So, enjoy the revised version of Agent Romanoff. Hope you like it!

»»————- ★ ————-««

( prologue. ) 

  »»————- ★ ————-««   

Natasha isn't exactly the most patient person in the world but she clearly knew the importance of time.

Okay, that was a lie. Actually, she's not the kind to hold in a long amount of patience. She's not particularly fond of waiting because waiting means wasting.

And that being said—she knew better than to wait for their Captain to meet her in the gym when he was already ten minutes late. She very well knew for a fact that Steve Rogers isn't the type of person who would be late for something. Much less for a sparring session.

She just wasted ten minutes of her life waiting in a stinky gym which reeked a lot by the way, and that was probably the longest time of her patience used up. Yeah, because Steve is just that special to her.

As a teammate, of course. Not anything more.

Not that she wanted anything more than—

"Who do you want me to be?"

"How about a friend?"

She snorted at that. Recently, the spy finds herself having odd feelings for the certain soldier. It had been a year since what happened with SHIELD. And ever since D.C., they hadn't got the chance to contact one another since both of them were busy doing their own business; she needed time to try and figure out how to clear her name after her past is thrown out there in the world together with SHIELD's files while Steve went on to search for Bucky. She was glad that the government finally stopped nagging on her back and (with great reluctance) decided to leave her alone.

And to think that this all wouldn't happen if she wasn't even assigned to be partnered up with Steve Rogers in the first place. She didn't know what Fury was thinking when she had been debriefed that Captain America is going to be her new partner after Clint decided to lay low for a while.

Truth be told, it took a while before she had finally agreed to this arrangement. Since nothing about Steve Rogers could be adaptable enough to be classified as a spy while she was the exact opposite—she knew this was never going to work out. But she was left with no other choice.

To her dismay and utter surprise, things actually went better than she expected. Of course they had a rocky start, a couple of harsh words and banters were thrown at one another. Steve was actually patient enough to deal with her constant rudeness, stubbornness, and refusal to make amends meet involving their working relationship. Natasha always shuts him out and she could see how much it hurt him (he was terrible at lying). She knew it was unfair to him, being him the one who actually didn't know where to find his footing, and she wasn't doing a very good job of making sure Steve Rogers learns to adapt the modern way of life.

Yeah, she sucked big time.

But, somehow, ironically enough, despite Natasha's annoyance and wariness towards him at first, he ended up being one of the people she really cares about in the end. It meant a lot to her just as it did to Steve.

The soldier and the spy, the most messed up duo you could ever match up, actually ends up trusting one another. It sounds really strange when you think about it. But it happened. And now, she's starting to wonder if she made the right choice of letting down her walls for him. Especially now that she's starting to feel these strange feelings ever since she came back and saw him.

She shrugged off these thoughts, not wanting to cloud her mind thinking about him again. She decided to go check up on Steve herself, wondering what the hell happened to him for taking so long, and got inside the elevator to go back to their floor. It came to a halt once Natasha reached the top floor of the famous Stark— oh, right, the Avengers tower now.

"Excuse me, Agent Romanoff." The voice of Tony's AI startled her as she was turning to exit the elevator. She still hasn't get used to it suddenly popping out of nowhere.

"Next time, try a little less startling approach."

"I apologize, Agent Romanoff, but it's apparent that Mr. Stark asks you to see him back in his lab."

She furrowed her eyebrows, pausing, "For what?"

"He didn't specifically say what it is for."

"Well, you can tell him it would have to wait because I have a sparring session with Steve."

"I'm terribly sorry, Agent Romanoff, but he asks to see you now. He said it's urgent."

Natasha grumbled, contemplating whether to just pretend like she didn't hear it or just get on with it and save herself a lot of nagging from Tony later on (she was sure he'd end up bugging her about whatever it is anyway).

She mumbled under her breath, "This better be good, Stark."

  ————————————————————————————    

Tony Stark grinned in excitement as he stepped back to take a look at his latest invention. He remarked that it would be one of his greatest creations and contribution to the 21st century. Although, as much as he's sure enough of his work, he needed a critic to come and see for themselves.

