Anastasia Romanoff always looked up to her older sister, Natasha. Ever since they had left the Red Room and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. with the help of their good friend and partner, Clint Barton. Though, the two troubled young women never expected to join...
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*****
"Anastasia, wait!" Nat follows me into the kitchen. She grabs my wrist, spinning me around.
"Why?" I ask her angrily. "She doesn't care. She's not the first mother who abandoned us."
"No, you weren't abandoned," Melina corrects, entering the kitchen. "You were selected by a program that assessed the genetic potential in infants."
Nat turns around to face Melina as shocked as me. "We were taken?"
"I believe a bargain was struck, your family paid off," Melina responds. "But your mother, she never stopped looking for you two."
"What happened to her?" I ask.
"Dreykov had her killed," Melina answers. "Her existence threatened to uncover the Red Room."
I feel a tear slip down my left cheek. I turn around, facing away from them as I wipe it away.
"Tebe ne nuzhno skryvat' svoyu bol', ditya moye (You don't need to hide your pain, my child)," Melina says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Your heart."
"I listened to your words, you know?" I turn around. "I didn't hide it and I gave it to someone, it broke a little. Then I gave it to someone else, it broke some more. How do I not hide it without it shattering in pieces?"
"I'm sorry, I already alerted the Red Room," She informs Nat and me, regret in her eyes. "They'll be here any minute."
~~~~~
I walk through the hallway of the Red Room, disguised as Melina. I look to my right, stopping as I approach a window. I look inside at the Black Widows training. I nod when they look at me before continuing. I go down an elevator, facing Dreykov's office after emerging out of it. I don't allow my hands to shake as the double doors open and I enter his office.
"So," I force my hands not to clench as Dreykov stands up and begins to speak. He's old. "How was the family reunion?"
"It was awful," I respond in Melina's voice and Black Widow suit. "They were clingy and too emotional."
"These gases, these antidotes are a pain in my ass," He tells me. "You need to sort it."
"I have nine pigs that require-"
"Don't give me a shit about your pigs," He leads me to sit down, standing in front of me. "Those Romanoff sisters turned their back on their people. Their blood," He spats, leaning closer to me. "They had nothing. I gave them a home. Put those things you do in them. Those chemicals. Turn them into your pigs. Could you imagine what I can do with not just one, but two Avengers under my control?"
"Wouldn't you like to speak to one of them first?" I ask.
"When you look into the eyes of a child you have raised," He begins, moving his fingers to the right side of my head, pressing the button that uncovers who I really am. "No mask in the world can hide that," I look up at him, my natural hair falling to the right side of my face. I stand up, noticing the Telemasker grabbing his gun and pointing it at me. "Now, now," Dreykov raises his hand to signal him to put it away.
