Natalia's POV

Pain, that's all I feel as I open my eyes and stare up at the moldy ceiling. Looking around I find that the other girls are still asleep. As I sit up and stretch, I can feel the muscles in my back pull and ache. The beds they give us might as well be made of rocks. All they're really made of is a thin pad of cotton, a pillow case stuffed with straw, and a thin sheet, some even with holes. I still have about 2 hours until we have to wake up, but I've always had this habit of waking up a couple hours early. I uncuff my right hand from the bed post with a key that's hidden under my pillow and walk over to the small window at the corner of the room, seeing that the sun hasn't even begun to rise yet. So it must be somewhere around 5-6 in the morning. From what I can tell our room's in a basement, I don't remember ever going more than a couple yards from the building if I'm being honest. Most of the windows are boarded up so we can't see outside, except this one. I don't know if they're keeping us in or if they're just testing us to see who would try to escape. I recall a couple years ago one girl tried to squeeze her way out of this window and after that we never saw her again. I can't even remember her name or what she looked like. It's easy to get the girls here mixed up because they all look alike. They either have black or blonde hair, with blue or brown eyes. Most of the girls here aren't even from Russia, I can tell because when they speak Russian it has a slight accent to it. From what I can tell most of them are from Switzerland or Norway. Only a handful of us were Russian, but those girls are already gone. I'm the only one left.

I walk back over to my bed and kneel down onto the floor. Feeling around, my hand brushes against a brown, medium sized box. I pull it out and uncover it. All that's inside is a pair of training pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 4 pairs of underwear, 1 bra, and 3 shirts. That's all we get, no shoes because we're inside most of the time and that would be too much of a luxury. When we do actually get to go outside it's because we're being punished. They blind fold us, pour ice cold water over our heads, and make us stand barefoot in the snow for hours and on rare occasions they'll strip us down naked. I haven't been punished like that yet and I'd like to keep it that way.

Getting up from the floor, I change into my training pants and a clean shirt. After I place the box back under my bed, I get up and quietly make my way up the stairs that lead out of the basement. I stop for a second and listen, waiting to make sure everyone's still asleep. I haven't been caught yet, but I like to think that they wouldn't punish me for waking up early and training.

When I'm sure no one's awake, I carefully making my way to the training room. After the many years of being here and sneaking to the training room, I've mastered the ability to not make a single sound while walking, or pretty much doing anything. Ivan says it's a good habit to have for the future.

I walk through the kitchen, which's on the first floor, and make my way to the staircase that leads to the training room. I'm not sure how many stories there are but so far I've only been up until the 4th floor. The 1st floor has the kitchen and dining hall. The 2nd floor is specifically for training purposes, from combat, dancing, espionage, speaking different languages, and practicing our covers. The 3rd floor has the infirmary and washroom where we do our laundry, shower, and brush our teeth. I can't really remember what's on the 4th floor but I know I've been up there. There are more floors but we aren't allowed to go up any further, we aren't allowed to really go anywhere by ourselves. I'm pretty sure they have extra rooms on the other floors but I'm not sure how many. Sometimes we hear screaming and a lot of noises but we've learned the hard way to not ask any questions about it.

I quietly make my way up the staircase until I get to the 2nd floor. The floor's made of grey concrete just like the whole building and has rusty pipes coming out from the ceiling. The pipes are for the plumbing only. We don't get any heat or hot water. We're lucky they give us blankets, they aren't that thick but it's enough to not let us freeze to death. The people here don't give us the luxuries normal people get, so it makes us grateful for the things that we do get.

When I reach the training room it's exactly how I expected it to be, empty. There are punching bags, weights, pull up bars, and a giant fighting mat in the middle of the room.

