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[craftymuffinspyflower]

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Part IV

AU: When a chemically enhanced teenage girl shows up, and a wave of conspiracy follows behind her, the Avengers (and Yelena) are forced to do the one thing that even a group of superheroes can't seem to hack: caring for a minor.

a/n: so incredibly un-canon! (is that a word?) set after black widow; there was no civil war.

warnings: some curse words. mentions of fighting and of past abuse. nothing explicit.

- - - - - -

"Maya! Oh, my darling! I was so worried about you."

As the figure made its way through the smoke and dust, her arms outstretched, both of the Avengers witnessed as the teenager bolted backwards. They watched as she fell over multiple mounds of debris in her effort to scramble away from the woman in the shadows.

"Who are you?" Wanda demanded, her magic moving straight towards their assailant.

"I am this poor girl's mother," the woman said, sweet as pie. "Who are you?"

Maya began to stand up, her legs physically shaking beneath her. "Mother I-"

"Shush," the woman snapped. "The grownups are talking." She never once took her eyes off of Natasha.

That was when Clint burst into the room, or what was left of it, his bow drawn and ready to shoot at whatever, or whomever, was the cause of all this destruction. Tony ran in behind him. He was fully clad in his iron suit. Steve was stood beside him; Thor behind the three of them. Bruce was stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest in a small gesture of comfort to his alter-ego, but he looked angry. Angry enough to turn green. Not good.

"Mother-," the teenager spoke up again, but one look from the woman across the room and she instantly retracted. She looked terrified.

That was when Natasha decided it was time to intervene. Taking up a protective stance in front of the girl, shielding her from the woman that stood across the room, she slowly began to lower her hands towards the gun that she kept permanently attached to her leg. "You need to leave. Right now."

The woman across the room laughed out loud, eyes falling from the redhead to the girl standing behind her. "Not without my daughter."

Natasha looked straight through the intruder, fingers grasped tightly around the handle of her gun, and let a cold stare land upon her face. "That isn't going to happen."

The woman didn't look at all amused. She smiled, all sense of sweetness gone. Her look was cold. Dark. She made a move forward, stopping inches from Natasha's face.

"Stop."

Maya rounded passed Natasha, worming her way between the assassin and her mother. She was smaller than both women, more so her mother, but she didn't falter. Natasha could see her small body trembling. She wanted to reach out and grab a hold of the girl's hand, show her some kind of comfort, but held herself back. The past twelve hours had proven that she wasn't the biggest fan of touch and she didn't want to give the teenager any more reason to feel uneasy here.

"Stop it." Maya's voice was firm. It had taken a lot of control to keep the tremor out.

The woman laughed down at her, bitterly, before grabbing hold of the girl's neck with lightening fast speed. She began to squeeze tightly. "Did you just step up to me, little girl?"

That ignited something in Natasha. Something that she had assumed was long since dead. She snapped to attention, charging at the woman that held Maya by the throat. Without any hesitation, the redhead grabbed the wrist that held tightly to the teenager's throat and whipped it backwards with enough force to sprain something. The woman didn't flinch. She just stared at Natasha, an unreadable expression, before pushing the same hand into the assassin's chest and sending her flying across the room. The redhead harshly collided into one of the remaining pillars that was still managing to somehow hold up most of the building. Her body fell to the floor, unmoving.

Maya screamed out. All semblance of fear was gone, she looked completely enraged. Grabbing hold of her mother's elbow, she dragged her forward and slammed her left foot into the back of the woman's knee. They both grunted, the elder moreso than the teenager as she fell to the floor. The blonde grabbed a hold of her mother's head and threw it onto the metal table that somehow still stood in the middle of the room. Everybody just stood there silently, staring in complete shock at the scene unfolding in front of them.

She didn't let go of the back of the woman's head after her first act of aggression. Instead, she slammed it down again and again and again with enough force to break the makeshift bed in half until a small hand grabbed hold of her shoulder. She fought against it, but the arm slipped down to her waist and physically heaved her backwards. Maya kicked out, her foot connecting with the shin bone of whomever had a hold of her.

"Hey, calm down," the voice whispered into the back of her ear. "It's okay."

It was Wanda. The teenager turned her head slightly to get a look at the Sokovian's face.

"Look," the witch said solfly, gesturing with her head to the other side of the room. "She's okay."

Maya followed her line of sight to Natasha. The assassin was slowly standing up from the floor, her hand grasping at her side. She was alive. Maya started to struggle less and, by the time she was completely still, Wanda placed her back down onto the floor and stepped away slowly. Her hands were raised into a small sign of surrender, just as she had seen Natasha do earlier that morning. Before all of this chaos.

Natasha looked over to the teenager and then down to the woman on the floor. She raised her eyebrow at the girl.

"I totally had her," the redhead said, limping over to the rest of the team. They were all still stood there in various states of shock. Clint had finally dropped his arrow and Tony rolled back his helmet. Steve let go of his shield, leaning it against a pile of rubble, and started to walk towards the teenager.

Maya caught sight of him advancing towards her and bolted backwards, just as she had done when the woman, her mother, had made an appearance. She threw herself back with enough force to crash into Wanda as they both toppled to the ground.

The Sokovian didn't have enough time to register what was happening before a boney elbow dug harshly into her side and she hissed, feeling the weight on top of her trying to roll away. Out of instinct, she grabbed a hold of it and pulled. The weight landed back on top of her with a small thud and the kick to her thigh was enough to knock her out of her small stupor. She tightened her hold, blonde curls attacking her chin, as she felt the girl on top of her start to struggle again.

