CHAPTER 8
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except my own. The characters belong to MARVEL.
Happy New Year to all of you! Hope you had a good start into 2020! I'll put it up on my profile as well, but since I am nearing the end of university, I think I might not be able to update monthly this year. I promise to figure something out and I promise, I won't abandon this. Please bear with me.
CHAPTER 8 Team building
"Natasha," Steve's voice broke through the numbness of her mind. "Natasha."
Her eyes fluttered open. She slept throughout the whole flight back to the compound, her body finally giving out. The second she had strapped herself into her seat, she was gone. Luckily, she didn't have any dreams. At least one upside.
"Natasha, we're back," he said.
Natasha just sat up. Without another word she braided her hair back and away from her face. "Let's go."
She almost took a relieved breath when Steve didn't say anything. Instead, they exited the Quinjet. Natasha's eyes swept over the compound out of habit. With the five hours of sleep under her belt, her attention was back on par with what she expected of herself. No one has been out here since we left. There is no one hiding around here. The car is still in front, so at least Rhodey is still inside.
"Rhodey must be still here," Steve says, observing the area like her. "Hopefully, he found something out."
Natasha didn't answer. She still felt the tiredness deep in her bones. I need to find more time to sleep, before I can go on any more missions… I owe it to Clint. And Tony.
Steve thankfully got her hint and they walked back into the compound in silence. They entered the building and went straight to the living area. There, they found Rhodey and Pepper perched on the couch and heard Happy bustling around in the kitchen area with Rocket. There was no mistaking the racoon's voice and Happy's grumbled responses. What caught Natasha's attention however, was the additional person, fidgeting on the couch.
It was the teenager she had just brought to the doctor earlier in the day. Immediately, she marched towards him. "What are you doing here?"
His head snapped up, eyes wide upon seeing Black Widow looming over him. His eyes quickly darted around the room. Searching either for an escape or possible allies against her. He has experience with these kind of situations… Just not like the one this morning.
"Well," he paused, "I wanted to thank you for saving me this morning. And bringing me to the doctor afterwards. She was really nice – and says hi – um… I'm okay by the way." He rubbed at the back of his neck, lowering his eyes to inspect his knees.
"So, you know him?" Pepper asked. "He told us, and we didn't quite believe it, but since he said he had something he needed to give you," she made a vague gesture. Her face was drawn, Pepper looked tired after a day full of chaos and probably having to reign in both the press and her company. Being a CEO was not a walk in the park. Plus, her fiancé was still missing.
Natasha nodded slowly. "He was assaulted in an alley. I scared the attackers away and got him to a doctor. So, what do you have for me that no one else can see?"
The teen looked up at her, then at Steve standing behind her, probably with his arms crossed and a trademark "Come on, son"-expression on his face. It was usually very effective, no matter whom he was talking to. The teen stared for a moment with wide eyes. Apparently, it finally dawned on him. He was sitting in the middle of Avengers Compound with three of the Avengers in close proximity and the fiancée of a fourth close by.
Natasha cleared her throat. His eyes snapped back to her. "Hayden," he said, "My name is Hayden. And on my way back home, I found something in the street, I thought it might be something you would be interested in." Hayden reached into the pocket of his hoody. What he pulled out was nothing like they expected. It was an old-fashioned pager. A simple pager with a symbol on the screen and a sound as if it was sending some kind of message.
Natasha snatched it from his fingers. The symbol was nothing she had seen before. Blue at the top, red at the bottom with some strange kind of shooting star in the middle. I've seen this pager before. It belongs to…
"Nick."
The others stared at her in shock.
"What?" Steve stepped closer, peering over her shoulder at the gadget with furrowed brows. Normally, Natasha might make a joke about him and modern everything. But she didn't feel like it at all. No, her stomach was coiling with a wave of nausea. At no point of this chaos had she considered that Nick J. Fury might not make it through a crisis. But the evidence was clear in her hand. He would have never left the pager alone. Not, if it sent some kind of signal.
"Get Bruce, we need to find out what this does," she told no one in particular. Pepper got up and left. The staccato of her heels echoing hollowly down the hall.
Hayden was the first to break the following silence. "So… This belongs to Nick Fury? And you don't know, what it does?"
"What do you know about Fury?" Rhodey shot right back. A good question considering the circumstances.I saved him and now he just so happened to have something that belonged to one of our friends? Those are a few too many coincidences for my taste.
