Salt looks just like sugar
The two words Rosalie whispered into her ear made Robin freeze.
Hydra.
“You’re a double-agent for Hydra?” Robin questioned and Rosalie lets her wrist go.
“That’s a silly question to ask, don’t you think?” Rosalie gives Robin a lopsided grin as she settles back, her hand cupping over the bandage on her side.
Of course, Rosalie wouldn’t confirm or deny it. But her words were enough.
Hydra was a horrible place filled with Nazi’s and they had horrible values and barely any morals but if Robin had to choose between the Red Room and Hydra, she’d pick the lesser of two evils.
She’d pick Hydra.
Because Hydra didn’t raise little girls for slaughter and if you were good and followed orders then you could raise a happy little family to come home to at the end of the day.
“Are you telling me this because you’re offering?” Robin questioned quietly and Rosalie lets out a lazy hum.
“Are you willing?” She retorts.
“Quit playing games,” Robin snaps at her, slamming her hand down on the examination table. “I’m not in the mood.”
Rosalie tilts her head to the side, staring up at Robin before nodding. “Not yet, then.” Rosalie slides off the table, reaching up to pat Robin’s cheek. Robin grabs her wrist, stopping her.
“What did I say about touching me?” Robin demands and Rosalie rolls her eyes and pulls her wrist away. “We are not friends, Rosalie. Don’t mistake that.”
“That kind of thinking will keep you alive,” Rosalie grins at Robin. “Mind if I have that shirt now?”
Robin leaves the room and fetches one of her button-down shirts before returning. Rosalie was still where she left her, inspecting the books on her bookshelf.
Robin helps Rosalie into the shirt and fetches her a few painkillers from her stash of medicines. “If it starts to get infected then come back. Keep it clean, don’t pull your stitches, you know the gist.”
Rosalie gives her a lazy salute so that she doesn’t pull her stitches. “Aye, aye captain.”
Robin rolls her eyes. “Fuck off. Go home and nap.”
Rosalie heads downstairs and Robin sees her out the front door.
Robin then heads back upstairs to clean up the bloody mess Rosalie left behind.
“Robin?” Melina pipes up and Robin jumps, too deep in her thoughts to hear her come in.
“Yes?” Robin twists to glance at Melina, tossing the wipe she used to clean up in the trash.
“Everything okay?” Melina approached Robin, reaching up to wrap her arms around Robin’s neck. Robin frowns slightly at the sudden display of affection.
“Yes,” Robin doesn’t mention Hydra or Rosalie or double-agents. Not when she knew Natasha had a bad habit of eavesdropping when Melina and Robin spoke in her office.
Melina’s hand cups Robin’s face briefly, her thumb moving to brush against Robin’s lips and Robin realizes that she’s checking for lipstick.
“Nothing like that happened,” Robin soothes softly, pressing a soft kiss to Melina’s thumb. “I patched her up. That’s it.”
Melina tugs Robin down into a possessive kiss. It surprises Robin but she eagerly falls into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Melina.
Melina then tries to deepen the kiss and Robin cuts her off because if Natasha truly was eavesdropping then she didn’t want the intimate affection to upset her.
“Later,” Robin promised, pressing one last kiss to Melina’s lips before pulling away and moving toward the door.
Natasha has the decency to look guilty when Robin swings the door open and she’s standing there, at least having gotten better at moving faster before she was caught with her ear literally pressed the to door.
“You’re getting better, sweetheart,” Robin comments as she passes by Natasha, ruffling her hair. “Good job.”
Natasha follows after Robin like a duckling.
“I don’t know if she’s ready.”
With all of the commotion, it had completely slipped their minds that there was the fundraiser happening at SHIELD to raise money for Toys for Tots.
“I agreed for the four of us to go a month ago,” Melina protests.
“And we killed somebody not even four days ago because Natasha came forward about what he had done!” Robin shakes her head. “If we go, she will shut down.”
“I have to go and I can’t just bring Yelena to show off. They’ve already met her,” Melina lets out a long sigh. “Can’t we just say she’s shy? Besides, I’m pretty sure Elliot will be there.”
Robin rubs her face with her hands. “I know, I know. We have to go. I just--”
Melina’s hands gently grip Robin’s. “I don’t want to go any more than you do. But we have to do this.”
“Okay… okay let’s get everyone ready then,” Robin lets out a small sigh.
Robin dresses in a red button-down and black slacks which pairs well with Melina’s red and white dress. Yelena wears a red and green dress with little black bows while Natasha wears a red and black checkered sweater and a pair of black pants.
Robin specifically picked pants for Natasha before she knew that Natasha was going to want to be carried practically the whole night.
Robin’s never been at a SHIELD facility before. The place was crowded with agents and their families. Melina carries Yelena in, Natasha gripping one of her hands. Natasha’s other hand grips Robin’s tightly.
