Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 60: More Weird Things

Clint didn't say anything in the Quinjet on the way home. Mostly because he knew starting a conversation with Katya would be a bad idea. From his pilot seat, he kept scanning the air for any sign of danger in case Ultron would come for the cradle again. 

The only danger that could come to him however was inside the jet, in the form of a furious and anxiety-filled blonde woman. She kept her hand on the gun tied around her leg, ready to pull it out at any time, making her feel a little more in control. It was a good thing Katya could multi-task because there were a lot of things going through her head. 

Her boots had worn a path into the floor, walking back and forth impatiently. She didn't even have the patience for her twirling knife. The bubble in her chest was ready to burst. She needed to yell at somebody, anybody. But Clint hadn't given her a reason to yet.

There was a scan running for any sign of Natasha. The second her face popped up on a CCTV camera or in the background of someone's cellphone video, an alarm would go off. There was nothing more Katya could do to find her. Surrendering to technology sucked and only made her feel more helpless.

The tension kept building inside her body and her footsteps kept getting faster until finally she couldn't take it anymore. ''If we don't land really soon, I'm going to kill the next person I see,'' Katya grumbled, afraid to speak louder and risk losing control.

''But, that's me,'' Clint said horrified. 

Katya stopped dead in her tracks for the first time in hours, throwing a deadly glare at the back of his head for speaking back to her. ''Exactly, so step on it.'' Her voice was filled with poison and although Clint knew this was the anxiety talking, he did whatever he could to fly faster.

The cradle in the middle of the jet was what Katya kept her eyes on most of the time. It was unsettling knowing a deadly body sat inside. Built to kill better than her. Built to crush bones with a simple squeeze of its fist. 

Part of her wanted to shoot it to parts, blow holes in the machine until it was on fire and sparks flew off. However, there was no telling what would happen if she did. It could be worse.

The image of Ultron pulling Natasha out of the jet and taking off with her, kept playing behind her eyelids. Every time she blinked, she was back in front of Cho's lab, staring up at the bright sky to see the most important person in her life get abducted by a murder robot. 

It would be a miracle if she was still alive. A miracle she would ever get her back.

Bruce and Tony were back at the Tower, waiting for the Quinjet to get the cradle out, and were rudely pushed aside by Katya when they walked in with pity-filled frowns on their faces, opening their mouths to say sorry. The woman stormed out of the claustrophobic vehicle and didn't even bother to change.

Instead, she stormed right down to the room underneath the lab where more of Tony's expensive equipment stood. Katya wasn't the best at computers but did know how to work most things. 

Above her head, through the glass ceiling, the others were walking around the cradle. Their footsteps almost soundless and their words were even more unintelligible. 

Of course Stark had made everything soundproof. 

It wasn't long before Clint joined her downstairs and searched the room for a specific machine. Katya didn't pay much attention to him until he dropped an old school radio on her desk. She looked up, meeting his emotionless smile. ''Old school style,'' he tried to joke.

Katya nodded, understanding what he meant to say, and offered her seat to him. Quickly, he plugged in cables and shifted through different frequencies, hoping to find any sign of life from Natasha.