Chapter 53: Arc 2: Chapter 9: Black Widow

The female agent Natasha had a head mask covering her head, agent Barton was relocating outwards while grabbing her by the arm.

She didn't resist, as a top agent with much experience, she knew clearly about the situation she was in. She obediently followed Barton as they relocated, all while conversing with him through the head mask:

"You sure you don't want to help that kid? He may have some tricks, but in my opinion, you leaving him back there is akin to sending him to his doom. No one can fight that many killers alone, he can't even dodge bullets with such little space."

Barton did not answer, and Natasha mocks:

"Nick Fury told me that in his organization, things like this wouldn't happen...but look now, an experienced agent sends a rookie to his death without hesitation, is this the cold-blooded tradition of the SSR? How many companions have died by your hands? Have you truly no guilt?"

Natasha could feel Barton's footsteps getting slower, she realized the hesitation of the agent beside her.

Thus, her voice becomes gentler and she says:

"Listen to me, young man. You can go back and help him, such a young life shouldn't be wasted here. All you need to do is express some 'sincerity', and I'll go help him! Trust me, I have some things to take care of with these killers, so I'll gladly help you."

Barton still gave no response, and Natasha's fingers began to move in an attempt to get out of the cuffs.

But suddenly, a weird whistling sound resounds behind them, a sound similar to a tornado blowing made Natasha look back instinctively. Unfortunately, she couldn't see anything behind her with the head mask on.

"BOOM"

An explosion erupts, and Natasha could feel that she was sent backward as if she was pushed by an invisible hand.

A chance!

She rolls on the ground and breaks free of Barton's bounds, she jumps up and runs towards the outside of the alley using her memories. But before she could make it far, a heavy hit slammed onto her neck from behind.

This time, Merlin who had jumped out of the shadows found the right spot, his hand accurately chopping on the female agent's internal jugular vein.

Natasha blacks out and collapsed. Before she fainted, she heard the young man's coarse and tired voice:

"Found the right spot this time, problem solved..."

"Let's go."

---

Natasha Romanoff, the best secret agent of the ex-Soviet intelligence organization 'Red Room'.

She'd been through a great variety of events, she witnessed the collapse of the N**i regime, saw the rise of the Berlin Wall, participated in the Middle East War, experienced the Cuban missile crisis, even witnessed the process of the ex-Soviet Union's destruction.

Her life experiences are more complex than one can imagine, and the secrets she has in her mind are as many as the stars.

And now, this desperate female agent that was hunted by her former companions due to being too loyal, was lying on a plane flying from Italy to North America.

This unexpected journey was the new turning point of her life.

"Shwa"

Natasha opens her eyes, waking up from a forced coma was not a good experience. She subconsciously rubbed on the back of her neck, it was painful there.

Merlin had used too much strength, if not for Natasha's above-average physical conditions, she would've died due to cardiac arrest by Merlin's excessive use of force.

"That rookie!"

Natasha grits her teeth, she sits up from the bed and cautiously observes the surroundings like a top agent.

The slight vibration coming from the floor told her that she was on a flying plane, and the room she was in looked more of a miniature containment chamber, it had no window, nor furniture, there was only a chair in front of her.

On that chair was a person, someone she stood up before. 

Nick Fury.

"You had quite the long nap, Miss Natasha."

Fury held a cup of coffee in his hand, he looked at the super-agent in front of him and showed no signs of nervousness. He looks at Natasha's calm expression and says:

"It must've been a hard time, being hunted by your comrades, on your country's former land, must've been a terrible experience regardless of whether you choose to retaliate or escape? Let me guess, you must've not had a good sleep lately."

Fury stops and looks at Natasha:

"Or should I call you by your other name, Black Widow?"

This name that was more of a codename made Natasha raise her head.

The female agent had an outstanding appearance, even without makeup, her wine-red hair along with her soft facial curves, plus those unique grey eyes, gave people the desire to protect her.

But such an outstanding appearance was also one of Natasha's most useful weapons.

Though, most of the time, she doesn't need to use this type of weapon 

She looks at Fury, sharpness flashes in her grey eyes as she says

"You've won this time, Fury. Your magical rookie did exceed my expectations, and I dislike dealing with strange people like him, but...I haven't lost either."

Natasha stands up and walks towards Fury, but before she could reach him, an invisible wall of glass blocks her path.

The female agent places both hands on the invisible glass and tells Fury:

"I don't know how the SSR prevents agents from defecting, but let me tell you about how 'Red Room' does it."

Natasha points at her indifferent face and lets out an indifferent smile:

"When an agent holds too many scary secrets, she's not going to have a good ending. But they still need my servitude, because I'm the most useful one they've got...so they've thought of a more extreme way to attempt to control me."

"Life is so frail, a few miniature bombs are all it takes to make someone disappear completely. So, take a guess, how many bombs are implanted me?"

The female agent blinks her eyes and gently says:

"You made a mistake at the end, Fury, you never should've brought me onto your plane."

"Let me go, or die together!"

Fury's complexity didn't change when facing Black Widow's threats, he takes a sip of the coffee in his hand and leisurely tells Natasha:

"I've experienced war, Natasha, not once or twice."

"You can't scare me. If I brought you here, it means I also have the confidence to survive your last-ditch effort, but...do we need to go that far? Natasha."

Fury leans forward and places his arms on his knees, he tells Natasha on the other side of the glass:

"You've served the Soviet Union for decades, loyalty to you has become a habit, a belief. I'm not naive enough to try to get you to go back on your belief with mere words, not that I mind you keeping it."