"Hey," Wanda whispered gently into the back of the teenager's ear again, standing them both up with ease. "Stop squirming. It's okay." She held on tighter.

"Fuck off!" Maya growled. "Let me go!" She tried to pry the witch's hands off of her, but the Sokovian just tightened her hold.

"Language!"

Natasha.

The girl eyed her, the same disdain as minutes before evident on her face. She looked as though she was a fraction away from spitting at her.

Steve wrapped his hand around her flailing upper arm, faltering slightly at how easily he managed to fit his entire hand palm around it, before he made a move to lower it down to her side. It was completely innocent; he didn't want her to go smacking somebody in the face as she struggled, he didn't want her to hurt herself, but Maya let out a harsh scream at the unexpected contact, launching her other arm up to punch him in the face. He took a step back at that, complete shock overtaking his features.

Maya's breathing had started to become erratic, Wanda pulled her further into her chest. It was alarming, to the witch, just how easily she was able to lift the teenager off the floor; how easily she was able to feel every single bone protruding through her clothes. She pushed that to the back of her mind, however, when she felt the painfully laboured breaths coming from the girl in her arms. She had stopped her struggling, just hanging there limply. Her face was scrunched up into a look of pain and her hands were clawing sharply at her neck as if to fend off an invisible force.

Wanda looked to Natasha, panic etched across her face, completely unknowing of how to handle this situation. The older redhead tentatively stepped forward, her hands were held up in that same sign of surrender. Not that the young blonde was able to see with her eyes so tightly closed. Natasha, throwing caution to the wind, took a hold of the girl's hand and once again brought it up to her own chest just as she had done after their first interaction.

Maya's eyes snapped open to attention, her struggling beginning anew, but Wanda just slinked her arms further around the girl's torso, holding on tighter. She began whispering little words into her ear, just like before, as Natasha started to coach her through a breathing exercise.

In for seven. Out for four.

In for seven. Out for four.

Moments passed before Maya's eyes began to look a little less cloudy, her hands dropping back down towards her side after stealing one back from Natasha's grip. She looked incredibly small.

"You're okay," Natasha told her soothingly. "Big breath."

The teenager obeyed. Her breath hitching a little, but she still complied.

When Wanda was sure that the blonde wasn't going to bolt, she placed her back down onto the floor. Her boots making a soft click when they landed on the hard wood.

"I'm sorry." Maya whispered, though it came out more of a whimper. The same reply as last time.

The older redhead gave her a stern look. "What did I say, hmm?" She paused, trying to catch the girl's eye. "You don't have to apologise. I get them, too. So don't be sorry, okay?"

Nothing.

"Okay?"

Maya rolled her eyes. "Yes. Okay."

"Good," Natasha smiled. Everybody smiled a bit at that.

Bruce, finally feeling a sense of calming safety, joined them from his occupied corner, plodding over to the others.

"What are we going to do with her?" He said, gesturing to the woman that lay unconscious on the floor.

Everybody looked to him and then to the body in question and, just like that, the woman on the floor began to stir.

"You wait until we get home, little girl." The woman said, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Her eyes were directed at Maya and the others watched as the girl physically gulped. "I think that a trip downstairs is in order for you."

Natasha walked over to where the intruder was laying on the ground. Looking down at the woman that was sneering up at her, she landed a punch straight to the side of her face and everybody watched as Maya's mother slumped back down to the floor.

"She isn't going anywhere with you."

- - - - - -

The Avengers, and Maya, were able to make it out of the building before it fully collapsed. Maya's mother had been handcuffed and handed over to Fury. They didn't envy her.

Natasha had taken the teenager to a safe house, Wanda following behind them. The others had decided to part ways there and then, deeming the situation handled. So now it was just the three of them. Wanda sat comfortably on the chair, her legs crossed in a depiction of proper elegance. Natasha was sprawled on one end of the sofa and Maya sat on the other side, looking as stiff as a board.

"Relax," Wanda spoke up. She had offered the teenager a cup of tea when they arrived, they had simultaneously tried to offer her something to eat, but both proposals had been met with refusal.

It was bizarre to both of them. Wanda had grown up with a twin brother that ate her family out of house and home; Natasha had grown up in the Red Room where mealtimes were complete anarchy. It was every Widow for themselves. Neither wanted to force the teenager to eat something, but both knew that she needed to.

So Wanda had made up some simple recipe with the ingredients that had already been in the kitchen, whilst Maya and Natasha had showered and changed, and layed it all out on the coffee table in front of them in hopes that it would peek the girl's interest. It did not. Instead, both Avengers had found themselves picking at it for almost an hour and Maya had yet to touch a thing.

"Maya," Natasha began. Her voice softly stern. "You need to eat."

The blonde never once took her eyes off of the hands that were placed in her lap. She was absentmindedly playing with her fingers, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Hey, look at me." Natasha leaned forward in an attempt to catch the girl's eye, but it had only resulted in Maya bringing her legs up to her chest and curling herself into a small ball as she began to shake like a leaf. The redhead's heart ached for her.

Her hands went up into that familiar sign of surrender as she leaned backwards just a tad. She was still trying to catch the teenager's eye.

"Maya?"

Nothing.

"It's really good!" Wanda interjected, a little more enthusiastic than she was going for. She leaned forward to pick up another piece of food and placed it in her mouth, moaning exaggeratingly. "So good," she said between mouthfuls.

