Hey guys! Bet you weren't expecting me so soon! So, I've got a quick announcement. I'm planning on picking up the speed with updates. The chapters might be a bit shorter than before, but you'll (hopefully) be getting a chapter every 1-2 weeks (if everything goes well). Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter! -Spathi

Natasha's P.O.V.

While Bruce was asleep, she had wanted to set about trying to find an alternative to her terribly constructed sled. She had no desire to cling on for dear life this time around. However, nothing came to mind. She had no tools or supplies to make something new with. Neither was she any good at building vehicles, as she had just found out hours prior.

So, she ended up trying to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the Russian Avengers. She knew Bruce could easily take Alexei and Ursa Major. And Crimson Dynamo's suit could be knocked out with an EMP. But the woman was the one she was worried about. Laynia had been able to use the Darkforce. What could she do against that?

She'd decided that if they were willing to, then she'd bring some of the adult wolves along. Then, she started packing provisions, such as food, water, and first aid items. She found some Greek fire in the house's armory, as well as some other interesting ingredients, and began creating some improvised explosive devices, IEDs for short. She knew enough about the chemicals in bombs as well as the technology behind the triggers and timers to make her own She ended up making four different types: incendiary, explosive, smoke, and sticky.

By the time she was almost done making her bombs, Bruce had woken up. He walked into the living room - now Natasha's workshop - and sat down next to her. He watched in silence for a while.

"Hey, Natasha. Could I see your wrists for a second?" he said suddenly. Natasha turned and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Sure." she agreed, and held her wrists out towards him. She watched in confusion as he carefully inspected her cuffs.

"What are you looking for?" she wondered.

"Hmm? Oh, I just- I think I saw - ah. There it is." he answered distractedly, finally sliding a switch on the underside of one of her cuffs that Natasha hadn't noticed before. A compartment on the underside of the cuff popped open, and a small black disk with a hourglass inscribed in red rose from the opening. Natasha took it, watching the hourglass light up with her touch. The disk whirred and started expanding outwards. Natasha dropped the disk on the ground, where it kept transforming rapidly.

In a couple of seconds, a Harley Davidson LiveWire stood in front of her. Natasha walked up it to it, shocked. She noticed a note attached to the side. It read:

Nat,

While you, Steve, and Sam were taking down S.H.I.E.L.D., I brought you a EXO-7 Falcon. I mentioned that it came from Fury's hidden bunker. Well, this was also in that bunker, and I thought you might enjoy having it. It's been upgraded, and you can switch it from this mode to what I like to call demigod mode, which has some pretty awesome features built in. The normal mode is a bit faster than the actual motorcycle, but the demigod mode....well, I'll let you find that out yourself. Anyways, I hope you like it.

- P.J.

She stared at the small scrap of paper for a while, and then stood up, clenching her fists.

"Oh, they are going to pay. I'm going to rip them apart with my bare hands." she snarled, green eyes flashing with anger. Bruce reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Calm down, Tasha. We can't rush into this blindly. We've got to come up with a plan of attack." he coaxed. Natasha turned to him.

"I have a plan. Attack." she replied angrily, quoting Tony in her rage.

"You know that's not a good idea. We have to think about this. For example, do you really want to storm in there, guns blazing? They'll guard your brother more heavily once they notice you. We need to create a distraction." Bruce pointed out. Natasha breathed out heavily.

"Okay, fine. But I hope you've got some tricks up your sleeve." she responded. Bruce smiled crookedly.

"Don't worry about it. They won't notice anything wrong until it's too late. One should never trust a Greek bearing gifts, remember? And the closer they look at the surprise I've got planned, the less they'll see. Because nothing is ever exactly as it seems." he said confidently. Natasha looked at him doubtfully.

"I hope you're right about this. These people are part of the organization that created the program that trained me. You won't be able to fool them so easily." she commented. Bruce's smile widened.

"A man named Arthur C. Clarke once said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Not to sound cocky, but I know a lot about advanced technology. So I could technically be called a magician. I also know that a magician's greatest strength is an empty fist. That is to say, the ability to convince a crowd that something is inside when really there is nothing." he started. Natasha was very confused.

"What does that have to do with anything?" she wondered.

"The empty fist is a distraction. The magician convinces the audience to watch his fist, makes them follow it with their eyes as he twirls it around in the air. The audience is looking closely at the fist, thinking themselves on top of everything that's going on. But they've already missed the trick. They didn't see the magician slip the coin up his sleeve, or stash the card in a pocket. They only see a fist that they believe contains what they seek." Bruce said. Natasha's eyes widened as she started to catch on.

"So that means..." she trailed off.

