Natalia walked through the Russian wilderness in silence, her hands stained crimson red from the blood which was still dripping down her hands, onto the ground and a good majority of it staining her clothes.
She couldn't find it in her body to find an ounce of remorse for any of them...
"Well that was a fucking mess."
Natalia looked to her left and saw her sister walking right along side her with as much red stained onto her body as her older sister.
"Yeah tell me about it." The older widow mumbled under her breath while absently trying to rub some of the blood from her hands.
"So...wanna tell me what that was about? Why we just killed all those people back there?" Yelena asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not really no."
Yelena clicked her tongue and nodded her head, "Okay, that's cool. It's not like I just risked my life to save you or anything."
"You didn't save me."
"I, most certainly did."
"No, you didn't."
"There was at least one time back there that I saved you."
"Nope."
"Listen I know you have trouble with asking for help, but it's okay, I'm not gonna tell anybody that the big bad Black Widow AKA, Natasha Romanoff needed saving. Your secret is safe with me." She smirked at her older sibling.
Meanwhile Natalia rolled her eyes and tried not to smile at the use of her old name. The name that Yelena and her used when they were on that undercover mission back in Ohio of 1995.
She hasn't heard that name for a long time...
"So...what's the plan sister?" Yelena asked after a moment of silence.
The twenty three year old looked around their surroundings and sighed in resignation. She knew she'd have to tell her sister about her child, the one that she had been keeping secret from everyone for five whole years.
The thought made an unexpected surge of guilt hit her heart, she knew her sister had just recently turned eighteen and had undergone the graduation ceremony.
She knew Yelena would never have a child, she kind of feels like she's betraying her sister, because she has one, a beautiful baby boy who's out there in the world, someplace where she doesn't know but she will find...while Yelena...
Yelena would never get that chance...
"I've gotta tell you something." She said to Yelena, making sure to look her in the eyes and convey that this was a serious topic so she shouldn't joke around anymore.
Yelena saw her message through her gaze, always really good at reading her sister, probably one of the only ones who could actually. She nodded her her head and leaned against a nearby tree and waited for her sister to talk.
An hour later, Natalia was finally done explaining everything to her sister while Yelena was staring at her with a blank expression across her face.
"Let me get this straight, instead of the graduation ceremony, they injected you with sperm which fertilized one of your eggs, then nine months later you gave birth to a baby boy and then, they scooped out your other eggs so you couldn't have anymore. Do I have that first part right?"
"Yeah pretty much."
"Then you kept him a secret from me, your own sister for five whole years. Five years where I could've known I was an aunt?"
Natalia shook her head, "They never would have let you near him."
"But you still could have told me. You know how worried I was those nine months that I didn't see you? I thought they...I thought they killed you Tasha." Yelena whispered softly.
Natalia's eyes softened and she laid one of her hands on her sisters shoulders, "I'm sorry, really I am. I did what I had to do to keep Pyotr safe...I wanted to tell you so many times." Natalia whispered.
Yelena huffed and smirked at her sister, "Yeah I bet, I'm just that awesome. Best aunt in the universe I'd wager."
Natalia snorted, "Believe whatever helps you sleep at night младшая сестра."
Yelena then grew more serious, "What're we gonna do? I mean, we're obviously going to find him, but we can't just go around stirring up trouble. Especially if we do so illegally, even though, I'm all for that idea. I'd be easier on everyone if we had more help."
Natalia thought for a moment before she remembered that piece of paper stuffed in the bottom of her pocket from that Shield agent.
The one who offered her a way out...
"Do you have that dumb burner phone?" She asked her sister.
Yelena's eyes narrowed in suspicion before she nodded her head, "Yeah, why?"
She held our her hand, "Give it to me. I've gotta make a call."
Her eyes were still narrowed but she dug through her back pocket and threw the phone at her which Natalia caught with ease.
She reached into her own pocket to grab the slip of paper and dialed the number the man had given her.
"What're you doing?"
"Making a deal." She said casually.
"With who?"
"American Government, they go by Shield."
"Americans? What are they gonna help us with?"
Natalia sighed, "When I went on my mission, I ran into an agent who was sent to kill me. He defied orders though and said if I ever wanted out, I just had to call him. I'm expecting they're gonna want information in exchange, but if they can help me find my son, then I'll give them all the information I have."
After a moment of silence, Yelena spoke up, "If you're sure, then I'll be with you every step of the way. I want to meet my nephew for the first time, I think you've deprived him of his awesome aunt for far too long." She smirked.
