The Web
The influx of bodies was enough to raise the noise level in the house noticeably as Ellie winced into Maria’s side further. Melina’s eyes lingered on the child for a moment longer before she pointedly cleared her throat, gaining the attention of most of the young women in the room.
“Girls,” the Iron Maiden stood to her full height, “is anyone injured?”
It wasn’t what Maria had expected; neither was the response.
“Galina,” a voice called out followed by the few Russian curse words Maria knew.
A woman who looked to be in her mid-20s shuffled to the front of the group, rolling her eyes and tilting her arm to the side to show a deep cut on the back of her tricep through the long sleeves she wore. Melina looked at it and nodded before asking for any others.
The group began conversing with each other once more but not before Melina got their attention. Maria did a quick assessment from where she sat at the kitchen table, there were 10 of them, 12 including the redhead and blonde who just walked through the front door.
“The visitors that I informed you of are here,” Melina’s voice was calm, and even as she addressed the group, “you will adhere to all rules and not pester them.”
“Galina, stop moving,” she walked down the hall and into the bathroom with the injured woman who huffed again “Tatiana, do not eat all of my корочки с дымком.”
Talking resumed in the living room as Natasha reached the table, “Sorry, we saw the group and I tried to-”
“It’s okay, we're okay, right Ellie?” Maria bounced her leg to get her daughter's attention.
Yes. The girl signed without taking her eyes off the group in front of her, a group that had yet to notice her. She sat impossibly still as Maria realized Ellie wasn’t looking at the group, her eyes were trained on one woman in particular.
The woman had long blonde hair and a cruel scar that ran from the base of her ear past the collar of her shirt. She was talking to Yelena and had started laughing before her face grew more serious and she spun around to face Maria.
Ellie made a whimpering sound as she squirmed, clearly unsure of what to do.
“Do you know her?” Maria tilted her head down and whispered so that only Ellie could hear her.
“Yes.” the girl whispered back.
The young woman took two large, fast steps towards the table, but as she reached them, Natasha stepped in and intercepted the movement.
“You don’t touch her,” the redhead's voice was deadly.
“You do not know-” the blonde spoke up.
“I don’t need to-” Natasha cut her off but not before the other woman cut her off once more.
The two began to fight in Russian, the blonde trying to get around Natasha who stuck out her arm. Maria stood up and propped Ellie on her hip to get away from what was quickly dissolving into a physical altercation.
Melina yelled at the duo from where she was treating the woman with the cut, but neither could hear as they started shoving each other. It took one more well-placed push before the blonde pulled a knife from her waistband and brandished it at Natasha.
Yelena came to her sister's side, pulling a knife of her own, as a raven-haired widow lunged for Natasha’s mid-section. That was all it took for Maria to open the back door and walk out of the house. She had been in enough fights in the barracks while serving, she knew what would come of this and would always put her daughter's safety first. Even before Natashas.
“You okay?” she pulled the girl off of her side and looked at her face.
“Yes, they fight like that a lot at the old place,” Ellie shrugged.
“You knew that girl, the blonde one?” The one who pulled a knife, she wanted to say.
“Esmerina,” the girl nodded enthusiastically.
“And you like her?”
“Oh, yes.” Ellie nodded once more.
“Why didn’t you say something??” Maria’s eyes went wide at the clarity that Natasha was fighting for no good reason.
“Mommy,” the child sighed, “you did not read those rules.”
The woman furrowed her brows, having no idea what rules Ellie was talking about.
“The rules on the fridger-gator,” the curly-haired girl looked at her pointedly, “like our house.”
“Refrigerator,” Maria gently corrected.
Ellie waved her hand dismissively, “Rule 1, no fighting. Rina and Tasha start fighting and I cannot stop it. I am not big. It is Yelena’s mommy’s job because she was a madam.”
There was a lot to unpack in the sentence but as Maria opened her mouth, the backdoor slid open revealing a group of women all in different states of having been in a fight. Natasha was through the door first (hair frizzy and a bloody nose) followed by Yelena (an already bruising marking on her jaw and cut by her hairline).
“You could have told me she knew her!” Natasha smacked her sister on the shoulder.
“I was not expecting you to become a guard dog when a person looks at her!” Yelena argued back.
“Elizaveta,” Esmerina walked past the sisters and knelt down in front of Ellie.
The girl gave a lopsided grin and waved a tiny hand, “Hi Rina.”
The blonde (a bite mark on her hand and forming black eye) opened her arms and embraced Ellie before asking her a string of questions in Russian. Maria watched as the young woman spoke to Ellie, glancing up at her every once in a while as if trying to assess the safety of the child.
“She’s safe,” Natasha’s voice had an edge to it, “and not forced to do anything.”
“Well… other than brushing her teeth,” Maria sighed, “that, I force her to do.”
“But do not have to do it when I am not at home,” Ellie sighed and nodded.
“No, no you still have to brush your teeth,” the brunette squinted in confusion, “like when we’re at the farm.”
“Oh, yes.” the child nodded, “when I am at home and the farm.”
“And all the other times?” she was growing concerned about the frequency of Ellie’s dental hygiene.
“Okay mommy,” Ellie nodded before looking back to Esmerina and shaking her head.
One of the first things Maria realized the day before was that the house was larger than she had initially assumed. The two hallways of bedrooms were expansive and left seemingly every girl with a bed to sleep in. Yet, the kitchen was still just as loud as it had been when the Widows arrived.
“My laboratory is the only location off limits,” Melina looked at Maria from where she stood by the oven, “however, they all chose this as the location to congregate.”
Which was what Maria had figured as she looked at the 10+ women in front of her, all talking to each other in more than one language. Ellie rotated between following Yelena around like a shadow, and blushing fiercely as Esmerina fussed over her and showed her off to the other women. It had been going on for hours as day became night.
“She’s going to sleep good tonight,” Maria glanced down at Natasha who watched the child like a hawk, “this is more people giving her attention than she’s had since she left The Center.”
The redhead nodded and opened her mouth to say something but stopped as Melina cleared her throat and got the attention of the women in front of her, Ellie came scurrying back to Maria’s side.
“Those of you who interacted with those still under subjugation please follow me into the living room along with the team leads. We are going to discuss a new distribution device.”
It was clearly something that was said after each mission, a recap if Maria had to guess. A handful of women followed into the living room including Yelena and Natasha, those who didn’t walked down the long hallway to the right.
Maria listened to the tell-tale sign of showers turning on while Ellie leaned further into her side.
“Come on Bear,” she picked up the overly tired child propped her up on her hip, and walked down the opposite hallway.
The room they shared was at the very end of the hall across from where Yelena and Natasha slept, by the time they reached it, the girl was fading fast.
“Brush your teeth and I’ll get your pajamas,” Maria kissed the top of the girl's head.
“Rocketship please,” Ellie shuffled over to the bathroom and brushed with little protest.
The Commander huffed as she wrestled with a sleeping 6-year-old to get her arms through the tiny holes of the long-sleeved rocketship pajamas. By the time Ellie was tucked in, Maria was slightly out of breath and had to fix her hair.
She kissed the girl’s head once more before closing the door and retreating back to the kitchen where she took a seat at the small table as Melina continued speaking quickly in Russian.
Laura: Coops dying to know if you’re going to be here for Halloween this year?
Maria looked at the calendar on her phone as she responded to the text; if they could wrap everything up here in the next day or two they could make it.
Ria: 70/30 chance we'll be there, don’t have a costume for Ellie yet.
Laura: we have about 100, she’ll be good if you can make it. How’s the trip?
Ria: a lot better than expected at this point.
Laura: Send my love <3
She locked her phone and had to keep herself from jumping as she looked up; at some point, Esmerina had materialized in the seat across from her.
“I wasn’t able to speak to you before but I wanted to say thank you for taking care of Elizaveta,” Esmerina spoke softly, her English was more fluid than a lot of the others.
“Of course,” Maria inclined her head and looked at the woman who looked slightly younger than Natasha.
“You’re her… her mother,” the young woman nodded to herself, “I think Kyra would have liked you. She would have liked this situation.”
“You knew Kyra?” It was the first time she had anyone other than Ellie and Yelena mention the girl.
“I did,” Esmerina gave a sad smile, “I was her handler when she was given to me as a second cycle.”
Maria leaned back in her chair, simultaneously trying not to pry any information out of the woman and interested in anything Esmerina would give her.
“I was there when they were paired with each other for the first time,” the blonde shook her head, “all other young widows were hoping not to have Elizaveta as their own, she was the smallest, the skinniest, the most scared.”
Yelena had said the same thing to Maria months before, detailing how Ellie was undesirable until she was forced to show her skill set.
“I was told she showed what she could do when it mattered,” she prompted the woman, “that she became loyal to only her hand- Kyra and that’s why the Room was so focused on her.”
“Yes and no,” the blonde made a noncommittal motion, “she was ruthless, a killer through and through who was loyal to Kyra, there is no denying that.”
Maria hung on every word, the last time she had gotten this kind of information was from Yelena who was freshly out of subjugation and had known Kyra better than Ellie. Now was her chance to get it from someone older who oversaw everything.
“But it was how I was trained, and my handler before me, and how I trained Kyra. We were all dedicated to our handlers even before the Red Room, but we showed impressive results,” Esmerina sighed, “she was focused on by the Room because she was the only one of her cycle who was alive.”
“The flu,” Maria’s voice was quiet as she spoke.
The blonde hummed in response, “She was the last one remaining, it almost killed her as well. That was the reason they left, Kyra believed that if she could get her out there would be a generation missing and perhaps the General would stop.”
They sat quietly for a moment.
“It was a terrible idea, they were both easily replaced,” she shook her head, “but she is here now.”
It was a clear indication that the conversation was over, that it had gotten too painful for the woman and she no longer wanted to talk on the matter.
“She is and she was very excited to see you-” Maria went to say more but the noise in the next room picked up, it seemed their conversation had also ended.
Natasha got to Maria first followed by the rest of the widows who spoke loudly over top of each other as they scanned the room.
“Stop being loud, you are going to wake the baby up!” a short woman with dark curly hair raised her own voice.
Maria smiled, Ellie could sleep through pretty much everything but the sentiment was sweet. Natasha tugged slightly on the brunette’s shirt and got her attention.
Let’s go, sleep Natasha’s fingers worked quickly, and soon the two of them were walking down the long hallway.
“You okay?” Maria cupped the woman’s face.
“I’m tired and don’t want to be here much longer,” the redhead shifted nervously, “she was showing the girls a prototype in the living room which means she’s done with the new formula.”
“So we're good to pack up and leave tomorrow? Wednesday at the latest?”
Natasha nodded.
“Good, I’ll let Laura know we can make it to Halloween then,” Maria smiled.
“Oh- yeah I hope you guys have fun-”
“Tasha,” the brunette chuckled, “when I say we, I mean… you’re included. You’re part of the collective we now whether you like it or not.”
“Really?” large green eyes flashed hopeful for a second before her indifference slammed back into place, “I mean yeah- cool. Okay well, I should probably go and brush my teeth because it’s important ya know?”
“Mhmm,” Maria hummed, “I do know.”
“Okay well, goodnight.” The Russian spun on her heel and faced her own bedroom door.
“Tasha?”
“Yes?” she turned back around.
Maria cupped her face with one of her hands and kissed her deeply, “sweet dreams.”
She turned and faced her own room before overthinking anything. Ellie was mostly off the bed and twisted in sheets as she opened the door. It seemed Maria had been right in the kitchen, the baby could sleep through anything.
The next day went smoothly, even after they told Melina of their plans to leave either later that night or early the next morning. It seemed like the right call especially after Ellie tried to once again go after the older woman, this time with a spoon. It seemed the only time the girl would let up was while she was actively eating, any moment after that was fair game.
“Come on Lizochka, we can feed the pigs,” Esmerina laughed and opened up the backdoor.
Ellie squinted at Melina once more before looking at Maria who signed: jacket. The girl huffed and pulled her coat down from where it hung by the door and followed the older woman out of the house.
“Sorry,” Maria found herself saying as the older woman wiped oatmeal off of her shirt.
