Torn

-|RED ROOM|-

Natalia winced as a cold hard slap crossed her face by the hand of Madame B.

"What is this?!"

"Her name is Katia Campbell. There was a piece of paper wrapped in the blanket."

"I don't care about the child's name! I want to know why!"

Madame B yelled. She liked her girls to be confident, not smartasses. Natalia hid her fear well, a little too well.

"I-I saw her all alone in the rain. She was going to die."

"Since when are you allowed to care?!"

Madame B raised her hand, preparing to give another slap. Before she could, Natalia answered quickly,

"We can train her from a young age! S-she could be the youngest but best student of the Red Room."

Madame B slowly lowered her hand. She considered it. She could produce the youngest secret agent yet. And she could do it before Hydra. Madame B always took pleasure when the Red Room beat Hydra to things, even though they were allies. Hydra's asset even helped with training occasionally. But Madame B still took every chance to rub every success in Hydra's face. You see, when Madame B is told that women shouldn't do something, she sets out to do it. And that would make her admirable... if you disregard the fact that she is abusive and also raises children to be trained killers.

"...Fine. But she will be your responsibility."

"Yes, Madame."

2003

Katia was two years old and was being handcuffed to her bed every night. Katia was two years old and could already speak propper English and Russian. Katia Was two years old and had been practicing ballet since she could walk. Katia was two years old and had already learned that trust is not something to be given to just anyone.

She only spoke to Natalia. She only listened to Natalia. She only trained with Natalia. Katia was only two and she already knew that Natalia was the only person who would never hurt her.

2005

Katia was only four years old and she had started learning combat. She was an excellent student when it came to ballet. Hand-to-hand combat was hard for her at first. Katia didn't have much strength so she had to use her agility to her advantage. She was also quite small.

2006

Katia was five. She had started target practice. She was considerably shorter than all of the other girls in her class. This made her nervous. She was a very timid little thing. However, she was getting very good at combat. She had learned to use her small size and quick reflexes to her advantage. Her agility was her secret weapon. No one would expect a child to move with such deadly speed and grace.

2007

Katia was now six years old she had mastered, hand to hand combat, marksmanship, language arts, and had even started on coding.  She was exceptional at ballet and gymnastics. Today, Natalia had told her that they were going to try something new. That Madame B had insisted. In the Red Room, Katia had quickly learned that if Madame B insists on something, it better get done.

"Katia, today you are going to train with someone you don't know. He is very strong and ruthless, so show no mercy, but do not fight to kill."

"Yes, мама... wait, 'he'? A man, in the Red Room?"

Natalia chuckled softly at the child's remark. It also warmed her heart that Katia thought of her as a mother, the one thing she could never be.

"He doesn't serve the Red Room. He is an asset to our allies at Hydra."

Katia nodded in understanding. When they got to the red room, they saw three men. It sounds silly, but Katia had only seen men very few times around the Red Room. Two of the men had guns and were wearing guard outfits. The other one looked different. He looked much more intimidating.

He was tall and wore all black combat clothes. He had a black mask that covered the bottom half of his face. His hair was brown and was grown out, almost reaching his shoulders. The most noticeable thing about him, though, was his left arm. It was completely made of metal and had a red star on the shoulder.

Katia tried to look as calm and collected as possible, but couldn't help showing an intimidated look on her face. As Natalia and Katia stepped into the room, the "asset" turned to Natalia and got into a ready stance.

"Not me, her."

Natalia motioned towards Katia, who was still acting quite timid. The asset tilted his head ever so slightly in confusion.

"A child?"

"Yes. A highly skilled child too."

The asset hesitantly nodded as Katia stepped onto the sparring mat. They both stood there in a fighting stance for quite a while. Katia was getting bored at waiting for the asset to make the first move. She remembered something that Natalia had told her. "Never wait for the man to make the first move, whether you're fighting or going out." So Katia quickly jumped at the asset.

She almost landed a solid punch to the stomach but he caught her fist with his metal arm and twisted her arm backward. Katia flipped back to follow the motion and pulled her arm from his grip. He stepped forward to kick her legs out from under her but she side-stepped him and got in a good roundhouse kick to the stomach. It didn't do much damage.

That's when Katia realized that there was not much she could do to injure this man. He also had quick reflexes so she couldn't use her agility against him. She decided to just keep fighting as long as she could and maybe she could at least get praise for her effort.

As she was drawing back from the kick, the asset grabbed her leg and was able to throw her to the ground. He pinned her arms down and had his metal arm slowly tightening around her throat. Katia couldn't punch. She lunged her legs upward and twisted them around his arms. She then used all of the force in her small body to flip him over and off of her. His metal arm was still in the grasp of her legs and he was on his back. He no longer had a grip on her neck and she maneuvered one of her legs to keep the arm still and the other to kick him in the head. Both of her arms were holding onto the metal arm as well as one of her legs so there was no escaping.

The asset's other arm was free however and he was able to remove her leg from its twisted position around his metal arm. But before he could do anything else, she regained her leg's position and kicked him in the head again with her other leg. She could kick his throat in with her other leg but she was told not to go for the kill. But she could tell that he wasn't going to tap out.

"That's enough."

As soon as Katia heard Madame B's voice, she instantly let go and scrambled to a standing position. The asset did the same but he was much calmer. I don't know how he's not scared of Madame B. Katia thought.

Natalia watched with pride. Madame B stood beside her and whispered,

"I think she might be ready for graduation."

All color left Natalia's face. Graduation...