"It was real to me."

Melina walked out of the dining room and into a secondary room to retrieve. Becca still couldn't process what she was hearing, and from the looks of Natasha and Yelena, neither could they.

"Natasha... always focus, focus. Get what you want..." Alexei whispers under his breath. Natasha frowns slightly at Alexei, not sure what he meant by that.

"Come in." Melina yells briefly as she taps a few buttons on her control screen she brought into the dining room. Becca's eyes widen when the door unlocks and a pig trots in slowly.

"Did that pig just open the door?" Natasha asks in disbelief.

"Yes. It did." Melina says proudly. She rewards the pig with praise and a piece of a treat, "Good boy, Alexei. Good boy."

Alexei's jaw clenches a bit as he stares at Melina, "You named a pig after me?" He asks quietly.

"You don't see the resemblance?" Melina asks bluntly to her former fake husband as she scratches Pig Alexei's head. "See. He sits just like dog." Melina says, going back to her business. "Amazing. Now, watch." She tells the girls and Alexei and it's then that Becca realizes what Melina is doing. She's showing them what she had been working on since Ohio under Dreykov and apparently Sinclair.

Sinclair's compulsion was weaponized beyond himself.

"It's a little weird to me..." Alexei grumbles as he watches.

"Stop breathing." Melina commands the pig and she slides her finger across her tablet screen. Becca gasps and looks away, not wanting to watch the pig suffer. Her breathing is uneven as she tries to gather her composure. Nat's hand slips under the table and takes hold of Becca's in an attempt to comfort her niece. "We infiltrated the North Institute in Ohio. It was a front for SHIELD scientists. Actually, it was Hydra scientists all that time. In conjunction with the Winter Soldier project." Melina rambles off and Becca's entire body freezes. Her breathing comes out in ragged breaths as she looks up at Melina, Natasha's hand squeezing Becca's again. "They had dissected and deconstructed the human brain to create the first and only cellular blueprint of the basal ganglia." Melina continues, Yelena looking over at Natasha and Becca, something inside of her wanted to make sure Becca was all right. Any mention of Becca's dad's past seemed to trigger the teenager. "Was the hub for cognition. Voluntary motor movement, procedural learning." She goes on further to explain, all the while the pig is still being commanded to not breath and it makes Becca sick to her stomach. Melina then turns to Alexei. "We didn't steal weaponry or technology.. We stole the key to unlocking free will." She says as she drinks her shot of vodka.

A thud on the ground causes Becca to whimper, knowing the pig has passed out from lack of oxygen. "What are you doing?" Natasha asks quickly.

"Oh! I am explaining that the science is now so exact, the subject can be instructed to stop breathing and has no choice but to obey." Melina says quickly.

"Okay. You made your point. That's enough." Natasha says sharply, not wanting the pig to suffer any longer. She knew Becca was struggling to witness the horridness of losing one's self control all over again, this time on someone else. A helpless animal that had no say whatsoever.

"Yes, all right. Well, don't worry. Alexei could've survived another eleven seconds without oxygen." Melina says as she slides her finger again and Pig Alexei gasps for breath and stumbles to his feet. "Good boy. Now, you go back, back home where it's safe." She says, repeating herself as Pig Alexei grunts and begins to walk out of the home. "The world functions on a higher level when it is controlled. Dreykov has chemically subjugated agents planted around the globe thanks to Sinclair's help and expertise."

"And do you know who they tested it on?" Yelena asks, her voice dripping with pain. Because in her mind, she already knew the answer. Natasha and Becca knew as well.

"Well. Rebecca was Sinclair's test. But other than that... hmm... No.. No, that's not my department." Melina says casually as she begins to eat her food. Becca stares at her Kimoyo beads around her wrist, wanting nothing more than to contact her parents, to cry. All Becca's life she had been a test subject. And even when she finally thought she was free of that, she was brought back in unknowingly. Learning more and more truths.

