Winter's Widow

Chapter 16: Take Your Best Shot

"Natasha, you don't need to do this." I stared at the redhead, breathing hard, blocking her exit.

"I'm not coming in, Winter." Her voice was cold, and I inhaled sharply.

"I'm not here to take you." Her eyes shot up to mine, wide with disbelief.

"Then why are you here?" I sighed but clenched my jaw, refusing to look away. I stared at her for a few minutes, as though I was trying to memorize the details of her face. Maybe I was, in case I never saw it again.

"They're coming for you, Natasha. I knocked out the advanced guard, but Ross had trackers on them. They'll be here soon." Her eyes widened as she looked at me in horror.

"Kasey, what are you doing?" She hissed. She looked around anxiously. "If you help me, they'll come after you too. They'll arrest you. Who knows where they'll put you – maybe the raft like Wanda?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Then they come for me." Natasha scoffed at me, folding her arms. "What are you doing, Natasha? You need to go!" I walked up to her, shoving her lightly by the shoulders. She stepped back a pace, shaking her head.

"I'm not letting you do this." She stood her ground, her arms out to her side, but ready to fight.

"And I'm not going to let you get caught!" I clenched my fists, feeling the surge of electricity through them. We glared at each other silently for more minutes than we had to spare.

"So fucking stubborn," she muttered. I smirked at her. I had won. "At least let me knock you out." I smirked at her.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're going to enjoy this a little too much?" She couldn't hide the smile this time.

"We're still friends, right?" I laughed with her.

"Depends on how hard you hit me." She rolled her eyes at me. "Natasha..." She looked at me for a minute before scrunching her nose and shaking her head.

"I know."

"I'll be seeing you. Take your best shot." Her smirk was the last thing I remembered seeing before the world went black. I woke up in a cell with a color around my neck in some kind of jumpsuit. I took a deep breath.  It was worth it.

My days on the raft weren't fun, but I didn't stay there long. After a few brief alarm sounds, and the sound of a struggle outside of our quarters, I saw familiar red hair and a goofy grin bouncing towards me. "Couldn't stay away?"

"I just missed you." She hacked Wanda's cell first, helping her to her feet and freeing her from her collar. I waited patiently as she made sure Wanda was okay before moving over to me. "Although now that I see you, maybe I should just leave you here." I smirked and rolled my eyes at her.

"Very funny, Romanoff." She opened the cell and helped me remove my collar.

"Are you okay?" I nodded, clenching my fists together, feeling the electricity crackle.

"Never better."

...

I sat bolt upright in bed when I heard something outside. I looked down to find Yelena's hand securely in mine, and she had slept under the covers this time. She stirred, sensing movement. "What is it?" She mumbled. She was immediately on guard when she caught my anxious expression. She stood slowly, reaching for the nightstand. I couldn't blame her; I was doing the same thing. I gestured towards the open window, pointing to my eyes and then back at the window. Yelena nodded. I slid out of bed, moving towards the side of the window, pressing my back to the wall, my gun pointing at the ground. There it was again. I pointed to my ear and Yelena nodded. She heard it too. I heard voices in the darkness. They were speaking English. Americans. I frowned, glancing at Yelena who shrugged. I gestured towards the back door, making a running motion with my fingers, pointing off into the woods towards the clearing. Yelena nodded once before moving forward first, crouching at the door and covering me. I ran into the woods, crouching down and covering her as she followed to my position. "Who the fuck is that?" She hissed at me. I looked at her, eyes wide.

"I don't know." I narrowed my eyes, staring back towards the cabin as black-clad figures began to make their way towards the cabin where we had just been. There was something familiar about the guy who was leading them. I frowned. That shouldn't be possible. Yelena glared at me.

"They must have been tracking you." She hissed. "Unless you set me up." I stared at her, mouth open.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I stared at her. Her jaw clenched. I glanced back down at the cabin, seeing one of the figures coming out of the front door with...my pack? I frowned and watched as he pulled something from one of the pockets. My badge for the compound. Fuck. I took a deep breath, staring at Yelena.

"They were tracking me, but I didn't know. I swear to you." She scowled, shifting her gaze between me and the men towards the cabin. She stared at me intently, like she was trying to look right through me.

"Why should I believe you?" The woman was tensing beside me, almost like she was getting ready to fight. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my breathing. I glanced back at the cabin. The men were moving away from it.

"Yelena, I have to go get something. I need you to cover me." Her eyes widened at the request.

"You're kidding." The look on her face was not amused.

"Yelena, you're going to have to trust me. Just once." She scowled, but as she began to open her mouth to speak, I raised my hand stopping her. "If you can't trust me, take your best shot." She stared at me; eyes wide. I could see her finger tapping on the gun at her side.

"фигня. (Bullshit)." I smirked.

"это не. (It's Not)." I dropped my gun on the ground, raising my hands. Yelena stared at me, but the gun never moved upwards.

"Let's go." Yelena followed behind me, crouched down and gun ready as I made my way back to the cabin, slipping silently over the windowsill into the bedroom. I grabbed my backpack from under the bed, hastily mixing Yelena's clothes and mine in another duffle. I passed them both back through the window to her and she helped me climb back over. At that moment, one of the men left on guard rounded the corner. He kicked the gun out of Yelena's hand just as she was raising it, and she pulled a knife out from somewhere, making him jump backwards as she swiped at him. I clenched my fists, feeling the familiar surge of electricity.

"Back off," I warned lowly, not wanting to alert his other friends. He sneered at me.

"Or what?" Yelena lunged at him, and he grabbed her wrist, squeezing until the knife dropped. I stared at her, ignoring him completely.

"Yelena, get down." She looked at me, nodding slightly before twisting in his grip, pulling away. He managed to slice downwards on her shoulder blade as she twisted away and she hissed angrily. He didn't have time to gloat, however, because I jolted him with everything I had. He fell to the ground silently. I grabbed both bags and gestured Yelena forward, following her closely. When we reached the tree line, I looked back. No one was following, and they hadn't found the guy yet. We took off on foot for a few miles before stumbling onto train tracks. We followed them for another mile until we ran into a station. As we waited for the train, I glanced at Yelena's shoulder. It was bleeding, but it didn't look too bad. "Where should we go now?" Yelena looked at me, offering a small smile.

"Do you feel like a slight detour? I know a place." I nodded and smiled at her.

"Where to, boss?" She winked at me.

"Budapest."