"I'm loving the black hair."

Maggie smiled as Wanda's voice echoed around her head. Maggie and Natasha were currently on a boat, with Natasha in the bathroom and Maggie watching the sea to keep an eye on how long it'd take them to get there.

"Felt like a change."

"It suits you. Still prefer you blonde, though."

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm in Austria. What about you?"

"On a boat to yet another country. I don't remember where."

"Mags?" Natasha called, looking around the top deck of the boat.

"Gotta go. Mom's here."

"Say hi from me."

"Mama," Maggie turned around and smiled at Natasha. She walked over and wrapped her arms around Maggie, hugging her tightly. "Wanda says hi," she mumbled.

"I say hi back," Natasha said. "They took the bait. We're in the clear for a while longer," Natasha said.

"Good," Maggie sighed. Natasha kissed her forehead, smoothing her hair out of her face.

"I miss blonde," she said.

"Yeah, well, a blonde and a red head together would be too easy to spot. You get to dye yours next time," Maggie said.

"Deal," Natasha smiled. "You heard from Johann or Katerina?" she said.

"No. Lucky for them, there were never any files on me that mentioned anything about them. They're being left alone," Maggie said.

"But they're okay?" Natasha checked.

"Yes. Tony said he was keeping an eye on them for me. We're all good," Maggie said.

"You know, you could go and see them, if you wanted," Natasha said. "Nobody can connect you to them, so it'd be easy to get away with it. And nobody would expect you to go back to Russia," Natasha said.

"They're not my family, mama. I don't want to go anywhere without you," Maggie shook her head.

"Okay, malyshka. We don't have to go. We'll start fresh in, uh, Norway," Natasha said.

"I'm like, twenty countries away from having visited them all at this rate and we've been moving around for six months," Maggie said.

"Yeah, join the club," Natasha sighed, resting her chin on Maggie's forehead so she could watch the waves.

"Mags," Natasha whispered, shaking Maggie as she slept in the bed in the trailer they were living in a few days later. "Mags, wake up, malyshka," she whispered.

"Hm, mama, what?" Maggie opened her eyes tiredly, blinking up at Natasha.

"I have to run out and get more petrol for the generator. You wanna come or stay here?" Natasha said.

"Should probably come," Maggie said.

Natasha helped her to her feet and Maggie quickly pulled on a pair of jeans, her combat boots, one of Natasha's t-shirts and Wanda's red leather jacket. She pulled her weapons belt on and threw her hair back into a messy pony.

"Let's go," Natasha said.

Maggie had fallen asleep on the drive into town to the petrol station. She was curled up in the passenger seat, seatbelt on with her feet curled underneath. Her head was resting against the window, cracked open just enough to blow loose strands of hair softly on her face.

Natasha had decided to let Maggie stay asleep. Since they'd went on the run, Maggie's nightmares had been getting more frequent again, not that either of them were surprised. Any sleep Maggie could get, Natasha tried not to interrupt unless they either had to leave each other or Natasha needed Maggie to help.

However, Natasha considered their car being flipped over and landing half on and half off the side of a bridge was a perfect reason to wake up Maggie, who was still somehow sleeping through the explosion that had caused it.

"Maggie!" Natasha shook Maggie as she climbed through to the backseat to grab her gun. "Maggie, now would be a really great time for you to wake up," she hissed.

Maggie didn't even stir. Due to her being in a weird, Maggie had hit her head against the window, which was now shattered, and blood was slowly starting to stain her hair from the shard of glass embedded in her skull, hidden by the new dark colour of her hair.

"Fuck!" Natasha cried.

She climbed out of the car to fight off whatever robot bitch was stomping towards them, praying that Maggie would wake up soon.

Maggie woke up to a sticky feeling on her face. She reached up with a frown, pulling her hand back down to see blood.

"Nightmare?" Maggie mumbled to herself. She looked around and her mouth dropped open.

Their car was hanging over the side of the bridge and, when she looked out of the left door mirror, she could see Natasha fighting with some robot bitch with a shield.

"Holy shit!" Maggie cried.