"What that means is that I'm going to cause a distraction, but there will also be a second trick. But I'm going to need your help." he finished. Natasha nodded, a tiny smile playing at her lips.

"Alright. What's the plan?" she asked, sitting back down next to him.

"Well..."

As it turned out, the plan was rather interesting. Natasha had to agree that it would definitely be effective, and was just crazy enough to work. Once they'd finalized it, they made all the necessary preparations. Then, they hopped onto her LiveWire, and sped off. Six of the strongest wolves in the pack ran behind them, fur glowing red.

"Hold on for a couple more hours, Lex. Just a couple more hours, and we'll be there." she thought.

Percy's P.O.V.

He gasped for breath as Laynia finally stopped exerting the Darkforce on him. As soon as he regained control of his limbs, he looked up at Laynia and glared.

"They'll come for me. They'll be here soon, and they'll rip you apart." he blustered, although he had no idea whether Natasha was really coming, or if she even knew where he was. His Russian was a little sloppy due to the immense pain he was in, but at least it sounded confident. However, Laynia only grinned in response.

"We know. That's what we're waiting for." she replied cheerfully. Percy kept eye contact with the woman, refusing to look away. She shrugged and raised her hands, ready to use the Darkforce again.

"I will not scream. I will not scream. I will not scream." he chanted mentally. The pain returned. Percy clenched his teeth as hard as he could.

"Something the matter?" Laynia asked sweetly.

"No, nothing's wrong whatsover, Professor Umbridge. I am completely fine sitting here while you torture me. How are your cats? Still alive?" he replied sarcastically.

"My cats are in perfectly good health-" Laynia started, but he interrupted.

"Wait." he said, arching an eyebrow.

"You've actually got cats? Next, you're going to tell me that you love the color pink, contrary to your usual outfit." he drawled.

"There's nothing wrong with liking pink." she snapped. Percy burst out laughing.

"You like pain, purring pets, and pink. You're literally Dolores Umbridge. Ugly, annoying, and a sadistic toad-witch." he chuckled. He was rewarded for that comment with a slap to the face.

"I am the one in power here. Do not insult me again, or you will regret it." Laynia threatened. Percy widened his eyes innocently.

"But professor, I must not tell lies. It's not my fault that you've got a face only this crazy organization of murderers could love. Oh, hold on. You guys don't believe in love, do you." Percy mocked. Laynia slammed his head into the back of the chair. He spat the blood out at her feet.

Did you by chance crack a mirror by glancing in it recently?" he snarked. His head snapped to the side violently. Percy shook it off, and grinned.

"You know, I never forget a face. But I'll make an exception for yours." he jeered. The aforementioned face was red with fury. She flicked her wrist, and set the Darkforce on him with renewed vigor.

He lost track of how much time had passed, staring resolutely at the floor. He only looked up again when the Red Guardian strode into the room.

"Enough, Laynia. We want him alive." he intoned. Laynia stopped the Darkforce, and swept out of the room, slamming the door on her way out.

"What type of idiot are you, deciding to anger her like that?" Alexei Shostakov wondered. Percy smirked.

"A Seaweed Brain. That is, one who likes angering people, and finds it fun. I don't know if you noticed, but I've been a little lacking in the having fun department recently." he replied. Alexei shook his head in disbelief, moving behind Percy's chair.

"That will get you killed." he commented. Percy felt a sharp jab in his neck. Probably a needle. They were drugging him with something, but he didn't know what.

"Isn't that the plan? Or am I here on vacation? Because I highly doubt that you're just going to let me walk away." he pointed out. He wondered what they'd put into his system. He wasn't feeling any different.

"Something like that." Alexei agreed, and walked out the door. Percy waited. A little while later, he heard a series of large explosions. The ground shook slightly.

"Well, that sounds promising." he mused.

Bruce's P.O.V.

They'd arrived at the base. It was a large cement structure, heavily guarded on all sides.

He was hiding behind a tree, waiting for a truck to pass by on the nearby snow covered road. Natasha had taken the motorcycle and the wolves to circle around the base, waiting for his signal. He had a duffel bag slung on one shoulder. In his hands, he carried the first part of his plan: a troop of small robots packed with explosives.

Bruce looked towards the base, locating a drainage pipe that was just large enough for someone to squeeze through.

He heard a truck approaching, and smiled to himself.

"Bingo." he thought. He set the robots on the ground, and the little machines seemed to wake up, whirring to life and scuttling to the middle of the road. Their white paint made it almost impossible to see them against the bright background of the snow.

The truck drove by. Bruce heard a series of odd clicking noises and internally cheered. The sound indicated that the robots had done as they were supposed to; as the truck drove over them, they'd leaped up and attached themselves to the underside.

