Paley (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
baneofpaley) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
eglaf2016-06-23 11:53 pm
baneofpaley) wrote in eglaf2016-06-23 11:53 pm
Natasha Romanoff
OPEN POST
Feel free to drop a starter or suggest a line with Natasha here. Prose, action and text are all welcome, prefer M/F for shipping but open to F/F. Below are some AU's/Themes I like to play with her:
Hope this is okay.
Those that were important had a way to contact him if they needed him. A half dozen phones shipped to different points across the map. The calls and texts to date hadn't been much in the way of emergencies, but he didn't mind. It was good to hear from his team, even if they weren't exactly his team any longer. Of course, there were two numbers that had stayed silent. Tony's, which was no surprise to anyone, and Natasha's. He was more surprised at the latter, but Natasha had made herself a target as much as the rest of them had by helping him and Bucky escape. He knew she would be lying low. It was possible that she hadn't even received the package he'd sent yet.
In the meantime, Steve did what he'd always done, he'd thrown himself into fights. He wasn't able to do it in the costume, or with the shield, but he had enough contacts to know where he could make a difference. Tonight he was hitting up a warehouse where human trafficking was the number one export. He'd traded in the bright blue for a costume of dark street clothes and a hat pulled low over his eyes in case there were any cameras around. He moved around the perimeter, waiting for a guard to pass before jumping the fence and taking him out. He watched as a truck pulled up into the dock and a line of women were forced into it. He was about to step forward and make his move, when a flash of bright red hair caught his eye at the back of the line.
Natasha?
YESSSsssSS (foreign language can be hovered over for translation)
Natasha didn't stay in one country for more than a week and a half, that was her cut off time. If she kept herself moving, they couldn't pin her down, and Natasha had no intention on sitting through a trial that made her justify her decision to let Steve and Barnes walk. It's what Steve would have done, and Steve was a good person. Natasha wanted to try to be one too, and nobody should have to justify 'good'. She was avoiding the States on purpose, still not ready to bounce around from place to place all while fighting the urge to return to familiar territory because it was so close. That was, until she stumbled her way into Bulgaria, and found the human trafficking ring that was established in its dark corners.
If it was anything else, Natasha would have let it go. She would have left an anonymous tip with the local authorities and let them sort it out, but this was too big. She knew how the police worked in Russia, they answered to the highest bidder, and there was something about watching these women get shuffled onto a boat like cargo that made her blood boil. She needed to find who was running the operation and take it down from the inside out... and there was only one way to do that. She had to get on the inside.
She put up a fight when she let herself be 'captured' from a local hostel that they seemed to frequent, but Natasha hid her strength unless one of the captors tried something with her or one of the other girls. And they did try, often. These men were monsters.
She was on the next shipment to... god only knew where, but Natasha felt her stomach sink when they arrived and she realized they were in America. There was no turning back now, though, she was too invested, and she was close. So close to finding the ringleader. After seeing what these men were trying to do to these girls, Natasha barely realized that she had already decided to kill him. Originally the plan was to hand deliver him to the front steps of the UN, but not now. Now, she wanted blood, and there was no one to keep her in check anymore.
They were being unloaded from the large truck, one after another, and Natasha situated herself so she would be in back with a better view of what was going on in front of her. It was only then that she saw something; movement, in the shadows by the security fence. She kept walking with her head down, subtly searching to see if it was a girl that had possibly escaped without notice, but what she saw wasn't a girl. Broad shoulders, tall, black clothing, a baseball cap... he was far away but he was unmistakable, she would have recognized him anywhere.
Steve Goddamn Rogers.
It brought a flood of complex emotions, fear being the largest one, and Natasha never thought that she would be afraid to see Steve. Of course she had searched for him, but she had limited resources now, and he was almost as hard to find as she was. She couldn't help but think that he didn't want her to find him. That what she had done in the end wasn't enough, because she chose the 'wrong side'. There was no right side. The Accords was doomed to tear them apart the second it came into existence, she knew that now. She as just foolish enough to think that they could move past it, all of them. Together.
