Hydra Base

Location: Siberia, Russia

2009

She was finally privy to Hydra base information or that's what Karpov told her at least. Not that she really believed anything he ever told her. Apparently she was finally acting like an adult so she got to know some of the things that adults at the base got to know. It had been a long nine months of training since the injections but Emma was finally being put through the final trials. It made her the slightest bit excited just because she had worked so hard on her training and she was about to be recognized for it.

Spending so much time training with Winter had made her admire him…it made her want to be like him in fact. How could she not want to be like him? He was full of grace and power, everyone feared him…even Rumlow and Karpov feared him on some level. Emma wanted them to fear her just like they feared him but unfortunately Rumlow and Karpov were immune to the same kind of fear that the majority of the Russian scientists held for her.

Her days at the Hydra base in Siberia, were she had grown up, consisted of fighting in hand to hand combat that wasn't just limited to Winter anymore. Karpov had her fighting real Hydra agents and she defeated them all with little to no effort given her enhancements. Hydra had her trained in weaponry…from shooting anything from a .22 magnum pistol to a bazooka as well as everything in between. Emma learned how to drive a car in the circumstance that she might have to drive a getaway car…they even taught her how to steal one in case of a bigger emergency. She took lessons from several of the explosives experts, at the base, on how to make bombs. They were a little disturbed at just how excited Emma got over the explosions and made an effort to hide all explosive equipment away from the now eight year old girl. Hydra gave her advanced swimming lessons that were really just lessons on deep sea diving and a test to see how long she could hold her breath underwater. The answer was thirty three minutes and twenty seven seconds.

Hydra prepared Emma for every possible situation and every possible outcome. A lot of the time they were sadistic in their methods. They laid out scenarios in which Emma would be tortured like water boarding which was how they learned she could hold her breath that long underwater. Electrocution. Knives. Pliers. Poisoning. And of course Emma just had to learn what it felt like to be beaten within an inch of her life or shot a couple of times. Emma watched as Strucker and Rumlow stabbed her countless times with knives of different shapes and sizes because they were curious how fast her healing factor was. It was fast, they found out, but not fast enough for Emma.

She wasn't immune to pain and sometimes the young girl was glad that she could feel the pain because the pain only continued to fuel her hatred for Rumlow. She was getting stronger every day but she knew now was not the right time to end him. Eventually but she was going to wait until she was much older. Old enough that she could come up with an elaborate plan of his murder and how to get away with it without Hydra finding out. It seemed almost impossible since Rumlow was one of Hydra's top agents but Emma knew that she could pull it off if she was patient enough.

Her ability to fly, which had been discovered nearly a year ago, provoked Hydra into trying to improve the ability although they were clueless how. It wasn't like there was anyone else that could fly at the base. Winter didn't seem to have that ability although it often made her smile when she would try and imagine him flying. With time she was able to control her flying a lot better and be able to direct herself towards more specific locations rather than flying every which way. It was a nice ability to have especially when she needed to have some time to herself. She could just hang out around the ceiling whenever she tried to avoid Rumlow. There was always the fact that she would have to come down eventually but at least she got an extra fifteen minutes to herself.

"Akt, polkovnik Karpov khotel by videt' vas v svoyem kabinete." (Asset, Colonel Karpov would like to see you in his office.) One of the Hydra agents told her. Emma was reading up on a book Karpov had assigned to her. Chemical warfare. How…kind of him. She looked up from the book, sparing the agent a glance as he looked at her from the doorway of her room. She had been to Karpov's office a few times in the past but it was only when he was inquiring about how well her training and studying was going. Since her training had ventured into other areas, she hadn't seen as much of him.

Emma nodded as she got up from her place on the bed, setting her book down on the bedside table. Her room was as sterile looking as any other room in the Hydra base with its concrete floors and white colored walls. There was only a small twin sized bed with a pillow, gray sheets, and a comforter. There was also a metal bedside table with a plastic lamp that didn't work half the time and a tiny closet with about four outfits inside of it. A basic outfit which consisted of gray form fitting pants, a white shirt, and white sneakers. Her hospital gown that was used for her trips to the lab. Her training outfit that consisted of black leggings, a loose gray shirt, and black running shoes. Finally…a simple navy blue bathing suit. There was no items of any personal value within the room unless you counted the books that she was assigned to read by Hydra and she didn't count those books.

