Katrina stood there, motionless, afraid to make any sound, as if the Black Widow were a bomb that could be triggered at any moment. Her heart and mind raced. She was going to die, wasn't she?

"You don't have to be scared of me, you know." The Black Widow raised her eyebrows. Her voice was calm, steady, almost musical sounding. Yet the deadliness of it was hard to miss.

Katrina didn't respond. What could she say? Oh, well thanks for that, Nat. I'm definitely not terrified anymore. Let's go hold hands and run into a rainbow together.

Black Widow took a step forward, and Katrina took a step back. Okay, she had to be smart about this. She was going to have to fight her no matter what, she knew that. But was she strong enough to take on Black Widow? Maybe.

Absolutely not.

Right. Katrina calculated her next moves in her head. If she couldn't fight the Black Widow, then…

Wait. That's not her name.

That's not her name.

Her name is Natasha Romanoff.

Katrina looked back up at Natasha. Then she smiled. Natasha stared her down, slightly amused, yet slightly confused.

Katrina panic slowly faded away, and her heartbeat steadied. She'd always thought of the Black Widow as this mythical creature, this force of energy, this unstoppable being, but—

She was just a person. Strong, yes, but just like the rest of them. And yes, she'd been through things most other people hadn't been through, but so had Katrina.

I can do this.

And without a moment of hesitation, words danced on her tongue.

"I'm not."

And then she started running. Natasha also started charging at her, prepared to meet at the middle, but Katrina hit the ground and slid in between Natasha's legs at the last second. She threw her legs in the air, willing herself to flip herself. And a second later after Natasha slid to a stop, Katrina shifted her body weight to the left so her legs went swinging right at Natasha's face. Natasha didn't stumble, but she did look startled for a second. Katrina landed smoothly on her feet and Natasha's fist came at her like a bullet. Katrina took the hit, and unlike Natasha, stumbled.

I can do this.

But Natasha just kept punching her. First in the face, then the gut, then the stomach. Katrina thought she almost blacked out for a second. By about the tenth hit, Katrina grabbed Natasha's arm and twisted it as hard as she could. Natasha's other fist came flying at her, but surprisingly, Katrina caught that one too. With both of Natasha's hands in the air, Katrina kneed her as hard as she could in the stomach. Natasha doubled over just a little bit, and Katrina swung her leg and kicked her on the hip. With the force of the kick, Natasha flew a little bit to the side, but instead of crashing against the wall, she grabbed Katrina's shoulders and swung around her. Startled, Katrina tried to throw her off, but instead came into contact with a fist to her face. She coughed hard.

With all the force she could muster, Katrina threw her off, and Natasha staggered a few feet back. Katrina started running in the other direction. She looked behind her. Natasha was right on her heels. Boxes were everywhere so Katrina began zig-zagging through them, and as she jumped over a smaller one, she thought of a stupidly brilliant idea. In a moment of adrenaline, she grabbed a box stacked on top of another box, and threw it on the ground between her and Natasha,

Natasha's face immediately crumpled into horror. "No, don't—!"

Katrina's own face instantly turned horrified itself. Sh—

The box hit the ground and exploded in a fiery blast, sending flames rocketing in every direction.

They were both blown off their feet, thrown in opposite directions. Katrina smashed into a wall and slid down it, hitting the ground hard. Her body screamed in protest, especially when it was pelted by burning hot bits of wood and metal. She ducked and covered her eyes, shielding them, coughing from the smoke billowing around her. Then she looked up.

Oh thank god.

The explosion hadn't been too big. The building was still standing. But that had been so stupid of her. What if that box had contained one of the nuclear bombs? Not just this whole building but the whole city would have been gone. And then that bomb would have triggered the rest of the bombs…

She stood up on slightly shaky legs and wiped away the wood from her clothes. Smoke still curled all around the room and the smell of ash and burning wood filled her nose. Natasha was already standing. And her eyes looked dangerous. She didn't move. When her mouth opened, out came the most threatening voice Katrina had ever heard—even more threatening than the General's.

"It's time for you to go."

Nope.

It was at this point Katrina knew it was flight instead of fight. She was so dumb for thinking she could take on Natasha Romanoff. In a second, she was running as fast as she could away from Natasha. She didn't think about anything else besides the fact that she had to get out.

Natasha thundered after Katrina. As Katrina ran, she wondered what was going on upstairs. Hopefully everything was going well. But now they would have to evacuate. Immediately. However, Katrina didn't know how they would get away from Natasha. It would be impossible. And what if Natasha called in reinforcements? What if the rest of the Avengers came thundering in? Katrina knew that if they wanted to get away, they needed Natasha Romanoff gone.

But obviously, fighting her wasn't an option. And neither was outrunning her and locking her out. Natasha was too fast for that. Katrina needed Natasha to be completely useless.

