Scarlett Johansson | One-Shots (1)

NR - The Avengers Pt. 4

Natasha:
"There's not many people who can sneak up on me." Loki turns around to me standing outside of his cell.

"But you figured I'd come."

"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate."

"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton."

"I would say I've expanded his mind."

"And once you've won." I start walking towards his cell. "Once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?"

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"

"Love is for children," I lie, thoughts of Callie filling my head. "I owe him a debt."

Loki backs up in his cell. "Tell me."

"Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., I, uh..." I give in, taking a seat. "Well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call."

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?"

"Not let you out."

"No, but I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man."

"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that. I'm Russian. Or I was."

"And what are you now?"

"It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out." I stand back up to face him.

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter, Sao Paulo, the hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you. And they will never go away." He slams his fist on the glass and I fake getting scared. "I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skill." I turn away from him. "This is my bargain, you mewling quim."

"You're a monster," I fake sniffle.

"Oh, no," he chuckles. "You brought the monster."

I lift my head and whip around to face Loki again. "So, Banner. That's your play." I turn on my coms to talk to the team as I rush away. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." I turn back to Loki for a final time. "Thank you... for your cooperation."

On my way to the lab, I'm met by Callie. "You're good," she smiles.

"I know."

"Love is for children?"

"I couldn't let him have anything on me. He'd come after you if he knew."

-

Callie:
In the lab, we all argue with each other about Banner staying in the lab, the scepter, what S.H.I.E.L.D is doing with the Tesseract, and other various important things. Everyone here has some sort of ego and they're rubbing off of each other. This probably won't end well.

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds," Steve threatens Tony.

"You people are so petty... and tiny," Thor insults us.

"Yeah, this is a team," Banner sighs.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Banner back to his..." Fury starts but is cut off.

"Where? You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case..."

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried."

We all look at him in shock, unsure of how to respond.

"I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

As he backs up, Natasha and Fury put their hands on their weapons and I clench my fists, ready to make wisps.

"Dr. Banner put down the scepter," Steve instructs.

Suddenly, a screen starts beeping. Banner puts the stick down and walks over to it. "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all."

"Located the Tesseract?" I ask. 

"I could get there faster," Tony states.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it," Thor argues.

Tony goes to leave the room but Steve stops him. "You're not going alone."

"You're gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit, let's find out," Steve spits.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony steps up to Steve.

"Put on the suit."

"Oh my god," Banner mumbles from the screen.

Before anyone can respond, the ship is being blown up, sending us all flying in different directions. I get thrown through some glass, landing hard on my back. It doesn't affect me too much though, my suit is good at protecting me. I don't know where everyone else was thrown but I know this isn't good in the slightest. Obviously.

I'm about to get up but part of the ceiling of the room I'm in comes crashing down. I don't think fast enough so the roof collapses down on top of me. Being advanced, I don't get too badly injured from the impact. What does make a mark is something extremely sharp slicing my side. It's a decently large gash. Unable to slip out, I weakly use my wisps to throw the rubble off of me. Now free, I grip my bloody waist as I trudge to wherever I'm needed. Suddenly, there's a roar.

"Shit," I curse to myself when I realize how bad the situation is.

I trudge out of the room I'm in, following the roars of the Hulk.

Eventually, I'm stumbling through the indoor hangar when Thor and the Hulk come crashing through a wall. I duck out of the way and to the broken wall. Peeking in, I find Natasha sitting, clearly not okay. I limp over to her.

"Nat, hey," I whisper, crouching in front of her. "You okay?"

She just nods. "Are you? You have blood coming out of your mouth."

"I'll be fine. I'll heal." I place a hand on her cheek and lift her shaky head to look at me. "You're gonna be alright."

She stares at me. "I'm sorry," she croaks.

"For what?"

"For leaving and not coming back like I said I would."

I sigh lightly, wiping some blood coming from my lip. "No, it's okay."

"It's not. I should've at least called."

"Look, now's not the time to talk about this. How about we talk about this over a coffee when this is all over?" I smile warmly.

"Yeah, I would like that."

"Great. Now we have a real shit show going on. Are you okay to fight?"

She nods and lets me help her up.