Fighting The Past - Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Chapter Seven

The buzz of their phone pulled Y/N from the fog of sleep, the vodka bottle was empty and discarded on the floor beside the couch. Reaching over, Y/N picked up the cell phone and smirked slightly when they saw that the message was from Natalia. The smirk soon turned into a sneer of annoyance as they read what the message said. 

Natalia had always been the perfect student in the Red Room, it was strange that someone who had been dragged into that world against their will had appeared to have been born for it. It had all come so naturally to Natalia. Y/N had been frustrated and often fought to try and best Natalia, even though they had been so close, Y/N had wanted to be better. 

Now though things were different, Y/N was confident that their ruthlessness and efficiency made them better than Natalia. If the moment they had shared in the boardroom proved anything it was that Natalia no longer had the ability to take the shot, she had hesitated, something that the Red Room would never tolerate. If you had an assignment, no matter who it was, you never hesitated when it was time to strike, that was weakness. 

Staring at the phone screen, Y/N considered what to send back and as they begun to type a message they realised exactly what Natalia was trying to achieve. It was the exact same thing that Y/N would try to do if the roles were reverse, Natalia was trying to figure out where Y/N was. The moment the message was sent, Y/N was sure that their location would be revealed. 

"Smart Natalia, but not quite smart enough" Y/N said to themselves as they debated on how to manipulate this to their advantage. 

The likelihood that Natalia would turn up alone were slim, it seemed like the avengers were incapable of going anywhere without someone to hold their hand. Whilst Y/N was confident that most of them could be dealt with there were certainly some of the avengers that would pose more of a threat. 

'Why don't you come and find me? We'll see who is really second best. It was you who hesitated to shoot Natalia. If your little boyfriend hadn't shown up, could you have done it? Could you actually kill me darling?'

Y/N sent the message and then pushed themselves up from the couch, the stitches on their wound strained against the movement but Y/N ignored the pain it caused. They needed to move quick, there was no knowing how far away Natalia or any of the others that might be with her were. 

Gathering everything they needed from the concealed armoury, Y/N pulled their leather jacket on over their black t-shirt. They had spent weeks scouting every building that surrounded the apartment building they had been staying in, which meant they knew the perfect place to have a vantage point. 

The last thing Y/N did before leaving the apartment was set up a series of concealed trip wires. As soon as someone entered the apartment Y/N would be alerted to it, it was back up in case Natalia and those with her managed to get in without Y/N seeing from where she planned to be watching from. 

**

Nat glanced nervously at the screen, it had been five minutes since the message had been sent to Y/N and now she was concerned that Y/N wasn't going to reply. Which again had Nat wondering whether or not one of the shots that Bucky had managed to get off had actually injured Y/N. 

"Maybe Y/N has changed their mind and gone off to terrorise someone else?" Yelena suggested as she lent forward from where she was sat in the back of the car, "Or their hurt, which I mean they'd deserve it if they are." 

"Not sure that is going to of happened. Y/N doesn't seem the sort to just give up" Wanda said shaking her head slightly. 

Drumming her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, Nat knew that time was against them. If Y/N didn't reply then it could take them hours if not days to comb the whole city to try and find them, which she knew wasn't an option. Wanda's illusion was only going to keep the rest of the team in the dark for so long.