Never Alone Again |N.R|

Will I?

The party had lasted hours, finally coming to an end in the early hours of the morning. Natasha and I had wasted no time in going to bed, quickly brushing our teeth and climbing under the covers. I feigned falling asleep, squeezing my eyes shut as I waited for Natasha to drift off. After about twenty minutes I dared to open them slightly so that I could look over at her. I was happy to see her fast asleep, since I didn't know how long I'd last before I drifted off.

Deeming it safe to climb out of the bed I gently lifted the covers off of my legs before sliding them over the edge. The cold floor came as quite a shock but I made no noise in return, clenching my jaw instead. I was silent as I stood up, checking over my shoulder to make sure Natasha was still asleep, thank goodness she was. Without waiting another second I changed my shorts for some tracksuit bottoms, put some socks on and slid my feet into a pair of trainers. All I needed now was my bag from under the bed. I carefully crouched down, making sure not to lose my balance, and blindly swiped around underneath in search of the duffel I'd packed a few hours ago. I'd pushed it further back than I'd thought, having to push my head up against the mattress in order to finally reach it. But as I dragged it towards me it made an awful scraping noise, a loud scraping noise. I cursed under my breath, almost certain that this would've woken a previously sleeping Natasha. So I hesitantly peeped up over the bed, sighing in relief when I saw her eyes still squeezed shut. If she hadn't been so tired from the party there was no doubt that she would have woken up in an instant.

I gripped onto the handles of the bag and lifted it off the ground, leaving no room for it to make anymore noise. I was ready now, ready to slip away under the cover of darkness and embark on this mission. It was hard to believe that this was real, but I'd made it, and it felt bitter sweet. A wash of guilt fell over me as I glanced back at Natasha one more time before leaving, mouthing a 'sorry' before stepping out the door and closing it silently. I could finally breathe. But there wasn't time to slow down now, someone could still catch me on my way out, especially since none of the team were exactly avid sleepers.

My footsteps were light, barely making a noise, as I headed straight for the landing pad. The quinjet was there, I'd checked to make sure at some point during the party. I'd used the excuse that I need some quiet and a breath of fresh air to escape the festivities for a few minutes. To my delight nobody was around as I walked along the countless corridors, peeping around corners before I took them just to make sure. Before I knew it I was there, standing before the jet as the cold wind whipped through my hair. I'd made it.

Wasting no more time I climbed aboard, now taking a few minutes to familiarise myself with all of the controls and their functions. Clint's lessons came flooding back to me, and it all felt second nature after a while. The engines were loud as I turned them on. I needed to make a swift exit before the sound brought unwanted attention. With one last glance back at the tower I lifted the jet off of the landing pad, hovering in place for a few moments before gently flying away. There was no stopping me now.

(-)

I'd been flying for 6 hours when a call came through to the jet. At first I was going to decline it, but part of me thought it was best to pick up. It could be the last time I spoke to the team, to my family. So with a shaking hand I reached forward to accept the call, waiting for the voice on the end to speak up before I uttered a single word. "Rue, is that you?" It was Tony, I had no doubt about that, but his tone was almost unrecognisable. He sounded worried, as though he was fighting off tears. "It's me" I replied, guilt shrouding me as I continued to build distance from them.

"What are you doing? I thought we had a plan." He was pleading with me, that was the only way to describe it.

"I'm sorry, but this is my plan. I'm doing this alone, I don't want any of you to get hurt."