The navy blue shirt clung to Natasha's figure tightly and stopped around her waist, the first two buttons were undone revealing a little cleavage and her hair was tied back into a pony tail with the curls flowing gently down her back. She wore her blue skinny jeans and a small blue bracelet which she had bought with Pepper a few weeks ago. She walked through her living room slipping on a pair of white heels on her way out, somehow she always felt more comfortable with them on, wearing them was like a second nature to her.

She locked her door and made her way to Maria's apartment stopping to force herself to smile before knocking three times. To her surprise, Steve answered his smile turning to a frown in less than a second "what's she doing here?" he asked over his shoulder to the rest of the group who were talking in the kitchen.

"I invited her," Clint called back to him bringing a few mugs of coco out on a tray and setting them down on the coffee table adjacent to the TV. Bruce and Maria emerged from the kitchen and sat down on the sofa grabbing their mugs. The storm was still raging on outside and it showed no signs of stopping.

"Fine," Steve said walking over to join them, Natasha took it that she was welcome in also and shut the door behind her.

"This film's great," Maria said excitedly making sure to avoid Natasha "You'll all love it."

"I've never seen it before," Natasha said trying to join in with the conversation.

"Yeah but you've hardly seen any films," Maria said, Natasha wasn't sure if it was a joke or not so she didn't say anything, what could she say, she was only there because of Clint and she was 80% sure Maria still carried a grudge against her, not to mention Steve or Bruce.

"Is this the one with Uma Thurman in it?" asked Bruce who was seated at the end of the sofa, Natasha was on the floor next to Clint with a cushion to rest on. Maria's apartment was warm, warmer than hers anyway, she probably put the heating on as soon as she got in which was 2 hours before Natasha.

"Yeah, it's directed by Quentin Tarantino," Clint answered taking a sip of his drink. Natasha had no idea who these people were but nodded as if she knew what they were talking about.

"I think you should be able to relate to this movie, Natasha," Maria said, they all laughed as if she was telling some kind of inside joke, Natasha smiled though something told her that Maria wasn't joking.


From what she had learned so far the protagonist was an assassin who was hunting down the assassins that nearly beat her to death as well as slaughtering everyone else in the wedding chapel, she found it really confusing at first because it jumped forwards and backwards in time but she got a basic grasp of what was happening.

She was right about Maria not joking earlier, she saw herself in the woman, no wonder they all looked at her like she was a murderer. They had all done good, even Bruce had contributed to science, there was blood on her hands no amount of good could wash away.

"You okay tasha?" Clint asked nudging her out of her daze.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about my exams," she lied giving him a weak smile, it wasn't convincing but it was all she could manage. The woman was in the middle of a room fighting against an army of Japanese soldiers with a samurai sword.

"Don't worry about it," Clint said reassuringly "you'll do a lot better than me." She faked a giggle and continued to watch the film, the woman was now outside in a garden covered in snow, fighting another woman, she had to admit, the movie was really her kind of thing. There was another flash of lightening and moments later a clap of thunder.

"That was pretty close," Clint said getting up and looking outside, there was another flash and the TV screen went black.

"Power cut," Maria groaned getting up to close the blinds, pushing Clint aside so she could get at them. Natasha realised how dark it had gotten, it was winter after all.

"Do you have any candles?" asked Bruce who was sitting next to Steve on the sofa.

"Yeah, bottom drawer in the kitchen," she said before adding "the lighter's in there too", she had moved around the room shutting all the curtains and closing all the doors so as not to let in a draft. Bruce got up in the meantime to fetch the candles.

"How long do you think it'll last?" Clint asked sitting back down next to Natasha who was drinking her hot chocolate trying not to say anything.

"I don't know it looked like one of the power lines were knocked down," Maria answered taking her seat.

Bruce came back through with several candles and a black lighter "What do you want to do?" he asked, putting them all down on the coffee table. Clint took the lighter off of him and lit all the candles for him.

"I snuck some brandy out of Fury's office," Maria said with a sly grin, Natasha like the sound of getting a drink but Steve looked unsure "Come on," Maria urged them "it'll be fun."

"Okay," Steve said though she could tell he was still unsure.

"Great," she said in excitement "I'll go get the glasses," she added wandering off to go get them from the kitchen.

"So," Bruce started trying to keep the conversation going "are any of you going to the Christmas Dance?" he asked gaining a nod from everyone except Natasha.

"Why don't you come," Clint asked her gaining a look of daggers in return.

"I really don't think I'd be welcome," she replied crossing her arms and leaning back against her pillow.

"Come on tasha," he said encouragingly giving her his sweet smile that Maria swooned over.

"I- When is it?" she asked tucking a loose curl behind her ear.

"December 13th," Bruce answered for him.

"I have nothing to wear," she excused, hoping they wouldn't press her any further.

"We'll go shopping," Maria said bringing in a few Glasses "No excuses," she added holding a hand up to stop Natasha from speaking "I'll go get the bottle from under my bed," she said walking through to her room.