As I walk to the far corner of the room, I take the scrunchy from my wrist and tie my hair up into a pony tail to get it out of my face. My hair, unlike the other girls, is red and it's pretty much a giant target. They do whatever they can to hurt me, whether it's making fun of how pale I am, saying my hair is ugly and pulling at it, or saying how I'm too skinny, to even beating me up in the showers. I don't know if they're jealous or they just don't like me but the other girls treat me like I'm not good enough to be here. They tell me that I'm the one that's going to be kicked out of the program next, but what they don't know is that I could care less about what they think. Whenever we fight against each other I try my best to not overpower them too much, whereas they use every ounce of their strength to win. They get so focused on trying to beat me that they don't pay attention to what my next move's going to be. I always let them win in the end though, I make them think they're better. But when we have our individual tests in front of the teachers I don't hold back. I show them that I am good enough. I'm not here to impress my competition, I'm here to impress the people who's responsible for if I die or not. I could care less of what those girls think or say about me. Yeah they're all best friends now but when the numbers of us gets smaller and smaller do you think they'll all still be best friends?

I roll my shoulders feeling how tense they are and decide to do some stretches to warm up. I sit down on one of the mats and stretch my legs out, bending over so my hands are gripping my feet. For the next couple minutes I did a series of stretches, splits, and flips.

As I finish my last warm up I feel completely awake. I decide to start off with some pull ups. The training room has two poles placed in the floor and one going across so we can do our exercises.

I wrap my hands firmly around the metal bar and take a deep breath. As I use my strength to pull myself up, I clench my eyes shut and breathe slowly through my nose. My arms are already starting to ache but I continue to push myself. After a few more minutes I decide to stop. I needed to move onto the next exercise which's sit ups.

Soon enough I finish and lie down on my back, just looking up at the ceiling to catch my breath. There's a slight crack in the ceiling and grayish light spills through onto my face. The sun should be rising soon, which means everyone will be waking up. With that in mind I walk over to the punching bags and giving it a couple quick jabs. We don't get the privilege of wrapping our hands so they won't get injured, getting injured is apart of our training. It helps us tolerate pain. If two girls fight against each other and one breaks an arm she's expected to keep going. She's actually expected to try and push herself to do better than the rest of us, and if she doesn't-

The sound of footsteps brings me out of my thoughts. I realize it's the rest of the girls walking to the washroom to get ready for breakfast. I get up and quickly follow the sound of footsteps to find the girls walking in a single file line. I fall into sync behind one of the girls and we make our way into the washroom. It's not really that big but it isn't too small either. The whole room's covered in clean white tiles but the ceiling, like the rest of the building, is pealing and looks like it's about to collapse. The tiles are so white and clean it makes me nauseous. There are a line of sinks and toilets going down from the door to the middle of the room and from the middle of the room to the end is a line of showers, each one assigned to someone.

I walk to my sink, which is between Osa and Enora who are both from Norway, and begin brushing my teeth. I can't help but peek over at the other girls, finding most of them giving me dirty looks. Great. When I finish brushing my teeth and washing my face, I follow the rest of the girls into the dining hall. Waiting on the table for us is a cup of milk and a bowl of ukha, fish soup, for each of us. All it really is, is boiled fish and potatoes. Completely flavorless, but we don't complain. A girl a couple months ago complained about the food and I'm sure you can guess what happened to her. The weirdest things can get you taken out of the program, so you have to think twice about everything you're about to do. Whether it's eating, walking, or even breathing.

"Slushat' (Listen), tomorrow we will have a special guest visiting us. He's one of the best assassins I've ever come across." A voice rings through the dining hall. He's a short man with greasy black hair that's slicked back with gel and he always has this smug look when he's bossing someone around. His name's Nikolay, one of the commanding officers that's helping out with the Black Widow Program. I'm pretty sure if the other commanders could, they would replace him in a heart beat. He's arrogant, conceited, and thinks he's more superior than everyone here. "Today you will be working on hand to hand combat with each other. You will go against the Winter Soldier tomorrow and if you are chosen, you will get to train with him."

