"Some days she felt like she was swimming in lies, treading water in a sea of deception. One day, surely, she would drown in her own secrets."
*~*~*~*
Venetia Sarafian was never like other women. Rather than sitting back and thinking of how she coul...
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Pain.
That was the first thing that registered in Venetia's mind after the explosion. Her head was pounding as she forced her eyes open, finding her vision blurred. She could faintly register the feeling of something wet on her face as blood dripped down from a cut over her left eyebrow.
"Hill!" Fury's voice came over her earpiece, only causing her to wince at the suddenness and volume of it.
"Number Three engine is down," Hill's voice followed. "We lose one more engine we won't be up much longer. Somebody's gotta get outside and patch that engine."
"Stark, you copy that?" Fury questioned.
"I'm on it." Tony assured the spy, already in his suit and ready to go outside to help repair the engine.
"Coulson, initiate defensive lock down in the contingent center. Then get to the armory," Fury ordered. "Romanoff!"
"Okay," Natasha assured him as Venetia peered around the room until she spotted the redhead on the ground a few yards away from her. She could see the other woman attempting to pull her leg out from where it was trapped underneath a large pipe, but it didn't budge.
"Venetia?" Steve's voice came over the comms, worried about his friend.
"I'm alright," Venetia pushed herself up to her feet, unable to keep herself from wincing as her head continued to pound. She looked around the room they fallen into, spotting Bruce for the first time as he breathed heavily, gripping the grated floor beneath him in attempt to maintain control. However, even from where Venetia stood she could see the green hue to his eyes whenever they opened, making her body tense.
"Doctor?" Natasha called out when she noticed Bruce's disgruntled state. Her hands seemed to move quicker as she tried to free herself once more, but it seemed to be no use. "Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants. We're gonna be okay. Listen to me."
"You hurt?" A maintenance man questioned as he entered the storage room the trio had fallen into. Venetia quickly waved them away, afraid to move from her spot on Bruce's other side.
"We're gonna be okay. Right? I swear on my life I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never ever--" Natasha began.
"Your life?" Bruce growled at her words. Both women noticed the way his voice changed, how it held a tone of bitter amusement. Their eyes widened as they watched the kind and somewhat awkward doctor transform before their eyes. His shirt tore away as his body grew, his skin adopting a green hue that the women had only seen in pictures before.
"Bruce," Venetia whispered, though she knew that it was no longer Bruce standing between her and Natasha.
