The Eternal Avenger

Chapter Nineteen: Fed

Content warning: Blood/Violence

(Natasha's POV)

The creature that was in the holding cell was the farthest thing from human that I could imagine. The girl that I had grown to know and care about was no longer present. I had my hands pressed against the door, my head leaning against the protective glass, staring in at her. Once sedated, we had removed the chains, bandaged up as many injuries as possible and transported her to the quinjet to get back to the compound. We got her into the safe room – a replica of the one that was at the tower – and were able to address her injuries much more thoroughly. When she started to come to, we had been forced outside of the room as she snarled and lunged at us. She half-turned, fur bristling from several places on her body, eyes still bright red and mostly upright. She had been this way for the better part of five hours, snarling at anyone who dared approach the glass. I heard movement behind me, and the Maximoffs walked in, Wanda covering her mouth with her hand in shock. "What's happening to her?" She gasped, staring through the glass on the side.

"She's half shifted, and won't go all the way or go back," I shrugged.

"Why isn't she healing?" I frowned at the question.

"I'm not entirely sure. Maybe she's hungry." The possibility was not a pleasant one. We had no idea what a Havoc frenzy entailed, but we were getting a good look at one now. My only comfort was Claray's previous reassurances that vampire populations were so low, that the chances of a single vampire causing too much mayhem was rare. Besides. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Vampires, according to the hybrid, enjoyed playing with their food by setting up the perfect scenario and relishing the hut a little too much to dine and dash off to find another treat.

"Have we tried feeding her?" Wanda pushed. I glared over at her.

"No, we decided to just let her starve, Maximoff." She geared up to reply but stopped before saying anything. "Every time we try, this happens." I approached the glass on Wanda's side, expecting a similar reaction to the ones we'd already seen. Nothing.

"What happens?" The girl asked, confused. I frowned.

"Get me a knife," I ordered, looking around and grabbing a cup from the table.

"What for?" I rolled my eyes.

"Questions later, feed hungry hybrid now," I snarked. Wanda handed me a knife; handle pointed towards me. I took it, gingerly slashed a gash in my wrist before allowing some to drain into the cup. Wanda watched me carefully. I approached the door, turning to the younger woman. "Lock this behind me, Wanda." She paused, but nodded, reluctantly.

"You really care about her, don't you?" She asked so quietly I almost missed it.

"I..." I dropped my head, hand paused on the latch for the door. "Yeah, I do." She smiled at me and nodded.

"Me too." We chuckled in solidarity for a moment before I unlocked the final bolt and pulled the door towards me. The half-Claray looking thing looked up at me, expectantly. I held the cup out gingerly before setting it on the ground,  taking care to not make any sudden moves that may set her off. She sniffed the air, approaching, knocking the cup over, my blood spilling out on the concrete. Shit. I heard the sound of the locks unengaging behind me, and Wanda stood in the now-open doorway.

"What the hell are you doing?" I turned half to face her, the other half still monitoring Claray's movement and aggression level cautiously.

"Agent Romanoff," Wanda entered the room, door closing behind her. Pietro nodded at me as I heard the locks click back into place. Great. I thought. Now she gets a meal, and it's a buy one get one free special on Avengers.