The plus of seeking Alexei out early meant that by the time Emmeline walked through the still wonky front door of the apartment, she could catch the news coverage of some of the impeachment trial. Bucky had seemed quite tense that morning, Emmeline felt bad, she never actually asked if the work he did was tied to her, it would explain why he had an interest in what happened to Valentina. If not, then maybe like everyone else, he was just curious; most seemed interested to know what skeletons were going to come out of this closet.

Emmeline had been honest with Bucky, Valentina approaching her out of the blue was true, her denying working with her was also true, was she tempted because Sam was being annoying? Sure. But she was also utterly earnest when she said no one would hire her. She had more collateral damage to her name than she'd like to admit, truthfully how the government allowed her to walk free was a mystery, but she wasn't knocking it, she'd rather never be locked up somewhere ever again. But above all else: she did not trust Valentina, every vibe she gave off ticked so many boxes in Emmeline's head, she could not trust her as far as she could throw her, and with being able to fly, Emmeline could probably throw quite far.

Kicking off her boots and throwing her glasses onto the kitchen counter, she juggled about with her cup and a bag of pastries, she wanted food while watching this entertainment. The television was promptly put on, and she settled on the sofa, her mix-matched socked feet kicking up to rest on the coffee table. Opening the bag, she pulled out the cinnamon roll eagerly and looked at the set. Chewing thoughtfully, she just raised an eyebrow at Bucky being on the screen and trying, trying, being the optimum word to answer questions which were posed to him.

Emmeline tilted her head, her mouth pausing in taking another bite just to stare at him in utter bewilderment. "Scheiße, Bruder, du bist schlecht darin..." Emmeline felt a little bad, she didn't mean to say he was bad at his job, she couldn't judge she didn't know, but public speaking? She shuddered and felt second-hand embarrassment for him. He was not good at this, Emmeline bit into her pastry, how many times could someone say worrying in one sentence? But as he just said, he wasn't on the impeachment committee but was hoping to find a good outcome that benefitted others.

Emmeline put the pastry to one side, she reached around her neck to pull her headphones off, even wriggling to pull her phone out of her pocket when she realised it was stabbing her in the hip. Throwing her legs onto the sofa, she crossed them and reached for her cup a few times before just grabbing onto it with a shake her head and a sigh.

To anyone who did not know her hang up on being worried to potentially burn anything, inanimate or otherwise by accident, it might just look like she had obsessive compulsive tendencies; it usually took her three times to reach out for something before on the fourth she had the courage to touch and pick up whatever was needed. Emmeline saw four times the charm worked well, it had been severely cut down, she used to dither a lot and usually she'd reach double digits of attempts before picking up something or touching something. Four was a good number, her lucky number now.

Sipping at what remained of her drink, she burst a boba bubble in her mouth and enjoyed the sharp tang of lychee before listening into what was being spoken. "Now, today, the committee is meeting to examine this official who sits before you. Articles of impeachment have been brought against her. And when we vote in favour of the impeachment, she will be removed from her post permanently." Emmeline let out a whistle at that, that was some firing right there, which to anyone who was probably so used to being up high, not good at all.

She fidgeted on the sofa with a smile, she shouldn't, but she was interested to watch this crash and burn now. Emmeline ignored Valentina introducing herself, least of all correcting the man who was speaking. Even with the cameras at the back of the room, the borderline annoyed look on the face of him wasn't easy to miss, especially when she made a joke.

Her eyes narrowed, in experience, people used humour and jokes to try and gloss over something. It was a diversion tactic, something to disarm, to appear innocent and nonchalant; just like everyone else in that room, there was supposedly nothing untoward about Valentina, and she was trying to appear that way. Emmeline shook her head, she wasn't normal, was she? And that was coming from Emmeline who long accepted she was far from normal, but this woman was acting so casual like she wasn't in trouble, when she was clearly in a world of trouble.

"Ugh, she is annoying." Emmeline scrunched her nose up; ignorant people were a particular pet peeve of hers. There was no excuse to be ignorant, or maybe in Valentina's case, delusional that all was fine.

"At this moment, you are serving as director of the CIA, correct?"

"That is correct." Valentina replied, Emmeline in all her wisdom couldn't figure out how she became so high up in an organisation. When she had called her an idiot, Bucky had given her this sharp look, he didn't agree, in hindsight maybe there was some smarts in that woman's head to play whatever game this was and manage to survive as long as she has without being caught.

"And before that, you were the chairwoman of the board of OXE Group?"

