Katya left Natasha standing there with her doubts and thoughts, feeling her eyes on her back. The redhead had short circuits in her head and could only stare.
Katya ran towards Wanda, who had just thrown a whole bunch of cars from the garage on Tony. It was cruel, but the Iron Man suit protected him.
No one was here to kill or wound one another.
Steve was still fighting the Black Panther and Rhodey, not a fight Katya wanted to mingle in. Not much she could do there.
So she joined Clint and Wanda as they sprinted towards the Quinjet in Hangar five, shooting Wanda a concerned glance. ''There's our ride,'' Clint pointed to it. It was the jet, unmistakably the one they needed. Out, they needed to get out.
The rest of the team joined their little group as they ran their legs from under their bodies. Sam, Steve, Bucky and Scott, their footsteps merging into one. But it was a long way to go and with two flyers on the opposite side, they'd never make it.
As if on cue, a laser beam almost cut Katya's foot off as it burned a line into the ground, marking a line which the team could not cross. They screeched to a stop, glaring at the instigator. Vision floated in the air, his cape waving slowly. To be completely honest, she had forgotten about him.
''Captain Rogers,'' he started. The whole group had come to a still, waiting impatiently for whatever he had to say. Again, they wouldn't be able to get out without a fight, because the others joined Vision on the other side of the line. Tony, Rhodey, Spider-Man, T'Challa, and last but not least, Natasha, who did her best to avoid Katya.
It was more than a simple mark on the concrete. It was a border, a line they had to cross. It held so much more meaning.
''Ugh, great,'' the brunette muttered as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. More and more nauseous she got.
''I know you believe what you're doing is right,'' Vision tried to reason. ''But for the collective good you must surrender now.''
What followed was a silent stand-off. Literally silent because nobody spoke or moved. Katya's jaw clenched and her fists trembled. She wanted to turn around and run off, let the others deal with this mess. But then neither side would ever speak to her again and she would be hunted anyway. The best way was through. To fight and hope nobody got seriously injured.
''What do we do, Cap?'' Sam asked.
He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. ''We fight.''
He started running forward, to the other group. The rest of the team followed him hesitantly, but when Tony's team started running too, there was no way out.
Katya forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. The gun on her hip was useless, there was no way she was going to shoot at her team mates again. The knives were also useless, too dangerous. She hadn't prepared to fight non-lethal, since they were supposed to fight Winter Soldiers, not their own friends. So in the end, the only thing she could use was her own hands and feet.
Unconsciously, while they were running, everyone picked someone similar to their own to fight. Tony dove down for Steve, T'Challa for Barnes. The noise was insane when everyone clashed. Tony's suit made a lot of noise in general, but also T'Challa's Vibranium claws in the pavement or Clint's exploding arrows.
For some reason, Katya found herself opposite the boy in red. She had to fight a kid today?
''Listen, Miss Petrova, I just wanted to say I'm a big fan,'' he started, standing a good couple feet away from her. She had no idea how to start here. Did she just attack him?
She narrowed her eyes at him, her whole body rigid as her friends fought each other around them. ''How old are you anyway? Did Stark kidnap you or something?''
She swore he gasped. ''I'm fifteen!''
Her mouth dropped open and she shook her head. ''Jeez, you're telling me I have to fight a kid?''
''Can a kid do this?'' He shot a web from his wrist at her feet, but Katya had enough time to prepare. Elegantly, she jumped over it and raised her eyebrows in challenge.
''Try again, Spider-Boy.''
He looked shocked, which was hard to tell through his mask, and retaliated by shooting more and more at her, but Katya avoided every single one, her movements becoming a dance.
Until he got impatient and shot two webs at the same time, attaching themselves to her hands. With a jolt, she was pulled towards him, but again, she was prepared. Since he was so small, it was easy to flip over his head so she was behind him. Now Katya tugged on the webs and Spidey flew backwards, meeting her outstretched foot.
He didn't fly as far as she had hoped, but at least she got free. The sticky webs were still stuck to her hands however, so she clawed at them to get them free. In this distraction, Spider-Man got up and shot at her legs, pulling on his web and making her fall on her back hard. Not fair when he had something to use long-distance, while she only had her hands and legs.
Before she knew it, he towered over her and webbed her hands to her chest, as if she had a straitjacket on. Did she just lose a fight against a fifteen-year-old boy? Her head was clearly not in the game.
Right in the middle of another speech where he rambled about something she paid no attention to, he suddenly flew backwards. Not because he had done so himself, but because red magic surrounded him and threw him a good distance away. Katya waited for Wanda to jog over to her while she sat up.
''You're being sloppy,'' the young woman joked as she reached the brunette and dissolved the webs with her powers.
''Really? You're reprimanding me now?'' Katya scoffed as she accepted the hand Wanda offered her. ''I'm the teacher, remember?''
''Doesn't look like it,'' Wanda smiled before turning around and running off.