And who better than to ask the notable Black Widow to do it?

He took a deep breath when the clicking of heels across the floor reached his ears. "Your reason better be worth it to make me come all the way here."

Tony grinned, whipping around to see the red-haired spy with her face scrunched up in irritation. He noticed she was wearing a tank top and jeans, which wasn't her every day outfit even if it was just at the tower. "Were you supposed to—"

"Yes," she cut him off briskly, striding across the floor to get near him, "I'm busy, so I'd really appreciate it if you just skipped to the end and tell me the exact reason I'm here for."

He rolled his eyes, already gotten used to her bluntness and insensitiveness. Well, it's not like it's a one-sided thing. He and Natasha don't really fall into the classification as friends, and because they still haven't worked out their trust issues for one another. Hell, if it weren't for the Avengers, they probably wouldn't even bother striking up a conversation every now and then.

"I need your help." He said.

"Yeah, that I figured. On what, exactly?"

He then walked over to where a huge object settled on the side of the room, pulled the covers away to reveal a high-tech looking machine. "This."

She could only look at it in puzzlement, knowing it was another of Tony's crazy inventions. But unlike the previous times, this one she had really no idea what it is. There were lots of wires and cables attached to the machine, but it looked very complicated and dangerous to tamper with. "What's this?"

"A time machine."

She didn't know if she simply misheard him, or he was just really that crazy. "What?"

"A machine capable of transporting a person backward or forward in time." He explained, smugly.

Yup, Tony Stark was officially out of his mind.

"You're serious?" She didn't know whether to laugh or feel pity for him. Probably both.

Tony furrowed his eyebrows, taking a look of her face, "Why are you laughing? Are you—this isn't a trick, okay? This is real."

"Yeah, real... like you being able to lift Thor's precious hammer. That real."

"I'm slightly offended."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Really, Tony, just tell me the reason why I'm here so I can go back to doing my stuff."

"That is the reason why you're here. I'm going to ask to hear out your opinion before I officially forward this to the Secretary of the state and get a patent—"

She looked at him quizzically, not even caring if she interrupted him halfway. "Why me?"

"Why not you?" When she still didn't get him, he sighed impatiently and cleared it out, "Because I know you're actually the kind that's going to take more than just a cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner to impress.

"Well, you're not wrong." She wasn't going to lie though, the machine did look legit enough to be real, but she still wasn't fully convinced about it. Despite the complicated looking sight of this 'time machine' in front of her, it was enough to impress her. "Prove it."

A smirk made it way to the billionaire's lips. "And here I thought you'd never ask me to."

He quickly got up and began working his way with the machine. She watched as he pushed numerous buttons and connected some wires. He seemed pretty serious about this, with all the sweat dripping from his forehead, and she considered that as a plus point. Finally, he plugged in of what looks to be the main cable of the machine and made it light up like a beauty.

"Yes!" Tony exclaimed, giddily excited like he was a child who won a prize at a carnival, and calmed down just enough, patting the top of the machine. "Baby, I knew you wouldn't let me down." He turned to look at her, "So?"

Natasha smirked in response. "It looks real enough. That is, if you're aiming to be a magician for five-year old kids."

Tony's grin didn't cease though, in fact, it boosted his confidence even more. "You haven't seen the rest of it yet, Romanoff. JARVIS, want to give her the grand finale?"

"Are you planning to activate Project Incognito, sir?"

Natasha couldn't let hide back the snicker threatening to escape her mouth and Tony had already flush in embarrassment. "You couldn't think of a better name for this supposedly 'time machine' of yours?" She laughed.

He grunted in annoyance. "JARVIS, remind me to adjust your memory circuits later. I thought I had mentioned not to dispatch that name when we're in public."

"My apologies, sir."

"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it."

Suddenly, the screen placed on the control panels suddenly lit up. It showed them a holographic view of a specific area. Once she was finally able to make out what it was trying to show them, she realized it was the exact replica of Tony's lab.

