Chapter Thirty-Seven
Life on the run wasn't as fun as having a stable home. The constant looking over your shoulder and keeping up with secret identities was tough, especially for Alya. She wanted to go home where she was safe.
Why couldn't things just get back to normal? Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. They never stayed in the same location for very long. Alya was sure that she had lived in about five different countries over the past year.
It was beginning to take its toll.
They no longer lived in that house in Switzerland. The neighbors were beginning to knock on the door to socialize and welcome them in as part of the community, and it made Natasha a little antsy. People were getting too close for comfort. They had been in that house for too long.
So a few days after Alya's birthday, they packed everything up and left, rendering the beautiful two-story house vacant.
She was sad to go. After all, the house in Switzerland was the very first real house she had ever lived in. Despite the reasoning for being there, there were so many fond memories they made in that house.
But that's all it was now; a memory.
Now they lived in Russia, where she, Natasha, and Wanda felt a little more comfortable. The cold air didn't bother them and the language was no barrier.
The new house they lived in had four bedrooms this time and everyone got their own room, but Wanda and Alya continued to share because they were so used to it. It was a little bigger than the last house and there weren't any other homes near it, which granted them the privacy they needed.
But Alya knew it wouldn't last very long.
As rough as she thought she had it, there was always someone in a situation worse than hers. What she didn't know, was that someone was closer than she thought.
"What's that?" Natasha asked Steve, who was on his laptop, scowling a bit at what he was reading.
"It's an email from Tony." He ran a frustrated hand over his face. "He needs a favor from us."
"Forget it." Natasha scoffed. After everything that man had said to her daughter, she was unwilling to do anything for him. "If he needs a favor, he can ask his good friend Ross."
"Nat..."
"No, Steve." She gave him a look. "I'm not interested in anything he has to say. I can look past a lot of things, but him being the reason that my child was in hysterics because he decided he wanted to hurt her, is not one of them. She's very happy right now, I'm not doing anything to jeopardize that."
Steve wasn't going to argue with her about it. She was right. What Tony had done was wrong and he had crossed the line. Natasha was not one to forgive and forget with ease. It was something she struggled with. But when it came to Alya, there were things she just wouldn't let slide.
Natasha looked over her shoulder to read what Steve was reading and scowled. Tony hadn't once mentioned what happened between him and Alya, and never once typed in a simple apology or acknowledgment. Yet here he was, asking for a favor.
She stopped reading after the first line.
"I think it's important, Nat." Steve was a lot softer than Natasha. It was why their friendship worked so well. She opted to play the bad cop and had no problems with it, while he played the good cop. "And it wouldn't be a favor for him."
That got Natasha to calm down a little. "Who's it for then?"
"It's that spider-kid, Nat."
Natasha remembered meeting the arachnid in Germany right before they tried to stop Cap's team from leaving. She didn't know what Tony was thinking when he recruited the inexperienced kid to fly across the globe to fight with Avengers.
The way the kid had introduced himself to her so timidly, never taking off his mask to show his face gave her pause. If he was so adamant about keeping his identity a secret, then his parents or whoever he lived with must not know what he's been up to.
He could've gotten severely injured or even killed at that airport, or whatever it was he did in the city, without their knowledge.
Natasha couldn't imagine Alya doing something like that behind her back. That girl wouldn't be able to so much as leave the room without her for years to come the moment she found out.
"What about him?"
"Ross is looking for him. He's not safe in the city anymore." Steve explained, skimming through the e-mail. "Tony wants us to take him. I think we should do it. It isn't the kid's fault."
No, it wasn't his fault. He was just an impressionable kid who wanted to impress a superhero. Natasha couldn't fault him for that...well, she could, what he had done was incredibly stupid and dangerous, but he was still a kid.
He had a lot to learn.
"If we agree to it, he'll fly in tomorrow." Steve looked up at her. "We'll probably be back before dinner."