Hayden fidgeted, rubbing his hands against each other, visibly uncomfortable. "I'm a huge fan of the Avengers. I researched everything I could get my hands on. Especially, after it all went online." His eyes strayed to Natasha at that. "I mean, it's so cool. You're superheroes. And saving the world and all that!"
"We didn't do a good job of that," Steve said solemnly. "And just so you know, kid, our job isn't easy."
"Oh, I know," Hayden assured them. "That's why I admire you so much."
He's practically drooling over Steve at the moment. Natasha chose to focus back on the pager instead. What does the symbol mean?
The clicking of Pepper's heels announced her return with Bruce in tow. Hayden looked up with sparkling eyes. Apparently, Steve was not his favourite Avenger after all. Instead, it seemed Natasha had found a little science nerd. He might have gotten along with Tony and his kid as well… Or Shuri, I'm sure she would have loved to show off her inventions to another white guy.
Bruce and Pepper breezed into the room with Happy and Rocket at their heels. Happy carried a tray of food while Rocket just trotted along beside him. "So," Rocket rested a knife on his shoulder, "What's the kid all about?"
"He has a pager from Fury," Steve offered without looking away from Hayden. He seemed more distrustful of him than was usual for Cap. "We hoped, you could tell us, what the pager is used for."
Natasha got up and handed Bruce the pager without a word. Their hands brushed against each other awkwardly. They were not on too good terms with one another. Only, it didn't matter. Natasha stepped back towards Hayden. In her mind, she had somehow taken over the responsibility for him.
Bruce focused on the pager in his hand. He wasn't an expert on electronics, they knew. Still, he might be their best shot at the moment.
Or not.Natasha watched, as Rhodey stepped up next to Bruce just trying to push several buttons and see if that changed anything. It didn't. Not even, when Rocket climbed up Rhodey's leg – who was surprisingly calm throughout the process.
"Well, it seems to be some kind of signal for something," Bruce finally said. Hayden had inhaled most of the food Happy had prepared, while Steve and Natasha had remained standing and alert. Just in case. They had had too many surprises in the last days.
"Extraterrestrial," Rocket added, as if it was perfectly obvious. "But I can't tell, to whom."
"Might Tony pick up on it?" Pepper perched on the front of the sofa. Her eyes gleamed with hope, her body turned towards the three experts. Natasha fought the urge to wince. As much as she wanted them to tell the team they could find Tony with this device, she knew how unlikely this possibility was. Hayden finding it was the first. Him being able to bring it to us the second. We can't have too much of a lucky streak to also use it to find our missing comrades.
And true to her analysis, Rhodey shook his head. "No, I fear not. But, if we keep it up, we might be able to alternate the signal to enable it to do just that. It seems the signal reaches unusually far."
"Yeah it is." Rocket jumped off of Rhodey and wandered away, as if his work here was done.
Pepper lowered her head. "I hope you can figure something out."
No one said a word. Unable to give false hope when they themselves didn't have any hope left. Happy shuffled to stand behind Pepper's seat. He seemed to want to say something, but was unable to get the words out.
"If you want to, you can stay here tonight," Natasha offered. "In case they find something, they could immediately tell you?"
"Thank you," Pepper slowly rose from her seat, "But I need to be in the office early in the morning. Stark Industries is distributing help packages. We have another press conference scheduled and a meeting with some influential political leaders. They are all looking to us for advice." She sighed, the only indication of how tired she really felt. "I wish I could stay, but there are other people that need my attention as well. I'll come by tomorrow evening with some food."
Pepper stopped in front of Natasha. "I hope you find them soon." She pulled Natasha into a hug. "Clint and Tony," Pepper added in a whisper.
Natasha swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat.
Before she could answer, Pepper already peeled away, saying her goodbyes to the other Avengers just as Happy did.Together, they left the compound.
An awkward hush followed their exit. No one even seemed to breathe until the sound of the car drew farther and farther away.
They left Hayden here.Natasha couldn't bring herself to be surprised. The boy sure knows how to blend in with the background.And he doesn't look too lost either. Not uncomfortable. Mainly curious. If he found the pager and is such a huge Avengers fan, maybe he can be of help.
"Do you want to go back home?" Steve asked Hayden, as if he just now realised that they still had one guest in the house. "I could drive you back."
