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The night was a usual one for upstate Oklahoma. The air was hot and sticky, and heavy with moisture. Natasha's neck was prickled with sweat as she waited patiently behind a dumpster for her target. She angrily wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
Stupid heat, she thought.
Horns honked in the distance. Police sirens wailed and cried loudly as they waned and waxed out of earshot. They were oddly soothing as they killed the silence that penetrated the air. Soon, Natasha heard the broken stumbling that could only belong to a drunken man walking down the alleyway towards her and her dumpster. She griped the knife in her hand loosely as she prepared to jump the stumbler.
"Shouldn't 'av drank sooo much." The man slurred. He picked up trash as he walked, making a path through the dirty alleyway. Soon he was within close distance of a deadly killer. He didn't even know it.
"Ahhh!" the man shouted. Natasha jumped him from behind and took him to the ground. She skillfully placed her knife at the base of his throat, ready to slice.
" Who 'er you?" The man shouted. "Help!"
"I am no one," she said and brought her knife down quickly and swiftly. The man didn't live for much longer. She silently watched the life leave his eyes with a sigh. Life is so short, she lamented. Bending down, she grabbed his wallet and took out the money and credit cards to make it look like a common mugging. Little did anyone know that this man was a spy and a traitor for S.H.E.I.L.D, and he was not killed by a corporate thug, but by the Black Widow. Suddenly, a shrill scream cut through the night and pierced Natasha's ears.
"Help! Police!" A woman was yelling at the other end of the alley, and had probably seen the whole thing.
Natasha cursed under her breath as she threw down the now empty wallet and took off down the alley way, leaving the woman and the dead man behind. Her feet splashed in the many puddles on the street, soaking her boots. She turned down another alleyway going to her extraction point.
"Romanoff in five," she said into her com.
"Everything alright?" Clint's voice drowsily answered back. "That was a new record for slowness on a mission."
"Did you fall asleep?" Natasha asked incredulously. "Unbelievable."
"I've been sitting here for hours!" He wined. "I'm hungry."
"You're never going to be my handler again," She scoffed.
"Like you need one anyway." Clint said.
That was true.
Natasha, seeing that her alleyway suddenly was blocked by construction, ran up a staircase and jumped into an open window. She slipped in gracefully around the fluttering curtains and stepped loudly onto a squeaky toy. She froze as she took in her surroundings.
Horses. Horses running up the walls, on the rugs, and on the bookshelves. The name Alana was sprawled atop the ceiling. The floor was a bright pink and in the bed was a girl of six, wide awake and starring at Natasha.
"Are you the tooth fairy?" she asked excitedly.
"No," Natasha said slowly. She looked down and examined herself. Her black catsuit clung to her skin and her black boots were covered in mud and were creating puddles on the floor. Not a tooth fairy. "But I'm sure she'll be here soon" she said.
"What's your name?" she cried, "Mine's Alana."
"Natasha." She said and turned to leave through the door
"Wait!" the girl cried. She jumped out of bed and ran to block the exit "you can't go! "The young girl's eyes were ablaze with excitement as she stood before the most dangerous criminal in the world.
"Why not?" Natasha whispered. "And keep it down, kid; it's the middle of the night. Why are you awake anyway?"
"I'm waiting for the tooth fairy! What's your excuse?" she challenged.
I've been put on a mission to kill a man three streets over. "Nightmares." she said.
The girl raised an eyebrow." So you came crashing through my window because of nightmares?"
"I needed to take a walk." She said. "Get back to bed." Natasha said, pointing to horse encrusted bed.
"I can't just get back to sleep. I need a bedtime story."
Natasha sighed. "Fine." She ushered the girl back into the bed and tucked her in. "Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved horses."
"And she had thousands of them." Alana whispered.
Natasha nodded. "One day, as she went out to pick a horse to ride, she discovered that all the horses were gone."
"The evil wizard had stolen them all." The small child said, and yawned.
"Yes." Natasha said her voice low and soothing. She wasn't sure why she was even doing this, but it felt right somehow. "The wizard lived in a castle at the top of a mountain." She whispered softly.
"So she caught a magic carpet and rode to the top of the mountain to get her horses back." Alana said sleepily, barely awake.
"But when she got there…" Natasha trailed.
"She found that the wizard wasn't evil at all and that all her horses were in the stable were they belonged." The girl finished and finally seemed to be asleep. Without thinking, Natasha leaned over and kissed her forehead and made sure she was tucked in correctly.
"Natasha where are you?" Clint asked into her com.
"Nowhere. I'm coming." She snapped and jumped up. She started to walk out the door then hesitated. The window was still open, blowing in dust and debris off the fire escape. She went to firmly close the frame, and then went to the door.
"Thank you." A soft voice said.
Natasha faltered by the door. "Sleep well принцесса." She said over her shoulder before she walked out the exit into the night air, never to be seen again.
"I didn't know you were so good at telling bedtime stories Tasha." Clint joked once Natasha was back onto the Helicarrier," Wanna tell me one sometime?" He said with a wink.
He wasn't winking for long.
"Hey Clint! How'd ya get that black eye?" Tony laughed.
"Shut up Tony."
Sometime later, in her flat she shared with Clint, Natasha lay wide awake in her bed. She could hear Clint snoring quietly beside her, and horns honked below her. A light sheen of sweat began to form on her back and neck. She couldn't sleep. She huffed and rolled onto her side and an idea came into her head and she smiled and closed her eyes. She began to quietly recite her bedtime story to herself.
"Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved horses…."
I love Clint so much I had to put him in here.
The Russian word means princess.
Please read and review yayyy!