Lyudmila Kudrin closed her eyes as she submerged herself in the viscous green liquid that filled the tub. She never did this at her apartment, there was something dirty about it, something that needed to take place at the factory. Besides, it was recommended that she stay mostly submerged for about six hours every week and there was just no way she could take a day off every week, not with these idiots working the factory.
Her assistant, a very young man, perhaps too young, often took dictation on days like these. One thing could be said about her in her old age, she was at no loss for her wits. It was a blessing of her own making, perhaps. She would never suffer from senility. If she wasn't going to face her death on the battlefield she was still going to meet it head on and lucid, not in that childish degenerative state the rest of her generation was in. There was nothing honorable in that. Though perhaps the same could be said about the lengths she took to avoid the inevitable.
She closed her eyes and uttered a simple command into the air. The notes of Swan Lake began to float through the air. When she tipped her head back and closed her eyes she could almost see them…all lined up…how beautiful they used to be.
She was ready to fall asleep when the door burst open. Her too young assistant said in his shrill voice, "G-zha Kudrin!" She lifted her head slowly, looking at him. He could hardly breathe, "Vdova! Vdova!" He waved his arms, "Ona prervala!" He was evidently not satisfied with his employer's reaction because he continued to state what was obvious with the smell rising through the floorboards. "Zavod nakhoditsya v ogne!"
"Rossii takoy krasivyy yazyk," She replied with cool disinterest, leaning her head back, and closing her eyes. "Ne razrushayte yego s etim truslivym tonom."
He stared at her for a moment before running out. A long time after that, Lyudmila sighed and got out of the tub. She wrapped a fluffy white robe around her, trailing the green ooze like a trail of mucus. She didn't turn to look as someone else came through the door, "Ya znayu , pochemu ty zdes." She said quietly.
"Why don't you tell me then, to make sure."
"Ty prishel , chtoby ubit' menya , malen'kaya Natasha."
"Not quite." There was a soft laugh, "I need your help."
Lyudmila turned, at her age there was very little that still surprised her, but this did. A cool smirk came to her lips, "We had better be going then." She grabbed her bag and followed the redhead out the fire escape. Behind them the sounds of a siren running through the streets was the music to the ballet of flames as they reflected in the faces of the crowd of workers who had flooded into the street.
"I just don't think it's the best idea to be too public."
"Which would be a concern if I was a creamsicle like you, but this is Wakanda, Steve. I actually fit in here."
"You can't argue with that." Wanda walked into the room, popping open a bottle of water with a satisfying crunch. "Come on, let one of us have some fun…or sunlight."
"Thanks," Steve rolled his eyes. "I'm not fun?" He turned back to Sam, "I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't do, but for the record, I don't like it. We're guests here. We don't want to put T'Challa in a bad position."
"I'm just going out to get groceries." Sam smiled, "Nothing too big. I just got to get out of here man."
Steve sighed, looking from face to face. He knew his team felt cooped up here in T'Challa's summer mansion, but their presence in Wakanda wasn't exactly public. Not that anyone could really do anything. There was no extradition treaty. But it would still look bad for T'Challa's new leadership. "I said I'm not going to stop you."
He didn't need to be told twice and practically ran out the door with a quick, "I'll be back in an hour!"
"You know, one day I'm going to start taking that personally." Steve sighed, opening the fridge and pulling out a mango. At least the food here was…colorful.
"Don't, we're all just restless." Wanda said in her sympathetic way. The sun and her training had done her good. In the last few months she had begun to look so much brighter. "Personally I left America to avoid this very fate. But it's more bearable with the rest of you with me."
And just like that Steve felt guilty again. "I'm sorry, kid," He looked down at his hands.
"It's alright," She chuckled, "It's not so bad when you consider where I was before you brought us here. Strait jackets aren't exactly my style."
Steve forced a smile to replace the frown. "I guess when you put it like that…" He wasn't very convincing. They would have stayed in an awkward silence for a few minutes but there was a heavy knock on the door.
Scott scurried over to open it. "T'Challa! Hey man." He said, with awkwardness rivalling that of the moment before.
"Mr. Lang, hello." The king indulged, then came over to Steve. "You need to return to the palace immediately." He spoke urgently, "Miss. Romanoff has come there, with a…guest."
Steve looked up suddenly. The only reason he would need to return to the palace was if it had something to do with Bucky and Natasha's involvement was a positive thing…right? "It's not Tony, is it?" He frowned a little.
"No," T'Challa smiled, "Miss. Romanoff says she may have the key to helping your friend, Mr. Barnes."
Steve perked up, hearing it out loud was the confirmation he needed. "That's great!" He headed towards the door, then looked around. "Uh…do you guys want to come see Nat?" They looked like they would eat him alive for that invite.
