Chapter 4
It had taken some time, but Adam was true to his word and managed to sneak the three of them onto Sovereign without being detected. He’d had to destroy some of the controls, making it look like they malfunctioned, and requested help as they neared hangar that stored the Omnicrafts. Then, he and Tony had tampered with the engines system to make it implode right as they landed.
The glass casing shattered and the bottom of the Omnicraft caught fire. The two Sovereign who had been tasked with fixing the “malfunctioned” controls were distracted, and they shouted to Adam that they were going to go obtain something to extinguish the fires before it spread. Without waiting for a response, they ran off.
“That worked,” Gamora observed, sounding surprised.
“Some of the Sovereign aren’t…ah, as genetically enhanced as others,” Adam admitted, ushering them out of the Omnicraft and through a side door. “Believe me, not all Sovereign would be so gullible.”
He quickly led them down a dark hallway. Gamora was immediately behind him, followed by Tony, with Natasha bringing up the rear. She made sure Tony was in the middle of them. Out of all of them, he had the most reason to get back, the most worth fighting for. She’d be damned if he didn’t get back to his wife and daughter.
The one thing that might matter more than a mission. Makes everything easier. Even killing. You still think you’re the only monster on the team?
Finally, they reached a wall. Adam scanned his eyes in the small screen on it, and the sleek wall opened a small door. They all rushed inside. Natasha scanned her surroundings.
It was a sleek apartment, not unlike the penthouses at Stark Tower. There was an enclave in the wall with pillows and blankets, and papers tacked to the wall inside. When she peered closer, she saw they were clippings from newspapers from major cities like LA and New York and drawings. So maybe Adam hadn’t told them everything he knew and had been to Earth before.
~
Natasha blinks. She doesn’t remember falling asleep. One minute she was thinking about how they got to Adam’s quarters and the next she’s curled up in the blankets on his bed.
She scrambles out. She barely likes sleeping in someone else’s place, let alone in someone else’s bed.
“You fell asleep right after we ate,” Gamora says, walking over to her from the kitchen area. “Tony moved you onto the bed. I tried to stop him.”
“Thank you,” Natasha says sincerely. The Yaro Root Adam had prepared for them to eat was delicious and had made her feel comfortable and relaxed.
That made it dangerous. She makes a point to avoid eating it again if she can.
Gamora looks around. Tony is silently sitting at the kitchen table, reading something on a tablet Adam had provided him, and Adam is nowhere in sight. “I don’t like this. Being cooped up here. Who knows if he’s even telling us the truth? Ayesha and her advisors could be on their way here right now to kill us.”
“Then we kill them,” Natasha says gravely, looking at Gamora seriously. The green woman regards her carefully before nodding in agreement.
She looks over at Tony, who hasn’t acknowledged her since she woke up. “What’re you reading, Tony?”
“Just getting familiar with the tech here,” Tony answers, clearly captivated by whatever he’s reading. “Maybe also making a note of things to copy when we get back home.”
He doesn’t say it, but Natasha knows what he’s thinking, because she’s thinking the same thing. If they had half the technology the Sovereign did, they would have had a better chance fighting Thanos the first time around.
Adam hastily enters the room. The door morphs back into the wall just as quickly as it opened.
He triumphantly sets down gold fabric on the table in front of the sofa.
“What’s that?” Gamora asks.
“Clothes,” Adam answers. “I’m planning on having you all leave this room as little as possible, but if we need to, these will at least conceal you a bit. I brought gloves and shoes, too, so the only thing that will set you apart is your skin. But I brought hats and veils, too, so…just run fast.”
“Run fast,” Natasha echoes, fingering the fabric. It’s soft and lightweight; it will make running easier, if they need to do it.
The first rule of going on the run is don’t run. Walk.
“Look, this place isn’t perfect, I’ll be the first to admit that,” Adam contests. He sits down on his bed, resting his head in his hands, his elbows on his thighs. “Things aren’t as nice as they seem on the surface. Small things that disrupt perfection tend to freak people out and lead to chaos.”
“I’d hate to have seen what happened here when Thanos snapped his fingers and killed half of them,” Natasha muses. She grabs a long-sleeve tunic from the pile of clothes he’d brought. “This one should be loose enough that I could fit some knives under it. Do you think you could steal us a few weapons, Warlock?”
“What in the universe are you talking about?” Adam asks, standing up. “Killed half of the Sovereign? We haven’t had an attack here since I was created. I always stopped it.”
“But you were created nearly ten years ago,” Gamora says, crossing her arms. “Thanos used the Infinity Stones to wipe out half the universe. We told you this already.”
