Ghosts Of The Past | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 3: Very Valuable Mail

Katya had no fucking clue what happened. All she knew is that one second, she was smiling at her wife, and the next, the car tumbled over and over again through the air. It was impossible to tell which way was up and which way was down. She also didn't know which way they were going, but she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the vehicle to stop.

The breaking of windows, the awful screeching of metal on asphalt, the air that got knocked out of her lungs, her body that flung everywhere, the glass that cut her face. Katya prayed they'd get out of this alive.

The car did eventually come to a still with one last bang. After that, complete silence, followed by some dangerous creaking. It was a painful silence, the kind that rung in your ears. 

To their luck, the car was the right way up. But when Katya opened her eyes, she wished she'd had seen anything other than this.

A river. A wide and deep river was right in front of her.

Why is it always water? Couldn't they have crashed in the woods, or in a cornfield? But no, the car balanced, front down, on the edge of a bridge. One wrong move and it would plummet down. And Katya knew she wouldn't survive that.

''Nat,'' she coughed, keeping her whole body as still as possible. Natasha was out, but not for long. Maybe she sensed the other truck pulling up on their left, a small distance away. It didn't matter why. She peeled her eyes open and didn't look very hurt, to both her and Katya's relief.

Both their heads shot to the left when a heavy door slammed shut on the other car. Out came someone or something trained to kill. He had his whole face covered, hood on, but this wasn't a friendly from town who wanted to help them out of their tricky situation.

Both her and Natasha's breathing went insane. They were trained to stay calm in situations like these, but if they didn't get out the car soon, they'd either fall to death or get a bullet in their heads. Because their assailant slowly moved straight for them.

First step: seatbelts. Which was tricky because that meant tipping forward. Someone had to go first and get into the back for counterweight.

''You go,'' Katya breathed quickly, looking anywhere but at the water that wanted to swallow her whole. Sweat gathered in her hands and her heart thumbed out of her chest.

Natasha didn't argue because there wasn't time, so she clicked her seatbelt and, as predicted, fell forward, tipping the car more towards the river. Katya bit her lip to stop herself from screaming and squeezed her eyes shut, praying that the odds were in their favor for once today while she waited a torturous long couple seconds to see what the car would do.

Luckily, it balanced out and Natasha scrambled in the back with difficulty. Katya could breathe a bit better and reached for her own seatbelt with trembling hands.

''I'm pretty sure Ross has no jurisdiction here!'' Natasha yelled to their assailant. But Katya had a strong feeling that this wasn't Ross. He wouldn't blow up their car like this. He liked to make it personal. Be there. This was too easy. 

''And you should know I'm a better shot when I'm pissed off,'' she muttered, quick gunshots coming from her gun, which she shot through the broken windows.

The crackling of fire outside wasn't a good sign. Fire plus gas tank wasn't any good. Katya needed out, but she didn't want to mess up Natasha's shots by wiggling the car. She waited for the right moment.

Which came in the form of a... shield? It got hurled in Natasha's direction, but got stuck between the frame of the window. This was Katya's moment.

Without thinking, she pressed the buckle, stopped herself from falling through the broken windshield and crawled into the back with Natasha, who had waited for Katya so they could climb out the back window together.