Just Stories

“Be careful, sweetie! You’re gonna break your neck.” Liz, her Mom, laughed as she walked towards her daughter. The little girl did three more cartwheels with her mom, getting loud claps and cheers from Michael, her Dad. 

“Mom.. Dad..” Y/n whispered in shock, watching her parents smile. Something she never thought she’d see again. 

Her chest felt tight and her eyes began to swell up in tears, slowly remembering the outcome of that day. She began to shake her head, closing her eyes tightly as gunshots rang around the park. Y/n covered her ears, kneeling on the ground, wishing for the noise to stop. 

“No, please, no.” She sobbed, opening her eyes to see her parents' corpse lying on the ground. 

Y/n heard herself scream as she was being dragged into Dreykov’s car. “No, Mommy, no.”

Tears ran down her cheeks as Y/n sobbed harder, praying to God for it to be over. She didn’t notice due to her crying, but it was quiet. Everything was quiet and then suddenly-

“Mommy, come do cartwheels with me!”

The small voice broke her trance, causing Y/n to open her eyes and look around. 

“Be careful, sweetie! You’re gonna break your neck.” 

Y/n slowly stood up, drying her cheeks as she realized that it was happening again. “It’s a loop.” She muttered to herself. “I have to get out of here.” 

The widow started running away from herself, away from her parents, away from the park. She ran across the street and down the sidewalk realizing she didn’t know where she was going. Y/n can’t just run into oblivion. 

“This isn’t real.” She muttered to herself, looking around her, trying to find a building she could recognize. 

At the end of the street, she caught a glimpse of what used to be her apartment complex. Her memory was intact. Even if she was brainwashed by the Red Room, her memories were always present. Maybe it was Dreykov’s way of feeling bad for the girl. 

The widow continued to run down the road, pushing away people that were on the way. Some of them fell, causing her to feel slight guilt but she needed to get to that building. She carelessly ran across the road, ignoring every car that drove up and down that street. 

Y/n ran into the building and found herself somewhere else. She stood in a ballet studio with an angry Russian lady staring angrily at her. 

“Y/n, you are late.” She spoke, her accent thick, it was clear she wasn’t fluent in english. 

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Volkov.” 15 y/o Y/n replied softly before running to the barre with the rest of the widows. 

She stood in first position, shoulders down, chin up, like a perfect little ballerina. The Russian lady walked towards her, hitting her stomach with a long wooden ruler. 

“Stomach in!” She shouted before hitting her hip. “Hips straight.” 

The last kept her eyes on the y/h/c, tearing her apart with every imperfection she found. Y/n was never the leanest of the group. Thanks to her mother’s Hispanic heritage, by the age of 13 Y/n had the body of a 16 year old. She had hips, a small waist, round butt and, definitely, more boobs than the rest of the girls. 

“Have you gained weight?” Volkov asked, furrowing her brows. 

“I don’t know, Mrs. Volkov.”

“Have you weighed yourself?” 

“No, Mrs. Volkov.” 

“Why not?” 

“I-I’ve been training, Mrs. Volkov.” Y/n replied nervously. “With computers.” 

“Computers, huh?” She scoffed before waving to the rest of the widows to leave the room. 

It was just them as Y/n’s breath caught up at her throat, feeling her hands get sweaty. She wished she could forget these moments in the Red Room. There were moments of embarrassment and shame where all her insecurities were thrown on the table. 

It made her vulnerable. It was just what Dreykov wanted so he could manipulate her into doing whatever he asked. That way he could shape her into the widow he wanted. He wanted someone like Natasha. 

Y/n turned around, facing away from Mrs. Volkov and her younger self. She couldn’t bear to see herself be hurt over and over again, specially over something she can’t control. She can’t control how her body is shaped. She remembered how she felt back then, so with all her courage, Y/n faced them one more time before walking to stand in front of her younger self. Taking the whip of the wooden ruler against her skin. 

She closed her eyes and prepared for the impact but nothing came. Y/n opened her eyes and found herself in Valentina’s old headquarters. It was like an office floor with cubicles all around her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone walking in front of her, it was 20 year old Y/n. 

All the memories flooded back in a second. It was her first day working with Valentina. She had hoped it would be different from her previous jobs. Y/n just hoped she wasn’t left out by the team again. On that particular day, she had to wear her tech backpack filled with all the machinery she used to hack into anything that was needed. 

“Y/n, I’m glad you could make it.” Valentina spoke, walking towards the y/h/c with a bright, clearly fake, smile. 

“Of course, thank you for calling.” She smiled, putting down her backpack. 

“Thank you for answering.” Valentina nodded. “I’ve been very impressed with your curriculum, Red Room widow, tech genius, just what our team needs.” 

“I’m here to help.” 

“Alright well, I’ll leave you to mingle around while I go to my meeting, call me if you need anything.” 

“Of course, thank you, again.” Y/n smiled, waving at the brunette as she walked away. 

“Y/n?” A voice questioned from behind her causing her to turn. There was a redhead behind her, holding a clipboard and a pen. 

“Yes, hi.” 

“Valentina told me it’s your first day, I’m one of the agents.” She spoke, extending her hand for the y/h/c. 

“That’s cool, I’m here to help with the tech, do you wanna see what I’ve been working on?” Young adult Y/n spoke in excitement. Present Y/n stared in pity, silently asking herself to not show her works or gadgets. 

“This little thing can destroy a whole security system.” She said, holding up a pen drive before digging her hand into her bag. “And this is a voice recognition watch I made for the agents on the field, Oh! and you have to see these really cool contact lenses I made. They’re so cool, you have to try them out.” 

Y/n turned to see that the girl was long gone. She was speaking to herself. Her eyes darted around the room to see the redhead talking to a group of people, sneaking glances at her as they all laughed. Another male agent walked by her, giving her hope that maybe not everyone was mean. 

“Hi, I’m new, is it okay if I grab lunch with you? I can show you my new gadgets-“ 

“No, thanks, not interested.” He chuckled jokingly and walked away. 

She remembers it so vividly. Y/n felt miserable those few months before her first mission with Valentina. Thankfully, she was partnered with Yelena before the year ended and the rest is history. Y/n walked backwards until she crashed into a wall. 

The y/h/c looked behind her to notice it wasn’t an office cardboard wall. It was a cement wall. Her eyes moved forwards to see an apartment. The apartment that she shared with Yelena. She saw herself pacing back and forth in the living room with her phone up to her ear. 

“Come on, Yelena, pick up.” She muttered to herself being met by her voicemail again. “Lena please pick up the phone, I just wanna know if you’re okay. Please call me.” 

Yelena had just walked out after having an argument. They would argue more than they’d like concerning the blonde’s unemployment plans. It was clear she had depression and Y/n everything she could to help. Instead, Yelena always pushed her away or walked away from the conversation when the y/h/c mentioned therapy. 

She watched herself crumble on the ground. Tears flowed from her eyes as she checked her phone every two seconds. Y/n always had a deep fear that Yelena was going to result to be like the people from her past. People from work who rejected her, teachers from the Red Room staring down at her. It was a fear she spoke about once with the blonde, when they first met. 

Y/n turned her eyes away from her crying self, staring at the bathroom mirror at the end of the hall. She didn’t see her reflection, she saw Bob sitting in the middle of a room. He looked and gave her a shy smile with a small wave. 

“Bob?” She called out, walking towards the bathroom slowly. “Where are you?”

“I’m in my room.” He replied and shrugged, looking around innocently. 

Y/n looked around, trying to find something to break the glass. Instead, she placed her hands on the mirror, watching as her fingers went through it. She looked forward and found herself in the bedroom. Her eyes drifted over her shoulder to see herself crying on the ground through the mirror. 

“Are you okay?” Bob asked, fidgeting with his fingers. 

“Um, I- I think so, yeah..” Y/n chuckled dryly, walking towards him. “Are you okay?” 

He shrugged. “It’s quiet here.”

“The only quiet room, I assume.” 

“It is, yeah.” He nodded looking around before looking at the y/h/c. “What did you see?” 

“Many things of my past that I wish could be erased from my memory.” Y/n shook her head giving Bob a sad smile. “Also there's like an eternal darkness covering New York right now, you wouldn’t know anything about that would you?”

Bob opened his mouth to reply but was quickly cut off by shouts and plates being shattered. Y/n walked closer to the brunette as she started at the ground to see an upward view of a dining room. There was a man shouting at a little boy as he pushed off the plates from the table. A woman sat at the end of the table, pulling the little boy back to avoid potential injuries. Y/n didn’t connect the dots until the man shouted “Bobby”. 

“So… this is you?” The y/h/c asked, pointing at the picture in front of them. Bob stared upward at the widow, nodding his head as he played with a rubik's cube. “I’m sorry.” 

“No, it's okay.” He chuckled as his eyes swelled up in tears. 

Y/n sat next to Bob, scooching closer to him before throwing her arm over his shoulders. He immediately leaned into her embrace, letting his tears fall freely. That’s when he noticed the widow was right, he could trust her. Even with his most vulnerable self. 

“It’s okay, I’m here for you.” She whispered, rubbing his arm up and down as he continued to silently cry. “It’s good to let it out.” 

“That’s funny.” He chuckled, leaning back as he wiped his tears. “Yelena told me to just push it down.” 

“As much as I love that woman, don’t listen to her when it comes to emotions.” Y/n shook her head with a chuckle. “She’s still learning how to handle them.” 

“Good thing she has you though.” Bob shrugged with a soft smile. 

“I guess, yeah.” She shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing she has me.” 

“Well it’s a good thing you have each other.” 

“Yeah, but enough about me.” Y/n stated, tilting her head. “We should really get out of here cause of the whole darkness covering New York thing.”

Bob smiled and was about to reply when everything started trembling and a small table flew towards the y/h/c. He pulled her down as the table crashed against her back. Objects began to fly around the room as they stood up in a hurry. Y/n walked backwards until her back met the walls when a pair of makeshift hands grabbed her shoulders, holding her in place. 

“Bob, your wall has hands and it's grabbing me!” She shouted in fear before being pushed to the middle of the room. “What the hell is going on?”

“It’s not me!” He shouted before a book hit the back of his head. “I promise I’m not doing this!”

“Tell your room to stop attacking me!” The y/h/c shouted dodging books and papers that flew at her. 

Bob had tripped on the ground, causing the y/h/c to help him stand as they continued to duck, avoiding the books and chairs that flew at them. The curtains snapped and flew to them, wrapping around their necks. The fabric tightened as their faces turned red, trying to release themselves from the hold. 

“Don’t try fighting.. it will- o-only make it worse.” Bob mumbled, trying to relax under the hold. 

The grip got tighter and tighter as the y/h/c attempted to pull it away from her neck. Even if she tried to relax, the fabric was gripping her skin too strongly. Her airways were closing and the y/h/c felt her vision beginning to blur. She only thought about Yelena. What would happen when she found her? Was she even going to be found? 

Her hands started tingling, slowly letting go of the fabric as her knees buckled. ‘This is it.’ Y/n thought. ‘This is the day I die.’ Her eyes began to flutter as she felt her body shut down from lack of oxygen. A burning sensation erupted from her chest to her neck, Y/n’s body giving up when a knife, held by Ava, came flying, cutting the fabric. 

The y/h/c’s body begal to fall down but never touched the ground as Yelena immediately caught her. The blonde held her as the almost unconscious girl erupted in constant coughs. Something ignited in Yelena when she somehow arrived in the room. Y/n’s arms were falling limply by her side as hysteria invaded her head. Yelena couldn’t possibly even begin to put it into words. 

Y/n meant everything to her. Even on their first mission, her chest would feel heavy if Y/n got hurt in any way. Physically or emotionally. 

“Breathe, Y/n, Breathe.” The blonde muttered, trying to examine the y/h/c’s face. “Malysh, breathe, please.” 

“You came for us.” Y/n whispered in a raspy voice, staring up around the room to see the rest of the team before looking back at the blonde. “What did you see? Are you okay?” 

“Oh, I’m fine.I have a great past so..” Bucky shrugged with a sarcastic tone. “I’m totally fine.” 

“Yeah, this place is messed up.” John shook his head.  

“We are here together.” Alexei spoke, looking around the room before sending a warm smile to the y/h/c. “That’s what matters.” 

“Can you stand?” Yelena whispered, cupping Y/n’s cheek as she stared in worry. “Do you feel okay?” 

Y/n nodded and sat up before standing on her feet with the blonde’s support. She felt like she was floating for a second but was quickly grounded when Yelena cupped her face. Their eyes met and both of them felt like they were alone in that room. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay, yeah.” Y/n nodded, kissing the blonde’s palms before lowering her hands. 

“Thank you guys.” Bob spoke, nodding his head as tears welled up in his eyes. “Really.”

“Of course.” Ava replied. “Here we are, Shane’s Elite Electronic Thunderbolts.”

“It’s not Shane.” Alexei whined in defeat.

“Okay, well, how do we get out of here?’” John asked, wiping sweat off his brow. 

The room fell silent as Y/n turned to Bob, who met her gaze. Her mind replayed everything they had spoken up until then. She thought that perhaps he had let slip something throughout their conversation. But before the y/h/c could speak, Bob was already ahead. 

“As far as I know it’s just endless rooms.” He spoke in defeat. 

“You told me this was one of the quietest rooms.” Y/n said, stepping forward as Yelena stood next to her. “Maybe the only way is to go into the worst room, the loudest… Can you show us?” 

“Um, I-”

“Bob, this can be the only way.” Yelena added. “We’re here with you, you won’t go throught that alone.” 

