Chapter 16
NATASHA’S P.O.V.
Natasha couldn’t escape the memory of what happened in the Red Room, what the child had been forced to see…
***
BEFORE THEY LEFT THE RED ROOM BASE…
Natasha pushed herself from the floor as soon as the door closed and the last Red Room agent left the small room. Blood was gushing out from her mouth and a few other cuts on her face. Honestly, it was a miracle the photostatic veil or wig had stayed in place.
The Black Widow groaned at how bad her body ached. She could have fought them back. She had been in worse scenarios and she had always won. So, Natasha was sure she had been just as fine fighting the four agents. She had been trained to be better than them after all.
However, she was undercover and she couldn’t risk her identity. Not now. Keeping her daughter safe was more important. Lena always came first. So, she couldn’t avoid blaming herself for what the little girl had had to watch. It had been her fault that her kid was inside that room with her.
The small blonde had pressed herself in one of the corners, sobbing. The five-year-old had screamed, begged, cried… she had even tried to kick and punch the agents away from her mama. But it had only angered them even more.
Natasha had felt panic rising when one of the agents had yanked the kid by her small arm just to throw her away. Lena had fallen hard on the floor, whimpering. Nat’s heart had clenched painfully at the sight of her daughter lying on the floor. That was not what she had ever wanted for the precious child. But she had not had the chance to run to the kid and pull her into her arms. Instead, all she had been able to do was beg her kid to sit looking at a wall and cover her ears despite how the agents scoffed at that. Thankfully, Lena had listened to her.
After a while, it was finally over, Nat used her sleeves to wipe as much blood as she could from her face before standing up, her knees bending slightly when she attempted to walk. But, still, she managed to get where the small girl was. Lena had her eyes closed and hands still covering her ears, her small body shaking.
She kneeled next to Lena, gently placing her hands over the kid’s, quickly shushing the terrified child, “Shh, it’s over. They’re gone.”
Lena turned, her big blue eyes widening and lip quivering. The little girl did not fight her when she pulled her into her arms. Instead the child gripped tightly to her uniform, her quiet sobs turning into louder ones.
Natasha felt her own tears start to fall down her cheeks as she held her daughter as close as she physically could. She knew there were cameras recording, but she couldn’t care less. Not anymore. At that moment, all she cared about was her baby.
The child wouldn’t stop crying, taking shallow breaths, which was starting to worry Natasha. The last thing they both needed was for the child to faint, so she tried her best to encourage the kid to take deep breaths while soothingly rubbing circles on her back.
Natasha could only remember one time in which Lena had actually held her breath during a tantrum. It had been a truly scary experience to see her two-year-old kid faint, even if it only lasted a few seconds…
-/-
WHEN LENA WAS TWO…
“Mama, toys!” the two-year-old toddler squealed at the sight of the toy store. “Look. Mama, look.” Little Lena grabbed Natasha’s face with her small hands to force her to look at the store.
“I see, baby.” The woman nodded with a smile.
“Go inside?” Her daughter asked, pouty lips and big blue eyes staring up at her mama. “Pwease.”
Natasha sighed. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t say no to her daughter’s adorable face. All her training was gone whenever the toddler pulled out the puppy’s eyes.
“Okay,” She answered, but before the two-year-old would want to jump from her arms, she added, “But we’re not buying anything, okay?”
“Okay, Mama.” The toddler nodded.
She set Lena down, quickly grabbing her small hand in hers before the little one could run inside the store. Natasha was pretty sure the toddler didn’t fully understand the concept of “no buying”, which was proven as soon as Lena spotted a doll she liked.
“Remember, Mama said, ‘no buying’, baby,” She reminded her daughter, who frowned slightly and left the doll back on the shelf, only to pick a pink tiara. “Lena.” She warned.
“Not for me.” The two-year-old answered, a big smile on her face as she showed her mama the item, gently tugging from her hand so Natasha crouched to her height. “Pretty.” Lena smiled while sliding the tiara on Nat’s red hair.
Natasha stared at her daughter with nothing but adoration in her eyes, gently brushing the little one’s baby-blonde hair away from her face. “It’s not fair you’re so adorable.”
“We buy?”
“And smart.” Nat laughed. “But we’re not buying anything today, okay? Put it on the shelf.” She gave the tiara to the small girl, who, despite her pout, did as told. “Good job, baby.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead before they started walking again. At least this was an ok start, that Lena was learning, being rewarded for doing what she was told.
