Black Widow

"AGAIN!" THE INSTRUCTOR SHOUTED IN RUSSIAN. Natalia sighed, clicking the safety off once more and shooting it in the target, twirling away and repeating the same process. However, just as she was about to finish, the doors burst open, and in walked Madame Red, two guards, and a man with a metal arm. "Ah, is it time for the game?" The instructor asked, a cruel smile on his face.

Madame Red nodded, her face scrunched up in a tight sneer. "Yes," she smirked, looking over all the girls, staring longer at Natalia and one of the younger girls — Yelena, "Girls. These lovely men have come from Hydra and agreed to let us use one of their finest assassins to help train you all. For the Soldier to know what your skill level is, we're going to be playing a game; Hide and Seek."

Natalia's eyes trailed over to the younger recruits — some of whom had only been recruited a few days ago — and felt sorry. She watched as their faces lit up with joy, with something that they were familiar with. If only they knew, they were going to twist it beyond repair. She felt the familiar hum of Tom in her mind, seemingly using her eyes to assess the situation.

"You will have one hour. The first ones found within 30 minutes will be killed. The rest will live, but you will be getting extra training and no playtime. If you manage to make it to the end without being caught, you will get a day off, extra playtime, and personal training sessions with the soldier." Madame Red explained, her eyes staring at the girls' horrified faces with sadistic glee. However, Natasha kept her face blank. They've been doing stuff like this for years, the only thing new is bringing in the Hydra Agents and the Soldier.

Madame Red looked down at her wrist, her lips forming into a cruel smile. "Starting... now." As soon as she said that, the girls immediately ran away from the adults. Natalia glanced behind her, seeing one of the younger girls -- Yelena -- struggling to keep up. She couldn't help herself, the girl was so young! Picking up the two-year-old, she ran quickly to a hiding spot and slapped a hand over Yelena's mouth.

"What are you doing?!" Tom hissed in her head, his voice is angry and slightly scared. "You're going to get killed by helping her!" Rolling her eyes, she adjusted the toddler on her hip, looking around for any good hiding spots.

'Be quiet, Tom! I'm just trying to be the hero for once. You know I was her age, once!' The six-year-old scolded the man in her head. Glancing back down at the toddler, she noticed the tears gathering in Yelena's eyes. Shushing the toddler, she petted the girl's head, hoping that would calm her down. She wasn't sure it would work; she had only seen it on TV.

Hearing a girl scream as she was pulled from her hiding spot, Natalia squeezed her eyes shut as she heard the girl's body drop to the ground, her blood flowing over to the two girls. God, she really needed to find a good hiding spot for the two of them! Where could she go?

Looking up, she spotted an air vent across from them in the room. She used one of the weird curse words Tom taught to her, mentally screaming as there was no way they would be able to get there without being seen.

What could she do? She didn't wanna leave Yelena; she would be dead meat as soon as Natalia let her out of her grasp. She could feel her heart racing, feeling her breathing pick up. Merlin, what could she do?! Feeling the familiar pull in her stomach, she let it consume her -- hoping it would do something good for the girls. A small pop was heard within the room, and Natalia opened her eyes, seeing a metal crate in front of them.

She looked around, seeing herself in the air vent. Smiling slightly, she gripped Yelena tighter, covering her eyes whenever another body dropped to the floor. The Hydra agents grinned cruelly as they flipped things over, pulling out the screaming girls and holding them out for the man with the Metal arm to shoot or either break their neck.

She wasn't sure what the metal man was thinking, but he was very stiff, seemingly not wanting to do what he was doing. He would drop the girls gently on the ground, closing his eyes briefly before opening them once more, repeating the process.

After 30 minutes of waiting in the vent, the killing finally stopped, but the agents still roughly pulled the girls from their hiding spots. Natalia held her breath, feeling eyes on her. Scooting farther back into the vent, she prayed the Soldier didn't see them. He stared at the vent for a few more seconds before turning away, looking for the rest of the girls with the Hydra agents.

She let out a shudder of relief, losing her tight hold on Yelena slightly. "Sorry," She whispered softly in the girl's ear, "Did I hurt you?" Yelena was still for a few moments before Natalia felt her shake her head. She smiled slightly, shoving her face in the girl's dirty-blonde hair.

