Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 16: Bad News

Quick feet were on their way to medical, not stopping for anyone or anything. Katya didn't run into Steve or Tony; they must be on the bridge by now. The ship didn't crash, so apparently they managed to fix the engines. They could work together, who would have thought?

Her emotions were everywhere. Anger was most prominent. Anger towards Loki for all this shit and above all, Coulson's death. Sadness was second, for the loss of their friend and colleague. Last was a tiny amount of happiness at having Clint back, even if he wasn't completely himself yet.

Natasha didn't hear Katya coming, like usual. It was like she moved in complete silence, like the ghost they made her to be. So Natasha only saw her once she entered the room, hands shaking and eyes darting left to right. She was visibly upset to anyone paying close enough attention, meaning only Natasha and Clint noticed it.

A small sigh of relief came from Katya when she saw Clint on the bed. He was still unconscious, probably curtesy of one Agent Romanoff, but he was here and he was breathing. 

Taking a few steps closer, Katya didn't look at Natasha as she spoke. ''Is he gonna be fine?''

Natasha studied her for a second before answering softly. ''Doctors say it may take a while, but the mind control will leave. It's unsure what the consequences will be, though.''

''I'm gonna kill Loki.'' Katya turned to leave, but Natasha grabbed her arm before she could take more than one step. She didn't know where Loki was anyway, but when her sadness turned into rage, she couldn't sit and wait around. 

''It's no use, Kat,'' she argued gently. ''There is nothing we can do until we know where he went.'' Concerned eyes searched the blue ones for any clue to what she was feeling. It hurt Natasha to see her like this, so hurt. Katya lost a lot of people in her life but hadn't learned to deal with it any better.

She ripped her arm free, anger now prominent on her face. ''You don't understand Nat,'' she hissed. ''It's my fault Coulson got killed. I didn't see through Loki's tricks and now he's dead.''

Natasha knew Katya wasn't angry at her. She had to get the rage out of her system and she was just her victim for now. Could have been anyone, but that didn't mean she liked Katya yelling at her.

''He is the god of Mischief, Katya. Nobody could see through him. I think not even Thor understands his mind.'' She tried catching her gaze, hoping to calm her down, but Katya's eyes darted all over the room. 

''Stop making excuses for me.'' Katya didn't yell, which was the worst part. Her voice was cold and hard, but she hissed rather than screamed. Raising her voice is not something she did a lot. ''Coulson was your friend, why are you not angry at me.''

She wanted Natasha to be angry at her because she thought she deserved it. But that was the last straw and pushed Natasha -who wasn't a fan of yelling either- over the edge. ''Because this wasn't your fault.'' Katya was taken aback by her shift in tactics. ''Yes I'm sad he's gone, but Loki is the one who killed him, not you.'' She didn't yell, because the door was open and Clint was still out. It was more a frustrated growl.

Katya scoffed and opened her mouth to say something more, until Clint suddenly jolted awake, interrupting the fight and ending it for now.

They had restrained him so he couldn't attack them, and he tugged at the leather bounds roughly. Both women looked at him, before Natasha gave Katya a look that said they weren't done having this conversation and she turned to him, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

Clint shook his head wildly, trying to get Loki out of his head. Katya stood back, watching him struggle with her arms crossed. It hurt to see her friend like this and she was afraid of what he would say to her when somebody told him about Coulson's death.