Insane in my Russian Brain - P. Parker

Chapter Seventeen

Natasha was her mom.

Kat's mind was spinning with the possibilities of how this could be possible. Was it all true? Or was Dreykov lying straight to both their faces?

No. Kat could tell by the way Natasha was staring at her. It was recognition, maybe some anger towards Dreykov. Kat didn't know, but she didn't care. This was her mom, after all. "You didn't have a choice, did you? To give me up?"

Natasha blinked back tears. "I would never have. I knew we'd see each other again, I just knew it."

Dreykov laughed sickly, shaking his head. "Did you?"

Natasha growled under her breath, fighting the urge to pull out a gun. She knew it wouldn't work, but she wanted to so much. "Don't underestimate the power of a mother."

Her arm reached out, latching onto hers and pulling the teenager behind her. Natasha didn't know what else Dreykov might be capable of, and she wasn't looking to find out. "So, this was the big plan, huh? Melina was going to land the Red Room and hand me over to the authorities?"

Natasha decided to change the subject. She knew Melina and Yelena needed more time, so she had to stall. "So, what now, you're gonna fold us into your pathetic little puppeteer act?"

"Pathetic, huh?"

"Yeah, what would you call it? When was the last time that you had a conversation with somebody that wasn't forced to talk to you?"

"You ran away to fight in the wrong war. The real war was fought here in the shadows."

Kat stepped out from behind Natasha, dropping the hand that was connected to her arm. "Oh no, you didn't fight in the shadows. You hid in the dark."

"Real power comes from undetectable influence."

"Okay, Doctor Seuss, if no one has noticed, why do you do it? You're nothing. You have nothing."

"There are 50 people on this planet..."

Natasha laughed. "Oh, stop it."

Dreykov rose from his chair, placing his hands firmly on the desk in front of him. "Don't tell me to stop!"

"If I don't tell you when to stop, then how will you know when to shut up?" Dreykov threw his hand forward, punching Natasha square in the nose. "Come on. Think I can't take a punch?" Natasha walked backward slowly, a smile creeping on her face.

Dreykov threw another one aimed at Natasha's throat. Kat laughed l, resting her head back against the wall she was leaning on. She could see clearly through what was about to happen. "God damn it, you're weak."

Dreykov turned around, facing the younger redhead. "Weak?"

"I bet it's easier to be tough in front of defenseless little girls, huh?" Dreykov threw a punch at Kat's face, causing her nose to bleed. "Damn it, that actually hurt. You should be proud of yourself."

"You wouldn't be so glib if you had any notion of the scope of what I've built. I own this world. Me."

Natasha laughed, standing back up to her feet. "You seem desperate to impress us."

"I don't need to impress you. I don't need to impress anyone." Dreykov threw back his desk chair, opening a drawer at his desk. "These world leaders, these great men, they answer to me and my widows."

With the click of a button, a screen in front of the three started to fire up. It showed a map of the world, with thousands of faces of little girls flicking by every second. "These girls were trash. They are thrown out into the street. I recycle the trash. And I give them purpose. I give them a life."

Kat shook her head, clicking her tongue. "This isn't recycling. This is destroying their lives."

"It's my network of widows that help me control the scales of power. One command, the oil and stock markets crumble. One command and a quarter of the planet will starve. My widows can start and end wars. They can make and break teams."

Videos flashed by of buildings exploding. "You control all that from here?"

"And with the two of you, an Avenger and her daughter under my control, I can finally come out of the shadows, using the only natural resource that the world has too much of. Girls."

A few dozen photos of girls passed by, pausing on Natasha and Kat's five-year-old photos, side by side. "All from that little console?"

"Yeah." Natasha smiled, walking closer to Dreykov. Kat had seen this coming from a mile away. She knew what Natasha was doing. "Oh, you find this amusing? Why are you smiling?"

"Don't take it personally, but, uh... thank you for your cooperation. You weren't quite strong enough, so, I'll have to finish it myself." She looked over his desk, smiling at a blank spot that wasn't covered with papers. Perfect.

Dreykov chuckled. "What are you going to do?"

Natasha looked at Kat, who slammed her head down on the desk, soon followed by her mother. "Sever the nerve."

Dreykov moved to call in a group of widows, only for Natasha to push him back, away from his weapons. He groaned, dropping to the floor. That would surely leave a bruise.

"Not so talkative now, are you?" Kat kicked Dreykov in the face, throwing him across the ground. "You took my childhood. You took my choices and tried to break me. But you're never gonna do that to anybody ever again."

Natasha held a metal batan in front of her, going to bring it down on Dreykov. Yet, this didn't happen as she was shot with a grappler through her back, throwing her down to the ground.

"Natasha! Natasha..." Kat tried to make her way to her wounded mother but was knocked to the ground by a widow.

Dreykov stood, placing his glasses back onto his face. "Nobody leaves this room until they're dead. Make them suffer."

Well shit, here we go again.