Her green eyes stroke with confusion, looking at Tony, "I don't understand."

Before he was even given a chance to speak, the doors from the lab slid open. Natasha craned over her shoulder just in time to see their captain entering the room.

He looked as equally confused as they are to stay right by the doors. "I-uh... sorry. I didn't mean to barge in on this..." His gaze switched from hers, to Tony's and then to the large machine on the corner of the room. "Whatever you guys were doing."

Natasha suddenly snapped out of it and remembered that he's the reason why she's putting up with Tony's fantasies over a time machine. "Where were you? We were supposed to spar about half an hour ago!"

Steve flinched at her tone, ducking his head away embarrassingly as he rubbed his neck, "Sorry about that. I just had a little run-in with Clint and it kind of led to one problem and to another."

"What?"

"He dumped a bucket of water over me."

She couldn't understand where he was getting at. "Because?"

"Said he wanted to keep his spy skills on check. And if being able to sneak up on Captain America would assure him he's still good to go, he'd do it. So, it caused me another couple minutes to head back and change."

Natasha rolled her eyes. Apparently, that sounded a hell of a lot like Clint. "I swear to God, I am living in a tower full of children."

"Hey!" Tony protested from where he was. "As if you're any more mature, you threw a fit when you found out I ate the last piece of apple pie in the fridge the other day."

"Because I made that apple pie!" she argued.

"Whatever. Okay, now that we're done with the greetings and catching up, can you please help me out now? Capsicle's here, you two can go do your sparring slash make out session after I'm done."

Steve blushed furiously, glaring at him. "Stark..."

Natasha ignored him, crossing her arms, and just wanting to get all of this done with. "Fine. Just  continue presenting us your masterpiece." She quoted with fingers in the air.

"As I was saying, this is a time machine." He stopped to take a look at his audience. Natasha simply stood there, unamused and running out of patience while Steve held every ounce of confusion in his face. "It can send you back or forward to any time period you want to go. Whether it's just yesterday, a week ago, or a century ago. If you want to know what's at stake for you ten years from now, then you could travel to that time too."

Steve stared to give him a doubtful look before glancing at Natasha, "Is he being serious?"

"Unfortunately." she said.

Tony looks at them exasperatedly, "Do you even understand what I'm saying?"

"I don't." Steve claimed.

"I kind of expected that, Cap."

Steve didn't know if he was supposed to be offended by that or not. His ears perked up in suspicion when he heard something clanging from his left. It looked to be coming from the walls. Not a minute later, the cover of one of the vents fall off and came out Clint.

"God, it's hot in there." He says before looking up to meet the eyes of his teammates. "I take it this isn't the storage room?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow, "How long were you been there?"

"About two hours." He said, standing up and dusting off his pants.

"You were crawling in the vents for two hours?" Steve asked in bewilderment. "Why on earth would you do that?"

"I thought you were out to kill me after pulling that stunt on you. Sorry by the way, just wanted to make sure I was still fresh as a daisy." It was then he looked up and saw the center of attention in the entire room. "Holy crap, what is that?"

Tony groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I am not explaining the whole thing all over again."

"Explain what?"

"He made a... time machine. Is that what you called it?" Steve looked at him for confirmation.

Natasha smirked. "Actually, I think the correct term is 'Project: Incognito'."

"Shut it, Natalie."

"A time machine? Like the one in that movie... what's that? Have you guys seen the kid where he travels back in time and accidentally tampers with the meeting of his parents?" Clint asked.

She thought about it for a moment. "Wait, I think I've seen that already."

"It's an eighties movie, with that Michael kid... what's his name?" Tony chimed in, clicking his tongue in recognition.

"Michael J. Fox, I think." She concluded. At that minute, she completely forgot about Steve and just noticed him being quiet the whole time. She felt sorry for him but at the same time couldn't help but think he looked adorable when he looked so lost and confused about all the modern-day references. "Uh, sorry. You probably haven't watched that yet."

"It's a sci-fi movie, Cap. It involves time travel." Clint cleared out.

