The Undo Button
As Maria struggled to walk back to Talos’s car with him after the fight with Antonia, Talos had Maria lean on him, he was also not in great shape but he was not as bad as she was, despite his old man appearance, he was in his skrull prime—so he kept claiming to Maria as he walked back when she expressed concern about him.
“So you are helping a rogue Avenger, huh?” Talos asked he was not unaware of current events and Maria sighed.
“Please, like this is my first time…” Maria smirked and Talos made a wide eyed look at her that she better come clean to Fury.
“Did you tell Fury?”
“Like he doesn’t already know.” Maria rolled her eyes to herself, everyone always knew everything when it came to Natasha, and still they knew so little about her truth and past. “But I’ll take care of it.” Maria assured as Talos tried to assist her into his car but she gave him a ‘I can do it myself’ reluctant glare and he backed off accordingly.
“I think my shoulder might be broken….” Maria muttered as Talos got into the car.
“Honestly, if that’s all you walk away with, that’s pretty good.” Talos praised and Maria observed her scratched up hands, and then grabbed at her neck that was throbbing and Talos observed her.
“Well, you know you look a little rough for wear.” He teased.
“I know, I need to get one of those suits Antonia had. But, wait until you see yourself.” Maria glanced at him.
“Soren will think I’m dashing this way.”
“Are we going to see her because I would love to ask her.” Maria snarked.
————————— S.H.I.E.L.D TRAINING FACILITY GYM ———————- 2008
In a state of the art facility gym Maria and Laura were standing around some cardio equipment, Sharon Carter approached them to talk casually, and Melinda May wondered over that way as well. The four women seemed like their own little clique chatting in the corner.
“Hill, when you’re the boss of everyone in… I’ll guess 2 years conservatively, can you please get rid of the mandated one piece SHIELD jumpsuit for women? The men get two pieces and we don’t?” Sharon sighed.
“It has no practical purpose.” May added. “And if anything, we need the two pieces more than the men, you know these are a pain when it’s your time of the month.” May huffed.
“Yeah, I’m with you, it’s my number one priority.” Maria said seriously, she also hated the one piece suits, they were so impractical.
“You know you can just wear the mens’ right?” Laura added. “That’s what I do.” She shrugged.
“Why have I never thought of that?” Sharon grumbled.
As the women continued to mumble about typical workplace gripes a younger female agent approached the group, running right up to Maria who she knew was a supervisor.
“Supervisory Agent Hill, is it true a real widow defected to SHIELD?” She asked in a concerned tone as if she was reporting on a rumor she wanted to quash.
Maria paused and she looked right at Laura shocked that this information was out there already. She didn’t know what to say.
“Don’t look at me, I only told Sharon.” Laura looked over at Sharon.
“Don’t look at me, I only told May.” Sharon looked at May.
“I only told Jimmy Woo….” May said and she looked at Jimmy who was always awkwardly standing around this group of women, mostly because he was close friends with May and who just came up to the group of them in that moment.
“I uh, I did mention it in the mens locker room….” Jimmy admitted making a face.
“I told you not to tell anyone.” May sighed.
“You always say that so I never know when you mean it.” Jimmy shrugged.
“I always mean it….” May rolled her eyes. “God, men are the biggest gossips.” May and Sharon exchanged a glance and a nod.
“That’s just a rumor.” Maria told the young female agent like she shouldn’t be worried.
“Oh.” The female agent said with a pause. “That’s probably good, from what we know about widows so far, they are so dangerous, they’d probably infiltrate and kill us all.” She said said looking over the higher ranking agents who were all friends before she left.
“Do SHIELD agents keep getting younger?” Laura asked.
“I think you are just getting older.” Sharon smirked.
“Ha ha…” Laura rolled her eyes, but Sharon wasn’t wrong about that.
“If there is a defection, I don’t know that it’s going to go over very well…” Sharon mumbled.
“Having someone who went after our own is a rough sell.” May agreed.
“We need more information on the operations of the Red Room.” Laura chimed in.
“How do you think we would get it if we didn’t let the widow defect?” Jimmy asked, in a rare but excellent point for him.
“Wait, Hill, who did you tell?” Sharon asked.
“Tell what?” Maria asked as it was observed by the others she was noticeably quiet.
“About the defection?” Sharon clarified.
“You mean who did I tell highly classified top secret information to?” Maria looked at the group of them like of course she never uttered a word about it to a soul.
“Is anyone really surprised they made Hill a supervisor and none of us?” May snickered and they all laughed. Maria tilted her head for a moment and smirked a bit to herself, coming from the military she didn’t realize there were optional rules.
“Why does it feel like you guys are making fun of me for following the rules?” Maria asked them. This group of people at SHIELD had always been so nice and welcoming to her, and she did seem to fit in well with them, really Laura was the one who helped Maria adjust into the SHIELD world. The group did tease each other a lot in a friendly way.
