meet me at our spot | n.r x oc | ✓

*6 - that is not my story

[Mentions of alcohol]

[natasha's pov]

I place two beers in front of Yelena and Stefaniya, who is pouring a vodka from a shotglass onto Yelena's wound. Yelena winces loudly, her cheeks puffed out while exhaling. I sit down across from them, taking a swig of my own beer.

"That gas,"
Yelena starts.
"The counteragent, it was synthesized in secret by an older Widow from Melina's generation. We were on a mission to retrieve it, and she exposed me and I killed the Widow that freed us."

I nod.
"Did you have a choice?"

"What you experienced was psychological conditioning. I'm talking about chemically altering brain functions. They're two completely different things. You're fully conscious, but you don't know which part is you. I'm still not sure."

I'm a bit worried about Stefaniya. I noticed she had been dead silent ever since we left the convenience store. After bandaging up Yelena's arm, she cradles her beer in her left hand but doesn't drink it, only keeps her eyes on the label as if the words would change to something else if she stared at it long enough. Her fingers fiddle with the charm of her necklace.

"Stefaniya?"
I say softly.

Yelena makes eye contact with me and shakes her head lightly, warning me to give Stefaniya some space. I cock my head towards Yelena's backpack with the Red Dust vials glowing.

"Is that all there is left?"

Yelena hums a yes.
"It's the only thing that can stop Dreykov and his network of Widows."

"He takes more every day,"
Stefaniya speaks up, her voice cracks as if she was about to cry. She's staring at a group of kids across the street, kicking around a soccer ball.

"Children who don't have anyone to protect them. Like me. Like you."
She turns around to look between me and Yelena.
"Maybe one in twenty survives the training, becomes a Widow. The rest, he kills. To him, we're just things."

Yelena places her hand on Stefaniya's knee.
"Weapons with no face that he can just throw away. Because there is always more,"
she finishes Stefaniya's thoughts. She faces me again.
"And no one's even looking for him, thanks to you and Alexei."

"Alexei?"
I question.

Yelena chuckles dryly.
"'Dad.'"

A child runs over to the well-lit mechanics shop, babbling something that I couldn't quite make out. The man in the shop, who I assume is the child's dad, picks him up and holds him in a hug. The kid giggles.

"Did you ever look for your parents? Your real ones?"
Yelena asks.

"Well, my mom abandoned me in the street like garbage,"
I smile humorlessly.
"What about you?"

Yelena shrugs.
"They destroyed my birth certificate, so I reinvented it. My parents still live in Ohio. My sister moved out West."

"Is that right?"
I tease.

"You're a science teacher. You're working part-time, though, especially after you had your son. Your husband-- or wife, I won't judge-- renovates houses."

I laugh at the fact that Yelena had spent time actually planning it out.
"That is not my story."

"What is your story?"
Stefaniya asked.

I pause for a moment.
"I never let myself be alone long enough to think about it,"

"Did you ever wish for kids? I want a dog,"
Yelena admits.

I think about her question for a few moments, but ultimately decided not to answer.

"I wanted kids."
Stefaniya's voice is barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?"
Yelena prompted for her to continue, though at the same time, not pressuring her to share.

"Yeah. But that was before..."

Stefaniya trails off, but Yelena and I both knew what she was referring to. Which specific event she was talking about, I'm not sure. But both would have been traumatizing enough to influence her decision.

"Where are you gonna go?"
I ask the two.

"I have no clue."

"I don't know, either,"
Yelena shakes her head.
"I don't really have anywhere to go back to, so I guess anywhere. And don't."

"Don't what?"

"You're going to give us some big hero speech, I can feel it."

"Speeches aren't really my thing."

"Huh."

"It was more like an invitation."

"To go to the Red Room and kill Dreykov?"
Stefaniya pipes up.

"Yeah."

"Even though the Red Room is impossible to find and Dreykov is too slippery to kill?"

"Yup."

Yelena groans.
"That sounds like a shitload of work."

"I'll drink to that,"
Stefaniya muttered.
"Could be fun, though."

"Yup."

I rested my chin on my hand.
"I saw where he put the keys,"
I say to Yelena.

"Top drawer, green cabinet."

Stefaniya looks lost.
"Huh?"

Yelena chuckles and pulls Stefaniya up from her seat by her arm.
"We'll fill you in in the car."

"Are we gonna steal another car?"
Stefaniya asks excitedly.
"Yes!"