Little Ray of Sunshine

New York

"Can we buy it?" the little girl picked up the book from the shelf.

"Sure, sweetie" she nodded, not being able to say no to her niece's sweet face.

"No, take it for free. As a gift" the worker told them, to which she shook her head, the Red Room had taught her nothing was for free. "Whatever she did, it brought my family back. And I don't know how she made that decision now that I know she had such a precious little girl waiting for her at home" the woman explained as she frowned. "She was a real hero" that statement only got her to close her eyes for a few seconds, trying to stop the tears that threatened to escape her eyes.

"She was" she nodded, her sister's sacrifice had brought her back.

She observed how the woman handed the kid the book, her niece's smile growing wider as her little fingers caressed her mother's face so gently. But she frowned, being a little uncomfortable when the worker gave the child a pair of bracelets that imitated Natasha's widow bites.

She did not like the idea of that little girl playing with them, even if they weren't real, it really felt like it. Bad memories from her time in the Red Room resurfacing as she remembered that she was barely older than her niece when she learnt how to use them. She had hurt too many people with them.

"Thank you" she told the woman.

"Not a problem, she probably misses her mama, so it's the least I can do" the woman answered, to which she smiled slightly.

She took her niece's hand to walk back to the chairs, still waiting for their flight. Much to her disagreement, she had to help her put on the bracelets, since the little girl would not stop asking for them.

"Look, just like mama" the kid said, pointing at her with her little fist. "Pew Pew"

She could not avoid chuckling at the cute sound effect the kid added, her face changing when she fell into the realization that the child knew how the widow bites worked. How in the world did that kid know that?

"Okay, let's not do that to other people" she told her, knowing not everyone would find it cute and adorable. "Hey, no, Lena" she grabbed her niece's arm when the kid got down from the chair to run around, big blue eyes staring back at her. "You can't just leave like that, sweet girl. You have to tell me and I'll take you, okay?" she tucked the kid's wild blonde hair behind her ears. "You scared me, malyshka" she admitted.

"Sorry" the little girl got herself on her lap to hug her, so she returned the embrace. "Can we read it?" the kid showed her the book.

"Why don't we wait until we're in the plane?" she asked, it could be a great way to entertain the child.

"Okay" the kid agreed. "That's Uncle Clint" little Lena pointed at him. "And Uncle Steve. He had to leave" the child explained as she rested her head over her niece's. "Uncle Bruce..."

She sighed. It was going to be a long flight and all she was going to listen about was the Avengers. But, at least, the kid seemed to be excited about it.

-/-

Kate Bishop's apartment was not filled with ashes as the last time she had been there. And just like that time, she had gotten inside without the girl being there, that time through the door and not the window since she was doing it with her niece.

"We're going to make dinner for Kate Bishop and surprise her" she explained to the child, who nodded slightly while following her.

The young girl was probably taking the dogs out for a walk, unaware that they had already arrived in New York and that they were at her apartment.