The Devil's Keeper - Blackhill

Chapter 13 - Places You Can't Be

[April 23rd, 2007 – Helicarrier, location classified]

Maria didn't understand why Fury kept sending Natasha on pointless missions, but she knew that it couldn't just be for the sake of the missions themselves. Either those missions were part of a bigger plan, or he was up to something else. Either way, she didn't like being kept in the dark for anything even remotely concerning the Black Widow.

Romanoff had been authorized to engage in regular missions so Clint and Phil were getting ready to leave with her for the first mission of Strike Team Delta.

In the meantime, Maria was stuck on old paperwork for Belgium and new paperwork for an upcoming mission in Uruguay. She was getting bored in general as the most challenging thing she had to do all week was avoiding running into Natasha again after they'd talked in the gym.

She couldn't explain what had happened, and she didn't know if she was ready to build a friendship from scratch with a woman she knew was going to break her heart someday.

She was sitting on the ground. Staring at that painting again.

Something about it bothered her to no end. Maybe the figure turned away, the mystery surrounding the scene, Natasha's eyes, or Natasha's lips. Something about the image didn't sit right with her.

She heard the door close and realized that someone had entered the storage room, but she was sure nobody would ever willingly go there except for herself or Fury. Sharon sometimes came here if she was looking for Maria and couldn't find her. That was most likely than Fury so she didn't get up or avert her eyes. She was so close to finally pinpointing what was wrong with that painting when a voice distracted her.

"Sharon said I might find you here."

Her eyes immediately found the woman leaning casually on a wall, like she had been there for a while. Natasha's eyes darted to the picture, then back to Maria. She pushed herself off the wall and walked to Maria, sitting down on the floor right next to her.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

"I heard." It was all Maria had to say about it, apparently.

Each day Fury found an excuse to let Natasha jump and everyday since, she had said goodbye to Maria before using those jumps to see the places and things she had always wanted to.

She'd stared at the Great Wall of China, she'd visited the Pyramids of Giza, she'd crossed the ruins of Machu Picchu and traveled the path to the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Each time, she would turn to the side, in search of Maria's eyes, longing to see the expressions on her face, wondering what she would think about all those marvelous things she could see.

But Maria wasn't there, and the world seemed flatter when she couldn't admire it mirrored through Maria's eyes.

Be that as it may, the one thing Natasha could see was herself mirrored in Maria's eyes, an assassin. The one Inhuman who had condemned them all to be rejected by society.

"Back in 1990, I don't know if you remember this, we talked about your mom. You told me she had the Sight."

Maria turned to her and frowned a little. She remember vaguely that conversation, but her memory was foggy. She was just a kid and it was years before.

"Did she know-"

"That giving birth to me was going to kill her? Probably." Maria answered coldly, averting her eyes.

"If Inhumans weren't discriminated against since the dawn of time, she might have been able to alert a doctor and she probably would have been fine. But she couldn't tell someone she knew what was going to happen, because then they would have known she was an Inhuman. And the reason why they're outcasts is because of, well..." She gestured vaguely to the picture. "Because of me."