Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 18: Battle Part 2

The Captain stepped to Thor, who had trouble getting up from his landing. The fight with his brother must have hurt him more than they thought possible.

''What's the story upstairs?'' Steve asked. Katya used her weapon to lean on, taking a break from the constant fighting. Like an old lady, the stick kept her up, her breathing heavy and sweat dripping down her forehead. 

''The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable,'' Thor replied. Great, so they couldn't close the portal. How were they going to stop this attack if they couldn't close the one thing supplying the threat?

Tony's voice came through their ears, speaking up for the first time in a long time. Katya had honestly completely forgotten about the Iron Man and by the looks on the faces of the others, they had too. ''Thor is right. We gotta deal with these guys.''

''How do we do this?'' Natasha asked from beside Katya, her question directed at the Captain, who was practically in charge right now. She didn't mind. Katya was not a leader, she was a follower, a soldier. She needed orders and not the lead over everyone in her team. That was too big of a responsibility.

''As a team,'' he answered. Really? That is his idea. No further explanation? They needed a plan. Without a plan, the three assassins were uncomfortable, not knowing their job in all this. Katya rolled her eyes at his sentiment, something she wasn't in the mood for right now. She was tired, in pain and sweaty and just wanted this all to be over so she could take a shower and sleep.

Thor almost cut Rogers off, letting him know what he wanted to do. ''I have unfinished business with Loki.''

''Yeah? Get in line.'' Katya smiled at Clint's dry humor, the kind of humor she had herself, before realizing she had problems with the god herself. 

''Starts behind me,'' she said. Nobody needed an explanation for her words. She wanted revenge for Coulson.

''Save it.'' The Captain cut their bantering off, walking past his teammates while talking. ''Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us-''

Katya didn't hear his last sentence, the sound of a motorcycle coming closer grabbing her attention. It was weird that somebody would drive into the city and not out of it. A smile formed on her face when Bruce came into view, driving a small motorcycle. He slalomed through the rubble and holes in the concrete.

The clothes he wore, definitely weren't his. Way too big. But that didn't matter. They needed the Hulk, not Doctor Banner.

Rogers walked over to the man, greeting him with a little nod, while the rest of the team followed. Katya held the alien weapon tight to her chest, the only thing giving her a sense of secure right now, not having her own guns.

Banner got off the bike and gestured around. ''So, this all seems horrible.''

''I've seen worse,'' Natasha said from in front of Katya. She could only imagine what she had gone through with the Hulk in the Helicarrier. Katya made a mental note to talk to her about it, because she had sounded seriously shaken up through the comms during the fight.

''Sorry,'' Banner apologized to her. He never meant to hurt her but couldn't help himself when he was the Hulk.

''No.'' Natasha didn't want to hear his apology. ''We could use a little worse.'' The man looked at her like he was surprised at her answer, like he expected her to run far away from him. But if Natasha excelled at one thing, it was placing herself in other people's shoes. And she wasn't right, they could really use the Hulk right about now.