Maya looked out from where her eyes had been hiding behind her knee and eyed the Sokovian wearily. "This isn't a trick?"

Both women froze at that. Wanda pausing mid mouthful and Natasha halting the mug of coffee that was currently making its way towards her lips. The older redhead was the quickest to catch her bearings. "No, love. It's not a trick. Why would you think that it was?"

Maya looked at her skeptically, then to the array of food that was currently covering the coffee table. She uncurled her legs and crossed them underneath her, barely taking up a full cushion. Natasha would have probably cooed if it wasn't to the seriousness of the situation. The blonde had changed, after a lot of coercion and reassurance, into a pair of the assassin's lounge pants. She was small enough that they completely covered her socked feet. She wore one of Wanda's long-sleeved tops, to complete the look, that was currently engulfing her upper body.

The teenager took a deep breath before staring back down at her lap. She restarted playing with her fingers. "Mother would always trick me," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "She would make something for me and then when I would go to eat it, she would slap it away from me or throw it at me because I hadn't done anything to earn it."

Natasha visibly tensed, regretting wholeheartedly that she hadn't put a bullet in the woman. "This isn't a trick, Maya. You can help yourself if you're hungry. I promise."

Maya looked across at her, an unreadable expression taking over her face. The assassin could see the struggle raging behind her blue eyes, though. She nodded her encouragement, leaning forward to get a piece of bread for herself and popping it in her mouth. The blonde did the same thing. Leaning forward slowly, fully alert, she took the corner off of a piece of bread and brought it up to her mouth. Halting it there, she never once took her eyes off of Natasha. She was waiting for her to make a move; waiting for a fight. When she looked down at the tiny bit of food grasped between her fingers, she let a breath escape her before softly putting it into her mouth and chewing awkwardly. It did taste lovely.

Both Avengers let a small smile grace their lips at the sight and Natasha couldn't help the grin that spread across her face when she witnessed the teenager lean forward and pull off another corner of bread.

A comfortable silence fell on the room before the spy spoke up. "Maybe after you've finished your lunch, you will let me run a brush through that mop of hair?"

Maya groaned at that. Wanda chuckled.

- - - - - -

a/n #2: i still have absolutely no clue about anything to do with fighting so i'm sorry if it's no good! i tried!

[craftymuffinspyflower]

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Part III

AU: When a chemically enhanced teenage girl shows up, and a wave of conspiracy follows behind her, the Avengers (and Yelena) are forced to do the one thing that even a group of superheroes can't seem to hack: caring for a minor.

a/n: so incredibly un-canon! (is that a word?) set after black widow; there was no civil war.

warnings: a curse word. some fighting. mentions of injury and implied past abuse. nothing explicit.

- - - - - -

Maya had fallen asleep within minutes of Natasha fixing up her wound. Bruce had offered to help, but she had refused to let anyone that wasn't the redhead anywhere near her.

By then, the sun had started to rise and everybody was exhausted. The Avengers had decided to head back to their quarters with the exception of Natasha. She'd chosen to stay by the teenager's side; chosen to fall asleep in the armchair that sat next to the medical bed that the young blonde was currently resting in.

That's where Maya had found her when she'd woken up an hour or so later. Asleep beside her. The sun was barely in the sky, indicating that she hadn't been asleep long, but it was enough.

She turned her head to the side and eyed the Avenger next to her. The redhead was sleeping soundly, her soft snores echoing throughout the room. For a moment, the teenager felt normal. Excluding the bullet wound in her abdomen and the powerful syrum that was constantly coursing through her veins. No, in this moment, she was just Maya. Just a girl that was ordered to steal information from a super secret facility, only be taken down by an elite team of superheroes and forcefully brought back to their base as a prisoner. You know, just normal teenage shenanigans.

She needed to move. She knew that her mother would be coming to look for her soon and she knew that the woman would do whatever necessary to keep Maya from the eyes of the world, as her very own personal weapon. The girl was only ever allowed to operate in the shadows, only ever allowed to be present on missions where there was an assurance of minimal contact. All of her jobs were only ever to be carried out at night; only ever to be considered low risk. For a while, at the beginning, the girl thought that her elder was doing that out of love; Mother hadn't wanted her to get too hurt out there. It was only when she'd wised up that she had realised it was to ensure she would never once come into contact with anybody other than the woman that birthed her. That was, until now.

With her hands braced on either side of the table, she sat up slowly. Testing the waters. Thanks to the enhancements, she had always been fast to heal. She hadn't ever been shot before, though, so this was all new territory. The blonde didn't know how long it was going to take for her body to bounce back from this.

Holding back a groan so not to wake up the sleeping Avenger beside her, Maya's face contorted into a look of discomfort, her knuckles turning white as she held tightly to the metal table. Slowly, tentatively, she began to put her feet onto the floor. Apparently, it took longer to recuperate from this than it did a stab wound. Or first degree burns. Or a missing limb. Inconvenient.

Her boots made contact onto the floor with little noise, thankfully, and she began to softly unhook the many wires that were currently stuck and implanted in her skin. The machine next to the bed stopped beeping, a harsh silence falling onto the room. Natasha was no longer snoring beside her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Shit. The teenager froze at the sound of the assassin's voice.

"You're having a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

Smooth.

Natasha snorted at that. "Seriously?"

The redhead made a move to stand up and the teenager visibly tensed. Natasha, being an expert spy and friend to a lot of people that had previously suffered at the hands of others, categorised the responses. She flashed back to earlier that morning. Maya, curled up into a ball on the other side of the Avengers' kitchen. She softened.