“I thought…” Adam shakes his head. “Well, whatever he did, it didn’t happen here. We still have everyone. That’s why I was on Vormir. I was looking for the Soul Stone.”
“That’s impossible,” Gamora argues.
“Then why didn’t you take the Soul Stone?” Tony interjects, walking over to them. He leans against the wall. “Our plan was to put the stones back in 2014 like they never left. The future of Thanos taking it to, you know—” He makes a slicing motion across his neck, nodding to Gamora, “—became the past. It should still be on Vormir.”
“Well it wasn’t, or else I would have never even encountered you,” Adam argues.
“Hold on!” Natasha exclaims, waving her hands. “You’re forgetting the biggest thing here. The snap didn’t affect Sovereign. Why is that?”
“It definitely affected Titan,” Tony says, shrugging. “Maybe because they’re technically not, you know, living beings? They’re made in a little cocoon and then pop out a butterfly. They skip the caterpillar part.”
“I feel like I should be offended,” Adam pipes.
“We’ll figure that out later. I want to get off this planet as soon as possible,” Gamora says. She looks at Adam. “So what’s your plan?”
“Training for all of you,” Adam answers, walking over to the tablet on the kitchen table. He taps it a few times before pulling up a hologram in front of all of them. It’s a layout of the building his quarters are in. He points to their room and a room on the same floor; both light up green. “This is my personal training room. Anyone who enters must be accompanied by me. It’s big. We can practice sparring, shooting, anything you aren’t familiar with. Much of the technology we have here you’re not used to.”
“We’re fast learners,” Natasha assures him.
“I hope so. Once you think you’re ready, we’ll make our way toward your planet. But it won’t be that simple. The High Priestess assigns me many missions, with little break in between. We’ll have to complete those as well so she doesn’t suspect anything. And the more missions I complete, the more people who will want to see me dead.”
“Oh, goody,” Tony says sarcastically. “We’ve all had people want to see us dead. Just another walk in the park.”
“We have to trust each other,” Adam says pointlessly. Natasha fights the urge to roll her eyes. No shit. “Many people will try and deceive us along the way. We have to know who our friends are.”
Who do you want me to be?
Well, how about a friend?
There’s a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers.
~
Sparring with Gamora is the most fun she’s had in quite awhile.
Her most recent fights with Steve weren’t fun. They were something to keep the both of them distracted, and neither of them were working towards a goal. If Scott had never shown up at the front gate, they probably would’ve accidentally killed one another.
But Gamora matches her step for step, hit for hit. She’s strong, stronger than Natasha, but Natasha has never let being a weaker species stop her from being weak. Natasha is quicker and lither, more flexible like the ballerina Madame B lied she would become, and she uses that to her advantage whenever she can.
“You’re going to have to teach me that move, where you get up on my shoulders and could choke me,” Gamora says, offering a hand to Natasha, who’s laying on the mat, breathing hard. “I never had anyone to practice stuff like that on. Nebula would never have let me do that growing up.”
“Only if you teach me how you land those triple roundhouse kicks,” Natasha agrees, letting Gamora pull her up.
They both chug their bottles of water. Natasha looks over at Tony, smirking. “How you holding up over there, Stark?”
“Never,” Tony pants, “better.”
He’s running on a futuristic treadmill, just a floating piece of equipment with a large screen in front of it. The platform he’s running on changes speeds the screen presents virtual threats, like aliens shooting at the runner or actual holograms attacking the runner. Tony loved it when Adam explained the concept to him. He was less thrilled when he learned he would actually have to use it himself.
“We’ve been here ten days and no one’s suspected a thing,” Gamora muses, sitting down to stretch on the mat. “That’s a good start.”
“Don’t jinx it, green,” Tony calls. The treadmill stops running. “Yes! Finally! God, I can’t wait to tell Happy about this. He always bet me I couldn’t run five miles.”
“And with people shooting at you. He’ll be so impressed,” Natasha adds.
The gym wall opens for a second so Adam can enter before closing again.
“I have a mission,” he says, holding up a metal ball. He tosses it in the air, and a holographic layout of the planets and stars lights up the room.
Natasha walks around, looking at all the stars. This will never get old. Seeing things in 3D is always so much more exciting than on a tablet screen.
“Slave trafficking on Kallu,” Adam explains, pointing to a planet. “I researched your home planet, Earth. We call it C-53 here. The gravity on Kallu is similar to Earth. The capital city is vast and populated, which makes it easy to smuggle goods and people in. My mission is to locate the slaves in the capital and free them and bring the ringleader back here to Sovereign.”