"Because the Soviet Union is no more, you have nowhere to place that loyalty of yours, thus that belief is not a threat. You can only use it to reminisce, and if you want to keep living, then you'll have to find yourself a new life, new sustenance."

 "Natasha, people like us who're enshrouded by secrets can never truly quit the line of work. And while a blood-soaked former life is disdainful, everyone deserves a second chance, you can do some good to redeem yourself."

"That is only if you're willing to do so!"

"Me sitting here and talking with you is just me trying to tell you that I'll give you a chance, a chance to prove that you're not just a good agent, that you may become a true hero, but I won't force you to accept it."

"I'll give you enough time to get used to it, and I believe that once we reach North America, with your wisdom, you'll know what choice is best for you."

Fury finishes his coffee, stands up, and pats on his clothes. He looks at the time on his watch and says:

"You have 14 hours, take a rest, Natasha."

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"I'll wait for your answer."

Fury walks out of the room, and the lighting in the room dimmers; Natasha Romanoff looks at Fury as he exits the room, she forms fists with her hands and eventually slams them roughly onto the invisible glass in front of her.

She knew that her opponent had seen her most weak and vulnerable moment.

They had seen through her distress and helplessness.

Just as Fury had said, Natasha was running out of options.

She didn't have much of a choice left in front of her.

Outside the room, Fury throws the empty cup into the trash bin, his palms were sweaty.

When Natasha threatened to trigger the bombs and die together, Fury was not as calm as he seemed to be, the senior agent knew what crazy things desperate agents could do, especially one as ruthless as Natasha.

Thankfully, Fury had grabbed onto Black Widow's weakness.

"She has bombs in her body."

Fury walks to the open cabin and tells his two subordinates:

"She's also not mentally stable, so we can't rule out the possibility of her making a desperate attempt, so for the next 14 hours, we'll take turns monitoring her."

"If it's just the bomb..."

Merlin who wrapped himself in a rug tells Fury and Barton:

"I can guarantee that you won't die from the explosion, and take you guys to safety."

"But that's not what we want."

Barton was using bandages to patch up his wounds as he says:

"All that effort we've spent to bring her back is not for her to perform an aerial explosion. I'll go talk to her."

"No."

Fury shakes his head and looks at Merlin, he says:

"You go!"

"Me?"

Merlin blinked his eyes and looked at Fury, then says:

"I did learn how to persuade enemies in the academy, but I've never done it in practical situations, you sure you want me to do this?"

"Mmm, if she triggers the bombs, you're the only one among us who can escape in that distance."

Fury sits on the sofa and tells Merlin:

"Secondly, for an agent like Natasha, she's experienced nearly all interrogation methods and is probably specially trained for it. So psychological warfare has little effect on her. I'm not asking you to persuade her, Merlin, I just want you to talk to her, lower her guard so we can make it through these 14 hours safely...when we return to base, we'll have specialists to do the persuading."

"Mmm, fine then."

Merlin did not decline, he set aside the rug he was wrapped in and tidies his clothes, then under Fury and Barton's gazes, he carries two cups of water into Natasha's cage.

"Bong Bong"

Two glass knocking sounds cause the resting Black Widow to open her eyes. She turns around warily and sees Merlin handing a cup of water through the gap in the glass.

"Have a drink, beautiful miss."

Merlin tries to make himself sound more gentle, but Natasha didn't take the cup immediately, instead, she sat on the bed and looked at Merlin with interest; a few seconds later, she says:

"You're quite amusing...I didn't hear your footsteps at all, you walk like there's no weight on your legs. How do you do it? And that time in Sokovia, how did you defeat those killers? Using some kind of explosive?"

"Mmm..."

Merlin looks at Natasha and shrugs, he tells the pretty agent in front of him:

"Drink some water first, then I'll tell you. Water's real good stuff."

Merlin takes a sip of water and winks at Natasha:

"It can help us evade misfortune."

Black Widow looks at the rookie in front of her and shakes her head, she points a the cup in Merlin's hand and says:

"I want that cup!"

"Why?"

Merlin asks confusingly, to which Natasha lets out an odd smile and says:

"In comparison, the chances of there being any weird drugs in that cup is lower...you men are most indecent, who knows what you'll do to a weak and caged lady like me?"

"Weak lady?"

Merlin widens his eyes and with a slightly exaggerated tone, says:

"Without your restraints, you can fight 3 of me...I've seen how badly you beat Clint, and now we're the only two people in this room, I don't think the one who should be scared is you."

"Oh, so he's called Clint."

Natasha reaches out and takes the water cup Merlin hands over, she leans against the glass and whos her perfect body curves to Merlin, then she lets out a flirtatious chuckle:

"He seems to be quite boring; you, on the other hand, you make me curious. About those abilities that you're hiding..."

Merlin smiles and takes another sip of water, then he moves the chair close to the glass wall, he looks around and gently waves his finger, black fog appears and enshrouds all the recording equipment in the room.

The smile on his face disappears, he looks at Natasha and says:

"Let's talk business, Natasha."

"They say that you know many secrets?"

"Depends on who I'm being compared to."

Natasha brushes her hair, which made her look all the sexier, she then looks at Merlin with blurred eyes and lightly says with a seductive tone:

"My secrets are nothing compared to the ones Miss Carter hides, but, whether or not I'm a woman of many secrets depends on what questions you ask...little guy, what's your name?"

"I'm Merlin."

Merlin looks at the succubus-like Black Widow in front of him with clear eyes and gently says:

"What I want to know is..."

"Have you seen wizards before?"

 

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