They sat there in that position for a few minutes before the game was over. Hearing footsteps walk over to them, Natalia looked up, locking eyes with the metal man. He removed the metal gate slowly, placing it onto the ground next to his feet. He stared at them curiously, holding out his arms to help them out. Narrowing her eyes, she tightened her hold on Yelena, who was wiggling around, trying to get out.

There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that he wouldn't hurt them. Releasing Yelena, she watched the toddler crawl towards the Soldier and be set down on the ground. She made her way over to the soldier and felt herself be set down gently on the ground as well.

She could feel Madame Red's impressed gaze on her as she stared down at the ground in submission. "Natalia, Yelena," She started, walking over to the two young girls, her heels dragging blood towards them, "I am quite impressed. You two have won the game today. Come, I believe you two deserve a nice meal. You! Take them to the feeding hall!" She barked, before walking away.

However, while she was walking away, she was able to hear a snippet of a conversation between Madame Red and one of the trainers. "I want those two to play the role of the children in the Ohio mission. Inform them that we have made a choice."

She felt her eyes widen, however, she was quickly dragged away from her thoughts as she felt someone tug on her hand. Looking down, she blinked several times as Yelena stared up at her with glowing, blue eyes; they almost looked like electricity was flowing through her eyes. "'hank you." She whispered, a small smile on her face. Natalia nodded, giving the girl a hum in return.

"You're welcome."

However, she still couldn't get her mind off the Ohio mission. What the hell were they talking about?

Natasha blinked her eyes open, staring up at the ceiling -- which was enchanted to show the constellations. What was that dream? Well, it seemed like more of a memory... What was the Ohio mission? She only had one ever mission with the Red Room, and that was when she escaped.

Was this some kind of repressed memory? Who was that Yelena girl? Why did she have glowing eyes? Licking her dry lips, she rolled over and looked at the clock on her side table, seeing it was 5 am. Sighing, she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

Rolling out of her covers, she grabbed some sweatpants and a sports bra, throwing them on quickly. She grabbed a ponytail off her vanity, threw her hair up into a quick dutch braid, and made her way to the kitchen, stopping as she heard voices within the kitchen.

"Don't you think we should tell her, Moony?" She heard the familiar voice of Sirius ask, hearing the sound of medical tape being wrapped around something.

"No, I don't want her getting hurt, Sirius. You've seen how Natasha is. She'd want to help; that's how she is! And like it or not, she's not James. We're the adults, and she's the child." Remus said, his voice extremely serious. Tilting her head to the side, she stepped into the kitchen light.

"Morning guys." She smiled, ignoring the way they jumped. Walking over to the fridge, she pulled out a carton of eggs and the bread. "You guys are up early. I usually hear you guys snoring five minutes before you have to take me to school." She smirked slightly, turning on the stove and sliding a pan onto the lit flame. "Eggs?"

Remus shook his head, his voice slightly hoarse -- as if he was screaming all night. "No, thank you, sweetheart." He winced as he reached forward to grab his water, taking a tender sip from it. "But thank you for the offering. Why are you up so early?"

Glancing back towards the two men, she turned her attention back to her eggs, adding the seasoning she wanted. "I get up pretty early, either way. Just woke up 30 minutes earlier than normal. I like to work out in the morning."

"Really?" Sirius asked, his voice in disbelief, "Why would you do that to yourself? Who would willingly get up to exercise before the sun is even up!"

Shaking her head, she grinned. "It's a part of my job," she replied, sliding her egg onto a plate to cool. Remus hummed, taking another small sip from his water. "I still don't understand what your job is. I mean, you were a child soldier for half of your life, and you leave one organization to join another, just to do the same thing! You're 14, Natasha! You shouldn't be fighting sketchy organizations!" Remus exclaimed, looking slightly older than he was.

"Remus, if I hadn't joined that organization, I wouldn't be standing here." She said sharply, turning around and locking eyes with the amber-haired man. "Clint was sent to kill me. And if he had failed, they would have sent more after me. I know how to disappear but I was ten. They would have gotten news about a red-head ten-year-old who was running in the states with a gun and a Russian accent." She retorted, ignoring the flinch Remus gave. She stared the man down, before taking another bite of her toast, dipping it in her eggs. "I don't mean to upset you but... that's the truth. And, I like my job! I get to help people! I didn't get to do that in the red room. I have so much red in my ledger, and I just wanna wipe it out."