She climbed through to the backseat and climbed out of the window. Her head reeled in pain but she forced her eyes to focus, pulling out the gun she always carried.

"Maggie, the box!" Natasha yelled, shooting at the robot to distract it.

Maggie looked around before she spotted the box on the floor. She used her powers to bring it over and opened it, grabbing the red vials that were tied up inside. She tucked them into the inside pocket of Wanda's jacket and closed the box again, throwing it back where it was.

Maggie ran over to help Natasha but the robot quickly launched Maggie off the side of the bridge before she could do anything useful.

"Oh my god!" Maggie cried, feeling her stomach flip as she descended towards the water.

"Maggie!" Natasha yelled, falling down after her.

Maggie hit the water feet first and she gasped, cold water filling her mouth and lungs. She coughed it out as she swam under the water to try and get away from the bridge. She had to put some distance between them, then she could give Natasha whatever the hell the vials were.

A hand grabbed Maggie when they neared the grassy sides of the lake and Natasha pulled Maggie out of the water. Maggie fell onto her hands and knees, coughing the lake water up and out of her lungs.

"Did I ever tell you that I really, really hate swimming?" Maggie panted.

"I hate to ask this while you're half dead, but did you get the stuff?" Natasha said.

"Oh, yeah, mama, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. I'm great. I've cut my head, somehow, and I'm bleeding, but yeah, I got it," Maggie rolled her eyes.

She handed the vials over to Natasha, flopping on her stomach with a groan.

"They better be worth the headache I'm gonna have," Maggie muttered.

"Oh, shit," Natasha muttered, holding a strip of photos in her hand.

"What?" Maggie said. She rolled onto her side and took the photos, squinting at them. "That's you and who?" she said.

"My sister. Or not really my sister. She was on a mission with me for three years. She was six when she was taken to the Red Room. This is from her," Natasha said.

"You know where she'll be? Or why she's sending us whatever this is?" Maggie said.

"Budapest. You up for this, or you want me to get someone to take you to Russia?" Natasha said.

Maggie groaned as she got to her feet, pulling Natasha up, too.

"No. Let's go. We're sticking together," she said.

"Good," Natasha wrapped her arm around Maggie's shoulder. "You okay? Seriously," she said.

"Head hurts a bit but I'm good. We can stitch it up later," Maggie said.

"Yeah, we can," Natasha said. She looked at the cut on Maggie's head, the shard of glass gone from the impact of hitting the water. "Hey, your hair dye washed out. You're almost blonde again," she said. Maggie hummed.

"What was she called? Your sister?" Maggie said.

"Yelena. Yelena Belova," Natasha said.

Maggie stopped in her tracks.

"Maggie?" Natasha raised an eyebrow. Maggie took the photo again. "Maggie, what's going on?" she said.

"She helped to train me in the Red Room. She took me under her wing. She was ten years older than me but she took care of me. She was like the only family I had there," Maggie said slowly. "Yelena Belova is your sister?" Maggie said.

"You know my sister?" Natasha said.

"There's a lot we haven't told each other, isn't there?" Maggie said.

"Yeah. C'mon. We'll figure this shit out," Natasha said.

"Okay," Maggie said.

"You wait until I give you the signal. I don't want her seeing you and attacking you, too," Natasha muttered to Maggie as she pushed open the door to the Budapest apartment.

"Sure, because I'm not eighteen soon and I'm definitely not a Black Widow assassin myself," Maggie muttered.

"Maggie," Natasha said, tone of warning in her voice.

"Sorry, mama," Maggie sighed, sitting down on the floor beside the door. "I'll wait. Promise," she said.

Natasha kissed her forehead before disappearing inside. Maggie listened to a series of bangs for about ten minutes while she fidgeted with the red woolen bracelet she still wore before the door opened and Natasha pulled her inside.

"Who is this?" Yelena's voice came from the kitchen.

"My kid," Natasha said, pulling Maggie in with her. "You know her, apparently," she said.

Maggie looked up at Yelena, Yelena's eyes widening as she noticed Maggie's green eyes. They'd never changed, not even in the years they'd been apart. Yelena had changed, but not much. She'd just grown up, her face and body more toned from the extensive training Widows were forced to undergo. Maggie had changed, though. She seemed happier than she had been in the Red Room.

