Just Another Mission

Malcolm smiled at her question, he loved talking about his family. It wasn’t as large as most Italian families but it was sizable. “I have a sister, Rachael, she’s my agent actually,” he began and then went on in length telling her about his family. They made love once more in the late hours of the night, in a slow, passionate way and once again when he awoke she was gone. He didn’t like her leaving, or feeling as if she had to leave but like everything else, he just assumed that would just take time. He was far form in any kind of hurry to get really serious with her or anyone but waking up with her next to him would have been nice.

He texted her that morning.

‘Really enjoyed our evening together, hope to see you soon but I have a thing tomorrow so I might not be able to see you in a few days’

SHIELD was going to halo drop him into Latveria He’d have to fly out on his own...if he survived. They had supplied him with a chemical agent that will make the Carbonadium in the weapons and armor brittle and all but useless for what they’d be used for. The Avengers were being used as a distraction. He ofcourse, did not like that. It made him feel ‘Dirty and unclean’ to use them in that way. That and he was really starting to fall for Natalya. She had a wounded soul and it seemed to ‘call to him’. But he had given his word to see this through and alot of innocent people were at stake if he failed in his mission.

Logan was up early making pancakes. They had a full day of sitrep and training to get through. Once he saw her he began cooking them in the skillet and he paused to look her over. “I never knew you were so much into baseball,” he teased and chuckled as he poured her a cup of strong coffee. Pharoah was already seated at the table, still in his pajamas. He was nursing a hangover by the look of him and he was huddled into his large cup of coffee as if his life depended upon it. Logan had made him a plate but he pushed it away and grimaced at the smell of bacon.

Natalya hated just leaving in the morning, but she knew she needed to get back to the Avenger's Tower. She didn't know when they were going to get the call from Dr. Martin that Kate was arriving and she wanted to be sure that they were all ready. They couldn't mess this up. Thousands of innocent lives depended on them getting those weapons and armor from Dr. Doom and Kate's life hung in the balance as well. Malcolm was still asleep when she got up and the sun was only just starting to rise. She got dressed and left and headed back to the Tower. When she was just walking in she heard her phone go off and saw a text from Malcolm she smiled and responded. "I have a mission I am working on so I will see you soon."

As she walked into the living area she could smell the pancakes and bacon. It made her mouth water and her stomach growl. She didn't even go and get changed first. She just kicked off her heels and then went and poured herself a cup of coffee. She could see Logan eyeing her in her current state and she glanced at him with a little grin. "I think I'm starting to really like it...a lot."

As she took a seat at the breakfast bar she looked over at Pharaoh. He looked terrible and was clearly hung over. She looked back at Logan as she sipped her coffee. "What did he get into last night?"

Logan smiled at her response, happy that she was happy...which was a good change. A part of him, a small part was jealous of this man. But if any man could make her smile then he was worthy of her in his book. It wasn’t easy to work with someone he had ‘been’ with but his feelings had changed when he met Jean Gray. For him it was love at first sight for Jean but she was not a free woman. Things in the ‘woman’ department were not very simple for Logan and he contented himself with one night stands mostly now.

“He had another ‘Episode’ and we drained a whole 5th between us,” he said and chuckled again. Pharaoh managed his particular form of insanity, usually with medications but last night something he could not understand had set him off. “We will need him tomorrow so whatever it was, he needs to get it out of his system. Maybe you can beat it out of him later?” he said and Pharaoh scowled at them both.

Peter was dressed like the student he was and smiled cheerfully as he entered the kitchen. “Hi gang,” he said in an upbeat, happy tone then he saw Pharaoh and Natalya. “Geez, you and Mr. Cross ‘again’?” he asked in a loud, surprised tone. Pharaoh cringed at the noise and whimpered. “Could you...possibly...not be so loud?” He asked in a shaky voice. Pete just blinked at him as he poured himself some cereal. “He still holds the record for the most no-hitters in baseball and he’s like super rich. I saw him on the news yesterday visiting a kid who was dying of cancer. Gave him one of his no-hitter baseballs and signed it right there at the kids bedside. He paid for all of his medical bills and everything,” He said as he poured milk into his bowl and got a spoon.