"I thought you'd never ask." Wanda ran outside, followed quickly by Clint and Scott.
"Sorry," Steve apologized as he and T'challa walked to the car. "They really just enjoy the chance to get out."
"I understand." The King chuckled, "Where is Sam?"
"We'll pick him up at the market." Steve slipped into the black car, "Can't forget my wing-man."
Tony looked down at the city. His city. His world. It could only ever belong to him when he was in his armor. Before he'd thought of it as a cocoon, but what it really was, was his wings. He flew down to the landing at Stark tower and gave the command for it to start disassembling. The crisp July air was cooler this high up. "How's it coming, webslinger?" He called out into the house.
"Uh, hi Mr. Stark." Peter said, looking up from the desk where he was scribbling out designs for…something.
"Make anything cool for me?" Tony poured himself a drink, his third of the day.
"Uh…should you really be drinking at…11:15 in the morning?" Peter said after a quick watch check.
"What are you, my mom?" Tony rolled his eyes, taking a sip.
"I just don't know if you should…operate machinery right now." Peter said, a little nervously, though Tony didn't notice.
"You're deflecting." The billionaire pointed, "Which means you've got something."
"Well…it's not exactly….something…not yet." Peter said in that shy way that meant he totally had something awesome. "It's more like the beginning of something."
Tony stepped over and looked at the calculations. They were kind of swimming on the page, it was annoying how the kid insisted on using pen and paper instead of something he could zoom in on. Man he was getting old. Or maybe Peter was just that young. Either way, he didn't want to think about it.
"I've been studying the um…sample…you gave me, having F.R.I.D.A.Y. really analyze the different qualities of the vibranium. Now, I had him create sort of a computerized model of it…you know, based off the density, the weight, molecular structure…and I've been running some theoretical tests." He pulled out something that looked like a bunch of blurry lines.
"You've been working all day, haven't you, nerd." Tony said, plopping down into a chair.
"Well I've been looking at the possible applications…" Peter smiled, getting excited, "And there's just so much it can do."
"Kid, I know, Vision was created with Vibranium."
"Vision, was created by the infinity stone, the vibranium, and the cradle put together. But there's more this stuff can do. You add it to my webbing and a single strand could hold three tons of weight. And it becomes nearly unbreakable."
"Kind of makes you realize why our feline friend likes it so much." Tony took another drink and stood. "Really good work kid, I mean it." Tony smiled, patting his back. "Did Rhodey get back yet?"
"No, uh, he said he was getting lunch with an old friend." Peter couldn't hide the shy smile he had. Everyone was glad about Rhodey's recovery but it was an especially proud moment for him. He'd helped Tony develop the technology that had helped restore the connection in the Colonel's severed spine. As they spoke, the Stark Industries implant was curing paralyzed people all over the world. "I actually have to get going, I don't think Aunt May is going to like it if I stay over another night."
"Yeah, yeah, get out of here." Tony smiled, patting him on the back. He gathered his things in the ratty old backpack and scurried out the door. At least it was summer break and he wasn't complaining about his algebra homework. That kid was way too smart to be studying.
"Mr. Stark." F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice said, shocking him out of his reverie. "Vision is here to see you."
"Doesn't he live here?" Tony looked into the dark brown liquid as if he'd just asked about the meaning of life.
"He asked me to announce his presence for…Miss. Maximoff." Even the A.I. knew this was a sore subject.
The form of Vision started to come out of the wall, "Hello, Tony." He said quietly.
"Hey there, poltergeist." Tony ran his fingers through his hair. "What can I do you for?"
"As you know, it was a year ago today that….that we signed our current contract." Vision came over and stepped up to the opposite side of the desk. "I was wondering…since the accords are to be discussed again and signed again—"
"Viz, we talked about this." Tony looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.
"I understand your reluctance, but we're almost certain they're in Wakanda. Perhaps if we just offered T'Challa the new terms—"
"—No! It's just not going to work, Vision." Tony slammed the drink down, "Wanda doesn't care about you. None of them care about us. None of them are going to give in!" He snapped too loudly. "It's just not going to work!"
There was a long pause. Vision said nothing, just sunk into the floor like a weight in quicksand. And Tony looked at the bottom of the glass, alone again. Time to pour another.
G-zha Kudrin! Vdova! Vdova! Ona prervala! Zavod nakhoditsya v ogne! = Ms. Kudrin! The Widow! The Widow! She broke in! The factory is on fire!
Rossii takoy krasivyy yazyk. Ne razrushayte yego s etim truslivym tonom. = Russian is such a beautiful language. Don't ruin it with your cowardly tone.
Ya znayu , pochemu ty zdes = I know why you are here
Ty prishel , chtoby ubit' menya , malen'kaya Natasha= You have come to kill me, little Natasha