Hey everyone! I have the next chapter here for you. As a warning, there is a torture scene during the third part of this chapter. When I mean torture, I mean TORTURE. Anyways, enjoy!

Thor arrived at Avengers Tower about 20 minutes after Fury had left. In the time between Fury's departure and Thor's arrival, Tony had pinpointed the location of Natasha's cell phone. It was currently in a hotel by the name of Westin Excelsior on Vittorio Veneto. Tony wasn't quite convinced that Natasha herself was actually in the hotel but at least it was a start. When Thor had arrived, the remaining Avengers packed up their gear and headed to the SHIELD base to meet Fury.

The moment they set foot on base, dozens of SHIELD agents bombarded them with folders and quick run-downs about the mission. Tony immediately swatted them away due to his hatred of being handed things. Bruce instantly slid his glasses onto his face and started to read the papers in the folder. Steve read the papers pensively while Thor studied the exterior of the folder with confusion.

The crowd had instantly dispersed the moment Director Fury entered. He waved the remaining Avengers into the meeting room and they followed. They took their seats at the large conference table and diverted their attention to Fury at the head of the table. He took his seat with a sigh before turning to Tony.

"Did you pinpoint the location of Agent Romanoff's phone?" Fury asked.

"Yes, it's at the Westin Excelsior on Vittorio Veneto, but there's no guarantee Romanoff herself is there," Tony answered.

"I wouldn't doubt that," Fury said. "We've tried searching all of her aliases but none of them have come up. Any idea as to who she might be checked into the hotel as?"

"Not a clue," Tony said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Maybe we can hack into the hotel's system and check the list of hotel patrons," Bruce said, not taking his eyes off of the pile of papers detailing the mission. "It shouldn't be hard to figure out which one is Natasha."

"Stark, get on that right now," Fury said. "Use the lab, anything you need. We need to find Agent Romanoff."

"Got it, Cyclops," Tony said as he rose from his chair and headed for the door. He stopped right before the doorway before turning back to Fury. "Oh, by the way, who's Yelena Belova?"

Fury stiffened in his seat as he arched an eyebrow at the billionaire. "That depends. Why is it your concern?"

"Well, Barton contacted me several hours ago to pass on the message to Romanoff that Yelena Belova has him hostage," Tony said matter-of-factly. "So who is she?"

Fury stared at Tony for a couple seconds before promptly rising from his chair and rushing to a phone that was attached to the wall. He picked up the receiver and quickly punched in a couple numbers. He pressed the receiver to his ear and muttered into it so that the Avengers couldn't hear what he was saying. In this time, the Avengers sat in the room, staring at Fury in bewilderment.

When he was finished, Fury slammed the receiver back into its holster before turning back to the Avengers. "We need to get Agent Romanoff out of there now," Fury growled.

"Why? What's the big deal? Who's Yelena Belova?" Steve asked curiously.

Fury couldn't believe that SHIELD had fallen for her games. They'd been on the lookout for her for years, ever since Clint brought Natasha in to SHIELD. They couldn't have two Black Widows running around so if Yelena ever popped up on the grid, they would take her out. But the fact that she had been stepping around them all along, Fury couldn't help but feel hopelessly duped.

"Director?" Bruce asked, pulling Fury out of his thoughts.

Fury shook his head and sighed as he collapsed back into his chair at the head of the table. "Yelena Belova was in the Red Room with Natasha years ago," Fury started. "They had been an almost even match but Natasha was always just a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, and a little bit smarter than Yelena. Natasha always beat her at everything and when she gained the coveted Black Widow title, Yelena started to live in her shadow.

"But when Agent Romanoff's loyalty to Russia dissipated, Yelena was forced to step up," Fury continued. "When Yelena didn't match up with Agent Romanoff's previous accomplishments, Yelena was punished brutally. Eventually she graduated from the Red Room with one goal and one goal only: to take out Agent Romanoff and become the one and only Black Widow."

