Devotion [Book 1]

Good At Goodbyes

Chapter 2

***

Buzzzz.

Natasha begrudgingly awoke to the sound of her phone vibrating underneath her ear and released an exhausted groan. Lifting her head enough to peel the pillowcase from her face, she cracked open one eyelid to read the message blazed across the screen in bold yellow letters.

'ETA 10:42, -22.908333, -43.196389'

Thumping the phone back down onto the mattress, she swallowed thickly and buried her face back into the pillow in an attempt to squeeze out another morsel of sleep. Beyond the thick hotel curtains in her air-conditioned suite, the streets below were already abuzz with tourists and locals as they went about their morning shopping along the seaside market stalls.

Beep!Beep!Beep!

"Argggg!" Natasha snatched up her phone and silenced the shrilling alarm, tossing the offending device across the room in irritation. After a few more minutes of trying to blink the sleep from her mascara-crusted eyelashes, the red head released an irritated yawn and rolled on to her back. Her limbs were aching from the previous nights engagement and she was mindful of the tender skin throbbing in protest from the stitches binding the deep knife wound on her left side. With a frown, Natasha craned her neck to inspect the damage and realized with a disgusted grunt that her wound had bleed not just through her black satin camisole, but also on to the white hotel sheets.

You're getting sloppy, Romanoff, She chided while climbing out of bed. Four years ago you never would have been this careless, otherwise you'd be dead. Being an Avenger has made you soft. With a scowl, she slid the garment up over her head and tossed it onto the end of the bed. Now completely naked, she wandered over to her duffle bag and rummaged around inside it until she produced a black silk dressing gown. Additionally she found a few pieces of gauze and some tape. Once she was satisfied with the makeshift bandage pressed against her side, she slipped on the dressing gown, tied the sash loosely around her waist and placed a call to room service.

"You're meal will be ready and delivered in twenty minutes, ma'am."

"Thank you."

Hanging up, Natasha padded over to the French doors and drew the heavy brown material aside. Opening the balcony door, she stepped out in to the bright sunlight and squinted out at the dark blue water. Now that her current mission was over and the recovered blue vial was sealed securely in a padded steel briefcase behind her bedhead, she could relax ever so slightly and appreciate the beauty Rio de Janeiro offered while awaiting Fury's evac.

It had been five months now since she'd left her old teammates to flea the RAFT prison with Steve and not a day had gone by that she didn't think about them. The insidious red room trained assassin part of her mind cruelly mocked her for such distractions and for her lack of ability to compartmentalize the whole situation. She was the black widow. She worked alone. She didn't have time for regrets or fantasies or melancholy. She didn't need anyone or anything. She was not built for a life of camaraderie, trust or, dare she even think it; love. Love was for children and she had never had the luxury of being a child. Black widow was a weapon. Black widow was a shadow in the night. Black widow lived and died alone.

Yet, while she knew all this to be true, she could not stop the happier memories that flooded into her mind. Memories of laughter and friendship the Avengers shared during training sessions and social occasions. Natasha wondered how the motley crew of super heroes were coping with their Accords exile. She'd heard from Stark only once, the day after she helped Steve spring the rest of their teammates from the raft prison. In typical Stark tradition he'd been drunk and bitter while bemoaning about the fallout from the Accords and Rodney's rehab progress. Not once had he mentioned the absent Captain by name, except to make a crude joke about ice trays and melting the vibranium shield down into a phallic shape in order to shove it up an enhanced ass.