He watched the truck enter the garage. 10 minutes later, he pressed a button on a small device he'd made that activated the next phase of the plan: Operation Hijack.

If all went as planned, each of the robots would stealthily make their way to a different vehicle, and take control of the entire thing. Then, they'd send a signal back, telling him that they were good to go. He watched his device anxiously.

One by one, each robot returned the signal. Bruce blew out a breath in relief.

The next stage was fun. He grinned as he pressed the button that would initiate it. Then, he turned his eyes to the garage.

He heard a succession of crashes and quite a bit of screaming. Then, a group of vehicles burst out of the garage, headed straight for the base, and smashed straight through the front doors. More sounds of chaos reached his ears.

He knew that everybody would be focused on the vehicles that had apparently gone insane, so he left his hiding place, and hurried over to the drainage pipe. He slipped inside.

While moving through the pipe, he noticed a grate above him. He pried it open, and jumped up, hauling himself through the opening. He crawled through what appeared to be the air ducts, and eventually came to another grate.

Peeking through it, he caught sight of one of the hijacked vehicles rampaging through the hallways. He pulled out his device, and pressed another button.

For a second, nothing happened. Then, the entire base shook as all of the hijacked vehicles exploded simultaneously. Bruce did a little fist pump.

He could see a large hole in the base, smoldering slightly at the edges.

"There's the signal, Tasha." he thought. He noticed a group of soldiers exiting the base through the hole.

Bruce broke through the grate and pulled several incendiary bombs from his duffel bag. He also pulled out some smoke bombs. He threw the incendiary bombs through the opening as hard as he could. Then, he chucked the smoke bombs in the same direction.

The result was a large amount of green fire and a sudden drop in the level of visibility just outside of the base. A minute later, six white wolves with a red aura leapt through the hole and tore down the hallway. Seconds later, Bruce heard a lot of gunfire and fearful screaming.

"Get them off of me!" someone yelled. Bruce decided to walk in a different direction. He strode down the hallway, placing several sticky bombs in certain locations. Soon, he ran into someone.

"Ah, Natasha. How have you been?" the Red Guardian said. Bruce sighed in relief. Apparently, the Mist that he and Natasha had placed over each other was working. He looked like Natasha, and Natasha looked like him.

"I've been great. How are the ribs?" he replied.

"They're doing great." Alexei responded flatly.

"Really? That's unfortunate." Bruce smirked. A nearby door opened, and the werebear Mikhail stepped out.

"Hey, your girlfriend finally showed up." the large man commented.

"I'm not his girlfriend." Bruce protested. Even if the two men had actually been speaking to Natasha, Bruce was sure that they would have gotten the same response. As it was, he felt immensely uncomfortable.

"Well, we can't exactly have you wandering around the base." Mikhail replied, advancing towards him.

"Take care of her. I'm going to make sure the scientist isn't sneaking around here somewhere." Alexei ordered. Then, he turned and disappeared down the hallway. Bruce retreated backwards, stopping a couple of feet behind the last sticky bomb he'd placed. He pulled out his device, and readied the trigger for the IED.

"1...2...3!" he counted, and then took off back the way he came, glancing over his shoulder constantly to gauge the other man's distance. Mikhail charged after him, and Bruce let him get about 20 feet down the hallway before pressing the button and running for his life. There was a large explosion behind him, and the resulting force propelled Bruce down the hallway and out of the hole he'd created earlier. He landed in some snow and sat up.

Part of the base had collapsed completely. Bruce highly doubted that Mikhail would be bothering him any time soon.

The woman with the strange powers, Laynia, flew towards him.

"Well played, Ms. Romanova. But your lucky streak ends here." she called. She flicked her wrist, and Bruce gasped in pain, collapsing to his knees. He could see dark energy crackling around him, and it hurt. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, struggling not to collapse any further.

Then, he felt his consciousness being shoved out of the way. He receded to the back of his mind for about half a second before he was suddenly snapped back to the forefront.

"We are one." he heard Joe Fixit whisper in his mind. Bruce's eyes snapped open, and he screamed.

Green fire exploded from his body in a ring of flames, and Laynia was blasted backwards. She crashed into a pile of rubble, her hair charred and smoke coming off of her clothes.

Bruce himself was wreathed in green flames that hissed and spat angrily. Laynia weakly lifted her arm, and shot a bolt of dark energy at him.

He moved without thinking. In a flash, Anaptos was out, green flames racing across the blade, and he cut the energy bolt in half.

"H-how?" Laynia wondered. Bruce did not reply, instead focusing on controlling the Greek fire. It receded, until it only covered his empty hand and Anaptos. Although his eyes also felt rather warm as well. He pushed the thought aside as he stalked towards Laynia, twirling his blade leisurely. Anaptos sang as it sliced through the air, leaving green trails of flickering light in its wake.