"Konechno." (Of course.) Emma said as she started to follow the man out of the room. She was finally getting used to being called Asset even though it was a confusing concept since Winter was also called Asset. Emma kept a stoic expression on her face as she walked down the hall, something that she had copied from Winter in an attempt to be more like him. All the other Hydra agents also seemed to keep similar expressions on their faces at all times but Emma liked to think that hers was the best since she copied it from the best.

When they reached Karpov's office, Emma was a bit more surprised at what she saw waiting for her. She barely noticed when the agent left the room, closing the door behind him. Inside Karpov's office was not only Winter, Rumlow, and Strucker but also the mysterious man that had been there when she received the injections. The man who they called Mr. Pierce and the very same man that had seemed familiar to her. Today, he didn't seem quite as serious as he had before. The man seemed almost…nice as he looked at her with a fatherly looking smile on his face. Emma was taken back by that look.

"Ah, Asset, I've see that you've finally arrived." Karpov commented in English with a small but fake looking smile. He looked to be mimicking the same expression on Mr. Pierce's face but it really didn't suit the Russian Colonel. It looked more like grimace on him than a smile.

"Is this about my training, sir?" Emma inquired politely. She knew that it most likely wasn't about her training if a whole group of important people were huddled inside Karpov's office. It slightly unnerved her but Emma kept her expression calm and collected, something that she had managed to master these past several months.

"In a sense…yes." Karpov replied. "It's actually why Mr. Pierce has come all the way here from Washington D.C." Emma looked between Karpov and Pierce curiously as the older man took a step forward.

"Hello, Emma, I don't believe we've officially met." Pierce greeted as he took her hand in his before shaking it. Emma was a bit taken back by the gesture but the calm look on her face was unwavering. It freaked her out a great deal that the man called her by her real name since she hadn't been called Emma by anyone in years. Everyone referred to her as "The Asset" or "Stupid Little Girl". "I'm Secretary Alexander Pierce with Shield but with Hydra more unofficially of course."

"It's a pleasure, Secretary Pierce." Emma greeted formally, not knowing what else to say.

"I've been watching your progress here at Hydra with a close eye and I have to say I'm very impressed." Pierce complimented and Emma swallowed, completely at a lost.

"Oh, well, thank you." Pierce smiled.

"I have to say that I had my doubts about you…what with your young age but you've really proven yourself." Pierce continued to say. "You've proven yourself so much that I believe you're ready for the next step."

"Next step?" Emma asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Pierce grinned as he lazily wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders as if they were old buddies.

"Yes, the next step. Your first mission." Pierce told her, causing Emma's eyes to widen in surprise. Her first mission? Emma knew that she was going through the final trials but she thought they would make her wait years before giving her a mission. She felt excitement surge through her because this was finally it. All the training she had worked so hard at in the past four years and it all finally paid off.

"My first mission?" Pierce gave her an amused look at the excited look on her face. Her devotion to their cause seemed to be a lot greater than he originally hoped. Little did he knew that Emma actually didn't care about the cause but more about actually getting out into the field and putting all her training to good use. Her main goal was to prove to everyone that she was just as strong and powerful as Winter…just as scary too.

"Yes, but since this will be your first mission the Winter Soldier will accompany you for good measure." Emma nodded and was even more excited at the prospect as she glanced at Winter who was watching everything unfold with a blank look on his face. She couldn't wait until they got to leave for their first mission. Her first mission and it was with her best friend? Well, he actually didn't know he was her best friend but still.

"Of course, Secretary Pierce." She replied. Pierce only stared at her but there was something that flashed in his eyes that Emma couldn't quite decipher. How odd…

"Now that we've got all that settled, let's move onto the mission." Rumlow stated as he changed the subject and got things moving in a different direction. There was a large screen in Karpov's office that Emma had always been curious about. She couldn't picture the Russian Colonel watching movies all day so she always wondered what it's use was for but now she knew. Rumlow brought up a profile of sorts onto the screen and Emma saw the picture of a Middle Eastern looking man. He was an older man, looking to be somewhere in his fifties, probably middle aged.

"Dr. Amir Farhad Bahrom." Rumlow announced the name. "A nuclear engineer, one of the most decorated ones in the world currently and was also a faithful member of Hydra until yesterday." Emma watched before her eyes as words and pictures filled up the screen. There was brief details about Dr. Bahrom's accomplishments in the world of nuclear engineering as well as details about his family. A wife and two sons who were only a little older than Emma herself.

