Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 32: On The Run

Natasha pushed a clear bottle in Katya's right hand as they swiftly walked through the long corridors of the hospital, back to the car. If anyone saw them, they didn't say or do anything. Honestly, Katya believed if it had been only her and Natasha on the run, people would have called them in. But they profited off Steve's reputation right now.

The pills inside the bottle rattled when Katya shook it. ''Drugs? That's your peace offering?''

''You know I'm sorry,'' Natasha muttered to the floor, ashamed of her behavior earlier. ''I saw you and Rogers make a ten-story fall and I figured your shoulder would hurt.'' She glanced at the left arm Katya held tightly against her chest, trying to move it as little as possible. ''Seems like I was right.'' Natasha still had trouble apologizing. This was about as best as they got.

Katya's heart warmed at how much Natasha thought about her and cared for her. ''Did you steal these?'' She tried forcing the smile away from her face, but it broke through anyway.

''What?'' Natasha chuckled. ''There's not much to do in hospitals besides raiding the vending machines. I even got your favorite.''

Katya's eyes widened when Natasha pulled a chocolate bar from her jacket pocket. How much did she have in those? ''Apology accepted.'' Katya smiled as she snatched the food from her hand and opened it immediately. She hadn't had anything to eat after the pizza from last night and was trying to keep her stomach silent. 

She threw some pills in her mouth as well. Probably too much to be healthy, but the pain wasn't lessening. Upon seeing how many she took, Natasha looked at her worried. ''That bad?''

Katya nodded under the hood. ''It didn't agree with falling down ten stories and hitting a stone hard ground at such a high speed. It's seriously messed up now.'' The frown between the redhead's eyebrows wasn't something Katya liked seeing. She liked seeing her smile, so that's what she tried to achieve. ''But hey, I thought that was pretty reckless. Maybe that title should go to me.''

Natasha's frown disappeared almost entirely as she chuckled silently. ''You can have it. As long as you promise to spare me the heart attacks.'' Katya laughed silently at the image in her head of Natasha's shocked face when seeing her fall out the elevator with the Captain. 

A comfortable silence fell over them again, with both women following Steve out of the hospital, trying to stay away from the cameras. Natasha's head turned from Steve's back to Katya, like she remembered something or figured something out. ''What's going on with you and Rogers?''

Katya sighed. ''You saw that, huh?'' While Katya tried to act like everything was normal with Steve, he didn't, and his angry faces towards Katya had been picked up by Natasha. As usual.

''You do know who you're talking to, right?'' Natasha raised an amused eyebrow, both of them taking another left at the end of another hallway.

Katya chuckled, but it died down quickly. ''He found out about the apartment.'' Natasha's eyes filled with understanding, but that was not all he had found out in the last couple hours. ''And he saw Insight.''

Of course Natasha knew about Project Insight. While she didn't like it either, it was simply the way the world worked. Besides, Fury knew what he was doing and she trusted him. ''Let me guess, he doesn't agree with SHIELD's ways?''

Katya shook her head, some blonde strands of hair falling out under the hood. Her quick hands pushed them back under. ''No. Said it was fear and not freedom. Didn't want to have any part in it.''

The elevator finally came into view and they approached it quickly. Natasha spoke rapidly, before they were locked in the same room as Rogers and the conversation was cut off. ''What did you say?''