"I won't hurt you, Maya. I promise." The woman held up her hands as a sign of surrender. Slowly standing up from her position on the chair, she captured the girl's eye. Maya was still looking at her skeptically. "I would like to know where it is that you think you are going, though."

"Anywhere away from here," she replied. Turning back around to face the door that she intended to leave through.

The assassin raised her left eyebrow at the girl. "I'm going to ask you again - this time I would like the truth. Look at me."

The teenager turned back around slowly, her blue eyes falling onto Natasha's face.

"Where are you going?"

Nothing.

"Maya?"

The teenager let out a huff, her eyes darting to the floor. "I have somewhere that I need to be."

Natasha crossed her arms over her chest and gave the girl in front of her a stern look. "Oh, you do? That's a shame because you aren't going anywhere."

Maya physically tensed again and glared up at the redhead, taking a defensive stance. "That isn't up to you," she growled. "And this has nothing to do with you."

The teenager began to turn away again, walking towards the door. The hole in her abdomen was still troubling her, but she didn't let it show. That would be a weakness and weakness could not be forgiven.

That was when she felt it. She hadn't heard the Avenger following behind her but, as soon as she felt the hand encircling her wrist, her body reacted. The teenager instinctively pulled her wrist through the weakest part of the assassin's hold and slammed her knee into the woman's stomach.

Natasha reacted quickly, easily recovering from the wind being knocked out of her and twisting the girl around, locking her in a choke hold.

"Stand down, Maya. I am only trying to help you."

The blonde screamed, pulling Natasha over her shoulder and slamming her onto the floor. The woman grunted at the impact, hands immediately flying to the back of her head to check for any blood. There wasn't any. Thank God. When she noticed the girl start to walk towards the door again, she grabbed onto her ankle and pulled. Maya fell onto her stomach. She cursed loudly at the contact with the already burning hole in her stomach and rolled over, curling into herself in an attempt to alleviate the pain that was currently attacking her nerves.

Natasha eyed her and instantly felt guilty. She had momentarily forgotten about the bullet wound. She crawled over to the girl, looking between her face and her stomach, hands hovering and ready to apply pressure if needed. The déjà vu hit her immediately and she shook it off.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

The teenager coughed, a harsh sound that rattled her chest. "Peachy. Thanks."

When she made a move to get up, Natasha gently put her hands on her waist and pushed her back down again.

"Where are you going?"

The teenager looked up at her, disdain evident on her face. "Somewhere that I don't have to look at your face." She started to squirm about. "Let me go."

The redhead chuckled at that, but let go of the teenager's hips. She had to shake her hands to try and get the feeling of how prominent Maya's bones were off of them. It didn't help. "Can I have a look?" she gestured to the girl's stomach. "Just to make sure that it didn't tear again."

Maya looked into the woman's eyes and then down to her abdomen. She nodded slightly.

"Well, then I'm afraid that you're going to have to move your arms because I can't see anything if you keep them there." Natasha joked, tentatively grabbing the teenager's wrist and slowly moving it to the side. She never once broke eye contact, looking for any indication that the girl wasn't okay with this. She could see the struggle, the teenager wanted to pull her wrists away, wanted to fight her, but she let Natasha maneuver them. The redhead watched as the blonde underneath her never once took her eyes off of what she was doing.

"Is it okay if I lift your sweatshirt up?"

Another slight nod.

Natasha softly grabbed the hem of the girl's jumper and pulled it up to just under her ribcage. She slowly untaped the edge of the bandage and inspected the wound. It was okay, thankfully. The stitches were still intact and it didn't look like it was infected. The assassin smiled a small smile at that. As she went to lightly touch around the edges, just to be sure, she heard the girl audibly gasp and felt as she'd tried to suck in her stomach. There wasn't any stomach to suck in, but she tried. Natasha retracted immediately.

"Did that hurt?"

"No," the teenager squeaked. "Your hands are just really cold."

The redhead chuckled once again. "Sorry about that," she said, slowly sticking the bandage back to the girl's skin as she eyed the bones that were dramatically protruding. It made the redhead feel sick. She pulled the teenager's sweatshirt back down and sat on the floor next to where the girl was laying.

"Can I make you something to eat?"

Maya visibly gulped. Natasha could see the panic quickly etch across her face, though the young blonde was quick to hide it. "No, thank you," she sputtered quietly. "I don't want anything."

The redhead eyed her quizzically. "Are you sure? I may not be the best cook around here, but I can make a few things."

Maya made a move to sit up, rewrapping her arms around her stomach. To shield or to evade, Natasha wasn't sure. It was then that they heard the doors to the medical room whoosh open and Wanda stepped in. She was still dressed in her pyjamas, but she eyed the pair suspiciously.

Maya snapped to attention immediately, quickly jumping back to her feet. She was bracing herself to fight again. The older redhead slowly stood up beside her and placed a hand onto the teenager's shoulder. It was meant to be a sign of reassurance, but the blonde still jerked away from the contact.

She eyed Natasha wearily and then snapped her attention back to the woman who had just walked in.

"Everything okay in here?" Wanda spoke up, her voice still raspy with sleep. "I heard a lot of screaming and grunting."

Natasha looked up to the ceiling, eyeing the thick marble and the two floors above it that separated Wanda's room from the medical suite, a frown on her face. "Wha-?"