"I'll set an extra place setting for when you guys get back."
Little did the two adults know, that Alya and Wanda were listening at the top of the stairs.
Wanda was interested in getting to meet this said, 'Spider Kid', but Alya didn't know what to think.
The last time they saw one another was in Germany and they hadn't left on good terms. What if they just continued to fight while he was here?
It was a little selfish, but Alya didn't want things to change. Things changed enough already, and far too often for her liking. Peter was going to throw everything off balance and change the whole household dynamic.
Things were peaceful. If he was still angry with her, that would not longer be the case.
"You know him." Wanda spoke softly, nudging her to catch her attention.
"Huh?"
"The spider boy. You know him." She repeated.
"You readin' my mind?" Alya cocked a comical brow.
"Please." Wanda scoffed. "Your thoughts are too loud to ignore. You have a history. You're friends. Do they know?"
"No."
And Alya didn't want them to know, not yet. If she told them about Peter, then she would have to tell them about everything else, too.
She wasn't ready to open that can of worms.
"Uncle Steve, do you have to go?" Alya asked, watching the man in question put on his coat and his shoes from his place in the foyer.
Her toes wiggled from under the fuzzy monkey socks she wore, trying to keep warm on the cold, hard wood floors beneath them and her bottom lip protruded in a pout at not being taken seriously.
What if something happened to Steve? What if this was a trap? What if Ross was waiting to arrest him?
"Yes, I have to go." Steve tweaked her nose with a smile. "Peter needs our help. It wouldn't be right for us to just ignore him because we're scared."
"I'm not scared." Alya huffed and tried to discreetly untie one of his shoes to delay him, only to have her hand tapped away.
"Of course not. You're my brave girl." He winked. "Right?"
"Yes."
"So do you think you can be brave and wait for me to get back?"
"That was a setup." Alya crossed her arms.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Doll." He smirked and kissed her cheek before standing up. "Be good while I'm gone and try not to break anything with those arrows of yours."
After receiving Clint's gift of a bow and some arrows for her birthday, Alya had done nothing except practice all day, everyday. Luckily, the man had the good sense to send two sets of arrows, plunger arrows and regular ones.
Natasha had made sure to stash the regular ones away for safe keeping. She was so going to yell at Clint for this the next time she saw him.
But she supposed it was a better alternative to her daughter playing with knives.
"I don't break anything." Alya scoffed. "I'm way too talented than that!" She took an arrow out from the quiver on her back and notched it threateningly.
"My mistake." Steve raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'll see you in a few hours, okay?"
"Okay." She sighed, knowing she wasn't going to be able to stop him. "Bye bye."
The twelve year old watched him leave the house before she raced up to the bay window and pulled back the curtain to watch him get into the car and drive off to the end of the block.
Once he was out of sight, she plopped down on the couch with a huff, thinking of what she could possibly do to occupy her time while he was away.
Wanda was in their room reading and Natasha was downstairs having her 'me-time', as she liked to call it.
And all of a sudden, a mischievous thought popped into her head.
She ran to the kitchen and found a couple of small packets of mini Oreos and some rubber bands, quickly attaching them to two arrows. Her plan was to send them over to her mother and her sister and have fun while doing it.
She legged it up the stairs to the second floor, thankfully finding the door to the bedroom wide open. Grinning as she notched the first arrow on the string, Alya pulled back and released on the exhale just like her uncle taught her.
And the arrow plunged directly onto the cover of the book Wanda was reading, startling her.
At first, Wanda grumbled something about Alya needing to take some time away from her newfound hobby, but when she saw the little snack she sent, she softened.
Alya was like a sour patch kid. First she was sour, but then she was unbelievably sweet.
Too impatient to wait for a response, the child ran downstairs for her next target, slowing down and lightening her footsteps so that her mother wouldn't detect her.
Mischief seemed to be following her and pawed at her to get her attention. Alya reached a hand in her pocket and held up a cat treat, getting the feline's attention.
