𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 - 𝐖. 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐟𝐟

ten

                   THE sound of a little girl's laughter filled the small, one story home. Most of the lights in the house were off besides in the living room, where the dim lights were on and a family sat on the ground in a circle playing headbandz.

"Okay okay," the older woman, Melina, said with a grin, gesturing to her eldest daughter. "Natasha, it's your turn."

The grinning girl flipped the timer and sand slowly started to fall to the bottom section. "Am I an animal?"

"No," the young blonde, Yelena, giggled, whispering to her youngest sister who had three fingers in her mouth, sucking on them as she giggled. Her favorite stuffed pink bunny was under her arm, her well worn blue blankie in her other hand.

"Am I an object," Natasha questioned again.

"Yes," Alexei - the dad - responded, a smile on his face as he played the game with his daughters.

"Am I small?"

"Yes," Yelena said, giggling. She loved this game.

"Am I a-" Natasha's question got cut off by an alarm sounding, both Melina and Alexei looking up immediately, their faces wiped of the smiles that had just been there.

"Natasha, take your sisters and go to your room," Melina instructed, the blue haired girl standing immediately and picking the three year old brunette up who was watching her family with wide eyes, her hand still in her mouth.

Natasha carried Katerina into their bedroom, Yelena trailing behind as they closed and locked the door, just like they were supposed to do. Natasha set Katerina down on her bed, watching as the three year old curled up on top of the pillows and blankets, watching with her big blue eyes. Her two older sisters could tell she was tired, it was past her bedtime.

"Sleep, Kat," Natasha said gently, sitting on the edge of her bed and gently draping the three year olds blanket over her, tucking her in gently and gently swiping away the strands of hair in her face. "All will be okay when you're awake."

Katerina's eyes slowly started to shut, the blue orbs disappearing behind her eyelids as she found herself in a dreamless sleep.

Natasha watched her with a somewhat sad expression, and Yelena climbed onto the bed, looking at her older sister.

"They're coming for us, aren't they," the blonde questioned quietly, her eyes tracing Natasha's hand as she ran soothing circles on Katerina's back.

"Yes," Natasha replied, her voice as monotoned as she could make it.

"They're going to take us, and her," Yelena questioned again, although it wasn't really posed as a question. It was posed as a fact, a fact that both sisters knew was coming for them sooner or later.

"Yes," Natasha replied again. "They will take us, and her."

Natasha awoke with a start, sweat drenching her body as she swung her legs over the side of her bed and sat up, her chest rising and falling quickly from the dream. The memory.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Natasha stood and made her way into her bathroom, peeling the drenched clothes off of her body and stepping into the shower, washing away the sweat and remnants of the dream.

She remembered that night vividly. It was the first night leading up to that fateful week that they had been stripped away from their lives in Ohio. It was the last time that she and Yelena had ever seen Katerina until a few days ago. Red Room agents had started showing up to the house, making sure that they knew to be prepared for the inevitable. Each night they arrived the alarm would go off and Natasha would have to make sure she, Yelena and Katerina were locked inside their bedrooms until the agents left. More often than not, Katerina would fall asleep before Melina and Alexei came in, kissing them goodnight with tired and worried looks on their faces.