Natasha couldn't say anything else, this was why she disliked having friends, being forced into social situations such as a school dance, as if it wasn't already awkward enough for her. She had more important things to worry about such as the fact that there were people looking for her at that very moment, dangerous people.

Maria came through with the bottle "Put out your glass and I'll fill it," she commanded opening the bottle and pouring her own glass first. She filled Clint's next, then Natasha's, she leaned over and filled Bruce's and then finally Steve's "Bottom's up," she said downing hers the others following soon after.

Natasha revelled at the warm feeling at the pit of her stomach, she knew that she didn't get drunk easily unlike Clint, Steve or Bruce who were looking tipsy at only the first shot.

Maria refilled all their glasses before repeating the same thing again, Maria and Natasha seemed fine but the others were fading. Natasha smiled at all of them, they had probably never done shots before, well no one really had at their age, except for her. Steve looked like he had had enough already.

"Why did you come here tonight Natashhaa," he slurred struggling to pronounce her name.

"Only two shots," Natasha said raising an eyebrow.

"Who cares let's all just dance," said Clint who's face had gone bright red, he staggered up until he reached Maria seat and took out his hand "My lady," he said lifting her up, Maria giggled grabbing the bottle of the table and taking a swig before setting it down and dancing with him about the room in a fit of giggles.

Natasha poured another drink for herself and tried to ignore them all, this was after all the first drink she'd had in a while.


"Goodbye Natashaaa," Maria called as the red head walked back to her room.

"Go to bed Maria," she sighed and dug out her key to open her apartment door, what a great birthday, watching her friends get drunk while she sat sipping her own drink not feeling a thing. She dropped the keys in her jacket pocket and walked into her room, she would have a shower and go to bed, it was 10.30pm and she was getting tired, she wasn't that perfect after all. She took off her top and jeans and lay them down on a nearby chair leaving her in her bra and pants, she liked these ones in particular, they were both white lace with a red rose for decoration at the centre, maybe she thought that she'd dress up nicely for her birthday, even if no one knew about it.

She was about to unclip her bra when she swore she heard someone move around in her room, she acted fluidly, reaching for her black floral kimono and wrapping it around her, it had occurred to her that it might just be the storm but she wasn't risking anything. Reaching for her knife she scoured her apartment in search of any possible threat, she didn't see anything. With the knife still in her hand she went into her bathroom and hung the kimono up on a hook attached to the door and placed her knife down next to her toothbrush, she still felt uneasy but removed her underwear none the less and stepped into the shower before placing it on a high setting, she relaxed a little but remained on her guard.


"I've been watching her very closely for the past couple of weeks," the dark elf said to the shadow of Malekith who was brooding behind it with his chair faced in the opposite direction.

"And?" was all he said not bothering to turn around and face him.

"Anytime she is near Loki or Thor I am unable to see her anymore," he elaborated "they have protected themselves with cloaking magic; only midguardians are able to see them."

"How do you propose we get to them?" he asked standing up, towering intimidatingly over him.

"She is the only way to get to him," the elf answered nervously.

"Watch her like a hawk and only attack when the time is right," he said before returning to his seat dismissively "do not fail me," he added before the man left the room.


Blood, there was so much blood, she had done many things but this by far was the worst, except she didn't know what she was doing, she couldn't stop herself. Once the orders had been given she had no choice but to follow them. She looked for anyone that might still be breathing but there wasn't, they'd either had their throat slit or had a bullet shot through their head.

She recalled this memory in particular, it was the day she lost the ability to feel or care, the genocide of hundreds, most of them being innocent was the last straw. Natasha leaned down to a young girl's corpse and stroked her face gently, smearing blood across it of course but she didn't care "It's done," she said into her earpiece awaiting response. She heard footsteps crunch in the snow behind her and reached for her gun.

"Nothing can erase your past Natalia," the smooth voice sounded. Luke? She wondered why she'd be dreaming of him "New school, new friends, new life, nothing."

She walked towards him leaving bloody footprints in the snow as she went. "As far as I'm concerned I've wiped all the red off my ledger," she said.

"Can you wipe away this much red?" he asked gesturing to the blood covered streets around them.

"I," she began but felt the warm tears roll down her cheeks.

"Hush sweet Princess," he said holding her in his arms "Happy Birthday," he whispered in to her ear, his cold breath sending Goosebumps down her spine. She smiled of the feeling of being in his arms and leaned her head in close to his chest, she breathed in his scent for the first time. It was like inhaling an old book, there was something charming and wise about him, like he was old beyond his years, she looked up to meet his forest green eyes, he leaned down his lips barely brushing against hers before the dream started to fade, she caught one last glimpse of his signature smirk before everything went completely black.


I had some serious writers block last night and I didn't really know where the story was going but I've got past that now and have written a few chapters ahead but I won't be posting them for a couple of days because I'm evil ehehehehe. Anyway I hope you like this chapter and keep reviewing :)

-Anna