Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 82: Hold On To Me

Wakanda had lost its king, so Okoye had to be the one to tell the troops the bad news, but they already knew they lost from the way their friends had disappeared into thin air. 

Katya had a hard time wrapping her head around it. It hadn't fully sunk in that half the Universe was simply gone. As if this was all a prank or a dream she would wake up from. As if her missing friends would jump out of the bushes and scream 'Surprise!'. 

But Sam didn't come back. Wanda didn't come back. And Vision's grey body lay lifeless on the ground. 

This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end. They had to find a way to get them back, but where did you start when the only lead you had was a purple alien with Stones and you were not in possession of a spaceship or any knowledge of space? 

Her eye landed on Vision, Steve on his butt next to him. A big gap in Vision's forehead where Thanos had ripped the Stone out. Next to the body, on the ground, a pile of ash, and an image of Wanda dusting away played behind Katya's eyelids. 

Her eyes watered and her resolve broke. Ripping her hands out of Natasha's, she muttered an excuse. ''I'm sorry, I can't-'' It was too much, losing this many people in one day. A hundred people in her ledger was bearable, but how did you wake up every morning, knowing you killed trillions?

Katya ran out of the forest, in the opposite direction of the battle field. She stumbled and the world spun, making her nauseous. Or maybe she was nauseous in general. She thought about going into the city and finding a quiet corner to hide, but thousands of people would be crying for their loved ones. 

With the victory of Thanos, the alien army had disappeared too, into thin air. But the barrier was still open and Katya felt the claustrophobia of the dome pressing on her shoulders. She ran down the hills, circling around the battle field because she didn't want to see others, splashed through the shallow river and slipped through the opening. 

The woods were dangerous because trees had fallen over or been burnt, the chance that one would land on her head was big, so she avoided them and ran onto the meadows instead. She ran until her legs couldn't carry her anymore and the only thing she heard was wind and grass. There, she sunk down on the grass and lay down on her back, squinting her eyes against the bright sun. 

What a lucky star. One of the only things in this Universe not affected, having no clue what had happened on the planets around it.

The waist-high grass hid Katya from anyone who would try and find her. Running away from her problems once again. 

Her mind wandered to Tony, who was alone out in space somewhere. Did he dust? And if he didn't, how would he come back to Earth without a space ship to carry him this time? And Clint... she wanted to call him so badly, but her phone was on the jet and she was secretly scared of the answer.

She had expected to cry or yell or break down, but there was so much emotion it numbed her. 

Should she have hope they could fix this? Maybe someone they weren't thinking of yet, would come to the rescue. What about Fury or Hill? 

She lay in that field, fingers combing through the grass and the sun baking the blood on her face, until a zooming sound in the distance betrayed who was coming for her. Now she really wished she had ran into the forest instead. 

The sound slowly came closer, the person scanning the area for any signs of the spy, until there was a thud in the ground behind her head and someone pushed through the grass. 

''Come on, we're leaving.'' Rhodey looked down at his friend with sorry eyes, glad she didn't see it because she would beat him up for it. 

''Where?'' Katya questioned monotonous, not taking her eyes of the white clouds in the sky.