Things Are Almost Perfect

Chapter 23 ~ Sei al sicuro qui

"Non credo. (I don't think so)" Yelena replied. She was kind of sure that Natasha could speak Italian, but she wasn't going to say that when she wasn't completely sure.

"Buono. Perché siamo qui? (Good. Why are we here?)" Inaya asked, her eyes jumping around the room to study everyone.

Yelena kept her eyes on Inaya, "Perché sono qualcuno di cui possiamo fidarci. (Because they're someone we can trust)"

"Non lo sai per certo. (You don't know that for sure)"

"Sono. Prometto. (They are. I promise)"

Inaya was silent, so Yelena continued, "Non ti faranno del male. E quella è Natasha, mia sorella. È anche vedova. (They won't hurt you. And that's Natasha, my sister. She's also a Widow.)"

"Capisce cosa abbiamo passato? (Does she understand what we've been through?)"

Yelena bit the inside of her lip, ".... non ha superato lei stessa il controllo mentale, ma ha attraversato la Red Room. (she didn't go through the mind control herself, but she went through the Red Room)"

Inaya was silent again.

"Sei al sicuro qui. (You're safe here)"

Inaya let out a dark laugh, "Sono al sicuro da nessuna parte. Ma per ora mi fiderò di te. Ma non mi fiderò di loro. Non se lo sono guadagnato. (I'm safe nowhere. But I'll trust you about them for now. But I won't trust them. They haven't earned it.)"

Yelena nodded and she and Inaya got up to their feet.

"Want to fill us in on what just happened, Little Red?" Tony asked.

Inaya glanced at her and, though she tried to hide it, Yelena knew that she thought Yelena was going to tell them everything that had just gone on, and all the rest of the history that the two shared.

Yelena shook her head, "That stays between me and Inaya."

No one argued with her, instead, they were silent. It seemed that no one knew how to approach the other Widow. Until Wanda stepped forward.

"Hello," she smiled at Inaya, "I'm Wanda. It's nice to meet you."

Inaya glanced at her, her face blank. "Hi."

Wanda smiled kindly again, then stepped back as Bucky stepped forward.

"Bucky" was all he said.

Inaya nodded, it seemed they had a mutual respect for each other. Captain America introduced himself next and complimented her on her use of his shield, she winced a little at the mention of the things she had done, but only Yelena noticed. Inaya met Sam next, it was pretty obvious that she found him a little annoying.

When Inaya met Clint, he jokingly asked her. "What? No apology for breaking my bow?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Nope. It's not my fault if you can't fight without the bow. Honestly, you should be thanking me."

Clint held his tongue, it looked like he disagreed.

Inaya didn't show much interest in Bruce, he was a scientist and a doctor, and Yelena knew Inaya would probably be distant from him because of that.

When Pepper introduced herself and Morgan Yelena could see the faint ghost of a smile on Inaya's face. She crouched down to talk to Morgan and soon Lila and Peter had jumped into the conversation too.

Eventually, the three kids mutually decided to dub Inaya "Auntie Aya", which caused the Widow to smile fully.

After Inaya had conversed with the kids for a while she stood back up and turned to the last person she had to meet. By now most of the Avengers had spread across the room, giving Inaya some space.

Natasha gave Inaya a slight smile and greeted her in Italian.

Inaya raised an eyebrow, "Conosci l'italiano? (You know Italian?)"

"Sì. Solo un'altra lingua che ho imparato durante il periodo nella Red Room. (Yep. Just another language I learned during my time in the Red Room)"

Inaya turned to Yelena, "Pensavo avessi detto che nessuno conosceva l'italiano. (I thought you said no one knew Italian)"

"Non ero del tutto sicuro che Natasha non lo sapesse. (I wasn't entirely sure Natasha didn't know)" Yelena replied.

"Perché non sei tornato per Yelena? (Why didn't you come back for Yelena?)" Inaya suddenly asked.

Natasha wasn't prepared for the question and honestly, Yelena wasn't either.

"Che cosa? (What?)" both of the sisters asked at the same time.

"Beh... Yelena era controllata dalla mente molto tempo dopo che sei diventata Vedova Nera. Non ti importava abbastanza che lei cercasse di trovarla? (Well... Yelena was mind controlled long after you became Black Widow. Did you not care enough for her to try and find her?)" Inaya answered.

She didn't care.

Shut up. Natasha and I already talked about this. I don't need you to bother me about something that I already beat myself up over for so long before resolving it.

Natasha was still at a loss for words, "...IO.... (....I....)"

"Inaya, calmati. Natasha ed io ne abbiamo già parlato. (Inaya, calm down. Natasha and I already talked about this.)"

"E? (And?)"

Yelena spoke with a level voice as if what she had to say next didn't bother her at all, "Non sapeva se fossi vivo. (She didn't know if I was even alive)"

Inaya gave Natasha another cold glance but didn't say anything else.

"Can we play Mario Kart?" Peter asked with a grin, interrupting the conversation.

Everyone agreed excitedly.

"What's Mario Kart?" Inaya asked only to be met by gasps.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT MARIO KART IS?!" Lila gasped.

Inaya only shook her head.

Yelena laughed, "Why don't we get something to eat before we show her what the legendary game, Mario Kart, is?"

As soon as everyone agreed, they started to head to the kitchen.

Natasha smiled and went to follow her sister, but was stopped by Tony grabbing her wrist.

"I need to talk to you."