Tony swooped in to steer the conversation back to the main business. "Just like what I did here. Not anything like the DeLorean time machine in the movie, but still, it's worth something. You see this screen?" He pointed at the holographic screen hovering over the control panel. "This actually shows the exact time period you're currently in. Hence, why there's a holographic sketch of the lab and the fours of us here. To enter the date you want to time-travel through, you just have to simply type it here in the panel."

That seemed to make more sense in her mind now, but she's still wondering of one significant detail. "So you can travel back or forward in time, but how are you supposed to get back to your current time after that?"

"Good question." He then pushed a button which showed a holographic draft of what looks like a watch this time. "This watch would serve to monitor the maximum time you're allowed to stay in the time zone that you traveled to."

"Wait, maximum time? Are you saying that there's a countdown for this?" Clint asked with wide eyes.

Tony shrugged. "Something like that. This number over here indicates the battery percentage of your watch. You need to make sure that you've already returned by then to your original time zone before it drains down."

"Why?" The three were surprised to hear Steve finally speak up. He seemed surprised himself as well for being able to catch up in a complicated talk regarding Science, but he did it. "What happens when it drains out before you come back?"

He let out a sigh, "This is called Project Incognito for a reason. Time travelling is a very serious matter but it could be very useful for a lot of things, but still, the longer you spend your time staying in the past or in the future, the more likely, things are going to change. Think of it as a side effect. That's why it's advisable for you to be as incognito as possible once you've traveled to a different time. Staying out too long of your time zone would cause a disruption in the space-time continuum."

"Which means?" Steve asked.

There was a pregnant pause, before he answered, "You'll cease to exist."

Natasha eyes dawned in realization before her gaze becomes harsher and retaliating. "Isn't that too big of a price to pay?"

"Well, of course we won't let that happen. Unless you want to stay a month in a time zone you're unfamiliar with, be my guest. Anyway, to answer your very very very previous question," He looked at Natasha. "Thanks to the new element I created, my arc reactor is actually capable of harnessing enough power to activate space and time molecules and send one's body back to the exact time you left. So, the people around you won't even notice you're gone. Just you."

She tilted her head at him questioningly. "So basically, this time machine only works for you unless you're another person who also possesses a similar power to your arc reactor?"

Tony opens his mouth to argue back only when no words came out. He frowned as she let out a triumphant smirk. "Yes." He sighed in defeat, cursing that he didn't think past that.

Natasha squinted her eyes, leaning her face closer to the holographic watch. "Anne Klein?" she laughed.

Tony snatches the watch away from her view, holding the holographic watch in his hold. "It's Pepper's. I couldn't find my own watch." He defended.

She snatched it from him and started to clasp it on her own wrist just for her own entertainment. She angled it away to her eye level, checking to see the quality of the watch. "Hmm... not bad."

Steve immediately looks over her in concern, stepping in to look at the watch on her wrist. "Nat, you don't know if that's safe."

"It's fine, Steve. It's fine, right?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, it's just a prototype anyway. Not the real thing."

For the third time today, they were interrupted when the doors slid open and this time, Thor came in looking extremely pissed off. Natasha was surprised to see him here, considering that he isn't always around due to his duties to his own people. He had just probably gotten back from Asgard again. But judging from his grand entrance, she's not particularly sure that he's here for a nice chit chat.

"What on earth are you doing, Stark?" Thor demanded, quickly striding off to where they were, planting himself between them and Tony.

"A little hello would at least be nice." Tony asserted.

"I would, if you weren't so low enough to steal something of mine."

"Woah, woah, hold up. Something of yours? The last time I checked this was SHIELD's property."

"The last time I checked that stone was in my possession when one of your kind demanded to retrieve it from me. All I said was to keep it safe while I resolve some unfinished business with my brother back on Asgard, and by the time I had returned, they refused to hand it over. Now, this has gone on long enough and I will not let one of the powerful sources the universe has brought on us to become another one of your play toys."

"Alright, can everyone please stop and explain what exactly is going on here?" Steve said, his eyes narrowed at both Thor and Tony.