She worked too hard to come this far and she was afraid that he would blow her cover without realizing she even had one, so Natasha had to think fast. She started to slow down, letting the girls ahead of her gain distance until the single guard behind her shoved her roughly in the center of the back.
"ход суки."
She turned, wrists still shackled together like every other girl in line, and she looked directly up at the guard with such confidence paired with a smile that made him falter for a second. It was the second she needed. "в том, что какой-нибудь способ чтобы поговорить с леди?" She spoke quietly to avoid the attention of the rest of the group now much further ahead, and Natasha had the chain between her wrists around his throat as she spun behind him before he could call his comrades to attention. She pulled, a look of determination set in her eyes, and she waited until she felt his struggling lessen to a stop as he fell unconscious. She let him drop unceremoniously to the ground before she was running, feet bare, across the asphalt to the shadowed location that Steve was standing in.
She wanted to explain to him what she was trying to do. She wanted to make sure he knew that she wanted nothing more than to keep the team together, that she didn't mean for Bucky to become what he became in the eyes of the government. She wanted to ask him if he hated her, but as soon as she was in front of him, close enough to see the color of his eyes, her pride and self preservation kicked in. She lifted her shackled wrists before her so they were between them. "Does the worlds oldest nun know how to get a girl out of handcuffs?"
no subject
He hadn't even realized that she'd seen him, but of course she had. He felt his heart speed up as she sprinted towards him and came to a stop in front of him. Her clothes were ragged and she was barefoot, but there was no denying that it was Natasha Romanoff standing in front of him with a smart comment and a pair of handcuffs.
"Are you telling me the world's best spy doesn't already have a way to get out of them?" His mouth spread out into a smile and he had to fight the urge to reach out and hug her. He let out a low breath, reaching for her wrists and pulling the handcuffs apart with a snap. "I didn't expect to see you here, but it is good to see you."
That was probably the understatement of the century.
no subject
When Steve said that it was good to see her, a reply of ‘is it, though?’ was on the tip of her tongue before she swallowed it back. There wasn’t time for her childish and, frankly, embarrassing insecurities, not when she was on a mission. This, her and Steve, whatever it was, could wait for now, and Natasha was a little too comfortable with that. She wasn’t one to avoid confrontation unless it mattered. This mattered. “What’s wrong, you couldn’t find your own party so you had to crash mine?” Despite her words, she was grateful to see him. Not only because it meant that he was safe, something that Natasha had worried about more than she’d like to admit, but because this was a much bigger project than she had originally thought and she considered, more than once, that she may not be able to bring it all down by herself.
”This is where they bring the girls to get approved and distributed, I have a feeling that the upstanding citizen running this whole thing is in that warehouse right now.” Natasha cocked her head over her shoulder. “Six guards in the truck, unknown number of hostiles in the building. At least fifteen civvies, I’m assuming more considering there are six heads alone transporting them.” Natasha wanted to turn then and run to the building, jump into work headfirst to avoid having to think about everything else, but seeing him there, standing right before her… it made it hard. She held his gaze for a second too long, let the silence linger for a moment just lengthy enough to give away that something else was on her mind, and despite how much she hated it she knew she had to ask. She couldn’t run into the unknown by his side, having already assumed he was there to help her, without asking.
”Are we okay?” She swallowed hard past a dry throat. “I couldn’t find you. I was moving around so much I couldn’t – are we okay?”
no subject
"What can I say? It looked like a good time." He gives a small shrug and grins at her a little longer. It's not that he's been worried about her, exactly. If anyone knows how to take care of herself, it's Natasha. But he's thought about her often and wondered where she was and what she's doing. Finding her here is a surprise, but it's not all that surprising.
The grin slips away as she gives him the rundown on the girls. He has his own intel, but as usual, Natasha has more. His eyes drift to the warehouse behind them and the visible guards. If he had his shield, he could calculate what kind of throw would take out three of them immediately, but he doesn't have the shield anymore. He nods and looks back at her, meeting her eyes. There's something else there and he waits for her to say it.
