Note: Spoilers for 'Ultron'. And leaning on the fourth wall.

"No Damsel in Distress"

Natasha woke in a cell. A medieval, aboveground cell, from what she could see. The door had actual vertical bars, everything else was made of brick, and there was junk in the room with her. She wasn't tied up, nor was she gagged. How unprofessional. Bad enough that she was taken in the first place, but now they insulted her by making it easy to escape? Idiots. She looked forward to kicking their asses for this.

It took her above forty-five seconds to break out of the cell, including the time spent searching for something to use among the rubble. There was a giant frigging hole in the floor, but there were other ways to leave the tower. She had activated her tracker as soon as she realised she was captive; the sooner someone picked her up, the sooner she could join whatever fight was going on.

The window wasn't very inspiring, but there were stairs. She'd barely made it to the bottom of the building when there was a flash of blue lightning, and a man with no eyes was standing before her. No, she didn't jump in fright.

"Hello, Natasha," he said. "There's someone who needs to see you."

"Thanks, but I have somewhere else to be," she said, and she began to walk around him.

"It won't take long," he said. Then he grabbed her, and they disappeared from the room, reappearing in another. He teleported away before she could attack him, and turning around she saw a… thing wearing a hoodie.

"Hello, Natasha."

"You're the second person to say that to me in the last fifteen seconds," she said. "What's going on? Where am I? What are you?"

"I was once human like you." The voice sounded female, but the face was covered in thorns, and the person was apparently no longer human.

"What's your name?"

"Raina." She smiled. "We have an acquaintance in common, though I don't think he'd call me a friend."

Natasha's eyes narrowed. She wasn't going to be led into the questions this woman wanted her to ask.

"You're the one the eyeless man told me about," she said. "Why did you want to see me? I'm needed elsewhere."

"Yes," Raina said. "You won't see Coulson there, but he'll be around."

Natasha inhaled sharply, and then shook herself. There had to be an explanation. Maybe this woman was lying? There was no reason to trust her.

"Why am I here?" she asked.

"You're not supposed to escape," Raina said. "The man who turns green is supposed to rescue you. You're lucky that Gordon went to find you; we've been trying to avoid HYDRA's notice, and SHIELD's, but you can't change the future just like that."

"There is no SHIELD."

"Oh, I think you'll find that there is. And that Coulson's in charge, or will be. But you have to go back, Natasha. He's not going to turn green unless you push him to it."

"He… he hates it."

"But you won't save the day without him," Raina said. "Gordon will be taking you straight back there. You can't fight destiny, Natasha. This will happen."

"I'm not a damsel in distress!"

"And you're not usually attracted to men who've tried to flatten you like a pancake," she replied dryly. "But that's the role you've been given, whether you like it or not. He'll find you there soon, and you'll fight side-by-side. Don't worry, honey. The big bad will be stopped in the end. Not before someone dies. Then again," she tilted her head, "Coulson came back to life. If you need my help recreating the formula they used on him, call for Gordon."

"Are you saying you can see the future?" Natasha asked, crossing her arms.

"I dreamed it, and it's not the first time. If you want me to say it, I will: you won't call for my help. Your mistake. I just wanted you to feel like you had options. Gordon."

The man from before reappeared. He returned Natasha to her cell, and then disappeared again. With a sigh, she fixed the barred gate back in place, and less than a minute later Bruce found her.

If that was true… was Coulson alive?

Sorry, Bruce, she thought, backing him up. But she did say to give you a push…

This is the only possible explanation. Well, it explains why she was still there, when hello, why would Natasha Romanov waste time playing damsel in distress when the world is at stake, unless it was to get information? Which she clearly didn't get. Her storyline in this was a bit too OOC. I mean, yeah, she's trying to find herself post-Cap 2, create a new identity, but I don't see evidence of that. Sigh.

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