Carbonadium

Malcolm has seen them coming. The three in fine suits he assumed wouldn’t dain to get their hands dirty and probably left most of the heavy lifting to these other guys that held machetes, pipes and knives. “What, no guns? I’m insulted,” Malcolm said as the men came up on him. They looked at him up and down though by his look, all decked out in black with neon green making him look like a refugee from one of those TRON movies.

“We’s funna fuck you up boy! This here da Kings territory! You ain’t sneakin round here no mo!” He said plainly. Malcolm had gotten a tip that some unusual characters had been seen talking to these low life’s about a cache of Carbonadium of all things. Where these scumbags got Carbonadium he could not guess but his surveillance here had gleaned fruit. Now however he needed to get past these guys.

Steve was standing as he talked as he hung onto a small ceiling strap. Natalaya piloted the Avengers jet above New York and headed toward the lower east side where Steve plugged in the coordinates of a park clearing for her to land in. “Alright, we’ve been doing some surveillance involving someone close to Dr. Doom. Kate Blackwell,” he began and paused to clear his throat. Steve had had a relationship with Kate a while back but that all ended when she began to work with Dr. Doom. Since then SHIELD had been watching for her and when they saw her on a street cam that called Steve immediately.

“She has literally been off of our radar for quite some time. The odd link here that we don’t quite understand is Carbonadium. I know we don’t work for SHIELD but they’ve detected it on the clothes of a known drug lord named Clio Sandino,” he said plainly. “Ah, Clio, isn’t he the leader of the King’s? Those guys are pretty serious,” Peter said as he sucked on a juice box and slurped loudly on the straw.

“And that brings me to my next point...Logan, minimal force,” he said as he looked toward him. Logan only shook his head. “Well we all don’t have nice, shiny shields bub. They’re big boys with guns and they hurt people,” he began Steve cut him off. “Minimal force, alright?” He said again. Logan only quirked the side of his mouth and nodded for a response.

Natalya could not believe how dramatically her life had changed in the past five years. She had been created by the SSB (Soviet Special Branch) to be an ultimate fighting and killing machine. Her father had been a Hydra agent and her mother had been an SSB agent. The two had never met. Their sperm and egg were artificially inseminated into a surrogate. It wasn't known at what time during this process the Super Soldier Serum was implanted, but it had been. Natalya Sokolova had been raised by Tatiana, the Director of the SSB. Her entire life was training and killing. She spoke multiple languages fluently and was trained in several different fighting styles. She was an expert marksman and spy. To top it all off she was beautiful and could easily lure men into her bed to extract information from them. Natalya had killed several SHIELD agents before really getting onto their radar. Logan had been sent to dispatch her, but she had stood her ground against him and that had impressed him. It took time, but eventually Logan managed to convince Natalya to leave that life behind. He brought her back to Avenger's HQ where she was given a second chance, but put her on the SSB radar. Tatiana wanted her back alive, but thus far she had managed to avoid being captured.

During her integration into this new life she and Logan became close and then engaged in a relationship for a year before realizing that they were better off as friends. They became even closer after that and looked out for one another rather fiercely. They trained together, ate together, and went out on countless missions together. He was her best friend and she owed him her life.

"I'll make sure he behaves," Natalya told Steve, while grinning back at Logan.

Logan grunted and looked over at Pharoah that twisted a curved double edged knife with his fingers. He grinned at the brooding man who tilted his head and cracked his neck bones and then his knuckles.

There were a lot of men but so far they hadn’t yet been able to lay a hand on Malcolm. He positioned himself amongst them and as one man came in to stab him he slowed down the weapon in his hand, pivoted to the side then sped it up. The man foolishly held on and his knife stabbed into the stomach of another man who had a pipe and was behind Malcolm. Malcolm kicked another to his left then bent sideways to dodge a guy that wielded a hammer.

Natalya landed the jet and lowered the ramp. Steve, Logan and Peter were already heading out. Pharaoh waited for Natalya. Once she was out he’d raise the ramp and lock up the jet. For these types of engagements, Pharaoh was almost never needed so he remained in the rear.

Already 3 men were down and bleeding but there were several more yet to put down. Malcolm wasn’t an overly violent man but these thugs were trying to kill him and he felt more than a little belligerent. Fuck them, fucking drug dealers! He slapped a pipe out of a man’s hands then hopped up and took himself high above them then dropped himself back down behind them and attacked.

