To Bargain with a Demon Part 2

LOCATION: Paris Hotel Room in WW2 1941

The man stops clapping

And for the first time in my life a strange sensation washes over me not fear but definitely a sense of foreboding like meeting the devil himself but I know that sounds like nonsense so I push the unpleasant feeling to the back of my mind 

"I am very impressed Miss they were some of my finest assassins I trained them all myself" the strange man says his voice was almost soothing yet ominous 

He crosses his arms and smiles at me I don't recognize him, he looks to be perhaps in his Mid to late 50s or older I'm not entirely sure, he was well built and he wears a green cloak and suit and he has dark greyish hair with a white streak going through it and I couldn't put a name to the accent.

I don't take my eyes off of his icy eyes as he begins to slowly and menacingly move towards me, but I'm not afraid of him I make that clear as I use my staff to prevent him from coming any closer

"Firstly I didn't come here to impress you whoever you are and secondly if that's the best you can throw at me then I'm not impressed I've fought little girls more skilled than that. Now tell me Who are you?" I ask the stranger as I get into a fighting stance,

He smiles "You're accent is Russian from the region of what used to be Stalingrad if I'm not mistaken such a tragedy what happened there, Is that where you're from?" I did not like they way he looked at me at how the very sound of my voice gave me away

I'd spent years trying to get rid of my accent but somehow this mysterious man could see straight though me it made me feel uncomfortable 

I don't speak to him but somehow this made it even more uncomfortable I was always the hunter it sort of goes without saying once you've earned the title of the 'Black Widow' but this time I felt like prey.

Suddenly the doors around the room burst open and around a dozen assassins all dressed in the same black uniforms as the other assassins enter the room and surround us they have a struggling Ivan and Olesya,

My blood runs cold,

Sure I could fight them all off, but I couldn't save Ivan and Olesya at the same time this was a checkmate I drop the staff in surrender.

"Shall we kill them master?" one of the assassins asks the man who was obviously in charge

"No questions need answering first" the man approaches me something about him is off, something that I could not put my finger on and it made me feel uneasy and that was very hard to do

I notice that his eyes were very strange they didn't match his age

"Who are you?" he asks me,

But I remain quiet with all my training installed in me I wouldn't talk even if you were to hurt me I still wouldn't say a word it was basically rule number one in the spy handbook.

I smirk as a slight look of frustration appears on the mysterious strangers face

"Get away from her!" Ivan Yells aggressively, the man then turns towards a frazzled looking Ivan he must have put up quite the fight he had a bleeding cut on his forehead but I knew better than anyone that he's had worse

"Who are you her father, her uncle?" Ivan looks at me in a panic and then back at the man that's when I understood that he was going to hurt Ivan if I didn't cooperate,

My smirk quickly disappears 

I can deal with being tortured for information and I am a tough nut to crack, but hurting the only other person on this earth that I actually cared about was a step too far

"He's My Guardian" I tell the man he looks pleased at my sudden cooperativeness

"See that wasn't so hard, you answer a question of mine I will answer one of yours, my name is Ras al Ghul and we are the League of Assassins".

Ivan obviously knows who this Ras al Ghul is I could tell by his reaction his face turns even paler "Oh dear lord" Ivan murmurs and something else that I shouldn't repeat.

I knew Ivan was scared of very little in this world so this had to be a big deal

"You answer my questions you all go free and unharmed deal?" Ras asks me he holds out his hand for me to shake

In which I just glare at him in response "My name is Natalia Alianova Romanova" I tell Ras as he retracts his own hand 

"Natalia what a beautiful name, who trained you Natalia? In all my years I have never seen a Woman so young  yet so gifted in combat" he says that with a slight annoyance in his voice hard to pick up but I could tell it was there 

Ivan looks at me panicked he shakes at me his head not wanting me to answer his question, but I refuse to let Ivan get hurt for my sake