Wanda tapped at her temple and the assassin nodded her understanding. Sometimes she'd forget that the Sokovian could hear thoughts. It was a blessing at times, a curse at others.

"Everything is fine, don't worry." Natasha was trying to be reassuring, but she honestly wasn't sure what Maya's next move was going to be. She mentally prepared herself for every possible outcome. The girl still looked ready for a fight. "Everything is fine, isn't it, Maya?"

The blonde in question looked towards her. Natasha gave the girl a small nod and gestured a small surrender with her hands. The teenager took a step back, her stance still tense but she no longer looked liked she was ready to pounce.

The older redhead looked back towards the Sokovian and took a breath. "We were just checking her wound."

It was clear that Wanda didn't buy it, and Maya was incredibly surprised that the assassin didn't rat her out to the other woman for attempting to leave but, before either could comment on it, the top of the compound was caved in with a harsh crash as smoke and dust began to engulf the building. Debris was falling in waves from the hole that was currently, aggressively, trying to unbalance the building. Maya was the quickest to recover, covering her mouth and nose with the inside of her elbow and trying hard to breathe in through the dust and smoke. It was mainly just coming out as painful wheezing. Her ears were ringing, she was sure that they were bleeding, but she didn't have the time to check or register anything that had just happened before a big piece of the roof began to concave. It took her a second to react, but she was quick. The teenager shot forward and grabbed the heavy rock that very nearly almost crushed Natasha. She launched it to the other side of the room and looked to the assassin who was gingerly trying to stand up after being thrown to the floor with the impact of the chaos. She pulled her gun immediately, pointing it to different areas of the room. She was scanning for the cause of the sudden interruption.

Wanda was hunched in the corner of the once medical suite, her eyes aglow with red and a small shield protecting her body from the ash and falling debris.

Natasha shot the younger redhead an accusatory look, taking a moment to steady her lungs after coughing up a cloud of black dust. "Where's ours?" She gestured her hands wildly between herself and the teenager beside her.

Wanda gave the older redhead a sheepish smile and shrugged her shoulders, the shield falling away. It was replaced with a cloud of red magic. She looked angry.

That was when a shadow made itself known from the wreckage and both Avengers witnessed as Maya's face contorted into a look of terror as she physically began to start trembling.

"Mother."

- - - - - -

a/n #2: i honestly know nothing about wounds or fighting or any kind of chaos so i am so so sorry if it doesn't make any sense or if it reads wrong. i tried! i hope that it was good, nonetheless. let me know what you think so far? i'm still unsure of what i am doing here.

[craftymuffinspyflower]

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Part II

AU: When a chemically enhanced teenage girl shows up, and a wave of conspiracy follows behind her, the Avengers (and Yelena) are forced to do the one thing that even a group of superheroes can't seem to hack: caring for a minor.

a/n: so incredibly un-canon! (is that a word?) set after black widow; there was no civil war.

warnings: mentions of abuse and injury, though nothing explicit. also, there's a panic attack.

- - - - - -

It had taken a lot of corralling to get Maya to where she was now, sat at the dining table. Everybody still eyed her warily, all still on edge and ready for her to make a move against them. Wanda had a cloud of red magic hovering above her. Natasha had her right hand stuck to the gun that was currently taped to her thigh.

The Avengers gathered around as the girl sat, staring straight at the table in front of her. They had all tried to get information out of her; very quickly realising that it was not going to be an easy task. She had yet to say a word after introducing herself; had yet to clarify why they were going to regret bringing her in. Tony wanted to keep her stuck to a piece of furniture until she managed to give them all the information that they wanted, but Steve was quick to remind him that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. They all agreed.

And so here they were, all gathered around the dining room table, eyeing the teenager that sat amongst them. Bruce had made her a simple penut butter and jelly sandwich, but it was still sat in front of her. Untouched. They had all taken note of her very thin frame. Wherever she was before, she wasn't fed well.

"Why were you at that facility?"

"What were you trying to steal?"

"Were you there to kill somebody?"

"Is anybody looking for you right now?"

Nothing. She kept staring straight ahead. They were getting nowhere and they were getting irritated. The group shared a look with each other and, after a moment, Natasha gave the room a small nod and pointed her head towards the door. The others walked away. Wanda glanced back at her, a silent 'I can stay' on her lips, but the older redhead shook her head.

Reluctantly, Wanda left with the others. Leaving Natasha and the girl alone. She sat down on the chair opposite the teenager that had yet to look up, had yet to move. It was as if she wasn't actually alive; wasn't human.

"Maya?"

Nothing.

"You mind?" The redhead gestured towards the untouched sandwich still on the table. "I haven't eaten since breakfast."

Nothing.

Natasha wasn't phased. She had seen this before; the psychological conditioning. The abuse. It wasn't hard to spot the very angry, purple bruising that covered the teenager's throat.

Without missing a beat, the redhead leant forward and took a slice of the PB&J. She took a bite. And then another. And another until it was gone, shooing the crumbs off of her chest and onto the floor.

"Don't tell Steve I did that," she said, motioning to the pile of sandwich crumbs on the floor. "He's such a neat-freak."

Nothing.

Natasha sighed. "You know, you talk in your sleep."

The Widow tried adamantly to catch the girl's eye, but wasn't quite successful. "When you were on the jet, and you were unconscious, you wouldn't stop muttering the word 'Integrity.'"

At that, Maya's head shot up so fast that Natasha was sure she had given herself whiplash.

"You want to tell me what that is?"

