𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

"The Red Room's still active. Where is it?" Natasha asks Yelena as we enter a gas station.

"I have no idea. He moves location constantly. And every widow is sedated on entry and exit for maximum security" Yelena tells us.

"I'm just finding it hard to believe that he could stay off my radar" Natasha states.

"HYDRA managed just fine. Don't see why Dreykov couldn't" I shrug, leaning on the wall.

"That, and it's not smart to attack an Avenger if you want to stay hidden" Yelena adds "I mean, the clue is in the name. Dreykov kills you, one of the big ones comes to avenge you"

"Wait, what are the big ones?" Natasha asks in confusion.

"Well, I doubt the god from space has to take an ibuprofen after a fight" Yelena shrugs.

"I don't think he even knows what ibuprofen is" I counter.

"Where did you think I was all this time?" Yelena asks us.

Guilt seeps into my chest and I look at Natasha with a frown.

"I thought that you got out and were living a normal life" Natasha shrugs, washing her hands in the sink.

"And you just never made contact again?" Yelena replies.

"Honestly, I thought you didn't want to see us" Natasha states.

"Bullshit" Yelena scoffs "You just didn't want your baby sister to tag along, whilst you saved the world with the cool kids"

"You weren't really my sister" Natasha retorts, walking past the blonde.

"Natasha, that's not fair" I scold her.

"The Avengers aren't really your family" Yelena counters.

"Close enough" I argue.

"Why do you always do that thing?" Yelena asks as we stand at the till.

"Do what?" Natasha asks in confusion.

"The thing you do when you're fighting. The- Like, the...This thing that you do" Yelena explains, crouching down like Natasha does and flipping her head back "When you whip your hair when you're fighting with the arm and the hair. And you do, like, a fighting pose. It's a fighting pose. You're a total poser"

"I'm not a poser" Natasha defends as I giggle at Yelena's demonstration.

"You're kind of a poser" I agree and the redhead looks at me in disbelief.

"Oh, come on. I mean, they're great poses, but it does look like you think everyone's looking at you, like, all the time" Yelena laughs.

"All that time that I spent posing, I was trying to actually do something good to make up for all the pain and suffering that we caused" Natasha argues defensively "Trying to be more than just a trained killer"

"Well, then you were fooling yourself because pain and suffering is every day and we are all still a trained killer" Yelena replies, her smile now gone "Except I'm not the one that's on the cover of a magazine"

"I'm not the killer that little girls call their hero" The blonde adds.

Another strike of guilt fills my chest and my eyes well up in a moment of weakness.

"I never asked for this" I snap, exiting the gas station.

‎✪ ‎✪‎ ✪

I wince in pain as I clean the wound on my shoulder and Yelena does the same to her arm as Natasha sits down at the table, placing three beers down.

"That gas, the counteragent, it was synthesized in secret by an older widow from Melina's generation. I was on the mission to retrieve it, and she exposed me and I killed the widow that freed me" Yelena explains guiltily.

"Did you have a choice?" Natasha asks.

"What you experienced was psychological conditioning. I'm talking about chemically altering brain functions. They're two completely different things" Yelena tries to tell the redhead "You're fully conscious, but you don't know which part is you. I'm still not sure"

Natasha glances at me and I put my head down, focusing on cleaning the gunshot wound.

"Is that all there is left?" I ask curiously, nodding at the red gas as Natasha starts to help Yelena patch up her arm.

"Mmhm" Yelena nods "It's the only thing that can stop Dreykov and his network of widows"

The blonde grunts in pain and Natasha gently blows on the cut, holding it together.

"He takes more every day. Children who don't have anyone to protect them. Just like us when we were small. Maybe one in twenty survives the training, becomes a widow. The rest, he kills" Yelena rants in anger "To him, we are just things. Weapons with no face that he can just throw away. Because there is always more"

"And no one's even looking for him, thanks to you and Alexei" She adds.

"Alexei?" Natasha questions and Yelena chuckles dryly.

"Dad" Yelena elaborates and I scoff before wincing.

"Give me that" Yelena huffs, grabbing the needle and thread.

