𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞

- ⧗ NATASHA ROMANOFF ⧗ -

   NATASHA COULD TELL SOMETHING WAS WRONG just by the look on Zariah's face. She'd given her two minutes to come to the dining room, to finish up with her laptop. When she hadn't emerged, Nat had went to chase her up. That's when she saw the look. Zariah with wide eyes, staring at the laptop screen.

   "Zari?" Natasha asked, stepping forward. "What's wrong? What did you find?"

   There was no response, only bated breaths. Natasha took another step closer, reaching a hand out to Zariah's shoulder. "Zariah, are you okay?"

  Unfocused eyes met hers. Natasha reached for something in her gaze, an indication of what was going on. All she received was a harsh shove to the shoulders as Zariah stood from the couch. Natasha stumbled, catching herself before she could fall.

   "Zariah, what the hell is going on?"

   But once again she spoke no words, and before Natasha could stop it, the young redhead was running away. A hand reached out towards her, trying to catch the girl before she sprinted from the room. But Natasha had been too slow.

   "Zariah!" Nat yelled, her mind swimming with questions of what was going on.

   Some others emerged from the dining room, glancing at Nat and the door swinging closed across the hall, Zariah's form slipping out just moments before. Steve looked at Nat, his voice concerned. "What happened?"

   This time it was Natasha's turn to leave a question unanswered. Her eyes fell to the laptop that had fallen from Zariah's lap when she stood, now lying on the floor. Natasha sat down on the couch where Zariah had been, pulling the laptop up to her knee. She needed to find out what had caused her to run like that.

   Natasha scanned the information on the screen, seeing some sort of file. She clicked the image of Zariah in the corner, staring emotionlessly back. This must be her file. But there must have been something specific that made her run. Natasha skimmed the words, many of them unrecognisable to her brain.

   Project WWI02. Patient number BR09.

   What did that mean? Natasha kept reading, eyes darting across the file. Then, she felt her heart stop right there in her chest. Her mouth felt dry, my jaw hanging slack. Written on the screen were four words and Natasha immediately knew why Zariah had run.

   BIOLOGICAL MOTHER: NATALIA ROMANOVA.

   That was her name. On Zariah's file.

   It couldn't be, she told herself. That's literally impossible. The Red Room had made sure of it. Besides, Natasha would have remembered if she had been...

   Her mind drifted from that thought as her eyes read the next line of text.

   SURROGATE MOTHER: ANNA KOVLOV

   The name was entirely foreign, but not the concept. A surrogate mother. Natasha felt like the floor was falling from beneath her. She was acutely glad she was already sitting down.

   This information on screen, what was presented in front of her, it seemed impossible. It shouldn't be possible. Natasha had graduated, they'd taken that ability away from her at only eighteen. But here it was written in front of her. How could it be?

   Another awful thought then passed through her mind. She did the mental math, calculating quickly the time it had been since her graduation. Nearly seventeen years. Enough time to...