So I decided to write bonus chapters for A Product of the Red Room. I mainly wanted to explore what would've happened after the final chapter. Today, I wanted to examine the character of Tatiana, the girl only known for deciding to call the police. I just think that recovery for these girls would no go easily, especially the older ones. The next one will be goofier and with a lot more Brutasha.
Tatiana sat in the office, waiting for Natasha and the reprimand that would likely follow. Natasha always understood her. Dr. Banner understood as well, but the level of care he showed for her made her uncomfortable. She was glad it was Natasha who picked up the phone. In the meantime, Tatiana stared at the assistant principal blankly. She was a fat, ugly woman that ate far too much chocolate. Her greasy skin annoyed Tatiana. She was always taught to groom herself properly. Mrs. Bell didn't even bother to wipe the tiny bit of chocolate residing at the corner of her mouth. Mrs. Bell tried asking her questions but eventually sighed.
"You aren't going to talk until your guardian's here, are you?"
Tatiana shook her head.
Mrs. Bell sighed again. She sighed a lot. It was heavy and dramatic bordering on theatrical. The door opened with a resounding click. Natasha walked in, wearing heels and a pencil skirt. She must have been doing something important before. Tatiana felt the sudden urge to sink in her seat but didn't.
"Hello, Mrs. Bell."
"Oh I didn't realize, I just thought—"
"Coincidence? Same name?" Natasha put her hand on Tatiana's shoulder. Tatiana liked that. It wasn't heavy and threatening, just a squeeze of the shoulder, "Where's Mr. Clark?"
"He uhm well—"
"Never mind, that doesn't matter." Natasha moved to sit next to Tatiana, but it didn't make her any less threatening to Mrs. Bell. The woman practically cowered in the SHIELD representative's presence. Tatiana wanted to laugh but her mouth didn't even twitch, "What is it that you wanted to discuss?"
"Maybe Tatiana should—"
"Tatiana stays." Natasha replied in a clipped tone.
"She knocked a fellow student out. We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to violence."
Tatiana stared at herself in the mirror. She looked like an American high school student. Dark wash jeans and a blue knit shirt over a white tank top and boots seemed to be the uniform in the fall. A bit of light makeup covered her face, with eyeliner being the only real notable part. Her hair was long, wavy and loose. It was her first day of school and she was absolutely terrified.
The other girls had been going half the day for two weeks but Natasha thought it best that she wouldn't start just yet. Tatiana wanted to put it off forever. Her first job had been at a school in Spain. She killed a teacher. She didn't know why she was supposed to, she just did because her handler said so. Now Sarska was dead and Natasha was her—guardian—and as her guardian, she told Tatiana that she must go to school. She wasn't gathering intelligence. She wasn't slipping in and slipping out as a new transfer student. She was just going to school, with a class schedule and everything. She didn't know how to feel about it.
"It's going to be perfectly fine." She knew the moment that Dr. Banner (she couldn't bring herself to call him Bruce, and definitely not Green Man, like all the other girls) said it, that there was a good chance of things going poorly.
Her first class, Chemistry, was interesting. She knew a lot about it already, but not so much that it made it boring. She never made it to the other classes though. Boys were pushing and shoving each other in the hallway. It was a mock of a real fight, mainly blustering that made it difficult to get around them to go to her next class. Somehow, a thin looking boy that looked vaguely Hispanic got tossed in and immediately punched, landing near her. Tatiana didn't know what made her did it, but she helped him up and then turned to lead him away when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey what are you—"
Tatiana reacted immediately, pushing the boy she helped away and shoving her arm in another's gut, then tossing him over her shoulder and slamming him down hard on the tile floor. She blinked. She hadn't meant to. She really hadn't meant harm and any real opponent would have gotten back up or at least made an aim for her legs but then a lady was calling her and leading her to the office.
"I will talk to her." That was all Natasha said and she didn't the entire ride home. The other girls hadn't been released from school yet and Natasha didn't lead Tatiana up to the house but made her way past it, to an open grassy yard that was fenced and twenty yards away from the rugged and rocky beach and cliffs. Tatiana looked past it at the ocean. She had never gotten used to the ocean at all.
"I don't want to do this. I don't think I can."
"Of course you can."
