Black Widow: An Origin Story

The Chosen One

I was right.

He struggled with every part of the training, but he never let that get to him. He always tried as hard as he could, no matter what anyone told him.

His name was Steve Rogers, as I found out. And despite his shortcomings, he was the perfect soldier. Polite, dedicated.

Agent Carter and I were supervising training, watching as the soldiers did push ups. They had all shown great progress, though there were a few who still did not want to take orders from Agent Carter. I had yet to do much of anything to help, always remaining in the background, assisting her with commands.

I watched as Steve struggled, much like he always did. I didn't feel sorry for him. On the contrary, he reminded me of myself. Always working harder, no matter the odds. I knew he would be the one chosen for the project.

But why did that leave a bitter taste in my mouth?

I shake those thoughts from my head as they finish their push ups.

"Fall in line!" Agent Carter commands.

All of them excluding Hodge and a few of his followers do as told.

"I said, fall in!" she orders again.

They stand with their arms crossed, looking bored.

I'd had enough of their disobedience.

"She said fall in," I growl sharply.

"She finally talks," Hodge snickers snidely. "Look-y here boys. We got ourselves another English bitch. Seems Carter here can't handle a few men."

He and his buddies laugh at that.

I move to stand in front of him and he looks down at me. "Am I supposed to be scared of you?" he sneers. "'Cause I ain't--"

He hits the ground with a startled grunt as I twist his arm behind his back, causing a pained groan to escape his lips.

"When she says 'fall in' you damn well better do as she says. Or else you will receive much worse than this," I snarl at him. "Do you understand?"

He instantly nods his head, dust shifting around the movement.

I roughly release him, his buddies quickly stepping in line, wanting to avoid what I did to him. Hodge stands and tries to move his shoulder.

"Damn it. I think you broke it," he whines, holding his arm pitifully.

"I didn't break it. Now fall in before I do decide to break it."

He's quick to do as I say, not wanting to feel the pain of a broken shoulder. He doesn't complain the rest of the day, not until training is finished, but by that point, it didn't concern me anymore.

"You didn't have to do that, Matthers," Carter mentions to me as we head to supper.

"No, but I was tired of him and his group," I reply, huffing softly. "Besides, it got him to do what he was told."

"It sure did," she laughs. "I will say, their reactions were priceless. It was a very good move. MI6 teach you that I assume?"

"They did," I affirm with a nod.

The next couple weeks went by quickly, and soon, there were only a few days before the project would be over. 

Tomorrow would be the day the Soldier was chosen.

"You can't seriously be thinking of choosing Rogers?" Colonel Phillips asks Dr. Erskine incredulously, moving closer to where the boys were training. "You stick a needle in him, it'll go right through him. Hodge passed every test we gave him. He's big, he's strong, he's fast."

"He's a bully," Doctor Erskine cuts in, the dislike for the man utterly clear.

"You don't win wars with niceness, Doctor. You win them with guts."

He pulls out a grenade and pulls the pin.

"Grenade!" Phillips shouts before throwing it towards the group.

Agent Carter is quick to move towards it when Steve grabs hold of it and curls his body around it.

"Get back!" He shouts, waving everyone away.

I look at him. His bravery and willingness to sacrifice himself for others was something I'd never seen before. And it made me feel...odd...unnatural. I couldn't say what the feeling was, but it was against everything I'd ever learned.

"It was a dummy grenade," a trainer says as the air remains silent, moving their group back into formation. Several others follow suit, realizing that it was a dummy.

Steve looks down at the grenade and then at us.

"Was this a test?"

The doctor shrugs his shoulders.

"He's still skinny," Phillips replies unhappily as he turns around to work on other business.

Doctor Erskine winks at Steve. 

He was the chosen one.