Hydra came with the promise of a golden age.
Their slogan, hail hydra, was printed everywhere. It flickers on the screens installed all over New York; it's written on countless billboards- the Hydra symbol right next to it. It was an octopus that always gave Natasha the creeps.
At first Hydra stayed true to its promise. Steve Rogers was the first of many. Natasha remembers looking at the screen in downtown and seeing him for the first time. He was scrawny, and looked even smaller in comparison with Howard Stark standing proudly next to him. Stark's voice crackled in the speakers and echoed throughout the city, he said something that Natasha didn't understand. All she knew was that when Steve Rogers came out of the device, he was different. The scrawny kid that stood in his place only moments before was replaced by a tall muscular man. Stark's voice and expression grew more enthusiastic as he talked. Natasha was only staring at Steve, he was gripping onto Howard's shoulder, and other scientist bustled around him. He looked like he was in pain; he was covered in sweat with his eyes shut and his breathing heavy. Natasha watched his chest rise and fall, and felt a pang of pity for the boy on the screen. When his eyes opened they were blue, and Natasha stared at screen until she realized that she was late for ballet. She had to run through New York, and she showed up to ballet sweaty and her hair frizzy. It was worth it with Steve Roger's face fresh in her mind.
That was two years ago when Natasha was only fourteen. A lot can happen in two years. The Government collapsed and Hydra took over, just in time for Hydra to turn to crap. The experiments turned tainted; people went missing. Mostly kids, which is why Natasha refused to go to an orphanage for shelter, and chose the streets instead. Natasha had been on her own for almost two of those years, and she's leaned a few things. Like how to pickpocket, and break into houses.
Which is how Natasha found herself in the shadows by an expensive looking house. She clutched her canvas bag to her chest; it's been empty for almost two weeks. It's been almost four hours since she first climbed the tree she was hiding in; it took her two hours of running to get there. But this house was the biggest in the area, and from what she's seen there's only a family of three living there.
Natasha only steals from those who won't miss it.
An hour ago she saw three figures exit the house, the shortest of which had an arrogant walk that made Natasha scoff. Deciding that the coast was clear, she checked her surroundings one more time before shimmying down the tree.
Carefully she tiptoed across the maintained lawn. The house wasn't as protected as she thought it would be. She placed her hands on the gate and slightly rattled it before deciding it was sturdy enough to climb. She fit her feet in the fence and began to climb with ease. There was a ripping noise, and she looked down to see the fabric on the side of her shoe was ripped off. Those shoes lasted a year; it will be weeks before she could afford another pair. She grabbed the fabric and stuffed it in her pocket to erase any traces.
Natasha dashed across the grass, and knelt in front of the door. She grabbed a pin from her hair, and a strand of red fell in her face. The lock gave away easily, and she swung the door open with caution.
The house was pitch black, and she kept it that way with the exception of a flashlight. She reached the kitchen and worked quickly. She grabbed cans and boxes first, those last longer. She only grabbed less than half of the supplies, because she never wipes people out.
As she tied her canvas bag close, something cold covered her mouth. She screamed, but the object muffled it. Since her eyes had long adjusted to the dark she looked down, and realized it was a metal hand. She screamed again.
A hand shot out, a flesh one, and turned her around. A boy with long brown hair, and hard blue eyes met her. He shone a light in her face. "You're not a Stark," was all he said before Natasha kneaded him in the groin and ran.
As she ran to the front door, canvas bag in hand, she heard another voice that was laced with concern. "What happened, Bucks?"
"Crazy bitch kicked me."
The second her fingertips touched the door, all the lights flicked on. She heard a man's voice all around her. "House shutdown." The sound of locks clicking, and windows shutting filled the house.
The boy's voices started up again, but she couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing in her ears and her heart pounding. "Why are you here?" It was the boy with metal hand's voice, his voice was demanding.
Natasha swallowed, and wiped any look of fear off her face. She turned around and glared at him. The other boy was next to him, he was blond and also had blue eyes but his were softer and could've been kind if it weren't for the current situation. He looked familiar but Natasha couldn't place where she's seen him. They stood side by side in the doorway, and she was correct, it was a metal arm. "Why are you here?" She mimicked.
The Dark Haired Boy crossed his arms and a star peeked out of his shirtsleeve. "I asked you first," he said stubbornly.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Haven't heard that one since elementary school."
The blond one laughed and the other hit him lightly. It was obvious they were close. "Look, we could stand here until we get arrested, because I'm guessing that," the blond one said, flicking his head towards the ceiling, "was a security system, or we could find a way out of here."
Natasha and the boy exchanged one more glare before both of them let out a stubborn "fine."
The blond boy faintly smiled, and Natasha felt annoyed because she couldn't place him. "Under one condition, I get to ask you questions," she said.
"No," the dark haired boy scoffed.
"House shutdown."
"Fine, lets just get out of here." there was a flicker of fear on his eyes. "I'm not going back to Hydra." There was desperation in his voice.
"Good," Natasha said. "Alright, you said this was the Stark house, right?"
His eyes narrowed. "Yes."
"Then they definitely built the system," Natasha stated. "I say it was Anthony, Howard's son." She bolted up the stairs. "It's probably controlled from his room."
"Isn't he, like, seventeen?" The dark haired boy questioned.
