ESCAPE

Chapter Two - 16 Dec 2020

You wake groggily to see the redhead, Natasha Romanoff—or Black Widow—sitting at the table. As you sit up, rubbing your barely open eyes, she looks up.

"Ah. You're awake, I see," she says. You nod warily, disoriented until the events of earlier come back to you.

You smile at her in an unnerving manner. "So, what are you here for? Ask away."

"Ah, so you're an open book now?"

"Eh." You shrug. "More like the book in that Chronicles of Narnia movie, where you can't go back after you pass a page and sometimes the pages will move along so you can't read them. So open, but... selective."

Black Widow nods. "So you just won't lie."

You finger gun her. "Yupperdoo."

"So." She reclines in the chair, watching you. "What's your name?"

You snort. "Which one?"

"Whichever one you go by the most."

"Y/n." The Widow cocks an eyebrow at the obvious lack of a surname but says nothing, opting to move on instead.

"Y/n. Okay, Y/n, second things... second. What are you doing here?"

You look over your fingers disinterestedly. "Already told you, I came to save people. Now, we going to get anywhere with this?"

"Depends. You going to give a straightforward answer with any of this?"

"Maybe when you start asking the right questions."

"And those would be...?" You could see that Romanoff's patience was beginning to wear thin, but she did a good job of not letting it show.

"The ones that pique my interest."

Honestly, you're just wasting time at this point. You just have one more card to play before you leave. It can wait, though.

You snap your head up to the camera in the corner, seemingly at random. "Ah. The robot and the Witch decide to visit. Very kind of you, really."

"How do you do that?" The Widow questions. You shrug.

"Learned it from witches. Sensing another person, how to control my powers, the whole shebang."

"And what all powers do you have?"

You wink. "Not gonna tell you all of that in one go, am I, Romanova?"

Your words give her pause, although she tries her best to hide it. "What do you want to tell me, then? How you know my name? Or what?"

"Eh. I was more thinking, since you apparently can't figure out what to ask, how about I ask the questions?" At her nod, you go ahead and say, "Где агент Коулсон, моя дорогая Черная Вдова?" (Where is Agent Coulson, my dear Black Widow?)

"Разве ты не любопытный? Во всяком случае, боюсь, я не могу вам этого сказать." (Aren't you a curious one? At any rate, I'm afraid I can't tell you that.)

You shrug. "It is what it is. Anyway, I'm sorry to cut such an intriguing discussion short, but unfortunately, I must be going. My sincerest apologies." And with that and a flash of blue light, you are gone, before she can even respond.

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You teleport to S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury's office. He barely glances up as you take a seat. "By all means, help yourself," he says sarcastically.

"Why, thank you. I think I will," you tease back. He rolls his eyes, closing his book.

"So. What trouble did you get into this time?" His eyes drop to your cuffs, which you hold out with an impish grin.

"Unlock me?"

Fury raises an eyebrow. "What makes you think I have a key?"

"Well, they're S.H.I.E.L.D. issue, so they all have to have at least similar keys."

Shaking his head, Fury complies, and you rub your wrists as you lean back. "So, why are you here?" He repeats.

You run a hand through your hair. "I came to return the favor."

Fury furrows his brow, knowing what you are referring to. A while back, he had helped you... not die. Now, you are coming to help him.

"Oh, and it's not so much you who was going to die, as it was your precious Avengers. I saved them. Threw H.Y.D.R.A. and the K.G.B. off their tail--the two sworn enemies teamed up. Unfortunately, your little team is going to be looking for me now."

"And you want me to stop them from doing so."

You nod. "That's about it. I still owe you, I just decided to be nice. Oh, and I needed the handcuffs unlocked, that's part of why I came."

You stand when he does, holding out your hand for him to shake. Instead, he pulls you in for a rare hug. When you pull back, he grins, shaking his head. "I know I can't stop you. And you've done this enough that I know better than to ask where you're going. Just stay safe, all right? I'll try and keep the dogs at bay."

You shrug. "Better than the wolves." With that, and a small smile of gratitude, you leave, teleporting back to where you had come from originally.

A H.Y.D.R.A. base in the Black Forest of Germany.