“No man is all good kid,” Logan said but he was beginning to wonder if this guy really was. Peter did not disagree with him and he shrugged as he took a spoonful of cereal.

Natalya knew that she and Logan would always be close. They had been through too much together not to be. She still had feelings for him and always would, but it had become too difficult for them to be together and work together as they did. However, she would always be there for him if he needed her. She wanted Logan to be happy and she knew that he wanted her to be happy as well and Malcolm made her happy. She wasn’t entirely sure if she was the best woman for him, but for now she was content to just let it be.

She got out a plate and Logan loaded it up with some pancakes and bacon. She put a pat of butter on the top and it immediately started to melt from the warmth of the pancakes. She then poured over some real maple syrup and watched as it cascaded down the sides and pooled on the plate. She glanced over at Pharoah when Logan informed her of his episode the night before. She knew that she had had a rough life, but Pharoah’s life had been even rougher. She couldn’t imagine being immortal and then being locked away in a tomb for thousands of years. She probably would be a little insane herself. She really liked Pharaoh though. He was kind and had the soul of a gentleman. He always seemed to know what to say to her if she was upset and also knew when to just leave her alone.

She sat down next to him and reached out and rubbed his back affectionately for a moment before withdrawing her hand and starting to eat. She heard Peter come downstairs and glanced up at him when he commented about her and Malcolm. “Well, I haven’t found anything he’s bad at yet…” she told Logan with a little grin.

Logan grunted disapprovingly as he continued to make more pancakes. Natalya could eat a lot and not look like she had ever gained an extra ounce of weight. As he thought about it, none of them did. They all had remarkable metabolisms that allowed their bodies to maintain its active shape.

Right then Steve appeared and leaned in toward them though he stood just outside the kitchen. “Sitrep in 10 then training to lock down everyone’s job,” he said then backed away. His voice was tight and completely neutral. A clear sign he was on edge and it didn’t help matters that everyone knew why.

Logan uttered several profanities that an old, seasoned sailor would look wide-eyed at and dumped the pancakes he was making into the sink garbage. He grabbed two others that sat in a pile on a plate on the counter then stepped away from the kitchen. As the others got up, none of them had been able to eat all of their meal though Natalya had been close to finishing. As they left the area, Peter quickly explained what a ‘no-hitter’ was and why it was such a big deal in baseball. To have a dozen of them in one man’s career was just simply unheard of. That and he was also known for a fastball that traveled at 110 miles an hour. A feat duplicated by other pitchers but not consistently in anyone’s career. He also leads the record for the most strikeouts as well.

After they all changed and spent the few minutes they had to dress and freshen up Steve waited for them to appear in the usual spot, a large meeting room that Tony used to conduct his board meetings and video conferences. The chairs were nice, black leather and stainless steel and the long table was a shiny, dark wood. There were electronics for video conferencing as well. “Nat, make us private,” he said plainly which meant he wanted her to turn on one of her anti-eavesdropping devices. Once she gave the all clear signal he nodded back to her and began.

“Ok this is what we’re up against. Victor is likely to have several soldiers already outfitted with this armor and weapons. What this means is guns and explosives are not going to work on them. However what we can do is subdue them. Peter and Pharaoh are actually going to be on point for this. Peter can use his webs against them and Pharaoh has his Psychic bolts. The rest of us will engage and distract as much as we can. They will likely consider us more of a threat if we’re shooting at them and in their faces” he said then began typing on the keyboard in front of him. On the screen there was a layout of Dr. Dooms stronghold. There was a satellite image of all the buildings but only one of them was unable to be penetrated by the satellites, UV scanning technology as indicated by the violet color of what was inside of each building.

