Ch12

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Walking down the hallways, she didn't feel any different. She lifted her shirt to see that the needle prick was already healed. She shrugged it off and opened the training room door. She looked up to see the familiar red stain she had put on the ceiling the night she killed her fellow comrades. She couldn't remember which girl it came from, but she knew it was her fault it flew up there during the massacre. In her own little world, she didn't see the glint of metal as it barely connected with her face.

While Natalia was napping after her night with Loki, Bruce and Clint caught everyone up on the recent events by replaying all of it, fast forwarding the boring parts. The only part Steve missed was the part when Bucky came in. He would be in for a surprise. They all watched the events that took place by watching what was recorded. Before Bucky appeared, Clint sat Steve down and told him to remain calm and that Natasha didn't have any memory of this, which is why she never told them. This confused Steve, Tony and Thor too.

When Bucky appeared before Natalia outside of her room, Steve stood up from his chair to get a closer look. He saw Bucky and Natalia size each other up. Thor and Tony gasped when they saw him. This was the man who took down S.H.E.I.L.D, and Steve's childhood friend. Steve confirmed it was him. He didn't have his mask on and there was no mistaking him. He just couldn't believe that Natalia had met him. They watched the rest in silence. They were just as confused as Natalia when she was injected with the needle. They had no idea what was in the solution and it scared them a little. It didn't cause her to have any ill effects, yet. Bruce ran more tests on Natasha lying there but there wasn't anything to be found. Whatever it was, it was untraceable. The boys watched as she left the room all confused and return to the training room. Right as she walked in, the boys watched a metal arm fly about a half a centimeter from her face, before she caught it and used the man's weight to her advantage, causing him to hit the ground.

Natalia sensed rather than saw the arm fly past her face. She moved back just enough for it to miss her as she grabbed it and pulled the rest of the body to the floor. She knew it was James. He smiled from the floor and held his hand out for her to help him up. She reached for it and he pulled her to the ground with him, twisting her arm so that she flipped stomach down, and put his boot between her shoulders. Natalia cursed herself for falling for that trick, and quickly thought of a way to escape his grasp. Her arm was pulling tighter and tighter, causing her shoulder to hurt. She was lying flat on her front so she bucked her back leg out and connected with James back. She was very flexible. He stumbled forward, causing him to lose her grip of the red head. He regained his balance and turned to strike her, but she had already gotten up and moved. She jumped onto his back, putting him into a headlock. She was strong, but he was equally strong and skilled. He broke the headlock by running up the wall, and flipping over her head. They fought for at least thirty more minutes before they realized that neither of them had gained the upper hand. They were equals, and had been trained in similar ways. They gave up in frustration. Neither of them had ever lost and it was a first for them. James stormed from the training room and Natalia stayed back for a few more minutes. She didn't know what to think about her new "friend" but she did know she didn't like him. She sat there in her own thoughts for a few more minutes before leaving to go to her room. She was tired and decided to take a nap.

The Avengers all watched as the two fought and were equally frustrated at the outcome. Of course they were a little biased because Natasha was their friend, but she never gained the upper hand, just as Bucky hadn't. Steve had a range of emotions strewn across his face, but he never said anything.

Loki only knew about Bucky from what Natalia had told him. She had always respected him, and he respected her. They never grew to be friends and that was fine with Loki. He was always a bit protective of her when she was with him. They grew to be teammates, but nothing more. He was destructive and even disappeared after a year or so with the Red Room. That must have been when HYDRA took him back.

"Tony," Loki said, "show me the machine and how it connects to her. I need to know everything in order to help. "

Tony nodded and grabbed the blueprints off of a desk and brought it over to the machine. As they talked technical things, Clint, Thor, Bruce, and Steve left to take a break and process everything. Clint wanted to know how the break in went and Bruce wanted to know if they could trust Loki. Steve was just tagging along, still upset at seeing Bucky.

Tony explained how the machine ran and how it hooked up to Natasha. He also showed where the crystal came in. At the heart of the machine, it sat surrounded by an arc reactor similar to his own. It kept it from frying the machine and also pumped its energy into the wires connected to Natasha. He explained how the wires connecting to Natasha, especially the one with the needle in her brain, had a coated core that kept the energy flow constant. He explained that he didn't know what would happen if he just pulled the wires from her. He also explained that he didn't know why he was able to come out of the dream state but she got stuck, and connected. The leftover crystal he had cut from the original to make it fit still sat in the titanium box that he had shown Loki. Loki thanked Odin for Tony not using the whole thing. It could have been disastrous.

"Chitauri crystals are extremely dangerous Tony. I don't even know how you were able to hold one without being affected somehow. Your arc reactor, maybe that's how you came out, and she didn't. I don't know. They are just that unpredictable. The crystals come from an Infinity Stone. It was given to me by Thanos which you already know. Again, sorry for unleashing an alien race on your planet. Well, it bends the wills of others by controlling their hearts. I'm guessing that since Natasha was affected emotionally by reliving some of her past life, the crystal hooked on to that emotion and bent it out of shape. Since the energy is constantly flowing into her, it manifested itself into something different, binding her mind to her childhood self and growing with her. Suddenly breaking that bond could be catastrophic, and could kill her if done improperly. "

Tony listened in silent horror. He knew all of this, but when he said that the crystal manifested itself into something different, he couldn't help but wonder what it would do to her. They had to disconnect her, but he wasn't sure how without killing her. Just as they talked, Natalia jumped a few days. She went on missions with James and trained everyday with him. She even met with Loki a few more times.

