Ghost Widow

'I'm real'

It had been 4 days of constant work; Melina and Bruce down in the lab trying to find a cure. Melina would go down to the cell with Wanda every now and again to run tests on Ana. Yelena spent her days watching her sister on the monitors in conference room 2. Natasha was worried about her but understood why she couldn't leave her - they always had a complicated yet special bond.

Yelena could sense Nat's worry as she felt her sister watching her from afar again. "You don't have to hover all the time." she spoke, gesturing for Nat to take a seat beside her.

Natasha did so, and the two sat there silently, staring at the television screen. 

"They told me she died." Yelena broke the silence. "I asked about her everyday when they took me to the Red Room. I asked about her every single day for a year. They never gave me a reply, until one day I was pulled into a room and told there. It was Dreykov who told me. He kept saying it over and over, drilling it into my head. I went to attack him, you know."

She laughed and shook her head, "Seven year old me went to kill that man for telling me something I believed deep down. I knew she was dead but just because he was saying it, I went to kill him with my bare hands."

Her voice broke and she looked down to the floor, "-and now she's here. Alive. I didn't believe that she was alive for all these years and now. She turns up, a product of some twisted science project."

"Hey it's okay. I thought she was dead too. And what's worse is I didn't try and protect her like I tried to protect you. How can I face her when I could've stopped this from happening to her - happening to both of you?" Natasha spoke as a tear ran down her face. 

Yelena pulled her sister into a hug and said into her shoulder, "You were just a kid too Natasha. It wasn't your job to protect us... parents are supposed to do that."

Natasha sighed and relaxed into Yelena's grip. 

Melina broke the atmosphere by sprinting into the room. "Girls! We did it, we have a cure. We don't know how long it will last but we have synthesised a new counter agent."

The two women sprung up and followed Melina down to Ana's cell. They met Tony, Wanda and Bruce down there.

"The rest of the gang is watching on a monitor in conference room 4." Tony said as Wanda and Bruce prepared to enter the cell. 

Ana stood up and clenched her fists preparing to fight. "You all just gonna stand there or am I gonna have to make you come to me again?"

Tony opened the door and Wanda instantly restrained her and pinned her face down on the cold floor. Bruce knelt down beside the girl and took out a needle from a black case, containing a blue liquid. He stuck the needle in the side of her neck and injected the serum into Ana's bloodstream. Banner stood back up and walked out of the cell, joining the audience. Ana's eyes glossed over and flickered with a blue flash. 

The girl refocused on the room. She was facing a grey wall and couldn't move; she was pinned down by something. Melina went over to her and flashed a torch across her eyes to check if her pupils had normal dilation. 

"Mom?" Ana spoke and furrowed her eyebrows. Wanda took that as a good sign and released her.

Ana pushed herself up slowly and faced the older woman. Her mouth formed a frown as she looked at her mother figure. 

"Mom?" Ana's voice broke and Melina pulled her daughter into a hug. The girl didn't even flinch, she was so shocked. 

"This is some sick test isn't it!" Ana pushed the woman off of her and tensed up again.

Melina shook her head. "No darling, it's me. I'm real."

Ana looked to her left where she noticed the crowd outside the glass. Near the back she spotted Yelena. She froze and met eyes with her. All her memories came flooding back of her long forgotten childhood. The girl ran as fast as she could over to her sister and embraced her. 

"Прости воробей" Yelena said through tears. (I'm so sorry, sparrow.)

Ana said reassuring her sister, "я сильно скучал по тебе" (I missed you so much)

Alexei boomed through the room, startling everyone, "There she is!"

Ana recognised his face, breaking the hug and marched over to him. The man held his arms open, ready for her to fall into them. Instead her was met with her fist in his face. The girl knocked him onto the floor and stood over him. 

"Жалкий идиот!" The small girl yelled at him. (You pathetic idiot!)

Alexei rose to his feet, "What was that for?"

"YOU LEFT ME THERE! YOU KNEW THAT THEY WERE EXPERIMENTING ON ME AND YOU LEFT ME THERE, IN THAT GOD DAMNED FACILITY!" Ana shouted at him and he looked down ashamed.