A mother's rage
Robin was picking up groceries while Yelena was at daycare when she got sucked into a conversation by the lady behind the register who recognized her from the first time they shopped there.
The lady babbles on about her own little ones and how the weather was perfect for playing outside, and how her children threw a tantrum each time they went because they never had enough bread to feed the ducks.
Robin remembers a dissection she did once in middle school and mentions how bread isn’t good for ducks, that it swells up in their stomachs and makes them feel full but they don’t have any actual nutritional value to the ducks.
She leaves the grocery store with the location of a park just down the road from their house and a bag of frozen peas.
Robin waits until Saturday morning before collecting the girls up. “Get your shoes on. We’re going out.”
Natasha frowned, looking up at her. “But… we have training…” She protested quietly, glancing up at Melina.
“This is a new type of training,” Robin said as she pulls shoes onto Yelena’s feet. “Come on. I’m gonna show you some important things when we get there.”
Natasha squints at her suspiciously but doesn’t argue and pulls her shoes on before shuffling closer and waiting for Robin to tie her shoes.
Robin glances at her shoes before kneeling. “Watch me.” She instructs, taking Natasha’s foot, and slowly shows her how to tie her shoes. She then ties the other one, determined on only showing Natasha how to do it.
Because Robin knows that if she asked Natasha to do it then the girl would sit there for hours and not move out of fear until she made the perfect knot.
Robin prepares a bag with the frozen peas, some snacks, and some baby wipes before hoisting Yelena up onto her hip. “Where we’re going is just a walk down the road.”
Melina reaches out to either take the bag or the baby. Robin passes her the bag, just wanting to be able to hold Yelena close for a little while.
Yelena’s fingers find their way into Robin’s hair and Robin can’t help but smile when the toddler mumbles her favorite song from the radio.
They run into the woman walking her dog and while Robin plays nice with her, part of her wonders if General Dreykov planted spies on the street.
Natasha looks up at her in confusion when they finally reach the park. Children were running around and shrieking with joy, families on picnics and flying kites.
“Why are we here?” Melina questioned, glancing around.
“We are going to learn to blend in,” Robin said, taking Natasha’s hand. “We are going to interact with wildlife in a safe way and then the children are going to learn to interact with children their own age.”
Melina raised an unimpressed eyebrow but follows Robin down to the little pond tucked off a pathway in the park. Robin sets Yelena down but impresses on the two children. “Stay out of the water.”
Yelena bounces in place, bobbing her head in a nod. “Yes, mama!”
Robin grins and reaches out for the bag that Melina had been carrying. She pulls out the bag of frozen peas and holds them up. “Who wants to feed the ducks?”
Yelena squeals in joy, lurching forward to snatch the bag from Robin’s hands. Robin laughs, holding it out of reach. “Patience, little one.”
Yelena huffs but nods her head and Robin glances up at Natasha. The girl glances down at the bag before looking up at Robin. “Is this part of training?”
Robin breaks the seal on the bag. “It is.”
Natasha gives a small nod and steps forward to accept a handful of peas from the bag.
Robin remembers feeding the ducks with her mother when she was a child. She remembers tearing bits of bread from the crust of her sandwich and tossing it into the lake and watching in joy as the ducks swallows them up.
Robin holds Yelena the same way that her mother once did, encouraging the girl to toss peas at the ground in front of the ducks. Robin throws a few of her own and ensures that Melina tosses at least two.
The four girls crowd in front of the pond until the bag of frozen peas are empty and Yelena is itching to go play in the sandbox.
Robin checks the time before encouraging Natasha to go play on the playground with the other children. She tells Natasha to bring her back the name and age of three children to ensure that she was actually socializing.
Natasha takes it seriously and slinks off to go do as she was asked. Robin settles Yelena down in the sandbox with a few other young children before taking a seat on a bench nearby. Melina sits down next to her.
“Was this your big plan?” Melina questioned. “Skipping training for this?”
“This is training,” Robin replies innocently, glancing at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Melina lets out a huff of laughter. “Right.” She leans against Robin.
Robin only grins, kissing the side of her head and draping an arm around her shoulders.
They sit in content, Robin keeping an eye on Yelena and glancing at Natasha every so often.
She feels Melina tense up and rip away from her moments before Melina is out of her seat. It takes Robin a few moments to see why.
Robin’s gaze falls on the boy just a little bit taller than Natasha moments before the boy yanks Natasha’s pants down around her ankles.
Robin quickly follows Melina as she sees Natasha turn grab the wrist that had snatched the waistband of her pants before throwing the boy over her shoulder and onto the ground.
Natasha then pulls her pants up, spots Melina and Robin moving toward her, and bolts.
Robin curses under her breath and changes her path to follow Natasha while Melina stays on course for the boy.
Robin can only hope that Melina remembers to act as a mother and not a Widow.
Natasha slips through crowds with ease and Robin almost loses track of her multiple times but the child’s bright red hair gives her an advantage.
Robin eventually catches the bottom of red shoes scrambling up a tree. She slows down once she reaches the base and tilts her head up to look at the child curled in on herself on a thick branch.
Robin takes a moment to catch her breath. She’d had to run long distances before, usually after injured Widows trying to sneak off, but she’d never run where there were crowds, witnesses, and climbing obstacles.
“Natasha?” Robin finally calls up to the child. “Are you alright?”
