Natasha watched Katya closely as she approached them, trying to send her a comforting smile when her sad eyes looked up.
Katya did her best to push her sorrow away, instead trying to mirror Natasha's expression. That didn't entirely work, but for the sake of whatever conversation was about to follow right now, the focus shouldn't be on her.
''Everybody good?'' Natasha finally asked when Katya stopped by her side, really wishing she had a jacket on so she could stuff her hands in those pockets. Now, she felt kind of awkward.
''I am clearly injured,'' Melina deadpanned, clutching her side, supported by Alexei. But nobody was seriously hurt. They all stood on their own legs, and had no broken bones or any other serious, life-threatening injury.
''You got something to say?'' Natasha questioned Alexei, who seemed to finally understand what he did wrong. He self-reflected, who'd have predicted that?
''I'd just mess it up.'' He hung his head and hesitantly reached out to her, his hand hovering in the air as he waited nervously what she would do. But it seemed that Natasha had forgiven him, or was at least ready to give him another chance.
Awkwardly, she placed her hand in his, letting it linger while a careful smile appeared on her face. She was happy to be in a better place with him.
Yelena knowingly smiled, meeting Katya's eyes to find a same kind of expression on her face. They both knew Natasha didn't hate Alexei as much as she pretended she did, and both of them giving in to their egos and just accepting this truce was a beautiful step.
But more than this currently wasn't going to happen, and Natasha let his hand go not a second before a new sound reached all their ears. It was faint still, but without a doubt the engines of cars approaching.
She sighed, looking past the smoking rubble to see black dots in the distance. ''Here comes the cavalry.''
Katya raised her eyebrows in surprise. ''Ten cars? I feel honored, really.'' Yelena silently chuckled at that, even though this situation was far from funny. They escaped capture from one man, only to be threatened with that by another. Because there was no way they could outrun those cars. Definitely not with Melina injured.
''So, what's our plan?'' Said woman asked, ready to keep fighting, to keep the wives out of Ross' hands. It wasn't even to her own benefit. She did this purely to help them.
''You guys go,'' Natasha replied softly, locking eyes with Katya. ''We'll stay.''
Katya nodded, looking at the others one by one. ''They're here for us, not you.'' While she appreciated their offer a lot, they shouldn't be dragged into this.
But, of course, that's not what they thought should happen at all. All at once, they started to argue, because apparently, they were as aware of Natasha's stubbornness as Katya was.
''That's insanity. We fight. We fight with you.'' Alexei was too confident in his abilities to change her mind.
Natasha shook her head, not bothered by all the annoyed looks thrown her way. ''We'll hold them off.''
''Natasha, we fight,'' Yelena joined in.
''We can't split up. You're so pigheaded.'' That was Melina, who could get angry awfully well for someone injured.
Natasha smiled through the whole thing, just waiting for them to be done. ''You guys, go.'' See? No changing her mind.
''Oh, my God,'' Yelena muttered in her beautiful Russian accent, barely stopping herself from rolling her eyes, which made Katya chuckle. Yeah, Natasha had this gift of getting under people's skin without actually doing anything. It was a curse.
Natasha pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh out loud. ''Besides, if it can work out with the five of us, you know, there may be some hope for the Avengers.'' Surprised, Katya faced her. This was the first time she had been able to say that word in years. Reuniting with this family has healed her enough to say it. ''Little bit.''
''Okay, well, if you're leaving, then I guess you should take this. I know how much you like it,'' Yelena said playfully, undoing the clasps and zipper on her vest and pulling it off her shoulders.
With a beaming but also kinda embarrassed smile, Natasha wandered up to her, playfully snatching it out of her hands like she was annoyed. ''Shucks.'' She tried to get her to shut up, but it only made Yelena laugh.
''It does have a lot of pockets,'' the blonde reminded her with a smug smile.
''Very handy pockets, yeah,'' Natasha gave in. The playfulness drained from the conversation when she took the small disk with Dreykov's database out of her pocket, handing it over, together with the last vial of antidote. ''He had Widows implanted all over the world. Melina will need to copy the formula, but you should be the one to tell them it's over.''
All their heads whipped around when a jet landed very close by. Katya feared it was one of Ross', but recognized it as a similar one to the jet she flew down ten minutes prior.
Dozens of Widows poured out, the ones from the office, she recognized some. They came back for them, for Yelena. And she broke away from the group to greet them. But Katya wasn't about to let that happen so easily.
''Lena,'' she called after her, picking up the pace to catch up. Yelena was just in time to turn around and catch the hug Katya pulled her in, tugging her closely against her, pushing her nose into her neck.
The second hug today, what was going on with them?
After the initial surprise wore off, Yelena hugged her back. Maybe not as tightly, but the sencerity and emotion was there, resting her chin on Katya's shoulder. Neither relaxed fully because Ross came closer by the second, but it felt good to get a proper goodbye.
''I won't miss you at all,'' Yelena muttered after a moment, tapping into Katya's very last bit of self-control not to burst out laughing and ruin this. She could never be serious, could she?
