The Heir
The Widows next visit brought four Widows and four guards.
Robin moves through them quickly. She learned to be lenient and kind but not soft. She doesn’t let them see the side of her she reserved only for her girls.
Robin gets them out of her house as quickly as possible. She’s thankful that none of them need stitches.
Melina always knows when the Widows come over. Robin figures something in her body language must shift because Melina will hold her close and tight when she comes home. Robin doesn’t know how but she just sinks into the hug each and every time.
And then Robin is called to the Red Room.
“It’s an emergency,” They say and don’t even give Robin time to grab her shoes before they haul her away from the house and her girls.
Yelena cries out for her and Melina clutches their children close as Robin is shoved into the back of a car.
Robin barely flinches as a needle is jammed into her neck and her eyes grow heavy before she slumps over.
She wakes up being dragged between two guards. They’re in the Red Room.
Robin is dumped onto the ground in the General’s office and her heart stops at the sight of the brown-haired little girl sitting on his desk. She’s wearing a school uniform, her hair pulled back in neat braids and tied off with red ribbons.
The girl isn’t that much older than Yelena but definitely younger than Natasha. Five? Six years?
“My pretty songbird,” The General smiles at her and Robin climbs to her feet warily. “Look what I’ve found?”
Robin glances at the child briefly before looking back at him.
“Go on. I know the question is just burning at you,” General Dreykov chuckles and Robin swallows hard before parting her lips.
“Where did she come from?” Robin asked him and General Dreykov grins.
“Can you believe that my ex-wife tried to hide her from me? My perfect heir and I had you performing tests.” He laughs and reaches for the girl on the desk.
“And where is her mother?” Robin hesitantly questioned.
“Out of the picture,” General Dreykov hums with a smile, and Robin’s heart drops into her stomach. “I want you to give her a physical.”
Robin steps toward the girl, plastering a smile on her face as her voice softens. “Hello. My name is Robin.”
The girl tilts her head up to look at Robin and smiles. “I’m Antonia.”
Robin crouches in front of her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Antonia. Why don’t you come with me to my office and we’ll give you a look over to make sure you’re growing big and strong?” Robin holds out her hand as she did with Natasha.
Antonia grins, reaching out and eagerly accepting Robin’s hand.
Antonia skips next to her as they walk down the hallway and reminds Robin of Yelena. Carefree and innocent.
Robin lifts the child up onto the metal table in her office. One that had held bloody soldiers and dead bodies.
Antonia kicks her little legs as they hang over the edge of the table, humming a nursery rhyme quietly.
Antonia lets Robin do whatever. Robin grabs her height and weight before checking her blood pressure and heartbeat. Antonia describes how she fell and scraped her knee when Robin asked if she was hurt anywhere.
There’s a bright green bandaid on Antonia’s knee that she proudly shows off.
Robin smiles and prods the child for more information.
Antonia is enthralled with the sudden appearance of her daddy. She rambles on about how her mommy told her all about her daddy.
Robin swabs Antonia’s cheek and tucks the sample away in her pocket to later check it against the sample General Dreykov had provided.
Robin then reluctantly returns Antonia to General Dreykov and prays to a god she doesn’t believe in because she knew that the General was one of the ones to sexually abuse the little girls.
But the General’s face grows a sort of softness that Robin had never seen before and something clicks in her brain.
If Robin wanted to bargain with the General then the little girl in front of her was a way to do it.
Robin shoves the thought away, cramming it into the dark crevices of her mind to never see light again.
Robin refuses to involve a child into this.
Robin leaves when the General lets her. He dismisses her with a wave of his hand after she’d given her reports.
She had been there for a few hours now. She is led out to the helicopter as usual.
The ride back was quiet and uneventful. Robin shuffles up to her front door to find that it’s already unlocked.
Robin froze when she stepped foot in the house and saw Melina clutching Yelena closely, Natasha with her face violently blank as she stared down at her shoes, and the same four guards as before.