"Dr. Bahrom has decided to defect over to Shield although Shield still has no idea about Hydra's existence but I'm sure the good doctor will be all too eager to inform Shield of that bit of information." Rumlow said the last part with a bit of a sarcastic tone before moving on. "He has vital information about our organization that could potentially destroy everything we've built if it ends up in the hands of Shield."

"Tomorrow afternoon, at approximately 3:25, a Shield agent will be escorting Dr. Bahrom in a 2009 beige Hummer H3." Rumlow continued as another picture flashed up on the screen. This time the picture was of a woman who looked to be in her mid to late twenties. She was very beautiful, Emma noted, and she reminded Emma a lot of her mother with the same vibrant red hair and emerald green eyes. "Agent Natasha Romanoff, formerly known as Natalia Alianovna Romanoff, other alias…The Black Widow. A Former KGB agent, she was trained from a young age and is now considered to be one of the world's greatest spy and assassin. She defected to Shield a few years ago and has proven to be loyal to the agency ever since. She is the Shield agent that will be escorting Dr. Bahrom tomorrow to a Shield safe house located just outside of Odessa, Iran."

Emma was in awe of what she had learnt from Rumlow about the woman called the Black Widow. She was beautiful yet deadly. A woman that was considered the best spy and assassin in the whole world. Rumlow had said that the Black Widow had been trained from a young age…that wasn't so different from her. It sounded like Emma and this Natasha Romanoff had a lot in common.

"Your mission is to eliminate your target, Dr. Bahrom, as covertly as possible." Rumlow ended the presentation and looked around the room. "Any questions?"

"Is Agent Romanoff a target too?" Emma asked curiously. She kind of hoped that Natasha Romanoff wasn't also a target. The woman reminded her too much of her mother and she also seemed to have a lot in common with Emma. It would be a shame if she was given the order to kill the older woman but Emma supposed she would have to if it came down to it.

"Only if Agent Romanoff gets in the way." Emma nodded as she took in Rumlow's information. Rumlow then began to dismiss Emma and Winter. "The both of you will be heading out early tomorrow morning so you should start preparing now."

"Wait…" Strucker said before Emma and Winter could leave the room. He walked forward with a box in his hands. Emma gave him a curious look and Winter stopped at the door, waiting patiently for the moment that he and Emma could leave.

"Dr. List has developed a special suit for you, Asset." Strucker told her as he began to open the box. Emma had a confused expression on her face once she saw what was inside. It looked to be some sort of one piece, spandex uniform. A catsuit? That's what it looked like. It was black in color and Emma could tell it would be very useful to her in the field, allowing her to move quicker and faster than she was able to in her regular training outfit. There were two gun holsters positioned on each hip as well as various other clips located on the catsuit, proving that it could contain multiple weapons. Emma spotted a flash of vibrant green around the belt of the suit and became even more intrigued when she saw the symbol of what looked to be some sort of snake. The sight unnerved her because Emma was desperately afraid of snakes ever since the injections. She could still feel the plastic tubing constricting around every time she struggled underneath the water. It gave her nightmares to this very day.

"What is that?" Emma asked as she pointed at the symbol of the snake. She fully knew what it was but she wanted to know what it was doing on the suit.

"That, my dear, is a snake…a viper to be precise." Strucker told her with a smile. Emma nodded but her eyes never once left the haunting symbol.

"Why?" She inquired.

"Because it's your code name in the field, silly girl. The Winter Soldier already has his own title and yours can't be the same even if you're part of the Winter Soldier program." Strucker told her although there was no malice in his tone. He seemed delighted to speak more of the topic. She figured it was something he had been planning for a very long time. "So you will be called "The Viper Assassin", another ghost story for all the intelligence agencies. It will be the name that will strike fear in the hearts of male and female agents alike…all around the world too."

"That sounds good, sir. Thank you for the suit." Emma said formally although she hated the idea of being named after the one thing that still gave her nightmares. Strucker smirked at her.

"That is not all." He lifted the suit up, showing her the sleeves. Emma saw more streaks of green that went down from the shoulders and ending right at the wrists. It looked more like the plastic tubing she remembered from the glass tank but it was a lot thinner. Emma watched the green inside the plastic tubing move and she soon realized that it was some sort of substance. For a moment she feared that they would inject her with it like they had with the blue substance but she realized that was silly. It was in her suit after all.

"What is it for?" Emma asked, inquiring about the green substance.

