03. home

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"Eyes on the target." I said through the comms with my thick accent that I managed to get as I spent my time here. Dreykov gave me this solo mission to redeem myself after the last one, she escaped and is now on the run. This one was different, this woman has been one on our hit list for a while and he trusted me to do it. I climbed down the building, crawling into the window of her apartment. I hid behind the wall and waited for her to come in. I knew her routine, I had studied for months now. The door opens and I heard the keys fall into the bowl. As her footsteps came closer, I pulled out my gun and stepped out of the wall and her face turned white.

"Devon." She gasps. Her hand tense as she grips the box she had.

"Hello." I gave her a smirk. Sasha was an old Black Widow, managed to escape and now is trying to stop Dreykov, which I would never let happen.

"Dreykov sent you, didnt he?"

"Good to see you still use your brain after you left." I threw a knife at her, it got stuck on her chest and gasped. "You remember how this goes, yeah?" I made my way to her. Sasha crawled back, trying to escape. I stomped on her leg, making her stop and cursed.

"Devon, think about what you're doing. If you stop, i can help you."

"I dont need help. I never needed it for a long time." I pulled out my gun and shot her. Her body laid still. I took the box and opened it, nothing. Dreykov isn't going to be happy. "Targets dead, heading back." I stepped over her body and headed out. The area was secured until a man in a red tracksuit started following me. I hid behind a wall and grabbed him, putting my knife on his neck. He didn't squirm or act surprised. "You have five seconds to tell me why you are following me." He didn't say a word. "Who sent you!" I pushed him against the wall and pin the knife more, cutting him a bit.

"Im a friend of your fathers." He had a hawk tattoo on his neck, curly hair, and a old cut on his cheek.

"I have no father."

"Robert Hobbs." A woman voice appears, the man with the neck tattoo was now wrapped around my arm, holding him against me as I threaten to cut him. I haven't heard that name in years. I scanned the area and saw the woman coming slowly. Sasha? I just killed her. It cant be.

"I just killed you, how are you alive?"

"You killed Angelika." She shrugs. "She was wearing the Photostatic Veil, i knew Dreykov wanted me, and was going to send his perfect weapon, i mean, widow, after me, she was there and well-" Sasha claps her hands. "You hated her more than Natasha, so you did everyone a favor."

"Angelika was a pain, but I did wish it was you."

"Dreykov said something to piss you off?"

"What do you want? Who the hell is this guy?"

"He's with me, Tracksuit Mafia, and well, what can I say if you can leave this, all of this." I forced a laugh. It cant be possible. They will haunt me down no matter what I do.

"Im no traitor. Im a black widow and I have a code." I pierced his shoulder with the knife. He hissed but still didn't do anything about it.

"Think about River." Everything went silent. River. I slowly stepped back and cut myself out from my killer mind. I remember. I let go of the knife and looked at him. He holds his shoulder in place. "I can take you home. Your father's boss made it a priority to look for you." Maybe this is my chance. Maybe this is what ive been looking for all these years.

"How do I trust you?"

"Because you haven't killed me yet."

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"Stay still-" I grabbed the knife from the guy and cut my leg to dig out the tracking chip. He stared in terror as I didn't make a sound or a look. "Or not." He helped me stitch it up and Sasha walks in. I ran my hand over my leg. Im finally free. No more darkness. Its been so long. But something in me didn't like how easy this was. Dreykov will come back for me, but Ill be ready.

"You have drop the accent." I looked up at her as the jet started "We can't have your family thinking where you been. You cant tell anyone about knowing Natasha or Yelena, the red room."

"Can I bring Yelena with me?" She shakes her head. "Im not leaving her alone with him, I need to protect her!" Sasha comes closer to me. "I dont want to leave her behind."

"Yelena will be okay, i promise you that. She'll understand." The man again comes by to give me some clothes. As I head to the bathroom, putting on the clothes, my fingers ran through the black suit, tracing the widow symbol. People wont know what I did to get this, or how much pain and suffering I went through. I shoved the suit into my bag and headed out as the plane landed. It felt off, being back to New York. A car pulls up, took us to drop off the man at a big building, and then to my house. I looked up at the tall building I used to live in, remembering the times that my father would pick me and River up from school and walk home, getting candy or ice cream on the way. "Ready? Because they're ready for you."

The elevator was silent, trying to figure out my story. How they were going to react, how many questions they were going to ask me. The last ping dings, the doors opened and i walked behind Sasha. People stood up, rushed to the door. Three people, two men one girl raced. The woman took a step back, gasping. The younger guy, held her. But the older one, walks towards me slowly, trying putting his hands on my face but I flinched.

"Devon?" He said. It was my father. He looks the same but tired. He chuckles. "Hi there my little dove." God Ive missed him.

