Eternity

Chapter 12: Eyes are a Window.

"Alright slow pokes, I'm here," Tony called, zipping through the air above them as FRIDAY continued tracking Natasha the best she could since she only knew her last location. He landed on the street outside, looking up at the windows as the others joined him, brakes screeching to a halt as they pulled over their cars or joined him on foot.  "8th floor up, second window in. Want me to fly on up there and save our damsel in distress now?"

Sam frowned as he landed beside him, "Maybe barging in there isn't the best idea, she's fast, it could scare her off."

Bucky shook his head "God knows what that Bastard has planned in there. Everyone cover an exit, Stark and Sam, get ready to take the windows, I'll go through the door."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Wanda asked, hands already forming a red mist around them in anticipation. He nodded once already running towards the entrance.

"Try and clear the halls, just incase." He asked her, and Wanda nodded as she started clearing people near the room they suspected Natasha to be in.
As he entered to main lobby, a crowd of people were anxiously gathered around the front desk.

"I heard it too! It came from the room beside me!" One man said, panic high in his chest.

"Yes! 8th floor! Someone up there could be shot right now!" A woman cried.

The receptionist was already on the phone to authorities while another tried to calm the guests. Bucky ran past them faster, taking the stairs to the 8th floor two at a time as quick as he could. Upon reaching it, he crept along the hall while searching for any sign of an enemy before the sound of Tony's voice came in his ear.

"Only one life form in that room Barnes according to FRIDAY." Tony slowly came into his earpiece, hesitation in his voice. " NYPD on their way. All exits are covered. Just...prepare yourself. You know...incase..."

"Incase it's Nat." He swallowed.

**

The gun had clattered as it hit the floor, and a soft sigh left her lips as she pushed the remaining air out her lungs. Her eyes fluttered closed as she took another steadying breath, letting her ears ring from the gunshot and her body wash with numbness.

But only for a second.

Slowly rising from the crouched position she seemed to be in, she brought her arm that was outstretched in front of her back to her side and massaged the tips of her thumb and forefinger together. She examined them but they were unharmed, the faint stinging sensation disappearing now.

She cast her eyes up in front of her, looking for the small device that had caused it, a rounded circle of metal which occasionally twitched with sparks of blue electricity in the puddle of water it was in. Moments earlier she had noticed it fall from something in her bag, a similar design on it to the black suit she supposed was her uniform when part of SHEILD.

Instinct had told her to throw it. Knowledge had told her to drop to the floor, that Alexi wouldn't take her lesson lightly. Intuition had told her not to trust him. Physics created the current through him and the water that had killed him.

Maybe not killed him out right, but the puddle of blood spilling from where he hit his head on the sink on his way to the ground, had her pretty confident she didn't have to worry about him.

Her eyes widened slightly in shock, blinking to fill in the blanks of her movement that had seemed to happen so involuntary. Alexi was definitely dead, gun discarded beside his body, red ban around his neck from her assault. The maid would need therapy for this, Natasha hoped she knew how to get blood out of white linen and grout between the floor tiles.