Natalia's POV

Natalia exited her grey cottage. She had on a black long sleeved shirt with matching leggings. The bruises on her face were covered by makeup. Her shoulder-length blonde hair splayed behind her as a gentle breeze flowed through the air as she walked along a stone path to the mess hall. She was in desperate need of coffee before her training exercises. Dancing all night can take the energy out of anyone. Her feet were cleaned and wrapped before she left the cottage. There was pain in every step she took. Like the mermaid in the story, I feel as if I'm walking on glass. Don't let them see your weakness, Natalia. They'll punish you for weakness. That's what they do to the weaker candidates. But their failures were usually only a one-time thing. Their punishment were death.

Natalia stepped under the overhang where the door to the mess hall was located. She pressed her hand to the screen by the door, so it could scan her fingerprints to enter the facility. The lock on the door made a clicking sound, letting her know that she could enter. Since it was Sunday, the Spiderlings were eating inside and not in their room. All of them turned their heads when they saw her come in. Natalia dismissed their looks. She knew that they looked at her as a legend. She was the goddamn Black Widow for pete's sake. The Red Room's most prized spy and assassin. Of course the Spiderlings were going to look at her like that. She was who they wanted to be. But only one girl from this class of spiderlings would have a chance to make it to the graduation ceremony. The class originally had twenty-eight girls. Now there were only eleven. Another reaping match was to take place later on in the day.

She walked over to the oats line. The serving lady gave her two scoops of oatmeal and sent her on her way. The oatmeal was extremely watery. It lacked consistency. The oatmeal and the spiderlings both have that in common. She walked over to the coffee station and prepared the drink. There wasn't any sugar or cream in the Red Room, so all coffee was to be drunk black. Not that she minded. That's how she always drank it anyway. It was to remind them to never sugarcoat things while in the Red Room, unless ordered to. Natalia carried her bowl of oatmeal and coffee to a table in the corner. She ate quickly and silently. She left her bowl on the table and left the mess hall.

The caffeine from the coffee began to kick in as Natalia made her way to the training facility. Anya, another assassin who went by the name of Recluse, was already in there, doing target practice. She graduated the Red Room a few years after Natalia. She had dark brown hair which was pulled up in a messy bun most of the time. Her clothing attire was the same as Natalia's. Natalia and Anya weren't what a normal person would call friends, but they weren't normal people. They were the closest thing to friends in the Red Room. Although, they were more like distant sisters. Recluse and Black Widow didn't have to worry about being pitted against each other to see who would win. For one thing, both were valued agents of the Red Room. Second, Headmistress knew who would win. And if they failed in some way, they will endure a special type of punishment. Besides Anya is her daughter and Natalia was like a daughter. As fun as it would be to put your children against each other, she needed to ensure the survival of the Red Room by ensuring the survival of her agents.

"Do you want to spar, Natalia?" Anya asked. She hit the target dead in the center. The blade of the knife was visible through the other side.

"Sure, if you are done impaling the poor dummy."

Anya pulled the knives out of the targets and put them back on a shelf.

"I'm done."

The two assassins made their way to the sparring mat. Natalia pulled her hair back into a small ponytail behind her head. They stood at opposite sides of the mat and bowed before they began. They got into their defensive positions, each waiting for the other to move. Anya struck first. The two fought for a few minutes before Natalia claimed the first victory. They went for a few more rounds, eventually gathering an audience of the Spiderlings and their trainers. Natalia won the last match. She had won five and Anya won two. The two bowed to each other once again and faced the Spiderlings who had been watching in awe. They had gotten to see the Red Room's top two agents participate in a sparring match against each other. The Spiderlings had come into the training facility for the reaping match. The weakest Spiderling was going to fight with the strongest. In this case it was a girl named Yelena who was to fight Lada, the top Spiderling in the class. Yelena was a scrawny blonde girl who was always lagging behind the other Spiderlings. She was too weak to be part of the program anymore. It was Lada's job to kill her. To get rid of the liability. Besides, it would mean one less mouth to feed.

"Did you enjoy your treat Spiderlings?" asked Natalia.

They nodded in response. They were not to answer with their voice unless individually addressed.

"Good. But that is not why we're here. As you know today is the day of the Reaping. It is now that the weak and the strong will fight to the death. This is to get rid of the weak. Our agents do not need to be squashed like cockroaches," Natalia said.

"One of you will be like us one day. An agent of the Red Room. Watch closely little ones. Only the best will graduate from this class," said Anya. "At this time, there are too many of you to have a clear idea on who that will be. But we do know who will fail. Be prepared little ones. Death is forever waiting at your doorstep."

"Now, the candidates of today's Reaping, please approach the mat."

