Bad Bitch ⋙ N.Romanoff

n i n e

BAD BITCH
❝these were the women who knitted pain into glory❞

09. Mission Hindered

October 2003

The growing of her stomach couldn't be ignored for any longer.

To begin with, Natalia presumed it to be bloating. It had been the first time, since they'd joined Hydra's league, where she'd been partnered with Svetlana. Instead, she'd tended to be placed with the other surviving Black Widows whilst the youngest spent most of her days training alongside the legend of the Winter Solider. Natalia wasn't jealous. She knew that Svetlana deserved to be recognised for her power, and that the girl would never consent to a relationship due to her aggressive nature, but Romanova couldn't help but feel bitter at the loss of her teammate. She'd spent most of the past three years side by side with Svetlana. Madame B had been incredibly supportive of their alliance, blind to their deeper connection however, and had even highly recommended their partnership to the men in charge of Hydra.
However, for whatever reason, the soldiers had gone against what the woman had said and very specifically separated them. Natalia, no matter how many nights she spent yearning and wondering, couldn't seem to see why they'd been placed apart when they were such a strong team together. Perhaps it were because Hydra wanted their two strongest members to become independent from one another so, in the future, they could be controlled easier and even become leaders of separate divisions. It was the only theory that Natalia seemed to agree with so she pretended that it was the real reason and tried not to think about it further.

She very rarely saw the girl. From the moment they'd arrived, enduring a three day drive in the back of a van like cattle, they'd both been separated to opposite sides of the compound. For obvious reasons, they hadn't resisted. Yet, at the sight of Svetlana's fear, Natalia wished that she could have run away with her. In fact, during the first two months of being trained and used by Hydra, Natalia regretfully daydreamed often about where and how they'd both leave. She liked to believe they'd get a small place together where no one could find them and, over time, grow old.
It was a childish dream.
After three months of not seeing the girl, she began to loose hope. That very dream of running away faded into nothing more than a thought in the back of her head every time she felt like giving in to death's grip - whether it be from a bullet or sepsis.

They'd been placed together after over half a year of separation. Neither knew whom they were to be placed with until they'd seen the other.
Natalia had been the first to arrive. Carted in, arms bound dangerously tight behind her back, by two Hydra operatives and had been forced to sit. To say their treatment were different from the Red Room would have been an understatement. Hydra seemed to be filled with sadists who enjoyed exerting power over the female Widows and anyone who got in their way whereas the KGB only cared for their own success and would care for their soldiers if only for their own benefit. Natalia had sat on the metal chair, willing herself to remain impassive to the abuse spewing from the men's mouths towards her. It had been one of the first moments since she'd been very young where she thought of giving up all together. She supposed that she could refuse to work but, then again, would the torture of been worth it? Natalia knew that the mission she'd been given would be easy, supposing that if only two operatives were needed then it would simply be another assassination or extraction mission. She'd begun to slip into her thoughts, a dangerous slip due to how hard it had become to shake herself back into reality when her mind had become such a comforting dimension, when the door had swung open and she'd seen her. Svetlana didn't look to be in too bad a condition. She definitely wasn't in a good one though. It looked as though, from the quick evaluation Natalia did in her head, that she'd lost a lot of weight in the span of the seven months they'd been in the compound despite the slight bloat around her stomach but she seemed just as aggressive as usual. In fact, as she was shoved into her own seat, she'd bitten one of the operatives who'd manhandled her and simply smiled when they'd pulled a gun on her. It seemed as though she knew her own power and necessity within Hydra and had been playing it to her own advantage.
❝Careful boys, I like it rough.❞
She purrs, grinding against her chair obscenely with a big smirk on her lips, and Natalia had to dig her nails into her palms until they had bled just to stop the smile that was trying to crawl onto her face. She'd had to try with every inch of willpower she had within her to remain as stoic as she had been before Svetlana entering. Thankfully, she'd succeeded and, when her inferiors looked to her, she had convinced them all that she held no glimpse of emotion towards the woman.