"She's in charge of finding and retrieving the hostages."
The finding part was true, but that tiny detail about the retrieving?
Not so much.
Red Room doesn't need hostages when there's nothing to negotiate.
Not when they already have everything they need.
Natasha scowled down at the picture in her hands.
The picture of Maxim Aristov and his family was aggravating her more and more with each passing second. He looked so happy, so carefree, and so fricking stupid
She gazes out of the car's tinted windows into the icy terrain around her while her chauffer navigates the winding mountain road.
Did he really think he could leave so easily? That they wouldn't have known what he was planning? Once you are with Red Room, there is no escape.
She knew that better than anyone.
For one of the most brilliant scientists of his time, Maxim Aristov was an idiot.
Leaving Red Room was his first mistake.
His second, trying to delete the files on the bio serum -which was potentially the greatest weapon they had ever possessed – was only adding insult to injury.
Natasha sighs and looks away from the picture, placing it on the car seat beside her, then gazes out of the car window to look at the surrounding snow-covered forests and frozen mountain terrain that the vehicle rushed past.
Of course Red Room had known of Aristov's escape plan.
How else would he have left Red Room alive? Maxim had walked out of Red Room as a pet dog walks around without his leash: simply because his master let him.
They had let him.
The files that Maxim had "deleted" were really just fakes. The real files were safely stored away on Red Room's mainframe. Everything needed to recreate the perfected serum; they had it all.
They didn't need the 'last vials' that Aristov had with him. So they certainly didn't need some hostages to negotiate for a bio-weapon they already had.
Her gaze flickered again to the picture on the seat beside her.
The mother and daughter's laughing faces in the picture caused a shiver to run down her spine at thought of her assignment.
It wouldn't be hostages this time.
And it wouldn't be a simple target elimination this time either. She had known that as soon as she had stepped into the car only hours before and noticed the absence of the standard agent-issued weapons case in the back seat.
A higher authority wanted to orchestrate a show and she still had no idea what the next plot twist would be. But one thing was certain: Maxim Aristov had committed treason and the punishment would be equal to his crime; and if not served to him, it would be served to his family.
Only the sudden stop of the car and silence from the car's engine pulled Natasha out of her dark thoughts.
"Driver, why have we stopped?" She was on full guard and already had a knife against the chauffer's throat.
Before the driver could even stammer out an answer she turned her attention to what was happening outside; two of Red Room's agent issued cars were also stopped and on the road next to them.
Her offensive demeanor shifted to a more defensive one. With every nerve in her body still on high alert and ready to react, she slowly lowered the knife from her chauffer's throat and leaned back in her seat. The man inhaled air with a gasp and relaxed only when she started getting out of the car.
One of the other two vehicle's occupants opened its doors to let out a man; he was a foot taller then her and about twice her size, handsome and only about twenty or so, he sauntered toward her with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.
"Spider, it's good to see you." He addressed her, his large figure practically looming down on her own much smaller 5'8.
"Cut the crap Viktor. Why the hell are you interrupting my mission?"
The man before her only grinned more, "Interrupting? Oh dear Spider, I prefer to think of it as enhancing." At the last word Viktor leaned in closer and reached out to caress a lock of her red hair, she stifled a shudder and held his gaze, glaring back at him.
Viktor finally took notice of the I-will-cut-you look in her eyesand stepped back with a fake exasperated sigh. "Tsk, tsk, so uptight. Don't worry; I'm only here on orders. This time." He winked.
Natasha hated him; every single smile and witty line was just a façade hiding the crazy sadistic bastard underneath. To put it simply, Viktor Rykov was a monster.
When she killed a target, it was to complete her mission.
Viktor killed for fun. He loved it; missions were like a game of cat and mouse to him. He used his handsome looks and charms to manipulate people, get them to trust him, and by then it was always too late. So when he found someone so completely immune to his charms and wit, it became a challenge for him.
She raised one eyebrow and stood waiting for him to explain with grudging patience.
He took his sweet time about it too, until grew tired of annoying her after only a few more minutes in the cold mountain air. "I'm to deliver final instructions for the mission to you on the way to that pathetic cabin the targets are harboring in right now." His eyes flashed a sadistic gleam, "Then the fun begins." He frowned, "For you at least, sadly I have to sit back and just enjoy the show this time."
Viktor turned and walked back to his car, turning back only once to make sure she was following.
The rest of the trip there was annoying, to say the least. Viktor held the whole conversation himself, his cheerful mood unhindered by her silent and icy personality.
"Wait until you see the weapon they gave you; never killed someone that way but it's creative, to say the least." Viktor said, reaching into the backseat of the moving car to retrieve a relatively small metal box.
How the hell is that tiny thing supposed to hold a weapon?
Natasha peered over with fake disinterest as Viktor opened the box.
Laid neatly in the box and nestled in a protective foam material, were two glass hypodermic needles; inside them was a harmless looking bright blue fluid.
She knew those two needles were anything but harmless, each one had the potential to kill someone within two minutes if their body wasn't able to handle the serum.
And now she was expected to use it on two innocent people. One of them a child.
Even years of training and mental discipline couldn't smother the hallow feeling she felt inside, luckily Viktor was too preoccupied with talking to notice the brief look of horror that escaped her normally emotionless expression when she looked at the box's contents.
Now Viktor finally turned back to her after admiring the contents of the box, "Poetic justice really, the traitor killed by a weapon he had created himself."
Natasha looked out the window to an icy landscape as cold as her heart felt right now.
"Yes, it's ironic really."
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A/N: This chapter was annoying to write to say the least, don't know why, it just was.
There will be some kick-ass action scenes within the next chapter or two, (finally).
Remember! Reviews = chapters. And yes, I am holding my chapters for ransom.
To everyone who's already reviewed, followed, or favorited this story, Thanks!