Intertwine

90 - Watch Your Language Grandpa

ALINA

"Why?" I asked. For the fourth time. "WHY?"

She just shook her head, smiling. She'd stopped laughing that strange dead sound, as though there was no joy there, just hatred.

"Do you enjoy this?" I asked. "They shot you, twice! They've stabbed you, they've tortured you, tortured us both, tortured and kidnapped and killed hundreds of children! They tortured Bucky! Jesus, Ro, I've said the word tortured so much it doesn't even sound like a word anymore!"

"They did what they felt was necessary." She shrugged, swinging her sword in an arcing motion in her hand, precise, practised. To the best of my knowledge she'd never actually used a sword with the Avengers, never even trained with one. 

"Roara." Steve had walked to stand beside me, his shield on his back, no weapons in his hands. "Tell me what's going on, what did we do to push you to this?"

"What did you do?" She smirked and then made that noise again, that awful noise, it wasn't even laughter. It was just pure malice. "Oh Captain America, always so righteous, always so courageous until you have to kill people. You're just as bad as I am, you're just on the side you think is right. That's all it is." She sighed. "Locke opened my eyes, showed me that there was no difference in the two. There is no good and there is no evil. But with the Ascendency I have power." As she said that last word, flames flew from her hand, igniting her sword. Great, I thought, now she has a fucking fire sword? Wait a second... Did she just say...

"Roara, have you met Locke?" I asked, eyes wide.

"Oh, yes. Met him? Darling I'm sleeping with the man." She cackled. 

I felt the shift from Steve beside me. It was slight, it was subtle, but the change in stance and expression was obvious to me. Maybe I just knew him too well, or maybe I was feeling the same thing. 

"You did that?" He asked in a low and quiet voice.

"Not yet, but we have got a little... how should I put it? Steamy?" She smiled. "Why Steven, are you jealous?"

"Not in the slightest." He growled, slowly pulling his shield from his back and strapping it to his arm. "I'm just sickened by the way you're taking pride in that when you know how much pain it would cause us all. The pain it would cause Bucky. The pain it would cause Alina. You know what that man did, what he put her through?"

I was grateful that he was being protective over me. I didn't need protecting, I knew that, but I didn't even want to carry the burden of pain that her pleasure in being with that man was causing me. He was supporting me, and in doing so he was carrying it for me. I'd never been more proud to call him my friend.

"I know." She shrugged. "And I don't care. And you want to talk about loyalty? Commitment to one person?" She looked straight at me. "Does Steve know you kissed Natasha."

"What?" I whispered, horrified. I hadn't told anyone. She hadn't told anyone. We hadn't even spoken about it. It was a way of closing that part of our relationship, the possibility of more than a friendship. It had been sweet and it had been private and it had been personal. 

"Oh the Ascendency knows about that." She looked at Steve. "Did you?"

"No." He said thickly. "I did not."

"Everyone's seen the way you look at her, Steve." She nodded to me. "Alina's just oblivious."

"What do you mean?" I questioned frantically, looking to Steve. Natasha had mentioned something about it but I'd never taken it seriously. It was just another reason she'd given me to let me down gently.