#closest I can think of is using my switch on its kickstand and using the joycon remotely

[grandwretch]

ok so in star trek in the med bay they have like e readers on stands that the patient only has to press a button on a remote to turn the page. and we have much better e readers in real life, right, like even our smart phones have e readers on them now. but. I have to hold it. I have to hold it up to my face just like I would a real book. And that sounds really lazy right but on days where my pain levels are really high bc of overstimulation I get so fucking jealous of that stupid e reader. I want one so bad

[wolf-555-writer]

Target On My Back

Hope you guys like this!  

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow x Reader

Summary: Takes place before Natasha joined SHIELD and Avengers, hence the name Natalia Romanova instead of Natasha Romanoff. Reader is an Agent at SHIELD.

Word Count: 2,676

Casually walking on the sturdy pavement with a relaxed pace like there’s no worry in the world. A strand of her red hair playfully swings back due to a man in a cheap suit rushing by her, probably too late for his boring appointment. She simply continues her path with a calm and friendly look in her beautiful, sparkling green eyes. A ray of sunlight manages to break through the tall skyscrapers and shines on her face, causing her to close her eyes for a moment while a subtle smile of enjoyment emerges. Reaching the end of the block, she makes a sharp turn around the corner, passing a hipster coffee place that’s likely filled with freelancers and their laptops. She’s in casual attire, wearing skinny denim jeans and a black leather jacket that’s unfastened with a basic black t-shirt underneath. Losing sight of her for only a second as a large garbage truck drove by. It has become quiet on this part of the street, no other persons or cars around, it’s just her, Natalia Romanova.  

“I’ve got a clear shot. Permission to take out the target, Coulson?”, you affirm, staring through the riflescope, fully concentrated and locked on. How can this woman be so deadly? You wonder, considering you followed her for a while, patiently waiting on this rooftop for the perfect opportunity to arise. You’ve taken a good look at her. She seems so innocent and doesn’t look like a cold-blooded killer at all. You’ve read and studied the files, seen her pictures- well, the limited amount thereof, because there’s not much information about the Russian spy. It’s mostly a lot of speculation about her involvement in a significant amount of cases, but has never been proven.

“Confirmed Agent (Y/L/N). Take the shot”, you receive back. Seeing her in real life makes it different though. It shouldn’t, you know that, but you can’t help it. Doubts have flooded your mind, is this really the Black Widow? However, you got your orders and cannot ignore them. Actually, you never would, ‘cause there’s nothing and no one else you’re more loyal to than SHIELD.

Quickly snapping out of your thoughts, can’t get distracted now. Your finger is on the trigger, ready to pull and you squint your eye a little more to get a better visual through the scope.

“Wait… What the hell!?”, you shout out unwittingly. Shocked, yet still actively in shooting position with your fingertip fairly pressed against the trigger. “H-how did she-”. 

A pair of green eyes are staring right at you from afar and a provoking wink with a matching grin shows up on her face. But only for a brief moment since Natalia already started running towards a more crowded area on the sidewalk, where she skillfully evades innocent pedestrians. You almost had her, almost…

“My position is compromised, I’m going in pursuit!”, you state while jumping up from the stake-out post. In a moment of not clear thinking and haste, you leave the sniper rifle behind and sprint towards the fire escape at the corner of the rooftop.

“No Agent (Y/L/N)! Stand down!”, Agent Coulson orders through the comm with a loud and authoritative tone. You ignore him blindly, ‘cause you are the closest one and probably SHIELD’s last chance of catching her this time. ...Right? Well, that’s what you told yourself anyway.

Sliding down the rusty staircase as fast as you can so that you won’t lose her. Once back on solid ground, you hop on your bike parked nearby and put on the helmet. Okay, once in a while you do ignore a direct order, but it’s for the greater good, for SHIELD, for… um, yeah, the exact reason is not that important at the moment. You tighten your grip on the handlebars and accelerate as you speed out of the narrow alley. Beating yourself up for getting distracted back there, you can’t fail this assignment, because you never fail. So this sure as hell ain’t gonna be the first slip-up of yours. Gotta keep your head in the game. 

Turning a sharp right, you end up on the road and immediately notice a covert SHIELD SUV in your side view mirror. I guess not so covert after all. Your attention is quickly shifted towards a woman up ahead, also on a bike, passing an intersection and driving through a red light at full speed.

