My World's On Fire, How About Yours?

Natasha watches as the blood spills onto the ground. She hasn’t shot anything in five years. It’s nice to know that her aim isn’t off.

“Romanoff!” Hill is still screaming at her, shaking her body. Maybe she thinks Natasha was possessed or something and was in a trance. Maybe she is. She’s standing over the body of her best friend. She should feel something.

But he isn’t her best friend.

“Romanoff!” Hill smacks her clear across the face. It stings and snaps Natasha’s attention to Hill, but she still keeps an eye, and her gun, on Steve.

“Romanoff. What have you done?” Hill’s eyes are wide and panicked. She really did try to communicate to her what she was going to do. But Hill never did know Steve as well as she did.

She didn’t know him well enough to know that he would NEVER call her Widow. He would ask her countless times why she kept going as Black Widow, even though that title was associated with the Red Room. He always told her she should change it. But the Black Widow title is a part of her. The Red Room shaped her in more irreversible ways than a name.

And not to mention, Steve knows his references. He makes a point to point out every pop culture reference he can. Natasha knows for sure he’s seen Wizard of Oz and Shrek hundreds of times. There’s no way he wouldn’t know what she was talking about.

The Steve on the ground starts to twitch and Natasha lowers her gun at him.

“Romanoff!” Hill is still yelling. “Romanoff, talk to me!” Hill turns around and finally sees what Natasha’s been looking at: a skrull lying dead on the ground.

“Holy shit.” She whispers. Satisfied that the skrull is actually dead, Natasha puts the gun back in its holster.

“We should probably search the place and then get out. I’m guessing that the skrull already notified the others that we’re here.”

“Yeah…” Hill says, sounding dazed. Honestly Natasha would be too if her mind wasn’t already shut off and running on instinct. Really Natasha’s mind has been shut off for a while now. Since they left Pepper’s cabin that is. Ever since she finished her talk with Pepper.

Natasha had no idea what Pepper wanted when she dragged her into the house right before they were about to go. It seemed urgent, but why did it only matter to her? Everything that was happening now was more of a her and Hill thing, instead of just a her thing. It probably had to do with Steve. Pepper didn’t really get a chance to talk to her one on one about him like she did with Hill. But still, why couldn’t she just talk to her in the car?

Pepper sat down on the couch and gestured to Natasha to sit down next to her.

Natasha didn’t even get to ask her what was happening before Pepper blurted out, “Are you and Maria friends?” That was the big thing Pepper wanted to know about?

Natasha snorted and said, “You could’ve just asked me this in the car. We’re not friends and I’m sure Hill would agree. It’s not a secret. We’re working together because we have to.”

“Were you two ever friends?” Why was Pepper so insistent on knowing if they were friends? It shouldn’t matter what they were in the past. All that mattered was the present. And in the present they hated each other.

“Yeah, I guess we were friends.”

“When?”

“When what?”

“When did you become friends?” Now Natasha wasn’t exactly sure what criteria that would be. Was it the first time they used each other’s first names? Or the first time they did something together that wasn’t kept track of on a white board in the break room? If the latter was true, then Natasha guessed that it must’ve been all the way back in 2007, about two years after she joined S.H.I.E.L.D and a year after her deprogramming and beginning of the feud with Hill.

Natasha would wake up early every morning, earlier than everyone on the ship. That was due to the serum not requiring her to sleep much and the frequent nightmares she had when she did sleep. So Natasha would be in the open gym every morning by herself.

It was relaxing. She enjoyed not being watched by everyone. She was truly happier in the shadows where no one could see her. She liked not being watched as if she were the entertainment.

But that day she wasn’t alone. Not even ten minutes into her routine, she heard the door to the gym opening. She whipped around to stare into the eyes of fucking Maria Hill.

They frowned and stared at each other but ultimately said nothing to each other. After the staring, Hill walked silently over to the locker room to put her stuff away. Natasha shifted her focus back onto the punching bag in front of her.