Natasha was able to stare straight into the teenager's eyes now. They were a very pale blue colour, almost resembling an icicle, and there was something behind them that the redhead couldn't quite put her finger on. A look that she was all too familiar with, but yet wasn't able to recognise. Her hair was a wild mane of blonde locks, littered with streaks of pink. She was pale, too, almost resembling somebody that hadn't seen the light of day for quite a while. Natasha guessed she hadn't.

"No."

Short and sweet. A trained response. They never once broke eye contact.

"No?"

"Did I stutter?"

For all of the defensive maturity, the assassin had to remind herself that she was still talking to a teenager. She took a breath, counted to ten in her head. Natasha had taken down empires, HYDRA, helped to rebuild everything that came from that. She had stood on an entire city that floated almost out of the breathable atmosphere. She could handle a teenager's snark.

"Look, Maya," the redhead started. "I know you're scared-"

"I am not scared of you."

Count to ten again. "I know you're scared," she gave the teenager a pointed look. "But you have no reason to be scared here."

Maya looked at her incredulously. "You literally shot me a couple of hours ago."

"Fair point, but you did have a knife in my friend." Natasha placed her elbows on the table, leaning closer to the girl that was sat across from her. "I'm sorry that I shot you. I am, but you were too far away for me to take you out with hand-to-hand."

The teenager scoffed. "Like you could."

"Alright, don't get cocky."

The older woman could have sworn that she saw the hint of a smile at that, but decided not to comment. "Do you want something for the pain? I've been shot before, you don't have to pretend that it isn't bothering you. I know that Bruce didn't give you a lot of help in terms of medication."

Maya narrowed her eyes at the Avenger. "He didn't give me a lot of help in terms of anything. Dude literally threw a car door right at me."

"And he is very sorry for that."

"Oh, he is?"

"Yes, he is."

"Right."

Natasha's patience was dwindling. "What is Integrity?"

Maya knew that she was grating on the older woman. She was an expert at pushing her Mother's buttons and she knew from experience that hitting the right ones always caused a blow out, but that she would be left alone afterwards. After the fists had flown and she was littered with a new layer to her already very angry bruises, her Mother would walk away and the girl would be left to her own devices. She wanted to get this over with. She wanted to be alone.

"Shouldn't you already know the answer to that? Being an all powerful superhero, and all. I thought you guys knew everything." She popped her lips, giving Natasha a once over. "Clearly not."

Natasha knew exactly what the girl was doing. She was trained to do the exact same thing. She wasn't going to feed into it. She wasn't going to feed into it.

"Why don't you enlighten me? I fell asleep during the boss' last lecture; probably when he covered that."

Dammit.

"That's not very professional of you."

"Lucky for me, I have you to give me the cliff notes."

Maya hummed, turning her head away to continue to stare at the table in front of her. The redhead was getting annoyed. Taking a harsh breath, she gave the girl a cold stare.

"You know, you can either talk to me or you can talk to Tony."

The girl snorted. "The metal man? Fuck, I am so scared."

"Language," Natasha growled at her. "I don't know what it's like when you're wherever the hell it is that you came from but, when you are here, in this tower, you will watch your attitude and you will watch your language. There is a bar of soap in the bathroom that is just waiting to be used on you."

Maya flinched at the assassin's tone. It was barely noticeable, but it was there. A flash of something ran across her face for a split second and Natasha watched as the teenager tensed in her seat. She was holding her breath. She was waiting for the Avenger to hit her. The redhead's expression softened at that.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Maya. I promise."

The teenager eyed her wearily, her lips pursing together. "I won't fall for that."

Natasha's heart broke. "Fall for what?"

"You don't think that I know what you're doing?" The teenager's voice cracked and Natasha's heart broke further in half. Every instinct that she had wanted to reach for the kid, give her a hug, but she decided against it. Choosing to remain neutral, stoic.

"What am I doing, Maya?"

"You want me to relax. To trust you. To talk to you and after I've told you everything that you need, you'll send me back. Or you will lock me up; maybe you will just finish the job."

"I'm not going to kill you."

"You should."

"Why is that?"

"Because as long as I'm alive, she will come for you."

"Who will come for me?"

Natasha could see the internal struggle battling behind the girl's eyes. She wanted to jump in before the blonde had a chance to build up her walls and lock everybody out, so she reached forward. It was an innocent move, Natasha was just leaning in for the girl's hand, she wanted to show her some compassion, show her that she was safe here, but Maya jerked away from her so hard that her chair flew backwards. The girl grunted at the impact. The air was knocked out of her so quickly that she was left wheezing for breath, her eyes glassing over. The bullet wound on her abdomen reopened, soaking her clothes further in blood.

Natasha acted quickly, stealthily. She moved from her chair across the table within seconds. The other Avengers heard the commotion and came rushing in, ready to fight. The redhead held her hand up, signalling for them to stop, so they did. They all stood cautiously by the door. Wanda's eyes were red, Thor was gripping his hammer so tightly that his knuckles were white and Clint had an arrow ready to shoot if he needed to.

Natasha knelt down beside the girl, her hand hovering over the wound on her stomach. After the reaction that came from just trying to hold her hand, the redhead assumed that she wouldn't take too kindly to her hands on her stomach.

"Maya? Are you okay?"

The girl was breathing quickly, her face was scrunched up and her eyes were squeezed shut. She was having a panic attack.

"Maya? Focus on me, okay? You're okay. You're safe. Listen to my voice. Breathe with me."

Nothing.

