Chapter 36 – Ice Kissed
Natasha woke up the next day still feeling cold to the bone. She saw that Darcy was still sleeping and debated on leaving immediately or waiting to tell her that she was leaving. The red head knew that the girl would want to come but she had no idea what would be waiting for them down the road.
Making up her mind, she quietly slipped through the door back to her room and tip toed around the mess she and Bucky had made. She cursed when her sore leg brushed the side of the bed but noticed that no blood had soaked through the bandages. At least she wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.
Quietly opening her closet door, she grabbed her pack and shoved a few guns and some supplies into it. She then made her way to the dresser and grabbed the necessities. She glimpsed her reflection in the mirror and was surprised to see a light in her eyes. Maybe this is what I've needed all along... She smiled at the woman staring back at her and watched the image shiver.
Damn was she still cold. She really wanted to get the hell out of there but thought that maybe a quick shower would do her some good. Not wanting to risk Darcy waking up to the noise, she adjusted her backpack and headed to the training room to shower. Making her way down the elevator and though the quiet halls, she couldn't help but wonder if her life would ever be the same. She had no idea what she would find once she got to Russia and how it could affect her. She knew Ksenia was gone, but would visiting her grave really change anything for her?
Natasha made it to her destination and let her bag fall to the ground. She crossed her arms and sighed. She couldn't believe that she had done the things she had. Yeah, it wasn't really her, but that used to be her. Banner was still in critical care, they had him in a kind of stasis to try and keep the Hulk quiet. If the Hulk came out, Bruce wouldn't be able to handle the pain. Natasha was put on strict orders to stay away just in case the beast got angry enough to come out and play. It killed her that she couldn't even go and apologize.
Trying to get the thought out of her head, she turned towards the showers and then saw the spot where she had almost ended Captain America. Damn it Nat, get it together! She shook her head to clear her mind and exhaled, releasing a cloud of condensation into the air. That wasn't normal...
"Lady Natasha! I didn't believe you smoked!" Natasha whipped around and was met by the large body of Thor. When he didn't see any sort of cigarette, he put a hand on the side of her face and was shocked by how icy she felt. Natasha was also shocked by how cold she was in the warm room.
Before she could speak, she could have sworn she heard him mumble something along the lines of Fimbulvetr. "Thor, what's going on?" she asked in a quiet voice. Now she was sure that the blast Loki hit her with did something.
"I have not seen this before, perhaps it will just take a few days for the magics to dissipate? I am sure it's nothing more."
She didn't look convinced. "Then what does "Fimbulvetr" mean?" she asked the god.
"It is... It is just something from the stories our mothers told us if we misbehaved, the winter of winters. It just reminded me of something, that is all. Too many coincidences have been occurring."
Natasha brushed it off, more pressing matters clouded her mind than old children's stories. "Thor, is Lady Sif already in Russia? I didn't expect you to have reached her so soon."
Thor sighed and Natasha's heart sank. "I could not reach her with your message, that is why I have returned. I hoped to have reached you before you left, I've been ordered to return back to Asgard as soon as possible. It also seems that Loki 'has escaped from his cell'. It has been crazy back on Asgard."
"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.
As the days continued, the sparring sessions grew longer as Natasha added in cardio as well as weightlifting. Darcy complained the entire time but Natasha felt as if the young girl was gaining confidence and losing her fear of her. The girl learned quick, if only she could shut her mouth for more than five seconds. On some days, Clint and Steve would join in. They also thought it was a good idea for Darcy to learn. Jane also joined but she was nowhere near as interested as Darcy was.
Only Darcy knew that Natasha was about to leave them and Darcy kept her secret as promised. She did find out though that Thor now knew and she wished she could talk about things with him, but he wasn't here. Natasha wouldn't say a word about what Darcy overheard while talking to Thor, and it killed her not being in the loop. She was curious as hell to know how Lady Sif was involved. Darcy had met Lady Sif once and she liked the warrior.
About two weeks after the meeting with Thor, Darcy was already quite a force to be dealt with. She was nowhere near as good as any of the Avengers but Natasha was confident she could take care of herself if any trouble were to arise. Tony didn't want to join in any of the training sessions but he had built her a modified taser, and he was quite proud of it. The device was as thin as a necklace but it went around the wrist and bonded with her body chemistry so that it wouldn't shock her. Three tendrils led from the bracelet on the top of her wrist and wrapped around her middle three fingers. It only takes a flick of her wrist for it to shoot electricity from the tips of her fingers. Darcy had one on each of her wrists and she never took them off. Tony showed her how to move her wrist to put it on safety when she was doing everyday tasks. It had different levels of power and Darcy was completely in love with it. What she didn't know was that Natasha had asked Tony to design it for her so Darcy could keep herself safe.
Completely by herself, Darcy figured out a way to send voltages through her new weapon whenever she threw a punch and connected with someone. She would flick her wrist a certain way that caused a charge to build up. It would discharge into her opponent upon contact and Clint was the first victim. He was too impressed with the new move to be mad.
Natasha by far trained her the hardest and Steve even had to pull her to the side one day and have a word with her. "Nat, why are you being so hard on her? She's just a kid."
"Yes Steve, she's just a kid, but do bad people just look at a kid and say 'oh look, a kid, I better go easy on her' or do they pay no attention to that fact and just take her out along with whoever else pisses them off? No, they don't. This world is a horrible place Steve and the sooner she is able to protect herself from the dangers of it the sooner I'll feel better."
"Nat, I see your point but do you think she would do anything to put herself in that position?" Natasha just stared at him with her eyebrow raised.
