Julya Kuznetsov is a weapon. That's all she's ever been. That's all she'll ever be.
But when the Red Room sends her to work for Hydra and she's forced to work with the Winter Soldier, what will change and what will she discover about herself?
Part o...
"Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized." Maria Hill explains.
"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own."
"It's a risky plan. If one thing goes wrong, I don't even want to imagine how many lives will be lost." Aria says, grimly.
"Do you have anything better?" Fury asks.
"If I had access to all the Stark Industries protocols that I usually do, we'd be able to put a stop to this in a few minutes. Unfortunately, we're hiding in a dam, so I don't exactly have the resources right now." she pauses thoughtfully, "Speaking of, why haven't you tried to contact my dad for help if you've been alive this whole time?"
"We don't know who to trust at the moment."
She seems offended, "So, what? Are you insinuating that my father works for HYDRA?"
"We're saying that this is a new world we're entering and nothing is off the table."
"Fine." she huffs, unimpressed, "Whatever. All I'm saying is that we don't really have the room to take chances."
"We don't have the option to not take chances." Hill reasons, "But you're right, one or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die."
"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA." Fury tells us, "We need to get past them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left-"
"We're not salvaging anything." Captain America interrupts, "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."
"S.H.I.E.L.D had nothing to do with it." Fury insists.
"You gave me this mission, this is how it ends. S.H.I.E.L.D's been compromised, you said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."
"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave?" Fury scoffs, "I noticed."
"And how many paid the price before you did?"
"Look, I didn't know about Barnes,", he turns to look at me, "or you."
"Even if you did, would you have told us? Or would you have compartmentalized that too?", Captain America asks, "S.H.I.E.L.D, HYDRA, it all goes."
"Like Zola said, they're one and the same." Aurelia backs him up.
"They're right." Hill nods.
Fury glances around, toward the winged man, who protests, "Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower."
Then, he turns his gaze to me and I shrug, "They've kept me locked in a dungeon for the past seven years. I'm fine with it."
"Well..." the ex-director of S.H.I.E.L.D sighs, "Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."
Natalia suddenly stands up, the scraping of her metal chair against the floor echoing around the room. She glances down at me, "Miss Kuznetsov, mind if I borrow you?" I just nod and follow her down a few corridors before she abruptly spins to face me, causing me to halt in my tracks. "You're good, Kuznetsov." she tells me, allowing her Russian accent to drip through.
"What aspect of life are you referring to here?", I question.
"As much as I hate to reminisce, I remember the Academy."
"Well, reminiscing is actually only applicable to good memories."
She ignores my comment and continues, "I remember Madame B warning me that one of the younger students was showing the same potential I had. One of the younger students was showing the same loyalty I had. One of the younger students was bound to become far more lethal than the Black Widow. It was you." I narrow my eyes, unaware of where she's going with this, "And I know you in ways Aurelia never will. I was you. I know what it's like to be a Widow. You don't have an identity outside of-"
"I'm not a Widow." I cut her off.
"Julia-"
"No, Natalia, I know what you're insinuating but I hold no loyalties, not to the Red Room and not to HYDRA. To them, I deserve the same respect as one of those damn helicarriers. I hold no loyalties to anybody. I'm a free agent, I suppose. I'll side with whoever I think is right. For the first time ever, my moral compass will be put to use."
"We can't afford you changing your mind though."
"Neither can I."
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A message from the author: The first update in about seven years! Hope you all had a good day! Remember to vote and comment! See you all next chapter! (;
