"So, what's the plan?" Steve asked, pausing briefly to smash an android in the head with his shield.
"No time for a plan. We go in, disable the thing and then come out." Tony responded as he landed next to the trio.
"We don't need a plan. I can do it." Wanda said confidently as Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Stupid" Natasha muttered under her breath and Steve shot her a glare.
"Natasha stop acting like a child" Wanda snapped.
Both Tony and Steve wore the same bewildered expression when Natasha didn't give Wanda a dressing down for talking to her in such a way.
"So, shall we defuse the tension between you two first or go ahead and defuse the bomb?" Tony jibed.
"Don't think I can't kick your ass in that suit Stark" Natasha said seriously as Wanda nodded behind her.
"Yes Ma'am, understood" Tony retorted sarcastically, giving Natasha a salute.
"Barton, are you getting all of this? We're going in. You're head avenger now. Keep us updated with what's going on."
"Got it Stark." Clint crackled through their ear pieces.
The four of them ran towards the entrance of the lab, Tony blasting a path through the Hydra bots.
Muller was still nowhere to be seen and it put Natasha on edge. He was clearly visible on the news report, had he retreated back to his lair already?
The lab was multiple stories high and Hydra Agents clogged the hallways. The team fought their way through quickly and efficiently, leaving a trail of human like parts in their wake.
"Stairs or elevator?" Wanda asked, glancing at Natasha.
"We're bound to encounter more of these... things on the stairs but in the elevator we're trapped. We also don't know what's going to be waiting for us when the doors open at the top." Natasha said.
"Get in the lift, we'll blast our way out if needed." Tony directed.
They piled into the elevator with Natasha at the back when a Hydra member appeared and launched himself at her. She responded quickly and smashed her elbow into his face fiercely, noting that his nose exploded with blood on impact. This one's human then.
The man only paused briefly to wipe the blood from his face with a dirty sleeve. He grunted something unintelligible at Nat and threw a powerful right hook towards her head. She ducked it with ease and swept his legs, immediately dropping a knee into his chest as he hit the floor. He rolled away, seemingly unaffected and pulled a gun from the side of his worn leather belt and aimed at her.
A small group of droids had descended on the intruding superheroes and Cap, Tony and Wanda were batting them off as Natasha held her own against the Hydra man.
Natasha slid gracefully under her attacker's extended arm and rose behind him. She swiftly kicked the back of his knee, causing him to drop slightly, and grasped his arm, pulling it back viciously until she heard it snap. The man screamed in agony as the gun clattered to the floor and Natasha caught Wanda's eye as she tasered him on both sides of his neck and allowed him to crumple to the ground.
Natasha gave Wanda a wink as the brunette shook her head and tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her smirk.
Natasha knew it was slightly unfair to interact with Wanda in this way after breaking the girl's heart and ignoring her for weeks on end, but it was different in the battlefield; they were family and had to have each other's backs. If being facetious and smiling at Wanda kept her at ease then Natasha would continue to do so.
"Nicely done Romanoff" Tony said as Natasha shrugged.
"At least we know there's one human around here" Steve commented.
"Right, let's try that again. Up we go" Tony said happily as they got back into the lift and started their ascent.
Natasha observed Wanda fiddling with her rings as she often did when she was anxious and gently squeezed her arm reassuringly, earning her a timid smile in return.
Tony spoke to his AI and managed to confirm that there was no one on the top floor with the weapon.
"No one at all?" Steve asked.
Tony shook his head.
"Nope, just us it seems"
"That guy looked like he was on his way out. Maybe they've done what they needed to do" Nat commented, thinking out loud.
No one responded as the elevator doors opened, revealing a room filled with stainless steel tables, white boards, vials, glass beakers and unknown substances, but no people. They stepped out tentatively, careful not to touch anything around them. The room was well lit with floor to ceiling windows on one side of the room and bright lights on the other.
All four of them could feel a hum of energy radiating from the far corner of the room and they moved towards it in unison.
The bomb itself was smaller than Natasha had imagined; around 3 foot in length and rectangular. The device lay idle on the table and seemed to be void of the cliché countdown clock or ticking noise one would usually associate with something like this.