Despite the voice in the assassin's head telling her not to touch, she carefully grabbed the girl's hand and brought it to her chest.

Maya's eyes shot open, she tried to pry herself out of Natasha's grip, tried to crawl away, but the redhead squeezed harder.

"Breathe with me. In for seven seconds," she took a deep breath. "Out for four seconds." Exhale. The girl's eyes were locked onto hers. She wasn't responding. If they didn't get any air into her soon, they were going to be facing a different problem.

Natasha grabbed the girl's upper arms and maneuvered her easily, pulling her into her chest. She tried to struggle, but the Avenger was stronger. She simply held on tighter.

"Breathe, Maya. Breathe. In for seven," inhale. "Out for four," exhale.

In for seven, inhale. Out for four, exhale.

After a minute, or so, the girl's breathing returned to normal and the panic started to dissipate.

"Are you good?" The redhead asked, looking down into the exhausted eyes of the girl that was still pressed against her chest.

Maya seemed to quickly get her bearings and scurried away from the hold that Natasha had on her, scrambling to the other side of the kitchen. She looked up and noticed the other Avengers that were stood, ready to fight, next to the door. Natasha was still sat on the floor.

"I'm sorry," the girl said, so quiet that it was barely audible.

"You don't have to apologise. I have them, too." Natasha never once took her eyes off of the girl that was currently resembling a small ball across the room. "Can I take a look at that wound?"

In all of the hussle and bustle, the girl hadn't even noticed that the bullet hole had reopened, the stitches no longer holding it together. She looked across at Natasha, and then to the rest of them. Nobody had their hands on their weapons anymore. Their expressions were softer; they were no longer waiting for her to attack.

Maya nodded her head, looking down at the blood that covered her sweatshirt. It did really hurt.

- - - - - -

a/n #2: i guess that this is a little out of character for natasha, but i picture her as such a mother bear so i'm just going to roll with it. i hope that you enjoyed!

[craftymuffinspyflower]

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

AU: When a chemically enhanced teenage girl shows up, and a wave of conspiracy follows behind her, the Avengers (and Yelena) are forced to do the one thing that even a group of superheroes can't seem to hack: caring for a minor.

a/n: so incredibly un-canon! (is that a word?) set after black widow; there was no civil war

a/n #2: i honestly have no clue what i'm doing here. i've never written anything before, other than stuff for school, so i am completely unsure of whether this actually makes any sense or if it's just a bunch of babble, but somebody recommended it for me to try. so here i am. let me know what you thought?

warnings: some curse words. mentions of some violence and injuries.

- - - - - -

It was dark. That was pretty much all she was able to distinguish from the situation that she'd found herself in. Dark, and wet. And there was a faint smell of tacos. That, however, was probably due to a concussion. The big green guy had shown up out of nowhere; she hadn't managed to quite dodge away from the car door that he'd thrown right at her.

It was a simple job, they'd said. Minimal damage, they'd said. Bunch of old, filthy liars. If it was so simple then how did she manage to end up laying on the dampened field covered in blood, barely able to make out which cut it was all actually stemming from? The bullet hole in her abdomen was her best guess, maybe the large chunk of skin that was currently missing from her upper arm. It could go either way.

"Fuck." She rolled over, exposing the majority of her wounds to the world. Ouch. Films never made it look like it hurt this bad.

"Target acquired. Moving forward?"

The hell? She looked up, only to be greeted by the sight of the dude with the arrows blocking her vision.

"Copy," he said, looking down at her. He made a move to grab her arm, but she managed to dodge it. He was nothing like a car door being hurtled straight towards her and she would be damned if she'd let them get the drop on her again. Rolling over a little to the left, she was able to get her bearings and, rather impressively, ignore the screaming pain that was currently shooting through her skull telling her to just give in. She didn't, obviously. Instead, she forced herself to her feet and sloppily threw a punch at the side of his head.

He saw it coming. Unsurprising. She put the fact that he was able to counterattack so quickly down to her weakened state. She also put the fact that she didn't manage see the leg aiming for the back of her knees until it was too late also down to her weakened state. Landing with a solid thud, she grunted. Back on the ground. Fucking fabulous. Goddamn Avengers. They weren't supposed to be here.

"Are you going to come quietly," he said. "Or do I have to sedate you?"

She looked up at him. "Bite me," she spat, getting blood all over his lovely shiny boots. He looked very unamused.

"Have it your way then."

She tried to protest, both physically and verbally, eyes going wide as she witnessed him pull an almost very full syringe out from his pocket. Shit. Her body screamed at her as she tried to roll away again, blood seeping rather dramatically from the hole in her stomach. Arrow dude pulled her up by her bloody chunk-less and already very swollen arm, with almost too much ease, and she grunted at the contact.

"You're really going to regret this," she growled at him.

He looked down at her, still incredibly unamused. "I'm sure I will."

Jabbing the syringe into her neck, he put an arm around her waist to catch the remainder of her weight as she slipped from consciousness. She was tiny; it didn't require a lot of effort on his part.

Her last coherent thought, before her eyelids were forced to close, was how she should probably have tried to aim a solid kick to his testicles.

Now she was merely a floppy, dead weight in the older man's arms.

Fantastic. Goddamn Avengers.

- - - - - -

"It will be simple, I promise. You just need to get in undetected and I will handle the rest." She said, taking a sip of water.

The girl scoffed. "Yes, because your promises are worth so much. You are, truly, very reliable."

