Blurred Bloodlines

Natasha stood at a computer desk, guards unconscious at her feet as she typed away at a keyboard. She was scrolling through files she had just pulled up.

She shook her head at what she was reading.

'This isn't good.'

When she had first found that birth video, she had been only slightly shocked. She knew what bad people could do when they had 'good' intentions in mind.

The Red Room was proof of that.

It was part of the reason she sent it to Steve. No one else should go through what she went through.

A notification popped up on her screen.

'PROJECT: WINTER WOLF'

"Oh, like that isn't obvious. Who comes up with these names?"

She clicked on it and gasped. It was a picture of the baby, it had to be, but she was grown. She looked about 17 of 18 years old in this picture.

As she looked through the file, she found three more videos and a handful of audio files as well.

One such video file she found was titled Project Compromised.

Nat wished she hadn't of clicked play to that one.

It showed the girl and Pietro in a rather intimate embrace.

She shook her head and clicked out of the viewer. 'Kids...'

Nat clicked on the file that was connected to that one.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

'Project Update: Project Compromised.
Cause: Project Volunteer: Pietro Maximoff
Reason: Emotional Attachment.
Outcome: Sexual Copulation
Punishment: Beating, 12 hour Cold Confinement, and electrical Stimulation.
Should Relapse Occur: Opt for Sterilization.'

Natasha quickly closed out of the file."Damn it."

A noise behind her caught her attention. She quickly plugged in a USB device and started downloading the files.

A movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to send a few shots its way. The shadow ducked down and rolled away.

"You know its rude to eavesdrop, right?"

When the dark shape stepped into the light, a tiny thread of panic ran up her spine.It was the girl.

She was wearing a mask similar to the Winter Soldier, but the rest of her outfit was similar to hers, slimlined and hugging her form. Her hair falling to her hips in a thick braid. And she was aiming two pistols right at her.

The computer beeped. The download had finished.

Nat shot a glance at the card and back at the girl. She needed to get that card and get out of there...in one piece.

"I really don't want to fight you, kid."

The kid was silent, watching her through narrowed eyes.

"Sdacha."

The Russian word hit Nat like a ton of bricks.

'Surrender?'

"Sorry kid, I've got places to be and people to see."

She sent a electro-disk flying at her, hitting her square in the chest, dropping the girl to a knee.

She grabbed the device and bracing her hands on the desk, flipped over the computer.
When she landed, she ducked low, using the desks as cover while she moved towards the exit light at the other side of the building.

The girl didn't make a sound when the disk hit her. She only tilted her head down at it, yes it hurt, but pain was a familiar sensation that her mind could shut down if it needed to, so she pushed it aside and stood up. She ripped the disk off her chest and threw it to the ground before raising her guns and sending a wave of bullets across the room.

Natasha ducked into a cubicle as the bullets tore past her, one grazing her shoulder causing her to drop her pistol.

She pulled out her phone and wordlessly typed a message to the Captain.

'Found girl. Targeting me. Will dump info in old location. You know which one.'

She tucked the phone back in to her suit and picked her pistol up, placing it back in its holster. She needed to subdue the girl not kill her.

Her wrists' lit up. 'Hope this works.'

"Sdacha."

'There she goes again with the whole surrender thing.'

Soft footsteps grew louder as the girl walked closer. 'Just a little closer, kid.'

Nat pressed herself against the cubicle wall. She could see the shadow of feet pass under
the gap between the temporary wall and floor.

Natasha spun and lashed out only for her hand to be caught.

'What the hell?' The girl couldn't have seen her hide here. There was hardly any light the further you went into the building.

Nat locked eyes with the girl and was shocked to see the colorless eyes looking back at her.
She was blind. Relying on only her senses of sound and touch to guide her movements.

'Damn.'

The girl raised a pistol at her and only quick thinking saved Nat as she kicked a foot up into the bottom of the gun and sending it flying into the air.

She punched forward and connected her tazer with the girl's neck.The girl convulsed but still did not make a sound. She shook the pain from her mind, wrapping her hands around Natasha's wrists and pulling her close. Her head flew forward into Nat's face, connecting and knocking the older woman back a step.

Nat threw a knee up into the girl's abdomen at the same time twisting her hands out of the iron grip they were held in before spinning into a roundhouse which connected to the side of her face, knocking the mask loose. The girl shook her head and her eyes hardened in anger.

Nat came forward just a step and used the girl as a platform to flip backwards away from her.

She quickly took a few steps backwards towards the exit, keeping her eye on the girl as she got closer to escape.

The younger assassin reacted by grabbing at her boot and pulling a long knife out. She flipped it in her hand as she advanced on Black Widow, fury in her eyes.

Nat shook her head. "Oh kid, you are too much like your father."

The girl stilled mid step.

"Batya?"

Nat continued walking backwards, until her back hit the door.

She mentally breathed a sigh of relief when her hands tested it and found it unlocked.

She bought herself some time by replying to the girl's questioning tone.

"Yes, batya, your father. I know him."

The girl paused, looking down at the floor a moment before lifting a hardened gaze to her.

"I have no father."

Nat almost cried. This girl needed help.

"There is only HYDRA!" She screamed, sending the knife flying as Nat threw a yellow disk at the floor.

It exploded in a blinding flash and when it cleared, The Black Widow had vanished.

The girl narrowed her eyes before a voice sounded in her ear.

"Mission Report?"

"Missiya nedostatochnost'."

"Return to base for your punishment."

"Utverditel'nyy."

She paused for a moment and looked at the blood on the door, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Batya?"

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

Natasha stumbled into an empty apartment a few blocks away, clutching her shoulder. Blood poured from the wound and dripped onto the wooden floor as she pulled the knife free.

"That kid's good. Too good."

She rifled through the bedroom closet and pulled some clothes out.

She sighed. "People really need to start carrying clothes in all sizes. It makes it so difficult picking out an outfit sometimes."

She had to disappear.

When the owner of the apartment returned the next morning, they found a couple of bloody twenties and a quick little note typed on their laptop.

"Thanks for the clothes."

Notes