How could I do that?

Katrina was nearing the stairs by now. Her gaze was sharp, focusing directly on the things she was whizzing past.

Boxes. There are a lot of boxes.

But Katrina knew she couldn't open another box. She didn't know how highly explosive these bombs were.

I can't open the boxes, so…

The boxes are full of bombs and grenades. Things that blew up. Things that a person was potentially defenseless against. There hadn't been any way Natasha could've prevented Katrina from throwing that exploding box.

That's it.

Again, another foolish idea popped into Katrina's brain. And she knew it was foolish. But it was the only way she could get rid of Natasha.

There were cement pillars on either side of Katrina every five feet or so. The pillars were connected from both the floor and ceiling, obviously used to support the rest of the building from collapsing. Katrina was even closer to the stairs now. She had limited time. Natasha was right on her heels. If she had to act, she had to act now.

Katrina reached into her belt and held a small grenade in each hand. She pinpointed the next pillar she was going to pass. With all the energy she could muster, she willed herself to move faster, and accelerated. She was slowly outrunning Natasha. She was about ten feet ahead of her now.

This could either go very well or very terribly. But she was trained. She knew what she was doing. Right as she was next to the pillar, in a second, she had a grenade aimed at one of the connecting points, and threw. At the impact of the cement, the grenades both triggered, and exploded. The pillar disconnected at both ends, and broke off. And in a second, it was falling.

Katrina knew Natasha wasn't dumb. She would've tried to stop herself if she could. But Natasha was moving too fast, and before she knew it, she fell, and skidded on her feet. The pillar fell on both her legs, crushing them. Katrina ran a few more feet until she skidded to a stop, and looked behind to see what had happened.

The cement was crushed and scattered all over the floor, and dust was enveloping the entire room. But all Katrina was focused on was Natasha, lying on the floor, legs getting crushed by cement, hissing in pain. Katrina didn't expect a scream. Natasha Romanoff didn't scream. Katrina slowly walked over to her, avoiding big chunks of cement. As she neared Natasha, her heart felt a strange flicker of pity at seeing her distressed and pale face, but she quickly pushed those feelings away, questioning why they were even there in the first place.

Katrina stood over Natasha, absolutely no emotion on her face. Natasha's entire legs and hips were crushed. Her bones must be shattered. Katrina's eyes trailed up to Natasha's face. Natasha looked at her with disgust, as if she were scum. Which, in her eyes, was true.

"You're going to pay for this. We're going to find you." Natasha spit the words out, blood slowly trickling from her mouth. Every syllable was covered in vengeance. Then a small, strange smile crossed her face.

Katrina didn't even blink. She had never felt sympathy for anyone before so any pity she might have felt a moment earlier vanished into nothingness. Natasha was just another victim for her to eliminate. She kneeled down slowly, hovering slightly over Natasha. Her voice filled the room, completely emotionless. "I liked you better when you weren't talking." Her fist came into contact with Natasha's head, knocking her out completely. Her body slumped down onto the cement. Then Katrina stood. Good. Now she wouldn't be a threat to them, at least for this particular mission.

Katrina ran upstairs, forgetting about Natasha. She was surprised when she found the doors open. That man had said he would lock it down. She sent a message out on her ringer.

Everyone evacuate. Now.

Katrina retraced the steps she had taken to get there, and before she knew it, she was back at the entrance of the building. She had encountered bunches of soldiers on the way, but after Natasha, they were a breeze to handle. She took them out without even thinking. DAGGER comrades were running past her to the plane, but Katrina stayed to make sure everyone was out—whomever had survived.

It was difficult getting everyone out. Soldiers kept appearing from nowhere, and Katrina and a few comrades had to keep taking them out. She shot at one, then another, then another. It was when no more comrades were appearing that she ran outside. All of the sudden, soldiers from inside showered her with bullets. They were running after her.

"Go!" Katrina screamed at the comrade watching her from the open door, horrified. "Take off! Start moving!" the comrade shouted at someone inside, and a second later, the plane started taking off. Soldiers were still shooting at her from behind, but her mind was focused on the plane.

She was still about a hundred feet away. The plane was furthering, and any second it would take off. Her vision blurred, but she willed herself to go faster. She reached into her belt and pulled out as may grenades as she could, and threw them at the soldiers, not even bothering to aim well. She heard multiple explosions, and the shooting stopped.

Her feet pounded against the pavement, And the comrade watched her through the door. "Move!" she screamed. The comrade moved out of sight in the plane.

And that's when the plane took off the ground.

Her heart beat so loud she could hear it in her head. The jet was getting higher. She was twenty feet away. The rest of the world stopped and time froze. It was just her and the jet. She had to get in the doorway.

Get in the door.

Don't smash against the jet.

