The Child
Natasha felt her face heating up as she sat in the conference room. She glanced over to Bucky who remained emotionless. Suddenly, she came to the realization that he knew about this plan. He was trying to get close to her so she was more likely to fulfill the plan willingly. Even if she said no, they would force her. Besides, her indoctrination prevented her from going against them. Bucky was just trying to make her more comfortable.
“How do you plan on doing that Sergeant-“ she stopped.
“Captain Rykov,” he introduced himself. “I doubt I can explain it better than the scientist in the room,” he gestured towards a man in a white lab coat.
The man explained, “We will extract your DNA and then Sergeant Barnes’ DNA. We will then insert the two codes into different slots of a machine that essentially will create a child from the two sequences. We will genetically create a meiosis phase between the cells..” he trailed off.
“Let’s not bore her with the technicals,” Rykov said.
Her eyes were fixed upon the man. Finally, she cast her eyes down. “When?”
“Right now,” Rykov ordered.
A guard pushed Bucky into the chair beside Natasha. The scientist pulled out two sets of needles, and he extracted blood from both specimens. He then proceeded to swab their cheeks. Lastly, the man took a strand of hair from each. Putting all of the samples in his briefcase, the man exited the room, followed by a guard.
“The creation should take about a week,” Rykov said as he left the room.
Natasha and Bucky sat in the room, alone but together. “You knew…” she said, looking away from him.
“Yes I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“I was ordered not to.”
“And you’re all about orders, aren’t you Sergeant Barnes. The epitome of a good soldier,” she stormed out.
Natasha threw herself onto her bed. Since her room was a very fortified cell and she was under constant surveillance, her hands no longer needed to be cuffed to the bed. Her mind roamed from one thought to the next. She thought about Bucky, the child the scientists were creating and her feelings. She wasn’t too sure what to do about her emotions. Should she bottle them up or let them go?
Eventually she fell asleep, allowing her mind to settle but not for long as she woke up a mere 4 hours later. She walked over to one of the mirrors, checking her hair and trying to see the people behind it. Natasha looked at her hands. She saw blood dripping from her palms and she realized she had dug her nails into her hands as she slept.
For the next week, Natasha trained with Bucky for her mission of taking down the Avengers. She sat on a bench as the pair rested between their bouts. Rykov walked urgently into the room. “The agent is ready,” he spoke of the child. Bucky followed Rykov, Natasha jogging to keep up with their strides. They stopped before a large, locked up and well-guarded room. “This is it,” Rykov told. “The agent is about to be released. Do you have any possible weapons on you?”
Natasha shook her head as Bucky looked at his arm. “Oh. We’ll have to get rid of that,” Rykov nodded towards Bucky’s arm.
Bucky held his arm to his chest, an offended look on his face.
“It was a joke,” Rykov said. Both agents looked confused at his remark. Rykov gestured for them to enter the room.
Natasha walked into the room, observing a large pod with mist seeping from its nooks and crannies. The room was insulated with white foam and no furniture was found anywhere. Directly across from the pod was a window which shielded a handful of scientists from the cold of the room.
Rykov signaled for the men to hit the release on the pod. As they did, the mist filled the room, blinding them. Natasha could faintly distinguish the figure of a little girl, falling to the ground. Rykov approached the girl tentatively. He pulled her to her feet and dragged her over to the agents. Natasha stared at the girl, noticing her short red hair and blue eyes. “We should start her training today. We wouldn’t want her to get into the habit of being complacent,” Rykov said, snapping Natasha out of her trance.
“Of course,” she replied. Natasha grabbed the girl by the arm and began to lead her to the sparring room.
When they arrived, Bucky, “do you want to instruct her first or should I?”
“I got it.” Natasha taught the girl the proper fighting stance. She was a quick learner...much like herself. Natasha then invited the girl to try and fight her. The girl threw a punch, but Natasha threw her to the ground. Natasha held the girl’s arm as she pulled her fist back, ready to strike her. Suddenly, Natasha’s vision blacked out, and when she regained her sight, she saw a group of people standing around her, weapons drawn. She identified two of the people as being Steve Rogers and Clint Barton.