Many had considered Clint stupid for sparing the Widow's life and letting her into SHIELD so easily- how could you possibly know whether she was genuinely interested in being on the good side or if it was her way of infiltrating SHIELD for the sake of the KGB? And every time, Clint gave them the same response, 'Our first encounter had left me doubtless of her longing to become a better person.'
Clint Barton was two hours in his mission to kill the Black Widow when he realised that he was not the only one attempting to perform that task. The Dragon's Eye, one of the many terrorist organizations on SHIELD's hit list, was also hot on her tail, impatient to avenge a brother of theirs who had died in her hands. And after two week, when the Black Widow turned into a back alley that was part of their territory, they finally took their chances with her. Clint Barton took the opportunity to sit aside on a rooftop nearby to observe the Black Widow in action, and he was anything but disappointed by what he saw.
Several men were sent to ambush her from both sides of the alley. Their attempt to take her by surprise was a complete failure- it took her less than two seconds to notice the men behind her and two more to gun down three of them. Another attempted to shoot at her from point blank range, yet she ducked at the last minute and the bullet buried itself in the heart of the man approaching her from behind instead. The shooter yowled in rage as he threw himself at her. She swiftly gutted him and threw him aside. She turned to meet a new surge of men from the other side of the alley, and she could not help but smile. Her mission had been to eliminate the Dragon's Eye, and their blatant stupidity and attachment to their 'brother' was making her job much easier. Yet in a way, their insistence to avenge their brother was somewhat adorable. She knew full well that if she was to die, no one would care. No one would bother to mourn her, much less avenge her. She shook her head to clear it. She was thinking too much. This had been the longest period of time yet that she had gone without Treatment, and as of now her head was cluttered with thoughts that should have normally been repressed by the Treatment. Any other sensible agent of the KGB would have ran off to Treatment the first chance they had, but going without treatment had allowed her clearer access to her memories- access that she had not been able to have for a long time. And that was why despite how going without treatment for so long just might kill her, she was willing to give it a try. She proceeded to throw herself into battle.
As expected, the men were fairly easy to kill. What was unexpected was the shrill little squeal and the mop of brown hair that emerged as she threw a dead agent at a pile of junk nearby. A frightened little girl with shockingly blue eyes emerged from behind an overturned sofa. An agent immediately trained his gun towards the child and the Black Widow swiftly threw herself at him and broke his neck. For Natalia Romanova knew a bit too well what it felt like to be defenseless.
She was seven and had been recently punished for being caught sneaking bread out of the kitchen. The day started the way it always did at 6 o'clock sharp. Her handcuff was loosened and she slowly straightened herself, groggy and disoriented. Skipping a Treatment had left her weak and fatigued, and the steady growling of her stomach was of no help whatsoever. Lilya, a tiny blonde to the left of her, was discreetly eating scraps of bread which she was retrieving from under her pillow. She froze when she noticed Natalia looking at her. A shadow of sympathy crossed her face as she tentatively reached out, a reasonably sized loaf in her hand. Natalia stared at her in disbelief. The sharing of food never happens in the Red Room. After all, one would be aiding a potential opponent- one that may kill you during fight sessions- by doing so. She reached out with trembling hands and grabbed it. It was cold and hard, but that had always been what food was to Natalia for as long as she could possibly remember.
They began with a fighting session that day. Natasha's blood ran cold as Ma'am gave Raina a knife and told her to go into the ring. Knives meant that today was Kill Day, whereas weaker girls would be pitched against stronger girls and forced to fight. Such matches only end when one of the two had been killed. And the weaker girls- the ones the Red Room intended on killing- never win. As for Raina, she was Ma'am's favourite, with the enviable record of winning every match she had ever been in. Those who were to go against her today were definitely going to die.
Ma'am ran her eyes slowly past the girls standing around the arena. It did not take time for Ma'am to decide on which girl to call onto. Everyone knew that everything had already been planned beforehand. 'Lilya Antonova.' A soft sigh of relief passed through the crowd.
It was not entirely unexpected that Lilya would be called upon. She was small for her age and constantly sick. Natalia felt a soft twinge of compassion and sadness, and immediately chastised herself. Yes, Lilya might have given her bread just that morning, but still it was wrong for Natalia to like her. And so she looked on impassively as Lilya walked towards Ma'am and took hold of the knife she was given.
Yet instead of walking to the ring, Lilya simply stood there, next to the weapon table, pale and trembling, the knife in her hand. 'Go on,' Ma'am remarked sharply, 'Don't waste our time.' Lilya looked up at her, her eyes dull and glassy. 'Yes, Ma'am,' she murmured softly. Then she flipped the knife over and plunged it deep into her heart.
A collective gasp echoed through the arena at this act of defiance, followed by whispering which was quelled swiftly by Ma'am's sharp glare. She proceeded to nod at the two men standing by the door. One of them walked in, picked Lilya up and went back out. The other mopped away the blood. Within half a minute, everything was cleared up and it was as if nothing had ever happened.
'Next up,' Ma'am stated briskly, 'Natalia Romanova.' Horror and dread pooled in the base of her stomach as she dragged her heavy legs to the weapons table. She should have expected this. After all, she was far from the strongest girl in the Red Room. She envied Lilya for having the courage to kill herself, for Natalia knew for sure that she would be incapable of doing the same thing. And so she stepped into the ring, bracing herself for the painful death she was to receive within the coming five minutes. Ma'am blew on her whistle and it began.
Raina lunged at her and Natalia ducked, going for Raina's legs so to unbalance her. Yet her lack of Treatment made her body heavy and lacking in agility. She felt Raina slam her fist into her back and then she was on the ground. She heard the sound of the knife swishing down and immediately rolled aside. The knife missed her by inches. She jumped to her feet and aimed a punch of Raina, unwilling to give her a chance to retrieve her knife which was buried in the training mat. Raina ducked it and reached forward nimbly, giving Natalia's wrist a quick twist. That caused Natalia to loosen her grip on her knife, and the next thing she knew it was in Raina's hand and she was left unarmed. Raina ran at her and this time. She failed to duck and was knocked to the ground, Raina and the knife only inches away from her throat. She could see Raina's proud smirk as she glanced at Ma'am almost as if she were asking for permission, as if she had all the time in the world. Natalia felt the fight drain out of her as she was filled with despair. So this was how she was going to die. Pathetic, helpless, easily overpowered by her opponent within less than two minutes. It was then that she saw Raina's knife, stuck in the training mat within arm's reach. Grabbing hold of it, she plunged it into the top of Raina's head. The knife in Raina's hands fell from her hands, nicked Natalia in the right side of her neck and clattered to the ground. Then Raina went limp and fell onto her. Instinctively, Natalia pushed Raina off her and stood back up. Ma'am nodded at her and followed up with an order, 'Go clean up, Natalia. You are done for today.
It was when she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror that she realised that she was coated in Raina's blood from head to toe. She ran into the nearest cubicle and vomited up everything that was in her. She proceeded to shower for thirty minutes straight. She scrubbed and scrubbed until her skin was raw and pink, yet she knew that she would never feel clean ever again.
It was the day after, when she was given treatment and two times the dosage of super- serum compared to other girls, that she realised that her life was not the only reward she got from winning the fight with Raina.
Note: Natalia Aliana Romanova was Natasha Romanoff's original name back in Russia.