"Magdalena? Is that you?" Yelena said.

"Yeah," Maggie leaned into Natasha's side. "Not gonna attack me too, I hope," she said.

"No," Yelena said. "What the hell are you doing with her?" Yelena turned to Natasha. "She's a kid. How is she yours?" she said.

"I adopted her when she was fourteen. She joined the Avengers and needed to stay in America under our protection. I've been raising her for the past four years," Natasha said.

"And you let a fourteen year old join the Avengers? Are you insane? She's a child!" Yelena groaned.

"She's almost eighteen now and she wanted to join. She made the deal with Fury, not me, and I just made sure to look out for her. Maggie knows she can leave whenever she wants. Right, Maggie?" Natasha turned to Maggie.

Maggie was too busy drinking vodka from the bottle Yelena had gotten out of the fridge.

"Maggie!" Natasha grabbed the vodka. "We talked about this. Moderation, remember?" she said.

"Sorry," Maggie shrugged. Natasha sighed and handed it back, after taking a long drink herself. "Thanks," Maggie grinned.

"You want to be part of the Avengers?" Yelena said.

"I mean, yeah. They're my family, even if half of them are locked up or on the run," Maggie said.

"See?" Natasha nodded at Yelena.

"Whatever," Yelena rolled her eyes.

"You had to come to Budapest, didn't you?" Natasha said.

"I came here because I thought you wouldn't. But since you're here, what bullet does that?" Yelena pointed at the arrow holes in the kitchen wall.

"Not bullets. Arrows," Maggie said.

"Ah, right," Yelena nodded.

"If you didn't think I'd come here, why'd you send me this?" Natasha put the red vials on the table.

"You brought it back here?" Yelena cried, marching towards the bedroom to get her things. Maggie and Natasha followed.

"I'm not here trying to be your friend, but you need to tell me what that is," Natasha said.

"It's a synthetic gas," Yelena said. "The counteragent to chemical subjugation. The gas immunizes the brain's neuropathways from external manipulation," Yelena said.

"Maybe in English next time?" Natasha rolled her eyes.

"It's an anecdote for mind control," Yelena said in Russian. Maggie laughed quietly to herself, looking through the clothes on the clothing rack to see if there was a better t-shirt than the one she'd travelled in.

"Real mature," Natasha fired back in Russian.

"Why don't you take it to one of your super-scientist friends? They can explain it to you. Tony Stark, maybe?" Yelena said.

"Oh, yeah. We're not really talking right now, so," Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Great. Perfect timing. Where's an Avenger when you need one?" Yelena scoffed.

"I don't wanna be here. We're on the run. You could've gotten Maggie and I killed," Natasha pointed at Maggie.

"Don't bring me into this," Maggie shrugged. "Lena, can I have this top?" she held up a black t-shirt.

"Whatever," Yelena nodded. She turned back to Natasha.  "Well, what was I supposed to do? You're the only superhero person that I know. That was the whole reason I sent it to you. I kept checking the news, expecting to see Captain America bringing down the Red Room," Yelena said.

"What?" Natasha frowned. "Dreykov's dead. I killed him. The Red Room would've collapsed in no time without him. They stopped looking for Maggie. That's how we know," she said.

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Yelena said. Maggie awkwardly looked out of the window. "You really do believe that," Yelena realised.

"Dreykov's dead. It took almost destroying the entire city just to get to him. It would've collapsed. They would've found Maggie if it didn't," Natasha said.

"If you're so sure, then tell me what happened. Tell me exactly," Yelena said.

"We rigged bombs," Natasha said.

"Who's we?" Yelena said.

"Clint Barton. Killing Dreykov was the final step in my defection to SHIELD," Natasha said.

"Simple as that?" Yelena said.

"Yeah, sure, simple. That's what I'd call imploding a five-story building and then shooting it out with the Hungarian Special Forces. Took 10 days in hiding before we could even get out of Budapest," Natasha said, following Yelena back to the kitchen. Maggie followed slowly.

