It's love

Part 32

Steve's POV

"It's been a while."
"Not long enough." I answered as Natasha stood frozen.
"I'm sure you've missed me dear Natalia?" Ivan said as he took just one step forward. Natasha had her eyes focused on him. Her face was expressionless and her body was tense.
He smiled a little and sighed.
"I can tell you that I've missed you, dear." Ivan said as she didn't answer. I stood a few meters away from Natasha, exactly like Ivan. Some of his people laid dead around us. Clint was unconscious from a hit to the head he got in a fight earlier where he had protected Natasha.
"Haven't you waited for this moment?" Ivan asked Natasha. "To finally get a chance, to murder me? Erase me from the face of the earth."
"Erase you won't be that easy. You have left too many scars." Natasha said suddenly and Ivan smiled.
"I was scared you might had lost your voice honey." He said and took another step closer to Natasha. "And maybe you're right.." He said with his hands to his chin in a thinking position.
"What do you want?" Natasha asked harsh. Ivan kept smiling.
"I thought about keeping this interesting. A little dramatic." He said. "You know I like it that way. But then I thought, I might keep it simple for once." He said and Natasha furrowed her eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" I asked and Ivan looked at me as if he had forgotten I was there. He gave me a smirk but quickly turned to Natasha again.
"I want precisely what you want. I want you to kill me." He said with a chuckle.

Natasha's POV

It felt like I was trapped in ice. I couldn't move or barely think. This is how Steve must have felt during 70 years. I wanted to shrug but my body didn't work with me. Ivan wanted me to kill him. I wanted to kill him. What did I have to loose?
"I have something I want to show you." Ivan smiled happily as one of his men fetched him a device. He pressed a button and a hologram was showed.
It showed Clint's farm. My body became more tense that I thought was possible and my heartbeat was so loudly I though I was going to pass out. A few men went inside the house with guns. Inside Laura quickly stood up, facing then with a gun. They shot her arm and she fell to the floor. She managed to get to her feet, screaming, as she tried to get Cooper safe. The men searched through the house and found Lila in a wardrobe.
Lila was holding Emma in her arms as tight as she could. Emma screamed loudly as the men grabbed her and Lila cried. She got to her feat and tried to stop the men but they threw her to the floor as they walked out of the house with Emma in their arms.
"What did you do to her?!!" Steve screamed desperately. Ivan smiled.
"Did you really think she would be safe there? Anywhere?" Ivan said and Steve started running towards him but got stopped by Ivan's men. He tried to fight them but eventually gave up, he knew it wouldn't chance anything.
"Where's our daughter?" I asked Ivan. My heartbeat had disappears and I felt empty.
"Oh she's right here." Ivan said as a man came into the room, holding Emma in his hands. To both mine and Steve's surprise, she wasn't crying.
"Please. Give me her." I said, sounding more desperate than I wanted to show.
"Haven't I thought you anything? You shouldn't beg Natalia. You know that." He said. "Now, we'll do this my way."
He said picking up a gun from the floor and throwing it to me. It landed right in front of my feet.
"I want you to pick up that gun, point it at me and pull the trigger." He said and I swallowed some blood in my mouth.
"Why?" I asked, honestly curious.
"I'm tired Natalia. I've done much. There's things I regret, but you aren't one of them. I turned you into the worlds greatest assassin and I know that deep down, that monster is still there." He said and my eyes widened.
"I want you to release that monster and shoot me, right in front of your daughter." He said and I shock my head.
"You and I both know I'm not doing that." I said with a steady voice. He smiled.
"Actually, we both know that you will, because other wise, I'll shoot your daughter. It's as simple as that." He said with a chuckle and my thoughts became a buzz in my head. Would she be old enough to remember this? It would leave her scared. My first memory.. When was my first memory? I didn't know what to do. Neither did Steve. He stood quiet with his eyes on Emma.
"Yes Natalia. She will remember this."  Ivan said. He read me to well. "Why else would I ask you to do this? I want her to see who her mother truly is. And one day, she'll become just like you." He said and I shock my head.
I picked up the gun from the floor. My hands shook and sweat ran down my back. I felt cold and dizzy. I looked at Emma who looked back at me. Why wasn't she crying? Why isn't she telling us that she's in danger? I looked at her again and she smiled at me. Her small cherry red lips gave me a smile and she put her hand together. I looked at the person carrying her, he wore a mask. It was impossible to see his face.
"Natalia. Show me that you are the same assassin you've always been." Ivan said and my eyes fell back at him. I pointed my gun at him and the man holding Emma turned his back against us and I couldn't see Emmas face. I lowered my gun in surprise and I head two hits and a shot. I fell to the ground as men started shooting and hitting one another. I got to my feet as fast as I could and looked around me in fear. My first thought was Emma. I looked over at the place were the man had stood holding her. The man had bent down to protect her and stood up, meeting my face. Emma was safe and alright in his arms. The man removed the mask and I was greeted by a familiar face. Tony Stark. I breathed out in relief as I looked around again. Steve. He laid on the floor, completely still. I ran to him in fear and sat down on my knees in front of him.
"Steve!" I shouted at him but he laid unconscious on the ground. I put my palms to his face and tried to wake him up. I checked his breathing terrified. It took a moment before I could feel his breath and I relaxed a bit. I looked over my shoulder to Ivan. He laid on the floor, blood surrounding his head. I didn't shoot him. I looked back at Steve again and noticed the gun in his hand. I sighed and felt tears slowly slip down my cheeks. I wanted to kill Ivan. I wanted to kill him so badly. But I knew I wasn't the one to do it. It was better his way. Tony came up behind me and handed me Emma. I hugged her tightly and kissed her face at least ten times before I looked up at Tony.
"I've called for backup. They'll be here any minute now." He said and I nodded. Steve had been shot in his right hip and I could see the blood through his suit. I pressed my palm hard against the wound, doing anything to stop the bleeding. Tony saw my worry and shock away my hand and pressed his onto the wound instead.
"He'll be alright." He said and I nodded.

I sat next to Steve's bed at the hospital. He had some taken some bullets but was going to be alright. Clint had been taken to the hospital but woke up in the ambulance, demanding to let him go. He had run home to his children and Laura. She had alarmed the police as fast as the men had left their house and luckily, the shot in her arm had barley gone trough the skin.
Ivan was dead. After all these years, he was finally no concern to me anymore.
Steve had killed him. And Tony had saved our daughter.
I felt a large weight on my shoulders. Guilt dropped over me like a hurricane and I pressed my palm to my forehead, trying not to think. Suddenly, something touched my hand and I looked up. Steve was awake, holding my hand. He had a concern look.
"Is Emma okey?" He asked and I nodded. "Are you okey?" He asked and I shock my head. He made room for me in the bed and I slipped down beside him. He wrapped his arms around me like he alway do and I laid my head on his chest. His heart was beating at a normal and soothing rhythm. I let my thoughts disappear for a while as I slowly became warm by his touch and soothed by his heart.
"It's over. It's over now." Steve said.
It's finally over.