Time stops. Time stands still. Time spits in your eye and grins. The wheel stops spinning, your gamble fails, the numbers went against you after all.
You lose, Natasha.
rozhdestvo :: independent black widow written by ange
Magnus Bane The Infernal Devices (via demolitiongirl)
“They’re so sappy, it’s disgusting.” Clint’s snide remark is almost lost under Sam’s feigned wretching. “Super assassins in love. I think it’s sweet”, Tony quips. “Would make for a great Lifetime movie, too.“ “You guys do realize we can hear you and I have a sniper rifle…?”
i do now....
the words echo in her ears like a war drum, beat pounding harder, closer as the battle draws on. with t’challa twitching under the power of her sting, she can feel the beat as it rumbles against her heart.
does he still mean it?
she flees general ross’ men without blinking, spends weeks blending into old towns with new names and rotating looks. the familiar loneliness of anonymity seeps into her bones, but for the first time, longing accompanies it to ache behind her belly button. home is not a word she has often associated herself with, but her complacency has made her soft, made her comfortable.
at least that’s what she tells herself when she shows up at his door.
❛ can i come in? ❜
Like the lil cutie for a starter.
Like the lil cutie for a starter.
Time stops. Time stands still. Time spits in your eye and grins. The wheel stops spinning, your gamble fails, the numbers went against you after all.
You lose, Natasha.
he doesn’t answer, unembarrassed by his knee-jerk reaction but unwilling to defend it. all he does he cast a heavy- lidded, tired glare in her direction and then wipe it away with the rough palm of his hand.
while tying his shoes his eyes flick from the bead of blood on her hand to her face.
his stare is all business.
“are you ready for this?”
as she lets up the pressure, her thumb comes to her lips, tongue slipping out to clean the copper from her fingertip. it aches to flex her fingers, but it’s only flesh. she’ll heal.
stepping back to give him space, her answer comes in the form of a solid nod.
❛ are you? ❜ she returns, reaching out to press a mug of instant coffee toward his fist. her own task is nothing compared to the weight of his, the importance of it. one wrong move and he’ll fry them both, incinerate them before they have so much as a chance to realize their mistake. ❛ i intend to make it back tonight. ❜
the first time had been on purpose. this time was an accident.
—sorta.
zeke sat diagonally from who he believed was an avenger, but he couldn’t be certain from this distance. the subway car wasn’t packed at this hour, leaving the gangly teenager, an elderly couple on one end, and this woman down from him. zeke took it as an opportunity, and slid all the way across the line of seats so that he was face to face with her. on his red shirt was emblazoned TONY STARK WAS RIGHT with a graphic of a skull wearing Captain America’s helmet. whoops. hopefully that wouldn’t make things too awkward.
“—you look like you’ve had a long day.”
there’s something inherently familiar about the rumble of the subway car as it speeds along the tracks. with steady breaths, she brings herself down from the mission high, opting for the civilian mode of transportation to bring some grounding to the past few weeks of adrenaline and authority avoidance.
she can’t keep her eyes from tracking around the car, nor her ears from listening in to the older woman tell her husband for the eighth time that they need to pick up cat food on the way home. as her eyes pass the shirt on the boy who slides to sit across from her, her stomach bottoms out, lands beneath the seat.
he they weren’t right.
❛ i’ve had worse. ❜
I’ve purchased so many shitty movies for iconing purposes. x_x
❛ you ever think about retiring? just not be a spy or an avenger anymore. ❜
♥ @bolshoii
❛ who doesn’t? ❜ she returns, half a smirk curling up in bobbi’s direction. ❛ not sure i could get out now even if i wanted to. as soon as i settled down, someone’d come knocking. ❜
her eyes slide over, brow reaching up toward her hairline. ❛ ------why? don’t tell me you’re making plans to return to the civilian life. ❜
there’s a part of her that’s always felt – hesitant toward natasha. she doesn’t want to call it discomfort, because it isn’t, not really, but there’s something undeniable there that she can’t quite sort out for herself. now, even more so; when she looks at the woman standing across from her, her first instinct is to bolt, to tell roman she’s sorry, she tried, but she just – can’t do it.
(it would be easier if this were alexei, or even yelena. but it isn’t, and she’s here, and she doesn’t have any other choice now. she has to try.)
“– thanks.”
she steps inside, moves toward the living room, and fights the temptation to study everything too closely. she wants to keep some careful form of detachment for as long as she can because, if she doesn’t, she knows this will turn into something else entirely and she isn’t here in the interest of arguing. she’s – tired, she thinks, of that.
try, she reminds herself. try.
“– — you’ve been doing okay?”
she releases her iron tight grip on her breath as josephine steps inside. for weeks, she’s swallowed down the icy tendrils of dread that threaten their latch on her rib cage. they will fix this, even if it takes years. there is no giving up on her family.
❛ things are... getting better, ❜ she replies slowly, thoughtfully. jo’s appearance has been the most bolstering event of late, but shield is coming back together, the laws are being turned around.
❛ how about you? ❜
are you doing okay? how’re roman and the baby? does this mean you might be able to forgive me one day? what can i do, tell me how to reconcile this with you...
❛ ------the kettle’s still warm if you want some tea. ❜
he jolts awake suddenly — with the wide-eyed panic of disorientation — and the key in his pocket (faster than his eyes open) becomes a blade double the width of a needle and imbeds itself in the hand of whoever shook him awake —
“Wha — ?”
she grits her teeth against the fiery intrusion, pulling back so her free hand can pluck the metal from her flesh. a ruby bead wells up in it’s place and she holds her thumb tight against the puncture wound.
❛ was that necessary? ❜
she chunks the key down next to him, the metal pinging against the floor before it settles.
❛ --------it’s time to move. ❜
“ yes, i do. ”
not exactly the time for petulance, but meh.
“ why? because he’s kicking a hornet’s nest … he’s the one who shot yelena. ”
❛ i know, ❜ she replies. ❛ he thinks she killed aliana. ❜
natasha does not. it isn’t a matter of capability--yelena is capable of causing nearly as much misery as she, but it’s not her style.
❛ why are you telling me this? don’t tell me you’re concerned about him. ❜
