Winter Interrupted

Escape

"Steve, get up."

"Steve."

"Steve, come on, I could use the backup."

Natasha shook the Captain's arm firmly, enough to move his entire body to try to rouse him from the stupor he was in after your solid kick to his head that left him limp on the ground. His head was swimming and his vision doubled when he opened his eyes to see you standing in front of him, not so far away and ready for another shot at taking him down for good. He had fought you before, in both sparring and true battles when your personality had changed, but seeing you now felt different, and much more dangerous than he had experienced before. One thought that was still present despite his current state was that he had to be a complete idiot for thinking that this was a good idea.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm okay..." he stammered, pushing himself up against a tree at his back. He dismissed her hand when she tried to help, insisting to himself more than to her that he could do it. "It just looks like I'm fighting two of her now."

"We need to call it," she urged, holding him in place with a weary but steady arm to his chest. "I think I can break her, just stay back. I just need a second to catch my breath."

"Nat, I've never seen her like this. She's almost...rabid. What did we do wrong?"

"She felt cornered and we took her on together? I don't know. One of us must have said something to set her off, but we were so careful-"

"I can hear you," you interrupted, "so if you're going to talk about me, please have the courtesy to at least look at me when you do it."

Steve and Natasha exchanged a hesitant glance, with silent conversation passed between them, though it gave them no more answers than they had a moment ago. They weren't out here to fight you; that wasn't their original plan, and they hadn't expected it or you would have been better contained to avoid this exact scenario.

"(Y/N)," Nat began, "I need you to focus on the sound of my voice, okay? I'm your friend. I'm not here to fight you, and I'm not here to hurt you. Neither is Steve. We're your teammates and we just want to help you. You're an Avenger."

"Apparently not anymore if you two get your way," you scoffed, holding your stance.

Your words struck Steve from his daze like a slap to the face, suddenly understanding that this scenario wasn't at all what they had been led to believe it was. "Wait, (Y/N)...this is you, isn't it?" he now pressed, stepping out from Nat's hold. "You didn't flip at all. This is you fighting us."

"Of course it's me fighting you, Steve. I heard you talking about sending me back to Nick and taking me off the team. You thought I was asleep but I heard every damn word that you had to say. How could you go behind my back and do this to me without talking to me first?"

"(Y/N)," Nat began, but you quickly cut her off.

"No, shut up, Nat. I was asking Steve."

"It's for your own good," he answered hesitantly. "Being on the team isn't the right fit anymore-"

"Because your best pal showed up and you're worried that I'm going to turn on you, right?"

"That's not-"

"That's exactly it!" you hissed, stomping your way forward, pushing him back with your fists slammed into his chest; ironically, Nat didn't even try to stop you. "Dammit, Steve, it's always about you! How dare you take away the one good thing in my life like your needs are so much more important than mine! Why didn't you just tell me? Why would you hide this from me? Don't you think it's important for me to know that I black out and turn into some damn killing machine that you and Nat have to shut down? Don't you think that I would want to know?"