BLACK WIDOW

enigma

enigma
(n.)
A person or thing which is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand

•••

"When I first saw him, I wasn't fully sure if he completely emotionless, or so full of them that there was no way to express it. From what he did, I figured he was emotionless. But when I  met him, I knew it was the latter. But he was still just as confusing for the longest time."

•••

In a single file line, Natalia leading, they left to the ring in the center of the room where the Winter Soldier waited. She caught herself staring again. There was something about him that was so curious. Natalia could put her finger in it just yet. She wondered why he would be referred to as "Soldier". Did he have a name? And if he did, was it kept hidden for safety?

But to her mortification, the Winter Soldier looked to her and for the longest, strangest time, they were looking into each other's eyes.

And then Natalia could tell. She could tell she was very good at hiding it, Natalia was just better at seeing. The Winter Soldier may have had a mean and intimidating body and demeanor, but his eyes were soft. He had beautiful, soft eyes. Eyes that used to know love, but now only experience pain. All of him was dark. His clothes. His expressions. His hair. But here were the Winter Soldier's eyes. And blue as the winter sky and as clear as crystal and as soft as clouds.

It seemed as though he and Natalia could not break eye contact. She tried to read his expression, which happened to be harder than reading his eyes. But it also seemed as though his guard had been torn down by Natalia's gaze. He couldn't concentrate enough to put his walls back up and look away.

What she could read was similar to her feelings. He was intrigued by her he thought she was attractive. And there was something else that he successfully kept hidden. And now, more than ever, she wanted to know that third emotion he was feeling.

"Girl in front: come onto the pad. Other eight, stand neatly in the edge. I will work with you all in a clockwise Order. You all will remain in this order all days. I will not repeat. I expect all days to be exactly like this," he spoke in an impatient, horse voice. Natalia could help but wonder how he became the Winter Soldier. Was it a a program like this. Was he an orphan? Is that why he had no name?

The questions raced through her head as she climbed into the ring. But then she realized she was about to spar with this man. And she became terrified. She didn't show it of course. He was one of the biggest men she had ever seen. His muscles had the Super Soldier Serum coursing through them. And here she was. A fifteen year old standing at a mere five foot- three inches tall. Sure she had been trained a bit, and received variants of the drugs coursing through him and Captain America's systems, it simply would not be the same.

She could see that she and Soldier's ages were not far apart. He seemed to be in his early twenties—the time of peak physical condition for men.

And what scared her even more was the act that they still hadn't broken eye contact. She wanted too—she needed to. But she couldn't. And judging by his now slightly intimidated and thoroughly confused expression, she knew he was feeling the same. That was the third emotion: he was intimidated by her.

And now Natalia knew her guard had fallen also.

And maybe for a solid minute, they stood in the ring, facing the other, both intrigued and intimidated and confused by the fact they couldn't tear their eyes away.

The enigma now had Natalia's mind trapped. He confused her. But she knew that if he continued to stay in her head like this, she would never succeed, but at this point, see didn't know if it were an option.