Laynia cowered as Bruce walked up to her.

"Good night." he said, and hit her in the temple. She slumped, unconcious.

He put out the flames, and walked back into the base. While walking through the base, he ran into Natasha.

She nodded at him, and they stealthily made their way through the hallways. Bruce heard a noise from around the corner ahead of them, and gestured for Natasha to wait. She agreed silently, and he carefully turned the corner. There were three men standing in the hallway, all facing away from him. They seemed to be waiting for someone. Or maybe forming a barrier against someone.

Bruce silently walked up behind them. He got as close as he dared, and then sprung into action. His hands shot out, and grabbed the two men on the ends by their collars, pulling them downwards. At the same time, he jumped up, pulling his knees to his chest, and then kicking outwards with both feet. The double front kick slammed into the middle man's back, sending him forwards. Bruce tucked into a backflip, and landed silently. The two men he'd pulled crashed into the ground. They lay unconscious, knocked out by the hard fall. The man that had been in the middle flew through the air, his face hitting the ground first as he slid across the ground. Bruce winced. That had probably hurt.

"Natasha?" he called quietly, but there was no reply. He furrowed his eyebrows.

He went back to the corner, and glanced around it, finding an empty corridor.

"Where the hell did she go?" he thought, a feeling of dread slowly rising in his chest.

Percy's P.O.V.

A while later, Percy felt rather confused. He'd heard a lot of gunfire and confusion in the several minutes after Alexei walked out of the room, but that had dimmed. Now, it was almost silent. He frowned.

The door opened, and Alexei walked in, looking immaculate. Percy cocked his head. Something didn't seem right. The other man pulled out a familiar syringe, casually tossed it in his direction, and then crossed his arms.

He didn't know what had been in that syringe, but he was sure he wouldn't like the results. He also didn't like the evil smile spreading over the Red Guardian's face. The son of the sea braced himself for whatever torture was coming next.

The door opened, and Percy's eyes widened as a familiar red-head was dragged into the room, and deposited limply at his feet.

"No." he breathed.

"Look familiar, Mr. Johnson?" Alexei drawled.

"If you touch her, I'll kill you!" he roared, struggling against his bonds.

"Ah, so we've found your weakness. Although your deep connection to her is astounding." Alexei commented. Percy snarled.

"She's such a high-profile figure, you know? Not exactly someone a security guard should know so well." the other man crooned. The son of the sea started trying to maneuver himself out of the restraints, versus trying to break them.

"But then again, she's a quite an interesting woman. Definitely a fighter. And the temper on her... as you can imagine, she wasn't very happy to see us." the man teased, and Percy fought very hard to keep himself from exploding. He was struggling with his fatal flaw; a part of him wanted to use his powers and get her out of there. The other part knew that revealing his powers would put many people in danger, especially the rest of his family. So his only option was restricting himself, no matter how much he wanted not to.

He screamed in rage, abandoning the idea of escaping his ropes with finesse and struggling more violently.

Green eyes opened, and locked on his own. Recognition and understanding flickered in them, and then they became sad.

"Let me go." she said, as if reading his mind. And he found himself wanting not to listen. He wanted to explode, and rampage, and destroy.

"Ican'tletthishappenwhatamIdoingshe'sgoingtodiestopstopstopnodon'tdoitpleasestop!" he thought frantically.

Alexei raised a gun to the back of her head. Percy started struggling more. Tears streamed freely down his face.

"Don't do it, you -" he let out a stream of curses in all the languages he knew. Alexei laughed darkly, and shoved the red-head to the ground. She lay on her back, green eyes staring down the barrel of Alexei's gun. Her face was determinedly blank, but Percy knew she was afraid. Still, she spoke in a steady tone.

"It's okay, Peter." she insisted. Alexei cocked the gun.

"Don't you dare." he whispered. His last plea for her life hung in the air, sheer desperation and pain dripping off every word. For a second, the other man actually hesitated. The world seemed to stop with him. A flicker of hope stirred in Percy's heart.

But then, time restarted, and everything came crashing down.

"Oh, I think I will." Alexei responded. He pulled the trigger.

Percy watched in shock as the life faded from what had once been a pair of vibrant green eyes. Now, they were dull, empty.

"I regret it." Alexei said carelessly, tossing the gun to the side, and stalking out of the room.

Percy closed his eyes, blinking away the tears that still poured from his eyes.

"It's my fault." he thought.

"It's all my fault she's gone." He glanced back down at her body.

"I'm so sorry." he said. But it was too late.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare was dead. One of his closest friends was dead. And her blood was on his hands.