Spider-Man did his web thing and Steve and Natalya outpaced Logan as they arrived first. There was something definitely happening on the street corner and as they arrived they were met by gunshots from a few men in suits. Several yards away in the alley several men were fighting but it was clear that one man was in some kind of suit and fighting them.

Natalya always prepared herself for anything, that was one of the lessons she learned from the SSB. She was outfitted with two pistols, knives, and other weapons. Her long, dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail to keep it out of her face. She wore a black, spandex body suit with the Avengers emblem on the arm near the shoulder and her boots.

Even though Steve was one of the first ones out of the jet she easily caught up with him and soon they found themselves in the thick of the fighting. As they were fired upon Steve put up his shield and they both ducked behind it. The bullets hit the shield and bounced off. Natalya pulled out one of her handguns and began to return fire upon the men who had fired at them. As she fired she used her other hand to active her earpiece. "Where are you old man?" she said to Logan with a playful grin on her face as she hit one guy in the leg. "You're missing all the fighting."

Logan wasn’t near as fast as they were and Spider-Man shot his web at one of the other shooters and hit him in the face several times. Logan hopped over a nearby fence and charged the last armed man with his claws out. The man saw him and turned his gun upon him. He got one shot off before wolverine ran into him with a growl and plunged his claws into his arm and leg and disarmed him. Nearby there was another fight happening and a black man just got launched up into the air. The masked man in the black suit was holding his own against them all but Steve did not like how many were down nor how much blood there was.

“Spider...can you take him out?” He called and Peter flew by. “Aye Capitan!” He said lightheartedly. One of those fighting the masked man broke off and ran toward them, toward Natalya. As Peter flung a web at the man it suddenly slowed down and the man side stepped it easily.

Malcolm has seen Captain America before and Spider-Man but he had no idea who the others were but it was obvious they intended on stopping him. As Spider-Man swooped across to fire at him again he stopped his momentum completely then lt go and Peter fell to the ground. He rolled as he landed but he hadn’t expected that. Malcolm knew this was a bust and waited for his chance to disengage.

Natalya did not recognize the green and black suit. It was clear now that this one man was fighting the others and she was surprised to see how well he was able to hold his own against them all. However, he now needed to be stopped. She glanced up at Peter as he flew by and took her eyes off the masked man just long enough to not realize he was running straight at her until she looked back. She aimed her gun at him, but waited to fire. She saw Peter sling a web at him, but blinked in surprise as the web slowed down in mid air and the man just simply stepped around it. Peter tried again, but this time his momentum was stopped completely and he fell to the ground. Natalya kept her gun aimed at the masked man.

"Who are you?"

The thugs began to run as soon as they turned and saw the newcomers. Captain America, Spiderman and Wolverine were all well known to them. Not so much with Natalya and none at all with Velocity who held up his hands when he saw the woman point her weapon at him.

“I could ask the same of you,” He said as he looked at the woman. She had long, lustrous dark hair and was more than a little attractive. He heard Spiderman land nearby and behind him to the right. Captain America stepped up to him and the Wolverine hung back and took a casual stance but he also seemed to be ready to leap forward at any moment to. When he reached behind him he saw Natalya’s weapon flinch and he gestured with his hand that he wasn’t trying anything. He pulled out his phone with the recording and browsed to where it had recorded a woman that had spoke to the men in suits. He pushed play and showed it in their direction.

The camera was motion sensitive and it showed a blonde woman coming to talk to the man some knew as Clio. He wore a suit like those that lay behind them bleeding, but his was white and he smoked a cigar. She handed him a large satchel and he handed her a small, aluminum case. She opened it as Clio opened the satchel but the camera angle didn't get what was inside of the case. She shook his hand and turned to leave. As she did the camera got a good look at her face. A face that Steve Rogers knew. A face they all knew, Kate Blackwell. Malcolm saw the recognition in their faces.

“So you know her,” he said and smiled. Pharoah had already called for paramedics and EMTs but a cursory glance at several of the men nearby spoke volumes as to how many would not survive the day. Steve scowled at Malcolm. “You didn’t have to kill them,” He said. “Obviously you can handle yourself, you didn’t ‘have’ to kill them,” he said angrily. “Why not, they were trying to kill me,” Malcolm replied smoothly then looked over at Natalya. “Do you intend on shooting me then?” he asked calmly though his chest still moved briskly from the effort of fighting just a few moments ago. “In the leg,” Wolverine murmured softly but loud enough for all to hear from behind Natalya. Malcolm’s eyebrows drew up but no one else moved a muscle.

