black widow movie | dear violette romanoff,

chapter twenty two | это конец

"I'm heading to the widows now," Yelena says, pushing through exhaustion on the other end of the line.

I try to concentrate on the thought of Natasha as the building rocks, and the bottom begins to break off. I use the walls on either side of me to steady myself as I saunter through the hallway.

This place becomes more familiar with each step, even with the lights out.

Much to my shock but appreciation, Dreykov's office door is wide open at the end of the hall. I raise my gun and charge into the office, expecting to see Dreykov immediately. All I see is Natasha struggling to engage in hand-to-hand combat with practically every widow in the building.

The scene scares me, but not as much as the thought of Dreykov being on the loose.

I make a quick note of the time. Yelena was in the North-East wing of the Red Room; it would take her at least five minutes to get here.

"Dreykov's office," I tell Yelena, without having her ask. "You better have those vials." It comes out more passive-aggressive than expected, but the point is definitely across.

From the moment I walk in, half the eyes in the room are on me.

My suit engages, sensing the danger around me as a Black Widow lunges at me. I fight back, dropping them back-first onto the ground, finishing the job with an automatic taser.

Two more widows stampede toward me, and I duck as one shoots and the other tries to get onto my shoulders. I retaliate, dropping the armed one on her side and slamming her friend on top of her body.

Nat is struggling, switching back and forth between four different widows.

I rush to her aid, diving into the crowd of angry, mind-controlled widows. I get my legs wrapped around a girl's neck, squeezing tightly before an undeniable stinging enters my upper thigh.

I drop but stand back up before I have the other three running at me with both grief and anger in their eyes. I can tranquilize two out of three with a tranquilizer gun from one of the knocked-out widow's arm braces.

I knock into the side of the remainder, but she flips over my arm, twisting it and creating an agonizing pain in my shoulder. I let out a scream in the form of a groan, and grab at her upper torso, landing us both on the ground before I climb onto her and begin to punch repeatedly at her face.

I am so caught up in my work that I fail to notice the widow targeting me. I stand up, and she jumps from Dreykov's desk and onto my back. With her on my back, I ram as both up against a wall, and she slides down, semi-paralyzed.

"Violette!" Natasha shouts, throwing me a pistol from her suit.

Mine had been removed on the jet to the Red Room.

I gesture to her and take the gun from the air, using Dreykov's desk to propel myself, perform a b-twist, and land onto the one standing widow's shoulders. She is going for Nat after being commanded to do so, I imagine.

I use my legs to get under her shoulders and pull her down onto the floor.

When I stand up to check the conscious widows, I'm mortified to see that the large majority of those who have dealt with Nat and I are back up and ready for revenge.

Nat looks destroyed. I'm not sure if it is just her blood nose or the way she is practically on her knees with exhaustion. She is in terrible condition.

Two widows from behind me grab my hands, holding them tightly in place. Another Black Widow appears in front and starts kicking my stomach in mercilessly.

Nat is on the ground when I last see her, in a similar position to my own, barely enduring the torture.

I feel these are my last few moments. Miserably enough, it is not as different as to how I imagined that I might go.

Suddenly, an explosion... a grenade of red gas lights up above my head. Thankfully, I am released from the widow's grasp, and the hurt sets in as the red light hits my face.

Then, relief. I know what's happening.

Familiar hands reach around my torso and try to hold me up.

I open my eyes. It is Yelena, looking terrified and grateful.

I cough out the gas, letting myself wake up before letting Yelena take me over to help Nat, who is almost a puddle on the floor surrounded by confused but knowing widows.

Nat sighs and groans with unsteadiness, allowing me and Yelena to help her stand.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Yelena offers.

She clenches her shoulder.

I am first to notice that it is completely out of place. "Oh! Holy shit."

"That looks like it hurts," Yelena comments.

"Yeah!" Nat groans again.

"Okay. Take it out on three, ready?" Yelena doesn't count and twists Nat's shoulder into place in her own time. "I'm sorry."

The widows stare, bemused in a way.

One stands and in Finnish, asks, "Mitä teemme nyt?" ("What do we do now?")

Nat looks at them all, feeling remorse and nostalgia just by seeing them. "You get as far away from here as possible. You get to make your own choices now."

They all look overwhelmed by this, but there is no time for it as the building rumbles once more and explosions thunder.

"Melina," I tell Natasha, who is unaware. "She shot an engine. We'll crash anytime now."

Nat nods. "Okay. We gotta get out of here, then."

I shake my head. "Not yet, we can't."

"We need to find Dreykov," Yelena announces, acknowledging me. "Are you coming?" she asks Nat.

"I'm right behind you."