He took a deep breath and nodded his head softly before kneeling down, pushing down the picture he had seen earlier with Y/n. The picture moved downward, revealing some stairs that led to a hallway. They were in an attick. They all stood in Bob’s safe place which was the attick in his childhood home. The place where he would run to whenever his Dad got loud or violent. 

Y/n walked down first, leading the team down the hallway to pass ect to the dining room. His angry father stood there, sending them death stares. The widow was ready to throw a punch but John was two steps ahead when he slammed his shield against the man’s face. Very much deserved. Right then, the room started shaking as things began to fly around the room as it did earlier. 

“Guys, come on!” Bucky called out, standing inside a closet. 

Everyone followed the soldier and found themselves falling instead of entering another room. They fell on the ground and Y/n lifted her head, staring around them as she tried to figure out where they were. She began to bring herself up her knees when a hard sign slapped her across the face, causing her to fall once again. Yelena lifted her head in shock to see someone dressed in a chicken suit, swinging a sign around. 

“Oh no.” Bob muttered, watching his high self swing the sign again to hit Alexei. 

Drug addict Bob swung the sign around, hitting John and Ava in one take. The Russian grabbed Bob by the shoulders, clearly annoyed by the man in the chicken suit running around. 

“If you hit me one more time-” BAM! Alexei was cut off by the sign slamming against his shoulder, pushing him away to the ground. 

“I was on meth!” Bob shouted desperately. 

“You did meth?!” Y/n shouted in return as she dodged one of the swings before Bucky slammed his metal fist into the mask. 

Ava opened a latch that led down to a basement. They all piled through the door and were met with a hard floor. Painful grunts and groans echoed around the room as Bob lifted his head to see a familiar lab. That was the lab he was in when Valentina experimeinted on him. At that moment, he couldn’t help but think about who he was before the medical trial. The only downside is that he didn’t remember. His memory has been fuzzy ever since he woke up inside the vault. 

They all stood slowly, looking around in tension in case anything attacked. Yelena looked around, noticing the tables and experiment beakers spilled over the surfaces. At the other side of the lab, stood a gurney with lights above and two shadows. A dark figure sat on the gurney, facing away from them as they all stared in question. 

“I’ve been here before.” Yelena spoke. 

“This is where it started.” Bob added as the door behind them closed as they all walked towards it. “I was roaming around Southeast Asia, trying to figure something out, at least not doing more drugs and there's this guy that started talking to me about a medical study, a trial drug that could make me stronger. It felt like a miracle… If I were to show the void that I was more, that I was something..”

“And look what you unleashed.” The Void replied, standing from the gurney to face the team. “The most shameful thing was thinking you could be anything more than… nothing.” 

“We’re leaving.” Yelena spat, stepping forward as the y/h/c immediately reached out, failing to grab her. 

“No. The void spoke as the gurney behind it lifted from the ground, flying towards Alexei and Yelena. 

They crashed against the door with the table pressing against them. A ceiling panel was ripped out of the ceiling, charging over to Bucky, trapping him against one of the experiment stations. Another piece of metal flew from the ceiling, stabbing John in the shoulder, being bolted to a desk while Ava was thrown back to be trapped against the wall with a huge chunk of metal. Bob and Y/n stood in the middle of the room, staring at their friends before looking at each other in fear. 

“This is the one you think cares about you?” The Void question, tilting his head towards the y/h/c before lifting his hand towards her. 

Her body was lifted from the ground before flying to the side, crashing into glass doors against the wall. Y/n fell with a loud thud, immediately groaning as she turned her body to the side. She didn’t feel even close to recovering when her body was lifted again, flying to the middle of the room to be slammed into the ceiling before being released to the ground. 

“What are you doing? Stop!” Yelena shouted in anger as she attempted to wiggle out of her restraint. 

“L-let them go. Let her go.” Bob spoke shakingly as heis eyes watered. 

“Her?” The Void lifted his hand, making a wire come up from the ground, wrapping around her neck tightly. “You think they care about you? You don’t matter to anyone.”

“That’s not true!” Yelena shouted and grunted in pain as a metal wire pulled her neck back. 

“Don’t hurt her.”

“Which one?” 

The wires went tighter around Yelena and Y/n, making them choke. The y/h/c tilted her head slightly, watching the blonde struggle against her restraints. Out of all the possible outcomes Y/n could have imagined or prepared for, this was not one of them. Yelena and herself being restrained, strangled, not really able to save each other. The worst possible unplanned outcome. Who's gonna save them now? 

“It’s over, Valentina.” Bucky said, standing near the window. “This ends today.”

“Congressman, Barnes, wow.” She replied, walking around the bar towards them. “You know, I never really thought you’d have a promising political career but, less than hald a term? Yikes.”

“We’re taking you in, Val.” John spoke, stepping forward. 

“I don’t think so.” She scoffed. “Junior varsity, Captain America.”   

John reached for his gun, beginning to pull it out when Bucky stopped him, calling out his name. The room felt heavy. It was silent for a second. None of them imagined the fight that was coming. 

“Ava, good to see you.” Valentina spoke, watching as the brunette stepped closer before darting her eyes to the couple. “Yelena, Y/n, I see my matchmaking skills still work, you both look awful… Yelena, are you sure you’re ready for that public facing roll you asked me about?” 

“Eat shit, Valentina.” The blonde responded, letting go of the widow’s hand as she stepped forward. “Where’s Bob?” 

“Look at you, you are all so adorable.” She started, giving them a wicked smile. “Just think, I send you down there, to kill each other and instead, you make nice and you form a team.” 

Valentina looked around the room and landed her eyes on Alexei, who she stared at in question. “Who is this old Santa?” She asked bitterly. 

“I’m Alexei Shostakov.” He nodded with a smile as she continued to stare in confusion. “The Red Guardian.”

“What?”

Bucky began to speak to her about Mel as Y/n’s mind traveled elsewhere. Her thoughts went to every possible scenario, counted every window and air vent, before darting her eyes to the stairs. There's only a handful of situations that can happen if any of them attempts to go up those stairs. Y/n took a few steps backward, walking by Ava to stand closest to the corner. Something told her that she needed the distance between her and Valentina. 

“Robert.” She called out, tilting her head towards the stairs. 

Heavy footsteps echoed around the room, causing all of them to look up. Bob stepped down, wearing a shiny suit with a cape. His hair was blonde, his face looked serious and his hands were in a fist. Y/n could tell, he was the weapon Valentina always wanted. 

“Oh my god.” Yelena spoke in disbelief. 

“Bob?” Y/n asked, taking a few steps forward with her mouth agape. 

“That’s Bob?” Bucky question, stepping back as he finally put a face to the name. 

“Yeah, he’s changed.” Ava spoke, walking back to look at him up and down. 

“It is, my great honor, to introduce to you, the Sentry.” Valentina smiled as Bob looked up at them with a shy smile. 

“Hey, guys.” He smiled.

“Wow, that’s cool name.” Alexei muttered, getting death stares from Ava and Yelena as Valentina continued.

“All powerful, invincible, stronger than all the Avengers rolled into one and soon to be known as Earth’s mightiest hero.” 

“Did you dye your hair?” Ava asked, tilting her head. 

“Yeah, well, it was-” Bob began but was quickly cut off. 

“It was my idea.” Valentina smiled proudly. “People love a classic hero.” 

“Bob, what did they do to you?” Y/n said as she frowned, staring in disbelief. 

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Bucky furrowed his brows. 

“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Bucky? Jeez, at least you’re kinda cute.” 

“You’re not going to hurt people.” Alexei spoke in worry. 

“Oh no, no, no.” Valentina shook her head. “I’m not gonna hurt people, I’m gonna hurt you. You see, the press is on their way here now. They’re going to witness the awesome power of Sentry as he takes down this ruthless group of rogue agents, beginning a new era in which I decided how to keep the American people safe. Answering to no one, I’ll be un-impeachable.” 

“That’s never gonna happen.” Bucky replied. 

“Sentry, your first mission is to take out these criminals.” 

Ava activated her suit, John gripped his shield harder, Alexei changed his stance, ready to launch at anyone and Bucky moved his shoulders as if he was warming up to right. In the meantime, Y/n and Yelena stood frozen, staring at the guy they actually grew to care about. They developed a desire to protect him. Which explains why it never fit into their head how that same was ordered to hurt them. Even worse, kill them. 

“I don’t wanna hurt you, guys.” Bob shook his head. “Why don’t you just turn yourselves in?”

“No, you don’t wanna do this, Bobby.” John stared in sadness. 

“You can call me the Sentry.” 

“Please, don’t do this, you do not need to listen to her.” Yelena spoke, shaking her head as she stepped closer. 

“Robert, they don’t think your’e good enough.” Valentina said, turning to the new blonde man. 

“No, that’s not true.” The widow added. 

“Don’t lie to him, Valentina.” Y/n raised her voice, taking long steps towards the small step where Bob stood. “Don’t listen to her, that’s not true… remember, you can trust me.”

“We know you.” 

“I don’t think that you do.” Bob replied as the widows stood back in surprise. Not even when they were being honest and vulnerable would Valentina’s brainwash go away. 

“Bob, please, just-” Y/n lowered her voice but was quickly interrupted by a loud Russian, who desperately wanted to fight. 

“Enough talking!” He began. “No one messes with the West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts!”

The Russian bolted towards Bob Sentry who immediately blocked the punch, causing Alexei to fly across the room. Bucky reacted immediately, pulling out both his guns as John moved forwward with his shield. Ava took out her batons causing Y/n to turn to her with hands held up in surrender. 

“No, no, no!” Yelena shouted, stepping in front of Bucky. 

Ava disappeared and reappeared next to Bob,swinging her arm as John threw the shield. 

“Wait!” Y/n shouted as was quickly blown back by Sentry. 

Gunshots erupted around the room as Bucky viciously shot towards him who effortlessly lifted his hand, stopping the bullets before they got near him. He pushed them back, throwing them back to the Winter Soldier, making John step forward, for them to hit the shield as they flew back to hit the wall. Alexei took out his knife, running towards him but was quickly stopped by Sentry’s forcefield. 

“Alexei, wait!” Yelena shouted as Y/n ran to him. 

The Russian attempted to continuously stab him but the knife was immediately shattered over and over. Sentry moved his hand, causing Alexei to fly out of the building, before being pulled back to crash into the bar. John and Ava continued to attack him continously, attempting to catch him off guard at one point. Sentry bent John’s shield in half, as the agent stared in shock before being pushed away to the other side of the room. 

Bucky began his attempts to stab him, blocking his arms and punches before being flown to the ceiling by Sentry, who pushed him agains the same wall. Yelean ran from the windows, jumping on his back, releasing her widow bites at his neck. They were blocked by his forcefield as Sentry looked over his shoulder, flying upward to trap the blonde against the ceiling before returning to the ground. Yelena fell and Sentry grabbed her from the back of her suit before throwing her against the elevator doors. 

Y/n took the opportunity and, thanks to her stealthy nature, she actually caught him off guard. The widow sliced the back of Sentry’s thigh, before sliding to the front to stab his other leg when he looked down at her. She wasted no time grabbing his right hand and throwing her leg over to bring him to the floor. Of course, his powers were stronger. Sentry grabbed her bak of her suit, pushing her to the ground before grabbing her neck, tightening his grip around the y/h/c, causing her to immediately reach for his arm. 

“Bob, stop.” Y/n whispered, feeling her airways close up. “Please.” 

“You’re just like me.” Bob spoke, almost in an evil way. “No one wants you, no one wants to be around you, that’s why Yelena walked away from you.” 

“Bob, stop!” The blonde shouted, trying to get closer. “That’s not true.” 

Sentry looked at Yelena over his shoulder before lifting the y/h/c, never releasing his grip. He stared at her one more time, watching as her eyes traveled to the blonde in desperation. Feeling satisfied at her vulnerability, he threw her near Yelena, making her crash on the ground in front of the elevator. Y/n coughed desperately, feeling oxygen finally flow through her lungs and soft pair of hands grazing her hair back. 

The y/h/c hearing was muffled as she looked around the room in confusion. Her eyes lifted, landing on Yelena. Her mouth was moving but Y/n’s hearing was still affected by the fall. She didn’t know what happened, but her girlfriend was suddenly grabbing her arm, throwing it over her shoulders to help her hand. Yelena held her till they all piled into the elevator, where Y/n leaned against the wall next to Bucky. 

Once the elevator opened, they all walked out of the elevator, groaning and grunting in pain. The blonde continued to hold Y/n close to her, whoms hearing returned to normal once she stepped outside. They all stood in a circle, taking heavy breaths and looking around, attempting to think of a plan. 

“Okay, we need new plan.” Alexeri spoke, catching his breath. 

“No, no new plans.” John took off his helmet. “That thing is too powerful.” 

“We just need to regroup and think.” He panted. “There got to be a way to stop that guy.”

“We’re not regrouping, this isn’t even a team.” 

“Of course, we’re a team, we are the Thunderbolts!”

“I don’t know what that means.” Bucky spat, holding his ruge to roll his eyes. 

“It’s her pee wee soccer team… thing..” Ava spoke, refrring to Yelena. 

“We have to go somewhere to discuss this-”

“Discuss what?!” John shouted, cutting Alexei off. 

“We are going to regroup and-”

“Oh my god, stop!” Yelena shouted. “There is no ‘us’, there is no ‘we’, Bob changed into that thing and there is nothing any of you can do about it.”

“Then what did you do exactly? Because I first seem to remember you getting your ass beat way worse than mine.” Ava spoke, squinting her eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, I suck! I’m terrible, we’re all terrible!” She shouted. “Ava, you’re not a hero, you’re not even a good person.”