"Why you got a problem with a female assassin that's better than any of your men?" I smugly say but I quickly realise this probably isn't the time nor place for sarcasm when one of the assassins thumps me in the back with the barrel of his gun

"I was trained in Russia, in a facility called the Red Room set up by the Soviet government and the KGB to turn one of a group of young girls into an assassin called the Black Widow" Ras al Ghul looks surprised at my answer I cant help but feel like I shouldn't have told him about the Red Room

"That is news to me Natalia Romanova or should I say Black Widow, I don't like it when assassins are trained without my approval and I will look into this immediately" the league of assassins always produced the best of the best I suppose it stings to know that I was better than any of his men

"My friends call me Natalia if I had any friends so you Mr Al Ghul can call me Romanova" I tell him and for a second I thought that he was going to have his assassins kill all of us but he didn't but I was definitely pushing my luck

He smiles at me again it was a smile that made my skin feel like it wanted to crawl off my body and head off down the street "That's a shame Miss Romanova because I would like us to be friends i'm a very powerful man I could help you" he says

I scoff at that last remark

"With what?" I ask him I didn't need anyone's help especially from the likes of him

"You don't have free will do you? Your stature shows years of physical conditioning through some very painful methods I assume there is also that mark behind your left ear a form of branding placed on you at a young age that means that somebody thinks they own you and although you've covered them up very well I can see the scars on your wrists from hand cuffs but I assume that you are covered in scars which means you've been tortured your entire life but also your eyes they show pain and loss beyond anything I've ever seen before you've killed lots of people been pushed to the limit of human endurance and you've watched your family die"

He stops for a moment

"That Natalia Alianovna Romanova is what I have learned about you in the last 10 minuets"

I pull my hair over my left ear cross my arms and look at the floor I felt transparent almost like I wasn't wearing any clothes because in one conversation Ras Al Ghul has learned more about me than 99% of the rest of the world

Tears pooled in my eyes I push them back Ras was standing so close to me that I could practically smell him although it wasn't unpleasant I felt like I couldn't breath year of mental conditioning were being torn apart in mere seconds

A strong hand grabs my shoulder but my eyes remain transfixed on the floor

"That's enough!" Ivan yells angrily in my defence

I look at his face he looked just about ready to tear everyone apart with his bare hands

"Yes I believe it is" Ras responds as I feel his hand leave my shoulder and he steps back out of my personal space   

"One last question Miss Romanova just one and I urge you to think over your answer very carefully, would you consider joining the League of Assassins?" he asks me

"Part of me wants to say yes Mr Al Ghul I really do all I've ever wanted is my freedom but I- I cant do that I'm loyal to my country no matter what they've done to me" part of me did want to say yes

I hated the control that the Red Room had over me they looked at me like I was nothing like I was dirt but not this man in his eyes and his voice I sensed a mutual respect it was a good feeling he appreciated my skills compared to the Red Room who will never respect me but I just can't do it just the thought of betraying my company makes my head hurt (and I meant this in a literal way it's not until later that I understood this was due to my brainwashing)  

I thought that was it this is where I die

I look at the staff on the ground and if it came to it I would give the fight everything I've got, but instead he signals his assassins to let go of Ivan and Olesya they both fall to the floor in relief Ras turns to them

"You are all free to go. I set you free Mrs Delova from the consequences of your husbands treachery" she hits the ground and begins hysterically crying

I couldn't decide if I felt sorry or embarrassed for her although I'm a bit angry that she decided to keep the fact that her husband was a member of the League of Assassins to herself,

But I look back at Ras who's eyes hadn't left mine,

I try and stare him down to intimidate but to no avail.

"Today has been very enlightening" he says looking at me still I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that as it sort of felt like a threat

"I'm sure we will meet again Ras al Ghul" I say as his men and him begin to depart the room he looks back at me one more time

"Oh Natalia Romanova I'm sure it's already predestined".

