"My girls are the toughest girls in the world."

Ohio
1995

Becca giggled as she bent over backwards and Yelena followed her actions. Yelena was slightly younger than Becca and she loved her sister. Yelena giggled at Becca as she looked at the world upside down. They heard a whistle and both of the girls whistled back to the big sister. Natasha jogged over to them and bent over backwards, matching her two younger sisters with a smile. "We're all upside down." Yelena teases her sisters.

"And i bet you're gonna fall down first." Nat teases her youngest sister.

Becca giggles and looks between her two sisters, "I think you will." She teases Natasaha and Yelena giggles with her own agreement to Becca's challenge.

"I can't hold it much longer." Yelena says and Natasha starts making faces at her sisters to make them laugh and lose their focus. All three girls start to laugh and fall down onto their backs.

They all stand up with smiles, "I told you that you would fall down first." Natasha teases Yelena. Becca looks at Yelena and they smirk at each other, they then break into a run, chasing their sister. "I told you! I told you!" Natasha continues her teasing as her sisters chase her around the playset in their backyard.

Yelena trips over some sticks covered by leaves and Becca rushes back to her sister, "Mommy!" Yelena shouts for their mother. Becca wraps her arms around Yelena and looks over her scraped knee as their mom comes out to check on the girls and to see what's wrong.

"What happened?" Their mom asks as she kneels down to their height. Yelena pulls away from Becca as she clutches her knee.

"She fell on her knee." Natasha says from behind Yelena and Becca.

"Oh? You bump your knee?" Melina asks her daughter and Yelena nods, mumbling her reply as she sniffles. Melina bends down and places a chaste kiss on Yelena's knee, "Kiss it better. There we go." She says to Yelena and then looks up at Becca beside the blonde sister. "You always look after her, don't you, Rebecca?" She asks and Becca nods as she sits beside Yelena. Melina wipes Yelena's cheeks with her thumbs as Natasha moves away from the girls and climbs the playhouse. "Come now, Little One." She whispers to Yelena. "Get up, you're okay. You're a brave girl." She tells Yelena as she grasps her daughter's hand and stands up. Becca grabs onto Yelena's other hand and smiles at her. "Your pain only makes you stronger. Right, you?" She says to Yelena and Becca and then looks at Natasha as the oldest daughter swings on the swing set.

Yelena looks around and gasps, "Look! Forest stars." Yelena says with glee, Becca turns to look at where Yelena is pointing and she grins.

"Yeah. You know what? Those are actually part of the Lampyridae family." Melina explains to her daughters. Natasha swings off the swing she was on and stands beside Becca as the four of them look at the fireflies. "And the glow, the glow that you see, comes from a chemical reaction called... bioluminescence." She says with a smile as Yelena and Becca walk closer to the fireflies. "Come on, girls. Time for dinner." She then says as she corrals them back into the house.

"Bio-groomin-feasants?" Yelena asks curiously, trying to pronounce the word her mother told her about.

Becca giggles, "Bio-groomin-feasants." She repeats her sister and Melina smiles at her two younger girls.

"That's right, you two." Melina says and then glances back at her eldest who was still looking at the fireflies dancing in the sky, "Dinner!" She shouts to gain Natasha's attention, "Come on, dinner, big girl!" She calls for Natasha one last time before the eldest makes her way inside.

"I want... Mac and cheese!" Yelena declares and Melina smiles.

"Well, i want.... Caviar and champagne." The mother responds with a laugh as the girls help set the table for dinner. The girls help set the table, placing the food on it and then Melina smiles at Natasha, "Would you grab the ranch dressing for your dad?" She asks the eldest. Yelena sets her bowl of food Melina handed her onto the table as Becca sets the napkins down beside each plate. The girls can hear the heavy footsteps of their dad and Melina smiles, "Dad's home!" She tells the girls.

Becca pokes her head into the kitchen just as Natasha leaves. "Hi Daddy." She greets Alexei.

The man smiles warmly at the brunette daughter of his, her bright blue eyes that matched another man identically. "Hi honey." Alexei greets Becca. He knew that Becca still remembered her true family, but what Dreykov had done to her, was prevent her memories of the past coming back to her. Only a set of trigger words would wake up her memories of the past. Her blood was the key for many things.

Her family was the key to everything.

When Alexei entered the dining room, the girls were already helping themselves to the food laid out before them. But Alexei was not sitting down just yet, he looked out the window and Melina noticed. "Everything okay?" She asks. She doesn't get a response from Alexei in the form of words, but a sigh as he turns to the girls.

"How was everybody's day?" He asks his girls.

