Ghost Widow

Ana Volkov

Bruce looked at the red-head blankly. It took a moment for him to process but he walked slowly over to Natasha and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She tensed and jolted under his touch, looked at him and relaxed again. She turned her gaze back to the girl as a lone tear threatened to fall. Quickly, she brushed it away and slightly coughed, clearing her throat.

"From the Red Room. I knew her when I was a kid." she said hastily.

Bruce turned around and grabbed a stool for her to sit on, placing it by the hospital bed. Nat smiled at him appreciatively and took a seat. He nodded before leaving the room, giving the two some space. Maria was still asleep, worn out from the exhaustion of not sleeping for days. 

A while had passed and Clint entered the room. Banner had informed him on what Nat had said earlier when they switched over from flying the jet. He passed Natasha a bottle of water which she took from his hand. He grabbed the other stool and pulled it up next to her.

"Was she in the Red Room with you?" he broke the silence, knowing that this was a sensitive subject for her.

She turned her gaze from the girl to her best friend, "Not really. She was apart of my 'family' when I lived in Ohio."

Unbeknownst to the pair, Ana had begun to stir, but kept her eyelids shut. She used her Red Room training to figure out her surroundings without alerting anyone she was conscious. Ana listened to the voices around her. She could tell there were two people in the room: a man and a woman. They were talking about the woman's past in Ohio, but the man was doing most of the talking. The girl felt her strength coming back and also a metal band on her left wrist.

She inhaled deeply before turning invisible and using her strength to bust out of the cuff.  The two people sprung up, the woman taking a gun out from her side, almost as a reflex. She looked at the pair, knowing they couldn't see her and analysed them closely. The man's eyes darted around the room, but the woman was focused in one spot right by her; almost as if she could see her. Coming to her senses, Ana hit the woman in the face, sending her flying backwards into the wall. Another woman in a hospital bed sprang up. Ana hit the man in the stomach and elbowed him in his ribcage, causing him to double over in pain.

The noise must've alerted the other members onboard because a dark haired woman slid the door open and used some sort of magic to pin Ana to the wall

What the fuck was that?  Ana thought, why couldn't she move.

The woman's eyes glowed red and brought her down to the floor. Suddenly, Ana felt a pain in her neck and her vision went blurry before turning black.

Clint stood up and tossed the needle back onto the metal table. He picked up Ana's fragile frame and put her back in the bed. There was no need to cuff her again, the sedative would last for a few hours which gave them plenty of time to get back to the compound. Clint gave Natasha a hand up. She clutched her head, on which she had a gash across her eyebrow. In the time being, Steve and Bucky had appeared at the doorway.

"She's a feisty one." Steve spoke and gave Wanda a pat on the back, "nice job kid!" he complimented.

Natasha was sat on a stool, Clint cleaning her wound, "She sure is" she spoke, knowing that that's what the Red Room wanted from girls like her. 

"Almost home guys!" Tony's voice boomed from the other room.

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As the quinjet touched down on the compound, Clint grabbed Ana and carried her out; Steve giving Maria a shoulder to lean on whilst they exited. Clint took the girl inside the Avenger's Compound and down into one of the glass cells. He laid her on the bed and left the room, Natasha watching his every move. Barton put a hand of his friend's shoulder and they walked out of the hallway together up to where the rest of the team would be. They found them in conference room 2 with the big screen on, watching the small girl lay unconscious in the cell. The duo sat at the long wooden table, Natasha slumped in her chair.

"Don't you want me to take a look at that?" Bruce nudged her right arm and nodded towards her gash.

She smiled at him, "Not right now, It'll be alright for now."

Tony cleared his throat and stood up from where he was previously seated. "Okay so... what do we know about this kid?"

Everyone looked towards Natasha, they had all figured out that she had something to do with it by now. "Well it's kind of complicated..."

They all still looked at her expectantly; she rolled her eyes and sat up.

"Okay so as all of you know, I was apart of an organisation when I was a child called the Red Room. Well the Red Room would also set up sleeper cells in various places across America - families that were created to blend in to American culture so that agents could spy more efficiently. I was apart of one of those based in Ohio up until 1995. My family consisted of a mother, father and three kids; me the oldest, and my two 'twin sisters', one of them being this girl." she pointed to the screen.

Sam interjected, "Wait if it was in the 90's, how come this girl is still a kid?"

"I have no idea" she continued, "the last time I saw her I was 11 and we had all just escaped to Cuba"

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The car had just pulled up to an old plane yard. Alexei was pulling back a tarp to reveal a small plane. Yelena and Ana ran inside the shelter and pulled the block out from under the wheels of the plane. Natasha opened the second door of the plane and lifted her sisters up into the aircraft. Melina got in the cockpit; Alexei removed the farming equipment blocking the flight path.

Suddenly, three cars with blue and red flashing lights pulled around the corner. Melina started the plane and the girls strapped themselves in. Alexei drew his rifle and aimed at the tyres of the first car, causing it to swerve and crash into a building. The aircraft began to move, turning out of the shelter; Melina driving it down the runway, gradually gaining speed. Alexei continued to shoot at the cars, whilst running after the plane.

He jumped onto the wing of the plane, still shooting at the cars, which were getting ever closer. One of the agents from the car hung out of the window, aiming at the cockpit. He fired his gun, the bullet hitting the plane and Melina, before lodging itself in Ana's stomach. Melina grabbed her shoulder and grunted in pain.

"Natasha, I need you up here." Melina spoke weakly. Natasha clambered through to the front.

Yelena turned to her sister who was doubled over in pain. "Ana!" she screamed.

"Yelena, put pressure on her wound" Melina spoke as she turned slightly to see her child bleeding.

Yelena did as instructed, laying her pale sister on the seats before pressing down on her wound.

"It's gonna be alright воробей" Yelena spoke, staring at her twin, tears falling from her eyes. (sparrow)

Ana's breathing became shallow and she winced in pain. She turned her head slightly to see her big sister flying the plane. They were now in the air and she felt herself about to pass out. Her eyelids became heavy as the darkness overtook her.