“Sounds pretty standard,” Natasha notes. “Any catch?” There’s always a catch.
“I failed to obtain the Soul Stone on Vormir,” Adam says gravely. As if Natasha needs to be reminded of that damn place. “The High Priestess has recommended I lead a team of other Sovereign to complete this mission should anything go…not according to plan.”
“She recommended it or demanded it?”
“Is there a difference?” Adam asks dryly, giving her a sad smile. He pockets the metal sphere and the hologram disappears. “Nevertheless, she is granting me the option of choosing my team. I have three others in mind. People we can trust. People who will help us.”
“A merry band of double agents,” Tony sings, stretching his legs. “You should blend right on in, Nat.”
Natasha bristles, but when she sees his warm smile, she relaxes. It’s not like she wanted to betray Tony’s trust, but those had been her specific orders. She wasn’t going to argue with Fury.
“Once you all clean yourselves, I’ll invite them over to my quarters to meet,” Adam decides. He laughs to himself. “This is going to be fun.”
~
“You ask.”
“No, you ask.”
“Natalia!”
“Tanya, you’re the one who wants it.”
Seven-year-old Natasha smirks at one of the other Red Room girls. They’re at a local fair, meant to be a training exercise. One of the Red Room superiors is a confederate, acting as their target, and their goal is to determine who it is.
“It just looks so yummy,” Tanya whines, longingly staring at the cotton candy machine in the corner. “I can’t believe Madame B didn’t give us any money.”
“Our job isn’t to eat,” Natasha replies simply. “Our job is to figure out who our target is.”
“How are we supposed to do that if they didn’t even tell us who it is?” Tanya whines, kicking the grass. Natasha doesn’t fight the urge to roll her eyes. Tanya is older than her, nearly nine, but still behaves like a little baby sometimes. “Everyone here is just playing games or eating food.”
Actually, they’re not. Natasha figured out who the target was ten minutes after they had arrived at the fair, but she’s waiting for Tanya to go get cotton candy so she can speak to the target herself. She wants the man to know she figured it out, without anyone’s help.
“Then go get some cotton candy. Work on your acting skills. Tell the vendor your mother is sick and dying and she can’t afford to work to pay for luxuries,” Natasha suggests.
Tanya reluctantly agrees before marching over to the vendor. Natasha understands the hesitation. The night before, Amelia had died. Yelena had killed her.
“She was going to kill me if I hadn’t killed her,” Yelena whispered in the middle of the night. No one had answered, but Natasha knew everyone had heard. No one slept when there was a new empty bed.
When Tanya begins speaking to the vendor, Natasha casually sidles up to an older man in his sixties, reading a book on a bench. She says the phrase Madame B had given them. “This seems like a perfect day to be doing exactly what we are doing.”
“And what is it we’re doing, my dear?” the man asks. Right on cue.
Natasha gives him a sharp grin. “Succeeding.”
The man gives her an approving nod. “Natalia. Madame was right about you. You never fail. Your little friend, however…”
“She’s not my friend,” Natasha answers instinctively. Sienna had made the mistake of calling Vanya her friend the previous month. Sienna was no longer with them. “She’s an affiliate.”
“Right she is,” the man answered. He stands and holds out his hand to Natasha. “Let’s go, little Natalia.”
“Will Tanya be staying here?” Natasha asks. She wasn’t too fond of Tanya, but she wouldn’t like to see her left behind, either.
“She will,” the man says soberly as they begin to walk away. “She’ll stay here forever.”
Natasha ignores the sounds of a girl’s screams as they exit. If she listens closely, she can almost hear her name.
Is it better to be lost or dead? she wonders.
Natasha shivers. Definitely lost. Who knows what comes after death?
~
“This is Al-bedo and Aerlig,” Adam says, gesturing to the two Sovereign who enter behind him. “I was under the impression my acquaintance Hatch would be joining us, but after further conversation with him, I don’t think he would be suitable for this mission.”
“You think he’d rat us out,” Natasha says, deadpan.
Adam merely nods.
“Well, don’t worry about him. Hatch isn’t that great anyway,” the first Sovereign says. He’s tall, taller than Adam, and has a friendly smile and curly golden hair. “I’m Al-bedo, but everyone calls me Al.”
He shakes Natasha’s hand, then Gamora, and then Tony, who looks contemplative.
“Al-bedo...Albedo? I’m guessing the ones up top made you to be completely reflective? Invisible, I might say?” he asks.
Al-bedo nods, grinning. “Smart man. Yeah, that is my power.”
