Perfect Target

Dear Natalia,

I am one of the newest girls admitted into the Red Room. I am six years old. I was scared when I first arrived, but when I heard of everything you do as Black Widow, it makes me excited to become one myself. I cannot wait to meet you so we can make Mother Russia proud together. I want to be Black Widow just like you. I hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Yelena

Whatever plan the Thule Society had wasn't any of their assassin's concern. Whatever gripe they had with SHIELD wasn't any of her concern either. She was only there and only did what they asked of her because they were paying her. That had been her modis operandi ever since they Red Room dissolved years ago.

When she discovered that Natalia was involved with SHIELD's efforts, she almost offered to kill her for free. Almost. She still had bills to pay and one million would last her quite some time. Other than that, the money didn't motivate her.

Natalia was the best there was. She could accomplish feats that no other spy could dream of. She was the best, the brightest, the greatest graduate the Red Room had ever produced. Even after she defected, she still made her handlers proud. No one knew this as well as Yelena Belova. Well, no one who was still breathing.

Yelena was the very last Black Widow to graduate just before the Red Room saw its final days. She was the only student to match Natalia's grades. In every respect except experience, she was her equal. Of course, the lack of experience put her at a disadvantage. She wasn't so arrogant that she failed to realize that. It was why she hadn't confronted her right away, as she wanted to when she first saw her in the Czech Republic.

Before they could meet face to face, Yelena needed to take care of the SHIELD agents surrounding her. According to her intel, they were Dr. Barbara Morse, Alphonso MacKenzie, and Antoine Triplett. Highly trained – for Americans – enough to give her a moderate amount of problems, and certainly enough to distract her from her main target, Natalia.

It was because she didn't care about Thule Society's endgame that she wasn't alarmed when she found the agents asking questions and get answers from Thule's contacts. Regardless of whatever threat was laid at their feet, the Czechs feared the authorities much more than whoever this 'superior' was. If it wasn't so sad, it would have been funny.

Yelena tailed them, wearing a different disguise each time to minimize the risk of, not being seen, but being recognized. The inevitability of her being noticed – especially when tailing someone like Natalia – was unavoidable.

"So, we know that Thule Society plans on stealing some kind of chemical weapons," Morse noted quietly. Yelena tracked them down to a small rundown inn in some small, nondescript city that no one could remember the name of. In the guise of an elderly woman, she hobbled over to a bench across the street. In her ear was a listening device, cleverly disguised as a hearing aid.

"Do we?" Mack questioned. "The man didn't specify; he just said they were planing on stealing something that would make a ruckus. Whatever the hell that's supposed to mean."

"Whatever it is," Triplett interjected before Morse could get another word out, "it won't be good. We need to figure out where their next target is."

Yelena wasn't privy to that information. That didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were desperate enough to follow any lead, no matter where it ended.

A plan formulated in her mind. She would drop fake intel, small little breadcrumbs that would lead the members of Natalia's little team right where Yelena wanted them. From there, she would pick them off one by one until the game board only had two pieces left – herself and Natalia. Granted, that wasn't going to be easy. SHIELD agents – while not as savvy and alert as Black Widows – were notoriously difficult to goad into a trap. Well, the more experienced of them weren't, at least.

Unfortunately, the people with Natalia seemed to be experienced enough to avoid taking unnecessary risks by themselves. This was going to take a little more planning and more reconnaissance.

The agents moved the discussion to their next targets, who they planned on interrogating for answers next. She noticed that throughout the conversation, Natalia remained silent. The Americans were dominating in their discourse, true, but not enough for her to not get a single word in edge wise. Где ты, Наталья?

{Where are you, Natalia?}

She pretended to be adjusting her glasses in preparation to read the book in her hand, but in reality, she was pressing a discreet button on the side of the frames. This switched the lenses from transparent to x-ray so she could see through the walls of the modest inn. She found three people inside, and only three. Judging from the size and figure of the lone woman, it was Morse. Natalia was missing.

Где ты, американка?

{Where are you, American?}

She was nowhere to be found. The most dangerous individual on her hit list was gone without a trace, and Yelena had no clue where she might have gone. She cursed silently and slowly lurched off the bench, even making herself lose her balance to keep up appearances.

Suddenly, a pair of small, but strong hands grasped her left arm, keeping her steady. Дерьмо!

{Shit!}

"Mám vás, madam. Neboj," came a woman's voice just out of her peripheral vision.

{I have you ma'am. Don't worry.}

She turned to looked, a gesture akin to startled old woman desperate to see the face of her savior. It was her. Natalia was standing right beside her, both hands gripped around her padded bicep. Surely, there was little chance that she recognized her, or even suspected that she wasn't what she appeared to be, but Yelena didn't want to take any undue risks. Not at this early juncture. "Děkuji vám, mladá žena," she spoke, voice convincingly shaky, but tinged with an unmistakable graciousness.

{Thank you, young woman.}

She straightened – but still clearly hunched over – and hobbled away with the aid of a crudely made cane. Once she was around the corner, she let out the breath she had been holding in since contact was made. Her heart wouldn't stop thumping in her chest. Natalia was right there! It would have been no trouble at all to put a bullet in her skull, then escape before the agents in the inn across the street could even comprehend what happened.

No. No, no, no. That was no good. She needed to plan this out. Natasha would never succumb to such a tactic. This plan needed to be perfect to kill the perfect target.

Yelena sighed and reached into her coat pocket. Only then – when she was fishing around for something else – did she feel the unmistakable shape of a tracking device; undoubtedly planted on her when Natalia was helping her to her feet.

She huffed and deftly deposited it when she passed an elderly man who was walking in the same direction as her. She wasn't sure how Natalia figured out who she was, but it was enough to compel her to be more careful.

She had to be perfect, because Natalia was the perfect target. The ultimate prize for the young assassin.