CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE

WILLOW WALKED OUT OF THE lab with Natasha following behind her. Neither of them said a word as they made it to the training rooms. Natasha was confused as to why they were there but she decided against questioning it and instead watched as Willow pulled her hair up into a ponytail, making her way over to the mat and staring at Natasha patiently. Natasha looked at her before making her way over towards her, stopping when she was in front of her.

Natasha stared at Willow, the two sharing a silent conversation with one another before they started training. Natasha might have been going easy on Willow, but at the same time Willow was making it hard to go easy on her. It's like all of her pent of nerves and fears were being thrown with her punches, hitting Natasha so hard that she was seeing stars, but the assassin never once fell down. Using her widow move, she quickly latched her legs around Willow's neck before throwing her to the ground, landing safely whilst Willow's back slammed against the mat, causing the breath to leave her lungs.

Gasping for air, she forced herself to sit up from the map, placing her head in her hands. Natasha placed her hands on her hips, sweat gleaming on her face as she stared down at the other woman. She glanced around the room, watching others train. Steve and Liliya, Wanda and Beth, Eloise and Sage. She turned her attention back towards Willow, kneeling down in front of the woman, watching her take deep heavy breaths before forcing herself to look up and towards Natasha. She could see the concern lining the woman's face, and all she could do was shake her head.

     Natasha sat down, Willow's eyes following her movements. "You don't seem as excited about this news as I thought you would. Why?" Willow didn't answer her, causing a sigh to escape her lips. She knew exactly what was running through Willow's mind. They were too much alike for Natasha's comfort. She licked her lips, shaking her head. "You don't think it's going to work, do you?" Willow hesitated, and that was all that Natasha needed. "Willow, this is going to work, okay? It will." It has to, she thought to herself.

     "You don't know that," Willow whispered.

     She nodded. "You're right, I don't know that." This made Willow look at her. "But you never know if something's going to work until you try it. You said it yourself, this is your last chance. This is your last chance to have a taste of normalcy. The alien will always be inside of you, that's something we can't do anything about. But if we can control it, if we can get it to bend at your will, appear when you want it to, then we can make it work. You can't give up, not when you're so close."

     Willow stared at her for a moment, cocking her head slightly. "The alien was right, wasn't she?" Natasha furrowed her eyebrows at this, getting even more confused when a small smile started to pull on Willow's lips. "You care about me, don't you?" Natasha stuttered. Willow had gotten Natasha freaking Romanoff to stutter. She gasped. "Oh, it's much more than that, isn't it? You like me, don't you?" She let a small laugh escape her lips. She was amused and thrilled all at the same time, and even though Natasha was trying to pull it together and claim that wasn't true, she couldn't help but relish in Willow's laughter.

     "Really?" Natasha asked, forcing a bored look on her face which only seemed to make Willow laugh even harder. She stood up, forcing herself to look away as a smile started spreading on her own lips. She clenched her jaw, clearing her throat and forcing the smile from her face as she turned back towards Willow, holding her hand out to her. "Are you going to keep laughing or are you going to accept my hand and go back to training?" Willow looked up at her before accepting her hand, allowing Natasha to pull her up.

     "I'm sorry." Willow caught her breath, placing a hand over her heart. "I just think that it's adorable. Either that or I'm just insane and am laughing for no reason."

     "Option B is winning."

     "Is it?"

     "Mhm, yeah."

     "You scared of confrontation, Natasha?"

     "No."

     "It's something else, isn't it." Willow then connected the dots. "There's someone else. Interesting, interesting. I feel like a detective." 

     "Did you drink coffee in the past ten minutes without me knowing it?" Natasha questioned.

     "Anxiety. Makes me bounce all over the place." Willow nodded. "Answer the question."

     "You never asked one."

     "Is there someone else?"

     "No." Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. "Not anymore." She made her way out of the training room and Willow followed her.

     "What happened?"

     "Nothing happened. It was just wrong place wrong time."

     "Vague. But, I'll accept it." Willow took a deep breath. "That was all very out of character for me, I'm sorry you had to witness that."

     "It's just the nerves." Natasha assured, offering her a small smile. "Though, I must say, that was a good training session. You really are getting better, you training on your own?" 

     "Trying." Willow admitted, nodding her head. "Funnily enough, training eases the alien. I'm not really sure why. I get the upper hand whenever I'm hitting something, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing." She crossed her arms over her chest.

     Natasha frowned slightly. "That's odd. But, I guess it won't really matter anymore. Soon enough you're going to have the upper hand no matter what you're doing. That's what you need to focus on. You're so close to that finish line, just a few more paces and you'll win."

     "Hopefully that's the case." Willow nodded, a sigh falling from her lips. "Yet, something tells me that the alien isn't going to go down without a fight."

     "If it's a fight it wants, it's a fight it gets." Natasha replied. "But she'll lose."

     "Maybe. But not if it she times it right." And just as they turned a corner, Willow was turning into the alien grabbing Natasha's head and slamming it against the wall, quickly grabbing her gun as she slipped to the floor. She smirked, shooting the gun before tossing it aside. "Something tells me she timed it absolutely perfect." And then she was walking away, leaving a pool of blood like she always did.