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So, they were doing a prison break. Coulson was so going to kill her when she came back. And then May was going to lecture her for a year. Probably. Certainly.
Daisy checked her gauntlets again, catching Natasha’s attention. “It’s going to be alright, Dee.”
Daisy didn’t respond, instead going over de rest of her suit.
“Daisy.”
She checked her gun, and the knives hidden in her suit.
“Daisy. Look at me.”
Bobbi cast a worried look from the cockpit. “Dais?”
“I’m fine!” she snapped. The women exchanged a look and Daisy groaned. “Really, I’m fine. Or I’m gonna be fine. I just don’t like waiting, that’s all. Never did.”
Bobbi gave half a shrug; that was true. She signed something to Natasha, receiving a raised eyebrow in surprise, but the Avenger turned to Daisy anyway. Bobbi went back to flying the helicopter with Yelena, who was content to ignore the whole situation.
“Daisy?”
Daisy gave Nat a dirty look. “What?” It sounded harsher then she’d meant but in her defence, their worry was not making her feel better. At all.
“How is school?”
The simplicity and normalcy of the question baffled Daisy for a moment. Like they weren’t on their way to bust Captain Russia out of a Siberian prison. Just, ‘how is school?’.
“Ehm. Good, I suppose? The languages are fine. History is good too; Coulson talked a lot about the Cold War and all that stuff.” She smiled faintly, and if there was just a little less shaking inside the helicopter, well. “Geography is stupid. I don’t see the point,” she continued. “And maths suck, but Tony’s been helping me out. As long as he gets his coffee he can be a good tutor. And if he’s not, Peter’s good too.”
Natasha gave her a soft, if slightly wistful smile. “How is Peter?”
Daisy grinned. “As secretly mischievous as always.” Natasha chuckled gently, and Daisy’s grin widened. “No but for real, he’s doing fine. Perfect at school, of course, and kind enough to help me out from time to time. He doesn’t make fun of me or anything. Just patiently explains the stuff. And he reminds me of Fitzsimmons when he goes all sciency. It’s nice. I’ve been teaching him some self-defence too. Just basic hand-to-hand. Always useful.”
The silence that settled was much more relaxed this time, until Natasha broke it. “You’re doing good, Daisy. You have goals and contact with people and you’re doing stuff just for fun. That’s good. I’m proud of you.”
Daisy glanced at the redhead, her eyes shining. She knew that Natasha didn’t gave empty compliments, so she didn’t even bother to argue. “Thank you,” she whispered instead.
Bobbi looked over her shoulder again, almost sorry to interrupt their peaceful moment. “We’re here, guys.”
Yelena hummed and turned around. “Everyone knows what to do?”
Two nods and affirmative mumbles were the only response. The air was suddenly tight again with tension, but not just from Daisy anymore. Yelena didn’t seem to notice the tension, or just chose to ignore it. The latter was more likely.
“Alright then. Let’s get to business.”
“Going down in about five minutes,” Yelena called over her shoulder with a bored look. Alexei frowned. “Going down?”
Natasha nodded, looking over the fields to find a suitable place to crash or land. “Down, yeah. We’re out of fuel.” She looked over her shoulder at where Bobbi was putting a few butterfly stitches on a stubborn cut on Daisy’s cheek. “Dee, can you cushion us? The landing gear doesn’t work.”
She gave a thumbs up in response, not daring to move under Bobbi’s hands. Natasha looked back ahead. “Wonderful. I’m putting her down in that field there. Shouldn’t be too far from the coordinates Alexei gave us.”
The super soldier hummed and leaned back, slightly scared to say anything after Yelena had overshared about her sterilisation. Natasha steered the helicopter towards the field and started descending a bit. Bobbi released Daisy with a smile, which she returned before she stood up and walked to the blown out door. Bobbi gave her a worried look. “Don’t get chopped to bits.”
Daisy grinned. “I’ll try not to. See you down there.” And then she let herself fall sideways out of the helicopter. Alexei made a sound of shock, half lunging forward to look over the edge. “Did she just jump? Without a parachute?”
Natasha chuckled dryly. “I keep befriending people who tend to do that, yeah. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”
Daisy felt the wind in her face as she raced to the ground. When she neared the ground, she twisted around so she was face up, and cushioned herself with her powers. She landed neatly on both feet with a soft thud, leaving but a little dent in the ground. She hummed, satisfied with her control, and looked up to focus on the helicopter. Natasha was already slowly descending, and Daisy reached out with her powers.