Tony didn't say a word, but he wasn't willing to back out of his game. Thor decided to finally give the captain an answer. His eyes scanned across the room before suddenly stopping on the machine, he walked over and stood in front of one of the panels. Then suddenly, he started striking it with his fists.

Natasha started to step away, just seemingly confused as startled Steve and Clint were. She shielded her eyes as Thor continued to rip off the cover of the panel to reveal a glowing object. With one swift movement, he ripped away the remaining cover to reveal a glowing purple stone.

Their eyes widened, as this was the first time they have seen anything like it. Clint's jaw was almost dropping to the ground.  

"You have no idea what this stone could do. It could unleash a power that could cause unfortunate incidents that's beyond of our control. I must protect it and I must have it back."

Tony seemed to snap out of it after being quiet for a while. "Unfortunate incidents?" he scoffed like the idea was ridiculous. "A time machine is one of the most awaited inventions since the early ages and I'm not backing down for this opportunity."

"Tony, Thor's right." Clint stepped in, "We have no idea what this could do. We're not even sure if this is going to work exactly the way you designed it to be."

"And how would we know if we won't even try?" Tony argued back. "You guys don't get it, do you? This isn't about me—"

"Oh, of course not. Of course not. When could there ever be a time that this is about you?" Thor snarled.

Tony gritted his teeth. "Hey, goldilocks, since you're not from around here and don't exactly know what's going on ever since you left for Ass gard, would you care to shut up?"

"You dare speak to me that way."

"Oh yes, I do dare."

Natasha noticed the tension in the room increasing and tried to stop them. "Guys stop it."

"Stay out of this, Natalie."

"I'm trying to help you—"

"I do not need help from you." Thor cut her briskly.

Natasha seemed shocked at his outburst.

"Well, that's rude." Clint disapproved.

He ignored him, shooting the billionaire a look. "What I need is the stone."

"Fat chance, pointbreaker, because there's no way I'm letting that happen."

"That's enough!" Steve shouted, effectively silencing everyone. They all looked at him with annoyed looks but did listen to him. "We're not going to solve this by yelling at one another."

"You know what would?" Tony taunted, going over to the machine and pressing some buttons on the control panel, ignoring Thor's burning gaze that would be enough to light his body on fire, if that were possible.

After finally punching in the date, it lit up across the screen for everyone to see.

June 12, 1943

Steve, knowing exactly of what events happened in that particular date, was the first to react with an outburst. As quick as lightning, he was across the room, walking over Tony's side to stop him from doing anything further. "What the hell are you doing?"

"For scientific research."

"What?" Steve's glare should've made anyone take a step back, but not Tony Stark.

"I'm taking a look at the super serum they used on you. Probably learn a few tips and recreate one myself with the help of Bruce—"

But Steve wasn't hearing any of it. He stared at him with complete disbelief. "Don't you understand the risk you're doing? WWII is a significant event in history and knowing you, you could mess up everything. One way or another."

Tony brushed him off, getting more than annoyed, "Keep your pants on, Capsicle. I'll go incognito, you won't even notice me there."

"You don't know what you're dealing with."

"Yeah, I've heard that before."

Thor butted in, "Stark, time isn't something to be meddled with, much less using the power of one of the infinity stones. One little change in the past could alter the course of events in the future."

"Jesus, I surround myself with old men way too much."

Clint leans over to Natasha, not keeping his eyes away from the trio's banter unfolding right before them. "Should we do something?"

Natasha sighs irritatingly. And to think that all she wanted was a nice sparring session with Steve. This isn't what she signed up for.

"Tony, listen," She spoke up, gaining his attention quick, "the time machine seems like a great idea—"

"Let me stop you there." He interjected.

"—but there's too much risks involved."

"I could help a lot of people out there by knowing the contents of the serum. I don't get you guys," He said, shaking his head, "Now that I'm finally using my sources, my abilities, to help people out and be good... you won't let me?" Puzzlement filled each of their faces, not expecting him to say that. "Then what's there left for me to do?"