"I don't feel like I can. I don't think I'm meant to." Tatiana bit her lip, "Can't I—join SHIELD? I know more than most of those agents and I can learn what else I need to and—"
"Tatiana, you're fifteen."
"So? I have the skills—"
"But not the emotional maturity required—or for that matter, legal adulthood." Natasha replied, "And there's a long way to go before I think you'll be an asset to SHIELD."
"But it's what I know—"
Natasha turned, backhanding Tatiana so hard that she flew to the ground. Tatiana immediately sprung up and attacked, going for her guardian's legs. Natasha twisted Tatiana's arm back painfully but Tatiana flipped her over her shoulder and didn't even have time to breathe before Natasha had her down again. Tatiana tried to reach up and pinch Natasha's trachea, but Natasha kept her pinned.
"Is this what you want to know for the rest of your life?" Natasha hissed, letting her up. Natasha held out her hand, "Because it can be. You can let it be all you know. But you've got a chance to experience something else. If you still want to be an operative by the time you're eighteen, I'll let you."
"Like you do?" Tatiana snapped, "This isn't exactly normal living, Natasha! You are hypocritical—"
"I spent a lot longer on the darker path than you, Tatiana. I have so much more to make up for. You're fifteen." Natasha continued to hold out her hand, "You've got your whole life ahead of you."
"I—I—"
"You're what?"
"I FEEL ANGRY!" Tatiana launched herself at Natasha. "I feel like—" She said between dodges and punches, "I should have died in there! My mother just dumped me there and she knew SHE KNEW, exactly what could happen to me! I'm angry, I'm so angry that I can't just color and dance and make it all better!" Tatiana pinned Natasha, "I don't know what to do."
Natasha fell limp, a small smile on her face, "Tonight, you'll discuss this with your therapist and tomorrow, you'll go to school."
"Can't I just talk to you instead? I don't like the psychologist."
"If you want, but you're still going to school tomorrow. Now let me up before I make you. You left your neck open. Someone could pinch it if given the chance."
The next morning, Tatiana got ready for school. She put on her boots and curled her hair. She took four pills with a glass of water and a peanut butter sandwich and got in the car to ride with Bruce to school. He smiled at her warmly. Tatiana wanted to sink down into her seat until he stopped. Bruce seemed to realize her discomfort and looked ahead at the road. Tatiana smiled gratefully at him when she got out of the car. Immediately, the scrawny boy from before ran up to her, stopping a few yards before her.
"Thanks for taking down Hanson; it was like totally badass!" He flailed his arms in a spastic and oddly endearing manner.
"I didn't—"
"He was an asshole. I promise you he needed a good knock on the head." The boy grinned, "Can you teach me how to do that?"
Tatiana looked at him doubtfully. He was skinny and had no muscle on him whatsoever, but he looked earnest enough. Wordlessly, she gestured for him to follow her to a grassy corner of the school grounds. She grabbed him by the shoulders, trying not to make her grip too tight. He looked confused, "Why are we doing that?"
"Basics first. Someone grabs you by the shoulders or by the shirt with both hands, use yours from the inside to push you." He tried to push her away, accidentally touching her breasts. Tatiana ignored his stuttering, "No, not like that." She placed his hands on her shoulders, slowly and gently raising her arms in front of her like she was praying and then splitting them apart to knock down his arms.
"Oh. That makes sense, I guess—"
"Try it on me now."
He practiced that single move until the bell rang, "What lunch do you have?"
"I don't go to lunch. I only come here part of the day." Tatiana replied.
"Why?"
"I dance in the mornings." Tatiana replied, "And eat before I go to school."
"Oh that's uhm—well I have second lunch—if you ever like—come to school early—erh I don't know, does that count as PE or elective credits or something?—sorry—um—I'm Ethan by the way, Ethan Ortega."
"Where do you eat?" Tatiana asked.
"The corner of the cafeteria by the library."
"I'll—I'll ask. I'm Tatiana."
Tatiana slowly sat down next to Ethan, placing her tray on the table. It wasn't nearly enough food, but she still ate a little before she left. He grinned at her and started introducing her to his friends. They were pimple faced and imperfect in various ways but she found herself enjoying their company.
"We'll be your friends until you start hanging out with the beautiful people." Tatiana shook her head at Ethan's comment and took a bite out of her tasteless blue gelatin. Three years didn't sound so bad after all.