Forever and Always

By Your Side

After our little heart to heart, Natasha was called away to deal with something. I didn't ask for the specifics. After she left, I sat on the couch, processing everything that had happened. Today was a wild roller coaster. I was ambushed, I fought back, then I was shot in the shoulder with an arrow that injected me with enough tranquilizer to kill a full grown whale. I was fully prepared to die for all the things I had done. But then I was pardoned in exchange for information by the top secret organization that arrested me. Now I was a part of said top secret organization. Oh yeah, and I found out that the love of my life was in fact still alive. I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees with my fists balled under my chin. A large part of me was worried that this was a dream that I would soon wake up from. But I tried not to focus on that. I got up and went to my kitchen. It took me a moment to find the cabinet that held the cups. I filled the up cup I grabbed with water from the faucet. I leaned back against the counter and took a sip. While I was standing there, I made shapes with the water, like I did with the fire in the interrogation room. It still amazed me that I had these abilities. At first, I hated them. I despised what I was made to do with them. What I went through to get them. But after a while, I accepted them as a part of who I was. When I did that, I gained greater control over them. Breaking out of my reverie, I washed the cup and put it in the dish drainer. I went to my bedroom and just plopped down on the bed. I stared up at the ceiling and slowly drifted off to sleep.

***
Natasha's P.O.V

I left Ashton's apartment with so many different emotions coursing through me. However, I did not show them. I had to keep my face stone cold. I was called to debrief an agent about their next mission. It was a stake out in Germany. Something about a drug ring there. I did so on auto pilot. My body spoke but my mind was elsewhere. When I was done, I went to my office. It wasn't anything big, But it's where I did all of my paperwork. I figured I'd work on the mission report for a while. I looked at the clock on my wall after I sat down. It read 12:23 in the morning. I sighed. Better to get it done now. It took me about an hour and a half to complete it. It would have only taken me about 30 minutes, but I kept getting distracted by my thoughts. Ashton was here. I still loved her. To be honest, I never stopped. She was the only person who saw every little detail about me, And she didn't judge me. She loved me for all my flaws. And it hurt like hell when she was gone. Like a part of my own body was ripped from me. And now I had that part back. But things had changed. We were different people from when we were 14. We never got to be children. We went from toddlers to adults. She was with the KBG before I was. And she always had that spark of life. I remember when I first arrived...

Flashback:
Italics in Russian.

I got out of the car slowly. I didn't want to leave. But the man that took me from the orphanage said that I was heading to my new home. Where that was, I didn't know. I was scared. The man had opened the door for me. We walked up the stairs and there was a woman waiting for me. "This is her?" The woman said to the man. "Yes. I'm sure she will do great here." the man said with a smile. It wasn't a nice smile. It was a mean sneer. The woman looked me over. "She's skin and bone." The woman said. The man looked at her sharply and the woman shrunk back in fear. "She is to be trained like the rest. I expect you to make her strong." The man said. "Of course, General Dreykov." the woman said. After a few more words were exchanged, the woman motioned for me to go inside. In the room there were girls doing ballet. Some moved with grace while others struggled. One in particular was very graceful. She looked around my age, her dark hair up in a tight bun. "You will have vigorous training until your graduation. It is not going to be easy, but I expect perfection. If not, there will be heavy consequences. You will address me as Madame B." She said as she led me down a dark hallway. We passed a few doors until we reached our destination, a room full of beds. She ushered me towards a bed in the back. It was neatly made with a uniform at the foot of it. On the headboard there are two sets of handcuffs. One for each hand.

"Strip all of your clothing. Put on the uniform." She said. I waited, expecting her to leave so I could change. Until I felt a hand across my face. "Now! Do not waste my time!" She yelled at me. I shook like a leaf as I hastily stripped down to nothing and put on the uniform. She grabbed my clothes in one arm and led me back to the other girls with the other. The girls were all lined up with their arms placed behind their backs. The graceful girl was at the end. None of them looked at us. "This is Natalia Romanova. I expect you all to treat her the same as you would anyone else. No mercy." Madame B said. "Yes Madame B." They all said in unison. "Why don't we give her a demonstration of what we do here." It was not a question. The air in the room changed. It became somber and thick as all the girls tensed. "Ashton, Victoria. Front and center." Madame B ordered two of the girls. The graceful girl and one with ashy blond hair step in front of everyone else. They face each other with no emotion.
"Begin." Madame B shouts. The girls launch at each other. The blond girl attempted to get the graceful one in a headlock. However, an elbow to the gut stopped that. Punches were exchanged. The blond girl punched the graceful one in the face causing her mouth to bleed. The graceful one kicked the blond one's feet out from under her, causing her to fall on her stomach. The graceful girl pounced on the blond's back and put her in a headlock. The blond struggled to no avail. The graceful girl looked at Madame B. Madame B nodded her head. A look flashes over the graceful girl's eyes. She looked at the blond and twisted her arm, snapping the blond's neck with a loud crack. She held on to the blond for a second before letting her go. She stood up and fell back into line as shadows swirled behind her brown eyes. "Well done, Ashton. Natalia, you would do well to follow her example." Madame B said, making me look at her. When I looked back at Ashton, I found her looking at me too.
End flashback

I submitted my report and went to my apartment. Hers was right next to mine. It was going to take some getting used to. I decided to take a shower before I head to bed. I let the hot water relax my tense muscles. My mind wandered to the earlier events. When I learned that the woman we were after was Ashton, I wanted to shoot her right then and there. All those years, I had hated her for leaving me. Hated that I still loved her. I tried so hard to get over her but the pain never left. Her absence was like losing a limb. A part of me was missing. But I had orders. And when she told me she thought I was dead and everything that had happened to her, I had to reevaluate a lot. And I still had a lot I needed to process. I turned the water off and stepped out to dry myself off. When I was done, I just walked to my bedroom in my towel. I dropped the towel and got under the covers. I fell asleep normally. But what I did not expect to happen was to wake up to blood curdling screams.