"Don't give me attitude, Maya," the older woman sneered at her. "You have your orders."

"Right, and who am I to question the potential threat to the safety of my life?"

She was so preoccupied with reading the latest book of strategies that her mother had thrown at her and told her to read until she could recite that she didn't notice the figure charging towards her until it was too late and she was being pushed against the hard back of an already uncomfortable sofa, her throat being squeezed.

The girl clawed at the woman's hands, trying to mutter words of apology, of regret, but she couldn't produce enough air to make any kind of noise. Her lungs started to burn. She clawed harder.

"What did I just say, hmm?" The woman asked, eyes aflame with anger as she glared down into the girl's now very cloudy orbs. "Don't give me attitude."

She squeezed tighter. And tighter.

"Are you going to behave if I let you go, or do we have to go downstairs?"

It was becoming more and more difficult for her to stay conscious, the black spots creeping into the side of the young girl's vision, but she nodded. Well, nodded as well as could be expected when she couldn't actually move her head.

The woman let go of the teenager's throat and stalked off to the other side of the room. Taking a sip of water from a glass that she had been nursing moments before, she glanced towards the trembling ball of a person that she had just left sputtering and wheezing on the sofa.

"I expect an update as soon as you have made it through the exterior of the building. Don't let me down, Maya."

The girl looked up at her through watered eyelids, fingers stroking faintly over her already purple neck. "Yes, Mother."

Her voice was hoarse, barely audible.

- - - - - -

"Do we know who she is?" Tony Stark asked as he wearily eyed the girl that was laying unconscious on the table.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Stark. There is no file that I can find pertaining to her identity," the A.I replied.

The Avengers were gathered around different areas of the Medical Room. They were all still reeling, all still in various states of shock.

They had been sent by Fury to deal with a hostile threat that was currently trying to break into a highly top-secret facility. Judging by the amount of carnage that they'd found when they arrived at the scene, they were all expecting to be dealing with at least one large group of professionals. What they didn't expect to find was that at the centre of all of that destruction and mayhem, there was just a single person. A child. And she was good.

She had managed to hold off all eight of the most powerful beings on earth for, at least, a good twenty minutes. She was even able to get the jump on Steve Rogers.

Now she was lying on a table, the whole squad gathered and watching as the machine next to her beeped intermittently.

Dr. Cho walked in, a small piece of paper in her hands. She looked irritated. "This girl sustained quite a lot of injuries fighting all of you. You couldn't have gone easy on her? She took a bullet from one of you. She's just a kid."

"She didn't exactly give us the chance to," Natasha jumped in. "She started to attack us as soon as we landed; even managed to stab Steve in the shoulder. She's fast and incredibly efficient."

Wanda looked up from her seat on the floor, eyes casting over to the girl in question. "She's trained."

All eyes looked, again, to the girl on the table. The room fell silent.

She was tiny. No more than 5'3", that was being generous. She looked emaciated.

"She's trained and we have no idea who she is," Bruce spoke up. His eyes locked onto a very purple bruise that was beginning to appear on the left side of her face. A bruise that could really only be caused by somebody with a lot of power throwing something big and heavy at her. Both sadness and guilt took over his features as fragments of the green guy's memories began to slowly dawn on him. The car door. "She's just a child."

Thor had yet to say a word.

"A child that has the means to kill," Tony jumped in. "You did what you had to do, Big Guy."

The girl stirred. "What the fuck?"

Everybody snapped to attention. Wanda jumped up from her perch on the floor, standing at the foot of the table. Her powers ready to fly if needed.

Clint readied an arrow, Natasha pulled a gun.

Thor pointed his hammer directly at her chest.

The girl looked up, trying to touch her fingers to her face but finding that she couldn't. She looked down. Her wrists were handcuffed to either side of a table that she was currently stuck to. Great. She looked around the room, eyes falling onto each Avenger.

Natasha noted her taking in the room, no doubt calculating an escape plan. She was definitely trained.

"Who are you?" The redhead spoke up, still staring down the barrel of her gun.

"You can't figure that out?" The girl answered, snark and sarcasm evident in her voice as she stared Natasha down.

That was when Tony decided to intervene. "Hey, Hobbit, eyes here!"

The girl growled up at him.

Sensitive about her height, good to know. Tony didn't falter. "She asked you a question. Who are you?"

"Somebody that's about to make your life very painful."

At that, she snapped up. Breaking the handcuffs encasing her wrists with little ease. Everybody stared in shock. She was quick. Darting to the opposite side of the room, putting the table between her and the superheroes, she looked towards the door. Clint was almost ready to send an arrow into her leg when three little red clouds appeared.

Wanda, using her powers, trapped the girl's wrists against the wall behind her. Taking careful consideration for the bullet wound in her lower abdomen, she also added a small red cloud around her ribs. Just to keep her steadied.

The girl, for her part, tried to kick and squirm and free herself from the magic that was currently encasing her body, but she couldn't shift it.

Natasha stood in front of her. After a nod to Wanda, a slight assurance that she had her covered, she stepped closer.

"Who are you?"

The girl, currently pressed tightly against the wall, let out a frustrated scream at her inability to escape the magic red bonds. She finally let out a huff of defeat and dropped her head.

After a single moment of reflection, the girl lifted her eyes and let a cold stare land upon Natasha's face.

"My name is Maya. You people have no idea what you have just done."

- - - - - -

a/n #3: to be continued? i have no clue. i guess we'll see! also, i am sorry for any mistakes! i've never been very good at proofreading.