𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌

𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

- ⧗ ZARIAH PETROVA ⧗ -

   THE ELEVATOR FELT SLIGHTLY CRAMPED with three people inside. Zariah leant up against one of the walls, holding on to the railing beside her. Across the way, Natasha and Maria looked back over at her. The redhead passed her a smile.

   "Don't worry, kid," she said. "Nick seems harsh but he's a softy at heart."

   "As long as you stay on his good side," Maria added.

   Zariah let out a small scoff. "Think it's already a bit late for that."

   Hacking into a person's system and stealing their files wasn't exactly what one would call getting off on the right foot. Yet Zariah found herself not worrying too much about the director waiting to meet her. She was sure compared to the men she was used to, he would be easy work.

   When the elevator arrived at its destination, it let out a loud ding and the doors opened wide. They revealed a vast office, complete with two walls made entirely of glass. Multiple sets of furniture dotted the space but Zariah fixed on a certain one. A sleek black desk with a certain one-eyed man sat behind.

Nick Fury stood as the trio entered the room. He wore a black suit with a long coat atop, draping almost to the floor. Moving towards him, Zariah realised he was taller than she thought he'd be.

"Well, well, well," his voice echoed out. "It's nice to finally meet you, little friend."

   Zariah felt herself swallow. The two woman behind met the desk beside her, but Nick Fury's gaze didn't diverge. He stared down at the girl, an unreadable expression on his face. As Zariah stared back, her mind began to whirl.

   This person stood in front of her was no ordinary man. Bigger than Natasha Romanoff, or even Maria Hill, this man was head of the largest rivalry group the red room had ever had. He was the man her organisation had hated for years. The one who had stolen their greatest asset, been fighting against every one of their plans.

   Right in front of her stood one of the red room's biggest targets. One commonly marked as untouchable. And yet here was Zariah, a few feet away from him with nobody to stop her.

   She could reach for the gun on Maria Hill's belt. Shoot Nick Fury, then perhaps even shoot the other director too. It would be so easy to kill them both where they stood and then-

   Zariah thought of Natasha. Did she want to kill her too? The hesitation kickstarted the girl's brain.

   Stop it, she screamed to herself. That's not you anymore.

   It seemed red room's training came back to bite her at every turn. But she told herself that she needed to forget them. She didn't need to kill anyone. More importantly, she didn't want to.

   Zariah pushed Madame B.'s voice out of her head, threw Dreykov's words out of the window. SHIELD was her family now. SHIELD would take care of her.

"It's nice to meet you too," Zariah replied, her voice coming out quieter than she had intended it to. A pang of guilt struck her heart from the threatening thoughts that had once again crept into her head. Although he hadn't heard them, Zariah felt bad for Nick Fury, causing the next words to simply spill from her mouth. "I'm sorry for causing you such trouble."

The director let out a laugh. "Oh you are, are you?"

It seemed he was taking it all quite well. Zariah sensed the annoyance he conveyed was real but behind it, she could see a sliver of what might be amusement. Perhaps Nick Fury was just surprised when the person who'd been derailing his systems for months turned out to be a little girl who barely reached his shoulder.