"Yes. Although, I have fully divested in OXE since taking office. I now sit on the board in a strategic guidance capacity." The way in which Valentina explained her answer was so fluid, confident and without so much as a pause.

Her response had the main speaker tilting his head, Emmeline squinted at the name before him, in white capitals she managed to see: Mr Gary, it seemed this Mr Gary wasn't buying what Valentina was selling. The look of confusion on his face had his dark eyes narrowing from behind black rimmed glasses, even from the comfort of her sofa, Emmeline could hear the gears turning in his head.

"And following this strategic guidance, the OXE Group maintains significant holdings in unregulated labs in foreign countries and rumoured human experimentation. All part of an illegal operation to develop your own super...person."

Emmeline's mouth almost fell open, something in her went cold, very cold. Looking down at her pale hands, the odd luminescence still very much there before turning them over and frowning up at the television, Emmeline slowly clenched her fists. It disgusted her, the thought of someone just trying to create a metahuman, well, in that way at least...shaking her head, Emmeline decided that the thought of people unknowingly signing up for this not knowing what was to happen to them was the most worrying aspect.

She hated animal experiments for the sake of humanity, but that was why they existed, disgusted her, but they were there to make sure things were safe for people. Skipping ahead straight to human trials could have varied results, predominantly disaster. It wasn't like everyone in Hydra came out peachy-keen, was it? What she was doing, in Emmeline's eyes, was no better; people had volunteered for some of their experiments too, what happened to them? Emmeline remembered seeing some get shot, when they went defected, or weren't what they wanted, they'd just get rid.

She only fluked surviving because her father was a higher up scientist within that twisted regime. She was a commodity that could be used on a whim, Emmeline scrunched her nose up. Prodding and poking and putting chemicals into people that shouldn't be there, never worked well. It happened to her, she started displaying powers at a young age, she was enlisted automatically into a regime which was backwards and cruel just because of her father; and all he did was cut pieces of her open and test what could make her stronger, never mind if it made her ill or sick, he just kept going. Because of that it had rendered her eyes turning black and unable to freely touch anything without the worry she'll burn someone.

The worst part though, to make a metahuman, one would need samples of things, right? For the super soldier serum, surely one would need records, samples and smart people to recreate it and hope another Hulk situation didn't happen. She was a sun caged in a weak and fragile body of flesh and bone, if someone wanted to recreate her abilities, they'd need samples. She can fly, maybe there is something in her DNA which shows how she can, not why.

Raking a hand through her hair, Emmeline let out a heavy breath. Why did she suddenly get the feeling Valentina wasn't interested in her to do a job, but be part of whatever this all was? Did the woman intend to use her, to get her hands on what she could do, to then what...hope putting her abilities into another and hope they didn't explode? Because that rightly could happen. Emmeline took no pleasure in being a walking bag of tension, every move was calculated, even the simplest of things like sitting on the sofa...she had to think it through to such a painful degree, anyone else, a sane person, they'd lose it having to be like her.

She didn't like to make herself a sob story, or make it seem like she had a truly awful life, but it was certainly hard. Inhaling and exhaling, Emmeline found she had tuned out of this meeting for a bit. Though she doubted any honeyed words from Valentina would've made her feel less like destroying the television. She wouldn't though, Bucky's apartment had suffered enough already...however, she would wait and see what he made of all of this when he got home later.

=

Alexei's home was an explosion of memorabilia, colour, chaos, mess; honestly it was all so quintessentially him, if anyone personally knew him, and they stepped foot into his apartment they wouldn't even be surprised to see the state of it. He lived alone, his limo parked outside, and it may have been a dingy little place, but he had certainly left his mark on it...if only because of the number of posters of himself around...

After his little spontaneous meeting with the impossible eyed Emmeline, Alexei had done what he had intended, he went home. He went home, he changed out of his suit, and he resigned himself that he was done for the day. There were so many idiot drivers out today, honestly, he didn't want to go back out and keep getting stuck in traffic, especially seems there were road works happening somewhere, so traffic was diverted.

Being in his apartment he was comfortable, safe from annoying drivers and enjoyed watching old news reels of himself, which was how he spent most days and nights. Daytime shows weren't great, and truthfully, evening shows weren't much better, he spent most of the time channel flicking and, in the end, the best thing to watch was the most reliable thing; himself. Luckily, he had plenty of videotapes of himself to constantly go through, a little obsessive, but here he was, sitting on his sofa in his boxers and a white vest eating from a bowl with snacks in commenting on an old recording.

