Avengers in Ketterdam

Fellow Female Assassins

A/N: Ik this sucks I'm sorry I tried anywayzzzzz hope u enjoy mostly

Nat's POV
I sat on the roof of the Slat.
It was an odd name but it didn't matter.

This was all so weird.

These...these children were running around in gang wars and committing crimes and-

And they are all just like me.

Like when I was in the Red Room. I understood these kids, both Bucky and I did. These kids were doing what they needed to do to survive.

But it still shocked me.

"You're the one called Natasha. Correct?" A light voice said from beside me.

I lept up and moved for my gun.

"Easy," replied Inej holding her hands away from her visible knives. "I'm just here to talk a bit. I want to know more, and I'm sure you have your questions."

I holstered my gun and motioned for her to sit.

"Yeah, I do have some questions. Wanna sit?"

Inej folded herself gracefully, dangling her legs over the side.

The horizon was slowly lightening, like water color seeping into the edges of the starry night. Drunk men stumbled themselves around the streets of this odd city.

"Well, I'm sure you know you're in Ketterdam. Capital of Kerch. I can show you geography later on a map, but this is the Slat. Over there," Inej pointed to a building with a silver crow sign. "Is the Crow Club. That's also in Dregs territory. The Crow Club, the Slat, and Fifth Harbor are where you should stay. You'll be reasonably safe as long as you stay within Dregs territory."

I nodded thoughtfully, taking it in. "And just who are the Dregs?"

"We're the strongest gang in all of Ketterdam. There are other gangs, like the Razorgulls, the Liddies, and some remanentes of the Dime Lions. Don't mention the Dime Lions, or a man named Pekka Rollins to Kaz."

"Why?" I asked inquired. Why did the kid not like hearing about another man's name?

"Rollins is long gone from Ketterdam, it's best he stays that way."

I gave her a fleeting glance, but mostly kept it to myself.

She sighed.

"You won't survive two hours on these streets. All of you are too...different. Too loud. Too much. You and your friend Bucky might. Ketterdam is made of monsters, and that boy in there," she jerked her head towards Kaz's office. "He happens to have the longest teeth. You heard the rumors about Dirtyhands."

I laughed at that, thinking back to the own rumors swirling around my gushing ledger. I had so few compared to Kaz, so what had the boy done to earn so many in half the time I'd earned mine.

"I'd give Clint half an hour. Tony? Two minutes with his arrogance. And Steve? Ha. Steve would last leas than one minute with how generous he is."

Inej shot me a fleeting smile. "Yes, generosity gets you in Hellgate. Just ask Matthias, Nina, and Kaz. They've fallen victim to this city."

The girl paused and I took that moment to study her the best I could. Her hair was in a tightly coiled braid, her clothes were like mine but unlike my black clothes hers were purple and blue hues. She was nearly camoflauged, whereas I would stick out anywhere but the shadows. Yet even then, this girl had managed to blend into the shadows like it was her home.

I could see why she'd been called Captain Wraith.

"You should tell that Peter boy and that girl, Wanda, to be careful. If they step wrong they'll be taken to the West Stave. And trust me, without a savior like Kaz they won't get out easily."

"What's in the West Stave?"

Inej paused with a dark glint in her eyes. "The pleasure houses."

It dawned on me.

Strange said this world was not as technologically advanced.

He didn't mention brothels.

"That's where I was sold to when I was young. Captured from my home, carried here and barely of age."

I shuddered at her words. How calmly she spoke unnerved me a bit. Flashes of Red Room missions danced before my eyes.

"Kaz saved me. He gave me a place in the dregs."

I turned to her finally, seeing just how angry her face was. She flipped a knife between her fingers with ease, not a single time cutting any of her fingers.

"He gave me my claws." She finished wistfully.

A comfortable paused settled between us. We watched the sunrise over the harbor.

I began with a tentative sigh.

"Where I come from I'm known as a spy. An assassin. I didn't do it because I wanted to, I did it because that's the world I was forced into. The list of those I've killed it gushing with blood and misery. Bucky is the same, his was for longer though. They know me as Black Widow."

"In Ketterdam, I was known as the Wraith."

"I was a shadow." She said, flipping her knife into it's sheath.

"I was a phantom." I said turned to her seriously.

I took on the Russian accent Madame had once lectured me with. "A curse to powerful men, a devious woman. I changed like the-"

"like the wind." Inej finished with a small smile.

"Do their faces ever go away?" Her voice sounded so small, so young.

"No," I replied honestly. "They don't go away. But the do fade. You learn to forgive yourself, and admit it's what you had to do to survive."

She nodded solemnly.

I continued: "the reason I'm here, is because there are multiple universes. You are one, of many. We were told there was a threat here, named the Darkling, and that if we didn't stop him he'd come to our world next."

Inej gave me a sideways smile, bringing one knee to her chest and wrapping her arm loosely over it.

"He is long gone. You can thank Santka Alina for that."

I just nodded.

"So your friend Jesper is a sharpshooter, and you're the knife one right?" I asked with a small smile, turned to the fellow female assassin.

She smiled; "yes, and Jesper is always up for a good gamble."

I nodded, getting myself up, and offering a hand to my new friend.

"What if I told you our little group has three expert marksmen?"

Inej's dark eyes glinted with mischief.

"Than I'd ask if you're ready to gamble with the Dregs' best sharpshooter and the Wraith."