Fury paused as he looked at the Avengers, who were listening intently and silently. He took a deep breath and continued. "Agent Romanoff knew Yelena would come after her and she informed us of this the moment she joined SHIELD. On one of Agent Romanoff's first missions, she had a run-in with Yelena that compromised both the mission and Agent Romanoff. Agent Romanoff was severly injured and SHIELD has been on the watch for Yelena ever since."

"How does the archer fit into all of this?" Thor chimed in.

"Agent Barton was on the mission with Agent Romanoff when they ran into Yelena," Fury explained.

"If Natasha is stronger, faster, and smarter than Yelena, how did she get injured on the mission?" Bruce asked.

"Building collapse. Yelena blew up the building Agent Romanoff was in and she didn't get out in time. It was a wonder she even survived," Fury said. He looked at the four Avengers in the room as they stared back at him in shock.

"We can't have two Black Widows running around," Fury continued. "We need to take her out."

"So should we try to find Agent Barton instead of Agent Romanoff?" Steve asked.

"I'm not sure there's a way we can find him. All communication was cut when he was compromised. Our best bet is Agent Romanoff," Fury said with a sigh.

"I pinpointed him," Tony chimed in. "Earlier today, I pinpointed his location. He's in the Catacombs of Callixtus. I was in the process of finding maps of the catacombs for Romanoff when he contacted me. It shouldn't be long for me to find the rest of the maps."

"Good," Fury said with a nod of approval. "Find those maps then suit up. We need to get to Rome as soon as possible."

Fury rose from his chair and then started to head out of the room. The Avengers were still silent, still absorbing all of the information Fury had presented to them. It wasn't until Fury was almost out the door when Steve piped up.

"Umm, Director?" Steve asked. Fury turned around and faced the captain, arching his eyebrow as if to tell Steve to continue. "If we do find Yelena, do we take her out?"

"In any other case, I would tell you to keep her alive until we can bring her to base and interrogate her, but she is a high-level threat," Fury said. "But, to be polite and courteous, make sure Romanoff is the one to do it. If she is unable to do it, eliminate Yelena immediately."

The Avengers nodded in understanding and Director Fury turned on his heel to exit the room. It wasn't long until Tony had pulled up the maps of the catacombs and they were on their way to the aircraft hangar. There was a Quinjet waiting for them and they loaded onto it. Within minutes, they were airborne and on their way to Rome.

Everything ached. Everything hurt like hell. Clint was slumped over in his chair, dealing with his recent injuries. His headache had gotten worse. There was a severe throbbing in his side. He was pretty sure one of his teeth had come loose when he got socked in the face. There was a chance he had internal bleeding from Yelena yanking his shoulder in and out of its socket, along with the external bleeding from the gunshot wound. And on top of it all, he was pretty sure he would never be able to have biological children if he ever wanted them due to the blow he received to the groin.

But nothing hurt as much as hearing Natasha's voice and knowing that she was still in the dark about Yelena. She would be walking into a trap and Clint knew there would be no chance of helping her one she got here unless he could free himself from his binds. But the chance of that happening was unlikely.

Clint had to try though. As much pain as he was in, he knew Natasha was on her way and she couldn't do this alone. Yelena was in the next room working on her special super serum and Clint had no idea how far along it was to being done. For all he knew, it could be done already. If he had to, he would dislocate his thumb so he could slip his hand through the zip ties. He'd done it before and he'd do it again without a problem. The only thing was he wasn't sure how much pain and suffering his body could take.

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he began to work on releasing himself from his binds.

Natasha wasn't stupid. She knew better to just meet up with a nuclear war lord before knowing information on them. And she just so happened to have the nuclear war lord's husband at her mercy. She had moved Bosco from a chair in the kitchen to a nicer one with arms so that his arms were strapped in front of him instead of behind him. Natasha sat across from him with several pieces of kitchen cutlery, as well as her own guns and weapons. She was going to torture the information out of him if he didn't comply.

"The game is simple," Natasha purred. "You tell me what I want to know about your lovely wife and you don't get hurt. If you don't cooperate, well, then it sucks for you."