"And you checked the body? Confirmed the kill?" Yelena said.

"There was no body left to check," Natasha said.

"You're forgetting Dreykov's daughter," Yelena said.

There was a tense silence before Maggie decided now was the time to interject.

"My dad," she said. They looked at her. "He worked for HYDRA but he did chemical subjugation experiments on me and other children. He gave scientists to the Red Room to help them do it. The Red Room isn't gone, mama. Even if Dreykov is dead, it wouldn't go that easily. My dad would've taken over, if he had to. He and Dreykov would've been friends or at least work friends," Maggie said.

There were muffled footsteps from the floor above them and Maggie looked at Natasha with wide eyes.

"Shit," she said.

"Hide," Natasha nodded at Maggie.

She darted down the hallway and into the weapon room by the front door, quickly closing the door over and starting to grab weapons for the three of them.

There was a bang as the living room ceiling caved in and Maggie heard guns firing and grunting from people fighting.

She opened the door and fired at the two Widows that came towards her. She used her powers to levitate them and crept down the hallway. Yelena and Natasha were fighting four Widows.

"Duck!" Maggie yelled. Yelena and Natasha dropped and Maggie launched the Widows at the others. The six of them slammed against the wall.

"What the hell?" Yelena blinked at Maggie.

Maggie threw her a gun, another one at Natasha.

"Let's go, dipshits," she said.

The two of them followed Maggie to the front door and they opened it, peering around the corners. Maggie crept to one of the pillars and looked down.

A bullet skimmed her face and she pulled back.

"Maybe move out of the way," Maggie said quickly.

"Why?" Yelena said. Natasha pulled her towards the stairs, the two of them running up.

"Trust her," Natasha said.

Maggie used her powers to bring one of the couches out of the apartment and let it fall down, crushing the two Widows firing at them from below.

"Holy shit," Maggie winced, running up the stairs after Natasha and Yelena. They dodged bullets as they got towards the roof, Yelena launching grenades behind them at the Widows following.

"Where are we trying to get?" Natasha asked.

"Motorbike! East side of the building," Yelena said quickly.

The three of them got out onto the roof and started running across the flat part. They climbed up the slant and slid down, landing in front of a large pole.

"Mags?" Natasha said quickly.

"On it," Maggie climbed onto the pole and used her powers to keep herself from falling as she shuffled around to the back.

Natasha and Yelena climbed on either side, Yelena kicking the latch off as another Widow raced after them. Maggie used her powers to let the pole fall, the Widow jumping and grabbing onto Natasha.

Maggie kept her eyes on Natasha so she wouldn't fall while Natasha caught the Widow.

"I got you!" Natasha tried to keep hold of the Widow as she dangled from their conjoined hands. The Widow sliced at their hands and Natasha let go, the three of them watching as the Widow fell and landed in a courtyard flooded with water.

"Magdalena!" Yelena cried. Maggie looked away from the Widow and saw they were almost hitting another building.

"Fuck!" Maggie yelped as she was launched backwards off the pole, breaking into a window with Yelena following.

She could hear banging as Natasha fell down to the floor outside of the building.

Maggie groaned in pain but struggled to her feet, pulling Yelena up with her.

"You couldn't do half of this shit when I knew you," Yelena grimaced.

"Been a long time since you knew me, Yelena. Let's go," Maggie said.

The two of them took off down the stairs and out into the courtyard. Yelena had produced a vial for the Widow, but they both knew she was already dead by the look on Natasha's face as she straightened up from beside her. The side of her face was blown off and Maggie looked away.

"Do you believe me now?" Yelena said, voice shaking as she put the vial away.

"How many others?" Natasha asked.

"Enough," Yelena said.

She took off to get to her motorbike and Maggie and Natasha followed.

"Which ones yours?" Natasha asked as the three of them looked at a group of motorbikes.

"Black, brown seat," Yelena said, patting her pockets down. "Where are my keys?" she groaned.

Natasha threw them up and caught them. She climbed onto the bike and looked at Maggie, hotwiring another motorbike.

"Mags," Natasha said warningly.

