Strife of Misfortune(Wattys2016)

Inventors

Natasha raced through the cold world of New York City. Chunks of day old snow clung to the sides of the building. It's white exterior muddled with city filth. Natasha pushed past the pedestrians in her attempt to reach her destination, the Stark Tower. Upon her arrival, she wasted no time climbing into the elevator and taking it to the top floor. She watched the numbers flicker on the tiny screen, her patients thinning with her slow ascend. The elevator couldn't move fast enough. She needed to be in Tony's apartment now! Natasha watched the numbers and sighed the moment she heard a beep and the elevator doors openned. She rushed out of the elevator and made her way into the living room, finding not only Tony, but James and Vision there.

She blinked. Was there a meeting she didn't know about? "What's going on?" She found herself asking.

"I could be asking you the same thing." Tony asked.

The assassin sighed. "I'm here for Bruce." She said. "Is it true that he's here?"

"Yeah." James replied. "He's upstairs asleep."

Natasha looked at Tony. He answered her before she could voice her question. "Yes you can go see him." In a flash she raced up the stairs, her thoughts of Bruce propelling her forward. He was here! He was finally freed! Natasha had to see him. She had to tell him she was sorry, needed to look at him and touch him again. She finally made it to the final landing and groaned at the maze before her. Rooms after rooms and more rooms! She didn't know where to start. The assassin began her search, opening every door in sight, none leading to Bruce. Midway through her search, Natasha sighed, her patients waning and cracking.

"Looking for Bruce?" Came a voice.

Natasha turned around to find Pepper approaching her. "Pepper."

The woman smiled and ran her fingers through her golden waves. "You're looking for him right?"

"Yes." Natasha replied.

"Follow me." The women walked down the hallway, their footsteps melting into the red carpet. Pepper led her to the final door on the left, one shrouded in shadows and secluded from the rest of them. "This is Bruce's room." She then twisted the doorknob. The door yawned open with a long and pronounced creak. There he was. Bruce, Nestled in a sea of pillows with the bed sheets wrapped tightly around his waist. He was finally in front of her.

But somehow, the very sight of him brought back her guilt. Natasha heard it ringing in the back of her mind, threatening to seize the moment from her and remind her of what she had done. She exhaled the feeling and erased her thoughts. It didn't matter anymore that she failed him. He was here now, out of his prison cell and surrounded by the comfort of freedom. In that moment, Natasha wanted to touch him, run her fingers through his dark hair and snuggle beside him. There was something about him that propelled those feelings forward, sentiments she scarcely indulged in or even thought about.

It was very unlike her to feel those feelings. Natasha was a ruthless female assassin, well versed in the art of killing and seducing. With one look, she could have a man kneeling on the floor before her, enticed by her enchantments. With one flick of her wrist, she could have the man bleeding internally, drowning in his own demise but clearly not seeing it. It was this that made her bite sting. It was this that made her presence a mockery of the grave, death didn't start or end there, it started at her hands and it ended in her web. She was the perfect assassin, possessing all the qualities of a weapon.

Weapons felt nothing.

But, clearly she felt something.

It was quaint to her, the legendary Black Widow at the mercy of her own emotions, of her own heart. The thought caused Natasha to cringe. Once upon a time, the words 'emotions' and 'heart' were never associated with her name. She was a faceless foe, a kindred of death, killing and destroying those in her path, lacing her fingers into another's life and entrapping them in their own demise. She was a killer. A murderous machine with the inclination to destroy. And destroy she did. It wasn't until she met him that her world began to change.