Now
His hand, still clothed in the very material that he had since let define him, slammed into the young woman’s jaw as he grunted at her. “You dare threaten the Empire?!” His tone was one of disbelief. Alexei Shostakov could not understand her motives but that was Natalia Romanova’s only joy in the current situation. Her vivid eyes watched him as he backed away slowly. Alexei lacked the strength he had once had; it was clear to her that the serum was failing, and that desperation had become his primary response so it was in desperation that he abused her.
Hands tied above her head and ropes clenched tightly around her waist, forcing the familiar black cat suit closer to her skin than ever. Messily, strands of red hair cascaded around her jaded features. In a time, back in the beginning, she had been idealistic but that was no longer the case. Life had fucked her over, time and time again. Sooner or later Natalia knew that she would have to stand up and take the plunge. It was her past that had dragged her back to Russia, into her current mess, and it was her past that needed to be destroyed.
She would accomplish the feat, even if it meant that she had to kill every person who had ever declared their allegiance to the Red Room. It was quite an extensive list but they had made her the ultimate assassin, of her time, and she would use those skills to purge them from the world. Irony was not lost on her nor would it be lost on them.
Yet again, Red Guardian Prime smacked her across the face. Smirking, Natalia stared back at him. Her chest heaved from the assault but her face didn’t betray her as she panted and she spat the blood from her mouth. Alexei gazed and, as she watched him, she could see the frustration growing in the man’s face. He had always been a brutish man who had needed all of the control in a relationship, but Natalia was no longer as needy or naive as she had been. Alexei was not the intimidating and loving force that he had once been in her eyes. Now he was merely a menace and her time as an Avenger had taught her how to deal with them.
“You tempt fate and dance along the line of heroism,” spat the man as he cracked his clothed knuckles. Alexei’s eyes were fixed on her with a hatred she hadn’t experienced in a very long time. “Did you think life wouldn’t finally catch up with you, Widow?”
Natalia snarled her reply. “Do you want me to come running back into your arms, Alexei? I hope that hasn’t even crossed your mind. Natalia Romanova as you knew her is dead.” Unable to resist, she brought on another slap. “Consider yourself a widower.”
It was a sound that shocked even his ears. This was not what caught his attention though; it was the very expression borne across her face. Beneath the strands of red hair and hidden beneath the deep pools of intrigue that exploded from her vivid green eyes, Natalia’s face was contorted in the most sadistic smile he had ever witnessed. For the first time he considered a truth, that the woman that had lived underneath his spotlight had disappeared and made way for a formidable enemy. Anger was absent from her gaze but the stench of retribution was only feet from him.
Alexei would be happier when she was finally dead. It was a privilege that Natalia was pleased to withhold from him as long as she had the ability to do so but she remembered a time when things had certainly been different between them.
“I taught you all!”
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#9
OCT 11 |
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A Multitude of Casualties, Part One:
“A Tale as Old as Time”
“A Tale as Old as Time”
Some Years Ago
Her fists crashed forward thunderously. She waited for no man to instruct her. Fiery hair flung around her in a loosely caught ponytail as she grunted through her training regime. Thirty other trainees clouded around her, each participating in a similar exercise but none had the passion that was presented in her forceful attack. Smashing her leg into the swinging punching bag, she propelled it forward as it crashed through the window and into the control room. The sudden invasion was met with screams and screeches of surprise and fear.
“Romanova!” barked one of the guardsmen.
Natalia Romanova lifted her head, revealing emerald eyes as menacing as any snake he had ever witnessed. She had been with the KGB for six months and was rapidly progressing as one of their finest trainees, with the exception of her liberal attitude that presented a minor problem for even their top-grade psychologist. Natalia lurched forward as her hands caught around another trainee’s neck. Hoisting him into the air, she thrashed him into cushioned ground.
Flipping onto her hands and back aided her in eluding the sudden hands that stretched toward her. Screams echoed around her about the trainee that had gone rogue. She was far from feral but they were giving her more ideas than she would ever have conceived on her own. It was with sheer arrogance that she walked into the line of action presented by Alexei Shostakov, one of fiercest soldiers under the Skull’s employ. Natalia would spit on his grave before she would run from him. It was a macabre dance that she toyed with but she was ready to face it.
She had never seen the man in action but she had heard of his exploits. He had raped several of the other female trainees as punishment for their disobedience. Natalia wasn’t a feminist but she believed that she was every bit as capable as the man presented in front of her. He caught the first punch she threw at him but dropped her hands as if allowing her a second chance. Cocking her ruby brows, Natalia swung her leg in a high-arched kick but again she was caught. Shostakov forced her back as she hit the mat – hard.
