watch your back

chapter 3

i had watched her arrive and couldn't help but stare as she got off the motorcycle. i was sitting on one of the trees that were a little away from the mansion, watching her. why did she come here? what on earth would make her come back? the avengers totally blew the mission, underestimating the man who had kept all of us kids here. he was cunning and merciless. but as a lonely kid, he was the only thing all of us had to look up to. his name was malum. goosebumps ran down my back when i remembered him.
at once, she turned around and saw me. we looked at each other for a minute, not saying anything, then i jumped down from the tree.
"wow i really must be interesting for all of you.", i remarked, standing a few meters away from romanoff. i remembered the name.
"the kids. you can help us get to them. you can help us understand what we're up against."
i shook my head. "i don't think i can."
"i don't think you want to.", she provoked.
i took a deep breath, then i looked at the half destroyed mansion. fine, i thought.
"some of these kids were taken when they were really young." i wandered to her motorcycle and leaned against it.
"seven or eight. in rare cases even younger. and all of them came from shitty conditions."
romanoff came up next to me and i thought i could smell a whiff of her perfume.
"they considered this their home. and malum, the man who kept us here, he was the only one they could look up to."
"how old were you when you were taken?"
the question sounded genuine but i ignored it anyway. i wasn't here to share personal details.
"these kids probably hate you for ruining their home. and they hated the world even before they came here."
"but you don't?"
"why did you come?", i asked.
"because these kids are dangerous and we don't know what we're up against.", she replied.
"see, that's why i can't trust you."
i looked her in the eye and for one tiny second i thought i saw something in her expression, then it went back to something unreadable again.
i saw how she was about to open her mouth again, when suddenly we heard a scream for the back of the mansion. we exchanged a look, then we ran back there. or rather, i sprinted and was there in a second, while she had to run.
"next time you can take me with you.", she said sarcastically when she reached me, then she turned her head to where the scream came from and went quiet immediately.
there was someone lying underneath a pile of rocks, only his head was showing.
"william?", i asked. i recognized the boy. he looked up at me, his eyes were red as always. i knew what his powers were. and i could see that he was angry.
"do you know him?", my accompaniment asked, but i just backed away slowly.
"yes i do."
"are you alright?"
"you should leave.", i said.
"you!", william yelled suddenly, pointing his finger at romanoff. "you did this to me!"
the boy, that had been lying under a pile of rocks that must've fallen from the building in the heat of the fight and buried him, struggled to get up and when he did i had to turn my head away. his left arm was missing. instead there was an open wound that had to hurt terribly.
"oh my god william."
he ignored me.
"i can help you. i can get you to a doctor.", i tried again.
"you don't really think any doctor will help me, do you?!" his eyes started to look manic. i knew what this was.
"you need to leave.", i said to romanoff again.
"i don't run from a fight.", she replied.
"this won't be a fight, this'll be a barbecue.", i said, forcefully this time.
"what?? what the hell does that mean?"
right when she asked that, a fireball suddenly shot towards us. i managed to get romanoff out of the way just in time, but we both stumbled on the ground, panting.
"he can shoot fire?", she asked, perplexed.
"no he can't, i pushed you out of the way for fun.", i replied.
she rolled her eyes and got up just in time to dodge another fireball. i sprinted towards the boy and punched him first on his left and then on his right cheek, but he managed to create a fire beam and i had to jump out the way. the air around me felt burning hot but i didn't seem to have caught fire. william was stronger than i thought, even though he couldn't be much older than fifteen. poor boy.
in the time he took to defend himself against me, romanoff managed to get to him and kicked him in the stomach with some impressive martial arts. he screamed of pain and fired about six fire balls into the air, that fell on the ground like little bombs, burning everything they hit. one was directly above romanoff and she jumped to the side, only to get underneath the next salvo he fired. i quickly got her away from there, but william wasn't slow either. he followed me with a fire beam and with romanoff in my arms i wasn't as fast as usually.
"we need to knock him out.", she said. "get me close to him and i'll do it."
i eyed her, unsure of whether she was up for the part.
"come on!", she urged, and i sighed and zick-zack sprinted in williams direction. shortly in front of him i let romanoff go, punching william one more time and then leaving him to her. she landed a hit on his throat, then she kicked him off his feet and with one deliberate punch on his head managed to knock him out. we were both panting a little.
"how... how is this possible? he's still a kid...", romanoff said, concerned.
"we all were.", i replied in a monotone voice. then i looked into her eyes again and after a little pause i said: "okay, i will go with you. i'll help you with them, i know most of them and what they can do. but after that i'll leave, and you have to leave me alone."
romanoff nodded in a serious manner. "thank you.", she said. and this time i knew she was honest.
we walked back to the front of the house and i dusted off my clothes.
„why did you come here?", she asked.
„why did you come here?", i shot back.
„fine.", she resigned, a little smile gracing her lips. „you wanna take a ride?"
romanoff pointed at the motorcycle.
„no, thanks. im faster on my feet."
that was true. additionally true was that i didn't want to be close to liars. not in any way. i had grown up with liars everywhere and i hated it. and romanoff was a liar. i could feel how it stuck to her like glue.
shortly afterwards i arrived at the avengers home base. this time i had a little while to look around. it was a highly modern building with a beautifully maintained lawn. there was a round landing site in the middle and streets from the main building led to other buildings, one of which i suspected to be a storage hall. i stared at the big „a" on the building and wondered what kind of people expected me inside. heroes? i scoffed. this was ridiculous. but nevertheless i walked into the building, carrying a peculiar feeling in my stomach.
„look who's back.", tony said, the first one i ran into. „told you cap!", he shouted, even though steve was nowhere to be seen.
i wandered through the building, trying to get familiar with the corridors and rooms, when i bumped into the redhead. wanda maximoff, it shot through my brain.
„oh, sorry!", i said, stumbling backwards. she looked me up and down, then something in her face relaxed.
„it's okay.", maximoff said. „wanda.", she then proceeded to introduce herself. it felt rather nice, like being welcomed into the big, overwhelming building.
„florence", i said, then my eyes widened and i froze.
wanda also raised her eyebrows.
„you remembered.", she said.
„i remembered...", i repeated, still stunned. it took a second, but then i had a hold of myself again. wanda still looked at me and i could see her eyes searching for an expression. then they suddenly stopped, as if she had all the answers she needed.
„do you... is there anywhere i can... sleep?"
the redhead smiled at me and nodded. „sure i can show you to a room where you can put all your stuff."
„i, uh, i don't have any stuff.", i said awkwardly.
wanda eyed me with a pitiful look and i regretted having said anything, but kept on following her in silence.
we walked up a pair of stairs, then we ended up in a corridor with doors left and right.
„this ones still free.", she said, pointing at a door that didn't look any different from the others. „you'll be right across the black widow.", she stated and it sounded like it was supposed to be something good.
„the black widow?", i asked, confused.
for a short second a frown appeared on wandas forehead, but it disappeared just as quickly.
„romanoff.", she clarified. „that's her... alias."
„oh.", i cleared my throat. apparently i missed a couple of things while i was in a child prison for seven years. embarrassing.