(𝟮.𝟮) 𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 ➣ {𝕪•𝕓} ❘ [𝖇𝖑𝖆𝖈𝕶𝖜𝖎𝖉𝖔𝖜 𝖝 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗]

⧗ 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔜 𝔣𝔦𝔳𝔢 ❘ ᴛʜᴇ ɪʀᴏɴ ᴍᴀɪᴅᴇɴ

But they didn't make it as Alexie assured. Halfway through the journey, the fuel ran out, causing the helicopter to crash into a meadow of lavender flowers in the middle of nowhere.

Y/N, Natasha, Yelena, and Nathan walked out of the aircraft, and looked around, trying to figure out where they were.

Alexie followed the quartet out and sighed, "You should've brought the Avengers' super jet,"

Natasha rolled her eyes and joined Yelena as the two walked over to Y/N and Nathan's side as the four continued their way forward side by side.

"I swear, if I hear one more word from him, I will kick him in the face," Yelena snarled from Y/N's left.

"He's the worst," Natasha complained from Y/N's right.

"Natasha," Alexei called as he ran up to catch up with them.

The redhead tried to ignore his voice and kept on walking.

"Natasha, Natasha," he continued, "Come here, I want to ask you something."

Coming to a stop with a huff of breath, she let him catch up with her.

"Come, it's important," he added.

"What?" she spun in her place to face him.

"Did he talk to you about me? You know, trading war stories?"

"who? What are you talking about?"

"Captain America," he answered, "My great adversary in this theater of geopolitical conflict. Not so much a nemesis. More like a contemporary, you know? Coequal. I always thought there was a great deal of mutual respect—"

"You haven't seen either one of us in 20 years and you're gonna ask me about you?" Natasha inquired incredulously.

"What is with this tension?" Alexei wondered, oblivious to the hatred radiating from the redhead and the blonde, "Did I do something wrong?"

"I only ever loved you girls," he uttered, "Y/N, I looked after you in the Red Room like I promised to David,"

"Yeah, if 'looked after you' implies giving her to Madam B and letting her torture her, then, yeah," Yelena stated coldly, "You kept your promise."

"Yelena," Y/N called her quietly, giving her 'it's okay, drop it. I don't wanna talk about it.' look.

But Alexie didn't seem to get her point, "I did my best to make sure you would succeed to achieve your fullest potential and everything worked out."

"Everything worked out?" Natasha repeated bitterly.

"Yes. For you, yes," he carried on, "Yelena, you went on to become the greatest child assassin the world has ever known. No one can match your efficiency, your ruthlessness."

"Nathan, you're the Soviet Union's second super soldier," Alexie ruffled his hair with a look of gratification, "You were trained in the Red Room by the best of assassins."

"And Y/N, Natasha, not just spies, not just toppling regimes, destroying empires from within, but you became Avengers," he next turned to the eldest ones of the group, "Aida and David would be so honoured," he added to Y/N.

"You four have killed so many people," he said, slowly bringing all of them closer to his, "Your ledgers must be dripping, just gushing red. I couldn't be more proud of you," he squished all of them in a hug, making them squirm.

Natasha managed to break free from his arms, glaring harshly at him as she pulled Nathan off from his grip.

Alexie noticed that Yelena and Y/N were still in the hug and patted their arms, placing a kiss on each of their heads.

"Let go of me," Yelena told, "You smell really bad,"

"Yeah," Y/N agreed, slowly slipping away from him.

"If I'm right," Alexie turned to her, "You're dating Captain America's friend, aren't you? You're life's settled. It worked out for you like I said."

"Uh," she blinked at him, not expecting him to know that piece of information. Even though she had broken up with Sam, the mere mention of him made her falter.

"What!" Yelena scoffed and turned around swiftly, eyes filled with disbelief and surprise.

"What?" Y/N narrowed her eyes at her in suspicion.

"Nothing," she shrugged, trying to cover up the fact that she was bothered.

"Ooh, drama!" Nathan pumped his fist and bounced in his place, "Ow! Natasha!" he scowled at the woman when she stomped his foot.

"Keep your mouth shut," she warned him, "Or I'll chop off your testicles."

He rolled his eyes, "You don't have the guts to—Oof!" he groaned and hunched forward when Natasha punched his groin.

"What was that?" she raised a challenging eyebrow at him.

The two of them turned around when Yelena strode past them swiftly with a small pout as she continued to mutter something in Russian under her breath.

Y/N rubbed her temples with a squeeze of her eyes and walked forward to catch up.

About twenty minutes later, the five of them were still making their way down the meadow, walking in silence. 

"So," Yelena spoke up, "Are we there yet?"

"You'll know when we're there," Alexie responded.

☆°。• *₊°。✮。• *₊°。°☆

After reaching what looked like a fenced living space, the four of them kept walking and Alexie assured them that they were there.

The quartet kept on walking forward until a familiar woman in a black jumpsuit approached them, standing on the other end of the fence with a large gun in her hand. Melina Vostokoff.

Y/N had known Melina since Aida (her surrogate mother) used to talk about her and after she was taken to the Red Room, Madam B had made Melina supervise Y/N, taking note of her efficiency and skill.

Natasha and Yelena were careful to not meet Melina's eyes, not knowing how she would react after seeing them all again and neither of them could make out her neutral facial expression.

Alexie seemed to be more than glad to be there, "Honey, we're home," he shot her a toothy grin.

"Ah, Nathan," Melina spoke up, noticing him, "I always had a feeling you were alive."

Nathan raised his hand and half-waved, before dropping it to his side.

"You're Bela's daughter," Melina recognized the H/C-haired woman at once, "Aida took you in her womb, didn't she?"

"Er, yeah," Y/N confirmed, "That's me,"

"No wonder you seem so familiar,

"You're so much more than that," Alexie hyped her up, "You're an Avenger," he stated in a dramatic voice making her smile softly.

"Since you're related to the Lawsons', there's someone you might wanna see," Melina walked into the house, indicating for them to follow.

Alexie patted Nathan's back, urging him forward, and turned back to the other three, "Come on, girls,"

☆°。• *₊°。✮。• *₊°。°☆