Red Room

RR36 Ice Kissed

"Thor, where is she? What's going on?" Natasha started to worry for the god and for Lady Sif.

"The last they heard she is fine. She along with many other of our warriors have been sent around the realm. Various conflicts and feuds have broken out and it seems that even the basics of morality have disappeared. Wars have been popping up all around and Lady Sif has been placed in charge of one of our armies. If I go to her now, their cover will be blown. She needs reinforcements and I have volunteered to lead a small group there by foot. I promise you Lady Natasha, I will try and reach her as quickly as possible but I cannot guarantee that she will be able to leave her men behind in midst of this war."

Natasha's heart broke for Thor's people as well as for her own desire to get answers.

"I understand Thor, thank you for getting word back to me so quickly."

Seeing the hurt in her eyes, Thor didn't know what else to do but put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Natasha sighed but she completely understood. "Be careful Thor, and please don't rush. Rushing into things will get you killed and I can't handle anything else being my fault."

"Nothing has been your fault, nothing at all. You can keep telling yourself that it is but in everyone else's minds, it is not your fault." Thor didn't feel uncomfortable this time talking to Natasha, it was a side of them neither of them have experienced.

"Thanks, I hope I can make myself believe that soon. Now go, your people need you." Natasha watched him leave with a heavy heart. As soon as he was out of sight she sat down on the floor with her face in her hands. She heard light footsteps approaching and quickly identified them as Darcy's. She felt the young girl sit down beside her but she didn't say anything, and she was okay with that. They just sat there for a while, almost making it a contest as to who could keep quiet the longest. Knowing who the winner would be, Darcy spoke first and tried to drag the assassin out of her depressed mood.

"Train me. I'm going with you and I know it won't be easy. Train me."

Natasha sighed. "When will you ever learn to mind your own business and quit eavesdropping?"

"Ummm, never," the young brunette shot back.

"Fine, but you aren't going with me. I have no clue if we will run into trouble or not and now Loki has it out for me. As for Bucky, I have no clue, he's a complete mystery. I don't want you caught in the middle but I don't mind giving you some training before I leave." Natasha knew that somehow Darcy would end up going with her but she promised herself she would try her hardest to keep her from going. The girl also needed to be able to protect herself if she would be spending time with the Avengers. Something always seemed to happen around the group and she feared that anyone else would go too easy on her.

"Aye aye, captain!" the girl replied, already forming plans to sneak aboard whatever was getting Natasha to Russia. "And what's this I hear about Loki? You saw him last night?" Darcy grew concerned as she listened in on the conversation between her and Thor.

"Eavesdropping Darcy, mind your own business, I'm not dragging you into it." Natasha didn't really want to talk about Loki, she needed a distraction. "Now block."

Confused, Darcy cocked her head. "Block?" She almost took a hit to her gut but instinctively crossed her arms in front of her stomach while Natasha's foot instead made contact with her arm. "Geeze woman I didn't mean train me right this second! I haven't even had my coffee!" Darcy knew she was screwed when Natasha took another fighting stance. "Okay okay, I guess training starts now."

The pair went at it for another few hours before Darcy collapsed in exhaustion. She was full of bruises and sore muscles but Natasha was actually impressed by how much she actually knew. She found out that Darcy had taken multiple martial arts classes in her past but she had never really applied what she knew until now. She also found out that Darcy was afraid of her as they sparred. Natasha attributed it to when Natalia was in charge and had hurt her.