Black Widow: Dark House

4. "I Wanted So Badly to be Brave"- The Wonder Years

Bold Italics- Russian

Italics- any language besides English

**No movement, target is still inside the building. Clear for entry" Natalia called over her coms.

The cool night air felt good on her skin after sitting up here all day in the beaming Afghanistan sun. She had not moved a muscle for over seven hours waiting for this target. Even through the wind that whipped and bit at her skin, the beads of sweat dripping into her eyes, and the numbness in her legs, her focused remained unshaken.

"Intel reports that he might have used a tunnel. Team is entering now" the team leader, Vanessa, reported.

The building Natalia was focused on as she starred down the sight of her sniper rifle was dark. She heard a small pop, and watched as a flash bang went off on the first floor. No screams cracked the night air, but Natalia knew that every person on that first floor was dead before they would have known what was going on.

"First floor clear. Entering second"

Natalia turned on the night spec on her scope. She watched as the seven-person team entered the second floor from the service stairs at the eastern end of the building.

The men standing around with their rifles, smoking cigarettes, listening to music, and talking in the dark never stood a chance as they were taken out, almost simultaneously with machine like precision. Vanessa led with Ana and Beatrice at her back, the others fanning out like a large "V".

Natalia looked up at the third floor, through the windows and took note that none of the enemies had even noticed the insurgence going on below them. This would be an easy mission.

Then she looked back down at the first floor, making sure there were no survivors.

Her breath hitched in her chest.

A young boy, maybe nine or ten, was kneeling in tears at the crumpled body of a man who was face down, the pool of blood from his body still growing.

"There's a child on floor one, no one else had noticed him" Natalia said as she continued to watch the small boy.

He looked around, realizing what had happened as he took in all of the bodies around him, the tears staining his face. The boy started to push the body over, so the chest faced up, and then struggled opened the body's shirt. Natalia felt her eyebrows furrow as she watched.

The boy pulled a knife from his belt and started to cut the shirt away, revealing wires attached a vest the body had been wearing under its shirt.

"Leave him. He's not important"

"Negative Team leader, he has an explosive" Natalia reported, "Check the bodies, are there vests attached to them?" She asked, never taking her eye of the boy as he tried to undo the vest.

A moment of silence felt like an eternity.

"Affirmative. All bodies are equipped with explosives"

Natalia cursed. If one of those vests went off, all of them did, and then that whole building would disintegrate into fire and ash.

"Terminate, Natalia. Now"

Natalia swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest. The boy wouldn't have been much older than Yelena was now. The boy pulled at the vest, trying to take it off the body. The velcro ripped, the vest sprung free.

Natalia watched as the boy stood, grief and fire in his eyes as he looked down at the vest.

"Natalia! Report."