When she does, he blinks in surprise. "Nat," he says slowly. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here." He'd be in some prison and Bucky would most likely be dead. "We're good." He swallowed. "I've been trying to reach you too."
no subject
She looks like she just spent the past 48 hours being shipped from one place to the next in the undercarriage of boats and the back of trucks, but only in appearance. Her resolve is as strong as ever, although it seems to falter when she looks back up at him with uncertainty in her eyes; lingering worry from so many nights of the voice in her head telling her that she had broken her relationship with Steve beyond repair. “I considered just letting them throw me in prison so I could get out but I didn’t want to go through the effort. And I couldn’t take the chance that-“ they’d question her. Try to corner her into finding where Steve or Bucky were. She simply shakes her head, letting the thought end there. When she continues, she’s quieter, and her tone is dangerously close to one of defeat. “In this case, I just think it was better to run.” And now here she is. And here he is. They can’t leave the fight, even if the world turns on them in an effort to force them to do so.
Natasha holds his gaze for a lingering moment and she’s so close to saying it. ’I missed you.’ It’s on the tip of her tongue and she still has to swallow it back, because Steve might take it the wrong way. Even worse – he might not. It’s in the look she gives him, though, one that’s softer than anything she’d ever allow anyone else to see, filled with affection and relief all at once for the fact that he’s standing before her. “Come on,” she finally prompts, pulling her vision away from him with a bit of effort and turning to lead him to the warehouse, her voice lowering as she does. “I suddenly have the urge to make bad guys bleed.”
no subject
His fingers curl up into his palm when she mentions letting them put her into prison. It had been difficult enough seeing what they'd done to the others, but the idea of Natasha being locked up in a place like the Raft because of him wasn't something he liked thinking about. She pauses and he understands what she means without her finishing. He nods his head the slightest bit. Another thank you added to the many that he'll never be able to adequately voice. He'll make it up to her. He has to.
She holds his gaze and he thinks there's something else she's not saying. He can't help but wonder how much trouble he's caused her over the last few months and how long she's been alone. She's used to being alone, but he can't help but think she's not meant to be. She's better when she has a team. A family.
"Just like old times," he says, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. His hand lingers just a second too long as he fights the urge to pull her in for a hug. He's not sure if it's more for his benefit than hers and he wants to respect her space. He glances towards the warehouse, settling into action mode. "I'll take care of the guards."
He may not have his shield any longer, but he's got some other tricks still up his sleeve.
no subject
She manages a sad smile when she sees it though, and once his hand falls away and he prompts her with the first step of their plan Natasha reaches up and, instead of jumping into action immediately, she takes his chin and tilts his head to look at her from where he was gazing at the warehouse. She says nothing and simply looks at him, her touch moving instead until her hand cradles the side of his face and she lets his thumb run slightly against his cheek, a remarkably rare sign of affection that Natasha Romanoff simply doesn't give. He needs it, though, because again, Natasha knows him. Steve blames himself. A part of Natasha is upset with him, but it's easily drowned up by the part that knows she needs him in her life in one way or the other, and simply seeing him here is a comfort. She doesn't want him blaming himself. Conveying that with words to a man like Steve Rogers never works.
And then her hand falls away as she slips into a more defensive stance, the chance in mindset just as noticeable as the flick of a visible switch."Then I'll go for kingpin," she agrees aloud, and before they can waste anymore time with something as silly as feelings Natasha is moving, guiding Steve silently to the side of the warehouse.
She stays silent, signaling him to do the same before she creeps forward and moves to catch sight of the inside. She pulls away, still unseen, and signals to him with her hand. 'Eight armed hostiles, twelve civilians. Target on far end.' And before Steve can do that whole 'lets plan something' thing he likes to do Natasha is gone, having crept into the warehouse unseen and hugging the wall in an effort to gain some element of surprise. If Steve is going to take the guards she's going to need to get closer to their leader before he runs.