Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 72: Heart, Mind, Soul

Sam stared up at his friend, her emotionless eyes waiting for an order from the smug man in front of her. It sent chills over his spine.

Katya felt nothing. No pain, no happiness, no guilt. As if the emotional part of her brain was shut off. All she could hear and see was the evaluator, his blue eyes the center of her world.

''Join your comrade, get out of this building.'' His plan was to divide the Avengers even more and rip not only one, but two friends away from the team. In this state, Katya would do what she did best, kill.

Out of instinct, as if their minds were merged together, Katya rushed after Barnes. Not to fight him this time, but to help him fight. He was HYDRA, she was HYDRA. That's how simple it was.

She didn't see the dent in the elevator door as she passed it on the way out, didn't hear the grunts from within the shaft. 

Up, she had to go up. She was in the cellar now but needed to get out of the building. Barnes would have figured the same. The guards in the building were lucky they didn't come for her. They hadn't noticed she had turned, so instead they went for Barnes.

With three steps at a time, she ran up the stairs. Sub-level 5, Sub-level 4, all the way until she reached the ground floor. Not feeling the exhaustion in her body, not feeling her heart screaming at her to wake up.

She ended up in some sort of canteen. An open, light space with lots of tables and chairs. Her brain was fighting the mind control, but not fast enough, not hard enough. All she could think about was getting Barnes and getting out.

''Psst, Petrova,'' she suddenly heard from her right. Tony had spotted her and tried calling her over. But as soon as their eyes met, his widened in shock. These weren't the blue eyes he had gotten used to, with humor, pain and happiness mixed together. They had turned into bottomless oceans, nothing behind them. 

Katya raised her gun, shot, and missed the billionaire who was just in time to jump behind a pilar. The Avengers, they were against HYDRA, so they had to die, all of them. 

It was not her main objective to kill them, but if they prevented her from doing that, they were collateral damage. Simply people in her way preventing her from completing the mission.

''What the hell?!'' Tony shrieked. The bullet had lodged itself in the pilar he hid behind. He tapped on his wrist, and out shot an Iron Man glove. Of course he never traveled anywhere without at least part of his suit. But never did he expect to use it on one of his best friends. 

''We're in position,'' Natasha calmly said in his ear. They had a plan to capture Barnes, but hadn't counted on Katya turning to the dark side again. 

''Yeah, about that...'' he answered, ducking again to avoid another bullet as Katya kept coming closer, which the redhead heard over her comms.

''What's going on?'' she asked anxiously. From her position, she couldn't see anything.

Tony peeked around the concrete and aimed at the brunette's legs, shooting one of his laser beams at them. It was more to immobilize her, not kill her. ''Your girlfriend has turned evil.''

Natasha's breath hitched in her throat and her heart stopped. ''What? What do you mean?'' She tried glancing into the canteen, but was unable to find her.

''I mean, she is shooting at me!'' He looked around the corner again, retracting his head just in time to avoid another bullet. Katya was getting closer by the second and he was out of options. Maybe he should blast her in her chest. Just enough to knock her out but not wound her.

''What the hell happened?!''

''I don't know! But my money is on that evaluator.'' He jumped away behind the pilar and shot a powerful soundwave Katya's way.