The helicopter was heavy and dense, but Daisy managed to get a grip on it. She let Natasha do most of the descending part, only intervening when the helicopter was ten metres above the ground. She debated for a moment how to do it, then she forced the blades of the chopper to still, and let gravity bring the whole thing down. She remembered slowly lowering Rosalind Price to the ground and tried to replicate what she was doing then.
The helicopter landed a few feet away with a slightly louder thud, but it was intact and Daisy thought it was a good enough job. She stepped back and dropped her arms, suddenly exhausted. She felt two arms wrap around her, steady her, and absentmindedly realised that Bobbi had gotten out of the damned thing. “You did good,” Bobbi murmured in her ear, and Daisy leaned into her gratefully.
She felt three other heartbeats approaching, and lifted her head. She caught Natasha’s half-worried, half-questioning gaze, and smiled in response. Yelena gave her an appreciative once-over, and Alexei ignored her in favour of talking to his daughters. “I am so proud of you both. You came back for your old man.”
Natasha rolled her eyes and tried to move towards Daisy and Bobbi, but Alexei grabbed both her and Yelena in a bear hug. “You’ve been such good widows; your ledgers must be dripping red. I could not be more proud.”
Daisy felt Natasha’s heartbeat speed up, and quickly detached herself from Bobbi. “We need to move. There’s people nearby.”
It wasn’t even a lie. She could feel heartbeats further down the road, nearby a little farm, and the hairs in the back of her neck had risen the moment she landed. Natasha followed Daisy’s gaze towards the farm and wrung herself from the ‘fatherly embrace’. She started walking down the path with Daisy and Bobbi on her heels. Yelena mumbled something about the smell and followed, leaving Alexei to awkwardly trail after them, clear confusion on his face as to what he said wrong.
///
Natasha walked onto the farm’s terrain, taking in the pigs, the barn and then finally, Melina Vostokoff. Their gazes locked as they assessed each other, the rest of Natasha’s group silently standing behind her. At last, Melina motioned with her gun to Daisy and Bobbi on her left side. “Who are they?”
“Friends,” Natasha replied easily. “Allies, if you will. They’re here to help.”
“Help with what?” her pseudo-mother asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I’ll tell you inside.”
Melina seemed to consider this for a moment. “Well, let’s get inside then,” she said at last, before turning around and walking to the door. Natasha followed, the rest on her heels. Melina put her gun against the countertop and turned back to face them. Her gaze went over the group and lingered on Alexei. “You’ve gotten fat,” she just said. Alexei pouted, while Daisy tried and failed to suppress a chuckle. Melina’s eyes flashed to her. “What?”
“Nothing,” Daisy said quickly, raising one hand in mock-surrender. “It’s just, now I know who Natasha got her wits from.” The corner of Melina’s mouth twitched, and Natasha felt a pang of something in her heart. It was gone before she could decide if it was hurt or guilt or something else.
The moment got broken by Melina clapping her hands together. “Right. Everyone freshen up, we’re going to have dinner.”
Natasha took a deep breath before entering the dining room. Daisy and Bobbi were seated next to each other, and she would bet her widow bites that their knees were touching. Lovesick idiots. She took a seat at one head of the table, next to Daisy, with Yelena on her other side. It was an awkward silence that was interrupted by Melina placing food on the table. She sat down across from Natasha, who frowned at her. “Where is Alexei?”
Before Melina could answer, the door to the dining room opened, and he came prancing, for lack of a better word, through the door opening, his Red Guardian suit stretched tight around his body. A bit too tight, if you asked Natasha, but Melina’s eyes lit up as Alexei did a little pirouette. “It still fits,” he announced proudly. Natasha couldn’t help but exchange a look with Bobbi. Define ‘fits’.
Melina however seemed to be as excited as Alexei. “Aren’t you still handsome.” Alexei beamed at her and took the last seat between her and Yelena. “So, what are we eating?”
“Borsjtsj,” Melina announced, and soon enough they all had a bowl full of soup. The ate in relative silence, until Daisy suddenly sat up and put down her spoon. “It’s really good, but ehm…” she trailed off, looking rather nauseous. Natasha tapped their feet together and Daisy nodded. Natasha caught Melina’s gaze and a small moment of understanding passed between them. Melina gave Daisy a small smile. “That’s okay, milyy. I’m glad you liked it.”
Daisy looked up with a hopeful smile, and quickly nodded. “I did, thank you.” Yelena frowned. “Why do I always have to finish diner, but she doesn’t? That’s not fair.” Daisy looked down again, and Natasha subtly kicked her sisters foot in warning. Don’t, her eyes said. Yelena huffed but didn’t continue the fight.
Melina sighed. “Why are you here?”
Natasha shrugged. “You know why.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
Natasha sighed and put down her spoon as well. “I’m going to bring down the Red Room. For good, this time.” Melina shook her head with a smile. “You don’t even know where they are.”
