The Crime of the Widow

14|. The Plan is Set

A GROAN ESCAPED my lips. My hands reached my forehead as I sat up from my position on the floor, opening my eyes as I did so. I was instantly met with white walls paired with a white bench and a glass door. A yellow circle and blue tiles on the ceiling illuminated the prison. I let out a frustrated scream as I pounded my fists onto the floor, I was trapped.

"Marina?"

I heard my name being called out. For a moment hope rose in me, but when I recognized the voice as Alexei, I rolled my eyes. Memories started to flow from earlier and how I came to be in a place like this. "Melina! That eel!" I screeched out, rolling my head back. "I knew we shouldn't trust her, yet we did. That little сука!"

My back slid against the white wall. I knew my fate was finally sealed in, there was no way out, the only way out would be when they would throw away my dead body. "I don't even want this. I said not to trust anyone."

"Marina." Alexei spoke out again. "Marina? You there?" He yelled when I didn't answer him as fast as he would like. "I know you are. I just want to say.. I am so sorry. You to Natasha. I pledged my life to a cause. You know, I thought I was being very brave. Possibly the bravest. But I wasn't being brave. I was coward. In Cuba, when they came and took you away from me... No cause is worth that. You should only sacrifice yourself for something......"

As I was listening to his whole emotional speech, the glass door slowly opened. I watched it in curiosity, brushing my fingers against. A loud noise erupted and for a moment I thought it was my finger that did it, until I walked out and saw Alexei mouth leave the glass door. He swung his left hand to test if it had really moved or if it was just his imagination.

He got up to see Natalia and I standing, watching him. "How did you do that?" He asked me, but I just shook my head with a shrug of my shoulders, he then looked over to the red head, waiting for a response.

Natalia stared at the man. "I designed these cells myself." Her hand trailed to her face, ripping something off of it then to her hair. Her once red hair was replaced dark brown hair that was intricately braided. Alexei was puzzled and just stared at her.

"What?" The man exclaimed. Melina turned over to me, raising an eyebrow in a motherly manner while I turned my head to avoid her gaze. "I bared my soul to you and it was just you the whole time? At least you heard me Marina, huh?"

"Heard what?" I asked with a smirk planted on my lips. Alexei gave a look of disappointment and sadness, puckering out his lips as if he was trying to make a point.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Melina spoke silently to Alexei. "But wait, shh, I'm on comms with Yelena." Her fingers reached her ear and she pressed it, smiling as she spoke into it. "Yelena, it's me. It's Mama. You have a two-inch blade concealed in your beltline." After a couple moments of silence and all three of us awkwardly staring at each other she spoke again. "Don't throw a fit. There wasn't time."

Alexei beamed up, pressing his ear as Melina once did. "Okay, girls, I'm having trouble hearing you, but, Natasha, there's something I need you to know. I need you to know that I'm sorry. No more excuses, okay? I gave my life for a cause. I thought I was being brave...." He started to speak but was quickly interrupted by the lady next to him.

Melina started to place a hand on his shoulder but quickly retracted. "She can't hear you. You don't have earpiece."

"What?" Alexei looked deep into her eyes and then into mine. "Does she have earpiece?"

"That reminds me." Melina dig into her side pocket and pulled out an earpiece, handing it to me as she did.

"She gets one?" I heard Alexei exclaim as I put the gadget into my ear.

"Yes. Because it was part of the plan?" Melina looked puzzled by the whole experience. She looked over to me as if I knew what she was talking about the whole time when I indeed had no idea what she was talking about. I had no idea of this plan and why I was apart of it.

"And what was the plan?" The man moved forward with raised eyebrows, getting closer and closer to her as he spoke. That's when Melina went out and spoke quickly about the plan we were both included in but had no idea that we were. She spoke how Natalia and her had a discussion as soon as everyone split apart and how they were going to infiltrate the red room. That's when I found out that the Red Room was never on the ground, but in the sky.

"Where did he take the vials?" I heard a familiar Russian accent in the earpiece. A smile crept on my lips when I finally realized when that she was safe, which was abnormal.

"Probably down to cold storage. Dreykov still has the widows under his control, so you have to expose them to this antidote." Melina pressed her earpiece, speaking into it as she tried to be as vague as possible.

"Yeah. Sure. Easy." Yelena sarcastically said. Soon the other side went quiet and so did the three of us. Alexei rolled his eyes and got even closer to Melina, desperation filling his eyes. But not for the reason I thought.

"Come on, now." Alexei whispered to her. "If we're just going to press buttons and hack computers." I turned my head when they looked at each other with lovey eyes, sticking my tongue out as soon as Melina agreed with the man. "There's nothing for me to do. I want to... I want to break something."

Footsteps echoed throughout the hall. I stared straight ahead to find an armored person who was walking very slowly towards us. Their face was masked, they held a shield close to their tall body dressed many in blue "Oh, you do?" Melina spoke softly, peering her head to the left to look at the same person as I was. "Oh, there is something you can break."

As Alexei turned slowly to the person, chuckling to himself, Melina nodded towards the door to me, smiling softly. We soon closed the door, leaving Alexei and the soldier all alone to fend for themselves.

We both walked silently next to each other, not even meeting each others gaze or daring to talk to each other. Everyone we passed didn't even say anything as well, just ignored our existence.

Of course, Melina questioned this, how they didn't recognize me and my rebellion towards the Red Room, but I just shrugged my shoulders saying maybe Dreykov didn't announce it.

A group of children dressed in proper clothes and straighten hair pulled to the back passed us up. The ten girls walked in two perfect lines, staring at the floor as a lady I recognized very well led them throughout the hallway. My gaze never left the children, as I felt somber for them.

We ended up nearing a section where no one else was, but Melina knew this area perfectly. She stopped by a door that had a single window so that you could look into the room. It was illuminated by red lights and woman dressed in all black held a gun straight ahead as they did moves every widow was trained in.

"Be honest." I spoke out. Melina looked over to me and started to walk again. "Was any of it real? We're we a mission to you?" My Russian accent was thick as I spoke to her.

She didn't speak to me. I looked over to her with a frown and raised eyebrows, expecting her to talk, but she didn't. I nodded and stared straight ahead. "Dreykov pulled me aside in 1992, he told me there were these three little girls who are you're mission. He told me not to get attached. And I listened. But, it wasn't even a year in when I didn't obey his orders. I got too attached to this three girls to admit it." She spoke to me.

"Hmm." I hummed out. I did not believe her one bit, and my face definitely showed it. With a frown and a quick nod I began to walk again, leaving the woman standing all alone with her thoughts.

"Why can you never trust an Atom?"

My walking pulled to a stop. A frown appeared on my lips. I knew what she was doing, and it made me somber. She paused for a moment, probably for dramatic purposes and to be honest, it made it a bit more funny.

"Because they make up everything."

I turned to her, smiling ever so slightly. "You remembered?" I spoke to her. Tears were beginning to fill the brim of my eyes, they were begging to escape, but I tried my best to hold them back in.

"Of course." Melina said in a matter of fact tone. She shrugged shoulders and walked towards me slowly. Once she reached me, she placed both of her hands on my cheeks, slowly rubbing her thumb on it. "A mother never forgets. Now let's go. We are desperately needed down there."