Elysium (Natasha Romanoff)

Two

Elias

"Elias!" Someone calls out.

Turning from my nearly dead garden I find Dr Lori and a redheaded woman standing at my gate. Standing up, I dust off my hands onto my pants and walk over to them.

"Hey doc," I say with a grin. "Hey Red."

The woman looks at me in confusion, her eyes taking me in as I suddenly forget how to breath. Those eyes. I'd know them anywhere. Could it really be her? Had she finally made it here?

Trying not to get my hopes up and forcing myself to breath, I take her in. Soft red shoulder length hair framing a face of creamy skin, light freckles over a cute button nose, graceful eyebrows scrunched in confusion over deep green eyes, perfect pouty lips that I can't help but wonder how they'd feel to kiss. Would they feel the same?

The longer I look at her, the more I'm convinced that it is her. Same eyes, that same freckle that was just slightly darker than the others in the left side of her nose, the same head tilt she gets when she's thinking.

My heart races as I struggle to remain calm. She was finally here. Every cell I'm my body wanted me to reach out and touch her, but while I knew her, she certainly didn't remember me.

Her confusion grows more apparent as she keeps looking at me and I make myself grin bigger, my pointed canines peeking out under my lips. "What are you?" She asks in a low voice that I already can't wait to hear again. Even her voice was almost how I remember it.

I look down at myself, I had purposefully not changed anything about my appearance since the last time I saw her in the hopes that when I found her again she'd remember me quicker. But I guess it hadn't worked.

Although I look human, my ears are pointed and my canines are longer than average. My hair, usually cut short, is long today and up in a braid that falls down my back. My tan skin is covered in dirt, along with my tank top that clearly shows my boobs and the skin tight biker shorts that clearly show my dick.

Yeah, I'm a chick with a dick. Get over it.

Leaning against my fence I say, "I am whatever you want me to be, Red." I watch her face for any sign that she recognizes me, recognizes the words I've just said, but there's nothing.

She rolls her eyes at my obvious attempt at flirting and Dr Lori smacks my shoulder, "leave her alone Eli. It's her first day out of the center and I was hoping that you could show her around."

"Anything for you Doc," I tell her with a wink, keeping up my flirtatious facade.

Dr Lori's face flushes a bright red as she looks back to the new woman, "Elias will take it from here Natasha. She'll show you to your house, tell you how everything around here works. If you need me I'll be at the Rebirth Center."

Her name is Natasha. My heart nearly beats out of my chest as I say it to myself. Natasha. Natasha.

Natasha nods and as Dr Lori goes to leave I call out, "hate to see you leave but love to watch you go doc." I can see the blush creeping up on her neck as her pace quickens and I chuckle, "she's too easy." Turning to Natasha I nervously say, "come inside while I clean up and then we can go find your house."

She doesn't say anything as I open my gate and lead her into my house. I momentarily panic since I wasn't expecting guests today and I'm not the best housekeeper, but she doesn't even blink at the pile of dishes by the sink or the clothes strewn across the floor.

She just looks around, taking it all in. Her lips move slightly as she looks and it makes me a moment to realize that she's counting. Once a warrior always a warrior.

"Six windows, four doors," I tell her. "Skylight and a basement."

She turns to me startled, "what?"

"You're counting exits," I answer. "There's six windows; two in the living room, one in the kitchen, two in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. Four doors; front, back, bedroom and basement. And" I finish as I point above us, "a skylight. Although it doesn't open."

"How did you?"

I grin, "you're not the only one who has tactical experience, Red."

If only she knew, I muse.

Her eyes capture mine again and my cocky grin fades to a softer one. One that she used to know, used to love.

For the second time today she asks, "what are you?"

"Like I said before Red, I'm anything you want me to be."

"I'm serious," she deadpans.

"So am I," I tell her as I show her. In a blink my hair is short, my eyes blue, skin ghostly pale. She sucks in a breath as I shift back to my usual body.

"You're a shapeshifter," she breaths out, her hand moving to her hip and grasping at air. She looks confused as to why there's nothing there and then her eyes flick to the knives on my counter.

"I'm a demigod technically," I tell her slowly. Why hadn't that worked? It always had in the past. "And judging by your reaction you haven't had very good experiences with my kind."

She takes a half step towards the kitchen and the knives, "you could say that."

"Take one if it'll make you feel better," I offer. "But you have my word that I won't hurt you." I'd die before I did that.

"No offense but your word means nothing to me," she snorts. "I don't know you. I don't know this place or how I got here. All I know is that I'm supposed to be dead and I'm not."

I breath deeply as she finishes and let it out slowly. Did Doc not tell her anything? "Technically you are dead. Or, you did die and then you were reborn here, on Elysium," I explain.

"That makes no sense!" She exclaims. "How did I get here? Where even is here?"

"I don't know where we are exactly," I tell her. "All I know is that we all got here the same way. We all died in some epic way or another and woke up here on Elysium."

"What is Elysium exactly?" She asks.

"It has many names," I say slowly. "Elysium, Valhalla, heaven, the afterlife, the great beyond."

Her face goes pale as she asks, "I'm.. I'm in heaven?"