Author's Note: Sorry for another big gap between updates, but real life has been even busier lately. Hope you find this worth the wait!
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Running Free
May 12, 2014
NYU Langone Medical Center
Natasha stumbled out of her hospital room with one hand clutching her stomach and another pressed against the wall. One step at a time, she told herself. You can do this. The air was cold and the floor felt even colder on her bare feet. Gritting her teeth, she lowered her hands to her sides and did her best to walk normally.
She was on her own once again. Clint was currently on the floor back in her room, lying among the fragments of the vase that he had told her to smash over his head. All he had been able to give her was a wakeup call and his gun. That gun was now holstered beneath Natasha's loose-fitting hospital gown, safely hidden there until she should need it.
The weapon could only be used as a last resort. With her name already in the mud, Natasha would only make things worse by shooting at the authorities who were closing in on her. At the very least, she should try to get out of the hospital without engaging in any violent acts of self-defense.
Luckily, it was very early in the morning and the critical care unit was still quiet and empty. The only person Natasha saw was a single police officer standing guard at the end of the hall. He looked sleepy, and his mind seemed to have been drifting before he noticed her approach.
"You," he said as he straightened up and looked at her. "You're –"
Natasha had noticed that he wasn't reacting in a threatening manner. He probably hadn't gotten the memo on her just yet. "I'm okay," she said as calmly as she could. "Just a little stomach ache. That's all."
"Glad to hear that," the cop said with an awkward nod. "You know, I don't believe all that crap about you in the news. I'm a big fan of yours, actually. You saved some of my friends during the invasion."
"Thank you," Natasha said with a smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish some business with the Avengers."
"Oh yeah...Of course."
Natasha walked past him and turned into another hall on her way to the stairs. Faster, she thought, picking up her pace once she was out of the cop's sight. Fan or not, she had to distance herself from him.
Raspy static emitted from the cop's radio behind her, tearing through the early morning silence of the hospital wing. Someone was calling him. Natasha wasn't going to stick around to see what it was about. She quickened even more, somehow finding the energy to break out into a sprint. Clint's gun belt was loosely rattling against her hip, and her stomach hurt from the stitches that were pulling at its flesh. Despite that, she just kept on running toward the stairs.
Pushing her way into the dark concrete stairwell, Natasha lurched sideways and immediately began to make her way down. Steady. Don't fall and break something else now...
On a landing three flights down, she found herself staring at four men with handguns all pointing up at her. They were wearing bulletproof vests, with drab gray caps, shirts, and trousers. These guys were feds, not NYPD. Unlike that cop back there, they clearly knew what was going on.
"Stop right there!" yelled the one in the front. "Keep your hands where we can see them. If you don't comply, we will use deadly force against you."
"Please..." Natasha said. She turned and bent her knees, keeping one hand on her stomach as she meekly began to raise the other one. "It hurts so bad..."
Another agent tossed a pair of handcuffs in front of her feet. "Put those on. Slowly."
Natasha nodded her head and bent down to pick them up. These guys were actually buying her act, likely because her pain was real and she was only exaggerating it. Stupid of that guy to ask her to bend down though, allowing her to position herself for a pounce. Now if only she could find the strength in her legs to do it...
She picked up the handcuffs, fumbling with them for a moment before she made the leap.
"Oh shit!" one of the men yelled.
Natasha kicked off from the wall and drove her other foot across his face before he could get off a shot. Upon landing, she swung around to take out the next two agents.
Gasping out loud, the last man backed against the wall and froze. Natasha disarmed him and slammed his forehead into the railing.
Once again, she had made herself look so terrifying and unstoppable when she was actually nearing her last legs. As she released the unconscious agent, Natasha found herself clutching her stomach again and keeling over. That little outburst had taken a lot out of her. She didn't know if she could do something like that again...
Maybe I won't have to, she thought as her eyes drifted over to one of the agents. He was a shorter man who was slight in build. Not that much bigger than she was. His clothes would be a much better fit than the loose, dirty hospital gown that she was currently wearing.
Two hours later
CIA Times Square Station
"No, honey," Tony said into his phone. He looked sideways at Agent Hunter, who was still staring at him from several feet away on the lobby floor. "I don't know where Natasha is."
Hunter cleared his throat and pointed at his Rolex watch.
"Look, just talk to Congress like we planned. I'll call you if anything happens."