"Give me a minute," Maggie muttered. The engine on another motorbike roared to life as she finished hotwiring it. "Got it," Maggie grinned.

There was a loud crash and they looked at the street intersecting their side road, seeing a massive tank was coming towards them.

"Any day now," Natasha said sarcastically.

Maggie and Yelena jumped on the bikes, Yelena with Natasha, and Maggie used her powers to speed ahead so she could try and trick the tank man into following her instead.

"Maggie!" Natasha called.

"Yeah, mama?!" Maggie looked back, using her powers to keep steering around the cars in their way.

"Tram tracks down the road," Natasha said.

"I'll meet you guys there," Maggie said, turning abruptly and disappearing down a side road. A Widow on a motorbike followed her.

"Definitely your kid," Yelena rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," Natasha rolled her eyes in agreement.

Maggie got to her feet as she steered the bike with her powers, jumping up and grabbing ahold of a pipe above her in a pedestrian tunnel between two streets. She flipped over it and dropped down on the bike belonging to the Widow chasing her, landing steadily with her feet firmly planted on the seat with her powers. She wrapped her arms around the Widow's neck, using her powers to keep the bike steady as they fought each other.

Maggie saw the tram tracks ahead, Natasha and Yelena already flying across them. A tram was coming, so Maggie quickly used her powers to slam on the breaks.

The Widow fell forward in surprise and Maggie stepped off her back, flipping over the tram. She rolled out of the landing and scrambled over the wall, seeing Natasha and Yelena climbing into a blue BMW Yelena had stolen.

"Get in!" Natasha said quickly.

Maggie jumped into the backseat through the open window as Natasha started reversing the car out of the line of traffic.

"Okay, any time now, please," Yelena snapped.

"Shut up," Natasha yelled.

She sped down the street, the Widow on the motorbike following.

"You didn't kill her?!" Yelena looked back at Maggie.

"Do you know how hard it is to try and kill someone while you're also focusing on steering a motorbike through very tiny streets?!" Maggie cried.

The back window shattered with gunshots from the bitch on the motorbike and Maggie quickly pulled out her gun. She hid behind the headrest of her seat, firing at the woman.

"Okay, you got a plan, or shall I just stay duck and cover?" Yelena looked at Natasha as they sped down another street.

"My plan was to drive us away," Natasha said.

"That's a shit plan," Yelena said bluntly.

"Agreed," Maggie muttered, reloading her magazine.

"Use your powers," Yelena said.

"People can track us if I use them in public like this," Maggie said. "Safer if we don't," she said.

"Hold on, then," Yelena said.

Maggie ducked down, holding onto the seat tightly as Yelena yanked the wheel. The car spun around and Yelena opened her door. It broke off against a lamppost and slammed into the motorbike, sending the Widow flying.

Natasha turned the car back around expertly and sped down the road again.

"You're welcome," Yelena said. Natasha turned onto a main road, weaving between the cars.

Maggie knelt on the seat again, looking out of the shattered back window when she heard banging.

"Oh, shit. Robo bitch is back," Maggie said.

"Put your seatbelts on!" Natasha said as the robot from the bridge appeared out of the hole with a bow and arrow.

Maggie and Yelena quickly fumbled for their seatbelts.

"Such a mom," they muttered.

Their car flipped upwards with a loud bang and Maggie closed her eyes, covering her ears tightly as the sounds of metal and glass smashing echoed around the car. The car flipped upside down and then onto the side, a small but long and sharp piece of metal cutting into Maggie's face as the car crashed down the stairs into a subway station.

The car skidded to a stop and Maggie groaned, hands scrabbling to find the seatbelt. She pressed the red button and crawled out of the smashed window.

"Magdalena?! Are you okay? Why can I feel pain?" Wanda's voice echoed in her mind. Maggie forced herself to ignore it. She had to focus on getting away from robo bitch.

"Holy fuck, Maggie," Natasha whispered, helping her and Yelena to their feet.

"I'm bleeding," Yelena grabbed a piece of fabric to tie around her arm. Natasha stopped her.

"No, not now. Trust me," she said quickly.

