Red Uprising

Chapter 1

Natasha POV

Gravel crunches under the car tyres as I turn the engine off, my head falling back against the headrest with a sigh.

I hadn't intended to come here when I started the engine.  Now that I'm here, I have very little recollection of the journey and no idea why I came.  It sure as hell won't bring her back.

This was the first place I'd brought her, the first time we'd truly been alone.  I'd gotten lost in her powerful grey eyes as they'd reflected the sunlight back at me.  Watching her nervous and uncertain but desperately trying to act confident and powerful had made me feel a stronger need to protect her than I'd ever felt in my life.  She smiled so much that day but it was the first one, when her guard slipped as she was singing in the car, that was the smile that convinced me I wanted this girl to be my entire future.  It had felt so safe, being with her had felt like the most natural thing in the world... I was an idiot.

This was the first place I'd almost gotten her killed.  I'd pulled her away from the safety of the compound, the other Avengers, for my own selfish desires.  I left my weapons and phone out of reach, no tracker, and nobody was aware of our location.  I was an idiot and it had almost cost both of us our lives that night.

In hindsight, that trip still might have cost her hers.  If I'd never brought her here, if we were never on that bridge... She was happy enough thinking Sydney was dead, but once she knew the truth, she was like a dog with a bone.  Going full force at HYDRA was the only possible outcome she saw, and stupidly, we had all facilitated that.

With another sigh, I open the door, stepping out of the car and heading towards the porch.  The doorknob is cold in my hand as I turn it, swinging the door open and heading inside. 

It takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dim lighting inside the cabin.  There's a musty smell in the air and layer of dust coats almost every surface as if nobody has been here in months.  Tony usually has someone come in to clean, keeping the place pristine, but I guess after the last time I was here, he'd abandoned it.

To my right, a single door remains ajar.  A nervous feeling settles in my stomach as I push it further open.  A double bed stands against the far wall, previously perfectly made but now with sheets tangled, barely covering the mattress below.  Clothes are strewn across the room, removed hastily with no care for where they fell.  A couple of bags stand discarded on the floor, their contents spilling out.

It's messy and unorganised, no longer the dream location for a weekend getaway but even still, for the first time in a long time a smile pulls at the corners of my mouth as the memory of making this mess fills my head.

After a short while, I pick up the bags from the floor, reorganising their contents and snatching up the ones spilt across the room.  It takes a little longer to round up the discarded clothing, fold it, and return it to the correct bags.  The last item is a hooded sweatshirt, I'm pretty sure it's Wanda's, but as I pick it up, Y/N's familiar scent engulfs me. It's aged and duller than it had been all those months ago, but it's there, and I can't help but slip it on.

The sheets are easier to strip since they're already half off anyway.  I ball them before placing them in a laundry basket in the corner of the room, replacing them with fresh sheets from the linen closet by the bathroom.

As I head to the kitchen for cleaning supplies, I notice a final pile of clothing discarded behind the door.  They'd been damp with lake water when they were dropped there almost a year ago, and there's no salvaging them now.  I dump them in a trash bag in the kitchen before returning and wiping down the remainder of the bedroom.

Through the window, the lake catches my eye, drawing me outside.  The dock stands empty this time where we had previously laughed and played.  The weather isn't as kind as when I was last here, a strong breeze rippling the surface of the lake as I sit myself on the edge of the dock, my bare feet in the cold water as I watch the sun setting.

For a while I sit in silence, drowning in my own thoughts and memories, berating myself for decisions I've long since lost the ability to change and dwelling on the should have, would have, could haves.

For a while, I'm glad I'm alone as I allow tears to fall and grief to consume me.  But the solitude doesn't last long.  Eventually, the sound of car tyres on gravel fills the night air before two doors open, slamming shut seconds later.

There's a smirk on my face as I push myself to my feet, shaking my head.

I should have known they'd come.