Chapter XV
Natasha still remembered the night Madame B's people had come for her. She'd been only four and her mama had told her to hide underneath the bed. It had been pointless. Her parents had been killed that night and Natasha had lost everything. Her home, her family and her innocence. No one but Steve knew that she'd remembered parts of her life before the Red Room. She didn't remember her parents' names, but their faces.
Natasha wouldn't let the same thing happen to Chloe. No, Chloe wasn't going to be turned into a killer. She was going to have a great childhood. They were going to move into the brownstone house in Brooklyn and Steve was going to put a swing for Chloe into the little garden. He was going to teach his daughter how to ride a bike and Natasha was going to teach her Polish so Chloe would know her mother tongue.
The door rattled again. They were still trying to get in. Natasha heard a beeping sound and then "access denied". Batroc knew the old security code of the house! She had no idea what had come over her, but she'd changed it when they'd arrived. Thank God, or they would have gotten in. If they knew the old code then, they knew about the secret tunnel which meant they couldn't escape through it.
They had to fight.
They had to kill.
The door wouldn't keep them out forever.
"Steve-" She whispered and tugged on his arm. He reluctantly turned around, his gaze fixated on Chloe who was hiding her face in Natasha's neck and not making a sound. She seemed to sense that something was very wrong."I'm going upstairs. I'll try to take out as many as possible."
"I stand guard here." He said and kissed her, his hand cupping the back of Chloe's head. "I won't let anyone come close to you two. I promise."
"I know." She gave him one last kiss. "I love you."
"I love you." Steve kissed Chloe's head. "I love you two so much."
Natasha tried to give him a reassuring smile before she jogged up the stairs. She put Chloe into her porta crib and pushed it into the hallway in front of the wall. Natasha herself opened the window next to it a little bit to get the barrel of her rifle through it. The lights were out so no one should be able to see her.
She had to be quick and kill as many as possible before they took cover. Thankfully the telescopic sight had night vision and Natasha could see everything outside perfectly. Batroc seemed to have at least eight men with him. She figured that at least two more were trying to get the door open and who knew how many were in the tunnel trying to get in, but at least it was impossible to get in through the bunker. It was built to withstand a nuclear blast.
She took a deep breath and focused on her mission. She couldn't miss and she wouldn't. She pulled the trigger and the first guy went down. Another man dropped dead to the ground before he knew what happened. Unfortunately the others noticed the gunshots and tried to seek cover. Natasha managed to kill thee more before they hid behind their vans. Five were dead, but at least six were still alive, including Batroc. Natasha heard another blast, but it didn't sound like they got in. But even if they did, Steve was waiting for them. And they wouldn't get to Chloe. Her father would kill them before they could even see her.
A foolish guy tried to shoot at her, but he was just blindly firing at the upper windows and Natasha used the opportunity to kill him.
"Six are done. Batroc and at least four are still out there." She said, knowing that Steve's enhanced ears could hear her.
"Natasha-" Steve was suddenly behind her. She had been so focused on finding more targets that she hadn't heard him. Anyone else and that mistake would have been deadly. "Don't be mad at me."
She turned around to look at him. He was wearing a kevlar vest that he'd must have taken out of the armory. "The door won't hold them off for long. I have to do this. I'll be quick."
"What?" He gave her a quick kiss and smiled at Chloe who was quiet, but looking at Steve. " I love you, munchkin. I'll always keep you and mommy safe."
He wasn't going to- Yup, he was.
"Close this behind me immediately." He whispered and opened a window. And then he was gone.
Natasha shut the window and got back to the rifle to have his back. They had no chance against him. She'd never seen anything like this before. Steve was ruthless and he showed no mercy. There were a few screams and Natasha could hear bones cracking. He was breaking their necks. Within minutes, everything was quiet again. Steve looked up at her and gave her a nod. She saw that Batroc somehow survived the fight and was about to draw his gun, but he never got to pull the trigger because Natasha ended the son of a bitch with a head shot.
"This is for Sarah." She whispered and looked over to her sweet girl. "Your mama has been avenged, sweet girl. She can rest now. We keep you safe for her."
Natasha got her daughter got of her bed and pressed her against her chest. Chloe was safe for now. She ran downstairs with Chloe in her arms to let Steve back into the house. He kicked the door shut behind him and pulled Natasha and Chloe into his arms. They hadn't even managed to land one single hit on him.
It was all too much for Natasha and she started to cry. She was silently weeping into Steve's chest until he pulled away and cupped her face. He was overwhelmed as well. Tears were running down his cheeks and he couldn't stop staring at his daughter who had a strain of Natasha's hair in her tiny fist and was chewing on it. Looked like she was going to teeth soon. At least a few things in their lives were normal.
"She doesn't seem traumatized." Steve said, laughing a little bit.
"Yeah." Natasha wiped her tears away. "We need to get out of here."
"I know." But he didn't move. He just looked at her before he kissed her softly. "We've kept her safe and we'll continue to do so. We'll watch her grow up." He brushed his nose against hers. "She won't grow up like you. Don't worry. We'll get to have a normal life. We'll raise our little girl and we'll get married one day."
She nodded, new tears forming in her eyes. Of course, he knew what had been going through her mind. "I wanted to say something before we got ambushed. And I need you to know it. You are the love of my life, too. I will never love anyone else. Never."