Ivan's POV

My left hand pulls Olyesa down the metal fire escape willing her to keep moving faster but I couldn't stop thinking about Natalia, my little princess no matter how much she insists she isn't a little girl any more she will always be my Tsarina

(I don't care how many times she tells me not to call her that) she's a natural born Romanov 

"What about your daughter?" Olyesa asks, I don't bother to correct her that Natalia isn't my biological daughter 

"Natalia can take care of herself" I reply and although that was true I very much wish it wasn't she was far too young, the things the Red Room did to her if I could I would kill them all in an instant but they have a hold over us so for now I bide my time.

I'm so deep in thoughts of revenge that i'm caught off guard when a man dressed head to toe in black jumps in front of us, 

He smacks me across the head with some sort of baton, my head hits the edge of the metal staircase 

"Ivan!" Olyesa yells 

I hold my hand up to keep her back, something catches my eye a silver emblem on the assassins uniform, my blood runs cold I recognized the symbol my fellow comrades who had travelled to the middle east had told tales around the campfire of the League of Assassins and of their immortal leader The Demons Head they were ruthless contract killers and anyone who get's in their way would feel the Demons wrath.

Screw this!

I pull out my revolver and shoot the assassin 3 times in the chest before he can even react to my gun,

"Come on" I tell Olyesa but before we can make it 5 feet I am attacked again

A blow to my stomach knocks the wind out of me causing me to drop to the floor, 

I try and shoot as many of them as I can I must take out 6 of them but I'm out of bullets and before I can react they are on top of me kicking, punching I hear Olyesa scream as this brutal beating continues 

"Enough!" a voice says the voice was filled with power and confidence obviously in charge 

I cant open my eyes I could feel swelling in my right eye and my skin was sticky with my own blood, i'm being dragged I can't tell where but I feel a stair case under my feet I can barely even walk, two strong assassins have to lift me up the stairs

We enter a room It takes me a moment to realise that we are now back in the hotel room 6 dead assassins lay on the floor

"Natalia?" I try and say but nothing leaves my mouth

I could see her looking like the warrior princess that she is, she looked ready to tear them all apart but then she sees me and her posture changes as she dose the battle math she could take them on and escape but not before they've killed me

She drops the staff in surrender

"Shall we kill them master?" one of them says to the man dressed in green he was clearly in charge I didn't want to admit it but I had my suspicions at who this stranger is

"No questions need answering first" he approaches Natalia I didn't like the way he looked at her and he was standing far too close to my little girl

"Who are you?" he asks her but she wasn't going to say a word

"Get away from her" I yell and the man finally acknowledges my presence he looks at me in confusion

"Who are you her Uncle? Father?" I refuse to answer but I get the deal he was going to use me to get Natalia to talk

Please Natalia let them hurt me don't say anything

"He's my Guardian" Natalia speaks up

Dammit Natalia

"See that wasn't so hard you answer my question I answer one of yours I am Ras Al Ghul and we are the League of Assassins" 

This is what I feared when I first saw that symbol 

"S***, F***" I say out loud 

Natalia looks at me appalled by my bad language 

"My name is Natalia Alianovna Romanoff" she glares at the man as he holds out his hand for her to shake 

Don't do it Natalia 

Thankfully she doesn't shake Ras Al Ghul's hand

"Natalia what a beautiful name, Who trained you Natalia? In all my years I've never seen a woman so young yet so gifted in combat"

I hold my breath waiting for her response

"Why you got a problem with a female assassin better than any of your men"

I should have guess Natalia would respond with her natural self defence of sarcasm

This earns her a smack on the back with the barrel of a gun

I struggle against the men holding me down but it was doing me no good.

"I was trained in Russia, in a facility called the Red Room set up by the Soviet government and the KGB to turn one of a group of young girls into an assassin called the Black Widow", I couldn't believe it, she just told him everything 

I shake my head at her but she wasn't listening to me anymore because she was trying to protect me 

Damn it I'm the one who's meant to protect you but then again you've always been the strongest

 "That is news to me Natalia Romanova or should I say Black Widow, I don't like it when assassins are trained without my approval and I will look into this immediately" Ras Al Ghul responds with a intrigued smile

I knew that the Red Room were afraid of the League what they did was against the Leagues rules they took any assassins that weren't there own as their enemies, he was going to kill my Natalia.