“We are.” Laura grinned.
“They do that to me too.” Jimmy mumbled in the background and Maria sighed and groaned to herself.
“Break more rules and then you two can be cool.” Sharon smirked.
“I don’t know, Maria’s pretty cool, but Jimmy is lame.” May pointed out and the group nodded in agreement with that except Jimmy.
“Why am I lame?” He whined.
“If you have to ask, then you already know.” May joked and Jimmy thought about how her quip made absolutely no sense but everyone agreed with it blindly because when May said things like that it sounded cool. The group started to disband as they had things to do and work outs to finish and Maria was again alone with Laura.
“Breaking rules is better than breaking bones, right?” Laura joked to Maria.
“Could we just keep all of our bones and rules in tact?” Maria asked.
“If you want to be lame!” Laura joked liked a high schooler and Maria stared at her trying not to make an uncomfortable face.
“Okay, I am getting old an out of touch, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, but in the way a mom is on a 90s sitcom so it’s still kind of charming and endearing to the audience.” Maria snarked back and Laura pointed in Maria’s face.
“You remember you said that, when I decimate your running time later.” Laura smirked at her competitively and Maria shook her head like there was no way in hell that was going to happen.
———— ———————————————- THE RED ROOM - PRESENT DAY
Natasha was on the ground in Dreykov’s office, recovering from his strikes. They hurt a bit, but it wasn’t the worst pain Natasha had ever felt in her life. She caught her breath as she crouched her body upward.
“Natasha you wouldn’t dare mock me if you had any idea about my elaborate network that I built from the ground up. That’s how I know you and your little Avengers are never going challenge me, you don’t even know the lengths in which I control the world.” He bragged.
“Oh, god, you are so desperate to impress me.” Natasha groaned.
Dreykov laughed at her.
“Impress YOU? The daughter of worthless street trash whore? I don’t need to impress anyone. Kings bow to me, world leaders answer to me knowing my widows will set them straight if they don’t. Look at my perfect, perfect, widows.” He showed off the women he groomed, abused, and tortured into perfect little dolls. “They were garbage, thrown out on the street to die. I recycled the trash. I gave them everything. I trained them, I made them into something that mattered. They all appreciate it, unlike you. You didn’t even understand the power you had, you could have made and broken kings, you could have started and ended wars, starve a quarter of the planet, you could have had REAL power Natasha, but you turned your back on your family, but I am going to set that right. You will never walk out of here until you know who your real family is, and until you are grateful for it.” Dreykov yelled at her.
“You control all of these women from here?” Natasha asked fishing but she sounded astounded in shock at his reach and Dreykov thrived in it.
“And now, I’ll control all of the, and an Avenger, right from here.” Dreykov grinned to himself.
“You can do all of that from this little console.” Natasha looked astounded, amazed, flabbergasted by his power and influence and Dreykov revved in it, grinning and nodding as he showed off his power, practically glowing.
After the pause, Natasha started to smirk.
“Oh, do you find it amusing, are you ready to beg me to come back home? Is that why you are smiling?” He asked with a little scoff in his voice.
“I just wanted to thank you for your cooperation.” Natasha quipped her classic line and Dreykov scoffed at her. Hadn’t she tried this bullshit already?
“What? What are you going to do against me? I am untouchable.” He grinned.
“You are definitely someone no one wants to touch.” Natasha snickered. “But you, you weak pathetic old man, you were not strong enough, so I guess I have to finish this myself.” Natasha said as she banged her head on his desk, breaking her nose and severing the nerve. A red line ran down her nostril and Dreykov looked disgusted at her appearance.
“What, what are you doing?!” He asked surprised by her action.
“I severed the nerve.” She grinned feeling the blood drip down her, Dreykov looked surprised and Natasha lunged at him over his desk and he quickly moved backward but just as Natasha propelled herself at Dreykov ready to pummel him with her bare hands she felt metal vine like object whip around her wrist and pull her down against his desk, tethering her out of Dreykov’s reach and bending her electro bracelet as well.
“Oh, Natasha, little Natasha! Fierce Natasha.” Dreykov scoffed and snickered as Natasha’s wrist was restrained against his desk with this morphing magnetic vine restraint. She pulled at the restraint and it just moved with her, not loosening keeping a tight behind on her wrist.
“Sure, sur, you and Melina thought of everything..” He winked at Natasha smugly.
“You think I can’t kill you with one hand?” Natasha lunged toward him again and the restraint tightened and kept a close distance to the desk so Natasha couldn’t reach him.
“Isn’t this a great little metaphor? No matter what you do, no matter what you try to make up or change, you’ll always be tethered close to me.” He grinned as he walked around his desk just out of Natasha’s reach taunting her.