Natasha's P.O.V.

She'd slipped away from Bruce after spotting a room marked Security. Naturally, she entered it in hopes of checking the cameras and finding her younger brother. After easily disposing of the guards (why were the ones in security rooms always so pathetic?), she sat down at the desk, and started clicking through the camera feeds. Once she found him, in a room bare of anything but him and the chair he was strapped to, her breath hitched.

"What did they do to you?" she breathed. Her younger brother looked empty. The last time she'd seen that empty an expression, it had been...

Her anger rose, threatening to choke her. She forced it back down.

"Wait, Natasha. You'll get your chance soon enough. But you have to wait." she thought. Still, she wanted to kill everybody in the base. Because the last person she'd seen wear that dead of an expression was post-Bahrain Melinda May. And that thought terrified her. May had looked more vacant, but that didn't comfort her in the slightest.

Percy was one of the strongest people she knew. So what could they have done to him in the two days they'd had him to make him look like that? What could possibly be almost as scarring to him as Bahrain was for May? And would that broken look last like it did for her? Was it too late to help him? Or could she stop her brother from going down the same path?

She slipped out of the room, and went to find Bruce. They had some prey to track down.

Bruce wasn't that hard to find. All she had to do was follow the trail of unconscious bodies. She caught up with him just as he hurled a guy into a wall.

"Damn, Bruce." she teased. Before the scientist could even react to her sudden appearance, Alexei and Yuri entered the hallway. Yuri was wearing different armor than last time. This version was bulkier, which probably meant it had more weapons. Alexei was also wearing something different. He was wearing some sort of metal armor that covered his arms, legs, and torso. Parts of it glowed orange, and it looked surprisingly flexible. Alexei noticed her looking.

"Do you like it, Dr. Banner?" he asked. Natasha was momentarily surprised, having forgotten that she looked like Bruce due to the Mist. She didn't answer his question.

"It's Cybertek technology. Project: Deathlok. It makes me stronger and faster." Alexei continued smugly.

"Who had the bright idea of giving a super soldier a set of super armor? But I see it didn't do any wonders for his brain. Why did he tell us that?" Bruce muttered just loud enough for the two men facing them to hear. Alexei flushed while Yuri snickered.

"Which one do you want?" Bruce asked her in English.

"The one who kidnapped Peter." Natasha replied. Bruce nodded.

"Well, that's good, because Yuri and I need to have a little talk about taking what isn't yours on behalf of Tony. He hates it when people do that." She laughed, and Bruce grinned. Then, he ran towards Yuri.

"I'm going to start with you, brother." he snarled in faux anger. Yuri looked surpised, but flew to meet him.

"If that's what you wish, sister." Natasha bit back another laugh as they got closer and closer. Yuri picked up what he thought to be Natasha, and flew upwards through the roof. A moment later, there was a roar. A large hole opened in the roof as Yuri fell back down to the ground at a very high speed. The hole was further enlarged as an enormous green figure crashed through it.

Yuri picked himself up off the ground and flew away, Bruce stomping after him in pursuit. Natasha waved her hand, dispelling the Mist around her, and then turned her attention to Alexei.

"Come then, let us fight." Natasha challenged in the way she imagined a knight would. Alexei managed to stop staring in shock and charged at her.

She met him halfway, sliding under his legs and throwing a shock disk at his back. But he seemed to predict this, bending over backwards and letting the disk pass harmlessly over his head.

"The fu-" Natasha started in a questioning tone, but was cut off when Alexei jumped off a wall and tackled her to the ground.

"Just like old times, right?" he smirked as he straddled her.

"If this is what old times were like, then I'm really glad I don't remember them." she quipped, rolling to the side suddenly and throwing Alexei off. She backed up a couple of feet, giving the Red Guardian enough time to stand up. Then, she sprang at him.

The first punch she threw was immediately blocked. Same with the second and third one. Her kicks were blocked too. She went for one of her iconic takedowns, only to be pulled off and hurled down the hallway. She slammed into a wall with considerable force.

She groaned in pain. Her back felt like crap. She slipped down from the crater she'd made in the wall, moving to attack Alexei again. This time, she was thrown directly through a wall, which she was pretty sure had broken several of her ribs.

She staggered to her feet, and rushed at Alexei again. This time, she feinted towards his head, and then jumped into the air, spinning and thrusting her foot backwards into his chest. He stumbled back, and Natasha followed her attack up with a Spartan kick to his stomach. She went for a third attack as Alexei fell to the ground, but the Red Guardian managed to grab her foot and drag her down with him.