To demonstrate, he stands tall, and then suddenly disappears. Natasha focuses on the spot he was standing in. She can vaguely see the outline of his body, but only because she’d been looking. She makes a mental note to practice sparring with Gamora in the dark.
The second Sovereign doesn’t seem as friendly, but Natasha doesn’t blame him. She wouldn’t be too keen on bringing fugitives on a mission given by the leader of her planet, either.
“My name is Aerlig,” he offers. “I was not granted a specific power by the Sovereign, but I always get the job done. I enjoy research, so I’m usually brought along on undercover missions that require many different localities.”
“Ah, he’s being humble,” Al-bedo laughs, tussling Aerlig’s hair. “Aerlig is good at everything. He’s super smart, yeah, but he’s also fast and strong, and has saved my ass about a hundred times.”
“A hundred and one,” Aerlig corrects, smirking.
Natasha smiles to herself. That smirk seems familiar.
“So, we heading out now, or..?” Tony asks. “Please tell me we get a bigger ship this time.”
“We will,” Adam answers dryly. “We depart tomorrow morning. We’ll leave early before everyone is milling around to decrease your chances of being spotted.”
Adam nods to Gamora. “You’ve been to Xandar, correct?”
“I was supposed to bring my sister there. Your High Priestess nearly stopped me. She wanted to kill my sister,” Gamora says as an answer. When silence befalls the group, she clarifies, “Yes. Why?”
“We managed to get some old Nova Corps weapons and tech,” Al-bedo explains. “We’ve been hiding it in my place for awhile, not really sure where we could clean them up and use them.”
“Some of us will be going undercover. It will be easier to portray ourselves as Nova Corps instead of locals or government members,” Adam adds. “Gamora, would you accompany me and Al-bedo to get the weapons?”
Natasha and Gamora share a look. They haven’t been separated since getting to Sovereign. Natasha has slowly begun to trust Adam, but it still doesn’t mean she wants to let Gamora go anywhere alone with him.
Gamora gives Natasha a slight nod, signaling she’s comfortable. Natasha reciprocates the gesture.
“And, uh, just so we’re clear,” Tony says to Aerlig once the other three have left, “the Nova Corps is...”
“An intergalactic policing force,” Aerlig answers. He sits down on the couch in a seemingly non-threatening position.
Natasha doesn’t trust so easily.
“When were you born?” she asks conversationally.
“Eleven years ago, approximately,” Aerlig answers. “I was created to further the linguistics section of research. The Sovereign have a history of being rather...conceited, one might say. It’s caused problems communicating with others.”
“I can imagine,” Natasha murmurs, looking at Tony pointedly.
The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.
I think I would just cut the wire.
Always a way out.
Well. Look how things turn out sometimes.
“And Adam told us you all fare from Planet C-53. How interesting. How did you make it here?” Aerlig says quizzically. Natasha doesn’t miss the disdain in his voice for her home planet.
“Died getting the Soul Stone,” Natasha replies bluntly.
“Used all the Infinity Stones at once. I got to say, it seems like the whole universe really works against us humans. When Thanos used them all he didn’t die. What species is he again, Nat?” Tony rambles, walking around the suite. He goes over to the kitchen and begins pouring himself a drink.
“I never got a chance to ask him,” Natasha jokes. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Aerlig visibly tense at the mention of the Mad Titan. Interesting.
Minutes later, Gamora returns with Adam and Al-bedo. They heave a large bag of weapons and machines onto the table.
“Stark, you want to check out the ship for tomorrow? I need a co-pilot, and Al-bedo will be down below on deck, manning the blasters if we need it,” Adam offers.
Tony glances at Natasha, who tenses. She’s more worried about Tony going off with Adam than she is about Gamora. Gamora knows her way around space, around other planets. Tony...doesn’t.
“Uh...yeah, yeah. Sure,” Tony agrees. He pats Natasha on the shoulder before following Adam out of the room.
A comfortable silence settles over the remaining four. Natasha studies a map of Kallu’s city capital. They haven’t decided who’s going to stay on the ship and who’s going to go down, but she wants to prepare herself just in case.
Plus, Clint will be so jealous when he hears about her undercover op in space.
“Natasha, Adam showed me footage of you and Gamora sparring earlier,” Al-bedo says. “I have to compliment your unique style. Usually humans limit themselves greatly because they don’t think they can do something.”
“Oh, thank you,” Natasha says, genuinely surprised by the statement. Even after spending her entire life fighting, she’s still not a big fan of praise over her techniques. In the Red Room, if she was being complimented, it meant she had had to kill one of the other girls. “Just trying to represent, you know.”
