Pain and Victory

Court Hearing

Ashton's pov:

The first thing I see as I open my eyes is the bright lights. It stings my eyes, causing me to groan as I close them. "Ashton, baby, can you hear me?" I hear a familiar voice. I move my head from side to side, trying to clear away the fog of unconsciousness. I slowly open my eyes again, adjusting to the brightness of the room. I feel someone squeezing my and so I look at it. I follow the arm up until I meet the green eyes that are always on my mind. I smile a little bit. "Hey baby." I rasp out. She removes her hand, causing me to whine. She chuckles as she reaches for something on my bedside table. She puts a styrofoam cup with a bendy straw in my face. She helps me take a sip of water. "Thank you." I tell her. She smiles at me. "How are you feeling?" She asks. "I feel fine for the most part. Just tired. What happened?" I ask her. She grabs my hand again. "After you passed out, the helicarriers fired on one another. I don't know the details as Steve is still asleep, but you both made it to shore after falling in the water." She says. She goes silent for a moment. 

"Natalia, my love, what's wrong?" I ask her. She lets out a shaky breath. "You lost a lot of blood. Three bullet wounds and a couple of fractured ribs. Your fine now. completely healed, but their biggest concern was the blood loss. You had us worried there for a bit." She says. I squeeze her hand gently. "You should know it takes more than a few bullets to take me out." I tell her. She smiles. "Yeah, I know. I just can't help but worry about you because  love you so damn much." She says. I pull her hand to my lips and give it a gentle kiss on the back. "Is Steve alright?" I ask her. She nods. "Yeah, a little beat up, but he's fine. Sam is in with him." She says.

 I look around the room and see a gigantic teddy bear in on corner with balloons and flowers. she follows my line of sight and laughs. "Stark stopped by yesterday, Pepper said she tried to reign him in. But you know how that goes." She says. I huff out a laugh. I look back at her and see worry on her eyes even though she is smiling. I frown. "What is it? What's wrong?" I ask her. She sighs. "Well, as you know. I had to dump everything on the internet, meaning our pasts are no longer a secret. The two of us have been summoned before the supreme court." She says. "Hey, come here." I say, tugging her arm. She stands up and crawls into the bed with me. I pull her close as she rests her head on my chest. I kiss the top of her head. "We'll be alright. they aren't going to do anything because as much as they hate to admit it, they need us." I tell her. "I know. But it doesn't stop me from worrying now that everything is out there." She says. "Get some sleep. We'll get through tomorrow like we always do. Together." I tell her. "Always." She starts. "And forever." I finish. After that, we both drift off into a peaceful sleep.

Time skip:

After getting discharged, Natasha and I head back to our apartment to get ready for the court hearing. I walk out of the room and into the living room as she is putting on her shoes. She looks up at me. "I always forget how hot you look in a pantsuit." She says, causing me to smirk. I slip in my dress shoes. "Yeah, don't get used to it. As soon as the hearing is over, i'm ripping this damn monkey suit off of me." I tell her with a grumble. She smirks and walks over to me and puts her hands on my chest, flushing her body against mine. I smirk and look down at her. "But what if I want to rip it off of you?" She asks suggestively. I smirk and put my hands on her hips and pull her closer. "I think that that can be arranged." I tell her. I crash my lips onto hers. She lets out a little whimper and I tighten my grip on her hips. 

She lets out a low moan and I take the opportunity to slip my tongue into her mouth. She wraps her arms around my neck, securing my face against hers.That fact that we have to leave cut through the haze that settle over my brain. I pull back and she whines. "Love, we have to leave. The sooner we get this done, the sooner you can rip this thing off of me." I tell her. She looks at me with a smile. "Promise?" She asks. "Of course, my love. Now let's go so we aren't late." I say, grabbing her hand. I pull her with me out the door and I lock the door. She grabs the keys to her car and I grumble about how she never lets me drive it. She just chuckles. We get in her ferrari and I give her one last kiss before we pull out the parking spot.

Time Skip:

"Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" The lady asks me after I lay my hand on the bible. "I swear." I answer and she does the same thing with Natasha. I'm already bored and ready to leave. The damn cameras have not stopped going off since we got here. The flashes were getting on  my nerves. After Natasha gets sworn in, we take our seats and wait for the hearing to begin. Natasha grabs my hand under the table and I lace our fingers together. The judges or whatever get settled and everyone quiets down, but the damn flashes don't stop. One of the judges starts the hearing.

"Why haven't we yet heard from Captain Rogers yet?" He asks. I roll my eyes. "I don't know what there is left for him to say. I think the wreck in the middle of the potomac made his point fairly eloquently." Natasha answers. I give her hand a small squeeze. "Well he could explain how this country's supposed to maintain it's national security. Now that he and the two of you laid waste to it's intelligence apparatus." He states. "HYDRA was selling you lies, not intelligence." Natasha rebuttals. "Many of which, you seemed to have had a personal hand in telling." He states. I'm starting to get pissed off. I know Natasha can take care of herself, but this man coming at her like this after she just helped save millions of lives makes me want to throw him across the damn courtroom. 

"Agent Ashton, you were an Agent of HYDRA at one point. How are we to know that your were not a part of this all along?" The man questions me. Natasha squeezes my hand this time. I look at her then back to the committee. "Trust me, if I was a part of this, I wouldn't have helped take down the helicarriers. I would have made sure HYDRA succeeded in their mission. And there would have been nothing agent Romanoff or Captain Rogers could do to stop me. I am HYDRAs most successful experiment and was an asset of theirs, yes. But I had no control over my actions or my own body. Tell me, General, do you know what it's like to be a passenger in your body? Do you know what it's like to watch as your own hands commit atrocities but have no control to stop it? Listen when I tell you this, if HYDRA still had control over me, this country would be laid in ruins." I tell him. His face is red by the time I'm done. "Is that a threat, agent?" He asks. I give him a blank look. "No. It's a simple fact." I tell him.

"Agents, you should know that there are some on the committee, who feel, given your service records, both for this country and against it, that you belong in a penitentiary. Not mouthing off on Capitol Hill." A different guy says. I scoff. "Your not going to put me in a prison. Your not going to put any of us in a prison. You know why?" Natasha states with that smirk. That damn smirk that makes my head go places it should not in a courtroom. All I can do is smile as I watch her. "Do enlighten us." The douchebag says. "Because you need us. Yes, the world is a vulnerable place, and yes, we help make it that way. But we're also the ones best qualified to defend it. So, if you want to arrest us, arrest us. You'll know where to find us." She says and she pulls me to my feet. We walk out but as we reach the door, I pull her into a kiss and the camera's go nuts. I pull away and we make our way to the car. We get in and I just look at her. "What? I can feel you staring." She asks. I clear my throat and look out the windshield. "That was hot. And it's not staring, it's admiring. Get it right." I tell her and She lets out a chuckle. "You were pretty hot on there too. The way you told them off. Made my head go places." She mumbles. "Baby." I say. "What?" She asks. "Get us home asap." I tell her. She chuckles and blows passed the speed limit. "Don't have to tell me twice."