"Ah, come on, come on." Alexei grumbles as he also begins to eat his food, "don't lie to them. Hmm?"

"I'm not lying."

"You're Dreykov's architect, huh?" Alexei asks Melina.

All the three girls could do was watch as their former parental figures squabbled at the dinner table.

"What were you? If i was his architect you were his partner. You were his business partner."

"No. no, no. I was patsy the second Sinclar entered the picture!" Alexei bangs his fist on the table, causing Becca to jump in fear for a moment.

"Don't give me that..." Melina trails off.

"He sell me ideology."

"Oh-" Melina waves her hand dismissively, "Stop with the politics."

"All the white, bigger-"

"Shut up!" Becca snaps, not being able to take it any longer, the whole table turning to look at her.

"You are an idiot." Natasha snaps, coming to Becca's defense. Alexei frowning in disbelief and slight hurt. Natasha then turns to look at Melina, "and you're a coward." She says. Melina looks down but then looks back up at Natasha who sits across from her. "You're a coward." She whispers to Melina. "And our family was never real, so there's nothing to hold on to." Becca's eyes widen in shock, tears blocking her vision as she looks away. She never thought she would hear those words come from Natasha. "We're moving on."

"Never family, huh?" Alexei grumbles, "in my heart, i am simple man. And I think for a couple deep undercover Russian agents I think we did pretty great as parents, huh?" Alexei huffs. Becca could feel the pride coming from Alexei with how he and Melina handled the Ohio mission.

"Yes, we had our orders, and we played our roles to perfection." Melina says, coming in to defend not only herself, but Alexei.

Natasha shakes her head, looking between the two of them. "Who cares? That wasn't real."

"What?" Yelena asks in disbelief. She didn't want to hear that from the woman she still saw as her big sister.

"That wasn't real. Who cares?" Natasha asks, louder this time. She was fed up with the lot of them and it was coming out in the worst way.

"Don't say that." Becca whimpers, her breathing shaky.

"Please... don't say that. It was real." Yelena begins to lose her composure, tears slowly falling from her eyes. "It was real to me! You are my mother." She cries, "You were my real mother. The closest thing i ever had to one." Yelena says through her tears. "The best part of my life was fake." she breathes out shakily, "And none of you told me."

"Those... three years... were the shining light in my years of captivity." Becca whimpers. "I adored you!" She shouts to Alexei through her own tears, "You treated me as if i was your beloved daughter! I had two sisters! I had a mother!" Becca begins to weep. She shakes her head as she looks at Natasha, "And you dare tell me... us... that it wasn't real."

"Маленький-" Little.

"Save it." Becca snaps to Natasha. The sharpness of Becca's voice stunned Natasha. Never had Becca spoked to her like that, to anyone if she remembered right. The hurt was evident in both Yelena and Becca in this moment. Those years undercover were all they had to experience a family.

"And those agents you chemically subjugated around the globe?" Yelena huffs, looking at Melina "That was me." She says, pointing to herself and all Melina can do is look at her with a small ounce of surprise. Her eyes focus on Natasha and she frowns, "And you... you got out. Dreykov made sure no one could escape. Especially after the fiasco that happened in DC." Becca breathes shakily at the mention of when she managed to escape. "Are you even gonna say anything?" Yelena huffs, waiting for a response from Natasha. But when she doesn't get one, she turns her chin upward slightly and shakes her head, "No." she hums. Melina moves to rest her hand on Yelena's shoulder but the blonde stands up abruptly. "Don't touch me." she snaps as she grabs the vodka bottle and walks out of the dining room.

Becca soon stands, causing Natasha's eyes to widen slightly. "Becca.." Natasha says softly.

"No." Becca cuts her aunt off as she follows behind Yelena. The blonde was silent but allowed the teenager to follow her to a secluded bedroom.

Becca sits on floor against the bed as she breaks down. She covers her face with her hands to try and shield herself from the pain she was feeling. All she wanted was to be held in Peter's arms, in her father's arms even. Yelena sits beside her and drinks from the vodka bottle. She knew Becca had been hit harder than her in ways. It was all coming to light one way or the other now.

