The Spark That Never Dies Part: Two

Chapter Four

By one in the morning, you were deep into your research. You kept physical copies of everything you could get from SHIELD that had to do with Hydra, taking it when you left, and stored it all in your basement.

Surrounded by stacks and boxes of files, you sat in the middle of the basement, on the floor, and used the next five or so hours to find anything on Ivan Lewshiv, aka Death's Shadow.

There were bits here and there, similar to the amount of what they had on the Winter Soldier, and you piled it all together before placing everything else back where it was. It wasn't the biggest stack of mentions on the Shadow, but you'd use it to help them with finding this man. You wanted the world to be one Ivan Lewshiv short when you were finished and even though you probably couldn't help them fight, you wanted to do what you could.

It wasn't easy, but you wrote down specifics of what you picked up in your time with him. The things he would talk about, confess to, all of it made you assume that you were going to die when he was done with you. He was high up on the Hydra food chain, higher than red skull according to his very thin file, and it was noted that those who came in contact don't live to tell the tale.

You knew this to be accurate and it showed with the lack of information they had on him, but now that Bucky knows, he'll soon find out what you must've done to get away. He'll tell Steve and Tony what you said when he asked for your help and they'll put it together. They probably have a lot more than you do in this basement on the Shadow and since they came to you for help, Fury was involved. He knew everything about your past, or so you let him think, and you knew he'd be the one you'd get a visit from when they got extremely desperate.

Just before seven, you ventured upstairs, shoving the pile you collected in a drawer when you got to the kitchen. You heard the little pitter patter of footsteps coming near the top of the steps as you opened the fridge, making you smile.

She halted at the top and then sat down, sliding down the steps on her bottom, and you caught her at the end, making her giggle excitedly, clapping her hands.

"Good morning, future butt scooting Olympian, Yelena Romanoff!" You cheered and she squeezed your cheeks.

"Morning, mommy!" She cheered just as brightly back, and you carried her into the kitchen.

You opened the fridge back up dramatically and slowly bent down with her in your arms, surveying the options, humming in thought.

"And what're we feeling today?" You asked, closing the door and going to open all the cabinets quickly, flying around the kitchen and making her squeal.

"Cereal!" She yelled and you spun back to the cereal cabinet.

"But which one?" You tapped your chin with a finger, pretending to think, "Many options..."

"Not mama's," She shook her head with a grossed-out face and then in Russian added, "I want your cereal."

You dramatically gasped, covering your mouth with wide eyes.

"You know about mommy's secret cereals?" You talked into your hand and she pulled it down, nodding frantically before you sighed, pretending to be defeated, "Alright," You walked over to the cabinet under the island and opened it, "Pick your poison, pumpkin."

She got down and ran her hand across the four sugary cereals you kept separately from Natasha's healthier choices.

"This one." She tapped it.

"Fruity pebbles?" You pulled it out, looking at it with a nod of approval, "Solid choice, criminal."

"I'm not the criminal!" She protested as you got the milk out and raised your eyebrows.