Natasha doesn’t reply. Robin doesn’t expect her to.
Robin glances at the base of the tree and tries to judge how hard it would be to climb. She hadn’t scaled a tree since she was a young teenager. “Can you give me a sign that you can hear me? Just tap the trunk or whistle or hum. Let me know that you’re okay.”
The girl was still and quiet for a few moments before she shifts and taps her hand three times against the branch she was sitting on.
“Good girl,” Robin said softly, watching the girl carefully. “Do you think you can come down now or are you not ready yet?”
Natasha’s green eyes stare down at her for a few moments before she shakes her head.
“That’s okay. I’m right here when you’re ready to come down,” Robin tells her, shifting to lean against the tree. She tries to put herself in the headset of an abused Widow. “I’m not angry or upset.” She said because it probably needed to be spoken.
“I hurt him.” Natasha’s voice was quiet and Robin almost didn’t hear her. “I earned swats.”
“You defended yourself against him. I’m not going to get upset about that,” Robin pushes away from the tree to look up at her again. “Sweetheart, I’m not upset with you. Remember what I said about touching? I will touch you whenever you want. Do you want a hug right now?”
Natasha slowly nods her head but still looked wary.
“Come here, honey,” Robin opens her arms up.
Natasha finally gives in after a few moments and Robin waits patiently as the child turns and hangs from the tree branch by her arms before dropping to the ground. Natasha shuffles forward into Robin’s hold.
“Good girl. It’s alright,” Robin whispers, crouching to wrap the girl up in her arms.
Natasha pressed her forehead against Robin’s shoulder, curling in on herself.
Robin kissed the side of her head, stroking her hair back briefly before scooping Natasha up onto her hip to carry her. Natasha startles at the movement, gripping the fabric on Robin’s shoulders to steady herself. She quickly pressed her face against Robin’s neck.
“I’ve got you,” Robin said softly, rubbing her back before she starts the trek back toward the bench. She hadn’t realized just how far Natasha had run.
Melina was arguing with another woman, Yelena curled up in her arms. The woman yelling back at Melina had a grip on the boy that had pantsed Natasha.
The angry woman turns her head and spots them. “You!” She jabs a finger at Robin. “Your kid could have broken my little boy’s arm!”
Robin glances at the finger outstretched toward her. “Good.” She can see the angry woman, Melina, and Natasha startle at her answer. “Maybe next time his arm will actually be broken.”
“Are you greatening me?” The angry woman gasps, pulling her son closer. The boy in her grip sneers up at Robin, bloodied scrapes on his hands and face from where Natasha had laid him out on the concrete.
“No. I’m telling you that maybe the next person your boy assaults won’t stop at fighting back. Maybe they’ll stab him in the eye with a stick?” Robin suggests with a growl.
“He’s just a little boy! He doesn’t know any better,” The angry woman snaps at Robin. Little boy her ass, Robin can tell that he’s at least older than Natasha.
“Then he better learn!” Robin turns her gaze toward the boy as she speaks to him. “If you ever touch anybody like that ever again, whether it’s pulling down another person’s pants or looking up a girls skirt, then you better hope that your momma turns you over her knee and blisters your behind because if I get my hands on you then you won’t be able to sit for a week.”
Natasha pushes her face into Robin’s neck and Robin reminds herself to take a few deep breaths.
“How dare you!?” The angry woman pulls her son closer as the boy stared up at Robin with wide eyes.
“No, how dare you!” Robin retorts, shifting Natasha so she can jab a finger at the woman just as she had done to her. “You’re lucky that I don’t call the police for your child assaulting mine.”
“She’s the bitch that hurt my baby!” The angry woman shrieks.
Robin clenches her jaw. “Your kid hurt my daughter!” She snaps and Natasha’s grip on her tightens. Robin will later think it over and realize that this was the first time that she referred to Natasha as her daughter. “Pantsing is classified as a form of sexual assault and if your kid was any older then he’d be leaving here in the back of a police car!”
“He didn’t mean anything like that!” The angry woman sneers in disgust.
“If you don’t teach your kid some manners then someday I’m going to watch the news and see his mugshot as the police tell us how he raped another girl!” Robin hissed, approaching the woman before looking down at the boy. “You better thank the gods that I’m not your mother because if I was then you wouldn’t be able to sit for a month when I was done with you.”
The boy lets out a whine, all bravado gone and Robin feels Melina’s hand on her shoulder, reminding her that he was still just a little boy. Robin takes a few deep breaths and the woman takes a few moments to huff and haw before grabbing the wrist of her child and dragging him away.
Melina’s hand trails to cup Robin’s face. “Breathe.”
“Let’s go home…” Robin grits out. Her whole body is tense and she’s angry. She’s angry because any other girl might be able to shrug getting pantsed off. They might feel embarrassed and angry but it’ll be forgotten about.
Natasha was a Widow that was undoubtedly sexually abused at some point and getting her pants ripped down around her ankles caused her to fight back. Natasha hadn’t moved from where she pushed her face into Robin’s neck, still stiff as a board. Her fingers were still curled into the fabric on Robin’s shoulders.
Melina gently takes the hand not holding Natasha and squeezed it gently. “Come on, my love. Let us return home.”
Robin takes a deep breath and turns on her foot to go home and deal with the aftermath there.