The trio stepped backwards and allowed Tony, who had removed his head gear, to get a better look at it.
"What's your assessment Stark?" Steve asked.
"I've never seen anything like this before. It's an adapted, condensed version of a thermonuclear bomb. Powered by uranium or plutonium typically. But something this small can be detonated by hand or by a remote controlled device, rather than being launched, yet it doesn't lose much power. Not relative to its small size at least." He muttered, shaking his head.
"In English Tony" Steve sighed.
"Basically it's a mini hydrogen bomb. Without knowing what's inside and without being able to calculate the ratios properly I can't tell you the damage it would cause. I'd say it could wipe out the city." He said.
"Is anyone getting Deja vu?" Natasha asked.
"Deja vu?" Wanda repeated, looking confused.
"We dealt with similar a few years ago right here in the city. Except we fought Thor's brother and an army of aliens. Plus a big hole opened in the sky which Tony flew through with a missile to save New York." Steve explained as if it was the most normal story he had ever told.
"Glad I asked." Wanda said as Nat snorted with mirth.
"So, is it set? Do we have a time limit?"
"It’s set. Any tampering it goes off. If they press a button, it goes off."
"Guys, Muller is in our eye line, he's sprinting out of the building next door!" Sam shouted through their ear pieces.
Sam's voice was suddenly drowned of by a high pitched screech coming from the device on the table and the group collectively covered their ears.
"Has it stopped?" Nat asked, wincing.
Cap nodded and they moved further back from the table.
"Tony how long do I have?" Wanda asked, slightly panicked.
"I can't tell. I'm trying to run diagnostics. But the frequency was the triggering of the device. He's pushed a button. It could be anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. So we need to move. Now." He said seriously.
"Ok" Wanda said, taking a deep breath.
It took all of Natasha's considerable will power to refrain from stopping Wanda approaching the weapon of mass destruction that lay only a few feet away from them.
Steve and Tony remained silent as Wanda's magic appeared at her palms. Her familiar red glow encased the rectangular device as she manipulated her fingers.
Natasha looked between Wanda and the bomb, unable to see any noticeable change in the latter but noted the brunettes jaw clenching and tiny beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.
Wanda was leaning back now, grunting with the visible effort it took to try and corrupt the device. Power streamed forcefully from her palms that seemed to push and pull between its host and its target.
Natasha was panicking internally. She couldn’t comprehend where the power from the bomb would go. Would Wanda defuse it? Would she have to send it elsewhere?
"Ms Maximoff, although your efforts are gallant, I have a much better idea of what to do with that little sucker. Stand by, help will be with you in 10 seconds." Nick Fury's voice travelled through their ears clearly and they all looked mildly surprised.
Wanda kept the device contained in her scarlet sphere but relaxed slightly as she stopped trying to rewire the mechanisms of the bomb.
Natasha was wondering what Fury's grand plan was as she caught sight of a blonde head in her peripheral and sighed. Of course.
"Hey stranger. You can relax now, I've got it" Carol said soothingly to Wanda who released the device and staggered back, seemingly exhausted.
"Woah easy there tiger" Carol said as she wrapped an arm around Wanda and guided her onto a nearby stool.
"What’s the plan Danvers? We don't know how long we have left. Let's not waste time catching up." Natasha snapped.
Steve glanced at Nat, surprised at her outburst but remained silent which meant he clearly agreed with her sentiments.
Carol smirked at Nat and turned back to Wanda.
"I'm gonna fly it up into the atmosphere." Carol explained vaguely.
"Kinda stepping on my toes there Danvers. Been there, done that." Tony said as he walked into the middle of the group as if holding court.
"The difference is Stark, I can breathe and fly in space. Like Romanoff said, we don't want to waste time arguing this do we?" She challenged, raising an eyebrow.
"Go ahead Danvers." Tony relented.
"I'm gonna lift it and I'm going to have to exit the building through the windows, I suggest you all do the same. Just in case."
The group watched as Carol lifted the device carefully and smashed through both the supporting pillar of the lab and the tall glass panels, flying upwards at an astonishing pace like a shooting star.
"Fuck, the roof!" Nat shouted as the corner of the roof started to crumble.
