Paris, France

Summer 2015

"You know? Not sure I would've called France."

"Well, she is working with the Russian Embassy, here. I feel like it's little mystery what she's likely doing." Nadine nearly snorted at her sister's dry response.

Nadine took a sip of her latte as Natasha settled herself into her own seat across the small patio, just barely keeping herself from wincing at the taste. Boy, did she miss the lattes from the little shop just down from her and Nina's old apartment.

"So," she murmured under her breath, just loud enough for their earpieces to pick up, "she favours this place, does she?" Natasha nearly chuckled as she lowered her own waxed paper cup from her lips.

"For some reason," she confirmed, unable to keep the wry agreement from her equally low voice. Nadine could practically feel her little sister withholding a grin. "She's good at keeping from a strict routine, but this place seems to be the exception. At least twice a week, not quite like clockwork, but close enough." She caught sight of Nat shifting out of the corner of her eye. "There's probably more going on. My money's on a regular data drop of some kind; picking up or dropping off. Either that or meeting with her handler...or she is the handler." Nadine refrained from nodding, letting out a soft, assenting hum of agreement instead. They sat in silence for a time, Natasha pulling out a book to complete her inconspicuous look while Nadine tapped away on her tablet.

"I know you used the surveillance side on your hunts," Natasha murmured after a few moments, "but I imagine it's been a while since you've used the undercover bit of our training." Nadine was tempted to spare Natasha a condescending, yet brittle smile. Instead she merely glanced subtly at the redhead—not a redhead at the moment, though, but a brunette—just in time to catch a glimpse of a smirk teasing her little sister's lips as she took a sip of her own coffee.

"Not so long as you seem to think," she answered softly. Natasha's head tilted with curiosity, asking silently for an explanation. Nadine sighed. "Natasha, I'm undercover almost everyday of my life. The only time I am not is when I'm the Ghost."

"I'm not sure that's entirely true either, Nadya." Nadine's jaw clenched, but she kept silent, keeping her eyes fixed on her tablet screen as she forced her expression back into one of bored concentration. "At least not anymore."

What was she supposed to say to that?

It didn't seem Natasha was expecting an answer, though, and the two of them lapsed into silence again to wait.

Mercifully, they weren't waiting much longer—Nadine had just been about to feign leaving when their target appeared.

"There," Natasha intoned, catching sight of their target first. Nadine subtly angled her tablet screen to take advantage of the reflective surface.

It was undoubtedly Madame B.

The years had been kind to the former Red Room supervisor. She looked good, still slender and fit for a woman in her sixties, her impeccably tailored outfit showing it off to advantage. But then, Nadine couldn't say it was surprising. General physical fitness aside, one aspect of their training had been a certain consciousness of and care for physical appearance; after all, whether people liked to admit it or not, they did a lot of thinking and subsequent judging with their eyes...or other anatomy besides their brains. The Red Room instilled habits that were hard to break. There was little doubt that Madame B had once been a recruit herself. Even before one of Nat's old contacts had passed on their old supervisor's file and Nadine had dug up some of the redacted bits from the KGB's secure servers, they both had suspected as much. And they hadn't been wrong. Not by a long shot.

It had taken weeks of work and research, both Natasha and Nadine leaning on old contacts and digging into legitimate and underworld sources and databases to piece together what had happened to Madame B after Natasha had left the Red Room. But finally they had managed to track her down to Paris, France. From there it had simply been a matter of observing and planning. A lot of it. Nadine hadn't been keen on leaving Nina at the Avengers facility when their relationship was still healing, but the mission beckoned.

She needed to do this.

Besides, she also couldn't deny the feeling that Nina needed the time away from Nadine's near constant presence. And there was arguably no safer place than the Avengers' Compound; Nadine had made sure of that herself. So Nadine had pushed her pervasive worries aside as best she could and turned her focus over to the mission. It had been difficult...but worth it.

Now it was just a matter of putting all their research and careful planning into action.

It felt a little odd but still rather fitting on some level to be going after what could be considered one of their own so many years removed from the days when it had been a requirement. It was a little unsettling. But then Nadine only had to remind herself of just why she'd wanted to track down the older woman.

To say thank you...and to demonstrate just how well she'd kept up the skills she'd been taught.

Sure, in many respects, Madame B had just been the face Nadine and Natasha had for the institution and the program that had created them. But Nadine also very clearly remembered Madame B taking a great deal of pride in her work. There was nothing soft or compassionate in the woman. She had been a hard, cruel and exacting woman. Utterly merciless. Icy and manipulative. Perhaps not quite up to sadistic, but she'd flirted with the descriptor frequently during Nadine's time under the older woman's supervision.

