Chance - Natasha Romanoff

XXVI : traitor

A reflection of her own temporal displacement reflected in his eyes.

But he would do everything to go back while she would do the same to stay.

Natasha clenched her jaws while Maria's gaze fell on the ground because they know this is betrayal in Irmina's books.

In an attempt to restrain, Steve pushed against Irmina, but she resisted, not moving an inch, causing him to lose balance and collide with a table with every single weapon that both special forces uses. Seizing the opportunity, he grabbed a knife and hurled it toward Irmina's head. She caught the knife with ease, fuelled with anger. The atmosphere crackled with tension as she retaliated, sending the blade back with immense force.

To a casual observer, it might seem like a miss, but those who actually paid attention, it was a warning for Steve if he were to continue. The edge sliced the tip of Steve's ear, a clear demonstration that Irmina will kill him if she has to. The room hung in suspense, the conflict escalation with each passing moment.

Fury, Maria and Natasha could see that the super soldier serum in Steve is less superior than Irmina's. The cut on his ear, trickled slowly down on the side of his face.

The only reason why most didn't caught Irmina cutting his ear is because the military knife went straight through the door of an armoured Humvee.

"You're a killer!" Steve yelled as he ran, no calculation, just pure conflicted thoughts as he threw punches at Irmina, who dodged them like it was just a simple dance to her.

Irmina clenched her jaws, letting herself being pushed by the Captain before spitting obvious and truest fact, "Every single person in this room is a killer, Captain. It's only a matter of directly or indirectly." The statement hung in the air, a stark reminder of the blurred lines between heroes and villains, soldiers and killers, in the fucked world they inhabited.

"You killed for the goddamn Nazis." Steve stated, the weight of the words hanging in the air.

Irmina collided a table, causing Steve decided be smart and stagger back. She leaned against her desk, eyeing the deadly blades laod out before her. The katanas, both beautiful and lethal, seemed to beckon her.

"I killed for the sake of my people," she retored, a defiance in her voice that echoed through the tense atmosphere.

"Liar."

Her gaze lingered on the katanas, weapons that had witnessed both bloodshed and sacrifice. Closing her eyes briefly, winning the fight with her demons for once, Irmina tossed the beautifully crafted blades to Keller. The Lieutenant caught them with ease and without awaited orders, swiftly got out of the area.

The Lieutenant, without an order, took off from the training area.

"I killed for my people and I was a villain," she confessed, her voice carrying the burden of truth.

"Because you are one," Steve replied firmly, blinded by his patriotism.

Irmina did not shy away from his judgement. "You killed for your people and you are a hero. We did the same fucking thing, the only difference was what side we were on."

The statement hit Steve hard, sending him into a spiral of conflicting emotions. Irmina approached him with eyes that bore the scars of war, making it clear that the line between hero and villain was often blurred by the circumstances one found themselves in.

Steve kept swinging with his arms, trying his best to do at least some harm to the woman but all she did was block it as they took a couple steps.

"Use your legs, Captain! Have you not learnt?" Irmina's voice cut through the intensity of the moment, pushing Steve with full force, tripping himself with his footing. He looked up at her, burning with determination to kill as he should have decades ago.