AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello there dolls! Long time no see huh? I hope all my new readers enjoy this new chapter! You're the reason I keep on writing, the enjoyment of others is quite the gift. Just remember, minimal editing is done before I post, so mistakes are bound to be below but enjoy either way huh?

Russian Beauty / American Psycho

This feature is rated T, for obscene language and mild gore. But mostly the language.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but Natasha and Dimitri Angelov. Things that are unfamiliar and original in plot, also belong to me. Anything recognizable, does not but to its respective owners.

They left us alone,
The Kids In The Dark,
To burn out forever,
Or light up a spark,
We come together,
State of the art,
We'll never surrender,
The kids in the dark,
So let the world sing,
"What a shame,
What a shame,
Beautiful scars,
On critical veins, "
Come together,
State of the art,
We'll never surrender,
The Kids in the dark

Kids In The Dark by All Time Low

THREE

New York

June 9, 2001

It was the first rainy day she had seen since arriving in New York. She was hoping that it wasn't a sign of what was to come. It certainly didn't leave a warm feeling with her either way. Raymond had consistently insisted for the past week that today was the day. Today was the day she was to 'coincidentally' meet one miss Elizabeth Scott.

She'd been briefed consistently on her for the last five days. She knew her name, her fathers name, where she grew up and why she was running away to New York. She knew of her very similar lack of biological family. Yet, in all the files she hadn't seen a mention of her actual father. Natasha had noted briefly before being distracted with other facts of her peer, that it was suspicious the way all information on her biological family was missing. Like they had trimmed away the fat and only left the details that weren't vulnerable. She didn't like it. It led her to believe that Raymond wasn't being as honest with her as he was trying to lead her to believe. He had turned over some new leaf with her since she had accepted his proposal. She felt it wasn't all that genuine at times, this being one of them. But as Luli – Raymond's very odd and demure Asian friend and business acquaintance – had told her; it really wasn't any of her goddamn business. Suffice to say, Luli and Natasha? No love lost there.

Raymond had set her up in an apartment in Soho, true to his word. Or sorta…

Well, it really wasn't so much an apartment as a loft. Living room, kitchen and bedroom all in one giant open space and then a bathroom with a shitty shower, sink and squatty little toilet in the corner. Suffice to say, Natasha hadn't been impressed when she was dropped off. With the type of upscale duplex he'd hijacked for himself, she figured she would've at least had something a little better. But, the plush king sized bed hidden behind the red and gold paper Asian room divider? Yeah, she could live with it.

Along with the suitcase of clothes she had acquired since arriving in New York, Raymond had given her a cellphone. Tiny little black square that flipped open with only his number on speed dial. To call if she needed anything or knew anything new about this Elizabeth girl. The amount of interest he was increasingly showing about this soon to be friend of hers, unsettled her. Natasha hadn't grown up in this city or this country, but she had a pretty good grasp on the proper interest a man should have in a girl her age. And his interest in Elizabeth? Bordering on creepy. Even for her.

But if living on that mountain for so long had taught her anything it was don't bite the hand that was feeding you. He'd been good to her since he had suddenly stepped back into her life. Letting her indulge in just about everything any wholesome eighteen year old would in the city without even a bat of an eye. So she wouldn't push him on the matter. Yet.

"Natasha, were you even listening?" Blinking at the sudden obtrusion to her thoughts, she looked to her side where Luli was impatiently watching her from the corner of her eyes as they walked. The older woman had no patience for her new younger counterpart. Luli saw no potential in Natasha. She was a waste of time and space, something she had repeatedly told Raymond ten years ago. She thought he had listened, but here the little Russian was back again.

"The rain sucks." Was Natasha's muttered response as she pulled the hood of her light jacket closer around her face. Luli was holding the umbrella and it was big enough to cover the two of them, but was the Asian being gracious? No. So Natasha was borderline soaked.

"Your name is Amber Campbell. You're from Chicago –"

"I know, Luli," Natasha frowned cutting the woman off. She couldn't believe how stupid Luli thought she was. Just because she didn't listen one hundred percent of the time, didn't mean she didn't know what she was supposed to be doing. She knew her new alias, frontwards and backwards actually and she could handle it. She didn't know how she was going to handle faking the actual enthusiasm that was going to be needed to really get this Elizabeth character baited but, she figured it would come to her. Well, she hoped it would anyways.

Narrowing her eyes on Natasha, Luli stopped suddenly and snatched the younger girls wrist tightly in her own. A look that would intimidate the strongest of men was etched on her face. By the pursed lips on Natasha's face, Luli couldn't tell if she was successful or not but continued forward with her intimidation. "You don't screw this up, Natasha do you understand me? For some idiotic reason, Raymond trusts you. I don't think you can handle this, anyone would be better but you. But we're short on options right now, so it's you, for now."

