Across town, Natasha gave Carol a wink and a smile before Widow covered her and they separated. It had been a good day. Most days were good days.
As she headed into the city, to reach her family before anyone else, her mind wandered. She had no doubt that Yelena would have ratted her out and in more ways than one. She didn't want it to be a secret she was bi, but she wanted to tell her parents on her own terms. Yelena would make it a joke, and it wasn't.
She had been trained by the Red Room. So, before Peter, a man and a woman held no emotional difference when they were targets. But with Peter, she felt safe and indulged in his threesome fantasy. Everyone was on the same page in the warehouse. There were arguments, but nothing major. There were groups, but nobody was made to feel unwelcome. She hadn't even noticed until Liv told them all bluntly. But she really didn't care.
It had been her choice. She could have unbonded with Widow and said no. She could have walked away. Peter was big on respect and permission, and it would have been as easy as that. She just didn't want to.
The best way to find out was to just try, so she picked Carol. Natasha had spent the night giving as good as she got. After, as the pair lay satisfied and very sweaty, she knew that yup, she was most certainly bi. She had shared that with Liv, and then shrugged and bedded her as well. After that, it was no longer indulging Peter's fantasies but her own.
Carol had been the only one who actually never slept with anyone else. Even threesomes were out, preferring to keep Peter to herself. So it made sense. If anyone was suddenly different, it would be her, but they hadn't cared.
Gwen of course had picked up on this. As the pair laughed and giggled their way to the breakfast table, Gwen was waiting. A banner with ‘Congratulations it's a Bi’ on it unfurled from the walkways. The ‘-oy’ part of the lettering written over with thick black marker to change it. Gwen giggled as she slapped rainbow stickers on the pair.
Natasha had just laughed. It was a brief moment of levity for the normally stoic woman. Carol, however, knew if Gwen wasn't put in her place, the teasing would continue.
“I guess I am, but sorry Gwen. I prefer someone a bit more butch, and with a lot more padding.” Gwen looked confused as Carol leaned over and kissed Felicia on the cheek. She slid her hands down and gave her much larger chest a squeeze, “Maybe once you grow up.”
Gwen's pout was adorable, and Felicia’s laugh had them all in fits. It was a good day. She was happy, and she had a family.
Right until a fucking asshole ruined it. They could be lazing in the pool having fun. They could be doing anything else, but no. She had to be out here, making sure her old family was safe from power-hungry idiots. If they went after Curt, Alekei and Yelena would be next.
She stopped as her phone rang. “I'm a bit busy now Sis, can I call you back?”
She heard Yelena sigh on the other end, “Hey Sis, we got some nice men here, big, strong, and very angry. You know. When you said come to America I thought, hey, shopping, boys, catching up. Not hiding in a safe house, bored until the army kicks the door in.”
Widow cursed, “Sorry Sis, I got you mixed up in all this.”
“Oh no, don't be sorry, I mean, it's only been five years, I'm sure prison will be nice. Dad already broke a few bones, his of course. He is really bad at this since you know, he got fat and old.”
Widow had to resist laughing, “Look, I'm sorry, I need to call you back.”
“Oh no, don't worry, love you, kisses, auf wiedersehen,” before Yelena hung up.
Widow took a breath. To anyone else, it was her overly attached sister, but her final message was one of their codes. Don’t worry about us, and don't hold back.
Nat?
Not now Pete, kinda busy.
Just to want you, they hit all of us. Carols fighting an Enhanced like her. The Avengers are either under arrest or crawling around the labs, and I’ve got Tony and Vision here. Be careful, who knows what they’ll pull?
Right, stay safe Pete. Love you.
She heard the van's approach and saw the military logo on the side.
So not Shield then, kept the big guys just for me.
Widow knew there was no point in running. The block would be cordoned off, with helicopters tracking her position. She could get away but it was better to clear the board first. So she waited patiently as the soldiers disembarked.
Widow was stood surrounded by Gamma troopers, and she was now in an even worse mood.
“I'm in a really bad mood. You ruined my day off, so I hope you have a lot more men.” She heard one of them snort. “I feel insulted,“ she said, “I mean, they sent an Enhanced after Ravage. Avengers to our labs, and Vision and Iron Man after Venom, and who do I get? Some jerk-off crew cut Ross wannabes. So, got a name or just asshole number one?”
The soldier snorted, “Major Glenn Talbot. And I am the Thunderbolt's second in command. You need to come with us, Miss Romanov. We have your family, and we will go easy on them if you cooperate.”
Widow snorted, “You think that holding my family will work? You really have bad intel.”
Got me to Pete, they sent out Ross’s goon squad. It should be one hell of a fight though. Might not be back for bedtime, maybe visit me in jail?
Peter laughed through their link. I might be right next to you if Tony gets his way. Love you.
The upgrade Widow had asked for clicked and extended from her back. It covered her in a thick set of adamantium chest plates, thick greaves and bracers. She had tried the harness but her fighting style didn’t match having more than one set of arms so she abandoned it. What she did like was the stolen and upgraded repulsor tech. Her new 'Widow's Bite' began to whine and glow a faint blue around her wrist.
As expected the troopers swelled and became mini Hulks. Even Ross wasn't stupid enough to completely infuse a subject with a full dose of Gamma formula. The soldiers, while multicoloured, looked more like Captain America than Hulk. Only Talbot was different. Most of the men were either red, green or in a few cases blue. Talbot was grey, and a lot bigger. Hulk sized in fact.