In all their competitions they never actually had a sparring fight. Maybe because there would blatantly be lots of people there, or maybe it would be such a final end to their fighting. Like they were saving that hallowed fight for last. That fight would be for all the marbles.

And the thing was that Natasha knew she would win the fight. How could she not? Trained since the age of three and had serum injected into her. No one could ever come close to her. And Natasha may hate Hill, but at least fighting with her gave Natasha something to do on this boring ship.

No one else in their right mind would ever want to pick a fight with the Black Widow. Honestly Natasha was confused that Hill didn’t let up even after she dropped her alias that time in Fury’s office. The very mention of the Black Widow usually sent people running for the hills, no pun intended, before the words even finished forming on her lips.

Natasha was halfway into her routine when she started hearing noises. Hill was grunting too loud. Natasha was used to silence. Hearing Hill huff and puff was annoying. Natasha made noises too but this was her gym, not Hill’s. There was no reason for Hill to be blowing enough hot air to take down all of the Three Little Pigs’ houses.

Natasha began to over exaggerate her noises. Whenever she would so much as move her arm, she would make a noise. See how Hill likes it.

Hill must’ve caught on, because soon Hill was practically yelling every second. Not one to be out done, Natasha started yelling too.

“Just come over here and fucking fight me already!” Hill shouted, turning to Natasha, arms already held up to spar. Natasha was fed up with Hill. She was sick of her demanding attitude. She was sick of the way that she carried herself: all high and mighty. She was sick of the way she kept getting promoted. She was sick that her entitled ass had a higher clearance level than she did. She was absolutely pissed whenever she would tell her that something was classified. Most of all she was done with her stupid noises and interrupting her morning and the only decent part of her day.

Fuck. Maria. Hill.

Natasha charged at her. She would wipe that stupid look off her face real quick. Natasha blitzed to the left of her, dodging a punch Hill sent her way. She tried to sweep her feet under Hill to take her out, but Hill jumped over her like a fucking jump rope. Hill was able to land a punch on her shoulder but that let Natasha grab her arm and throw her to the side. Hill rolled on the ground and popped back up.

Natasha ran at her again, this time aiming high instead of low. Hill grabbed her leg before it collided with her face. Natasha hooked her other leg under her arm so that when Hill threw her, she just twisted into Hill’s back, taking them both down.

They awkwardly rolled on the ground until Hill was lying stomach down on the ground with Natasha on top of her. Natasha was able to land a few punches into her head and side before Hill grabbed her legs with her thighs and did a hand spring off the ground, flipping them. What was happening? No one had done that before, that was more of a fake pro wrestling move than actual fighting. Granted Natasha had never fought as wild as this before, but the moves Hill was doing were ridiculous. But the annoying thing was they were working.

Now Natasha was the one on the ground and Hill was punching at her. Natasha dodged most of them, but not all. Hill was deceptively fast and she threw a mean punch. The ones that connected sent Natasha’s head into the ground. Finally, Natasha was able to grab her wrist, pulling Hill off of her. Hill jumped back up, as did Natasha. This bitch didn’t quit, did she? Didn’t she know it was a pointless fight? She wouldn’t win.

Again and again they went at it. Natasha would charge. They would do some fighting standing up. Then they would take it to the ground. Then the cycle would start all over again.

Natasha was pissed. She was the Black Widow. Who the fuck did this person think she was? Hill wasn’t taken at three years old. She didn’t kill her friends at five. She didn’t get passed around by hundreds of men when she was nine so that she could learn how to satisfy men properly. She wasn’t the KGB’s prized assassin by the age of eleven. No. She grew up probably in some American suburbs with her mom and dad. Maybe she even had a fucking hamster or a damn elementary school church festival goldfish. Then she decided to go into the military, like they weren’t starting wars where they didn’t belong and killing innocent people, just so she could brag to people that she deserved respect. It wasn’t fair. Natasha earned the right to this fight damnit! She wasn’t going to best Natasha in this fight! Natasha had lost so much in her life already; she wouldn’t lose this fucking fight too.

