Chapter 3
It’s nearly a month into Carlotta’s stay with them when she seeks Yelena out, twisting the hem of her shirt nervously. “Do you remember when you told me that I had a choice?”
Yelena peers down at the nervous girl. “I do. Have you made a choice?” Carlotta had become one of her Widows in the past month. She had fallen into the routine and made fast friends with Daria, Ksenia, and Varvara. Yelena had pictures of her on her wall and one of the pieces of artwork she did with Viktoria hanging in the hallway.
Carlotta won’t meet her eyes. “Is it really okay to go home?” She asked quietly. “To my mamma?”
“If that is what you want,” Yelena reaches out to set a hand on her shoulder. “Going back home doesn’t mean never seeing us again.”
“Really?” Carlotta perks up slightly as if she really thought Yelena would just abandon her after the month she’d lived there.
“Really. You may not be my daughter but you’re one of my Widows and I care about you,” Yelena runs a hand over Carlotta’s braids. “If you want to return home to Italy then I will help you go.”
Carlotta chews on her lower lip for a few moments. “What if they don’t want me anymore?”
“You will always have a home here with us. We’ve changed a lot since we’ve become Widows and unfortunately, not everybody is going to accept that,” Yelena gives her a sad smile. “I can’t promise you that they will welcome you back. They may refuse to accept that you are their daughter until they get a DNA test. They will not understand why you need this,” Yelena gently grasped at Carlotta’s wrist where the leather bracelet with the feather stamped on it sat snugly. “Or why you wake up crying or need a knife under your pillow.”
Carlotta swallows hard, seeming to second-guess herself. Finally, she seems to fold in on herself, tears filling her eyes. “I want my mammina .” She whispers.
Yelena pulls her close, kissing the top of her head and letting Carlotta weep into her shoulder. She holds the young girl close, rubbing her back and shushing her gently. She meant it when she said Carlotta was hers in the way it mattered.
Yelena contacts her big sister to help piece together a cover story about where Carlotta had been without a lot of questions or digging being asked. The Red Room had been exposed to the public in little bits and pieces when the SHIELD files on Natasha had dumped but it still remained largely unknown.
“I can handle that,” Natasha reassures Yelena. “I can come to pick her up and drop her off.”
“No--” Yelena interrupts before sighing. “I’ll go too. I need to see her off.”
“What about your little ones?” Natasha inquired. Yelena never really went anywhere without her three youngest because they needed her more than her oldest did.
“They’ll be okay for a day or two,” At least Yelena had hoped so. Yelena needed to be there with Carlotta, especially if things didn’t go well.
“Alright. I’ll head over as soon as I can,” Natasha said, pausing for a moment before she added on. “I’m proud of you.”
Tears immediately fill Yelena’s eyes at the words. She hadn’t felt like something to be proud of recently. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Natasha replies warmly. “See you soon.”
“You’re an Avenger.” Carlotta comments, staring up at the glory that was Natasha Romanoff.
Natasha offers the girl a smile. “Yup. And I’m here to help Yelena get you home.”
At the reminder, Carlotta swallows hard and nods her head. “She said you could help explain where I was…”
“The simple explanation is that it was an Avenger level human trafficking ring. You’ve been recovering for a little while until you were healthy enough to go home. I can forge a lot of the paperwork and cover the rest,” Natasha explains to her. “Are you ready to go home?”
Carlotta slowly nods her head, fiddling with the leather bracelet on her wrist. “Yes.”
Goodbyes are had between Carlotta, Yelena, and the baby Widows. Carlotta has a few photographs that had been taken while she was there, the clothes that Yelena had bought for her, a stuffed animal Daria had given her, the leather bracelet Yelena had tailored for her, and small things the older Widows had brought back from their travels such as keychains and pins.
Carlotta tucks herself against Yelena’s side while in the plane, chewing nervously on her lower lip. Only an hour away from landing does Carlotta finally whispers to Yelena that her stomach hurts. There are tears in her eyes from how nervous she is and her fingers fist Yelena’s shirt for comfort.
It’s not until they’re walking up the driveway to the house that Yelena can see the rapid rise and fall of Carlotta’s chest as she spirals into a panic attack. Natasha waits as Yelena holds Carlotta close, murmuring reassurances to the girl as she calms her down.
Of course, there is disbelief about who the girl in front of them really was when Mr. and Mrs. Novello answers the door. Carlotta stares at them quietly the whole time as a quiet DNA test is ordered.
It takes four hours for the results to come back. Yelena looks away when Antonia Novello falls to her knees with a cry of disbelief at the matching DNA.
“We didn’t change your room,” Antonia tells her daughter before slowly reaching out to cup her face. “My baby, look at you. My beautiful baby…”
Alberto Novello reaches out to run his thumb along his daughter’s cheek as if to test that she was really there. “We never gave up hope. We knew you were alive…”
Carlotta is brought into a tight hug by her parents and Yelena watches her face crumple as she starts to sob. Her first instinct is to move forward to comfort her but she forces herself to stay back.
Yelena gets to see Carlotta’s room. She notices the lack of dust and thinks of how this empty room had been cleaned and cared-for for almost seven years. Yelena’s eyes linger on the tiny clothes in the closet and the rows of stuffed animals on a shelf. There was unfinished homework still on the desk along with a box of opened crayons. Childish scrawls on paper were pinned to the walls.
Everything slams into Yelena at once.
This girl had been taken at such a young age. Dreykov had ruined her. He broke down the little innocent girl that she was and made a killing machine.
Carlotta had been in first grade. She was learning to spell her name and color inside the lines. They replaced crayons with knives and barbie dolls with guns. She went from learning to spell her name to learning how to seduce and kill men.
Yelena had to step outside to collect herself. She herself had been six when she was hauled off to the Red Room and she thinks of her own room back in Ohio.
They were children. Innocent, naive children, and the Red Room ruined them.
“Hey, look at me,” Natasha grabs her face gently in her hands. “You’re okay. We’re almost done here, just breathe. Eyes on me.”
Yelena stares up at her big sister’s face, taking comfort in the reassuring hands cupping her face. She manages to keep herself together for the rest of the visit.
Right before she leaves, Yelena cradles Carlotta’s face in her hands just like she did with her own girls. “You have my contact information along with the girls. If you need anything, day or night, anytime, just call. Don’t hesitate, okay? I’m here to help you with whatever you need help with. Call me even if you just want to say hello.”
Carlotta surges forward and wraps her arms around Yelena tightly. “Thank you.” She whispers out. “For bringing me home.”
Yelena swallows hard, kissing the top of her head and holding her close.
Yelena feels like she’s leaving some part of her behind when she walks out the front door. As soon as she’s settled in the passenger seat of the car she can’t contain the sob that crawls out of her throat.
Natasha lets her cry and as soon as they reach the plane, she pulls Yelena into her arms.
There’s the same pit of guilt in her stomach. The guilt that she stopped freeing Widows, the guilt that she didn’t do more, the guilt of leaving those who were suffering alone a little longer, the guilt that she can’t take away her girl’s hurt.
How funny is it that a single man ruined so many children’s lives?
CARLOTTA NOVELLO
AGE: 12
RANK: UNKNOWN
STATUS: FREED (REUNITED)
NOTES:
NICKNAMES- Lottie
- Stationed in an all-girls school for the past year
- Has a family in Italy
- Reacts better to Italian than Russian
- Is nervous about doing things wrong
LIKES: Ice, soft stuffed toys, books, gardening, nature
TRIGGERS:
- The dark
- Sudden touches
- Too many choices
- Loud noises
Although no longer living here, she is one of mine.
-yelena belova