The results of her little stunt are the least of your problems right now, however the situation could have been better… Multiple collisions, smoke formation under the hoods and honking cars with angry drivers inside, loudly cursing while making offending gestures to one another. The road is blocked and a traffic jam is preventing you from continuing the chase. It’s a total mess and Black Widow got away. There's no other option. You rapidly steer to the right and bulldoze over the sidewalk tiles, almost hitting an innocent bystander who dove aside just in time. The adrenaline is now rushing through your veins, it's a feeling you haven’t felt in a while. Though it has become so addictive that you're always craving more. Back on the road again, you proceed with the hunt and enter the busy highway. The black, armored SUV is gone now that you don't notice your fellow agents anymore, probably forced to take another route. 

Highly focused on safely passing the cars, you use dangerous maneuvers, switching your weight from left to right. You're on her tail, but it takes a lot of effort to keep up. She's fast… really fast. And she knows that too, because there hasn't been a single moment she looked back over her shoulder. Or is she always looking over her shoulder? Anyways, you can't keep this up for long, so you have to find a way to stop her. Grabbing the Glock from the holster on your upper leg, you aim precisely and fire. The bullet pierces through the thick rubber back tire. Natalia doesn't even flinch and immediately reacts when hearing the gunshot. 

She hits the brakes powerfully, a trail of smoke behind her, and pushes herself off of the leather bike seat. She shoots high up in the air, only to make a perfect backflip and lands on both feet right after. Meanwhile the motorcycle has tilted on its side and the metal body scrapes over the asphalt, making an awful, high-pitched sound while leaving dark paint marks on the road. 

After putting the handgun back fast, sight partially blinded by the smoke, you instantly hit the brakes too and stop. Opening the helmet cap and using your left foot to push down the kickstand. “Coulson, I've captured the target. My position-”. Before you could even finish that sentence Natalia already ran towards the concrete edge, slid over the hood of a stopped car first, and jumped from the bridge. “What the fu- Again!?”.

“Copy. What is your position Agent (Y/L/N)?”, you hear back, a voice much calmer and not as loud as before. “Um… 4 kilometers south of the primary location”, you reply a bit unsettled, not sure about the state Romanova’s in, because -let’s be realistic- she just flew off a bridge...

“We’re 8 minutes out. Suspect is secure? In custody?”

“... No, um, not really… But I'm close. Well, kind of”, you mumble as you dashed to the edge and watch her on the road below, apparently all alive and well. “I still got a visual”, you declare, starting the engine again and closing the helmet visor as you’d run back to your motorcycle. First, you need to exit the highway. The closest one was a couple of hundred meters back, so you make a 180 with skidding tires and go against traffic. Always choose the shortest route, which is possibly also the most dangerous one. You gotta hand it to her, she has got a serious amount of determination and doesn’t get caught easily. Something you weirdly start to admire about her. She’s also not getting rid of you that easily though, 'cause you’re not done yet either.  

“Can I expect a report back? Hello?!”. Judging by the tone in your ear, you apparently missed his question the first time, or the second time? Maybe even the third, you don’t know. She's seriously messing with your head, in more ways than you dare to admit. “I’ll report back when I have her detained”, you assert while driving head-on towards oncoming traffic that you bypass with ease.

Once you safely exited the highway, you race towards a dark alleyway between some abandoned and degraded buildings where you last saw Black Widow. The headlight on your bike makes it possible to spot Natalia fleeing in the distance. She’s still on foot, which is a disadvantage for her as she’s way more slower than you are. Eventually you have her boxed in. A high fence with barbed wire on top is preventing her from continuing her course. You give a short update about your current location to Coulson as a precaution before coming to a halt with screeching tires. Rapidly jumping off the vehicle while you grab your gun.

“Stop! There’s nowhere else to run!” 

She slowly puts her hands up at the sound of a click, knowing the Glock’s safety is off. Knowing that you’re ready to pull the trigger. 

She turned around, now face to face, and you stare into her eyes, still with the gun pointed at her. “The previous SHIELD Agents would have already given up by now”, she says with a calm voice, “but not you”, while she checks you out from head to toe.

“Aw, I'm not your first?”, you taunt back, in a more relaxed state since you've finally completed your assignment. Third time’s a charm, right? A grin appears on her face. “You're cute”. Without breaking eye contact you reach for the handcuffs on your belt, you can’t let her distract you. Not again. 

