Widow of Siberia

Chapter 2

The tap of a closing cupboard door turned Laynia's head. The Winter Guard were relaxing together in the living room, without an active mission all they could do was wait for orders. The only member not with them, was the one in the kitchen. Still in her suit, cloak and all, face hidden from the rest of her team, Krasnyy had her back to the Winter Guard as held something Laynia couldn’t see.

"You know you have to take the mask off to eat, right?" Laynia said, shuffling in her seat to face the Red Widow who had turned at the sound of her voice. Her training had always taught her to study her opponent but with Krasnyy being covered from head to toe it was difficult to gauge how much she was getting through to her.

With one hand, Vienna unclipped the hard jaw cover off her face and pulled her mask up to her nose, eating, to Darkstar's surprise, crisps. 

"A bit American for you, aren't they?" she asked with a chuckle, kneeling up against the back of the sofa. Laynia hoped that even if she couldn’t understand what the Red Widow was feeling, she could try and let the assassin study her instead.

"They taste good," The Red Widow said simply, pulling her mask back down. 

"Join us, Krasnyy," Mikhail, called over to her, waving a hand at her as he shovelled as much food as he could into his mouth, "it's good for you." 

"Ursa is correct, trust is important for team work," Vostok, the synthezoid of the Winter Guard, said, sitting extremely upright in his seat. 

"I don't need to trust you," Vienna said flatly, turning and walking away from them, leaving Laynia with a concerned frown. 

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The shadows that filled the corridor engulfed every corner as the Red Widow made her way back to her room. She had neglected to turn the lights on but she recognised the unnaturalness of the darkness that surrounded her. White eyes and a sharp toothed grin appeared in the space above her door. 

"Chernobog," she said, looking up at the Slavic God of Blood, darkness, and secrets.

"Vienna," he spoke in a harsh, deep voice as he emerged from the shadows. His head formed from the shadows, pitch black skin with ridges down his neck. "Why do you not want to make friends?"

Her head tilted up towards him, her name sounding uneasy coming from anyone but her Commander, but the God of secrets knew all of hers. 

"I am not allowed," she put her hand on the handle, waiting patiently for him to stop blocking the door. 

"You are strong enough to kill anyone that gives you orders," he told her, a clawed hand digging into the wood of her door, "rip them apart. And if you're not, there is nothing we love more than to listen to liars screaming."

"Thank you," Vienna's voice was quiet as Chernobog moved away from her door, letting her go back to isolating herself. 

"Good night," he said, skulking off into a different shadow, "little liar." 

Vienna’s head snapped round to see his menacing smile disappear into the darkness across from her. She had been assigned to the Winter Guard by her superiors and she knew that to continue to report on their work she needed to behave effectively as part of a team, but she also had to follow every order her commander gave her, even if they conflicted with the orders of the Guard. It was easier to stay away from them to avoid having any feelings of loyalty for anyone that wasn’t her commander.

She disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her.

A cloth hung over the mirror on the Red Widow's wall. She tried not to think about Chernobog, there was no defending herself against him, not really. 

Her hair fell into her face as she pulled her mask from her head, the black strands falling into her eyes. 

Blonde hair. Green eyes smiling across at her in their bunk room. Yelena Belova had been there for her through her nightmares until Dreykov took her away. Then, she didn't sleep. Even when Natasha tried to help when she managed to slip into Vienna's bunk room, she couldn't sleep in the Red Room. The blinding fear that her nightmares left her with was too much to bear, it wasn't worth the rest. 

A soft knock at the door snapped her head back up. Vienna stood as she pulled her mask back onto her face and went to the door. There was no risking anyone seeing her face. She opened it to find Darkstar looking down at her with raised eyebrows.

“You wear that thing when you're alone too?” She asked, taking in the familiar sight of the red mask. 

“What do you want?” Vienna asked bluntly, frowning beneath the mask. 

"I just don't want you to feel like you have to stay away from us," Laynia sighed, standing back as she glanced around the weapons that were stuck into the walls, "you seemed to open up more when it was just us, does being around everyone make you nervous? The boys can be a little loud and aggressive sometimes, I get it." 

"I'm not scared," Vienna told her firmly, her glare deepening despite being concealed, "and we don't have to be friends." 

"We don't have to live together either," Laynia said, a soft smile on her lips as she tried to reason with Vienna.  "We were put together to be the Russian response to the Avengers, the Avengers work together as a team, they're close. It's what the government wants from us." 

A frown on her brow, Vienna turned and went back into her room. Laynia went to step forward but the Widow turned sharply. "Stay." 

"Sorry," Laynia put her hands up in retreat as she stepped back. "Are you excited for the new mission?" 

"Has one come in?" she asked, standing at a more comfortable distance from her teammate.

“Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has a request of us,” Laynia sighed, giving up on her probing for now and getting back to business which seemed to be the only way to reduce the risk of being snapped at by the Widow. 

“So?”

“So, we will listen to the request,” Laynia said simply, stepping back from the doorway as she shrugged, “Dimitri makes the rules.”

“Dimitri follows orders and relays them to us, he is not in charge,” Vienna said sharply, her distaste for his authority clear. 

“For a straight lace, Krasnyy, you don't like being told what to do,” Laynia chuckled as she walked away, resulting in the door being closed forcefully behind her.