“But you do.”
They had a silent staring contest, before finally, Melina sighed. She grabbed a small tablet from one of the pockets in her overall, and tapped a few times. Natasha and the others looked on in silent expectation.
A pig entered, pushing the door open with its snout so it could stroll into the room. It stopped in front of Melina, oinking happily. Melina smiled. “Sit.” The pig sat down. “Good boy, Alexei.”
Alexei, the man, not the pig, spluttered. “You named a pig after me?”
Melina gave him a side-eyed look. “Yeah, you don’t see the resemblance?” Natasha ignored the pouting man and turned to her mother. “What are you doing?”
“You need to see what you’re up against. So I am going to show you.” She turned to the big, and swiped on the tablet. “Stop breathing.” The pig stopped breathing. Melina turned back to them.
“We stole this in a facility in Ohio. It was developed by SHIELD, or rather HYDRA, scientists.” She looked at Alexei. “It wasn’t weapons, it was this. The key to unlocking free will. Dreykov has agents all around the globe, all of them submitted to his will. That is what you’re up against.”
Natasha noticed both Yelena and Daisy looking quite nauseous now, and glanced at the pig. “And what are you doing with the pig?”
Her mother looked rather proud, as the pig continued to choke and started swaying. “The chemicals make it so that if the subject is ordered to stop breathing, he will have not choice but to obey.”
A faint rumble went through the house, unnoticed by everyone but Natasha and Bobbi, and the former winced. “Okay, you’ve made your point. Now stop!”
Melina looked rather affronted as she swiped again, and the pig took in a deep breath. “Okay, okay. Just so you know, he would have lasted 11 more seconds without complications.” Natasha exhaled a heavy breath. Melina ordered the pig away, and it strolled out like nothing happened.
She saw Yelena blink furiously before turning to Melina. “You know who they tested it on?” she asked, her voice somewhere between desperation and hope. Natasha’s heart clenched as Melina thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No. No, that was not my department.”
Yelena opened her mouth, but Alexei beat her to it. “That’s bullshit. You were Dreykov’s architect, of course you know. Don’t lie to them.”
“I’m not lying! And if I was his architect, then you were… you were his partner.”
Natasha noticed Yelena shrinking in on herself, and Daisy and Bobbi trying to fade in the background, as her ‘parents’ bickered over who was closest to Dreykov. She snapped. “You’re an idiot,” she said to Alexei, who immediately shut up. She turned to Melina. “And you’re a coward.” Melina looked down, and Natasha repeated it. “You’re a coward.”
“And you keep saying our family was real, yet you let them take us. Experiment on us. That’s not family.” Melina exchanged a look with Alexei. “We had our orders. We played our roles to perfection.”
Alexei nodded. “I think for two Russian spies we did pretty great.”
Natasha shook her head. “Do you even hear yourself. Roles? Spies? How do you keep claiming it was real? It wasn’t real!”
“Don’t say that.”
Natasha’s head whirled towards her sister. “Please don’t say that,” her sister repeated, louder this time. “It was real to me. You were my real mother,” she pointed at Melina, “and you were my sister and that was real to me.” Natasha closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again she met two eyes full of pain and hurt. “The best part of my life was fake,” she took a breath, trying to fight back her tears, “and none of you told me.”
Natasha chanced a glance at Daisy and Bobbi, and saw they were both giving Melina and Alexei dark stares. Yelena hummed and Natasha looked at her again. Her sister turned to their mother. “And those chemically altered agents you talked about? The ones they tested it on? That was me.”
And then she turned to Natasha. “You got out, and no one ever got out again, Dreykov made sure of it. You don’t get to talk.” She shook her head when Natasha opened her mouth. “No.”
Natasha’s heart clenched again, but in guilt this time, and she felt shame colour her cheeks. She felt Daisy’s hand on her leg under the table and felt a sliver of warmth run through her body. Meanwhile, Melina placed a hand on Yelena’s shoulder, but the girl shook it off and stood up. “Don’t talk to me.” She grabbed a bottle of vodka on her way out.
Natasha called after her, but her sister just shook her head and closed the door behind her. And if that didn’t hurt more than anything else in Natasha’s life. Melina stared at her Borsjtsj. “I didn’t know,” she said, and Natasha believed her, but that didn’t make it right. Alexei made a move to get up, but Daisy beat him to it. “I’ll go talk to her.”
She left with one last look at both Natasha and Bobbi. Natasha closed her eyes again, inhaled, exhaled, then opened them. She took her by now empty bowl and walked to the kitchen. She heard footsteps behind her and knew only one person was going to come after her at this moment. “I think I need a few moments alone, Bob.”
