Natasha was eager to begin, but her family seemed to be a little more relaxed.
"So-"
"Natasha don't slouch," Melina said, shuffling in her seat to get herself more comfortable.
"Wha- I'm not slouching," Natasha complained, loosing track of her plan for a moment.
"Listen to your mother," Alexei cut in, waving a hand at her.
"I-- you're unbelievable," Nat sighed, slouching back in her chair, "all of you, unbelievable."
"Hey! I didn't do anything," Yelena protested.
Natasha sighed and turned to look out of the window. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the empty chair next to her. Why it caused a twinge of pain to go through her chest was beyond her. It wasn't like Vienna had ever sat in it.
"Come now Natalia," Melina smiled, noting the sour look on Nat's face, "don't pout you're not a child. What was it you wanted to say?"
"I don't know," Nat mumbled as she watched the chair, "I lost my train of thought."
Watching Natasha's face and the empty chair, Melina was able to put two and two together. As were the others.
"We all miss her," Melina said softly, "and she was a happy and loving child, she would want us to be happy together. You have nothing to feel bad about."
"Doesn't she?" Yelena asked, this was always a sore topic for. Her anger was still hot within her.
"Yelena," Alexei warned as the tension rose.
"She's not wrong Alexei," Nat said, her voice hollow as she rested her elbows on her knees, "I left her behind, if I'd have waited, gone back for her--"
"You'd both be dead," Melina cut her off, she turned to Yelena before she spoke again, "it's not fair to blame Natasha for her death. She did all she could. It's not her fault that Vienna tripped, its not her fault that she was caught. Apologies to your sister."
"I'm sorry," Yelena mumbled.
Yelena had been taken out of the red room before Natasha had left. She and Vienna used to share a room. Yelena knew that her anger stemmed from her own guilt of leaving their little sister behind but she lashed out anyway.
"Before anything else, we need to talk about taskmaster," Alexei said, leaning in the table, "I've faught him before, he doesn't have super soldier serum but he's fast, highly skilled and knows balance and pressure points."
"A skilled fighter," Natasha nodded, sitting back up, "So we've got to be on our guard."
"No getting arrogant," Melina said to them, but paused for a moment on Alexei to get the message across a little more.
"A great shot too, try not to get in a gun fight with him," Alexei continued, not taking much notice of Melina's frown.
"Not to mention the other widows," Yelena commented, "we'll have to look out for them too."
"Yes," Melinda nodded in agreement, "this isn't going to be easy."
"I never expected it to be," Nat said, looking up at all of them, "but we need to finish this, once and for all."