в связи с последствиями

In The Aftermath

The ride back to Stark Tower was silent, with everyone having separated to rest after a long night's work. Most of the Avengers had nodded off, save Clint who was piloting the jet (that they'd spent close to thirty minutes searching for thanks to Ivan's goons) and Natasha, who was keeping a watchful eye on Veronika. She could tell by the uncomfortable position she was holding herself in that Veronika was in a lot of pain, but there was nothing they could do until they reached the Tower.

After nearly ten hours, Clint finally landed the jet back on the helipad on the balcony of Stark Tower. The exhausted Avengers walked off one by one, except for Thor who was once again tasked with carrying Veronika. It was decided without any speaking necessary that any post-mission debriefing could be taken care of after everyone got a good night's sleep.

Natasha and Bruce accompanied Thor to Veronika's room, where he laid her gently on her stomach on the bed before nodding towards his two comrades and stepping out. Even though Bruce wasn't a medical doctor, he was more qualified than anyone else on hand to check on Veronika's health. Natasha stood in the corner of the room with her arms crossed after telling him where the wound was, and Bruce carefully lifted the back of her thick black shirt.

It was difficult to locate the exact area of impact at first, due to her blood having smeared in large streaks across her back, but after careful examination Bruce located the stab wound on the right side of her lower back. "Well, it definitely doesn't look good," he sighed. "I'm not an expert, but I can clean and stitch this up. We'll bandage it for tonight and if it doesn't look any better in the morning, we'll call in a doctor."

"I've had worse," Veronika sighed against her pillow.

Bruce glanced at Natasha for permission before nodding to himself. "I'll go find a med kit."

When he passed by her, Natasha reached out to grab Bruce's arm. "Thank you." He nodded with a smile, readjusting his glasses as he exited the room. Natasha waited until he was gone before turning back to Veronika, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed. There was a lot for the two of them to talk about, and Natasha wasn't quite sure where to start.

Veronika removed at least that small pressure by shifting her head to face Natasha, propping her arms underneath her cheek as she stared up at her. "We aren't dead."

"Not yet at least, in your case," Natasha chuckled quietly, though her eyes held a serious glint as she looked down at Veronika. "None of us would have made it out of there if you hadn't faced Ivan alone, though. We all owe you our thanks for that."

Except for the fact that I was the one who put you in that position in the first place, Veronika thought to herself. She didn't bring it up, however. Natasha would do that in her own time. For now, Veronika had something else she wanted to discuss. "Winter will come… What do you suppose that means?"

Natasha stared blankly at the wall in front of her as various possibilities ran through her mind, each seeming as unlikely as the last. He may have meant that his unknown superiors were in Russia just as he had been, hiding in the cold of uninhabited lands. Or perhaps it was supposed to be a hint as to who exactly his superiors were. Neither explanation brought her closer to an answer, so she resolved to focus instead on other matters. "We'll figure it out," Natasha nodded slightly to herself, shifting her gaze from the wall to Veronika. "There's something else that needs to be explained right now. You can start with when Alexei got in contact with you."

"The year was 2003-"

"Nika."

Veronika buried her face in her pillow as she groaned, having wanted to avoid this conversation as long as possible. Still, she knew that it was going to happen no matter what, so she sat up despite the flare of pain it shot down her spine and through her limbs to better see Natasha. "I'm not sure what you want me to say to you, Lia. I'm not going to defend my actions- they were wrong. I was wrong. I accept that. What else do you want to hear?"

Natasha would have gaped at Veronika if she allowed emotion to show on her face. She had never heard Veronika accept responsibility for her own misgivings ever, let alone actions she had thought right at the time. Wanting to see how far this small but significant change had spread, she pressed on. "I want the full story. I want to know just how badly you messed up before you came to your senses."

For one of the few times in her life, Veronika was completely honest. She revealed every detail, beginning with leaving Stark Tower and ending with changing her mind at the last minute to save Natasha from the ambush in the woods. At one point during the tale Bruce had returned with the med kit and Veronika trailed off, casually slipping into an off-topic conversation while he was in the room with them. She knew that everyone would know of her betrayal eventually, but she would rather they not know until she was physically able to defend herself from their anger.

It took the better part of two hours to go over every small detail, but Natasha waited and listened patiently as Veronika described the experience from her point of view, all the while marveling over her honesty. One dead giveaway that Nika wasn't lying was that she never once smiled during the story, shifting her eyes back and forth between the floor and Natasha. She very obviously wasn't proud of herself, and that was something that astounded and comforted Natasha.

The fact remained, however, that Veronika had betrayed the Avengers, no matter how remorseful of her actions she may be. Natasha waited until Veronika was silent to speak again, and even then she took a few moments herself to digest everything she had been told. "I'll talk to the others in a few days. You should be healed enough by then to properly defend yourself."

Veronika chuckled when Natasha voiced almost exactly her own thoughts from earlier. "Thank you."

Natasha shook her head, taking notice of the tiny drooping of Veronika's eyelids. Bruce had given her some medication for the pain even though she had tried numerous times to refuse it, and one of the side effects was drowsiness. "Don't thank me. I'm just dying to finally watch you and Tony duke it out."

"Yes, I'm sure it will be a party for all of us." Veronika visibly held back a yawn as she settled back against the bed with a gentle sigh. "Those pills won't let me keep my eyes open."

"How dare they," Natasha smirked, standing from the bed. "I'll leave you to be angry with your meds, then. I'll be back to get you for breakfast tomorrow."

Veronika watched through half-closed eyes as Natasha left the room, silently closing the door behind herself. When she was finally alone again, Veronika allowed herself to rub at her face with indecisive irritation. Now that everything with Ivan was finally over- discounting any related threats- she had just one big decision left to make.

Chapter 22 Preview

The team sat around the breakfast table, hungrily scarfing down their food. All except Steve, who found himself in a familiar situation as he stood in front of an empty seat with a plate in his hand, looking curiously towards the elevator. "Has anyone seen Veronika this morning?"