“Bitch.”

“You see?” 

“Slow down, amyshka-” Alexei spoke, coming towards his daughter to comfort her. 

“Alexei, I am not your amyshka!” Yelena shouted. “I haven’t heard from you or seen you in a year!”

“Lena, calm down.” Y/n attempted to speak but was met with burning green eyes, silentyly telling her to not test her. 

“Go easy on him.” John added.

“Oh, so you’re nice now?” 

“Is it my turn?” 

“No, you know you’re a piece of trash, Walker, so does your family.” The blonde shrugged as the agent muttered a small ‘Jesus’ in defeat. 

“Yelena, that’s enough!” Y/n raised her voice, moving in front of her as she cleared her throat, pushing through the pain. “You spoke your mind, that’s it, we get it.” 

“We’re all losers… and we lost.” She chuckled dryly, turning around to cross the street. 

“Yelena!” Y/n called out, following the blonde as Alexei trailed behind. 

The Russian caught up to the y/h/c and they remained quiet, watching the blonde walk in front of them. They didn’t want to disturb her but neither of them wanted to leave her alone in a moment like this. In a moment where she could need either of them any second. 

“So, you are back together?” Alexei spoke, breaking the silence.

“We are, yeah.” Y/n replied with a quick smile. “We haven’t been able to speak much about it though.”

“Oh, why not?” 

“Well, Alexei, we were roped into this whole mess ‘cause of Valentina.”  Y/n shrugged. “We haven’t really had alone time.” 

“We must hurry, she is walking faster.” Alexei muttered, pointing at the short blonde who was walking a considerable distance away from them. 

They jogged closer to her, making the Russian call out for her. “Lena! Little one!”

“Go away!” The blonde shouted in return, never halting her steps. 

“Baby, come on, just slow down.” Y/n spoke, grazing her hand on her arm as she attempted to grab her elbow. “Let’s talk, Yelena.” 

“Go away.” 

“No, I will not.” Alexei spoke. 

“Then you will chase me forever.” 

“Fine, I will because that’s what family does.” 

That’s all it took for Yelena to turn around. That’s all it took for all the hidden and suppressed feelings to explode into the surface. 

“Oh my god, stop!” She shouted, walking towards the Russian. “If you cared, you would’ve called, I would’ve heard from you.”

Alexei stayed quiet, staring at his daughter with regret as Yelena’s eyes began to water. 

“I lost my sister again, but forever, I almost lost the love of my life… and you disappeared.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how to do this.” He spoke honestly. “I didn’t think you wanted me.” 

“I did.” 

“I see now, I’m late but I’m here now.” Alexei stepped forward. “Y/n and I, we’re here now.” 

Yelena stared at them with tears in her eyes. She drifted towards Alexei, feeling ashamed to speak about this infront of Y/n. 

“Daddy, I’m so alone.” She cried. “I don’t have anything anymore. All I do is sit and look at my phone and think of all the terrible things that I’ve done and then I drink and I come home to no one and I sit and I think I did come home to someone and I ruined that-”

“Yelena, stop, stop, we all have things that we regret.”

“No, but I have so many.” The blonde raised her voice, sneaking at glance at the y/h/c who was staring at the ground, silently crying. “My first test at the Red Room, Anya, she was just a child, she was so small.”

“So were you.” Alexei shook his head as his eyes began to water. “I know there were dark times, very very dark times but before, you were just a special little girl. Did you know that? You walk into room, you made it bright, you felt a lot of joy.”

“I don’t remember.” Yelena cried, shaking her head. 

“You were so kind.” He smiled. “You remember why you wanted to be goalie on your terrible soccer team?”

“So I didn’t have to run in the mud?” 

“No, maybe that too, but, you told me ‘I want to be the one everyone can rely on if they make a mistake’. That Yelena is still in you, I still see her.”

“I don’t.” She replied with her head down. 

“You’re stuck, you’re alone, you look only at the bad… when I look at you, when Y/n looks at you, we don’t see your mistakes.” He nodded. “It’s why we need each other.”

“Okay, that was really good.” She sniffled, turning her gaze over to the side to see her girlfriend gone. “Y/n?”

Alexei looked behind her, causing the blonde to turn to see Y/n looking at the sky. They both made their way towards her on the street to see a dark figure floating. Everyone stared in question, others in fear of the unknown. Y/n walked forward, standing in the middle of the street as Alexei and Yelena followed. 

“Bob.” Y/n whispered. 

“Oh no.” The blonde muttered. 

Suddenly a helicopter crashed into a building’s crane, causing it to fall between two buildings. Debry fell onto the street, making every civilian run around in chaos, avoiding the cement as it continued to fall. Y/n ran into action, helping people run to the opposite side of the street to seek shelter. Alexei ran, grabbing a metal panel to shield him and a few civilians into safety. The y/h/c ran back to when she saw Yelena flying in the air, landing next to people who needed help. Ava, Bucky and John returned, pulling people away from the falling debry, pushing them off the street, etc. 

Each of them out their powers and abilities to use. Even though Yelena and Y/n were the only ones with no genetic mutation or enhancement, they used their agility and speed to help as much as they could. A gigantic piece of debry was falling to the ground as a civilian tried to crawl, crying in fear of getting splattered by cement. John held the piece of debry with his back, grunting as he tried to push it back. Ava appeared next to him, then Alexei, then Yelena, then Y/n and finally Bucky. They all used all of their strength to push the piece of debry, making it fall to the ground as they tried to catch their breaths. 

Civilians began to clap as they stared around in confusion. People were actually celebrating them. They were clapping for them and for what they had done. It was a bit of a first for all of them. They did something good and people were recognizing that. Alexei noticed a little girl standing on the street, calling out for her mom when he saw a piece of debry falling directly towards her. He ran to her, covering the little girl with his body when the debry fell, splitting in two. 

“You’re safe, little one.” He smiled, remembering when Yelena was that small. Remembering for a second, how he would go back in time to save her from Dreykov. 

The little girl turned to a black shadow, as well as a few civillians who began to run away from the darkness. It was overpowering every corner of the street. 

“You all know the truth.” Sentry spoke as he flew lower. “You can’t outrun the emptiness.”

“Uh, I think Bob’s dark side got super powers.” John spoke, staring at the Sentry. “We have to get everyone off the street.” 

Alexei grabbed on Yelena’s arm, as they all ran away from the darkness. They got people inside of buildings and as far away as possible. Yelena stood there, staring at the Sentry as the darkness continued to eat away the city. Y/n turned, noticing that the blonde was nowhere near them. She looked over her shoulder, immediately feeling a wave of fear over here. Even if it was Yelena that left and walked away from their relationship, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if anything happened to her. 

“Yelena!” Y/n shouted, walking towards her. “What are you doing?” 

“Lena!” Alexei shouted, watching at the y/h/c run towards his daughter. 

The darkness got closer to the blonde, she stopped in front of it and looked upward, listening to her girlfriend and father calling out for her. Yelena took a deep breath, lifting her foot to get sucked into the void but instead, she was quickly pulled back. She fell to the ground in surprise, confused on who pulled her out. Y/n stood in front of her with her back to the darkness as she stared into the green eyes that always put her at ease. 

She remembered when she met Yelena. Y/n’s first mission with Valentina and Yelena’s first mission with a partner. First partner after Natasha, that is. The blonde despised her, but Y/n was always in trance with her. Her eyes were what captivated her since she sat across from her on that train in Romania. Alexei grabbed onto the blonde as she kicked and shouted for the y/h/c, watching as the love of her life got surrounded by darkness, turning into nothing but a shadow. 

“Y/n?” Alexei spoke in surprise, watching the widow walking towards him. 

He wrapped his arms around her, placing his hand behind her head for support. Alexei was almost fond of the y/h/c. Ever since he met her, he always felt a need to protect. The Russian never pinpointed the exact reason, but he always tried checking in on her from afar. Just like he did with Yelena all this time. 

“So good to see you.” He smiled, parting from the hug. 

“You too.” Y/n smiled. “How’s Melina?” 

“Oh no, that’s-”

“Can you guys catch up later?” John interrupted, rolling his eyes. “We need to get going.” 

Alexei raised his hands in surrender, walking backwards towards the driver seat. Yelena walked to the back, holding the door open for the y/h/c who pecked her lips before climbing inside. The blonde got in the front seat as Y/n moved next to Ava, right behind Alexei. 

“So I was able to catch up with Miss Fontaine to fancy event, I thought it would be good for networking, you know?” He started, turning to look at Yelena for a quick second. “But as soon as I overheard the coordinates of the vault, I rush back home, get this tactical beast, then I drive straight here. Oh, America is so big. Have you ever drive through Oklahoma? It’s so fast. Oh, forgot to tell you, don’t drink from the Big Gulp back there.”

“Ew.” Y/n muttered, staring at the cup in disgust, quickly moving her eyes to the blonde. 

“Alexei, have you slept?” Yelena asked, turning to face him. 

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead!” He shouted. 

“I’d like not to die today, so maybe someone else should drive?” Walker suggested.

“Yeah, I can drive.” Y/n added, nodding her head. 

“Mr. Walker, second coming of Captain America.” Alexie smiled, staring at the agent through the rearview mirror, completely ignoring the widow behind him. “You and I have much in common, you know? I, too, was a state-sponsored super soldier in Russia.”

“But also very different because Walker actually knows what he’s doing.” Yelena commented, staring out the window. 

“Ghost, ah, what a magician.” Alexei continued. “You disappear, you reappear. When you reappear, does sometimes things not pop up in right places?” 

“Oh, I find it best just to ignore him sometimes!”Yelena shouted to the back. 

“What impressive friends you’ve gathered.” 

“We are not friends, Alexei.” The blonde replied bitterly. 

“No, we’re disposable delinquents.” Ava said, throwing her arm over the back of the seat. 

“Whatever you are, the light inside you is brighter, you know?” 

“That was very nice, Alexei, thank you.” Y/n smiled, patting his shoulder. 

“How bout this?” He continued. “You are team of scrappy anti-heroes.”

“Yeah, right.” John scoffed. “Go Thunderbolts!” 

“What? Yelena.” The Russian smiled, staring at his daughter. “You named them after your peewee soccer team?”

“Oh my god.” The blonde muttered in embarrassment. 

“The West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts, sponsored by Dimitri’s Elite Industrial Lighting and Electronics.”

“No, no.” Yelena shook her head, speaking over Alexei.

“Never won a game, Yelena had so much fun. There was a girl who pooped during a game, it was crazy.” 

“It was sponsored by Shane Tire Shop.” 

“Shane?” Alexei squinted his eyes. “What are you talking about, Shane?” 

“Yes, it was.” The blonde nodded, staring at her father with concern. “You really need to sleep.” 

“What about this Bob you mentioned? What’s the plan? Where am I driving?” 

“It’s not like that.” Yelena shook her head. “We need to escape and we need to hide.”

“Yeah, it’s much smarter for us to split up, there’s an airfield not far from here.” John shrugged. “We’ll just disappear from there.” 

“Split up? No, no, no.” Alexei commented, sounding almost disappointed. “You may not see what I see but I have been around long time.”

“Yeah, no shit.” The agent muttered. 

“This is the making of a team.” He started, lifting his fist. “That can raise to glory. A team that can bring light to darkness.” 

“That’s nice, Alexei, but I really doubt they wanna be a team.” Y/n commented, leaning closer to him. 

“A team of heroes that can be on the weakest spots.” He continued, completely ignoring the y/h/c.

“No, no, this is not a marketing opportunity, okay?” Yelena replied, raising her voice, feeling annoyed by her father. “Valentina is hunting us and we cannot win, do you understand?” 

“Baby, maybe tone it down a bit?” Y/n muttered. 

“Why?” She whispered, looking back at the y/h/c. 

“I do, you don’t.” Alexei argued back, raising his voice. “You said that Valentina was going to use the power of this Sentry Project to take over and get us killed.”

“Yes, yes.” The blonde replies as Y/n turns her head to look at Ava and John, who seemed uninterested in the conversation. 

“You need to stand up to her, you and your team-” The Russian continued but was quickly interrupted by John.

“Uh, you got a convoy approaching fast, step on it.” 

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Alexei grunted, pushing his foot in the accelerator. 

“Is that it?” Ava questioned, noticing the slight change of speed of the limousine. 

“Can this go any faster?” Y/n asked, leaning into the window seal that led to the passenger seats. 

“Takes a second.” He muttered, hitting the steering wheel. 

“Alexei!” Yelena shouted, watching as the numbers on the dashboard only went up every 4 seconds. 

“They’re getting closer.” Y/n announced after moving next to John, wanting to stay vigilant of the trucks. “Oh no, they have machine guns.”

Bullets began hitting the metal of the vehicle, causing the back passengers to duck before lifting their heads from time to time to stare out the window. The military trucks got faster, leaving dust and bullet casings on the way. 

“Alexei!” John called out, ducking once again as the shots kept coming. 

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, she’s bullet proof.” He waved his hand. “Changing defensive measures.”

The Russian opened a small compartment under the radio, revealing a few buttons and switches. For a second, Yelena actually felt hopeful. For a second, she trusted that Alexei was gonna help get them out. Just like that mission in Ohio, right before she joined the Red Room. The bearded man pushed up a switch causing disco lights to turn on in the back of the limo. The song “Pony” blasted on the speakers, causing all three of them to look at him in question as Yelena sank in her seat in embarassment. 

“What kind of people do you drive, Alexei?” Y/n asked in disgust before peeking over the back seat to hear the gunshots again. 

