The Daughter of Tony Stark

A World Divided; Chapter 5

   "Did you every know me before?" I asked Natasha numbly as she flew us to Vienna, my head thumping so loud I thought she could hear it. Even though I said I was done, like Clint I now heard, my father still wanted me to sign the Accords to keep me safe.

"Before what?" she said calmly, but for some reason now I could tell she was becoming tense at the statement. Was she like this all the time and I never noticed?

"Before my dad introduced me to you guys," I continued. "Looking back, you weren't really surprised, were you?" Natasha sighed.

"I shouldn't be telling you-"

"But you did know me. Was this when I was at HYDRA?" Nat looked a little shaken. "It can't get worse than it already is." The second that sentence came out of my mouth, I regretted it.

"Worse than it already is?" the assassin questioned. "Does this have to do with you at the funeral?" I sighed. I realized that if I ever wanted to get rid of these headaches and flashbacks, I'd need to tell someone. Nat was both my teacher and my friend, and I trusted her as much as Steve and my father.

"Actually, the funeral was only part of it." I explained how I had been receiving flashbacks and headaches ever since Steve had mentioned the man's name. "One time a flashback showed me training, and I mentioned the name Bucky as if I knew him. Who is he?"

"Captain's best friend," Natasha replied. "James Buchanan Barnes. He was thought to be dead until recently when he was discovered as the Winter Soldier."

"That was the guy on television when Project INSIGHT failed," I commented. "I didn't realize..."

"Just don't bring him up around Steve. It's... a tough thing for him." Nat glanced at me before turning back to the jet's controls. "And yes, we did meet before Stark introduced us." I looked at her, shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked nor acted like you'd ever been in the same room as me."

"Point taken. How did we..."

"You were dying," the assassin said bluntly. "An agent found you freezing in the snow during a manhunt for a killer. Turned out it was you."

"I know I killed people way back, but a manhunt?" I cried. Then I remember Fury's first words to me.

"I'm glad I kept you off Shield's radar, you've been useful." How had I not taken into account what he had said? And how was I useful? Nat continued to speak after a long pause.

"We were confused at first, it had been a while since there had been young assassins, but the agent soon realized that you were dying. You were taken to a SHIELD base and immediately treated. As soon as you woke up, I was sent in to question you, and you managed to nearly slice off my ear." She pulled back her hair on the right side of her face, and I saw a long scar from the top to the bottom. "We had to place you in a cell after that because you killed the two associates that came in with me."

"I'm so sorry," I apologized.

"It was strange at first, even for me. You wouldn't eat or sleep, just sit and stare at the door. One night you started screaming, and your body was enveloped in a light brown cocoon. I was sent down and had to scrape you out. Wasn't pretty. You just laid there shaking, and I left seeing as I couldn't do anything." I gulped. I could feel chills rising up my spine, and I had a feeling the story was going to become much darker.

"For two days you didn't move, and you were thought to be dead. Fury, being the director of SHIELD, sent in a diplomatic agent, the same one who rescued you from freezing to death."

Agent Coulson.

"When you woke up, you freaked out when you saw Coulson in the same room as you. We found out later that you were given a mission to kill him, but that never happened."

"What did he do?" I asked, slightly worried. She was straying off topic, which never happened. She was hiding something.

"Sorted a few things out, like where you were and what was happening. Took-"

"Nat, just tell me-"

"It was crazy at first-"

"Natasha!" I yelled, causing her to flinch. My chest heaved as I stared at her. "Stop, just stop. I lost so much of my life and I might be able to remember it if you...just...tell me." I didn't know where all of the anger was coming from, or why I had snapped. I was the cheerful one on the team, and recently I had been a major buzzkill. Nat turned her head back to the controls, clearly at war with herself on what to tell me.

"When Coulson entered the room, you asked where your handler was. Coulson was confused and asked who you were referring to, but you never answered. You kept repeating, 'Where is he? Did I fail the test?' After a few tries to talk, he just left."

Nat swallowed. "That night, there was a power outage, which was never supposed to happen. Most of the agents were sent to make sure you didn't escape, including myself, but once we reached the corridor, the agents started to attack each other. Their eyes were a blinding blue, and they kept shouting, 'We've failed.' I can remember hearing your laughter as they teared each other apart."

"How many died?" I asked slowly, horrified by what she was telling me. When I grabbed her, was that why she jumped? She remembered that night?

"Twenty during the fight, and six from injuries. Thirty alone went insane from the encounter."

I bent over in my seat and held my head in my hands. Fifty-six agents were damaged. They could have had had families waiting for them to come home, not knowing they were never going to see them again. "Ross," I muttered before turning to the assassin. "Did he know?"

Nat sighed slowly. "He knew. He won't mention it, but one of the people you murdered was his brother." Nat took my hand reassuringly. "Sucks when the old days come back, but there is nothing you can do about it."

"Does my father know about this?" I asked sadly. Natasha nodded.

"He's the reason why you never found out. I can't bear to say the rest, but you need to ask him more about this." I sighed again. My dad wasn't going to give up that information so easily. The only problem was that I knew deep down in my heart I was soon going to hear deeds I had done that were much, much worse.

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"Excuse me, Miss Romanoff, Miss Stark?" a secretary asked us. "I just need both of your signatures." I gulped at the pen waiting for me as Nat signed. I couldn't do this.

"I'm sorry, if you will excuse me for a moment," I said quickly before walking out of the room and into a small hallway. I slid down against the wall and struggled to breathe. This wasn't right, signing the Accords. As I continued to think, I never noticed the room explode until the wall I was on collapsed. As the rubble covered me, I managed to let out a single word in terror of what had happened on the other side.

"Nat!"