Natasha followed Fury into the secret base. Natasha couldn't help but feel apprehensive as they walked the long corridor to the main office. Natasha was surprised when she saw Agent Melinda May. She'd assumed the woman had left after the Hydra incident.
Melinda stood up and greeted them tersely. "Fury, Romanoff."
"May," Natasha acknowledged absentmindedly as she listened for any sounds that could possibly be coming from a small child.
"The director sends his apologies. He was called away on another matter. I assume Romanoff's presence means you will be taking the girl."
"Yes, Agent May, Romanoff has agreed to protect the child herself."
Melinda nodded, and Natasha noticed her brief but faint smile. "Follow me. We have her sedated in the med bay."
"Sedated? Is she sick?" Natasha asked.
"No, she was very disoriented after her rescue and extremely compliant then we brought her here and she saw this," Melinda pointed to the Shield symbol on the wall. "It sent her into a panic. She attacked one of our agents."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "She's not even three. How much damage could she do?"
"Agent Fitz would say plenty," Melinda replied with another ghost of a smile, "but the sedation is for her protection. Her heartrate was high. Simmons was concerned for her safety."
As Melinda finished speaking, she opened the med bay door. Natasha felt her own heart racing when she got her first glimpse of her daughter. The tiny girl was sleeping on her side facing their direction, her red curls covering part of her face. "She's so small," Natasha said as she pushed the curls out of the child's face so she could get a better look. With the exception of the red hair, the little girl was all Steve as far as Natasha could tell. "Can we wake her up?"
The answer came from beside the bed. A young woman in a lab coat that Natasha hadn't even noticed replied, "I'll lower the medication gradually. Perhaps Fitz and Sky can fill in Agent Romanoff while she wakes up."
"Thank you, Simmons," Melinda replied with a nod then looking at Fury and Natasha, she added, "you can watch her from the observation room while we fill you in on everything we know."
Natasha nodded and followed after touching the child's face one last time. The observation room had a table and chairs. Two other agents joined them, introducing themselves as Fitz and Sky. Natasha couldn't help but wonder if her tiny daughter somehow had something to with the black eye Fitz was sporting.
Sky had a smile on her face when she took the seat beside Natasha. "I'm really glad you came. She needs a family. I was afraid she would get lost in the system." She whispered so that no one else could hear, "I was an 8-0-4. I went from foster home to foster home. I told Co-the director I wouldn't let that happen to her. He assured me one of you would take care of her."
Fury called them to order. "I think it's important Agent Romanoff is completely apprised of the situation. Agent Fitz, will you begin?"
"Yes, sir. We found the girl in a small room in the Hydra facility. She was under heavy guard. We didn't realize she was what they were guarding until we had secured the facility. At first, we thought they had kidnapped a child, but Sky was able to hack their system and retrieve the records."
"According to the files, she was conceived by invitro and placed in a surrogate," Sky added. "They bred her to be a weapon. She doesn't have a name. They just called her weapon A," the young woman blanched. "She was kept in that room alone most of the time. There was a television in the room showing the Avengers and Shield, and it was seriously photo chopped images. They were brainwashing her to hate all of us."
Natasha frowned. She knew firsthand what Hydra had likely put the child through. It reminded her of her own early training. Suddenly, she wasn't sure she was the right one to help her daughter after all.
Fitz took back over. "Our director is concerned she may have trouble recovering. He didn't authorize us to do more than sedate her, but he wanted us to make you an offer, Agent Romanoff. We have a device that could rewrite her memories if you'd like. She wouldn't remember much about the facility, but the memories we give her wouldn't feel completely real either. There's some risk of her original memories resurfacing in the future, of course."
Natasha shook her head. "No thank you, Agent Fitz. I think my daughter has been experimented on enough. We'll figure something else out."
Fitz nodded. "The director thought you'd feel that way. I should warn you, she is very strong," Fitz added, self-consciously rubbing his left cheek just below the shiner.
"I think I can manage," Natasha replied with more confidence than she felt. She was surprised to see the others around the table smiling. "I take it, you think I'm making the right call?" she asked Sky.
"It's the call I think a mom would make," she replied. "Here's everything we found in the computer. It may take you some time to go over it. If she wakes before you're finished, we'll come and get you."
"My work here is done," Fury said as he stood up, "good luck, Romanoff. Keep her safe."
Natasha was still reading when Jemma Simmons came into the room. "Agent Romanoff, she's awake."
Natasha nodded and closed the laptop. A glance through the glass showed her the little girl was still pretty groggy, and Natasha decided that was probably not such a bad thing.
She walked up to the child's bed and smiled softly. "Do you know who I am?" she asked when the little girl looked up at her in fear.
"Widow," the child replied, and Natasha was grateful they'd spoken to her in English.
"Yes, I am the Black Widow," Natasha replied, "but I'm also Natasha Romanoff and I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe." The girl didn't look convinced. "Do you know what a mother is?"
"No," the child replied.