The bullets hit the car rapidly, causing the back window to shatter as John placed his shield immediately. 

“What happened to bulletproof?!” The agent shouted, pressing the shield harder against the seat cushion. 

“Bullterproof-ish.” Alexei replied in panic. 

“Jesus Christ!” The blonde shouted. 

Gunshtos continued to attack the car, as John continued to shield the back window, restraining the bullets from coming inside. Y/n sat on the ground of the limousine, silently praying for a bullet to not catch her this time. Like she told Bob, it wasn’t the first time she was shot but considering the circumstances they were in and the lack of medical accessibility, getting shot was not an option. 

“Time to bring out the bottle service.” Alexei said, moving his hand on his shoulde.” Come on, Ghost, give me the good stuff.”

“Not very inappropriate!” Ava shouted in doubt.”

“Vodka!” The Russian shouted. “Vodka now!”

The brunette hands him the bottle and he immediately takes off the cap. Alexei takes a sip before shoving a piece of cloth inside. He lit it on fire, throwing it out the window for all of them to watch the bottle crash onto one of the trucks. They all felt a glimpse of hope as they watched the front start catching fire before it extinguish immediately. 

“Give me a break!” Walker shouted, covering them with his shield again. 

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” Ava announced before putting her helmet on again. 

“Where are you going?” Y/n asked, watching as she disappeared from the seat before appearing on top of the trunk. 

A loud screeching sound erupted from the trucks, causing Ava to press her hands over her mask. John grabbed her suit and pulled her into the limosine, before covering them from the bullets. Y/n reached for the brunette as she agonized, covering her ears. The y/h/c looked behind her to see the blonde pushing her body through the door to sit on it, taking out her gun in one swift motion. 

“Yelena!” She shouted, hurrying towards the front seat opening. “What do you think you’re doing?!” 

A loud explosion came up behind them, causing all of them to turn to see each truck come into blazing fire. Alexei looked through the rear view mirror as the rest looked out the back to see a man riding a motorcycle. He held a gun on his left arm, dricing closer to the limousine. 

“Is that Bucky?” John spoke in disbelief. 

“Oh, oh, Winter Soldier.” Alexei spoke proudly. 

Bucky released the wire of the last truck, before stopping his bike to get off. He grabbed the wire, wrapping it around his wrist to push it to the ground, causing the truck to flip over. 

“Now that’s what I talk about!” The russian shouted with his fist in the air in victory. 

John shouted in emotion along with Ava who slapped the seat in celebration. It was then that Bucky lifted his gun again, shooting something that landed on the trunk of the limousine. The object started beeping rapidly, causing all of them to stare in fear. 

The device exploded, causing the limousine to lift up by the trunk before falling on its hood. John grunted as he lifted his head, looking around to see Ava crawling towards the broken window. They stepped outside and were immediately targeted by Bucky while Yelena began to open her eyes. The blonde felt confused, quickly remembering the y/h/c that laid a bit far from her. 

“Y/n.” She muttered as Alexei woke up as well, looking to the side to his daughter crawling to the back. 

Yelena reached Y/n, placing one hand on her chest while the other moved the hairs away from her face. Fear erupted in her mind, feeling as her chest began to close up. 

“Y/n, come on.” She muttered, rubbing her thumb over the widow’s cheek. 

“Is she okay?” Alexei asked, turning to look at them. 

“I don’t know, she’s not waking up.” Yelena’s voice broke as she shook Y/n’s shoulders. “Baby, come on, open your eyes.” 

After a few seconds, the y/h/c finally opened her eyes, immediately meeting the soft green orbs that always seem to bring her down to Earth. She took a deep breath, taking in her surroundings as the blonde kept pushing her hair back. 

“We have to crawl out of here.” Yelena said, grabbing the widow’s hand to pull her on her hands and knees. 

“Everytime I seem to feel okay, there’s always another freaking accident.” Y/n groaned in pain before looking up. “Anything else you got for me, God?” 

“I’m sure God has got you covered if you’re still breathing.” Yelena chuckled, crawling out the window before turning to help the y/h/c crawl out. “There we go, careful with the glass.”

Y/n held Yelena’s hands, standing on her feet as she caught her breath. She looked over the blonde’s shoulder to see everyone tied up, sitting on the ground with Bucky standing next to them, pointing a gun at them. Yelena turned around, lifting her hand towards him to release the widow bites when Y/n grabbed her arm, lowering it slowly. 

“Hi, Bucky.” She spoke, causing the blonde to stare in question. “Or should I say Congressman?” 

“How have you been?” He asked with a chuckle as the widow smiled. 

“I’ve been good.” 

“What the hell is happening?” Yelena questioned turning to Y/n. “How do you know him?” 

“I worked with him before Valentina recruited me.” 

“She helped me with all the tech stuff at the Avengers Compound.” Bucky replied, nodding his head with an awkward smile. 

“Okay, so, why are you here?” 

“Yeah, I’m sorry I have to do this.”

“Do what-” Y/n began and was quickly cut off by a taser divide thrown at her. 

Her body convulsed rapidly as she lost all her ability to move, making her fall to the ground. Yelena attempted to fight but was quickly hit with the taser as well, falling on her knees. The blonde tried to reach out to the y/h/c but her arm was pulled back by Bucky, who placed electric handcuffs on her. 

A few minutes later they all sat in the garage of an abandoned gas station. Ava and Alexei sat next to each other while John, Y/n and Yelena sat across from them. Their restraints had been upgraded to metal wires and zipties, allowing Bucky to freely stand against the wall. He stared in deep thought, wondering why Valentina had recruited these kinds of people. Especially someone like Y/n, who to him, always had great potential. 

“No, no, no!” Alexei exclaimed. “Just when I’m getting my team together. Mister Soldier, you are making terrible mistake.”

“Save it for the committee.” He replied bitterly. 

“What committee?” Yelena asked, turning her head towards him. 

“All of you are evidence in the impeachment trial against Valentina.”

“We don’t even work for Valentina anymore.” Y/n rolled her eyes, scooching closer to Yelena. 

“She tried to kill us.” Ava chimed in, leaning forward to meet Bucky’s eyes. 

“We were ordered to destroy all of her secrets.” John added, shaking his head. “Actually, she sent us to kill each other in this vault.” 

“But then we met Bob.” Y/n shrugged.

“There was a man in the vault.” Yelena spoke, looking at the Congressman. “She’s done something to him, it’s called Project Sentry.” 

“He shot up into the sky, he exploded and then he crashed into this mountain and then he died, didn’t die-”

“Yes, I got it.” Bucky spat, cutting Ava’s explanation. “He’s very, very scary.”

“Congressman Barnes.” John called out. 

“Alright, Walker.” He replied, walking behind Alexei and Ava to stand in front of the agent. 

The atmosphere shifted immediately. Whatever it was that these two men had, there was strong tension. Violent tension. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“It means you know me, Bucky.” John stared with sincere eyes. “So cut the shit and listen to what we’re trying to tell you.” 

“Yeah, I know you, John.” Bucky spat, placing his hands on his hips. “And you made your choices. I know it’s been hard since Olivia left and took your kid, but still, this is on you.” 

“Barnes, that’s enough.” Y/n spoke, breaking the silence as she followed him with her eyes, returning to where he stood earlier. “There’s no need for you to speak about private things right no-”

“What? You’re defending him now?” 

“I’m just saying that talking about John’s… situation, it’s not something you can just blurt out.” Y/n argued, staring at the agent with apologetic eyes. 

“You know, Y/n, you’ve always been too nice for this line of work.” Bucky shook his head. “Bucky, there won’t be any committee left.” Ava spoke, changing the topic as she noticed the change in the energy of the room. “Okay? There might not even be a government, she has big-”

“Threads, yes, I got it, named Bob or Sentry, who flies, right?” Bucky spoke, feeling annoyed. “And you’re all heroes going after Val, ready to save the day.”

“We weren’t gonna go after her together.” John muttered in defeat. 

“We were just trying to get home alive, actually.” Yelena shrugged.

“That’s even more pathetic.” The Winter Soldier shouted, turning around to face the window.

Alexei muttered something in Russian causing the blonde to shush him. Bucky’s phone ran, he picked it up almost immediately. He spoke in a hush tone, as Y/n leaned over to speak into Yelena’s ear. 

“Are we really gonna testify against Valentina?” She whispered.

“I hope not, I just want to go home with you.” The blonde replied with a soft smile. 

Y/n leaned forward, connecting their lips in a quick peck before Bucky’s voice burst their small love bubble. 

“Bob?” He questioned, turning to them. 

“Bob!” They all exclaimed, nodding their heads. 

He remained quiet, furrowing his brows as he listened to the other person on the line. They all stared at each other in question, wondering if he wanted for one of them to speak or to just stay quiet. He finally hung up, looking up at them, quiet. 

“It’s bad, Bucky.” Yelena spoke. 

He walked behind Alexei, ripping away his handcuffs before moving to Ava. 

“What are you doing?” She asked in fear. 

“I’m letting you go.” He grunted, moving over to John’s side. “You’re coming with me.” 

“Why?”

“Shh, for the glory.” Alexei whispered. 

“Well you know Valentina, she's got this thing out there, people are gonna get hurt.” He groaned, cutting off Y/n and Yelena’s restraints. “And I gotta stop and her and you are gonna help me.”

“Wait, us?” Yelena asked in disbelief. 

“Why? You got some place to be?” 

“Bucky, you have the wrong people.” The blonde shook her head. 

“Look, I’ve been where you are, you can run but it doesn’t go away.” Bucky sighed. “Sooner or later, it’s gonna catch up to you and when it does, it’s too late. See, you can either do something about it now, or live with it forever.” 

“Stop Val and save Bob.” Yelena spoke, breaking the silence before looking up at herdad who stared proudly. 

“I’m in.” Y/n smiled as John and Ava agreed before they all turned to the Russian. 

“Yes!” He shouted. “Yes!” 

They all stood up, following Bucky towards a storage truck. Alexei climbed in the passenger seat as John, Ava, Yelena and Y/n sat on the back. The truck was empty, perfect for a decoy car to be hidden in sight. The blonde grabbed the y/h/c’s hand, squeezing it before lifting it to kiss her knuckles. 

“Are you okay? You’ve been quiet.” Yelena asked, as Y/n leaned against the wall before turning to look at her. 

“Just thinking about what Bucky said earlier.” She bit her cheek from the inside. “How I was too nice for this line of work… He told me that, my frst day at the compound. Everyone rejected me, no one wanted to work with me but I was always there helping them… even if they were mean to me.” 

“That says more about you than them.” The blonde smiled, tightening her grip on her hand. “When we first met, you were always so nice to me and I was clearly a bitch because I hated working with partners… and yet, there you were always looking out for me.”

“I’ll always look out for you, I love you.” 

“I know, I love you too.” Yelena smiled, leaning in to connect their lips in a soft kiss. 

She lifted her free hand, cupping the y/h/c’s cheek, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss. Their lips fit together as if they belonged with each other. They were so in trance, that none of them heard John calling out for them. 

“Yelena.” He spoke, looking at Ava in disgust before turning to the couple. “Y/n.” 

They broke apart in awe with one another before Yelena threw John a death stare, causing him to shift in place. 

“What were you talking about?” Y/n asked, shifting closer to Yelena to wrap their arms together. 

“The weapons we carry.” Ava replied, leaning forward. 

“Oh well, I have these little widow, tzz tzz, zappy things.” Yelena spoke, lifting her right wrist, before taking out her gun. “I have this .19.”

“.45.” John said, showing his gun, smoothly realizing the bellet barrel. “The long barrel.” 

“Oh wow.” Ava nodded her head, not feeling amused. “It’s big.”

“It’s long.” Yelena added, causing Y/n to chuckle under breath. “What about your hat?”

“My hat? You mean my helmet?” 

“Whatever you wanna call it.” The blonde shrugged without a care. 

John and Yelena kept going back and forth over the appearance of the helmet as Y/n began to notice that the drive was getting a bit longer than expected. 

“Are we actually going to the Avengers tower? Is it even still the Avengers tower?” She squinted her eyes, looking at the rest of the group in question. 

“Yes and I don’t know.” Ava replied before shouting. “Are we there yet?!”

“Almost!” Bucky and Alexei shouted back as they stayed sitting down. 

Suddenly the van’s movement caused them to jerk to the side before quickly recovering. They all stood up and prepared their weapons to execute Bucky’s plan. Or what they thought was a plan. Gunshots were heard from inside the truck, queuing John to open the door upward. They piled out, finding one person to fight against. 

A guard launched at Y/n, causing her to duck, swinging her knife acrodd his abdomen. The man fell immediatly as another one came running towards her. She grabbed her wrist, stepped on his foot, watching as he released the gun. The y/h/c caught it in mid air, pointing it over her shoulder to shoot, where it landed on his neck. Out of nowhere, a strong arm came around her neck as she felt the hard barrel of the gun against her back. She elbowed the man’s ribs and took the opportunity to knee him in the abdomen before grabbing her knife once again to stab it into the back of his neck. Y/n ripped away the knife and turned to Yelena when-

BEEP

“Jesus, you guys, we literally just put that drywall in.” Valentina spoke through the speaker. “I left the door unlocked for you, come up.” 

They all stared at each other in confusion. She left the door “unlocked” so she was waiting for them. Valentina knew they were coming. Bucky walked towards the elevator first, pushing the button as the rest of the team walked closer to him. Yelena grabbed Y/n’s hand, intertwining their fingers together, silently reassuring each other that they were okay. The doors opened with a small ding, making them all pile into it. The y/h/c looked at the blonde, giving her hand a small squeeze before looking forward at the door. Y/n couldn't pinpoint the reason at the moment, she couldn’t tell her girlfriend, considering how crowded the elevator was. But a little voice inside her head told her that something was wrong, something was going to happen. She just hoped it didn’t have to do with Bob.

