Finding Home

Chapter 3

I may have been in hiding for a while, but I was still always looking over my shoulder. Instinct, second nature, habit, call it what you will.

It didn't matter that I took up residence in a relatively quiet country. Somewhere no one would think to search for me. It didn't matter that Hydra put the soldier back on ice.

My life was still at risk.

You don't just walk - or in my case run - out on Hydra, and live. You don't have The Winter Soldier sent after you, and survive. So being over cautious, continually looking over my shoulder was a small price to pay.

Immediately upon walking into my small cottage, I knew there was another presence, a change in the air, an unfamiliar scent. I chose to wait for them to make themselves visible before I acknowledged them.

I went into the kitchen first. Setting down my bags and putting things away. I never kept much in the house since it was far easier to escape unnoticed if they couldn't judge timing by food decay.

As I stood at the sink, washing off the vegetables I had bought at the market, I heard the quiet footsteps approach.

"You're not here to kill me, or you'd have tried by now. So what do you want?" I spoke without turning away from my task.

"Miss Petrova. My name is -"

I see his reflection in the chrome of the coffee machine. "Nick Fury." I cut off his introduction with a calm tone. "You're the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, I know. That's not what I asked, though."

"I want to talk to you about a job." He took a couple more steps into the kitchen.

"Want something to drink?" I asked, finally turning around to face him.

"No. Thank you." His features remained blank.

I grabbed the towel next to the sink, drying off my hands, not saying anything to the man in front of me.

"I am putting together a group of the very best men and women -"

"Like who?" I asked flatly, interrupting him yet again.

"Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Clint Barton," he paused a moment, judging my reactions to the names, "Natasha Romanoff." I clenched my jaw slightly, hearing her name, "I would like to add you to the team as well, Miss Petrova."

"I don't do teams. Sorry." I started to walk toward the living room.

"You don't do much of anything with the threat of the Winter Soldier hanging over your head." He quipped in reply, causing me to stop in my tracks.

"The Winter Soldier himself isn't a threat to me. It's the fact that I would be greatly outnumbered were he to find me again."

"Because you are the only one capable of taking out the soldier yourself, isn't that right, Shadow?"

Hearing that name, I quickly turned to face him again. "What did you call me?"

"'The Shadow' I believe, wasn't it? A ghost story, much like the soldier himself." He paused briefly, "The Darkness to those closest to you, but merely Shadow to the rest."

"How do you -"

"I know a lot about you, Miss Petrova." This time it was he who interrupted me, "A Winter Soldier yourself, trained by the best, surpassing your teacher - and Hydra as a whole - with ease." His voice had a smug, yet impressed undertone.

"None of that is in any file anywhere. How did you find out about me?"

"I have my ways, 'Shadow.' Outside Hydra and their facilities, I am the only one who knows about your secrets. To my knowledge, even most of Hydra doesn't know you exist, isn't that correct?"

I looked at him with narrow, suspicious eyes. "Yes. Only those that were a part of the program knew of my existence. The Black Widows knew of me when I was there, but they didn't know anything more than my name, and that I wasn't one of them. That I was a chosen one by Strucker himself."

"Why keep you so secret?"

I shrugged. "Never asked. For the same reason, the Soldier was kept quiet - I'd assume - someone untraceable to make their hits. The difference was, I wasn't the first. They kept a record of him, so they could try to repeat the process. After failed attempts, they succeeded. No sense in making that public knowledge and ruining the surprise."

"You are the absolute best at what you do, Kali. Please, consider joining S.H.I.E.L.D. Consider joining the Avengers."

"I already said, Nick, I work alone. Last time I was part of a team effort, it didn't end well."

"Think about it, at least?" he asked as he turned toward the front door.

"I already did."

"The time will come when you won't have a choice, Kali." His voice was cold as he opened the door. "Natasha will be none too pleased you've chosen to remain against her when given a choice."

I let out a heavy sigh."Tell Natasha; I'm not against her. If the Avengers need me, I'll help. But I'm not a part of the team. I'm not a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm still on my own."

He didn't say a word, just nodded with a small smile on his face before walking out, closing the door behind him.