Get in the door.

The door.

She was five feet away from the plane. She hurled her body upwards, lifting her feet, and flew in the air. Then she was in the jet, slamming against the floor.

Then everything went black.

Katrina woke in the hospital wing. She looked around; she was alone. There was an IV inserted into her arm and a dressing was taped to her forehead. She tried moving, and hissed in pain when an undeniable burning sensation took over her head and stomach.

The window was covered, but sunlight streamed in through the slants of the blinds. Katrina figured it was morning. She wondered how long she would have to stay here. She figured not long. She wasn't severely hurt, except for a few minor cuts here or there.

The peacefulness of the hospital room gave Katrina some time to think. They didn't complete the mission. They never got the bombs. She wondered how angry the General was right now. A small part of her was thankful she was in the hospital right now so she wouldn't have to face him and his wrath. They usually fulfilled his missions, but the few times they didn't, it never ended up well. But, no matter what he thought, Katrina knew that he was his fault for assigning something so incredibly difficult. If he had given them time, maybe just a few days, to prepare and plan, they would've had a higher chance at succeeding.

They also would've had a higher chance at succeeding if Natasha Romanoff hadn't been there. Katrina blamed mostly her for their failure. She wondered what was happening to Natasha right now. Had she been found? Probably.

How was she even there in the first place? Did she find out about the mission?

Of course she'd found out. She worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. Slowly, everything started to make sense in Katrina's mind. S.H.I.E.L.D had found out about it. That's why all of those soldiers were there, waiting for them. They were S.H.I.E.L.D's recruits.

Oh no.

Oh no.

DAGGER had messed with the wrong people. If S.H.I.E.L.D found them now? They were as good as gone. DAGGER was stealthy and powerful but S.H.I.E.L.D. had a way of coming out on top every time. Katrina tried to think of a way S.H.I.E.L.D. could find out about them. They didn't have the DAGGER logos on their suits—

The plane. DAGGER kept their logo on their plane. Nothing else. They didn't even use their plane that often. The main transport they used was their jet. The plane only got used when a lot of comrades were assigned to the mission. They had to have seen it. The logo was huge, painted across the entire right side of the plane, which had been the side facing the building.

And Natasha Romanoff? Katrina had injured her. If S.H.I.E.L.D didn't have a reason to attack before, they definitely had a reason to attack now.

Katrina's hospital door opened, and in came another one of Katrina's comrades. Katrina recognized her as Margot. Margot's face was grim. Katrina braced herself.

"The General needs to talk to you."

When he'd heard Natasha had been in a fatal accident, Steve had almost had a heart attack. He'd thought she died. Thankfully, she didn't. But that didn't stop him from having another almost-heart attack when he saw her in the hospital room. She looked terrible. She was lying there on the hospital bed, both legs in casts, hanging up in the air supported by suspensions. Her entire torso was in a brace. There was gauze wrapped around several parts of her body. She also had a black eye.

Concerned, Steve walked inside. There was no one else in the room besides them. "Glad to see you've finally shown up," Natasha said, with a slight smile on her face.

"Yeah," Steve breathed, looking around the room. He looked back at her, eyes focusing. "How did this happen?" he asked, his deep voice cutting the silence of the room.

Natasha sighed. "It wasn't an accident."

Steve was taken aback. "What?"

"It was a girl." Natasha shook her head. "There were cement pillars in the room, and she blew one of them up. It ended up falling on my legs."

Steve didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. He felt so angry. How dare this girl hurt Natasha like this? Who was she? "Who was this girl?" Steve's voice was low, concerned, threatening.

Natasha looked in the distance, thinking. Then she spoke slowly. "She had long dark hair. It looked practically black, if not black. Her eyes were green, I think. Yes. Green. She was tall, taller than me. She was maybe…five ten, I'm guessing. She was pretty thin, but so was everyone else that came with her. I'm sure DAGGER doesn't give them enough food."

"Dagger?"

Natasha nodded. "Yes, DAGGER. When we went to the warehouse, we didn't know what we were up against." Natasha looked down, looking almost ashamed, which was odd to witness since she almost never seemed ashamed of anything. "The S.H.I.E.L.D recruits I went with found out that these—soldiers—we fought against are part of another terror organization called DAGGER. Obviously very similar to HYDRA, but definitely on the more low-key side." Natasha paused for a second. "We're not sure what their main motives are. They could, and probably are, aiming for world domination like HYDRA, but again, maybe not. This is the first time any of us has heard of them. The point is, now S.H.I.E.L.D has another enemy on their hands."

Steve tried to process all of this in his head. Another terror organization. This was terrible. If S.H.I.E.L.D had another HYDRA on their hands, things could be very bad. Steve wondered why no one had heard of them before. "So what now? Are we going after them?"

