Old Wounds

Chapter 10

1:48 26-AUG-09, NORTHERN ATLANTIC OCEAN

She remembered plunging into the cold depths of the ocean like she had many times before. She heard Clint mutter something when she surfaced, but a moment later, darkness began to consume her. Natasha attempted to keep her head above the water, even with her vision fading and breaths growing shallower. Next thing she knew, she was in another memory.

Leaping out of the second-story window, Natalia landed onto the hard-packed snow and then rolled to absorb the shock. She hurried away from the quaint little house with only the outfit she was given, and a coat that she took from the family. A bag filled with bread and some other food she found in the home was on her shoulder. She had taken a hat as well, and her bright red curls were tucked neatly under it.

Her boots left deep footprints in the snow, but Natalia couldn't worry about it, lest she waste her time. She knew that once she reached the edges of the town that no one would bother trying to trace her. The wind and snow had started up again and the skies were still pitch-black. She could barely see anything in front of her, but she kept pushing on.

Hours later, she found herself lost. She whipped around, but she couldn't pinpoint any stars or even the moon from behind the dark clouds. As snow continued to swirl around her, she sat down, exhausted. After a minute, she felt a grip around her arms. Using her remaining strength, she got out of the tight grasp and spun around, making contact with her outstretched foot. She heard a grunt and continued to kick in that general direction.

Again, she was grabbed, this time by a much stronger grip. As much as she struggled, she wasn't able to budge. A moment later, a bright light shone down on her, much like a spotlight. Once her eyes adjusted, Natalia saw that she was surrounded by no less than twenty men. All of them had guns trained in her direction. If she had a gun or any weapon other than her own body, Natalia was positive she would've been able to defeat them all.

She heard a slow clap sound from behind her. "The Black Widow, finally captured," a voice said, in a tongue that took Natalia a moment to figure out.

Then, a figure appeared at the corner of her eye. It was a man, not familiar to her, who was circling around her like she was a prey, and he was a predator. He had dark eyes, and from what Natalia could see from him, he was slightly pudgy with a rotund belly protruding in front of him. Instead of looking wary, like most of Natalia's captors, he looked amused.

"I have heard of you, of course," he said, in what registered as to be Yiddish. "The infamous Black Widow of the Red Room. I have a great need of your services." She pretended that she couldn't understand him. "And I know of the many languages that you can speak, so do not ignore me."

"What services might they be?" Natalia said, scowling. She continued to struggle, but her captor kept a firm grip on her arms.

The man smiled. "I need you to kill." When she froze, he smiled even wider. "That is your... specific skill set, isn't it? Well, then we'll have a deal: if you do the job and hold your tongue, then I will pay you and you can keep your life. Understood?"

Natalia didn't find that there was anything to lose in that offer, so she nodded. "Understood."

...

A baby's cry and a woman's scream.

Those were the last sounds that Michel Gobroff would have heard. As Natalia dropped out of her hiding place in a willow tree next to the grand mansion, she heard the man's family scream. Desperate cries for him to wake up were made by his wife, who was knelt over his bleeding body. Natalia stowed her gun on her back and hurried off, sneaking away into the forest behind.

There, she met with one of her dealer's mob members and was handed an enclosed enveloped with what she knew to be payment. Opening it, she found herself with just as much money as she was promised. Satisfied, she set off back into the city where she blended right into the crowd.

...

Only the muffled sound of a man choking in his own blood was audible. Natalia stood over him, hair whipping around in the wind like fire. The windows were open where she slipped in. Her bloody knife was dripping down the side of her bare leg. The short black dress she donned was partially ripped down the side. Once he was dead, Natalia stepped over the man's lifeless body and out of his apartment room.

Tossing her knife into the chute leading to the building's incinerator, she made her way down the empty hallway only stopping to wipe the blood off her shin. The cameras in the building were already down (thanks to her inconspicuous trip to the control room) so she had no worry that she would be seen. Just as she hoped, the lobby was empty and Natalia exited the building.

A block down, in a dark alley, she found herself being handed an envelope with several bills inside. Grinning to herself, she nodded to the deliverer and she walked down the sidewalk, the moonlight illuminating her path down the street.

...

Her gun was stowed in her thigh holster which was covered by her knee-length, flowing dress. Yet again, she was targeting another enemy of her dealer. Prior to the one she was currently doing, she'd had fifteen jobs. All of them were given to her by different drug dealers, and mafia lords. She knew that assassinations were the only way she could survive in the world. She had nowhere to go, especially since her only friend, James Barnes, was probably still with Bogrov.

High heels clacking on the marble staircase, Natalia descended down into the foyer where the party guests were conversing and listening to the live classical music being played. She was targeting a woman who was found to be cheating on a vengeful drug dealer. As Natalia zoned in on her mark, she felt a cold breath down the nape of her neck.

There wasn't anyone behind her.

She scanned the room, seeing no one looking suspicious. Nodding once to herself, she took a breath and began to pursue her target. The woman had her back facing Natalia and out to the scenery. Her pale white skin shined in the moonlight and Natalia had a familiar rush of adrenaline when she pictured dark blood drenching the delicate body.

Pushing the sadistic thoughts aside, Natalia took a step onto the balcony next to the woman who was smoking a cigarette. Pulling the balcony doors closed behind her, Natalia stood beside the woman.

To Natalia's surprise, the woman spoke. "He sent you, did he not?" Her tone was light, but Natalia could hear her labored breathing.

"Yes," Natalia responded.

The woman turned around. Her pretty face didn't betray any fear, but her blue eyes widened slightly. "I thought you would be a man," she muttered, "and do horrible things to me before you killed me."

Natalia didn't know what to say. All of her other targets were completely unaware of her presence until she stuck the knife through their heart or put a bullet through their head.

"You do not know what it is like." The woman grasped Natalia's shoulders but Natalia shook her off. "The threat of death or punishment always lying above my head if I didn't do what he told me to was horrible. I could not stand it." She shivered, her expression going slightly mad. "I had to escape. I had to leave him."

"I know," Natalia said quietly. "But I am sorry. I have to survive."

With that, she pulled out her knife and slit the woman's throat.