"It's a toxic gas that Dr. List created. It shoots out of the suit in lethal dosages, just in case your targets get a little too close for your liking and you need to eliminate them quickly." Strucker told her before grabbing her arm. She stiffened as he grabbed her but did nothing to stop him and instead watched as he turned her arm over. Strucker kept her arm still but pushed the palm of her hand down. "Whenever you make this sort of motion with your hand, the gas will be released. Don't worry…it's not harmful to you. It only effects standard humans and not the enhanced. Dr. List and I call it "Viper Bites"."

"Thank you again, sir. I most appreciate your considerate gift." She said, thanking him again although she was deeply disturbed by the deadly substance that would be sitting in her suit whilst she wore it. Strucker did say it wasn't harmful to her but that didn't make her feel any less creeped out about it. Strucker nodded, seeming pleased with her reaction and with that both her and Winter were dismissed from the room.

"Good luck on the mission and hail Hydra." Strucker said and everyone repeated something similar to the notion of "Hail Hydra". Even Winter repeated the saying before all eyes fell onto Emma. Emma had never been considered high enough of rank to ever be in participation of a meeting that used the familiar greeting so she was taken by surprise when she was also expected to express the saying. Emma blushed as all eyes were on her before she bravely said the two words with as much passion and devotion she could muster…words that she couldn't even comprehend or understand the meaning behind.

"Hail Hydra!"

They walked side by side down the hall and Emma couldn't help but seemed as impassive as ever but part of her felt that he might've been a little excited too…deep down.

"Can you believe it, Winter? I'm finally being given my first mission!" She said excitedly and the Winter Soldier only spared her a quick glance before staring straight ahead.

"Come on, you have to be kind of excited too. Instead of hanging around stupid Rumlow you get hang out with me instead. I'm a lot more interesting, you know." He still didn't say anything, causing Emma to sigh.

"Well, that was interesting. I got my first mission, a uniform with a toxic gas, and we're also going up against one of the top spies/assassins in the world. That's got to be a little intimidating, right?" Still no answer. "Well, Secretary Pierce seemed really nice. He even called me Emma…no one's called me Emma in years. I think I like him."

"He's not your friend." Emma whipped her head around to look at her unofficial friend. His voice was gruff and quiet as usual. For a moment Emma thought she may have been imagining things since Winter gave no indication that he had said anything. He was still staring straight ahead with a stoic expression on his face.

"What was that?" She questioned.

"Pierce is not your friend. You're an asset to Hydra so you serve a purpose and that's the extent of how he feels about you." His head didn't move but Winter's eyes glanced down at her. "Don't trust him."

"Um… okay. I'll keep that in mind." Emma told him awkwardly as she considered what he told her. Secretary Pierce had seemed kind and fatherly. There didn't seem to be anything evil and nasty about him. There was also the fact that Emma could swear that she had met him before…maybe in her other life. The life where she lived in a farm house in Oklahoma with her parents. However, the Winter Soldier rarely spoke so when he gave her that advice, Emma was left with the thought that she might have to take it to heart. When had the Winter Soldier's advice ever failed her?

"It's super hot out here, Winter." Emma complained as they were driving somewhere out in the desert. It had been such a shock to Emma when they got out of the plane in Iran and the sun hit her face. Emma hadn't seen the sun in years…ever since she was taken from her home when she was four. It didn't take long before the hot Iranian heat started to get to her because spending four years in an underground base in Siberia will do that to you. Luckily, Emma didn't seem to sweat due to her enhancements.

Winter was driving a discreet hummer that almost matched the one that Agent Romanoff was supposed to be driving. It felt like they had been driving for hours and they probably had been. Winter didn't say anything during the whole ride. Emma had learned not to mind his silence a long time ago. She was used to being the one who did all the talking while he was the one that remained silent and just listened.

"How much further do we have to go?" Emma inquired and this time Winter did speak.

"Five miles." Emma's eyes lightened up as she heard his answer. She smiled and felt the excitement surge through her.

"Only five miles? Wow…we're so close." She commented but the smile fell off her face. It was then that it finally hit her that this was her first mission. This would be the mission that was going to be a test to show Hydra whether or not she had reached her full potential. Emma would be expected to kill and act just as ruthlessly as Winter. Could she really be that ruthless? She admired Winter more than anyone but could she kill like he did? Could Emma walk away and feel nothingness like he did? Suddenly Emma wasn't so sure.

