It would take the assassins around 30 minutes to get to the office building where Whitehall had last been spotted. The old radio in the van was clearly broken, so they opted for silence as Mara drove and Natasha sat in the passenger seat.
Mara could feel Natasha looking her way from the corner of her eyes. "You know staring is considered rude in most cultures, Romanoff." She said.
"I'm still trying to get a read on you, Morozov." The redhead retorted. "Can I ask you something?" She asked whilst remaining her focus on the brunette next to her.
"Go right ahead. It's about time we got to know each other." Mara smiled as she briefly made eye contact with Natasha, before returning her gaze towards the road.
"How did you lose your leg?" The question slightly surprised Mara, expecting more general questions first. She thought for a moment about how to answer the question.
"It was one of my earlier missions for Hydra. I was around 15 years old and was sent to kill a high level Russian official. Little did I know that he had 6 bodyguards with him, all carrying guns. I managed to kill the official and nearly all of the bodyguards, but on shot me twice in the leg." she sighed. Not being very fond of the memory.
"I had to basically crawl my way back to the Hydra base. It took me two days and at that point they could not save my leg anymore, so they chopped in clean off and replaced it with this metal contraption."
As she was explaining it, Natasha kept her focus on her. She noticed the pain in Mara's eyes that she held deep down at the memory. "I'm sorry for asking. If it makes you feel any better, I'm missing one toe on my right foot, so we're basically cripple twins."
Mara looked at Natasha and chuckled. "That's brilliant. And don't worry about it, I think the leg looks pretty cool if I'm being honest" she joked.
"Yeah, you mentioned that it could be used as a blade. How does that work?" The redhead asked curiously.
"Well, It is just your regular prosthetic leg with metal at the bottom, but Hydra made mine so that the foot retracts and a blade takes its place. I can demonstrate it in case we have to kill someone" She said whilst winking to the woman next to her.
Natasha stared at her leg for a moment, amazed at how that would work. She had to admit that Hydra was quite inventive. It was nothing compared to what Stark was capable of, but still impressive. They turned her disability into a strength.
Time flew by as the two women kept talking about their upbringing in their respective organisations. Both of them realising just how much they have in common and managing to find comfort in each other.
"We're here" Mara says while parking the van approximately 50 meters away across the street from the office building to avoid suspicion.