Chapter 15: Time

There comes a point in everyone's life when time is just time. It's not the tool we use to establish when the morning, afternoon or night starts. It's not a stopwatch, it's a timer and when your time is up, that's it.

Steve knew that Natasha was running out of time. He knew that the avengers were looking for them, he just didn't know why it was taking them so long. The guards making sure that he didn't try anything were becoming frisky. They wanted in on some of the fun and he was going to give them just that. As soon as they let their guard down he would take them out. It wasn't much of a plan but what choice did he have. He knew that Natasha was strong, she wouldn't have made it this far if she wasn't, but he couldn't stand watching her get beat. It was his job to protect her and keep her safe, but he was failing miserably. He would do anything to switch places with her but he knew she would rather be the one taking the fall. He just wondered how high someone cold fall before they crashed?

Natasha was flying, soaring high in the sky and she felt free. She couldn't feel any pain and at that moment she thought that that was a good thing. She could feel the wind in her eyes and the fresh air everywhere but then all of a sudden she started falling. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stay afloat. She was going down fast, like the way raindrops do during a thunderstorm except she wasn't going to land peacefully. When she hit the ground, she was surprised to feel nothing still, despite that landing. She looed around her and noticed that she was in Russia and it was winter. There was white, sparkling snow covering the streets, and the only source of protection was the flickering street lights.

She heard laughing coming from around the corner so she decided to see what it was coming from. As she neared, she decided to hide in the shadows to avoid being noticed. When she finally looked she saw a little girl with bright red hair that looked like the way fire does when you give it too much oxygen. On both sides of her holding her hands, were people who she assumed were her parents. To the girls right she could sense a feeling of protection radiating off of the father, though he remained calm. And to the girls left she could hear her mother humming an old Russian lullaby. The woman had similar hair to the little girls. They all looked so happy and like a perfect family, and Natasha envied them for that.

There was a faint "Tick, Tock" in the background.

She went to turn around so that she wouldn't be seen and as she looked up she was no longer on that street corner, she was in a dark room. She could see that same little girl again, along with a bunch of other girls, except this time she no longer looked happy. She looked scared, sad and alone. Her hair was a little less bright than it was the first time Natasha encountered her. She hid in the shadows and watched as the guards came in and took the girl out of the room and into another room with a chair. They forced her into it and tied her up. The people dressed up like doctors kept injecting her with things. The girl fought and fought but it wasn't enough. She heard one of the doctors say "You wont want children anyway" and with that said Natasha closed her eyes because she couldn't bare to watch any longer.

"Tick, Tock" a noise sounded from out of no where a little louder this time.

When Natasha opened her eyes she was in an alley way, in what appeared to be France. She saw the girl again but she was no longer little, she was a young women. Her hair was no longer the color of fire, but was the color of blood, and her eyes were shallow, like she was empty inside. The girl looked injured. She was limping, one of her hands was clutching her abdomen and she had a nasty cut oozing blood on her forehead. She was covered in scrapes and bruises but she still had some fight left in her. As the girl neared the dead end of the alley way, Natasha saw a man creep up behind her holding a bow and arrow. He cornered her and pointed an arrow at her heart.

She watched as the girl turned around and said "Go ahead kill me."

The archer then responded "Do you want to die?"

"I've got no reason to live and nothing to loose so take the shot."

"You've got some hell of a skill set, hate to see that go to waste."

"Just shoot me now if you're going to use me as some lab rat."

"I was going to offer you a job working for the good guys for a change, you want in?" the archer said as he lowered his weapon and stuck out his hand.

The girl looked hesitant but than reached for his hand as he said "The names Clint, Clint Barton by the way."

"Tick, Tock" the sound boomed out of the blue, louder than the last.

Natasha sat in the shadows seeing things flash before her eyes. The one thing all these visions had in common was the same girl with red hair. She watched her have a fierce battle in New York against aliens from another dimension, and do good. She watched her meet a man named Steve Rogers, who although she hated to admit it, was a pretty amazing man. Natasha saw the way he looked at that girl, like he owed her the world, even though she never did anything to deserve his admiration. She watched the girls bond grow with each team member and she saw her learn to trust again. But most importantly she watched the light return back into the girls eyes, like the way she was on the winter streets in Russia as a little girl who was happy. With each vision the "Tick, Tocks' got louder and louder until she watched the girl and that man named Steve go into a building on a mission and never came out.

Right then she saw herself, laying on a metal table all broken and battered. She could see Steve in the other room fighting off the guards swiftly. She saw the determination in his eyes but also the passion behind everything else. When she looked into her eyes all she saw was blank. She saw all the doctors packing up their equipment and getting ready to leave. She even saw the bomb that was attached to her with 12 minutes to spare, and counting down. But no matter how hard she looked, she didn't see the girl. That girl was lost and long gone and she knew that was true. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to prepare herself to enter back into reality. She reminded herself one last time of her goal not to get anyone one else hurt, even if that meant dying herself. It was a risk that she
was willing to take, and she accepted that this was how it was going to end, because Natasha Romanov was out of time. Well she always did want to go out with a bang. The last thing she wondered was if death was like a dance too?

Tick. Tock.