Avengers: Altruism [N. Romanoff]

34. Ground Zero

CHAPTER 34

Ground Zero

It feels useless to wear a special operations badge as part of your work uniform, when in fact you're never necessarily involved in the action.

Although, many agents do put the honourable badge to use. Natasha stood at the rim of the portal, sceptre in hand, and a challenging look in her eyes. Nothing seemed to faze the Russian spy, the fate of the very world hinged on this plan and there she was taking it all into stride. Her body language radiated confidence, it was stiff and stern, almost mechanical in nature. Her head was held high, her shoulders tall, and even the body language of her arms was sharp and steady. The sceptre never shook from her nerves, it was still as an anticipating river, waiting for chaos.

Claire could feel the sceptre draw in the chaos, patiently waiting for the doctor to take over. It almost seemed to call out to her pleadingly as if it were alive and wanted to return to home. Claire was slowly being pulled into a trance, listening to the melancholic sound of her name being whispered.

"Claire? Did I pass?"

The doctor was drawn back to reality with Erik Selvig staring at her expectantly. Her gaze dipped down to the phone in her hand as she remembered she was in the process of doing a mandatory psych evaluation.

"Are you okay?" Natasha had caught her staring earlier, flattered if the blonde had been staring at her, not what was in her hands.

"No," she responded to Erik, closing her phone. She needed to ensure he was no longer an easy target, and that he was back and sound. She had to test the weakness of his brain and his susceptibility to hypnosis.

"Okay," he nodded, "Run the tests."

She thought about what no one in their right mind would attempt, even with a bit of persuasion.

"Retrieve the sceptre from Agent Romanoff. With force."

He swallowed, rubbing his sweaty hands together.

"Are you sure that's the-"

"You're cleared."

This threw lighter fluid onto the Russian's fire of an ego.

The scientist was intrigued, before him stood the soul of a once-assassin who was intimidatingly determined. Frightful. Obviously, she was the test between the sane and the not.

He moved on to the problem at hand, focusing his attention on the portal schematics- just a lonesome laptop plugged into a world-threatening detonator.

"Right at the crown," he guided Nat, an indication for her to begin the shutdown sequence.

On his command, she penetrated the spherical shield, "I can close it," she called out to the remaining avengers over her comms.