16024/Littlest Widow Future Imperfect

Littlest Widow Future Imperfect
Date of Scene:	03 February 2024
Location:	Guest Rooms/Suites, The Triskelion
Synopsis:	Skye comes to meet Natalia. The concept of friends is so weird.
Cast of Characters:	Black Widow (Romanoff), Quake

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Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
It had all started less than a week ago. The Avengers were fighting a magic using villain in the city. Those fights were never easy, unless their own homo magi was present. Sadly, she had not been for this one. Thus it was rough going but they were starting to get ahead when the magician threw a spell that was unlike others he had been using.

In hindsight, through analysis of the fight itself through various cctv and cell phone images captured during the events, the shot had been meant for Captain America. Now that they knew what it did, it truly made sense. However, it didn't find its target. For the Black Widow had her friend and teammates back, quite literally. She ended up hit instead.

One instant, the Black Widow had been present. In the next, a young girl of about 15 with short red hair and dressed differently was in her place. Even as the Avengers defeated their foe, the girl turned and ran.

The Avengers tried to stop her but found that this was indeed Natasha. Or Natalia to be more precise. Because this was a younger version of the woman they would know. One who was part of the Red Room. One who had the skills of a Widow, but not the moral compass of her future self. It took the Avengers with the help of SHIELD to take her down, not too far from where the chase started. She was taken into SHIELD custody.

From there, they had Agent Aaron brought in to monitor her, speak to her, find out what was going on. They found that Natalia had no idea where she was. For 72 hours, she was kept on lockdown. She had promised to behave, not to hurt anyone. When she kept to her word, it was agreed she would be let out but only under the care of Agent Aaron. Since his special powers should be able to both keep her under control if she turned--and keep him alive since he was difficult to kill.

She had been allowed to leave the Triskelion with Agent Aaron. To which she met a world she had never seen. She was from 1945. This entire world was foreign. At first, she had thought it all a training exercise. She learned otherwise. Yet, she was still a Widow and as such, she did manage to escape. But something happened, brought her back to the point where she had left the bloodied Agent Aaron. Of course, they had a tracker on her. There had been no danger of her being lost and the agent was following her. He was susprised when she went back to the beginning and waited for him. They talked. And he knew she wouldn't try to escape again.

Thus to this point. She had been allowed to stay in one of the guest suites instead of the cells. While everyone tried to figure out what to do with her. There were guards, she was monitored. Though, honestly, they all suspected even the Littlest Widow would be able to sew chaos if she truly wanted to. Thankfully, she seemed content in the little apartment like room with no windows though.

Quake has posed:
As usual, the SHIELD team had outdone itself in 'visitors This time it was Natasha's turn/., Or more properly, Aaron's guest - Natalia.

A fifteen year old Natasha.

To say that Skye was curious would have been an understatement.

Wandering around the guest quarters, she finally got the right one, and knocking on the door, she waited to be invited in.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
It was a few moments before the door opened. There stood a young woman in her teens, red hair cut short, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. No shoes on her feet but she still had socks on. The green eyes matched the woman she knew in color but these were different. Not just because they were framed in a face that hadn't reached maturity yet. She was smaller in build too, having not developed fully into the woman she would become in a few years. Her musculature was likewise less than her future self. Those eyes were older than her years yet they still had a curiosity, something youthful about them that would show up from time to time.

"So that's what it's like having someone knock on your door. Interesting." She spoke in English with a bit of a Brooklyn accent. One would think she was a native if they didn't know better. She poked her head out the door, looking up and down the hall. A little wave to where she knew the camera was. But then she ducked back into her 'room' and eyed Skye. "Gome in if you want." Because really, it wasn't like Natalia had a choice. She was still a prisoner and if this woman was here, she was an agent of some sort more likely than not. "Guessing you are here to ask me more questions? Or try to analyze me?"

Quake has posed:
Skye grins. Damn she looked like Nat, but not.

"That would be zero for two right. Unless you count my curiosity. Then, I guess, you are half right. I'm not here for official business if that's what you mean. And you can say no. My first months were similar. Well, you are too young to be nabbed up by SHIELD, but I was. Or else I would have been shipped off to a maximum security prison. It took me probably longer than they thought it would to see this was better."

Oh, some of her memories made her wince.

"Not gonna come in until you say so. I can stand out in the hallway. But the videotape is on." Skye wasn't going to lie, especially as Natalie knew they were trained on each door.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
She managed to not look surprised. The redhead looked back to the figure standing in the doorway with curiosity. Because this? This was getting added to the new experience list. Had been a lot of them in the last four days.

"I'm not a guest but sure. Come on in. Put your feet up. Have a nice cup of coffee." She moved back to the couch and sat down. When entering, Skye might notice that the tv was not turned on. Nor was the radio. There was a book open on the coffee table. It was a copy of 'The Three Musketeers' by Dumas. While there were more modern books on the shelf nearby, they were still in place with a little bit of dust on them since these quarters weren't cleaned all that often. It had been a sudden decision to put her there and they hadn't sent in a crew to deal with it before letting her inside.

"So now I'm a freak in the circus shows? To come in and gawk at? Or are you one of those who knew the older me?"

She did tilt her head as she eyed Skye. "You were an enemy at first?"

