Reckless ²|| P. Parker

01. Fireflies

"My girls are the toughest girls in the world."

Ohio
1995

Becca giggled as she bent over backwards and Yelena followed her actions. Yelena was slightly younger than Becca and she loved her sister. Yelena giggled at Becca as she looked at the world upside down. They heard a whistle and both of the girls whistled back to the big sister. Natasha jogged over to them and bent over backwards, matching her two younger sisters with a smile. "We're all upside down." Yelena teases her sisters.

"And i bet you're gonna fall down first." Nat teases her youngest sister.

Becca giggles and looks between her two sisters, "I think you will." She teases Natasaha and Yelena giggles with her own agreement to Becca's challenge.

"I can't hold it much longer." Yelena says and Natasha starts making faces at her sisters to make them laugh and lose their focus. All three girls start to laugh and fall down onto their backs.

They all stand up with smiles, "I told you that you would fall down first." Natasha teases Yelena. Becca looks at Yelena and they smirk at each other, they then break into a run, chasing their sister. "I told you! I told you!" Natasha continues her teasing as her sisters chase her around the playset in their backyard.

Yelena trips over some sticks covered by leaves and Becca rushes back to her sister, "Mommy!" Yelena shouts for their mother. Becca wraps her arms around Yelena and looks over her scraped knee as their mom comes out to check on the girls and to see what's wrong.

"What happened?" Their mom asks as she kneels down to their height. Yelena pulls away from Becca as she clutches her knee.

"She fell on her knee." Natasha says from behind Yelena and Becca.

"Oh? You bump your knee?" Melina asks her daughter and Yelena nods, mumbling her reply as she sniffles. Melina bends down and places a chaste kiss on Yelena's knee, "Kiss it better. There we go." She says to Yelena and then looks up at Becca beside the blonde sister. "You always look after her, don't you, Rebecca?" She asks and Becca nods as she sits beside Yelena. Melina wipes Yelena's cheeks with her thumbs as Natasha moves away from the girls and climbs the playhouse. "Come now, Little One." She whispers to Yelena. "Get up, you're okay. You're a brave girl." She tells Yelena as she grasps her daughter's hand and stands up. Becca grabs onto Yelena's other hand and smiles at her. "Your pain only makes you stronger. Right, you?" She says to Yelena and Becca and then looks at Natasha as the oldest daughter swings on the swing set.

Yelena looks around and gasps, "Look! Forest stars." Yelena says with glee, Becca turns to look at where Yelena is pointing and she grins.

"Yeah. You know what? Those are actually part of the Lampyridae family." Melina explains to her daughters. Natasha swings off the swing she was on and stands beside Becca as the four of them look at the fireflies. "And the glow, the glow that you see, comes from a chemical reaction called... bioluminescence." She says with a smile as Yelena and Becca walk closer to the fireflies. "Come on, girls. Time for dinner." She then says as she corrals them back into the house.

"Bio-groomin-feasants?" Yelena asks curiously, trying to pronounce the word her mother told her about.

Becca giggles, "Bio-groomin-feasants." She repeats her sister and Melina smiles at her two younger girls.

"That's right, you two." Melina says and then glances back at her eldest who was still looking at the fireflies dancing in the sky, "Dinner!" She shouts to gain Natasha's attention, "Come on, dinner, big girl!" She calls for Natasha one last time before the eldest makes her way inside.

"I want... Mac and cheese!" Yelena declares and Melina smiles.

"Well, i want.... Caviar and champagne." The mother responds with a laugh as the girls help set the table for dinner. The girls help set the table, placing the food on it and then Melina smiles at Natasha, "Would you grab the ranch dressing for your dad?" She asks the eldest. Yelena sets her bowl of food Melina handed her onto the table as Becca sets the napkins down beside each plate. The girls can hear the heavy footsteps of their dad and Melina smiles, "Dad's home!" She tells the girls.

Becca pokes her head into the kitchen just as Natasha leaves. "Hi Daddy." She greets Alexei.

The man smiles warmly at the brunette daughter of his, her bright blue eyes that matched another man identically. "Hi honey." Alexei greets Becca. He knew that Becca still remembered her true family, but what Dreykov had done to her, was prevent her memories of the past coming back to her. Only a set of trigger words would wake up her memories of the past. Her blood was the key for many things.

Her family was the key to everything.

When Alexei entered the dining room, the girls were already helping themselves to the food laid out before them. But Alexei was not sitting down just yet, he looked out the window and Melina noticed. "Everything okay?" She asks. She doesn't get a response from Alexei in the form of words, but a sigh as he turns to the girls.

"How was everybody's day?" He asks his girls.

"Mommy taught Rebecca and me about lamp bugs" Yelena states proudly and happily with Becca nodding in agreement.

"Lamp bugs." Alexei repeats his daughter with a chuckle. Melina still watching her husband closely.

"And i fell and hurt my knee." Yelena adds, "It doesn't hurt anymore because Rebecca helped me."

Alexei forces smiles with a nod, "Always the nurse, Rebecca." He says and Becca grins at her dad.

"We saw fireflies in the backyard." Becca says with a smile as she eats her food, "That was my favorite part of the day." She tells her dad as Melina and Alexei move to a corner of the room to speak.

"Rebecca, we see fireflies every year." Natasha reminds her sister.

When Alexei and Melina move back into the dining room, their expressions are solemn. Alexei sits down at the head of the table as Melina sits on his right. "Girls... you remember when i told you that one day we would have that big adventure?" He asls, Natasha looks at her dad hesitantly while Yelena and Becca are enjoying their food while listening to their dad speak. "Today's the day."