A-Force Assemble

BlackHill - Let me protect you

Warnings: none
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Hurry. You have to hurry.

Bag. Weapons. A few shirts and a suit. Just what she needs, nothing more.

Come on, why are you so slow?

She rushes to the bathroom, consciously avoids looking at the second toothbrush when she grabs hers and runs back to the living room.

Protect. That's why you run. To protect.

The sooner she is out of here, the sooner Maria will be safe.

***

Natalia Romanova never possessed a lot of things. To be honest, she owned nothing at all, not even herself. No, she belonged to the Red Room, to Madam B and her handlers. That's what made her so efficient: she always ran into the battle like she had nothing to loose, because she did.

Of course, when especially hard missions were successfully accomplished, she was rewarded. Sometimes it was a week without any punishment, no matter how hard she screwed. Or she remembers finding a little basket of strawberries on her bed (it was the first time she ate strawberries and she can still feel the sweet taste on her tongue, or the freshness of the juices going down her throat). All the others girls looked at her with envy and jealousy, even pleaded to have some but Natasha knew better. Rewards were exclusive. Any sharing would end in beating for both of the girls, and her reward would have been lost in vain.

Anyway, even her rewards weren't long lasting object. The Red Room made it clear she would never possess anything and they followed that rule very strictly.

One day, one of her comrade was found with a watch, just a small golden watch she had found on a mission two weeks earlier. Madam B had made every girl come and sit on the floor, back straight and legs crossed. They had brought the girl with a beaten face, made her sit on a chair in front of everyone and tied her. She had to remain silent as one of her trainers melted the watch and poured the burning gold over her shoulders, right onto her skin. At one point, she broke down and screamed so hard she broke her vocal cords. Madam B simply took her gun and buried a bullet in her head. Natasha tried her best to stay stoic, but she knew she would never be able to forget her pleading cries. « That's one lesson taught, » Madam B said, « you need to remember who you belong to and what are the consequences of disobedience. »

Natalia threw the little button she had found too right away.

***

Agent Romanoff is way more lucky than Natalia Romanova. First of all, SHIELD gives her a job, a real job, one she hopes will help clean her ledger. They give her a weapon, hers and hers only. They offer her a room to crash into, with a fridge and even a small bottle of her favorite vodka one she is cleared of deprogramming (she never knew how they knew and her favorite brand but she suspects Maria for that one, the brunette being quite awarded about the best alcohol in Earth). For the first time, she possesses things that won't be taken from her, or at least she wants to believe it.

Even if she isn't accepted right away, Agent Romanoff is happy with her new life. She goes on missions, always completing them as efficiently as she did for the Red Room. They aren't always easy, she almost doesn't make it a few times, but she still loves her job. The fighting is good, and she is able to pay her debt slowly.

Step by step, she opens up to other people, and even earns herself a partner. Being teamed up with Agent Barton has its ups and downs (at first she really couldn't stand his particular sense of humor) but when he saves her life once more and when she hears his joke when he wakes up from his coma, she almost hugs him.