4.4k

Familial

Angst/Fluff

Red Room themes, injuries, death of a very minor character.

Natasha vividly remembered when she first saw you. She was fourteen and you were only five. She remembered seeing you in your little tutu as you elegantly moved around the room, your hair pinned up in a pristine bun.

You were clearly the youngest in the room. Innocence radiated off of you, and the fact that you were extremely tine compared to the others.

She hated looking at you.

There was nothing wrong with you yourself, you looked like a cute child, but she hated that even now as you were dancing, she was watching the innocence being ripped from you as Madame B began screaming at the group to correct their forms. You looked scared, and she knew that one day that scared look would be replaced by a cold mask planted on your face.

Natasha was the best in the Red Room, she excelled and outsmarted all of the other widows, even those much older than her. Which is why she had been selected to be a mentor to an even younger widow. You had been selected.

You were one of the youngest, so if Natasha made some errors with her first mentoring job there would still be time to rectify the situation. The situation being you.

You didn't know that you had been selected to be a mentee to improve your already flourishing skillset, so you were oblivious to the horrified fourteen-year-old watching you through the glass. You just focused on your steps and form.

Ballet made you feel free, even with Madame B screeching orders at the group. You just loved dancing, so it was easy to ignore the cons that came along with it.

But you froze when you noticed Dreykov walking towards you, followed by a girl with bright red hair. You were praying that they were going to be talking to one of the other girls in the room, but your prayers were not answered.

He gently placed his hands under your arms to lift you up and place you on his hip. You flinched at his touch which broke Natasha's heart. But she kept her cold mask up, looking at you blankly now that your gazes were relatively level with each other.

Her face displayed no emotions, but even at your young age, you could see that her eyes were staring at you with pity. You didn't remember someone ever looking at you like that, so you just stared at her as though she was the most interesting thing on the planet. She held your stare, your soft gaze intriguing her.

Due to being distracted, you hadn't heard the conversation that had just taken place between Dreykov and Madame B, explaining that you were being taken away from classes for the rest of the day.

So, you were startled as he began walking out with you, Natasha a few paces behind. You thrashed your legs slightly due to the confusion, which only caused the man holding you to painfully increase his grip.

You whimpered slightly as your bottom lip wobbled, and Natasha looked over at you again. In a perfect world, she would have snatched you from his arms and run away.

But this wasn't a perfect world.

Sensing eyes on you, you turned to meet her gaze, which instantly relaxed you, so you creepily stared at her the entire way to Dreykov's office.

Natasha was confused but saw you relax when she looked at you, so she didn't look away. She liked how you were looking at her in a friendly and trusting way, no one else did. Most people those days either saw her as a threat or as someone to push around.

Once in the man's office, Dreykov set you down beside his desk and told you to stand by Natasha on the other side of it. You promptly did so and looked up at her with interest. At this point though, her full focus was on Dreykov, she did not want to get on his bad side and so knew that she couldn't openly show you any affection.

You saddened at the lack of attention and got startled again when the man sitting at his desk slammed his fist down to get you to look at him.

Your head whipped around to face him and your breathing quietly picked up pace, Dreykov couldn't hear it, but Natasha could. Once again she just wanted to reach out and get you both out of there, but those ideas stopped when the talking began.

Dreykov began explaining that Natasha was to be your mentor until she graduated. You didn't miss how her demeanour faltered at the mention of graduation, but you weren't aware of why.

You two were to train together, dance together, eat meals together, and Natasha's bed was to be moved next to yours. He wanted you two to spend practically 24/7 together so that you would naturally start mimicking everything that Natasha did.

You, naturally, were slightly confused at what Dreykov was saying. But Natasha understood every word. She didn't know you, but you were going to be turned into her carbon copy, and she didn't know how to feel about it. What she did know is that she suddenly felt quite protective of you, and she would try and make sure that no harm came to you whilst you were in her care.

In her head, it made the situation slightly better. If she was being forced to do work for the Red Room then she could at least do it with as much compassion as she could.

When Dreykov was done talking, you were dismissed and told to wait outside as he continued to speak to Natasha. You didn't really want to leave alone, but you didn't have any choice, so Natasha gave you a small smile of encouragement as she watched you leave.

It felt like you were outside for days on end as you stood outside of the office leaning against the wall, your limited attention span due to your young age was making this a very boring wait.

After a while, Natasha also exited the office and spotted you a few paces down the hall. She tapped your shoulder and gestured for you to follow. You happily did, blissfully unaware of the consequences of that meeting. You only knew that you were happy to follow this girl that you had suddenly formed an attachment to.

She was walking quite quickly, so you had to start jogging to keep up, but that was hard with your little legs. You whined slightly as you slowed, making Natasha turn on her heels to face you and silently cursed herself when she realised that you were further back than she thought.

She sent you a small apologetic smile before she held out her hand for you to take. You grinned, which melted her heart, and ran forward to reach for her hand.

The two of you walked to the cafeteria as it was now time for dinner. It was already packed by the time you arrived. There was a specific time that all of the widows have to leave the cafeteria for the night, which Natasha was conscious of. So, she hastily guided you over to the edge of the room and handed you your tray of bland food before picking hers up.