Lena would pick any random toy she would like, all the time testing if Natasha had changed her mind about buying a toy. But she always put it back as soon as her Mama said “no”… at least until her eyes caught the glimpse of a stuffed pink pony.
“Mama buy, pwease,” Lena held the pink pony in her arms.
Natasha felt how her heart skipped a beat as soon as she saw the stuffed toy her daughter was holding. It looked quite similar to the pink pony Yelena would always carry around when they were kids, until that tragic morning on that army base in Cuba. Her baby sister’s innocence and childhood had ended that day with the stuffed toy that had been left behind.
“I said no, baby,” she told the toddler, who pouted angrily.
“Pwease.” Tears threatened to roll down her cheeks.
Natasha sighed. “I’m sorry, baby, but no is no.”
Her daughter started crying when she told her to put it back, gripping the pony as tight as she could.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to buy the stuffed animal… Well, maybe a little bit. She didn’t want that toy around the house as the constant reminder that Yelena was gone in the damn Blip and that she still hadn’t found a way to bring her back.
But still, it was more the fact that she needed the toddler to understand that couldn’t get every single thing she wanted, especially not by throwing a fit in the middle of a toy store aisle. But Yelena had done the same thing and Melina had gotten the toy for her, still…
“Lena, baby, your birthday is coming up soon, maybe—”
“No! Pwease.” The two-year-old begged.
“Lena…” she sighed tiredly, already crouching to the crying toddler’s height.
The little one increased the cries when Natasha placed her hands on her daughter's sides to stop her from letting herself fall to the floor. Nat couldn’t stop herself from wincing at the toddler’s loud sobs, her heart beating really fast. She still didn’t know how to deal with tantrums.
She could feel her panic rising when Lena’s face turned pale, her lips starting to turn blue at the lack of oxygen. “Lena? Yelena?” Her voice was shaking as she called her daughter, whose cries were starting to slow down a bit.
However, before Natasha could do or say anything else, the two-year-old toddler fainted in her arms. And, for the first time, the Black Widow truly panicked. She held the kid, her heart pounding in her ribs with her own breath getting shallow.
“Yelena?” she gasped. What just happened?! “Baby?”
“Lay her down on the floor.” A middle-aged woman told her calmly. “Just in case she starts seizing,” she added after observing how hesitant Natasha was to do that. “It’s okay, she just needs a few seconds to breathe.”
Nat tried her best to control her fear before lying the small child on the floor, completely terrified of what was happening to her baby. But, after all, the dark-haired woman seemed to know what was happening.
Thirty seconds. It had taken thirty seconds for her daughter to open her beautiful blue eyes, her face still a little pale as the two-year-old started crying again. That time was a lot quieter, more like she was tired.
Natasha couldn’t stop her own tears from rolling down her cheeks as she took the small kid back into her arms, pressing her lips on Lena’s forehead as the little one whimpered tiredly against her. She was so glad her baby was okay.
She turned her head to look at the woman that was still standing next to them, “Thank you.”
“No problem.” The woman smiled while observing them. “My son used to do this all the time. It's called a breath-holding spell, she should be fine. Most kids who hold their breath to try and get what they want, they stop doing it at around the age of four,” she explained.
Natasha frowned at that. No. She couldn’t go through that again. She had never felt this scared since she took the choice of raising Lena.
“If it happens again, just make sure she doesn’t hit her head or that she doesn't have anything in her mouth.” The dark-haired woman told her. “Maybe tell her doctor, so they can give you more tips.”
Natasha nodded before thanking the woman again. She pressed the right side of her face against Lena’s head, her eyes closing for a few seconds.
“Sad,” Lena murmured, her cries had completely quieted down when she noticed her mother’s fear.
Natasha’s green eyes met her daughter’s big blue eyes, those that were staring at her with so much worry. “Mama got scared, sweet girl.”
But, of course, to simply say that she got scared didn’t do it justice. She’d been TERRIFIED, having never encountered this sort of thing before and with no idea what to do or what would happen to her precious girl…
The toddler pouted at those words, her little hands cradling her mama’s face before pressing a kiss on the woman’s cheek. “Mama no sad, all better.”
“All better,” she smiled at her baby’s words, surprised when the small kid pointed to the shelf.
“We leave it there,” Lena said, trying to put the pony back on the shelf.