"Take the baby," The guard behind her spoke and Robin moves forward, feeling Natasha's eyes on her. She stops in front of Melina and reaches out.
Melina passes Yelena over with no fuss, her face eerily mimicking Natasha's. Yelena was quiet and observing, curling her fingers into Robin's shirt.
"Take the baby upstairs," The guard then tells her. "And do not come back until we leave."
Robin grits her teeth before she turns and slowly carried Yelena up the stairs and into the safety of her office upstairs. She pulls the hollow book from the bookshelf and sets Yelena down so she can assemble the gun.
She holsters it in the waistband of her pants and scoops Yelena back up when she fusses. Yelena had gone non-verbal, doing nothing more than whining and Robin finds the tiny injection mark on the toddler's neck that tells her she had been drugged into compliance.
Robin paces, trying to listen for any sort of noise from downstairs. Yelena falls asleep from the pacing Robin does, not willing to fight against the drugs in her tiny system.
Robin moves to Yelena's room closer to the stairs and sets her down in the crib, taking guard in front of the door.
She hears the front door slam and nearly trips moving hastily down the stairs. Melina and Natasha are still in the living room, their faces blank. Natasha tilts her head up to glance at her.
Natasha then stumbles forward and her body slams into her, throwing her arms around Robin's waist and bawling. "Mama!"
The intense and sudden reaction startles Robin but she doesn't hesitate to scoop Natasha up just as she did with Yelena. Natasha winds her arms around Robin's neck and just sobs.
"Shh, I've got you, baby girl," Robin whispers, rubbing the child's back. Melina is still standing still, her face blank as she seems to stare at nothing. Robin sways in place, torn between comforting Natasha and moving to help Melina.
The child in her arms takes priority. Natasha is crying so hard that she's gasping for air with each sob, her frame trembling as all of the emotions just spill out. Robin's fingers catch on red hot welts forming on the child's back and she closes her eyes briefly.
Of course those stupid fucks hurt her.
"Melina--" Robin fears that they've hurt Melina too. Yelena didn't appear hurt, just distressed and disoriented. Melina doesn't react to the sound of her own name. "Sweet girl? It's Robin."
Melina's head jerks to finally look at Robin.
"Sit on the couch, please," Robin tells her softly, swaying in place as she cups the back of Natasha's head. Melina doesn't move for a few moments before she makes a few stiff strides toward the couch and sinks into the cushions with very little grace, wincing when she does.
Robin's heart sinks. General Dreykov called for her and while she was gone he hurt them.
One thing at a time. Robin needed to focus on Natasha first.
Natasha is clinging to Robin with everything she has, her fingers curled into Robin's shirt. While Robin had been encouraging Natasha to show more emotion and reassuring her that it was okay to cry...
This was different. This wasn't just crying, this was a full-on meltdown. Natasha is sobbing so hard that she's choking on air trying to drag it in with each gasp.
"Let it all out," Robin pressed a soft kiss to Natasha's head from where the child had tucked it into the crook of her neck. "It's okay. They're gone now. I've got you."
There are tears soaking her neck and shoulder, drenching her shirt with each heave that wracks Natasha's small frame. Robin wonders when the last time Natasha actually cried was.
Robin paces just like she did upstairs with Yelena. Each time it seemed like Natasha's sobs were dying down, they renewed.
"Does it hurt?" Robin could kick herself for not thinking of other reasons why Natasha could be crying. The painful welts she felt on the child's back probably weren't helping. While Natasha doesn't give a verbal answer, there's a tiny nod against her neck. "Do you want me to take a look at it now?" Natasha shakes her head.
Now that she was at least getting responses from Natasha, Robin glances at Melina. She shifts Natasha to one hip and moves toward Melina. She reaches out to gently tuck a strand of hair out of Melina's face. Melina flinches.
