The next few days flew by. Between Thor trying to steal a penguin from the aquarium, Clint breaking into a bird exhibit, Natasha pushing Tony onto an extremely steep water slide and Steve being mesmerized by the bald eagle for nearly an hour, they were exhausted. Their last day was to be spent in the Magic Kingdom. Steve was drinking coffee and Bruce was fixing his tea and some tea for Natasha. Tony came downstairs and got his coffee, followed by Thor and Clint. Natasha came downstairs nearly with her hair back to its original curly red mane. She thanked Bruce for her tea and slip onto Steve's lap. They all finished their morning drinks and Thor ate some pop tarts.
"Avengers assemble! To the car!"
Natasha rolled her eyes but followed Tony anyways. Her red hair was bouncing behind her, the smile on her face lifting the group's energy. They had breakfast at a small café and went straight to Disney world. Thor was obviously the most amused by everything around him, Clint was a close second. Seeing the excitement on Natasha's face was shocking, no one expected Disney to make her that happy. Thor dragged Bruce and Natasha into a small store. Clint, Steve and Tony looked on as Natasha climbed onto Thor's back to reach a Yoda backpack on the top shelf. Clint looked at Steve and tony, both of them looked confused and please at how relaxed and happy Natasha was.
"She's making up for the childhood she never got to have, the childhood that was taken away from her."
The two men thought back on the last few days. Natasha did in fact seem to have released her inner child. At the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Natasha had willingly had a wand fight with Clint in the middle of a crowd of people, she had nearly died of laughter while watching Bruce go on the incredible hulk ride at Universal. It was nice seeing her be happy, something they could all get used to. The ride back to the house was calm. The calm didn't last for long, they had to get everything packed. Steve and Bruce were the only ones that had bothered to pack, they were aware that their flight back was tonight. Natasha and Clint were packed in no time; it was Thor and Tony who were causing the ruckus. Clothes were flying everywhere in Tony's room and Thor was trying to fit all his souvenirs in his bag. They nearly missed their flight. The entire time Clint and Tony annoyed each other, Bruce and Steve talked and Natasha brushed Thor's hair, it was quite an amusing sight. Somehow around the middle of the plane ride Natasha and Tony stole some Hulk gloves that Thor had purchased and began beating each other. Steve and Clint had to pull them apart before Natasha did any real damage. As soon as they stepped into their living room in Stark tower they noticed Nick Fury standing in the middle of the room.
"Avengers, I hope you enjoyed your vacation. Vacation time is over, time for S.H.I.E.L.D medicals, after that I need Agent Barton, Romanoff and Rogers for a mission in Paris."
"Alright Nick, why did you have to come all the way here to tell us that?"
"Refer to me as Director Fury Mr. Stark, and the answer to your question is the fact that agent Barton has a tendency to run away from the medicals, I'm here to bring him in myself, along with the rest of you."
Tony saluted him and threw his arm around Thor, jumping on his back on the ride down to the garage level.
"Agent Romanoff, you will drive Stark, Banner and Thor, I will take Barton and Rogers."
"Yes sir"
"Awww poop Anastasia, you're back in agent mode? I liked you on vacation mode, you were lots more fun"
Natasha rolled her eyes and slid into one of Tony's cars waiting for the men to get in the car, before Tony even closed his door Natasha was speeding off to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters. The routine medicals were over quickly and the avengers were back at Avengers tower. Steve, Clint and Natasha were scheduled to leave the next morning.
"Tasha, I'm going out for drinks, you coming?"
"Nah, I think I'm just going to stay in. Be back by 10 Clint."
Clint nodded and dragged Tony out the door with him. Natasha and Steve were cuddled on the couch for the next few hours. Bruce and Thor joined them and began watching a movie, after the second movie the smell of alcohol filled the air, Tony was hanging on to Clint who was clearly not as smashed as Tony.
"Tasha! Why didn't you tell me you and Stark got it on? You got to tell me if the man is all hype."
Natasha was out of her seat in a flash and had Tony cornered.
"You told?"
"Sorry Red, he pulled out the big guns, Kauffman Vodka."
Natasha turned to glare at Clint as he pulled a bottle of the drink in question and handed it over with a sheepish smile. She returned to her seat next to Steve, the living room was suddenly buzzing.
"So Tasha, know what that means? You've slept with half the team, that's an achievement."
