A-Force Assemble

BlackHill ~ If I knew

If I knew how little time we had, I would have run to you sooner.

Natasha can hear her breathing in her ears as she runs in the hallways. She vaguely hears murmurs on her way but she couldn't care less at the moment. All she focuses on is her goal: to come home. Her home. The one she built with Maria, the one they built together, hand in hand. She runs as fast as she can. Her mind is raging, her legs shaky. Go home, go to Maria. Streets pass but she barely acknowledges them. She knows the way, printed in her mind. It's just her body running on automatic mode, her mind blanks and frozen with fear.  Please, please, please, be alive.

She didn't expect it to be like this, it shouldn't be like this. She certainly didn't expect a call from a distressed Tony, telling her that her house had been bombed while she was gathering papers at SHIELD. She most definitely wasn't prepared to learn that the Red Room was back and that they had found her. Yes, of course, she was sad about the house. It was her safe place, somewhere she could be just Natasha and nothing more. There, she could be vulnerable without feeling threatened but that's not what was important. No, what's important was that it was Sunday, meaning Maria had been home too. Bombed, like the house. Images dance before her eyes and Natasha forces them away, increasing her speed again. Maria, Maria, please hold on.

If I knew it was going to end like this, I would have held you tighter.

One street away from her house, she can smell the disgusting smell of burn mixed with incentive. She tears up, not sure if it's the smoke or her heart telling her the truth she refuses to consider as a possibility. A sound of a siren can be heard as well as voices. No, step away, don't touch her.

Using her last assets, Natasha rushes in her -their- street, only to be stopped by a fireman. She sees his lips moving but she can't hear anything except for her heartbeat. She struggles against his grip, only thinking about her wife. No, Maria, I have to get to Maria.

The scream of the fireman yelling at her not to go in, that it's dangerous barely makes its way into her foggy mind. She rushes headlong into the flames, with the sole aim of finding her wife.

If I knew I wouldn't see you again, I would have told you I love you again and again.

Immediately, she chokes on the smoke, slouching down to get the fresh air close to the ground. Her arms burn, flames licking her skin in hunger. She winces in pain but it's nothing she hasn't handled, nothing she can't handle. Maria is worth a few burns.

« RIA!!! » she yells, protecting herself in her elbow. « RIA, ANSWER ME, MASHA PLEASE! »

She coughs again, feeling the smoke invading her lungs. She stays as quiet as possible, lying in wait.

Suddenly, it's there. This instinct, this connexion they have. Calling her, urging her to go to her wife. She lets out a sharp breath and turns her head to the right. She is there, I feel her.

If I knew I wouldn't kiss you again, I would have printed your lips in my mind, just to remember how much I loved to feel them against mine.

She finds Maria under a pile of wood, probably their bedroom floor, meaning Maria had been in the kitchen when it happened. A lump forms in her throat and Natasha whimpers, salty tears rolling on her cheek. She wipes them furiously with her sleeve, refusing to give up. Slowly, she starts removing the rumble from her beloved, careful about her injuries. Maria looks unconscious and Nat can't feel her chest rising, immediately setting a huge panic attack in her chest. No, not like this, not for this. Not because of me.

Once she has cleared the body from under the rumble, she cradles Maria's head on her lap. Her vision is getting blurry, her breathing is irregular. It doesn't stop her from stroking her thumb on Maria's creamy skin and begging for her to open her eyes. She trails two fingers in her neck and lets out a broken yet happy sob when she finds a pulse. It's weak but it's here. Natasha knows her time and Maria's are limited. She picks her up bridal style and goes back the same way she came in. Her arms are heavy, with melted skin screaming against the row material of her clothes. She only thinks about Maria. Maria who she carries against her chest. Maria who she has to save. Maria. I am gonna kill them all, burn them to ashes.