Chapter One
Prologue: Little Girl Lost
May 5, 2012
Outskirts of Calcutta, India
With a sense of dread and regret, Agent Natasha Romanoff checked the time on her smartphone again. 9:18 PM. She hadn't given Priyanka a strict deadline, but the girl should've returned with Dr. Banner by now. Every passing minute worried Natasha even more.
Shouldn't have sent her, she thought. The girl wasn't ready for this. No one was.
Natasha had hated the entire plan. If the world weren't in such danger, if Clint wasn't compromised, then she never would have gone along with it. But things really were that screwed up, and her orders were to bring Banner in by any means possible.
Victoria Hand, the senior agent in charge of this operation, had wanted to deploy Priyanka without any knowledge of Bruce Banner's true nature. The girl was just seven years old after all, and she was supposed to do a job that would scare even the most hardened of agents. Hand wasn't confident that Priyanka would keep her cool if she were aware of what Banner really was.
However, Natasha couldn't find it in herself to deceive such a young child. She had been deceived enough throughout her own life. She remembered how betrayed she had felt, during every mission gone to hell because of something she had no need to know. Against her better judgment, she told Priyanka everything before sending her off.
To Priyanka's credit, the revelation did nothing to change her mind about the mission. She had understood what was at stake, and what needed to be done. Natasha had been so proud of the girl she had rescued just two months ago.
She can do this. After all, Priyanka was not just another orphaned human trafficking victim. She and her older sister Sanjana had been abducted when she was just a toddler. After a few years together as slaves, they were separated so that Priyanka could be sold to a rogue mercenary group. With them, she had learned how to survive and kill at an age when most children were still learning how to read.
But despite all of her talents, the girl was now very late. Unable to contain her impatience, Natasha crept over to the window for a peek outside of the wooden shack in which she stood. She saw nothing but the same empty dirt road that she had looked at several minutes before.
Stop being stupid, she told herself. The area was surrounded by several of SHIELD's elite tactical units. If Priyanka and Banner were near, those men would promptly notify her. There was no need for her to keep looking outside, especially when it did nothing to ease her mind...
Natasha noticed right then that she wasn't breathing. If Banner had caught on to the plan, if he were to fly into a rage and kill the girl...then Natasha wouldn't even be able to stop and mourn her death. The Tesseract was still out there, and every other problem in the world was irrelevant in comparison. Priyanka would just become an entry in Natasha's ledger. Another addition to an amount that she would never be able to erase.
"Raven Two to Black Widow," said the sniper in the southwest quadrant. He had spoken clearly, but Natasha was still able to detect the tension in his voice through her earphone. Just like her, the man was doing everything he could just to keep his cool. "Jekyll is headed your way. Over."
"Roger that, Raven Two." Natasha stepped aside to hide her body from the window, even as she continued to look across the street. Thirty seconds passed before she saw Priyanka and Banner appearing in the distance. Priyanka was rushing for the shack, as if her father actually was dying inside. Banner, however, was suspiciously looking around even as they neared their destination.
"Black Widow to all points. Maintain your distance. You'll know if you're needed. Over and out."
A white pickup truck appeared on the dirt road, and Natasha could see that it was on pace to roll by the house at the same time that Priyanka would be crossing the street. The girl kept going though with apparent single-mindedness, which forced Banner to grab her so that she wouldn't be run over.
Good girl, Natasha thought. She knew that the best way to lower someone's awareness was to feign vulnerability. Priyanka's savvy move had seized Banner's attention and preyed upon his protective instincts as a man. Her brush with death would continue to preoccupy him during their final steps toward the shack.
Natasha stepped back from the window and turned to look into the living room as they arrived. Waiting with bated breath, she watched Priyanka run toward the open window at the back of the house. She didn't allow herself to breathe again until she saw the girl climbing outside. But while Priyanka was safe, Natasha knew that she herself was not. It was all on her now.
"Shoulda got paid up front, Banner," the Doctor said as he stopped in the middle of the house.
Natasha put on a friendly face and walked out behind him. Easy now. She kept both hands in front of her, casually holding a shawl around her otherwise bare arms. It was ridiculous, but she needed to show the freaking Hulk that she was no threat to him. "You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle."
Putting down his bag of medical supplies, Banner turned around and stared at her. "Avoiding stress isn't the secret."
"And what is it? Yoga?" Natasha knew she wasn't fooling anyone with it, but humor was one of the only cards she had to play. None of her combat skills would mean a damn thing against the strength that Banner could unleash at a moment's notice.
He seemed aware of that strength as well, speaking casually as he began to inspect the room. "Now you brought me to the edge of the city. Smart."
His condescension cut deep as he made clear who was in control of the situation. Natasha silently burned from his words, because she had struggled for every shred of power and control that she possessed in her life. She had trained and fought so hard to free herself from others, but men like Banner proved that she would always be at someone else's mercy. She hated how helpless he made her feel.
Turning around, he looked out one of the windows. "I assume the whole place is surrounded?"
Natasha put down her shawl to show that she really, truly, hand nothing in her hands. "Just you and me." And a bunch of tough guys about to crap their pants.
As expected, Banner didn't buy any of it. "And your actress buddy. Is she a spy too? They start that young?"
It was a simple question, but it still gave Natasha pause. The near disbelief coming from a man who could transform into a giant green monster highlighted just how wrong her upbringing had been. Struck by a sudden onrush of memories, she froze for a split-second before she opened her mouth to reply.
"I did."
To be continued in Chapter 2: Something to Fight For
Author's Note: Haven't seen anyone use the little girl from the Avengers movie in a fanfic, despite how much she helped to reveal about Natasha. Hope you read on to see my take on what happens to them after Captain America: The Winter Soldier!