He twisted her ankle, and there was a brutal snap. Natasha clenched her teeth and tried not to scream. Instead, she let her adamantium gloves form over her fists and started punching Alexei repeatedly in the face. He let go of her foot, and Natasha shocked him with her cuffs.

Unfortunately, that seemed to benefit him; his strange set of armor lit up, and he grabbed her other ankle and jerked it to the side. The pain was worse this time; Natasha was pretty sure that he'd just snapped her Achilles tendon. It felt like she'd been shot in the ankle. To make things worse, she buckled, allowing him to reach for her thigh. He then proceeded to break her femur.

This time, Natasha yelped. She fell over, and Alexei stood, picking her up by the right shoulder. The one that she'd dislocated hours previously. He flicked his wrist, and then there was a pop. It was dislocated. Again.

Then, he swung her around and threw her into the air. Before she landed back on the ground, he punched her in the stomach, breaking more of her ribs. To top it all off, she landed on her back and skidded across the ground.

"That Deathlok armor makes him gods damned hard to beat." she thought, annoyed. She tried to climb to her feet, almost passing out at the amount of pain it caused. Alexei walked up to her and grabbed her by the throat. He lifted her up and slammed her into yet another wall. His fingers tightened around her neck, and he applied more pressure to her throat, starting to choke her.

She didn't struggle, as she knew it was futile. She needed another way out of this.

Her mind raced, flitting from suggestion to suggestion. Her vision turned black around the edges.

Suddenly, Natasha had an idea.

She activated her cuffs, and slowly brought them together, creating the shield. Alexei looked at it, confused. Then, she shoved outwards as hard as she could.

The resulting force ripped Alexei's hand off of her. It also blew him backwards through three walls, which made Natasha feel a tiny bit better. And as she'd suspected, the EMP wave shorted out his suit, making him unable to move anymore. She lay on the ground, gasping, thanking the gods he hadn't crushed her trachea.

Once she'd gotten some air back in her lungs, she slowly dragged herself over to Alexei. She stared down at him.

"Any last words?" she asked. Alexei spat at her. She dodged, grabbed his head, and twisted it to the side.

He went limp.

"At least it was quick. More than you deserved." she told his dead body. Then she collapsed against a nearby wall.

Soon, Bruce came running in.

"Oh my gods. Natasha, how are you even awake?" he shrieked. Natasha laughed. She'd suspected that she looked like crap. But to hear Bruce say it was hilarious.

"We need to find Peter." she said, ignoring his question.

"Natasha, you can barely walk." he pointed out.

"Then I'll hitch a ride." she responded. Bruce looked really confused. But then, six familiar wolves bounded into the room.

The alpha wolf approached her and nuzzled into her neck gently. He lay down next to her, turned his head to her, and barked.

Natasha gingerly maneuvered herself so that she was draped over the alpha's back. Bruce helped her out by swinging one of her legs over the wolf. She clung to his furry neck.

The wolf stood up carefully, and started walking out of the room. Bruce and the other wolves followed. Natasha smiled slightly.

Now that they'd defeated the Winter Guard, all they had to do was find her brother.

Percy's P.O.V.

He didn't know how long he stared at Rachel's dead body for. All he knew was that it was a long time.

The intense feelings of guilt and sadness hadn't left his body. But something was off about the situation. No one had come in to further his torture or remove her body. The sounds of fighting had returned from outside. Dust fell from the ceiling at odd intervals. And now, things were getting weirder.

He blinked, and squinted at Rachel. He wasn't sure, but... he could have sworn that her body had disappeared for half a second. He waited.

A little while later, her body faded out of existence, but returned a minute later. Percy sat up in his chair.

"Wait..." he muttered to himself. Things continued on in that fashion. Rachel's body would disappear for longer periods of time, and then come back. And then, after some time of this happening repeatedly, she vanished completely. And she didn't come back.

Percy's eyes scanned the room, trying to figure out what had happened. And then, he noticed the syringe.

"I was drugged..." he muttered. A wave of emotion swept over him. He felt rage at Alexei for drugging him and making him think he killed Rachel. Relief that it had all been a hallucination. Residual guilt and sadness because of the memory of the event. Shock because he'd just realized that he'd felt empty for nothing. And determination to get out of the damn restraints and get the hell out of there.

He dislocated his thumb and slipped one of the cuffs holding him down to the chair. Then, he popped it back into place, and proceeded to rip all of restraints off. Adrenaline coursed through his body as he charged out of the room, and tore off down the hallways. He turned a corner and almost ran over Bruce.

"Peter! You're okay! Well, actually, you're not okay. What the hell is it with you and your sister? You two run around with injuries that would put most people into the hospital for several months." Bruce exclaimed.

"We aren't most people." Percy and Natasha chorused. Then, Percy got a good look at Natasha.

