Winter's Widow

Chapter 103: In War, Pain Follows

Natasha's pov:

"Agents, we're under attack!"

That was Fury 10 minutes ago. Now, here we are. Defending the SHIELD base with out everything against Hydra. All of us are outside the base, attacking the swarm of Hydra goons. Along with Alexei and Crossbones, they aren't making it too easy on us.

I'm attacking Alexei with all I've got. He's also focusing all of his energy on me. Bucky is going at Crossbones, and everyone else has their focus on the goons. Alexei throws me across the battle field. I hop back up and lunge at him. A storm of merciless punching and kicks. We will win this battle.

"This wouldn't have happened if you obeyed orders, Natalia!"

"Hydra does not own me!"

"Yes, we do! We'll show you!" He cracks me across the face and knocks me to the floor.

I get back up fast and tackle him to the floor. No mercy. He doesn't deserve my mercy. I see that Bucky is having a blast beating the shit out of Crossbones. I pin him to the ground and repeatedly punch him in the face, over and over again. His face is a bloody mess. He throws me off him and on the ground. I roll out of the way just before he breaks a rib with a nasty kick. I jump up and rocket my fist into his gut. He doubles over and I throw him on the ground.

"Hey, let me get at him too." I Bucky from behind me.

"Cool. Trade." I lunge at Crossbones and Bucky rushes past me to get to the hated redhead.

Crossbones is no easy fight. He's tough. He's strong. Good thing they didn't bring Sin too. Bones pins me to the ground and starts beating me down. I am able to flip us over and reverse the rolls. I start beating the living fuck out of him, giving him no time to breathe. I beat him until he eventually passes out.

I look up and see that Alexei has Bucky pinned. I race up to the and jump kick Alexei off him. Bitch, that's my man. Get tf off. I crack Alexei across the face. Alexei get me in a choke hold. I furiously kick his legs, but to no avail. Bucky gets back up and throws a seriously heavy punch at Alexei. Oh, he's pissed. Which he? Yes. Alexei lets go of me. Thank god. Bucky grabs him and smashes his skull against the floor repeatedly. Alexei manages to escape Bucky's death grasp and throws fast punches at him. This begins the battle of the titans. It's really something scary. Two of the most terrifying people you know going at it with mercy off the table. They're out to kill each other. And it scares me, that in a sense, they're fighting over me. That's, what I call terror. Bucky seems to be favoring his right hand, because Alexei is watching out for the left. Everyone watches out for the left. Smart boy. James pulls a fuck you move and cracks Alexei with his left arm. Alexei collapses to the ground. He's out cold. Bucky is breathing heavy. As the Hydra goons realize that Crossbones and Alexei are both down, they start retreating. The goons grab the bodies of the KO'd and drags them away. They all flee in their black vans.

Eventually, it's just SHIELD agents and Avengers. Everyone is covered in blood. Some more than others. By 'some', I mean me and James, mostly. Steve is pretty red too. Bucky's goggles were ripped off in battle. He's staring at the broken goggles on the floor sadly. He looks at me, but I can't tell what he's feeling. He still has his mask on. He collapses to the floor in exhaustion. Nobody has the energy to say a word.

...

I collapse on my bed, not without locking the door. I'm sore all over. Everyone's in pain. Even laying down like this is painful. All I can think about is the pain. The paaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiinn. I can't believe this is my fault. I did this. This happened because of me. I'm responsible for my friends pain. Dammit. I really am a burden. I'll go outside tomorrow. Maybe the day after. Maybe the day after that. You now what, I'll go out when I fucking feel like it. Maybe it's time to lock myself in here again. I'll do just that. Fuck the outside world, I'm in pain. Mentally and physically.

I'll stay here.