"Let's hope something doesn't happen," Pepper said.
"Yeah..." Tony said as dark thoughts began to push their way into his mind. "Be careful, honey...I love you."
"Love you too."
"I know..." Tony closed his eyes and nodded. Realizing how hard his heart was pounding, he told himself that he was not going to have another panic attack. Whatever was happening was here in New York where the Avengers were. The team could deal with anything even with one of its members currently missing as a fugitive from the law. Meanwhile, Pepper was hundreds of miles away in Washington, safely under the protection of Maria Hill. The second toughest woman whom Tony personally knew. "Bye," he said before ending the call.
"We need to take control of the situation," Hunter said.
"We aren't doing anything together," Tony said as he glared at the man who had attacked Natasha just a few hours ago. He didn't know what to think right now. Hunter had made some strong points during their meeting before. His evidence for Natasha's disloyalty couldn't be ignored. However, something about the guy just made Tony's skin crawl. "I'm simply here to speak for my team."
"Well the sooner you do that, the better it'll be for everyone involved. Just wish the Captain had been as willing to cooperate though."
"He's got more important things to do," Tony replied. In truth, Steve wanted nothing more to do with Hunter or any other CIA agent not named Sharon Carter. And while Steve was the heart and face of the Avengers, Tony hadn't wanted him appearing before the public in his current state. With all of the bad press Natasha was bringing to the team, the last thing people needed to see was Steve Rogers in his newly Un-American identity.
That's why Tony had stepped up for this press conference now that the government was formally accusing Natasha of treason and espionage. He didn't want to condemn Natasha as well, but he also didn't know enough to defend her. Tony just knew that the Avengers had to make a statement on this, before the media, the politicians, or that jackass Damon Dran could beat them to it.
"Now what could be more important than this?" Hunter asked, pointing toward the doorway that led out to the street.
Little Ukraine
Natasha stood behind a line of customers just inside the door of Ivanova's Restaurant. She was still wearing the gray uniform she had taken from the agent back at the hospital, minus the bulletproof vest that would have looked completely out of place among the normal citizens on the street. Her long red hair was tied up and hidden beneath her cap, and she slouched to give off a lazy and unassuming appearance.
She remained alert even with her head down, focusing her hearing and glancing around for the many enemies who were certainly searching the city for her. The chances of them looking in this cozy little eatery were slim, but she couldn't afford to lower her guard despite her relaxed surroundings.
As usual, Ivanova's was filled with loyal neighborhood customers sitting at the counter or at one of the booths arranged along its brick walls. They were an older clientele, mostly immigrants who came for a taste of the traditional Ukrainian comfort food that reminded them of home. Borsch and varenyky dumplings were the favorites there. However, the place also offered burgers and French fries to appeal to American tastes, and those were held in high regard as well.
Among the friendly and laid-back chatter, Natasha noticed a serious voice that drew her attention to the TV mounted near the counter. It was Tony Stark, addressing her current situation before a massive crowd of reporters.
"The Avengers have no knowledge of Natasha Romanoff's whereabouts," Tony said. "Nor do we have any comments about the accusations against her."
"Mr. Stark!" yelled one of the reporters. "Mr. Stark! Is there anything you want to say to the Black Widow?"
"There are a lot of things I wanna say to her," Tony replied with a grim look on his face. "First things first though. Come clean. Surrender yourself to the authorities, and let everyone sort it out from there. You can't run from this. And you're not helping the team, or yourself, by trying to." With that, Tony turned and walked away from the podium even as the reporters clamored for more answers.
Surrender. He wants me to surrender. Not one word of actual support from the guy, even after the CIA had cut her open on the street less than half a day ago. Friends...She didn't have that many real ones at all.
"How many?" an old woman suddenly asked her with a thick Ukrainian accent.
"Til'ky odyn," Natasha replied. Just one. She looked up at the hostess and gave a warm smile when she recognized her as Mrs. Sofiya Kravchenko.
"Natalia!" Mrs. Kravchenko replied. Her face lit up and she quickly embraced Natasha. "Ty v bezpetsi! Ya tak khvylyuvalasya! You're safe! I was so worried! She turned and motioned for her husband who was working behind the cash register. "Dimitri! Look!"
Dimitri Kravchenko's mouth fell open. "Slava bohu." Thank God. "Is there anything you need?" he asked, trying to remain calm as he walked out onto the floor.
