Seven Devils // Natasha Romanoff

Part 1 - Opportunity

a/n: This begins at the start of Black Widow when Natasha is first going into hiding in Norway (for the sake of this plot, Yelena hasn't sent the vials of the mind control antidote to her yet)

One wrong move is all that it takes to send a fight downhill.  Even the best warrior in the world could be taken down by a single error.  That's what we Widows are trained on; forcing our opponent's error all while maintaining our perfection.  

As I circle around the training room while facing the Taskmaster, all that I can focus on is the fact that she's quite literally designed to be even more perfect than us Widows.  I don't know what Dreykov was thinking when he told me it'd be a good idea to train with her; so far she's been beating my ass.

She swings for me and I duck, immediately aiming to leg-sweep her.  However, she is ready for this and jumps over my legs before reaching to get me while I'm off-balance.  I make sure both my arms are even on the ground before pulling my legs towards me and doing a partial flip, landing in a crouched position.

I catch the Taskmaster's arm that is reaching towards me and use it to propel myself forward, landing a kick in the center of her chest.  She steps back and pivots off her foot, gaining momentum as she brings her arm around, aiming to elbow me.  I lean backward, narrowly avoiding her elbow, and she delivers a knee to my gut.

I inhale sharply as my body's instincts to double-over take effect, and I quickly turn my motion into a somersault, narrowly avoiding what would have been a mistake to end the fight.  As I catch myself, I latch onto the Taskmaster's leg and pull it out from under her.  She begins falling to the ground, and I spring to my feet, aiming my Widow's bite at her as I would if I were going to kill somebody after defeating them.

She looks me over, undoubtedly analyzing me for how to turn this situation around; even at times like these where I think I have her, she manages to pull some insane move to turn it around.  Luckily, before she can make a move, the door opens.

"Vallonia?"

I lower my arm as I turn to the woman standing in the doorway, unmistakably one of the higher-ups in the Red Room.  "Yes?" I ask, mirroring her emotionless tone.

"Dreykov is requesting you in his office."

She walks away before I can respond, just like the rest of Dreykov's correspondents do - it seems that they do not like to waste time, even a few seconds.

I turn back to the Taskmaster, extending a hand to help her up.  I'm about 75% sure there's a real person behind the mask; according to some other Widows, they're a girl as well, which would make sense.  Even after our multiple training sessions, I have not gotten a single word out of her.

She silently takes my hand as I pull her up.  "Good work," I tell her, attempting to somewhat put her at ease; if she's a real person, then she's probably one of the tensest people I've ever met.

She nods, still remaining silent. 

I sigh, releasing her hand as I turn to the door.  "I'll be back next training session," I call out over my shoulder.

As expected, there's no response.  One of these days, I am going to get her to talk.

I swiftly walk out of the door and take the usual route to Dreykov's office - down to the end of the training hall, up the elevators, through another layer of security, then finally into the office.  

As I walk through the door, Dreykov stands from his desk, holding out his arms in his manner of warmly greeting somebody.  "Vallonia, Vallonia, Vallonia, how great to see you again," he smiles, his usual business-like smile that is almost never real.  "It's been a few weeks since we've talked, has it not?"