Cracking An Enigma (a YJ fanfic) COMPLETED

Chapter Two: "I Don't Come From Around Here"

"I shut the world outside, until the lights come on."
Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, Coldplay

MY FIRST FEW NIGHTS WITH NATASHA WERE A LITTLE AWKWARD.

She was curious to know everything about me, and I was hesitant to tell her everything. But we got there eventually, and I told her about my mother, and my idiot of a father.
It was scary telling someone about me. If there was one thing I was absolutely sure about, it was that I shouldn't burden others with my problems. It had always been a number one priority, but I had no record of ever rejecting a friend in need. So that meant, I simply was a caring person, who'd do anything to help someone.

Natasha didn't quite get the concept. After all, she had been brought up to kill, yet had turned on them and became a hero. And her thing was looking after her, and only her. At least, that's what I could tell.

However, the night came, when I was nine, for her to tell me about her own world.
I was practicing my moves against a punching bag, taking out my swirling mass of feelings, when I heard a familiar voice call, "What did the punching bag ever do to you?"
I looked over at Natasha wearily.

"It was made," I replied. She sighed, shaking her head, as her red hair fell over her face. We were both in casual clothes with me wearing grey shorts and a loose green shirt, and her with a brown jumper and trousers, with a stripey shirt.

Suddenly she made a gesture with her head to follow her, then she walked out of the room. I blinked. Natasha was never like this. Feeling uneasy I wiped the remainder of sweat off my head before following her to her room.

Natasha's flat was not uncomfortable. It was a small apartment, in Gotham, with two bathrooms, a kitchen built into the living room, and two other bedrooms. It was quite trashy with it's properties though, with the lights continuously going on and off.

Now, though I'd lived in ridiculous places, I happened to come from a pretty wealthy mother, so areas like these had never been my forte. What you experience as a child stays with you, I suppose.

She sat herself on the tip of her single bed, and patted the empty space next to her. I squished myself on, trying to read her face for any signs of emotion, but all was dead. Her normally sparkling green eyes had faded and she made no effort to clear her hair from her face.

Needless to say, this freaked the living chickens out of me. I waited for her to tell me something was really wrong, or that someone had died. Instead, I got this: "I'm not from around here, Em."

"I know that," I said irritably, "you're from Russia."

"Yes... But a different Russia."

"That makes no sense!"

"It does, Em, it does. I don't know why it had to be me but... Hey, that's life."

I merely looked confused. She turned to me and said, "You ever heard of the dimension theory?"

I shook my head.

"It's a concept that every universe, is one on its own. And all the universes are created by the mother universe, where there are designers, who each create a unique universe, to his or hers own mind. They're not aware of it though. They just think they're making up stories. But they're real," she said looking at me again, "that's the reason me and you exist."

I stared at her. Maybe this was the time to call an ambulance. She chuckled at my expression.

"You don't believe a word I'm saying, do you?"

I blinked.

"Well, I believe it," she said, louder, "because I'm from a different universe. You know why? Because some little girl, thought it would be fun to put me into a different dimension. Fresh out of mine, into a new one." Here, she turned away, and I was sure it was to hide the fact she was almost crying. "And I didn't even get to say goodbye to my friends." She shrugged. "Long story short, the Justice League found me, and I was appointed a member, a member of the quad. You know, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman... Black Widow."

I froze. "You're Black Widow?" I said in disbelief. I'd known she was a type of vigilante, but because I never saw much outside of the house, I never dreamt that it was her.

"The one, the only," she smirked. "It's nice here, I'll admit. If I never came here, I wouldn't have got more skills, became tougher... Found you."

I looked to the floor. That's why she had been training me. I was a master at martial arts, and was a crack shot with a gun, although it only fired shockers; though I wasn't too great with stealth, since I panicked and screamed so much.

"I wanted to tell you tonight because, I want you to get in on the hero act too."

I whipped my head up at her, eyes wide. She smiled at me.

"Ever thought of some good names?"

I looked thoughtful, "I've given it some time,"

Later that night, Black Widow climbed onto the rooftops of Gotham to survey her half of the city. Batman had agreed to cut it, fifty fifty. However next to her, was a new comer. Standing not quite as tall as her, was a shaking girl, who was looking down at the height with obvious fear. Black Widow grinned at her.

"Come on, Shadow. We've got a city to protect."

She started running across the houses. The girl was still for a moment, before rushing after her, though it could be noted, not as quite as gracefully as her mentor.