“As you can see, this building appears not to show up on the UV scan. Carbonadium has a certain radiation signature and should be showing up in a scan like this so It is my belief that this building,” It was a massive structure in the image, “Is likely shielded to such scans,” he said. “The was for Infra-red as well but we did catch a shot of the guards outside,” he said and with a few more taps on the computer, the image zoomed in to 2 men outside of one of the doors. They glowed violet and red, a sign that they were wearing the armor.

‘We will be hiding in the delivery crates and once we’re taken inside we hop out and secure the weapons and armor and take down any soldiers already wearing it. We’ll load the truck back up with what we find and retreat out of Doom’s complex. SHIELD will be waiting with a cargo helicopter to pick up the truck and get us out of there,” Steve said. “Any questions?” he asked.

Natalya was hungry and ate her stack of pancakes like there was no tomorrow. Thankfully, by the time Steve came in and informed them of their meeting in 10 minutes she had almost finished them. Logan had not been so lucky and swore rather loudly as he dumped out the stack he had freshly prepared and then grabbed what was left to eat quickly. Natalya listened to Peter as she cleaned off her plate and put it in the dishwasher. She didn't know anything about baseball, but the stats that Peter was telling her about seemed impressive. Something in the back of her mind told her that it was slightly suspicious, but she didn't know why so she ignored it and went upstairs to change. She put on some workout clothes and braided her hair in a single dutch braid down the back of her head. She didn't like her hair in her face when she was training.

When she was ready, she joined the others in the conference room. When everyone was present she used her anti-eavesdropping devices to secure the room. As Steve began to layout the plan she listened closely. This was not going to be easy and they were not going to have any help from SHIELD. Natalya could only hope that the guy in the black and green suit didn't make another appearance and interfere with what they were doing. They had enough to worry about with Kate to have to worry about him as well. She studied the satellite image of the stronghold closely and did notice that one of the buildings didn't show up on the UV scan. Like Steve, she believed that meant that it was where the Carbonadium was being held. The plan seemed simple enough, but she knew that many things could go wrong. They all needed to be on their best game for this one and well prepared for what they were going up against.

There weren't any questions, but Natalya hung back after the others left to start their trainings to talk to Steve. "If it comes down to it, do you want me to deal with Kate or do you want to do it?"

Steve was putting on a strong face but Natalya would detect that he was deeply conflicted. They might have to put Kate down to stop her, her Telekinetic powers were formidable and none of them besides perhaps Pharaoh would be able to see what she’s doing. He turned quickly and faced her. His face had an intense, concerned look. “If I distract her...can you do it?” he asked and it was plain what he meant. “I’m not certain I could,” he said as if the very thought horrified him. “I know its not fair to you but if I can’t...if I can’t…do it...someone has to,” He said and their eyes met. When she didn’t respond right away and looked at him he grabbed hold of her shirt and jerked her toward him. “Will you do it!?” he asked in a quiet growl that came out as a strained whisper.

Natalya wanted to cry for Steve. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he still deeply loved Kate and the thought of having to kill her was more than he could take. She hesitated when Steve asked her if she would do it, but when he grabbed her and jerked her towards him and asked her again she slowly nodded. "Yes, I'll do it," she said quietly. "But only if it comes to it. I promise you I'm going to do everything in my power to leave her alive."

Steve let her go and she heard a murmured ‘Thank you’ From his as he stepped away. The remained of the day was nothing short of intense. Steve had programmed Stark’s holo room and ran them through the plan over and over. All of the enemies were holo dummies but Natalya would know who was the passenger in the truck each time. And each time Steve changed the program just enough to account for different outcomes. Sometimes there were so many soldiers they all were killed. Logan was not impervious to their weapons either. The Carbonadium bullets could penetrate his organic adamantium and kill him permanently if they shot him in the head. Kate’s abilities were simulated as well and if Natalya hadn’t managed to neutralize her fast enough, she was able to do so much damage that the mission failed every time. However in one of the simulations, Pharaoh had taken her over and used her against the soldiers. That scenario failed as well because there were too many soldiers and Pharaoh needed his own powers to disable them. Which couldn’t happen if he were possessing someone else. Natalya tried to wound her, knock her unconscious and distract her. Nothing seemed to work save for the times when she took her down as soon as she exited the truck. Each time she tried something else, they all died. And in fact, in some of the scenarios they died even though she took her out but those were among the worst situations where there were to many soldiers and Dr. Doom himself joining into the fight. At the end of it all they were exhausted and it was early evening before they were all released to get some rest.

