VENUS VADYAEVA. RED Room trained assassin, graduate of the Black Widow program. She'd nearly always been at the top of the class. Cold; smart; ruthless. The qualities that they were looking for. It'd taken a little while, but eventually, she'd gotte...
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∆ {1⁴} {ONE WOMAN ARMY} ∆
Budapest, Secure Location, December 21st
VENUS KNEW THAT Natasha didn't remember her, from one look at the redhead's face. But it was as clear as day in her mind. Not fresh, though, never fresh. Fresh to her meant the smell of new blood, the rough feel of new bandages, the adrenaline as she was commanded to fight. She'd never thought of fresh as the sunrise, or a breeze, and certainly never a daisy, newly grown. No, all she knew as fresh, were memories. It was almost ironic. So no, never fresh, simply clear, new. Venus remembered the nervous glances, the terrified silences that they'd used to convey so much. But Natasha didn't remember that. She didn't remember the way they'd defied the rules, however reluctantly, just to spend a little time with each other, she didn't remember the way they'd falter as soon as an adult was in the room and they were even remotely close together. She didn't remember, but Venus did.
And that was why Venus was helping the redhead and her companion, even if they were both SHIELD. That was also why Natasha was so confused to find the assassin helping her carry Clint out of the room they'd been held in, when she could've so easily killed both of them and left without a second thought.
"We don't have long, they'll figure out what happened soon," Venus explained, keeping her voice hushed but fast, knowing that Natasha would still be able to pick up every word she said.
"There's some guards around the corner, I heard them talking before." Instead of replying normally, she just gave a simple answer, trying to keep her focus on what she as doing.
"Do you hear them talking now?" Natasha didn't reply, instead trying to focus on helping Clint. The next few minutes were spent in total silence, other than when each woman muttered suggestions to the other about the best way to proceed, as they tried to figure out how to leave unnoticed, especially when an unconscious Clint had no empathy for what they were trying to do, occasionally letting out long, slurred sentences. Thankfully, they were only just above a whisper, but Venus could still hear every word of what he was saying. Something about a woman named Laura, and a boy called Cooper.
All the while, Venus was trying not to reassure the redhead beside her in soft Russian, like they had used to do, knowing it would simply raise suspicion, and show that she had a weak spot. It was hard, especially as Natasha's thumb was pressing into the side of her hand, and she kept moving strands of hair off her shoulders. The first was a nervous habit that Venus had picked up on while they were both still in the Red Room, and the second was something she only did when she was hyper-aware of her surroundings, and while most of the time she was very watchful, careful, paranoid, at the moment, the slightest sound, even a word being uttered from Clint beside her made her flinch.
Venus herself was on edge, knowing that any slip-up could result in her death. Actually, she was likely to be dead anyway when she got back from the mission, or at the very least, disciplined. To a normal person, it would seem strange, a grown woman worrying about people with power over her and what they might do to her. There was no way she was getting out of this unscathed. She'd almost been compromised, and here she was helping a well known enemy of the Red Room, simply because she remembered times gone by, that the other woman didn't. Because she was caught up in the past, and the redhead was focused on the future. With that realisation in mind, she let her worries melt away. She needed to get out, and it would help her to have another gun on her side. She couldn't worry about emotions at the moment, or memories, she had to focus. And at the moment, that meant making a shot around a corner in half-light, while trying to be as quiet as possible and not give their position away. A literal shot in the dark.
And yet she managed it, because it was what she was trained to do, and they snuck past the man's limp body as his blood leaked onto the floor. She ignored the look of distrust Natasha sent her, and shot another guard who suddenly appeared in her peripheral vision. They made it out into a back alley a moment later, the cool night air greeting them gladly. Venus glanced up at the moon briefly, trying to determine what time it was from its position. It was early, just after midnight, but the streets of Budapest weren't exactly quiet. She clenched her jaw as she realised just how messy this might get. That was another mark on her ledger. She was supposed to keep it clean, careful, discreet, but this looked like it was going to end up being anything but that. And that was only going to make her situation worse. She had to do this as fast as possible, while keeping everything else to the minimum, except maybe enemy casualties.
But for now, there was a hush. All of the sounds in the world seemed to have dropped away, as she saw the glint of gunmetal from the corner of her eye, and managed to dodge a bullet by the skin of her teeth, though it etched a line on the top of her shoulder, but she ignored the pain. She needed to focus. And however bad it might be for her, she had to get both of these SHIELD agents out - alive.
{A/N:} Really crappy chapter, sorry. It's also really short, and I'm sorry about that. Best I could do in a few hours, and I wanted to get something out. Thanks for reading, please vote comment, etc. Also, I've just posted the first chapter of an AoS fanfic called Nyctophilia, so if that interests you, please check it out.