“Yes, yes,” Al-bedo agrees, grinning. “You know, I enjoy those...movies, I think you call them? Aerlig and I found a bunch on Sakaar and figured out how to play them here.”
“Oh yeah?” Natasha replies. God, when was the last time she watched a movie? “Which ones did you watch?”
“Our favorite was Independence Day,” Aerlig tells her.
Natasha had been thirteen when that movie came out. She remembers laughing with the other remaining girls in the Red Room about the movie. Why would you launch an attack on your nation’s Independence Day? It was so obvious. And cheesy. So...not all that surprising that Americans loved it.
“I remember laughing the first time I saw that as a kid,” Natasha chuckles.
“We laughed, too! It was hilarious!” Al-bedo exclaimed, jumping up. He shook his head. “C-53 would never stand a chance against an alien attack! It was so dumb!”
How do we do this?
As a team.
“Dumb indeed,” Natasha agrees, smirking.
Suddenly, the communicator Adam had given her lights up. She pulls it out and a hologram of Tony and Adam appears.
“Nat, I’ve died again and gone to heaven,” Tony sings. “Seriously. This shit is amazing. I don’t even know how I never thought of it!”
“Wipe the drool off your face,” Natasha tells him instead of saying how relieved she is Adam didn’t betray them and hurt Tony.
“I just got a message from the High Priestess. An unidentified ship landed on the outskirts of Kallu and she thinks it could be more slaves. We’re due to leave in an hour,” Adam says. “Al-bedo, Aerlig, one of you sneak Gamora or Natasha to the ship, and the other two stay behind and clean and ready the Nova Corps weapons. I’ll be there shortly to help carry them all.”
“You got it,” Al-bedo agrees.
Natasha pockets her comm and adjusts the golden tunic she’s become accustomed to wearing. Gamora does the same. They pull on their gloves and adjust their clothes so that the only non-gold visible parts on their body are their faces.
Aerlig offers to clean the weapons. Natasha volunteers to stay behind as well. Aerlig gives her a warm smile as Al-bedo and Gamora leave. “So. How is Sovereign treating you this far, truly?”
“Good, so far. The parts that I’ve seen, at least.”
Aerlig sympathetically shrugs. “The High Priestess does have harsh rules, but they work. The Sovereign are truly an advanced race. Everyone seems happy.”
“You say that as if you’re not one of them,” Natasha notices, sitting down at the table.
Aerlig stares at her for a moment. Natasha stares right back, her focus unwavering. She won’t look away first.
It’s Aerlig who does. Natasha smirks to herself. He clears his throat. “I am, of course. I just feel like sometimes I’m on the outside looking in. Like I will never truly be one of them.” His voice is calm and relaxed, while his posture is anything but. Natasha learned long ago to listen to people’s movements and not their words.
Natasha makes her gaze wistful as she stares at the ceiling. “I know what you mean.”
They work in silence for a few minutes, efficiently cleaning the weapons and loading them with ammunition. Natasha could do this in her sleep, and she knows Aerlig could too. She just has to wait for the right moment to–
“So, what do you have left on C-53 that makes it worth getting back to?” Aerlig asks conversationally. “Surely it must be grand if you don’t want to explore the galaxy. Relax. Retire. There must be people, or at least someone, you care about.”
You figured this out. I remember a time when that seemed impossible.
Instead of answering him, Natasha picks up the blaster she’s cleaned and loaded, cocks it, and points it at Aerlig’s head.
His eyes widen and he drops the blaster he’d been carrying. “N-Natasha! What are you doing?”
Natasha narrows her eyes. “How stupid do you think I am, exactly? Don’t underestimate me.”
Aerlig holds up in hands in surrender. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Natasha. Come on. Put that down.” He slowly reaches for his communicator. “I’m going to contact Adam, maybe–“
In a split second, Natasha fires the blaster at his comm unit, causing it to break into pieces. Smoke blows out of it. While Aerlig stares at the damage she’s just done, she knocks him to the ground, pinning him down with one knee and holding the blaster to his temple.
“Cut the bullshit. Is Warlock in on this?” Natasha hisses, vibrating with anger. If anything happens to Tony...
“I honestly have no–“
Natasha rolls her eyes. “Aerlig, really? ‘Ærlig’ in Norwegian means honest. Why would you pick something so obvious?”
Aerlig sighs. For a second, he shimmers, and then Natasha is glaring down at a face she hasn’t seen in person in over ten years.
“Surprise,” Loki sings sheepishly. Prince of Asgard, Odinson, Rightful King of Jotunheim, god of mischief, and a huge pain in Natasha’s ass.