out, lips almost close enough to her ear to touch. Wanda lets out a barely audible moan and leans her head back into the spy – giving into the hold she had on her.
“Or is it something else you want?” Nat teases, tightening the hold she has on her.
“Maybe it is,” Wanda replies pulling all attention away from the sparring match.
Nat relaxes into her, loosening the grip she has on the arm she has trapped between them. She realizes a second too late that is exactly the reaction Wanda had been searching for as She spins out of her grip, stepping back to put distance between them.
“Unfair,” Nat says through a breath and a shake of her head.
“Mm, I think you’re just losing your touch.” Wanda grins and for the first time in days, she feels like they are them again.
“Challenge accepted.” Nat lunges forward and starts in on her. They trade hands for a while, neither making any solid hits, holding back where there might be one. When Natasha is starting to gain the upper hand, with sweat dripping, and chest heaving, Wanda uses her powers to float back, out of her reach.
She repeats the movement when Nat steps into another attack. On the third failed attempt she throws her hands up.
“Alright, alright, you win.”
Wanda laughs when Nat leans over, hands on her knees sucking in air.
“Like I said, losing your touch.”
Nat looks up to her, through the strands of hair that had fallen loose from its tie as they fought. “Or you’re just getting better.”
“There’s that too,” Wanda says as her feet contact the floor again. “Though I can’t rely on seduction in the field to get me out of tight spots. Woks well with you though.”
“What can I say.” Nat starts as she pulls herself upright again. “You know how to get under my skin.”
“Oh, I’m aware. Black Widow isn’t so scary anymore.”
Nat chuckles and shakes her head again. “We should go get something to eat, I’m starving now.”
Nat had wanted to call Maria earlier but had held off, considering the way she’d left them the night before she wasn’t even sure the woman would answer her call. She knew if something happened that they should know about she’d contact them – or someone on the team at the very least.
She hated that she was there and the man that had been tormenting them for weeks was hold up in some cell somewhere, not giving them a scrap of information. What was his paly? Information could lessen his sentence – endear them to him in some way, or so they would make him believe.
“Still no word?” Clint asks as he enters the common area.
Nat looks up from where she was curled into the end of the couch closest to the bay windows, book in hand that she hadn’t even opened. “Nope, nothing yet.”
“She’ll call.” He reassures her. She watches as he looks around. “Where’s Maximoff?”
“Out with vision.” She answers.
“How are things on that front?”
A small smile pulls across her lips before she quotes Wanda’s earlier words, “We’re drowning together.”
Bewilderment crosses his face. “I’m sorry, did the little witch mess with your brain? Should I call someone?”
Nat rolls her eyes, “Things are…” She pauses, turning over the book in her hand. “Good.”
“Ayy, thank god. You brood normally, I was worried there’s be a permanent scowl on your face… Much like the one you’re giving me now. I should go.” He nods once. “Yeah, I’m gonna go.”
“But we were having so much fun with the scowling.” She yells after him.
Maria doesn’t call for nearly twenty-four hours and when Nat answers she knew the news wouldn’t be something she wanted to hear just by the way Maria’s voice trailed off.
“What do you mean we have to let him go?” she asks loudly, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room that had gathered together for lunch.
“Excuse me, what?” Tony pipes up, leaning back in his chair.
Nat was already switching her phone over to the speaker so the room could hear. “Did you catch that?”
“Yeah,” Maria replies before continuing. “Bykov set up a contingency in the event of his detention. His connections run deep and this morning a threat came through; either we release him by 5 pm or multiple people will die.”
“Who’s to say this isn’t just a scare tactic?” Clint asks, leaning into where Nat is holding the phone to the room.
“I am. All government officials from around the world. If this list of targets are all killed… War will follow.”
A sense of dread fills the room as all go silent, and Nat bows her head.
“Let him go.” She says simply.
Tony shakes his head, “No, we can protect these people. We’ve done a lot more of a hell of a lot less information.”
Nat sucks in a breath ignoring Tony altogether. “We’ll get him another way – when we know people won’t die for it.” Her eyes meet Wanda’s from across the table and she’s relieved to see the thoughts reflected to her.
“I want to be there,” Wanda says not taking her eyes off of Natasha’s.
“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Steve adds, speaking for the first time since the call started. He leans back in the chair enough to look to Wanda who’s seated behind him.