Hayden fidgeted again. His eyes didn't linger on any place too long, his hand rubbed at the back of his neck while the other stayed firmly planted on his knee. "No, not really. I," he scratched the back of his head, "My family kind of disappeared? I don't really have anything to go back to?"
They all froze. Natasha knew, their thoughts were running along the same lines: His whole family disappeared in the Snap. The Snap Thanos promised and caused. We couldn't stop our enemy and now this teenager has no family left because of it. It's our fault.
Rhodey was the first to react. "You can stay in one of the guest rooms. First floor, first door to the right. The wardrobe should be stocked with a couple changes of clothes in case you need it. I'll show you there." He rose and left the room with another short look at the rest of the assembled. Hayden followed him out of the room and presumably to his new room.
With a sigh, Bruce turned the pager over in his hands. "I need to get this hooked up to some computers. Make sure it doesn't run out of battery…" He scratched his head. "Maybe I can hatch something out to make it a two-way signal." The more he talked about it, the less Natasha could keep up with his jumping thoughts. I'm not quite in your head. That makes it hard to follow you, even, if I have the technical know-how.
Bruce concentrated more on the pager. The gears in his head were visibly turning. He drew back into his brain until Steve and Natasha watched him walk out of the room towards the lab, muttering to himself quietly.
"So," Steve began, "how do you feel?"
How do I feel? Natasha discreetly bought herself some time by settling down on one of the sofas. "Not good. We couldn't stop Thanos." She took a deep breath. The energy fizzled in the pit of her stomach. "People lost everything. We lost our friends. There is no way avoiding it. We have to avenge Earth."
Their eyes met. Without a word, they understood their mutual need to deal with their losses but also that they would be there for one another. Steve may be our leader, but he just lost his best friend. I'm not alone with my bad conscience. Grieving and self-destruction won't get us anywhere.
"Get some sleep," she told her friend.
"You too."
Natasha felt bad for welcoming Steve's departure from the living area. That means, he can't pester me for doing this.With the elegance of a dancer, Natasha rose back up from the cushions. After another sweep of the room, she turned into the opposite direction of her sleeping quarters. The energy in her stomach buzzed.
The lights were still as dark as Natasha remembered. It had been some time since she had been here. A shabby building claimed by the underground. The air was stale with the stench of alcohol and sweat. Admittedly, that was no surprise considering the building was mainly used for illegal fights. It was mostly frequented by men. Some of them were members of a mafia or other, some were just trying to earn a bit of extra money.
Natasha had participated in some of these fights as well. It was good exercise before her time with the Avengers. And Clint loved to bet on the little unassuming woman. We gained quite a bit of money that way. Even got some of our clients here. SHIELD really did send us on some strange errands.Her eyes settled on the bar. Maybe Clint left a note here. I'll better check.
"Hey, Red," someone called. Natasha looked around and found a burly man in his thirties approaching her. "Long time no see."
With the calm of a trained fighter, Natasha waited calmly for the man to approach her. She knew perfectly well, whom she was dealing with. Not many people would call her Red at this point. Natasha gave him a lazy smile. "Hello, Dimitri. I had things to take care of."
"I noticed." Dimitri's eyes narrowed as if smiling. "Black Widow is a hero now. Or, was. For the longest time."
A subtle movement behind Dimitri's shoulder caught Natasha's eye. Another man was close by, watching them. Most likely a bodyguard of some sort. Natasha fought the urge to roll her eyes. They should know better by now. Black Widow was not easily outnumbered. Although, taking on this whole bunch of fighters might be too much even for me. Here yes strayed around the room. Even with the Snap, the underground seemed to be flourishing.
"So, Dimitri, how's Big Daddy?" Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. Playing with the underground was half based on playing tough and half on skill. And not being intimidated by anyone. Besides, they knew each other for at least four years by now.
Dimitri showed his teeth in a flashing smile. "Still up and kicking. He sends his regards." He tipped his head slightly. "And he wants to know, what's up with Natalie Rushman and her possible reappearance at Stark's. Can we expect some new equipment?"
"How interesting. Little birdies working hard, hm?" Black Widow shifted her stance slightly. Her hands fell to her sides, a dangerously calm smile tilted her lips. She didn't need to get in Dimitri's personal space. Intimidation could be achieved on other levels. "Tell your people to keep their noses out of my business, if they want to keep them."