She pulled Yelena and Maggie, who still had a shard of metal stuck in her face, towards the escalators. Natasha jumped down the middle, Yelena and Maggie following suit as they slid down. They rolled off the metal, staying low as the robot launched it's shield into the metal pole ahead of them.

"You got a plan?" Maggie winced as the metal cut further into her face when she talked.

"Trust me," Natasha nodded, pulling them to stand over a metal grate before she quickly wrapped Yelena's arm. "Mags, can you get us into the vents?" she said.

"Yeah. Hold on tight," Maggie muttered.

She used her powers to levitate the two of them up and then floated up herself, closing the grate back down as the robot appeared in their eyeline. The robot followed the blood to the grate in the floor. It ripped it open and dropped down out of sight.

Maggie sighed and lay down beside Yelena, who was now tying the scarf around her bleeding arm.

"You okay?" Natasha asked Yelena as she grabbed a first-aid kit in the vent.

"Yeah. Great plan," Yelena rolled her eyes. "I love the part where I almost bled to death and where your kid got metal in her face," she said.

"Maggie," Natasha knelt beside Maggie's face, scanning the metal quickly to see how best to remove it. "This is in pretty deep. It's gonna hurt. You trust me?" she said.

"Just do it," Maggie said.

"Yelena, hold her hand," Natasha said.

"What?" Yelena raised an eyebrow.

"Do it!" Natasha snapped. Yelena grabbed Maggie's hand and Natasha pulled the metal out.

Maggie whimpered quietly, more blood gushing down her skin now that the metal wasn't blocking it anymore. Natasha quickly wiped the blood away. She looked at the gash and winced. It was right through the left side of Maggie's lips, going from the bottom of her nose all the way to her chin.

"This is cozy," Yelena mumbled, looking around the space so she didn't have to see Maggie while she was hurt.

She'd always seen Maggie as a fighter, even when she was five and Yelena met her for the first time. Maggie had been covered in bruises and had horrific nightmares, but Yelena had been able to talk her down from a few from the bed she was handcuffed to beside Maggie's.

Seeing her again and having to see her injured, she hadn't wanted that. She wasn't too opposed to Maggie sticking around, about the same amount she was to Natasha sticking around, but she didn't want the kid hurt. Maggie was like, her niece now, and Yelena was pretty sure aunts weren't supposed to help their nieces get hurt.

"Barton and I spent two days hiding out up here," Natasha said, grabbing a suture kit.

"That must have been fun," Yelena rolled her eyes.

"Who the hell is that guy?" Maggie muttered.

"Stop talking so I can stitch you up," Natasha said. Maggie rolled her eyes but let Natasha resume suturing her face.

"Dreykov's special project. He can mimic anyone he's ever seen. It's like fighting a mirror. Dreykov only deploys him for top-priority missions," Yelena said.

"This doesn't make any sense," Natasha said.

"Well, the truth rarely makes sense when you omit key details," Yelena said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't say one word about Dreykov's daughter. You killed her," Yelena said.

"I had to," Natasha said. "I needed her to lead me to Dreykov," she said.

"Mama?" Maggie mumbled.

"Mags, no talk-"

"My head really hurts," Maggie whispered.

"Yelena, check the cut on her head, please. It's like, in her hair about two inches back," Natasha said.

Yelena peered at the cut and winced.

"Stitches are broken. She's bleeding. A lot," she said.

"Shit," Natasha muttered. "Don't go to sleep, alright? Just hold on, malyshka. I'm gonna fix this," Natasha said.

Maggie didn't reply. Yelena pulled an eyelid back.

"Too late. She's out," she said. Natasha's fingers traced over Maggie's neck to find her pulse.

"She's still alive," Natasha mumbled.

"You really care about her," Yelena watched as Natasha resumed stitching Maggie's face.

"Yeah, well, four years with her will do that to anyone," Natasha mumbled. "And the shit she's been through, she didn't deserve it. She didn't have anyone left. Neither did I. Now she has me, and I have her," Natasha said.

Yelena just hummed, putting pressure on the wound on Maggie's head.