"Just somewhere to stay for now," Natasha whispered. She looked around, concerned about any attention that the Kravchenkos might have drawn to her. "And a little discretion."
The old couple nodded in understanding. "Your room is as you left it," Sofiya said as she glanced toward the kitchen.
"Thank you," Natasha said. "I won't be here for long." She resolved to keep that promise as she headed alone through the kitchen toward the back hallway where her secret safe house was.
The Kravchenkos were on her side since she had saved them from a ruthless Pro-Russian interest group back in their homeland. After bringing them to America, Natasha had even provided them with new identities and the money to establish their business with. The couple had always been sincere about honoring that debt. Regardless, Natasha still felt guilty about calling it in.
She stopped halfway down the back hall, past the bathrooms and supply closets used by the staff. After taking a moment to confirm that she was alone, she tugged on a brick that was marked only with a slight scratch in one of its corners. The brick slid out, revealing a hidden control panel with a fingerprint reader. Natasha placed her thumb on that panel, unlocking another door that led into her private room.
How fortunate that she had kept this place despite having a swanky "home" just a few miles away in Avengers Tower. The place was small and cramped, but she had stocked it with everything she would need to survive. It even had space for a shower in the corner.
A hot shower. She needed one, and she took it right after checking to see if her stitches would hold.
Avengers Tower
Steve sighed and set his shield down behind the door of his suite. The curtains were still drawn from the night before. It was so dark in there that it took him a few moments to notice someone sitting on the armchair near the window. "Clint...You let yourself in or something?"
"JARVIS did." Clint held a pack of ice to his head as he laid a can of beer on the small table in front of him. "Told him we had to talk."
"About Natasha?" Steve asked as he sat down across from him.
Clint nodded.
"How's your head?" Steve peered at the red bump on his temple. Supposedly, Natasha had knocked Clint out just moments after waking up in the hospital.
"Can't say I didn't see it coming." Clint waited several moments to see how Steve would respond.
"It looks bad," Steve admitted. "I think Tony and the others are really having their doubts."
"That's why she needed to run."
Steve doubted the wisdom of that, even though he knew that Clint only had the best of intentions for Natasha. "Why'd you let her?" he asked, softly enough to make it clear that he wasn't accusing him of anything. "I already made that mistake last night."
"I didn't wanna, but Tasha needs to do this her own way." Clint looked down and shook his head. "She's experienced things as the Black Widow...done things that you and I can only imagine. What we're seeing now is just the reality of her world pushing out through the facade that the rest of us prefer to live with."
"The Black Widow is just a name," Steve said. "It doesn't have to be such a burden."
"It's who she is," Clint said rather bluntly. "The good parts and the bad. And as much as it bugs me when she keeps things to herself, I know that deep down she can handle it." He stopped and examined Steve's uniform. "You ought to embrace who you are as well."
Steve looked out toward the window. "Don't know if I believe in it all anymore."
"You have to," Clint said. He waited for Steve to look him in the eye before continuing. "I know I haven't talked much about this, but you might've heard that I bounced around a lot as a kid."
"Hill said you were an orphan."
"Yeah...Had a bunch of foster parents though. The one decent mom I ever had used to read me bedtime stories."
"About what?" Steve asked.
"You. Captain America. Helped me through some rough times."
"Thanks," Steve said rather awkwardly.
"I got older though, and the world got darker. Stopped hearing bedtime stories. Started hearing ghost stories about a Black Widow. I'd heard all the tales before I even met her. Before I even knew what she looked like."
"Where are you going with this?" Steve asked.
"The point is that Natasha is a legend in the espionage community. Lots of people will be gunning for her now, trying to make their names off of her. It could be one of her old enemies. An ambitious young agent working up the ladder. Or even some punk ass CIA goon who thinks he's hotter than he really is. But you of all people should know that legends aren't made so cheap. They tend to live on, and they always die hard."
CIA Times Square Station
"Thank you for coming in," Sharon said to Tony Stark.
"Don't think Natasha left me much of a choice."
Sharon looked around the lobby. "Just between you and me, I don't believe she's a traitor."
"Either way, we've gotta find her," Tony said. "Before anyone else does."
Sharon nodded as he turned for the door. His words weighed heavily on her. All she could do was watch as he left the building and entered the limo that was already waiting for him outside.
"About time," someone said behind her.