After a few hours, it was getting late Logan knocked on her door. Once he heard her tell him to come in he opened the door and went into her room.

“I figured you’d still be up, I wanted to run something by you,” He said and took a seat in one of the deep, comfortable chairs they all had in their rooms. “If you think you can’t take her out, I’ll do it,” Logan said. “you’ve come a long way Nat, and somehow taking out a friend just doesn’t seem right,” he said. “I’d spare you that if I could and Cap...well if he can’t pull the trigger himself then he shouldn’t ask someone else to do it,” Logan said. “He didn’t ask me and neither did you so I’m just sayin that I can do it,” he said offering her a way out. All she’s need do is not dissuade him from that path. Say nothing and let him leave and it was as good as done.

Natalya was exhausted and was relaxing in her room, or at least trying to. She kept replaying the scenarios over and over in her head and it bothered her greatly that the only way this plan seemed to succeed was if Kate was killed. She had been able to tell how upset that made Steve and it grew progressively worse as the scenarios continued. She left Steve alone after they were done for the day knowing that he needed some time to himself.

She was sitting on her bed, leaning up against the headboard as Logan walked in. She listened to him and sighed a little. “Logan, Steve loves Kate. They were in a secret relationship for a long time. I don’t want us to have to kill her. I don’t know what that would do to Steve.”

Logan was about to say that they needed to do what they needed to do. He was in those simulations and he, like everyone else saw what she saw. ‘What if it were Jean?’ A small voice said inside his head. And he knew he’d do anything else, anything to not have to kill her like that. For a moment he looked at his knuckles and what she would look like with them inside her chest. The look in her eyes, the pain, the betrayal in them. Condemning him to a vengeful doom. And it would be right for him to die that way. But it wasn’t Jean and people's lives were at stake.

“This is exactly why you and I...why we’re not,” he couldn’t even say it. ‘Yet, you still fell in love with jean.’ That voice told him. “We can’t control who we end up falling in love with Nat. If we keep ourselves cloistered away we’ll likely forget what we’re doin here in the first place. It won’t be easy, it never is but that’s why we do it and others don’t,” He said plainly. “Think about if we all die and she is released from Victor’s control. She will likely remember what she did and ‘want’ to die. I say we spare her that horror and save as many lives as we can,” Logan said and stood up to go.

Natalya knew that Logan was right. Even though she and Logan had still loved one another they had broken up for that very reason. There was always the possibility that they would need to kill one another and it was more difficult to do that if they were sleeping together. They needed to be able to focus on their missions and not each other. They had gotten too close and it had almost jeopardized a mission.

She sighed as Logan got up. “I’ll do it,” she finally said.

After Logan left Malcolm texted her again.
‘I am really missing you today Natalya.’
‘I would rather be in your arms than anywhere.’

It wasn’t even dawn yet before Steve came to wake everyone up. It was a quick bite for breakfast and then they were on their way to Crysolabs where Natalya is allowed to land on the tower and they are escorted down to where they are packaging up all of the Carbonadium though this batch has been made useless do to a chemical additive during the forging process. The Avengers would be 2 in a crate though Steve would be alone. Peter and Pharaoh, Natalya and Logan. They are loaded into the truck and after a ride to the airport the truck is loaded into a large, transport plane. It is dark in the crates and her and Logan are sitting with their backs against one another. They feel the movement of the plane and it is hours and hours before they finally land. In a moment of panic they hear people talking and they open up a crate to make certain of what is in there but they only opened one and decide that that is good enough.

