Glad people still like the story! Thanks for the reviews, Natasha gets a little more open in this chapter, enjoy :)

That night Tony told the others what had happened. An air of uncomfortableness settled over them. Everyone seemed to be thinking bout what to do but no one was coming up with anything. They all were sitting quietly with out looking at each other.

"I guess all we can do is try and make things normal for Natasha. Not ignore it, but try and get her to focus on other things." Bruce said.

"I guess." Steve said, resting his chin on his fist in a defeated way.

"If we can find anything about what they did to train her that would be helpful." Bruce said quietly.

"If she was trained as a warrior even as a small girl then we should not stop her training completely. I think it would only anger her." Thor said. "Perhaps if she was given some time in the gym every now and then it would help her find this place more to her liking."

"That might be a good idea." Bruce nodded. "It might get her some exercise too."

"I can take her tomorrow." Clint said. "I promised her we'd go swimming anyway."

"Alright, we'll leave her to you then. If you need anything don't hesitate to call one of us."

Clint grinned. "I think I've done okay so far."

"Actually I think you've done a great job so far." Bruce interjected. "She really likes you."

Clint smiled, pleased with himself and glad that her liking him wasn't just in his head. He sat back with the others and they talked a little more about what they knew. Natasha had never been very open about the Red Room. They knew what it was called. They had fought a few other products from the Room before. Still, they knew almost nothing.

As the day wore on they called Natasha back for dinner and she proudly told them all about how she had helped stop a robbery. Some part of her registered that she had done something good with her training. She had helped people. She was proud of that.

The others told her they were proud too but she sensed some hesitance. Maybe they were unsure of how to react. She knew not every one was okay with a girl who could do what she could. Some of them pitied her, some feared her and others just felt disgusted that a child had learned to kill.

Steve got her talking a little about her combat practice. She didn't mind. She could talk seriously and intelligently about it.

He was delicate in the matter. He tried very hard not to sound shocked or disproving. Instead he kept a straight face and engaged her in as adult a manner as he could. Still, it wasn't easy to listen to a six year old talk about learning to kill.

"Well I'm the best." She said proudly. "Everyone says so. Even when they don't want to. When they taught us to shoot I hit the target before anyone else learned to. Even Alipova admitted I was better than she was." There was a smug look on Natasha's face. "She's not as good as she thinks she is."

"So you're the best?" Steve asked, trying to keep his voice neutral. Bucky had been young but he hadn't been as you as her."

"Yup."

"Are there any rewards when you do something well?" Bruce asked, eyes narrowed.

"No. We are given everything equal."

"So equal food, equal shelter?" He pressed.

She nodded. "Yes." The she looked troubled. "But the food is never good and if we do badly or don't do what we're told we don't get it. Sometimes we're punished. One time Sofiya got caught trying to escape. She was beaten up by Mariya."

"Who's Mariya?" Tony asked, leaning forward.

"Mariya was supposed to be a Widow. There were girls before us but they failed. I think Mariya is angry that we haven't failed like she did. She takes it out on us." Resentment crossed Natasha's face. "Sometimes she takes my food or slaps me when I haven't done anything and she's always mean. She calls me ugly and says I'm going to fail. But I'm not going to. She's the failure."

"She's sounds like a very unpleasant person." Steve said quietly.

Natasha nodded. "I don't like her but she's not as bad as Alisa. She's the worst. She's always mean and she doesn't just hit, she stabbed Viktoriya one time cause Vicktoriya didn't want to fight Sofiya anymore. We were supposed to be sparring. Vicky wanted to stop because Sofiya had already beaten her up a whole bunch. Alisa got mad and beat her up a whole bunch and then she stabbed her. She got in trouble with the doctors for that. They said she got carried away."

"Who are the doctors?" Bruce asked quietly.

This time Natasha looked uncomfortable. "I don't like them. They're so cold. They never smile and they always take a lot of blood. They stick me with needles and then I'm always dizzy and tired after. They also electrocuted me one time. I asked them to stop but they just kept doing it. They wouldn't even tell me why." The others winced and her voice got lower. "Sometimes they make me run for hours cause they wanna see how long I can do it. They said I ran longer and faster than anyone else but I was so tired I didn't care."

Clint reached out and brushed a hand over the back of her head, as much for himself as for her. "That's awful."

A moment of vulnerability flashed over her features and she leaned into his touch. "Yeah." It was barely a whisper. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have to do this stuff. I wish I could be like other girls." Then she added. "I like being here. You guys are really nice." Her face flushed when she said it but she meant it.

Steve smiled and squeezed her hand. "We like having you here."

She gave him a smile back and although it was small she was glad to hear it. "Thank you." After that she excused herself from the table and went and got ready for bed. She was glad they enjoyed having her around.

They spent the night talking and when it was done and she had gone on to bed Steve sat back, rubbing his face. "I um. . . she talks like it's all so normal."

Tony who was studying the woodgrain of the table looked down at the floor. "Well it explains why she's so good at what she does."

"She's a strong person not to have let this ruin her." Thor said.

They all sat quietly, it was a strange and awful story and yet she had been proud of her accomplishments and spoken of everything so normally that for a second she almost seemed like any other girl, talking of her accomplishments.

That night as Steve lay in bed all he could think of was how useless he felt. He wished there was something he could do to help Natasha and yet she was afraid of him. Not only that she seemed to hate him. When he had gotten her talking about the Red Room she had almost been bragging.

He had never really wished to be someone else before. Even when he was young and trying to get into the army. He had just wished to be different then but now it was who he was that she didn't like and he wished he could change that.

He kept thinking of all the things he could do to make her like him. He had bought her gifts and been as kind as he could possibly be but so far she had only become civil with him.

He fell asleep with lots of half baked plans in his head, trying to think of every way he could to make the girl like him and he dreamed of the stories she had told. Of a little red haired girl standing in the snow. Of blood in the snow and on the snow and how utterly calm she was.

Thanks for reading!

Something REALLY big happens next chapter!