Things can be so unfair
You were taken away
Before your time
-Memories by EarlyRise

Darya's corpse had been hauled off a few minutes later. Natasha didn't sleep for the rest of that night. Instead she listened to the rumble going on in the room next to hers. Everyone in her dorm stayed awake because they knew a murderer was in the room and another was in the room beside them. A scream erupted from the room over, and the young girl flinched. The sound was too familiar. Though Darya did not scream, it still reminded Natasha of what she had just done. She hugged herself tightly and curled up in her bed, sobbing herself to sleep.

When morning broke, Natasha's eyes were puffy with tears. She followed the crowd out into the hallways and to the central room. Their Leader stood on a stage and was standing confidently in front of a podium. His hand was pulled down over his eyes and his hands were clasped behind his back. All the girls had learned well enough that if he was like that, then he was in a good mood. He was in a bad mood if the hat was gone.

"My dear widows. Five more of your sisters have died during the night. Agafya, Masha, Polina, Darya, and Faina are no longer with us. Stay strong, my widows, and you will survive. Those that have died and are weak. They never belonged in your ranks. I applaud those of you that have cast aside your former friendships with those viruses to help your sisters," said the Leader. His voice resonated over the crowd. Natasha held back a scream as she wanted to say that Darya wasn't weak. Darya never should have had to die. Natasha was the one that was weak for doing it.

"You are now dismissed." Natasha turned away from the meeting room and quickly made her way back to the outer courtyard. Smoke curled up from the furnace in the back as two soldiers stood outside it. They reached down to grab another of the body bags before hurling them into the open flames. Natasha held a hand over her mouth to keep out the stench of burning flesh and run up to the soldiers.

"Wait, don't take that one," she said, pointing to the last body bag. Darya's brown hair fell out onto the ground though the rest of her was concealed. "I want to take care of her myself." One of the soldiers raised a brow before nodding. The widows were often allowed to take their victims to test techniques out. Was their aim good enough to slice through an artery and the like.

The small girl walked over to the canvas bag and grabbed the drawstrings. She tried to keep from retching as she lugged the bag over her shoulder. Darya was already beginning to smell of death. Natasha walked away from the shoulders, not even bothering to wave a goodbye. She had to get away from there. It was too disgusting because of the other burning bodies.

She fended off the disgusted looks from her peers as she marched away with the body. One even stopped her to ask if she had already done enough to Darya. They made Natasha feel persecuted, but she marched on. She wasn't going to let Darya just be burned like the rest of them. In the far corner of the grounds, Natasha came upon a small clearing.

One of the rare birds of the ground chirped as it hopped through the trees. Small flowers grew along the edges of the grass and sunlight glowed upon the ground. It was one of the only safe havens upon the entire campus, and for that she was thankful. No one would find Darya here. Natasha dropped Darya carefully against one of the trees and whispered an apology. She then turned to the clearing and glanced at her hands.

She gripped them tightly into fists before plunging them into the ground. She couldn't ask for a shovel, so she would have to do this the hard way. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours. She pulled the last pile of dirt out and tossed it to the side. The redhead heaved as she pulled herself out of the small ditch. It was only a foot or two deep, but it was as much as she could manage. The dirt under her nails dirtied the canvas bag as Natasha pulled it away from Darya.

She cringed back as she saw her handiwork. She swallowed and continued to pull the bag away. She shook the canvas out before laying it down inside of the dirt tomb. At least Darya would have something soft to lie on if there was an afterlife. Maybe something sweeter than this world would be waiting for Darya.

Natasha laid Darya down in the ditch before looking down at her handiwork. She reached down and crossed Darya's hands over her chest. She reached two fingers up to shut the elder girl's eyes before pulling away. A tear slid down her face before falling down onto Darya's cheek. Natasha hurriedly wiped it away before standing up. She looked back to the pile of dirt before looking at Darya again. "I-" Natasha broke off before choking out, "I'm sorry, Darya. Thank you so much for everything you have done for me. If I had done everything differently, you never would have died."

Having someone sent to kill you meant you had done something wrong. Sometimes the pairs were random, other times they were purposeful. "If you hadn't covered for me, then maybe things wouldn't be like this." Natasha sobbed as she held up her dirty hands to her face. "I'm sorry, Darya! Wherever you go, please don't hate me!"

Natasha shivered in her bed as sweat rolled off of her. It was another one of those dreams. Darya... Natasha felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes again. Darya had always been there to support and help her. It was Natasha's fault that Darya was chosen to be killed. She should have been the one dead, not Darya. Darya was always the kind and caring one while Natasha was the socially awkward and violent one. No world could be fair if Darya was the one chosen to die.

She gripped the sheets tightly between her fingers as she stared up at the ceiling. On the other side of the room, she could hear Clint snoring. He had forcefully decided that he'd stay in her room to make sure she wouldn't have a nightmare again. Part of her wanted to go over to him and wake up him, but the other said that she was Black Widow and she would be fine on her own. A few more tears slipped down her face, and Natasha crawled out of bed. She quietly moved to the chair where Clint was sleeping and asked, "Clint?"

The man drowsily opened his eyes and mumbled a "wazzat?" before looking up at Natasha. His eyes snapped open into awareness and he bolted up from his chair. "Nat? What's wrong?" He ran a hand through her slick hair, wet with sweat. He looked at her worriedly and planted a kiss against her forehead. "Was it another nightmare?"

Natasha nodded silently and leaned against him. She wrapped her arms around Clint and cried. Did Darya hate her? She should, after all, it was all Natasha's fault. She regretted it so much, but she couldn't do anything about it anymore.

Clint didn't know what to do in situations like this. He didn't know what was going on, but he did know that Natasha was sad. So he quietly rubbed circles on her back and sung a soft song into her ear. "I don't know what it was that you dreamt of, but I know that no matter what, I will always love you, Nat. It'll all be all right now. Trust me."

But it wasn't the future that she was afraid of, it was the past. And was the feelings of a girl that Natasha knew she could never reach anymore.

Author's Note: Red Room Rogue asked for a one-shot continuation so here it is! :3 I had a lot of fun writing it, so thanks so much for the idea!