"Couldn't she have just opened the fucking window?" Natasha muttered.
Tony sprang in to action and grabbed Cap by the arm, already hovering slightly above the ground.
"Maximoff you good to fly? Can you make sure Romanoff gets to the ground ok? Rogers, when I say jump, hold on!" Tony directed loudly over the noise.
Steve grabbed onto Tony and Wanda stood up, steady on her feet.
"How do you want to do this?" Wanda asked Natasha as a piece of concrete smashed to the ground a foot from where they stood.
"Maximoff we don't really have time to debate specifics. I'll hold onto your neck if you need both hands."
"I do, come on hurry. To the window." Wanda instructed.
The women watched as Tony and Steve leapt from the building and Tony propelled them through the sky.
Natasha looped her arms tightly around Wanda’s neck and didn't have time to panic as she felt her feet leaving the ground.
"Natasha you can loosen your grip" Wanda laughed as Nat's legs wrapped around her waist and she buried her head in her shoulder.
"I didn't have you down as being afraid of heights." Wanda chuckled.
Natasha almost growled at the insinuation.
"I'm not scared of heights. I'm uncomfortable with being this high up and having no control whatsoever." She said through gritted teeth.
"If you open your eyes you'll see you don't have to hold on quite so tightly" Wanda said, her voice slightly smug and full of humour.
Natasha opened her eyes slowly and pulled her head away from the crook of Wanda's neck, quickly realising that she was completely cocooned in Wanda's magic and it seemed to be supporting her weight. She relaxed immediately and loosened her hold on the younger woman's neck.
"And here was me thinking you would quite enjoy my hands around your neck" Natasha said as her bright green eyes flashed dangerously.
"Don't do that"
"Do what?" Natasha said, feigning ignorance.
"Try to make me uncomfortable or embarrassed so that you feel more in control of the situation."
Damn it.
Natasha remained silent; Wanda spoke the truth and now wasn't the time to defend herself. They both knew Natasha would resume her active avoidance of Wanda when they returned back to the compound, so there wasn’t really much she could say. She just couldn't help herself when it came to Wanda.
Natasha breathed a sigh relief when her feet were planted firmly back on solid ground.
"Thanks for the ride." Natasha said, smirking as Wanda ignored her.
"I always knew I'd get you to go flying." Wanda said wickedly, flicking her hair over her shoulders and flouncing ahead of Nat.
Nat caught up with Wanda and as they rounded the corner, she stood still and surveyed the scene before her, silently placing an arm across Wanda's chest to stop her from proceeding further.
All of the Avengers were stood in a line, spaced around 2 feet apart from each other. Natasha followed their line of sight and saw around 12 Hydra troops stood in a tight formation just behind Muller who was facing Steve, 30 foot away. The street was littered with the body parts of Hydra androids and fires raged in nearby buildings. Luckily, there seemed to be no further civilian casualties and all of the Avengers only seemed to be sporting minor injuries from what she could see.
Steve, Tony and Clint stood in the centre of the line and Natasha made a beeline straight towards then with Wanda close behind her. Vision and Sam were stood on Steve's right, young Peter Parker to Tony's left.
"What's going on?" Natasha asked Steve, eyeing Muller with dislike.
"Staring contest" Tony quipped as Natasha rolled her eyes.
"They haven't made a move yet. Muller said he was waiting for something and then they all stayed still. I don't know what their game plan is." Steve said quietly.
Natasha nodded and looked back at Muller as her smirked at her. The Hydra soldiers remained completely still behind him, awaiting their next command.
"Ahh the main attraction has finally arrived!" Muller shouted in his harsh German accent, as he clasped his hands together and flashed his perfectly white teeth.
Natasha felt a cold ball of dread settle in the pit of her stomach as she remembered the Hydra base in the mountains and the files Tony had found on Wanda and Pietro. She subtly grasped Wanda's arm and moved the Sokovian to stand behind her.
"Ms Maximoff, we meet again! Come with us and we will leave your friends alone." Muller said jovially, speaking directly to Wanda.
"Yeah that's not gonna fly here Nsync. She's ours now." Tony replied, causing both Steve and Wanda to glance at him with confused expressions.
