Black Winter.
Once again I lie and wait here
Bucky Barnes
We arrive in Russia and Natasha has a weird aura. She’s tense but relieved at the same time. It’s like she’s prepared for a fight but is relieved about gaining some kind of knowledge about something. It’s hard to explain, for the first time since I’ve known her; she’s unreadable.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or what?” I ask her during the ride up to Ivan’s hide out; which isn’t much of a hide out if you ask me.
“I’m fine.” She assures me, “I’m just at little tense about seeing Ivan again; we didn’t leave on good terms.” There could be a hidden truth in her words but her eyes and tense muscles tell me she’s lying.
“Come on, you know I can tell when your lying so you might as well just spill it.” I let out a chuckle before glancing over at her.
A sigh escapes her lips but she remains quiet. She looks out the window, leaning up against the cool glass as she watches the changing snowy scene. A sigh of my own fills the silence of the car ride as I pay attention to the road in front of me. It’s weird seeing the amazing Natasha like this; depressed and defeated. In all the years I’ve known her, she wasn’t like this. Love was for children, she would say; it was one of the reasons why I left her. She was right, love was for children and emotions are for the weak. That’s was how both of us were trained to feel, which brings me back to the current situation. The infamous Black Widow is an emotional train wreck and from what Clint has told me, she’s been like this for years and around the same time each year. Whatever happened, must have been rough to break down the greatest assassin I know…
Anastasyia
“When you get to New York and the driver is going to take you to the apartment you’re going to be living in,” Ivan instructs me and I zip up my black leather jumpsuit. “When you get to the apartment, there is a small bedroom in the far back. In that room there is a loose floorboard that contains a box. That box has everything you need for this mission, even the mission itself.”
“Why are you trusting me with this?” I ask him, “there are other girls that are more qualified. I’m a soldier, not a spy.”
“You’re more than just a soldier my sweet Winter.” He smiles while putting a hand on my cheek, “you’re everything a Black Widow should be. Your mother would have been extremely proud of you.”
Just as I’m about to open my mouth to say something, there is shouting in the hallway. I look at Ivan with a questioning look. “Were you expecting someone?” I ask.
“Quick, get in the closet.” He says, ushering me into the closet hidden within his bookshelf.
Just as he closes the door on me, his office door swings up; slamming up against the wall. “Natalia, James it’s been awhile.” Ivan says with a calm tone, “how have you two been?”
“We’re here on business, not to play catch up.” A woman’s voice sternly says, “we want to know about the new Widow recruits and what do you plan on doing with them.”
“I’m an old man, Natalia, I don’t have the time or finances to recruit and train new girls.” Ivan chuckles, “you came to Russia for nothing.”
“Ivan, we know you better than anyone else,” a male voice says, “we know you’re up to something involving teenage girls and training them to be Black Widows; we simply want to know why.”
“You know, even if I do tell you, you won’t be able to stop them.” He informs them, “sure you can take and slaughter all the new recruits but there is a special line of girls you’d never be able to touch.”
“You’d knew we would do this,” The female muses, “but why go through all the trouble to train other girls if you’re going to spend them to slaughter.”
“I trained all the girls the same,” he informs them, “some girls just stood out from the pack; three to be exact.”
A faint, almost inaudible gasp escapes my lips. There are three of us? I wonder what other information Ivan has been keeping from me and who those other two girls are.
“And let me guess, you have these girls under heavy lock and key.” The male muses, “what do you plan on doing, Ivan?”
“It’s not what I plan on doing, it’s what the girls plan on doing.” I can envision the devious smirk on his lips; the smirk he gets quite often when we’re assigned to missions he’s mainly responsible for.
“Come on, Bucky, he’s not going to tell us anything.” The female says, “it looks like we’re gonna have to do this the hard way.”
“I’ll tell you there names, but I can guarantee you that you’ll never be able to find them and stop them in time.” He tells them, “Their names are Red Dawn, Plague and Black Winter. These girls are designed from birth to be able to hide into society. They’re trained like soldier with the agility of the best assassins. These girls are untouchable…”
“You just gave us their names, people that have names can be touched.” The male informs Ivan, “your plan is ruined now.”
“If I would have thought giving out their names would ruin my plan, I wouldn’t have told them to you.” Ivan counters, “these girls are going to be integrated perfectly in high ranking positions in various secret agencies; waiting for the signal. They’re the perfect little sleeper agents.”
“Your sending these girls out to slaughter.” The female reminds him, “don’t you have enough blood on your hands?”
“I suggest you go back to Fury, Natalia, you’ve got a world to warn.” Ivan says in an eerily calm voice, “Hell is about to rise…”
I hear a string of curse worlds being muttered in Russian before footsteps sound as they walk away; closing the door behind them. A few minutes pass before Ivan opens the closet door. I walk out, glaring at him.
“I thought I was the saviour, me alone and not two other girls.” I calmly question, trying not to let my rage get the better of me. “Anything else you’ve kept from me?”
“No there isn’t.” He sighs, “you need to get out of here and fast. SHIELD is going to be onto you. I need you to get to New York safely and under the radar.”