The younger girl starts stitching me up and I'm happy to take my mind off the situation when my phone rings. I answer the incoming FaceTime call and keep the camera on my face, pasting on a wide grin. James' face appears on the screen and he looks at me in concern.

"Детка!" I greet him.
(baby)

"Hey, doll" He replies warmly.

"What's up?" I ask curiously.

"I felt like something was wrong so I wanted to make sure that you're okay" He admits and Yelena wipes my wound with rubbing alcohol, causing me to grimace "Something is wrong"

"She got shot" Yelena declares bluntly and James' eyes widen in worry.

"Are you okay? Do you need me there?" He rambles.

"Дорогой, послушай меня-" I sigh.
(sweetheart, listen to me)

"Because I can get there as fast as possible" He continues.

"James, will you slow down?" I groan and he stops still "I'm okay"

"You were shot" He deadpans.

"Yes, and how many times have I been shot? Scratch that, how many times have you shot me?" I sass the man.

"That's not fair. How many times have you shot me?" He counters.

"How did you two end up together again?" Yelena asks in confusion and we both laugh at her statement.

"It's a long story, Lena" I tell her.

"A long complicated story" Natasha corrects.

"Mr Barnes, you were supposed to meet me half an hour ago" I hear Shuri state impatiently.

"I'll be right there" James assures her.

"James, go" I order sternly.

"But-" He pouts.

"No buts. Go" I demand.

"Fine" He huffs "It was nice meeting you, Yelena"

"I guess you could say that" She shrugs.

"I'll speak to you later, doll" He smiles at me softly.

"I love you, bye" I reply and my eyes widen when I realise what i've said, my finger quickly pressing the red button before James can spit out whatever he was about to say.

"Ana" Natasha speaks up.

"No. We're not gonna talk about that. We're gonna pretend that didn't just happen" I declare.

"Did you ever look for your parents? Your real ones?" Yelena asks, changing the subject.

"Well, my mom abandoned me in the street like garbage. What about you?" Natasha answers, looking at me.

"My parents and siblings died in a house fire when I was one" I tell them, glancing at Yelena "You, Lena?"

"They destroyed my birth certificate, so I reinvented it" She hums with a smile "My parents still live in Ohio. My sisters moved out west"

"Is that right?" Natasha smiles.

"You're a doctor" The blonde says to me "You have a daughter at home with the nanny, and your husband is a mechanic"

"I like that" I smile warmly.

"You're a science teacher" She turns to Natasha "You're working part-time, though, especially after you had your son. Your husband, he renovates houses"

"That is not my story" Natasha chuckles and we all laugh lightly.

"What is your story?" Yelena asks curiously.

"I never let myself be alone long enough to think about it" Natasha admits.

"Did you ever wish for kids?" Yelena questions us, pulling her new green vest out of a shopping bag "I want a dog"

"There's no point in wishing for something impossible" I reply with a shrug, pulling a tan coloured jacket out of the bag "A dog does sound nice though"

"Where you gonna go?" Natasha asks the blonde.

"I don't know" Yelena shrugs "I don't really have anywhere to go back to, so I guess anywhere"

Natasha sits forward with a smirk and I sit back in my seat, praying to Thor that she doesn't start a speech.

"Don't" Yelena groans.

"Don't what?" Natasha grins in amusement.

"You're going to give me some big hero speech, I can feel it" Yelena chuckles.

"Speeches aren't really my thing" Natasha shrugs.

"She lies" I tell Yelena who grins.

"It was more like an invitation" Natasha elaborates, throwing the beer cap at me.

"To go to the Red Room and kill Dreykov?" Yelena questions.

"Yeah" Natasha nods.

"Even though the Red Room is impossible to find and Dreykov is too slippery to kill?" I point out.

"Yeah" Natasha grins.

"That sounds like a shitload of work" Yelena comments.

"Yup" Natasha sighs "Could be fun, though"

"Yup" Yelena and I hum in unison.

"I saw where he put the keys" Natasha tells us, glancing at the nice car in the garage across the street.

"Green cabinet" Yelena states.

"Top drawer" I add.