The Younger Agent - Natasha Romanoff x OC

Chapter 107 - Hiking Through Russia

Yelena chuckled humourlessly, running a hand over her face, and Eleanor just simply gave a deadpan look off to the side, breaking the fourth wall with whatever movie writers were planning out her life because recently everything had just been icing on top of the cake in the madness that she has had to live through.

"Is that a serious question?".

"I only ever loved you girls. I did my best to make sure you would succeed, to achieve your fullest potential, and everything worked out". Eleanor's head snapped back to face him, eyes widened.

Natasha too turned to face him, "Everything worked out?", she spoke incredulously.

"Yes! For you, yes. We accomplished our mission in Ohio", he started walking towards Yelena and Eleanor, prompting the older one to move back a few steps.

"Yelena, you went on to become the greatest child assassin the world has ever known. No one can match your efficiency, your ruthlessness. And Natasha", he turned to face the redhead, "Not just a spy, not just toppling regimes, destroying empires from within, but an Avenger".

The corner of Eleanor's lips had been slowly tugging down throughout his monologue until it looked like she had smelt something really bad. Those were not the compliments he thought he was giving.

"You both have killed so many people", he took hold of both of their wrists, waving them up and down slightly, "Your ledgers must be dripping, just gushing red. I couldn't be more proud of you", he pulled them in for a hug, and Natasha immediately grimaced and pulled away, glaring at him before walking off towards Eleanor, who was still standing further away from the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry", Eleanor cringed when Nat stood in front of her, arms crossed defensively as she sighed, "That was an absolute trainwreck". Nat could only nod and hum in agreement, this whole situation taking a toll. "Hey, it'll be okay, I promise", she smiled reassuringly and placed a hand on Nat's arm, "Plus I got you these magnificent flowers", she held them up in between them, trying to ignore how they already looked to be wilting.

A smirk formed on Nat's face, "You're pretty frickin' adorable you know that?", she took the flowers and gently stuffed the stems into her combat belt on her hip, securing the flowers in place.

"Says you", Eleanor chuckled and gestured at the flowers.

"Mmhm, come on", Nat smiled and took hold of Eleanor's hand and began to walk forward along the path, but they stopped abruptly, seeing Yelena standing a few metres away from them staring at them with disgust.

"You guys make me wanna throw up".

---

The group had been walking side by side for hours, the dusk was now among them it had been that long. Eleanor stood in between Nat and Yelena, with Alexei on the other side, as Natasha refused to let Eleanor walk alongside him, forcing her to be on her left side.

They were still hand in hand, not wanting to let go of each other, much to Yelena's dismay. Though Eleanor knew she was joking when her eyes crinkled a little bit when she bugged them about it at the start of the walk.

"So, are we there yet?", Yelena asked in reference to Melina's farm.

"You'll know when we're there", Alexei answered and began snorting like a pig, causing looks of pure confusion to be sent his way by the three women.

"Okayyy", Eleanor trailed off, "Do you think there's gonna be any food?".

"Is that all you think about?", Nat smiled for the first time since the walk began as it had been painfully silent.

Eleanor sent her wife a disappointing glance, "You should know by now that you are absolutely correct".

The walk was a further hour before Alexei said that the farmhouse was near, and Eleanor was thanking the Gods. Her feet were beginning to hurt slightly. The boots with the combat suit were very comfortable, that wasn't the issue, she just needed to rest her feet to stop the sore bones.

They walked single file down a hill as the path thinned out with vegetation until they eventually arrived in front of a metal fence with barbed wire topping it. In front of them was Melina, Eleanor could only assume, clutching a sniper rifle to her chest.

The sight completely unnerved her but she kept her mouth shut to not interrupt yet another family reunion of the day. "Honey, we're home". Melina's eyes traced over Natasha and Yelena, looking at them with a sense of familiarity, but as soon as Eleanor moved next to Natasha, Melina's gun was immediately raised and pointed right at her.

The whole group took a step forward with hands raised, whilst Eleanor stumbled back slightly, fear flashing across her features. "Hey woah, woah, she's with me", Nat spoke sternly, her eyes boring into those of her 'mothers' warning her to put the gun down.

Melina nodded and lowered her gun, much to everyone's relief, no bullets were fired. Eleanor expected that to be that and for them to move into the farmhouse or something, but Melina narrowed her eyes on her, almost scanning her face. It felt uncomfortable.

A small gasp escaped the older woman's mouth, "Mila?".

Eleanor frowned, and her heart started beating in her chest. "No, but that's my... that was my mother's name, how do you-?", she went quiet, not wanting to know the answer.

Melina looked down for a second before looking up again, no longer looking at her as though she was the enemy, and clearly looking disheartened at hearing the 'was' in Eleanor's statement. "I'm sorry, you're just a carbon copy of her, it's incredible". She didn't answer the question that Eleanor was clearly asking her.

"How do you know her?", she asked again, determined, though her voice cracked, thinking about her mother was always tough, and she was praying that Melina wasn't going to say what she thought she would.

Melina sighed before answering cautiously, "She was a widow, a friend. The best one of us in my generation. Before she escaped".

"What?", Nat voiced in shock. After that, Eleanor couldn't hear anything, a loud ringing in her ears blocked everything out and her breathing went uneven.

Her mother didn't just die of mysterious circumstances that her father hadn't wanted to tell her, she was likely murdered due to being an escaped widow. Her Mum was gone because of that wretched man, Dreykov. He was the reason for both of her parents' deaths. The reason she had to grow up without them. He took everything from her.

Then her train of thought drifted to every horror story that she had heard from Nat's time in the Red Room. Knowing her Mum had gone through it all too, aside from the graduation, made her face pale and tears pool in her eyes. Her mother had the kindest soul, and the warmest heart, ensuring that in the small time she got to spend with her daughter she raised her to be a happy and conscientious young girl.

Eleanor would never in a million years thought that the carefree, bubbly woman she remembers was an ex-assassin. Though parents tend to hide a lot from their children to shelter them.

It was at this moment, that now more than ever, she just wanted a hug from her Mum.

She was brought back into the world when Nat's hand cupped her cheek, and she saw concerned eyes staring at her. "There you are", Nat spoke softly. She must have zoned out for a few minutes, understandably. "You okay?".

Eleanor sniffed and nodded unconvincingly, "I'm okay", she turned and saw even Yelena looking at her with a pitying look.

Attention was brought back to Melina when she walked out of the opening in the fence and towards the house, not sparing a glance at the group. Nat clearly looked to be upset about not being given the time of day after all those years, but when Eleanor squeezed her hand, she pushed it all down and followed Alexei. Both Nat and Eleanor clinging to each other's hands for dear life.

A/n~ I have been waiting to reveal that since chapter 20 lmaoo oh my lord