Rolling from her position, she lunged for him. Her heart was racing but she didn’t have time to rethink her actions as she launched both feet into his chest. Natalia cared not for the communist dream that the others had subscribed too. She dreamt of freedom but was faltered at every turn. Shostakov stumbled slightly. Gathering himself at an unbelievable speed, his hand groped angrily around her throat. His words came as little more than a hiss. “It will take a lot more than that, little spider,” croaked the older man as he towered over her still body.
Natalia growled. “Arrogance is the fall of many a strong lion.”
Her speed and agility were on par with that of a cheetah as she leapt forward and wrapped her hands around the rope that had formerly held the punching bag. Swinging back, the Russian beauty clasped her legs around the neck of the guardsman as she jumped free, and Shostakov was caught off balance by the sudden attack and floored. Natalia stood triumphantly above him, her sweat-lined face every bit as aggressive as when she had begun her tirade. She dreamed of freedom but now was not the day. For her, today was a warning that she could take what she wanted at any opportunity. No fear, she thought of her current motto in life.
“Shostakov,” called a voice from over the speakers. “Report to your briefed position; Romanova should accompany you.”
Natalia was dragged as she was not eager to accompany him, so he had her brought by force. Her hands were clasped by the other guards and she was led into a separate room. Her emerald eyes searched for an escape, but the dimmed room made it hard for her to see. It seemed like hours had passed before a flurry of lights blinded her and she jumped up defensively. Shocked, she realized she looked down at a laboratory from an observation deck. It appeared to be Alexei that was strapped to the machinery beneath her but she wasn’t sure what the process was.
She was more compelled about why she had been asked to watch. Guards surveyed her from the door but they were of little interest to her. Whether she readily admitted what she had experienced or not, Natalia had been forever affected by the abuse Alexei had forced upon her. Normally she removed herself from the statistic; she refused to believe she had been raped. Natalia had never been that weak. She was too strong to be manipulated or violated. Yet…she had been. Strands of red contrasted her pale skinned forehead as she moved closer to the glass. She simultaneously wished him death and life, and she considered herself to suffer from some psychotic defect.
Natalia believed herself to be in love with her captor.
Electricity exploded and chemicals began to seep into his skin amidst the sounds of his screams. Natalia slid backwards at the sight as his body began to quiver and shake manically even as one of the guards received an order to remove her. She fought, she shrugged him off and she was determined to watch but she was pulled into the hallway where a fist smashed into her face. She could feel the bitterly rustic taste of blood as she leaned against the wall.
Alexei was in pain but she was worried for herself. The unthinkable had happened. Natalia Romanova was pregnant.
Now
“I had expected you would come slinking back. I have no use for your apologies and I have even less need for your excuses.”
Anton Shostakov stood by the door. “You don’t understand.”
“I understand entirely. I was once in the same position. I risked my life and ran as far as I could. You succumbed to this lifestyle. That is how I know you are weak.”
“I am not weak. Everything I have done has been in search of you.”
Natalia shrugged, pain surging through her arms at the small gesture. Her restraints had been tightened after Alexei had left her. Anton had visited when he assumed she slept but the Widow was too suspicious to sleep in such an environment. As first she had questioned his motives, as the Winter Guard offered the fame and security of a democratic republic. The Red Skull, despite his considerable power, was still the underdog followed only by the weak of will and the down and out. Natalia had made sure to read all of the case files and she understood that Anton’s time in the orphanage had been tough. It was then that she understood his reason for defecting on that one small memory.
“You wasted your time. I have no desire to be your mother. I didn’t then and I definitely don’t now,” she informed him callously. “My son is dead.”
Some Years Ago
“What did they do to you?”
Her eyes scanned across the peculiar musculature of his body as he slipped from beneath the rough sheets of her bed. Natalia had never broached the subject that seemed to be held so tightly to his chest as she’d had no need to know until now that his visits had become more frequent and more consensual. Shostakov had always been well-built for a man of his medium stature but he had grown to beyond six feet and every muscle beneath his pale skin was exaggerated and displayed for the world to see. He had also taken a bizarre name since his return. He was the Red Guardian, but she wasn’t quite sure what that was to mean.
“You disappear for days at a time and you come back only to sleep with me,” Natalia continued. “I know that this was never built on a mutual affection for similar hobbies, but I need to know what’s going on.”
Shostakov grunted. “You need to know nothing.”
“I am your wife...”
“Only because it was required of you,” he snarled. “You’re condition has cost us greatly. I have been doing the jobs that were required for both of us. This initiative was about more than me. The Skull did not allow your outbursts because he admires your ferocity, Natalia. You were being trained to become what we have always needed. In years to come, they would only whisper our names in fear. We were to be great.”
