Southampton, England - November 2001-

Natasha broke out into a fast run through the dark and empty streets in search of her target. With it being late she did not encounter many people, and so was able to slip through the shadows undetected. She had examined every route that she could possibly take, a precaution for if she needed to take a different route because of other civilians.

Being one of Dreykov's best, she was considered perfect for her current mission, a hit on a high ranking SHIELD agent. Agent Hughes. He usually worked at a base in the States, but he was in England visiting family. She had not been told of the reasons for needing to eliminate the Agent, but regardless, she would follow orders. She had to.

Being in England gave Natasha the perfect opportunity to make the kill, away from the beady eyes of SHIELD. Both Natasha and her superiors were expecting this to be smooth sailing, however, they were all unaware of the reason for his sudden presence in England, and the complications that could arise from this.

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Agent Hughes was sat with his 14-year-old daughter in their small townhouse. His wife, and mother to his child, unfortunately, passed away 8 years ago. The cause of her death still wasn't fully known. Her passing left his daughter under the care of his sister, due to his work in the States. He visited home as often as he could, not wanting his daughter to grow up without him, despite their unfortunate circumstances.

Looking over at his daughter, he spotted her beaming back at him, excited to be having a movie marathon with her father, the first one in 7 months. He ruffled her strawberry blonde hair, causing an annoyed "Daaad stop!" along with some giggles.

Watching her try to smooth her hair back down, he suddenly remembered a gift that he had left with some luggage in the boot of his car. He abruptly stood and told his daughter to wait inside whilst he went to retrieve the small necklace he had purchased for her.

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Meanwhile, Natasha was crouched down behind some large hedges that lined the house's alleyway, away from prying eyes. Waiting for the house lights to go off, so she could get the job done whilst he was sleeping. It was less mess for her. What she wasn't expecting was for him to walk out of the house and head toward his car. Fearing that he would get in and drive away to an unknown location, she decided to take the hit now, and deal with the repercussions later.

Pulling out a small knife hidden under her belt she quietly stalked after the Agent. He was of course highly trained, and so detected her movements when she moved out of the shadows. Turning around he saw a young woman who froze in her tracks at his sudden movement. However, she didn't freeze for long, and his movements only spurred her on to speed up the attack. She lunged at him, aiming to stab him in the chest, he blocked this and managed to get the girl in a headlock. He may have been stronger but she was smaller and more flexible, allowing her to easily get out of his hold.

A few punches were thrown from both parties until Natasha was able to throw him down, hitting his head on the curb in front of his house. She made the hit, twisting the knife in his chest to try and speed the process up.

"DAD". Whipping her head around to the sudden yelling, she looked at the house and saw a girl a few years younger than her staring back with horrified eyes. She held the stare for a few seconds, green staring at blue.

She was always taught one thing.

No witnesses.

She looked down contemplating her decision. Meanwhile, the young girl at the door was too terrified to move, seeing her father's killer knelt over him. Natasha once again looked up, meeting her eyes. She abruptly stood, causing the younger girl to stumble back a few steps.

Taking a single step towards the house, knife clenched in her hand, she stopped. She couldn't do it. She couldn't kill a child, even though they were only a few years apart in age, Natasha could see in her eyes the innocence and hope that this young girl had. Instead, she simply nodded toward the girl before sprinting away.

Guilt-ridden thoughts clouded her mind during the escape. She killed someone's father and stared them in the eyes afterwards. The pure fear and hurt that was in the girl's eyes caused by her would be hard to forget.

She didn't want to be this killer who put pain into the world. But she didn't have a choice.

She would have to wait a few more years for her freedom, unknown to her.