“Ugh, why is my back wet?” Y/n groaned in disgust. 

“I run hot, I'm sorry.” Bob replied next to her with his arms linked around hers. 

The five of them climbed up the elevator shaft, back to back as they supported each other's weight. It was Bob’s genius idea, but how could they complain? No one else was coming up with anything. 

Grunts and groans echoed around as the floor got further and further away. Y/n’s memory traveled to her training days in the Red Room. The team training was the worst since all the girls wanted to impress Dreykov in some sort of way. They all wanted to be Natasha. They wanted to be included in every important mission. Most importantly, they wanted to be recognized the same way Natasha was. It was evident that she was Dreykov’s favorite widow. The most prestige, some would say. 

“Someone has a hard butt.” John complained. 

“Not my butt, it’s my suit.” Ava replied, clearly feeling annoyed in the situation they were in. 

“Well, you need to get a new suit.” Yelena groaned. 

“Pardon me for the inconvenience.” Ava began. “I only spent my entire life in labs, hooked up to machines so I could create this physical cage to keep my material body from disintegrating at all times so yes, sorry about that.” 

“You do not want to start the whole sob story, Y/n and I win.” The blonde chuckled dryly as the y/h/c rolled her eyes, feeling uncomfortable and beyond annoyed. “Enslaved child assassins over here.” 

“You were only children, so.” John commented. 

“So that makes it okay?” Y/n questioned, wanting nothing more than to punch him in the face. 

He began to reply but the ex-widow decided to ignore anything he said in the next 30 seconds. Her legs were too tired and sweaty as her mind only wandered to them getting out. Y/n’s thoughts wandered to their life after getting out. Was Yelena going back home with her? Should they speak about their relationship a bit more before officially getting back together? 

“Ah ha ha.” Yelena laughed in victory. 

“I think I see the door.” John sighed. 

“Now what?” 

“Umm… I guess one of us… should go first.” Ava spoke, looking down at her arms. 

“Then the other four immediately fall!” Yelena exclaimed in slight fear. 

“Oh shit.” John grunted. 

“I-I’m sorry guys, I didn't think this far ahead.” Bob said, lowering his head. 

“Genius plan Bobby!” Walker shouted.

“Will you leave him alone?!” Y/n shouted in return. “At least his plan brought us to this point, what did you do besides complain about Ava’s suit?” 

“I only make things worse.” Bob muttered under his breath, which didn’t go unnoticed by the y/h/c. 

“Hey, no.” She whispered and shook her head. “Don’t say that, it was a good plan.” 

“Okay, one of you hand your batton, I can reach-”

“What?!” The widows shouted in unison before Yelena continued. “No way, you’re just gonna leave us.” 

“Maybe if we spin around.” Y/n continued. “And I can latch us on.” 

They all started to talk over each other, arguing on what their next step should be. It was crystal clear that none of them were trusting John Walker. They all turned quiet when Bob suddenly shouted a vegetable?

“What the hell is happening?” Yelena asked. 

“Someone told me that you can stop a sneeze and confuse your brain so I just yell cucumber.” Bob explained. “But if I sneeze, I’m gonna lose control and..”

“This is insane, okay? I can get us all out of here first!” John shouted. 

“No, no, no, there has to be another way.” Ava said quickie, shaking her head as she looked upward at the door. 

“Oh no.” Bob muttered. 

“Cucumber! Cucumber!” All three women shouted in desperation. “Cucumber! Cucumber!”

“Oh gimme that!” John shouted, releasing his arm from Ava's hold to reach for Yelena’s baton. 

That caused all of them to fall as Walker helf himself with the baton. Ava immediately whipped out her dagger, stabbing it into the metal wall to slow down her fall. Bob held onto her leg as Yelena wrapped her arm around her waist, before looking downward. Y/n’s hand slipped from Bob’s and she was falling at a quick speed. 

“Yelena!” She shouted in fear. 

The blonde threw her hand outward, releasing her grappling hook for it to reach Y/n. The metal grip wrapped around her wrist, halting her as she took a deep breath. Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked up at the blonde in fear. The y/h/c was sure she was going to die at the bottom of that elevator shaft. Never in a million years would she imagine being saved in time. Considering how her luck has been running for the last year. 

The U.S agent pulled himself out of the shaft before looking for a rope to throw down. There was no rope but he thankfully discovered a hose that he immediately threw down to pull them out. Ava climbed out first, then Yelena and Bob, and lastly, Y/n. The blonde stood by, waiting for the y/h/c to place her foot on the ground before bolting towards her. 

“Are you okay?” She questioned, staring into her eyes in fear. “Are you hurt? Is your wrist okay?” 

“Lena, I’m fine.” Y/n smiled. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’m sure.” 

“I just..” The blonde began, shaking her head. “I got scared, what if I didn’t catch you?” 

“I knew you’d catch me.” The y/h/c smiled. “It’s okay.” 

“Walker?” Ava called out, making the widows turn to see the agent slowly walking towards the elevator shaft they just climbed out of. 

His eyes were focused on one spot and his hands seemed to be shaking. It was as if he was under some trance. 

“Walker!” Yelena called out louder, making him blink before staring at the ground. 

“What are you doing?” Y/n asked softly, feeling on edge due to how close he was to falling. 

“I’m fine.” He smiled, making the widows stare at each other in confusion. 

Before anyone could speak another word, the vault door rolled open. They all leaned over the wall, staring outside to see headlights from multiple military trucks, soldiers holding machine guns walking around along with loud voices that mixed with each other. That was their only way out. Was, past tense. But, it was clear they weren’t going to remain in that vault much longer. Even if Valentina wanted to lure them out. Y/n leaned back, holding Bob’s arm as she pulled him towards the wall with her. 

“We need to come up with a plan.” Yelena stated, walking closer to the y/h/c. 

“Okay, this is what we’re gonna do.” John started. 

“Oh you’re the boss now.. Cute.” Ava spoke sarcastically. 

“Well, it’s your only chance of getting out of here, so..”

“I think i’ll just surrender..” Bob spoke shyly as he shrugged. 

“Fine, fine.” John shrugged. “Every man to himself.” 

“Why should you be in charge?” The blonde began but was quickly cut off by Y/n. 

“Do you ever shut up?” Y/n squinted her eyes in question. “You literally tried to kill us earlier.”  

“Okay, well, let’s see, I’ve been in the trenches of every war torn country on this planet, rescued God knows how many hostages and shook the hands of teo US Presidents.” John spoke. “What else?”

“No one cares.” Y/n muttered, shaking her head, causing the blonde to lower her head and chuckle under her breath. 

“Oh, high school state champions, back to back to back, go bears!” He exclaimed as the rest of them became quiet. 

“Wow.” Yelena chuckled dryly, turning to Y/n before turning back to the agent. “When I was five, I was on a peewie soccer team called West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts, sponsored by Shane’s tire shop. We won zero games and, one time, this girl Mindy took a poo in mid field. Anyone else have pointless childhood stories to tell?” 

Y/n shook her head, scratching the top of her brow as she slowly moved away from the group. Her eyes drifted to the lights, quickly analizing the situation they were in. If the lights were to turn off, the soldiers would come in with their night vision. She had every opportunity to shut everything off and connect to any camera littering this place. She just had to find the control room. 

“It will only work, if you wait.” Yelena raised her voice, causing the y/h/c around to see her staring at John. “Ava you go-”

The blonde was quickly cut off by Ava disappearing. The room stayed silent and Y/n sighed. She reached into her pocket, taking out her small hacking device she always carried. Her feet began to move towards one of the many hallways in search of the control room. Yelena trailed behind, going through with her own plan. 

“Y/n.” She called out, making the widow look over her shoulder. “Did you hear what I said?” 

“Um.. no, no, I didn’t.” 

“Y/n, wha-”

“Baby, I’m sorry, okay?” The y/h/c said, turning to face the blonde, grabbing her hands. “I was just thinking about possibly hacking the control room.”

“Well, why didn’t you tell me?” Yelena asked softly. 

“You were fighting with Walker.” She shrugged.

“I would’ve dropped everything to listen to you, you know that.” 

“Wait, are you guys..” Bob spoke, looking back and between the widows. “Are you guys, like, together?” 

“Yes.” “I don’t know.” They replied simultaneosly, before looking at each other in confusion. 

“I mean we haven’t really had that talk yet.” Y/n spoke, biting her lip in embarrassment. 

“Oh, I know I just thought it was slightly obvious.” Yelena shrugged before Bob cleared his throat. 

The widows looked around, noticing that they stood in the control room. The blonde moved to the panel with the y/h/c trailing behind as she took out her device. Bob stood close by, staring at the widows and back at the door as he thought over the plan. 

“Maybe I should have a gun?” Bob spoke, breaking the silence.

“No, you will not.” Y/n replied, never taking her eyes off her hacking device. 

“I’ll fight.” 

“No, you will stay behind me.” Yelena replied, looking at him over her shoulder. 

“The medical trial I was in was supposed to make me better.” He continued, feeling slightly hopeful. “I don’t know, I feel like I could help.” 

“I thought you said you didn’t know anything about it.” The blonde spoke, walking closer to Bob, who was clearly intimidated. 

“Not much, I just remember they said it was for people who wanted to make something better of themselves.” He shrugged as Y/n turned to face them. 

“You can trust me, Bob.” Yelena smiled. 

“Can I?”

“No, not really.” She chuckled along with the y/h/c before facing her over her shoulder. “You can trust her, though.” 

“You can trust me, Bob.” The widow nodded, returning to her device before lowering the levear in front of her. 

“I-I’ve always had these episodes since I was a kid.” He spoke shyly. “There’s a high, then there’s a big low and then my mind just goes blank and, I don’t know, I just feel like this time I did something bad.” 

“Everyone here has done bad things.” Y/n added while disconnecting her device from the control panel. 

“I think this is a whole new level of-”

Beep, beep, beep. Yelena’s timer cut him off, signaling her that it was time to turn on the light. 

“Lights up.” She spoke, pulling up a levear with the hopes of turning on every light of the building. 

Instead, the place got darker. 

“Wh-why did that not work?” The blonde questioned, walking towards the y/h/c. 

“I don’t know, everything in this building was supposed to turn on.” She replied in worry. “I checked everything, it was supposed to work.” 

“What happened to the light?” Bob asked. 

“We don’t know, Bob.” Y/n said in a hurry, walking towards the blonde and placing her hand on her lower back, letting her know that she was right behind her. “What the hell happened? I checked every power fuse.” 

“I don’t know, baby, but we need to move quick.”

“This was your plan.” 

“Not helping, Bob!” The widows exclaimed simultaneously before reaching for their guns.

“Maybe Walter was right.” 

“His name is Walker, Bob.” Y/n softly behind him as they walked out of the control into the dark hallways.  

Bob walked in between Y/n and Yelena as they slowly made their way around the corner. They held their guns up, safety off, ready to shoot whichever thread came their way. Gunshots echo far away, causing them to stop dead in their tracks. The widows shared a look, immediately knowing that Walker could be in danger. They slowly turned to another hallway to see multiple soldiers on the ground and no sight of the agent. 

“Where is he?” Bob whispered. 

“He’s gone.” Yelena spat in anger. 

“Every man to himself, right?” Y/n sighed in defeat before looking up to see flashlights getting closer to them. 

Yelena pulled Bob’s arm, hiding behind the wall while Y/n hid on the other side. The soldiers shot smoke bombs and stayed put, waiting for any movements or sounds. They put on gas masks and Y/n stared at the blonde and nodded, mentally letting her know that she was ready. The y/h/c engaged first, jumping and kicking two soldiers in the face. She fell on her knees and pulled out her gun, shooting the leg of the soldier in front of her. The man fell, groaning in pain, giving her the chance to move over to the other soldier next to him. 

Y/n punched him directly in the throat before swaying her foot to push his feet off the ground. The man fell and she shot them both with no heistation. Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees a glimpse of a blonde shooting some guards with a scared Bob behind her. She pushes him to the ground before blocking a punch and wrapping her legs around the man’s arm, making him tumble to the guard. Yelena threw her widow bites at him, watching him be electrocuted until he laid still. 

Yelena pulled a rope from God knows where, wrapping Bob to her waist as they both continued to fight. The y/h/c kneed a guard in the balls, throwing her leg over his shoulder before moving his head, craking it along the way. 

“I can help!” Bob shouted. 

“Give him a gun!” Y/n shouted before shooting a soldier in the chest. 

The blonde reached behind her, handing him a PP2000 firearm. He stared in confusion, definitely feeling his asshole pulse up in fear. 

“How do I do this?” 

“Just point and shoot.” 

And that’s exactly what he did. He fired the gun immediately, killing every soldier that came in his way. Every soldier was on the ground and Yelena let go of Bob who swung the gun at her. She took a hold of it and shot the soldier creeping up behind. 

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” The soldier shouted and removed his mask. “It’s me, John!” 

“Where were you?!” Yelena shouted angrily, taking off her mask. 

“Where were you?!” 

“The explosion fried the wires!” 

“I told you, too many variables!” 

“Guys, can you just-” Y/n raised her voice.

“And then you didn’t wait!” 

“I did wait and then-” John stopped talking, his face  changing in a second as a man spoke into his earpiece. “We probably have 60 seconds before they mobilize. If Ghost lady did what she was supposed to, maybe we’ll get out of here alive.” 