Several more hours in the truck and finally they arrive where they are supposed to be. They hear the large doors open and then close and the truck drives for a little bit more then stops. After several more minutes and alot of talking they are fork lifted out, crate by crate. As her crate is lifted out however there appears to be some kind of commotion and Steve gives the signal.

Their crates were designed just so that they could pop the tops of them off easily. As tops begin to pop off of three crates, they hear several guards begin to shoot inside the facility. Not at them however, at someone else!

As they exit the crates though several soldiers turned back toward them and they are forced to defend themselves. Steve throws his shield on the run and hits 2 soldiers in armor then tumbles and catches his shield again. Peter webs up to the rafters and on his way he shoots his webs into the faces of two soldiers right as they train their guns on Logan and Natalya. Bullets rip toward them and they are able to dodge out of the way just in the nick of time. Kate huddles behind the front of the truck and surveys the scene before she decides to act. The team and their crates are more nearer the back of the truck unloaded in a line onto some kind of trolley rail. Natalya can’t see Kate from where she is and Logan lurched forward to engage a soldier that was about to shoot at them. Instead of having her blow her one and only tranq round he instead takes the shot and is narrowly missed by the barrage of automatic weapons fire. Logan growls loudly as he smashes into the soldier, claws out and finds openings in the face guard and between the chest plates to savagely dig his claws in deep. Pharaoh begins unleashing illusions of SHIELD agents popping out of other crates and several soldiers turn their weapons on them as ‘easy kills’ instead of the avengers. Natalya staying low notices movement at the front of the truck but before she moves she sees someone zoom past in mid air, the man in the black and green suit! As she watches him fly past she sees soldiers aim up and fire their weapons at him. As she might expect, the bullets slow down to a crawl in mid air then fall to the ground.

Natalya was dressed in her black one piece Avenger's suit and black boots. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore her high holster. Even though she remembered the scenarios they had run through the day before, she had still taken out one bullet and loaded it with a tranq dart. She wasn't prepared to give up on Kate just yet, but she was only giving herself one shot. If she missed her, or if Kate stopped the tranq dart with her powers then that was it.

In the chaos of the fighting Natalya stayed low and kept a look out for Kate. She knew she was here somewhere, but the Telekinetic hadn't shown her face just yet. She thought she saw movement near the front of the truck and she turned her attention that way. However, before she could figure out if it was Kate a different movement caught her eye. As she looked up she saw the man in the black and green suit! She gritted her teeth in anger at his appearance, but knew she didn't have time to deal with him. As she looked back she suddenly spotted someone familiar and her heart nearly stopped.

Kate stepped out from the front of the truck. It was undeniably her. She looked over and saw the man in the black and green suit and she raised a hand and flicked her wrist. He went sailing back and hit a wall. Natalya saw her eyes and could see that though they were Kate's eyes, there was something very wrong. They seemed...glassy and cold. Steve had temporarily disappeared and Kate looked around at the rest of the Avengers' team. There was no recognition in her eyes. Natalya knew in that moment that they were in trouble. For a moment the world was still...and then Kate attacked. She never even moved...but everything around her did. Objects of all sizes were suddenly lifted into the air and hurled at them. Natalya was struck by a metal container and was nearly knocked out. She suffered a head wound, but it wasn't life threatening. A little blood began to drip down the side of her face as she got to her feet. Kate looked over at her and began to lift a car. However, in that moment someone else appeared. His movement caught her eye and Kate looked over at him. The moment her eyes fell upon him the car she had lifted into the air dropped to the ground. The glassy, cold look in her eyes faded and instant recognition returned to them...as well as a look of deep, undying love. "Steve...?" she said with a quiver in her voice. Natalya knew this was her chance. She readied the gun and quickly took aim. She aimed for Kate's neck and she fired. The tranq dart hit her on the left side of the neck and the effects were almost instantaneous. Kate stumbled forward and felt someone with strong arms catch her before the world around her went dark.