Sirius shared a glance with Remus, the latter coming up to Natasha and giving her a hug. "It's very brave what you're doing. It's just... it's scary. I mean, we just got you back, and every weekend you get sent on a mission with the bird-guy, and we don't know if you're gonna come back. And with the tournament, that's scary as hell, too! I mean, Rosie, I feel like I'm already turning grey and I'm only 35!" Sirius joked lightly, although she knew, underneath all his jokes and stuff, he was serious.

She gave the man a small smile, giving him a pat on the back before pulling back, walking over to Remus and giving him a gentle hug, trying not to hurt the obviously injured man, giving him a kiss on his scruffy cheek. "I'm sorry that this is all stressing you out but... this job makes me feel like I'm doing something good for the world. That I wasn't the assassin they made me out to be. I promise I'm careful whenever I go out on missions, and half the time -- Clint's the one injured because he taunts everyone and then gets his ass beat."

Sirius chuckled, taking a sip from his tea, "That does sound like Clint. Speaking of Clint, is he gonna come here for Yule? I wanna talk about pranks with him." Sirius grinned mischievously, rubbing his palms together. Remus shot his partner a look, scolding the man, "Padfoot, no! I do not want to have to clean up another failed prank mess." Turning back to Natasha, Remus continued the question, "So, is he coming?"

Natasha shrugged, shoving her hands in her sweatpants. "I don't know. He follows around this girl named Laura like a baby duck to its mother. She's all he ever talks about. And I understand!" Natasha held up her hands in defense, "She's very hot! I don't know why she's not a model, but... Man, he doesn't shut his mouth ever! Do you know how many times I've had to shove my hand over his mouth during a mission because we almost got caught by him talking!?"

"8 times?" Remus questioned, leaning back into his chair. Natasha shook her head wildly, "No!" Natasha shouted, "15 times! Not even Fury yelling at him will get him to shut up! He's such a suckup to this girl he's known for like, three weeks!"

Sirius grinned, nudging Remus gently. "You know who that sounds like?" He asked the man, who grinned back as well.

"Sounds like Lily and James." Remus hummed, his eyes nostalgic for a few seconds, before turning towards Natasha, "Your dad was so in love with your mother! He asked her out every day for 6 years until she said yes. He never shut up about her. When he finally stopped asking her every 5 seconds, we thought something was wrong with him."

Natasha laughed, leaning forward, gesturing for the man to continue. While Sirius and Remus might be holding a secret from her, she had a feeling it wasn't too important, that it would end up ruining her relationship with them.

"So, have you picked out a dress for the Yule Ball?" Daphne asked as they walked towards the great hall, fixing her hair with a hand-held mirror. Natasha shook her head, "No. I don't really know what I wanna wear. Maybe something blue?.... I think it would go well with my hair..." Natasha trailed off, her hand dropping down from her hair as she stared at the scene in front of her. "Hey, isn't that Malfoy?"

Daphne nodded as they watched the now ginger Malfoy run away from a smirking Hermione, who tucked her wand into her skirt, picking up her books from the ground. Without even thinking, Natasha rushed over to the dark-skinned girl, helping her pick up her books.

Hermione gave her a strange look, accepting the books. "Thanks, Romanoff." Hermione thanked the red-head, who gave her a smirk, and a slight look of approval. "What's the look for? Why do you look so proud of me?"

Natasha chuckled, shaking her head. Biting her lip, she gave the girl a smile. "It's just funny. I haven't seen anyone challenge Malfoy back before. It's funny... He now has the same hair as that Weasley boy he's enemies with." She said, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, before gesturing towards Natasha's hair, "And... You're not offended that he now shares the same hair like you?" She asked, a joking smile on her face.

Natasha snorted, "Oh, no," Natasha started, "Gingers have no souls, remember? It's like you made everyone's dream come true by making the ferret ginger. Proved everything everyone was saying."

"Oh, come on! Malfoy may be a foul-loathsome, bastard of a person, but he has a soul. It's just rotten as hell." Hermione smirked, the two girls sharing a laugh. "So... how've you been, Romanoff? Still attacking people in the halls?"