Natasha flipped Clint off and opened her vodka, she sipped some and smile.
"This vodka is the only reason you are alive right now Barton. I'm going to go shower and go to bed."
When she was out of the shower Steve was waiting for her in bed. She gladly joined him and they had a few minutes of silence before Steve spoke.
"When were you and Stark…together?"
"Right before his birthday party 2 years back. I was undercover as his assistant and I had to make sure he kept me around. After he learned who I was we decided to keep it between us, only Pepper knew."
He nodded and held onto her, Natasha could tell he was still thinking about it.
"He was my mark, I've had many marks and I've had to sleep with many people. Stark is probably one of my only survivors."
Although Steve had wanted to know, his new knowledge only brought him discomfort. Natasha easily untangled herself from his arms and curled up on her side of the bed. That night was the worst night of sleep either of them had gotten in a while. Natasha and Steve both woke up promptly at 5 am, Natasha got ready and woke Clint up and the three of them went to the roof of Stark tower where the S.H.I.E.L.D jet was waiting for them. Maria Hill held the folder with information on the mission. Natasha and Clint looked at each other; they were still not used to going on missions without Phil. The air was tense and the 12 hour ride to Paris was awkward for everyone on board. They simply had to be dropped off and take down a small mob that had been terrorizing the town. They were informed that civilian casualties may be unavoidable. The people in the mob were cruel and ruthless. Clint looked over at Natasha but he only saw the black widow, ruthless and deadly, ready to kill. Natasha and Steve are an odd couple, Natasha was raised to be a killer, and Steve was born to be a hero. Even though she was saving more lives than she was taking, the black widow took over on missions and didn't care for the lives she took, Steve did his best to spare any lives he could. Clint could see the tense look Steve was sending Natasha. The jet landed and the three Avengers were told to signal when they needed to be picked up. Natasha pulled a gun out and got ready. Taking the lead and storming into the building.
"They're underground, only 3 ways out, this is too easy."
As soon as they entered they realized that civilians were everywhere. Simple people who had no idea what they were really working for. Natasha took a deep breath and headed downstairs. There were only a few men in the hall leading into the big room and she took them down without guns to not alarm the other people. By the time Steve and Clint made it downstairs there were 4 mean lying on the floor dead and one hanging from the ceiling. She nodded to the two men and indicated for them to follow her into the room. It was probably one of the easiest missions any of them had been on, it almost seemed too easy. There wear more than enough people to keep them occupied but they were not well trained. Steve turned around after taking down a group of men; Clint was fighting his own group. It was Natasha that caught his attention, she was not just killing, she was torturing a group of me.
"AGENT ROMANOFF!"
"Yes captain?"
"Stop inflicting torture on these men! It's bad enough that we're ending their lives."
"Killing is easy. Making them suffer is an art"
The group of men seemed to thin out but footsteps could be heard coming down to the lower level.
"Agent Romanoff! Nothing justifies torturing them!"
"They were just bragging about what they did to a little girl and what they wish they could do to me!"
"We're not killers!"
"No. You're not an assassin Steve, I am"
They were in a heated stare down, Clint was caught in the middle when the next group of men arrived. The room filled with smoke for less than a minute but things seemingly went back to normal. The men were taken down and the mission was over.
"That was too easy, there's something not right about this…widow?"
Clint looked around and noticed Natasha was gone.
"Shit. Steve it was a set up, they took Tasha."
The alarm on Steve's face was evident. Clint had to take pity on the man. It was obvious he was about to start panicking and Clint would have to take control.
"We have to get back to S.H.I.E.L.D, figure out where Natasha is and get some backup. If whoever took her is good enough to take Natasha down, we're going to need all the help we can get. Call Agent Hill for pickup, I'll get Stark on the phone… Snap out of it, that's an order captain."
Steve was talking to Maria Hill and Clint had Tony on the phone.
"Hey bird brain, mission over already? How are you and the lovebirds?"
"They took Natasha, Steve are going back for re-enforcements. Start trying to find a way to locate Tasha."
Bruce and Thor must have been listening because Thor's yell rang through the phone loud and clearly.
"Got it Barton. It's safe to say we're all going to be on the rescue team. I'll get on it."
As soon as Clint hung up the S.H.I.E.L.D jet arrived. Back in New York Tony and Bruce were doing everything in their power to find Natasha and bring her home.
