A/N: Thanks for the feedback! Please read and review!

'Cause I have lived my life in debt, I've spent my days in deep regret

The fight was quick and dirty. She was quickly out of bullets and having to rely too much on her Widow's bite. It was something of a relief to see that Yelena had two pistols, though soon both were just using knives. While Natasha preferred not to add to the number of deaths on her record, they gave her little choice. Yelena didn't seem to have the same hang-ups, and was as brutal as Natasha remembered her being when they were products of the Red Room. Despite their skill, they were outmatched when the initial three men were soon joined by others. Some of these were dressed well enough to indicate that they had been at the gala, but many were chauffeurs, bodyguards, busboys, or whatever else. They seemed to come out of nowhere, and no civilians were joining them. Which made it seem more and more like a trap, set for Yelena. Natasha could only hope that her unexpected appearance might thwart their plans.

Most of the men were average in build or at least training, and the two women cut through the crowd pretty well. Until a half dozen men in dark blue uniforms showed up. They were as skilled as the old STRIKE team, and Natasha found that the two who attacked her could take a lot of punishment. As much as she could give. She glanced over at Yelena to check on her just in time to see that she was being held by three of the others, while a fourth came at her with a syringe. Distracted as Natasha was by her own assailants, she couldn't get there in time to stop them from injecting something that caused Yelena to go limp almost immediately, her eyes rolling back into her head as she did so.

Reinvigorated, Natasha pressed against those around her with ferocity, managing to break through and reach her friend before they could do anything else to her. She stood over the prone figure brandishing her knives and trying to figure out how she could possibly get the two of them out of this.

"Don't worry, girl, we aren't here for you," one of the men in dark blue laughed.

"Then I'm sure you won't mind letting me go on my way," she shot back.

"You, sure," he replied, stepping back and motioning toward a clear pathway.

Calmly, she sheathed her knives and put her hands on her hips haughtily. "That's what I thought," she said before bending to put Yelena's arm around her shoulders. The dead weight was a problem, and Natasha was thankful for her friend's relatively petite size as she began to drag her away.

"Sorry, girl, but we have strict orders about that lady," the man, clearly the one in charge, moved back into her path.

Glaring, she opened her mouth to retort before another voice interrupted them.

"What's going on out here?!" a (real) security guard demanded, no doubt attracted by the distinctive sound of 'silenced' gunfire.

Finally, Natasha thought with impatience. "I need an ambulance for my friend," she told him before anyone else could answer.

The guard frowned at her, then at the man in blue, before looking slightly shocked at the other men strewn across the grass and gravel. "Seems like she can wait in line," he said before making a call for one.

Natasha could see that the men were not too keen on being interrupted, and used the tiny window provided by their making sure the guard didn't talk about what he'd seen to drag Yelena out of immediate view. Ignoring the tightness in her chest, she managed to get them back where there were other civilians waiting outside, who seemed understandably startled by her tattered appearance. "Thieves," she explained, letting some of her real fear show on her face.

"Oh, you poor dears," was the general reaction, and one of the men helped her while the valet fetched her car. They offered more assistance, but she figured she better get as far away from those men in blue as she could. Once the two of them were safely in her car, she called Nick Fury.

"You really need to lie still," the nurse told Natasha firmly, pressing on her shoulder.

"I've had worse," she insisted, trying again to get out of the bed.

"Young lady," the nurse tried again as the door to the room opened.

"Natasha," Nick Fury stood framed in the brighter lights from the corridor.

She smiled at him, lying back demurely. "Hello, Nick," she said.

"Give us a moment," he told the nurse authoritatively. Frowning, she left the room. "She was poisoned. Morphine overdose. I expect they planned to make it look like an accident or a suicide. She's going to be fine." As he explained, he pulled up the one chair in the room and studied her. "It's lucky you were there."

Raising an eyebrow, she smirked. "You didn't send me there to meet her?"

"Believe it or not, there is only one Black Widow in my employ."

"You only keep track of people who work for you?"

He gave her an exasperated sigh. "I can see you're feeling better."

Hissing, she leaned over to pick up her phone from the table and looked at its screen. "I met McMasters, gave him my card. Haven't heard from him yet. None of the other execs were there."

Fury nodded, watching her carefully. "Well, get some rest. It can wait."

He stood to leave, and she grabbed his sleeve. "They were after her."

"Yeah, and they would have gotten her if not for you," he replied soothingly, perhaps thinking her non sequitur was the result of the drugs in her system.

"No, I mean they targeted her because she was a Black Widow," she explained with forced patience.

That made him sit back down. "How do you know?"

"I overheard them say they were going get this Widow and then go get some more. I don't know why they didn't recognize me, but they're definitely after us."

Fury studied her for a long moment. "I'll see what I can find out about the others. You'll be perfectly safe here. I'll check in as soon as I know something," he promised.

Feeling defeated and very tired, Natasha just nodded. Fury patted her shoulder before leaving and she gave in to whatever was in that IV.

When she awoke, her brain no longer felt cloudy. The minor wounds she had sustained were stitched and bandaged, and she decided there was no longer any reason for her to be in this place. There was no sign of the staff, and a cursory glance at her phone revealed that she had only slept for a few hours and received no new information in the meantime. Dragging herself off of the bed, she took a deep breath to steady herself. Her stuff was in a pile in the corner and she dressed quickly, feeling much better once she was armed again. The dress was a little torn, but passable.

Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she walked slowly down the hallway, peering into each room she passed. Avoiding the staff was something of a challenge, and she smiled sweetly at the startled gentlemen in one of the rooms where she hid. Yelena was in the fourth room, and Natasha shut the door behind her after she entered. Quietly, she pulled up the uncomfortable chair in the room and took her oldest friend's hand.

"Wake up, Yelena," she murmured in Russian. The blond shifted slightly, frowning, before settling again. "Yelena," Natasha said a little louder.

"I hate toe shoes," Yelena muttered, bringing up her hands to rub her eyes. She took in the room with a deepening frown. "Where are we, Natalia?"

"In a hospital in Leipzig. Some men in green uniforms tried to kill you. Any idea why?"

Yelena pulled herself into a sitting position and cleared her throat. Most poisons left one with severe dry-mouth, Natasha reflected. "Not a clue. Did they have any kind of insignia?"

"No, criminals tend not to advertise their organizations these days," Natasha replied.

Smirking, Yelena nodded. "Yeah. Well, I have my fair share of enemies. I'm sure you do, too. No one in particular comes to mind."

Natasha looked away thoughtfully. "They said they were going after Widows."

"It's been years, decades?, since we were last together and using that name. What could they possibly want with us now?" Yelena asked, clearly startled at the suggestion.

"I have no idea. Do you keep in contact with any of the others?"

"No, we didn't part on exactly friendly terms."

Smiling slightly, Natasha shrugged. "Yeah, that's what I figured. Well, I'll see what I can find out about whoever is left. You might want to check into anyone you know from back then," she added as she got to her feet.

With a nod, Yelena swung her legs out of the bed. "You don't think I'm going to stick around like a sitting duck, do you?" she asked when Natasha raised an eyebrow at her.

"I suppose not. You want me to wait for you?"

"No need. I'll keep in touch," Yelena replied as she began to sort through her pile of clothes.

"Stay safe, my friend," Natasha told her as she headed for the door.

"You too."