The Third Black Widow

19 Years Later

It's dark, then all of a sudden, it isn't. I feel warm air hit my cold body. I open my eyes and see soldiers. About a handful of them. They take me out of the tube thing and the first thing that comes to my mind is "Where are my sisters?"

The soldiers drag me out of the room, down some halls, and into an office. I'm shivering from the warm air making contact with my freezing body.

I see a somewhat familiar man sitting behind a desk. He has glasses and grey hair. "Ah, hello. Did you have a nice rest?" says the man. I tilt my head confused. "You don't know what's happening, do you?" says the man. I shake my head no.

"Well, let me enlighten you. We separated you from your sisters and brought you here to the Red Room just like we did to them. We took you to an ice chamber and froze you for 19 years, or how I like to put it, we froze you until the time that we needed to awaken you. Of course, we could have trained you here 19 years ago but, I decided to save you for a special moment in time. You're your sister's only weakness and we'll use you to lure Natasha in," says the man.

I'm shocked. I was separated 19 years ago. I've been frozen as a four-year-old for 19 years. He's kept me frozen all this time to lure Natasha back here. Back here? What does that even mean? Isn't she still here? What did I miss?

"You still don't know my name, do you? My name is Dreykov. I run things around here. Now that I've told you my name, what's your name?" says the man. "E-Elizabeth," I stutter. It feels a little weird to talk. "Any last name?" asks Dreykov. I think for a moment before my last name comes to me. "Levina," I say. Dreykov nods.

"Now, you will be training to be the next Black Widow, the world's best assassin. One wrong move, and you'll be killed. Got it?" says Dreykov. "Yes, sir," I say. "Good. I like your manners. We're off to a good start," says Dreykov.

"Where are my sisters?" I ask. "They both became Black Widows. Your oldest sister, Natasha broke out of the Red Room and has become an Avenger, or a "hero" as the world calls her. Yelena still works for me as a Black Widow. Now, my soldiers will escort you to a training room and you'll start training with other girls immediately," says Dreykov. I nod in response. He nods to the soldiers who whisk me away.

I'm being led down some hallways and we arrive in a changing area. It's at this moment that I realize that I'm still in my T-shirt and jean shorts from what I guess was 19 years ago.

"There's a suit for you in there. Be out in five minutes or we will come in and get you," says a soldier. I nod and walk in.

I see a suit in there and I immediately take the picture strip of Nat, Yelena, and me out of my pocket. I put it on the bench and I take my old clothes off. I put the suit on and put the photo in my suit pocket.

I walk out and I'm escorted to a training room. Inside is an instructor and girls ranging from 4-7. Aww, man. If they didn't freeze me, I could have been with Yelena.

The instructor shows us a routine and instructs us to split into pairs to fight. The loser will get killed. We're paired with girls older or younger than us on purpose. To give us all a challenge.

The younger girls are slower but can slip away faster. The older girls are the opposite. They're faster but slip away slower.

I'm with a six-year-old. We fight and I almost get pinned down but I slip in between their legs and pin them down instead. I have her in a chokehold.

"Well? What are you waiting for?! Kill her!" shouts the instructor. I sigh before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry," I mumble just loud enough so the girl who's in my choke hold can hear me. "It's fine. I know you have to," she says. I regret having to snap her neck seconds later. She looked almost relieved when I did.

I repeat doing this a few more times. Well, minus the whole hesitation thing. I do continue to mutter "I'm sorry" each time. There are only seven of us left.

"Congratulations, you're now in the Black Widow program," says the instructor. We all look at each other. We all are thinking the same thing. We just killed so many girls to get here. I immediately think that I have to make their sacrifices worth it.

We're all given new suits and we're brought to a room. This room has seven beds and each one has handcuffs attached to the metal headboard. There are cameras at a few different angles. A wardrobe is next to each bed and that is where we can hang our suits and other clothes. I'm guessing that we'll be doing Ballet since they just mentioned that our Ballet shoes and outfit are also in our wardrobes.

We all nod, and since it's almost bedtime, they leave us to talk for ten minutes before handcuffs and lights out. We all change in record time so we have time to talk.

I say my name first and then space out while they say their names and something about them.

I catch their names even though I'm lost in my thoughts.

I'm thinking about my sisters. 19 years. It's been 19 years since we were separated. It's a lot to take in.

"We froze you until the time that we needed to awaken you." "We'll use you to lure Natasha in." Dreykov's words are imprinted into my mind. And they're cycling through it on repeat.

I lay awake tonight thinking about what's going to happen next. I've missed so much in the past 19 years. My mind wanders to my sisters. I miss them so much. Natasha would comfort me right now and get really mad at Dreykov for freezing me in time and Yelena would say something funny as she and Natasha catch me up on the past 19 years. Yelena would say something like, "Well, Sleeping Beauty, that's why you don't sleep for 19 years! You miss out on things!"

Well, at least the old Yelena would have said that. She was the funny and energetic one out of the three of us. Natasha was the fiery and protective one. I was the quiet, cuddly, and playful one.

Well, more like selectively quiet. Sometimes my energy could match Yelena's and she was a firecracker 24/7. The three of us were a perfect balance for each other.

I'm starting to miss Ohio. I'm also starting to remember it. I mean I was four when a lot of the best parts happened so I can definitely remember those. But anything that happened when I was younger than three is hazy.

I remember when our parents made us take pictures of Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Summer Break all in one day. That was a very long day. Natasha, Yelena, and I had never been so tired in our lives. It's funny to remember how quickly our parents changed the decorations and backdrops in the house.

Another one of my favorite memories is when Natasha, Yelena, and I made our special whistles together. I couldn't figure it out at first and I was just blowing air. We were all laughing as I kept trying to figure out how to whistle. Then magically, something clicked and I did it. I remember being very pleased with myself and skipping around Natasha's bedroom before doing a somersault off her bed. She caught me just before I hit the floor and while Natasha was trying to save me, Yelena was sitting there watching and laughing.

I keep thinking about the best years of my life in Ohio. Back when things were simpler and we didn't know we were going to be separated. We didn't know that was the last time we'd all be together or that the night we had that adventure would be the last time that we would be kids.

I hope Natasha is doing better now that she's free. Oh, and by the way, no one has even told me who the Avengers are and what they do, or even how on Earth my sister managed to escape from here.

I drift off to sleep with my mind buzzing at a million miles per minute.