“Nice name,” he said as he pulled off his tattered uniform, “War Hammer. Only officers got a full dose of serum, the enlisted only got enough to juice them up. So, Widow, you know you can't beat me, you know what I'm capable of and you know you’ll lose. Come peacefully, and I won't peel you out that tin can and parade you around in your underwear,” Talbot said. Like Ross, his crew cut and moustache had grown with him, making Widow want to laugh.
She would when she shared the story with Peter, but not right now. “I think I’ll take my chances. Liv did a pretty good job of taking down Ross and Blonsky, and I’m better. Plus, War Hammer? Like those kids figures? 'cause you don't seem to be armed.”
War Hammer snorted. “I'm not allowed to use it against civilians," he sneered. "Makes a mess. But I won't need it, Black Widow. We know all about you, and your Red Room powers." War Hammer pulled off his shirt and underneath was a thick silvery metal form-fitting top. “See, we now know about Vibranium and the alloys, so we pulled all the crap out of storage and actually used it. Feels good too. So, want to surrender now?”
Widow snorted and laughed, “Yeah, Formula and extra arms are more a Venom thing. I just break things.” As the Widow's bites on her wrist whined as they powered up fully, she grinned at him, “Hello. My name is War Widow. You took my family. Prepare to die.” She ad-libbed and launched herself at the troopers.
The Gamma Troopers were new to their powers, and Widow danced and flipped between them. Even powered up she disabled each man with nerve strikes and takedowns. War Hammer stayed back, well out of her reach. He watched and took note of how easily someone who was trained to use their powers took apart even the best of his men. It didn’t matter though. They were new recruits and he was one of the first to receive the full dose of serum. He was the best of the best, he could even hold an egg without breaking it.
As the group lay at Widow's feet, War Hammer stood and shook his head. “My men deserved that, and now you’ll get what you deserve as well.”
He lunged at her, hoping to grab her and Widow ducked under his swing. As she righted herself to return a blow he stopped mid-swing and reversed it, backhanding her. “Special Forces. Maybe not up to the Red Rooms standard but good enough,” and he advanced with his hands up in front of his face.
War Hammer didn’t have her outclassed in speed or technique but in power, Widow was overwhelmed. For every kick or punch he missed, he hit with one and one was enough. Even through adamantium-enforced armour and her Symbskin, his hits did a lot of damage. He might not be Hulk level, but he was much stronger than her.
Not that Widow was slacking off. For each hit he got, she got two or three more. Each kick that connected dyed his top shirt red with his blood. His skin bruised purple and burned just as easily as any other man's. Even his healing was having trouble keeping up.
Black Widow was trained to kill men, not monsters, so she sat with Logan and they figured out how to do both. They devised that healing took stamina. Against larger targets, they would recover quickly, but they still tired. A lot of small injuries to sensitive spots were easier to score, but were still painful as they recovered. Groin, eyes, liver, spine, and joints all weakened even the hardiest constitution. As War Hammer was finding out, eyes took a while to recover, and testicles were sensitive as they regrew. Widow was relentless in smashing both.
Her Widows Bite had been improved by Liv. They drew power from the arcstar reactor in her armour, and she could use them while she punched. Blast after blast of bioelectric current into War Hammer, each one taking its toll. It didn't matter how often she hit him, only that each time she did he took a little longer to recover. She just hoped she would last longer.
Her ribs were broken, and Widow was keeping them knitted together but he hit damn hard. Right now, it was turning into a war of attrition. Would he give in to the torture she was inflicting or would she succumb to her own injuries as Widow failed to keep up?
Hey, if I got Extremis would you get mad? She asked as she ducked under another blow and drove both fists into Hammer's elbow. She got a roar of pain as it bent at an awkward angle.
No, we want to be stronger. We are tired of stupid Hulks beating on us, Widow snarled angrily. These men smelt bad and it hurt when they hit.
As Widow grabbed onto the arm and anchored herself with tendrils around it, the elbow popped. He would heal, but it would be useless until it did. Logan taught her that. Regeneration didn't mean pain-free. Wounds, cuts, bruises, they all still hurt, and a joint having to pop back into place still hurt like a bitch. As Hammer's forearm was now the wrong way around, that was Widow's plan.
Widow flipped away and Hammer fell to his knees and grasped at his arm. He turned it slowly and ignored the pain and horrible grinding noise as the joint reset. Widow capitalised on his pause and flipped back. She spun and hit him hard with a high kick to the temple. As he fell, she brought her foot up and stomped on the same spot with an armoured boot. He was a Hulk, so she doubted she'd even cracked his skull, but that wasn't important. A brain could still only take so much punishment before it shuts down. A thick skull just meant a thicker wall to smash it against.
War Hammer shrunk back down, and Talbot sat. He had a glazed look on his face and his arms flopped down by his side.
“No mercy,” Widow said and she pressed her fist to his temples and charged both Widow’s Bites into his head. Tabot screamed and collapsed onto the ground. Taking and letting out a breath, Widow touched the side of his neck and checked for a pulse.
Even after unloading all that current, he was still alive. A testament to the improved Banner Formula. Gwen was smart that way, but sometimes she was too smart.
With a grin, Natasha thought of suitable ways to punish her later for that. Carol might have been first today, but Natasha was going to make sure she was not last.
dr4cos· Apr 25, 2024
Edeol· May 3, 2024
