𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄━︎━︎ N. Romanoff ✓︎

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
A BETTER SHOT

THE CAR WAS HANGING HALFWAY off of the brigs, the nose of the car hovering above the water that was below. A groan left Natasha's lips, tightly closing her eyes before forcing them open. She turned her head to look at Alec, his head fallen against the steering wheel as blood dripped from the side of his temple. His eyes were closed, deeming him unconscious. For a fearful moment, Natasha thought he was dead, but when she reached over and felt his faint pulse she relaxed, but only slightly. Another pain shot through her, but she clenched her jaw and forced herself to focus on Alec.

     "Alec," She spoke, gently pushing on his arm. "Alec. Wake up." But he didn't budge. And then the sound of footsteps grabbed her attention. She panicked, struggling to unbuckle her seat belt before flying forwards, sending the gasoline tank flying from the back and out through the windshield. The car toppled for a moment, and she thought they were going to go over and they almost did had she not quickly grabbed her gun and jumped into the back, bringing the car back to balance. She glanced towards Alec before looking back towards the person walking towards her.

     They were completely covered head to toe in some kind of armor. Assuming it was one of Ross' hires, Natasha was quick to say, "I'm pretty sure Ross has no jurisdiction here." She pulled herself up so that she was face to face with the busted window on the side of the car. "And you should know I'm a better shot when I'm pissed off." She was quick to pull out her gun, shooting at the person who was quick to block the bullets with their red and black shield, not a scratch being done to them. When she ran out of bullets, she was quick to reload, turning back towards the person to shoot again only for them to hurtle the shield towards her, causing her to duck as it got stuck in the window.

     "Damnit, Alexander, wake up!" Natasha snapped before climbing out of the car, holding her gun up and trying her best to focus on her opponent and not the fact that the car was about to topple over with a passed out Alec in the driver's seat. She went to aim her gun, only to find the person no longer standing where they had been. Turning her head slightly she was quick to turn towards the roof of her car where the person was standing. She shot at them only for the bullets to be blocked by the shield again.

They were quick to start fighting hand-to-hand. Natasha was quick to use one of her Widow moves on the person who was quick to copy the same action sending them both to the ground. Confused, Natasha slowly turned, cocking her head slightly before using her leg power to get her up, the person copying the action. They were inches from each other now with Natasha staring confused. They stared at one another for a moment before the stranger turned away from Natasha, eyes focused on a package that had fallen from the car. They stood up, heading towards the package. Natasha didn't hesitate to follow and attack.

     "You're not here for me," she realized. Pulling out her knife she ran forwards and the two started fighting again. It was like fighting a mirror, the stranger knowing her every move. They pinned Natasha's arm that held the knife, grabbing the back of her hand before forcing her up and quickly kicking her away. Just as the stranger was about to go for the package, Natasha got back up and started attacking again with Natasha being kicked out once more.

As Natasha quickly shot a grapple around the strangers leg, attaching it to the roof to send the stranger flying from the package, Alec came conscious with a groan leaving his lips. His head was throbbing. The faint sounds of fighting could be heard, but he wasn't sure if it was fighting or just an intense ringing in his ear. He forced his eyes open, slowly moving his head away from the steering wheel and bringing a hand up to his temple, revealing the blood coating his fingertips. It was then that he was quick to notice he was hanging off the bridge, barely even on it at this point.

     "Oh-! Oh my God!" Alec was quick to come to, noticing the absence of Natasha. "Natasha!" He yelled, looking in the mirror, spotting her fighting against someone. "Aw what the hell is this!" The man groaned. He watched just in time for Natasha to fly by the car and over the bridge. "Natasha!" He yelled her name before suddenly the car slowly started toppling. "Shit!" He was quick to yank himself free of the seat belt, managing to make it through the front and jumping away from the car as it went crashing into the water below, Alec soon to follow.

He swam in a direction, which direction, he wasn't sure. He just knew he was losing his ability to breathe and needed to get to land before his concussion made him drown. A hand suddenly grabbing him made him start to fight, only for him to pause when he realized it was Natasha. He sighed in relief before she dragged them both over to land. They laid there for a moment, both taking shallow breaths.

     After a moment Alec finally spoke. "What in the hell was that!"

     Natasha breathed, "I don't know." She answered. "I don't know who that was. What I do know is that they were after this." She pulled a series of glowing red vials bundled together from her pocket. Alec looked at them for a moment before placed a hand on face.

     "And what exactly is that?"

     Natasha didn't answer for a moment, her attention focused on the picture that had been stashed in the middle. She examined the photos for a moment, memories of the life she had had so incredibly long ago. "I don't know," Natasha finally whispered, forcing herself to look away from the photos that contained herself and her little sister. "This was part of my mail. I know who sent this." Alec turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. She sighed before saying, "We need to go to Budapest."