Andrea | MCU

one. aleksandria

Aleksandria Petranova has been trained in the Red Room since she was five years old. She has no memory of the life she had before that. Either she was too young to remember or the Red Room had wiped any existence of those memories.

She was trained to kill, hunt, and maim. Love is weakness, that's what she was taught. Showing any signs of emotion was the fastest way to get yourself killed. And Aleksandria knew all of this by heart, even though she didn't have one.

The Red Room shaped her and countless others into soldiers. Weapons. Spies. To them, they were expendable. Handling weapons, physical combat, manipulation. All of that was forged in their DNA. It was her life.

Aleksandria didn't remember a lot of things about her childhood in Ohio. How could she, she was only five.

But there was stuff she did remember. Fireflies, a swing set, the name Andrea. They seemed so familiar yet so unrecognizable. She didn't remember the last time she was happy either.

There were times where her memories would come in fragments, like pieces of a puzzle. Slowly coming back one by one. She remembered a song, the tune was clear in her mind but the lyrics weren't.

She used to hate it when she couldn't remember things. But as she got older, she had learned not to bother with the information she may never get back. She had to learn to let it go.

She was on a mission.

Her head was clear as it always was. She was calm, too. Aiming the sniper at the little girl, her target. She felt nothing. No remorse. No doubt. No anger or sadness. Just nothing.

She was used to it. Years of chemical subjugation can do that to a person. But she took comfort in it. Not being able to think for herself, it made her life easier. It made her training easier. It made all her hurt and pain numb.

She was about to pull the trigger when her gun was taken from her. Her instincts immediately kicked in, she knocked the person off their feet.

Without thinking, she continued to attack the enemy. She saw a flash of blonde hair and emerald green eyes. Something in her was telling her to stop, to not hurt the person but she fought the voice and punched the other girl in the face.

The mystery assassin stumbled back, giving Aleksandria the chance to pull her knife out. But before she could make another move, the blonde blinded her with red mist.

Soon enough, Aleksandria was on her feet on the ground, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to regain her vision.

"Andrea?" The blonde spoke, her Russian accent thick.

Aleksandria's mind was soon clouded with thoughts and memories. A thousand images came flooding back. She didn't like it. It made her feel uneasy. Uncomfortable. Vulnerable.

Her eyes fluttered open and shut for a solid minute. Her mission was long forgotten. She looked up at the blonde, who had a flash of hope in her eyes.

"Who are you?"

And just like that, the spark was gone, replaced by disappointment and sadness. "Do you not remember me?"

Aleksandria shook her head. Subtly, she reached around for the gun but then quickly realized that it was out of reach, discarded behind the blonde.

"I am here to help you," she said, her tone gentle yet cautious, "I mean no harm to you, Andrea."

There it was again. That name. Why did she keep calling her that?

Aleksandria scooted backwards, moving closer to the ledge. "What have you done to me?"

The blonde held her hand out and Aleksandria eyed it warily. "I have given you your freedom back."

Aleksandria didn't move. She didn't trust her. For all she knew, she was sent there to kill her. And she couldn't take that chance.

"Let me help you. Please."

But Aleksandria looked into her eyes, that's when she knew the blonde wasn't lying to her. She took a leap of faith and accepted her hand.

The blonde pulled her up and engulfed her in a hug. It had taken Aleksandria off guard and she struggled at first. She was tense before realizing that the blonde meant no harm. "I missed you, sister."

A/N - this is only chapter one. the next couple chapter after this will be longer so don't worry. happy reading.

- dhara 💕