Katya tightened the hug, her smile full of nostalgia and sadness. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to this adorable and funny human being yet. ''Won't miss you either. To be honest, I find you annoying.''
''Same,'' Yelena mumbled back. ''I only tolerated you because Natasha apparently likes you?''
Katya finally laughed. She grabbed Yelena's shoulders to gently push her back, locking their eyes. Yelena's shone in humor, and although Katya's were too, her words were as serious as ever. ''Take care of yourself.''
''You too,'' Yelena replied. Although she hadn't necessarily liked Katya's presence in the beginning - or pretended to - she had grown to like her quickly. And this adventure brought them closer together than anything could.
After all, Katya was the story Yelena liked better for Natasha than the one she came up with herself, and those were high standards.
''If you need us, just give us a call. I promise we'll be there.'' This was goodbye, but not for long hopefully.
Yelena smiled in gratitude. People hadn't been there for her ever before. So this meant a lot. ''Thank you, Katya.''
Katya's smile widened. ''Finally got it right,'' she teased, dropping her hands from Yelena's shoulders and slightly stepping back. She had to let her go at some point.
All the emotion on Yelena's face melted into that dry sarcastic expression again. Practically what her face looked like most of the time. She backed up, using the same teasing tone to answer. ''I don't promise I'll remember it.''
A chuckle escaped Katya's lips while she shook her head, the smile staying on her face the whole time Yelena enlarged the distance between them. Even when she turned around and the other Widows took her into their group, did it stay right there.
She hoped it wouldn't be too long until they saw her again. And she hoped her travels went well, that she managed to free a lot of Widows. It wouldn't be easy, but she could do it with the help of the group waiting for her.
It felt good to know she wouldn't be alone.
When Katya finally ripped her eyes away from her sister-in-law and spun on her own heels, she was in time to see Melina and Alexei say goodbye to Natasha. The brunette woman reached for her hand and squeezed it. ''Hey. You take care of yourself, okay?''
''Don't worry. We got this,'' Natasha replied softly, a confident smirk on her lips.
Melina smiled knowingly, letting her hand go and allowing Alexei to lead her towards the jet. ''I know.''
They came Katya's way, and she was planning on smiling and saying a quick goodbye, but Alexei had other plans. When she stopped next to him, he momentarily let Melina go and stepped towards her, his wide arms betraying what he meant to do. And Katya simply couldn't avoid it without appearing rude.
''My bonus daughter,'' he said emotionally, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
Katya side-eyed Natasha best she could with her face pressed against the man's chest, begging her to help, but she just smiled slyly.
She could count on her to stop her from falling to her death but not to save her from this horrible situation?
Alexei's cheek rested on top of her messy hair, although Yelena's tight braids held very well. ''I don't even care that you are not strong big man Natasha needs. You protect her.''
Natasha snickered at the comment and Katya's expression that followed. The last thing she needed was a big strong man to protect her, but it was hard for Alexei to let go of his ideologies. And it meant a lot to Katya that he seemed to accept her, if that's what just happened.
''Thanks?'' Her voice was slightly muffled by his suit, but luckily, that's when he decided to let her go, placing his big hands on her shoulders instead.
He looked her dead in the eyes, smiling emotionally. And were those... were those tears? ''You are welcome.''
What the fuck was happening?
Next to him, Melina rolled her eyes with a smile, deciding she would be the one to save Katya if Natasha wasn't going to do it. Subtly pushing Alexei aside with her shoulder, she stood in front of her instead, taking one of her hands gently in her own.
Katya gave a kind smile, still a bit wary of her, but no longer mistrusting. No, Melina saved their lives by revealing that she had called in the Red Room. If she hadn't, they would have been brainwashed by now.
''For what it is worth, I am truly sorry for what happened to you.'' She meant it fully, no lie in her dark eyes. She was such a gentle woman with her heart in the right place. It seems the world is cruelest to the kindest people.
A sad smile flashed across Katya's face, dropping her gaze down to their hands. The last thing she wanted was for Melina to feel guilty for that. ''Don't sweat it. It was a smart move, a tactical move.'' She shrugged, seeing Natasha cross her arms over her chest in the corner of her eye. ''Besides, it all worked out in the end. No looking into the past, right?''
Melina used her free hand to hover it over Katya's heart, the action causing her to look up again. ''Your heart is so big, Katya. It was never your weakness. It has always been your strength.''
Katya couldn't help but nod, forcing her tears back. The confident words made her want to believe them. ''Thank you.''
Melina glanced at Natasha, who wore Yelena's vest now and raised an eyebrow. But she'd never hear the words that were said to Katya, because they were too soft. ''Look after my Natasha for me.''
Katya let out a breathy chuckle. That was an easy promise. ''I have never done anything else.''
With a satisfied nod that also acted as a goodbye, Melina squeezed her hand one last time before looking for support by Alexei again. With kind smiles, they hobbled to Yelena and the rest of the Widows, who had also picked up Antonia and helped her into the jet. She wouldn't be alone. She had her own new family now.