"A mother is someone who keeps you safe and takes care of you. I am yours. You were taken from me, but now you're with me and I am going to make sure nobody ever hurts you again. Do you understand?" The child still looked concerned but she nodded. "If I'm going to take care of you, you need a name," Natasha added. "A friend of mine brought me to you. His name is Nick. What do you think about Nicole?"
The little girl shrugged. "I am Weapon A."
"No," Natasha said firmly. "You are nobody's weapon. You are Nicole. You're my daughter, not a weapon. Do you understand me?"
"Nicole," the little girl replied.
"Nicole," Natasha repeated. "Are you ready to get out of her, Nicole?"
Nicole looked up at her and slowly nodded. Natasha could tell her daughter wasn't entirely sure she was safe, but at least she was willing to go with her. For now, that was enough. Natasha only hoped Steve would take the news half as well as Nicole.
Melinda brought Natasha a small suitcase. "The director sent Sky to pick up a few things for her. He thought it might make things a little easier on you."
"Thank you, May."
"You've got this. Don't worry," Melinda said with a softness Natasha hadn't seen in her in years. "You'll be a good mom."
"I'll do my best. It's just not a role I ever expected to play."
"Does he know yet?"
"Rogers? No, I thought I should assess the situation first. I'll talk to him tonight. I'm not sure how he's going to take it."
Melinda just nodded. "She has a good chance now. If we learn more, I'll call you."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. It's Director's orders."
"About that, who's in charge now?"
"Sorry, that's classified, but he's a good man."
"So I hear. Thank him for me."
A few hours later, Natasha pulled into a hotel. She'd have loved to drive straight through to Clint's but Nicole was sleeping with her head touching her chest in the car seat of her rental. Natasha was afraid she'd have a creek in her neck if she stayed in the position too long.
They checked into the hotel and Natasha ordered room service before getting Nicole's pajamas out of her bag. Nicole was quiet, but she was looking around the room. "You can explore the room if you want. You don't have to sit in one place."
Nicole looked up at Natasha again for confirmation before walking to the window and looking out into the night. Natasha watched quietly as Nicole got even braver and opened the desk drawer. Inside, there was a small notepad and a pen. Natasha took it out and drew a flower. "You try. Draw whatever you want."
Nicole picked up the pen and started doodling. She looked at the paper in awe then looked up at Natasha and smiled softly. Natasha's heart melted. Maybe she would be able to help her daughter through this after all. "Drawing is fun. Your dad can draw. Hopefully, you can see him soon. Dads are like moms," she added in explanation. Silently, Natasha looked at the clock. It was already early morning in Moscow, and Steve didn't sleep much. "I'm going to go in the bathroom and make a call. You just keep drawing. I'll look at your picture when I get back."
Natasha sat on the edge of the tub and dialed Steve's number. "Morning, Nat," Steve answered.
"Not here, Cap. It's about bedtime for me."
"I guess it is. This is different. We don't usually talk two days in a row. Is something wrong?"
Natasha sighed. She didn't exactly know how to begin this conversation. "No, not wrong. Actually, I think maybe things are pretty right."
"Good," Steve replied. "Things are looking up here, too. I got a message from that Shield agent they had spying on me in D.C. She has some pretty recent information on Bucky. Sam and I are headed to Berlin to meet her today. This could be it."
Natasha frowned. She couldn't take the chance to find Barnes away from him. "That's great, Steve. I hope you find him soon."
"Me too. Look, I hate to end the call but we have a really early flight and I have to wake the sleeping Falcon."
"Yeah, yeah, of course. Just call me after you finish up with Sharon. What I have to tell you can wait."
"You sure? I'd like to hear about something good for a change."
"I'm sure. It can wait," Natasha replied quickly. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Of course, I should be saying the same to you. Stay safe, Nat."
Natasha went back into the room and found Nicole still doodling on the notepad. They ate as soon as the food was delievered, and Nicole seemed to enjoy her dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. When Natasha put her to bed, she placed the child in the center and put pillows on each side so she wouldn't fall. Nicole looked at her in distress.
"Can't reach," Nicole protested, holding her arm out as far as she could towards the headboard.
Natasha wanted to cry when she realized the reaon for the child's discomfort. Her wrist had faint red marks, similar to the marks that once graced her own arm. "You will not be handcuffed to this bed or any other ever again," Natasha said with more force than necessary then softer, she added, "I want you to feel free to get up if you need to go to the bathroom, and I want you to wake me if you have a bad dream or just need a glass of water. I'll be right in the next bed, and I won't get mad. They shouldn't have treated you the way they did."
Nicole looked at Natasha with a mix of confusion and satisfaction. "I get up?" she asked softly.
"If you need to, you get up. You aren't a prisoner. You're safe."
Seemingly satisfied, Nicole settled in to sleep. Natasha didn't find sleep very easy. This wasn't going to be easy. She only hoped she'd made the right call in not bringing Steve in on the secret right away. Maybe this was for the best. She could help Nicole get her bearings before adding Steve to the equation.