She looked away. “We could have ended it. We could have done away with this.”
“No. The Skull has plans for our unborn child.”
“Plans,” replied a startled KGB agent. “What plans does he have for our child? I have a...”
Doors slid open into their chambers. Johann Schmidt, the man who had made the communist dream so accessible to them all, entered the room slowly. His appearance would never cease to disturb her. Skin had been burned from bone and left only the faintest red scarring to his head. He was the Red Skull in more than name and his attitude was often as vile and explosive as the perpetual death that had been inflicted upon him. As he entered, Natalia quieted herself and joined her common-law husband in bowing before their revered leader. Her personal feelings were put aside for now.
“I have not disturbed marital bliss, I hope.” His tone was sarcastic and there was a menacing sensation that trilled through every word he spoke. “I would have liked to speak to the two of you, but only if you are free, of course?”
This was no question. He demanded that they be ready to listen.
“No time could have been more perfect, Fuhrer.”
“Red Guardian has been a symbol of strength for the people who have considered defecting. I have noted an increase and not a decrease in our ranks. I have myself to thank for this but of course, it would not have been possible without your strength and conviction. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Natalia Shostakovna into our fold as an ambassador in her own right,” continued the man. It was an order that already made her uncomfortable. “You have been trained as one of our finest female agents and I want to propel you into the world of war. This is a mission that we cannot deny ourselves for much longer.”
Natalia looked on. “I do not understand. I am three months pregnant.”
“Yes, but you have yet to show your predicament. You’re mobility is little affected and you will have men to protect you from harm’s way until after the birth. I have no wish to harm this child,” continued the Skull. “It will be the child of communism and a beacon for our ideals. As the Black Widow, you can pave the way to a brighter future for your child. You are...limited…at this time but you will recover and then you will be a free agent. This is an opportunity to define history, Shostakovna.”
Natalia was conflicted, even as she spoke. “To what purpose?”
“You surprise me. I had noticed your change in position since witnessing the strength afforded to your husband; I had thought that you had finally agreed upon our cause. Shostakov had assured me that was the case,” Red Skull insinuated that her husband had acted in mutiny to the communist cause. He gave her an option which wasn’t allotted to everyone. Natalia could run but he would catch her, or she could join her husband’s crusade to save Alexei’s life. “If that was not so…”
She had other plans. “It was so.”
“My wife merely worries for our unborn child. You know how maternal women tend to be, Fuhrer.” Her husband’s submission infuriated her but she allowed it. Shostakov was less of the man than he appeared to be. His every action was exaggerated in respect for the terrorist who had taken her freedom, who now threatened the freedom of Russia. Natalia was more patriotic now than she had ever been.
He had plans for the child that she had not wanted but she could not allow her own flesh and blood, part of herself, to be utilized in the destruction of a government. Natalia had no wish to be renowned in the history books for the atrocities she had committed. Her thoughts continued with her even after her husband and the Skull had left her – dismissing her ‘female ignorance’.
It felt unnatural. Her smooth black costume was designed to be an insulated second skin. It would not stretch with the pregnancy but she would be nursed through that period of her life. Red Skull had noted that dissent was high amongst the Nazis and moral dropped by the day, mostly by the women. They needed a symbol to guide them, they expected to be treated as equals and the Skull was happy to make those false promises. Her length of red waves fell vibrantly down her back as she turned into the hallways.
Natalia Shostakovna had never left that room…Black Widow had exited instead. In the snows of Russia, Black Widow would make her escape at whatever cost. Luckily, the crimson haired beauty had succeeded.
Now
“We have waited but we have not tired. We have suffered the harshness of delayed success but they have never truly beaten us. Tonight, we shall march on the home of the Winter Guard. Our red banners shall fly high with pride of communism. We shall not stop until the head of every member of the Winter Guard on a pike,” rallied Johann Schmidt from his stage. KGB Agents watched him with the same awed gaze that the televangelists had when they spoke of their God. It caused much pain to her stomach.
Still, she stayed and she listened.
“Together we have caused the Avengers to tremble, and I think we can destroy their cheap imitation that exists here. We shall have no opposition. Are you with me?!”
The roars commenced but she did not join them. Yelena Belova was a lot of things but a sadist was not one of them. She had no wish to return Russia to its former ways. She was not a communist but she was not a democrat. Red Skull had offered her a large sum of money; she was one of the last trainees of the Red Room and certainly the most renowned since its demise.
Yelena had never said no to a paycheck. She was morally ambiguous at best.
Her blonde ringlets rest boldly against her dark costume as she curled her lips. Schmidt sounded like a mad man to her. No one noticed as she left the room, her lips curled into a small smile as she purred, “We shall see about that.”
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To Be Continued...
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