As Logan, Peter and Akar continued to fight the soldiers small explosions began to rattle the roof of the building. That and a mist of green dust began to filter down from where the small explosions had come from. It had an odd, eerie look to it but there was little the avengers could do but press on. More and more soldiers poured out of the doors that looked as if they led further into the complex but the short stream of men stopped and the doors closed behind them. A red alarm was going off and bullets were flying everywhere. Peter blinded two more and Pharaoh took down as many with his psychic blasts that their armor had no defense against. They still fired at the SHIELD agent illusions and as they should as the illusions were hit they fell and there were several SHIELD agent bodies on the ground now. Logan used a dead soldier as a human shield as bullets riddled the corpse. Steve cradled Kate in his arms and used his shield to protect them from a hail of bullets from the soldiers. The green mist was everywhere now but Natalya didn’t feel any adverse effects from it. She saw Pharaoh take a bullet in the leg and as he fell Peter hoisted him up into the air with his webs. He dodged for his life as bullets ripped toward him and he saw as several soldiers trained their guns on the downed man in black. In an instant he used his webs and attach them to the downed man then pulled him back toward their group. As Natalya began to fire back at the soldiers she noticed it took several shots to bring them down. Before she had to exchange clips she had downed three and she saw all that were left trained their weapons toward her, steve, Kate and Peter. As they shot however, the weapons either jammed or fell apart in their hands. As they moved pieces of armor began to fall from them, gauntlets, leg plates and arm guards breaking off of the soldiers like they were made of cheap plastic. In shock and aw the soldiers seemed to halt their advance and an odd moment of realization passed over them. Whatever the green mist was, it had destroyed their armor and weapons and they were now unarmed and armored. As Natalya took aim again, they scattered like quail in fear for their very lives.

Kate was limp in Steve’s arms but her eyes were still open. Her brow furled in confusion but it was clear she had recognized him now. She tried to speak but her brain could not form the words do to the drugs in the tranq dart. Tears filled her eyes as she recalled what she had been doing. A sign that however Victor controlled her, she was able to see and feel everything she had done and said. Steve brushed back her hair then hugged her to him. “I’ve got you Kate...I’ve got you,” he said then shifted his gaze to the soldiers who were running from Natalya’s bullets...Or trying to run at least.

Natalya was relieved to know that Kate was alive. She saw Steve holding her in his arms while using his shield to protect them. Suddenly, the ground rattled from several explosions in the building. Natalya looked up as a strange mist of green dust began to rain down. At the same time a booming alarm was activated and more soldiers began to pour out. Bullets were flying everywhere and Natalya saw Pharaoh get hit. Thankfully, Peter immediately used a web to hoist him up into the air and protect him. She noticed that he also picked up the man in the black and green suit who was still unconscious from Kate's attack. Logan was using the body of a dead soldier as a shield against the bullets. Natalya continued to aim and fire. She fired quickly and accurately, but it took more bullets than she wanted to get the soldiers to go down. She suddenly ran out of bullets and had to pause to put in a new clip. As she did she saw the soldiers train their weapons upon Steve, Kate, Peter, and herself. She aimed her gun to fire back, but before the soldiers could fire their weapons and armor began to fall apart. The green mist seemed to have rendered their armor and weapons useless! Natalya immediately began to fire upon them as they ran for their lives.

After it was over she put her smoking gun away and walked over to Steve. Kate was now unconscious and she looked at her and then at Steve. "How is she?"