The man in the shadows moved forward. Quicker than Natasha might have given him credit for. With a dark look in his eyes, he stood slightly in front of Dimitri, glaring down at Natasha. Ugh, great. Big gorilla with no brain to spare. I'd hate to knock him down. He still has all his teeth.She narrowed her eyes slightly. Does he know, who I am?
"Are you threatening Mister Dimitri?"
Natasha raised an eyebrow. Not sparing him another glance, she looked back at Dimitri. The man was watching her every reaction closely. I doubt you'll get much out of this. I'm not in the mood to let anyone intimidate me.Natasha With an annoyed sigh, Natasha shifted her stance to one side and put her hands on her hips."Mind getting your dog out of my face?"
Dimitri looked at her with an amused expression. "Sorry, he's new. He doesn't know the ropes just yet." He didn't even look at his bodyguard. "He's never met a Black Widow," then to the other man, "Stand down, Billy. She means no harm."
But Billy didn't obey. Instead, he eyed Natasha with a mocking grin. "Oh? A Black Widow? I heard they are pretty little lovebirds. Perfect for playtime."
Black Widow kept her gaze steadily on Dimirti. The energy bubbled under her skin more now. It needed an outlet. Dimitri gave a subtle shrug, as if trying to say "His funeral". Fine by me. If he wants to have his bodyguard taught a lesson on how to obey rules, then I'm all too happy to deliver.
Without even waiting for Billy to initiate anything, trying to make another move on her, Black Widow grabbed at his wrists. She used the momentum he produced in trying to pull free to propel herself up. With little effort, Black Widow wrapped her legs around his neck, causing the bodyguard to lose his balance. Billy landed on the rough floor with an undignified grunt. Black Widow rolled off his falling body, kicking his back to get herself up. She stood over him, not even a hair out of place.
Dimitri cackled. "That'll teach you. Never underestimate a Black Widow." He leant down, grabbing Billy by the neck, growling. "And never disobey my orders again. Or it might just be the last thing you do."
"It was nice seeing you again," Natasha nodded at Dimitri. She didn't wait for a response and made her way deeper into the cavern. Someone just might know something about Clint. Maybe towards the bar? Or at least a drink or a real fight will be closer towards the bar.
With new-found purpose, she strode towards the bar that was already filled with men either drinking or betting on the fights that were taking place just a few strides away. The bartender closest to her, noticed Natasha approaching long before she was even in shouting distance. His eyes roamed over her figure for a moment, but he didn't let anything show on his face.
"Hey, Red," he said in greeting.
Natasha's first instinct was to ask him, how he knew her. Then again, Red had been her name whenever she came here. Maybe they just passed it down from one to another. Better safe than sorry. Let's see, what they want from me.
"A Velvet House Classic," the bartender nodded, as if Natasha had actually ordered the drink. Without even waiting for her response, he spun on the heel and went about preparing the drink. Natasha settled in her place at the bar, keeping a calm eye out for any possible danger approaching. Something tells me, Clint might have come here. It is a place to start, if you need any kind of information about the underground and their information. Maybe he found something we can use to solve some of our problems.
The bartender returned with her drink in hand. As if her instincts had tried to tell her form the beginning, there was a note fixed to one of the bottom of the glass. Clint's scrawl was easily recognisable even from a distance. Natasha's heart skipped a beat. Please don't.
Even so, she picked the glass up to look at the paper. The note was short. "My family disappeared. I'm going to avenge them. Don't try to find me."
Natasha cursed. Her best friend had gone off and left the city without giving her a chance to get to him. To help him. Why did he do that? It's so stupid. We are best friends. He could have tried to contact me!
She slammed her fist on the bar, ignoring the startled looks she got from other patrons. It ruffled the paper. There was another simple line written on the other side.
"I'm sorry, Tasha."
No, I am sorry. Natasha ripped the note off the bar. With energy roaring to life beneath her skin, she whirled away from the bar without paying any mind to her drink. It wouldn't help. On the contrary, getting drunk would solve none of her problems. Her thoughts raced, only increasing the level of energy she felt coursing through her veins.
With a snarl, Natasha threw her body around and stalked towards the arena. She shoved some men out of the way without caring for their angry shouts.
Black Widow didn't waste a second, the first man to actually dare shout back at her got a fist thrown into his face. Her movements didn't stop hitting him directly in the middle. He tried to ward her off, but without any success. The energy was too much to fight against. Whatever it takes. I'm sorry Clint. I'll find you. Don't do anything overly stupid.