Natalya tensed up when the man in the suit began to reach behind him and her finger moved to pull the trigger. However, he held up a hand to show her that he wasn't reaching for a weapon, though she didn't necessarily trust him and kept her gun aimed at him. He pulled out a cell phone and pulled up a video that he began to show to everyone. Natalya immediately recognized Clio, but there was a blonde woman there talking to him and handing him a satchel for a small, aluminum case. Natalya's breath caught in her chest because she had a feeling she knew who that woman was. When she turned and the camera managed to catch her face she could sense the rest of the team become upset by what they were seeing. It was Kate. Kate had been one of the best field agents SHIELD had had. Then she had been recruited to the Avengers team by Steve a short time before she arrived. She considered Kate not just a teammate, but a friend and she wanted to know what had happened to her.

She stood there quietly and let Steve speak, but she kept her gun leveled at him. When the man actually had the balls to try and call her bluff about shooting him she glanced back at Logan and smiled a little at his suggestion. Then, in the blink of an eye, she re-aimed her gun and shot him in the leg. She was an expert marksman and knew exactly where she shoot or not shoot someone to kill them. This guy would live, but he wasn't going anywhere now except with them. "I guess the answer to that question would be yes."

Steve and Peter flinched when she shot and he looked over at her in sheer disbelief. His eyebrows were raised and he shook his head slightly in clear disapproval. Wolverine chuckled though and Steve did not spare him an angry glance either. The bullet knocked Malcolm down and the Kevlar had taken most of the impact but he felt blood stream down into his boot.

“You fucking shot me!” He said angrily. “Not cool Nat,” Spiderman said plainly. “Sir...you alright? Sir?” Spiderman said and moved toward the fallen man to help him up. However when he did Malcolm lashed out with his power and Spiderman lurched forward into the street past him as if he had jumped out of a moving car that was going about 40 miles an hour. He managed to get his feet forward and he hit a moving car passing by and bounced back from it. It was then that everything seemed to happen at once.

Captain America shifted to shield Natalya but when he did he careened into her as if he had charged at her. Their bodies hit hard though Steve managed to grab hold of Natalya. The grab caused them both to tumble several times to the side. Wolverine unleashed his claws. “Wrong move bub!” He growled then lurched forward and leaped. Once his feet left the ground he was thrown into the air, so far that they could no longer see him as if the Hulk himself had thrown him. Malcolm managed to stand and readied himself if the woman, Nat? He heard Spiderman say, shot at him again. No bullets were going to hit him now that he was ready for them. But it was clear his intention was to retreat.

Natalya rolled her eyes at Peter when he condemned her for what she had done. "Listen Kid, you don't know anything..." However, before she could finish her thought Peter was flung forward onto the street and hit a passing car. Now Natalya was angry, but before she could react Steve was thrown into her...hard. They both tumbled onto the ground and rolled a few times. The impact had knocked the wind out of Natalya's lungs and she coughed and gasped for air for a moment before finally righting herself. She took another shot at him after Logan was tossed aside like a ragdoll, but knew it was pointless.

She finally just lowered her gun and looked at him. "Ok, listen. I don't think you are a bad guy. We just want some information. The girl in the video, her name is Kate Blackwell and she's a friend of ours. We just want to know where she is."

Even as he fell Steve Rogers threw his shield. It appeared to stop dead only a few feet from him to the naked eye though it was still moving only at a very slow rate. Then fell to the ground. Malcolm winced when he looked back to where Spiderman hung from the street lamp. He was poised on unleash more webs but held back. “Kate Blackwell...hmm, I don’t know that name but I thank you for that bit of information,” he said almost arrogantly. Before anyone could say more he seemed to spring up from where he stood and then he was up into the air in a blink. Steve helped Natalya up and retrieved his shield just as an ambulance pulled up.

“Its time to go,” he said and nodded at Spiderman. Wolverine was still nowhere to be seen. At the Jet they all arrived though The Wolverine was late in coming. Pharaoh was looking at them all and they all seemed to be alright. As the jet took off Steve turned to The Wolverine. “We could have made a friend today instead of an enemy,” he said but Natalya knew that statement was for her as well. Maybe mostly for her. “We at least know more than we did a few minutes ago. Kate Blackwall is involved in retrieving large quantities of Carbonadium. I think we need a little chat with Nick Fury,” he said as if thinking outloud.