With that we stand up and make our way to the training room. Every couple weeks the officers assign us different partners to train with, they have to keep switching our partners so we don't create a bond with each other. That could compromise our training. But that little rule's pretty pointless, now that all the girls already have their little clique. I'm paired up with a girl named Yelena this time, she has blonde hair and blue eyes. She was born in Norway but her parents are from Russia. She once randomly told me that last year when we were having dinner. Me and Yelena are pretty much the outcasts of the group. We're not friends or anything but we aren't enemies either, unlike the other girls. Me and Yelena have a lot in common actually. We don't try and make friends with the other girls, we're both the smallest and youngest in the group, and we both get picked on by the other girls as well. The oldest girl, Enora, is 19. Yelena is 17 and I should be turning 17 soon. I don't know the exact date of my birthday, but when we have our individual assessments they state our name and age. I counted 11 months that I've been 16. So my birthday should be anytime now.

As me and Yelena fight I can't help but notice how slow and sloppy her hits are. She isn't the best fighter which is what makes her a target for the other girls. I'm actually surprised she's made it this far in the program. Once a month we get our individual test with the commanding officers and the head chairman of the Black Widow Program. The head chairman runs the whole program, he's the one who came up with the whole idea of it. He's also what some would call it, my 'stepfather'. After our individual assessment we get scored, then they hang up the scores in the training room so we can see who we have to compete against. When we do our assessment we have to fight one of the head officers in the Red Room. None of us ever win though, which is expected. Enora's first, then me, the other girls, and finally Yelena is last. I know she isn't holding back like I am. The girls don't so much as pick on Yelena anymore then they do to me now because they know she won't last very long. The reason they still pick on me is because I'm number 2 on the score list, I'm still a threat to them.

Dodging Yelena's punch, I connect my fist with the right side of her stomach. She lets out a gasp but only so it's loud enough for me to hear. I want to stop to see if she's okay but the officers are in the training room scrutinizing us. I get into position again and wait for her to make the next move. Yelena lets out a breath then starts running towards me. Her fist are pulled back getting ready to punch me but right when she's about to swing I grab it and force her hand behind her back. She lets out a strangled cry and drops to her knees. I quickly glance at the officers and find them shaking their heads at her. She's not going to make it. We fight for a while longer and I let her get a couple hits to me here and there just for show. After a couple more minutes the officers allow us to sit and take a break.

All the girls sit in a line from one end of the room to the other and start talking among themselves. Wiping my forehead, I find it covered in sweat. We've all been practicing for a couple hours, so we're all pretty exhausted.

Me and Yelena both sit all the way at the end of the room. She knows that she isn't going to make it past this week and she's taking it fairly well. By now half of these girls, if they knew they weren't going to make it, would be begging on their knees and crying.

"Hey, if you want I can help you train." I offer Yelena, who just looks over at me and gives me a small smile.

"Thanks, but we have to train with the Winter Soldier tomorrow. We won't have enough time." She shrugs and begins playing with the end of her shirt. Her Russian isn't very good either. "I've accepted the fact that I won't be in the program anymore."

"You'd be surprised at how much you can learn in one day. Tonight when everyone goes to bed, meet me in the training room." With that we all get up and continue training. Me and Yelena fight for a couple more hours and I give her some advice to help her. For instance, keep your stance firm, block with your elbows, and don't just use your hands. An officer then orders us to sit in a single line along the edge of the fighting mat.

"Osa and Lena, on the mat." Nikolay orders. The two girls walk onto the mat and get into their fighting stance. Osa without warning, throws the first punch and hits Lena square in the face, knocking her back. Lena catches herself before she falls and gets back into her stance. For the next couple minutes they throw punches and kicks at each other. Soon enough Lena's knocked unconscious and is dragged off the mat. They call another girl up to fight against Osa, half of the girls lose against her until she goes up against Enora. Then it's Enora against another girl named Hilma. Hilma's very broad and can really throw a punch. It only takes Hilma one punch to knock Enora out, next is Yelena against Hilma. Before she gets up to go to the mat, I whisper for her to use her size as an advantage. She can easily dodge the blows and maybe get a lucky hit.

