❝All because you were so damn selfish that you wanted more and more and more!❞

♡₊˚ ⴵ・₊✧⋆⭒˚｡⋆

Natasha

It was awkward in the room. Aurora was subdued and she kept apologising for what happened in the training room. I kept assuring her I wasn't mad, but she had convinced herself I was mad at her. I wasn't. Right?

"There's something nobody has ever asked me, and I never felt the need to share this..." she started after a moment of silence.

"What's that?" I inquired.

"I believed it was right to let everyone believe what had been assumed. That I'd just been taken. Nobody's actually asked me what happened that day, so I supposed I've just omitted the key details of it."

My brows furrowed slightly, confused.

"Go on," I nodded, urging her on gently. "I won't be mad."

The blond girl grimaced slightly, dropping her gaze to her lap. She seemed to hesitate for a long time, before starting, "I wasn't kidnapped by Dreykov."

"What?" I asked, confused. "How did you end up in the Red Room then? If it's pretty much impossible to find-"

"Well, I did get kidnapped, but I didn't get kidnapped in the sense I was randomly taken off the streets in the middle of the day," she elaborated, however I was still confused, and gave her a questioning look. "I got a phone call from a random number - a Russian number. I picked up, expecting it to be some sort of scam caller who wanted to sell me fake car insurance or some bullshit."

The Swede sighed and shook her head slowly, murmuring something in Swedish under her breath.

"It was Dreykov. I don't know how he got the number of my burner phone. I traced the call, but the location tracked back to some place in northern Siberia. Somewhere completely isolated, in the middle of the tundra. I just assumed my tracing wasn't working or something."

My brain was working furiously, trying to figure out what she was saying.

"What did he want?" I inquired cautiously, bracing myself for the answer.

"He said he could take me to my parents... my real parents. He told me that who I grew up with were never my real family, which was true. He offered to take me to my biological parents, and-"

"Wait, and you believed him?" I cut off the woman mid-sentence.

Aurora stilled completely, staring at me for a moment. She seemed to be holding her breath. I felt my stomach clench with anxiety for her answer. Her blue eyes were wide, with lingering fear. After what felt like a lifetime, she drew in a sharp breath and replied, dropping her gaze, "Yes."

I froze, feeling an all too familiar feeling of betrayal build up in me.

"You believed him?" I asked again, keeping my voice scarily steady.

"I-I did," Aurora stuttered. "He was... incredibly convincing. And I was more gullible then than I am now."

My jaw clenched.

"What happened after?"

Aurora met my gaze, a scared look in her eyes as she searched my face which I kept as stoic as possible.

"He told me to meet him somewhere. I don't remember where, it was some random building in the middle of the city. I took a gun with me. I thought that I could overpower him if it was some sort of trap..."

I stopped myself from making a sharp comment as my anger grew. Aurora was only 19 at the time. She was older and smarter now.

"Turns out it was a trap. I got away from the Triskelion without being noticed - it was easy, nobody questioned me - and stupidly didn't take a tracker with me. I didn't know the Red Room existed, let alone knew that he had at least 6 widows with him."

I internally scoffed, burning with anger and feeling betrayed.

"I didn't trust him," Aurora continued, her voice shaking with emotion. "But I went with him. I wanted to meet my parents. My real parents. Sure, Coulson was pretty much my dad, but I wanted to know who my biological parents were."

"You couldn't just be happy with who you had?" I asked, the question coming out sharper than I had intended.

The Swede looked at me with hurt in her eyes, only making me more furious. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, I stood up and snapped, "Don't look at me like that! You couldn't just accept that you weren't going to meet your real parents, you wanted more! God you're so damn selfish!"

"Nat, please-"

"Because of your selfishness, Coulson never got to say goodbye!" I snarled out aggressively. "You caused worry and upset, you made people think you were dead! And then you think you have the right to laugh and joke about the rumours people thought? Pathetic! Absolutely pathetic!"

Looking at Aurora, I saw how terrified she looked. She had completely frozen, wide eyes scared, staring at me in disbelief. She made no attempt to argue or plead with me.

"You gave Dreykov exactly what he wanted! Someone strong to control, someone with powers! None of us know what damage he caused with you on his side, I'm willing to bet that even you don't know!"

Anger engulfed me, and I couldn't stop myself from spitting out my racing thoughts.

"All because you were so damn selfish that you wanted more and more and more!"

"Romanoff!"

Aurora

Natasha was seething. And I couldn't blame her. She had a personal card in the Red Room business, and I had made things a lot worse for S.H.I.E.L.D.

"You gave Dreykov exactly what he wanted!" she yelled, pacing up and down. "Someone strong to control, someone with powers! None of us know what damage he caused with you on his side, I'm willing to bet that even you don't know!"

Then came the final blow.

"All because you were so damn selfish that you wanted more and more!"

Suddenly, a voice barked, "Romanoff!"

The room fell eerily silent. I tore my terrified gaze away from Natasha, instead meeting Director Fury's cold stare. He was looking between me and Natasha, who was staring into space, seeming zoned out.

"Agent Romanoff, step outside for a moment please," Fury ordered.

The red-haired agent quickly obeyed, keeping her gaze on the ground as she passed Fury.