The Substitute (A Natasha Romanoff Story)

Chapter 8

Natasha

I walked up the stairs to the safehouse and stood in front of the door, knocking on it twice and staring at the small camera in the peephole before it clicked open. I walked in and it was dead quiet, surprised when I didn't hear anyone, but I could immediately sense that I wasn't alone. I quietly placed my bags down and grabbed the gun that was stashed between the couch cushions. I held it with a firm grip and cautiously walked throughout the house, starting to check each room.

I heard a faint creaking sound coming from the office, making me shudder slightly. I didn't know how many people were in this house with me, but there was a chance that I could be outnumbered, so I prepared myself for the worst. Placing my finger on the trigger, I took a deep breath before kicking open the door, looking around the room to find it empty. I was quite disappointed, if anything. Before I could take another breath, I heard a gun cock behind me and my stomach dropped.

The recognizable scent of the person behind me made me sigh in relief.

"Rough day?" I asked Maria Hill whose gun was firmly pressed to the back of my head.

"Jesus Romanoff, I thought you were an intruder," Maria sighed as she holstered her weapon.

"Sorry to disappoint you," I said sarcastically.

"How far have you gotten?" The brunette asked, referring to the mission.

"I'm heading to the apartment on Saturday. I'll be able to plant the equipment and we can move on to the next phase," I told her.

"And anything on Adonis?" She questioned.

"Apparently he came back to New York from the Bahamas yesterday, but left for Washington this morning," I responded.

"What does he want in Washington?" Maria wondered, gritting her teeth.

Adonis Emerson had been on SHIELD's 'most wanted' list for a long time. He worked there for years, even being a mentor. This was before they discovered that he was a double agent. He went into hiding, completely disappeared and was even presumed dead, until the FBI noticed that a large delivery of explosive goods were traced back to his firm. They contacted SHIELD and we dug around for more information. He appeared to be a rich businessman living in Manhattan with his family, but he was actually a partner to one of the highest powers in HYDRA. It was our mission to find out what they were planning. If I could get my hands on some folders that were likely kept in an office or storeroom in his apartment, we could expose HYDRA and finally bring them down. Of course, this would be a huge slap in the face for the family, but there were thousands of innocent lives at stake.

"I don't know, but we should send Rogers to keep an eye on him," I suggested, walking to the fridge to grab a drink.

Steve, Bruce and Thor's mission was to go undercover as security guards for Adonis. Conveniently, he promoted Steve to Head of Security, meaning that he had access to most rooms in the building. Every evening when the three of them patrolled, they would check high and low for important files that might contain any information on HYDRA.

Unfortunately, nobody had access to Adonis's office, not even his personal assistant, which made the mission even more difficult. If we could get Steve to go to Washington with Adonis, not only would we be able to track his every move, but Bruce would be able to hack into the security system and break into his office.

"That information definitely didn't come free. I'm assuming that you have the daughter wrapped around your finger," The brunette teased, following me to the kitchen "I noticed your little staring competition at the restaurant."

"I did what I had to do," I shrugged sheepishly, opening a bottle of beer and taking a sip.

It wasn't my initial plan to fuck Naomi, honestly. I just needed to keep a close eye on her while I went undercover as her teacher, but I didn't realize how badly she wanted to get into my pants. If anything, it made my job easier...and more enjoyable.

"Romanoff, did you-"

"I wouldn't put it past her," I heard a thick Russian voice behind me, before the bottle was snatched out of my hand. I turned around to see none other than Yelena Belova sitting on the kitchen counter with a smug smile on her face.

Yelena hadn't been working at SHIELD for long. Her mission was to put a tracker in Naomi's phone while she was occupied at the party. That was it. Unfortunately, she got a little side tracked and ended up having a lot more fun than she intended. She downed drinks, made out with the target and almost blew her cover, but at least she got the job done.

"What are you doing back here? How did you even get in?" I hissed at the blonde.

"Picked the lock. You might want to improve your security, it's pretty shit," She replied, taking a sip of my beer.

"You cant just barge in here, especially when you aren't needed anymore," I scoffed, grabbing my beer back from her "I thought you were heading back to Budapest!"

"I was going to head back to Budapest, but I decided to stay so I could see you. What's wrong with that?" Her voice broke slightly and her eyes softened.

"Bullshit, why did you really stay?" I said bitterly, rolling my eyes.

If being an older sister taught me anything, it was that younger siblings always played the victim and got whatever they wanted just by batting their eyelashes.

"Okay fine," she dropped the act "I want to have some fun. I came all the way from Europe for this mission and now you're sending me back?"

"You did your job, and you aren't needed for this mission anymore." I said honestly.

"Please, that was barely a mission. I went to a party and planted a tracking chip in some teenager's phone," Yelena scoffed, jumping off the counter and grabbing her own beer from the fridge.

"Almost blowing your cover, by the way." Maria stated, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

"If I knew that you two were just going to bitch at me, I wouldn't have come back," Yelena pouted.

"Nobody asked you to come back!" I said confusedly, walking back into the living room.

"Well I'm here! And there's nothing you can do, so you're just going to have to put up with me," Yelena shrugged, sitting on the leather sofa and folding her arms like a child.

Maria and I glanced at one another, both of us trying to suppress our smiles. Despite the fact that Yelena was trained to be a stone cold assassin, she really did know how to throw a tantrum.

"You can stay," Maria said, making Yelena's ears perk up.

"As long as you don't interfere with the mission. And stay on the down-low, we don't want anybody recognizing you." I instructed.

"I got it." Yelena said with a proud smile.