What makes a robin snap?
One week passes by way too quickly. Robin can’t squeeze enough training in.
She loses sleep. Nobody sleeps in their own bed. They all regress in the massive amounts of progress that they’ve made.
Rosalie shows up the night before they’re set to leave and joins Robin at the kitchen table.
They drink. Robin only does one shot. Rosalie reminds her of the options she has.
“I can take the kids,” Rosalie knocks back another shot.
“I know.” Robin drops her head into her hands as she hunched over the table. “I just…”
“I’ll make sure the street is clear for you tomorrow. Don’t make a scene,” Rosalie drops three pens of sedatives on the table. “For the little ones on the way back.”
Robin swallows hard, reaching out to accept the pens. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” Rosalie said, downing another shot. “You got this.”
“If they return without me--” Robin starts but Rosalie shakes her head.
“I’ll do what I can. Now, go to bed. Your family needs you,” Rosalie stands, unaffected by the numerous shots she had downed. As soon as Rosalie leaves, Robin heads upstairs to the bedroom.
Nobody was asleep yet, anxious and frightened about the next day. Robin takes a seat on her side of the bed and accepts the armful of clingy child that doesn’t hesitate to scoot into her lap. Natasha grips her quietly, burrowing into her arms.
“I want to address this right now,” Robin starts, drawing the attention of her girls. “No matter what happens tomorrow, you are mine. I will still love you regardless of what happens or what you do. You all are to be on your best behavior.”
“Don’t wanna go back,” Yelena shakes her head. She doesn’t understand why they can’t just not go. “Wanna stay here, mama.”
“I know, baby,” Robin says, taking a deep breath. “But we have to. Then, when we come home, we can have all the snuggles in the world.”
Yelena’s thumb automatically worms its way between her lips and Robin doesn’t pull it away.
Nobody sleeps much that night. The next morning, Robin helps each of them prepare. They wear white tank tops and black shorts with their sneakers. Robin grabs their files and slides the pens of sedative that Rosalie gave her into her pocket. Melina braids back all of their hair.
Robin kneels in front of her daughters, straightening their shirts and kissing their foreheads. “No matter what they tell you, I am your mother and you are my daughters and I love you. Please look after each other.”
“Where are you going?” Natasha asked her, reaching out to grip Yelena’s hand.
“I have to present my reports and observe your progress. You mustn’t acknowledge me,” Robin stands, glancing around for Melina. Harsh knocking on the door breaks her out of her thoughts.
It’s the same four soldiers as usual and as Robin predicted, they take the kids first.
Yelena pressed against Natasha’s side as they were herded into the first car. Melina appears and is transported in a second car while Robin is guided to the third.
Robin takes carefully measured breaths, gripping the files tightly in her hands. The single driver keeps glancing back at her and Robin doesn’t even bother to snap at him.
There is a plane waiting for them as they regroup. Robin knows that they were only separated to be questioned.
Robin watches as Yelena fumbles with her buckle and headset. Natasha does as Robin asked and helped Yelena into her seat, doing her belt up and sliding the headset on before doing her own.
The whole ride is quiet. Yelena grips onto Natasha’s hand again and Robin catches Natasha grabbing Yelena’s other wrist to stop her from bringing it to her lips to suck on her thumb.
They’re separated once again when they land. General Dreykov is waiting for them and he doesn’t hesitate to throw an arm around Robin’s shoulders.
“My pretty little songbird,” He croons. “Has come back home!”
“So it would seem,” Robin murmurs, refusing to watch as her daughters are herded off once again.
He lets her go and reaches for the files. Robin lets him take them, watching as he flips through them.
“I see,” He lets out a hum. “Shall we observe your ‘wife’ first?” He grins although it wasn’t really a question as he starts walking.
Robin follows after him like an obedient soldier.
Melina was already doing ballet, gracefully working her way through the routine she had long ago memorized.
The General is flicking through her file. Robin watches as Melina goes from ballet to knife throwing to shooting. She looked robotic, her eyes dead as she moves like a puppet with a grace that seemed inhuman.
“Interesting results,” The General tells her. “Let us move on to our most promising ones.”
Except they don’t head toward another observation room, they head toward the infirmary.
“A blood test for the songbird, Miguel,” General Dreykov gestured at Robin.
Robin glances at him in surprise but she doesn’t dare ask what he wants one for. She sits on the metal table and holds her arm out for Miguel to draw her blood.
Miguel was quiet, not daring to be his usual dumbass self with General Dreykov in the room. He takes a few vials of her blood and glances up at her as he finished. Their eyes meet and Robin tries to read the apologetic look he gives her.
Robin runs through the list of possible tests they could do with her blood. She doesn’t ask why, simply sliding off the table when she finished. She didn’t realize how much Miguel took until she wobbled on unsteady legs, quickly recovering.
Part of Robin wonders if he just wanted her weak but he’d never taken blood before.
“Come, my little songbird. We have places to be,” He starts to move again and Robin is left to try and recover quickly as she trails after him.
