All the Avengers were assembled in a conference room. Katya felt nervous as she stood up and began explaining the best plan of action to take down the Red Room.
"This is where the Red Room is located. It is just outside a small town called Prichudlivy." Katya said as she zoomed in on the three dimensional map, while everyone at the conference table took vigorous notes.
"Do the people in the town know about the Red Room?" Clint asked.
"No, as far as they know it is an elite all girls boarding school that specializes in ballet training. Particularly for the daughters of powerful leaders in the government. The school has the main entrance which is mainly used for practice missions near town, or just to seem inconspicuous. It also has many alternative exits and entrances, located along the sides and back of the building, and it even has a few exits underground. Every six hours the guards are rotated, but they are mainly disguised as teachers, as to not raise suspicion. The dorms are mainly on the second, third, and fourth floors, the main floor has many gyms, ballet studios, interrogation rooms, torture chambers, classrooms, mind control areas, etc."
"Now, how exactly does the mind control thing work?" Tony asked, casually reclining in his chair.
"It is a sort of brainwashing...trance… process." Katya explained her voice cracking at the horrible memories.
"Usually done through serums, and the repetition of film. They take away your control, you see yourself murder someone through your own eyes, you hear your voice saying things you never would, you watch, you see it all, but you can do nothing. You are fully conscious, but have no choices. It's not a pleasant experience, they often replace your memories in the process, either to reinforce lessons or principles, to make some memories more important than others, or to make the memory seem good. Let's just say, our lives are not our own, they break you down so much you no longer know which memories are real, and which were fabricated." Katya quickly shook her head and moved on in her explanation.
"So this place seems pretty impenetrable. How do you suggest infiltrating it?" Bruce asked.
"I think we should make some sort of barrier, to surround the school, block off the underground entrances from the inside, but be prepared for a fight, black widows don't like being captured." They spent the rest of the meeting creating a plan, by the time they finished, night had already fallen and they would be heading out tomorrow.
The team had take out for dinner, and talked excitedly about the mission tomorrow.
"So, any advice for fighting a Black Widow?" Steve asked with a laugh, looking pointedly at Katya and Natasha. They both looked at each other and smirked.
"Don't." They replied simply.
"Great…" Tony said sarcastically, causing the whole table to erupt in laughter. "So, Katya, I know Killer over there has a cool nickname…" Tony said, flicking his head towards Natasha who responded with an annoyed look.
"The Black Widow. So what about you? Recluse, Wolf Spider, Jumping Spider, Moth, Caterpillar? What insect are you?" Katya just lightly chuckled in response.
"Yeah, you must've had some sort of codename." Bruce said.
"Not every warrior needs a secret name, my name is Thor and everyone calls me Thor." He declared.
"Perhaps she was just called Katya." Clint suggested.
"Guys let her speak." Steve said, voice ringing with authority.
"I did have a codename…" She began slowly.
"It was Nochnaya Lisa…"
"Nock Nia Lisa? What kind of name is that?" Tony said.
"It's Russian for Night Fox."
"Damn… That's a cool name." Tony said again.
"Better than The Hulk" Bruce sighed.
"Why do they call you that?" Clint asked.
"Because at night I can turn into a Fox." She said, her face completely blank and serious.
"Really?" Clint asked with curiosity in his eyes.
"No!" She said, breaking her serious demeanor by laughing, and causing the whole table to join her.
"Seriously though kid, why?" Steve asked.
"I get put on a lot of night missions. Let's just say my sleeping habits are very… abnormal." She decided.
"How abnormal are we talking, like 2 hours of sleep a night, 22?" Bruce asked, his scientific mind taking over.
"I was told that even as a baby I would wake up in the middle of the night without crying. For some reason I am naturally a really really light sleeper. During training I could go for weeks without sleep and not be affected physically or psychologically. I couldn't be ambushed even while I was asleep."
"How long could you go without sleep?" Bruce asked, sitting slightly closer to her, fascinated by this ability.
"They tested me, the longest I could go without getting sick or going insane was about five weeks."
"What about induced sleep, the same thing?" Katya nodded.
"It took a lot of anesthesia to get me to go fully unconscious during surgeries and stuff."
"That's what Hill said." Steve chimes in.
"When they were examining you, you kept waking up."
"So then why Fox?" Tony asked, trying to steer the conversation back to its starting point. And mostly to get Bruce to shut up.
"I'm not entirely sure. I'm pretty clever and quiet, like a fox I guess."
Even though the group had finished eating hours ago, Katya stayed, enjoying their strange and weird conversations that were clearly a result of being over tired.
"Okay, so the real question is would you rather have sex with a cactus, or french kiss a tiger?" Tony asked.
"I would probably kiss the tiger." Steve said.
"Me too." Said Bruce.
"Same." Clint chimed in.
"I like to live on the edge, I'd wang the cactus." Tony replied coolly.
"I too like a challenge and would like to engage in intercourse with the cactus." Thor said, sounding surprisingly proud, for a grown man who just agreed to do a plant.
"What about you Nat?"
"Easy, kiss the tiger."
"Yeah kissing the tiger would be less painful in the long run." Katya agreed.
"Okay Kat, you come up with a question." Clint suggested.
"Would you rather be stuck in an elevator with an assassin who can't feel pain or arm wrestle Natasha?"
"What's the difference?" Bruce joked.
"I'd take my chances with the assassin."
"Yeah, no way I'm messing with Nat."
"I tried that once, but it didn't end well."
"There is no way that Lady Romanoff can beat me in the wrestling match of arms." Thor declared.
"Wanna bet?" Clint said.
"My money's on Nat." Said Tony.
"Same here." Said Bruce.
"I'm with them on this one, sorry Thor." Steve replied. Then, the match began, they both put their elbows on the table and locked hands. Natasha's eyes were narrowed in concentration, while a cocky smile was plastered over Thor's face.
"Ready, set, go!" Tony shouted. Thor pushed with all his might, but Natasha didn't budge even a millimeter. Quick as lightning with a sudden loud slam, Thor's hand was on the table, and he looked bewildered.
"But..but.. How did you do that?" Thor asked.
"Practice." Natasha replied, after several more hours of antics and laughing the group started to slowly shrink as each member went to their respective bedrooms.