CHAPTER 6
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except my own. The characters belong to MARVEL.
CHAPTER 6 Daybreak
The sun rose blood red on the remainder of the universe. It was nothing Natasha wanted to see. The energy felt trapped in her body, unable to escape. So, she grabbed her ballet slippers and disappeared into one of the closed-off training areas.
Music filled the room. Without thinking, she had put on Firebird. The final battle between the beautiful bird and evil sorcerer. Natasha leapt into the music without thinking twice. The Red Room had her memorize the choreography as part of her cover as ballerina. But this was not about that. Natasha made up her own steps, transformed the dramatic battle of ensemble into a solo for the firebird alone.There are no minions to fight the fight. No one will come to rescue you, little bird. Last of your kind. This is what happens, when you lose. You're left alone with red dripping from your ledger.
Natasha made a frustrated sound, bared her teeth. Her blond hair irritated her. She missed a step and fell to the ground. But nothing could keep the Black Widow down for long. With a quick roll she was back on her feet, leaping off the ground in a perfect split as if nothing had happened.
The music swelled, as if accompanying her mood and Natasha followed. Her feet barely touched the ground between furious fouetté leaps, pirouettes and quick steps on her toes. With every almost silent footfall, Natasha felt the energy trapped inside her dissipate – no, transform. Her head cleared. Not only did Thanos win, but New York, her city, needed help with the arrangement of a new order. Whether they want to or not. I've seen many countries fall. I am a Russian, I don't cry over that.
Without thinking about it, she tipped her upper body back as her leg cut through the air behind her in a graceful arch. A muscle in her back protested weakly. Still, the people need to feel reassured that there is someone out there looking out for them. And we need to find the rest of the team as quickly as possible. Especially Clint.
Natasha finished another double pirouette without a single hitch or stumble. Her arms outstretched before her, head turned slightly to the side, chin up. She raised herself to the tips of her toes. Her left leg slowly drew to the front to make a step. Without needing to gain momentum, she threw both legs in a kick-like movement up into the air and landed just as quietly as a cat.
"Natasha," a voice called.
Natasha turned her head, seeing Pepper enter the room. Her hair was pristine, her expression strained, her voice brittle. The music swelled to another crescendo as Natasha leaped into the air with one leg after the other in a pas de chat other ballerinas would be jealous of. With a series of quick turns, matching the beat of the music, she landed in front of Pepper.
"Where is he?"
Natasha didn't ask. She lowered her eyes. "We don't know."
Pepper's eyes filled with tears. Her lips quivered, which she quickly covered with a hand. As if showing weakness in face of her missing and possibly dead fiancé was a weakness in and of itself.
The thrumming energy was back. "Thor is off-earth and keeping his eyes open for him. Pepper, I'm sure, if someone can escape Thanos simply by being stubborn, it's Tony. He'll be fine. We'll find him." I hope.
Pepper set her jaw, shaking off any apparent sadness in the blink of an eye. "I have a company to run. We are short on staff. I never deleted the files of Natalie Rushman." An obvious invitation to do something for the good of the remainder of Earth. An opening to escape the compound any time Natasha needed to.
"Thank you for the offer, Ms Potts. I'll see what I can arrange," Natasha replied calmly.
The other woman nodded in understanding, even offering a small smile, as if saying that even declining would be okay. "We all have to grow accustomed to the new … circumstances until we find a way to bring everyone back. I will arrange a press conference to announce SI's intention of helping out however we can."
Natasha wished she could rip her blond strands out as she noted them falling in her face the more she moved. She wasn't blond. Not innocent, not dumb, not free of blemish. Let it be a reminder of what we lost. Let it spur my actions towards a quick solution of this mess.
Pepper searched her face calmly. "I refuse to lose hope."
Natasha turned the music off and slipped out of her ballet slippers. She purposefully turned her back towards Pepper to hide her expression. It might have showed too much. In her mind, her new mantra was set on repeat: Find Clint. Find Tony. Save the lost. Or avenge them.
"It's a beautiful morning," Natasha said once she was done. "Perfect for a walk around town, wouldn't you agree?"
Pepper tilted her head ever so slightly. The subtle nuances of Black Widow she could not decipher. Even after working with Natalie Rushman for almost two years. So, she simply nodded with furrowed brows. "Yes, a beautiful morning for a walk."
"How did you get here?" Natasha asked. They left the training area and walked towards the common area. Natasha knew the rest would be there for a healthy breakfast. There, she could leave Pepper with Rhodey or maybe catch a ride with them back into the city.