"Winter, how am I supposed to do this?" Winter threw her a look that said 'Are you really asking me this now?'.

"Don't look at me like that. I mean I know how to do it. This is what I've been training for all these years but they don't teach you how to go through with it." Emma explained and Winter gave her a look of understanding. He looked back at the road without giving her another look.

"I will show you how." He said quietly. His tone was firm and determined, making Emma feel like she wasn't completely alone in this.

"Thank you." Emma whispered quietly but he didn't reply and he didn't have to.

Winter parked the Hummer on an elevated hilltop amongst all the other smaller, brownish hilltops. They were well above the main road that really was more of a pathway than an actual drivable road. Their chosen location gave them a wide view of any oncoming vehicles down on that desert road. It wasn't too far away from the road so that if the target escaped them that they would still be able to chase them down.

Emma had a sniper rifle in her hand, positioned in front of her as she lay on her stomach right behind the edge of the hilltop. Winter was standing in back of her, leaning against the hummer and out of view from down below. The plan was to wait for the target's hummer to arrive on the road and then to shoot out the vehicle's tires. The action would send the hummer careening over the cliff and hopefully eliminate the target. Once the hummer was sent over the cliff then both her and Winter would survey the area to make sure that the target had been successfully eliminated.

"How long do we have to wait for?" She complained but Winter did not answer her. The sun was beating down on her and it was making her feel stir crazy.

"I thought they were supposed to be through here twelve minutes ago? What if we missed them?" Emma questioned further.

"They will come." Winter told her in that firm tone he always used when he didn't want to argue with her. Emma rolled her eyes before she looked through the scope even though she really didn't need a scope with her enhanced vision. She surveyed the surrounding area, spotting little desert creatures every now and then. The desert was immensely quiet, not a sound to be heard which was a rarity for Emma since she could usually hear everything all at once. Recently she had been able to block out certain sounds and only focus on ones in particular. It was then when Emma heard the sound of a car engine and the crunching of rocks underneath the tires. Emma took a sharp intake of breath as she centered the scope on the designated location. They sounded to be around a mile out.

"They're coming. Can you hear them?" Winter didn't say anything but his silence spoke more than words could. The vehicle was nearing and Emma stiffened because it was finally happening. The moment that would define the mission. She felt a cold hand upon her shoulder and she knew it was him because the coldness reminded her of that metal arm of his. Emma relaxed a bit from his touch.

"You'll do fine." He whispered so low that Emma thought it might have been the desert wind but she knew better than that. She wanted to thank him for comforting her because Emma knew that it went far beyond his nature to do so but he would most likely deny it if she said anything. Emma instead relaxed and focused on the task at hand. She watched as the hummer vehicle, the very same one that Rumlow had talked about, appeared within her scope. Emma spotted the nuclear engineer in the passenger seat, looking calm and relaxed as he sat there. Did he know that he was going to die? Did he ever understand that it was a possibility? Or did he really think he could escape from Hydra? Maybe he did. Maybe he felt safe once he contacted Shield and he felt protected because why wouldn't he? He was being escorted by the world's best spy and assassin so he had every reason to feel safe.

She gritted her teeth as she located the tires, aiming her rifle at them. Emma held her breath because if she screwed this up who knows what Hydra would do to her? They probably wouldn't trust her enough to put her out on another mission for years to come. The hummer was almost within her sight. Emma bit her lip so hard that it drew blood, a hard task to accomplish seeing as how unbreakable she was. And there it was…the tires were within her reach.

Without thinking too much about it Emma released fire. Four gunshots rang out through the quiet desert that was empty except for a Shield Agent, a Nuclear Engineer, an Assassin, and an Assassin Trainee. The large vehicle began to swerve in all directions as the driver tried to keep it on the road. It was no use, the vehicle was too large and without all tires there was nothing holding it onto the delicate desert road. The vehicle then careened itself over the cliff, falling down the cliffside and a loud crashing sound could be heard as it hit the ground down below.

Emma immediately stood up from her position, sniper rifle in hand, as Winter stalked over to the driver's side and got in. She threw the sniper rifle in the backseat before hopping into the passenger side of the vehicle. Winter didn't waste any time driving down the clifftop, not even waiting for Emma to close the passenger door. She grabbed her goggles and the black mask from the seat in between them. The goggles were much like Winter's goggles except for the fact that the lenses were a vivid green to match the color of the toxic chemical in her suit. The black mask that covered the lower part of her face and was the exact same as Winter's mask. Emma couldn't be more pleased.