"He's a Stark."
"Crazy bitch."
"If you keep calling me that I'll break your nose."
"Well," he said, following her up the stairs, the blond boy following close behind, "considering you took away any chance I had of being a father, it would be a very merciful of you."
"Drama queen."
"Crazy-" he was cut off by the blond boy smacking the back if his head.
They swung the door open of Anthony's room, it didn't look like a seventeen year old's room. Tools and blueprints were everywhere. It looked like a lab with a bed placed in it.
Natasha and the blond boy searched around the room. They weren't exactly sure what they were looking for, but they weren't expecting what they got when Natasha brushed her fingers against the counters. Controls popped out as a projection.
They all crowded around it. "What the hell?" the blond one said to no one in particular.
Natasha was the first one to reach out and touch it, she touched a square and it disappeared. She pulled her hand back, and it knocked into the blond's arm. The slight touch sent tingles through her. "Sorry," she mumbled as she pulled her arm back.
"Don't worry about it," he said, his eyes still glued to the projection. "I think the system is controlled from here," he stated.
"I can figure it out," Natasha said, pushing him out of the way.
His brows knitted together. "I think I could do this," he stated.
The dark haired boy backed away, and started looking around the room.
"Well that's too bad because I already am."
"I'm not trusting you to do this, we can't go back to Hydra," he said.
She put her hands on her hips. "What's that suppose to mean?"
He turned to her. "I don't even know who you are-"
He was interrupted by the dark hair boy smashing the counter with what seemed to be a red and yellow helmet. "Fixed the problem," he said, "thank god he was building a robot or some shit."
They heard the front door open, and voices filled the house. "Our best chance is out the window," the blond said.
"We won't survive that!" Natasha said.
"We will, you won't," the dark haired boy said before jumping out the window.
The blond grabbed her arms and turned her to face him. "I'll jump out, and catch you. You can trust me."
Jumping out a window into a stranger's arms was the last thing she wanted to do, but the voices and footsteps were getting closer. "Okay."
He swung out of the window with ease. Natasha followed suit, more hesitantly, while clutching her bag to her chest. In a blink of an eye she was in his arms. "See? I caught ya," he said with a charming smile.
She opened her mouth to say something but the other boy interrupted them. "Can we go? Like right now?" He called.
The blond grabbed Natasha's arm. "C'mon."
They ran through the woods and didn't stop until the city's lights came into view. They got out of the woods with scratches on their arms, legs and face. They hid in an alley to catch their breath. On the wall next to them "Hail Hydra" was spray painted, but an eagle was painted over it. Natasha examined it, she's seen the eagle a lot latley and she's starting to wonder if it's a symbol.
She turned around when the dark haired boy said, "you are a crazy bitch."
"I'm going to pretend I didnt hear that," Natasha said, "I get to ask you questions. My first one is who the hell are you?"
The dark haired boy stayed silent, while the blond one spoke up. "I'm Steve, this is Bucky."
Bucky grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. "What the hell, Steve?" He hissed.
"What? I think it's fair that she knows," Steve whispered.
"Well what happens when we go our separate ways? We're the most wanted by Hydra, we can't just tell everybody our names."
"Relax, we're not going out separate ways," Steve said.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Bucky asked.
"We can't just leave her, she's all alone."
Bucky groaned, "this is just like that stray cat we found."
"One, you're heartless for not letting me keep it. And two-"
Natasha cleared her throat behind them, and they turned around to see her with her arms crossed. "You two are really bad whisperers, you're just talking with a whisper voice. And I'm not going anywhere with you."
Bucky slapped Steve's arm. "See, Rogers? She doesn't want to come."
"Wait, did you just say Rogers? As in Steve Rogers?" Natasha asked. So that's why he looked so familiar. "Arent you, like, Hydra's poster boy, or something?"
"No," they both said, their voices bitter.
"Well either way you know what's going on with Hydra, and I want to know," Natasha said.
"Fine," Steve said, "we got away from Hydra a year ago. I was one of the older... experiments, so it was hard to gey away."
"What about you?" Natasha nodded her head towards Bucky.
He raised up his metal arm, "I'm one of the newer experiments." They tried to make him a weapon, but he didn't say that.
"We're with SHIELD," Steve said, "and you could be really useful to us."
"I don't even know what SHIELD is," Natasha said.
Bucky pointed to the hawk on the wall. "That's SHIELD, we're taking down Hydra."
"We're an organization," Steve continued, "we were at the Stark's because Howard and Maria are important in Hydra. We were hoping to find some information."
"All we got is a stray cat," Bucky mumbled.
"Who said I was going with you?" Natasha said.
Steve shrugged, and grabbed Bucky's shoulder. They turned and starting walking out of the alley. "Fine, you don't have to." Steve said. "It was nice meeting you."
She watched them go, and she couldn't deny how lonely she felt. She couldn't remember the last time she actually spoke to someone before tonight. "Fine!" She called. "I'll go with you."
They turned around, a knowing smile on Steve's face and an annoyed one on Bucky's, and she caught up to them. "I don't think we caught your name," Steve said, the smile still on his face.
"Natasha."
AN: This first chapter is pretty brief but the later chapters will explain more. If you're confused about anything just drop it in a review, and I'll try to explain it more in later chapters. Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel