Natasha could feel her daughter's hands gripping tightly to her t-shirt, so she put her arm around her, kind of trying to bring her some comfort.
No one was surprised by the kid's reaction when Alexei entered the house. It was what they had expected for the young girl to act around an unknown man, one that the child did not know if he would hurt her or not.
"You're finally awake!" Alexei was excited to finally meet the little girl, but the sound of his voice only got the child to hide behind her mother.
"Alexei" she warned when he walked closer, her child almost jumping into Yelena's arms, since she was farther away. "It's okay. He's harmless, sweet girl" she assured her, gently combing her fingers through the kid's red hair.
"You don't have to be scared. I'm your dedushka" the man introduced himself, but it wasn't enough for the child whose knuckles were turning white from her tight fists. "Look, I brought something I think you might like" he said, pulling out a tub of strawberry ice cream from the grocery bag. "It's- was your mama's favorite" Alexei showed the kid as she could not avoid smiling, he still remembered from Ohio.
"It still is" she told him. "Do you want to try it?" she asked the child, who was still feeling a little unsure about trusting the big man that was smiling at her. "We don't have to do it now" she assured her daughter.
Vera shook her head timidly, an apologetic look on her face, barely meeting anyone's eyes as if she was scared of what would happen after she would answer.
"It's okay, sweetie" she gently caressed the little one's cheek.
It was not until a few hours later that they were both alone in one of the spare rooms of the farm, finally a quiet time for both of them.
Natasha's smile fell after she felt how her daughter tensed when she finished the first braid. The little girl's hands formed fists, her nails digging into the skin of her palms, so she stopped braiding the kid's hair.
She felt a little sad at the fact that the little girl did not seem to be enjoying their time together. Ever since Yelena had called her, she had been daydreaming about braiding her daughter's hair. She thought it would be a good way of bonding.
"Vera, can you open your hands, please?" she asked, being concerned about how the kid was clenching her fists.
The young girl turned her face, an unreadable mask on it, but she had been a spy for too long not to notice the slight panic that flashed through the kid's green eyes.
Slowly she reached to grab the child's wrists, rubbing circles on them. It was a few seconds later that the child opened her hands for her to see the red marks from the nails.
"If something makes you uncomfortable, just tell me, please" she asked, looking directly into the kid's eyes. "Hurting yourself is not okay, baby" she told the child, tears already forming on the little one's eyes.
"I'm sorry. I'll be better, I promise" the nine year old burst into tears.
"Shh, it's alright, sweet girl" Natasha pulled her baby girl close to herself, the child trembling in her arms. "I don't want you to get hurt, that's all. I'm not scolding you" she assured, rubbing soothing circles on the little girl's back. "What's making you uncomfortable?" she asked once she felt that her daughter was relaxed, but the kid flinched at the question. "You can tell me, it won't make me upset. You have choices now, baby. You can choose what you like or don't like" she cupped the child's face in her hands.
Vera stared at her for a few seconds before nodding, her hands touching the Dutch braid.
"Red Room" the words were barely a whisper, but it made her heart clenched at the pain that was reflected on the child's face.
"We can take it off, see?" she combed her fingers through her daughter's hair. "Thank you for telling me, sweetie" she went back to embrace the little girl. "You can tell me anything, okay?" she told her, the nine year old turning her head to look at her.
"Can I have some- um- strawberry ice cream, please?" Vera questioned her fast and with a low tone of voice, still testing the boundaries, but it got her to smile widely.
"Yes, you can, baby" she answered as a small smile was being drawn on her daughter's lips.
-/-
"What are you doing here?" Yelena asked the young girl that was sitting outside the house.
Vera jumped scared at her voice, her hands covering her ears as her green eyes closed, taking in a few deep breaths.
She frowned while observing the child, whose hands remained over her ears. There was something in that behavior that she could understand.
During the first days after being freed from mind control, it took Yelena a lot of work and patience to quiet every single voice inside her head. There were constant headaches, all the time trying to make sure that no one would be able to control her again in that same way. But the worst part was when she could still hear Dreykov's voice as if she was still under his control. It made her angry and scared. Even at that moment, she was still figuring out what it was like to be able to make her own choices.
"It's your head hurting?" she asked her niece while sitting down next to her.
The redhead just stared at her for a few seconds before nodding, her right hand rubbing her forehead as if somehow it would make her headache go away.
Yelena smiled sadly at the kid's actions. She had tried the same, getting angry each time that it did not work.
"I have headaches from time to time too. It's because of mind control" she explained to the kid.
"I don't want to hear him" the nine year old kid shook her head angrily and she had to grab it to stop her from getting hurt, gently putting her hands on each side of the child's head.
"I know. I don't want to either" she admitted.
Her niece sighed while clenching her fists, something she had noticed the kid would do whenever she was uncomfortable or scared. It seemed to be the only reassurance the little girl had about being in control.
"Come here" she said while opening her arms, not knowing if the child would trust her.
However, Vera looked down for a few seconds before moving closer to her and she could not avoid smiling at finally being able to hug that little girl.
Yelena pulled the kid closer to her, making sure that the little one was comfortable in the embrace before reaching out to massage the child's scalp with her fingertips. She knew it would help her niece to release some tension.
The young girl relaxed immediately, leaning into the gentle touch as her eyes closed and she buried her face into the crook of Yelena's neck, seeking the comfort her aunt was giving her at that moment.
"I didn't want to kill them" the child murmured against her skin, still deep in her own thoughts.
The blonde felt her heart breaking at the kid's words. Vera was only nine, too young to be already so broken. She was just a little girl. But in the Red Room they were not raised to be kids, they were raised to be assassins and that meant being able to survive even doing things they would not like.
"I know you didn't want to. What they did to us was wrong, Vera" she told her, even if sometimes it was hard for her to believe. "Are you feeling a little better?" she asked, getting the kid to hum as a response, still leaning onto her so she would not stop the massage.
She turned her head towards the window, being aware that her sister was staring at them from there. There was concern in Natasha's face so she smiled reassuringly while giving her a thumb up.
"Go. She's safe with her tetushka" she mouthed to her older sister, but when Tasha just smiled a little and did not move, she sighed. "Your mama doesn't trust me alone with you, little widow" she told her niece, who turned her head as well only to see that the woman was walking towards them.
"I don't like that name, Yelena" Natasha scolded her, to which she rolled her eyes.
"Why not? She's technically a widow and she's little" she explained. "Okay, what about baby widow?"
"No"
"Little spider?"
"No"
"Ugh, you're no fun, Natasha" Yelena complained while doing her signature pout, which got the little one to giggle slightly.
It was not loud enough, but it got both sisters to stop their little argument and to stare at the young girl. That giggle was the best sound they both had ever heard.
Hi!
Yelena and Vera. I can already see them being partners in crime. I really liked writing that last bit about the nickname.
Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think,
Ayrin