Sharon turned around and saw Hunter approaching with several of his friends. "Is there something you wanted to say?"
Hunter smiled. "Took a while to sift through everything on that data device," he replied. "Gets kind of tricky when you're interpreting memory fragments instead of analyzing hard data. Had so much to go through we almost didn't see a key piece of intel." Hunter motioned for more agents to join them. "Gear up, rookie. We've got ourselves a lead."
"You want me in on this?" Sharon asked, unable to hide her reluctance.
"The Chief does. Now come on already. Time you started living up to your aunt."
Little Ukraine
Some music would have been preferable while Natasha dressed her wounds and waited for her electric kettle to finish heating up. Relaxing herself wasn't a good idea though. However unpleasant it was, she had to remain up to date with the latest news outside of her tiny little sanctuary.
"The Stark Industries CEO is in Washington today where she is scheduled to testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security. Her company, and the Avengers team that it bankrolls, had already been mired in controversy before their secretive raid upon private property owned by business rival Damon Dran. That attack, as well as the disappearance of Natasha Romanoff following accusations of treason and espionage, has only added fuel to the scandals spreading like wildfire throughout this country."
Tony's words echoed in Natasha's head as she taped another layer of bandages over her stomach. You can't run from this. And you're not helping the team, or yourself, by trying to.
"When Ms. Potts does arrive for her testimony, she will be greeted with dozens of protestors calling for action against the Black Widow and her fellow Avengers. These crowds mirror those in other cities, as well as another just several miles away in front of the White House."
Steam spewed from Natasha's kettle as the water inside reached boiling point. She went right for her mug, feeling tenser even though she would soon have that hot cup of tea that she had wanted.
"President Ellis himself is struggling in the polls due to his personal connections to the Avengers. Led by prominent critics such as Damon Dran, momentum is gathering behind once-fringe movements to impeach the President and enact emergency security measures throughout the nation. As one Senate insider told us this morning, 'Heads are definitely going to roll.'"
Natasha poured the water into her mug and stared at it as she stirred in a teabag. They're all being used. She was being used as well, but at least she was aware of it. She just didn't know how she had been used. What those people had cut from her body...Natasha sipped her tea and ran her fingers along her belly again. Good thing secrets never keep, she told herself.
Those words didn't reassure her as much as stoke her paranoia. Natasha found herself turning toward a flat screen monitor that was connected to several hidden cameras mounted throughout the building. The top right screen displayed a view of the restaurant's dining area. Just a minute ago, it had been showing the same peaceful scene that could have occurred on any other day over there.
Now it showed more than a dozen men and women forcing themselves into the middle of the restaurant floor. Several of them were wearing suits. The rest were in full tactical gear with body armor and assault rifles.
"Damn it," Natasha muttered. She kept her eyes on the monitor as she ran across the room for the backpack she had set up for herself. It was filled with a spare Black Widow suit, along with an array of her special gadgets and weapons. Good thing she had already packed up most of her stuff before deciding to go for that cup of tea. Most of it.
On the screen, she could see the agents locking down the restaurant and examining each of the customers. Sharon Carter was already heading for the kitchen with two of the men. They'd make their way to the back in another couple of minutes. Maybe not even that long. Natasha knew she had to hurry.
She shoved a Glock 26 into the pocket holster of her jacket. Just ten bullets in there. She'd definitely need some more. A spare magazine was in her drawer, along with a few falsified passports and a holomask that she'd probably need as well. Natasha scrambled to pack them all up.
In the restaurant, the agents had begun to focus their questioning on the Kravchenkos. Several of them were holding Dimitri under gunpoint, while Agent Hunter singled out Sofiya and began to get in her face.
Natasha couldn't hear what was going on in there, but she could see Hunter growing frustrated as Sofiya shook her head. A few moments passed before he suddenly slapped her.
Bastard, Natasha thought, tightening her fist as Sofiya fell onto an empty table. That table was right in front of the hidden camera, giving Natasha a perfect view as Hunter pressed Sofiya down and handcuffed her from behind.
Two more lives had just been ruined. All because Natasha had come here and taken advantage of her friends' hospitality. The thought filled her with rage, and a part of her wanted to storm out into the restaurant to confront Agent Hunter.
The thug pulled Sofiya up, bringing her face level with the camera on the wall. Natasha could see the fear on her face. The tears streaming down her eyes.