Her breathing was slightly elated. Just enough to tell Black Widow that she needed to take a break before she missed the next hit. She needed to end this fight soon. With a quick succession of hits to pressure points near the back of his knees, head and back, Black Widow sent the man sprawling to the ground.
For a moment no one moved. It was only Natasha standing over the man, him unconscious due to his head hitting the floor, her slightly out of breath. Then a wave of murmurs rose through the crowd. Natasha's head shot up. She immediately found the source of commotion.
There was a presence near the door, steadily moving towards her.
Oh god.Natasha almost face-palmed. Coming through the crowd with a hoody and cap on his head as well as fake glasses, was none other than Steve. He couldn't have done it any more obvious, could he?
Natasha spun around without a look back. She knew her eyes had to be as cold as stone, her face a mask of dangerous calm. At least the people around her parted like they always did then. She passed Dimitri and his bodyguard. Billy openly stared at her like a deer caught in headlights.
To be honest, Steve didn't look much better. He stood between all these people, towering over them and looking stronger than most of the men. And still, Steve looked uncomfortably out of place. It was almost painful. Natasha didn't have the energy to concentrate on that right now.
"What are you doing here?"
Steve held up his hands. "Sorry for coming in unannounced. I was worried."
Natasha narrowed her eyes at him. Steve's cheeks coloured. That's what I thought. He spied on me. Well, this is not the place to deal with that. Some of the energy and anger dissipated, leaving her feeling drained.
Steve gave her one of his sad smiles. The one she had seen on him often enough to know it was not out of pity. He just acknowledged their pain. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Not here," she told him firmly. People were still watching them. Natasha was not sure, if they had already figured out, whom they had in their middle. Otherwise it might not end pretty. In passing, Natasha shoved the note into Steve's chest. Together they exited the building. Steve's bike stood just outside in line with the others. Always paying attention to order. Natasha almost smiled. Well, not always.
Natasha settled against his bike, waiting for him to read the note and understood exactly what they had lost. What they had done. What Clint was doing right now. She just couldn't bear to see his confusion, dawning understanding and inevitable pity.
Once Natasha finally did turn around, Steve had his expression back under control. "We'll find him. Just like we'll find Tony. And just like we'll bring back the others."
"How do you know?" Natasha hated the quiver at the end of her question. It made her sound weak. She shouldn't be weak. You also shouldn't have to be strong in the face of losing your best friend to his revenge fantasies, a voice in her head informed her. It sounded irritatingly like Steve.
But he just stared at her in silence. Even now, he couldn't bring himself to lie to her. They both knew the truth, had been through enough to know how slim the chances of getting everyone back without losing someone else they cared for were. Lying was not an option. Not even bending the truth.
"I don't know. But I have hope. Thor is out there, keeping an eye out for Tony. Tony is a genius. He'll move heaven and Earth to figure something out. Bruce is already hacking away at this new device with Rhodey's assistance." Steve stared at her. "We need to have hope. Without hope there is nothing left. Without hope, we have already lost."
Natasha snorted. "Where did you pick that up, Sunzi?" She took the note back with a slight bow and put it in the pocket of her jeans. "Thank you, Rogers-huïxià."
Steve just looked slightly puzzled at her sudden use of a Chinese honorific but went with it anyway. "If you want to, I could stay overnight? Make sure you don't have any nightmares."
Another well-meaning proposal. More familiar territory. An opening. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say, you were flirting with me, Cap." Natasha gave him a teasing smirk. "Luckily I do know better. And I appreciate the sentiment. I guess, a bit of company might not be a bad idea. I have a second set of beddings in my closet. You can sleep on my couch."
"Thank you," Steve said quietly.
It's for both our benefit. Neither of us is really comfortable with being alone right now. Plus, we know how to deal with nightmares. Especially after the years together on the run… Natasha's head snapped up, her eyes wide. We're the last survivors of that little party.She spun around to look at Steve, who was just turning his bike around. And he knew. He already thought of that. How could I not see that?
Steve took one look at her and could obviously tell what was up with her. Without prompting, Steve stepped up to her and pulled her into his chest. The handle of the bike pressing into her side uncomfortably. "We are going to avenge them. Whatever it takes," and just as quickly he stepped back, "We'll take Thanos down."
Early in the next morning, the team planned to meet up for a tactical discussion. Natasha was glad Hayden was still asleep in his room. Apparently, the last couple days were hard on him as well. I'm just glad he has a place to stay for now. Although, we can't keep him here forever. It's just not safe. Well, that's a thought for later.