"Pepper!" Rhodey almost spilled his cereal all over the table. His eyes were big and round with surprise. The spoon clattered too loudly in the sombre silence. With a few strides, Rhodey was in front of them and pulling Pepper into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're okay. I'm so sorry." His words slurred together in his need to get them all out.
Natasha moved past them, not wanting to invade their moment. Instead, she noticed Steve stress-baking pancakes in the corner. And Steve's pancakes were the best to ever grace Earth. "Morning," she said while snatching two from the stack. They were still warm.
"Good morning. Strange to be back." Steve offered a sad little smile. His eyes were still rimmed in dark shadows. He hadn't slept at all in the past nights. And it was starting to show even with his supersoldier physique. Natasha noted a slight tremor in the hand holding the pan.
"Did you get any sleep?" They both knew it was a rhetorical question. Neither of them had slept the past nights. At least not enough to stock up their energy completely. Both were running on the back-up batteries their past had trained them to develop. Neither a supersoldier in a war nor a spy on a mission could afford being tired.
"I'll manage," Rocket grumbled. He snatched the rest of the pancakes and trotted off to god knows where. The racoon had taken to the compound surprisingly quickly. Since the night before, Natasha had spotted him in three different parts of the compound none of the others ever ventured and that were hard to locate on the security cameras.
Pepper and Rhodey had moved to the kitchen island and picked at some fruits. Rhodey's cereal stood forgotten in the middle of it. They were undoubtedly making plans to find out about Tony's whereabouts.
Steve huffed. "Bruce is still asleep. Or in the lab. He said something about using gamma rays or something to figure out where Tony might be."
"I'll go into the city and see, if I can find Clint."
"Won't he be on his farm?"
"Not, if even one of his family disappeared. Then he'll be out with a vengeance."
Steve looked, as if he wanted to offer his help but thought better of it. Natasha was thankful. She didn't need company right now. She needed time to think and maybe harass some bad guys in a city teetering on the edge of chaos.
"Take care," Steve awkwardly patted Natasha's shoulder. "I'll see, what I can find out from here. Check in with Okoye. Find out how we can get our hands on Tony." No one else would have noticed, but Natasha detected a slight hitch. He's still hung up on their disagreement three years ago. They haven't spoken since, but now we need the whole team more than ever. And Steve knows it. Well, it was your decision to go against the accords. I backed you for a reason. Still, having Tony here might be worth the leash of the government.
As if on cue, Pepper approached them. "Good morning, Captain."
"Ms Potts," Steve replied quietly. He couldn't look her in the eye. "We'll do everything in our power to find Tony."
"I know." Pepper's smile quivered. "I just wanted to ask, if Natasha wanted to come with us to New York. Rhodey and I have some appointments to make before we can come back here."
"Thank you." Natasha hauled a packed bag from under the sink. She had several outfits fit for missions hidden around the compound and in the city in case she ever ran onto a case without being able to get back to base and change. She threw Steve one last look. "Take a nap. Old men need their rest." It was a bad attempt at lightening the mood. Steve's lips twitched, but didn't say anything.
The energy thrummed inside her. Find Clint. Find Tony. Save the lost. Or avenge them.
The drive downtown was silent. Natasha changed in the backseat, which prompted Happy to glue his eyes to the street. He had learned since their last drive. They dropped Natasha in a nondescript alleyway. After a careful look around, Natasha scaled a nearby fire ladder. It felt good to be out and doing something.
Up on the roof, Natasha allowed herself to take a moment to feel the wind on her face. Pepper had pulled her short hair into a mixture of braids and bun. It helped with Natasha's newly formed dislike of her hair colour. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Up here, she had the perfect view of the streets below. Apparently, citizens of New York handled the sudden disappearance of half their citizens with a strange sense of grace. The ruins where helicopters or cars had crashed were mostly secured in some way. At least the rubble was cleared enough to allow people and single cars to pass at a safe distance. Of course, New York first clears the streets to get back to driving everywhere.
Natasha crossed several blocks at different levels, sometimes walking across the roofs of smaller buildings, then scaling down to ground level and observing the scene by foot. Everything appeared to go as expected after a universe-wide catastrophe. Some people were out in the street scavenging for food, others were already driving their Jeep down the free three metres in the middle of the road and honked at pedestrians. Everyone wore a haunted expression, staring around as if hoping to find someone they knew. In the windows, Natasha could make out single silhouettes. These were the ones unwilling to face reality just yet. The energy made her fingers itch. She needed to do something more than just patrol the city. An impression was good. It helped with moving on, but right now Natasha needed to actually do something, anything, against the crippling anxiety of losing everyone that crept up on her like a cold tide.