Bobbi place her and Daisy’s bowls on the countertop. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
Natasha filled the bowls with water and Bobbi looked around for a dish towel. “I fucked up.”
“No shit.”
“Real supportive, aren’t you?”
Bobbi rolled her eyes, Natasha could just feel it. “We all fuck up. Some a bit more than others. Daisy will talk to Yelena, and then you two need to talk and it will all work out in the end. Now hand me that damn bowl.”
///
Daisy sat down on the end of the bed, knowing that Yelena probably wouldn’t appreciate her invading her personal space. Yelena didn’t look up to see who it was. “Leave me alone.”
“Being alone with your mind after any form of mind control is like, the worst idea in the history of bad ideas, so no.”
Yelena huffed. “So, the powered friend, then. What are you doing here?”
Daisy shrugged. “Keeping you company. Silent or talking, I don’t care. But being alone is not a good idea.”
“So your girlfriend is bugging Natasha while you are on younger sister duty?”
“I came after you willingly, you know.”
“Why?”
Daisy sighed. “Give me that bottle, will ya?”
Yelena finally looked up, and after a moment of deliberation gave her the bottle. Daisy took a swig, nose scrunching when the liquor hit her throat. “Bobbi will be disappointed,” she mumbled. The corner of Yelena’s mouth twitched upwards, much like Nat’s would sometimes when she was fighting a smile.
She sighed and twirled the bottle in her hands. “I was dropped on the orphanage when I was not even one year old. I bumped from family to family, some bad, some worse. Very few were okay. There was one family, the Brody’s, they were good. But I called the mother ‘mom’ and got send back. Never knew why until years later I found out that SHIELD had been bumping me around to keep me safe. To the families, it was never real. But I didn’t know, and for me it was. I thought they didn’t want me. That they didn’t love me. That was real to me.”
She took another swig of the bottle, before turning on the bed to look at Yelena. “I know what it’s like to be lied to. To have a family that seemed like everything, but turned out to be nothing but a play.” She handed the bottle back. Yelena took it with a thoughtful expression. “You’re about as fucked up as I am, aren’t you?”
Daisy shrugged. “I didn’t even tell you yet about that time my biological mother tried to kill me and my biological father had to kill her to save me.”
“Damn.” Yelena took a swig of the vodka, and handed the bottle to Daisy again. “You need this more than I do.”
Daisy grinned and took it. She hesitated for a moment, but then got off the bed to sit down next Yelena on the floor, leaving enough space between them, yet still offering her company. Yelena watched her closely, before turning her gaze to the door. “They’re all idiots.”
Daisy nodded.
“Natasha never came for me. Why?”
The question seemed emotionless, but when Daisy chanced a glance to the side, she saw Yelena’s eyes glisten. She debated how to answer.
“I’m going to be honest with you. I didn’t even know you existed until I pulled you both out of that metro station. I have no idea why she wouldn’t come to you. But I have a guess.”
Yelena motioned for her to continue, and so she did. “My guess? She honestly thought she’d brought the Red Room down. And if that had been true, and you’d never contacted her, or anything, she would have thought that you were mad at her. That you didn’t want to contact her, and therefore didn’t want her to contact you. Because Nat’s great, and a pretty decent therapist, but addressing her own feelings and insecurities takes something else, that none of us spies and assassin’s really have.”
Only silence followed her answer, and Daisy twirled the bottle in her hands. Feelings really sucked, it was why she liked compartmentalisation. Also because feelings were complicated and she couldn’t handle complicated sometimes.
Eventually, Yelena hummed. “You tell her, once we bring down the Red Room, that she better fucking apologise. Then I will too.” Daisy chuckled. “You could just yell at her some more, I think she got the message.”
Yelena shook her head, but there was a slight smile on her face and Daisy felt vaguely victorious. “No, you tell her. She listens to you; respects you.”
“And I respect her. And she frightens me, so I listen to her as well,” Daisy admitted, a smile on her own face as well. Yelena snorted. “She’s about as scary as a bunny. Your girlfriend on the other hand… Six feet of stoic woman? Terrifying.” She shivered, and Daisy laughed. “Fine! I’ll talk to Nat for you.”
“Thank you.”
Daisy took a swig of the vodka, checked the bottle and handed it back to Yelena. “Here, you can get the rest. Or I’ll have two scary women after my ass.” Yelena grinned and drank.
///
Natasha put down the last bowl Melina had brought, and shook the water of her hands. She looked around for another, drier towel than the one Bobbi was using, but couldn’t find one, so she just wiped her hands on her suit. It wasn’t like the suit was white anymore anyway.
