Elysium (Natasha Romanoff)

Five

Natasha

"Welcome to the Archives," Elias tells me as we enter the brightly light building.

True to her word she had showed up at the ass crack of dawn all bright and cheery. After I'd gotten ready she'd handed me a cinnamon roll and a coffee, which was suspiciously made just how I like it, before dragging me from the house and across town to a big marble building.

"Why exactly are we here?" I ask for the second time. The first time she'd just smiled that annoying cocky smile before saying that I'd see.

This time though she actually answered. "This is where all the information on your life is stored."

I nearly stop walking when she says that, "what kind of information?"

She shrugs, "your life. Friends, job, enemies, lovers, family, how you died, what's been going on since you died. Stuff like that."

"So there'd be information on specific people?" I ask her, just to be sure before I got my hopes up.

"Yeah," she nods. "Anyone you knew would be in it."

Yelena. My mind goes to my sister as we approach a desk with what looks to be a robot behind it.

"What is that?" I ask as we stop in front of of the desk.

"This is the sentry," she tells me. "It guards the Archives and tells us where our things are."

"Name?" The sentry asks in its mechanical voice.

"Natasha Romanoff," I tell it.

"Name not found."

"Natasha Romanoff," I tell it again but slower.

"Name not found."

"She's literally right here you dumbass," Elias tells the sentry.

"Name not found."

I guess it was too much to hope for that I wouldn't have to say my real name. "Natalia Alianovna Romanova," I tell it, hating the fact that now I'd have to explain why I go by Natasha to a stranger. I glance at Elias but she's just smiling at me, her gaze soft. She looks at me like that a lot when she thinks I can't see her. It's like how you look at a baby or a new puppy or someone that you love deeply. It's weird to see it directed at me by someone I just met. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" She asks, but the look is gone in an instant.

The sentry chirps, "name found. Sector six, isle ten, drawer three."

"Thanks tin man," she tells the sentry as we walk around the desk and towards a bank of elevators. She hits the button and the doors swish open soundlessly. We step in and Elias hits the button for sector six, the doors closing and the elevator dropping quickly. We stare at our reflections in silence until she says, "so.. Natalia Alianovna Romanova huh?"

"Yep," I mutter, waiting for the inevitable questions.

But it never comes.

Instead I get a bump to my shoulder and a grin, "and you said my name wasn't real."

"I.. yeah, I guess I did," I say as I watch her reflection continue to smile at me. "Sorry."

She shrugs, "it's fine. Mine is a silly name in today's standards. Back in the day though, oof, it was sexy. I had to beat women off of me with a stick."

"Only in your dreams Elias," I laugh.

Her body freezes briefly before she says, "a girl can dream."

The elevator stops with a lurch and the doors slide open, revealing row after row of lockers. Like the kind you'd find in a public school.

"What the hell is this?" I ask her as we step out.

She pauses to look at a sign and starts heading off towards the left, "the Archives. It takes many forms, usually it'll be something familiar for whoever comes down here. Mine was the Parthenon and my life scroll was in the hands of a marble Athena statue."

"Damn you are old," I joke.

"You've no idea Red," she tells me. We walk for a few minutes until she stops in front of a locker, "here it is."

She moves aside so that I can see it and when I put my hand on the smooth metal, the locker opens at my touch and inside lies a sleek laptop. Pulling it out I look at her, "a laptop?"

"If that's what you call that thing," she says as she looks at it curiously.

"You've never seen a computer?"

She shakes her head, "nope. I got here long before they started making those things. It looks interesting though."

"Maybe I'll show you one day," I offer.

"Yeah, maybe," she says teasingly. "If you're lucky."
Closing the locker, we head back to the elevator and ride it back up, leaving the building quickly. Once we are out she asks, "ready to go home?"

"Yeah," I tell her as I grip the laptop. "There's things I need to know."

"Want me to carry you again?" She teases with a grin, eyeing my slightly shaky legs.

"No thank you," I say as I start walking. "I'm feeling much better today." It was only partly a lie, I did feel better but not by much. It was honestly a miracle that my legs had let me stay up this long.

She keeps pace beside me, unusually quiet and when we got back to my house she didn't even try to come inside. "Hey Red?" She says nervously. It's out of character for her and honestly kind of cute.

"Yeah?"

She looks like she's trying to get the courage to say something but at the last second changes her mind, "see you tomorrow?" She finally asks.

"Yeah, maybe," I say as I echo her words form earlier. "If you're lucky."

She smiles quickly and I swear there's some blush creeping up on her neck before she practically runs away. I watch her go, finally closing my door when she's out of sight and going to the living room. Setting the laptop down I get situated on the couch before opening it up.

I'm greeted with a single file with my name on it. Clicking on it, it brings me to a screen with my name at the top, followed by my birthday and then.. my parents names.

My real parents. Ivan and Rebekka Romanoff.

I almost close the computer right then, my heart beating faster than it ever had before. But I don't. If this thing knew who my parents were, then it knows where Yelena is.

I scroll down, forcing myself not to read anything until I find her name. But the further down I get without seeing her, the more worried I become, until finally there she is.

Yelena Belova.

Moving the mouse to her name, I click and start reading.