He rewarded her with a beautiful smile. "You don't know how happy that makes me. You're my dream come true." Chloe let go of her hair and giggled. "Yes, you too. You and Chloe are everything to me. I will kill anyone who wants to lay a hand on you."
"I know." He'd proved it outside. Steve never fought to kill. He hadn't been trained like her, but today he'd fought like he had. To protect her and Chloe. "No one will ever tear us apart."
"I know." Steve kissed her passionately until Chloe made a sound that almost sounded like she was grossed out. Wasn't she a little bit too young to be disgusted by her parents' PDA?
They packed everything up in record time, Natasha emptied out Fury's armory and they left before anyone else could show up. She was glad that Steve had driven the SUV in the garage yesterday so Batroc and his henchmen hadn't been able to destroy their escape vehicle. They'd raided the vans and checked the pockets of their victims, but couldn't find anything that could lead them to the Power Broker. But Natasha couldn't shake the feeling that she already knew deep down who the Power Broker was.
She'd made a few calls to have people take care of the dead bodies before they got on the road to one of Natasha's safe houses. It wasn't a fortress like Fury's house, but at least no one knew about it. No even Clint.
"Steve-" She knew that he wasn't going to like what she was going to say next. He looked at her through the rear view mirror because Natasha was sitting next to their daughter in the backseat, so she could protect her better in case they got ambushed again. "I think I know who the Power Broker is."
Steve sighed. "I think I know it too. I just don't know how she figured out that we have Chloe." She. He had the same theory as her. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad that Peg is not with us anymore so she doesn't have to know."
"I'm so sorry, Steve." She reached her hand out to rest it on his shoulder. His own hand gave hers a squeeze before he put it back onto the steering wheel.
It had to be Sharon. Nagel had worked for the CIA just like Sharon. Nagel had been living in Madripoor just like Sharon. Sharon had the intelligence background to keep her new identity a secret. Her aunt had been staying at Fury's house which meant that it was possible that Sharon knew about it too. She would have known the old code and given it to Batroc. Sharon had hired Sarah's killer and was now hunting down her baby.
"Steve-"
"I know what that means, Nat. And I...and if it comes to it, then yes, I'm capable of killing her to protect our daughter." He sounded defeated and she felt so sorry for him. He'd told her he wouldn't be hurt if Sharon turned out to be shady, but this was...Sharon had crossed a line that no one should ever cross.
They were quiet during the drive to New Hampshire. Natasha never took her eyes of off Chloe who was mostly sleeping. Steve was hurting and her heart was breaking for him. She had no idea what to say to him. It had to be the ultimate betrayal for him. Yes, Sharon wasn't Peggy, but still...
It was early morning when they reached their destination.
Her safe house was a little house outside of a small town. She'd chosen it because no one looked at it twice and it had a big basement that Natasha had turned into an apartment. It was relatively safe for now. It wouldn't withhold a nuclear blast, but they were safe there until they knew where to go from here.
Steve carried Chloe into the house and went downstairs after Natasha told him to. Natasha unloaded the car and carried everything in. Steve had offered to do it, but he needed to cuddle his daughter right now.
Natasha plopped down the sofa bed after she'd schlepped down the last duffel bag. Sometimes, she was really jealous of Steve's superior version of the serum. Her Walmart version hadn't given her super strength, just a higher pain tolerance and quicker reflexes.
Chloe had her face buried in her dad's neck and Steve rubbed his hand over her back. "I should have carried-"
Natasha held up her hand. "No. You needed some time with your munchkin. And it's the 21st century, women can carry their own luggage."
He gave her a tired smile in return. He sang Chloe back to sleep while Natasha put up the porta crib and they tucked her in.
"I'm gonna take a quick shower before bed." She whispered and pecked his lips before she disappeared into the little bathroom.
She removed her clothes and checked the temperature before she got into the shower. She washed her body and hair and when she turned around, she saw that the bathroom door was wide open and Steve was in the room, getting out of his clothes. God, he was so beautiful. The apartment was so small that Steve would hear Chloe if she needed them. He opened the glass door of the shower and it was almost comical how he pushed his broad frame into the tiny shower. His hand reached for her face and he slanted his mouth over hers, pressing her into the shower wall.
They didn't speak. The sex was different that morning. It was frantic, hard and desperate, but still so, so loving. Steve had completely wrecked her before he allowed himself to come for the first time.
His palm hit the shower wall and he broke a tile. "Fuck, sorry!"
"No, no, keep going, don't stop!" She moaned into his mouth. "Please, I need it, baby. I need you!"
They stayed inside the shower until the water went cold.
Chloe was still in her dream world, wrinkling her cute button nose, when they checked on her. They turned the sofa into a bed and Natasha pretty much wrapped herself around Steve like a koala after they got underneath the covers.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She whispered and looked up at him.
He shook his head and pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead. "Not now. We need to get some sleep before we come up with a plan." He brushed a still wet strain of her hair behind her ear. "But you don't need to worry. I won't hesitate just because the Power Broker is most likely Sharon. She means nothing compared to you and Chloe. Her connection to Peggy means nothing to me now. Nothing will save her."
Natasha nodded and moved up to be face to face with Steve. She hoped her kisses were soothing to him.
She'd already made up her mind and she was relieved that he was on the same page. Sharon Carter was the reason their sweet little girl was in danger, so she had to pay the ultimate price.