BLACK WIDOW

adronitis

adronitis
(n.)
the frustration with how long it takes it takes to get to know somebody

•••

"The way am today—I can't help. With what I've been through—the people that have betrayed me—the people I have betrayed. Especially after Yelena, Headmaster Alonya, Ivan, and James. It is simply just incredibly hard to trust anyone."

•••

Madame B did not go very easy on her lesson. Natalia may have gone through 100 rounds before it was good enough for Madame B. And only then did she move on to the next caliber. She worked for hours until she moved on to work with the man who she had been dreading all day. The man who she a once though of as a father.

Going away from Madame B, she glanced over to the Soldier, who was waiting for another girl to step into the ring so that he could teach her. Natalia knew that he could see all angles. She when she looked at him, he knew he could see that, which justified him turning his head to face her, making quick eye contact with her and tilting his head to her; an encouraging nod. Nothing much out of the ordinary. Except for him it was.

She sent he a small smile back, nothing more than a simple tug at the corner of her lip, as she approached Ivan's workstation.

When she arrived, she looked to Ivan, expecting at least a small smile or a wave from him, but ultimately getting nothing. When he began to teach them all how various covert communication devices works called, he completely ignored Natalia as he spoke to to the general crowd, let alone showed her any special treatment.

"He was your handler, wasn't he?" Yelena communicated to Natalia over one of the devices they were learning to use.

Natalia knew her guard was still up and that Yelena only had known that because she had probably been told.

There was something about Yelena that she liked. She almost felt like she could trust her  some time in the near future. And with that thought, she answered back, "yes".

"Were you close?" she asked, not making eye contact with Natalia and pretending she was doing something else very convincingly, just as a good spy should do.

Natalia thought about how it naught be over this line to ask this, but she liked the friendliness of Yelena. She had the opportunity to have one last friend before she became the Black Widow.

"So close that I didn't join the program until I was fourteen."

"He is ignoring you, you know."

Natalia, keeping her head still, moved her eyes to glance at her once father.

"You think I don't know that?"

"Things like that make me furious. Treason. Betrayal. It disgusts me."

"In our line of work, that will be necessary."

"And you think I don't know that? It not something I'm exactly excited for."

"You know only one of us can be the Black Widow," pointed out Natalia.

"Could you do it? Could you let a person grow close to you, only to betray them in some of the worst ways possible?" Yelena asked, now actually looking at Natalia curiously.

"I would do anything for my home," was what she answered, not moving her head and inch, but slowing moving her eyes to where eyes met Yelena.

And it was then that both Natalia and Yelena knew that the latter girl would going to lose to the former. But neither of them mentioned it, not wanting to.