Before Yelena can make it to the middle of the fighting mat, Hilma charges at her. Yelena easily dodges it but stumbles a little, surprised. Hilma doesn't waste anytime and charges again. Yelena studies Hilma and blocks the punch that comes her way. This lasts a while, Yelena blocking the punches from Hilma and Hilma getting very aggravated, until out of nowhere Yelena punches Hilma and she fell to the floor with a bloody nose. Yelena looks absolutely shocked and smiles widely. Next is Yelena and Anja against each other. The fight doesn't last very long and Yelena's dragged off the mat. I'm the last one left to fight. I walk to the middle of the mat and wait for Anja to throw the first punch. She looks at me with absolute hatred and aims for my stomach. I catch her hand but not soon enough, letting out a grunt as her fist connects with my stomach. Grabbing her arm, I twist her hand back. Anja takes her other hand and punches me in the jaw. I let go of her arm and stumble back. I can kill her if I wanted to but that could get me punished or even killed. I remember that Yelena got a lucky punch to her left side and decide to aim there. Me and Anja both crouch down then start to run towards each other and then past. I dodge her punch and spin her around the other way so she's facing me. I then fall back onto the mat and kick her in the ribs. Anja lets out a scream and holds her side. I take that opportunity to kick her feet from under her and she falls to the floor. Stopping for a second, I remember that people are watching. The rest of the girls are looking at me in shock as well as the other officers, well except for the chairman. Ivan already knows what I can do. Anja then gets up and I let her beat me to the floor until I'm bruised and bloody.

"Alright ladies, head over to the dining hall for dinner. If anything's broken or bleeding go to the infirmary." Ivan orders. We all get up and walk out of the training room. We aren't allowed to eat lunch, it's just some rule they placed a couple years ago. "Natalia, I need to speak with you."

I fall behind the girls that are heading to the infirmary and wait for Ivan. He's a tall man and I reach just bellow his shoulders. He has black hair that's slicked back with gel and a black mustache.

"You did good in there, too good." He comments, raising an eyebrow. I nod in understanding and we continue walking.

"I know, I'm sorry." I apologize, not wanting to look up at him. Ivan isn't really one to get mad, but I've always felt deep down that one day he'll snap.

"Don't apologize doch' (daughter), just be careful next time." He gives me a smile then guides me to the infirmary. I catch up with the other girls and sit next to Yelena and wait to get called in. Ivan then turns around and walks away. Ivan and I have a weird, father daughter relationship if you can call it that. He got me when I was only an infant when my mother threw me out of a burning building and he caught me. Since then he's raised me as his own. He had the idea of the Black Widow Program since the day he taught me to shoot a gun when I was 6. He wanted to make the ultimate female assassin. Before he started the program we agreed for me to not put every ounce of effort into my fighting so it would be fair to the other girls since I've been training since I was 5 years old. It was actually my idea to let other girls be in the program, it was only suppose to be me. When Ivan started the program he made sure to inform me that I might not make it out of the program alive because he wasn't going to choose favorites.

Before I know it, it's my turn to go in to get looked at. Only 2 girls, Anja being one, had something broken, the rest of us just have some scrapes and bruises. I walk into the room and find the nurse waiting for me. He's a scrawny man with short blond hair, he has to be somewhere in his late 20s. The problem with him is that he's a complete weirdo. None of the girls like coming to the infirmary because he always tries something on us. Whether it's touching us inappropriately or saying really disturbing things to make us uncomfortable. His name is John Davis, he was born in America but I'm not sure where in America. I can tell he's from there because of his name and his sad excuse of speaking Russian.