“Um… guys.” Bob spoke, causing John and Yelena to turn to him. Their eyes followed to where he was staring, to see Y/n leaning against the wall with her hand pressed against her ribs, her hands painted grimpson. 

“It’s okay, I’m okay.” She quickly spoke, watching the blonde walking towards her with wide eyes. “It’s just a graze, it’s okay.” 

“It’s not okay.” Yelena muttered, moving the y/h/c’s hand. “Let me see.” 

“I’m fine, Yelena.” 

“You’re bleeding.” 

“She said she’s fine, we need to go.” John spat. “Put a suit on, let’s go before they barge in here.” 

Bob shakingly walked to a fallen soldier, taking off his suit before putting it on himself. The blonde muttered Russian insults as she helped Y/n walk towards the other side of the hall, helping her into a suit and helmet. Yelena clearly wanted to get violent with Walker but the circumstance did not allow her to. They needed to leave. 

John wrapped his arm around Bob while Yelena held Y/n, both of them pretending to come out with injured soldiers. They walked past the rest of the group, catching a glimpse at Valentina who looked weirdly worried. She put them into this mess, why would she worry now? They walked in between two trucks, allowing Yelena to help Y/n lean against the gigantic wheel. 

“We need a truck.” John sighed

“Where’s Ava?” Yelena questioned, looking at the guys. 

“She’s gone.” Bob replied in sadness. 

“Of course, she’s gone.” The agent scoffed as a truck pulled up behind them to reveal Ava in the driver's seat. 

“Hey!” She called out, making them turn to her. “Get in.” 

Bob got in the back of the truck as John immediately climbed in the driver’s seat. Yelena helped Y/n get in with Bob, making sure she was okay before climbing at the front with Walker. The widow took off her helmet, throwing it next to her as she grunted in pain. The injury stung more than earlier, probably due to all the movement and sweating in the suit. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Bob whispered, noticing how Y/n’s face scrunched up as the truck began to move. 

“Yeah, it just stings.” the y/h/c replied. “Not my first rodeo.” 

“How long have you been with Yelena?” 

“You wanna make small talk?” Y/n chuckled. 

“You’ve been nice to me this whole time.” Bob shrugged. “Just wanted to know more about you.” 

“Okay, well.” the y/h/c grunted, shifting on the seat. “We were together for a few years before Valentina recruited her again. After that it was a year of zero contact and now we’re here.” 

“So you saw her again in the vault?” 

“Exactly.” 

The truck stopped, causing them to look forward, through the small window that showed the front part of the truck. Flashlights shone into the driver seats causing Bob and Y/n to lean back. 

“Oh no.” Y/n muttered. 

“Do you think they’ll catch us?” Bob asked with a shaky voice. 

“I hope Walker brings out his Oscar performance right now.” 

The voices began to get to the back of the truck, making them nervous about the possibility of getting caught. Bob acted on impulse and quickly smacked Y/n on the head with the helmet, making the widow fall down to the side. He stared in fear, thinking he hurt her too much as he saw a speck of blood appearing on her temple. He wanted to stay and apologize profoundly to her but Bob wanted to help. He wanted to help his… friends. 

Bob ran out of the truck, making his way back to the vault. He didn't know exactly what he was gonna do. All he knew is that he wanted to help. So he quickly took off his suit and grabbed a machine gun before making his way to the entrance. 

Back at the truck, Ava appeared at the back to see the door wide open and an unconscious Y/n. She returned to the front, taking off her mask. 

“Bob is gone and Y/n is unconscious.” 

“What?!” Yelena shouted, running to the back when she heard the gunshots, looking to the side to see Bob. “Oh no, Bob helped.” 

“Yelena get in, we need to go.” 

The blonde climbed in the back, going to Y/n immediately. She slowly touched her shoulder, running her other hand to her hair to see the small cut. 

“Y/n.” She called out. “Wake up, baby, come on.” 

After a few attempts to wake her up, her eyes finally fluttered open as she groaned in pain. Y/n slowly sat up, feeling the sting on the side of her ribcage. 

“Slowly.” Yelena whispered, helping her sit up. “How do you feel?” 

“Two different pains at the same time.” She smiled as she pressed her hand to her temple, noticing the crimson on her skin. “Where’s Bob?” 

“He helped.” 

“What?” 

“I’m not sure but he helped to get us out of here.” The blonde shrugged, tucking a piece of hair behind Y/n’s ear before rubbing her thumb over her cheek. 

“Girls, Bob is flying.” Ava spoke through the small window. 

“What?” They asked in unison. 

“Walker, stop the truck.” The brunette ordered so the widows could open the back door. 

They climbed out and looked up at the sky to see a glimpse of light blue in the middle of the dark sky. It was clearly Bob’s clothing. The speck of color kept getting smaller and smaller before it began to be more and more noticeable. Bob was falling. 

“Let’s go, let’s go.” Yelena said hurriedly, helping Y/n to get in the truck again before knocking on the walls. “Drive Walker!”  

“Bob was flying.” Y/n muttered in disbelief. “How was he flying?” 

“I don’t know.” The blonde shook her head. 

“I think Valentina experimented on him.” Y/n spoke, staring at the floor before looking up at the blonde. “I think Bob is Project Sentry.” 

“It would make complete sense-“

Suddenly, the truck turned over, falling down the hill. Yelena shot her grappling hook towards the wall before wrapping her arm around the y/h/c’s waist. The blonde attempted to shield Y/n from hitting the hard surfaces but the movements of the truck did not allow her as much as she would’ve liked. They groaned in pain with every turn until, finally, the truck stopped on its side. 

The widows breathed heavily, trying to calm their heartbeats as it accelerated every second. Y/n rested her forehead against Yelena’s, tightening her arm around the blonde’s shoulder. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yes.” Y/n nodded. “What the heck happened?” 

“I don’t know.” Yelena replied, looking around. “I’m gonna kill Walker.” 

She released from the grappling hook, landing firmly before fully checking Y/n’s skin for any new injury. After noticing that there wasn’t any, Yelena quickly stomped out of the truck, walking around to see John crawling out of the passenger window. 

“What the hell happened?!” Yelena shouted. “We could’ve died back there, Y/n is already injured!” 

“It wasn’t me!” He yelled back. “It was the explosion when Bob fell!” 

“You’re not driving us anywhere, ever again.” She spat, walking back to Y/n in anger. 

The y/h/c leaned against the truck with her hand on her ribcage, feeling that familiar sting again. Ava walked closer, staring in worry. 

“What happened?” 

“A bullet grazed me but I’m okay.” She shrugged, giving her a smile. 

“Alright.” Ava nodded before turning to the group. “What was that back there?” 

“That was her.” Yelena replied, grabbing Y/n’s hand to help her walk. “She did that to him.” 

“Yeah, she turned him into a Tomahawk cruise missile.” John said, staring around the place before looking at the blonde. “You were right, she definitely wants us dead.” 

“To test on someone like that..” Y/n spoke, shaking her head. “It’s inhuman.” 

“Yeah, she lost it.” Walker chuckled dryly. 

“No.” Yelena spat and turned around, handing Ava a piece of paper. “She found it and she’ll use it.” 

“What is this?” The brunette questioned, unfolding the papers. “Power of a thousand suns in explosion. Golden guardian of the good, that’s a mouthful.” 

“Wow, shiny.” The agent commented. “Very bright.” 

“What do you know about this?” Ava asked, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“There was this rumor that OX was on the verge of some kind of major breakthrough, but whatever it was, it was too extreme.” Walker replied as the widows faced him. “Test subjects were dying, the goverment looked into it, Val shut it down, she put me on clean up duty.” 

“Let’s just make it home without getting killed.” 

Y/n stood off to the side, drifting her eyes somewhere else as her mind did the same. She couldn’t help but think about Bob, wondering if he was alright. Valentina was definitely capable of anything. She did send her and Yelena on a rigorous mission to be then part of the opposing side. Thanks to Valentina, Y/n has multiple scars littering her body that reminds her of the torments she endured on that mission. She slowly walked to the nearest rock, leaning against it, feeling tired from standing for too long. 

“Here you go, babe.” Yelena spoke, breaking the y/h/c from her trance. “Cactusberry, you should eat something.” 

“Thank you.” She smiled, bringing it to her mouth, then noticing how empty her stomach was. 

Y/n pushed herself off the rock, following after the blonde who led the team down the remaining road. She felt a bit confused and out of place as Yelena called John, Dr. Phil, clearly making fun of something he said. They continued to work for hours. The road in front was merely dirt with no sign of any human beings whatsoever. None of them were sure of where they were going but they only focused on getting far away from Valentina. 

John and Ava walked a bit far behind Y/n and Yelena. Mentally questioning and wondering what was happening between them. The tension was… almost palpable. The blonde looked over her shoulder, considering the distance they had before looking forward again. She took a deep breath, deciding that fear shouldn’t keep her from speaking to Y/n. Even when feeling guilt. 

“We should talk.” She spoke, breaking the silence. “About us.”

“What about us?” Y/n shrugged, wanting to hear what Yelena had to say. 

“Well, considering what I did last year and seeing you again yesterday..” The blonde began. “It is very clear that we still love each other and we want to protect each other and-”

“Yelena, I love you even after you left.” The y/h/c interrupted. “I want nothing more than to go back to you completely but what’s gonna guarantee that you won’t leave again?”

“Trust me.” Yelena whispered, stopping to face her. “Trust my word when I say that I’ll never leave you ever again and I will always speak to you about what I’m feeling, I’ll always be honest.” 

“You’ll be honest?” 

“100%, scouts honor.” She siad, holding up three fingers. “I never wish to be away from you again.” 

Y/n sighed and stared at the ground before lifting her eyes to meet the blonde’s deep sea of green. She moved closer to her, slowly as Yelena waited in anticipation, not having any possible idea on what could happen. The y/h/c stood there in silence, staring into the widow’s eyes, searching for a glimpse of doubt. There wasn’t any. 

“I’m sorry-” Yelena started and immediately was cut off a soft pair of lips against hers. 

Y/n grabbed the collar of the suit, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss. Their lips moved in sink, turning slightly passionate as they felt the familiarity. Or maybe it’s muscle memory? 

“I love you.” She muttered against her lips before pulling away a little. “You better not do that again, Belova, or I swear-”

“That will never happen again, I assure you.” Yelena replied hurriedly and placed a soft peck on the y/h/c’s lips. 

“Okay, okay.” Y/n smiled and interwimed her fingers with the widow’s who looked over her shoulder. 

“Stop staring, Walker!”

“I wasn’t staring!” 

They continued walking in silence when John decided to break it. As always, sharing information no one seems to care about. 

“Those birds are flying too high.” He squinted his eyes, staring at the sky. “They’re doing reconnaissance circuits at 4,000 feet.”

“Okay, we get it.” Ava rolled her eyes. “You were in the military.” 

“Ta ta ta.” Yelena interrupted, staring into the dessert with squinted eyes. 

She suddenly threw herself to the ground, making the rest of them do the same as an automatic response. They all stared to where she was staring to see something moving with dust behind it. It was going at a fast speed, considering how close it was getting to them. Right then, loud honking was heard. It was a car or some sort of limo? 

“Oh no.” Yelena muttered, covering her face as she lowered her head in embarrasasment. 

“What? It’s coming right at us.” John said, staring at the blonde. 

“It’s no one.” She replied. “It’s nothing.” 

The honking continued, getting louder and louder until the limo stopped right in front of them. A tall man got out of the car, waving his hands in the air. 

“Yelena!” He shouted. “It’s dad! Don’t go into the vault! Valentina is going to burn you alive!” 

John and Ava slowly turned their head towards her while Y/n kept her eyes on the man. 

“Alexei?” 

The russian turned around, staring at the apartment building where she lived with Y/n. She reminisced on the difficult times they were having. Yelena was unemployed, Y/n had jobs here and there but the income was never enough. They constantly argued about Yelena always staying home. Y/n discussed the possibility of her having depression but was always met with screams and attitude. 

Yelena sighed, feeling her heart and mind tearing each other apart. She loves Y/n but all she knew was to run away. 

“What do I need to do?” 

A few hours later 

Y/n walked nervously around the apartment, calling Yelena over and over again only to hear her voicemail. ‘It’s Lena, leave a message’. 

“Yelena, where are you? I’ve been calling for hours. I’m worried.” Her voice broke. “Will you please just let me know you’re okay? I know I started the argument and I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to. Lena, please just call me.” 

Y/n sat on the couch, feeling defeated as she understood that the blonde clearly didn’t want to talk to her. Yelena didn’t come home that night. Or the night after that. Or the night after that. 

Eventually Y/n stopped calling. Guilt ate her alive so her main focus was work and training from time to time. No one ever called. The only person she truly had was Yelena. She didn’t believe her life could get any worse until she received a call from Valentina on a random Tuesday. 

“You’re calling me for a job…” Y/n replied with sarcasm. “You really think I’m gonna accept when you literally tried to kill me?” 

“I can bring Yelena back to you, just say yes.” 

“Do you know where she is?” She whispered in hope. 

“Of course I know where she is.” Valentina replied. “So tell me, Y/n, what would it be? Do you want your girl back or not?” 

“Where do I go?” 

Valentina’s vault 

Y/n walked into the building just like Valentina had instructed. The door opened and the ex widow immediately pulled out her gun, pointing it around the room in case anyone or… anything popped out. The elevator opened and she stepped inside, watching the door close in front of. She couldn’t help but feel a wave of fear run over. Was she about to see her ex girlfriend? Was Yelena even in that room? Or did Valentina lie just to get her there? 

