Author's Note:
Amazing response on my last chapter! Thank you so much to BookLuv; Phoenix1966; discordchick; Sanctuaria; Ninja0404 is a fanfiction geek. I am eternally grateful to all of you!
Big shout-out to my amazing beta; Sanctuaria!
Natasha didn't hesitate to pack her go bag, but did pace herself on the Sunday to not make it seem like she was rushing out the door at the first opportunity. She made sure to spend as much of the morning as possible with Kristina, which was a lot easier now that Clint was here. Thankfully Kristina understood that Natasha had to go on an important mission, and it wasn't just her leaving. There was only a few tears when she left from Kristina, but nothing like how Natasha had experienced in the previous days.
Natasha drove up to the Avenger compound, thinking about what came ahead. She needed to research Ward and work out his most likely patterns, as well as get in contact with some former associates of hers. She knew better than to jump head first into a locate-and-kill mission, because those were usually sloppy and half the time, you end up just travelling in circles with no actual destination or plan. By the time she arrived and parked, it was the early evening. She also knew she needed to sort out things with Steve as well as get some training of her own in to make sure she was the best she could be; she did not want any chance of letting Ward get away. She didn't care what it took...he was going down one way or another.
"Natasha, welcome back," Steve welcomed warmly, offering a hug.
"Not a social visit, Steve. I'm here searching for leads. I will train with the recruits, but I have a mission which I must carry out," Natasha answered, although, her words contradicted her actions, as she actually did accept the hug, even though it barely lasted a second.
"Is there anything I can help with?"
"Actually, yes. I need to find somebody."
"Finding people aren't my strength… although, my best leads have come from Sam," Steve admitted.
Natasha nodded, "Any luck on Bucky?"
"We found one of his old hide-outs, so we're getting really close; it's only a matter of time," Steve stated optimistically.
Natasha tilted her head to the side in thought, "How did you know it was Bucky's hideout?" she questioned. She knew that very, very little, if any, of a person is left after brainwashing. It would take a lot to get that person back in any capacity with help, but on their own when they are out of time; surely there wouldn't be anything to recognise.
"It was him," Steve said confidently.
Natasha supposed that seeing Steve must have triggered some of Bucky's old personality, or there was substantial proof. But she decided against prying right now, she needed to find Ward. She rested a soft hand on his shoulder for a second before walking off without another word. If Falcon was good at finding people or has contacts, then he would be helping.
Natasha's lips were pursed, her brow creased, her fingers delicately swish across the tablet as her eyes dart over the information. With a growl-similar to a tiger-she threw the expensive tablet across the room, shattering the screen with a loud thud.
"Woah!"
Natasha looked up at the sound and saw Falcon crouched with scared expression on his face, "How long have you been there?" she asked.
"Like… two seconds. I swear. I stepped in and you threw the tablet at me..."
"I didn't throw it at you, I threw it because I didn't like the information," Natasha told him.
Falcon stood up and walked over, "I had a lead on that guy you asked me to look in to." He informed her as he handed a USB over to her. "He has stayed local, I have had two sightings from him in the same neighbourhood this morning; it doesn't look like he's hiding."
"Cocky idiot," Natasha said as she accepted the USB and stood up, needing to find a computer to look at the file. She walked past Falcon, but stopped before reaching the door and looking at him, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Falcon replied with a smile on his face.
With a quick intake of breath, Natasha picked up her phone, "What?"
"How's the hunt for Ward coming?" Clint asked down the line.
"Fine," Natasha replied shortly. "I'm calling in the leads to Coulson."
"What? Are you crazy? I told you that they don't have the resources or people at the moment," Clint exploded suddenly. "You promised that you'd take down that jerk for Bob; she is in the hospital because…"
"Save me the lecture," Natasha grunted. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment before looking down at her broken elbow. She knew she should just hang up and get somebody to help her set it, but she needed to get somebody to go after Ward. "I spoke to May-"
"With actual words?"
"And it is personal for her," Natasha finished, completely ignoring his little dig about how much May and she would talk when they were together. "We'll get him."
She called hear him shaking his head through the phone, "I've never seen you back out of a fight unless you physically were unable to… are you injured?"