And there had been no mistaking the pleased look in her cold eyes the day she'd praised Nadine for fulfilling her 'assignment'...the same day that Madame B had declared Nadya ready for Graduation. Looking back now, Nadine had little doubt the entire encounter in that abandoned room had been orchestrated by her former training mistress. She'd been entirely too satisfied, too pleased, to merely be an observing party. And adding what she now knew about the woman's background to what she remembered from back then about the supervisor? Her file said her strengths lay in strategic analysis and planning as well as asset manipulation. Well, in that they were on the nose. Madame B had played Nadya like a fiddle.

Though, she doubted the older woman had anticipated her plan backfiring quite the way it had. Nadine very much doubted Madame B had genuinely factored in the possibility that Nadine would actually run to whatever plans she'd had. Undoubtedly she had considered it; she wouldn't have been able to help but be thorough in mapping out potential outcomes, factoring Nadya's increasing disillusionment and subtly rebellious behaviour. But she'd still likely dismissed it as too improbable, assuming Nadya's instincts and conditioning for self-preservation to outweigh the risks inherent in trying to run. Not to mention how close she'd been to Graduation and the relative freedom it offered.

But Nadine wanted to be sure. She needed to know what the older woman knew, what she'd suspected and what her intuitions had been all those years before.

Nina's safety depended on it.

And Barnes' potentially did as well.

Who knew? Perhaps Madame B with her HYDRA connections, past or present, would have further clues or insights that would help them in their search for the missing super assassin.

Plus there was the undeniable desire for vengeance for all those years of torment growing up and the subsequent life of hiding and secrets she and her daughter had been forced to accept in exchange for survival. The promise of retribution and the potential for some measure of closure. That was not an aspect that could be understated.

Sure enough, as their surveillance had suggested, their target was in and out in moments. Just long enough for her espresso to be made and enough coins to cover it to be exchanged. Along with what Nadine suspected was the subtle data drop Natasha had predicted. Judging by the way the former training mistress had handed over her change, it was probably in the form of a micro memory card slipped in among the coins she deposited into a particular barista's waiting palm.

As the older woman had begun placing her order Nadine had discreetly abandoned her seat, moving along as though her small, coffee-indulgent break had come to a close. Natasha, meanwhile, wouldn't leave until after Madame B. It was all part of their carefully constructed plan.

It was then that the real work began.

As soon as Nadine was out of sight of the café she had lost her own disguise—a short, dark-haired wig, floral scarf and navy anorak jacket—and was ducking around the corner toward their car. Natasha had left it strategically placed so it wouldn't interfere with their plan while still remaining situated close by. Once there Nadine was pulling out her tablet again, this time for more than just surveillance and last minute checks. Everything had been planned down to the last detail, as befitted two master spies and assassins, one famous and one infamous, both undoubtedly among the best in the world in their fields.

Their own reputations aside, they didn't doubt Madame B would be more than capable of evading them if given the chance. If her file and the whispers both women had picked up on as they worked to track the older blonde down were even close to accurate, Madame B was just as good as they were. There was a reason why those who remained active in their line of work rarely made it into their sixties; it was quite often a lethal occupation. Even retirement, be it through switching careers or disappearing to a quiet life off the grid, was no guarantee for making it into old age; generally the term was reserved for a more...permanent departure from the trade than disappearing to the country to settle down and garden. That Madame B was still apparently an active agent at her age? She had to be good. Really good. Black Widow designation-level good. But Nadine and Natasha had been well trained and their lives had honed those skills further. The trick was in denying her any such chance without her being aware of it.

It wouldn't be an easy task.

But they weren't considered the best for nothing.

Still, as carefully as they had planned every detail? Every contingency? There was always the chance that something could go wrong. And Madame B hadn't survived for as long as she had by being stupid. Despite their extensive skill sets, there were still limits to what could be predicted and anticipated about a person—especially a person trained as the two of them and Madame B had been—from old memories, files and surveillance alone.

Not to say one couldn't predict quite a lot...

But working together? Nadine and Natasha both were optimistic about their chances.

Sure enough, as predicted based on the café's location relative to her townhouse—rented through a contact of a contact at the Embassy; smart, but not overly clever or subtle either—as well as the unconscious patterns Natasha had picked up on from her preliminary surveillance the previous week, Madame B turned east as she left the coffee shop followed immediately by a turn south.

Natasha stayed as close as she dared, guided by Nadine's watchful eye on the city's security feeds while also serving as Nadine's backup set of eyes as she tailed their former supervisor. Even then, they still very nearly did lose her a few moments later, the older woman nearly evading the surveillance Nadine was keeping through her hack into the city's CCTV. The woman had obviously cased the area for cameras, given how she was just a little too good at avoiding them or avoiding giving them a good look at her face. It was only Natasha's quick thinking and skillful improvisation on the ground that kept their plan on course.

Ultimately though, neither woman was surprised by the circumspect route their former training mistress took; it was what they themselves had been taught to do if they suspected they were being followed. It was their first clue that their target suspected someone was tailing her.