Steve Rogers had been...was still in love with Kate but her decision to leave the Avengers had sent them in different directions. He knew that SHIELD wasn’t above working with criminals for their various ends but known drug dealers and thugs? That wasn’t like them at all. He had alot of questions which also include this character they met.

“It was an odd feeling to be pulled like that,” Peter said as he pulled up his mask to expose his face. He munched on a small bag of doritos as he talked. “Its like he took what little momentum I had and increased it 100 times,” he added as he thought about it. “I never knew wolverines could fly,” he said and grinned but it faded quickly when Logan scowled at him.

Natalya had been hoping for a different result than what she got. However, she had a feeling this wasn't going to be the last time they encountered this guy. After ensuring that those who were injured were going to be treated by the paramedics she headed to the jet with the others. Thankfully, Logan made it back as well. She took her seat in the pilot's chair and started the jet up. She glanced back at Steve when he spoke about making an enemy.

"Technically, he started it by throwing Peter around. As you pointed out, he didn't have to kill those guys. I doubt this will be our last encounter with this guy."

She got the jet into the air and then looked over at Steve who was sitting near her. "I don't think Kate's in her right mind Steve. Her eyes...didn't look like the eyes I know." Now Natalya didn't have any proof, but she strongly suspected that Steve and Kate had been in love. Steve was protective of the entire team...but there was something different about Kate...there always had been.

Steve took up his phone and texted Nick Fury that they wanted to meet and the place, a popular bar in New York where they had met several times before. There’d be no Avengers uniforms or masks there. Just a group of friends having a few drinks and talking of old times..he hoped.

A day had passed before Nick answered the text. He would meet them tonight at the bar. Steve dressed in his usual, light blue t-shirt, blue jeans and a gray jacket where Logan wore mostly black and a leather jacket. Peter had class and had to miss the meeting and Pharaoh had an Alumni dinner near Stanford University, it would only be them 3.

The bar was much like any other, clean but not to clean with a thick, polished wood bar with polished brass accents. The waitresses all liked Steve Rogers and even Logan to but if they could they’d spend the evening in Steve’s lap if he would have allowed them to. Steve had that effect on several women and only some of them knew who he really was. Steve wasn’t one to hide behind a mask these days. The found an empty booth well, Logan did after he cleared out a couple of women who had become uncomfortable when he sat with them. They all ordered beers and Logan sat back and took a sip.

“What do you think she wants Carbonadium for? It's not all that common of a mineral, what's she really after?” Logan asked Steve directly. “I’m hoping Nick can answer that,” he said and Natalya mumbled something under her breath, ‘Speak of the devil.’ Nick was in a gray suit and Steve shifted over so he could sit next to him.

“Glad you could meet with us on such short notice,” Steve said. “Oh I was just in the neighborhood, thought a drink sounded good right about now,” he replied and looked at each of them in return. “How’s Pharaoh working out? Ya’all been sitting pretty low under the radar lately,” Fury said.

“Pharaoh’s just fine...Peter to but that’s not why I asked you hear,” He said. “How’s Kate these days...still doing a good job?” Steve asked casually but Nick’s eye appeared to tighten ever so slightly. Logan shifted as well as he sniffed the man’s unease. “Well, in truth she’s not working for us any longer. Not for some time,” Nick said without adding very much more information though it was clear that he knew more.

Natalya was dressed in a pair of old faded black jeans, her knee high boots, a grey tee shirt and an oversized leather jack. Her dark hair was down and fell in soft waves down her back. She received a few looks from some of the men in the bar when she walked in, but she ignored them. However, she did spot the pool table towards the back and decided that later on she would play. Logan had taught her how to play when they had been together and she had picked up the game quickly and was better than most of the guys she came up against. She always liked placing bets with them and seeing the looks on their faces when she beat them.

She took a seat next to Logan at the booth and ordered a beer and a plate of fries. The waitress had just brought over their beers when Nick walked in. He spotted them and walked over and took a seat next to Steve. She eyed Nick a little when Steve asked him directly about Kate. She was quiet a moment after Nick confirmed that she wasn't working for SHIELD anymore.

"Yeah, she appears to be working for someone else now who's collecting large amounts of Carbonadium. Why didn't you tell us that something had happened with her?"