The two women surround Natasha, trying to keep as many people as they can from accidentally bumping or brushing into her.
Robin plays nice, a lingering thought in the back of her head that some of these agents were Red Room and some were Hydra.
When another kid running by knocks into Natasha, Robin doesn’t wait for the copper-haired child to ask, scooping her up.
Natasha immediately winds her arms around Robin’s neck, tucking her face against Robin’s shoulder.
Robin does eventually run into Joel and Maxine.
“Elliot’s playing with the other kids, Natasha might like to join them,” Maxine suggests, her gaze falling onto the crowd of children playing in the play area set up for them in the corner.
“She’s just a little overwhelmed,” Robin explains simply, giving them a small smile as she chats up Maxine.
Robin’s eyes scan the crowd for Melina and spots her talking to a man that she recognized.
That man was one of the people Melina needed to get close to in order to gain information.
“Excuse me,” Robin politely excused herself from Maxine and wanders over to introduce herself.
“Hi sweet girl,” Robin wraps her free arm around Melina, kissing her cheek.
“Hello, my love,” Melina smiles up at her before gesturing to the man in front of her. “Robin, this is Agent Phil Coulson. Phil, this is my wife, Robin.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Lewis,” Phil offers out his hand.
“Please, call me Robin. And this is our eldest daughter, Natasha,” Robin said, gesturing to the child who had yet to take her face out of Robin’s shoulder.
“Such a cuddle-bug, huh?” Phil smiles and Robin’s thankful he doesn’t attempt to touch or interact with Natasha.
Robin is introduced to a few more notable targets that Melina had been attempting to get close to. A few of them were parents of children in Natasha’s class.
Natasha could be socializing in the corner, making connections. Instead, she’s curled up and silent in Robin’s arms.
Robin can only hold Natasha for so long. Her arms start to burn under the strain of sixty pounds weighing her down.
“I’m gonna give you to mommy, okay?” Robin murmurs to Natasha.
Melina sets Yelena down and accepts Natasha from Robin. Natasha immediately clings to Melina with the same fervor that she did with Robin.
Robin keeps an eye on Yelena as the toddler stretches her legs, ducking between people in crowds and weaving between furniture.
Then Yelena runs right into someone’s legs when she was peering behind her.
“Yelena!” Robin moves forward, scooping her up when Yelena’s face scrunches up. “I’m so sorry, sir.” She straightens, looking at the man Yelena had run into.
The man lets out a low chuckle. “No harm done.” He replies before holding out his hand. “I’m Nicholas Fury. Please, call me Nick.”
“Robin Lewis. Melina’s wife,” Robin takes the hand. What was her luck that Yelena ran right into the most important figure Melina was to keep an eye on. “And this little rascal here is my daughter, Yelena.”
“Well hello there, little miss,” Nick grins at Yelena.
Yelena proceeds to repeat his greeting in Russian and Robin lets out a soft laugh as Yelena calls him a ‘little miss’.
“Multilingual kids just say the darnest things, huh?” Nick chuckles, glancing at Robin. “Your wife is a scientist here, right? Team Foxtrot?”
“I believe so, she doesn’t like to talk about work,” Robin shifts Yelena in her grip when the toddlers tugs on her hair. “You?”
“Second in command,” Nick replies politely. “Perhaps you’ve met my partner, Phil Coulson.”
“Ah, I believe my wife and other daughter are with him,” Robin briefly scans the room, frowning when she doesn’t see the other half of her family. “I should probably go find them now.”
Nick gives her a nod. “Of course. If you’ll excuse me,” He steps away and Robin turns to scan the room once again.
She finds Natasha with the crowd of children in the corner. Natasha was standing stiffly, Elliot talking animatedly to her but Natasha was barely replying.
Robin moves forward toward her because Natasha’s body language was screaming in fear.
“Mama!” Natasha gasps out when she sees Robin, pulling away from Elliot and crashing into Robin, wrapping her arms around her tightly.
“Hi, baby. Where did your mommy go?” Robin sets a hand onto her head.
“She found an opening with one of the women. They went off alone,” Natasha replies quietly. “Up?”
Robin takes a deep breath before shifting Yelena to one arm and hauling Natasha up onto her hip.
Robin scans the room once again, wondering how many targets Melina was made to get close to were actually from Hydra.
“Let’s step outside for a breath of air and call her, huh?” Robin heads toward the doors, stepping out into the chilly air and setting both Natasha and Yelena down onto the ground before pulling out her phone.
Robin trusts Melina to be able to handle herself but when Melina doesn’t answer the phone, Robin’s heart sinks.
Still, her children are watching her carefully so Robin gives them a small smile and dials the phone again.