On the Run (An Avengers Fanfiction) ✔️Completed

Don't play with Fire

**meanwhile on the helicarrier** 

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Natasha's p.o.v.

I honestly didn't know what to think right now... As an assassin I should have been pretty good at a few things... 

Knowing who was untrustworthy, not becoming attached to the wrong people... Not letting a couple of teenagers and Loki blow up half the helicarrier and escape... I had failed miserably in these situations. I was losing my touch!

Having said that I did feel sorry for those kids though, Loki is very, very good at manipulating people. I mean, you only had to talk to Clint and you'd get the idea pretty soon... Perhaps they'd just underestimated him, perhaps we all did. But the truth was that he did have two extremely powerful allies and another alien. Poor Norman seemed to be caught up in this too and we all thought he was one of the best agents here, I even heard he was going to be promoted.

I knew what it was like to slip and go down a wrong path, get very lost and do terrible things but Fury and some of the others didn't appreciate that it was not too late. They were young and didn't know exactly what to do, if I found out I could do such powerful things without being able to control myself i'd be scared and, more importantly, demand answers too! They were being patient and trying to remain in some sort of normality but Fury didn't see that. In many ways I blamed him; he should have dealt with the whole thing better and then he wouldn't be in intensive care right now...

I decided to take a walk because I didn't like being left alone to think; sooner or later I'd start worrying about Clint again. I really wish he hadn't jumped right in front of me when the hangar exploded... He didn't have to save me... Again. Besides, I could take care of myself just fine. I would do anything to swap with him, to have me be in intensive care instead, so that I knew he'd be okay. But you can't change what has already happened. Then I realised I'd already started thinking about it but went to walk round the Helicarrier anyway.

Stark had been taken away and 'detained' according to Agent Hill, who was standing in for Fury along with Coulson. Coulson was furious that Loki had 'managed to escape with others we all trusted'. I didn't know exactly where Tony was or what his punishment might be and apparently neither did Pepper. She rang me and sounded as worried about Tony as I was about Clint so I said she could always ring if felt like it... Pepper was pretty much my only close female friend. it was nice because I didnn't really get on with Maria that much and I only usually have stark, Banner, and more often Clint and Steve to talk to. Although I have no problem keeping up with the guys, I do miss sympathetic company and casual chatting occasionally.

I headed for the offices; that were apparently where it all started. They were still empty and, apart from a few detectives, no one had touched or moved anything. I pulled down the tape across the doors and slipped in to the room. Closing the door quietly behind me I made my way across to see what was there, if anything. It was about five hours after the incident but I was surprised to find that no one had removed the body yet. At least they'd had the decency to cover it with a plastic sheet. I couldn't help it, I wanted to see for myself what Astrid had done because I just couldn't accept that it could've happened.

I put a hand one corner of the plastic sheet and peeled it back slowly. I had only uncovered the slumped form of the agent from the legs up to the elbow when to my complete astonishment I thought I saw a finger twitch.

I shouldn't be in here. I decided it would be better to leave things alone.

But before I could replace the sheet I felt the cold grip of a hand as it clamped itself around my wrist. I tried in vain to pry its crushing fingers from my skin. The previously inanimate corpse was now very much alive; his colour crept slowly back in to his flesh.

He was alive?! What the hell?!?

The corpse stood up abruptly and twisted its head sharply in my direction. I prepared to shoot it; reaching for my gun...

But then I looked it in the eye and for some inexplicable reason I froze. I held the piercing gaze of the corpse, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car; having suddenly lost all ability to react. Reaching up its free hand the corpse wrapped two fingers and a thumb around the blood-smeared pencil, which was embeded in its eye socket, slid it out carefully and put it in his pocket. I flinched slightly; it was pretty gross.

I stared in amazement as his severely mangled eye began to reform, stitching itself back together somehow. When it was completely repaired there wasn't even a scar, the only sign that anything had happened was the amount of dried up blood.

Then he put his face close to mine, staring straight in to my eyes with flames dancing in his own. Their glow became brighter as they changed from pale green to a burning red and he revealed his true form. He did have a number of scars on his face, and when he smiled maliciously his white teeth shifted in to pointed yellow ones. He looked very pale and exchanged his grip on my wrist for coiling his tail tightly around my neck. Well this... different.

"Okay... I liked you much better when you looked human" I said regaining some control.

Shaking my head and clearing it I managed to fire a couple of shots at him. 

Before they reached his body he waved his hands to the side and deflected them without even loosening his grip on my throat. 

Pulling me closer to him with his tail he lifted me from the ground, struggling frantically I tried to reach my knife. Clint had given it to me a day or two ago... I whipped out the switchblade and swiped at his tail. After two quick strokes I managed to sever the end and unwrap it from around my neck.

Quickly, I leapt up from the floor and landed a forceful kick to the side of his skull. When my foot connected with his head he was knocked sideways and I leapt forwards relentlessly attacking him again. His foot swept me off balance and I hit the floor but this was far from over; I pulled him down as well. I knelt in his back and prepared to stab him with the knife.

At the last minute his tail grasped the knife too and we both fought for control of it wildly. Now facing me he slowly turned the knife in my direction. It was just inches from my face and my strength was starting to falter. Desperate times called for desperate measures! I bit down on his tail hard and he released the switchblade. I jumped sideways as he blundered about now like an angry bear. I jumped from behind attempting to shoot him before he could react but he whirled round and swiped me sideways. With one simple movement from his arm he threw me in to a wall.

I hit the floor hard and it really hurt. Looking up helplessly I saw his smug grin as he advanced, retrieving the knife. He knelt down to my level and hissed in my ear;

"First rule of the fight little girl. You never take on someone who has superior abilities all by yourself." He flashed his hideous grin. "Y'know it's rude not to look at someone when he'a talking to you?!"

He turned my face by roughly grabbing a fist full of my hair at the back of my head and tugging. He held the blade at my throat.

"Excuse me. Put her down. NOW." came a familiar voice.

"Now why would I want to do that?"

"Because its the second rule of the fight"

"Huh?"

"Never touch my girlfriend because if she doesn't kill you herself, I will. Now put. Her. Down."

He laughed. "Very funny Robin Hood. In that case I'll give you a head start. You run now and when I'm done killing her I come after you and will have killed you both. That way the game is more fun!"

Without saying another word Clint fired an arrow at the guy's hand. Again he dropped the knife and it clattered to the floor.