Bobbi finished drying the bowl, and turned to lean against the counter, fidgeting with the towel. She was looking at her, like she was waiting for something, but Natasha didn’t know what and it unsettled her, so she put away the now clean and dry bowls and walked out of the kitchen. Her eye fell on Melina’s book case, and she lingered in front of it, eyes brushing over the spines.
Suddenly her eye caught onto something, a vaguely familiar cover, and she pulled it out and opened it. A gasp escaped her as she saw what it was. An old photo album. With pictures of her and Yelena as kids. Playing outside, working on their homework, underneath the Christmas tree. She suppressed a humourless chuckle as she remembered all the presents being empty boxes, because all the photos were fake. She wanted to close it, when she heard a voice from behind her.
“I remember that day,” Melina said softly. Natasha snapped the album shut and put it back on the shelf. “I do too. We shot Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter on the same day.” She turned around, her voice cold. “Why did you keep it?”
Melina looked at the spine, almost longingly, but hesitated to reply. Natasha squared her shoulders. “You know what, I don’t care. You’re not the first mother to abandon me, you know.”
“She didn’t.” Melina’s voice was quiet, but Natasha heard it anyway. “She… didn’t?” She hated the way her voice broke, but she had to know. Melina shook her head. “You were taken. And your mother, so very much like you, was relentless in getting you back. Dreykov had her killed.”
Natasha felt her heart squeeze together. She wanted a hug, but to show such weakness now… She shook herself. “Why are you doing this?” she asked instead, and Melina’s eyes flashed at the subject change, but she answered.
“Why does mouse in a cage run in that little wheel?” She didn’t wait for Natasha’s answer. “I went through the Red Room four times before you were even born, Natalia. It’s all I’ve ever known.”
It was more honest than Natasha had ever heard the woman, and she actually felt her heart ache for her. Melina was a victim as much as her and Yelena were, she supposed. “It’s not your fault that you were in there. It’s not your fault what they made you do.”
For a beat, there was only silence that answered her statement, and then Melina scoffed. Her eyes were on Natasha’s and filled with what almost looked like pride. “How did you keep your heart?”
Natasha didn’t know for herself, didn’t even know if it was true. So she just shrugged. “Pain only makes us stronger, isn’t that what you told me? It’s kept me alive for all these years.” She returned Melina’s gaze steadily. Suddenly, her pseudo-mother’s eyes flitted down, and Natasha tensed. “What?”
“I’m so sorry, I already called them.” Melina sounded really apologetic. “They’re on their way.”
Natasha cursed, then twirled around when Daisy came bursting into the room, briefly taking in the two of them, and Bobbi approaching from the kitchen. “There’s people coming.”
Natasha turned back to her adoptive mother. “This could be our way in.”
“You have a plan?” Melina asked. Natasha gave her a small smile. “Of course. Did you tell them about Bobbi and Daisy?”
Melina shook her head, and Natasha grinned. “Perfect. Then you two get the hell out of here, before they get here.” Bobbi took Daisy’s hand and nodded. Natasha turned to Melina. “And you can show me what kind of weapons you’ve got. We’re going to do a fun little switch.”
Daisy was using her powers as a radar, while Bobbi drove in the direction Melina had pointed them. It was harsh terrain, but the Jeep the elder widow had in her garage was handling it pretty well. Daisy hummed. “I feel something. Slow down.”
Bobbi obliged dutifully, and slowed down, looking up and around the car to see if she could spot something. “Above us,” Daisy breathed. “Stop here.” Bobbi barely had time to properly stop the car before Daisy opened the door and got out. Bobbi quickly followed and rounded the car to where Daisy was standing, eyes closed, face upwards. Bobbi looked up.
It was dark, and she couldn’t see anything other than the night sky, with a couple of stars peeping through the clouds. Daisy hummed. “No wonder no one ever found it if it’s that high up. Although I’d expect Tony’s satellites to pick up at least something.” She opened her eyes and looked back at Bobbi. “Still up for this?”
Bobbi nodded and grinned nervously. “Sure. I’ve always wanted to fly,” she joked. Daisy smiled encouragingly at her and took her hand. She dragged them a bit further away from the car and then turned to face away Bobbi. “Come here.”
When Bobbi stepped into Daisy’s space, her girlfriend pulled her closer so the were flush together. Bobbi linked her hands together around Daisy, and looked down over the smaller woman’s shoulder at her. Daisy grinned. “The moment I take off, you wrap your legs around me, got it?”
“Like a koala, yes. So you said,” Bobbi countered a bit edgy, still nervous for this. Daisy tilted her head slightly to peck a kiss on her cheek. “Or like a piggy-back ride, except with flying, yeah. And you might want to hide your face in my neck. Which is totally fine but I do want to ask you to not throw up over me.”