She made sure to toss it upstairs, though. Anything else would ruin her plans.
Once Mischief was no longer a concern, Alya notched the second arrow, anchoring the string against her cheek while making sure she had a good view of Natasha. The woman was sitting down on the couch with her feet up, looking quite relaxed as she read a book of her own.
Alya had to admit, she got a little giddy knowing she was going to break her concentration.
She took a deep breath and prepared herself, but just before she let the arrow fly, Mischief came back downstairs and bumped her leg, throwing off her aim.
So instead of hitting the wall as planned, the arrow got Natasha right between the eyes.
Alya gasped and tripped right back up the stairs to run to safety, not wasting even a single moment that could be used to save herself.
"Alyona Morozovna!"
And she was smart to do so.
Alya screamed, not bothering to turn around for fear of seeing how close her mother might be to catching her.
She obviously hadn't thought this entire thing through. There was really nowhere to go.
So she just ran all the way upstairs to her and Wanda's room, jumping into the older girl's arms. "Save me!"
"Alya, what did you do?" Wanda asked, taking in the girl's frazzled form.
She knew it was only a matter of time before Alya got herself into trouble. Knowing Natasha, she didn't appreciate the untimely interruption to her relaxation time.
"Mama's after me! She's gonna get me!"
"Alyona!" Natasha called once again, this time she sounded closer.
Alya squeaked and leapt off of her sister's lap, running right into the closet, leaving the door open so it didn't look like she was hiding in there.
Hopefully her mother would fall for it.
"Is she in here?" Natasha asked as soon entered the room.
"What did she do?" Wanda asked the blonde, wanting to know whether or not she should sell the little troublemaker out.
"She sent me a little surprise today." Natasha held up the arrow with the cookies still attached.
"I got the same. It was sweet, no?"
"Not when it hit my forehead." She deadpanned.
Wanda gasped and looked in the direction of the closet where she knew Alya was, giving Natasha a clue without making Alya suspicious.
"Have you seen her?" Natasha played right along.
"No. She might've gone outside to play."
"Thank you, I'll go look." She winked and with exaggerated footsteps left the room, closing the door behind her.
Once Alya heard the door click, she crawled out of the closet and stood up, still having that look of pure shock on her face.
She really hadn't anticipated that arrow to land where it did. She should've just stayed in the living room to watch tv, it would've been safer.
"Is she really gone?" Her timid voice asked.
"She's gone. I think she went outside to look for you." Wanda spoke gently, knowing full well that that wasn't true.
But hey, payback was fun.
"Oh…." Alya blew out a sigh of relief. She was in the clear...for now. Maybe she'd have time to write an apology letter or something in time for her mother to cool off.
"Do you mind leaving? I want to finish my book."
"Oh, okay." Alya shrugged and headed out. There was paper and pens in the living room, she could work on her letter down there without having to disturb Wanda.
She didn't even see Natasha until it was too late. A startled shriek left her lips when the woman reached out and tossed her over her shoulder in one fluid motion.
"Mama!"
Natasha didn't pay her any mind. She just tightened her grip on the little wiggle worm and walked right back down to the basement before she set her down. "It's quiet time for you, Little Miss."
Alya pouted when she was led over to the corner of the room to stand. She hated it there. It was so boring. There was nothing to do and she couldn't leave to go anywhere and do something fun.
"You're here because I told you that you were supposed find something calm and quiet to do after Uncle Steve left. You did the opposite." Natasha looked her in the eyes before sitting back down on the couch.
Ohhh, right. She remembered now!
Alya did recall her mother saying exactly that. Natasha said that she had the choice of taking a nap, or finding something quiet to do.
She completely forgot.
She was so excited to use her bow again that she got distracted.
"I didn't appreciate the arrow to the forehead either."
Oops.
"Oops." She verbalized her thoughts. "Sorry, Mama."