"Sit down doll face." He gestures to the metal table. I hop onto the table and he starts to examine my face. I don't get to see my reflection but I know I'm bleeding from my left eyebrow, nose, and bottom lip. Anja mainly aimed for my face. John grabs my chin roughly and starts dabbing a cotton ball with alcohol on my cuts. I don't flinch but it still hurts like hell. I make it a habit to not let my emotions show on the outside, that and we aren't allowed to show out feelings. We have to be able to control them to the point that we're almost like robots. Desensitizing us is another part of our training.

John's thumb starts to rub my chin in an attempt to make it feel comforting, but it only makes me want to throw up. He gives me a half grin thinking it would make me swoon, but all I catch is a whiff of his breath that smells like cigarettes and vodka. I clench my fist into my lap so I don't hit him. We aren't allowed to physically hurt any of the workers here, even if they're being extremely inappropriate. John finishes up my face and takes his hands away, I'm about to hop off the table and leave as quickly as possible but he stops me by grabbing my waist tightly and pushing me back down.

"Is there anywhere else you need checking out?" He asks with a sly smile. His hands begin to run up my sides and up under the back of my shirt. If I could just twist his neck and kill him, we shouldn't have to deal with this kind of behavior from our nurse or anyone. Especially after we've just been beaten the shit out of. Men need to have more respect for women, doesn't he know that we can easily kill him with just the twist of our wrist? This whole building is full of men and they expect us to give them respect when they don't even have the decency to return it.

Clenching my teeth, I push his hands away and make my way out of the room. As I head for the dining hall I close my eyes and take deep breaths to calm myself. When I make it to the dining hall I find Yelena by herself and decide to sit next to her. We don't say anything to each other at first and instead just eat our dinner in silence.

Eventually halfway through eating, I start to give Yelena more advice on her fighting, some of the other girls roll their eyes at us but I notice that they still listen intently. After dinner we all go to the showers, then to bed. It takes awhile for all the girls to fall asleep, I mean it's not easy to fall asleep with your hand cuffed to a post. It's for a precaution, this hasn't happened in years, but once in a while one of the girls will wake up and just loose control on everyone who's in the building. 3 years ago it happened and 2 girls and an officer died. Since then they've been handcuffing us.

When the last officer leaves after making sure we're all asleep, I wait about 30 minutes before getting up to head to the training room. Everything's pitch black. I feel around until I make it to the far corner of the room where they keep the oil lamps. I light about 3 and carry them to the fighting mat, then sit down to wait for her. Yelena has a lot to learn if she wants to make it out alive tomorrow. Soon enough I can hear her footsteps coming towards the training room.

"I'm glad you came." I say getting up from the mat. She looks at me like she's about to completely fall apart.

"What if I don't make it tomorrow?" Yelena asks with a shaky voice. Her eyes and cheeks are red from crying and her hands are shaking. "The Winter Soldier won't think I'm good enough."

"Yes he will. I'm not saying after tonight you will be able to beat everyone in the program, but I am saying you will be able to make it through tomorrow." I promise her.

I never really gave the Winter Soldier much thought. When Nikolay mentioned him I didn't really have an opinion on him, I still don't. I don't really know much about him, other than the fact that he's a good trainer and his name is the Winter Soldier. I've heard things about him throughout the years from the other officers, but I just assumed be has a myth. I wonder how he got the name Winter Soldier. Ivan wouldn't have him train us if he didn't think he was good. I'm just worried about how good he is. What if he only wants to train 3 of us, or maybe just 1? Then the rest of us die. What if none of us are good enough to train with him and they just kill everyone? All I know is that I'm most definitely not holding back on the Winter Soldier, I'll show him I can be good enough to train with him.

First chapter, hope you guys liked it. R&R! :) Also I have a Pinterest board dedicated to the story. It has what I imagine the characters to look like, the settings, and more. Just search my username which is the same as my fanfic username, then message me and I'll add you to the secret board.