Nick gave Natalya a flat look as if she should know the answer to that. She above all the rest. Nick sighed and relaxed back into the booth and flagged a waitress down and held up a single finger. The waitress nodded and went to get him something to drink.

“That’s because her separation from SHIELD was not real,” he said softly and his eyes scanned the room a moment before he continued. “She’s on assignment, or she was anyway. She hasn't reported in in a couple of weeks,” he said and paused when his beer came. He took a sip and Steve filled the gap.

“What assignment, is she supposed to be out buying Carbonadium from drug cartels?” Steve said with a furled brow. ‘Damn I miss her!’ He thought.

“No she was supposed to be working as a personal assistant...for Dr. Doom,” he said in barely more than a whisper. At the mention of that name everyone at the table appeared to be suddenly on edge. “But that still does not sound like Kate and Natalya said something was odd about her eyes, Steve said. Nick thought on that for a few moments as took another sip of beer.

“Well you know Larveria is off limits, you go in there and SHIELD nor any other government will give you aid should you run into trouble. I suggest you find Kate and ask her,” Nick said calmly though if he knew, why didn’t SHIELD go after her by now? Steve wondered. Likely they wanted to know more about what Doom was doing and taking her would sever their link to finding out. Unless they were tracking her somehow. He wondered also.

Nick spotter Malcolm Cross sitting just a few booths down from them but he didn’t allow his eyes to linger. Malcolm has two other women with him, one at his side and one that sat across from him. Obviously he was listening in to their conversation. Nick has more respect for the man now. He was following him in hopes that ‘he’ would lead him to the Avengers. It almost made him chuckle. Malcolm was being paid by SHIELD to investigate where the minerals were coming from or being used for though he had no interest in joining SHIELD. The man’s got chops, he had to give him that much.

Malcolm knew of Captain America, Steve Rogers and The Wolverine, Logan...he only knew his first name. Nat he assumed was a nickname and he knew nothing about her. Her back was to him right then. Hers and Logan’s. He had gotten a good look at her, in those few minutes on the street corner. She was an extremely beautiful woman. With large, dark eyes and dark hair with skin that was not overly pale but looked as soft and silk in the dim light. He could tell she was strong, far stronger than her lithe, small frame should be. That puzzled him but he had asked Nick Fury about her and he was not all that forthcoming about her. Now he suspected he knew why. Malcolm had a job to do and getting caught up in an affair would jeopardize that. To even think of it now was a shock. But Malcolm was a man, a man that knew something beautiful and special when he saw it. She reminded him of an exquisite painting. Rare and something that might only be seen once in a lifetime. He knew the two women were talking to him but he had allowed his mind to wander. Joanique was from brazil. A semi-professional volleyball player. She sat across from him and was obviously playing as Terri’s wingman...or wingwoman in this case. Obviously of the two they had decided that Terri would be the one that took him home but by the way Joanique played with his junk with her toes, it was likely he could go home with them both if that was what he wanted. Malcolm held up his hand and gestured with the number 3. A sign that he wanted another round for all 3 of them.

As he sat there two men came up to his table. “Hey, can I get your autograph?” The first one said and presented him with a baseball card. He smiled and looked up at him. “Ya got a pen?” He asked and smiled again as he signed the man’s baseball card. The two women were practically gushing now and others were looking at him now that they realized who he was. Men and women. Terri shifted and wrapped her arms around his left arm. Joanique made eyes to him as if she wanted to climb up on the table and mount him right here and now. Malcolm had ‘hoped’ to have remained more aloof and circumspect. But now he abandoned his observations of the group to address more people who came up to ask him for his autograph.

Steve was facing that way and he tilted up his eyes to see what was going on. “Whats...happening?” he asked to no one imparticular. “Oh, that’s Malcolm Cross the,” he began but Steve cut him off. “The pitcher?” He said excitedly as if he knew who he was. Nick only nodded but Natalya saw the tightness in Nick’s eyes once more. She would not know why only that it had happened...again.

Natalya's suspicion that something was wrong with Kate was growing more and more by the minute and when Nick finally revealed that she had been on assigned working as Dr. Doom's personal assistant she felt her suspicions were well founded. Kate wasn't the type to just run off and switch sides like that. She must be under some kind of mind control or spell. Of course, it was likely that the SSB thought the same thing about her. She glanced over at Steve and could see that the news had affected him. They needed to find a way to get Kate back, but she knew it was going to be tricky. They couldn't just go into Larveria and Dr. Doom had diplomatic immunity. They would need to find Kate on US soil and she began to think that the guy in the black and green suit they had encountered the other day would be able to help. He seemed to be looking for the same guys who Kate was interacting with.

