Budapest

Chapter 29

Natasha Romanoff
It had turned out that there was a spy amongst the girls. The director had already known my plan, but he went along with it anyway. The girls hadn't foreseen the attack waiting for them after they blew up the office and I hadn't foreseen the raping. I had planned to get him to teach me more combat moves, but he had other ideas.
"Oh Natalia, what a waste it is to have such a pretty body and mind sent off to Budapest to die. So we must not waste the time left."
None of the girls were left alive to answer my screams.
I had been sent to Budapest in one of the harshest winter times. The men there seemed to also like the look of me, a nine-year-old who seemed to have to many curves for her age. So for those 3 years I was there, I had seen murder, been taught to murder and was forced to learn the punishments given when resistance was shown. Not only were there physical scars from being in Budapest all those years ago, but emotional ones as well. Especially on that one day when the only guy who seemed to be kind was shot dead for giving me an extra piece of dried out bread. I can never remove the image from my mind of his blood mixing with the freezing water of the river, and staining the snow red. His mouth had been open, with the calling of my name dying on his lips as Ivan had pulled the trigger himself, sending his own son to the grave.
•
"Woah. That's messed up." Says Clint. Only then did I realize that I had been telling him about it and not only just reliving it.
"What was Ivan's son's name?"
"We just called him the winter soldier. It was an ongoing thing throughout the camp as people had mocked him for always functioning better in winter. I have no idea why you would mock such a thing but I guess they were all idiots."
"How many girls are still at the KGB?" He asks, seeming to be on a trail of thought.
"About 50."
"And what would happen if they knew you were going to expose their organization properly?"
"They would blow up all of the girl's chips I guess." I say.
He looks at me pointedly.
"Nat...I don't think it's the best idea to go after the organization alone. We should recruit SHIELD before they even realize what you're going to do."
"They know what I'm going to do. I just don't understand why they wouldn't kill me off."
Clint scratches the back of his neck.
"Is there maybe an out-of range zone?"
"Could be...I'm pretty sure that I overhead some of the scientists talking about it before. The chips needs to be updated so the range is better. I think the one I have would be in range when we reach the edge of the city maybe."
Clint looks at me like I'm crazy.
"Then why are we heading towards the place where they can blow your brain out through your nose?!"
"Because they haven't started killing off any of the other girls yet. They would kill the others off as well if it was incredibly serious. So stop worrying about me alright?" I say, speeding away from him.
I'm not some dependent little damsel that needs a man. I can make my own decisions on whether or not I'm going to risk having my brain blown up.
I stop abruptly when I reach the edge of the city. This is the moment. I inhale deeply before taking a large step forward and into the range of a device that could kill me instantly.