"It's going to be one hell of a reunion."
"You think?"
Surrounding the events before, during, and after the 'Black Widow' film!
"The Avengers weren't my first family."
"And you weren't mine."
With the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the...
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Moscow, Russia
Early 2000s
Yelena hadn't know what she had been getting into.
She knew it was serious, that much she knew, when she was brought into the study of the then Head of the Red Room and told to sit before the desk.
"We have mission for you," Madame B began. She slid a file across the desk towards her. Inside the file was information on a young woman.
Tatiana Vasilivna
Born: 1922, Russia, Soviet Union
Died: X
Russian Citizen of Jewish Background
No living family members
By the looks of it, the file had been started on a typewriter, and added to on a computer.
"We need you to eliminate her."
"Eliminate her? But she would be old woman by now - how could she be much of a threat?"
Madame chuckled. "Нет. She will look very similar to how she does in the photograph. She does not age."
"How?"
The look she received told her to stop asking questions and to do the work herself. She looked back down at the file and scanned the document on Vasilivna further.
Affiliations: Red Room, Red Army, Night Witches
Army Position: Sniper
Languages: Russian, Yiddish, English, French...
Beginning of the Black Widow Program during Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941. The first to receive the injection of special serum, the first to receive the title 'Black Widow'.
A black and white photograph sat beneath the description, a photo of the woman suited up, rifle in hand.
Yelena's breath caught in her throat. "This is her? The original Black Widow."
"The one and only. A valuable asset, but only for so long. She changed with the times - too much for our liking. The age of the old Widow is over - now is the time of the new Widow. Like yourself. Any questions?"
"да - why me? Why did you choose me for this mission?" It wasn't unknown that her trainers thought her less successful than the other trainees, and this was a major mission.
"And if you succeed you'll prove that you are worthy of being a Black Widow. You will find your place in the world. And if not, if you fail to succeed, well..." Enough said.
Yelena straightened up in her chair. "I will have no place in the world."
"да. So you accept your mission?"
"I accept."
"Good. You will go alone. You have forty-eight hours."
Yelena nodded. "I will not fail."
"No, you won't."
--------------------------------------------
Tel Aviv, Israel
The original Widow - who was now going by the name of Ilana Shapira - had been traced to Israel. This was where Yelena found herself in a matter of hours.
She approached the apartment, weapon drawn. The door was unlocked. She took the first steps inside.
Silence.
An open bottle of vodka and sleeping medication sat upon the table. Someone was clearly living here.
"Tatiana Vasilivna. I know you're in there," She called deeper into the apartment.
A voice called back. "I know you know I'm in here. And what are you going to do about it?"
As Yelena was trying to figure out which side of the apartment the voice had come from, a figure emerged in her path, weapon drawn.
"And it's 'Ilana' now."
The woman before her looked as though she had only aged a matter of years since the photograph in her file had been taken, not a matter of decades. That super-soldier serum had clearly had long-lasting effects.
"You know who I am," the woman spoke.
"да. I am Yelena Belova."
"Hmm, I've never met a killer who introduces themselves. And I've met a lot of killers."
Yelena lowered her weapon, but only slightly, taking in the other woman. "You're a legend. A whisper. A shadow. The Black Widow. The Slavic Shadow... No one was sure if you were real. But you are."
"Yes, I am. Very real." She jerked her head towards the window. "They don't trust you very much - they sent agents after you, to follow you and make sure you complete your mission."
This struck Yelena - deep down, she had known they didn't really trust her. But she would be lying if she hadn't felt some surge of pride at being given this mission, even if she hadn't been planning on completing it. "How do you know?"
"A car arrived before you did. And there's been people hovering around the building. Not necessarily suspicious-looking to passers-by, but definitely suspicious to those like you and I. They sent you to kill me, and they sent these others to make sure it is done."
"Yelena, we've got company - and lots of it," Melina updated through her communication device.
"да, stay in position," Yelena replied. Then she turned back to the other Widow, the original Widow. "They sent me to kill you, but I won't. That's not what I've come here to do."
"And, what did you come here to do?"
"I came to set you free."
Translations:
да - Yes
Нет - No
Спасибо - Thank you
(Yup, still taking inspiration from the trailers - parallels ;)
Thank you for being so patient for updates while we wait for the state of the world to change for the better!
As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :))
