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Natasha crumbled. Her back slid down the wall behind her. Sobs tore from her throat, the words 'you promised' mixed within them. Tears streamed down her face like the blood from her heart, there was no stopping it, no return, no hope.
Maria Hill stood 10 steps ahead of her. Back ram-rod straight. Shoulders back. Hands clasped behind herself. Chin held high. Lips sealed in a stern line. Unseeing eyes staring blankly at the white washed wall above Natasha's crumpled form where she had stood. A single tear rebelling a path down her cheek. Maria refused to give in, refused to wipe it away and acknowledge the existence of her pain because that would be weak. A soldiers biggest weakness is admitting they're weak.
Instead, she turned. Headed to the door, muscles tensing at the agonising sob Natasha cried. She couldn't look back.
She left.
Relying purely on muscle memory, she made her way to her quarters, unseeing of the busy race of SHIELD around her. She scanned her ID and opened the door to the barren, lifeless plain of her apartment.
The door shut behind her with a heavy thud and she fell backwards onto it.
Then, Maria broke.
Her hands shot to her mouth, trying to fight the sob that clawed at her throat. But they shook, they were weak, too weak to hold her together. Tears cascaded like a river, carving a path that stained like blood. She bled her emotions, torn open by a bullet. But no bullet in the field had ever torn her open like this. It was as if both her eyes had been shot and she had to watch the blood pour. Helpless to her own mistakes.