Bobbi nodded, not trusting her voice too much right now. She felt Daisy’s muscles tense, with how close she was standing, and heard the soft hum of the increased vibrations in the otherwise quiet of the night. She tightened her hold and then suddenly they were off the ground. She yelped out and wrapped her legs tightly around Daisy’s waist, and indeed hid her face in the crook of Daisy’s neck. She thought she heard her girlfriend laughing, but she couldn’t be sure.
The wind was cold as they gained altitude. Bobbi had no intention of looking down to see exactly how high they were, though she doubted she even could when it was so dark. Then suddenly Daisy spoke softly, startling Bobbi. “We’re high enough. I’m going to land us now. Might not be smooth, so be ready.”
There wasn’t time for Bobbi to properly nod before Daisy steered them forwards and then slowly descended them. Bobbi felt her stomach churn and turn at the weird and quite awful sensation. And she thought going up was bad. She chanced a look up and could now see the outlines of the massive flying station that was the Red Room.
As much as she wanted to hide her face back and be miserable until they’d landed, she needed to keep her eyes open for any potential threats. Melina had told them that the security existed mostly of a high-tech radar, but that it wouldn’t catch onto people. Besides that, there would be a few guards, but not enough to properly stop them. Bobbi supposed that if you had a flying station that practically nobody knew where to find, guards weren’t really necessary. Except if everything went according to plan, in a couple of hours, Dreykov would wish he had put up a couple more.
They were above the structure now, and Daisy descended further. Bobbi quickly untangled her feet and let go of Daisy. She let herself drop the last two meters or so and caught herself with a nice roll, Daisy softly touching down a few feet away. They looked at each other.
“You okay?” Bobbi hissed into the night. Daisy nodded, her face barely visible in the dark. “I’ll feel my arms tomorrow,” she whispered back. “Are you okay?”
Bobbi looked around them. “Now that I’m on solid ground, yeah.” She heard Daisy chuckle, and allowed herself a small smile, before switching to mission mode. “Alright. Melina will bring this sweet thing down, Natasha is distracting Dreykov, Yelena is getting the widows out, and Alexei is just getting the hell out of here.”
“And you’re picking up Melina, and I’m going to make sure Natasha doesn’t pull a heroic sacrifice,” Daisy added. She stepped closer, leaned in, and pressed a quick kiss to Bobbi’s cheek. “Alright, lead the way.”
Alarms were blaring over her head, guards were yelling and then shooting at her, and her arms were starting to hurt from the strain she was putting them under. Alas, Daisy’s own gun ran out of bullets a few guards ago, so now her powers were the only ‘weapon’ for long distance. She blew another two guards in the wall, and when she sensed no more guards coming her way, she relaxed. She stepped towards the knocked out guards and took both of their guns, checking the bullets and putting one in the waistband of her jeans, the other one secure in her grip. This would do.
She could feel the station losing altitude, slowly falling towards the ground. Somewhere this plan, like all other plans, had gone south and now they were crashing towards the ground rather than slowly descending.
Natasha came skidding around the corner, blood running from her nose, and one of her shoulders kind of hunched. Daisy took her in shortly, decided she herself didn’t look good enough to comment on how bad her friend looked, and then motioned with her gun towards the exit. “Shall we then?”
And then something exploded. Again. It wasn’t near her, but she felt it tear through the already weak structure that was now starting to completely give way. She tripped and just managed to catch herself as the station tipped over. Natasha stumbled, but didn’t quite fall. “Fucking hell. I thought Melina was going to land us, not crash us.”
“Yeah, that plan got abandoned pretty fast,” Daisy grinned. They might need to get out of here, now. She continued down the half collapsing hallway, using her powers to keep herself balanced and trying not to think about what a mess her arms would be tomorrow. Natasha let out a string of curses at her ‘cheating’, but followed diligently.
They emerged on the landing dock, just in time to see it happen. Melina and Alexei out of sight; Daisy just hoped Bobbi was save with them. But in front of her was Yelena on the wing of what appeared to be Dreykov’s yet, ready to blow it up. Natasha skidded to a halt next to her, and yelled out her sister’s name. Yelena noticed them, and raised her staff in the air. “This was fun!”, she yelled, and then right through Natasha’s gut wrenching scream, she jammed her staff in the jet, and then it exploded.
Daisy dropped her gun the second Yelena flew backwards and away from the still collapsing station, and ran. Natasha made a move to grab her wrist, but she was too late, and without a second thought she jumped over the railing, through a wall of fire and into the air. She thought she heard Natasha yell out her name, but then the wind was hitting her in the face and the blood rushed in her ears and she couldn’t be sure.