"What an amazing pep talk, Luli. Thanks." Natasha spat, snatching her wrist right out of Luli's tight grasp. She absolutely couldn't wait to be rid of her. She'd heard her talking to Raymond about going back to Asia for some of his business soon and she couldn't be happier to hear it.

Natasha knew she was just a kid. A kid that has been raised in what was basically just a glorified kids home. She knew she wasn't the best candidate for much of anything right now. All she knew was what the monks had taught her and quite frankly, none of it had been all that practical. She would admit she'd learned a lot since she came to America though. She could blend in easily enough into the shadows on the more sketchy streets of New York and she could lure most of the murky people into giving her just about any information about the streets.

She didn't know for sure if she could become an entirely new person – when she wasn't even eighty percent sure who she was – but she was damn ready and eager to try. It was a step in a new direction for Natasha, she wanted a future and she wanted stability. She didn't know if doing this one job for Red would lead to any of that for sure, but it was a start. And she damn sure wasn't letting any pre-menopause stricken woman ruin that for her.

"Natasha-"

"My name is Amber." Luli narrowed her eyes on Natasha as the younger girl gave her a pointed look that nearly rivaled her own before disappearing into the revolving doors of the library Elizabeth was supposed to be inside of.

Natasha didn't spare the older woman a backwards glance as she steeped into the library. Considering the weather outside, she couldn't say she was surprised by the pretty good size crowd of people milling about. It was fairly quiet considering the amount of people and she wasn't sure why it left her so unsettled. But, after a final cursory glance to the front foyer of the building she decided to keep moving. Elizabeth was in here somewhere.

Let's hope this wasn't going to be awkward.

Why was she even supposed to be in this stupid library anyways? Natasha couldn't help but find herself wondering as she wandered up and down the aisle and aisles of books. She loved reading just as the next person and had actually spent a lot of time with the monks in their own library but that was before she had seen the world. Why be cooped up in here when you could be out there? Even if it was raining. The question left her regretting taking this endeavor on more and more.

Then, to her left, in the far corner of second level of the library, hidden off in the corner was a table. Sitting at the table, all by her lonesome was what appeared to be one Elizabeth Scott. She looked just as out of place as Natasha felt. She looked just like the pictures that had been paper clipped to her file. Dark brown, shoulder length hair and a set of blue eyes that swept the room in distrust every other beat of her heart. Talk about a girl after her own heart.

Taking only the same time as it took to take a breath to decide how to approach her, she quickly snatched the nearest book off of a shelf and slowly began making her way over to her. Probably best not to appear to eager in this situation.

Clearing her throat awkwardly once she was within an arms reach of the table, she smiled awkwardly down at Elizabeth. "Do you, uh, mind..? You're like the least creepy looking person here." Natasha laughed as she watched what little defenses she had up fall from her eyes like butter. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all..

"Go ahead. Good to hear I'm not creepy." Elizabeth laughed as Natasha took the seat across from her. Elizabeth didn't normally welcome strangers so quickly, but coming to New York was for new pages, that's what the young American kept telling herself anyways.

"I'm Amber." Natasha supplied with a genuine smile as she put her hand out to her across the table. It was funny, here she had thought she was going to have a hard time feigning interest in her and now that she was actually face to face with her, it wasn't that hard after all. She genuinely wanted to know now why Red was so keen on her. Natasha wondered if there was something so similar between them that made them both of interest to him.

"Liz." She replied, extending her own hand across the table with ease. "You're not a New Yorker either, huh?"

Natasha's face creased slightly in a frown. Was she that obvious? She hadn't meant to be. She'd been trying to absorb as much American culture as she could the last week to blend better. She had been like a goddamn sponge okay. Red had claimed it had worked the night before, that she was barely even discernible from any other eighteen year old in the country. She won,sent say it too boldly, but she was pretty sure that he had looked proud. Natasha had been quite happy with herself too, much to Lila's charging over the matter. Maybe that's why she had been so happy.

Elizabeth noticed the unease on her companions face and quickly folded her hands in her lap, dropping her gaze back to the book in front of her. She hadn't meant to offend her and Natasha knew she hadn't but she couldn't help the gnawing feeling in her gut. She could already see the end when she hadn't even begun yet. Curse the monks and their teachings of forethought, Natasha thought bitterly.

"I'm from Baltimore." Elisabeth supplied unsurely as she looked to Natasha who still had the funniest look on her delicate features.

