THE SHADOW OF THE FIRE

chapter 6

In the car, while we were going back to the tower, hill asked again.
- what happened in the elevator?
I mentally rolled my eyes and i stayed silent. Hill stopped at a traffic light and looked at me.
- do you have fear of elevators?
I stayed silent again.
- ok, i won't force you to talk. When we go back to the tower you'll have to speak to fury.
- ok.
After a couple of minutes i spoke.
- claustophobia.
- what?
Hill seemed surprised.
- i have claustrofobia, that's why i don't like elevators.
- has it ever caused you problems?
- a lot of times.

When we arrived at the tower, we were about to step into the elevator when a black bike arrived, and natalia was the one driving it. Natasha, not natalia.
She took off the helmet and walked towards us.
- ehi, there.
She looked between me and Hill and asked
- what's in the boxes?
- we are taking her things to her room. How are you, nat?
- not bad i think. Kyla... It's been a long time...
- yeah...
She looked a bit embarassed, or flustered, then she looked at my hair and then at hill.
- i... Uhm... I like the hair... Blue suits you.
- thanks.
- could you two stop flirting?
- we are not...
- we are not flirting.
- sure.
Hill rolled her eyes and the redhead sent me an apologetic smile and i smiled back. Then she took one of the boxes that i was carring and hill sighed again.
- come on, let's go.
Natasha looked at me and asked
- so... Are you ok with the elevator?
- no, but i have no options. I am not going to do like 20 floors of stairs with a box.
- fair enough.
We stepped into the elevator and i took a deep breath to prepare myself for what was coming. I put the box on the floor and when i felt the elevator starting to move i closed my eyes and i leaned to the cold metal wall, using it as a grounding thing. Then i felt an hand slip into mine and i opened my eyes to see that natasha had put her box down as well and was holding my hand, but without looking at me, as if she was trying not to be seen by hill. Too late, she was already looking at our hands.
- next time, please, tell me if i am going to third-weel all the time, uhm?
I just pretended to don't hear and i saw natasha suppressing a smile.
I held on her hand as if my life depended on it and it did help a bit.
After i don't know how many awful minutes we stepped out of the elevator and natasha left my hand. We bought the boxes to my room and then hill glared at me.
- i'll call fury for a little talk with you. I think that you can be there too, romanoff.
- oh, good that i have a free afternoon then.

About half an hour later hill and romanoff escorted me to an interrogation room. Fury was sitting at the other side of the table, romanoff and hill sat down on each side of him. I sat on the other side. Fury eyed me for a few seconds and then spoke
- hill told me that you lied to us. Now, if you don't want to end up back in a cell, you are going to tell me the truth. First of all, when were you born?
- i was born on 15th june 1929.
- 1929?
Fury's tone of voice was surprised, and i just nodded.
- how are you still this young?
- hydra froze me in the ice when i was 16, they were afraid that the americans might find me.
- hydra?
- yes sir. They took me when i was 14.
- did they experiment on you? Like super soldier serum and things like that?
- yes sir.
- so... Do you have any special abilities?
- they injected me with a lot of things, but none worked.
- so no powers, am i right?
- i might disagree to that. I do have powers, but i had them before Hydra. They are a thing that runs in the family, my grandmother had them. We always hid it, tho.
- what are those powers?
- i can create fire and regulate the temperature of things and people.
- impressive. Did you fight with hydra in the '40?
- yes, i had to.
- can you show me your powers, maybe without burning down us, you, or the room?
I snapped my fingers and i light a little flame on them. Fury seemed pleased, hill looked surprised and natasha was just smiling softly. Then hill spoke
- do your eyes always change colour when you use your powers?
- yeah.
- ok. For now you are dismissed. I will talk to you two, instead.
I thanked him and i walked out of the room. I headed to my bedroom to unpack my things when i bumped into someone.

Natasha pov
I watched as kyla got out of the room, then fury got up and started to pace in the room.
- natasha, did she say the truth?
- yes, sir, she did.
- good. I am sorry, but can you stay away from her? I need to understand if we can trust her, and if you talk to her, i think that she could not be speaking truth, as you also said, you two are emotionally compromised.
- ok, sir. But for how long?
- i don't really know. Hill, instead you'll have the task to getting to know her and tell me if she seems supect. Try to get her to open up more.
My head snapped up and i stared ad fury. She is going to feel so betrayed by this, if she'll actually get attached to hill as a friend.
- are you ok, romanoff?
- sir, don't you think that if you do that, when she finds out, she will feel betrayed? She grew up in the red room like me, she will feel so bad about it.
- she won't find out.
I had to suppress a laugh.
- sir, she is a spy, and she is very good at it. She will eventually find out. And then in 2012 she actually broke into this building to try and kill me, because the red room was forcing her. Then she destroyed the cip in her leg, faked her death and ran away. None of you noticed.
Hill and fury were both looking at me with their jaws dropped. I think i broke them.
- wait... You are telling me that there was a security breach and you didn't tell me?
Oh shit.
- kind of...
- i need to see the cameras, now. What day was it?
- i think three days after the battle of new york.
Fury searched a bit and then found the video.

I was sitting on the couch reading a book when i heard a noise. I didn't think much of it and i continued what i was doing. Then a man dropped in front of me from the vents. I grabbed a gun from under the couch and i was about when i reconized her. She was in her suit, with a mask and glasses on (like bucky's in catws). She was taller and her red hair was cut shorter but it was still her. She stopped and took off her glasses. I looked her in the eyes and i noticed that she had a new scar that went vertically from her forehead, to below her eye. Then she fell to her knees. I could see the rapid and light shook of her shoulders. Then she looked at me again but i could see fear and pain in her eyes. She took off the comms in her ear and she crushed it with her feet. Then she took off the mask and i noticed that the scar continued till her chin.
- i am here to kill you. But i won't do it.
Then she fell again and i didn't know what to do.
Shs got up again and went towards me.
- i have to fight or they will activate the teaser again. Then pull me down and i will take the tracker out of my leg.
I have to say that she was even hotter then when i last saw her. We faked the fight for a bit, then i pinned her to the floor and she grabbed a knife and took the tracker out of her leg. Then i crushed it. She got up and flashed me a smile. We were still awfully close, i took another step towards her and i hugged her. At first she was a bit stiff but then she melted into the hug and looked like she was about to collapse onto me. Then i felt a shook and she pushed me away. I saw the venis in her face and after it was finished she got up. I trought that is would be there or never so i pulled her closer and i kissed her. She kissed back and then pecked my nose. She smiled and run out of the window.

Both fury and hill were even more shocked, but then fury got 5 dollars out of his pocket and gave them to hill who had a proud smile on her face.
- did you two bet on me and her?
- kind of.
- but now, it is not a problem anymore. It happened almost 3 years ago. Now, what you are saying is that you don't want us to do that because it will hurt her feelings?
- yes.