“She’s alive,” Steve said as he smoother her hair back. She was completely limp in his arms and he shifted to get a better hold of her. The entire fight took less than a minute but it was an intense minute. “SHe looked...upset while she was still conscious. I don't know why but I think that was a good sign,” He added. “We need to get everyone back into the truck and out of here,” He said as he lifted her up in his arms. Logan helped up Pharaoh and together they limped toward the truck. Pharaoh had already released all of his illusions so it was just them now with the man in the black and green suit. Steve spared him a glance but knew they couldn't just leave him. But he decided to leave that to the others. If they left them then he’d not say anything. He was certain the man used them as a distraction and that left a very nasty taste in his mouth. It spoke of something SHIELD would do and that chemical he used in is devices. That spoke volumes as well. He got into the back of the truck with Logan and Pharoah following. That left Natalya and Peter who was looking at her then him then at her again worriedly and he rubbed his arms nervously.

Natalya was relieved to see that her friend was alright. She had a feeling Kate might end up with side effects from whatever Dr. Doom had done to her, but they would deal with that at a later time. For now they needed to get Kate and Pharaoh some medical attention. She watched as Steve carried Kate towards the truck. Logan was helping Pharaoh who had been shot in the leg. He was lucky it hadn't been worse than that. Natalya was waiting to ensure the others got onto the truck and that no one else tried to attack them. Natalya looked over at the man in the black and green suit and she felt a surge of anger as she thought about what he had done. They had been bait and could have all been killed. She waited until everyone but Peter was in the truck. She pulled out her handgun and looked at Peter.

"Go get in the truck Peter."

Peter was about to move toward the truck but then heard Natalya’s voice. He quickly ripped off his mask and looked up at her. Peter wasn’t very tall, a few inches shorter than Natalya in fact. “Uh...Nat...uh, you’re...you’re not gunna shoot em are you?” Peter said nervously. He didn’t think they really owed the man anything but he did see that those small explosions and the chemicals that rained down upon everything was a better idea then they had coming in. He saw her cock her pistol and he shifted and got in front of the man.

“Jesus Nat, he’s defenseless and he’s the only reason we’re alive!” he said desperately. “We gotta take em with us or he might end up like Kate. You’re better then this, don’t killem, lets take em with us. Maybe he can tell us something important!” He said pleadingly.

“Screw em!” Logan said from the back of the truck as he was helping Pharaoh up. “Ahh...ahhh,” Pharaoh cried as Logan pushed him up.

“Please Nat…” Peter pleaded again.

Natalya was angry...really angry. She looked at Peter and glanced down at the man in the black suit. "He used us as bait!" She saw Peter's desperate face and she sighed and slowly lowered her gun. She muttered angrily in Russian for a moment. "Fine! He's your responsibility though and if he tries anything when he wakes up I am going to shoot him."

She turned and walked to the truck, leaving Peter to bring the man in the suit. She got into the truck and sat down next to Logan. She was still muttering in Russian.

Peter had no issue picking the man up and Steve got Kate settled then stepped out to get the facilities doors opened then came back and got into the cab and drive. Peter hopped up with Malcolm on his shoulders then laid him down on the floor of the truck near Kate. He closed the rear doors and Steve put the truck into drive.

They weren’t accosted as they left, apparently the man in the suit had set other explosives up all over the grounds and men, women and vehicles were everywhere trying to get away from the flames. Outside of the grounds the streets were not unlike any other small city. Steve used his wrist communicator to keep them going in the right direction to their pickup point. After a couple hours of nervous driving the arrived and Steve signaled SHIELD they were ready for the pickup. The man in the black suit was beginning to stir but when he lifted his head Logan leaned forward and punched him hard in the jaw. The man’s head fell back onto the floor of the truck and he never stirred until they were back at the Avengers Tower. As they arrived they saw Nick Fury there waiting for them. When the helicopter dropped the truck off he stepped up and opened up the back of the truck.

“Well it appears you all survived,” he said and looked at each of her in turn. “Dare I ask if you succeeded in your mission?” He asked as he stepped back and allowed them to get out. Steve exited the truck and came around to get Kate. “Now, you know she’s still one of mine, right?” Nick said and Steve gave him an angry look. “You just try to take her...and you’ll regret it,” he said threateningly. “You left her to that...animal, with no backup, nothing!” He said as he helped Pharaoh out. Peter got the man up onto his shoulders as Logan brought Kate out.

