Prologue

It was cold, or at least it was supposed to be. They were on the top of a mountain, hanging off the edge of a large cliff. The wind was blowing around and there was snow around.

So why wasn't she cold?

Probably because the adrenaline with what she was about to do fueled her veins more than anything in her life had before. As she hung off the edge of the cliff, knowing what would be in the next minute, she couldn't feel anything as trivial as cold.

"Damn you," Clint said, knowing he had lost.

He had tried to be the sacrifice, the last few years really taking a toll on him. But Natasha couldn't let him. He had a family, some of the people she loved most in this world. She couldn't leave them alone. Even with her only family without her, they would still be okay. Steve would make sure they were okay.

Oh Steve, the one thing she couldn't think about right now. If he entered her mind for longer than a second, she wouldn't be able to do it.

"Let me go," Natasha said to him, trying to convince herself just as much as Clint, and a tearful smile on her face.

"No, please, no," Clint said, trying to persuade her to do anything but, not wanting to lose his best friend. "Steve needs you. James needs you."

"They'll be okay," Natasha said, reaching up and securing a thumb drive and the chain around her neck with the dogtags and locket around them. "It's okay."

Without a second though, she kicked off of him, and broke free from his grasp. As she was falling, her life flashed by in a series of words. Natasha had been described as many things in her life. Orphan, spy, assassin, traitor, agent, Avenger, girlfriend, mother. She smiled at the memory of her two boys, the smile on their faces.

And then, nothing.

A/N

Welcome to a new story! It has been a while since I wrote one that's for sure. Well, the last couple years I've gotten into the forums, and this story was actually written by a couple of different authors. A Velvet Rose, The Major Kusanagi, and SarahCon all wrote the characters aside from Natasha and some of the other ones I had a hold of. With their permission, I am recording Natasha story through those travels down here. This story is a lot different than the MCU is right now. Taking a lot of inspiration from the comics, this helps meld a pretty good retelling of the Black Widow through the MCU. A lot of the story is already written, but we're still going over on the forum, so at some point I will catch up and there will be a break between chapters. I'll let you know beforehand when that happens.

Look out for the first chapter, and you'll see a notable different already. Enjoy the show!