Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 46: And It All Goes Down

''Three, two, one...''

It were the longest seconds of her life as Katya hoped and prayed that some miracle would happen. That somehow, Steve would come through or the building lost electricity, but every second, it stayed awfully quiet.

Right on the count of zero, nobody expected it to go wrong anymore, all targets disappeared from the screen. All of them, at once, blipped away.

''Where are the targets? Where are the targets!?''  The voice through the ceiling yelled, but Katya barely noticed it. A wide smile was tugging at her lips, but she refused to celebrate too quickly. You know what happens if you do.

She shared a relieved look with Fury and turned to Natasha, who had a triumphant look in her eyes. The silent smiles between them was enough to frustrate Pierce even more than he already was. Faintly, Katya registered Maria talking in her ear. ''Okay, Cap, get out of there.''

The millions of targets previously displayed on screen, turned into only three: the Helicarriers themselves. In the end, the ultimate weapons would destroy themselves. 

What irony. 

''Fire now.''

Katya was abruptly thrown off her throne by Steve's answer. Her smile dropped and light panic filled her eyes. Of course Natasha, who was still looking at her, noticed her change in demeanor immediately.

''What's wrong?'' she asked worried, since she couldn't hear Maria and so had no idea what was going on outside the room. 

''But, Steve...''  Maria tried.

''Steve, please don't.'' Katya and Maria's voices must have blended together in Steve's ear, but he didn't have to understand the words to know they were protests. 

''Do it! Do it now!''

''Katya??'' Natasha tried to pull her attention back to her. Not knowing what was going on was frustrating her.

''Rogers is not clear, but he ordered Hill to fire.'' Was HYDRA going to get a reason to celebrate after all?

Natasha's face dropped, as well as Fury's, and they all turned to the windows, watching with pain in their hearts as the Helicarriers started firing on each other. 

Nobody knew what to say as the gunshots rang out and echoed between the different parts of the Triskelion. Destroying the Helicarriers was both necessary and symbolic. It marked the end of SHIELD as the world knew it, but it also signaled the end of HYDRA and lies.

With mixed feelings, Katya stared at the floating boats. The same kind her adventure with the Avengers started on. Even without SHIELD, she had the feeling the Avengers would continue. The world needed them, whether they liked it or not. That new family she got, it wasn't gone.

Pierce interrupted the vacuum of silence in the room and brought their attention back to the HYDRA leader they still had to deal with. ''What a waste.''

''Are you still on the fence about Rogers' chances?'' Natasha dryly asked him.

''Time to go, Councilwoman.'' Pierce gestured for Natasha to move. Despite controlling her now, he still didn't dare touch her. ''This way, come on. You're gonna fly me out of here.'' Apparently, her comment had been his cue to leave. 

This was exactly what Katya was afraid off: Pierce ordering around Natasha because he had her life in his hands, literally. And he knew Katya would never try anything if it meant putting Natasha's life in danger. 

So while her body screamed to shoot him, all she could do was watch powerlessly. 

But Natasha wouldn't be Natasha, the great Black Widow, if she didn't have something up her sleeve. And Fury knew that as well. ''You know, there was a time I would have taken a bullet for you,'' he tried to stall and distract Pierce, which worked because he walked behind Natasha and didn't pay attention to her actions.