Hello lovelies! No absurdly long note this time! Just enjoy C:
You can try and run
My dear
You can try and flee
My dear
You can not hide from me
Because it is oh so very hard
My dear
To run from the monster
You have become
My dear.
He tried not to panic when he saw her. She crammed inside a coffin-like cell, her shoulders were slumped, but her head was back, giving Barton the full view of her injuries. Half of her face was caked in dark, flaking, dry blood. A steady trickle of fresh blood ran down the other side of her face and down her neck. The rest of her was covered in bruises, cuts, and more blood. Her eyes were closed, and Barton hoped halfheartedly that they would flick open suddenly, she would crack a smile and say "Took your damn time, didn't you?". But she didn't. Barton cut through the lock, flung the cell door open, and pulled Natasha out gingerly. Her head lolled to one side and her eyes slowly opened. Barton shivered. Her eyes were dead, empty shells of what they had once been. Gone was the cool, calculating look, the glimmer, the actual life had been sucked out of them. She closed them again, and this time Barton actually feared that she might not open them again. She several heart-pounding moments Natasha remained still...and cold. Her eyes suddenly shot open, filled with pain, but determination. She was back.
"We have to go. Now." she spoke hoarsely, and staggered forward.
She shuffled past him and took off. She moved surprisingly fast, almost running, avoiding the debris from the explosion nimbly. She was breathing raggedly by the time they reached the entrance doors, and Barton was almost carrying her by the time they got to the car (although Natasha would deny this in years to come. Romanoffs don't need to be carried God damn it!).
"I'll drive. We're going south. People ask less questions there." She wiped rain out of her eyes, opened the car door and slid in. "Damn Barton, who did S.H.I.E.L.D have to bribe to get this?''
"Someone out here owed me a favor."
"Thanks, by the way," she muttered, "for the whole...saving me thing."
Barton nodded as he slid into the passenger seat. Natasha leaned her head back, groaned, then started the car and peeled out of the drive. She kept her foot planted firmly down on the accelerator, and by the look of determination on her face, she didn't plan on letting off any time soon. After several minutes Barton broke the oppressive silence.
"Look Romanoff, I dragged my ass out to mother fucking Russia to save you, and I deserve some sort of explanation."
She sighed deeply, wiped more blood out of her eyes, and continued to stare vacantly at the road before her.
"The snipers on the base were decoys. Do you really think we'd still be alive if they were real? They were meant to draw us out, which worked. Razin's men were already waiting for me when we split up. They've developed some sort of drug that I'm not immune to. So they shipped me here and I was subjected various forms of torture, white washing was my favorite. Then, a few days ago they went ahead and started showing me pictures, it seems harmless enough, right? That's where I failed, Barton. I let my guard down. I wasn't focusing. I was tired. So they showed a live security footage feed of you...and you dying...and so I let Razin try and preform a lobotomy, but apparently the Black Widow Serum rejected the operation, which is the only reason why I'm alive. So, being the bastard he is, Razin tapped in to my cerebellum, and now he can control my entire body from anywhere in the world. You're distraction has bought me some time though. He only had a portable controller ready, which would have been destroyed in the explosion, along with the main control panels. They probably have prototypes at the Red Rooms though, but it'll take them a few hours to get them up and running. All I know is that the farther south we get, the safer we'll be. I know someone who can get us clothes and maybe a motel room. Now contact S.H.I.E.L.D. and tell them that I am back, but unstable, and that they'll need to send an armed plane...I doubt I'll be too... friendly by then."
Barton sat quietly, the gentle swish swish swish of the windshield wipers and the rumble of thunder filling the silence.
"You really thought I'd be stupid enough to get myself killed like that? Dear God Romanoff I may be reckless but I'm not stupid enough to watlz in through the front doors of a top-security prison."
"Funny what a week of extreme psychological torture does to a brain."
"Touche, Agent Romanof. Where are we headed anyway?"
"Vologograd. I'm going home."
"That's a seventeen hour drive"
"Only if you're going the speed limit." She tried to smirk, but winced in pain immidiantly. "Barton. My entire face feels like its slowly being peeled off."
"I don't even know how to begin fixing it."
"I didn't ask you to fix it. I was simply informing you that my face is probably falling off."
Barton grinned, glad to see a rare glimpse at her humor, despite the fact that half of her face was covered in blood, and could, for all he knew, very well fall off at any time.
They flew through the Russian country side, which Barton had to admit, wasn't bad to look at after a while. They had fallen silent, Natasha had one hand on the wheel, the other held a blood-soaked strip of cloth to her forehead, managing to bring down the flow of blood to a trickle. They had left most of the storm behind them, no more thunder and lightning, although the rain didn't seem to be stopping. He had contacted S.H.E.I.L.D. a few miles back and a plane with six soldiers, plus Coulson, was going to pick them up just outside of the city, near some river whose name Barton couldn't pronounce. Natasha said she knew the area wel though, that her house had only been a mile away from the river. Natasha decided the back roads. Although they were full of pot-holes, there was no traffic, so they could continue along at a break neck speed until they reached Volgograd. Barton leaned his head against the rain-splattered window and closed his eyes.
Hope you liked it lovelies! As always, please review! It motivates me so much, you have no idea, and I love all reviews, good or bad, and I appreciate constructive critism a lot too. So review, my dears! Favorite and follow, my dears! Live and laugh today, my dears.