something like blood | natasha romanoff

chapter 18

"yelena?"

"athena? is that really you?" she said.

i nodded, being lost for words. i slowly walked up to her, making sure it was really her before engulfing her in the biggest hug i think i've ever given someone. 

she immediately hugged me back, wrapping her arms around me as if she was protecting me from my surroundings. i felt as though i had never been so calm and relaxed as i do in her arms.

i forgot we were in the red room until the other girl cleared her throat.

she looked at us rocking back and forth on her heels awkwardly. me and yelena broke the hug before getting yelena out of her handcuffs that were attached to her wrist. in the time that me and yelena were hugging, the other girl had already broken out of them.

i turned around to head out and saw wanda standing by the door, "cute moment but we really have to get going" she told us. i looked at the girls before nodding and heading out.

i ran to a few other cells and freed some girls, some harder than others to convince but i got a lot of them out.

suddenly, a loud alarm began ringing out around us. there was red beams of light flying around the cells and the corridor.

i tried to find the others but couldn't as i had no idea where they had gone.

i decided to go on comms and ask where everyone else was as i knew i couldn't do this alone. yes i was trained here, but there was too many of them for me to take single handed.

"anyone near the second floor cells, i need backup" i said into the earpiece. as i said that, i heard loud footsteps. i looked to my right and saw four guards running my way. there was no one else around as i had sent the girls to the exit where clint and thor would be waiting.

i decided my only option was to fight them myself. i walked up to them intimidatingly and started to sprint once i got close enough. i grabbed one by the shoulders and wrapped my legs around their waist whilst using the momentum to swing underneath them and bring them to the floor, sticking the landing on my feet.

i quickly ran up to another one that was trying to shoot me, and punched them in the side of the nose, causing them to double over in pain and clutch their nose. without looking, i took my gun out of my holster and shot the body of presence i could sense around me.

turning around, i realized i hit them straight between the eyes. damn, i still have the aim. i guess it never goes away.

the last guard was a bit harder. he threw a punch at my face which i dodged but then kicked me to the floor which i was not expecting.

i landed with my back on the floor, my head hitting the ground harshly. with the force of the kick, i hadn't realized my necklace had unclasped from my neck and was hanging loosely over the leather of my suit.

however, i quickly jumped up and continued fighting. i tried to wipe his legs out but he jumped over them and stuck his leg out in front of him, landing on my face. once again, i stumbled back feeling blood trickle down my nose and eyebrow before smiling at him.

intimidating the opponent, a good method to get their mind off their fighting techniques.

i ran up to the guard and jumped onto his shoulders before slamming my hands on his head repeatedly, trying to knock him out.

at this moment in time, i heard a message from comms. "backup needed, dreykov is a strong one" after hearing that, i only hit the guard harder. after what felt like an eternity of trying to knock him out, but was probably only a minute or two, his legs went limp and he fell back to the floor.

i let him fall to the floor and landed stood up.

remembering what i just heard on comms a few minutes ago, i ran straight to where i knew dreykov was.

i ran through the familiar corridors before i came across the once familiar door i never dared to enter.

i opened the door, all the memories fading back to me, but i couldn't let them get to me right now.

dreykov was leaned over the desk and was in clear agony. you could see the pain in his face and the weakness in his eyes.

he heard the door open and looked over towards me. his eyes faded from pain to betrayal.

"athena, моя маленькая вдова (my little widow)" he said to me.

i tensed up and looked at him with determination in my eyes. i was going to kill this man if it was the last thing i would do.

"you have no right to call me that, all you did was strip me of a lifetime" i replied coldly.

he smiled and laughed, "you seemed to enjoy it, plus i could never truly lose my favorite"

i looked at him with disgust as i knew what he meant by the first part, but i also felt anger knowing i could never truly get rid of the fact that dreykov used me and i would never be able to be a normal child.

i walked over to him, letting my head rock from side to side as i walked, trying to intimidate him. "you're right, you could never lose me" i paused, "but i could lose you" and with that i punched him square in the face as he held his eye in pain.

"you're insane, i helped you all your life and you pay me back with this" he said. i simply nodded.

before he had the chance to fight back steve walked over and threw his shield at him. he got pushed back to the floor with blood gushing out of his shoulder as steve ripped his shield out and took it back in his possession.

taking my chance to get the final blow, i straddled him on the floor and said, "i hope i made you proud" smirking.

i punched him as hard as i could in his face and his body went limp. i watched in satisfaction knowing i've wanted to do that for the longest time.

i felt a sense of peace knowing that even if i do have years worth of trauma, the source of said trauma no longer exists.

nat's pov

after not hearing anything from athena for a while, i started to grow worried.

i knew she was on the second floor of the girls cells so i ran up there in an attempt to find her.

i ran through corridors until i got to the girls rooms, well more like prisons. i searched every one until i came across one that had a perfectly made bed. i walked in to take a closer look and that's when i saw it, initials engraved into the wall on the side of the bed. walking closer, i noticed the initials were 'A.R' and there was only one person i knew who had those initials. athena rockwell.

now that i knew this was her bed, i took everything in. this is where she spent those sleepless nights, the nights where she would wake up from a terrible nightmare, even the nights where she woke up from a dream that she knew she couldn't have. i spotted the slightly open drawer and went over to look at it.

i opened it more to find a stack of drawings. i knew i didn't have time to look through them all now so i decided to take them with me.

i picked them up and held them under my arm as i speed walked out of her cell again making sure there were no guards around. this time i sensed that she was safe with the others and went back to the exit of the facility.

running back through the corridors, shooting guards that got in my way.

i was turning a corner when i saw a shiny glimpse of metal laid across the floor. i quickly turned back and looked at it. realizing it was a necklace, i went over to pick it up before registering that it had an hourglass pendant on it. one that matched my necklace, the one i gave to yelena to give to my daughter.

my eyes immediately welled up with tears as i knew my daughter was still alive and close by. i honestly lost hope after i spent four years looking for her but nothing came up.

i stuffed the necklace into my pocket on the side of my suit and ran back, not a care in the world.

i saw the bright beam of daylight shining, guiding my way back to my family. this made me run even faster, not looking back.

just as i was about to get out and complete the mission,

BANG.