Everyone remained silent, taken aback by his words. Natasha didn't know if she was supposed to feel guilty about it or not because he did have a point.

Tony let out a sigh, determination strewn over his face. "I'm going." He slammed his fist down a button that starts to power up the machine.

It was enough to wake everyone up again. And Natasha is almost tempted to strike them all with her widow bites when they started bickering once more.

"Stark, stop this right now." Thor demanded.

Steve grabbed his arm. "No, Tony."

Tony slapped his hand away, narrowing his eyes, "You gonna stop me?"

"Do you really want to go there again?" he taunted back.

"I said it once and I'll say it again, I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

Clint suddenly noticed the machine starting to spark up wildly, "Uh... Tasha..." he nudges Natasha to make her look at him. "You think that's supposed to do that?"

She followed his line of gaze and finally realized what he was talking about. It looked dangerously out of its norm and the three were too caught up in the middle of their argument to even notice it. "Stay back."

"Guys," Clint tried to call them out. "Guys!"

But they still weren't hearing him.

All right, that's it. She's had enough.

"Would you three shut the fuck up?"

And finally, they did. Steve looks appalled by her profanity but it was their fault in the first place. Brushing off the thought, she asked Tony, "Is that supposed to be doing that?"

Tony looked at what she referring to and widened his eyes after seeing it. "Shit!" He bolted over to one of the control panels, apprehensively pushing numerous buttons and trying to fix a bunch of cables. "JARVIS, what are we looking at here?"

"The machine is currently experiencing some overload in power, sir. But I can tell that it's working efficiently." The AI responded.

"Not as smoothly as I was hoping."

The percentage continued to increase in numbers and Natasha felt her chest pounding in complete anxiety. This was going extremely out of hand. As if to make matters worse, by the time the numbers reached almost halfway through, the machine suddenly unleashed a strong current, throwing everyone across the room. The glass walls shattered and some of the tables actually broke especially when Thor and Steve crashed into one of them.

But the machine showed no sign of stopping.

Natasha landed on an unfamiliar surface, as she struggled to get up, the first thing she noticed was that this floor didn't look anything like the one she was standing on just seconds ago. Before she could react further, a glass pane suddenly started closing in front of her, preventing her from getting out.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she was trapped inside the machine.

With that thought, she started banging her fists on the glass walls to see if it could break. "Tony!" she shouted, feeling the panic rising in her chest and her heart pounding louder and louder. She didn't have a hell of a clue at what was happening but she sure isn't liking it. Whatever this is.

"JARVIS! Do not proceed with initiation of Project: Incognito. I repeat, shut down all power sources and do not proceed with the initiation!" Tony ordered, running over to where Natasha is. "Goddammit..." he frantically tried to find a way to pry this thing open. "Hang on, Natasha."

"I swear to God, I will kill you once I'm out of this thing! You better get me out of here!"

Progress is 45% complete.

Steve comes in to stop in front of her, placing his hands on the glass wall, his face dreaded with panic and anger all in one, but he didn't let his anger get in the way. "How do we get her out?"

"I don't know, try smashing a chair on it or something!"

His blood started to boil, thinking it was another smartass remark of his, "Stark—"

"I'm being serious! Try everything!" he exclaimed.

"Shut it down, Tony!" Clint slammed a hammer down onto one of the glass walls, but instead of it shattering to pieces, it didn't even leave as much of a dent. "What the hell is thing made of?"

"Can't we just pull the plugs out or something?" Steve raised his voice, knowing the percentage is getting higher and higher with each passing second.

Tony rolled his eyes. "You try pulling a wire containing the electric power of an infinity stone and let me know what happens."

He suddenly felt a hand grabbing his shirt and shoving him to the side. Thor stepped in and raised his hand holding Mjolnir. "Step back, Natasha."

Other than the fact that she was surprised that Thor had addressed her like a completely normal human being would do, she was also surprised when not even Mjolnir could break in through the glass walls. Because for fuck's sake, it was just freaking glass. Even a fist could break through a glass wall.