Alright. Skydiving. Without a parachute, and just some vibrational powers. Catching a falling woman out of the sky. She could do this. Her eyes fell on a half-familiar white figure falling down, and she pulled her arms in and her head down. In this rate, it would be tricky for her to catch up with Yelena, and she had to make sure they didn’t plummet to the ground together as well.
She forced a little bit of vibrations out of her hands, and she could feel herself speeding up. Alright, so that worked. She did it again, getting closer and closer to Yelena, all the while ignoring the fact that the ground was getting closer too. She could do this, she repeated to herself. And then suddenly she had reached Yelena.
Daisy barrelled into her, sending them both spinning, and Daisy almost lost her grip on the half-conscious widow. She managed to hold on, if barely, and pulled Yelena closer. The girl opened her eyes. “Daisy?” she slurred confusedly. If it wasn’t for their proximity, the words would have been lost in the wind. Daisy nodded, as she debated how to keep them from splattering on the ground when they landed. She really hadn’t thought this through. Bobbi was going to kill her.
“Arms and legs around me!” Daisy yelled, inwardly sighing in relief when the widow complied in her hazed state. “Hold tight!”
She waited for Yelena’s arms to tighten around her waist, not commenting on the fact that the blonde had buried her head in Daisy’s neck, and then used her powers to stop them from spinning. She manoeuvres them so that their legs are going down first. Worst case, they break their legs. Yelena didn’t even seem to notice, but continued to hold on to her for dear life. Which, Daisy supposed was actually the case.
She felt the ground come closer still, pieces of metal and shrapnel falling down around them, and Daisy groaned as she used her powers to keep a piece from hitting them. Fuck, her arms were starting to kill her. She craned her neck to look down. About forty metres. She started to force vibrations out of her hands, slowing them down.
It wasn’t going to be enough. Thirty metres. They were going way to fast. Daisy gritted her teeth and increased the vibrations. Twenty metres. Ten. With one last groan she lashed out with her powers, cushioning their fall as much as she could. And then something hit her in the head, and they crashed down. In a last moment of consciousness, Daisy twisted so that she hit the ground first with Yelena’s more fragile body on top of her. And then everything went black.
Natasha wanted to close her eyes and sleep. Just, close her eyes, and when they opened realise that this was all a really very bad dream, and that none of it had really happened. But she knew it was real, and she couldn’t close her eyes. She stood up on shaky legs, leaving Dreykov’s daughter – no, Antonia – to catch her breath, and stumbled away. Her body felt heavy, her nose and shoulder bleeding and her ears ringing from explosions and gunshots. But she had to keep moving, or she’d collapse. And she couldn’t collapse, because her sister had tried to sacrifice herself and then Daisy had jumped after her and now she had to fucking find them.
She looked around, trying to see a glimpse of Yelena’s white suit in between the mess of bits and pieces from what had been the Red Room up until an hour ago. Natasha supposed she should feel victorious, happy, joyous, but as long as she wasn’t sure Yelena and Daisy were safe, she couldn’t be. She stumbled on, almost cutting her hand when she rights herself on a chunk of metal. And then she sees them.
Or rather, she sees a flash of white in a sea of dark grey and black, and it has to be Yelena’s suit, it just has to be. She makes her way over, climbing over debris and almost falling once or twice, but then she lands in a crater and then she’s looking at her sister. “Yelena,” she whispers.
Yelena looks up, and there is blood running down her face from a cut on her forehead, but she’s alive. Natasha smiles, but then she catches the look in Yelena’s eyes and the smile fades as fast as it appeared. It’s a desperate look, and Natasha can see the fear beneath the exhaustion and the haziness, and then she sees Daisy.
Her heart clenches, and she falls to her knees at her friend’s side. This can’t be happening. “Daisy,” she tries, her voice breaking and her hand reaching out. There is no movement. “Daisy.” She grabs Daisy’s wrist, trying to ignore the bruises already appearing on the Inhuman’s arms. They’d only just started to heal, and now she’d gone and did this.
She feels for a pulse, but she’s shaking and she isn’t sure whether it’s the shaking or Daisy’s heartbeat that she feels. “Pizdets, Daisy!” She’s hardly aware that she’s screaming and nearing hysterical, because all that matters is that Daisy fucking responds to her but she’s not. Her mind flashed with memories of Daisy in an alleyway, almost bled out and ready to die. She had so much more to live for now, and it wouldn’t be fair. It shouldn’t be happening.
A jet lands behind her, but she couldn’t care less, not it was Melina or Dreykov or fucking Ross coming to catch her ass.