Quake has posed:
Skye came in, and for a moment she is blasted back to her first months at SHIELD. She had her computer, not a books?k, but the rest was eerily the same.

"Well - what do you think.. holy crap. Ok. When I first came here - albeit with slightly better accommodations.." As in a real suite, rather than a guest suite, "You could have shown my suite off as a pretend suite for the brochures.. well except for the dust. You like books?"

"And yes, I was sort of an enemy." She doesn't say what question she answered.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"I wouldn't say I like books but I suspect they are safer," came the response from Natalia. She tucked her feet up under her on the couch, sitting tailor style. But her attention was fully on Skye as she looked around.

The question was only partly answered. No details. That got a smile from Natalia. "It's okay. I'm getting used to the non answer version of answers. Everyone is worried that when I go back..." Not if. When. She had to have that confidence it would happen. "I might retain my memories and mess up the timeline or something if I know too much. So it's a game of what to say and not what to say for everyone that talks to me. It's pretty amusing."

She motioned to the tv. "Like that. If I turn it on, I'll be exposed to things won't exist for decades for me. If I turn on music, same problem. The books? I checked their publication dates on the inside to make sure I only read something that was before 1945. Just to be safe."

Quake has posed:
It all clicks.

"D'oh. Of course they are trying to reduce the amount of the present. Though, as I see it, if they really didn't want you to be contaminated by the present, they certainly should not have let you out, or had things like a television nearby. Yes, I'm guessing it doesn't work?"

"When I came here, I was allowed to do my own thing. They really couldn't have stopped me unless they did this." She gestures around the room and the lack of technology. "But, I was serious. Other then my gear, I really didn't move in until my friends decided to take over and invite themselves into my suite and cook dinner. Eventually it became a habit."

"We had a rocky start. If you remember this you'll probably react the same way. And now that I'm in a similar situation, I probably would have been exactly like you. And, yes, we're friends. Now."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Oh, they work. I think Agent Aaron knows that I won't touch it though so it wasn't a problem. I don't want to ruin the future anymore than they want it ruined."

She suddenly hopped up and moved to the kitchen where she opened the fridge to get out two bottles of Doctor Pepper. She returned to hop on the couch, a little jump and folding her legs to thud into the middle cushion. It was a very 15-year old thing to do. A little bit of fun in an otherwise mundane movement of sitting down.

She opened her own bottle. Now that she had a sip, she eyed Skye again. "Friends." A little smile and a shake of the head. "Four days ago, I was sure I was in a training session. That I was being tested. When I learned otherwise, it was more frightening than if I was still in the Red Room. I learned I had friends. That I find love. That I am something...else." She was careful of her words but already, even at this age before she graduated, her viewpoint of what she was had been that of a realist. She knew she was not what most people were. Though, she didn't know how far as she'd only known the Red Room. Until now.

"I had a friend once. In the Red Room." She knew these people knew about her. About her past. Especially a friend. Or did she keep that apart from them? She didn't think so since Skye was part of this group too. Same as Alexander. Same as Natalia. Or her future self at least. "She failed in hand-to-hand training when she fought me and they had me eliminate her." Not made me. Just had me. "She was my second kill. So forgive me if the concept of friends is still a bit...foreign to me."

Quake has posed:
"I didn't have friends until I was in SHIELD." Skye shrugs, and takes a sip of the Dr. Pepper. "I didn't have your upbringing, but I was moved around as a child. A lot. As soon as I got comfortable, I was moved. The closest I came to a friend was a boy who'd lost his sight. We were at the same orphanage. Like I said, as soon as I started to make friends?"

Again, she shrugs.

"When I was.. young.. I ran away. And the people I met up with pretended to be my friends, but really, they wanted me for my skills. I helped SHIELD take them down. It's a long story, my past. I try not to kill people, but things that I am capable of, are almost as bad."

"I'm still learning about friends, so you are in good hands with me. It's fucking wrong what we had to go through, really. Anything I could say about your friend wouldn't make it go away. Still, for what it's worth? I'm sorry."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"I figure there's nothing to be sorry for if we're friends. At least, that's how I think it's supposed to work. Again, the whole concept of it being something in my life is strange to me." She sipped her drink again then looked at the turned off tv. It had been tempting. But then a glance to Skye. Just there was too much she might lose if she did retain her memories when she went back. What if she altered something she would have done that led to this point in time? It was terrifying in a way.

"All I know so far is somehow I end up here, which is not the Red Room. What year it is. And that outside is New York City so I end up in the United States. I know there are costumed people, because some of them helped catch me when I arrived. I have no idea who they were outside Captain America. Him we know about in the Red Room. Is it the same man or a new one in the costume I wonder." She held up a hand quickly. "Please do not answer that. It was just me musing. I will find out eventually."

She smirked slightly, looking a bit more like the Natasha that was known to Skye. "In about 80 years or so apparently."

Quake has posed:
"You are incredibly old for this day and age. But you aren't the only one who this has happened to. Sort of. We figure something will cross paths with your proper timeline. We have had some people from the past, and from the future get stuck here."

Skye looks at her can.

"The thing is whether they are stuck here forever, or just a little time, that is their reality. Your reality. Whether or not you can recall what went on. I hope we've tried to make you feel a little bit like you were welcome. If not friends. And, I suppose that I should go now. Don't worry. We'll be waiting here when you actually arrive."

She stands up.