“I was going to kill you, and then I realized I already have to kill Melina, and Yelena, and you ruined my daughter to a point of no repair, so what is a man’s life if he doesn’t have any of his favorite women around?” He snickered and Natasha glared at him hatefully.
“So, I decided, instead, she’s salvageable, she needs more, harsher, painful, stricter training and regimen to get her head right. Of course, I have the chemicals that will help as well, but for you, a member of Widow Classic—TM” he remarked as if he was cracking a joke. “You prefer the old school way, you remember how fun it was? Do you remember how much you learned?”
“Shut up.” Natasha muttered taking a deep breath.
“You couldn’t have hated it that much if you excelled at it so well. It made you the woman you are, you owe everything to your home, and how lucky for you you get to do it all over again.” He smiled with a devilish grin and Natasha again lunged toward him but was trapped by her restraint.
“Welcome home!” He cheered as he started to walk toward the door to exit and a perfect single file line of widows marched into the room with excellent posture and stone looks on their face, not showing an ounce of emotion. They were dead behind the eyes.
“Make it hurt, girls. Real slow, make her know what suffering really is, so she can turn herself around and beg to return to her family again. The only people who have ever loved her, or appreciated her, or valued her in anyway. Show her how much we love her with pain.” Dreykov ordered and the women filed into the room surrounded the restrained Natasha and Dreykov left the room for his own safety, although he did have cameras up so he could watch it later.
As the widows descended on Natasha, she knew she just needed more time for Yelena and Melina to get here with the red dust.
One of the widows stepped forward, glaring at Natasha hatefully.
“The thing is, guys, ladies, whatever you want to be called, really, well fuck the gender binary, you’ll learn all about that when you are free—- I don’t want to hurt you, I’m here to help you, to he…” Natasha started to explain as she was punched in the face by one of the widows. Natasha grunted and groaned in pain as she shook her head.
“Help you…” Natasha said grabbing onto her face gasping in pain.
MEANWHILE ….
“Yelena, I need you to give your earpiece to Alexei, I need him, I need to talk to him now.” Melina called in as she rushed out of the engine room.
Yelena stared at Taskmaster and she took out her earpiece and gave it to Alexei. She was expecting Taskmaster to try and go at her when she did but nothing happened.
“Mom needs you.” Yelena said and Alexei took the earpiece from her like he was taking an item of great esteem and honor. He looked at it at briefly and then plopped it into his ear.
“Maybe should have wiped it off first…” Yelena mumbled to herself.
“We do not have time for these games.” Antonia responded and Yelena sighed.
“I need to get the widows, the widows are this way, if you’re really freed then you’ll understand why I have to keep going.” Yelena said glaring at Antonia’s mask.
“The widows that are here, they are in Dreykov’s office, they aren’t where you are going, I saw them get called there.” Antonia explained and Yelena nodded. Antonia and Yelena started running toward the office where Dreykov and Natasha were.
“Alexei! I need you to get into the comms and guide the controlled crash, right now before we all die.” Melina called in.
“You… you need me to do something?” He asked amazed and honored.
“Yes, Alexei, I have always need you!” Melina called in and Alexei balled his hand into a fist with pride.
“I am<./I> needed.” Alexei declared.
“Scary mask woman, how do I escape the trap?” Alexei asked in a firm tone. Antonia and Yelena stopped running and Antonia pointed down the hall that Alexei had come from.
“That is the way that I came from.” He answered.
“….right… the trap is the opposite way….” she tried not to make her eye rolling evident in her voice.
“That makes good sense.” He nodded and he started to race down the hall, but then he turned around.
“Yelena, I should have been a good father, I should have protected you, I should have saved you…” he started but Melina cut into his ear piece.
“We are going to crash and die!!” She yelled.
“I know that’s why I have to tell her all of this right now.”
“ALEXEI!” Melina cried.
“Okay, okay, long story short, I love you, I am so proud of you, I would be proud of you no matter what, you are my daughter for real, in my heart, in the world, always.” Alexei said with care and Yelena stopped from running with Antonia toward the widows and where Natasha was and she paused hearing those kind unexpected words and Alexei was looking at her with such love and consideration that it felt so real to her.
“I love you too, dad,” Yelena’s voice sounded like she was saying it begrudgingly but deep down she really did appreciate his words. Alexei smiled and then he started to run back to the coms system to try and guide the landing of the Red Room to keep the crash more controlled than a free fall disaster that would kill everyone, but of course they had to have their moment.
“Okay okay, I know, let’s go.” Yelena muttered to herself as she followed Antonia toward where the widows had gone.
As Yelena and Antonia got closer to Dreykov’s office they could hear someone crying in pain and Yelena realized it was Natasha.
“Natasha!” She whispered in concern.