"Mhm." Natasha opened up her book. "Fifteen minutes."
"This is no fun, no fun." Alya sang to herself, her hands fiddling with her bow that for some reason, Natasha allowed her to have with her. Either that, or she just forgot to take it away. "No fun at alllll."
Fifteen minutes should have passed by now. She didn't know why the minutes were moving so slowly. They shot by whenever it was time for her to go to bed.
What gives?
"Looking at the wall is no fun, no fun. I am very boredddd."
Natasha stifled a laugh as she watched Alya from the top of her book. Really, she wasn't supposed to make a sound, but this was just so funny that she'd allow the little composer to continue.
"And my feet hurt, Mama's mean, it was just an accident." Alya prattled on, staring at the blank, rusted orange wall. It had no decoration or flaws. Not one nick could be found and there were no marks to count. She swore her mother kept all the corners of the house pristine just so she wouldn't have anything to occupy her time while she was made to stand there and stare. "No fun, no fun. Timeout isn't any fun."
This child was certainly a character. There was never a dull moment with her.
"It's Uncle Clint's fault, it's his fault. He gave me the bowww."
A short laugh did escape from Natasha's mouth this time, causing Alya to turn around and look at her with those big, doe eyes of hers.
"Turn around, Alya." She schooled her features.
"Has it been fifteen minute yet?"
"Nope." She popped the 'p', never glancing up from her book.
"No fun, no fun. No fun at alll." Alya turned back around to sing. "I wanna get out, but mama doesn't want me to, she's very, very boring."
Natasha rolled her eyes at that one. Alya was cheeky. She should've added an extra five minutes for that.
"Can I come out now?"
Natasha looked at her watch and sighed dramatically when she saw that the fifteen minutes were over. "If you must."
"Yay!" Alya became energetic once again and made a mad dash for the stairs as if nothing happened.
"Ah!" Natasha stopped her before she could start tearing the house up. "Come here."
Once again, the little girl deflated and dragged her feet over to her mother.
"What were you in there for?"
"Not being calm and quiet" Alya responded dutifully. "And because I hit you on the forehead with my arrow."
"That's right. How do you plan on fixing that?"
"I don't know." She shrugged, the apology letter long forgotten.
"Too busy singing, huh?" Natasha questioned, making her pout before she picked up the arrow she had shot at her. "These stay in your quiver for the next three hours. Since you completely disregarded 'quiet time', you can go to bed early to make up for it."
"No, Mama!"
Natasha really didn't know why going to bed early was such a difficult and feared task for Alya. Honestly, sometimes, she herself wanted to turn in early and she was so jealous of the kids when they could.
"I wanna stay up with you! I'm twelve now!" Alya insisted, trying to assert the 'maturity' that just didn't exist. "I can take a nap now!"
"Are you trying to negotiate with me?"
"Yes." Alya nodded without delay.
"I like your style." Natasha gave her inch, knowing the child wouldn't take a mile. "Okay. It's a deal."
"Yay!" Alya hopped up and down. "Can I sleep here?"
Natasha nodded and pulled the quiver off of Alya's back and set it down on the floor before she lifted her up to lay on top of her. Once Alya was asleep, she was going right back to reading her book to enjoy the couple hours of true tranquility she was going to have.
"I'm sorry I missed and clocked you on the forehead, Mommy." Alya spoke with her cheek pressed up against her mother's chest to listen to her steady heartbeat, which would eventually lull her into a deep sleep.
"Yeah, yeah." Natasha playfully rolled her eyes and rested a hand on the child's head, smoothing her wild mane down.
"Kiss?"
Natasha smiled and pecked her cheek, taking in all the cuddles she could possibly get. She was dreading the day that Alya decided she no longer had any need for her mother's physical affection. She wished she could hold her for forever and a day.
But one thing was for sure, no matter how old Alya got, she would always be her baby. Even if she did get a plunger arrow to the forehead every once in a while.