Mind Games (Avengers Wrong Number Fugitive [Natasha Romanoff x teen])

31. The Commander Is An Ass

i think i have a huge crush on the actor of tommy maximoff... he's 14 now and omg (don't search him up only young pictures of him come up go onto his instagram)

Kitty cat ^

AUGUST'S POV

"Come on, be quiet!" I hiss to Tommy as we discreetly look around the woods. "This is where I last saw her."

"Why do I have to be quiet again?" I practically feel his eye roll.

"Why would you not be quiet? The people who could've taken her - if she was taken - could be around here. This could be a trap."

"And us being quiet will do what exactly?"

I palm my face. "Help us not get caught, Sherlock."

"Riiiight. But we're not being very quiet so they'd probably just see us." He looks around the place, and as he's ahead of me I creep up behind him and touch his shoulder. His super speed helps him turn around fast, but he's slow enough to know it was just me. It was kind of stupid because he does have reflexes, and those reflexes include potential punching. That could've ended poorly. "What was that for?" He asks it like I just insulted him. I didn't.

"Testing you. Maybe we should go somewhere a little less... open. You're not trained enough." I'm using him for his powers, not his field capabilities.

As we're moving across the branches I feel the hairs on my neck stand up. Someone's here. They're close, but not in this area. I look around noticing small inclings of footprints. The someone here is trained to not be noticed and the only reason I can tell is because I was also taught this way. Branches the smallest bit out of place as if they were here mere minutes ago... not even.

I place my hand on my gun, eyeing around. "Come on, someone's here," I hush to Tommy.

"What?" He replies as he follows, quietly, yet for a spy too loud.

"Shh."

Then I feel it. The kick behind my knees and the gun to my head. My navy hood's up, and if they know who I am they can't tell with my hair hidden. "Who are you?" I hear.

Maria. Thank god.

"Hey!" Tommy groans. I side-eye him as he slowly puts his hands up. I do the same, yet too scared to use my voice to identify myself, instead move my hands up slow enough for Natasha's girlfriend to see. I carefully pull my hood down.

"It's us, Commander Hill." I say. "Don't stress."

She pushes my head with the handle of her gun and groans. "Stand up, kid." She tells me. As Tommy starts to move she kicks him. "Not you."

I see him furrow his brows. "What'd I ever do?"

"Quiet or I'm telling your mother." Maria replies.

I snort.

She looks back at me. "I'll tell Natasha once we find her too. She won't be happy with you either." It's supposed to come off as a warning, but it cools my nerves that she has so much belief in finding her lover. 'Once we find her' not 'if we find her.'

"Do you know where she is?" I ask.

Maria's straight with me. She doesn't bend the truth, she doesn't give me anymore hope than the 'of course she'll turn up.' "No, I don't."

"Well, we found each other at the same spot so that's gotta mean something." I won't ask how she knows this was Natasha's last... 'spotting' if you will.

She eyes me up and down and I've got the impression she's trying to read me. I'm sure she's successful, but either way I keep my guard up. She's trained in this field, I know that. But she was also a militant for the US navy. 

She's careful on her word choice, that's for sure. It takes her just a few seconds longer than tolerable before she asks, "What happened here before you ran away?"

"You should get Wanda to answer that for you," I tell her. That's enough for her to know I don't want to speak, but she'll get it out of me either way.

"What did you say to her, August?" She gives no room for argument.

"Commander-"

"Maria." She cuts me off.

"Maria... I got caught up in the moment. I went straight forth with the-" How do I finish what I don't want to admit. Having to be forced to admit what I don't want to remember? 

I've dealt with that before. I've dealt with not wanting to remember. But that was because of pain, this... this is because of longing. I don't want to remember my house burning down because that plummets me into sorrow. I don't want to remember this because I wish I stayed. I wish I just got that answer. I wish I knew.

Maria's gaze hardens. Not in that angry manner, but in that impatient, mad one. "What is it you're running away from this time?" She blames me for this. She can't hate me because Natasha doesn't, but she can put her unwanted frustration and guilt on me. These emotions, these types of people, I've never dealt with them. I can't hate Maria for it, as she can't hate me. And we trust each other because we want the same thing. It's something we've only found earnestly with Natasha. She's shown us something that we haven't quite mastered on our own. And we know if we push the other down to reach her, we won't have her.

"I told her I see her as a mother figure, and she waited too long - I mean longer than I could handle - to respond so I ran."

Maria doesn't give me that pity I've seen on every persons face, and that feels nice. She nods her head understandingly, and asks, "Did she say anything while you ran?"

"Just called my name." I wish that could lead to something, but it doesn't. We know that, we're spies.

"Hey! I've got it! Can I stand up now? I think I've got an idea of what's going on!"

Maria and I look towards Tommy. I didn't forget about him, that's not how it works, but I'm surprised he stayed in that position.

"What is it, Shepherd?" Maria grumbles.

"She's a master spy, right?" He asks it rhetorically. Duh, she's the best of the best.

I cross my arms, amused. "Yeah, what are you getting at?"

"If she's a spy, and she couldn't give you an answer in time, she would think it over herself. I mean, isn't that what all moms do? And make it a spy-mom, she'd be too scared to make it right right away."

When did he... know things?

Maria's not convinced. "She's Natasha, she's not sitting in self loathing."

"Exactly! She'd try and do something. So where'd she go from here, Maria?" He stands up, feeling stronger within himself. He's useful, and he needed that reminder. "And what would be the path she'd take?"

He's trying not to act smug as Maria and I think. It makes perfect sense, and that's the weird part. Natasha would think about what to do better, and if she's not good at 'talking' and 'expressing' love, she'd give it. She'd manifest it.

<33

sorry i've been on hiatus, reminder i update It Starts and Ends Where Love Began (my blackhill through the years book if you'd like to check it out!!) before publishing another of this chapter, and those chapters are 2,000 words or more!

hope you enjoyed! any guesses where nat would go?