Something feral inside Natasha broke. Suddenly they weren’t in the S.H.I.E.L.D training gym, they were in a damp cellar in the Red Room. And Hill was just another girl Natasha had to fight to the death or else they would kill her. Win or die. It was a dog fight and Natasha had a leash tight around her neck. Win or die. Natasha could hear the click of a handgun putting a bullet in place as her handler pointed it at her head, daring her to end to fight in a draw. Win or die. Natasha was just a character in a game and that gun was the controller. Win or die. She did not live, she just existed, but at least she wasn’t dead. Win or die. Win. Die. Win. WIN. WIN! Natasha would WIN!

When they both got up again, Natasha charged, opting for a side round house kick. Sensing what Natasha was going to do, Hill stood ready to catch her leg. But Natasha saw that and turned in the air so that she hit Hill’s knees with her fist, leaving Hill kneeling on the ground.

Natasha then went to work, throwing well aimed punches at every part of her body. Each block Hill made fueled Natasha’s rage. She punched harder, faster.

She heard Hill’s shoulder crack. She kept going.

She bent Hill’s arms back until they were bowed. She kept going.

She smacked Hill’s face until blood pooled. She kept going.

Kill or die. Kill or die. KILL OR DIE. KILL OR DIE!

At one point, Hill was able to grab one of her arms and pulled her down. With Natasha’s head lowered, Hill head butted her. Hard. Shit, Hill had the world’s thickest skull. Natasha’s eyesight was so blurry that she couldn’t see Hill charging at her. Hill grabbed Natasha around the waist and threw them both into the wall.

Pain. Natasha was in so much pain. It looked like Hill was too because she wasn’t moving on the ground. Fuck. Natasha could’ve killed Hill. It was like when Natasha snapped, she lost all control over her body. Honestly the last few minutes of the fight were a blur. They were fuzzy images of blood that Natasha couldn’t see clearly.

The doctors said after the deprogramming that something like that would never happen again. And she believed them. She didn’t kill a single person she spared against while at S.H.I.E.L.D. But Hill… Somehow her brain told her that Hill was different. That she was a threat. She would’ve killed her if she weren’t thrown off. She should’ve killed her. She’d killed people by doing less.

But the scariest part was that her loss of control proved that the Red Room still had her under their hold. She was still theirs. They implanted a trigger so deep into core that the entire S.H.I.E.L.D medical staff didn’t even know it was there. How many more triggers were there?

“Truce?” Natasha coughed out.

“Done with your little temper tantrum?” Hill gargled out, her mouth filled with blood.

“Me? What the fuck was that?” Natasha knew she should apologize or explain what happened. Anything other than argue again. But what if Hill took her out of the field? No matter how much the fact irked her, Hill was in fact a superior officer. If she accepted blame for what she did, Hill would be able to throw her out of S.H.I.E.L.D even. She couldn’t go back to being freelance, not again. So she just needed to keep deflecting everything. But fuck why was she feeling so guilty?

“You didn’t fight fair so I didn’t fight fair. It was messy and frantic, but just messy and frantic enough to match what you were already doing.”

“Next time can we fight in the ring?” Natasha wanted to figure her out. Was she fighting badly because of her emotions or was Hill actually good? She should’ve beat Hill in an instant. Was Hill more than just a pencil pusher? Not to mention, Natasha needed to find out the trigger. She couldn’t go to the medical staff, so it was up to her. She couldn’t have another break like that again, or next time Hill won’t be able to get back up.

“And fight like actual normal people?”

“I guess.”

“Remember that normal sparring doesn’t usually end up with someone dead.” Did Hill know what her training was telling her?

