The Third Widow

Setback

Having walked a few kilometers to make sure we had lost any possible trail, we came up at a small gas station where we apparently decided to stop for supplies. Yelena had ripped off her already torn sleeve and gave it to me to try and make it stop the bleeding on my face. I walked in behind my two sisters and started looking for some stuff to clean out and attend my wound. As I was hovering the food isle, which was just as important, I could hear two bickering sibling voices on the other side. "Where did you think we were all this time", Yelena asked cynically. I couldn't help but listen in on the conversation, as I too had held the hope all this time, of being saved from the Red Room by our Avenger sister. "I figured you found a way out, like me, and were living a normal life by now" she replied. I stayed quiet when I heard Yelena was unsatisfied, to say the least, with the answer she got,"Bullshit". Slowly I crept around the corner, trying to show how I agreed with that statement. "You just didn't like the idea of your little sisters hanging around you while you were running around with all your new friends" she continued. "You never really were my sisters to begin with" Natasha blurted out. I saw how Yelena's surprised expression hid a sliver of spite. I let out a sarcastic laugh after which my hurtful eyes jumped from one sister to the other before I stormed out the shop. I could feel their gaze on my back but I was too angry to answer either of them.

I walked over to the bathroom behind the gas station to try and see if I could close up the wound in my eyebrow myself. I threw the stuff I took with me out into the sink and started picking off the sleeve, which was now sticking to the dried up blood. I grabbed a bottle of water and poured it over my face which made the sleeve come off. Unfortunately this also made the wound open up again and start dripping blood. I tried to rub it off using some paper towels but it was hard to see with just one eye. I reached for the package of butterfly band aids, as the door behind me opened up. The face of my sister was staring at me, trying to hold her laughter looking at my clumsiness. "Come, I'll help you with that", she invited. I let her collect everything from the sink and followed her out holding a new wad of paper towels to my face. She sat me down across from Natasha who gave me an apologetic look. I did my best to ignore her and focus on the treatment I was getting. Yelena put some water on a towel and cleaned out my wound. I flinched back from the pain, trying to keep my face as relaxed as a could, while Yelena tried to hold my head as still as possible with her other hand. "Dont be a baby Alex", she jokingly said as she put on the first band aid. She pulled on either side to close the wound, which made me flinch again. "It hurts a lot okay" I claimed defensively, which sparked a laugh on all three of our faces.

The sun had set and this evening already seemed like a dream I couldn't believe was true. I was sitting around a table with my sisters, after being apart for such a long time. As I let out a yawn I could feel my body giving out after the day we've had. All the exhaustion was catching up with me and my eyes became to heavy to keep open. I didn't want to disturb the conversation going on but apparently had already attracted attention to my struggle to stay awake. Yelena put an arm around my shoulders, letting it rest on head, while carefully urging me to lie down. I didn't want to cut this evening short by even a second but had to give in to her invitation. I laid my head to rest on her leg as she rubbed her hand through my hair as I slowly started to drift off.

When I opened my eyes again I noticed I was in the backseat of a car. I sat up, a bit too fast, immediately facing regret when a headache almost made me sick. "Look who's up again", I heard somewhere in the distance. "Argh", I managed to wail back. This headache really didn't feel alright, but I couldn't bring out anymore words. Natasha turned around to give me a quick look but apparently didn't notice anything worth worrying over. I tried to look outside and watch my surroundings, but it suddenly felt like everything was passing in slow motion.

I could feel this urge wash over me, as if something in the back of my head got woken up and was trying to take over my thoughts. A red fog clouded my sight, as I felt myself losing control of my body. "Kill her" I heard. "Now!" the voice said, as my headache reached a peak. I felt in my pocket where I had put the bloody sleeve the traitor widow had given me. I clenched it with both my hands as I shot forward and flung it over the head of the person sitting in front of me. As I felt I got prize, I pulled with all my strength, trying to finish the kill as quickly as I could. I could feel a jerking sensation through my arms, indicating my target was still putting up a struggle. My whole being got closed off from the outside world, the only thing that still mattered to me was holding onto this piece of cloth with all my weight. I noticed the resistance getting less and felt a spark of excitement rushing through me. I was only a moment away from achieving my goal until I was flung into the back of the seat. The unexpected braking made me loosen my grip and gave my target enough of an opening to completely get away. I couldn't allow myself to fail so I jumped over the seat to finish the job with my bare hands. As the car door next to me opened up, I felt a slight breeze touch my skin but tried to ignore any distractions coming my way. When succession was once in sight once again, I suddenly got thrown out of the car by an intervening party. I had to finish the job by any means necessary, or else it would feel I was going crazy. The obsession of my goal prevented me from thinking rationally. I got pinned to the ground by an overwhelming force which my only answer was to struggle as desperately as I could. I let out a scream and noticed my eyes welling up with tears in the face of my powerlessness before being sprayed again by a red cloud of particles.

I felt like I got a bucked of ice cold water dumped in my face. I let out a gasp as my mind was starting to clear up again. I was laying on the ground, covered in dirt, completely out of breath. I tried to sit up only to be greeted by two set of eyes. "What's going on?" I asked sheepishly. Natasha had to forcefully hold Yelena back before she turned around to me again and gave me an inspecting look, "You don't remember what just happened?" I took a second to wander my memory but ended up just shaking my head, "I... I had this headache." I scratched my head as I noticed a line of bruises on either of my hands. After a surprised look down, I turned my gaze back up to my sisters, showing them my hands hoping they would have some form of explanation. Yelena pointed at her neck which was covered in the same marking as my hands. I didn't need an other word to be said, to understand what I had done. "I... I don't understand. I would never...!", I started to exclaim. Natasha put her hands on my shoulders in an attempt to calm me down, "No!" I pushed her away from me as I started to shake uncontrollably. The previous gap in my memory was starting to come back to me now. I brought my knees up to my face in an attempt to make myself disappear in it. A hand carefully touched mine, as I heard Natasha say "Hey it's alright. You didn't do anything we can't fix." I started to sob in my little cave of darkness, "You don't understand though. I enjoyed it" I blurted out. "I felt like I wanted to do it", I cried. It stayed quiet after that, which allowed me to wade completely in my feelings of guilt. Then I felt a warm touch on my back, which spread until it completely engulfed me. Yelena had sat down behind me and held me in her arms. "Shh" She quietly said to me. It felt like we were there for an eternity before my tears dried up and I dozed off in her arms.