Natasha Romanoff, a Red Room assassin, is hired to kill the glorious Captain America before he changes the world in all his star, spangled glory. However, as she gets closer and closer to her target, she begins to fall harder and harder for the man...
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Natasha was fading fast, and Steve could feel her life slipping through his fingers.
His entire world - his love - was fighting for her life in his arms, but there was nothing he could do. It was like he was there just to watch. If he could give her his last breath, he would. He'd do anything to save her. Yet he was forced to watch as she choked and sputtered on the blood pooling in her mouth, the way she desperately tried to inhale as her body convulsed and shook. No matter how many times he tried to clear her mouth of blood, turning her head to the side to help clear her airway, it was to no avail. It was like the walls were collapsing around them, the glimmer of hope slowly fading as her heart rate steadily increased until all he could feel was the rapid beating of her heart under the palm of his hand. He silently prayed to his God, begging him to spare her and take him instead. He prayed, prayed, and prayed because Natasha didn't deserve any of this. He'd give up everything just to save her life, silently and desperately bargaining for a miracle as if life had ever been kind enough to grant him one.
He had a thousand questions, but he could hardly see anything through the tears in his eyes. His throat was too tight with emotion to ask them, anyway. Nothing made sense yet nothing else but Natasha mattered. He couldn't think about what the hell had just happened - what it all meant. All that mattered was his girl because he couldn't live in a world without her. It was true that the world didn't deserve her, and maybe God had even mistakenly put one of his angels on Earth, and he wanted her back.
However, Steve was selfish, and he was stubborn.
He couldn't let her go.
Not yet... not ever.
So he held her close and dared God to try to take her away from him.
His hands shook as he set down his phone after calling emergency medical services, and he shifted Natasha in his lap, his eyes never leaving her. A surge of relief went through him as he watched her breathing even out, but her skin had turned a splotchy shade of pink that certainly wasn't normal.
"S-Steve... if I make it through this, we're going to run away to a house south of Budapest where we can see the mountains on the edge of town..." She mumbled. "I love you so much." She had managed to open her eyes, gazing up at him as she gently squeezed his hand.
His eyes widened with surprise when she spoke. He wanted to tell her to save her strength, but he wanted to hear her voice, even if it was for the last time. "You're going to be okay... I love you too." He told her imploringly, glancing down at his watch. He had no idea what she was talking about, and maybe she wasn't even coherent. He hardly even registered what she was saying, but it didn't matter.
Not in that moment, at least.
It had been only a minute since he had called for an ambulance, but he could hear the sirens off in the distance. If they could just get her to the hospital in time, maybe they could save her. Maybe they could give her an antidote to counteract whatever had been injected into her. Her breathing had calmed and the convulsions had stopped. Maybe she would be okay. Maybe whatever had been injected wasn't made to kill her but rather disable her for a short period of time.