"Dev?" My mom comes up, crying, looking at me, taking it all in. "Look at you, you look so beautiful." Its been too long, im surprised that they still remember how I look, after all these years. I was 6 for crying out loud. As they hugged me, it felt weird, i hated the affection. I stood there, arms down, letting them have their moment. They took me to the living room, which hasn't changed, letting me take a seat.

"Sasha, thank you." My dad whispers to her. He said some other things to her and she left. Now Im thinking, how did she find me.

"We go on air in 10." My head snaps at the guy.

"What?" I stood up. "No, i dont want to show my face." I have a lot of enemies and if they find out that Im here and that they are my family, its not going to end well. For me and for them.

"Kenny, shes been home for 5 seconds, I will not have my daughter be plastered around New York and then the next day be harassed." Guys in suits surrounded the house, one of them in glasses looked at me.

"Alright but, we should at least say something." The guy in the glass got a phone and call turned around, then pulling my dad to the side. "So?" My dad rubs his jaw and sighs. "Do we want this-"

"Its time to go Kenny." The man in the glasses escorted him out. "Always wants something for fame, am I right?" He tells me. "But we should tell the police to keep an eye on her and say that shes not missing anymore."

"Im going with Wesley, ill be back." He gives me a nod, assuring me that everything is alright. "Im glad to have you home Dev." The rest of the day my dad was gone, my mom brought out scrapbooks, trying to catch me up and bring some memories back, and River, observing from afar.

"Im going to bed." I run my hair back, sighing. "I can stay-"

"No, you still have your room." I followed her, going up the stairs, passing the office, Rivers room and then mine. As she opens the door, the room didn't changed, the light pink walls, the castle bed, nothing moved, they didn't move on. "We never gave up. We always believed you'll be back, so we didn't touch anything." I touched the bed, the satin sheets, the stuffed animals. "You have a good night okay? If you need anything, River is next door and ill be upstairs." She shuts the door behind her. I dropped the bag and sat down on the twin size bed. Its better than what I got back in the red room. It was too quiet, too dark, too full. As I laid back, I felt like i was sinking into the bed, letting it take me way. I threw a pillow to the floor and moved down. I have to get use to this.

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In the bright Manhattan home, everyone was up at 7 am, doing their daily things, shopping, work, train. The Hobbs' let Devon sleep in for a bit, they knew this was a big change. It wasn't easy to come back and start again.

"Hey, ma, Devon up yet?" River asked as he got some juice from the fridge. "Its 12 already."

"Ill go and look." Gen passes her son and husband, heels clicking as she headed upstairs to the room. She gently knocks on the door, opening to the semi dark room. The room was empty. "Devon?" Panic filled Gen. "Devon." She runs down and Rob holds her. "Shes not in her room, she gone." Rob and Gen headed back up and searched and nothing.

"Mom! Dad!" River yells, the ran to Devons room again. He points at the closet, with a little light, one pillow and her curled up in a small ball. They took a little breath as they saw her. Rob tells the family to leave her alone, let her sleep.

I woke up, stretched, did some exercise and headed down to show that im still here. River was at the kitchen counter and watched as I grabbed something to drink.

"Morning, or should I say good afternoon?" He said as he sips on his coffee. "How'd you sleep?"

"I had better." I sat with him, joining him. "Where's mom and dad?"

"Dad had to do some business and mom went for some errands for you. Didn't want to leave you alone."

"Thanks." He stared at me, watching me. "What?"

"Strange isnt it? You come back and everything goes back to normal. But you got something, you seem-"

"Ive been gone for 17 years, im not that 6 year old girl anymore." I got my cup and head back to the room. I closed the blinds to make it dark but didn't work since the sun was still peeking through. I need to find a place of my own, I cant have them care for me. When everyone came back, we had dinner, mom was happy to have us all back together, dad saying stuff that I would've loved back then, and River telling me what he did for a living.

"Im a IT for all of New York, databases, you name it." He nods as he ate. "Im pretty much a nerd."

"No youre not." I said. "Thats cool, an IT for all of New York, they trust you a lot." He hums and I coughed up the courage to tell them. "Dad, mom, i know you want me to stay here but, I want to look for a place of my own, I dont want to be a problem and-"

"Oh sweetie, youre not a problem, if thats what you want, yes, we can do that. We want you to be safe and welcomed. We dont want to do anything if youre not comfortable with, you can tell us."

"I can start looking for you, if thats okay." I nodded, shyly smiling at them.

"Thank you."

"We're just glad you're fine and home. To Devon!" They rise their glasses. Clinking them. Hope everything will be fine, hope they don't figure out where ive been doing and what ive done.