"Help!"
Natasha's head shot around. Her eyes scanned her surroundings. She couldn't see anything. Then again: "Someone! Help!" Followed by a pained cry and muffled curses.
Black Widow's eyes fixed on a mountain of rubble blocking a barely-lit alleyway from the main street. With only a few leaps, she crossed over its top onto the other side. In the alley, three large shadows loomed over a small bundle on the floor. A small bundle that cried. Another person. Black Widow slunk forward in the shadows.
"Shut up," one large male snarled. "Maybe we won't kill you afterward, if you're nice 'n quiet now."
A silent whimper. A stomp to the stomach. The energy dissipated into well-known concentration before a fight.
"Better listen to him, sweet cheeks. Corey doesn't like it, when they talk," another male sneered. He grabbed the bundle by the scruff and pulled it slightly upright. Black Widow narrowed her eyes. It was a teenager, maybe fourteen, the gang of twens had cornered. They hauled the boy up and pushed him against a wall. Black Widow pulled her gun.
"If you're nice, maybe I'll tell 'em t'go easy on you," Corey purred over the quiet whimpers of their victim. With a quick movement, they ripped his pants down. Black Widow shot.
Corey screamed in both surprise and pain. His right knee gave out. His friends scattered with wide eyes. It didn't matter. One by one they each were hit with a bullet in their shoulder, thigh and foot. None of them deadly, but executed with perfect accuracy. They cursed and searched for the culprit. Their victim slid to the ground, curling up in a tight ball to protect himself.
"Show yourself," Corey demanded.
Black Widow melted out of the shadows, silently revelling in their stunned silence. The fear was almost tangible. "Hello, boys." The flirty smile stood in contrast to the weapon held loosely in her hand. A legend is a legend. Even, if she started working for the good guys.
"B-Black Widow?" one of the others stuttered. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?"
"Oh, careful," she hummed, "Women don't like to be told what to do." The smirk made room for a mask of deadly calm. "Now, scuttle along and don't dare lay a hand on anyone again." There was no need for further threats. With her reputation the threat was clearly implied. Black Widow noted the victim slowly slipping his pants back up, still curled up on the ground behind his attackers.
Corey visibly swallowed. He raised his chin, gathering his courage. "Why should we listen to you?"
Black Widow shot him in the shoulder without hesitation. "I can do this all day, you know?" She allowed a cruel glint to spear through her mask. The men shrank back as best as they could. "Take you all apart piece by piece. No one would find you. Another victim disappearing into nothingness. Who would miss you?"
Corey looked, like he wanted to argue. Black Widow raised a single eyebrow, adjusting the aim of her weapon to his foot. I'm in a bad enough mood to not mind a little bit of target practice on scum like you. Come on, fight me. I dare you.
One of Corey's friends was apparently smarter than trying to argue with her. He grabbed Corey by the arm. "Come on. It's not worth it." And together, they hobbled off into the distance.
Natasha sheathed her weapon. With a slow breath, she rolled her shoulders. The energy in her stomach had settled for now. Satisfied with saving a teenager from harm. Once she was sure the offenders actually left, she slowly approached him. "Did they hurt you?"
He stared up at her suspiciously.
"Okay, at least let me get you to a doctor."
"Why did you help me?"
Natasha blinked. That was not a reaction she had expected. Intriguing. "Would you have preferred it, had I not?"
The teenager shook his head slowly. His eyes were lowered to the ground again. Natasha approached him, setting every step so he could hear her progress towards him. "I know a doctor not far from here. I'm sure she'll help you."
"If she's still around." The teenager sounded resigned. "Not like that is guaranteed anymore or anything."
Natasha stood in front of the teenager. "We can clarify that once I get you out of this alley." She extended her hand for him to take willingly. It earned her another suspicious look. He's smart. After that display just now, I could very well be here to abduct him to another location where no one would find him.
Finally, the teenager accepted her hand and allowed her to pull him to his feet. He groaned softly, his hand wandering to his stomach. His shirt rode up and she noticed the bruises forming on his abdomen. Hopefully no serious internal bleeding. He's been through enough this morning. He doesn't have to die as well.
And with that Natasha assisted her new charge over the rubble back onto the main street. The morning sun bright above them in the sky.