Emma clasped her .22 magnum in her hand tightly after retrieving it from one of her gun holsters. They drove down the empty desert road, driving down the hillside so that they could arrive at the scene of the crash at the bottom of the hill. As soon as their car came in sight of the crash site, gun fire was released upon them. Winter seemed undisturbed by the gunfire and Emma didn't even flinch. She had grown up listening to that noise so it had no impact on her whatsoever. Emma wasn't even scared at the possibility of being shot. Hydra had shot her during her training so she knew what it felt like and she also knew that it would never kill her. She was almost unkillable.

Winter nodded at Emma, giving her a silent signal that only the two of them understood. She opened the car door as it was moving and jumped out, rolling away as Winter drove the car away. She already knew Winter's plan. He was going to park the vehicle in a hidden location and then wait if she called for back-up. This was her mission and her mission alone. She needed to take out the target and prove that she was worth something to Hydra.

That was her mission.

The gun shots were fired to the left and right of her, causing Emma to focus her sights on where the gunfire was coming from. She spotted the familiar redheaded woman, from the profile, only about a few hundred feet from herself. Agent Romanoff and the doctor must have survived the crash but they looked a little worn down if the cuts and scrapes on their skin was any indication of that. The man cowered behind Agent Romanoff, looking beyond terrified, and Emma felt a bit bad for him. She had been like that once. Hiding behind Colonel Karpov until he deemed her too pathetic and then gave her a beating for being so weak.

Agent Romanoff fired a couple more gunshots and Emma thought she was a pretty bad shot for being such an accomplished spy and assassin. Although her bad aim may have temporarily been due to Emma's element of surprise. Emma smirked once the gunshots ended and all that could be heard was the quiet clicking sound. The spy had emptied her whole round.

The look on Agent Romanoff's face, when the dust from the sand settled, was remarkable. The woman's emerald green eyes widened in shock as stared not at any regular assassin but at a young blonde girl who couldn't have been older than seven or eight. Emma stalked towards the woman just like she had seen Winter do. It was something that always instilled fear in the hearts of everyone around him.

Even through the goggles and black mask the agent could tell that this girl was very young. Agent Romanoff felt her heart clench at the sight of the young girl whose gun was pointed in her direction. She was reminded of her years in the red room when she wasn't much older than the girl walking towards her.

"Remove yourself from the target right now." Emma demanded, her tone becoming serious and deadly.

"You don't have to do this, kid. This isn't something you want to do." Agent Romanoff told her. The girl was too young to comprehend what she was doing so Natasha was just going to have to talk her out of it. The redhead would be damned if she let the girl end up like she did. No, she couldn't let that happen.

"I will not repeat myself again, Agent Romanoff." Emma's tone didn't even falter. Natasha was stuck on the fact that the girl didn't sound much like a kid. She sounded entirely like an adult and Natasha remembered being the same way.

"You're young. Whoever is making you do this is manipulating you. I was like you once…a long time ago. They make you feel important…like they need you more than anyone else and then they get you to do things…unspeakable things." Emma stiffened as the agent talked to her. Is that what Hydra did? They often made her feel important and how could she not feel important? There was no one else her age at the base and they all gave her special training sessions. Wasn't she important? That's why Winter was with her, right?

"You can still walk away from this. With me. You'll never have to see them again and you can actually have a life. You can forget whatever they've shown you…whatever they've done to you." Agent Romanoff reasoned. "You can still have a place in this world."

Emma considered what Agent Romanoff told her and if she was being honest the whole idea sounded very pleasant to her ears. What was tying her to Hydra? She sure hated the lot of them especially Rumlow and Strucker. What would life be like for her away from Hydra? What did normal eight year olds do? For some reason Emma doubted that they spent their time learning how to clean guns or being taught two hundred and thirteen different ways to kill a man.

There was a time when she wished more than anything else to go home. She wished that someone would save her and bring her back to that farm house in Oklahoma. Her parents would come running outside at the sight of her, waiting to wrap her tightly in their arms and never let go. Then Emma remembered. Her parents were dead now. They were never coming for her and there was no scenario where they would be waiting for her to come home. Another family probably lived in that farm house in Oklahoma now and they most likely didn't have the slightest idea as to the tragedy that took place there.