They knew for sure when Madame B's already circuitous route became more erratic before abruptly doubling back and switching tracks to a more direct route home.

It was a conclusion confirmed when, upon following her through a narrow walkway around behind a set of quiet storefronts half a block from her destination, Natasha found herself looking down the barrel of Madame B's compact Sig Sauer.

"I thought I trained you better than that, Natalia," the former supervisor said softly, the trace of a smirk on her lips belying the disappointed hum of her accented voice. Natasha could only smile politely back.

"Oh, you did." Madame B froze, though whether from the casual voice speaking up behind her or the soft click of another gun's safety being flicked off was anyone's guess. Natasha nearly chuckled at the sour expression that threatened the older woman's steely composure, her thin lips nevertheless pursing in displeasure. Nadine, meanwhile, allowed her lips to curl in a cool smile where she stood behind Madame B.

"Were we that predictable?" Natasha quipped innocently, her eyes glittering as they surveyed their former training mistress. It was obvious when the older woman realized she had gone precisely where they wanted her to go.

She'd fallen right into their trap.

"So you did find Nadine," Madame B said softly after a moment of surveying Natasha right back.

"More like she found me," Natasha countered just as softly.

"And I see you're still in touch with HYDRA," Nadine added, "or at least, you're not as 'retired' as your official file suggests."

"Old habits die hard," the older woman said with a bored scoff. Natasha nearly rolled her eyes as Madame B lazily tossed her gun aside. Neither of her former pupils was fooled for a moment. Madame B was still extremely dangerous, even without a gun in her hand; both of them would be, after all. She hadn't turned once to take her measure of Nadine, or even spared a fleeting glimpse or subtle turn of her head; that was cue enough to them both.

"Apparently," Nadine said dryly. "I imagine that also means you're going to be rather reluctant to simply answer our questions truthfully, then." The former training mistress merely raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow, finally turning to glance at Nadine. Nadine was almost tempted to laugh. Almost. Despite purposefully and visibly dismissing Natasha as a real threat with the way she turned from the younger spy, it was still quite clear that Madame B's attention was still evenly split between them.

"No surprise there," Natasha muttered. Nadine didn't spare her sister a glance, keeping her focus on Madame B. She could practically see the older woman's mind working, strategizing how best to escape...and likely how best to kill them. Nadine nearly smiled at how obvious it was. Perhaps she wasn't quite as good as they had prepared for.

"What possible motivation could I have to cooperate," Madame B said softly. "I can't imagine you're planning on letting me live out this reunion."

"You're not wrong," Natasha said back, sounding nearly bored as her arms crossed over her chest. Madame B twisted to shoot the redhead—her wig from earlier long discarded—an unreadable look.

"But it would be significantly more pleasant an experience for you if you were just to tell us what we want to know," Nadine continued coolly, sparing her sister a faintly reprimanding glance of her own. Natasha just met her eye with a careless shrug.

And naturally, their former training mistress had been waiting for just such an opportunity. In a flash a baton was extending in her hand and lashing out to catch Nadine across the face. As Nadine recoiled back instinctively, her jaw throbbing painfully from the force of the blow, the older woman was already spinning to meet Natasha as the redhead leapt into action herself, only just deflecting another hard blow of the baton.

A sharp jab from an elbow followed quickly by a fierce kick to the shin, though, and Natasha was backpedalling. But before Madame B could press her split-second advantage, even as she spun to slash the baton down at Nadine, the younger blonde had recovered, deftly catching the retractable black stick and twisting it from Madame B's grip even as she latched onto the other woman's arm and wrenched her around.

Right into Natasha's waiting hands and knee.

At once, the older woman was gasping in shock and pain, staggering back to crash into the brick wall of the alley.

And Nadine snapped the baton in her hands. Madame B's eyes flashed with surprise, rage and, almost too quickly to perceive, fear. Nadine was almost tempted to let herself smirk. The older woman had forgotten just how much of an effect the Treatments had had on Nadine.

"And I thought you were trained better than that..." Natasha said, her tone mocking. Madame B glared venomously at her, her own impeccable mask slipping for a moment before she forcibly recovered, shrugging lightly.

"It was worth a try," she dismissed. Nadine tossed the snapped baton aside with an absent flick of her wrist.

"Don't aggravate her too much, Natasha...unlike most people, you know Red Room recruits clam up instead of opening up when we're pushed that way." Madame B's pale gaze turned to meet Nadine's, her features perfectly unreadable as she studied the younger blonde.

"So you've done your research on me," she said softly; it was pointedly not a question. Nadine merely smiled coolly, not caring that she was rising to the subtle dare. She was enjoying herself.

"Marta Petrivna Borychenko," she replied quietly, watching Madame B's reactions carefully even as the former training mistress' lips thinned minutely. "Born January 17th, 1955 in Kharkiv, Ukraine."