"I am fine," Natasha lied. "This is the best way forward, I am not going to rush in blindfolded. You don't send the Avengers to get a cat out of a tree." She dropped the phone when Clint hung up; he was obviously upset with her.
She quickly prodded her fingers over her elbow, gritting her teeth, and she was now certain it was broken; she had been hoping her first diagnosis was wrong and that it was just dislocated. Quickly she typed in Coulson's number, but then after a seconds thought, she deleted it and dialed May instead.
"May."
"I have a location on Ward."
"Send it over."
Natasha gave a short nod, even though May couldn't see her and hung up, she quickly attached and sent all of the relevant information over. With a sigh, she stood up, she wondering if Dr. Cho had created a machine to repair broken bones in a couple of hours instead of just muscle tissue. Sliding her phone into her pocket, she shortly considered calling Clint back and explaining what was going on, but decided against it. Her face was neutral and showed no signs of pain as she pushed the door open and exited.
"Natasha, do you know what's wrong with Wanda?" Steve asked as she rounded a corner.
"We hit a little problem during training,; she'll be fine," Natasha replied with a one shouldered shrug, keeping her body at a 90 degree angle. "Are there doctors around here?"
"Doctor's? There's a hospital wing or infirmary on the east side' doctors are called in when needed," Steve replied. "Was Wanda injured?"
"No, physically she's fine," Natasha replied. A sigh left her lips as she recalled using that same phrase to describe Kristina; who may have been physically fine, but she wasn't fine in any other capacity.
"What happened with Wanda?" Steve asked, concern etched across his face.
Natasha let out a swoof of air, "She lost control, simple." She turned and pointed at her elbow, "Do you know how to set a broken elbow? It hurts."
The look on Steve's face-one of concern-made her roll her eyes in annoyance. Before he had chance to speak and release the unstoppable amount of irrational and genuine concern which he gives to every person he encountered, she turned and walked off.
"Take a seat," the doctor said. Natasha complied and watched intently as the doctor first examined the skin at face value. "No lacerations." She forced herself to not react when her light fingers palpate around the elbow, the doctor's lips tightened, before her other fingers took Natasha's pulse at the wrist.
"What's wrong?"
There was a long silence, before, "Your blood flow is normal; can you move your fingers?" Natasha moved three, but as she started to wriggle her other two, the doctor ordered her to stop. She examined and palpated her hand, wrist, upper arm, lower arm and shoulder. "Are you able to straighten your elbow? Please stop if there's any pain."
Natasha gritted her teeth as she started to straighten her arm, but stopped about halfway, defeat crossing over her face. "I can't."
"Let's get an X-ray to just confirm my theory."
Natasha agreed and went through the long and tedious process of being X-rayed, she then had to wait for the doctor to examine the X-rays- all so she could just get her arm set back into place. This is why she hated hospitals and doctors, everything by the book.
"It's not a normal facture; your elbow has displaced slightly, because your distal humerus has been shattered; it's not like any injury I've seen," the doctor stated. "How did it happen?"
"I fell."
The doctor sighed, obviously not believing her. "I will shift it back into place and I'd recommend wearing a cast for a week, just so it can have chance to set properly. Then there will be a series of exercises to do a couple of times a days-"
"How long until it's back to normal?" Natasha asked.
"Six weeks for it to heal, but it can take up to six months for it be back to normal-if it goes back to normal,"
"If? It's just a broken bone."
"I will want to monitor your elbow, to ensure that it heals correctly," the doctor assured her. "Now, I am going to put you under regional anesthesia and re-set your elbow properly."
"Fine," Natasha agreed civilly. She picked up her phone and fiddled it with-and she never fiddled with anything-before relenting and calling Kristina's phone. She should be home from school by now.
"Uhh… Hi?"
"Hello Kristina, it's Na-Mom," Natasha greeted.
"Hi! How are you? How's the mission? Is Steve with you? Are you coming home? Are you home?" Kristina asked, getting more excited and high-pitched with every question.