What was holding her to Hydra? Everything…They had taught her everything they could to ensure her survival. Hydra had injected her full of a substance that would always make her above average which would be seen as odd in the perspective of others. She could never leave Winter alone. He was already too sad and alone without her so how could she possibly leave him? She was his best friend even if he didn't know it yet and best friends stuck together. There was also her revenge on Rumlow…the man with the wolf like smile. She hated him and would do anything to see his blood on her hands. If she left she would never get the revenge that was rightfully hers. No, there was nothing left for her in this world that Agent Romanoff talked about. There was no one to go home to and definitely no one to wait for her. Hydra was all she had left.

"I have no place in this world." Emma told her, her voice had since grown shaky. Emma gripped the gun tightly in her hands, her finger now trembling against the trigger. Tears brimmed her blue eyes from under the goggles. The tears that Emma had tried to hide for so many years but now there was really no point. Emma stood there for what felt like hours as she stared at the redheaded woman. Agent Romanoff was the only thing standing in the way of her mission but she found it suddenly difficult to pull the trigger. It was then that Emma saw her.

Agent Romanoff's features had somehow morphed into the features of her mother. She saw her mother staring at her with sad eyes. Her emerald eyes losing that usual happy gleam she was so used to seeing. Her mother seemed disappointed with Emma…like she expected better of her. It was the same expression she used to give Emma whenever Emma stole a couple of cookies out of the cookie jar. The disappointed look felt a hundred times worse in this situation and Emma felt her heart beat increase. She could practically feel it pounding against her chest as her hands began to shake. All of a sudden Emma heard a loud shot ring out and heard it coming towards them before it finally hit the target. She watched in shock as the bullet hit her mother, blood spurting out from the impact.

Emma blinked a couple of times before her mother morphed back in Agent Romanoff and she briefly wondered if the desert really did play tricks on people's minds. She looked behind her and saw Winter standing on the edge of the cliff, his rifle still in hand. Emma realized what he had done…he had shot through Agent Romanoff to eliminate the target. She whipped her head back around and began to approach Agent Romanoff and the target with extreme caution. Agent Romanoff was gasping in pain as she was bleeding out, her gunshot wound located just above her left hip. She then moved onto the target, Dr. Bahrom, where he was positioned just a couple of feet away from Agent Romanoff. His eyes were wide open, horror must have been the emotion to cross his eyes, but she still felt his pulse to be certain. Yes. He was definitely dead.

Emma then returned to Agent Romanoff's side, watching as the woman desperately tried to apply pressure to her wound. She watched the look of fear in the woman's eyes and wondered if Agent Romanoff thought she was going to die. Probably. Emma doubted much else would strike fear in the heart of such a famous and ruthless killer. A part of Emma wished that she could've run away with Agent Romanoff. To go see the world that the older woman talked about. A world that might have a place for someone like her. Unfortunately that just wasn't possible.

"I wish I could go with you." Emma told her quietly. "But I can't. I still have a lot left to do…revenge, if you want to call it that. I'm just biding my time until then." Emma paused for a brief moment as she looked at Agent Romanoff.

"You understand that, don't you?" Emma asked and Agent Romanoff watched with a bewildered look on her face. She looked at Emma like she had met her before and that was because she had. Natasha had met Emma before because she used to be exactly like Emma once upon a time. Agent Romanoff slowly nodded and Emma could tell they had some sort of understanding.

"Good." Emma glanced around the area surrounding Agent Romanoff, trying to find something. Her gaze once again found Agent Romanoff's eyes.

"Do you have a panic button?" Emma sighed when the redheaded woman didn't answer. "It's okay. You can tell me." And for some reason Agent Romanoff found it in herself to trust the small blonde.

"The right back button of my jeans." Agent Romanoff confessed and Emma smiled although the older woman couldn't tell behind Emma's mask. Emma reached inside Agent Romanoff's pocket and pulled out a small device the size of a USB drive. It had a little button on the side and without sparing a second thought Emma pushed the button. She set the panic button down the ground before she got up.

"There. Shield will come for you and you'll get medical assistance." Agent Romanoff watched her in surprise. Was she saving her?

"It was an honor meeting you, Agent Romanoff. Hopefully we'll never meet again." Emma told her and then turned in the opposite direction, walking away. Natasha watched as the small girl left without another word, her figure becoming smaller and smaller the more she walked away. The girl got into the vehicle and then drove off into the desert, leaving Natasha with a million questions. Who was that girl and why did she save her?

Little did they both know that it certainly wouldn't be the last time they would meet.