{☆} “I thought that the AMAZONS were just a legend of Terra.” Gamora hums, tilting her head in admiration. Her eyes drift, admittedly away from the woman’s eyes--to her SWORD. A slightly envious gleam in her eyes before she shakes it away and holds out her slender green hand to the woman. “I am PLEASED to see that the legends are real.”

Emerald lips quirk up in a soft, guarded smile. “My name is Gamora Zen-Whoberi of the GUARDIANS of the Galaxy.”

          ❛   i’ve been waiting a long time for you.   ❜

     the words are quiet, matter-of-fact, and her eyes never leave the notebook that rests in front of her, as though scanning it for some secret it isn't willing to give up. she'd already known the woman would find her, given enough time, and given the activities that natalia has been up to as of late ------it had been an inevitable truth, and she'd been WAITING. 

       with a quiet sound of discovery --- clearly pleased with herself --- the widow scribbles down a name on the page before closing the book and finally focusing her attention up. what a poetic contrast to their first meeting, she muses silently, the ghost of a knowing smile appearing over her lips.

The cigarette burns quietly in his lips as he leans back, seemingly EMOTIONLESS expression on his face. THERE’S a moment of silence as he draws in a quiet breath and takes a moment and flicks the cigarette away before crossing his arms and grunts quietly and shaking his head.

SOMEONE WAS GETTING too close. that was all the information they’d provided her before releasing her to the world. this was meant to be a test of her abilities ---- the most promising pupil in the black widow program ---- and failure was not an option. her contacts reported that someone had been asking questions about the facility where the girls were being trained, and while that would have been enough to make said person a target ----it was rumored that something had been stolen; a shipment disrupted, and whatever it contained, her handlers wanted it back.

what she hadn’t been told, and hadn’t expected, was to find a woman at the end of her trail. this stranger would not be the first woman natalia had been tasked to kill, and she was certain she wouldn’t be the last. but now was not the time ----not in a worker’s cafe on a crowded street. today, she told herself, she’d simply observe.

             ' may i sit ? ’

few women sat in the stuffy room ----mostly men, filthy from their work and taking sanctuary in the restaurant during their breaks or before heading home to their families. it was strange for either of them to exist in this space, and yet her mark looked to be indifferent to the din around her.