"Fury says he just sent out an official statement. Right now we're just launching an investigation. Turns out DAGGER's actually tried to mess with us directly, on multiple occasions. Then he's going to have the area scoped out."

"What if they attack first?" Steve didn't know why Fury didn't just send out the Avengers right now. DAGGER hurt Natasha. If not for the other things, did he not want to send them out to avenge Natasha?

"They won't." Natasha was blunt. Steve was about to question it, but decided not to. Questioning Natasha wasn't worth it.

Steve's eyes trailed back down to Natasha's legs. He remembered the reason he was here in the first place. Natasha had said it was a girl who had done this to her. Steve didn't care what Fury said, he couldn't let this girl run free. "I'm going after the girl."

Natasha nodded. "Fury could send—"

"I'm not going to Fury."

Natasha stared at him for a second. Then she slowly smiled. "I see. Well, then. You'd better be careful he doesn't catch you."

"Is there anything else about her? Something to help me pinpoint her better?"

Natasha opened her mouth, but closed it immediately. Her eyes averted to the back of the room. Steve turned and a nurse walked in. "I just need to check her vitals," she said softly to them both. Steve and Natasha looked at each other. They both waited for the nurse to finish what she was doing. Once she was done writing everything on her chart, she muttered, "All good." She looked up. "Do you need anything right now?"

"I'm fine," Natasha replied swiftly. The nurse nodded and then walked out the room. Natasha waited a few seconds before looking back at Steve. "A tattoo. She had a tattoo." Natasha placed a finger right behind her right ear. "Right here. The tattoo was of the numbers two eighty-three. I saw it after the pillar fell on me."

A tattoo. It was exactly what he needed. Now finding her would be no problem. Steve really hoped that Fury wouldn't assign him to anything anytime soon.

He had his own mission.

Katrina stared at Margot's hands. She was currently sitting in the General's office. She couldn't deny that she was worried. Usually she wasn't, but usually she also didn't attempt to murder an Avenger while also majorly botching a mission. So all she could do was focus on Margot's hands. Margot kept flexing them, over and over again. Clearly Margot was distressed as well.

Flex.

The door opened.

Unflex.

Someone walked in.

Flex.

The door closed.

Unflex.

The General slammed a hand down on the table in front of Katrina, startling her and Margot both. "You," he sneered.

Katrina didn't respond. What could she even say?

"You," the General repeated. "Ruined everything." He walked around the desk, and sat on his chair.

Katrina's breathing stopped. There was a lot of things he could mean by that. She quickly glanced at Margot, hoping to catch the meaning in her eyes, but Margot avoided eye contact, looking oddly guilty. Katrina's head whipped back to the General.

"Potentially blowing up the whole building, failing the mission, almost killing an Avenger…you exposed DAGGER."

Katrina willed herself to speak. "I—I don't know what you're talking about," she lied.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" the General exploded. Katrina winced. "Margot saw you. She watched all of it. Do not lie to me."

Katrina's head whipped to Margot. She was watching her?

And she didn't even bother to help?

Katrina's chest bubbled with anger. She was so close to attacking Margot right there. "Why didn't you help me?" Katrina seethed.

Margot fidgeted. She was one of the newer recruits. "I—I thought you had it under control."

Katrina exploded. "Under control? It that why I had to resort to bombing—"

"Enough!" the General cut her off, then spoke. Or, rather, he spat. "You're a disgrace. You almost killed Natasha Romanoff. Now, because of you, S.H.I.E.L.D and the government is now after us. They sent out an official statement just this morning against us."

Katrina willed herself not to punch the wall. Everything she had been fearing had become true. The General continued. "Now, because of you, we're expecting attacks from them. I've kept this place a secret for years and now, because of you, we're exposed. I should have you killed." The General's eyes were threatening.

Katrina's heart leapt to her throat. For the very first time in her life, fear ran through her veins.

"But I won't."

Katrina, in shock, stared at the General.

He continued, scowling. "I can't deny that you're one of my best recruits. You've accomplished many of my missions, some of them even unaccompanied. So consider this a thank you. I'm not going to kill you—but I'm kicking you out. Forever." He leaned in. His voice was low. "Change your name, dye your hair, do whatever you want to stay alive. As if you know how to stay alive."

Katrina's mind spun.

"But know this," the General growled. "If I ever see your face again, I will kill you. From this moment on, you are dead to DAGGER. And if you want to keep that a metaphorical death, you'll vanish forever."

Katrina's thoughts were so wild her mind couldn't function. DAGGER was all she'd ever known. She didn't know how to survive out there. She didn't have any diplomas or degrees. She didn't know anyone on the outside. She didn't even have any money. But it was clear on the General's face he wasn't going to give her any. He wasn't going to give her anything to survive.

She was on her own now.