Suddenly, she saw Steve looking past her at something or someone else. She turned her head and saw a small group of people crowded around someone. As the crowd thinned she saw it was an extremely handsome man. He appeared to be signing baseball cards and there were two women practically drooling all over him. It was quite the spectacle. She saw him glance up and their eyes met for a moment. She then broke the gaze between them and turned and looked back at Nick. Nick's good eye seemed to tighten at the mention of Malcolm's name. However, she wasn't sure why. It didn't really matter to her though. She was more concerned about Kate.

"I don't think Kate is in her right mind," she finally said. "The Kate I know wouldn't just switch sides like that. In the video we saw her eyes had a strange look to them. I think Dr. Doom has her under some kind of mind control or spell."

Steve Rogers completely agreed with Natalya but he didn’t say so openly. Natalya and Kate were good friends and her suspicions were his suspicions but it didn’t change how they needed to proceed.

“Nick, do you have a database of who might have access to carbonidium?” Steve asked. “How a drug dealer had a cache of that Is anyone’s guess but it appears that Kate paid them money for it. Dooms money. I don’t know why but if Dr. Doom is interested in the mineral, we need to find out why,” he said. “Why don’t we just take her, Doom’ll want her back,” Logan said. There was a man at a nearby table goggling at Natalya. Logan scowled at him. “You got a problem bub?” He growled and the man looked away. “I thought not,” he said and took a sip of his beer.

“Carbonidium and Uru,” Nick said. “I can help you but I’ll consider that a favor,” Nick said. “We’ll think about it,” Steve said and sipped his beer. “Alright, you do that,” nick said and stood up. He straightened his suit and stepped away toward the door.

A waitress came by with another round of beers. “I’m we didn’t,” Steve began but she nodded toward Malcolm’s table. “From Malcolm Cross,” she said with a smile. As they looked over toward him Malcolm lifted up his glass to them. Steve looked at each of them in turn then got up to leave. “I’m headed back, have fun,” he said and finished his beer.

Natalya was frustrated with Nick Fury. The two of them had never really gotten along. After all she had killed several SHIELD agents while still working for the SSB. Nick had been strongly against her working with the Avengers and even when she had proved herself as trustworthy he had never really warmed up to her...nor her to him. However, she knew that Kate had looked up to Nick. Nick had trained her and now she felt like Nick was just abandoning her. It angered her, but she held her tongue. She was better with her fists and guns than with words. She left that up to Steve.

After Nick left the waitress came by with another round of beers that they had not ordered. When she explained they were from Malcolm she glanced over at him. Once Steve left it was just herself and Logan. They finished the beers and then began to play some pool.

Logan wasn’t as good in pool as Natalya but he enjoyed the game and since she wanted to play he was willing to play with her. The bar was packed with people and Natalya had enough male watchers that when she was about to ask for another beer, one was provided for her. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for her. She was like a model in a place like this. The men, some cute, some not, didn’t approach her because of Logan. It was like an evil game they played where they played pool and the men that wanted to ask her out were kept at bay by Logan who flashed them enough threatening looks that no one ever came up to her. She was about to shoot and as she concentrated on the shot, a man stepped up toward the table. He placed himself so she couldn’t avoid looking at his crotch. And she could see the bulge in his pants enough to know where his confidence came from.

“Mind if I play the winner?” Malcolm said and smiled at her when she looked up at him. He had a bourbon in his hand and stepped back so she could shoot. Logan scowled at him but Malcolm only smiled and nodded to him.

Natalya had a self-destructive streak in her at times. Her childhood had not been anywhere close to ordinary. She killed her first victim on her 13th birthday. She was tortured and raped countless times. She killed more people than she could ever remember. Even though that was no longer her life she could never forgive herself for what she did...nor could she ever forgive Tatiana for what she had done to her. Unfortunately, due to the Super Soldier Serum coursing through her veins she could not get drunk...at least not easily...and so her self-destructive nature turned towards men. Logan had been her first real relationship, but she had not had one since then...just one night stands. Logan never asked her where she had been the night before...just made her bacon and pancakes and was there for her if she ever needed to talk about her past. She had no worries about sleeping with strangers. The SSB had sterilized her and so there was no chance of her becoming pregnant and the Super Soldier Serum meant she could not get STDs.

