At the beginning Natalia had a place in the world. It was daughter, but it was swallowed up in flames. A new place was then chosen for her and it had no name. She was raised outside of the world and sculpted into a ruthless shadow. For a time she lived among others and she thought sister was her place in the world. That was until she was made to fight. The breakable ones shattered against her.
They told her she was made of marble; beautiful and smooth, hard and cold. She grew into neither young woman nor monster. She had no place.
They told her it was necessary. The attached were always breakable, and she was made of marble. Her graduation ceremony ensured that mother would never be her place in the world.
It was then that she became Black Widow. An unstoppable assasin forged in fire, known only to those she had killed.
Then one night under a half moon she stood upon glittering snow and felt hate rushing in her veins. She hated them. With all the skill they had forced upon her, she vanished as if she had never existed and became lost. There was no place for her. She was a shadow with nothing to follow, an unfounded rumor.
With a bloody wake behind her she found her place, for a moment, at the end of an arrow. Only for a moment. Pierced instead by grey-blue eyes, she allowed words too good to be true to wash over her. In an instant cornered prey became willing prisoner. It had been a choice and she'd had so few in her life.
After a drawn out ordeal she would not have wished on a dog, Agent became her place in the world and she was proud.
The lone marksman who had failed his mission was punished with her as partner. He didn't mind it and she learned to like him. He took his place at her six.
On a frigid day he called her his friend, said it right to her face. "Of course she wants you to come. You're my friend." So, she went home with him for a holiday. She felt like a cold silhouette against the warm light of home and it nearly overwhelmed her. But she returned with him the next time and the next time after that. It was not long before she was called Auntie and their home was her home.
Natasha woke up with old words haunting her memory. ...to take your place in the world. She shook her head, hoping to rid the echo from her mind. The further she moved from those experiences, the more painful remembering them had become. Morning light filled her room so she got out of bed. The old wooden floor was cool to the touch of her bare feet. She grabbed a hoodie from the chair, pulled it over her and headed quietly down the hall toward the warm murmur of voices. Coming downstairs she found Clint laying on the floor with his coffee mug beside him. He was playing some board game with the kids. Apparently he was losing badly, if Lila's cheerful gloating was anything to go by. His good natured laugh filled the space and she smiled as she passed them in search of coffee. Laura was aready up from the table and met her with a steaming mug.
Natasha had become a part of their family. That was the place she took in the world.
.
"You'll break them."
"Only the breakable ones. You are made of marble."
"The ceremony is necessary for you to take your place in the world."
"I have no place in the world."
"Exactly."
These lines from Natasha's flashback/dream in Age of Ulton have been on my mind for ages. I finally wrote something...