Natasha scoffed, a playful smile on her face. "Okay, I was defending myself!" Natasha exclaimed, her nose scrunching up, "And besides... I've heard a few things about you setting a teacher on fire, and other things." Hermione huffed, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"I was 11! And it was an accident!" Hermione said, pointing a finger at Natasha's chest. The ginger rolled her eyes, pushing the girl's hand away gently. "Sure, whatever you say, my little arsonist." Natasha teased, barely ducking out of the way of a swinging book. "Are you trying to add assault to that list as well!-" She giggled as she ducked out of the way of another swinging book. "God, Hermione. You keep that up, and you'll end up with twenty new charges!"

"Be quiet, Romanoff! I bet with the number of crimes you've committed, you'd have a life sentence!" Hermione teased, shoving the girl playful, before realizing her mistake, "Don't you dare say another word!"

Holding up her hands, she put on a face of innocence. "Hermione, no need to get violent." She slowly smirked, "What if a teacher saw you?"

"'What if a teacher saw you?'" Hermione mocked, trying to mimic Natasha's face, "Okay, you know what, Romanoff!" Rolling her eyes, Hermione adjusted her bag on her shoulder, walking away from the ginger. Turning around, Hermione held up a middle finger and continued to walk backward.

Natasha gasped, honestly shocked by the girl. Hermione seemed like the girl to scold you on your language, and here she is -- flipping someone off. Hearing footsteps behind her, Natasha turned around to see Daphne approaching with a smirk. "What's with the smirk?" Natasha asked.

Daphne's smirk simply widened, and she looped her arm with Natasha's, walking towards the great hall.

Natasha hummed as she stared at the egg in her hands. She still wasn't sure what the egg was, and while she knew she had some time until the second task -- she would like to know what the task was to calm her nerves. She sighed as she looked out the window in the common room, pressing her forehead against the cold glass.

She closed her eyes as she listened to the calming sounds of the water flowing around. She had always loved the sound of the water -- the sounds of waves crashing against the floor. The water was so relaxing and was one of the things that kept her calm during her stay in the red room.

There was an ocean near the building she grew up in, and during the calm nights, she would be able to listen to waves in her bed, rocking her to sleep. Tom would also tell her stories about the sea -- about the different creatures; both magical and muggle. He also had a fascination with the sea, and it was something the two of them bonded over. Her eyes slowly creaked open as she heard something swim past the window she was sitting at.

She lifted up her head, staring at the young merfolk. The creature opened its mouth, screaming something in their language. Her eyebrows furrowed, looking down at the egg. It sounded remarkably like the egg. The mermaid seemed frustrated by her lack of response and started signing at the girl.

"What is that shiny thing?" The creature asked, poking at the glass -- seemingly trying to touch the golden egg. Natasha's lips cracked up into a smile, and she sat the egg next to her, signing her answer back to the young creature.

"It's an egg. I got it for a task." She responded, the creature nodding back with a smile -- their sharp teeth on display. Natasha chuckled at the young creature, her nose scrunching up slightly. "It seems to say something and sounds similar to your language. Do you have an idea on how I can understand your language?"

The young mermaid rolled their eyes, looking at the girl as if she was dumb. "Put it underwater!" They signed as it was obvious. "You humans are so silly. I'm gonna go now. My Mama wants me to learn to hunt on my own."

Natasha chuckled, giving the young merfolk a wave as they swam away. Natasha looked at the egg in a new light, standing up with determination, making her way to the perfect's bathroom -- which she got access to after flirting with one of the perfects, who gave her the password. The regular bathrooms always seemed to have something going on in there (like seriously! She walked in there to do her business, and walked in on a freaking orgy! Who then asked if she wanted to join!)

Speaking the password, she snuck into the bathroom before checking to see if anyone was watching. She made her way over to the giant bathtub, turning it on and adding a few scented bubbles. Tying her hair up into a messy bun, she started taking off her uniform, keeping on her pants and sports bra.

She felt Tom materialize beside her, and she rolled her eyes. She turned around to face the man, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just because you've been in my head since I was a baby does give you the right to show up whenever. I mean, I'm half-naked!" She exclaimed.

He rolled his eyes, scoffing slightly, "Oh, please," He started, "I watched the guards change your diapers when you were a baby. Every time I look at you, I think of the disgusting diapers -- so you're fine." He retorted, his lips lifting up slightly as he sat down by the tub, rolling up his pants and sticking his feet into the warm water.