Natasha only continued to frown across at the girl. Did Americans not understand the whole stranger danger thing either? Did they go around giving away important details as she did her life and trust? If that was the case with the more law abiding citizens, then Natasha had this thing in the hole.

She almost began to feel bad about her more nefarious reasons for approaching Elizabeth as a warm and inviting smile dances across her face. Elizabeth actually seemed rather nice the longer she sat there with her. Natasha knew just sitting and awkwardly staring at her wasn't necessarily the best way to ascertain someone's character but she couldn't help it. Her nerves were suddenly on edge as she struggled to remember every detail of her new alias; all the tiny details that she had known frontwards and back fifty seconds ago.

Why had she rushed over here again? Why hadn't she just taken her time? Just milled about and waited for the absolute coincidence that Elizabeth might've come to her? Why hadn't she let Lila repeat everything to her at least once more? Why had she been so goddamn cocky? She wasn't cocky dammit!

Why? Why was she even here again?

"Are you alright?"

Why?

"Ummm… Chicago. I'm from Chicago." Natasha finally muttered out, her eyes dropping immediately as if she was still unsure of her answer. That's what the file had said right? Chicago? Far enough away to be legitimate but not too far to seem unrealistic. Yes, that's what Reddington had said.

"Oh cool! I almost went there instead," Liz laughed. "Gotta get away from your family right?"

Getting away from your family? Yeah, she'd gotten that prize of freedom at a young age. They both had according to her file. So why exactly was she acting like she hadn't..? Was she just being aloof because Natasha was a stranger? Or was she a test set up by Reddington? She didn't know where the idea had spring from, but once she had it, she couldn't drop it.

What if he really was just setting her up? Either to see her fail or to succeed, she wasn't sure. But, it really was a logical idea. He had sprung the idea on he pretty suddenly. And everything was planned so precisely. Perhaps this was his way of seeing if she was really worth any more time, if she had whatever potential he thought she did. She couldn't help but be annoyed by the thought either, he was treating her like some child! Like she didn't know better, like she couldn't handle herself. Why did she even think she could trust him? He'd betrayed her before, he'd betrayed a child before. So who said he couldn't betray her again as an adult?

"Uh, Amber?" A tentative voice asked, eyebrows raised and a look of confusion on her young face. Well damn, she was really sucking at this wasn't she?

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Natasha laughed shaking her head. "Just got lost, ya know?"

"Oh, I didn't mean-"

"You're fine, Liz."

She didn't want to have to fake happiness over a family she had in Chicago. She didn't want to let herself think about Red betraying her either. Both thoughts left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth akin to bile. She needed to focus. Liz was the task at hand, be she a set up or otherwise she didn't know. But, she wasn't going to fail either way. She was positive of it.

"What brings you to New York huh?" Liz asked with interest as she idly turned the pages of the book in front of her. Natasha couldn't quite figure out what the book was but tried not to let her more curious nature obsess over some thing so meaningless when she had other matters to worry over.

Natasha could tell how much she was trying to engage her the more she closed up. She wasn't sure if she should contribute that to being desperate for friendship or something else… She really did suck at personable interactions she decided. She was going to have to work on that. Now, what was her answer supposed to be again?

College. Her answer was supposed to include college. Luli had created this long and elaborate story for her to tell Elizabeth. Had said that the more complicated the lie, the more believable it was. Natasha somehow doubted the older woman's knowledge. All the lying she had ever done in her life, she had kept the details short and sweet. Easier to keep track of, she had always thought and it had worked too. She'd gotten away with plenty of late night library trysts on that mountain, not at all exciting but still. She'd wiggled her way out of plenty of true accusations too. She hadn't been the easiest teenager to placate, as her fellow classmates had been. She'd always wanted more. She'd never been too sure of what that more was until Reddington had showed up in her life again and brought her here.

So, basically, she didn't fancy the idea of listening to Luli all that much.

"Oh, NYU. It wasn't my first choice, but I like the city so far." Natasha finally shrugged, forcing whatever nervousness forming in her belly to quell. She wasn't a little girl trying to lie her way into extra bread at supper time. She wasn't even going to bother admitting to herself that, that wasn't one of her finer moments.

"Oh! Me too," Liz laughed. "Have you decided on a major yet? I haven't yet. My dad insists I need to before the semester starts." Natasha noticed how put off she seemed to be at the last part. Guess she had similar daddy issues then.

"Nah, too lazy. My old man thinks I'd be good in psychology though. See how that works out, maybe." Natasha answered with a small smile, lying with so much ease she could taste the bitterness on her tongue.

