Black Widow (2016 series) #3

Black Widow walks down a New York street and multiple people passing her each give a bit of information, her instructions from Platch Liev on the next part of her mission. She is to go to Russia, to the catacombs of the Red Room and retrieve a file; a plane ticket is waiting for her. She is spotted by SHIELD Agent Elder who pursues but Natasha hastily prepares a trip wire, knocking Elder to his knees so she can escape in the crowd….

In a rural area of Russia, Natasha takes out a trio of soldiers patrolling the area and enters the warped gates of the catacombs, recalling her training there and her annoyance with Anya, nicknamed the Recluse, daughter of the Headmistress. The place is run down and deserted but she must dodge searchers who have been tipped off that the Weeping Lion has sent an agent to recover something of value. She is spotted and pursued. Nat easily takes down one of the guards but she is distracted by the sight of a little girl and her enemy gains the upper hand; Natasha responds in a ballet-like move that incapacitates this man too. She recalls a mission from her childhood, returning to the place wounded and the Headmistress carrying her down to the cellar where she sewed up Nat’s wound while scolding her for going out on her own and pointing out she was lucky to return alive. It was a lesson she needed to learn. Headmistress told her to rest and to lock the door when she came upstairs; Natasha hid her knife under a set of shelves. Now Natasha comes downstairs and heads to those shelves where she finds a box of paper files. Then a little girl suddenly appears and stabs Natasha in the stomach with a knife….