'Twins' - Alternate MCU - ON HOLD

25. Days later

Lexa

A few days later, we were beginning to settle down in the safe-house in Germany. Elise had begun to spend her time glued to her phone - learning German on Duolingo. My sister was always the most intelligent of us both, soaking up new information like a sponge. I'd been attempting to learn German, but compared to my sister's pace, I was learning at the pace of a snail. Yelena didn't need to learn German, she'd picked up the basics before.

Speaking of Yelena, when I hadn't seen her since lunch, I went to find her.

"Yelena?" I asked, looking all around the house.

"You alright?"

I spun around hopefully, then realised Elise had poked her head out of our bedroom.

"Have you seen Yelena?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Not since she went out for a walk after lunch," Elise replied. "I've been in here most of the afternoon, I thought she'd come back and was just in the lounge or something."

I shook my head and went to grab my phone. I clicked on Yelena's name in my contact list and called her. I looked out the window whilst I waited for her to pick up, watching as the sun set.

Has she picked up? Elise asked.

Nope.

Ring her again, she might just have her phone in her bag.

Alright.

I rang her again. No reply. I messaged her.

Yelena

You:
Yelena, pick up the phone!
Are u ok?
Where r u?
Yelena?

"God dammit," I muttered under my breath.

I called her again. This time the call got through.

"Yelena!"

"I'm sorry, Yelena Belova is currently unable to pick up this call."

I felt my breath get caught in my throat. The voice I'd heard was raspy - that of a man.

"Who are you?" I asked down the phone, attempting to keep the shaking out of my voice.

Silence.

"Who am I?"

"Yes."

Silence.

More silence.

"Your friend."

"Where's Yelena?"

Silence.

More silence.

The silence felt like it was speeding up.

"Safe, with us."

I felt panic rising in me. What had happened to Yelena? Who was this man? Why was he saying he was our friend? I turned to look at Elise, alarmed. She was leant against the doorframe, concern in her green eyes.

"Where is that?" I demanded down the phone.

I heard a menacing chuckle.

"She's feisty."

It sounded as if the man was talking to someone else.

"I'll see you soon Lexa Thorpe-Barlowe."

Then, the phone call ended. By now, I was scared stiff. Who was that? Was it Hydra? Had they taken Yelena as bait for us? Why else would the man know my name? And who was he talking to?

"Lexa..."

I jumped when I heard the soft voice of Elise. My twin was stood in front of me, gently taking the phone from my hand.

"It's not Hydra," Elise assured.

"Wh-why would you mention Hydra?" I stuttered.

"Because I can hear your thoughts."

Elise took my hands.

"Hydra wants us back, yes, but they could easily overpower Yelena in a fight for us. This isn't their way of working," she explained softly. "This is someone else."

I stared at Elise for a moment.

"We need to call someone, Yelena's been kidnapped," I told her.

Elise opened her mouth to argue, but passed me my phone. I went into my contacts list.

C:
Clint Barton

E:
Elise💜

N:
Natasha Romanoff

P:
Pietro Maximoff

R:
Rhodey

S:
Steve Rogers
Sam Wilson

T:
Tony Stank

V:
Vision

W:
Wanda Maximoff

Y:
Yelena Belova

"Call Nat, she'll help us - especially about her sister," Elise told me.

I clicked on Natasha's name, but just as I was about to click on the call button, I received a voicemail.

"It's from Yelena..." I whispered to Elise.

I saw confusion and fear in her eyes.

"Listen to it," she told me quietly.

I clicked on the voicemail and listened to it.

"Lexa!" I heard Yelena's voice echoing in the background. "Let me talk to her!"

My breathing sped up and I heard footsteps from inside the phone.

"Hush now my child..."

It was the man from earlier.

"Yelena wants to speak with you Lexa Thorpe-Barlowe," the man said into the phone.

I picked up on his accent. It was Russian. There was nobody speaking for a moment, but I heard pained gasps and a gun click. Glancing at my sister, I saw that her face had emptied of all colour.

If you don't want to listen to this-

Not really, but I need to know what's happening!

"Elise, Lexa, don't come for me. Stay where you are and don't tell anybody," Yelena told us down the phone.

Her voice was shaking, and sounded as if she was being forced to speak.

"You need to comply with them or they'll kill me. Stay in the house and don't leave until the morning."

I heard a gunshot. I dropped the phone. Had 'they' just killed Yelena?

"You heard her Lexa Thorpe-Barlowe."

With that, the voicemail ended. Elise stumbled over to the bed and sat down. Questions and fears crowded my mind.

"What do we do Lexa?" Elise asked me in a whisper.

"We run."