They stop right outside of a mirrored room where Robin can see Natasha and Yelena inside. She was relieved that they weren’t separated but she knows that the General had been waiting for her to watch this.
There’s an older Widow in the room and it takes a moment before Robin realizes that it’s Belka. There’s a scar on her face that travels down her neck and disappears under her leotard. Robin knows that she was the one that made that scar.
Belka is tapping a bamboo cane similar to the ones Robin had in her office against her hand as she paces and observes the girls. They’re running through ballet sets and Robin clenches her jaw each time Belka swats one of them for messing up.
Robin can tell that Yelena’s getting frustrated and distressed but Natasha keeps bumping her to go on when she stops and takes hits for being clumsy.
“Shall we see if our dear Natasha retained her knowledge on what it means to be a Widow?” The General knocks against the door of the room three times and Robin watches as the atmosphere of the room shifts.
Belka produces a gun and holds it out to Natasha who doesn’t hesitate to take it. Robin’s heart drops at the sight of the teenaged Widow led in and forced to her knees a dozen feet away from Natasha.
Robin bites her tongue to stop from speaking up and risking herself or them.
“Kill her,” Belka spoke, her voice cold. Natasha glances at Yelena for a moment before her eyes flicker to the door that she knew Robin was behind.
Robin can’t look away, blood filling her mouth as she bites through her tongue. Natasha raised the gun, her face blank as she aims at the Widow kneeling.
Yelena barely manages to clasp her hands over her ears before a single gunshot rings through the room and the Widow is shot executioner style.
Robin jolts as the General urges her forward into the room. Yelena’s head snaps up, her mouth opening as she takes a step toward her. With the hand not holding the gun, Natasha grabbed Yelena’s arm and yanks her back into line.
Yelena looks confused but picks up on the cue from Natasha and squirms in place instead.
“Belka, be a dear and pass the cane over,” The General spoke up. Belka approached Robin, holding the cane out.
Their eyes meet for a moment. Robin glances at the scarring on her face as she notices Belka look away in shame and submission.
Robin takes the cane. It feels heavy and wrong in her hand and she wants to drop it.
“Show them their place.” General Dreykov orders Robin. “Now.”
Robin swallows hard, her mouth tasting like copper as she stares down at the girls she had come to love as daughters.
“Against the wall.” She orders. Natasha drags Yelena toward the wall and with a little prompting, the younger girl mimics her sister’s stance.
Robin can feel the stare of the General against her back as she raised the bamboo stick.
She does Natasha first. Fifteen swats evenly distributed on her back down to her thighs. Natasha doesn’t even make a noise, bracing herself against the wall.
Robin turns toward Yelena, hesitating at the sight of the fear on her face before she pushes through. She wished she could tell Yelena that this was to protect her and that she was sorry.
Yelena lets out a high-pitched whine at the first swat, tensing up and gasping. Robin gives her ten, trying her best to make it look like she hit harder than she actually did.
Yelena was crying at the end of it, rubbing furiously at her face when she noticed her older sister wasn’t upset.
Robin is jerked away from them by the General as he rips the cane from her hands. “Kneel.” He orders her and Robin drops down to her knees right where she stood. “Pick. You, Natasha, or little Yelena.”
“Me.” Robin doesn’t hesitate to reply, unable to brace herself before the first swing connects with her back.
“Pick.” He orders again.
Robin keeps picking herself. Yelena had squeezed her eyes shut and Natasha was staring at the floor.
The General doesn’t stray from her back, something that Robin finds odd. She tries not to dwell on it, thinking about Yelena’s little giggles and Natasha’s soft laughter.
The General keeps going until the bamboo stick breaks with a large crack and Robin stifles the gasp of pain, leaning forward on her hands and knees to try and keep herself together.
Robin can hear Melina enter the room. She doesn’t look, afraid of what she’d find.
“Sir.” Miguel appears as well and Robin glances up as he holds a piece of paper out. “The report.”
General Dreykov takes it, looking it over and a delighted grin crosses his face. He approached Robin and kneels in front of her, grabbing her jaw with one hand while the other holds the paper up. “Read it.”
Robin focuses on the paper. Lab results from her blood.
They ran a pregnancy test.
“No,” Robin shakes her head. “No, no-- I checked. I checked--”
“There are things such as false negatives, my pretty songbird,” General Dreykov tells her.
“You knew. You wanted this--” Robin’s chest constricts. “Is it yours?” She whispers.
“Who knows.” He grins and Robin retches at the thought. He lets her go and she flops forward, gagging in disgust and horror.
PREGNANCY: POSITIVE
Tears cloud Robin’s vision. She tries to pull herself together but she can’t.
“Mother birds kill their young due to stress, either by pecking them to death or simply pushing them out of the nest. I wonder what it takes to make a robin snap?” General Dreykov had mused upon their last meeting.
This was his sick test. What would it take for a robin to kill their baby?
The answer: an unwanted pregnancy forced on her.
Robin curls in on herself as General Dreykov laughs.