“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t mean to try to kill you. But I promise I will control it better.” This was Natasha trying to apologize. It was honestly the closest she had ever come to saying “I’m sorry” in her life. It still felt weird to say. Widows weren’t made to take blame; she was taught that collateral damage was a way of life. Appologizing made you weak. Not to mention her slip up of admitting she wasn’t 100% in control of her actions. But something in her told her that she needed Hill to know that she didn’t want her badly hurt. That it was more important that Hill trusted her than staying silent but blame free.

“Fine. It’s a deal then.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Considering I can barely breathe right now and I’m pretty sure my nose is broken, I’m going to have to go with a later date.”

“You may be valid.” Natasha slumped against the wall. She was going to have some terrible bruising tomorrow. They just sat there in silence, trying to catch their breath.

“It’s almost 7.” Natasha said, rolling over to Hill. “People will start coming into the gym in like 20 minutes.” Hill groaned, but managed to pry her body off the ground. She lowered her hand down to Natasha. Natasha eyed it suspiciously.

“I’m not going to flip you.” Hill rolled her eyes. “Just take my damn hand.” Natasha did and Hill pulled her up to her feet. Natasha let out a low grunt as a thank you. They walked over to the locker room together.

Natasha pulled out her bag of shower shit and walked into the communal shower. She striped her bloody and sweaty clothes off her body. Natasha looked over to see Hill struggling to grab her sports bra. Natasha cringed when she realized that Hill probably couldn’t use her arms very much. According to a fuzzy memory of her mind screaming at her to go for Hill’s arms, she definitely tried to snap them at some point during the fight.

“Here, let me,” she said, moving next to her. Hill didn’t put up a fight, so she pealed her bra off her body. After the bra was off, Hill raised her eyebrows at her. Natasha followed her gaze down to her shorts. Well she did almost break her arms, helping her get undressed wasn’t that bad as a form of reprimands. So Natasha pulled down Hill’s shorts and thong, helping her step out of them.

“Don’t tell me you want me to wash you too.” Natasha groaned when Hill looked at her again. Surely she should be able to get back to her own damn shower now.

“I told you that you went too far. Maybe I went far too, but you went farther. My nose is still bleeding.” Sure enough, blood was still trickling down from her nose onto the white shower tile and down the drain. “Not to mention my arms are almost useless.”

“Fine.” Natasha walked over to her soap.

“I have my own stuff.” Maria nodded over to her collection of soaps sitting near her. “And I expect the works. There better not be any blood or dust left on my body.” Natasha rolled her eyes but walked over to her stuff. She dumped a large heap of lavender soap onto a washcloth and started scrubbing Hill’s body.

Now Natasha has taken her fair share of showers with women, but she’s never actually had to wash any of them. Showers with others were usually a quick fuck. Natasha would slam the woman up against the wall as her fingers pounded inside of her, her other hand holding her back against them wall. Really the only time she would touch any other part of her was when the woman’s legs would buckle and she’d have to grab her before she hit the ground.

But this, this was a new sensation. She never took the time to feel the smooth, wet skin under her fingers. The way her hands traced every single curve. And the legs. Those legs went on forever.

Natasha’s back was hurting so she didn’t want to bend down to wash them, so she grabbed one and placed it over her shoulder as she squatted a little. Hill gave her a confused look but eventually just closed her eyes again. Natasha rolled the wash clothed from her ankle to her thigh, just stopping short of her pussy.

Natasha knew very few people who went completely bare like she did. Then again the Red Room removed most of the hair on her body, so it really wasn’t a self-made choice.

Natasha rubbed the washcloth gently inside her thigh where there was a big gash dripping a tad bit of blood. Her thighs were so soft, yet firm. She could feel the muscle on her body. Curves of muscle on top of the curves of her body. Damn if Natasha didn’t appreciate a beautiful woman. If this were anyone other than jackass Hill, Natasha would be drooling a little.

After washing the legs, she dragged the wash cloth up her hips. She circled around her body to her ass. It definitely had the least amount of damage. There were no cuts or bruising there: just smooth curves. She trailed it up her back, drawing it up her spine. Her back held lots of scars that weren’t caused from their fight. But then again, that was the norm for the job they were in.

