BEAUTIFUL CRIMES ▹ Mama!Nat

SEVEN. in which the white flag is raised

[ BEAUTIFUL CRIMES ]
chapter seven; in which the white flag is raised

❝ Let yourself hurt, Adelina. I know you think you're supposed to be this big bad spider,
but you don't have to be. You deserve to just be a child. ❞

HE'S UPSET. YOU'RE IN TROUBLE. THERE'S NO TROUBLE. WHERE DID NATALIA GO? YOU NEED TO KILL HER. I NEED TO KILL HER. THAT'S THE MISSION. THERE'S NO MISSION. DREYKOV IS GOING TO KILL YOU. YOU'RE FREE. I'M FREE. YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN THE WORLD.

"Valieva!"

She's laying on the uncomfortable box of a bed. It feels like she can't will her body to do much else. Adelina has no idea how much time has passed between now and Natasha's last visit. She feels like she's going crazy.

Well, crazier than she already is.

Adelina looks to the man with the eyepatch that stands outside cell. She watches as he looks at the sandwiches placed near the electric wall. Three of the six of them are gone. He looks at her. She offers no witty comeback. She only blinks.

Fury stands there a moment. He's contemplating on what to do, what to say. This girl is literally breaking down right in front of him, he can see it. She's lost a pound or two from starving herself. Her eyes look hollow, like there isn't a mind in her head. She hasn't even tried to read his past like a reverse fortune teller.

You're worthless. You can't complete a mission. What mission? There's no mission. Freedom.

Adelina hears Fury sigh before shaking his head slowly. He walks away, and all Adelina can do is watch him. She feels herself deteriorating. Hill's words float around in her mind.

At least she had the strength to see the light? What have you done? Taken the lives of hundreds for fun? That's not normal, that's not strong! And I don't know if anyone is gonna say it, so I will. You're nothing but a shell of a person. There's nothing under there that anyone will ever love, and there's nothing under there that's capable of loving. While you attack everyone that's in a fifty yard radius, you will either be remembered as the little girl who died without someone who loved her or a heartless murderer who deserved what hit her. And, frankly? It looks like you're both.

She is a shell. She knows it. Hill knows it. Natasha knows it. Is that a good thing? Isn't that what she's supposed to be? Ruthless and heartless? In the Red Room, she was called a oleander; a beautiful — yet deadly — flower with vibrant colors. Just touching the sap of an oleander could send one into their grave. However, no matter how beautiful and deadly, flowers are flowers. They don't care. They can't care. That's what Adelina is supposed to be. Why is that bad?