Lada walked over to the mat. Her steps had a bit of cockyiness to them. She smirked at Anya who returned it in approval. Yelena followed behind her. She slowly walked to the mat, knowing that death was waiting for her. And she wasn't ready to go. The two girls stood opposite each other on the mat, surrounded by the other spiderlings and staff. Headmistress then entered the room to start the Reaping.

"You girls were selected for today's Reaping. For one of you, it is an honor. For the other, it is the seal on your death. You know who you are. There will only be one victory of this match. She will receive an award for her accomplishment. The dead will be burned and forgotten. Now, at the ring of the gun, let the Reaping begin," said Headmistress.

The girls got into their defensive positions, waiting for the sound to start off the match. Headmistress fired and the fight commenced. Lada struck first. She promptly kicked Yelena in the stomach, who was on the floor in seconds. She struggled to get back on her feet. The kick merely knocked the wind out of her, making it the perfect distraction. Lada put her in a choke-hold as she was down. Yelena frantically elbowed her in the chest, making her loosen her hold. Then she wriggled her away out of her arms and threw a punch at her head. It landed on Lada's temple, knocking her down on the floor. Yelena went down with her and began to land more punches on the girl. Lada weakly pushed her off and attempted to sweep her feet from out under her. Yelena quickly dodged the attack, her scrawny body allowing her to be quite lithe. She pounced on Lada and wrapped her arms around her neck in a chokehold, just as she did to her earlier. Lada began to squirm and repeatedly hit Yelena to escape. Her eyes showed fear while Yelena's showed fury. Yelena looked down at Lada and smiled. Then she snapped her neck. Lada's body went still, her neck at an awkward angle. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her mouth. Yelena stood up as the victory of the day's Reaping. The underdog. Headmistress approached her with a thin smile on her face.

"Here is the victory of today's Reaping, Yelena Belova. She is an example of how one should not underestimate their opponent. With assumption, the weak can become strong and the strong can become weak," Headmistress said in a serious tone. "0987 and 0275, please start the protocol for dead Spiderlings."

Two agents approached the mat and hauled Lada's body away. They disappeared through the doors that led to the cremation chamber. The Red Room had taken to burning bodies instead of doing mass graves. It led to the less likely possibility of them being found.

"Now that that is being taken care of, Spiderlings you are to remain in here for today's training session. You are dismissed to prepare the room," she said. The trainers and the Spiderlings began to disperse, leaving Headmistress, Anya, and Natalia by the mat. Headmistress grabbed Yelena's shoulder before she went with others. "Follow me. You too, Widow and Recluse."

The three followed her into the hallway. Headmistress led them to the elevator which accessed her office. It was at the top of the building in a separate space. Spiderlings, agents, and staff were only to report there if they were invited. Not even Anya or Natalia could come up there without an invitation, unless it was an extremely urgent matter. They exited the lift and walked down a long hallway. There was a door at the end of it that led to the office. Headmistress unlocked the door, and the four entered the room which consisted of a darkly stained mahogany desk and chair. There were a lot of shelves that held books. It was rumored that there was a secret room behind the shelves that led to the basement of the facility. The basement housed all the files of the Red Room and labs. It wasn't a rumor, but the Spiderlings didn't know that. Headmistress sat down behind her desk and waited to address the people standing in her office. Anya, Natalia, and Yelena patiently stood awaiting orders.

"Yelena, I want to formally congratulate you on your victory in today's Reaping. As we all know, the odds were not in your favor," said Headmistress.

"Thank you Headmistress."

"And as I said earlier, you are to receive an award."

"Yes Headmistress."

"Well, your award will be the opportunity to train with either the Black Widow or Recluse. Only the Spiderling at the top of her class is to receive this honor. And by killing Lada you will receive this honor."

"I am honored Headmistress."

"Your trainer will be determined by the flip of this coin I have in my hand. Recluse is heads and Black Widow is tails. Are you ready?"

Is Headmistress really choosing who trains Yelena with a coin flip? Yeah, this is definitely the best way to decide who should train her. Totally. I am not fit to play teacher. I'm an agent, not a babysitter with benefits. Besides if she fails, that lands on me. I'm not about to be responsible for that.

Headmistress flipped the coin. It sailed through the air and landed on her desk with a clatter. It was dead silent for a moment."

"Heads. Recluse is to be your trainer."

Yelena turned to Anya who quickly smiled at her before her face became serious again. Natalia was just relieved that it didn't land on heads and sighed in her mind.

"You and Recluse are to begin your training immediately. You are dismissed. Natalia, please stay back for a moment."

Anya lead Yelena out of the office. She turned and winked at Natalia who returned it with a playful smirk. She gave her attention back to Headmistress who was tossing the coin around. She suddenly slammed the coin onto the desk. Her hand pulled away revealing it to be embedded into the wood. Natalia didn't think much of it, except from a familiar phrase she heard. That is mahogany. That's when she saw it. Both sides of the coin were heads. A trick coin. Headmistress never showed both sides of the coin. She just said who was heads and who was tails. She wanted Anya to win the toss. But why?