“You really do have faith in us, don’t you?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t be sending you guys out there if I didn’t…” He smiles before ushering me out. I guess it’s now or never…
We arrive in Russia and Natasha has a weird aura. She’s tense but relieved at the same time. It’s like she’s prepared for a fight but is relieved about gaining some kind of knowledge about something. It’s hard to explain, for the first time since I’ve known her; she’s unreadable.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or what?” I ask her during the ride up to Ivan’s hide out; which isn’t much of a hide out if you ask me.
“I’m fine.” She assures me, “I’m just at little tense about seeing Ivan again; we didn’t leave on good terms.” There could be a hidden truth in her words but her eyes and tense muscles tell me she’s lying.
“Come on, you know I can tell when your lying so you might as well just spill it.” I let out a chuckle before glancing over at her.
A sigh escapes her lips but she remains quiet. She looks out the window, leaning up against the cool glass as she watches the changing snowy scene. A sigh of my own fills the silence of the car ride as I pay attention to the road in front of me. It’s weird seeing the amazing Natasha like this; depressed and defeated. In all the years I’ve known her, she wasn’t like this. Love was for children, she would say; it was one of the reasons why I left her. She was right, love was for children and emotions are for the weak. That’s was how both of us were trained to feel, which brings me back to the current situation. The infamous Black Widow is an emotional train wreck and from what Clint has told me, she’s been like this for years and around the same time each year. Whatever happened, must have been rough to break down the greatest assassin I know…
Anastasyia
“When you get to New York and the driver is going to take you to the apartment you’re going to be living in,” Ivan instructs me and I zip up my black leather jumpsuit. “When you get to the apartment, there is a small bedroom in the far back. In that room there is a loose floorboard that contains a box. That box has everything you need for this mission, even the mission itself.”
“Why are you trusting me with this?” I ask him, “there are other girls that are more qualified. I’m a soldier, not a spy.”
“You’re more than just a soldier my sweet Winter.” He smiles while putting a hand on my cheek, “you’re everything a Black Widow should be. Your mother would have been extremely proud of you.”
Just as I’m about to open my mouth to say something, there is shouting in the hallway. I look at Ivan with a questioning look. “Were you expecting someone?” I ask.
“Quick, get in the closet.” He says, ushering me into the closet hidden within his bookshelf.
Just as he closes the door on me, his office door swings up; slamming up against the wall. “Natalia, James it’s been awhile.” Ivan says with a calm tone, “how have you two been?”
“We’re here on business, not to play catch up.” A woman’s voice sternly says, “we want to know about the new Widow recruits and what do you plan on doing with them.”
“I’m an old man, Natalia, I don’t have the time or finances to recruit and train new girls.” Ivan chuckles, “you came to Russia for nothing.”
“Ivan, we know you better than anyone else,” a male voice says, “we know you’re up to something involving teenage girls and training them to be Black Widows; we simply want to know why.”
“You know, even if I do tell you, you won’t be able to stop them.” He informs them, “sure you can take and slaughter all the new recruits but there is a special line of girls you’d never be able to touch.”
“You’d knew we would do this,” The female muses, “but why go through all the trouble to train other girls if you’re going to spend them to slaughter.”
“I trained all the girls the same,” he informs them, “some girls just stood out from the pack; three to be exact.”
A faint, almost inaudible gasp escapes my lips. There are three of us? I wonder what other information Ivan has been keeping from me and who those other two girls are.
“And let me guess, you have these girls under heavy lock and key.” The male muses, “what do you plan on doing, Ivan?”
“It’s not what I plan on doing, it’s what the girls plan on doing.” I can envision the devious smirk on his lips; the smirk he gets quite often when we’re assigned to missions he’s mainly responsible for.
“Come on, Bucky, he’s not going to tell us anything.” The female says, “it looks like we’re gonna have to do this the hard way.”
“I’ll tell you there names, but I can guarantee you that you’ll never be able to find them and stop them in time.” He tells them, “Their names are Red Dawn, Plague and Black Winter. These girls are designed from birth to be able to hide into society. They’re trained like soldier with the agility of the best assassins. These girls are untouchable…”
“You just gave us their names, people that have names can be touched.” The male informs Ivan, “your plan is ruined now.”
“If I would have thought giving out their names would ruin my plan, I wouldn’t have told them to you.” Ivan counters, “these girls are going to be integrated perfectly in high ranking positions in various secret agencies; waiting for the signal. They’re the perfect little sleeper agents.”
“Your sending these girls out to slaughter.” The female reminds him, “don’t you have enough blood on your hands?”
“I suggest you go back to Fury, Natalia, you’ve got a world to warn.” Ivan says in an eerily calm voice, “Hell is about to rise…”
I hear a string of curse worlds being muttered in Russian before footsteps sound as they walk away; closing the door behind them. A few minutes pass before Ivan opens the closet door. I walk out, glaring at him.
“I thought I was the saviour, me alone and not two other girls.” I calmly question, trying not to let my rage get the better of me. “Anything else you’ve kept from me?”
“No there isn’t.” He sighs, “you need to get out of here and fast. SHIELD is going to be onto you. I need you to get to New York safely and under the radar.”
“You really do have faith in us, don’t you?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t be sending you guys out there if I didn’t…” He smiles before ushering me out. I guess it’s now or never…