He steps closer to her and talks a lot quieter so I cant make out what he's saying but I hated how close he was standing to her I could tell Natalia was determined not to let it bother her

All of a sudden she scoffs "With what?" she asks him but I cant hear his response but what I can see is Natalia's expression it was like nothing I had ever seen appear on her face before

Her eyes widen in shock and her eyes glazed over with water

 I had never seen that before whatever he was saying to her it must have struck a nerve

He laid one of his hands on her shoulder "That Natalia Alianovna Romanoff is what I have learned about you in the last 10 minuets"

"That's enough!" I snap at him, he looks at me as if he had forgotten about my presence

"Yes I believe it is" he remarks as he lets go of her shoulder.

This was making me very nervous why wasn't he giving any orders for his men to kill us?

"One last question Miss Romanova just one and I urge you to think over your answer very carefully, would you consider joining the League of Assassins?" he asks her

NO, NO, NO

As much as I hate the Red Room the League is far worse, Why? What dose he want from Natalia? I don't know but whatever it was it wasn't very good

 "Part of me wants to say yes Mr Al Ghul I really do all I've ever wanted is my freedom but I- I cant do that I'm loyal to my country no matter what they've done to me" she was avoiding my gaze avoiding everyone's gaze she was trying to come up with an escape plan and it looked like she was going to need one 

But instead he signals his men to let us go

"You are all free to go. I set you free Mrs Delova from the consequences of your husbands treachery" Olyesa drops to the floor next to me crying, I try and hold her but all of a sudden she felt like a ton

I looked at Natalia she was trying to stare down Ras Al Ghul but it wasn't working if anything he was finding it amusing 

"Today has been very enlightening" he is still looking at her, 

I swear if I get my hands on him I'll kill him

Natalia's POV

"What the hell was that all about?" I ask practically shout at Ivan as soon as I know they are all gone,

Ivan groans and puts his head in his hands he winces in pain as he accidently touches the wound on his head he looked like he had just aged several years in the last few minuets and had taken the beating of his life

"I had hoped this day would never come, but I'm sure it was inevitable that you would meet the demons head at some point"

What does he mean the demons head I knew that Ras al Ghul was Arabic for The Demons Head but what did that mean exactly?

"He is Ras al Ghul immortal leader of the League of Assassins one of the most dangerous men on earth"

Immortal? I'm pretty sure nobody is immortal

"Listen Natalia we should just be grateful that he let us walk away alive not many people can say that, but I doubt he is finished with you, the Red Room was always afraid that The League of Assassins would one day find out about the Black Widow Programme the League have never taken too kindly at other organizations attempts at making assassins never mind such a successful one such as yourself I'm surprised he didn't kill us there and then"

This was a lot to take in,

 I didn't think the Red Room feared anything,

 I mean after everything the Red Room did to me any normal person would jump ship at that kind of offer you know what they say the enemy of my enemy is my friend, nonetheless for all their wrong doings I couldn't abandon my country,

However I had no doubt in my mind I would clash with Ras Al Ghul again one day.

Thank you for very much for reading Chapter 12 I liked writing some background WW2 history on Black Widow as in the comics she did actually fight in WW2. The league of assassins and Ras al Ghul I think make the perfect antagonists in the story Keep reading to see more action :-p . Please leave a nice comment below and let me know what you think. xxxxxxxxxxxx

#Songs for Chapter 12#

-"Who are you Really?" By Mikky Ekko

-"Red Lips" by GTA, Sam Bruno

-"Monster" by Skillet

-"Sweet Dreams" by Beyonce

-"NO" by Meghan Trainor

Click on the External link below for the playlist available on Spotify