Natalia Romanova was the golden child in the Red Room - the star pupil, the teacher's pet, the best of the best. Everybody knew it, including all the girls in her cohort, including Y/N Y/L/N.
But just as she was the favourite, Y/N was the least fav...
Chapter Two: "He loves you at the expense of hating me."
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15 years old
Assignments for Widows who weren't fully trained were rare, but they did happen.
Dreykov and the higher-ups preferred to use graduated Widows since they understandably performed better and almost always succeeded with their assignments, but sometimes, certain circumstances called for younger Widows. For example, Nat and her fake family required younger Widows to fulfil the assignment brief.
In my case, it was a last-minute kind of thing and they couldn't find anyone else. It was actually Nat who was called upon to do the assignment, since she was the best of our cohort and most likely to succeed. But when she was asked who she wanted as a partner, she picked me.
I didn't even need to be present to imagine Dreykov and Madame B.'s expressions once Nat mentioned my name – I was the last person they'd ever consider letting do a real mission. But Nat must have convinced them, since I soon found myself on a rooftop in Venice with a sniper rifle aimed at a hotel entrance.
"You're sure he'll be out?" I asked into my earpiece, eyes never leaving the scope of my rifle.
"Of course," Nat's raspy voice came through. She was on street level, blending in with the locals and watching the hotel entrance just like I was. "Two more minutes, Y/N."
I sighed but waited patiently for the man whose face I'd memorised over and over again. This was my chance to prove to Dreykov and the others that I wasn't someone to worry about, that I could be a Black Widow, that I'd made it this far into the programme for a reason.
Soon enough, just like Nat had said, the target left the hotel entrance and paused outside, glancing around and then at his watch. My finger went to the trigger as I lined up my shot, making sure I accounted for the wind and distance. Just when I was about to pull the trigger, the target looked up and directly at me, taking me by surprise. He didn't seem spooked in the slightest and that's when I knew something was wrong.
"Now, Y/N!" Nat whisper-shouted through my earpiece, and I wasted no more time.
I took the shot quickly, but our target knew it was coming and ducked out the way expectantly. The bullet hit the bricks behind him and thankfully didn't raise any unwanted attention because it was silenced, but it gave the target a chance to run away.
"I'm going after him!" Nat said, and I saw her taking off into a run, but before I could respond, I felt someone grab me from behind, tossing me onto the other side of the roof. I grunted as my back took the landing, only to see two men approaching me with hard stares.
"I've got company, Nat," I told her, before standing up and running towards the men.
"Can you handle it?" she asked breathlessly, no doubt still chasing our target, as I jumped off one of the man's chests before slamming a punch into the other one's face.