"Who did this to you?" he yelled in outrage.

"Alexei. But he's dead." Natasha replied tiredly. Percy seethed.

"What of the other three?" he asked.

"Mikhail is buried under a pile of rocks. Laynia was knocked unconscious. And Yuri is... deactivated." Bruce responded. Percy frowned.

"Deactivated?" he wondered.

"He's trapped in his armor, which no longer moves." Bruce deadpanned. Percy nodded.

"Okay, then. We should probably call it in to someone. Then, we need to clear out before they get here." Percy suggested. Bruce nodded, and started walking out of the base, the wolves following him. Percy glanced over his shoulder to make sure Bruce was out of sight before activating his Sea Scorpion armor and digging through his pockets.

He found his C.H.A.O.S. coin and his phone, the latter which he immediately used to contact Victoria Hand and give her the coordinates of his location.

"I should really make the coins have the ability to transmit coordinates, similar to Hermione's DA galleons." he mused as he deactivated his armor and walked out of the base. He found Bruce, Natasha, and the wolves standing next to a helicopter and the motorcycle he'd given his sister.

"Is this our ride?" he asked.

"It would be, but I don't know how to fly a helicopter." Bruce replied.

"That's okay, because Natasha taught me how." Percy assured. He opened the side doors, and carefully lifted Natasha into the plane. The wolves jumped in after her. Bruce sat in the passenger seat, while Percy went around the side and got into the cockpit. He switched the helicopter on and lifted it into the air.

"Where are we going?" he asked Bruce.

"That way." the scientist answered, pointing. Percy shrugged and flew the helicopter in that direction. Natasha made a frustrated noise from the back of the vehicle.

"Ivan is still alive." she grumbled.

"So is Madame B." Percy added. Natasha sighed, and he glanced back at his sister.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Peachy." she said sarcastically. Percy doubted that greatly. He knew his sister like he knew his own mind; he would never find anyone as untrusting but still kind.

He wanted to track down Ivan and Madame B and destroy them. However, he knew he couldn't, because Natasha would freak out if he went off alone. She'd let him go without interfering, but she'd still worry. If he did as something impulsive as that, she'd be silently resigned.

"Those damned people would be mine." he thought. She'd say she was fine.

She'd be lying.

Percy was broken out of his thoughts when Bruce pointed out the window.

"That's where we are going." he remarked, gesturing at a wooden cabin that Percy could just barely make out against the white snow. The son of the sea landed the helicopter, and jumped out, flinging open the door and grabbing Natasha gently.

Bruce opened the door to the cabin, and Percy ran inside, doing a double take as he saw a ton of wolves just hanging out in the living room.

Percy set Natasha down on the couch, and Bruce started working on her injuries, sending him to grab nectar and ambrosia, find some bandages, and retrieve some things to numb the pain with.

Bruce started realigning Natasha's bones, making sure they healed properly. Percy came over, and handed Natasha a bottle of vodka.

"Not sure why this is here, but this might take the edge off." he said. Natasha smiled weakly and took a large gulp from the bottle.

Once Bruce had finished with her injuries, Natasha drifted off to sleep. Percy brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Then, he went to the kitchen, Bruce following him there. Percy poured them both a glass of water, and then leaned against a wall.

"How old are you?" Bruce asked him, looking slightly confused. He laughed.

"Only nineteen but my mind is older." he said.

"You're telling me you're working security at Avengers Tower and you're not even out of your teens yet?" Bruce asked, shocked.

"Yes, and now I'm at your service, sir." Percy replied, taking a bow. Bruce blinked.

"Okay, then." he muttered, and took a sip of water. Percy suddenly remembered something. He stepped forwards, the smile slipping off of his face.

"I know you like her." he said, and Bruce choked on his water.

"W-what?" he sputtered, coughing violently.

"You like my sister." Percy asserted.

"I- I don't- excuse me?" Bruce was completely thrown, and Percy grinned.

"Look. I don't mind it at all. In fact, I think you'd be good for her. That is, if you go for it." he started. Bruce froze, wide-eyed.

"But-" Here, a dark look passed over Percy's face.

"If you act on those feelings, and then you break her heart, I will rip your heart out and stuff it down your throat. So you'd better treat her right. Clear?" Percy growled, the point of Riptide tucked under Bruce's chin. The scientist looked him in the eye, and nodded slowly. Satisfied, Percy retracted Riptide and backed away.

"Awesome." he chirped, and walked out of the kitchen. He entered a bedroom that had some of Natasha's things in it, and lay down, closing his eyes.

Images of the hallucination of Rachel's death flashed across his eyes. He gasped a little and his eyes snapped open.

