END OF ACT ONE
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SYPNOSIS OF THE ACT

The girl ran outside the small gas station where she sat patiently on the floor for hours as she heard the chopping sound of helicopter blades approaching.

Irena saw Natasha's red hair from 20 feet away. As the chopper landed she got a better look at the passengers within it. In the front was Maria Hill acting as the aviator, next to her was Steve Rodgers looking much better than he did the last time the young girl saw him. She felt relieved to see his healthy appearance.

In the back behind the two up front were Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson—her friends. Irena stood by the door waiting for the helicopter to fully come to a stop on the ground before she dared to approach it.

She saw Natasha rapidly begin to take off her seatbelt before the vehicle even made contact with the ground. When it hit the floor Natasha ripped off her headphones and jumped down from the tall seats.

She started to run towards the girl which made Irena run to meet her as well. The others watched with small smiles on their faces, slowly taking off their safety belts and getting down as the two assassins enveloped each other in a sloppy hug.

Irena's head rested just under Natasha's chin as she held her tight. They both laughed in relief as they fought off the tears of happiness that threatened to form.

Irena thought she had lost Natasha forever after only just getting her back. She didn't want ever to let go in this moment.

"Oh thank god, are you okay?" Natasha sniffed as she breathed out the question, not daring to let go of the girl.

"I'm fine, he didn't hurt me." The girl assured the worried woman. Irena assumed she knew who had taken her but she didn't know why, no one did besides her.

Natasha knew what James was capable of. She'd seen it firsthand, in D.C., in Ukraine, and in the Academy. His mind was unstable and most likely always will be. He seemed fine for weeks after a wipe until he wasn't. His behavior would become erratic from being just fine only days before and then suddenly he was choking you while you slept.

"You sure? Not even if he didn't mean it?" She pressed, she wanted to be sure what had happened during the time she wasn't there when she should've been.

Irena stayed silent for a second as she heard the others approach them, staying behind at a good distance to let the two girls have their space.

"It was an accident, he did not mean it, he was dreaming," Irena whispered, holding on tighter and burying her face deeper into Nat's coat that smelt of the familiar scent of vanilla and lilacs. A scent that became safe to the girl.

Natasha broke from the hug to look into the girl's eyes, she held on tightly to her shoulders as her face grew serious with worry and question.

"What did he do to you?" She asked, looking straight into the young girl's eyes.

Irena attempted to look at Sam behind Natasha but her line of sight was driven back by Nat's pale green eyes.

"He was dreaming, it was nothing." She refused.

"What did he do Irena?" Nat pressed, careful to keep her voice steady and calm but also firm.

"He choked me, he thought I was trying to hurt him but I was just trying to wake him up," Irena admitted finally.

Natasha let out a breath, her eyes flashing to the girl's neck to inspect for bruises that weren't there before pulling her back into a hug, caressing her hair as she did.

"I'm fine Nat, it's okay."  She said, attempting to break free from the hold so she could greet her other saviors.

"I know you are, but it wasn't," Nat replied before letting her go to walk towards Sam.

Irena smiled as she walked towards the man who already had a smile on his face.

"The little widow lives!" He playfully yelled, waving his arms around before he wrapped them around the girl briefly.

"I do live!" Irena confirmed as she pressed her body against his chest.

"Glad to hear it, kid." He told her with a wink as she started to walk towards Steve.

The girl seemed to shrink she she did so, like she was scared for what was going to happen. She stopped short in front of Steve, not immediately going in for a hug.

"I'm sorry Steve." She mumbled, trying her best to make eye contact with the man as shame wrapped her in a tight hold.

Steve bent down slightly to be closer to her eye level so she didn't have to look up for a long period.

"For what?" He questioned, noticeably confused hoping the girl didn't blame herself for what had happened that day.

"For leaving you there, for being taken." She responded.

Her little stature and expression hurt his heart. She had no right to feel so guilty over something that wasn't her fault, he wouldn't allow it. Bucky had obviously taken her because he cared about her if she came back unscathed, so he now silently vowed to do the same for his friend who wouldn't be able to. He was going to take care of his best friend's girl.

"Irena listen to me, none of that was your fault I don't blame you, not for a second. You were so brave up there do you understand? You were willing to die for what was right and that is something that shows true selflessness, courage, and a big heart, you're a hero kid." He lectured her as he pointed to her heart with his finger while holding onto her wrist with his other hand.

Irena's expression softened at his words. She wasn't used to being praised, but she was relieved Steve wasn't mad at her. He thought she was brave! The thought made her want to beam.

"So don't think that this was your fault because it wasn't. I'm fine, you're fine, everything's gonna be okay, we're gonna take you to the compound and get you situated and it'll be awesome you hear me?"  Steve finished.

