Thanks for reading! Let me know what you imagine will happen! Who knows, your idea might inspire me :) Also, feel free to post any prompt ideas you have for my Cap One shot collection!
Give him the antidote, quickly Anka!
Steve was a pillar of flame. Everything burned, singeing his nerve endings, his muscles, his skin. The pain centered on his heart, pulsing, stabbing, aching. He tried to pull away from it, to withdraw into the blissful darkness waiting at the edge of his mind, persuasive in its cool silence, but a small yet powerful part of him batted it away. Young Steve, scrawny Steve, the kid from Brooklyn, scowled down at him.
You cannot give up. Remember, remember what you have to fight for.
"I've been fighting my whole life. I can't always win kid."
You know why you have to win. Remember.
Steve frowned as another wave of fire washed through him. "I can't for much longer."
Young Steve gave him a small smile, You could do this all day.
Darya and Anka watched with a combination of anxiety and fascination as their subject writhed under the pain of Widow's Venom. Bound to both the bed and the iron ring in the wall behind it with double chains for added security, Steve still had not succumbed to the poison.
"How is he still alive?" Anka stared at him wide eyed, a syringe with the antidote poised and ready in her hand.
"Just thank God he is. Give him the antidote, quickly Anka! He's no use to us dead."
A male voice from the back of the room spoke lazily in Russian, making both women flinch, "Yes, and if he should die after you killed my best student, you two will be no use to me alive…"
Darya turned slowly to face him, his face hidden in the shadows of the room, "Ivan, she was compromised. She was lost to us. The serum was not."
"You better hope that you're right."
Nanali put a hand on Natasha's forehead with a frown, "She's burning up." She ran a hand down Natasha's back, the skin miraculously smooth despite the scarring of the bullet holes that were present not hours before. Clint leaned against the far wall of the room dressed in full tactical gear. Valeria had come through spectacularly, and they now knew the exact location of the new Red Room headquarters. As the team loaded the Quinjet, Clint had snuck out to check on Natasha once more before they left. He approached her bedside quickly, not believing what he was seeing. Natasha's wounds were healed. She slept fitfully, and a sheen of sweat dampened her hairline, but only scars remained where bullet wounds should have been. He put a hand on her cheek, "We're going to bring him home Nat, I promise."
Suddenly Natasha's hand snapped up to grasp Clint's, her eyes popping open. Clint's heart was in his throat, and could only stare at Natasha in shock. She stared back in stunned recognition and slowly sat up. When she spoke it came out as a whisper.
"Clint?" Her hand covered her mouth, then touch her forehead, as though she doubted her sanity.
"Natasha you're-"
"Alive," they said simultaneously. She threw her arms around him in a fierce hug that shocked Clint even further, how had she recovered so much strength so quickly? He pulled away and looked at her, his hands on her shoulders, "Nat, you were shot. Three times. Do you remember?"
"You and Laura! The kids! You were stabbed! Stabbed by… by…" Her brows furrowed as the events of the past few days returned to her.
"No one," Clint said gently, "You saved all of us. But Nat, Darya got to you before I could. I thought you were dead. I'm so sorry." He squeezed her shoulders.
"So Lila and the kids?"
"Safe. Thanks to you."
She stared at him, taking in this information, her face blank. "You're sure?"
"Positive. I saw them just this evening. Lila is beside herself with worry over you."
Natasha's expression softened, "Lila. Oh God Clint. I thought she had died. I thought all of you did. Darya told me-" She looked around for a moment, her mind racing until suddenly her eyes widened, "Clint they have Steve! Anka came and took him!"
"We know, Valeria has given up the location where they are at, we are leaving now. You need to just rest-"
But Natasha had risen from her bed, unsteady at first but rapidly gaining her strength. She found her gun on a side table where they had put the rest of her clothes and she checked the magazine deftly.
Nanali and Clint began to protest but Natasha gave them such a fierce look that both of them stuttered to a halt.
"Do not try to tell me I can't go. Those bitches are responsible for every terrible thing that has ever happened to me. They attacked my friends, my only family, they scrambled my memories. And now they have Steve. If you think they will keep him alive you're wrong. They'll bleed him dry and kill him, he's too much of a risk to keep alive. Just like I was. I'm going to kill them. Today."
"Nat, I understand. I am not feeling overly affectionate towards them myself, but you literally almost bled to death. You died, your heart stopped, not three hours ago!"
She rolled out her shoulders experimentally and shrugged, "I'm fine. Clint, if they kill Steve…" She looked at him full in the face then, and let her emotion leak through her mask. Clint looked back at her solemnly. Her eyes burned, a reflection of the turmoil that was stirring in her soul. Natasha was changed since all this had begun, she could no longer remain cooly above whatever conflict she faced, it was personal now. Clint saw how close she was to her breaking point, if Steve died… he shuddered to think of how it would effect her now.
"I'm compromised," Natasha said softly. Clint hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
At that moment, Valeria came running into the room, "Agent Barton, they're looking for y-" She stuttered to a stop when she saw Natasha. Natasha looked at her quizzically. Valeria looked star struck.
Clint stepped in, "Nat this is Valeria. I think you met once while you.. weren't yourself. Do you remember?"
Natasha looked into the face of the younger girl, a chill going down her spine. It was like seeing her younger self. "What is she doing here?" Natasha looked Valeria up and down, her expression growing cold.
Clint put a hand on Valeria's shoulder. Natasha glanced at his hand resting on the girl, then back to Clint, her expression demanding an explanation.
"Valeria has helped us to locate where Steve is being held. She has been most helpful." Clint gave her shoulder a squeeze. Valeria's eyes never left Natasha, her future resting on the other woman's opinion of her.
Natasha scowled, "She's a double agent Clint, a trained assassin. You can't take her at her word!"
Valeria flinched and Clint stepped forward between them. His voice low in warning, "She is no different than you when you came to us. Except she hasn't killed a man."
Natasha seethed. Leaning in close to Clint she hissed back, "If Steve dies, she will have."
Valeria got between them, alarmed, "Please! Don't fight, not now. We have to get to the Red Room right away! Decide my fate after it's all done." She looked at Natasha, "I'll do whatever it takes to make this right. Please, give me a chance."
Natasha looked down at her coldly, sweat running down her face and into her eyes. She wiped her forehead, her cheeks flushed. She looked at Nanali, "What's wrong with me?"
The older woman scowled but answered, "You have a high fever, but I have been unable to identify the source. You're extraordinarily healthy compared to where you were only two hours ago."
Natasha frowned, then closed her eyes decidedly. Steve?
She heard no answer, but a ghostly feel of aching limbs came over her, and her mouth pressed into a thin line.
"He's alive. They've given him the antidote. We don't have much time. They may already have drawn his blood." She touched her forehead, "He's the one with the fever…" Looking down at her wrist she saw that miraculously, despite all that had happened, she still had her shield bracelet that Steve had given her. She hit the star to shield herself, and instantly her fever began to cool. She looked grim, "Our connection is strong again, I'm basically healed, and it's my fault he's in trouble." She looked at Clint, then begrudgingly at Valeria, "Let's go."