"I take it that you're curious on to why I wanted Anya to win," Headmistress said, amused.

"Yes."

"You wouldn't make a very good teacher. That's not your skillset. Yelena would be destined to fail if you were to teach her."

"I know."

"Anya on the other hand, she's naturally a teacher. Yelena would thrive under her instruction. She'll probably take over the Red Room once I'm dead and gone. You on the other hand, I believe that you're better suited for the field than teaching a Spiderling."

"I agree."

"That is part of my gift to you for the success of yesterday's mission. And for your return."

"I thought that you already gave me a gift."

"The music box and the picture, along with the ring," she laughed. "Those were merely a trifles, housewarming gifts. This is part of the actual gift. Forget what I told you last night. That was only a lie to throw you off the surprise."

"So, not having to teach Yelena is the real gift."

"Only part of it, like I said."

"Am I allowed to know the other part?"

"Yes," she said. "We're going to further enhance you. Strengthen your serum, build up immunity to brainwashing or mind control. Get you prepared for a mission that we're going to have you on in a few months."

"I take it the mission is classified until further notice?"

"Yes, you will know when it's time. Until then, we will be placing you in cryofreeze."

"I'm going under again. I've only been out for like what? A month? What about missions? Anya will be too busy training with Yelena."

"We'll send someone else. You realize that we have other agents right? It's not just you and Anya. If it's high risk, I'll send Anya to do it. The Red Room will still be here when you wake up."

"Why am I going under? I can just supervise the Spiderlings training sessions and Reapings."

"A lot of people are looking for you."

"What else is new."

"Let me rephrase this. A lot of countries are looking for you. They know your face, your identity. Everything about you that SHIELD had is online. We need for the news about you to die down before we can send you back out in the field again. And that won't be until after your next mission."

"What did I do?" Natalia asked warily. If she failed in some shape or form, why wasn't she being punished for it.

"Nothing to discuss right now. You are to report to my office at 9:00 sharp tomorrow morning. Get a full meal and full night's sleep. Please do not dance the night away again Natalia. It might interfere with the serum in a way. The rest of the day is yours. You are dismissed."

Natalia nodded and left Headmistress' office. She went to go find Anya and Yelena. She needed to tell Anya. It was her right to know. She found them in the back room in the training facility. Yelena was working on her kicks as Anya watched. Natalia watched as she kicked the dummy again and again. She was like a machine. She had never seen that side of Yelena before today. She watched for a few more minutes until Anya noticed her standing in the corner. She ordered Yelena to keep training and walked over to greet her.

"I see that you put her right to work," said Natalia.

"I'm giving her a little head start. Skip the pleasantries and get down to business. Where've you been doing?" Anya asked out of curiosity.

"Talking to Headmistress," she said. Natalia sighed. "They're putting me back in cryo tomorrow. Said that I'll wake up in a few months for a mission."

"That was fast," Anya said surprised. "I thought they would leave you out longer. You've only done one mission, so far. The rest of time you were training."

"I guess it was pure luck that you were chosen to be Yelena's trainer."

"Maybe. Or it was rigged. Who knows?"

Natasha laughed.

They awkwardly stood there for a moment not knowing what to say.

"I should go. You need to work. I probably won't see you before I go under," Natalia said.

"I guess this is goodbye then."

"For now."

"Yeah. For now."

Natalia left Anya and Yelena in the back room. She began to observe everything in the facility. Will it look different here when I wake up? How many girls will still be here? Six, seven? Am I gonna wake up in a totally different world? It was easier when she wasn't so open. When the cryo-freezes would just happen without warning. I wouldn't have to worry as much. As she walked towards the exit, the patter of rain could be heard. Probably pouring outside. And I'm not about to wait it out. Her suspicions were confirmed when she looked out the window and saw the rain pelting everything outside. She quickly ran to her cottage through the pouring rain. By the time she made her way inside, she was soaked. Natalia promptly peeled off her wet closed and took a long, hot, shower. Last one of these for a while. She looked at her scars. Probably the last time I'll ever see these again. She got out of the shower and put on some grey sweatpants and a black long-sleeved shirt. Natalia fell into her bed with a thump. She looked over at the clock. 4:01. I guess it'll be fine to go to sleep now. I can always eat breakfast in the morning. Her eyes closed as she drifted into a sweet slumber, not to be disturbed until the morning.

Author's Note: Hey guys. Long time no see right. So I gave y'all two new chapter today that's good. Something to be excited about. I think you know who Yelena is for you comic readers out there. And yeah, that's pretty much it. Oh and 25 more days until Infinity War. WHO'S EXCITED! Can't wait! Thanks for reading!

Reviews:

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Yeah! I'm back and better than ever. More updates coming soon!

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