Natalia shook her head before she dialed the number and put the phone up to her ear. The device rang three times before someone on the other end answered.
"Who's this?" The familiar voice of Clint said through the phone.
"I'm ready to talk about that offer." She didn't answer the man's question, confident that he'd know who she was.
Sure enough, she was correct, "Well, guess I was right, huh Natasha? You still in Berlin or have you gone back to your home base."
"I just destroyed my home base." She said flatly into the phone.
"Huh...well that makes things a little easier in your favor." He mused out loud before he continued, "Where are you then?"
"Russia, twenty miles north of Petersburg."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do."
——————
"Barton you've done many stupid things, but this takes the mother fucking cake!"
Clint should have been prepared for this, and in complete honesty he was, but that didn't change the fact that he still found himself wary of what would come of it.
It wasn't everyday that a top agent defies a direct order and lets a Russian assassin live while also giving said assassin a way to contact him.
Yeah, now that he looks back on it, probably wasn't his best idea, but he doesn't regret it.
Not one moment of it.
Mary and Richard were standing right next to him too, giving him their silent support while Fury stalked over with anger written all across his face.
"I did what I thought was best sir, I saw something in her, she didn't want to be there. I wouldn't have gone through with my plan if I wasn't a hundred percent certain about that." He replied.
Fury scoffed, "And what happens when her and her sister turn on us, hmm?"
"From what we all saw, they fought their way out of that building. There was bodies everywhere when you sent in that clean up sir, someone who wanted to stay there wouldn't kill everyone there, including one of the heads of the Red Room." He said, referring to the dead body of Madame B they had found in one of the rooms.
Fury glared at him, "If this goes sour, you three are taking the fall for it, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir." The three of them answered at the same time. The four of them then stood in silence, waiting until Coulson's team got back with he two assassins in question.
They stood and waited for another ten minutes before a line of SUV's drove into the building and parked. Some agents got out first to open the doors and escort the two Widows out of the middle
SUV.
Yelena and Natasha looked around, mapping out the room they were in just in case. Natasha also refrained from telling them her real name. That was something that she'd keep with her to the day she died.
No one had to know...
She was already taking a risk at telling them about her son, but she needed help in finding him, she needed her son with her and she knew that she couldn't do it alone, even with the help of her sister.
The man, Coulson, led the two widows towards everyone else. The both of them had been stripped of their weapons which was the only way that the director allowed them anywhere near one of their safe houses.
Once they were in front of the man, he scowled at them, "You two better have a damn good reason for being here, and if I don't like it I'll send you to rot in jail for the rest of your lives, understood?"
"We'll aren't you a ray of sunshine." Yelena muttered sarcastically which caused her sister to elbow her in the side.
She hissed in pain and shot a betrayed look towards her sister but Natasha wasn't looking at her, instead deciding to stare down the glaring director of Shield.
"I'll give you all the information I have on the leader of the Red Room, General Dreykov. All the information I've gathered since I was a little girl about his operations and where he stays, personal info and anything else that I know about other countries and their governments." All the occupants of the room stared at the older Widow in shock.
That was a lot of information, a lot of stuff that could help them end the Red Room and to give them an edge over certain countries.
But Fury knew that things didn't come without a cost...
"What do you want in exchange?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Full pardon for my sister and I for the crimes we've committed. We'll work for you so you can even keep an eye on us, but in exchange...you also have to help me with something a bit...personal." She said.
Fury furrowed his eyebrows, "And what would that be?" He asked.
Natasha gulped, "You need to help me find my son."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she could see how everyone in the room was shocked by her confession. Fury though was the one who snapped out of it first.
"Your son? I thought widows underwent a procedure so they couldn't have children?" He asked , unable to keep the suspicion out of his voice.
Natasha sighed, "When I was eighteen, five years ago, I though I was undergoing the normal procedure for when we become of age...but I was wrong. I woke up and Madame showed me a file code named Project LoneWolf. It had all the data about me and my child, although the father was classified. All I ever found out about him was he was enhanced." She said.
"So your kid also is enhanced?" Fury asked.
"Yeah, they give all widows minor enhancements too, they make us age slowly and increase our stamina but the file made it abundantly clear that my child would develop abilities later on in his life." She said.
"So let me get this straight, you want a pardon for yourself and your sister, along with our help with finding your son and in exchange, we get all the information that you both have accumulated over the years of being a spy, along with taking down the Red Room for good. Do I got that right?" Fury asked.
Natasha nodded, "Yes."
