"Stay soft. Don't let the things that hurt you turn you into a person you are not."
____
Screens of the global missing flashed in ridiculously high amounts right in front of them, red and obvious.
"This is a nightmare," Steve said, hands leant on the table.
"I've had better nightmares," Nat breathed, watching the same screens.
Rhodey entered the room then. "Hey," He said. "So, that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing."
Nat and Steve shared a quick look before following after him. Natasha heard Natara's voice as they neared the room.
"Ah, that's just great," Natara spoke dryly, her voice a rough rasp. She was leant back against a wall, one foot beant and touching it while her arms were crossed over her chest.
They all watched as the pager with the weird symbol beeped, and beeped, and switched off.
Nat and Steve entered the room then, Natasha sighing. "What do we got?"
"Whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out," Bruce replied. Everyone moved to look at the pager.
"I thought we bypassed the battery," Steve asked.
"We did." It was Rhodey. "It's still plugged in. It's just, stopped."
Steve looked to the side for a moment. "Reboot it. Send the signal again."
Natara scoffed. "Gods, this gets worse and worse, doesn't it? The thing's stuffed. All we're doing is wasting our time trying to fix what's clearly broken."
"Tara-" Nat tried patiently but the look she received made her words trail off. Natara was angry, she was angry and hurting and Nat didn't know how to help.
"We don't even know what this is," Bruce offered, everyone looking at the pager again.
"Fury did," Nat replied. She didn't look at her wife. "Just do it, please." They needed something to go right. All of them did. "You tell me the second you get a signal. I wanna know who's on the other end of that thing."
Tara muttered something and stood up before she swore, Natasha immediately spinning at the sound.
Two women stood behind them, out of nowhere One with blonde hair and the other brunette. The blonde one had the same design on her chest that the pager had occupied.
She was also the one who spoke, tone almost threatening.
"Where's Fury?"
____
"You're the person he was calling?"
"We gave him the pager before we left Earth. Years ago. It was for emergencies," Carol Danvers, or Captain Marvel, replied.
"Yeah, well, the loss of half the population seems like a pretty big emergency to me," Natara voiced and again Nat tried to soothe her anger with a look that didn't seem to work anymore.
The brunette with Carol Danvers, called Naye, watched Natara closely at the outburst. Both the space women were attractive but while Carol looked mostly human, Naye... didn't.
Her golden eyes and slight golden undertones made her standout against the people around her. She was beautiful, brown hair and tanned skin with stunning features, but she seemed more like an immortal standing beside mortals.
Carol Danvers on the other hand radiated power and confidence, hot and in control. Natara found herself drawn to it, drawn to that stability and confidence that the rest of them had lost.
"You said you come from Space," Steve asked.
"We do," Carol replied, looking him over.
"Then maybe you can help us. We have a friend who's off planet. We need to know if they can get back."
The two women shared a glance and Nat found herself analyzing Naye, who was looking at everyone while pretending she wasn't. The brunette seemed to be doing it out of habit rather than concious thought which lead Nat to believe that one: Naye was involved in espionage, and two: this situation had her on edge.
Also judging by the way Naye's searching gaze was so subtle even she might have missed it, Nat knew the brunette was very good at her job.
She wondered what Naye would be like in the field, when her skills were used consciously and not out of discomfort and habit. A definite asset, she was sure.
The woman in question met her eyes, irises golden and pretty. The brunette woman gave a small smile and a nod that told Natasha Naye knew that she was analyzing her.
That she had spotted Nat's tells the same way Natasha had spotted hers and that the brunette recognized they both had the espionage background in common.
Nat gave a shallow nod back before refocusing.
Carol and Naye shared a look, like they knew just what the other was thinking. They had an easy and comfortable grace about them, standing close enough and moving as one in a way that made Natasha thing their relationship surpassed just friendship.
"We'll see what we can do," Carol said and the two turned and left just as quickly as they'd appeared.
Natasha looked at her wife who had a little more life in her eyes for the first time since everything had happened at Wakanda. She went to the redhead, laying a hand on her shoulder and almost crying out in relief when Tara moved closer, hugging her and resting her forehead near her neck.
It was the first time Natara had initiated physical contact since everyone disappeared, and it was the first time she'd fully embraced it when Nat had.
"What if Tony and them..." Tara started, sounding afraid of finishing her sentence.
"They'll find them," Nat replied, swallowing. "It's Tony. He always finds a way to survive."
Natara held her tighter. "I hope you're right." Her touch felt so good, so familiar and loving that Nat wished she'd had it sooner.
"I do too."
____
Just a quick filler to add in the end credit scene.
YOU ARE READING
Breaking Free | Natasha x OC
Hayran Kurgu"I don't bend to threats." "I don't want people to bend to them." She took his whole face in, letting him memorize hers. "I want them to break." [Part two to 'The Prisoner'!]