"Vaffanculo!" Bosco spat. (Fuck off!)

Natasha promptly smacked him across the face and the burly Italian whimpered. "Foul language will not be tolerated either," Natasha deadpanned.

Bosco immediately grew silent as he watched Natasha brush a finger over the sleek metal of one of his kitchen knives. He swallowed nervously before looking up at Natasha with scared eyes.

"Oh, now you're scared," Natasha said. "Well, if you just give me what I want, I won't have to use this nice set of kitchen knives. Understand?"

Bosco nodded his head frantically as Natasha flashed a mischievous smile as him. She crossed her legs and rested her hands in her lap as she stared down Bosco. "What exactly is your wife doing in the catacombs? Is she developing anything?" Natasha inquired.

Bosco swallowed nervously again as he stared at Natasha. "S-she's making something," he stuttered.

"Okay, that's a start. What is she making?" Natasha asked.

"Some kind of formula," Bosco said vaguely.

"You're not helping, dipshit," Natasha snapped.

"Something to make people stronger, faster," he said. He paused before looking at Natasha hopefully. "Is that good enough?"

"I guess," Natasha sighed, disappointed that she didn't get to torture the information out of him. However, she wasn't done. There was still time for her to do that. "Why is she developing it?" Natasha continued.

"She'll get mad," Bosco whispered.

"Who gives a shit," Natasha mused. "You should be worried about me right now."

"But – ."

Bosco didn't get to finish his rebuttal for Natasha had grabbed his right index finger and snapped it in half. Bosco screamed out in pain as Natasha twisted his finger around.

"Why is she developing it?" Natasha asked again as she twisted his index finger around.

"For her! For her!" Bosco yelled. Natasha released his finger and she could see a line of perspiration appearing on Bosco's brow. Bosco caught his breath and balled his left hand into a fist to cope with the pain. "She's developing it for herself. She wants…" Bosco trailed off.

Natasha snatched a kitchen knife and threateningly held it next to his injured index finger. Bosco yelped as he felt the cold metal against his skin and he squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation.

"You know the drill," Natasha said. "What does she want? Tell me and you get to keep your finger."

"No, no, no, no, no," Bosco whimpered with his eyes still squeezed shut.

"Suit yourself." In one swift movement, Natasha cut through flesh and bone. Bosco howled in pain. Natasha held up Bosco's index finger right in front of his face to let him know that she was in charge. "What does she want?" Natasha asked again.

"She wants to be stronger and faster than you!" Bosco shouted, nearly shaking the walls of the condo.

Natasha furrowed her brow in confusion. Bosco's answer confused her. She'd made a lot of enemies in the past, but there was definitely someone she knew that always wanted to be better than Natasha. And that's when it clicked. It had been a while since she'd seen this woman, and that last encounter had not been a pleasant one. Natasha had ended up in the SHIELD medical wing with two broken legs, a collapsed lung, a broken arm, and a concussion whose effects lasted for nearly four months.

Natasha set the knife and Bosco's index finger on the table next to her. She couldn't believe she hadn't asked the most important question. Natasha didn't ask who Bosco's wife was, mostly because she just assumed she was just some non-famous war lord who had been hiding behind her husband the whole time.

"Who's your wife? What's her name?" Natasha asked calmly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Bosco breathed.

Natasha stood up and grabbed him by the face. She forced his gaze to meet hers before she asked the question again. "I asked you a question and I want a fucking answer. Who is your wife?"

"Belova. Yelena Belova."

Natasha's breathing hitched in her throat as she felt her world cave in on her.

Uh oh, Natasha knows! Intense right?

By the way, shout out to guest reviewer Morgan for catching my reference to The Dark Knight Rises in the last chapter. Read it again if you'd like and see if you can spot it (if you've seen TDKR that is).

As always, thank you for adding this to your favorites, signing up for alerts, and reviewing. Reviews are very much appreciated and they motivate me to write so please leave me a lovely review to let me know what you think!