Reborn From The Void

Chapter 11 - Afraid

(Your POV):
As the weeks passed, I was given even more freedoms. I was now free to roam the tower without a guard, but the cuffs restraining my powers remained on my wrists. I did miss using my powers, but the fact that they trusted me without an Avenger present at all times, when they knew I could take down most of them in single hand-to-hand combat meant a lot to me.

As a result of my ability to roam, I had started trying to run into Peter, but he was very effectively avoiding me. I was running out of time before he went off to college and was becoming quite desperate. I didn't know exactly what I expected to come about as a result of our talk, but I knew that I needed to apologize in person, at the very least.

With all of my infinite wisdom, I decided I would try to bribe him into speaking with me, using baked goods as my bait. So now I was whipping up a cherry pie, which he absolutely adored, and May gave me her family recipe for further temptation.

While the pie was cooking, F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed me that Natasha had entered my floor, tearing me from my work cleaning dishes. I brushed off some of the flour that now coated my clothes and rushed out to meet her, finding her pacing around in the sitting area.

"Can I help you, Natasha?"

She looked up, eyes glancing over my messy clothes, "I was wondering if you wanted to go down to the training room and spar. You might need to wash up first, though, since I really don't want to be covered in flour."

I blushed slightly as I replied, "I actually have pie in the oven, do you mind if we wait until that's done baking?"

"Very well, I'll meet you down there," she spoke, turning on her heal and slipping back into the elevator. Short and sweet.

I did take Nat's advise and got cleaned up, changing into clothes that were more suitable for training. Knowing that Natasha would want to start as soon as possible, I took the time that the pie was baking to warm up in my personal training room.

The sound of the oven timer going off brought me out of my stretching and I ran to the kitchen to see how it had turned out. The entire floor had become enveloped in a heavenly aroma and I couldn't help but hope that Peter would be willing to share the pie with me. That desire swelled when I saw how evenly it had baked, almost perfectly golden all the way around.

I let it cool for a bit while I went in search of something nice to transport it in and then returned to my floor after finding a container in the main kitchen. I secured it in the case, resisting the temptation to try just a slice, and wrote a note begging Peter to talk before sticking it to the lid.

I had discovered which floor Stark had given to Peter from F.R.I.D.A.Y., so I pressed the correct button and took a deep breath as the elevator doors slid closed. My heart began to race and I began to fidget as I waited for the elevator to arrive, trying to distract myself by taking deep breaths. Even so, the ride felt like a tortured eternity.

I was half expecting Peter to be standing there when the elevator finally arrived but I found the floor empty. A strange sense of relief flooded my system when I realized that I did not have to face him quite yet. I needed to see him, but I was just so afraid of what would happen when I finally did. After seeing how upset he was with me a month ago when I had attempted to infiltrate game night, there was no doubt he was still pissed. Still, I needed to apologize to him even if that meant suffering his rage.

I gently lay the pie down on the nearest table, certain that he would see it and then returned to the elevator, taking it down to the training room. Natasha was practicing when I arrived, swinging some sort of blade around, quite impressively. She must have noticed my presence because she threw the blade into a target on the opposite wall, nailing it right in the center.

"Come," she spoke as she turned her gaze to me.

I did as she requested, feeling oddly nervous even though we had trained together plenty of times before. But something felt different today.

As I stepped within reach of her, she instructed, "give me your arms."

"My arms?" I repeated, not understanding what was going on. She gave me a stern look and nodded, scaring me into doing what she told. Still a bit hesitant, I raised my arms up, afraid of what she was going to do to me.

What I wasn't expecting was for her to unclasp and bands around my wrists, allowing me to use my powers again. She placed the bangles off to the side while I felt my bare wrists, not completely believing that she had just taken away my restraints.

"Wh-why did you do that?" I asked, staring at her in disbelief as she took the mat.

"You haven't been able to beat me without your powers, so I wanted to make it more challenging for me. Are you coming or are you just going to stand there in shock?"

Her words finally sank in and I briskly made my way to the mat, embarrassment washing over me. As we began to circle each other, I took a moment to bring my mind to focus on the fight. I had to put aside the fact that she was entrusting me with my powers for one moment and prove that I could win against the famous Black Widow.

She lunged first, unholstering her batons as she brought them down upon me. I used my telekinesis to bring a quarterstaff to my hand, blocking the blow and then twirling it around to point it at her. I advanced, carefully watching how she moved her batons.

I swung high as she countered by meeting it with one of her batons. Using the opposite end of the quarterstaff, I knocked her off her feet, but she effortlessly flipped back up. I sent the quarterstaff forcefully into her stomach, knocking her against the wall, as I furnished myself with two daggers instead, much more comfortable with blades than a stick.

We continued to go back and forth, narrowly avoiding each other's attacks or blocking them. I was still a little hesitant to use my electricity, despite having those powers back, unsure if I could control how deadly it would be. I certainly did not want to kill Natasha, especially considering that the consequences of that would mean having the Avengers after me, out for blood.

However when I saw the opening as my blade met her baton off to my left, I quickly used my right hand to give her jolt. Thankfully it was not enough to harm her in any way, but enough to throw her off guard. Taking her moment weakness, I knocked her off her feet and pinned her to the ground, my blade pressed lightly against her neck. I watched as a flicker of fear passed through her eyes, quickly disappearing into her normal steely gaze.

"I guess you're winning streak is over," I spoke, removing my blade and offering her my hand to get up.

She accepted it and straightened out her clothes. As she walked to place the batons back on the rack she ordered, "return your weapons, we have one more place to go."

Knowing better than to disobey her, I used my telekinesis to return my weapons to where I had grabbed them from and followed her to the elevator. I didn't pay attention to which floor she had chosen, not really caring where she was bringing me. What was on my mind was that look of fear. In that moment she was afraid of me, the fearless Black Widow was scared. Two years ago that would have given me a rush, I would have felt powerful. But instead it made me afraid.

I was afraid because it had become clear that they didn't trust me. I was just a bomb that they were waiting for to go off. All of the time that they were kind to me, it was all a charade to prevent the explosion. I would never be one of them.

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(A/N): Ok I did a bit of editing, but it's still not one of my favorite chapters so I may come back and edit it some more later on. But I think it is good enough to post, so I hope you enjoy! Do you have any idea where Nat's brining you? And will Peter accept your peace offering?