She watched as you cutely tried to hold it without tipping the contents of your meal over, tongue sticking out in concentration.

"Come on Y/n", she softly said, and slowly walked over to somewhere with two empty spaces. You toddled along behind her as she placed her tray down, then took yours and placed it on the table for you saving you from the horror of emptying your food onto the floor. It was one tray per person, even if your food ended up inedible.

You climbed up onto the seat and began to eat your meal. It consisted of a plain lump of chicken, a spoonful of mashed potato, and some mushrooms.

You inhaled your chicken and potatoes, Natasha had to hold back a laugh as she watched you stuff your face with the flavourless sustenance. She eventually told you to slow down, she didn't want you to choke.

She frowned when she saw you place your cutlery down before making a start on your mushrooms though. Everyone here knew that you had to finish all of your food before the time to leave came around. Which was in about five minutes.

"Eat your mushrooms", she handed you your fork and continued eating her own meal. She abruptly stopped though when she heard you breathing heavily again as you stared down at your plate with your bottom lip sticking out.

She didn't really know what to do. With your age, she thought that you were about to have a tantrum about not wanting more food. She wouldn't be able to deal with that. "Y/n", she warned sternly which made you look up at her, "Eat".

You gulped as you turned to face the plate again. The last time you ate mushrooms you ended up in the medical wing. "Allergic", you whispered and placed your fork down again, terrified of Natasha's reaction.

Her eyes widened as she looked at you, she obviously couldn't force you to eat something that you were allergic to. Her eyes widened even further when she saw that people were getting up to leave. Time was running out.

Checking that no one was watching, she hurriedly switched your plates, leaving you with half a lump of potato, and her with your mushrooms. "Eat", she emphasised again as she quickly ate the rest of your meal. You did as you were told and she gathered both of your trays, telling you to follow her again.

That night yours and Natasha's beds were placed next to each other, with a small gap to walk between them. Your bed was to the right of Natasha's, and you lay still whilst one of your wrists was handcuffed to the bed. At first, you used to complain about it but eventually learnt that it was of no use.

Natasha watched sadly as your tiny hand was being attached to the bed by a small set of handcuffs. She sent you a small smile once the adults had left the room for the night. Usually, Natasha slept facing the left side of the bed, but she lay on her other side from that night, wanting to keep an eye on you.

She only allowed herself to fall asleep once she had seen your eyes flutter shut.

---

Natasha had been mentoring you for four years now. She was eighteen and you were nine, and she had loved watching you grow and was so proud of your progress. You were an incredibly smart child, and you were still excelling in training. You were becoming a mini-her when it came to skill, but they hadn't managed to rid you of your bouncy personality yet, which Natasha was grateful for every day, you made her life in the Red Room better.

So far, she had succeeded in her promise to let no harm come to you whilst you were under her watch. She would take a bullet for you without looking back, her worst fear was you being harmed without being able to do anything to stop it, so she could only stare in horror as she watched you walking into the fighting ring.

Your age group had reached a milestone in your training, now it was time to eliminate the weak links. You would each fight another person until your opponent died, halving the group, leaving only the strong ones left.

Due to you being in the mentor programme, Natasha had thought that you wouldn't be a part of these eliminations, but she was wrong.

She had never been so scared in her life as she watched you take a fighting stance against someone who was two years older. The age gap wasn't big, but when you're young it means a lot in terms of size.

Natasha was filled with hope as she watched you holding your own in the ring, blocking hit after hit, and even breaking your opponent's nose.

All hope was lost though when you had been pushed backwards in a way that made you stumble. The other girl had lifted you up and threw you to the ground before standing on your chest, rapidly increasing the pressure.

Natasha panicked as she saw you in pain and struggling on the floor, she desperately wanted to help you, but she couldn't. She flinched when she heard the snapping of your ribs, and felt like sobbing when she heard your pained screams. She was certain that you were going to die now.

Your head moved to look at the people watching, and your eyes met Natasha's. She looked distraught, and this sparked something in you, you couldn't leave her.

You grabbed the leg that was on top of you again and tried to twist her off of you, it took a few tries but you managed to send her stumbling away. So, you quickly stood and let out a cry of pain, you couldn't hear it but Natasha's breath hitched at seeing you in pain again.

The other girl looked like she was going to charge at you again, so you did it before she could. You leapt at her and manoeuvered yourself to be on her back. You had to hold back a scream as your ribs slammed against her, but you ignored the pain and placed your hands on the side of her head as she tried to shake you off. You desperately looked over to Natasha and saw her nod at you quickly.

You twisted your hands, and she dropped to the floor.

You had completed your first kill.

Your breath was wheezy as you looked at Natasha again, your lungs clearly affected by the multiple broken ribs.

When Natasha met your gaze her heart dropped, the once bright ones that used to stare at her had dulled slightly. The Red Room was breaking you, and she didn't know how to stop it.