A few minutes later the girls see the door open and in walks Alexei. Yelena huffs annoyed and looks up from her spot on the floor, "I came in here with Rebecca because we didn't walk to talk." Yelena grumbles.

"Okay." Alexei says. But what he does next surprises both girls. He sits himself beside Becca, puts his arm around her and holds her tightly. Becca is surprised but she soon clings to Alexei as she cries silently. The older Russian holds her tightly, both arms enfolding her. "There you go.." He whispers to her. "We just sit.." He tells both of them quietly. Becca could hear Natasha and Melina talking and all she wanted to do was tune it out. But superhuman hearing couldn't be turned off.

Nothing about who she is could be turned off or forgotten any longer.

"So, there i am ice fishing with my father. It's very cold day in this little ice shed. Cold even for Russia, you know? Keep the vodka by the fire, my father would tell me." Alexei rambles a bit. Becca had pulled away from Alexei once she regained her composure. They had been sitting in silence until Alexei began talking about ice fishing with his father.

"Please stop talking." Yelena grumbles as she takes a swig from the vodka bottle.

"Please, wait."

"No.. Please.."

"Please. Wait." Alexei says to Yelena a bit more stern than the previous time. "There is a reason why i am telling you both this, okay? Trust me." Alexei assures them. "I am reaching for fish. Oh! I lose balance. Ah!" Alexei shouts dramatically. "Splash! My hands go in the river. In this weather, frostbite sets in quick. My father, he go toilet on my hands."

"Oh my god." Yelena grumbles, burying her face in her hands and Becca slowly pulls away further from Alexei.

"Urine is thirty-five degrees Celsuis, staves off the frostbite." Alexei continues.

"How.. is this relevant?" Becca asks quietly but loud enough for them to hear her.

"You know... fathers..." Alexei begins but Yelena cuts him off once more.

The blonde turns to look at Alexei and shakes her head, "No. no. you have done nothing but tell us how bored you were. I was.. We both were.. The chore, the job you didn't want to do. To me? To me you were everything. Just as Rebecca said." Yelena says with tears in her eyes. But when Alexei only stares at the two girls, Yelena nods in disappointment. "Exactly. You don't care. You don't care."

"The only thing you seem to care about now... are reliving your glory days.." Becca whispers, the hurt laced in her voice.

"The Crimson Dynamo. No one wants to hear about that." Yelena says curtly.

"I..." Becca looks down, "I would have liked to hear about it.. Just... under different circumstances..." She says softly.

Alexei pauses and then sighs, "it's the Red Guardian..." He whispers. Effectively proving their point that all he has wanted to do since getting out of prison was talk about himself, his feud with Becca's uncle. His supposed glory days.

"Get out." Yelena says without missing a beat. "Get out!" Yelena yells.

Alexei stands with a grunt but he pauses at the door. He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. "I can't remember... if i cried.." He begins to sing and it causes the two girls to look up at him in confusion but also curiosity. He makes his way over to the couch in the room and sits down with a huff. "When i read about his widowed bride... Something touched me deep inside, the day.. The music... died.."

Becca's eyes widen and tears fall, "And.. they were singing.. Bye.. bye.. Miss american pie.. Drove my chevy to the levee but the levee was dry." The three sing quietly. Becca and Yelena struggling through the emotions as both girls chuckle but cry at the same time. "Them good old boys.. Drinking whiskey.. Sining.. This will be the day that i die. This'll be the day..." Alexei trails with a smile on his face.

Becca jumps as a blue light brightly flashes through the window suddenly, all sense of happiness driven out. Alexei jumps and turns to look out the window, quickly standing from the couch. Yelena and Becca also standing quickly as they try to take in what's happening.

"What..?" Becca stammers in shock, not fully understanding.

Alexei curses under his breath in Russian. "They found us.." he says.