She shook her head, grabbing the egg and making her way back over to the tub. "Be quiet. It's not my fault you got stuck in me as a baby. Which, by the way, is still a mystery. Are you ever going to spill?" She lowered herself into the water, making a face at the fact that her pants were wet. He shook his head, and Natasha left it at that.

"Alright, here we go." She muttered underneath her breath, taking in a deep breath and going underwater. She opened her eyes, looking at the egg that began singing.

Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching ponder this;

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour, the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

Gasping for air, she stuck her head out for air, blinking the water out from her eyes. Tom hummed, not looking up from the water, asked her, "What did it say?"

Both of her eyebrows raised as she tilted her head to the side, examining the egg. "Well, my theory about it being the merfolk's language was correct, and it seems like they're gonna take something that matters most to us. We'll probably have to save them, and with my guess, we're probably going to the black lake." Shrugging, she made her way out of the tub, making a face on the feeling of her pants stuck to her skin.

Grabbing her wand, she muttered a drying charm and her clothes were dry once more. Grabbing her shirt, she began buttoning the shirt back up again. "I think we'll have to save a person, but the question... Who?"

"Natalia." The redhead looked up at the voice of Madame Red, who gestured for the girl to follow her and Yelena. She packed up her things quickly and followed the woman into one of the training rooms.

Before them stood the man with the metal arm, who stared at them in slight curiosity. However, to the outside world, he portrayed zero emotions. He was good, Natalia would give him that, but she was better at picking up emotions. Even at six years old, Natalia was one of the best Black Widows Madame Red had seen in years. Of course, that really didn't make her happy but... whatever.

"You two will be training with the soldier for the day. You do whatever he tells you, and you treat him as your superior. Do you understand?" Madame Red narrowed her eyes at the girls. Natalia nodded, and upon seeing what Natalia was doing, Yelena followed suit. Madame Red gave the girls a pleased smile and made her way out of the room.

Yelena gulped as she stared up at the big man, who stared down at the girls. Natalia glanced over at the blonde girl and stepped in front of her slightly. Natalia wasn't sure where Tom was at the moment, but he seemed to be in the place where he went and never bothered her. She honestly wished he was here.

"...You're protective of her." The soldier tilted his head to the side, his greasy hair falling in front of his blue eyes. She narrowed her green eyes at the man, her nose flaring slightly. "Why?" He asked, just pure curiosity in his voice.

Her jaw clenched as she locked eyes with him, thinking of what to say. Why was she protective of the girl? She barely knew the girl, and yet... Natalia felt pity for the girl. For the life that the young girl wouldn't be able to live. She was young, and while Natalia was younger than her when she came here -- Natalia felt the girl didn't deserve her fate. None of them did, but... it's the way life was.

"She's young." Was her answer. However, it seemed the man wasn't satisfied with her answer. "So are you." He retorted. "Do you protect her because you didn't have someone to protect you when you were younger?"

She snarled, staring at the man with angry tears in her eyes. How dare he assume something like that?! He knew nothing of her! "You don't know anything about me." She sneered, her voice slightly wobbly. She felt someone touch her arm, and she looked down to see Yelena staring at her with wide eyes.

"Why sad?" The two-year-old asked, pointing to her own eyes, which caused Natalia to notice the tears flowing down her face. She wiped her face quickly, patting the blonde girl on the head, and faced the metal armed man.

"Are you going to teach us something or not?" Natalia asked, her voice cracking slightly. The man was quiet for a second, before gesturing for the girls to follow him to a rock climbing board.

Natasha yawned as she woke up. What the hell are those dreams? Who is this Yelena girl, and why is she so protective of the girl? Letting out a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding in, she rolled onto her side and picked up her phone, flipping it open and heading to her contacts.

She stared at Clint's name for a few seconds, before deciding to screw it, and hit his number. She laid underneath her covers as she waited for the archer to answer her call. She knew it was still a normal time for him where he was at.

"Nat!" He answered, a cheer in his voice. "What's up?"

She smiled, happy to hear her best friend's voice again. She knew no matter what, Clint would always be there for her.

"I'm good, Clint... I'm good."