It looked like he was in for a long night. Sleep wasn't going to be fun.

Bruce's P.O.V.

"Did I really just get the shovel talk from Natasha's nineteen year old brother?" he wondered as he wandered out of the kitchen and into the living room.

He sat down next to Natasha, and checked her injuries. They seemed to be healing rather well, but Bruce decided to give her another dose of nectar and ambrosia to speed up the process.

Using two fingers, he tapped her on the side of the face gently, causing her to stir immediately.

"Easy there. Don't move." he warned as she tried to sit up. She complied, laying back down.

"Argh..." she grunted, clearly in pain. Bruce stroked her cheek tenderly. She leaned into his touch slightly, closing her eyes.

"You're almost healed." he soothed softly.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes still closed.

"Yes, really. But you need to stop getting injured so often. Only the gods know how you're even alive at this point." he admonished.

"The gods definitely don't know. I don't think anyone knows. Except maybe the Fates. But I've heard that they don't even have full control over us, so..." she trailed off.

"That's an interesting thought." Bruce mused. Natasha shifted, and he picked her up. He carried her to the currently unoccupied bedroom and laid her down on top of the mattress.

He sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at her, her face looking so peaceful and relaxed. He wondered how she could be so comfortable around him, even though she'd seen him at his worst. And after hearing Peter threaten him, Bruce started wondering about the depth of his feelings for her.

"If there's something you want to tell me, just tell me. Is there something you want to tell me?" Natasha commented from where she lay.

"Is there something you want to hear?" he responded. Her green eyes opened, and Bruce was instantly pinned by her gaze.

"Yes." she finally said. Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"But not now... it's not the right time yet." she finished vaguely. Bruce sighed.

"What's a demigod gotta do?" he wondered out loud. Then, an idea formed in his head.

"If you start singing, I'm gonna throw up." Natasha said, most likely having noticed his expression. Bruce laughed. There was a comfortable silence. Finally, Bruce spoke up.

"Do you ever wish you were someone else?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. On one hand, I've had to go through a lot of shit in my life. On the other hand, there are a lot of things that make me wonder if being someone else would be worth it. I'm a woman who wants to make up for the things she did in the past, and while I wish I'd never done those things, they made me who I am. And all the people I've met, the ones I've bonded with, they make me feel happy. And if I'm happy, then that's a good thing, right?" she thought out loud.

"That's true. But still, sometimes, I wish I wasn't myself." Bruce agreed.

"Sometimes who we wish we were, what we wish we could do, is just not meant to be. We have what we have when we have it, and that's the way life works. Don't dwell on the bad in life. Instead, think on how you can make up for the bad, and find the good. That's how I've been operating, anyways." Natasha said wisely. Bruce nodded.

"And if there's so much bad that you can't make up for it?" he questioned. Natasha met his eyes, and he realized that a deep pain lurked behind her bright green eyes.

"If you think that way, then you've already lost. It's best to keep trying. It's best to have hope. Otherwise.... otherwise there's just no point." she said quietly, and Bruce had a feeling that she wasn't just talking about the idea in general. What she'd just said applied to herself.

He mentally smacked himself for bringing it up. Silence enveloped them once more. Eventually, Bruce got up to leave. But just as he rose from the bed, a hand grabbed his arm, and pulled him back down.

"Wha-" he asked, but didn't have a chance to say anything more before he was being judo flipped. By a woman with a ton of broken bones who was bedridden, no less. He landed on the bed with an audible grunt, finding himself lying down directly next to Natasha. Amusement danced in her green eyes, which were inches away from his own, and Bruce was captivated, unable to tear his eyes away.

Natasha laced his fingers with her own. Feeling slightly daring, he brought her hand up to his mouth, and kissed the back of it gently. He swore that her cheeks pinked ever so slightly. A cold wind blew through the house, and she shivered.

Bruce carefully pulled her into his side, so that her head lay on his shoulder, and wrapped his arms around her. His eyes drooped. He was comfortable, and he'd had a long day. Natasha's day was even more trying. They both needed rest.

It didn't take long for both Bruce and Natasha to drift off, feeling completely at peace for the first time in a while.

If Bruce had stayed up, he'd have noticed Peter poke his head into the room, smile softly at the sight, and snap a picture. But the scientist was asleep, so he didn't notice a thing.

All was well.

For now.

Tada! If you hadn't noticed, I was in a bit of a Lin-Manuel Miranda mood, lol. So instead of 10,000 word chapters, I'm aiming for 7,500. It'll allow the story to progress faster, which is helpful because I'll want to finish this before too many more Marvel movies come out, haha. I hope you liked this chapter. See you in 1-2 weeks! - Spathi.