DIVINE RETRIBUTION │barnes ²

two

𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌

𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟰

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'𝗠𝗔𝗠𝗔 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗜 𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘?'

The little girl sits cross legged on the floor, her curly hair pulled up in several braids, her chin resting on one hand while she taps a pen against the tiled floors.

From across the room, Natasha Romanoff reluctantly moves from her comfortable positon on their moth bitten couch and hands the Starkphone to Zhenya.

They sit in silence for several minutes - the redhead sharpening her knives and the child, with brows furrowed, trying to figure out how this Internet worked.

Finally she gives up, the phone hitting the floor with rather unnecessary force.

'Zhenockha, you're going to break it!'

'It's not working,' the girl insists, frustration apparent in her tone.

'Come here,' there's a beckon of the redhead's arm as she sets the knife on the table.

Natasha is patient as she guides her daughter through the process of using modern technology. It took a while for Zhenya to adapt. Never had she been around so many screens with loud noises and bright colours. It scared her at first.

And it wasn't only the technology that proved to be a challenge. The large crowds made the former assassin jumpy and paranoid. 

The first time that they had really been in a large public setting was when Natasha had insisted on taking her to the market. Admittedly it was bad decision making on her behalf. The redhead should have known better. 

A man had accidentally bumped against the child and in an instant, her gloved hand shot out of her pockets and latched themselves on the man's arms. If it wasn't for Natasha's quick reflexes, he would well be on his way to the hospital, with several fractures in his bone.

Natasha had brought Evgenia to Moscow so they could visit the now destroyed Red Room Academy and try to relocate the orphanage that she's spent her first three years in. But the people became overwhelming for the little girl. Even if she was safe and out of the crowds, the constant noise from the streets that wafted up to their little apartment had Evgenia sleeping with a knife and gun under her pillow.

Natasha didn't stop her. It was what she had done after joining SHIELD and what she did now too. It was a bad coping mechanism but it was hard for them to feel safe without the constant support of a deadly weapon. The touch of the cold metal was soothing. If it put Evgenia more at ease that so be it.

They had searched for weeks now. The orphanage had been found on the second day with the help of Tony Stark, but it was near impossible to pinpoint the person that had dropped the girl off at the place all those years ago. There were no cameras back then and no witnesses. All the staff and orphans had died in the fire and even if they had remembered the face, it was unlikely that they could place a name to it.

So Evgenia found the orphanage and recovered some of her past to some extent, but the rest was buried. 

And no one knew how to dig it out.

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Tony Stark's head is pounding. Pepper had been egging him all day about some documents that he needed to sign for the company which he was still confused about because it wasn't even his company anymore. And that goddamn adoption agency! Everything was approved and all they needed to do was send the fucking documents back to Russia so Natasha could sign them.

He rubbed the sides of his head in frustration as the words from his illuminating laptop screen blurred in front of him. 

'JARVIS, can you run that design through for me one more time?'

The metal leg he had designed for Evgenia had been done it a hurry. He knew that the metal caused her right side to be heavier than her left and it made her walk with a strange gait. 

'Yes, sir.'

The design projects itself into the air as the AI rotates it around.

Tony rubs his forehead again.

'J, if I were to remove the extra metal casing, how much lighter would it weigh?'

'Light enough for Miss Romanova to be able to work normally sir,' the AI informs him.

'Right and,' Tony swipes at the projection, flipping the neon design over, 'Would she be able to fight, run, dance?'

'Yes, although the metal may be a bit soft and crumple if a bullet or a heavy object hit it.'

'Ok J, I want the uranium to be replaced with niteroi.' It made sense. Niteroi was light but strong metal, it would be much easier to the small girl to walk with it than a great big lump of uranium.

The playboy turns away from the bright lights of the design, white dots dancing in his vision. Maybe Pepper was right and he did need to drink some water. 

'Make sure to turn the lights off JARVIS,' he adds as he turns towards the door of the lab. He would deal with the documents and pester the adoption agency tomorrow.

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It's the same dream again. 

He sees his daughter.

A young child, smiling, her blue eyes twinkling in the moonlight. She's dancing with her pointe shoes on her feet, turned away from him as she performs a pirouette. Then she faces him again. Gone is the innocent smile and etched onto her precious face is a sickening smirk. The face of a killer. Her small hands drip, drip, drip, red with the blood of her mission.

'Papa,' she whispers.

There's a scream that escapes his mouth as he jolts awake, heart pounding and sweat dripping down his forehead.

It's the same dream again. Only it's not a dream but his worst nightmare.

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short chapter because i got kinda stuck but this phase isn't very long and the age of ultron part will be coming very soon which will hopefully make it easier to write.

lemme know what you think by voting or commenting. updates might be weekly now because i'm back at school.