Katya groaned at the chaos around her. A pile of cars next to the garage, machines broken and the terminal missing several glass plates. Spider-Man had moved on to Steve, who also had trouble with the unfamiliar webs.
At least she wasn't the only one.
Sam was struggling with Tony, T'Challa was battling Barnes and Clint was fighting Natasha. Katya made sure to stay away from that fight.
Eventually, she ended up opposite Vision. It wasn't a fair fight, since he could fly, make himself transparent and was technically an AI. He would know her moves before she could make them. To make it more fair for her, he landed on the ground. Like predicted, she couldn't get any hits in. Vision would deflect her punches and kicks, but never once attacked himself.
It frustrated her that she felt so weak, so when something big collapsed behind her, she took advantage of the distraction and sent an electronic current through his being. It wasn't clear why he was affected, but it gave Katya enough time to leave him behind.
''We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia by now,'' she heard over the comms. It was Barnes' voice and she spotted him together with Steve, behind a big truck. Quickly, she jogged over and joined the duo that nodded in greeting.
''We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You get to the jet,'' Steve ordered. It was stupid to leave Steve behind, but at least one person had to make it out of here.
''No, you get to the jet! Both of you!'' Sam yelled, not knowing Katya was with the two soldiers too. Noise of wind accompanied his voice, he was flying. ''The rest of us aren't getting out of here.''
Clint sighed, the sound of an arrow following it. ''As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it.''
''This isn't the real fight, Steve.'' Sam agreed.
Steve hung his head and glanced at Katya for her opinion. She nodded faintly, confirming it was okay for him and Barnes to leave. They could handle it on their own and it was important someone get out of there quickly. Like Barnes said, Zemo was probably long in Siberia by now.
But to her surprise, Steve said, ''Okay, but you're coming with us.'' When Katya stared at him confused, he added, ''We need your skillset.''
Katya hesitated, but nodded. She was already a criminal now, so she might as well leave and try to do some good before they'd find her. Barnes kept staring at her for too long, which was really uncomfortable. As if she could piece his life back together for him.
''Alright, Sam, what's the play?'' Steve asked, ready to follow this new plan.
''We need a diversion, something big.'' His voice was almost overruled by gunshots.
''I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half...don't come back for me.''
Katya furrowed her eyebrows. She thought Scott could only get smaller and not bigger.
''You're sure about this, Scott?'' Steve asked concerned.
''I do it all the time. I mean once...in a lab. Then I passed out. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss!'' He groaned and it got silent for a second, until a big shadow fell over the runway and Katya turned around in shock.
A huge Scott stood there, as tall as the terminal and then some. He had grabbed Rhodey mid-air as if he was a Barbie doll. He tried flying away, but his thrusters did nothing against the big man's strong grip.
''Holy fuck,'' Katya breathed out, a dumb smile on her lips. Of all the crazy things she had seen in her life, this must be one of the coolest.
''I guess that's the signal,'' Steve joked, staring up at Scott in disbelief. Seventy years ago, he was the weirdest thing science had ever created. Now there were things like this.
Steve and Bucky started running towards the jet, so Katya turned and followed, ignoring the explosions, the heat from the fire and the breaking sounds behind her. It felt wrong to let her team mates fend for themselves while she made a run for it, but everyone approved of the plan and they could hold out for a while.
Entire airplanes were thrown now, everything to take down Scott, who was almost indestructible.
Katya came closer and closer to the hangar. The jet was clearly visible now, just a couple more seconds and they were in. The supersoldiers in front of her could run a lot faster, but she didn't yell at them to slow down. If anything, she hoped they'd get to the jet sooner so it would be started by the time she got in.
Her footsteps got muffled by all the noise around. They had caused millions of dollars of damage already. The entire airport had to be fixed and a new airplane and machinery had to be purchased. Who was going to pay for that, she didn't know. Tony? The UN?
Katya's attention was pulled away from the jet to the control tower to the right of the hanger. A laser beam cut through it horizontally, around halfway up. It tipped over to the left, falling to block the entrance of the hanger.
Katya's eyes widened and her steps faltered, holding back, unsure what to do if they couldn't get to the plane.
Bucky and Steve held back too, staring at the large structure that fell down. It was almost reaching the ground, about to block the way to the jet for good, until a red cloud caught it and left a tunnel high enough for a person to run under. Run because the weight of the tower was too much for Wanda to handle.
Katya sped up as much as she could, far behind the two super soldiers in front of her. Time slowed as she was right under the tower, the red magic protecting her from getting crushed to death. She held her breath the entire time, only looking forward and not up.
But before she was safe, the magic suddenly disappeared and Wanda's scream reached her ears over the creaking of the structure. It inched down, as if in slow motion, tons of stone and metal collapsing on her small body.
There was only one option: leap forwards.
Katya jumped forward and dove for the safety of the hangar.
But it was too late.
