ASCENDANCY / P. MAXIMOFF

sanctuary

The escape from Ultron and the twins was narrow and she was starting to think that it would have been better if they never left.

In the blizzard there was no way to know which direction to go, the usual landmarks were hidden behind the white that swirled so densely. Even Tony in front of her was little more than a crude outline of a human mostly erased by the storm. The soft crystals she would have found so bewitchingly interesting from the other side of a pane glass found a way to stick to her skin in every way possible, catching on the fabric of her jacket more often than anything. They packed down her neck and between the fabric that flapped at the front. She could feel her blood begin to cool and her skin become icy. They shouldn't have come, not in this weather. Disorientation was a given; and the cold was a killer. But for her, anything. Natasha's calls for Anastazya were loud, but the wind carried her voice faster than she could speak. The world was being erased around her, and they would be taken with it if they didn't find shelter soon.

"There is a town a mile away!" Tony yelled into the com receptor. "She must have gone there, unless Speedy Gonzalez was lying and he and Clint are leading us into a trap."

Nat could basically hear the eye roll in Clint's voice. "I believe him, and if it ends up getting us all killed you can tell me you 'Told me so', in the afterlife."

"Haló ? Kto je tam v túto dennú dobu!" Natasha heard someone yell loudly over the storm. She could barely recognize the words.

"Hear that? Natasha do you know what she said?" Captain asked, voiced laced with anxiety.

Hello? Who is out there in this time of day!

Nat nodded when she remembered that they could not see her. She instead, searched her mind for a good way to reply. Her Slovak was rusty.

"Sme v potrebujú svätyni ! Stratili sme niekoho!" She shouted back at the disembodied voice.

We are in need of sanctuary! We have lost someone!

"Kto je to , že ste stratili ?" The voice replied, getting closer.

Who is it you have lost?

"Stratili sme našu dcéru! Prosím , pomôžte nám! Sanctuary!" Clint answered back this time, from somewhere near her. Nat's heart sank into her chest.

We have lost our daughter! Please help us! Sanctuary!

When the voice did not answer back Natasha sighed loudly, yelling out in surprise when she had bumped into someone, feeling around frantically.

"Zlez zo mňa tie americkú spodina ! Alebo budete nikdy nájsť dcéru ! Budem sa o tom presvedčiť !" The voice cursed, a voice that Natasha could now recognize as an old woman's. Natasha looked down to examine her.

A woman her age should have one foot in the grave. Her gait should be wonky with arthritic joints and eyesight failing faster than the mission they had embarked on. Were it not for the lines in her face Natasha would think her sixty at the most given her sharp mind and easy motion; but they are so deep and saggy - like the skin no longer has a connection to the skull underneath. In a photograph you'd clock her as ninety or more, and Natasha thought that's where she was. However she had the bright, striking blue eyes that reminded her too much of young Anastazya, and leathery, wrinkled white skin. She was wrapped in a blue shawl, but did not show a sign of her being cold. She eyed them suspiciously.

"You want to find your daughter? Eh Avengers?" The woman hissed, a sly grin creeping up on her face. Her accent was thick, making all of her words nearly unintelligible. "Well I may be persuaded to trudge through the snow for your little girl with an incentive."