Tony didn't have to relay the information to the rest of the team. Their distrust if Loki had them ask JARVIS to keep them connected with the lab. They watched and listened in from the kitchen.

"So what do you suggest in terms of disconnecting her?" Tony asked Loki.

"Let me think for a little while. I want to do this right. But we can't waste any time. We have to do this fast. "

"Why rush? You just said we need to take our time so we don't kill her."

"I know, but think of the psychological effects she could have, having to relive all of that. She may not ever be the same."

Tony silently agreed. But there was more to it that what Loki was saying, he could tell. He let it slide and gave the god some space as he thought of ideas. He left Loki to his thoughts and joined the rest of the team in the kitchen.

All eyes turned to him as he walked in. He saw their concerned faces. "Relax, he won't hurt her. There is more to their story than what he is telling us."

"I know," replied Clint, "and that's what worries me."

They all sat in silence. Bruce was glued to his handheld monitor of Natasha's vitals and the rest just sipped coffee and watched the screen. Natalia was on yet another mission. They seemed to have increased since her injection. She hasn't shown any signs yet of change. Maybe the injection didn't work, whatever it was supposed to do.

Loki sat staring at the machine. He saw how the crystal pulsated within its reactor, along with the one in the box on the table. He thought of a million different ways to disconnect her. Then he had an idea.

He wasn't sure how to summon the others to present his plan, but he gave it a shot. He didn't know they were watching. He said loudly, "Umm, invisible talking machine voice? I need you to summon the others to the lab please." He slightly remembered the Avengers talking to an invisible voice that did things for them. He hoped they still had it or he would look even more stupid than he already felt. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard, "Yes sir master Loki."

The Avengers raced to the lab when JARVIS called them. "I have an idea on how to disconnect her, but it's a long shot being that this has never happened before."

"Well what is it!" Tony exclaimed as he ran over to where Loki was standing.

"The extra crystal, I think that if we make it into something, say a ring or necklace, and put it on her, we could remove the wires from her..."

This enraged Clint. "Add another crystal!? That's crazy! No, we aren't doing it!"

"Hear me out, I'm not finished." Clint rolled his eyes, still fuming.

"We can't just remove the wires from her. The energy from the crystal in the machine is still within her. But if we add the extra crystal, since it was a part of the same thing, it wouldn't be like totally removing it from her. The constant contact from the ring or necklace would slowly drain the energy from her over time, instead of all at once if we just ripped it from her head."

"It could just work," said Bruce.

Thor agreed and chimed in with "but Tony has to make it, since none of us can touch it. His arc reactor keeps him from absorbing the energy."

"I'll get to work now. It's time to bring her back."

The lab was a flurry of excitement and apprehension. Steve had the idea of making a cuff since it would be harder to accidently come off. Loki also suggested having a lock system on it that regulated the energy flow so that it wouldn't drain into the crystal too fast. Also, when it was safe, the cuff would unlock itself and come off. All these ideas went into the making of the cuff and after an hour or two, it was time.

Tony walked the cuff over to Natasha to put it on, but Thor grabbed his arm. "I think we should put it on and remove the wires at the same time."

"That's actually a really good idea brother," Loki said as he waked over to where the wires connected to Natasha. He placed his hands on the one on her head, and the other on her chest and prepared to pull them. Tony got the cuff ready and looked to Bruce to see if she was stable enough. He nodded, and then Tony counted the moments down.

They all held their breath. "3...2...1." The wires detached as the cuff went on and locked into place. They all stood frozen for a moment before Bruce said, "It worked." Nothing blew up, Natasha didn't die or have any reaction, and everyone started high fiving.

Bruce was all smiles and kept assessing her vitals. "She may not wake up for a little while, but her brain waves are no longer stressed. I think it actually worked!" He could almost feel the beast within him smile also.

Tony grabbed Natasha's hand and leaned down to her ear. "We did it Natasha. You're back!" he whispered excitedly before celebrating with the rest of his team.

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Natalia had just gotten back from another mission and Ivan had summoned her to the lab.

"What now Ivan," she asked annoyed. She was due to meet Loki in an hour or two and she was impatient to get there.

Ivan gave her an angry look and she shut up. She had gotten cocky with him lately but he didn't punish her any.

He never said anything as Dr. Andrei hooked her up to some wires.

"What's all this for?" she asked.

Dr. Andrei was the one who replied. "We just need to put you under and give you a little shock to see how things are going."

"What things? Does this have anything to do with that injection you gave me?" She looked from Dr. Andrei to Ivan, and Ivan just smiled.

Dr. Andrei pulled out a needle and stuck it into her vein. Within moments, she had fallen under into the darkness of sleep.

"We did it Natasha. You're back!"

"Who the hell is Natasha?" she thought.