In a flash of a second she kicks something your way. Don’t know what it is but it gets you startled as it grazes your forehead. Before you even know it she’s in front of you and slams the gun out of your hand. Trying to follow its trajectory with your eyes to see where the gun drops, but your field of vision doesn’t let you because Natalia has grabbed your extended arm and throws you over her shoulder onto the dirty ground. It’s an unpleasant landing but you quickly push yourself off and stand up again, only to catch her leg mid-air with both hands since she wanted to land a brutal kick to your left side. This doesn’t stop her though. She hooks onto your shoulders with her hands and pushes herself off to swing her other leg around your head. Both her legs are wrapped around your neck tightly, her thighs are choking you now that you can’t breathe anymore. You want to free yourself from her strong grip and swing your arms about but lose balance. Due to the weight, you fall backwards and touch down on the hard ground again. The restriction around your neck disappears. Gasping for air you get up once more and your jaw meets with Natalia’s fist. You luckily counteract the next punch and slip and block while retaliating with a fast, but powerful left hook. Directly after you pivot and want to do a roundhouse kick, but she smoothly ducks down and sweeps you off your feet instead.

“You ready to give up?”. She’s even letting her guard down. Now she’s just drawing you out and taunting with you. You look up at her and scoff. “I got this completely under control, okay”, wiping the blood from the corner of your mouth. There are drops of sweat on your forehead and your breathing frequency is faster than usual. Natalia is a worthy opponent. It’s a challenge, something you haven’t had in a while as most of your missions are routine jobs and have become boring. You’ve missed this, it feels so good. Your heart rate is rising and you get that surge of adrenaline once more.       

Natalia blows a strand of red hair away. “Oh, okay. You sure about that?”, she answers with a light chuckle and moves one eyebrow up. 

You get up from the ground, once again. Sensing some painful, nagging spots scattered all over your body, but you suppress it, ignore the aching parts, and defensively put your hands up high to protect your upper body and face.  

“Yeah, I’m totally sure about th-”. Barely able to finish that sentence, you get floored again by Natalia. She has used her legs to grab your neck and moves you downwards. With a great impact you end up on the asphalt, head first and flat on your stomach. Natalia has got you pinned down while she’s forcing you in this position with her knees buried in your back. Not the most comfortable situation you’ve been in... 

You move your head to the side and let out a deep groan. A bit disoriented due to the smack on your head, but suddenly, hidden in between some pieces of trash nearby, you notice your handgun. Without hesitation you grab it and roll onto your back with all the strength left to hold her at gunpoint. Natalia backs away and puts her hands behind her head. 

“I've got her Coulson”, you state, speaking through your comm while you painfully stand up. “Coulson?”. Still pointing your gun at Natalia. “Are you there?”

“You lost this?”, she taunts, now opening her left hand which she’s moved from behind her head. It's your earpiece. “Wait, how did you-”. With a puzzled look you glare at her. How did she do that? You have to admit, you’re kind of amazed by her skills. The way she fights and moves, it’s impressive. She’s impressive. 

Although, it pisses you off that you keep losing.

“So…”, she drops the communication device on the ground and crushes it with the ball of her foot, “it's just you and me now”  

“Yeah, I guess so…”. You’re out of words since you don’t know what to say next and deeply stare into her intense, fiery green eyes. There's something holding you back. She could have killed you, several times already to be fair, but she didn’t. It’s like a game. A game you seem to enjoy very much. Still aiming the handgun at her, yet it’s like you’re in a frozen state. What should you do? Take her in and complete the assignment, keeping a spotless record, which actually doesn’t seem that important anymore. 

...Or let her go. So that there will be a chance of seeing her again, hopefully in the near future. No, I can’t… My loyalty is with SHIELD, you keep repeating in your mind. Convincing yourself. Or better said, trying to convince yourself. Is it working?

Slowly lowering the gun and turning your head away as you gaze at the ground. “You don’t have much time before the other Agents are here. Go. Now”, you suggest with a low, hoarse voice. Natalia doesn’t need to think twice and takes this opportunity for granted as she jumps on your motorcycle. It feels as if you’re not in control of your own actions anymore. What are you doing?! Realizing you let your target escape, willingly, and on top of that, on your bike. How will you explain this? 

There’s something about her… something that makes her special, that makes this all worth it somehow. No regrets at all. She’ll still have a target on her back though, because SHIELD will not stop. But as of now you got one too. You watch her put your helmet on and she winks at you again, with that same signature grin too. Before closing the visor and driving away full throttle, she locks eyes with you one last time and softly speaks:

“Till next time, Agent (Y/L/N)”   

PART 2