---

That night Natasha laid awake as she faced your empty bed, struggling to sleep with you being so far away. You had won the fight but still had to spend the next few days in the infirmary. She stared blankly at your bed as she slowly drifted off to sleep. She wanted out.

She wanted out with you. And she knew that it would need to be done soon.

Natasha didn't realise how soon that was. The next day she was called into Dreykov's office for a meeting and was given the worst news possible.

Her graduation was going to take place the next day, and you had been sold to a high bidder who was part of the KGB. They needed a child for one of their missions. You fitted their criteria.

She nodded and thanked them before walking out. Her mouth went dry and her hands were shaking. She didn't want to be put through the graduation process, and she didn't want you going through the KGB. She was going to get you both out.

---

You were sleeping when Natasha stuck into the infirmary, she stilled when she saw your small figure laying in bed in a hospital gown. It was something that she had never wanted to see. But she quickly shook her head and moved forward, she then shook you awake and whispered your name. You immediately woke up and panicked until Natasha reassured you that it was just her.

She hugged you quickly and you nuzzled your face into her shoulder, absorbing the comfort that she gave you.

"We need to go", she disconnected your heart rate monitor and ripped out your IV. You were confused but just let her do her thing, you trusted her.

You whispered though when she picked you up and held you against her front, your ribs were in excruciating amounts of pain. "I'm sorry. I know it hurts. You just have to trust me, okay? I'll get you out of here".

You nodded and pressed your face into her neck. She would have melted on the spot if it were any other situation, but she couldn't allow herself to do that.

She ran out of the room and had to ignore the tears that had silently started streaming down your face.

Natasha was acting cat-like as she manoeuvred around the building until an alarm went off. A nurse must have noticed your absence and triggered an alarm. Her cat-like jogging had turned into a messy sprint as she worked to get out before the place when into lockdown. She didn't dare think about what would happen to the two of you if you got caught.

She shoved her way past some guards, the impact causing pain to explode in your chest. You were openly sobbing now, the pain was too much. Natasha pressed a small kiss to the top of your head as she slowed to turn a corner, your sobs were breaking her, but she knew that you would both have worst fates if she didn't get you both out.

The screeching of Madame B could be heard by the both of you as she yelled for the two of you to come back and that you were both in for a world of pain. Natasha's grip on you increased protectively.

When you reached the front entrance you thought that you were both goners, but Natasha kicked the door down with so much force that the thick metal hinges had flown off.

You flinched at the loud bang but didn't have much more time to think as before you knew it she was taking off at a full sprint. You weren't sure how she was running so fast with you in her arms, or how she hadn't dropped you yet, you still kept a firm grip on her shirt just in case.

She wasn't sure how she hadn't dropped you yet either, but her grip was like iron so it wasn't a surprise really.

Natasha didn't know where she was running to, she just sprinted as far as she could in a zig-zag pattern to throw the Red Room off of your scent. You tried to keep quiet to not distract Natasha, but the occasional yelp still slipped out of you if she took a heavy step due to rocks and tree roots in the forest that you were now travelling through.

She responded by breathlessly voicing an "I'm sorry", or "I know".

It felt like hours that she had been running for, and she wasn't far off. She had sprinted at full speed for an hour, the adrenaline of getting you to safety at full speed powering her.

After she had run through almost the entirety of the large, unforgiving forest, there was a small abandoned shack that appeared in the distance, and she thought that it would be perfectly suitable to take a break and hide away in until she figured out where to go.

She practically collapsed onto the floor with you on her lap once you had both entered. Her breaths were very laboured, so you attempted to get off of her so that she could regain her breath and strength, but she just shook her head and muttered "No, no, no", as she pulled you closer into her and rested her cheek on the top of your head.

Natasha let a few tears slip in relief. She did it, she got you both out.

About half an hour had passed where she just held you, nothing else. You just sat in her embrace and allowed her to hold you as tight as she wanted to, without hurting your ribs.

She suddenly became conscious that you were still just in a hospital gown though, not that you minded, she was providing you with plenty of warmth. But she immediately cursed herself as she looked around the place in search of a blanket, but she came up empty. Sighing in slight defeat, she pushed your shoulders back slightly to look at you.

You gave her a small, tired smile as she pushed some hair out of your face, "Are you cold?", she asked with extra softness in her voice that you hadn't heard before.

"No, you're keeping me warm", you replied as you practically slammed your head back onto her chest. She laughed and you felt the vibrations going through your skull, it was calming. She gently rubbed your back to try and lull you to sleep, it had been a long couple of days for the both of you.

There was nowhere in this shack that was comfortable to sleep, so she lay down on the hard floor and kept a grip on you to guide you down with her. She wrapped her arms around you in a bear hug as you lay on top of her, unknowingly using her as a mattress whilst you slept.

"It's all okay now, I'm here. I'm always going to be here", she whispered before letting herself fall into a slumber as well.

She was going to give you a good life, she'd get you both good fake IDs, you'd leave the country and she would get a small job. She had always dreamt of having an apartment to share with you, and she would enrol you in a school where you can make friends your age. Natasha would love to do the school runs and hear about your day as she walked you both back home.