I breathe deeply to try and control the anger seeping through me. Standing, my chair pushes back and I start walking to the other room.
Melina: Where are you going? Me: To do this myself. Melina: Don't. You won't survive. Me:*flicking on a light* I wish I could believe that you cared. But you're not even the first mother that abandoned me. Melina: No, you weren't abandoned. You were selected. By a program that assessed the genetic potential in infants.
Wait...what?
Me: I was taken? Melina: I believe a bargain was struck, your family paid off.
They just sold me off? They never...they never cared?
Melina: But your mother, she never stopped looking for you. She was like you in that way. She was relentless. Me: What happened to her?
I tried to keep the desperation out of my voice. Melina's eyes soften.
Melina: Dreykov had her killed. Her existence threatened to uncover the Red Room. Normally, the actions of one curious civilian wouldn't warrant an execution, but, as I said, she was relentless. Me: I thought about her every day of my life. Whether or not I admitted it to myself, I did. Melina: I've always found it best not to look into the past.
I shake my head at the sadness tinting her voice. The shakiness. I pick up the photo album.
Me: Then why did you save this? I remember this day. We shot Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and summer vacation all in one day. Different backdrops. Melina:*hums sadly* Mmm. Me: I knew all the presents under the tree were just empty boxes, but I didn't care. I wanted to open every single one....so just for a second it would feel real.
She grabs the book out of my hands.
Melina: Let's stop this. Me: Why you doing this? Melina: Why does a mouse born in a cage run on that little wheel? Do you know I was cycled through the Red Room four times before you were even born? Those walls are all I know. I was never given a choice. Me: None of had a choice. But you're not a mouse, Melina. You were just born in a cage, but that's not your fault. Melina:*scoffs/sadly* Tell me, how did you keep your heart? Me:*softly* Pain only makes us stronger. Didn't you tell us that? What you taught me kept me alive. Melina: I'm sorry, I already alerted the Red Room. They'll be here any minute.
My heart breaks at her words.
Yelena's P.O.V
Alexei: So, there I am ice fishing with my father. It's very cold day in this little ice shed. Cold even for Russia, you know? "Keep the vodka by the fire," my father would say to me. Me: Please stop talking. Alexei:*begging* Please wait. Please wait. Me:*angrily* Please, no. Please, I don't want to talk.
I swig down some vodka as he pathetically tries to talk.
Alexei: Please. Please. There is a reason why I'm telling you this, okay? Trust me. I am reaching for fish. Oh! I lose balance. Ah! Splash! My hands go in the river.
I scoff as he goes on dramatically.
Alexei: In this weather, frostbite sets in quick. My father, he go toilet on my hands. Me:*holds head* Oh, my God. Alexei: Urine is 35 degrees Celsius, staves off the frostbite. Me: How is this relevant? Alexei:*obviously* You know, fathers. Me:*angrily/hurt* No. No. You have done nothing but tell me how bored you were. I was the chore, the job you didn't want to do. To me? *voice breaks* To me, you were everything.
He just stays quiet and I scoff.
Me: Exactly. You don't care. You don't care. The only thing you care about are your stupid glory days as the Crimson Dynamo, and no one wants to hear about it. Alexei:*whispers* It's the Red Guardian. Me: Get out. *voice rises* Get out!
He sighs and stands up, pausing.
Alexei:*singing* I can't remember.....If I cried.....When I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside.....The day....The music....Died...And they were singing.
I can't help but chuckle. He sits on the couch.
Alexei/Me:*singing softly* Bye, Bye....Miss American Pie....American Pie....Drove my Chevy to the levee...But the levee was dry...Was dry...Them good old boys...Drinking whiskey...Singing...."This will be the day that I die"....."This'll be the day...".....
Clint's P.O.V
Lights flood the room as I open the door where Alexei and Nat's sister are. We hear whirring.
Me: Get down.
Yelena crouches down as I do the same.
Me: Get down Al-
He grunts as a dart sticks him.
Alexei:*scoffs* They think- Me/Yelena: Idiot.
He goes down as twenty more land in his stomach.
Me: We should move.
We make our way through the house, seeing Nat and Sasha knocked out on the ground. We check them and hear something behind us. We turn, raising our weapons. Melina. Yelena's face falls.
Melina:*regretfully* I'm sorry.
Her arm raisies and she shoots something at us before it goes dark.
Sasha's P.O.V
I wake up to Alexei's grunting. I moan and sit up, eyes blurry.
Me: What the hell? Momma: Its alright Sasha. We're in cells. Alexei: Natasha. I can't save us. I need you to know that I'm sorry. I pledged my life to a cause. You know, I thought I was being very brave. Possibly the bravest. But I wasn't being brave. I was coward. *sobbing* In Cuba, when they came and took you away from me....No cause is worth that. You should only sacrifice yourself for something-
I am surprised as the glass seperates from our cells, stepping out and looking at the other two.
Alexei:*shocked* How did you do that? Momma: I designed these cells myself. Me/Alexei: What?
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Alexei: What? I bared my soul to you and it was just you the whole time? Melina: Yes, I'm afraid so. But wait, shh, I'm on comms with Yelena. Yelena, it's me. It's Mama. You have a two-inch blade concealed in your beltline. Outside right hip. Me: Not a bad plan Melina. Now, where is my mother?