It passed the time, until the doorbell went. That did it, he had requested his delivery be left on the porch and the fact the doorbell kept going just had him sighing, annoyed. With the remote in one hand, the other fished out of the bowl and pointed in the direction of his door. "Your subordinance will be reported to DoorDash HQ." He really didn't feel like getting up and answering the door to the delivery driver, so his hand went back to the bowl and he continued eating, only to pause when he heard a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

"Alexei, it's me. Open up." Yelena being here had Alexei switching the television off and leaning forwards quietly saying her name. With wide eyes and frantic movements, he pulled his dressing gown on and shot up. Grabbing armfuls of whatever, he rushed to the kitchen and just dumped whatever it was that was in his hands and arms. Honestly, he didn't know what half of it was, washing, rubbish, a mixture of both; regardless it was dropped rather unceremoniously before he turned his attention to the sink.

He had zero intentions of even trying to combat the washing piled there, he did however grab the washing up liquid, squirt some on his finger before running it across his teeth quickly. Turning the tap on, he took a mouthful of water before spitting and grimacing a little at the lemony flavour which now assaulted his tastebuds. Never mind how disgusting it tasted, it was a small price to pay to suddenly rush to the door, fully wrapping his dressing gown around himself to open the door to his daughter.

Yelena stood there, having scrutinised his limo for a moment, blonde hair slicked back and wearing dark clothes. She looked no different than the last time Alexei saw her, "Yelena! So good to see you." He genuinely sounded overjoyed, a wide smile appearing on his face as he looked at the young woman on his doorstep.

"Hi, dad." Yelena offered a small smile in return, it didn't quite reach her eyes like his did, but she soon got ushered inside. No sooner had she come indoors, did he disappear off, clearly in the direction of the kitchen. Yelena stood in the utter chaos of his living room, not knowing really what to do or where to sit, it wasn't that he didn't have furniture, just that furniture was littered with stuff...and truth be told, she didn't know what half of it was, nor did she want to find out.

Hearing footsteps padding back across the floor, she watched Alexei come closer, pouring vodka into two glasses. "Sorry for the wait. I was on important call. Highly classified." He explained breezily, giving her a glass before putting the bottle down on the coffee table, somehow there was room for it. "How long has it been, huh? A year?" He asked casually, holding his glass out to toast against hers.

Yelena looked a little disbelieving before a blank mask flitted over her face. "Wow, yeah, I guess...I guess it has been." She wasn't sure if he had counted down the days, or if it was a fluke, but hearing the time just had her feeling uncomfortable. He clinked his glass against hers and happily drunk, whereas she just stood there looking up at him. "You've been busy with work?" It was a simple question, although knowing Alexei it would be a dragged-out answer. She turned and watched him start to clean off a chair for her, at least there was somewhere for her to sit now.

"Yeah, a lot of uh...a lot of work." She turned and watched him while he threw clothes out of the chair as he replied to her. It was shockingly a simple answer, but one which had a tone of uncertainty lingering in it.

Yelena nodded, at least he was keeping busy, she supposed. She wasn't sure how she would feel knowing her father was just whittling time away inside, doing nothing. Although doing nothing wasn't exactly Alexei's style. With a gentle sigh, she watched him move around the small space, not entirely sure if the space was small of just because of how tall and broad he was, he made it seem small.

Regardless she moved towards the cleaned-out chair. "Yeah, me too."

"Too many irons in fire. Uh, security. My limo business. You would not believe the important people I meet while driving." He had sat down on the sofa, hands rubbing slowly together as he glanced around the room and back at his daughter. A part of Alexei couldn't even believe this was even happening, if it was vivid dream, then it was a very good one.

"So, you...you feel fulfilled?" Yelena was having her own issues, where work was involved. There was a distinct feeling of going through the motions, and just not feeling anything for or from it.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, so full, so filled." Alexei chuckled and nodded his head slowly. "Move to DC, best decision I ever made." He picked up the bottle and topped his glass back up while looking back at Yelena, who for the moment looked a little confused.

Looking to the side and then back at him, she couldn't help but ask; "Isn't this technically Baltimore?"

With a sniff, Alexei shook his head and lifted his arm up, glass in hand he gestured to the window. "No. Baltimore start next block over." That was a very quick and decisive answer that had Yelena, begrudgingly looking a little confused again.

"Oh."

"Why do you ask this? What brings you here?" Do not get him wrong, he was happy to see his daughter, but something was not right. He could feel and sense that well enough, with or without the alcohol buzzing gently in his system. Casual small talk was never Yelena's thing, he wasn't particularly fond of it either, well, if it went around in pointless circles then no, he didn't care for it.

