Ghosts Of The Past | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 16: Fifty Shades Of Black And Blue

Katya would have made a sarcastic comment, if she didn't feel so disoriented and confused. She had no weapons other than her knives and gun, which she certainly wasn't going to use on these brainwashed women.

She pushed herself up on her feet, right in time to catch the baton Natasha threw at her. It wasn't only that, it could also be turned into a one-sided pickaxe. Ideal to cut through rope that was, say, attached to a hook lodged into someone's upper back.

So Katya did exactly that, backing up from the group as it slowly advanced on her. She never doubted her skills, but these Widows were trained as well as her, and with at least ten against two, there was no way she could win.

Natasha knew that as well, her feet shuffling backwards as her muscles tensed for a fight. ''We don't wanna hurt you. You don't wanna hurt us.'' If she tried to convince them to stand down, that was obviously a huge fail, since their brains were literally programmed to fight and kill them.

''I guess they do.'' The end of Katya's sentence turned into a grunt when she had to lift her baton in front of her face to avoid getting hit with one. 

From there, it was one big blur. 

It would have been so much easier if she could have used her gun or knives, but she didn't even want to hit these people with her baton. It felt wrong to hurt people not in control of themselves, who would keep going even if Katya broke one of their arms or legs.

But she had no choice but to fight. Because if she didn't, they'd kill her before someone could get to them with the antidote. And she had no clue how far Yelena and Melina were with that. Did she have to fight the Widows for two minutes or ten? Because she'd be dead by three.

Usually she'd cover Natasha, stick with her, but even that wasn't possible. She had no time to do anything else but protect herself as she got kicked and hit. These Widows must have been altered physically as well, because she got thrown through the room a bit too easily.

Her body hurt everywhere. Everywhere. Bruises formed on her skin and she hoped her ribs wouldn't break.

Every time she pushed one Widow off, another waited for her, landing her fist in her face or stomach. Her lungs never seemed to be able to fill with air and her eyes were too slow to analyze the situation.

Where the hell was Yelena? 

It really was hopeless, and Katya really thought she'd die here today when she got thrown on her back again and arms slipped around her neck from behind, a Widow on her knees keeping her in place for the others to torture, like Dreykov had ordered. And they happily did, their boots landing on her ribs, her legs, her arms which she used to try and protect her face, as if that mattered anymore.

With her nails, she clawed at the arms around her neck, but it was useless, and she found her strength slipping away by the minimum amount of air her lungs were able to take in. 

Natasha wasn't in any better position. In fact, she got abused like Katya. Only she sat on her knees, her head whipping left and right every time a fist landed on her cheek, completely defenseless. The grunts that left her mouth were pure torture to Katya alone. She wanted to help her, stop this. 

Honestly, Katya was about to give up when a burst of red exploded above her head. Yelena must have burst through the doors - something Katya was too out of it to have realized - and found a smart way to deliver the antidote to all the Widows at once.

The powder whirled down, but Katya saw none of it. The only thing she registered were the arms around her neck loosening their grip before they completely disappeared. The Widows were broken out of their mind control and had abruptly stopped fighting. The poor women had no clue what was happening.