The force of the blow knocked her forwards, onto her chest on the ground. She screamed when a terrible pain traveled through her leg, followed by a sickening snap. She was lucky the rubble bounced off again and didn't stay there. The circulation to her foot would have been cut off unless someone would move it, and she wasn't sure if anyone was coming to help her anymore.
Steve and Bucky rushed to help her, but Katya pushed herself up into a seating position and waved them away. She could handle a broken leg, it wasn't the most painful injury she had ever had.
Something behind the two men caught her eye. A flash of color. She looked past them and thought for a moment she was hallucinating from the pain, but it was really Natasha who stood between them and the jet, a pained expression on her face. Both from the scream her fiancée had let out and the fight.
''You're not gonna stop,'' she said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
Katya blinked away her pain-driven tears and stared at the scene in front of her. She wouldn't be going with the men now, since she was disabled, but if her leg wasn't broken, would she still have gone now that Natasha was here?
''You know I can't.'' She couldn't see Steve's face, since he stood with his back to her, but he sounded so hurt.
Natasha sighed and raised her arm, seemingly aiming her weapon at Steve. ''I'm gonna regret this.''
But Katya had sensed someone behind her. The Black Panther had climbed over the ruins of the tower, into the hangar, and tried to jump Steve from behind. Never in a million years had he expected Natasha to turn her weapon to him and shoot, sending electricity through his body. Vibranium was a good conductor.
Steve snapped around, saw what she was doing, then turned back surprised.
''Go,'' Natasha muttered, letting them leave.
Steve nodded to her and sprinted off, starting the Quinjet while she kept T'Challa busy. To make space for the jet to fly out, Steve shot the rubble at the entrance to pieces. Some of it landed on Katya, so she made herself as small as possible in the hope to avoid another iron beam on her head.
Maybe she imagined it, but Steve nodded at her from the cockpit as he flew away. T'Challa escaped Natasha's attack long enough to jump up and hook his claws into the tires of the jet, but they were pulled in and he had to let go. He dropped back onto the concrete as the jet flew out, carrying the two soldiers to Siberia, where they could hopefully protect the world from great danger.
Katya wasn't sad she wasn't on that jet. She wasn't convinced her ''skills'' as Steve had called them, were of any use against them anyway. And to be honest, she really didn't want to go back into HYDRA territory.
Before she knew it, Natasha sat by her side, swatting her hands away gently and helping stabilize her leg. The bone got snapped right in half and had pierced the skin. It was disgusting to look at, but neither of them cared about blood or wounds like these.
The redheads hands were gentle but firm, working mindlessly to stop the bleeding. She ignored Katya's eyes on her face and the tears rolling down her cheeks. Neither of them was sure if that came from the pain or the fact they had found their way to each other again.
''What changed your mind?'' Katya finally whispered, watching Natasha's face as she worked because it calmed her down and helped the nausea in her stomach settle. All the hostility from the past days were gone, this was just the two of them on the same page again.
Natasha didn't look up from her hands. ''Having to fight my own friends,'' she admitted. She stopped, sighed and finally looked up. Those green eyes held so much sadness. ''I'm sorry, I should have listened to you.''
Katya shook her head, smiling softly as she touched one of the hands on her leg. ''That's okay. I'm glad you came to your senses.'' She tried to soften the guilt and shame her fiancée felt. No matter what happened next, they were finally good again. Knowing that, she could handle a lot.
Natasha tried to mirror the smile, but it was more of a grimace. ''Looks like that wedding won't happen for a while.''
''Not as long as everyone keeps acting like children.'' Katya looked over Natasha's shoulder, to a very pissed off T'Challa who wanted an explanation. Natasha felt her look and stood, turning around to face the king.
Katya watched from the ground as the Russian and Wakandan had a stand-off, Natasha blocking his view on Katya. Without seeing his face, it was obvious he was not happy. The way he stood was so offensive, but Natasha had dealt with more dangerous people.
''I said I'd help you find him, not catch him,'' she explained. Not saying sorry because what really was there to say sorry for? ''There's a difference.''
''You just made a very big mistake,'' he grumbled. Anxiously, the brunette waited to see what he would do, but he simply ran off and jumped back over the rubble of the tower.
Katya chuckled at Natasha's unaffected face as she crouched in front of her broken body again. ''You know you're not rid of him yet, right?''
The redhead smirked, studying the leg. ''I don't care. Can you stand?''
''And go where?'' Katya questioned, making no moves to stand up. ''I have to take responsibility for my actions, Nat. That Agent I killed back at the UN, the billions of dollars of material we broke here. I chose to leave that office and this is me accepting the consequences.'' She hung her head at the pain and defeat in the other woman's eyes.
''You know they will lock you up for the rest of your life?'' Natasha asked softly, afraid she would lose her after just having her back. Safe in her hands.
Katya chuckled humorlessly. ''Make sure you visit.''
~~~~~~~~
A/N: not really sure how I feel about this. I promise the next one will be better and a little longer :)