"I'm fine, the mission is… standard. Yes, Steve is in the same building, but not directly with me at the moment. I am not on my way home, nor am I home at the moment. How are you?" Natasha replied in detail before asking a simple question, knowing that only a simple one was needed to receive the same level of detail or more.
"I am good," Kristina answered shortly and then remained quiet for a long pause. "Can you come home now?" she asked, her voice quiet.
"Is everything okay?" Natasha asked.
"I just… I miss you. It was so much fun with you… like when we tried making curry and I spilled the sauce on the side and then there was too much chicken in it and it bubbled over the pan," she sniffled, "and then at the party, when I split the icing on my dress, you came over and smeared icing in your hair and then dropped cake on me and started the food fight. It was so fun and nobody knew that I made a mess and you didn't care that you got messy either. And… and I miss how you sang to me to put me to sleep- I don't do those things with Dad. He likes everything clean, if I spill something, he wants it cleaned up straight away. But you don't mind… and I want to do some gardening, but I only want to do it with you," Kristina confessed with raw emotion and longing.
Natasha smiled, "I am sure that your father is more fun than I am."
"Nope," Kristina answered with certainty.
Natasha laughed, "Don't tell your father that, he'll get jealous. And don't tell him that I sung to you." She looked down at her arm and pursed her lips in thought, "I have to tell you something. I have injured my arm…"
"Are you okay? Do they need to chop it off?"
"They aren't going to chop it off. It will be fine in a few weeks; it just hurts right now. But it does mean that I cannot drive home right now, I can't drive for a week or two. Do you understand?" Natasha asked softly. She looked at the doctor, wondering why it was taking so long for her to reset her elbow.
"I understand, can I come and see you? Dad can drive; he'll understand too!" Kristina said with increasing excitement once again. There was a distinctive shuffling of feet which meant she was moving.
"Wait! Kris! Please, please do not tell your father that I got injured. As soon as I can drive, I'll come back," Natasha said quickly.
"Oh… Okay, I won't tell him. Just promise me that you're okay," Kristina compromised.
"I promise, I am okay," Natasha assured, she looked up when the doctor tried to get her attention. "I need to go, I'll call you later." Natasha hung up and put her stopwatch on.
Natasha rotated on the balls on her feet, turning her body slowly and controlled, before stepping out and skipping into a flip. She landed softly, but quickly bent her knees and crouched to keep her balance. Closing her eyes she rotated her casted arm before standing back up and continuing her balancing and gymnastic training. She felt the buzz of her mobile phone and stopped her movements almost instantly.
Natasha didn't even look at the caller ID; she knew who was calling and what they were going to say, almost to the word, "Romanoff."
"You're injured and you didn't tell me?"
"Twenty-seven minutes, I'm impressed," Natasha said as she took slow, long steps around the room.
"Excuse me?"
"It took almost half an hour from telling Kristina that I was injured, for you to call me. Personally, I expected you to call me within minutes," Natasha confessed.
"What happened?" Clint asked, not taking her bait to keep the conversation away from her injury.
"I just injured my elbow," Natasha answered vaguely. But after a long few minutes she hung up. She knew he had wanted her to expand and give more information and in recent months she had been, a lot more than she had ever done. She didn't answer but she realised exactly what had made her truly open up, what had changed her from the cold-blooded killer, from the Black Widow to a person, to Natasha Romanoff. As much as she believed it was all for Clint, she knew it wasn't, and she was angry at herself for not seeing it sooner. Before Clint had chance to call her back, she dialed Kristina.
"I'm sorry, he forced me to talk," Kristina instantly cried down the phone.
"Don't worry about it, Kris. I don't mind. You can always tell your father or me anything," Natasha assured her.
"You're not mad?"
"Not at all," Natasha told her. "I called to make sure that you knew that I wasn't mad at you and that I love you. Okay?"
"Okay, I love you too," Kristina replied, seeming a lot calmer than she was at the beginning of the conversation.
"Great, give your Dad a hug. I have to go, just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Bye Mom! Call me soon!"
Natasha hung up as she slipped her phone into her pocket, only for it to buzz. She let out a groan, knowing it would be Clint wanting more information about her injury. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID, her forehead creased in confusion at the person who was calling her; it wasn't Clint.
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