Natalya enjoyed the attention she was getting tonight. Some nights she hated it, but tonight she wanted it. As she leaned over the table and took aim with her cue stick she suddenly found herself looking right at a man's crotch. Glancing up she saw it was Malcolm...the ex-baseball player. She took notice that the two girls were no longer hanging all over him.

"Sure, I'll play you," she said confidently with a grin before taking the winning shot.

Malcolm watched as Nat made the final shot. He took off his jacket and set it on the back of one of the stools. He rolled up his sleeves as several of the men who were watching her departed now that someone was there with her. Someone who appeared much more in her league. “Shall we make a wager? I think we should make a wager,” He said as he racked for her which was customary of any newcomer. He racked as if he had played pool before and tightened the balls up nicely for her break. Malcolm was used to attention, used to always been seen and known. Sometimes he didn’t mind that so much. If he could make people's lives happy for just a little while, then he did something good each day. But he had moments when he felt more than useless. As if he never did enough, could never do enough. His bouts of depression drove him to over drink and more than once he had contemplated suicide.

He could never trust that people liked him for himself. Always it was ‘who’ he was that seemed to draw people to him. And sometimes, in the dark, he dreamt that he had no face. It got so strong sometimes that it nearly drove him mad. A person who didn't really exist as if he were a fictional character in someone else's story. “If I win, you tell me your name and you tell Logan to go home,” he said with a very warm smile.

Natalya eyed Malcolm as he took off his jacket. He wasn't just handsome...he was sexy as hell and seemed to know it. She grinned and rolled her eyes when he suggested making a wager. She took a sip of her beer as Malcolm racked the balls. Many of the other men had left, but a few lingered around the edges, continuing to watch her. She had no idea that this was the guy she had shot only days before.

She grinned at his wager and glanced at Logan. "Alright...and if I win?"

“Well I’m certain you’ll think of something you want,” he said confidently though he didn’t see Logan rolling his eyes and he shook his head to. “Your friend, he doesn’t like to play games?” he said to her in Italian as she took her shot. Balls went flying and a few sunk into the pockets. He saw at least one of each type so her next shot would decided if she wanted solids or stripes. She lined up the next ball, shot and sunk the next one. It was a solid 4 ball so she was solids. She went to sink 2 more before another just missed a side pocket and then it was his turn.

The trick with Malcolm’s ability was he could not change the trajectory of an object. Only its velocity. That being said he was very good in pool and being able to control the speed of a ball he hit wrong was more than a little advantage. Often a ball hit to hard popped the ball out. Or soft and the cue ball followed it down for a scratch. Thus that was what he was planning this time. She’d scratch when she absolutely needed not to. He didn’t like to lose and he believed that she didn’t either. He sunk his next three and missed on the fourth then it was her turn again.

Being next to her, being the focus of her attention was more than a little exciting for Malcolm. She had that kind of effect on him and perhaps most people. She was focused and yet very feminine with an inner beauty and grace is if it was something she had practiced. He picked up his drink and moved around the table so if she glanced his way his middle was in her field of vision again. His off white shirt was unbuttoned at the neck just enough to where he had just a little bit of visible hair inside his collar. It looked dark and soft to the touch.

Natalya blinked a little when Malcolm spoke to her in Italian. It was one of the languages she was fluent in, but how could he know that? She glanced at Logan, who had lit a cigar and was watching Malcolm very closely. "He does," she responded back in Italian, "but the mood has to strike him. He taught me pool though," she added as she took another shot. She missed the side pocket and she took another sip from her drink before watching him.

Natalya was...intoxicating. She wasn't a cheap kind of beautiful. Nothing about her was fake. She wore very little makeup and no perfume. Her dark eyes were enchanting and seemed to peer into people's souls. She could sense that Malcolm liked her looking at him so she did everything she could to not look at him. This was a flirtatious dance they were doing now and she didn't want him to know just how attracted to him she actually was.

The game continued on back and forth until it came down to the final shot...and it was Natalya's turn. She got into position and took aim. However, just before she took the shot she glanced up at Malcolm. Her eyes met his for a brief moment before the cue connected with the ball. The ball rolled down the green felt table towards the side pocket...and then missed the hole. Now Natalya could have easily made that shot...but tonight she didn't feel like winning.