Prosperous In Battle

9: Like Mother, Like Daughter

We had been watching the apartment for weeks. But other than the first night I haven't seen Dreykov bring any of the girls there or seen any of them leaving. Yelena lost the car after 6 blocks. We tried to find it again but it was gone. Mr Howard won't tell me the location of the school. They're fearful I was going to blow our cover and get me and everyone else killed. That would be the easy option then they'd have to leave Ottilie alone, they'll be too dead to do anything about it. 

"Want some pancakes?" Tony asked me, I looked through him like he wasn't even there. He made it clear where we stand. "Natasha are we still doing this?" He asked sounding tired. But I was tired of being told my family isn't a real family. I ignored him and got a drink out of the fridge and went to leave. "Nat could you hold-" Peppa stopped talking when she saw my face. I didn't want anything to do with their child. They made it clear they didn't want anything to do with mine.

"Nat, please. Come on." Tony explained. "She's just a baby." "So was Ottilie when they beat her because she couldn't stand in a line," I say walking away from them. "You two still at war?" Bruce asked me. "War is an understatement. I'm here until my daughter is home and then I'm done with this bullshit." "He's trying to protect his kid." He tries to reason with me. "Ottilie used to call him Papa T... Do you know that? He was family to her and he discarded her when she made a mistake." "It was a pretty big mistake." "And she didn't make it," Yelena said defending her niece, whom she hadn't even met yet. "He's threatened by here. Because she's smarter than he is and he doesn't know how to handle that." Clint said. "That's why we see her as a threat, isn't it? Because she's smarter than us? She fights smart, not hard. Face it. You're all worried you'll be bested by her one day. You want to contain that so you're still on top." He went on. "Steve she could run rings around you. Bruce, she's got the potential to fix the mistakes you have made and create the serum the correct way. Tony, she can code in her sleep with her hands tied behind her back. You worried she'll outdo you. Hell, she has better aim than me. Shoots a bullet through the same hole three times in a row. She was 12 when she could do all that. The only people she is yet to out best are the three people who are not entirely human. Ones a god, one a witch and one a literal robot... So you want her gone before the world sees that a young girl can best you all because your silly egos can't handle it. You're so blind to it because of your fear that you can't see she is trapped. She's not her own person. She's bearly alive in there." "How would you know?" "Because we saw her being carried out of the building unconscious. She's not living Tony. She's adapting to survive. And if you're threatened by a girl who you used to want to protect and teach and help grow then that's something you need to look in the mirror and talk about. Because My niece will be coming home, and she'll be coming home alive." Clint said. I smiled at him thanking him for sticking up for me and Ottilie.

"Nat I don't want her dead." "No, you just don't want her near your child... You found a way to replace her and that's okay. She doesn't need any of you. She has me and her family." I tell him. "Stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours."

-----------------

I go to my room and run my fingers through the old doll's hair. "I love you, Ottilie," I whispered to no one. All I wanted to do was hold her in my arms and tell her it was okay and how sorry I was for not listening to her. If I had listened if I had stayed with her she may still be here. If not at least she wouldn't have left thinking I didn't care for her. The last moment was her crying for me and me walking away. I turned my back on her I betrayed her!

Never again.

-------------

"We have intel that the Black widows will be making an attack on the city today," Fury says. "Our job is to lead them away, here and get the one they call Little Swan." His eyes flicked to me. "Ottilie, our mission is to capture my daughter and cause her harm until she tells us everything she knows." "Which will be nothing because she has been programmed that way." "You talk about her like she's a computer," Thor observed. "Because they treat her like she's one. She's basically vision at this point." Yelena says waving her hands around. "It's okay." I rest my hand on top of hers. "