“Um… We’re buying it, baby…” she told Lena, who stared at her confused. “I know I said no, but just this time I’m making an exception, okay?” She gently brushed the little one’s blonde hair away from her small face.
“Thank you, Mama.” the two-year-old replied softly, not even trying to put on puppy eyes or tease. She smiled while snuggling herself more into her mother’s arms.
Natasha just held Lena close, kissing the side of her head, “I love you, baby.”
***
PRESENT DAY…
The little girl curled into her as she heard the fighting and blasts outside the truck. It was just the two of them since the previous convoy was full, Lena being transferred to one of the greatest bases. Natasha had been made to accompany her in disguise because of how attached she had gotten, because of how the other Widows intended on wrenching them apart when the ride was over. But maybe they would have the chance to escape. They’d come to a stop like Natasha was hoping for, but something was wrong. She certainly hadn’t expected any of the trucks to EXPLODE! And somewhere outside was the rippling sound of wide propellers. It was too dark in the freight car, which naturally allowed the child’s imagination to run wild.
“It’s so loud…!”
"Shh, it's okay." she whispered as the child hid her face in her neck. She pulled the kid closer, just wanting to calm her down as she tried to figure out what was going on outside…
“YELENA!” said a strong voice coming from out there. Then came another blast from what must’ve been a widow bite. “LENA!”
Natasha gasped, recognizing her accent and all. It was then she understood. Looking into little Lena’s eyes, she whispered with a smile, “Auntie Lena’s here.”
The five-year-old pulled away, answering to her aunt with the whistle Natasha had taught her. They sat for a long moment waiting for something to happen—to be answered.
Then came the other tune with the special whistle. Yelena had heard her!
“LENA!” the young woman called from outside, hitting the truck hard with something metallic.
“IN HERE!” little Lena answered. “HELP!”
“We’re getting you out of here!” Yelena’s voice said from outside. It was still easy to hear her sigh heavily. “Stay away from the door!”
Wait. ‘We’? Who did she bring with her?
“KATE!” Yelena shouted as another set of footsteps approached. “ACID ARROW! SHOOT THE LOCK!”
‘Kate…?’ Natasha thought. ‘Acid arrow…? Does she mean Kate Bishop? Clint’s partner?’
THUD! Then came a hissing sound as the glowing green substance melted through the rear door’s locking mechanism. Natasha could hear grunting and kicking from outside as the acid did its work. She recognized ‘acid arrow’ anywhere. Definitely Clint Barton. This must have been Kate Bishop who she’d heard about. There was footage of her and Clint fighting Tracksuit Mafia on Christmas Eve!
The door to the truck burst open, Yelena standing there aiming one of her widow bites as she tugged off her night vision goggles. Approaching from behind was a girl with black hair and a battle-worthy bow in her left hand. It was lowered, probably to avoid possibly hitting Lena, but one arrow sat on the right side with three more held against the handle. Her fingers were still hooked over the string.
They were both scorched and sprinkled with dirt, loose strands of hair blowing in the smoky wind. Yelena kept her left fist out with her batons in her right hand, paired together as a staff. "Hands up and away from my niece!" she yelled furiously.
As expected, no way would she have recognized Natasha with the photostatic mask. So she was just being mistaken for another widow. Still, it was strange to see Yelena this fierce.
At first, little Lena was hesitant to move. She must have been intimidated by the widow bites and how predatory Yelena was right now. But Natasha still wanted the kid to go with her, to where she belonged.
"Go. It's okay." she whispered into the child's ear.
Yelena pulled her nomex gaiter down, gritting her teeth as the widow bites started powering up with that red glow. Her face was also bruised. There was blood from a few cuts crusting around her nose and hairline. “YA BUDU STRELYAT’!” (I will shoot!) she yelled through the loud fire crackle nearby. "LET GO OF HER! BEFORE I MAKE YOU!"
"No! Auntie Lena!" the little girl screamed, throwing herself in between them before running to hug her aunt's legs. "It's Mama. She’s just pretending."
Yelena picked the kid up in her free arm, still staring at the woman in disguise. She still stood there threatening to shoot, switching to the weapon on her other wrist with her extended baton pointed like a spear. At least, up until the woman removed her photostatic veil and wig. That was when her jaw dropped.
“What…? Natasha?" her sister asked with a confused look on her face.
“Good to see you… sis.”