“And he’s one of mine too on the mission,” he said but Peter didn’t stop carrying him he just followed Pharaoh inside to the infirmary.

Natalya said nothing during the entire flight back to New York. She just sat there in the truck with her arms crossed over her chest and didn't look at the man in the black suit. Finally, they made it back to the Avenger's Tower. When Natalya saw Nick waiting for them her anger spiked even higher to the point where she was almost shaking from it. She said nothing to Nick for fear that she would yell something at him that would get her in serious trouble.

She glared at Nick when he said something about Kate and wasn't surprised by Steve's response. Steve was angry and he didn't get angry very easily. She followed Peter and the others inside. She kept looking at the man in the black suit. She wanted to see his face...to know who this man was. She suddenly reached out and grabbed his mask and pulled it off. When she did her mouth dropped in shock. She was now almost seeing red. She couldn't even speak. Her mouth opened but no words came out. She just blinked to be sure she was actually seeing what she was seeing. The face didn't change. It was Malcolm Cross. She yelled out in anger and kicked the nearest table so hard the leg broke. She turned and looked at Nick Fury. "Did you send him to sleep with me?!"

Nick paused in what he was going to say and gave her a wry smile. “Do I look like a pimp Natalya?” He said assessing her mood. Obviously the woman was angry. “I had nothing to do with what Malcolm did outside of his missions. What happened between you two can stay between you two as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

“So why the pretense. Why the two teams?” Steve asked. “Because I didn’t think one could get it done. I covered my bets and it paid off. You distracted enough heat off the other to make it happen. He played his part and you played yours and as a result, alot of people won’t die,” Nick said.

“So you just used us as a distraction?” Logan said angrily but he saw the logic of it all. He just didn’t like being involved in it like that. He shook his head and stepped inside toward the infirmary with Pharaoh along with Peter and Steve Rogers shook his head and headed that was as well.

Nick looked at Natalya. “So your angry that Malcolm hid the truth from you? Well, if it matters, he gave his word to me that he wouldn’t divulge his identity to anyone. And when he asked...demanded that I allow him to...I’m betting that was when he met you. I said no,” Nick said.

Natalya practically growled at Nick. She was not in a joking mood and did not like Nick's attitude. She was far beyond seeing reason at this point. She felt used...just like she had been used by the SSB. A lot of bad memories came flooding back into the forefront of her mind. She felt sick and dirty and wasn't ready to listen to reason. She just shook her head and walked away from everyone. She headed down to the training room, turned on some loud music and began to beat the shit out of a punching bag.

Meanwhile, Kate began to stir finally. Her eyes fluttered and she began to say Steve's name under her breath.

Steve Rogers had called for Starks surgery team to come and when he knew they were on their way he set his shield down in a chair in the waiting room and stepped into the infirmary. Peter put Malcolm in a bed and covered him up with a blanket. Pharaoh had his leg elevated and he was in another bed. Steve nodded at him as he passed and Pharaoh nodded back. In the third bed was Kate and Steve stepped up to it worried and took her hand in his as he took a seat in a chair that was beside it. He pressed her hand to his forehead and just held it there for a while hoping beyond hope that she was alright.

He heard her murmur and he looked up quickly to see her eyes begin to flutter. He stood and leaned on the bed beside her. “Kate? Kate, can you hear me?” He asked softly. She wasn’t really talking and he wasn’t even certain she was conscious. He kissed her hand. “I was so worried I’d not be able to get you back,” he said and his voice had a nervous twill in it. A sign he was far from content right then. “I didn’t realize...when you left that you put yourself in such danger…” he began then thought how arrogant his words must sound. “I can’t protect you if you’re not near me, can I?” he reasoned and saw her eyes flutter again.