Fury hummed in thought for a moment before he nodded his head, "Barton will show you to your room while we think this over." And without another word, he turned around with Coulson following behind him, leaving only a few agents to guard the two sister along with Clint and the other two next to him.
"We'll that went pretty well, all things considered." Clint said offhandedly while smiling at Natasha.
"Will he accept?" She asked bluntly.
Clint laughed, "Trust me, he's an absolute control freak. He'll want all the info you've got so he's going to say yes, I promise you that."
"He looks like a pirate. Remember? Back in Ohio when that one kid dressed up as one for...what was that, dumb holiday again? It started with an H?"
"Halloween?" She asked her sister with a raised eyebrow with clear amusement written across her face.
"Yes! That's it! How do you remember stuff so trivial?" Yelena shook her head.
"I'm just better than you." She smirked at her sister.
Yelena rolled her eyes, "Ha ha, you're hilarious."
A sudden snort brought their attention to the beautiful woman with brown hair and equally brown eyes that was standing to Clint's left, "Don't let him hear you call him a pirate, then he'll never say yes to your deal." She said with a smirk across her face which in turn, caused Natasha to smirk.
She liked her already.
"Yeah, don't ever call him anything else but sir or Fury while you're in the same room as him. He might kill you where you stand." The other man, who was standing next to the woman, said with amusement in his gaze.
"Yeah, Rich here speaks from experience." Clint said with a smug look directed at the man.
"It was one time." The man groaned which caused the other two to laugh at his expense. The three of them continued to tease each other all the way down the hallway while Natasha and Yelena watched the interaction with interest.
It was different for them to see people interact so carefree like these people were, it was...weird to say the least.
After a couple minute walk, the Shield agents stopped in front of a door before they turned to look at the two sisters.
"We'll come get you when there's good news okay? Just rest for now." The woman said, who they still didn't know the name of.
They nodded before walking into the room and they watched as the door closed and they listened to the fading footsteps. After a few minutes of listening, the two sisters relaxed and Natasha allowed her emotions to be seen, finally dropping the mask.
Yelena noticed and laid her hand on her shoulder, "Everything's gonna be okay."
Natasha nodded, "Yeah." She said, but she wasn't convinced in the slightest.
She hoped they made their decision soon, for every moment that she sat here, was a moment she wasn't looking for her son.
God she hoped he was okay...
——————
Pyotr didn't know what was happening, but what he did know was when he woke up, he was someplace he didn't recognize and his mother wasn't there with him.
Which instantly made the boy uneasy...
He looked around the room he was in and saw there was a cot in the corner and a toilet in the other one. There was a single window at the top right hand corner of the room but there were metal bars instead of glass.
The last thing he noticed was the wall opposite the window. Instead of an actual wall, there were metal bars tightly compacted together like a cell he had seen a few times while his mother was gone and the doctors took him to their lab.
There was a bad feeling starting to pool in the little boys stomach and he didn't like it one bit.
He wanted his mother...
Just then, Pyotr heard a door slam shut which made the boy jump from his spot on the ground before he snapped his attention towards the cell door where he could make out four men, three of them surrounding one that looked to be some sort of leader.
What Peter saw though was the octopus symbol on all of their arms.
But why would they all have an octopus on their arms?
"с этого дня тебя зовут Паук, ты понял, мальчик?" (From this day forward, your name is Spider, do you understand boy?) The man in the middle glared at him with cold blue eyes that made Pyotr shiver.
"где моя мама? Я хочу маму!" (Where's my mother? I want my mom!) The boy glared up at the man defiantly, looking a lot like his mother in that moment.
To bad the look had no effect on the men standing in front of him.
" Ты будешь тренироваться с солдатом, станешь даже лучшим активом, чем он. Затем, когда вы будете готовы, вы завершите заключительную часть своего обучения и по просьбе Дрейкова переместитесь обратно в Красную комнату, после того как вы здесь больше не нуждаетесь." (You will train with the soldier, become even better of an asset than him. Then once you're ready, you will complete the final part of your training and be moved back to the Red Room per Dreykov's request after you are no longer needed here.) The man said before signaling his men to leave the room.
Before the leader walked out though, he whispered a phrase in English that made fear course through the boy's body.
"Hail Hydra."
With that said and done with, the man walked back down the hallway and slammed the door shut, leaving Pyotr alone in his cell with only his thoughts to keep him company.
He wanted his mother.
But there was nothing he could do but just sit back and wait for something to happen.
And he hated that.