Stained (N.R)

Chapter 21

I knew Natalia's nightmare, her deepest fear.

The Red Room.

When did she run away? Twenty? I was fourteen then, running away also, only to be caught and sold to America.

I knelt by her, holding her trembling body in mine as she gasped for breath, her eyes shut tight with panic. I placed a kiss on the crown of her head.

The bullet graze finally caught up to me. On further inspection, it seemed to be more of a laser beam than a bullet. It took a chunk of flesh with it, but nothing major.

I waved my hand over the wound, drawing a rune. watching it mending slowly.

They all thought that I was immune to my past, and perhaps I was, mostly. But there was a chunk inside me that hated it, that did not accept who I was. That part of me hated using weapons, preferring runes and automatons instead, because I wasn't forced to kill the innocent with them. That part of me was small. After all, skill is skill, no matter where you acquired them. One cannot blame the knife for killing, only the wielder. The scenes I saw when I was drunk made me more violent, made me act like I was in the ring once more. 

It was not pleasing, but I didn't mind. Whether I like it or not, if I have to use it, then I will.  

Natalia stirred, her eyes opened. They were glossed over and empty, like looking through marbles of green.

"Ilya?" I asked.

She jumped, her lips wobbled as they tried to form words, a sheen of sweat forming on her brow, as if she was in pain. She tried to sit up from my arms, but was trembling too much to do so. 

I sighed, picker her up in my arms. 

She did not protest, and buried her face in my clothes, unconsciously snuggling to me. Natalia must have been very ill to do such a thing.

There were sounds of metal clattering, sounds of groaning and people shaking themselves off. I looked up to see worried faces of Clint, Thor and Steve gathering around me.

"Let's head back," Steve sighed, his head in his hands. "And discuss this...."

The trip back was silent. Natalia stared into empty space, not seeming to comprehend anything that was going on around us, refusing to leave my side. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes still glazed over, but she refused to communicate at all. Bruce was brought back by Tony and my two automatons, covered in dust and shivering. Steve was silent as he looked down at his hands, as if they were some kind of mass destruction weapons. Thor was fidgeting, clasping his hands together as if it was bringing him security. Clint was steering whilst Tony was deep in thought, slumped in his seat.

We all listened absentmindedly as Maria caught us up with the chaos we've managed to create, with a little help from the twins and Ultron. 

"The news is loving you guys." She said dryly. "Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air."

"Stark relief foundation?" Tony asked.

"Already on the scene." Maria promised. "How's the team."

"Three of us are in condition to fight." I spoke up. 

"That's... A bad hit." She paused. "For now I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here."

"So run and hide?" Tony asked.

"Until we can find Ultron."Maria agreed. "I don't have a lot else to offer."

"Neither do we." Tony looked back at us, his shoulder sagging before he hang up.