Bruce came by with a toast in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. Without even looking up, he began talking. "Rhodey and I hooked the pager up and overrode the battery. The signal is still sending. We need to make a couple more tests to find out what exactly the signal is trying to attract." Bruce handed the toast to Natasha in passing. It was peanut butter. Her favourite. He still remembers that…
She blinked down at it. "Thank you."
"Rocket and Rhodey are investigating the intergalactic waves, so we might be able to modify them and reach for Tony. I'll keep you updated on any progress we make. We also pulled up the maps for you and Steve to look over the current events. Pepper gave her input via the phone." He paused, turning the page, then looking up at Natasha. "She also said, you shouldn't feel pressured to come back as Natalie Rushman for the press conferences. It was just a quick idea of hers."
Natasha blinked again. A surprising change of course… Maybe Pepper feels like she is being a nuisance or putting too much pressure on us. I should drive by Stark Industries later on today. The sentiment of keeping my alias around even after exposure just in case I need an opening at Stark Industries again may be not the cleverest idea, but it's nice as well.
But Bruce didn't even wait for a response. Something in the papers caught his eye and he spun on his heel. Without another word, he disappeared into the direction of the lab.
Steve stepped up next to Natasha. "I hope they slept a bit last night."
"Let's get to work." She placed the toast on the countertop. Maybe Hayden will find it when he wakes up.
A couple hours later, Natasha felt the by now familiar energy buzzing under her skin. The situation was far more serious than even she could imagine. Together with Steve, she watched the numbers skyrocketing. More and more people were reported missing. Snapped out of existence. Because we couldn't help them.
Steve leaned heavily on the chair in front of the holographic display. "This is a nightmare," he said quietly. Natasha could detect more emotions layered underneath it, but didn't feel inclined to dissect them at the moment. Not with the numbers rising. Her stomach dropped.
"I've had better nightmares."
She even ignored Rhodey entering the room. "Hey," he spoke up. Steve immediately turned around. He was the leader. Steve needed to pay attention to all of them and keep track of them. Natasha was thankful for that but kept her eyes fixed on the display. This is much worse than what I expected.
Rhodey went on. "So that thing just – stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing." Natasha looked back over her shoulder. The pager lost its signal. Not a good sign. She noted Steve's head snapping back around to look at her. Looking for a hint, for help.
They trusted each other and between the two, she was far more knowledgeable with technology. Natasha met his eyes. I don't know what to do either. We're on the same page here…
She was the first to move, taking the lead with Steve and Rhodey falling in step behind her. Natasha strode into the lab with purpose that was more show than anything else. "What've we got?"
Bruce startled slightly at her question, clearly lost in whatever analysis he was doing at the moment. He caught himself quickly, stepping up next to the others. His eyes shifted too much to mask his own nervousness. "Whatever signal it sent, it finally crapped out."
Steve frowned. "I thought we bypassed the battery?"
"Oh, we did," Rhodey chimed in. "It just – just stopped."
Natasha furrowed her brows. There has to be some kind of hint at whatever happened. We just need to find it. We can't afford to lose this.Her eyes roamed over the entire construction. The pager itself looked just fine, the hold seemed to fit perfectly without any possibility for losing contact by sudden movement or anything like that.
"Reboot it," Steve instructed. "Send the signal again."
"We don't even know what this is," Bruce tried to argue. He looked insecure, glasses in hand and looking at them imploringly. He was trying to play it safe. Understandable, considering his situation.
However, it was misplaced at the moment. Natasha gritted her teeth. "Fury did," she heard how tight her own voice sounded. "Just do it, please." She forced herself to take a deep breath. I can't allow for the emotions to take over now.
"And tell me the second you get a signal. I want to know who's on the other end of that thing." I need to get back to my turf, make sure we have all the information we need about our current situation and on how to find Tony and Thanos.
Without waiting for an answer from either Bruce or Rhodey, Natasha spun around – and came face to face with a stranger.
A blonde woman in a strange space suit. A space suit with the symbol from their pager. Natasha tensed. Who is she?
The other woman had entered their compound without tripping off any of their security measures. And she looked too calmly worried to be anything less than powerful. The blonde didn't flinch in the face of four visibly ready-to-fight people staring at her.
Instead, the blonde only asked a simple question.
"Where is Fury?"