Lyrics belong to Billie Eilish, You Should See Me in a Crown
What do you think Dreykov would do, if he kidnapped Steve and Tony? Like, what would he do with them?
...Natasha breaks...
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Bite my tongue, bide my time Wearing a warning sign
. . .
"Dreykov had me study the reports," Melina shakes her head. "You watched Antonia for weeks. You wanted to know every little detail about her. You learned all of her weaknesses. Her strengths. You had been planning the way to take him down for at least two years, probably more. Even after all of this betrayal, he is still obsessed with you. I do have one question though..."
Time freezes.
The sword is aimed for its final strike.
"Do you blame him for your daughter's death?"
Oh, fuck.
Natasha swallows deeply, her throat dry. Her eyes are burning, and she doesn't bother wiping away the tears trailing down her face. Melina should not know about Rose. The only ones who should know are Madame B, Dreykov, and herself. The Winter Soldier erased all the files, plus his mind was wiped clean. She took out all the doctors. Dreykov had Nikolai killed.
"How do you know about Rose?" She asks weakly.
The redhead can feel the eyes of everyone in the room studying her intently. The shock shines through Tony and Steve's gazes. The worry lights up Yelena's face, as she glances between the two assassins.
"I've always known about her," Melina starts carefully, "Drekov had me study the reports. He wanted to know what went wrong. Was it your diet? Was it the training you were still undergoing? What went wrong?" Melina pauses, shaking her head, "But that's when he got the idea. He wanted to do it all over again. He wanted you to produce a new weapon. A weapon forged from the blood of the best assets ever created."
Natasha hears the blood pounding in her ears, as her head spins in circles. She feels Steve's fingers sliding through her own, tightening automatically. He stares at Melina, a dark gaze shining within his baby eyes. It is an unusual sight, witnessing this much darkness inside the Captain.
The brunette feels the weariness creeping through her veins. "Of course," she takes a deep breath, "No one expected the Winter Soldier to get in the way. I guess you learned from your mistakes with Nikolai. You kept the Soldier hidden." Melina shrugs, "Which is a good thing, Dreykov would have done terrible things to him for touching his prized asset."
