I See Red

Intro

So far things had been simple at Stark Industries. Despite the high profile target, Natasha found the job to be rather easy. She was getting more sleep then she had in months, she had limitless chances to familiarlize herself with Stark Tech, and she even got a free trip to Monoco without needing a debriefing beforehand. The only downside was having to deal with the self proclaimed superhero, Tony Stark. He was quite possibly the most immature bastard Natasha had ever come across, and she worked with Barton. Honestly she was surprised she and Pepper fit on the same plane as his massive ego.

The CEO wasn't the biggest fan of 'Natalie's. The Widow didn't foresee it being an issue for long. Pepper didn't seem like one to hold a grudge, if she was she would have left Tony a very long time ago, plus as soon as she found out about Tony's Paladium poisoning 'Natalie' would fall to the bottom of her priorities. All she had to do was wait it out.

Even with Pepper's apparent irritation at her presence, the plane ride to Monoco went without a hitch. She had spent most of the flight in the cockpit, typing out another report and sending emails back and forth with Clint. She even took a hand at flying the plane for a while, it was easier for her to think if she had something to focus on as backwards as it seemed. It was nice of the pilot to hand over the controls for an hour or two... Did I forget to mention that she was a SHIELD agent? Natasha didn't know her personally, but she thought the agent was one she wouldn't mind working with in the future. It would be nice to get some quiet on a mission, plus high level female agents were soarly lacking in Natasha's unit. It was a shame that she didn't do field work anymore, it would have been an interesting team if Fury put the two of them together every now and again. Honestly it was surprising that the women were meeting now. Natasha just chalked it up to extra security on Stark. Fury had been asking her for more reports lately, which meant something was going down soon. Natasha needed to keep her guard up.

As it turned out trouble was coming sooner then expected. Natasha had been expecting reckless, but she couldn't have predicted that Stark would decide to take a spin around the block in a racecar. Nor did she expect another man with Ironman technology to attack her charge.

As soon as she told Happy where to find Pepper Natalie disappeared, leaving the Black Widow in her place. There wasn't time to get her suit on, nor would it be the brightest idea to go tromping around in a tactical suit in broad daylight, but Natasha did check to ensure the gun she had strapped under her dress was ready to go. Pulling a com out of her purse, she made contact with the Trekskillian. "Status, now."

"Ironman has engaged the hostile, running facial recognition now."

"Roger that." Maybe there was only one hostile... But then again maybe not. "Keep me updated." She made her way towards the doors of the lobby. "I'm running a perimeter check, see if you can find the hole this guy climbed out of." She got an affirmative response and continued on her course, reaching for the doorhandle when it was pulled open for her. A girl scampered past too fast for her to see, rushing with the crowd to get inside, away from the madman taking on Ironman. Natasha wouldn't have given her a second glance had it not been for one thing. Who wears a hoodie in ninety degree weather?

Red curls flared out as Natasha spun on her heel, emerald eyes scanning the room. After a moment she spotted the flash of faded blue disappearing behind the closing doors of the hotel elevator, a dufflebag slung over her shoulder. "Possible hostile spotted." Natasha ran towards the elevator, shoving aside a few civilians in he efforts. She lunged forward, reaching to stick her hand between the doors before she lost the target. She wasn't fast enough. "Damn it!" She hissed under her breath, calling for another elevator as she watched the floor number rise above the closed metal doors of the first elevator. "I lost her." She reported, "I'm going to tail her, she went to the sixth floor." Waiting for the lift to come back down and go up again would take too long, Natasha could handle a few flights of stairs. Seems Ironman wouldn't be the only one fighting today.

As she climbed past the forth floor her earpiece buzzed to life. Aparently the man Tony was fighting was named Ivan Vanko. Natasha listened carefully to an account of his past as she ran, filing away the infromation for later use. She would find a way to lead Tony in his direction later, for now she had her own problem.

Natasha didn't bother readying her weapon, she didn't know for sure if the girl was a threat. The more she thought about it, though, the more sure she was. She was hiding her face when Natasha ran after her, and the Widow was positive that she hadn't had that dufflebag when she bumped into her. There must have been a handoff, which meant this was much more the the actions of one man, this was a group, an organization.

After radioing in her suspitions, Natasha asked for a sweep of the sixth floor, looking for any suspitious activity near the windows of the west side of the building. The way she saw it, the clues all lead to one conclusion, a sniper. The duffle was easily large enough to hold a riffle, and it was just too much of a coincidence that the girl had headed to one of the highest floors of the hotel- a hotel right next to the racetrack- after getting the bag. It may not be damning evidence, but it was more then a little fishy.

"We have movement in room 618. Disabling the keycard scanner now."

Bingo. Natasha bolted, stopping in front of the door and pulling out her weapon. She waited with baited breath for her orders. Kill or capture.

"Bring the hostile in for questioning."

Capture it is. She slowy turned the handle, making as little noice as possible before sliding inside the apartment, gun ready.

Hello there! This is my first avengers fanfic, but I have been a fan of both the MCU and the original comics for a while and I have written for different fandoms before. Normally my chapters are MUCH LONGER then this, seeing as it is only the intro chapter :)

The Black Widow has always been one of my favorite characters because of her background and general awesomeness so I decided I would make a fic of my own to highlight her and more specifically, her past.

I will be adding in one major character OC, and possible other SHIELD and HYDRA agents as we move foreward. I'm always open to suggestions and reviews, so please please please take a moment to write me one, I reply to each and every review I receive.

Hope you enjoy!

The Academy