Natasha went back to the front of her body. Her chest was bruised and a purple color. She could have cracked ribs. Natasha pushed on them a little, and watched as Hill’s eyes twitched in pain. Definitely a few cracked ribs.

Natasha washed her tits and made sure not to press too hard on them. They were just enough to hold in her hand perfectly, nipples a rusty brown color and erect from the cool air in the room as opposed to the warm water of the shower. Fuck Natasha needed to get laid soon, she had almost forgotten how good it felt to have a pair of tits in her hands.

She trailed past the boobs to the clavicle. Hill tilted her head back, giving Natasha room to wash her neck. That was a sign of trust. Even for animals, offering the inner neck was only to be done for the trusted. That was where the carotid artery was, the most important artery. One nick to it and you would be dead in seconds. Hill was showing her that she trusted her, which was a little confusing since she could’ve killed her just a few minutes ago. Nonetheless, Natasha made sure to gently go over her neck to show that she could be trusted. She wasn’t going to hurt her. The Natasha that lost control wasn’t her.

Natasha could feel the fluttering of Hill’s heartbeat under her hand. She could feel it start to slow down after it was clear that Natasha wasn’t going to hurt her. Wasn’t going to take advantage of her. Natasha could feel her own heartbeat slow as well. It was calming, to know that Hill didn’t see her like a monster, even though she had every right to. The Red Room wanted her to be feared by all. Yet here Hill was, exposing the most vulnerable part of her body to her, and her heartbeat was steady. She wasn’t scared. It was almost like a slight to the Red Room.

Now Natasha moved on to the arms. She made sure to be the most careful where it was swollen and purple. Which seemed to be most of her arms. Hopefully they were just strains, but she might’ve fractured something too. She can feel a weird bump in her left shoulder. Her shoulder must’ve popped out.

“I’m gonna put your shoulder back in.” Natasha murmured in her ear. “This will hurt.” Maria didn’t even open her eyes. Natasha put one hand on her chest and one on the shoulder and quickly snapped them into place. Hill swore and scrunched her eyes up harder. That should help with her arm movement.

Natasha got a different wash cloth for her face and gently scrubbed at the scratches and cuts there. The eyes looked fine now but they would start to form purple and swell tomorrow. She puts the washcloth around her nose, trying to feel it. It definitely felt broken. Hill opened her eyes and placed her hand over Natasha’s, taking the washcloth from her.

Natasha took her shampoo and lathered it in her hair, getting out all the blood and dirt from it. It smelled nice, like vanilla. Natasha always loved the flavor of vanilla, chocolate or strawberry were always too sweet for her.

After Natasha finished washing Hill, she went back to her own shower. She was trying to get a cut she knew she had on her back, but it seemed like it was dead center. And although Hill didn’t try to snap her arms, they still didn’t have their full range of motion.

“Here,” Hill whispered to her. “I can do it.” She handed Hill the washcloth filled with her honey scented soap. She shivered at Hill’s gentle touch. This was such an odd feeling to her. Normally when she was naked with another person things wouldn’t be so gentle. The only feeling on her back would be nails scraping down, tearing it up. Such a contrast to now, where it was almost like Hill was repairing her back.

She felt her fingers drag up her back in a smooth line. Hill was probably looking at her tattoo. It was a long vine of roses with a lamb in the middle. She got it to remind herself of her debt she needed to pay. The debt to the little boy on fire. That small innocent lamb she didn’t protect. But now she would be like the roses, fighting to keep the lamb safe.

After their shower and change of clothes, they parted their separate ways.

“Wait!” Natasha called out before Hill could leave. “Would you want to get coffee in the common room?” And that was the start of their relationship. Friendship? Partnership? Natasha didn’t know. But after that they would spar every day, never again was it so wild and uncontrolled though. They would then take a shower, no longer would they wash each other, and drink coffee in the common room. It was…nice.

It wasn’t until much later that she found out that Hill’s normal morning routine used to be going on the treadmill and doing free-weights in the other gym. She just came to the training gym that day because the other gym was getting cleaned that morning. That meant that Hill changed her entire routine for the rest of her S.H.I.E.L.D days just so she could spar in the mornings with Natasha. And Natasha knew how anal she was about scheduling, so that was a big deal. But Hill trusted her. Like actual trust and Natasha had to prove that Hill could trust her as well.

And so Natasha told Pepper about that day, to prove that their old rivalry wasn’t what it used to be. Granted she left out the shower part and the part where she almost killed Hill. But the other stuff still stayed in.

Pepper raised her eyebrow at her and asked, “So then what changed?”

“What do you mean?” Natasha was trying to figure out how much Pepper knew. If she meant why they weren’t close anymore or the change after Budapest.

“I know it was you who called Tony, don’t even try to deny it.” Pepper glared at her. “No one else would have his number. And don’t blame him, he never told me who called him. I just remember waking up to him nudging me and telling me that I had to check on Maria that very instant.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Natasha bluffed. She was hoping Pepper wouldn’t talk about that night.

“Natasha. I need to know you’re telling the truth and lying won’t help your case.”

“Fine, I was with Hill before you were.”

“Good. And now I need you to listen to me very clearly. I don’t know what happened then and Maria wouldn’t tell me specifics. When I pushed, she just said it was a bad breakup. But you have to know that never have I never seen Maria Hill look that way. Did you know that when I came over, she was unconscious on the ground? I had to do a sternum rub on her until she was awake again. If that didn’t work, I would’ve had to do CRP on her. I would’ve had to crush my best friend’s sternum in half to try to get her blood pumping again. I was so fucking scared.

“She looked like absolute shit, worse than any war. And Maria Hill, the strongest woman I’ve ever met, cried in my arms for most of the night. I swore I would hurt whoever did that to her. Now the two of us are friends, you’re almost like a sister to me and I love you very much, which is the only reason why I haven’t smacked you into the high heavens. But Maria was my best friend and she deserves so much better. So if you try to pull anything on her at all, I swear to all the gods, Natasha, you will not be welcome back into this house. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, ma’am. I promise I wasn’t going to do anything.” Natasha nodded her head. Her eyes were threatening to pop from her skull. Fuck. She knew it was bad. After Hill kicked her out she had the craziest look on her eyes. She was already holding a bottle of Brandy. But Hill never drank that much. She never got more than a little drunk. Natasha wanted to go back into her apartment but she thought she might make things worse. Fuck.

She ended up calling Tony at 3am at night. He picked up on the third ring and Natasha almost cried in relief.

“Tony?” Natasha’s voice was cracking on the phone. Gods she fucked up. Tony was going to kill her. She knew that he and Hill were getting closer ever since she stated working at SI. Tony was going to hate her. Not as much as she hated herself. A fucking monster.

“Nat, what’s up?” Tony asked, sleep still in his voice.

“I’m so sorry, but Pepper needs to go over to Maria’s like now. As fast as she can. Please, Tony.” Natasha begged.

“Wait, what’s this about?”

“Please just get Pepper. Make sure she has that device that can override locked doors. I’m sorry.” Natasha hung up the phone. She paced in the hallway of the apartment. She tried listening to the door, but took her ear up after she heard a bunch of crashes. There was nothing she could do. She caused this and she couldn’t fix it. Always causing collateral damage. She would always be the monster the Red Room made her into.

She hid outside the window, next to the door, when she heard footsteps approaching.

“Maria?” Pepper called out, banging on the door. “Maria, honey, are you okay?” No one came to open the door.

“Maria, I’m going to come in!” Pepper announced and unlocked the door. Once Natasha saw that Pepper was in the apartment, she ran. She ran as far as she could before her legs gave out from under her. Fuck what did she do? Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! She was a monster. She was a monster.