"Uh, I...I wanted to talk to you about Valentina." Yelena looked at the untouched glass in her hands before looking up when Alexei let out a slow chuckle, he in general looked suddenly amused and she just frowned slowly not understanding what was suddenly amusing.

"Okay. New assignment. You come to Red Guardian. You want a little help." He placed his glass down and placed his hands on his knees, leaning back on the sofa a little he nodded surely and smiled her way.

Yelena wasn't even remotely affected by his blatant attempt of getting involved. "No, I think I'm gonna quit." It was something which had been going through her mind, slowly every so often. Her father may have settled into the multiple jobs he had going, but she wasn't. She wasn't content with how things were going, a small voice in her head was questioning why she thought that any clarity would come from seeing Alexei.

"What?" The word was a breathless sigh as he hung his head. "I would burn the city to the ground to work for her." He was honest at least as he threw his hands in the air and stood. There was something in his mind that wished to point out: Valentina was organised, political and a professional. With a sudden frown, Alexei shook his head, the mysterious Emmeline never gave a name, but it seemed a little too coincidental this all happening, and the dark-haired woman being mentioned by his daughter.

"What? You just said you were fulfilled." Yelena sounded and looked confused, don't get her wrong, she was used to Alexei and his sudden moments of honesty, but even still...

"Lena, I was lying. Look around you, I'm miserable." Alexei stood there gesturing to the mess which surrounded them, even he looked at some piles of things with a disdainful look. "Give me her number."

"What? No. No way." Yelena couldn't believe this as she looked disbelievingly up at Alexei who was almost begging for Valentina's number.

"Give it to me. I call her-"

"Alexei, stop, stop." She stood from the chair and shot him a look before walking towards the small dining area, the table, much like everywhere was covered in stuff. The window across from where she stopped looked out at some foliage though, the gentle breeze of the night pushing the leaves around softly.

Losing some steam, Alexei turned and watched her go. He gently sighed, something was definitely not right, whether it was whatever job she was on or not, "Lena, what is wrong? The light inside you is dim even by Eastern European standards." Alexei moved over, strangely silently for someone of his size.

"I've just been wondering, you know, like...what is the point? In any of this?" Everything now just seemed like an uphill battle, or the case of taking one step forwards and several back. It was completely and utterly exhausting.

Putting his hands in his dressing gown pockets, Alexei stood to one side, giving her amicable space but also space for him to think of an answer. "The point of work is fame and fortune. Fortune buys friends, and love, and a lot of cool clothes."

Yelena wasn't even surprised by his response, he seemed quite proud of it too if the little smile on his face said anything. She just shook her head, not finding the clarity she wanted. Instead, she just faced another dead end. Putting the glass down, she just nodded, "Okay. Thank you." She was going to retreat, even leave, Alexei clearly sensing this stopped her by carrying on.

"Fine, you want to know when I was really happy?"

"Yes, please."

"When I was serving my country as a hero. Saving civilians in the streets. Being cheered on by the crowd. Adored like a god. There is no higher calling." Alexei said seriously, wistfully almost, his voice dropping to an honest tone which made his accent thicker. Chancing a step forwards, he was closing the obvious space Yelena was putting between them. "Your sister understood something about that. Perhaps it is time that you followed in her path." Mentioning Natasha went as well as expected, Yelena shutting down and shaking her head, not wishing to even talk about the topic of her sister at all. Honestly shutting down had Alexei's gaze soften slightly, one daughter was gone from him, and the other standing here was completely lost.

Like anyone when backed into a corner with a topic they'd rather avoid, Yelena noticed something on the cabinet across from them. He had decorated his home with things which didn't just revolve around him, and his time as a hero. There was a small collection of photographs in frames, one of which caught her attention, seeing as how it involved her. "Why do you have this photo out?" She picked the frame up, looking at the children in the photograph, including herself, all decked out in yellow polos and a ball in the centre. "We were so bad." She remembered her team failing a lot of the time. Out of all things to frame, Yelena didn't get why this.

With a sigh, Alexei moved over, "You were happy." He explained as simply as telling someone the time. Why else would he have that picture out, other than remembering the sheer happiness of his daughter? "I'll make you something," Alexei said gently while passing her by, he carried on talking away, "You know I'm still super soldier in his prime. Maybe you could put in a good word with Valentina for me, huh?" He was busying around in the kitchen that he had no clue that he was speaking to someone who was no longer there, Yelena had left him to it and exited his apartment quietly.