"Yeah I see your point there. She's a stubborn kid but don't let your past get the best of you. The world is a bad place but she has us to be there for her. None of us on this team will ever have to face the evils alone. We stand together as one, you know that right?"
"Yes Steve I know that... can I go now?" Steve jut sighed at the red head and waved his hand to lead the way. The conversation left Natasha feeling cold, and not in the sense of emotions. As long as she kept moving around, the coldness she felt throughout her body didn't bother her as much. She just couldn't seem to get warm in this damn tower.
The next morning, Natasha was too restless to stay at the tower any longer. All through the night she planned to leave and the time was finally there. She wanted to keep the morning as normal as she could so Darcy wouldn't suspect anything so she decided that she was going to leave after training, which she was a little late for since she had to hack Tony's jet.
She walked into the kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat and found Darcy already there munching on some donuts. "Darcy, you know you're late to training, right?"
"Yeah but so are you. Besides, my brain said "crunches" but my stomach auto-corrected it to donuts." Darcy turned around and flashed her a smile.
Natasha rolled her eyes at the girl and made her way to the fridge, grabbing a protein shake and then leaned against the counter to wait for Darcy to finish. "Ughhh how do you eat those things. Do you know how long it takes to burn those calories off?"
"Hey now!" Darcy retorted, "I don't mind running an extra mile if it means enjoying this beautiful specimen of a powdered donut." She made her point by shoving an entire donut into her mouth.
"You are what you eat you know," Natasha joked with her.
"That's funny," Darcy mumbled as bits of donut fell from her full mouth, "I don't remember eating a sexy beast this morning."
Natasha shook her head and left for the training room. Not too long after, Darcy came in and the training sessions went on as usual. After they were good and tired, Natasha let Darcy go ahead and shower while she made a beeline for one of Tony's jets. Tony would find out something wasn't right and have it to turn back so Natasha had planned to drop it off about an hour in. That should give her enough time to get away before Tony realized she hijacked his jet.
She grabbed her pack along the way and then took off without a backwards glance. She checked every compartment on the jet and was relieved to discover no traces of Darcy. Her journey was about to begin.
A while later, Darcy tried searching for Natasha in the tower and then realized that she was gone. She became mad at herself for not realizing that something was up, Natasha was never late for training. She was on high alert every hour of every day so that she would be able to follow Natasha whenever she left. She knew that the assassin would need someone to watch her back.
She thought about alerting the Avengers to Natasha's departure but felt as if that would be betraying her somehow. They would definitely follow her and if she took one of Tony's jets, he would get it turned around in a heartbeat. She knew that Natasha also knew that so she figured she had some kind of plan to get far enough away so that they couldn't follow her.
Darcy would have to resort to plan B. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. A few minutes later she had a reply and was told to meet in the next few hours. She packed everything she thought she would need and then headed for the main floor. Upon exiting the tower, a car was there waiting for her and the driver opened the door for her. The driver kept shooting glances into his rearview mirror at her and it made her feel so official. He must be wondering who she was since he was told to pick her up at Avengers tower. About an hour later, they arrived to the airport and she picked up the ticket that was waiting for her. She was surprised to see that her flight left so soon so she hurried across the airport to her gate and made it through with no problems. Security thought that her new taser was just a fancy bracelet.
Her flight was pretty uneventful but she was excited to be getting to her destination. As soon as she landed, another car was waiting for her, and this one looked more official. The guy had on sunglasses even though it was cloudy out and he even had an earpiece. They drove for another hour and Darcy's heart sank when they pulled up to an old looking building. The driver got out and opened her door, gesturing for her to enter the building.
It was an abandoned building and was pretty barren, save for a few boxes here and there that time had forgotten. Her spirit lifted again when she saw her contact walking towards her.
"Skye! It's good to see you again!" Darcy hugged the girl and they exchanged a few words. "Thank you so much for helping me out, I didn't know who else to turn to."
"It's no problem really. How is Natasha doing? She is still Natasha, right?"
"Yes, she is, we were able to get her back. She's gone to find some answers and she went alone. I'm afraid she's going to get into trouble somewhere, there's a few people after her but I can't tell anyone why she's gone."
Skye looked confused. "Why can't you tell anyone?"
"Its...personal. I'm so sorry I can't tell you, but could you please help me get to her? I know she went to Russia, but I have no clue where, I don't speak Russian, and I don't know what the hell I'm doing."
Skye felt sorry for the girl. "If no one is supposed to find out then S.H.I.E.L.D. can't help you, I'm sorry. There's only so much I can do but I can't leave right now. I can get you there and help electronically but who is going to watch your back."
"I will," a third voice chimed in. "Besides, I'm on vacation, and I hate vacations."
The two girls jumped. "Bobbi! What are you doing here?" Skye asked the tall blonde.
"I saw you sneak off and got curious." Agent Morse watched as the color drained from Skye's face. "Relax kid, I won't tell. Just be glad it was me that noticed and not May."
Skye just sighed and then looked to Darcy. "Would you be okay if Bobbi went with you?"
Darcy looked to the other agent and perked up. "Hell yeah! Natasha told me stories about how you are a kickass agent. No offense but she doesn't like you too much but she totally respects you."
Bobbi just laughed but understood what she meant. She and Clint used to have a 'thing' and she heard Natasha disapproved.
"Okay," Skye said clapping her hands together. "I'll help yall the best I can but with May constantly watching me it's going to be hard. I'll get a jet to yall as soon as I can but at best it would be tomorrow. I suggest you get a room for the night and fill Bobbi in the best you can. I'll let you know where to pick up your ride."
Darcy hugged Skye. "Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me."
Skye pulled back and smiled. "Good luck." With that, she turned and left the two women alone. Darcy's journey was about to begin.