The old man she was referring to however, was the monk that had taken her under his wing at the school. She'd been too unruly and hard to understand when she first got onto that mountain, but he hadn't cared. Had told her time and time again that she needed to harness her soul, her inner power. She could be so much if she did, he had told her over and over. He said that she was blessed by the divine power, that she could read people like a book. Maybe that was why she was always in the library, she remembered him teasing her. He'd been discommunicated from the school and the religion of the monks not too long before she turned fifteen.

Now that she was actually thinking about the monk she'd pushes to the far corners of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder two things; had he been right about her? And where he was now? He'd been the only father figure she'd ever known and the thought made her heart pang in grief before Liz was tearing her attention back to her.

"Oh! That sounds interesting. Your dad sounds cool." Pretending she actually cared about the girl in front of her? Easy. Pretending like she had a fully functioning family waiting for her in some Windy City? Not so much.

"So cool." Natasha said more to herself than anything, sarcasm leaking into her words. The only man she'd idolized at that godforsaken school had been so cool he'd been dragged kicking and screaming from the mountain. She didn't like to think about how cool he'd been. Natasha had stopped even trying to fit in with her fellow youth at that time. She was the student of the crazy monk, so who even cared about Natasha Angelova right?

"You wanna go find some food..?" Liz asked suddenly, when Natasha looked back up to the girl she immediately noticed her slightly widened eyes. Was she nervous? "I know we just met, but I had like the hardest time even finding this place. So you up for it or what?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow at Liz and smiled slightly, she was nervous about her. Now wasn't that just the cutest thing. Here she was stressing over how to deal with her and coax her into a friendship when she was nervous herself. She'd been pretty positive she was turning the girl off to her pretty quickly, but maybe Natasha had been wrong. But maybe, birds of a feather just flocked together ya know.

"Food sounds good. Think I saw some sort of Chinese place a few blocks over," Natasha supplied and immediately Liz's shoulders relaxed, giving Natasha an easy smile of her own.

"Oh! Egg rolls sound amazing!" Liz grinned with so much enthusiasm Natasha thought her face was going to split in two. Finally, some one who was eagerly enthusiastic as she was over food, she thought happily before pausing.

Natasha didn't let her happy face change even the slightest, but her body tensed as she realized the kinship she was beginning to feel towards the American stranger she was supposed to be infiltrating, not actually befriending. She wasn't supposed to genuinely like her dammit. Luli had actually demanded as such during their extensive briefings on the girl. Something about not being capable of rational decisions if you were overly attached to a target. She didn't really understand the sentiment behind Luli's guiding words, but she didn't feel like finding out.

Natasha had felt careless just leaving the books they'd had at the table as they quickly dispersed with just a not to the other in agreement, but found herself caring less at the dirty look the librarian gave them as they passed. She'd acted like they were causing a ruckus or something. Freaking sour puss, Natasha concluded to herself silently as the two of them paused at the revolving doors.

It was still raining outside, they both noticed with frowns. It want as terrible as it had been when Natasha had been on the street earlier with Luli, but it was still rain and Natasha still wasn't fond of it or getting wet. Again.

"We can make a run for it," Liz suggested suddenly with a grin so big it had Natasha frowning all that much more. Natasha took a deep breath at the sudden suggestion, feeling like Elizabeth was going to end up being more of a handful than she was. Happy happy, joy joy, she thought to herself sarcastically as she noticed Elizabeth preparing for the mad dash. Did she not realize it was blocks for fucks sake?!

Elizabeth laughed a heartbeat later, not even leaving time for Natasha to react as she grabbed a hold of Natasha's hand and towed her behind her through the revolving door and out into the rain. Natasha sputtered as she was immediately soaked again, right down to the bone. Somehow, the rain seemed colder as the two of them splashed down the sidewalk. The lucky people with umbrellas in front of them, moved out of their way as quickly as they could as Natasha struggled to keep up with Liz. The only coherent thought in Natasha's mind as she ran was if this girl was on freaking crack!

"I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Liz commented loudly through the rain, grinning over her shoulder at Natasha with a pair of bright blue eyes, adrenaline clearly pumping through the teens body. Liz was certainly thrilled over their sprint in the rain and Natasha? Natasha could only force herself to smile in response as she continually mentally cursed herself.

She'd looked so damn innocent in her file! Like she'd be easy and boring and calm, most of all calm. She hadn't planned on being pulled around the wet goddamn city by the American teen! It definitely wasn't on her top ten of anything okay. Natasha certainly felt deceived, she decided quickly as Elizabeth picked up the pace, the bright neon sign of the Chinese restaurant she'd noticed with Luli flashing just feet ahead. Thank god.

What had Raymond fucking Reddington gotten her into this time?