Red in my Ledger

Chapter Fifteen

I stole the jet that was sitting at the top of the Avengers Tower.
It was the middle of the night, and no one knew I had escaped, so it was easy to get away.
I flew straight back to the Red Room with no hesitation.
As soon as I landed, I headed for Dreykov's office.
On my way, I passed Yelena. She was on her way out on her own mission. I decided to stop her to talk to her.
"What are you doing?" she asked when I grabbed her arm.
"I-" I didn't know why I stopped her. We weren't close. "I just thought you might want to know that I spoke to Natasha."
"I don't care" she said, then shoved past me.
I rolled my eyes and carried on walking to find Dreykov.
I knocked on his door, and heard his voice telling me to come in.
"Y/n" he looked up from his desk. "You're back."
"I'm sorry it took so long. There was a complication."
"Yes I saw on the news. Hydra?"
"Yes."
"You can't save their operation?"
"I tried. But that wasn't my mission anyway."
"If they gave you a mission, you should've completed it."
I looked to my feet in shame.
"But you also didn't complete the mission I tasked you with."
"Yes I did" I looked back up. "Nicholas J Fury. Dead."
Dreykov sighed and pulled out a screen.
I stepped closer to his desk to get a better look.
It was Fury, alive.
"I killed him. I shot him."
"This is live, y/n" Dreykov informed.
"I- I went to the hospital to confirm his death. He died..."
"You failed your mission y/n. But that's not the only thing."
He swiped, and new footage showed up. A video of Stark saving you from the river.
"I- he took me back to the Avengers Tower, and locked me in a cell..." I didn't know what else I was supposed to say. "I escaped and came straight back here."
"What did Stark tell you?"
"He- he said I was his sister, that he was my brother, but I didn't believe him. My family died."
"It's true y/n."
I knew it was true as they had done a blood test, but I was still in denial about it.
"Your parents made a deal when your mother was pregnant with you, agreeing to surrender you to me. I told you they didn't want you. When you were ten weeks old, I had them killed. And that's when the Winter Soldier brought you to me."
The Winter Soldier. He killed my parents. He took me from them. He was the reason I was here in the first place. I had a rotten feeling growing inside of me - a mix of betrayal and anger. Hatred. All this time, he was responsible. And he pretended to care about me.
"But none of that matters anymore" Dreykov declared. "You will undergo chemical subjugation."
"Mind control?"
"More or less. Only the important things will matter to you. You will finally understand where your loyalties lie. You are loyal to me. Your other relationships make you weak. You will forget about them. And when I have finally controlled you, you will be my greatest weapon."
I gulped nervously, but nodded. I wasn't losing anything. Nothing I hadn't already lost. I had one purpose in the world. To kill.
He was right. Friends make me weak. I needed to learn.
Some agents came in with a gurney, and I lay back on it voluntarily. I was still tied down as a precaution.
Dreykov walked along side me as I was wheeled into an operating room.
One of the men in lab coats, some sort of doctor I presume, marked my head with a sharpie.
But before they did anything more, another man pulled up a chair and sat beside me.
They were holding some sort of needle. A tattoo needle.
I looked at Dreykov questioningly as the tattooist picked up my right arm. They rolled up my sleeve.
The needle hit my skin. It didn't hurt much.
I watched patiently as they tattooed the words "Dreykov's daughter" across my wrist, with the symbol of the Red Room beneath it.
Then they started the procedure.
———
Yelena was on her way out to a mission.
She saw you walking last, but averted her gaze and tried to ignore you.
To her disappointment, you grabbed her arm.
"What are you doing?" Yelena questioned.
"I- I just thought you might want to know that I spoke to Natasha" you informed her.
"I don't care" she hissed, then shoved past you to get to the jet.
She was with a couple of other widows, going to retrieve a package.
They located it, and surrounded the building.
Unfortunately, Yelena was spotted before she could shoot the target.
She followed the target through the small town, until the target was hit by a car. Yelena's job was now going to be a lot easier.
Despite being hit by the car, the target immediately got up and started to fight Yelena.
Yelena managed to stab her in the stomach, twisted the knife, and pulled away from her as she fell to the floor.
She rolled over her body, but just as she did, the target sprayed a red synthetic gas at her.
Yelena stumbled back in shock.
She saw the body on the floor and the knife in the hand, and realised what she had done.
"Oh no. What did I do" she whispered, bending over the body. The target gave her a vial of the red gas.
"Free the others" the target said.
Yelena instantly knew she had to find Natasha. It was time to end the Red Room.
But first, she had to get away from the other widows.
———
Yelena got to the Avengers Tower, where she knew her sister would be.
When Natasha saw her, it took her a moment to recognise her.
They embraced in a quick hug.
"Yelena what are you doing here?" Natasha asked.
"I need your help" Yelena revealed the briefcase full of the vials of gas. "I thought one of your scientist friends could duplicate this."
"What is it?"
"A synthetic gas that undoes the effects of chemical subjugation, ie it would free the widows."
"Yelena, at the red room, did you see y/n?"
"Yes she returned from her mission this morning."
"And the chemical subjugation..."
"I don't know. I was on my way to a mission when I saw her. On the mission, I was freed with this, and I came straight here."
"Good call" Natasha nodded, then took Yelena to where the others were gathered in the meeting room.
They were looking for you.
Natasha introduced Yelena.
"Yelena also grew up at the Red Room" Nat explained.
"So you know where it is?" Tony wondered.
"Yes. I can take you there, but it would be dangerous" Yelena proceeded to repeat the idea of the mind control to the avengers. She showed them the vials of gas.
"I could duplicate it" Bruce suggested. "And you're saying it would free the widows?"
"It freed me" Yelena said.
"Y/n returned to the Red Room this morning" Nat recalled. "We don't know if she's affected by this yet or not."
"Chances are she'd fight back anyway" Bucky added.
"But that doesn't mean we hurt her" Tony clarified.
"We should probably go" Yelena said. "I don't know what Dreykov has planned for her. But especially after she failed her mission, I can't imagine it's anything good."