Steel And Spider

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Mat woke up in a cell. He was cuffed to the steel table in front of him by both wrists. He had been frisked, and could feel the weight of several knives missing. Several, but not all. He was still in that god-awful Hydra suit and there were way too many secret compartments.

Surprisingly, his head didn't hurt. There was an annoying ringing in his ears but that was it. He wasn't hurt in any other way, apart from the stitches he'd pulled because he technically wasn't supposed to strain or move his arm for about a week. Oh well.

Mat was also alone. His cell was small, made mostly of metal aside from the two-way mirror on one wall. There was an empty chair on the other side of the table. Mat stretched as much as he could within his confines, cracking his neck. There was a camera in one corner of the ceiling and he grinned at it, the action providing an emotion somewhere between nostalgia and flashback of the day he escaped.

Not even a heartbeat later, the door clicked open and two people walked in. Mat recognised both of them. One was the Black Widow, famous Red Room revoltist and Avenger, and the other was the Winter Soldier, Hydra defect turned good. Neither of their faces held any emotion.

Natasha took the chair and James started circling the room, metal arm glinting threateningly. Mat just grinned. "What are you smiling for," Natasha said. Mat shook his head. "Just never thought I would get the chance to meet you both in person."

Widow raised a perfect eyebrow. "How do you know us?"

Mat shrugged his uninjured shoulder. "I guess you could say, through work."

James paused for a second, before resuming his pacing. Mat watched him as he watched Mat. "You missed a knife," Mat finally said. "Inside of the right calf, there's a fold near the inseam. It's tucked in there." Both soldiers made eye contact before James crouched down and carefully ran his flesh hand along the muscle of Mat's right calf, until his fingers slid into the hidden pocket and pulled out a small blade, no bigger than a pigeon feather.

James tucked it into one of his own pockets and leaned against the table next to Mat. "Why would you let us take it?" He asked, voice gruff and deep. Mat shrugged. "To prove I'm not here to murder all of you."

"Then what are you here for?" Natasha asked, leaning forwards.

"Same as you, I'd imagine. There are a lot of things I'm trying to leave behind and you people seem to have an affinity for adopting ex-bad guys."

Natasha and James seemed to have an entire conversation by eye contact. James resumed his wandering, and Natasha resumed her questions.

"You work for Hydra?"

"I worked for Hydra. That's an important distinction."

"What branch did you work under?"

"The...assassin branch?"

"Where were you stationed?"

"Everywhere."

"What's your name?"

"I don't have one."

"Everyone has a name."

"Not me." I knew as soon as I told them the title I had been given, they would both recognise me. There was no Hydra agent, ex or otherwise, that wouldn't.

"What did they call you, then?"

"...Matovyy Pauk." Mat could see the barest tense in Natasha's shoulders, hear the minute stutter in James' step. 'Matovyy Pauk' was a mash of Russian words put together to give him a 'name' that would be unique and easily recognisable. 'Matovyy' was derived from the words 'malen'kiy', meaning little, and 'tovyy', meaning new. 'Pauk' just meant spider, so essentially they named him 'little new spider.'

Mat thought the nurse maid that named him meant it as a term of endearment. She didn't think it through all the way, though, since 'matovyy' can also mean matte, which is why he's gone by Mat since he escaped.

"They were also fond of the name Beloye Okno." 'Beloye Okno' meant white widow, and was what they called him when they needed Mat to complete a mission for them. It was his 'official' agent name, but he hated it.

"The files we have say that you died almost seven months ago."

"Good. I want them to think I'm dead."

"So are you saying the files are wrong?"

"...Some of them, yes." James came back into Mat's view, asking a question of his own. "Is it true that you killed everyone in your base?"

"Yes," Mat lifted his chin a little, daring them to say anything.

"Why would you do that?" James asked, folding his arms. "Hydra has a habit of 'saving' people, twisting the past to be in their favour."

I laughed cruelly. "Not for me. I wasn't 'saved'. I was born there. I was raised in the Red Room." A resounding beat of silence followed my proclamation.

"You- but how? None of the Widows can–"

"There was one. The sterilizing procedure didn't work, and she became pregnant on a mission. When she returned, she thought she could hide it. But you con't hide anything from the Red Room. After I was born, they killed her. I was raised to be the perfect weapon, and they sent me on my first successful mission when I was eleven."

"If you were raised there, why did you rebel?" James asked.

"The same reason anyone would. A caged bird who is warm and fed is still a caged bird. And..."

"And?"

"And they asked me to kill someone I refused to kill. They pushed me too far and then thought a little time in the Re-adjustment Centre could fix me. I am not their toy, and I was tired of being treated like an object. So instead of killing my target, I killed every Hydra agent in that building." I grinned. "And it was the best night of my life."

James nudged Natasha's shoulder and she gave him the chair she had previously occupied. It seems the Soldier would now be in charge of the questions.

"What have you been doing for the past seven months?"

"I teach cello."

"You...what?"

"I teach cello. Out of my apartment. I used to be in Jersey but I've been here for the last two months give-or-take. You'd be surprised by the lack of competent cello teachers there are in the world."

James looked confused. "You're the world's best assassin, and you teach cello?" I shrugged. "Gotta make money somehow. Music teachers make a lot."

"Okay...and why come to us now? Why turn yourself in now of all times, if you've been free and...teaching cello...for half a year already?"

I looked down. "There was an accident. At my apartment a couple days ago. A Hydra agent showed up at my door armed. He threatened the kid I was teaching, and he...he recognized me. I killed him, but if he knew how to find me, there will be more who will come."

I looked up, meeting James' eyes. "I refuse to go back to them. I don't care what you do with me, kill me, arrest me, whatever, just...don't make me go back."