The elevator arrived at the bottom floor and Y/n pointed the gun in front of her as the doors opened. The room was silent, filled with metal boxes and machinery. Some of them were covered, others out in the open. She walked in, slowly and a metal briefcase caught her eye. Y/n’s curiosity peaked, making her go straight to it. 

Valentina’s plans were all there. Her biggest project was there. Project Sentry. She rummaged through the pictures and files before hearing the elevator move. Someone else had arrived there. The y/h/c quickly moved behind a big container, holding her gun tightly in her hand when the door opened. Heavy footsteps echoed around the room, making her hands shake. 

“Hello?” A manly voice spoke, getting further into the room. “Anyone here?” 

“I’m armed.” Y/n spoke loudly. She took a deep breath and slowly stood up, pointing her gun at the man in the room. 

He wore a navy blue suit with a shield. ‘Captain America?’ Y/n thought to herself as she stared in confusion. 

“Who are you?” He asked. 

“Who are you?” Y/n spoke, walking closer. “I asked you first.” 

“I’m Y/n.” She sighed. “Valentina sent me.” 

“Valentina?” 

“Yeah..”

“Do you know her?” Captain 2.0 asked, lowering his shield. 

“Not really, we just go way back.” The y/h/c shrugged.

“So, you do know her.” He shrugged causing Y/n to lower her gun in annoyance. 

“I do know her, yeah, but not on a deep level.” 

“Is that you said you didn’t know her but in fact you do know-“ 

“Okay, yeah, whatever.” Y/n cut him off. “Who are you?” 

“I’m John Walker, U.S agent.” He replied with a slight smirk. 

“U.S. agent?” She furrowed her brows. “Is that, like, your stage name?” 

“Stage name?” 

“Yeah, I mean, like your title.” 

John was about to reply but they heard the elevator going down. They quickly hid behind tall boxes, holding their weapons as they prepared to react. The door opened and footsteps were heard echoing around the room. They didn’t sound as heavy as Walker’s so, it was definitely a woman. 

Walker silently stepped out from behind the box, immediately shooting at the person that arrived. The bullets start hitting a hard surface causing Y/n to peak from the side. Her eyes widened in disbelief. 

“Lena?” She whispered to herself before bolting over to the agent, immediately jumping on his back. 

He dropped his gun in surprise, giving the y/h/c an opportunity to wrap her leg around his shoulder. John toppled over to the ground as Y/n stood over him. Yelena stood up, staring at the person in confusion until they turned around. 

“Y/n.” The blonde whispered. 

“Are you okay?” The ex widow asked, quickly running to her. “Did he shoot you?” 

“No, I’m- I’m okay.” She quickly answered. “What are you doing here?” 

“Valentina called-“ 

“Valentina called you?!” Yelena exclaimed, looking behind Y/n from time to time. 

The ex widow was about to answer when Yelena saw John getting up from the floor. He ran towards Y/n, causing the blonde to push her away before blocking and dodging his punches. The y/h/c ran towards the agent, pulling on his shield, making his arm go back. That gave the blonde a change to jump and pick him in the chest, making him fly backwards, hitting the wall. 

“How are you here?” Yelena asked out of breath. 

“Valentina told me you’d be here.” Y/n replied with hopeful eyes. “She told me about this job, or.. whatever this is, was gonna bring you back to me.” 

“Y/n.”

“You left.” The y/h/c began as her throat closed up. “You left with no explanation. You never replied to my calls. I didn’t know if you were okay.” 

Yelena starred in sadness, not knowing how to explain to her that she just decided to run away from her problems instead of facing them. Before she could reply, John pulled on Y/n’s elbow, causing her to turn and meet his fist right on the bridge of her nose. He pushed her to the side and Yelena launched at him, being quickly knocked down. The y/h/c grunted as she stood up, feeling overwhelming pain on her head. 

“What the hell is happening?” Yelena grunted, lifting her head from the ground. 

Y/n kicked John behind his knee, making him buckle to the ground as she whipped out her knife. She swung at him and he dodged before pushing her, making her crash into the machinery. 

Yelena ran towards him, swinging her legs around his shoulders. The blonde was about to stab him but was held behind with his hand. 

“You aren’t even my target.” She spoke with gritted teeth. 

“You’re mine.” He grunted, throwing her off him. 

“No she’s not.” Y/n stated, pulling a baton from her back that shot electricity from the tip. “You’re not touching her again, buddy.” 

The y/h/c swung the baton back before coming in contact with his shield. Walker hit her hand harshly, making her drop her weapon. He grabbed her arm and threw her across the room, crashing her into more boxes. Y/n groaned as she lifted her head, making eye contact with Yelena, who was laying at the other side of the room.

Suddenly, a figure in a masked suit came into the vault, kicking John’s shield, making him fly across the room. ‘Finally.’ Y/n thought to herself as she grabbed her baton that laid next to her. The figure's mask opened to reveal, Antonia? 

“I’m not here for either of you.” She spoke dryly, looking at the widows before launching onto John. 

The girls stared at each other in disbelief, confused as to why Antonia would be involved in their mission. And why would she be involved with Valentina? Yelena stood up and before she could run to John, another figure appeared behind him- Ghost. The person wore a black suit with a white mask. 

“There you are.” Yelena spoke, turning to the figure. 

“Now what?” John chuckled dryly. 

“What the frick is going on?” Y/n asked as she stood up. 

“Oh, get over yourself.” The woman spoke to John before they disappeared and suddenly reappeared behind him, going towards Antonia, punching her in her stomach. 

Taskmaster flew backward as Yelena pulled her hand up to release the taser. The woman disappeared once again, making the taser fall directly on Walker. Antonia returned, throwing her punches to the unknown figure who sent her flying to the boxes once again. Yelena took the chance and launched at them. She disappeared again, causing the blonde to fall on her knees before the figure appeared again, kicking Yelena harshly on her cheekbone. 

“Stay out of my way.” Ava spoke as the blonde grunted in pain. 

Y/n kicked John away and ran towards the ex widow. She pulled her shoulder, placing her hand on the blonde’s jaw to turn her face. The y/h/c’s ear became muffled. All she thought about was Yelena. She could see the blonde’s lips moving but couldn’t hear a thing, not until Yelena cupped her cheeks. The skin contact made her react, it made her wake up. It reminded her that she was still alive. 

“I’m okay.” She nodded her head. “I’m fine, that was nothing.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’m oka-” 

Gunshots echoed in the room, causing the widows to look up to see John Walker pointing directly at them. Yelena stood and ran, her hand tightly around Y/n’s as she slid over a table. She flipped it over, using it as a shield to protect them from the bullets. Y/n tripped over and fell back, hitting a panel from one of the boxes. The noises and grunts were overwhelming, casting out the sound of the panel turning on. 

Y/n quickly stood up, pulling a knife that hid next to her thigh. She bolted towards John, who was already attacking Yelena. Her legs wrapped over his shoulder, taking the knife towards his left shoulder. He immediately grabbed her wrist, throwing her across the room. Y/n’s back crashed against the wall before falling to the ground with a painful grunt. 

Yelena hid behind a metal box and moved it toward to get closer to the unknown woman, her target. The blonde threw the knife towards her as she disappeared. It was later thrown to Antonia’s shield, flying directly to John, who caught it before it reached him. The widow pushed the box to the side, before on her back in surprise. The agent moved his knife to her face causing her to cross her arm in front of her face in protection. She groaned using all her strength to get him off her. 

A loud gunshot ran around the room, causing all of them to stop and stare at the source. Taskemaster laid on the ground with a wound on her forehead, blood slipping out onto the mask. The shooter deactivated their mask to reveal a woman with a victorious smile. Y/n stood and began to run towards Walker when weird noises began to come from behind one of the many boxes.

Everyone turned towards the sound in question, Yelena took the opportunity and kicked Walker off of her before rolling away and pulling her gun out. They all stood with their weapons in front of them, pointing at each other in precaution. Y/n took her eyes away from the blonde and towards the noise to see a man crawling out from behind the boxes. The weapons pointed at him immediately as he turned his head towards them in confusion. 

He began to run towards the exit when an alarm rang, making the metal doors go down, leaving them trapped inside the vault. They all turned to the doors but once they shut, their guns pointed at the man again causing him to put his hands up in fear. 

“Wow, wow, wow, I-I’m, I’m Bob.” He said shakingly. 

“Who are you?” Ava questioned, never lowering her gun. 

“I’m Bob.” He shrugged. “L-like I told you, I-I’m Bob, yeah.” 

“Jesus Christ, stop saying Bob.” John spoke feeling annoyed. 

“Who sent you Bob?” Yelena questioned, getting a death stare from the agent. 

“N-no- nobody, why would I be sent?” Bob stuttered. “You w-were all sent?” 

“I’m not sure what's happening here and you’re all exhausting.” The woman sighed, lowering her gun as she walked forward towards the doors. “But my job here is done.”

“Well you see my job is to keep an eye on you so you are not gonna go anywhere anymore.” Yelena spoke, her accent thick in determination. 

“So you’re keeping an eye on her, huh?” John began. “That’s a halfway decent cover from someone who’s stealing assets from OX.” 

“What?” Y/n questioned as she lowered her gun. 

“I’m not stealing.” The blonde chuckled dryly before pointing at the mysterious woman. “She’s stealing..” 

Yelena met Y/n’s eyes in relization. Valentina had tricked all of them into the vault. She was the one stealing from OX and they were all witnesses to a lot of her crimes. The blonde closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. 

“Okay.” She began, moving her hands next to her head. “It’s clear we have all worked for Valentina in some sort of Shadow of OX capacity.”

“Yeah, so?” Walker questioned, clearly annoyed with the situation. 

“So, all of this is OX’s secrets.” Y/n pointed around the room. “And so are we.” 

“Which makes us liabilities that no one would miss.” Ava continued and sighed in defeat. 

“Speak for yourself.” John scoffed. 

“We are the evidence and this is the shredder.” Yelena pointed out. 

“She clearly wants all of us gone.” Y/n shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Your theory is flawed.” John began. 

“Oh please, go on.” Ava rolled her eyes. 

“Okay, well, look at the facts, the infamous Ghost.” He spoke, walking towards the women. “Shield’s regret on the run for 15 missions?” 

“Dead one over there.” He said pointing at Antonia’s body on the ground. “Destroyed half of Budapest.” 

“Don’t talk about her.” Yelena muttered. 

“And you two.” Walker said, staring back and forth between the widows. “Former Red Room assassins and God only knows that blood on your hands.”  

“Really weird coming from a dime store Captain America.” Ava shrugged as Y/n chuckled under her breath. 

“Well, I’ll have you know I was the offiicial, Captain America, so.” 

“Yeah, for like two seconds.” Yelena chuckled. 

“You were really bad at it.” Y/n spoke simultaneously with the blonde. 

“Before you publicly murdered an innocent man on the street.” Ava furrowed her brows. “Do I have that right?” 

Walker replied bitterly as Y/n’s mind went quiet. She placed her gun in the holter and stared at the ground as she paced around, closer to the doors. Her eyes lifted, staring at the blonde who was already staring at her. She moved away from Ava and John, walking towards the y/h/c with determination. 

“Are you okay?” The blonde whispered. 

“Yeah.” Y/n nodded and shrugged. “Just confused about all this.” 

“It’s weird, yeah.” Yelena spoke, looking behind her for a second. “Even for Valentina.” 

“It is.” 

“I’m sorry, Y/n.” The blonde blurted out as her eyes got watery. “I shouldn’t have left you.” 

“Yelena, I don-”

“No, please, listen.” Yelena cut her off and sniffled. “I didn’t want to face our problems, in fact, I wanted to run away from them and I did. I didn’t want to confront you after our argument and I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sorry for always picking up a fight with you.” Y/n said looking into the blonde’s green orbs. “I wanted to help, I just didn’t know how.” 

“I love you.” Yelena muttered, walking closer to the y/h/c. “I never stopped.” 

“I-”

“Will you two stop whispering to each other?” John spoke, interrupting Y/n before she even spoke. “Tie yourselves up.” 

“What?” Y/n furrowed her brows as she followed the blonde towards the rest of the group. 

“I’m out of here.” Ava spoke, putting her helmet on before disappearing as she walked towards the metal door. 

She reappeared as she was getting closer, causing a loud ringing noise to echo around the room. They all ground in pain, covering their ears with their eyes slammed shut. The screeching stopped and they all looked around, hoping for a glimpse of an answer. 

“Wow.” Bob whispered. “Did you guys hear that?” 

“We all heard it, yes.” Y/n replied with a kind smile. 

“Well, it doesnt seem like we’re getting out anytime soon so..” Ava sighed, looking around before landing her eyes on Antonia. “I’m gonna explore.” 

She moved towards the dead body as Y/n sat on the ground while Yelena sat on a metal box. The y/h/c rested her head on the blonde’s thigh before feeling her fingers run through her hair. Bob walked around the room, looking up at the ceiling, the walls, the corners, anywhere that could be a potential exit. Ava and John began to rummage through Taskmaster’s suit, searching for possible weapons they could use in a near future. 

“Hey!” Yelena called out. “Job or not, can you have some respect please?” 

“Can you not touch her stuff?” Y/n added before John grabbed something else as he replied in sarcasm. 

Suddenly, the room turned dark, only a red light shining as a bong-like sound rang in the room. The machinery above turned on as numbers appeared on the wall. It read 2:00. 

“What the hell is that?” Walker questioned. 

“That doesn’t sound like a shredder.” Ava spoke. “Sounds like an incinerator.” 

“2 minutes.” Yelena said, pointing at the wall. “And Valentina’s slate is wiped clean.” 