"I'm so sorry, sweet girl," Robin said softly and Melina leans forward until she rests her forehead onto Robin's stomach. Robin gently strokes her hair.
If only Robin could hold Yelena at the moment too. She just needed them close at the moment. Natasha had finally quieted down and just kinda fell limp against Robin. Robin has to strain slightly to hold the limp child with one arm.
"They said that you were killed," Melina finally tells her. "That the mission had gone awry and our cover was blown so General Dreykov killed you."
Robin shakes her head. “There was a development regarding my project but nothing else. I’m right here. I’m still alive.”
Melina leans against Robin with a small sigh. “Is Yelena safe?” She whispers.
“Sleeping upstairs soundly,” Robin nods her head. “Do you want to go check on her?”
Melina cranes her head up to look at Robin before letting out a jerky nod.
“I’m going to head upstairs with Natasha into her room, okay?” Robin reluctantly steps back so Melina can stand up.
Melina pulls Robin into a soft kiss to reassure herself, her fingers briefly cupping Robin’s face before pulling away and disappearing up the stairs.
“My baby,” Robin nuzzled her nose against the side of Natasha’s head, pressing a soft kiss to the girl’s temple.
Natasha’s sniffling, letting out soft hiccups as she settles down slightly.
Robin carried her upstairs and into her bedroom. There’s an identical rocking chair to the one in Yelena’s room, a recent edition after Robin remembered how it soothed Natasha when she was learning to sleep without handcuffs.
Robin takes a seat, situating the child in her lap. Natasha clings to her desperately, a whine escaping her lips. “Don’t leave me!”
“I’m not going anywhere, little one,” Robin shushes softly. She cards her fingers through the copper hair. “Can I take your shirt off and see your back?”
Natasha was quiet for a few moments and Robin waits until she feels the tiny nod against her shoulder.
Robin hooks her fingers into the bottom of the shirt and tugs it up. “Arms up, sweetheart.”
Natasha winces when she raised her arms and let Robin pull the shirt off.
Robin can immediately see the scarlet stripes across her back starting around her shoulder blades and crisscrossing down her back.
“My baby, I’m so sorry,” Robin breathes out when she sees the damage.
Natasha shakes her head. “I thought you died--” She chokes out another sob before shaking her head. “I got your shirt all dirty…”
There are tears and snot on Robin’s shirt now but Robin could care less about it at the moment. “It’s okay--”
Natasha shakes her head, tugging on her shirt. “Take it off.”
Robin blinks in surprise. “Natasha, that’s not appropriate--”
“You do it with Yelena!” Natasha protests before tugging again. “Please, I need-- please?”
Robin looks down at her little one’s teary face and her resolve breaks before she nods. “Okay.”
Natasha lets Robin’s shirt go long enough for Robin to pull her shirt off.
Natasha immediately winds her arms around Robin’s neck, squishing her cheek against Robin’s bare collar. Robin gently wrapped her arms around Natasha, careful of the bruising on her back.
Robin gently rocks the chair, pressing a soft kiss against the red curls brushing against her bare shoulder. “Is this what you wanted?”
Natasha nods her head against Robin’s shoulder, curled up into a tiny ball.
Robin strokes her hair and sings softly.
Melina joins them with Yelena not too much later, pausing when she sees them before moving closer. Melina takes a seat at Robin’s feet, leaning against her legs and quietly soaks up the contact between them.
Robin can’t believe that the General found his daughter and thought it would be hilarious to trick her girls into thinking she was dead before beating them.
Robin can see Natasha’s thumb slowly press against her lips as she searches for comfort that she doesn’t know how to find.
Robin closed her eyes and took a deep breath because at that moment she knew that one day she was going to kill the General.
Maybe not in a month. Maybe not a year. But one day she was going to kill him and she was going to enjoy doing it.
For now, she lets Natasha take the skin contact she needs, lets Melina lean against her clinging to Yelena, and focuses on her family.