Red illusions (marvel)

A little help couldn't hurt

Evelina and Dasha were lost. Extremely lost. For must have been at least three hours, the girls had been journeying across unknown terrain in the growing darkness. Everyday it got darker earlier and earlier and - for some irritating reason  - today was the day the autumn weather decided would be the darkest yet, soon they would be walking around in the pitch black.

"Where do we go now?" Dasha questioned the older girl, scanning the surrounding for some sign of life. Evelina did the same, her hand moving to fiddle with one of her long braids. If they kept going straight they would end up deep in the forest but the grounds to their left and right were merely endless fields, like the ones they had been walking on. Other than a few odd trees, bushes and rocks, the only hope of shelter they would have was in the forest. Evelina tugged on her braid, "there's nowhere to go."

****

"Who's we?" Zoe asked, "I don't need your help. I'm going to go and find my sisters." She went to move forwards but was stopped by the jolt of pain which shot up her knee. Hiding a grimace, she away from Natasha and Laura, focusing on keeping herself standing "You can go now. Why are you still here? I can find them alone. I don't need you." She repeated to the woman steadily.

"Okay, sure. Do you have any idea where they might be?" Natasha paused, not really expecting the girl to reply, "how about your knee? Are you going to venture after them while hardly being able to stand?" Natasha gesture to her knee. "What about... What about the Red Room when they find you? How useful are you really going to be to them? Especially since you lost two other widows." The last part was kind of a gamble but she was willing to risk a lot to convince the girl she and the others could help. "Why don't we take a break. You can meet the rest of the people who are helping look for your sisters and we can take a look at your knee?"

Truthfully, Zoe knew she needed their help. Natasha was right that ,one, she could hardly walk and, two, she had no idea how far they could have gotten in the time she had been searching around the rubble. "Others?" She decided to take everything one problem at a time: the first problem was that Natasha had told others and they were here too. Natasha saw her worried look and quickly corrected herself, "friends of mine. You can trust them." Zoe nodded in acknowledgement although they both knew Zoe wasn't about to trust either of the people who claimed to be helping.

Twenty minutes later, Zoe, Natasha and Natasha's friends were standing beside - what she assumed to be - one of their cars. Natasha and Laura had helped walked there and now she stood face to face with two other people. The man had gravitated to Laura ( they're probably together then ) while the woman was standing equal distances from her and Natasha. The woman eyed her with the obvious unspoken question they shared, 'Who are you?'

"This is Bobbi," Natasha said, motioning to the blonde haired woman, "Bobbi, this is..." She waited for the girl to fill in the blank. The Red Room would often give out fake names to the girls, especially if they were going on a large scale mission; Natasha wondered how long the girl had been on a mission for and what name she would pick.

Zoe was wondering the same thing. Natasha had made it clear she knew she was from the Red Room, so was there really much point in giving a fake name? Then again, if the Red Room found out she had lost two widows - one of which was the best there has been in years - and exposed her cover... However, Zoe was pretty sure that, if needed, the Red Room would be able to give her any entirely new identity anyway. Natasha sensed her trepidation, "you can tell us your real name. We won't tell anyone else. Promise." That was all it took for Zoe to make up her mind. Did she trust these people? No. Were they actively trying to hurt or deceive her? Also no. For Zoe that made it pretty simple, "I'm Zoe, but if anyone else asks I'm Riley. It's, umm, nice to meet you?" She muttered, unsure what was meant to happen now. "Back at you, kid." The woman - Bobbi - replied. "I'm guessing the other girls we're looking for are your sisters, huh?" She asked, her voice firm but not unkind. Zoe nodded. "How about I take a look at your knee and then we get back out there?" Bobbi said, her tone suggesting there wasn't much of an option. Zoe looked to Natasha for guidance; despite her not fully trusting Natasha, she knew even less about Bobbi and she didn't yet know the blonde's true intentions. "Can't you fix it?" She asked the red-head, aware of the weakness she was showing. Natasha moved closer, "I won't let her hurt you," she whispered to her. Zoe hoped Natasha wasn't lying as she hesitantly agreed let Bobbi help her.