"Ahh the billionaire that makes hair jokes. Mr Stark, I'm a big fan of your work." The German said insincerely.
"We want Ms Maximoff. We need to conduct some... tests." He explained calmly.
"Go fuck yourself Muller" Nat spat, still stood in front of Wanda.
"Ahh Agent Romanoff, such foul language from such a pretty mouth, especially since we shared such an enchanting dance on my island. I must say, you were very convincing as a couple, clearly you are the best at what you do."
"You knew it was us." Wanda said, more of a statement than a question.
"Not initially no. Our files on you and your dearly departed brother had no photographs and all traces of you had been removed from the Internet. However, thanks to your Black Widow here, she made sure a few years ago that all of her top secret files, along with Hydra's, were leaked onto the World Wide Web. I didn't recognise her at first and then once I did it was too risky to attempt to persuade you back onto our side, if you declined then your powers were no match for me."
"They are no match for you now." Wanda said, red energy balls appearing in her palms.
"Perhaps not. But are my soldiers a match for yours? Let’s see." Muller said, nodding to his troops as they began to march forward.
The Avengers didn't need to communicate with each other. Clint began to fire arrows, Tony rapidly fired repulsor blasts and Steve ran to engage them in physical combat. Muller stayed where he was, his face smug as he watched the fight unfold.
A mini rocket exploded in front of Natasha and she looked up to see it was Sam who had sent it at a Hydra Agent hurtling towards her. She had no time to assess the situation further as she felt a strong blow in her ribs from the left. The man was taller than her by at least a foot and had an expressionless face, void of all emotion as he actively tried to kill her. She fought with everything she had, kicking and punching and choking him to no avail. Super soldiers.
Nat landed a swift kick to the man's side and managed to propel herself up his body, wrapping her legs around his throat and hoping he would pass out. She punched him repeatedly in the head and still he clawed at her, trying to remove her clamped thighs. He staggered backwards with her on his shoulders and slammed her, hard, onto the hood of one of the vans. Natasha felt the air leave her body as she collided with the van but still managed to roll away, holding her shoulder that was somehow bleeding. She pulled out a small dagger and eyed the deranged man as he advanced on her. Cap's Shield sliced through the air towards him and collided with his head. The momentary distraction allowed Natasha to sink her blade into the soldier’s side and he sank to his knees.
"Parker! Come and secure this one" Natasha shouted, knowing the wound would not kill or subdue the man for very long.
"Yes ma'am" Peter said as he bound the man's arms and legs together and plastered him to the side of a building.
"That should hold him." He said, swinging away to help the others.
Natasha swivelled around to locate Wanda and was briefly relieved when she spotted her next to Clint, fighting off three super soldiers with the expert archer. Vision and Tony were taking on another two, Sam and Cap had three and Peter was battling one. The two remaining Hydra members stood at Muller's side like guard dogs.
Natasha ran towards Wanda and Clint, marvelling at the Little Witch's power as she sent blast after blast at her attackers. The Sokoivan looked pale and tired and had a cut just above her right eyebrow, leaving a streak of blood down her face. Her clothes were dusty and torn in different places but the intensity of her attack didn't waver; she was relentless.
The Avengers had slowly been backed up by the soldiers and ended up fending off their combatants as a group. Punches, kicks, shields and blasts were being thrown in every direction but they were slowly being overpowered by Hydra.
"Enough" Muller's voice carried over the fighting and the soldiers immediately stopped.
"Look around you Ms Maximoff. Your friends are tired and hurt. All you need to do is come with me. You will not be harmed." He said, walking towards them.
"If you want to take her then you'll need to get through us." Cap said firmly.
"I don't think that will be necessary Captain Rogers. Boys, take them." Immediately the Hydra members began to re-engage the team.
Natasha struggled to fight off one of the men but managed to get him to the ground and pull away from him to find Wanda. She saw Muller edging towards her; his arm outstretched with a gun in his hand. Wanda was shooting blasts of red at the soldiers and didn't see Muller approaching.
Without hesitating or thinking, Natasha sprinted towards Wanda and launched herself at her. She vaguely noted that Muller had pulled the trigger as she tackled Wanda to the ground and lay on top of her, cradling her head protectively.