Natasha P.O.V
She was furious. Steve was taking his anger out on her. All she wanted to do was get back to Stark tower and lock herself in her own room. Better yet maybe stay at her old place in the S.H.I.E.L.D building for a while. The people here had been easy enough to get rid of.
The room went dark for a moment but she continued to fight. She was preoccupied with the people in front of her. She didn't notice the person lurking behind her before it was too late. Not many people were actually capable of sneaking up on her, in fact there was only one person who could do it. She felt a needle break her skin and the world went blank.
When she woke up there was no battle going on, Clint and Steve were nowhere to be found. Her wrists were tied around a metal pole and she was no longer wearing her cat suit. It was cold and dark in the room but there was enough light seeping into the room to expose who was standing in front of her. Dark eyes were staring straight at her, eyes that she would recognize anywhere.
"Alexei"
Clint and Steve stormed into the Avengers towers, obviously furious. Bruce and Tony were in the living room, with screens all around them. Thor could be heard smashing 13 floors down in the gym.
"Any news on where she is?"
"still no sign of her. What did Fury say?"
"They wont help us get her back, said its too risky and he doesn't want to lose some of his best agents."
"Well then I guess the avengers are doing this alone. No way in hell I'm leaving little red behind"
Steve stormed downstairs, probably to join Thor in the gym.
Natasha P.O.V
The cold was numbing but she could still feel the pain of every time her back was whipped, every time they touched her. She was drugged, everything looked terrifying.
"So my lovely wife, do you feel like talking now?"
"I'm not your wife."
"yes you are honey."
"if that's the case, I want a divorce."
Alexei chuckled and leaned against a wall in front of her.
"we'd make a great team Natalia, the Red Guardian and the Black Widow."
She snarled and looked away.
"So, I heard you've been cheating on me. Who is it with, Tony Stark? That Hawkeye? The super soldier? I heard you and Captain America arguing like a married couple, you know I don't really take kindly on cheating."
He nodded to one of the men standing behind Natasha and she was whipped once again, the blood on her back was gushing. Natasha kept her mouth closed and her face straight.
"You know Natalia, it seems your little team mates are not coming for you, it's been 4 days since I brought you here and there's no sign of them, looks like you're still not loved."
She was whipped several more times and her ankles were broken, that was when Alexei left. The men stayed round torturing her, stabbing her, taking advantage. One of them made a grave mistake, as they got off her they didn't notice Natasha taking a cell phone out of their pocket. She could have laughed at how careless they were. Once they were outside Natasha began programming the phone to allow her to call Tony.
Avengers Tower
"Mister Stark, the results for the medicals have arrived, would you like me to read them out loud."
"Yeah Jarvis, read them to the rest of the Avengers as well. Just give an overview, I'm kind of busy"
"Everything is normal for Mr. Banner, Rogers, Barton and Odinson, as well as for yourself. However miss Romanoff is with child and must go in for further testing.."
Tony choked on his coffee, Banner turned a little green and you could hear Steve demolish a wall 13 floors down. It had been over a week since Natasha had been taken and still no sign of her. It was later that night when Tony got a phone call. The rest of the guys were in their own room, probably still awake and thinking of Natasha.
"what?"
"Tony!"
He could hear the relief in her voice, but she sounded tired and weak.
"Nat? is that you?"
"start tracking the call Stark, I want to go home. It's the Alexei…the Red Guardian. I don't think I can hold on much longer."
"We've been looking for you, just hold on a little while longer honey. We'll come get you and bring you home."
"When you do bring me clothes and food, and a big first aid kit."
"Of course honey, we're zoning in on Siberia. It'll be another minute and we'll be on our way."
"There's guards everywhere Tony. Please hurry."
He heard her choke back a sob and his heart broke.
"Got it honey, do you want me to stay on the phone?"
"No it's okay. Just come."
"On our way."
She was gone and Tony way yelling.
"EVERYONE SUIT UP, WERE BRINGING TASHA HOME!"
Everyone was out of their rooms and ready for battle in less than a minute. Tony was holding a bag for Natasha. They went up to the roof where they had a Stark jet waiting for them. Thor's anger was causing him to create some thunder. Tony had to put on a movie to try and distract him before he cause damage to the plane. They made it to Siberia in record time and it didn't take Tony long to track down an old abandoned shed. It was surrounded by dozens of armed men. The only thing that the Avengers cared about was the girl they believed to be inside.
