childhood friends

Chapter 17 - not himself.

Katerina PoV:
I put a note on my bed knowing Natasha would come looking for me soon.

'Dear Natalia, I know you are gonna hate me for agreeing to do this mission and nothing I say will change your mind. But I need you to know that I will love you forever and nothing will ever change that. I hope you can forgive me. Don't you even dare start to blame yourself because this is not your fault in any way. If you need someone to blame then blame me for agreeing to go.
Я люблю вас Natalia.'

I put the note in a envelope and wrote her name on it before leaving.

I put my shoes on and walked out of the compound. I went into a forest because I was going to have to fight back for it to be believable and I didn't want to draw any unwanted attention.

When I was pretty deep into the forest my phone started ringing.

Natalia ❤️ is calling...

It took everything in me to not answer. A few minutes later I got a message from her.

'I'm begging you Katya don't do this. I want to build a life with you. We could get our own house and then Clint, Laura and the kids could come round. We could stay up late and sing along to Taylor Swift without Tony complaining. We could get a cat. We could have our own training room and train together every morning. I love you and I could never hate you, I've never hated you. I've just gotten you back and I cannot lose you again. Please come back.'

Tears escaped my eyes as I read the message. I had to go back. There was another way to save Bucky. There was always another way in every situation, especially if it involved Natasha.

I phoned her and she answered before the first ring was even finished. "Please Karina." She cried and I have never heard her sound more upset. I could hear Clint's breathing in the background, yes I have memorised the whole teams breathing. "I'm coming back I promise." I said as I turned around. I heard her let out a breath.

A twig broke behind me. I quickly turned around. "Katya?" Natasha said as I'm guessing she heard the wind through the speaker. A hydra agent grabbed my chest and threw me against a nearby tree. I grunted and tried to figure out who it was because no normal human could have that kind of strength.

I was a bit thrown off by the long hair but I quickly realised who it was. Bucky, well not really him. The Winter Soldier. I knew I wasn't gonna win this fight and I refuse to use my powers on him. I grabbed my phone and ran as fast as I could.

"Katya what's happening?" Natasha asked and I could hear the panic in her voice. "Bit of a long story but I just had a lovely encounter with my not so dead best friend." I said while running through the woods. "Where are you, I will come and pick you up." She said and I heard her grab her keys. "I will send you my location." I said while I got out of the woods and onto a random road in the middle of nowhere. "I will be there soon, I love you bye." Natasha said as I heard her get in the car. "I love you to bye." I said as I hung up and put my phone in my back pocket.

I began walking down the road and then I heard loud footsteps behind me. I turned around and he was there pointing a gun at me. He fired it without any hesitation. A bullet lodged itself into my left shoulder and I stumbled a bit out of pain. He started walking over to me and threw a knife at me.

It slashed my cheek. That was definitely gonna leave a scar. I threw him away and back into the woods with my powers. It was fine, he's a super soldier so it wouldn't kill him. Might just bruise him up a bit but nothing a newborn couldn't handle. I held my shoulder to try and stop the bleeding.

I ran down the road while still clutching my shoulder. After a bit of time the bleeding wasn't stopping and I felt myself getting weaker. I saw Natasha's car approach me. She slowed down and got out to help me into the car. I got in the back so I had more room. She gave the keys to Clint and got in the back with me. "Where we going?" Clint asked as Natasha applied pressure to my shoulder causing me to yell at her in Russian.

"сука." (bitch) I hissed at her while slapping her hand away. "заткнись я спасаю тебе жизнь!" (shut up im saving your life!) She yelled back at me while putting her hand back in position. "You know English would be good so I know where to go!" Clint chimed in. "The hospital." Natasha said to him as he swerved a corner causing me to groan in even more pain. "будь осторожен! Я буквально истекаю кровью, и твоя дерьмовая езда совсем не помогает!" (be careful! i'm literally bleeding out and your shit driving isn't helping at all!)
I complained and he just looked confused.

Natasha just laughed at me. "Translate please?" He requested. "You don't wanna know." She said while changing her grip on my shoulder. I shot her a glare. "I can just let you die if that's what you want." She said sarcastically but everyone in the car knew she would never let me die. "сожаление." (sorry.) I said and she could hear the tiredness in my voice.

"как ты себя чувствуешь?" (How are you feeling?) Natasha asked trying to keep my conscious. "просто персиковый!" (Just peachy!) I said sarcastically, I started using the phrase after I heard Clint use it a few times. "Why is no one speaking English anymore?" Clint asked as I felt exhaustion threaten to take over, I pushed it down though. "Do you know how much effort it is to translate everything in your head before you say something or how much effort it is to have to translate everything you hear?" Natasha said and he shook his head. "Exactly so butt out." She said and he rolled his eyes.

Natasha PoV:
It hurt me to see Katya in this much pain but I had to keep applying pressure so she didn't die. Blood was still flowing down my arm and she was getting more pale by the second. I knew she was speaking in Russian because she didn't have the energy to translate so I was gonna speak in Russian as well. "наталья я люблю тебя.." (Natalia I love you...) She said as her head flopped to the side. I tapped her cheek forcing her to stay conscious. "не смей." (Don't you dare) I threatened. "Tell her we're almost there so she just needs to hang on for a little longer." Clint said while violently swerving a corner.

Katya screamed out in pain as she fell into me. "сука" (bitch) she yelled at him and both of us could hear the exhaustion buried deep in her voice. "I know that one!" Clint said while pretending to be offended. Her head flopped down and her eyes closed. "Katya?" I asked as my heart dropped into my stomach. "Clint hurry up!" I yelled at him and he put his foot down. I propped her head back up and tried my best to apply more pressure to her shoulder. "Katya I swear to god!" I whispered under my breath as tears began streaming down my face.