The super soldiers continued to fight as Vision disarmed Muller.
"What the fuck was that for?" Wanda shouted at Natasha.
"He tried to shoot you" Natasha responded, shrugging.
As Natasha tried to move her weight from Wanda's small frame she felt a deep, intense pain in her abdomen. She instinctively brought her hands to her stomach as she sat up and was mildly surprised to see that they were dripping in crimson.
"Natasha, why are you wet?" Wanda asked, pulling a disgusted face.
She looked at Natasha's hands and down at her combat suit and then turned a deathly white. The bullet had torn through Nat's suit and was now oozing thick, vivid blood.
"I guess I've been shot." Nat said, laughing weakly as she lay on the ground, propping herself up on her elbows.
"We- we need something to stop the bleeding." Wanda said, taking her jacket off and pressing it firmly against her stomach.
There was a shocking pool of blood surrounding Natasha now and she had lost all colour in her face.
Wanda pulled Natasha up over her knees with the Russian's head supported by her arm.
"Steve!!! Tony!! Help me!!!" Wanda cried.
"Shhhh. Its fine. Maximoff, I'm fine."
Natasha tried to reassure her but she could feel her consciousness slipping away. She could feel the warmth of the blood spreading over her body, the noise of her heartbeat and breathing seemed loud and slow in her ears. Her eyes fluttered and she looked up at Wanda.
"Hey" Wanda whispered, tears streaming down her face as she held Nat tightly.
"Hey yourself." Natasha retorted, using all the energy she could to smile for the young woman.
Natasha had been shot before, but it never felt like this, like life was slipping away quietly. She felt peaceful and relaxed.
"Wanda" she croaked out, feeling like her lungs were being squeezed.
"I'm sorry Little Witch."
"Tasha don't you do that. You can give me your full apology after we win this fight, ok? You can tell me everything you need to back at the compound. Don't you DARE say goodbye to me. You are making me waffles when we get home." Wanda choked out through muffled sobs.
"Little Witch, you are my home." Natasha said closing her eyes.
"I love you so fucking much Nat" Wanda rocked her back and forth and the last thing Natasha felt was Wanda's heartbeat against her own as the she clutched her tired body to her chest. She smiled softly.
Natasha's body grew limp and lifeless and Wanda let out a blood curdling scream of pure agony.
A deep red stream of magic erupted from Wanda's chest as she continued to scream. Muller and all of the soldiers were engulfed in a cloak of scarlet and raised several feet from the floor. They clawed at their own necks as if they were suffocating, the chaos magic drowning them.
When Wanda finally stopped, Muller and all of his soldiers lay unconscious on the ground, their chests rising and falling slowly.
She collapsed on the ground next to Natasha, feeling like her core had been completely depleted of energy. She just wanted to sleep.
The rest of the Avengers ran towards them.
"Nat?" Clint said, tears in his eyes.
"She saved me" Wanda sobbed as Vision knelt down next to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
The group were sombre and utterly devastated, Steve being unable to even speak.
"She's still alive" Tony said urgently.
"What? Then we need to do something!!" Wanda screamed, looking around wildly.
"She won't make it to a hospital kid. The best we can do is make her comfortable and wait."
"No! Fuck you Tony! She can't leave me"
"Stand back, now" Wanda said menacingly as if an idea had struck her.
The group looked at her sympathetically and stood back a little bit, watching as she unzipped Natasha's combat suit and revealed her gushing wound.
Wanda gathered up all of her remaining strength and allowed her magic to caress Natasha's wound. She smiled softly as memories of them together flooded her brain and she pushed all of the love she felt for the Russian into her power.
The group watched in awe as the bleeding stopped and the wound meshed back together leaving a bright red scar on the side of her stomach.
"Maximoff you're incredible" Tony said as Wanda suddenly let out a shrill noise and collapsed on top of Natasha's chest.
"Wanda? Wanda?" Clint said, shaking her urgently.
"Stark she's not fucking breathing! Do something!"
The Avengers sprang into action as Wanda lay still on top of Natasha, the two women in a pool of blood, hands intertwined.