“You don’t know that for sure, could be for anything.” The U.S Agent started. “Could be them coming to pick me up.” 

“Oh my god.” Y/n groaned, walking away from them. 

“Do you feel that?” Ava turned to him. “The temperature rising like heat was involved?” 

“Okay, it's an incinerator.” John shrugged. 

“No shit.” Y/n muttered, turning to Yelena. 

“Oh boy, that’s no way to go.” Bob shook his head, still feeling disoriented. 

“How would you like to die, Bob?” John raised his voice. 

“Leave him alone.” Y/n raised her voice, giving the agent a death stare. 

“Ghost lady.” Yelena began. 

“Ava.” 

“Yeah, whatever, don’t care.” The blonde waved in dismissal. “We need to get you through the wall so that you can open the door.” 

“She tried that already.” John spat as he rolled his eyes. 

“I know that she did but we haven’t tried shutting down the sound barrier.” 

“I can try hacking into the system.” Y/n shrugged, turning to her girlfriend(?). “We just need to find the fuse box.” 

“If they built it just for her.” Walker nodded slightly. “It’s got to be the main power source.” 

Yelena rolled her eyes and sighed. “Okay, let’s go.” 

They began to walk around the room, looking for the fuse box to shut down the sound barrier. Y/n walked alongside the farthest wall, catching a glimpse at the clock. It read 00:57. Fear began to creep into her chest. Her mind began to race about all the posible scenarios of what could happen if they didn’t find that fuse box. What could happen if they didn’t-

“I think I found it!” Yelena shouted from across the room as she pressed her ear to a box-like object on the wall. 

“Watch out!” Ava shouted, running towards the blonde before opening the box to reveal an ordeal of wires. 

“Let me see, maybe I can connect to the server throught here.” Y/n began, pulling out a small black box from the small pocket on her thigh. 

“On your left!” John announced, causing Yelena to pull the y/h/c as the agent pushed his shield against the panel. 

The fuse flickered before turning completely off, immediately shutting off the strong noise of the incinerator. Y/n frowned, feeling pleased by the quick work of the agent. They all moved to the middle of the room, ushering Ava towards the door. She successfully went throught, taking some weight off of Y/n’s chest. The clock now read 00:22 and they all stood next to each other, staring at the doors. 

“Do you think she’s coming back?” Bob spoke with fear in his eyes. 

“Should’ve seen this coming.” John muttered in disappointment. 

Y/n grabbed Yelena’s hand, intertwining their fingers together as the vault became hotter and hotter. Their eyes locked, silently telling each other how much they love each other. The y/h/c lifted the blonde’s hand, kissing her knuckles. Yelena looked upward and closed her eyes along with Y/n as they both waited for their death. 

An alarm began to blare as the door opened upward. They all ran towards the exit as the clock turned 00:00 causing an explosion to erupt. The four of them flew across the room where Y/n’s head crashed against the wall before landing on the ground. The y/h/c fell unconscious for a quick second, but when she opened her eyes, she wasn’t in the vault anymore. She stood in the middle of an empty warehouse. Voices began to come from her right, causing her to turn to see a familiar man being dragged towards her. He was tied up, mouth covered in ductape and eyes overflowing with tears. 

“Finish the job.” A Russian man spat, pushing him towards Y/n. 

She stared in confusion but quickly noticed they weren’t staring directly at her, they stared next to her. There stood 10 y/o Y/n, in her Red Room uniform. Her skin glossy with a sheer coat of sweat as her hands shook. 

“What are you waiting for?” A man questioned, behind her. 

The y/h/c recognized that voice. She had nightmares with that voice. It was Dreykov. He moved towards young Y/n, aggresively grabbing her arm to lift her gun towards the man. Her hands shook in fear. It was clear this was her first kill. 

“Do it.” Dreykov whispered into her ear. “What are you waiting for?” 

The girl stayed quiet, feeling nothing but fear and a wave of anxiety over her. The grip on her arm became tighter each second. So tight, that she began to fight against his grip, yearning for release. 

“Shoot him!” He shouted and the gun went off unexpectedly. 

Old Y/n stared teary eyed as her younger self crumbled in a sobbing ball before she was dragged away by older widows. She swallowed her nerves and turned her head to see Bob and Yelena staring in sadness. 

“Bob?” The y/h/c stared in confusion. “Lena?” 

Her eyes opened and she quickly noticed that she was stil lying on the ground with her fingers slightly grazing Bob’s hand. Their eyes met for a second before the y/h/c hurried to a sitting position, immediately thinking of Yelena. The blonde laid next to her, her green eyes fluttering open, instantly looking at Y/n in sadness. 

“Y/n..” The blonde began. 

“Not now, Lena.” She cut her off as she stood up, bringing the widow with her. “We can discuss that later.” 

The blonde nodded and moved towards Bob to make sure he was alright. Y/n stared at the wall for a few seconds, reminiscing on what she saw. Why would that image pop into her head? Why did it feel so real? Why were Bob and Yelena in there? 

What the hell just happened? Y/n thought to herself as she looked over her shoulder to the rest of her group.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you.” He said with gritted teeth. “Do you have any idea what this caused me?!” 

William shouted, shaking me violently. “This is going to fucking ruin us… Do you not care about that?! Huh?! Do you feel proud about what you just did?!”

I lazily looked at him and spat on his face, making him lose his grip on one of my arms. “Fuck you.” I whispered. 

A familiar sting crept on my cheek before he gripped my jaw, making me look at him. His eyes were shielded with anger. 

“She won’t find you.” William muttered with gritted teeth before releasing my face to push me towards the passenger side of the car. “You’re gonna be stuck here forever.” 

“I will make every day for you a living hell.” I spat and he pushed me into the passenger’s seat. He slammed the door shut and walked around the car before getting in, immediately pulling out a gun, pointing it directly to my head. William drove like a mad man. Like he already knew what to do once we got home. But all I could do was wonder how Alice was doing. 

The second she left Victory, she sat up gasping for air before looking around in confusion. Jack laid beside her, surrounded by blood. The room was cold and quiet. She looked down at her arms and noticed the bruises as well as the IV drip which she took out immediately. Alice swung her legs over the bed, feeling dizzy as she stood up. Her legs wobbled as she crashed into everything in her way, attempting to reach Jack’s computer. Her vision was a bit blurry and she rubbed her eyes before searching for me on her email. 

All that came up was work related information from the hospital and that gave her an idea. Alice stood from the chair and looked for her phone. It took rummaging all over the apartment to finally find it inside Jack’s sock drawer. Her hands shook as she rummaged through her contacts to find me. 

‘Y/n <3’ it read and a victorious grin appeared on her face. 

A small voice in the back of her head told her to call the number. ‘Maybe someone would answer the phone’ Alice thought to herself. Even she knew that William was in the simulation as well. A part of her heart just hoped someone would answer.  

The phone rang. And rang. And rang. No one answered. But just as her memories came back, she remembered that my location was on her phone. We had decided to do that after our first night out. In case of emergencies. 

Alice looked around on almost every app until she saw it. With blurry eyes, she clicked and saw my picture popped up a few blocks down. There I was. All this time, just 20 minutes away. The blonde stumbled over and grabbd her robe, sliding into her slippers before slowly making her way down the stairs. She winced when the laight of day reached her eyes. It has been years since she stepped outside. Everything was different. Everything was… modern… new. 

A familiar yellow car came into view, making her reach out her arm as she waved for attention. Luckily, a cab pulled over in front of her, allowing Alice to climb inside as she desperately shouted the address. 

“Please be alone, please be alone.” The blonde muttered to herself as the cab got closer to my apartment. 

I was forcefully pushed into the house when Alice arrived. William had a deadly grip on my arm as I fought against it. The house felt hot and heavy. It felt tense. 

“Let go of me!” I shouted, holding onto the bedroom door as he continued to pull me. 

“Shut up.” He groaned in anger, pulling me inside the bedroom which caused me to fall on our carpeted floor. 

‘Our’, it wasn’t ‘our’ anything. It was ‘his’, ‘mine’, but it was never ‘ours’. The whole thing was ‘his’. ‘His’ plan, ‘his’ house, ‘his’ car, ‘his’ control. 

William closed his fist around my hair, pulling me across the floor as I moved my feet violently, attempting to get away. I shouted in pain… and fear. He was probably going to kill me and Alice wasn’t going to find me in time. The bathtub was already full. I remembered that I was planning on taking a bath before this mess happened. Before this chaos started. 

“No… no.. William, no.” I cried as he continued to pull me closer. I knew his intentions. I knew what he was planning on doing. He was going to drown me. 

He let go of my hair and turned my body, making me lay on my back as he stood over me. “Ungrateful whores need to learn… the fucking hard way.” William mumbled. “She’s not gonna find you, Y/n.” 

He pulled me towards the tub, pushing me to kneel beside it before pulling my arms to my back as he pushed my head under the water. The movement was too quick for me to catch a breath and my body moved violently as I attempted to get out of his grip. My screams echoed into the water as it continued to fill up my lungs. 

My chest burned in desperation as it yearned for oxygen every passing second. I threw my hands back, making my nails scratch into his skin, trying to pull him away. My body was turning numb, my head was hazy as I felt myself slip away. I suppose Alice didn’t make it in time. Maybe my apartment was locked and she took a long time to open the-

I suddenly lifted my head, catching a big breath as I felt life fill my lungs once again. The bathtub was gone and I was dry, sitting on my bed with my hands and feet tied up. William laid unconscious next to me with blood dripping down on the mattress. A pair of soft hands cupped my cheeks, turning to face to see Alice. She actually made it. She saved me. 

“Can you hear me?” She asked as her voice broke and I nodded. “Are you okay?” 

“You found me.” I muttered, looking around in disbelief. “You actually found me.” 

“I wasn’t going to rest until I did.” Alice shook her head, wiping her tears away. “What did he do to you?” 

“He was trying to drown me and I-” I sobbed, taking my hand out of the restraint. “I thought you weren’t gonna find me.” 

“I wasn’t going to stop until I did.” The blonde shook her head and sniffled before pulling me towards her. 

“Please help me get out of this.” I mumbled, signalling to my ankles that reamined attached to a belt. Alice pulled the restraint off of me and helped me stand up as I stumbled over everything.

“Let’s go, come on.” She said as we both walked out of the apartment, stumbling down the stairs into the sidewalk where I saw sunlight after God knows how long. 

We walked down to the alleyway where she searched a bag left on the ground and found a few 20 dollar bills. Probably for a taxi. 

“Taxi!” she shouted, sticking her hand on before the yellow car came into view. Alice turned around and pulled by hand, carefully putting inside as she climbed after me. “The nearest hospital, please.” 

"Alice, no-”

“We have to… we don’t know what they did to us..” She whispered and took my hand as I laid my head on her shoulder. Maybe it was my body’s exhaustion, but my eyelids got heavy. 

“You and me?” I heard Alice whisper, causing me to look up at her before leaning in to peck her jaw. 

“Always, you and me.”

But Florence always seemed to calm me down. There was something about her that just by being next to her, my breathing calmed, and my chest would stop hurting. She just has that power over me. It was also Flo’s buzzcut debut, which was very, very interesting.

I was waiting for Flo at the hotel room as she finished her fitting for tomorrow. My gown was tailored to perfect in the morning before I had to lock myself in the room to answer many, many work emails. The door clicked opened and without turning around, I already knew it was her.

"Hey, baby, how was the fitting?" I asked before biting into my pen as I checked my grammar for the fourth time.

"It went very well." She replied, making her way towards me before she placed her hands on my shoulder. "I thought you were going to be away from the computer once I got back."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." I whined, throwing my head back to see a pair of beautiful green eyes. "One of my doctor's sent me a very lengthy email about my nurses and I got pissed."

"What did he say?"

"Oh, just some complete bullshit." I groaned, sitting back up as Florence walked around to sit on my lap. "Saying that the things they suggest is wrong and that they shouldn't be involved in any of the things he does... it's just bullshit, truly."

"He does not seem to consider that you are a nurse as well and you're the hospital director."

"He's always been an asshole, honestly." I chuckled, rubbing my hand on her thigh as I stared up at her.

She has been rocking the shaved head for a few weeks and it has been interesting to see her explore it. I always support her in everything she does but this was one thing I was neutral about at first. I didn't really know how to react when she walked into the bedroom one night with a hairless head.

"You think people will like it?" Flo whispered.

"They will, I assure you." I nodded.

"I mean this is a whole new hair transformation, you know?" She said, rubbing her head. "The pixie cut for A Good Person was one thing but this is different."

"Well, as long as you like it, it doesn't matter what other people think." I reply, lifting her hand to peck her knuckles.

"What do you think?" She whispered, playing with my necklace.

"I love it." I said, instantly. "I do miss the hair though... I don't have anything to pull on now."

"Oh my god." Florence laughed, burying her head into my neck. "You're so cheeky."

"You loved it." I muttered and smirked, looking at her lips and back at her eyes.

"Well, you don't have anything to pull on, but you can still slap my ass..." She whispered and bit her lip as I felt my core tingling.

"Thankfully I love doing that too." I replied and she chuckled as I placed my hand at the back of her head, pulling her to me to connect our lips.

Florence moved her legs to straddle my lap as my hands traveled down her back to her ass, giving it a hard squeeze causing her to whimper into the kiss. I moved forward and stood up, moving my hands under her thighs as I quickly turned to the bed, letting her fall.

I step away, pulling my shirt off before unbuttoning Florence’s jeans to pull them down. Our lips connected once again, our tongues fighting for dominance as the both of us yearned to be in control.