"Mommy taught Rebecca and me about lamp bugs" Yelena states proudly and happily with Becca nodding in agreement.

"Lamp bugs." Alexei repeats his daughter with a chuckle. Melina still watching her husband closely.

"And i fell and hurt my knee." Yelena adds, "It doesn't hurt anymore because Rebecca helped me."

Alexei forces smiles with a nod, "Always the nurse, Rebecca." He says and Becca grins at her dad.

"We saw fireflies in the backyard." Becca says with a smile as she eats her food, "That was my favorite part of the day." She tells her dad as Melina and Alexei move to a corner of the room to speak.

"Rebecca, we see fireflies every year." Natasha reminds her sister.

When Alexei and Melina move back into the dining room, their expressions are solemn. Alexei sits down at the head of the table as Melina sits on his right. "Girls... you remember when i told you that one day we would have that big adventure?" He asls, Natasha looks at her dad hesitantly while Yelena and Becca are enjoying their food while listening to their dad speak. "Today's the day."

"Yay!" Becca and Yelena shout in excitement.

Alexei then stands abruptly from the table. "All right, let's go." He says. Becca and Yelena follow their dad into the living room, helping him get bullets for his rifle and other things they know he'll need. They loved their dad.

The family then begins to gather things in a hurry as Yelena and Becca look up at their dad, "We're still hungry..." Becca mumbles.

"Yeah..." Yelena agrees with her sister. "And i don't have shoes."

"That's okay, sweetheart, you don't need your shoes." Alexei tells Yelena and then looks at Becca with a smirk, "Well then it's a good thing i have fruit roll ups in the car." He teases and Becca giggles, covering her mouth with her hand to keep quiet.

Alexei gets the two younger girls to the car as Melina is still gathering things they need such as weapons and the information they had been collecting for the past three years in Ohio. Natasha had gone outside to get her shoes from the backyard. When Melina gets in the car, Alexei is already backing out of the garage. Yelena and Becca look out the windows.

"Where are we going?" Becca asks curiously.

"Home." Melina responds solemnly. Natasha was still looking out the window, Becca had the feeling Nat knew more than she did. It made her wonder what her big sister knew.

"Mommy, you're silly. We just left home." Yelena says with a giggle. Sirens wail as cops drive past them, Alexei watched the police cars drive in the opposite direction he was heading and continued to drive. After a little bit in the car, Yelena was tired of the silence, as was Becca. "I want my song." The youngest says and Becca nods in agreement.

Alexei sighs but obliges his daughters and puts in the tape of their song, American Pie. Yelena and Becca began singing along with the lyrics, the two younger girls knew very little of what was actually happening around them. They just thought they were going on a late night adventure like their dad had said. But the two adults and eldest daughter knew that wasn't the case.

Alexei eventually takes a turn onto a dirt path that leads them to a plane hanger. The family hurries out of the car with the belongings they took. "Come on, Yelena, Rebecca. Come on, babies." Melina says to her young girls, she tells the girls to run as Alexei tears the drapes hiding a plane away. The family were running around the plane to get inside, the mother trying to make sure the two young girls were taken care of. Becca grabbed onto the wheel blocks and pulled them away from the plane so it could move. Natasha on the other hand wasn't in the hanger yet, she knew where they were going. And she didn't like it one bit.

Becca looked out the window of the plane as Melina closed the door and sat in the front seat to fly the plane. "Daddy!" Becca shouted to her father as he stood in the pathway of the plane while Melina turned on the engine. "Why isn't daddy on the plane?" She asks in a panic.

"He's coming, darling. He's coming, he's coming." Melina says as she's focused on getting the plane off the ground. Alexei ran over to a trailer and lifted it out of the way with ease. He then motioned to Melina to start moving the plane out of the hanger.

Becca watched as her father pulled his rifle into his arms as SUVs made their way towards the hanger. He began shooting at the incoming line of cars to deter them from getting to the plane. "Natasha, keep Rebecca calm." Melina says out of breath as she drives the plane to pick up speed.

All Becca was concerned about was that Alexei was still not on the plane. It was causing her to panic more and more, scared that he wouldn't make it.

"It's okay, Rebecca..." Natasha says to her sister and Becca clings to Nat. But Becca was still crying, not calming down any time soon it seemed. "She's not calming down." She says to Melina.

Melina glances back at Becca as Alexei runs to catch up with the plane. She didn't like using the trigger words, Becca had a few. One set to restore and take away her memories, another to silence her. "Then say the words." She says to Natasha, "They'll calm her down."