“I’m glad we understand each other,” Pepper said, snapping Natasha out of her thoughts. “You can go see Steve now. Have a safe trip.” Natasha nodded and got up on shaky legs. Her mind was empty. She couldn’t think. She just walked into the car and clicked on her seat belt. She barely heard Hill asking her a question.

But now Natasha has something else to think about. Steve was a skrull. She knew that the real Steve would never abandon his friends like that. He started a war just to get Bucky back. He wouldn’t do that only to peace out to the past when Bucky needed him most. Not to mention when everyone else needed him too. Plus, Steve loved the present. Why would anyone want to go back in time anyway?

Natasha pokes around in a few drawers, grabbing any papers that looked like they might be of some use. Nothing screams at her that anything’s wrong.

“Where do you think the real Steve Rogers is?” Maria asks, walking into the room. “Do you think he’s still in the past?”

“Nah, I think they’re probably holding him somewhere in this time frame.” She replies, looking at a clearly photo shopped picture of a middle aged Steve and Peggy. “And he’s not old. They probably grabbed him when he came back from the time jump. The skrull probably made this cover story so that people wouldn’t hold him to his usual patterns. If this Steve was off, the skrull could just blame it on being older.”

“Pepper says that Skrull Fury and Skrull me are with Parker right now. Apparently a whole mess happened this summer with a fake superhero. We should probably get Parker somewhere safe in case they try using him as bait.”

“Yeah I was thinking we should tell a couple of people what’s going on so no one gets duped by skrulls impersonating someone. I know we told Pepper we would come back, but going to a hotel while we figure stuff out seems like a better bet. I don’t want to her and Morgan or any of our friends in danger.” That and Natasha isn’t sure if she could face Pepper so soon. She’s never been more terrified of Pepper than she is now.

“Plus Pepper said that Skrull Fury and Skrull me visited the cabin a few times in the past so they know where it is. But before we do anything, I think we need to get Parker. They don’t seem to have much connection with any of the other Avengers, but they know all of Parker’s moves.”

“Back to New York we go then. Let’s get out of here.”

“Yes please, I wanted to leave since we got here.” Hill agrees, stuffing some of the papers into a backpack. Hill has a point; this house is weird. It’s not so much as it reminds her of Steve, Steve would never have half these decorations, it’s more that it seems to be a museum. Things seem even dustier than her apartment. Clearly only the skrull lives here.

Natasha is at the front door when she hears a crash behind her. Fearing the worst, she draws her gun out as she turns around.

“Hold your fire.” Hill says, holding her hands up in the air. “A picture just fell over.” Hill bends down to pick up a shattered frame. She holds it out for Natasha to see, then puts it back on the shelf. Through the cracks, Natasha can see it’s the picture of some guys in the desert. Natasha’s stomach twists just a little. Of course Hill would hate that picture.

Natasha stares silently at Hill. Should she ask if she’s okay? Would that be overstepping? The picture could’ve fallen on accident and Natasha could be reaching. It’s not like Hill ever told her the exact things that happened during her time in the army, but Natasha could put two and two together. Is she supposed to know if Hill never outright told her?

“Are you going to put your gun away? Or do you think I’m a skrull now too?” Hill asks, eyes still on Natasha. She didn’t even know her gun was still out. Natasha holsters her gun but doesn’t take her eyes off Hill. She’s looking for any signs that something’s off. Hill just raises an eyebrow at her. Maybe it really was just an accident.

“Come on.” Maria rolls her eyes, breaking the stalemate. She walks over to Natasha and starts undoing the locks on the door. She gets them all, but there’s still something near the bottom of the door. It doesn’t look like a lock. What is that? Why is it at the bottom? Hill’s hand is twisting the door knob. Fuck!

“Hill, wait!” Natasha shouts, but it’s too late. Hill turns to her, confused, door barely opened. Natasha throws herself at Hill, wrapping her arms all the way around her, propelling them through the door and off the porch.

The little unsuspecting yellow house surrounded by a white picket fence in the Maryland suburbs explodes into pieces behind them.