Wanda’s head tilts in a way that Natasha knows she’s about to fight back, she starts before Wanda can. “I agree with Steve, I’m sorry Wanda, but if he’s this organized – to have a plan if he was caught – then we won’t allow him to include any of us in that plan.”
“Nat…”
“I’m not allowing any of you to be there – if it’s a trap then we’re not springing it,” Maria interjects before anyone else can throw their hat into the ring. She hardly had the patience to deal with an arguing group of avengers on a good day, least of all when she was running on no sleep at all.
“Maria. how can you...” Tony started before frowning at the phone. “Did she just hang up on us? She just hung up on us. Son of a.”
“Tony, she’s right, we’ve fallen for more traps from this guy than we have anyone else.” Steve interrupts.
“Is this interrupt Tony day? Was there a memo I missed?” Tony says looking around the room.
“How is one man giving us, us, the run-around. The god of mischief was easier to catch!” Clint says, driving the tone of the conversation.
All eyes turned to Clint because he was right. How was one man always ten steps ahead of them? They’d already faced so much more than him. Aliens, gods, a psychotic robot that had some of Tony’s worst traits. That alone should mean there was nothing they couldn’t face.
“Because we’ve been following his breadcrumbs,” Nat speaks up. “We’ve been waiting on him for everything – maybe it’s time we make him come to us?”
Tony stands, hands finding his pockets as he begins to pace. “We don’t need him to come to us because we’ve already got him!”
“We’ve been through this Tony; we’re not risking innocent lives to hold him.” Steve brow told of his annoyance with having to repeat himself.
“Yes, yes I know. But what if we were to let him go without, you know, letting him go.”
“Is everyone going crazy?” Clint asks.
“A decoy you mean?” Nat asks already working on a plan.
“Ding ding, winner Romanoff.” Tony’s hands clap together before pointing to her. “We use a decoy. I seem to remember a nifty little mask that Agent May had an unfortunate run-in with.”
“This could work.” Nat agrees.
“And who are we going to get to wear the mask? We would need someone that knows him well enough to fake being him – someone that was the same build.”
“I’m sure someone can be found that’s willing.” Nat shrugs, knowing that they needed to choose an action plan, or at the very least not stand around arguing about it. “I’m calling Maria back – you all get to work on getting to the closest targets on that list.”
Three hours later an agent that matched Bykov’s height and build slid the mask onto his face as Natasha, Wanda, and Natasha stood by. Something felt off to Natasha, but she chalked it up to not knowing exactly if this guy could pull it off.
“You know what to say?” She asks again, from her spot leaned near the exit to the room.
“Yes, Agent Romanoff, I know what to say – I know how to move – and I know when to call you lot in to save the day.”
“Funny.” Maris deadpans. “You know this could end with you dying right, maybe save the jokes.”
“Where would be the fun in that.” Agent White answers with a grin that is not his own – one that makes Natasha’s stomach drop. She looks away, doing her best to keep the discomfort she felt hidden.
“Wanda, are you ready?”
That got Nat’s attention, she looks up to the witch, searching her face for any sign that she didn’t want to do this. She finds nothing of the sort though, where others would show fear, the spy only observes determination. Wanda nods once, jaw set in a hard line.
“He won’t keep me out.”
“Good. Let's go.” Maria walks out of the room and Wanda starts to follow, however, a hand on her arm stops her. “Nat, I’ll be okay.” She tries.
“I know you will, but I also know that you’ll stay in there until you get what you need – Just.” Nat sighs. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“While your worry is sweet, it’s not needed.” Wanda offers her a small smile but doesn’t lean in for the kiss that Natasha wants. They’d stepped off the rocky path, but things were nowhere near smooth.
She follows as Wanda picks up her pace to catch up to Maria and settles herself behind the glass in the adjacent room to where Bykov is being held – she’d go through the damn pane if need be. She looks to the door as Maria comes into the room with her.
“Will this work?”
“It’s all we have. If Wanda can’t pull out the information, we need with her powers then I’m going to wonder what exactly this guy is. She got to a god if you recall.”
Nat nods. “I recall.”
“Here we go.” The other woman straightens, arms tightening over her chest as the door to the holding room opens and Wanda walks through it. Already staring the man down.