𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 ᵂᵃⁿᵈᵃ ᴹᵃˣⁱᵐᵒᶠᶠ ³

⁰¹. ᴿⁱⁿˢᵉ⁻ᵃⁿᵈ⁻ʳᵉᵖᵉᵃᵗ

"Natasha, we're moving in," Steve announced. "Do you copy?"

The woman blinked a few times and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah, I copy," she replied. "Making my way in now."

Upon turning around, Natasha inhaled when she saw that golden mask when she turned around. Her lips parted to speak, but he hushed her. "Shh," he interjected. "Don't wanna get the team all antsy before the mission starts, do you?"

Natasha stepped out of his way as he walked past her. Humming deeply as he tilted his head back slightly. "Is she here?" Natasha mused. "The Extinction Entity?"

Carter let out a quiet snicker. "Oh, she's here alright." He paused, feeling that familiar shiver run down his spine. "I can feel her in my bones."

"What do we do if we capture her?" Natasha asked as she stood beside the man.

He glanced at her and scoffed. "The number of times you have asked me that is unbelievable," he sighed. "I'm starting to believe you are always nervous when it comes to this part."

And for a moment, Natasha's lips curled into a tiny smile. "Who said I was nervous?"

"The other five of you." His deadpan made Natasha purse her lips and shift on her feet. "We're all wearing masks of our own. Hiding some truth from the world that no one would be able to handle or understand."

"Then what's my mask?" Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. She was curious. Carter could see it in her eyes as fighting ensued in the background.

His eyes inspected her from the ground up before turning fully toward her. Pressing his lips together with a faint glimmer of sympathy. "You are haunted by your past, Nat," he said. "You resent your family and miss your siblings. You want a family, a domesticated life, but with the Red Room, they fucked you up pretty badly, huh?"

If he knew everything, she knew he knew the answer to the question. "So badly that you want to make things right," he continued. "Wipe the slate clean and make up for your wrongdoings. You want to prove to yourself that you aren't the monster you once were. And most of all, you want to give Nova something more than the work life you two share."

Natasha pursed her lips as she watched him open his hand. She handed him the dog tags, which he clipped around his neck. "But the mask can come off sometimes," he muttered. "Even when it doesn't seem right."

It felt unnatural for someone else to unravel the truths of her life. In all honesty, Natasha hated it. Fury knew of her past, as well as Clint. Those were the people she trusted. But she couldn't have expected anything less from someone like Carter. After all, he'd been to places she couldn't even imagine.

Her thousand-yard stare was broken by Carter letting out a chuckle. Looking out across the landscape as he flickered down the bracelet cuffed to his wrist. Pinching the tiny red bead that hung attached to the leather band.

"There won't be no need for masks soon," he told her. "Meeting your possible demise brings focus to the mind. It makes people like us honest."

He teleported, and Natasha flinched as she turned around to find him staring at her with that familiar smirk. His once-seeming vulnerable state is walled off with his usual attitude. Something she had mixed feelings about.

"When you meet death–look into her eye," he snapped his fingers, grinning ear to ear when she blinked, "will you blink?"

Carter took a few steps away as he extended his arms out by his sides. "I'll see you down there, spider."

With a flicker, Carter was gone. Natasha didn't waste a moment longer hopping into the jeep she had stolen. Picking up Clint when the battle began. "I might want to add, Carter, is here."