Project Alpha

Ch. 4 - Deleted

**I should mention that this takes place sorta during a bit of Winter Soldier, but not? It's confusing but more will be explained later. Bucky is here too. Also, do you like the picture?

POV: Natasha Romanoff

I looked over my shoulder one last time to look at the fallen punching bag in the training room. Sand littered the floor around it. I would change it out for a new one, seeing as we had a lot of spares, but I had no time right now.

SHIELD Director Nick Fury had just called a meeting to discuss whatever new information he had found. Then, he would gather us up to go on a wild goose chase of a mission.

I walked through the various corridors in the tower, running into a certain billionaire along the way. He sat in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee, despite the meeting going on.

"Okay, first of all, you're drinking coffee at one in the afternoon," I say, looking at him curiously like the idiot that he was, "Secondly, we're supposed to be in a meeting."

Tony merely shrugged and slurped his coffee loudly. "Just don't feel like it."

"Well then, c'mon," I reply while dragging him to his feet and pulling him to the elevator. "FRIDAY, board room."

"Really, Natasha?" He glared at me, probably because he had left behind his drink. Aka his fuel because he most likely didn't get any sleep last night. Again...

"Yes really, Stark." After all, it was only about the fifteenth time this month I had to locate and bring Tony to a meeting against his will.

When the lift stopped, I stepped out and waited for him to reluctantly do the same. Then, we proceeded to head left and slip into another small room. Not that small though, for all the avengers could fit along with Agent Hill and Fury.

Thor, the god of thunder, was sitting eating poptarts straight out of the box- no, boxes, seeing as there were three different flavors resting on the table. Chocolate, cherry, and even blueberry.

Steve Rogers, Captain America, had of course arrived early and now sat polishing his shield with nothing better to do, seeing as he didn't understand his phone very well. Always the golden boy, yes?

Bucky Barnes, the old Winter Soldier, sat next to him awaiting whatever Fury would tell us. His metal arm shined in the sunlight from the nearby window, one way glass of course.

Sam Wilson, the Falcon, was mindlessly tapping away on a phone, occasionally glancing up to look around. He rolled his eyes at Tony and motioned to me jokingly.

Bruce Banner, Hulk, was adjusting his glasses while staring at the wall past Tony's empty chair. He was probably thinking about some lab project like always.

Clint Barton, Hawkeye, was twirling an arrow in his fingers, grinning at me. One leg up on the chair as he tapped his foot rythmaticaly. My best friend was trying to annoy Fury, and based on the tense features on the director's face, had successfully secured a death wish.

We both took our usual spots around the large, metal table. Fury held up a flash drive, which he quickly plugged into a device on the wall. This made a holographic image project right in front of us.

A large file showed up. It was in pretty bad shape, only a few lines were readable along with the title of it, which I couldn't see because of Tony's big head in the way.

"What you are seeing right now, are files that were 'erased'," he does air quotes with his fingers.

"Even if you delete something, it's never truly gone for good. It can and always will creep back up on you." Fury's words chilled be to the bone. It reminded my of my past, something I wanted to forget.

"Get to the point, Pirate," Tony said, starting to get even more annoyed about being here.

"We have beliefs that Hydra and the Red Room-"

"Cut the crap. The Red Room was terminated several years ago," I couldn't help myself, the words just flew right out. The team didn't know of my past, except for Clint. Although, he didn't know the details. However, the whole team did know something was up when we both tensed.

"-are working together. We don't know what it is yet, and that's why we need you," Fury finishes his sentence from earlier while glaring at me. "I understand your history, Romanoff, but the RR is back."

Everyone else was confused at what we were talking about, but just went with it. Clint gave me a concerned look. He knew what the Red Room had done to me, but he didn't know of all the horrors I'd faced.

Fury cleared his throat before speaking again, "We have information on a project titled, 'Project Alpha'."

As if my heart hadn't already stopped, it did now. I knew exactly what the file contained, who else was involved, and that it was a failure. I had been lucky, given that Bucky didn't recover those memories. But one look at his face told me that he now remembered everything.

I could feel myself shaking, out of fear or grief for my first and last child, I don't know. I couldn't be in this room anymore. The avengers were all looking at me, and they had a good reason to. I couldn't breathe in this stupid, stuffy room.

I, Natasha Romanoff, didn't show emotions. This wasn't me at all. They could instantly tell that Bucky and I knew something. Agent Hill confirmed this a second later by asking, "Barnes, Romanoff... Anything you'd like to add?"

We stared at each other for a second, not wanting to give something away.

Then, I abruptly stood up and walked away. Away from that meeting. Away from my past, again. Away from the prying eyes of my family that were wondering, what is this that can bring tears to the Black Widow's eyes?

I continued to the elevator without looking back. The tears were already cascading down my cheeks. My only child was dead, just because of Red Room and Hydra. They forced me into it and now he was gone for good.

Peter...

That was the name I chose. It sounded foreign coming out of my mouth. The elevator brought me to the common rooms and I half ran to my bedroom. I needed time to think.

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