"Recruited into the Red Room Program out of an orphanage in Kiev in March 1957 after the death of both parents," Natasha took up as Nadine fell silent, the redhead sounding nearly bored, "father Petya in an industrial accident, mother Maria from pneumonia three months later. Graduated from the Red Room in June of 1973. Second recipient of the Black Widow designation since the program's inception. Shall we go on?" Madame B's icy composure was once again firmly in place, though her eyes narrowed again, this time clearly with irritation.

"You've sufficiently made your point."

"You knew I was still alive," Nadine pressed softly, "and you knew where I was," she hesitated then, struggling to tamp down the anger that had been growing ever since that disastrous flight to Seoul...when she'd realized just what Madame B had done...and what she must have known. Her voice grew cold and dangerous, but she didn't voice the question she wanted a response to most; she wanted to see what the older blonde said first. "Why didn't you take me out? I know you must have wanted to." Madame B shrugged carelessly, not rising to Nadine's goad. But, surprisingly to both Nadine and Natasha, her response was concise and brutally candid.

"You were interesting to my superiors. They were curious about you and what you'd do. And you represented a significant investment to them, Treatments aside." Her pale eyes glittered harshly then as they fixed on Nadine. "And they were curious about your child when I reported her existence." Nadine's jaw clenched. Madame B's eyes flashed with satisfaction.

"And your ties to Strucker?" Natasha pressed, sensing Nadine was reaching her patience threshold quicker than they had hoped. Madame B quirked her eyebrow again, her expression too obviously condescending to be completely genuine.

"I have had little to do with him or his affiliates in many years," she dismissed. Natasha sighed softly as though disappointed. Nadine nearly glanced to her little sister in disbelief. She'd been spending too much time around Stark, it seemed; Natasha was picking up his theatricality.

"And by affiliates you mean HYDRA," Natasha was continuing. Madame B just shrugged, but she neither confirmed nor denied it.

"And I suppose you had just as little to do with steering Zhirova to him complete with information on me and my daughter that he would find...interesting?" If Nadine's gaze before had been cool, it was now positively glacial; as merciless and unforgiving as the Russian winters they'd grown up with.

Madame B's chin lifted fractionally. "I had nothing to do with that." Nadine consciously ensured her face remained impassive when what she really wanted to do was raise a disbelieving eyebrow at the woman. She was good, but Nadine had honestly expected better. But perhaps that expectation was all thanks to Natasha. After all, her little sister could lie without the faintest trace that she was doing so if she so desired, sometimes without even trying; it was hard to compare with that. It just came naturally to the redhead. While still very good, Madame B was not that good; her two former charges were too skilled at reading lies.

"She's lying." It was said in such a way that it almost sounded curious, but Wanda's voice was equally cool as she stepped forward to Nadine's side. Her eyes flashed scarlet, a wash of distaste visible in them.

"Not much of a surprise there," Natasha responded dryly, her arms crossing loosely even as her attention remained intent on the former training mistress. "This is Wanda, by the way," she added conversationally, glancing to her nails as though examining them, picking at a rough spot with her thumb. "She has a rather...special skill set courtesy of Strucker." She glanced pointedly up to Madame B at that, raising a taunting eyebrow. "But I imagine you already put that together." Confirmation by way of a flicker of recognition appeared briefly in the older blonde's eyes. She glanced to Wanda, her eyes calculating...but she was also suddenly nervous, Nadine noticed with a grim sort of satisfaction. She wasn't quite sure what to make of Wanda, not knowing what she evidently did of the girl; enough to be wary of her, that was certain.

"She did," Wanda murmured with an air of impatience.

"We know," Nadine murmured back, a hint of a smirk on her face as she met Madame B's scathing eye, "she just told us."

Wanda turned sharply to glare at Nadine and Natasha, annoyance flaring in her eyes next to her obvious aversion to whatever she was sensing from the older woman.

"If it's so easy to tell, why exactly do you need me?" she bit out irritably. Nadine grinned slowly. Wanda visibly hesitated at the icy expression.

"We can only tell if she's lying. To actually get at the truth? We'd have to work for it, and that would take a great deal of time and effort." She turned to Wanda, her expression no less cool, but less directly threatening. "You, however, can pull the truth right out of her head." Alarm bloomed in Madame B's eyes before she could stop it. A ruthless, intrigued smile spread slowly across Wanda's face as she stepped forward, her fingers beginning to dance with the gleaming scarlet tendrils of her powers.

"That, I think, I can do gladly." Madame B gasped, her entire body wrenching taut as Wanda's fingers tensed, her powers snapping forward to curl around the older woman, immobilizing her as misty tendrils swirled around her eyes and temples. Wanda glanced to Nadine, her eyes vivid scarlet and eager.

"What would you like to know?"

A/N: Thanks for Reading!

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