Poison

Chapter Sixteen

The mug that was in Christine's hand had shattered. She could feel the ceramic shards embed into her skin, but she didn't care.She welcomed the pain, as it was the only thing that felt real to her. Her sister's death was replaying in her head, frame by frame. From the knife sinking into her back to the vacant look in her eyes as she died in her arms.

"Christine!"

She blinked away the memories and gazed at the woman in front of her. Natasha looked back at her with concern. She had been calling out to her since the mug she was holding broke. She reached out and unfurled Christine's fists. The blood covered her palms completely and even began to drip down her arms. The cuts were not enough for stitches, but they still needed to be dressed.She threw Clint an apologetic look, but he shrugged it off. She looked around the room to see everyone staring at her, concern on their face. She maintained the longest eye contact with Steve, who was frowning at her. She looked away in shame.

"I'm gonna go clean her up."

The team all nodded as Natasha guided Christine into the other room.

Fury waited for them to clear the room before he broke the silence.

"That woman is a hero for the sacrifice she made."

"Sacrifice?" Steve questioned. "That sacrifice was her sister. Have some respect!"

Fury sighed before rubbing his head. His hand continued its path and rubbed at his tired face. He took a beat and then responded. "You know what I mean."

"I'm sure she really appreciates that."

Glares were exchanged across the table. Neither of the men wanted to back down.

Maria waved a hand between the men and drew their attention back towards the matter at hand. Not before throwing a final glare at each other.

"What he means to say is that, Christine has kept her past hidden for many reasons, but it wasn't to deceive you. After Amilla's funeral, Christine quit. She demanded that any trace of Amilla and her affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D. be destroyed."

"Which you didn't."

"Which I didn't. The footage was in a file in the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, which was released when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell. Ultron must have gotten ahold of it."

"So what do we do now?" Bruce spoke up.

"Ultron is multiplying faster than a catholic rabbit."

"Is he still going after launch codes?"

He gave an affirming nod. "He's not making any headway, though."

"He seems to be fixating on missiles."

"Launch codes are always being changed"

"By whom?"

"Parties unknown. The conversation with the pentagon was short and sweet. They wouldn't provide any further information." Nick replied.

"Even if there is a murderous robot out there?"

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha saunters in on her way to the trash can. In her hand are the glass shards that must have been extracted from Christine. When Steve rose an eyebrow, she shrugged her shoulder.

"Ultron has an enemy, that is not the same thing."

"Well this is good times boss, I was hoping when I saw you you would have more than that."

"I do, I have you."

"Awe, how sweet."

"Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else." He sighs. "Now all we have is our wit and the will to survive. Ultron believes that the only thing standing in the way of his mission are the Avengers. So stand!"