“He left…” Antonia grumbled to herself.
Yelena peered into the room seeing how outnumbered Natasha was and realizing she was restrained and she gasped.
“They’re going to kill her.” Yelena whispered and Antonia shook her head no.
“No, they’re going to torture her.” Antonia clarified and Yelena made a face like she was ready to bust into the room and Antonia grabbed her arm.
“They will kill you.” Antonia said to Yelena and then Yelena realized she was right.
“Do you have good aim?” Antonia asked and Yelena looked at her like OF COURSE she did and Antonia handed Yelena a micro bomb, a tiny bullet like device that would break all the glass of the vials that Yelena had in her hand. Yelena knew exactly what it was.
“I was just going to toss it in and shoot at it, but this works.” Yelena smirked.
“The micro implosion device will propel it forward further, set the distance here on the turnstile.” Antonia showed her how to turn the end of the device so it would now how far to launch, propel, and then implode, crushing whatever surrounded it.
“I have to go find Dreykov before he escapes for good.” Antonia said in a serious tone before she left to find Dreykov for herself.
“I got this…” Yelena nodded knowing how dangerous it was, that the widow who freed her paid with her life, but it was a cause worth dying for.
BACK INSIDE DREYKOV’S OFFICE
“Look…” Natasha tried to reason with them. “You don’t want to hurt me, I was just like you and now I am free and I can free you too, you just have to…” she started and another Widow struck her hard with a baton and Natasha cried in pain.
“Just listen to me, I promise…” Natasha tried to explain in breathy painful words as one of the widows whipped at baton at her and Natasha caught in her hand and twisted it, Natasha kicked her and she fell backward and Natasha got the electrified baton in her hand as Natasha looked around it seemed like there were more widows around her than there were before and they all had raised their own batons at her.
“Are you guys multiplying in the shadows!” Natasha groaned as three widows came at her at once, Natasha kicked one and whipped the baton at the other, the third grabbed wrist and then yanked Natasha over Dreykov’s desk trying to hit her head on it, and Natasha used her other leg to kick the widow attacking her, a fourth widow hit Natasha in the stomach hard with her baton and Natasha had to keel over forward her tethered hand still stuck to the desk. Another widow came at her and then Natasha took the electrified baton and jammed it into the restraint where it was bound to the desk and she freed herself.
Just as the magnetic vine released around her wrist, Natasha was pummeled by a widow to the ground, Natasha flipped under her on the ground and then set an electric pulse through her with now freed bracelet. Natasha jumped up from the ground, already bleeding and out of breath as the group of widows formed a multi layered circle around her. That’s when Natasha caught the glimpse of Yelena with the vials in hand, ready to aim it into the center of the circle.
Natasha gave a slow nod in Yelena’s direction, she took a deep painful breath.
“Alright, let’s go!” Natasha said eagerly as the widows descended onto her and Natasha started fighting off each one the best she could, kicks, hits, baton, here, electric pulse shock here but one window jumped her from behind wrapping her arm around Natasha’s neck chocking her. Natasha tried to free herself unsuccessfully and the cascades of widows all moved in closer to the circle to have their turn striking and hitting Natasha with their fists or batons, as the widows moved closer and closer in, locking Natasha into the center the numerous vials of red dust was tossed from the doorway where Yelena was now boldly standing, it propelled forward and then imploded above all the widows and a giant cloud of red dust and glass poured over everyone.
The shock of the implosion and release of the dust shocked everyone, they froze as the rained down onto them, the widow holding Natasha loosened her grip until she eventually let go as she started to be released from her trance, all of the widows were, and they were in a state of shock as the realized what had been happening to them and this new feeling they didn’t understand was taking over their minds.
Natasha took some deep sighs of relief as she got herself up from the floor. All of the former widows stared at her.
“See, I was just trying to help…” Natasha muttered to herself, one of the widows fell to her knees and started crying another bent down to help her.
“Get out of here you guys! Go!” Natasha encourage. “Never come back!”
MEANWHILE …
Alexei found the system controls that Melina had been operating before.
“I’m in, I’m here, my darling.” Alexei said into the ear piece feeling so validated.
“Okay, this is what you need to do— you need to go into the system operations guide, type in exe://emergency-landing-protocol." Melina explained and Alexei followed the instructions.
“Okay!” He called from the computer as he had completed this part already.
“Now, it’s going to ask you to accelerate or decelerate speed, you need to hit decelerate, and then overwrite the system into forced navigation mode.”
“I got it!” He called in confidently as he hit one button—-which was the wrong button and a loud warning alarm started blaring and Alexei made a face as he was now locked out of the screen.
“ALEXEI!” Melina called in exasperated as she knew that sound was not good.
“Where’s the undo button on this thing?” He said looking at the keyboard scratching his head.