All Irena could do was nod in response. She was so taken aback by his kindness and change in the way he saw her that she didn't know how to react. She flashed him a huge closed-mouth smile and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Steve gratefully returned the gesture, closing his eyes as he held her. When he opened them he was met with Natasha who held up a thumbs-up, signifying he was doing well in completing his goal he had disclosed to the team on the 9th day the girl was missing. He had told the team that if he could've gone back he would've been nicer to Irena who always tried to act cold but was truly a 10-year-old who's never known love at heart.

He explained to them that he knew Irena meant a lot to Bucky if he took her. He assured a worried Natasha that he wouldn't hurt her because he wasn't like that, he knew his best friend and he knew that if he was free enough to not kill him in the river then he wouldn't harm her girl.

Truth be told, Steve saw Bucky in Irena. Her dazzling blue eyes that shined in the sun and made your blood run cold when she glared. Her hair which matched his down to the random highlights of golden brown amongst the widespread of chestnut. The shape of her eyebrows that he's only ever seen one other person have.

It was an odd connection he didn't share with anyone, but once he noticed it he couldn't let it go. He also somehow saw Natasha mixed in with the girl's face. Her button nose that sloped perfectly and the mischievous smirk she sometimes wore, that was all Natasha. 

When they broke apart Steve gave Irena a friendly pat on her arm as she walked to the left to move onto Maria.

Irena wasn't exactly sure what to do with Maria. She had only met her once and even then she only spent a day and half with her.

She decided the safest option was an awkward side hug that lasted two seconds.

"Thanks for coming to get me." She thanked the woman.

"Thanks for stopping the death of 3 million people," Maria replied with a small shrug.

Irena's lips immediately upturned into a small smile she tried to conceal upon hearing Maria's response.

"C'mon guys let's get going we're trying not to attract a lot of people here," Sam suggested with the clap of his hands.

"Alright, everybody back in, hope you enjoyed your 10-minute leg break," Maria said, making everyone walk back to the helicopter.

Irena was hesitant as she got in. She'd been in all kinds of aircraft but out of the many helicopters were her least favorite. They were unstable and small, and the Red Room taught her how to parachute by throwing her out of them at 11 years old.

"I hate helicopters." Irena groaned as she buckled her seatbelt.

"Really, why?" Natasha pondered, shocked at the fact that the girl was seemingly not afraid of much but became queasy when it came to helicopters.

"The Red Room taught me how to parachute by throwing me out of one." She deadpanned while putting on her headphones as if was a normal thing to say.

Irena recalled that parachuting from a plane instead of a helicopter was much easier but the Red Room didn't want to draw more attention than they needed to at the time so they used a chopper.

"Oh," Natasha blinked, looking straight ahead as she suddenly found the empty seat in front of them very interesting.

Sam simply gave Irena a blank stare, looking at her for a second before he replied. "Man, that's some messed up shit right there." He muttered while shaking his head in disbelief.

"You are telling me." Irena chucked, holding on to the grip handles above their heads upon feeling the blades above them start to come to life.

"You'll be fine Doll Maria's a great pilot." Natasha insisted, grabbing Irena's closest hand. "Mostly." She added with a shrug.

Irena gave her a confused scowl as Nat started to laugh at the girl's immediate uncertainty.

"You'll be fine Ira just don't think about it too much," Steve said into his headset, looking back at the girl using a nickname none of them had called her before.

She smiled at Steve and nodded as she felt her chest tighten with guilt. It had been about 4 hours since she had run from Bucky and it surprised her he hadn't found her. Irena pulled the picture of him and her out of her pocket and held it in her hand, looking at it for a second before she put it away.

"You ready to go home?" Nat asked her, giving her an excited smile.

"Yeah," Irena replied with a nod.

And home the group started for. Irena had no idea what home entailed but she was fine if home was where her friends were.

───˖ ࣪ ˖ ࣪✦: * ˚ ✦ ───
1968 words ~ 9:35 pm
December 10th 2023

Ellie's words!!

This was just like an epilogue so its short but ACT ONE IS OFFICIALLY DONE WOOOO!! also happy birthday to me. Anyways I wanna say that Ik steve, sam, and nat leave after CATWS to do diff things. But imma have jst Steve and Sam go while Nat stays w Irena. You guys will see trust. anyways tysm for reading.

HUGE thank you to all the support 13.9k reads is actually INSANE. This is being published on march 15th (today) n i jst wanna say thank you so so much for the votes and comments. I ADORE reading all of the comments they make my day ly all💞💞

my tik tok is: @starfliestories.wp on tik tok if u guys wanna check out edits of my fics:)) it's been flopping terribly lmaoooo.

but enough ellie yap, enjoy the extras.

Act one gifts

Meet cute!! (they literally fought)

Teenager car sas

"Training" (literal murder)

the saddest goodbye in history { for now 😉}