HIATUS

She didn't wear a mask or anything that would block her identity. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, she was just wearing simple jeans and a normal looking shirt. Nothing about her screams assassin, nothing about her screams that she will kill a person tonight. No, she looks normal, like a girl you see every day, aside from maybe her beautiful face, aside from that you could say 'she's normal-looking'.

"Tell me, why would Russia try to kill me? Or am I wrong in guessing where your allegiances lie?", I said to her.

"..."

She gave me no response, she's probably thinking of a way to get out of the dangerous situations she placed herself into. Let's not forget that this Natasha in front of me still probably has only a couple of missions under her belt. The Natasha that is seen in the MCU is a more experienced counterpart, it' still the year 2000 after all.

"Look, I stop your movement, but that doesn't mean I stop you from talking", I said to her.

Aside from her eyes looking at her surroundings, she did or said nothing. She's checking her surroundings with her eyes, she wants to know what caused her to be immobile.

"Look, I have the power here, you have none. You came into my house to kill me, but unbeknownst to you, you are a fly who went straight to the web of a spider. Ironic isn't", I said with a huge smile on my face.

"..."

"Now tell me, who sent you?", I asked her.

"..."

Once again she remained quiet, I sighed and I eventually decided that I should maybe change our location. I placed her in a genjutsu, and she immediately started falling to the ground, I caught her before her head hit the floor.

IN THE LIGHTHOUSE:

"Damn, I didn't think that you would bring an unconscious woman in the base. You know that's illegal right?", Howard sarcastically said to me. I gave him a deadpan expression as a reply to his humor.

I brought Romanoff to one of the Lighthouse's containment room. The room has a single bed on one side, a table with two chairs on the center, and a toilet bowl and a sink on the other side of the room. True, the room has no privacy but I didn't plan on placing Romanoff here for long, I wanted her to join my side. Having a spy of her caliber working for me would be nice.

I placed her on one of the chairs and canceled the genjutsu, at first she was groggy but her eyes began to immediately focus, a result of her training no doubt.  I seated myself in the other chair, right now the two of us were facing each other.

"Okay, let's do this again. Who sent you to kill me?", I ask her.

"..."

"Okay then...Natasha Romanoff, trained in espionage and assassination by The Soviet Union in the Red Room program. Now, who would send you to kill me?, especially now that the Soviet Union is gone which means that the Red Room program should also be gone", I said to her. I stated the information I know about her to get her off guard. The Natasha in front of me is young, which means that this might be the first time she is ever captured by her target.

"You're wrong, the Red Room program is still active. Madame B sent me to kill you", she said in a neutral tone.

The Red Room is still active? That doesn't sound right, in the MCU Barton was sent to kill her, but Barton made a judgment call and instead of killing her, he recruited her into SHIELD. It's impossible for the Red Room program to be still active then, no way Barton, Fury, and SHIELD would allow such an organization to exist. Besides if the Red Room was still active in the early 2000s then there is no way they would let one of their operatives betray them. They would have sent somebody or a group of people to kill Romanoff. An operative of her caliber going rogue would be something they won't allow.

The problem is that I could neither confirm nor deny that hypothesis, it was never properly explained in the MCU what truly happened to the Red Room program.

Is she being used? I look at Romanoff and based on what I could tell she is fairly young, she probably hasn't even reached her 20's yet. She might not know it, but there is a small chance that a high-ranking official of the Red Room in the past is manipulating her. Telling her that the program is still active but in fact not, and that superior is using her skill set by selling her services to those whose willing to pay a huge amount. All of this could be done without her knowledge.

She is from Russia, I tried remembering if I have any enemies there but after thinking for a while, I really don't. If I spread out to other countries, specifically America, then yes, I can say that I have enemies that would totally want to kill me. The moves I made in Johnson&Johnson really had made me a very unpopular guy for their board members. Heck, I would bet that someone would be willing to find someone to kill me.

"No, that's impossible the Red Room program has not been active since the fall of the Soviet Union", I said to her.

"..."

"Someone is manipulating you. Perhaps your commanding officer? Asked yourself Romanoff have you seen any girls that have passed the Red Room program after the fall of the Soviet Union?", I said to her.

After I said those words, the cogs in her head are beginning to move. Maybe I could push her more.

"Aks yourself Romanoff. How many people that you believe that has no ill will towards your country have you killed recently. How many ordinary people with no position in the government did you kill since the time you became active", I said.

"..."

Clear confusion, that is the only word I could say that describes the face that Natasha is having right now.  In the MCU, Natasha wasn't a bad person, it was only because she became part of the Red Room program did she start having blood on her hands. If she grew up like all the average people in the world, then she would be living a normal life. Far from the life that she is currently having right now.

I once again placed her in a genjutsu and brought her back to my house. Once inside the kitchen of my house, I canceled the technique.

She was once again shocked at how easily he could make her lose consciousness. She probably believes that I just placed her in a secret room inside the mansion.

"Look, I know that your not an evil person. The circumstances in your life are one of the key factors that have placed you here right now. True, blood is dripping from your hands, but that doesn't mean your evil. I'm letting you go, gather information, and answer the question, are you still working for the benefit of your country or for the benefit of your so-called superior", I said to her.

There was a hush silence between the two of us and then she eventually asks, "You're letting me go? What if I tell them about you?".

"You won't tell them that", I said to her with confidence.

"Why would I not?", she said with confusion in her voice.

"You won't tell them about ever meeting me because in this whole wide world. I am the only one that can give you the one thing that you don't have, the one thing you desire", I said.

With one of her eyebrows raised, she asks, "What is this one thing I desire then?".

With a smirked on my face I said, "The chance to become a mother".