Forever and Always

I feel like a monster

About 15 minutes later, Natasha returned with a man whose dark skin held some scars. His trench coat looked well worn, but in good condition. However, what stood out most to me was his eye patch. He moved from behind Natasha and sat down in the chair she previously occupied. She leaned on the wall behind him. He gave me a once over. "I am director Fury of SHIELD. I heard you were going to talk." He said. I looked at him. He was the male voice I had heard talking to Natasha. "Yeah. What would you like to know?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me."You know exactly what I want to know." he said. I sighed, mentally preparing myself. I spent the next three and a half hours telling him all I knew. The bases, personnel, and their plans. Everything that I knew. When I was done, he and Natasha left. I sat there, just waiting. I got bored and began to create images with flame on my hand. After that I wove flames and water together. Thirty minutes later, an unknown agent came in with a tray of food. He set it down and left without a word. They probably aren't going to put me in a cell because they know that it's pointless. After I was done eating, I let my hearing expand. I tried to find her voice. It took me a moment because there were a lot of people talking. When I found it, I focused on it. "I will be able to pardon her only if this info is checked out. But she will be under SHIELD's supervision. You and Barton will be responsible for her." Fury said. There was some shuffling of feet. "Thank you, sir. you won't regret it." Natasha said, opening what I assumed was the door to his office."Don't thank me yet. It'll take a few hours to process this information. If it checks out, then you can thank me." He said. With that, I heard footsteps and a door closing. I drew my focus back to myself.

In around 5 minutes, Natasha opened the door to the room I was in. She sat down across from me. She looked at me, not saying anything. I looked right back at her, taking in her face. Her eyes captivated me, as they used to when we were younger. She took in a deep breath and let her shoulders relax as she exhaled. "You thought I was dead." She finally said. It was not a question, simply a statement. "Yes. They showed me footage a few months after I was taken of Valarie killing you. I fought with them, but after that I no longer cared." I said. She looked at me with a blank expression. After a moment, she sighed and looked down for a moment before she looked back at me. "They told me you ran away. That you left. I didn't want to believe it but after so long I did. And I hated you for leaving me behind." She said. I looked at her, my heart broke all over again. "I would have never left you." I said. I paused for a moment as I remembered back to the night everything changed. "They took me in the night, after everyone went to sleep. I was sold to HYDRA like I was some animal. They tortured me to try to break me but they couldn't. The thought of you kept me fighting. I was determined to get back to you. Then they showed me your trial video. You were fighting with Valarie. She stabbed you, right in your throat. I watched you bleed out. They played that video over and over again. And I finally gave up." I told her. She looked at me sadly. " I'm so sorry." She whispered. I shook my head. "You have nothing to be sorry for." I said firmly, my voice was thick. She looked down at her hands. I tried to get her to look at me. When she didn't, I cautiously reached out to take her hand in my own. She looked at me, startled, but she didn't pull her hand away.

"None of what happened to me is your fault. The blame goes to all those fuckers at HYDRA." I said earnestly with a soft smile. She nodded her head, but still looked unconvinced. After a moment of silence, I sat back, but kept her hand in mine. " So, how did you start working here?" I asked, trying to break the tension. She chuckled, which made me smile. It felt weird because I hadn't smiled in a long time. She then launched into her tale. And we spent the next few hours just talking to one another, catching up on whatever we had missed in each others lives

***

After several hours of us talking, a guy came in. Natasha stood up. "Ashton, this is agent Clint Barton." She said. I got out of my chair and moved to stand in front of him. I kept my face blank, whereas he was wary. I stood in front of him and studied him. Then I stuck my hand out for a handshake. Natasha had told me everything he had done for her. And for that, I was in his debt. He looked at my hand and hesitantly took it in his own. I looked him in the eye. "Thank you. Thank you for giving her a second chance and having her back all these years." He let go of my hand. He smiled. "I think she is the one who has had my back." I smiled at this. I had smiled more that day than I had in the past 11 years. "Well, I am still in your debt." I said. The door slammed open and Director Fury came in and stopped abruptly. I was quickly learning that that man had a knack for being dramatic.

"All the information you provided was processed and it proved to be... useful." Fury said. He stood in the doorway. "What does that mean for me?" I asked him. "You are going to remain here, at SHIELD as an agent. You will be given a probationary period and Agent Barton and Romanoff will be in charge of you." He said. I nodded my head and thanked him. "Don't thank me yet. You're not out of the pit yet. Don't make me look like a fool." He said. With a swish of his trench coat, he left. There was a beep, and Clint looked down at a device in his hand. "They have her rooms ready. They are the empty ones right down the hall from yours." He said. "Alright, let's go then." Natasha said. As we left for the elevators, I could clearly hear the whispers. They ranged from fear, all the way to admiration. I couldn't help but smirk. We waited for the elevator and Clint beeped again. He looked at the device and said "I have to head back up to training. Do you mind taking her, Nat?" Natasha shook her head. With that, Clint took off in the opposite direction. The elevators arrived and Natasha and I got in. We didn't say anything as there were two other agents in there with us. After a few moments, we arrived on our floor. The hallway was lined with windows on one side. It was completely dark outside. I was arrested early that morning so it must have been late in the evening. As we walked by the first door on one side, Natasha said "Those are my rooms. They are equipped with a living room, kitchen, and a bedroom with a bathroom." We approached the second door far down the hall which led me to believe that the rooms were rather large. "These will be your rooms." She said. She swiped a key card on the door knob and handed it to me. She opened the door and gave me a tour. Afterwards, we sat on the living room couch which was quite comfy.

"So, what do you think of today's events?" Natasha asked me. I looked down at my hands because I had to think about it for a moment. "Well, early this morning, I was getting shot at. I had enough sedatives injected into me to kill a whale. Interrogated by a man in an eye patch. Pardoned for my crimes to help a secret organization." I pause. I looked her in the eyes. "And I found out that you were still alive and kicking ass." I said with a small smirk on my face. She chuckled and shook her head. Suddenly she looked at me seriously. Seeing this, I tensed up. "I was broken when you left. I have never let anyone in. You were my first and last love." She said sadly. I looked at my hands again. I told myself I was not going to cry. "When I saw, or well, when I thought I saw you die, I stopped living and started to exist. I was nothing and nobody. I was a shell of a person." I told her. I looked up at her to find her looking at me sadly. "Well, you're here now. And I know you are going to do your best to do what's right." She said, taking my hands. I could sense that she meant that I was there with her. I moved to get down on my knees in front of her. I clasped her hand with both of mine. She looked down at me warily. Her breathing was shaky. And I felt hatred for the pain she had to go through, And slightly guilty, knowing that I was the reason she never trusted anyone. But I was going to fix that. "You're right. I am here now. And I am not going to leave until you tell me you don't want me with you. And I know that it will take some time for things to get back to where they were. But for you, I will wait forever." I said, looking her in the eyes. She looked back at me, drew in a shaky breath, and nodded