Can I save them? Natasha had some decent gear with her. Disabling all of Hunter's men would be a long shot, but it wouldn't be impossible. There was only the question of where they could all go after that...
All of a sudden, Sofiya stared into the camera with a look of courageous determination. Moving her lips, she made it clear that Natasha was to do nothing more than "Get out."
It broke her heart, but Natasha knew that she was right. On the screen right next to the one with Mrs. Kravchenko, she could already see Sharon and her men stopping outside her door.
Natasha flipped on her backpack and began to pull her couch aside. Behind it was the opening to a crawl space leading to a secret escape tunnel. She could have slipped away already, if only she hadn't wasted so much time watching her friends in the restaurant. The agents outside wouldn't need a key or a thumbprint to get in. Just a magnetic breaching charge, like the one Sharon was already placing on her door...
The charge exploded, swinging the door inward as Natasha ran to the side of the room. With his rifle raised, the first man went in and swung right. Natasha closed the gap with him, ducking two shots before kicking the gun from his hands. She kicked again with her other foot, this time in the man's chest. He reeled back, colliding with his teammate before both of them crashed against the wall. Natasha flung two electroshock disks into them before they could get up.
"Freeze!" Sharon suddenly yelled.
Natasha turned and saw her aiming a handgun from the doorway. "Your move, Agent Carter."
"You've gotta come in," Sharon said. Her voice was as shaky as her hand was. Very uncharacteristic for such a skilled and fearless agent. This was reluctance, not nerves. "Please, Natasha...Let me help."
"That wouldn't be very wise of you." Natasha turned and dived straight into the crawl space, not wanting to give Sharon a chance to have any second thoughts. Just in time, she thought as she heard Agent Hunter arriving behind her. Natasha squeezed her way around a turn as Hunter fired several shots into the dark.
"Get in there! Don't let her get away!"
Three hours later
"Over there, sir," said Agent Boyd. The young agent in the passenger seat pointed out toward the right.
"I see her," Hunter replied.
He pulled his car over and stopped on a street corner about four blocks from Ivanova's Restaurant. Leaving the engine on, he exited the vehicle to confront Agent Carter. He could tell that the rookie hadn't been up to the task in her search of the surrounding neighborhood. "Nothing."
"You mean you weren't able to squeeze any clues out of that poor elderly couple?" she replied.
"They didn't know a thing," Hunter said, annoyed at how she had turned it around on him. The balls on that rookie. How dare –
"I could've told you that," Carter said. "It's not like Romanoff would've let them in on anything. She probably didn't even want their help."
"They've already done too much. I can have them up on harboring a fugitive. Treason."
"I don't know if you're high enough to decide that on your own. And from what the others have said, you didn't give that couple a chance to talk before you started manhandling them."
"Whatever," Hunter replied. He looked away and pretended to scan the rooftops around them. "Tell your men to regroup with my team. I can still find her."
"No you can't," she said rather dismissively. "I doubt she's even in the city anymore. Romanoff is gonna go wherever she wants."
"Hmm." Hunter lowered his head, finding himself unable to dispute that. The Black Widow had vanished like a ghost, and the search would only get harder as time went on. "You may be right," Hunter admitted. He walked back into his car before she could say anything more to rub it in.
"What do we do now, sir?" Agent Boyd asked.
Hunter drove on, making sure they were out of Carter's sight before he replied. "Call in the girl."
"Who, Bullseye? You wanna work with her on this?"
"No. Hell no. You kidding me?" Hunter cast a disgusted look at his subordinate. "That chick is nuts. She's only good for one thing, and that's pulling the trigger."
"So where do you want her to um, pull the trigger?"
"Washington," Hunter said.
"You don't mean..." Agent Boyd trailed off, seeming afraid of where this was going.
"Oh yeah," Hunter said with a smile.
"Sir, couldn't we just bait her with that old couple? Or the Doctor and that Indian kid?"
"The thought occurred to me. It's too risky though. We need a little distance if we're gonna keep our hands clean."
"I don't like this," Boyd said as he took out his phone.
"That's because you've got a lot to learn about efficiency," Hunter said. "Chasing after the Black Widow is doing things backward. We've gotta take the lead. Give her a reason to go where we want."
Natasha's freedom will come at a cost when her enemies strike back at someone close to her. One thing leads to another, making waves that no one could've predicted in Chapter 30: Ripple Effect!