“Oh that is okay, I have faced much worse and I believe that she will stop after repeated exposure.” Melaina looked up, “That is the case for many of the young widows and old.”
The statement was pointed as Natasha walked into the room fresh from a shower. The redhead sighed, looked out the backdoor, and took a piece of toast.
“Maria tell you were going to leave?” she raised an eyebrow at Melina.
“Yes, we discussed it earlier.”
“Okay,” she lingered for a moment longer, “I’ll.. I’ll make sure to say bye to you before we leave.”
“Thank you, Natasha.”
The oldest daughter said nothing more as she walked through the backdoor to sit with the other widows who were now playing with Ellie.
“She has managed to keep her heart, after all this time, after everything that has occurred in her life,” Melina locked eyes with Maria, “it is not something that you should take lightly.”
Maria sat there for a moment, caught between brushing the woman off and asking for more information on how Natasha acted as a young girl. There was an assumption around all the Russian’s friends, that she was standoffish and a rule breaker for the entirety of her life. Hearing that she had been a little girl who had shown the softness of her heart painted an entirely different picture of who Natasha Romanoff was, is.
“I don’t intend to, she means…” Maria trailed off, hoping to not have to put into words how much she cared about the redhead.
Melina simply raised an eyebrow and leaned back against the countertop.
“She means a great deal to me,” it’s a fraction of what she wanted to say, and yet she couldn’t seem to bring herself to say more.
“This much is obvious, even to the youngest.” Melina nodded, “she reminds me very much of how shy Yelena was, and how thoughtful Natasha was at her age.”
It was a surprise, Yelena was no longer quiet as she was as a child, and Maria was pretty sure most people would no longer think of Natasha as thoughtful right off the bat. Maria stayed quiet and listened, hoping that like with the widow the night before, she could get more information by not pushing it. Suddenly she was thankful for all of the hostage negotiation trainings she went to at SHIELD.
“She is also like Yelena with her ability to hide the skills that she has, the two of them are quiet but when placed under pressure can perform what needs to be done. Hard to see but useful,” the brunette seemed to remember something else about Ellie as her eyes lit up,
“But Elizaveta can do even more than mimic moves taught to her. Transferring quantum state over seemingly any distance, that was not the Room’s doing.”
The Commander stilled and set her jaw, waiting for an argument about testing to start. She glanced out the window where she could still see Ellie laughing as she interacted with the pigs in the pen behind the house.
“She’s been seen by specialists, there aren’t any known side effects other than drowsiness.”
“For now,” the woman agreed, “but it may need to be looked at periodically, and now that you are no longer a member of the institution where she was receiving care-”
“You will have to forgive my mother,” Yelena appeared silently, “she can get carried away with scientifically related subjects.”
“I do not need apologies on my behalf,” the brunette huffed, “but I do not mean any harm by it, simply offering my services.”
“I appreciate the offer,” Maria let out a breath, “now if you’ll excuse me.”
She exited the backdoor and walked into the field her daughter and her- Natasha were occupying.
“Hey,” the redhead smiled as she walked up, “everything okay?”
Ellie sprinted by as Esmerina chased after her, both laughing the whole time.
“Everything is great,” she smiled back and scooted a little closer.
“Careful Ellie!” Natasha panicked as the girl leapt over a log close to the forest line.
Maria chuckled, knowing that even if her daughter fell, she would get right back up. Natasha tensed next to her again as Esmerina finally tagged the child.
“She’s okay, Tasha.”
“Right…”
“Alina!” Yelena walked out of the backdoor and yelled out to a young woman who jumped skittishly, “Show Elizaveta how you balance your knife.”
The woman pulled a knife out of her waistband and got Ellie’s attention, Natasha tensed.
“Yelena,” Maria called out, “with a dull knife first.”
“Ah, right,” the blonde nodded, “Rat, we must be very careful.”
Alina went back inside to retrieve a “safer” knife while another young widow was helping Ellie with a backbend and how to get up from them quickly.
Natasha let out another breath and leaned a little further into Maria’s side. It was still cold out, but watching Ellie learn and fall down laughing, with Natasha on her side offered more warmth than she would ever need.