Based on To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell
To His Coy Mistress.
She has been playing games with us. We made our interests clear when she first broke free of the Red Room's clutches but she has refused them all.
There is no need for her to tie herself to more people. She had tried that with the Winter Soldier that had been proof enough that she was better off alone. Still we could use someone like her.
If she was feeling nice she would tell us that she wasn't interested and we could divert their attention elsewhere but the Black Widow doesn't do nice. She doesn't even do human.
SHIELD keep trying to woo her, to convince her that we are the good guys. We send agents to relay our offers to 'help people in need' or 'work towards the greater good'. She doesn't really care.
We tell her that we will wait until she is ready, that the invitation will always be open. There is no way of knowing whether she believes it or not. Our job is to be the warm welcome, the homely family that she has never had but perhaps wants.
She is the most deadly killer we have seen in years, her count is unknown and no doubt our highest estimates don't even come close. Over time we have dedicated so many resources to studying her form, her skills.
We would treat her like a queen, at least that's what we tell her. She would be praised and worshipped as some higher form of being, whatever it would take to keep her on our side.
Of course we all know that time waits for no assassin. The grim reaper is ever ready to strike and not even a killer as ruthless as Black Widow can keep him distracted forever. We do not need to show her the statistics. No government agency expects more than half of its operatives to reach retirement.
We make sure she knows about the others, but not to make her jealous. We make sure she is aware that we are willing to move on at some point. There are others, none as good as she but more willing. They are younger and less recognizable; their rumours have yet to be spread.
We almost mock her, we tell the others looking for her that she is dead and they believe us. It knocks her confidence perhaps, only she still believes that she could survive much longer.
Time keeps ticking by and each second she waits is one wasted. She can join us or die refusing and she is much too wise to choose that option. It would be better for everyone if she just removed her childish pride and accepted our superiority.
Together we can take care of so many, little problems. She will fit in well with the ranks of helpless souls that we have acquired over the years. We know how to remove the souls, how to coerce and bully.
The good guy routine isn't unique to us; even the Russians use it when they need to. A government's job is to convince people that it is helping; we just do it very well.
We will have fun together maybe. At least until she realizes the mistake she has made, and then she might find the whole experience a little less freeing. The real 'good guys' all die before they make a name for themselves, she should know that.
We get them all in the end; we just do it better than the rest. We hide our iron fist in a velvet glove nut we don't mind using it if we need to.
We are not the lesser of two evils; we are just the more efficient. We are better at hiding, at killing, at winning.
What better proof of success than the bad guys being hailed as heroes. SHIELD is just a cover, one good enough to fool the Black Widow.
Join us, come on. We won't bite.
We have people to do that for us.