never leaving your side || romanogers

Chapter 23

Natasha clapped her hands over her mouth. "No, you didn't."

"Surprise!" Clint dropped from the sky, cannonballing into the water next to Natasha. Water splashed over her, drenching her hair in ocean water. Immediately Nat pummeled Clint's stomach with a series of affectionate punches. 

"Birdbrain, what did you do?" Natasha looked around at the decorations that covered the small island. "Happy birthday, the cake, all the party stuff, what the heck did you do? What did you guys do?" She turned around to look at her friends, Steve, who was beaming. 

Tony smirked and stepped forward. "Well, I was looking at my calendar." Pepper coughed loudly. "Fine, Pepper was looking at my calendar, and it turns out today is some Natalie Rushman's birthday, and I just had to give little Red a party."

Natasha groaned, loudly. "I hate your stupid parties, Tony."

"I know. That's why I brought in one special guest."

Natasha scanned the foliage wildly. She didn't know who Tony could've thought of to bring. Honestly, she had pretty much forgotten about her birthday, and she hadn't expected anyone else to remember either. After all, it was just a regular 24 hour day. A rustle in a bramble Bush caught her eye. Slowly, Natasha crept toward the bush, wary of who it might be. All the people she cared about and were closest to her were with her.

Well, minus one.

A young woman with dirty blond hair stepped out. She wore a plain dark t shirt and a pair of light jeans that clung to her thin form. A gray jacket hung loosely over her shoulders. Natasha didn't recognize her at all, but then she blinked, eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight. Swampy green. Only one person Natasha knew had eyes like that, but that person was killed. She killed her. 

The blond figure stepped closer. "Natasha?" Her voice wavered slightly. "Is that you?" She still had a slight accent, and Nat knew that she was wearing an unmasked voice.

Natasha's eyes widened. "Yelena?" It can't be you though. It's not you. You're not real." She tried to back away, but her feet stayed rooted to the ground.

Yelena smiled weakly. "It is, Talia. It's me."

"But... how? I shot you. I killed you the night we were supposed to run. And then I ran away later without you."

Yelena paused. "Can we talk about this privately?"

Natasha glanced around at her friends. "Can you guys go set up one of the games? I promise I'll be over soon." To Yelena, she said, "Come here."

Yelena hobbled as she walked to a fallen log. Only now did Natasha see the frailness of her shoulders, and the way she looked as if she could faint and fall anytime. Quickly, she ran to her best friend's aid, and slung her arm over her shoulders.

"How did you do it? Get away?" Natasha asked, out of curiosity and out of fear. Mostly fear. The Red Room was ten times crueler than you could imagine.

Yelena paused. "I didn't." Her voice was quiet, trembling. "They sent me here."

Natasha's heart rate quickened. No, no, stop. The Black Widow can't break down. She swallowed hard and replied steadily. "Does this have to do with the message HYDRA left? The one on my suitcase?"

"It wasn't HYDRA." Yelena looked ghost-like. Her skin was pale and dark bags circled her eyes. "That was me. They told me to put the note there so you wouldn't try anything. They're coming, Natalia. They're coming to get you back."

Natasha's thoughts whirled. HYDRA? Yelena's sudden appearance? The threatening note? It clicked, all of a sudden. The Red Room, KGB, they wanted her back. So they sent Yelena, someone they knew she would trust, to capture her. She took a deep breath. "Tell them they can have me. On two terms. One, I get two more days to sort everything out. And two. They don't ever touch my friends again. Ever." 

Clenching her fists nervously, Yelena nodded quickly. "I can't promise anything, but I'll try."

Natasha smiled sadly, and leaned forward. Their foreheads touched, bringing back memories. Awful, dark memories, but a few good ones as well. The light in the darkness. "And promise me one more thing? You have to explain how I didn't kill you. Tonight. You're staying for one night only. Deal?"

"Deal."

Crumple. Another ball of wadded up paper made its way into the trash can now overflowing with wasted paper. This had to perfect, Natasha thought. She had to make sure no one tried to follow her. She had to make sure they were protected. Shaking her head to clear her mind of sleepiness, she glanced at Yelena. Sure enough, she was passed out on chair, silently of course. Black Widows were trained to never make too much noise.

Natasha glanced at her watch. 2 am. She could stay up for at least 3 more hours to perfect her goodbye until someone woke up. 3 more hours. That was all she needed.

She thought back to the party her friends had thrown for her. There was a cake, vanilla, her favorite, and everyone had pitched in and gotten her something nice. She would bring her presents with her when she left, to remember her family to her last breath. Smiling stretched to the ground and picked up the bag she'd carefully placed her gifts in. She fished around in the bag, and pulled out a single metal band. On it, engraved in small blocky letters were the words "never leaving your side". Natasha stared at it sadly, running her finger along the letters a last time before slipping it onto her wrist. It wasn't a picture of Steve, or anything, but it would do. 

After another couple hours, Natasha signed off a sheet of stark white paper and slid it under her mattress. That next night, she would set it on the nightstand while everyone slept and slip away, unnoticed. For good, maybe. Who knows.