Old Scars Resurface - Natasha Romanoff

A tiring journey

"And Jake cheated on me," the woman behind Erin's seat whined for the third time on the train journey, "but he made me apologise."

If there was any other way to get through to Budapest, then Erin would've taken it in a heartbeat. There was nothing she hated more than being forced to sit in a public place, surrounded by strangers who had no regard for anyone other than themselves. When she first got on the train, she thought she'd gotten lucky with how empty it seemed to be. However, when two women entered, latched onto each other like they were afraid they'd blow away, she knew she was in for a long journey.

The women sat behind Erin and, for the entire journey, talked about nothing more than their boy drama. A slight moment of hope was raised when one of the women spoke about a girlfriend, but it was washed away when the other woman took the spotlight to talk about another useless boy.

"God," Erin mumbled and looked down at the magazine on her lap again just to distract herself.

"This is the second time he's done this, babe, you need to leave him," the woman's friend told her.

"But I love him, Nikki! You wouldn't understand, he's incredible!"

"He's a piece of shit and you know it, leave his ass. You deserve so much better."

"You're just being unfair because you've never liked him."

When Erin realised that they were getting close to the station, she closed the magazine and put it on the seat beside her. Clearing her throat, she casually turned around and told them, "Nikki isn't being unfair, she's being right. He cheated on you, he's a scumbag. Have some self respect and stay away from him. He isn't your soulmate, his name is literally Jake. You'll get over him."

One of the girls - who Erin assumed to be Nikki - nodded at her with a smile, whereas the other one clearly didnt appreciate the unsolicited advice. With a scowl, she asked, "who are you?"

When Erin looked at the time on her phone, she sighed to herself and stood up, giving the girls a look, "doesn't matter."

While Erin stretched her hand up to grab the bar above her to help her up, her jacket raised, and the gun that was resting in her belt was on show. The women, of course having never seen a gun in person, let out gasps loud enough to draw attention to themselves and caused Erin to roll her eyes. In one quick move, she leant close to the women, a hand outstretched onto the back of one of the chairs, the other on the gun.

"Tell anyone about this and i will come back to kill you," she warned them. She'd never usually threaten anyone like that, but she couldn't risk her identity getting out. Not when she had one goal in mind: getting to Natasha before the authorities did. Glancing up and down at the blonde woman, she added, "break up with your boyfriend, you're too pretty to take shit from a man."

And with that, she dropped her jacket back over the gun and cleared her throat as she stood up straight again. The girls didnt seem any calmer, but they didnt look like they were going to be giving up any information about her, which is what she hoped for.

When she suspected the train to be approaching her stop, she casually wandered over to the doors and waited patiently for the doors to slide open. The moment the conductor announced the trains arrival, the other passengers began crowding around the doors, but Erin forcefully stood her ground to be the first one off of the train.

Then, thankfully, the doors finally opened and she practically jumped from the train to the platform before she quickly paced away from it. Adjusting the strap of her backpack, Erin paced as quickly as she could to get away from the public and to where she knew she needed to be. On her way there, she worried what Natasha would say when she saw her. She worried about what she'd say to her. It was all she thought about on the train ride there, but now that she was on the route to the building that she prayed that Natasha would be in, the realisation hit her.

After nearly getting hit by a countless number of cars due to mindlessly walking through roads, Erin finally made it to the building. She cautiously entered, keeping her hand on the trigger of the gun in her belt. Even in the elevator ride up - when she knew she was alone - she kept checking over her shoulder. No matter where she'd go, the girl would always be paranoid. It was in her nature, deep in her bones.

When the elevator finally stopped at the floor she needed it to, she spotted the package box and crept over to it. From what she'd been taught during her time in SHIELD, Russian spy agencies, specifically the Black Widows, would leave guns in untouched places like furnaces or postboxes of abandoned buildings.

So, with the hopes that she'd find a gun there - hopes that someone dangerous hadn't already taken it to be used against her - Erin crouched down and checked the letterbox. The classic Black Widow hiding place for a gun. When her hand traced the top of it and felt nothing, she cursed under her breath and sighed before standing up once again. Cocking her own gun, she slowly made her way to the door, listening out for any kind of sounds that she could.

As she cautiously placed her hand on the door handle, she began to notice a noise coming from the room. It was the harsh crash of someone hitting the floor, followed by the grunts and groans from two people fighting. Two women fighting, to be exact. It was clear that Erin forced back the urge to roll her eyes when she realised the only two people it could've been. She heard the tossing and crashing from the outside, which brought a scoff out of her. After all these years, she'd hoped that the childish ways of those two had simply been out grown, but they clearly hadn't.

Even when she pushed open the door and entered the apartment, the fighting didn't stop, and she was unnoticed. It was as if she was merely a shadow that entered due to how quiet and unnoticed she was. Even when she stood in the doorway, watching the two Russian sisters try to strangle each other to death with the curtains, they didnt notice her.