Retnikopf: Widow Of Siberia (old Version)

Chapter 13 - Homestead

Back on Earth sooner than they had expected, Carol opened the door to everyone waiting outside and Vienna and Yelena were first to hop out. Natasha held back for a second, the nerves of seeing everyone finally kicking in.

"Solnyshko, Malen'kiy," Melina called, speeding up once she saw her kids, "my babies, are you both okay?"

"When did you get so affectionate?" Natasha asked, an amused wrinkle in her brow as she climbed out of the ship having shaken off her nerves.

"Natasha," Melina smiled, tears filling her eyes as she walked over to her oldest daughter and held her face in her hands.

"Finally decided to be a decent parent huh?" Natasha joked, her voice hitching with emotion.

"Don't be rude to your mother," Alexei told her, tears already streaming down his face as he locked Natasha and Melina in a bear hug.

After a moment, Natasha pushed her parents off of her before she started to cry properly.

"Alright that's enough of that," Natasha choked back her tears of happiness as Melina wiped them from her eyes.

"Tasha," a faint voice could be heard as if someone were calling from across the grass, "Tasha!"

Natasha looked up to see James Buchanan Barnes running at full speed towards her. A wide smile broke onto her face as she saw him, his eyes finally seeing her the way she had hoped they would all those times before. When he reached her, Bucky scooped Natasha up into his arms and held her tight to him. Nat relaxed as she wrapped her arms and legs around the man she loved, burying her face in his neck.

"Okay Barnes," Alexei said, rolling up his sleeves dramatically, "I hope you can fight because I'm not going to go easy on you."

As he rolled up his second sleeve, a knife landed cleanly into his arm. Too shocked to feel the pain, Alexei turned his head to see his youngest flipping a second knife in her hand.

"Vienna," he said in a shaky voice, "the fuck is this?"

"Don't interrupt her moment," Vienna told him, deciding that she'd be successful, she put the knife in her hand away, "it's rude."

"You know this- This is why-," Alexei pulled the knife from his arm and pointed it in Vienna's direction, "this is why-why you're-"

"Why I'm what? Spit it out," Vienna said with a raised eyebrow, the smile on her face dropping in an instant.

"Why you're such a pain in the ass," Carol joked with a smile, "you should probably stop throwing knives at your family."

Vienna feigned a smile that dropped quickly.

"A pain that won't be in my ass for a while at least," Carol laughed, "feel better kid."

Vienna gave a small nod before turning and walking over to the compound.

-----

"Excuse me, Captain," an older woman said, tapping Carol on the shoulder as they all stood in the compound, "can I talk to you about Vienna? I was asked to be her therapist a little while ago, Dr Raynor."

"Oh nice to meet you," Carol said, shaking the doctor's hand with a smile, "are you sure this is okay to talk about with me?"

"I don't want to disclose anything, it's just-" Dr Raynor started but Natasha crashed into the room rather quickly.

"Have you see Vienna?" she asked, sounding slightly out of breath. A series of shaking heads came from around the room, "she gone. I can't find her anywhere."

"What was is you wanted to tell me?" Carol asked Dr Raynor, not taking her eyes off of Nat.

"After reading her files, I found out that Vienna has been abandoned a great many times," Dr Raynor explained, "from about a year old up until very recently. From having parents and being taken away from them, being promised rescue and then having to save herself. I wanted to ask you to be mindful making jokes about her being a burden or being hard to be around, especially when she can hear you. I know she needs to work on her behaviour but, I thought it would make her skittish, uncomfortable, and I think I may have been right."

"Oh shit."

End of part 5