"The power coming from the stone must have made it completely impenetrable and indestructible." Thor deduced, looking at her apologetically.

Progress is 60% complete.

Natasha swallowed the lump in her throat, looking at Clint, then at Steve. Oh, God, Steve. He looked completely lost, not accepting the fact that there wasn't anything else they could do. She saw that much unwillingness to give up in those blue eyes of his.

"Okay, then we take out the stone." Steve said.

"At this rate of power, it would be impossible." Thor then turns to Tony, pointing at him accusingly, "See, this could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you do not understand!"

Despite their current situation, Tony still find the face to laugh dryly at his remark. "And you do? All you ever say is 'I need to find the stone, I need protect the damn stone' and what did you do? Nothing. You roll over your belly and let the stone do its protecting for itself."

"Have care as you speak, Stark. I have dealt with far more disasters than you would ever care to know."

Progress is 75% complete.

Natasha started to feel a rising pain throbbing on her head. She staggers over and leans against the wall. Steve quickly notices this and placed his hands on the wall, wanting every bit to hold her and make sure she's alright. "Nat, are you okay? What's happening?"

"My head... it hurts."

The worry in his face only showed a bit more. "Can we please just concentrate on stopping this?" Steve snapped, turning to look at Tony and Thor.

"We can't stop it." Tony said.

"Well, shit, she can't go back to the 40's! What's she going to do there? How could she even survive out there having nothing?" Clint fumed.

"My father..." he muttered.

"What?"

Tony goes up to face her, knocking on the glass to get her attention, "Nat, listen—"

"I am going to kill you. I'm going to fucking murder you."

Tony flinches, knowing he deserved this and she shouldn't be the one being caught up in his trouble. "I... I'm  coming after you, okay?"

Natasha scoffs, finally finding her strength to bang a fist against the wall. He jumped at the impact. "I swear if I die there or even get stuck there I am haunting you in your sleep every goddamn night."

"Would you shut up and listen to me first? Once you get there find my father. He can give you money and a place to stay for the meantime until I—"

"And what the hell am I supposed to say?"

"Just pretend you're a past lover or something, I don't know! It's not like it's a new thing for you!"

Natasha stiffened. Okay, that may have stung a bit.

Tony seemed to realize what he said and had a look of remorse on his face. "Err... that was a bit uncalled for—"

Clint shoved him to the side, "Nat, hang in there alright? Just... please, we promise we'll get you back. Just hang in there."

Natasha pressed her forehead to the glass wall, fighting back the fear rising in her chest. She desperately tried to not let her face show any sign of weakness or the fact that she's actually terrified about this. She couldn't let them see it, now. Especially Steve. "Get me out of here. Just get me out!"

"Nat..." She looks up at the sound of Steve's voice. His blue eyes gazing right at her green ones. She could see his fingers trembled against the glass wall. "I'm sorry this isn't... God, I'm beating the life out of him after this... it shouldn't be you. This shouldn't be you."

Progress is 95% complete.

How Natasha actually hated the glass wall so much for separating her from him. How she wished that she could just reach out and touch him, to cup his adorable worried face in her hands and assure him that she's going to make it, and that it's going to be alright.

But she couldn't.

She was terrified because the thought of not seeing him again crossed her mind.

And she knew that she could never live with that. Ever.

She lifted both her hands and let it stop just where his hands were placed on the wall. They were so close, but yet, too far at the same time. "Steve..." she whispered.

Steve looks at her one last time, his eyes turning softer, "We're going to get you back, Nat. That's a promise. That's a promise."

"Steve..." she said through the wall.

She didn't understand when she saw a hint of hesitance wash past his face as he whispered, "Nat... I—"

Progress is 100% complete.

What he meant to say to her, she could no longer know.

A flash of light blinded her and completely drowned away the sight of Steve's face. She felt her body being ripped apart, her limbs and muscles being stretched while a searing pain reached her mind. She felt like she was burning. She was falling. She was dying.

And then in a snap, her world turned dark.

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So? What do you guys think?

Comments and votes please!