Natasha grips onto her sister as guns begin shooting at the plane, Yelena clings to Natasha as well. She was scared but she knew her dad would catch up. "Rebecca... You.. You look tired... isn't it time you slept?" Natasha says, a tear slipping down her cheek, pushing hair from Becca's face.

Becca's pupils dilated as her body heard the words that triggered her to sleep. "I'm sleepy..." She whispers as her body succumbs to the mind control that had been implemented into her mind decades ago. The words that were implemented by Adam Sinclair.

When Becca wakes up, they're in Cuba. The plane lands and Alexei instantly gets off, holding onto Melina who had been shot while Becca was asleep. The three girls quickly rush after their parents. Yelena and Natasha follow their mother while Becca rubs her eyes and looks around at her surroundings. She watches Alexei walk over to a car as it pulls up. She sees two men step out of the car, Dreykov and Adam.

"The Red Guardian returns." Dreykov says in victory to Alexei, the two older men extend their arms.

"The Red Guardian returns triumphant." Adam corrects Dreykov as Alexei walks over to them. Dreykov kisses Alexei's cheeks in the formal greeting, Adam and Alexei exchange handshakes.

"Please, please, i beg you. No more undercover work." Alexei says to both men but specifically Dreykov. "I wanna get back in the action. I want my suit back. I wanna get back in." He says and glances at Adam who is watching Becca stand alone through his sunglasses. "General Dreykov, it's been over three years." He says, trying to plead his case for Dreykov to let him back onto the field.

Adam looks over at Alexei, "Did you get it?" He asks the soldier. Alexei forces out a chuckle and pulls the CD case out of his shirt pocket. "And the North Institute?" He asks.

"Ashes." Alexei states with a smirk.

"And what of Melina?" Dreykov asks his soldier.

"She'll live. She's strong." Alexei responds as Yelena begins to call for her dad as Melina is taken onto a van for transport.

"Daddy!" Yelena shouts and Becca snaps out of her dazed and tired trance, finally clicking into place what's happening. She looks around and rushes with Yelena. "Daddy! Daddy!" Yelena screams as a soldier grabs onto her arm and yanks her away from Becca.

"Yelena!" Becca and Natasha shout in a panic. Adam looks over at Becca and the girl gasps when she recognizes her friend, "Demmy?" She mutters in confusion. A soldier then grabs onto Becca and she screams in terror.

"Let them go!" Natasha yells at the soldiers, kicking their hands and taking the gun of one of them. She pulls Yelena and Becca behind her. "Don't touch them! Я буду стрелять! Don't. Touch. Them!" I will shoot. She shouts and aims the gun at whoever is in her line of sight. "I will kill you all! Я буду стрелять! Я убью всех вас!" I will kill all of you.

Alexei steps towards the girls slowly, "Honey." He says with his hands up in a surrender position, "You're going to need to hand me that gun." He tells her.

Adam and Dreykov step on either side of Alexei, the scientist tilting his head. He looks at Becca who hides behind her big sister while also holding onto Yelena.

"I don't want to go back there." Natasha whimpers. "I want to stay in Ohio." She sobs as Alexei calmly walks up to Natasha and the girls, holding his hand out for Natasha to hand him the gun, "You can't take them. You can't. They're only six and seven." She whimpers out as Yelena and Becca cling to Natasha's waist.

"You were even younger." Alexei says as he takes the gun from Natasha. "It's okay." He says as he uncocks the gun and kneels down to be eye level with her. The three girls cry together as Alexei looks at them. "You're gonna be alright." He says to them, kissing Yelena's head. "Do you know why it's gonna be alright?" He asks them, caressing Becca's cheek as she sniffles, "Cause my girls are the toughest girls in the world." He tells them, meaning every word. He had come to love them despite hating undercover work. "You two are gonna look after each other, okay? And everything's gonna be fine." He says and Natasha hesitates, why would he only say 'you two' there were three of them.

Soldiers walk up beside the girls as Adam walks up to grab Becca. He takes hold of Becca's shoulder and turns her away from Natasha and Yelena as the soldiers stick needles into their necks, knocking the girls out.

"Come along, Rebecca." Adam states as he walks past Dreykov, "We have much to do." He says to Becca who, since she had awoken, she had remembered everything. From her true mother and family, the kidnapping, all of it. But Alexei and Melina, she still considered them like a mother and father to her.

"Yes, Demmy..." Becca says sorrowfully, tears falling from her eyes that matched her father's. The Winter Storm. She glanced over at where Alexei stood with Dreykov. She could hear them speaking about Natasha. She wiped her eyes as Adam got her into a different plane. Becca wasn't going with Natasha and Yelena. She was always alone, always singled out. Trained the same, but always alone.