“Natasha?”
It’s Bobbi’s voice, it’s nervous and scared, and Natasha can’t look at her. Bobbi doesn’t deserve this. Any of this. But she had to go and get them into this mess.
Then, another voice, so soft she’d think she’d imagined it if it weren’t for the sigh of relief Yelena heaved.
“Nat?” Daisy’s eyes fluttered open. Natasha squeezed her hand. “Thank god,” she breathed, and then Bobbi was kneeling next to her. Yelena moved back to give them some space. Natasha sucked in a shaky breath. “Please never do that again.”
Bobbi looked between them. “Oh, Daisy, what did you do?” she asked, only slightly admonishingly and mostly just worried. Daisy gave them a lopsided grin. “Skydivin’ wi’ no parachute,” she managed to get out. Bobbi tutted. “Yeah we’re not doing that again, alright?”
Daisy nodded, and tried to look past Bobbi. “Is she…” Yelena looked past Bobbi. “I’m fine, thanks to you.” Daisy smiled, and for a moment it was a genuine smile but then it turned into a grimace. “We’ got incoming,” she mumbled. Natasha looked up.
Sure enough, a faint rumble of motors sounded in the distance. That would be Ross. She stood up, and took in her sister, Melina and Alexei, and the widows that had stayed behind, Antonia with them and supported by another widow. “You’re all free to go to do whatever, but I suggest you do it fast,” she simply said. Yelena shook her head. “I'm staying.”
It warmed her, it really did. But Natasha shook her head. “You can’t. I’ll get out, I always do, but you need to get out of here now.” For a moment it seemed that Yelena would protest, but then she gave a short nod. Melina stepped forward, a slight limp in her step but a light in her eyes Natasha hadn’t seen since that mission in Ohio all those years ago. “We’ll take them,” she said. Natasha gave her a grateful smile. “Melina,” she started. “I…” She didn’t know how to say what she wanted to say.
Melina gave her the tiniest smile and leaned forward, taking her hand and squeezing it. Natasha squeezed back. She looked at Alexei, who smiled at her with pride in his eyes. Yelena suddenly huffed and moved to take off her jacket. She shoved it in Natasha’s hands, who raised an eyebrow at her. Yelena didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Keep it safe for me. The pockets are of more use to you,” she muttered.
With a smile, Natasha put it on, and Yelena finally met her eyes. “Looks good on you,” her sister said. Natasha looked down at herself. “Thank you.” Natasha looked back at Bobbi and Daisy, both of the staring at her. Daisy was looking more awake, and half sitting half leaning against her girlfriend. She was smiling, and Natasha just smiled back. They didn’t need words.
It was funny, how all her life Natasha had thought she didn’t have a family, not a real one anyway. And here she was, surrounded by them; the people who loved her and cared for her and stayed with her when it mattered most. So, it was all she could do to smile as Yelena and Alexei helped Melina back into the jet, the other widows and Antonia following them. Bobbi gently lifted Daisy up, bridal style, and once again Natasha was fighting flashbacks from the night that she and Bobbi had found Daisy. Bobbi met her eyes and seemed to be thinking of the same thing, because she started laughing. “I didn’t think we would be doing this again, but here we are. Always the same.”
Daisy huffed, but didn’t reply, instead leaning her head against Bobbi’s shoulder. Bobbi stared down with a loving gaze, and Natasha chuckled. “It’s different though. We have each other now,” she said simply. Both women looked at her. Daisy took her hand and squeezed it, much like Melina. “We do. Give us a call, will ya?”
Bobbi nodded agreeingly. “Yeah. We’d love to visit in whatever country you end up in. We liked Norway, by the way. Small hint.” Natasha rolled her eyes. “Of course I’ll call you. Now go, before I have to drag you out of prison with me.”
Ignoring Daisy muttering that she could escape prison on her own, Bobbi carried her into the jet, where two widows helped them get aboard, and then the engines started roaring and the jet started to lift from the ground. Natasha shielded her face from the wind and the dust with her hand, and watched as the jet gained altitude, and then flew away.
Behind her, the sound of the cars was coming ever closer, and she clicked her vest shut before turning around. Throwing one last look over her shoulder to ensure the jet was out of sight when the cars would reach her, she started limping her way through the debris towards the cars. The sooner Ross got to her, the sooner she could get out again. The sooner she could go back to her family again.
So when Ross came and questioned her, she lied to his face and let him cuff her. And when she was put in the car, she acted compliant and sat down where she was told to.
And if Ross discovered that she was not where he’d put her when the convoy stopped, well, that was his problem.
Natasha had better things to do.