Chapter Four: Widow Bites
Inside Spy Unit 117, St Petersburg, Russia
Numerous bodies lay slumped, lifeless, against the walls of Unit 117. Some were bloodied; others lay still, clean, peaceful – as if sleeping. All of them had been victim to the angry storm that was Agent Romanoff. The Soviets were her next target, now. After all they'd done – they'd taken an innocent child and fashioned her into a weapon; something deadly and sinister – they were going to pay for everything.
Her fingers moved rapidly across the keys – hacking, infiltrating the computer system – looking for the information she so desperately wanted. "Where is it?!" The words came through gritted teeth, as she searched, file after file, for the knowledge she required.
Finally. "The Romanoff Project" it was entitled. The file held every smidgen of data regarding all matters that had ever concerned her parents, as well as those of the Soviets whom worked on the matter and a complete file on Natasha Romanoff herself.
A sinking feeling took root in her stomach with a forceful hastiness as she scanned the document under her name. After years of living as a part of the Soviet facility, she knew barely anything. So many secrets had been kept from her – as if trying to protect a child. There were even some details about herself that she did not yet know.
Natasha Romanoff.
Initial age at start of training: 7 years.
Mentor: Luca Marko
Department: X
Background: Romanoff was taken in as part of the Black Widow project and was trained within the Red Room facility. Her level of training has seen her become a most valuable asset to The Soviets and one of their most lethal weapons. Her identity is known only to a small selection of people.
A master of several martial arts, Romanoff has excelled in all areas of training. Professor Azarov, a doctor of science, was assigned to study Agent Romanoff and produce a suitable piece of equipment to aid her in her future missions. It was confirmed this piece of equipment was to be named after the project she was first initiated into: Widow Bites. These were to be strapped to her wrists, as a weapon, each bracelet containing 30,000 volts of charge. It was agreed that the Widow Bites would first be used to kill her first targets: her parents – long time enemies of the Soviet Spy Unit.
Code Name: Oружие (The Weapon)
Natasha, controlling her emotions, made no reaction to the sudden overwhelming amount of new facts. She simply printed all files concerning herself and her family. Then, with one simple click, she erased every article with any association to herself. In that simple moment, she'd made herself nameless to the Spy Unit. She had become nothing.
Retreating from the computer, she retrieved her gun from her pocket and raised it – aiming at the CPU. Finger on trigger, ready to fire. All she had to do was squeeze.
"I'm sorry, Agent Romanoff. I can't let you do that." The man stood, unarmed, in the doorway to the room, a few metres in front of her. His hair was brown, short and his face looked kind and compassionate. He did not look at all familiar to Natasha.
"I'll do as I please," She addressed the man; pulling down on the trigger and watching the bullet penetrate the computer. "Now, if you don't mind, there are places I need to be." She repositioned the gun so that it was aimed at the man before her.
He did not flinch nor respond to the fact that there was a piece of lethal weaponry pointed straight at him - in fact he was unbelievably calm. "Professor Azarov is at the hospital, Agent Romanoff, we-"
"I know." Natasha cut him off. "It's all here." She subsequently picked up the files she had printed and waved them in the air for the stranger to see. "And I'm no longer an agent, sir. I no longer associate myself with the Soviets. I am a woman of my own and I'll do as I please." She marched towards the exit, not caring whether this man of no identity stood in her way or not.
"I'm no Soviet, either." He spoke up. "In fact, we have a common enemy, Miss Romanoff." He smiled knowingly.
She stopped for a moment, lowered her gun and returned the smile – only her eyes were full of menace. "That's all very nice, I'm sure – but I have a mission of my own to fulfil." A shot to the floor, a mere foot or so in front of the stranger, caused him to step backward a few paces at the unexpected fire. "I don't wish anyone to get in my way. So, if you please, I have a hospital to go to and a patient to visit. This spider wants her Widow Bites." Natasha pushed pass and started down the hallway, heading for the vehicle department.
"Spider, Miss Romanoff?" The man called after her.
Without turning she replied, "I am the Black Widow; trained assassin and the would-have-been most lethal weapon of the Soviet Spies, but the tables have turned and I work for no one but myself, now. Just know this, my unnamed sir: you'll do well to avoid my bite." The smile was evident in her voice and as she raised her gun at an oncoming Soviet, you could hear the laughter that followed - even over the resonating ring of the bullet that was now buried deep within the Soviet's head.
Even after Romanoff was well out of earshot, the nameless man whispered into the dark corridors of Unit 117, "Maybe so, Black Widow, but S.H.I.E.L.D are more than capable of biting back."