A creak in her living room woke her up instantly. She knew all the creaks and other noises that her home made, and this was not one of them. She heard a few others, as if someone were walking and testing the floor to see where it creaked, not wanting to wake her. All her senses were on high alert.
She slipped out of bed and walked silently toward her door, knowing where to keep her feet so that she didn't make a noise. She listened closely, but heard no other sounds. Maybe she was just imagining things. But then what was the whisper she just heard? Shit. Someone was in her home and she was stupid enough to not bother putting a panic button near her door. It's right by her bed, which is a good five feet away. Maybe she would be able to reach it before someone –
Someone was on the other side of the door.
Natasha could feel their presence, hear their breathing. She could tell they were trained, but by who? She waited, not wanting to be the first one to make a move. The doorknob began to turn slowly and the door started to slowly open.
She stood back, letting the intruder open the door and step in. That's when she slammed the door shut with her foot, using that force to give her some leverage and push her up so that she could get her legs around the man's neck. The man groaned and reached for his legs, which she then proceeded to twist her body around to twist his neck uncomfortable, and soon, he was fighting for air.
The click of a gun sounded behind her. "Get off him, Agent Romanoff."
Shit. How could she have missed someone else coming inside the room? She mentally cursed herself for being so unaware.
She sighed, letting go of the man and standing up in front of the older man with the gun pointed at her head. She held up her hands and stared at him, as if challenging him. He stared back and waited, not saying anything else, and no one moved. She used opportunity to analyze the situation and try to figure a way out of it. She focused in on the way he was loosely holding the gun.
Without another thought, she was kicking at the gun, hitting his wrist with such force that it broke it and he dropped the gun, the sound of it hitting on the ground echoing in the room. She swooped it up and jumped on her bed, holding it tightly in both hands, pointing it toward the men.
"Who are you?" she asked, keeping both men in sight.
She was disappointed to find out they were both wearing masks, which made her unable to get clear descriptions of the air.
"I'm afraid we can't answer that," the older man hissed as he held his now broken wrist.
"But you can. So tell me, who are you?" she yelled, placing a finger on the trigger. "And don't think I won't shoot, because I will."
The man chuckled. "Go ahead. Do it, then."
She bit her tongue, hating that response. If she shot them, she would have no answers as to who they were. That would not only put her in danger, but all the other Avengers in danger as well. She found herself wishing that Tony were there to help, give her some idea of what to do.
Her attention got pulled to the sound a tick, and then she found herself surrounded by smoke. Everything was going dark and she felt the gun leave her hands. Someone caught her before she hit the ground, but she knew she wasn't safe.
