WILD CHILD │ barnes ¹

seven

𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐁𝐘𝐄 𝐁𝐘𝐄 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀

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There was a note on the coffee table, it read, 'Lenochka, take care of the house and yourself. See you soon. Natashka.' 

Natalia had placed it in the early morning before she had exited Yelena's house, bags in hand and keys in the other. She had locked the door and started the five minute walk into the centre of the city. Kiev was quiet at this time of the day, it was only 5 am and its citizens did not rise until much later. That was good. That would mean less people on the train.

She was travelling back to Moscow today. The KGB had been destroyed after the fall of the Soviet Union, but the Red Room remained. And they had a new mission for her.

An American SHIELD agent had been tailing the Red Room's Widows for months. He was like gum on the bottom of their shoe. Irritating, but not impossible to dispose of. So they called for one of their Black Widows to solve the problem.

The man was Clint Barton, or better known in the espionage world as Hawkeye and his specialty was archery. 

Natalia almost laughed out loud when she read the file. 

At the station she bought her ticket and boarded the train quietly. As expected there were barely any passengers so she had the whole car to herself. The train ride past quickly with Natalia's head in the Portuguese book she had just started and when it finally slid to a halt in the busy Russian train station a little after 7 am, she wasted no time in taking a taxi to the assigned safe house.

Natalia had been informed that Barton was staying one floor above her. It would be a simple mission. The Red Room didn't care about intel, they just wanted the man gone for good. She observed him for several days, taking note of the time he left the apartment for his early morning run around the block, the days he went shopping for supplies (it was on a Wednesday) and the time he arrived back home. 

On the fourth day, she decided she was ready. The man did not have an overly complex routine and just watching him do the same things everyday was boring her. The quicker she got it done, the quicker she could return back to Kiev.

Natalia slotted the knives in her boots and loaded her guns with sufficient ammunition before firmly locking the door behind her and stalking towards the stairs at the back of the dim corridor. She pulled herself up the flight of stairs and tiptoed down the hall to Apartment 3B. 

She could smell the remains of dinner that would have been cooked at precisely 7 pm through the door. Natalia drew her right leg back, and then she kicked it forward and the door flew off it's hinges into the kitchen where a surprised Barton stood at her, still holding his plate of food. His bow and arrow rested on the counter top.

Natalia wasted no time in rushing at him. Her agile legs wrapped around his torso while her hips spun around and her arm reached for the knife inside her boot.

Barton fell to the ground, plate in hand and an unprepared, wide eye look in his eyes.

But Natalia underestimated the strength of the agent once he had gotten over the initial shock. The plate was smashed into her face and she barely had time to close her eyes before the shards cut and embedded into her skin.

Ouch, she thought, this would take a while to clean later.

Barton, taking advantage of her pain, pushed her off and launched to his feet, making a reach for the weapon on the counter. But Natalia recovered quickly, she landed a swift kick upon the back of his knees causing them to buckle.