All of them left together, getting the hell out of there before Ross arrived. But not Katya. She waited until the jet flew away to turn back to her wife.
The two of them against the world. That's how it felt. And, of course, she was greeted by one of Natasha's soft smiles, which were mostly reserved for her and her only.
Between the burning rubble and smoke, in the middle of a plain in Russia, with the setting sun throwing a beautiful orange glow over them, it felt weirdly peaceful. And Natasha's hair looked redder than it had ever been.
She tugged Katya under her arm when she finally reached her, placing a kiss on her temple. With a deep exhale, the brunette let her head rest on Natasha's shoulder. Only for a moment, because the game wasn't over yet.
''Darling,'' she started, watching the cars come closer and closer. ''Please tell me you have a plan.''
It felt like they were watching the end of the world happen, no stress, just calmly waiting until it would reach them.
Natasha's sharp eyes followed the cavalry. ''Don't I always?''
''That's debatable.'' Katya played with the hand on her shoulder. ''I'm gonna yell at you later for jumping off that runway, by the way.''
Natasha hummed absentmindedly. ''Good to know.''
She removed her arm from Katya's shoulders when the cars stopped and soldiers rushed out, guns aimed high. They were armed to the teeth in all black. Rifles, bulletproof vests, helmets.
As if they circled the world's most dangerous criminals, they spread out all around, keeping a good distance while they formed a human cage.
And Katya? She was far from impressed.
''Oh, cozy,'' she joked, slowly raising her hands in surrender. She'd prefer not to get shot. ''This feels like a bit too much.''
Natasha followed her example, slowly skipping her eyes over the group while they waited for the man of the hour. ''Well, we did escape his grasp for two years, so he's not taking any chances.''
Right in front of them, behind the line of soldiers, Ross sauntered up to them, leaning on his walking stick.
Natasha tensed up. Not because she was afraid, but to prepare for her verbal attack. ''Stay close. Let me do the talking.''
Despite the bad situation they were in, Katya smiled to herself. ''Don't you trust me not to mess it up?''
''I need you to not ruin my plan,'' Natasha countered quickly, running out of time since Ross had almost reached his men and would undoubtedly start yelling soon. At least his smug face was already on.
''Oh, so you do have a plan.'' Despite not glancing at her, Katya knew Natasha rolled her eyes. There was no time for her to answer, though, because Ross' men parted for him, and they stood face to face with him once again.
Or... finally? Took him two years and it wasn't even because of his own success.
''Petrova! Romanoff!'' He smiled smugly, stopping a good twelve feet away from them. Seems like he was still afraid and preferred to stay closer to the people who could protect him. He did look even worse in real life than on the camera footage days ago. His health wasn't what it used to be.
''Congratulations, you found us,'' Natasha said dryly, slowly lowering her hands because she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of surrender.
Ross cocked his head, seeing the gleam in their eyes, in Natasha's eyes. ''Why do I have a feeling that wasn't a coincidence?''
''Because it never is.'' A chuckle escaped Natasha when she saw the annoyance and disappointment on Ross' face. ''Did you honestly think it would be this easy? You should know better after two years.''
She was on her warpath again. Destroying men with words only. Combine that with her challenging smirk and Katya had enough to enjoy herself.
Cleverly, Ross decided to ignore her jab and deliver one of his own instead. ''You're not looking too well. Life on the run not what you hoped it would be?''
Eh, rude. Given, they did look terrible. But... rude.
Natasha's shoulders lifted in a dismissive shrug. ''Sure, it's not been a holiday, but we don't regret anything.''
Ross didn't care about what she had to say. After all, he was only there to catch them, take them to prison. His patience had run too thin to have a whole conversation. ''Good to know. I'm sure Congress would find that very interesting as well. Hands up.''
He wanted to send guys over to cuff them, but wouldn't want to risk it with the Russians' hands so close to their weapons.
And Natasha knew that as long as she kept them by her sides, she had time to talk.
''Don't you want to know what happened here?'' She nodded to the rubble around them.
''I am not interested in your personal vendettas. Hands up. I'm not asking again.''
Humor flashed across her face, but it was gone quickly. ''You should be. Because we just brought down a very powerful man and his mad organization.'' Every single word she spoke was thought through. ''Does the name Dreykov say anything to you?''
Katya did her very best to keep her face void of any emotions, ignoring the stab in her chest.
When he stayed silent, Natasha had her answer. ''Exactly. Because I blew him up when I first joined SHIELD. Or so I thought.''
Because it appeared as rambling or stalling from her side, Ross finally had enough and gestured a couple men towards the duo. ''Get them.'' Warily, they did as asked, keeping their weapons aimed the entire time they took slow steps closer.
But Natasha was far from impressed, continuing her story. ''Turns out he wasn't dead and continued his business in the shadows. Trained Widows, people like me and Katya, mind controlled them and sent them out into the world. Assassinations, cyber-attacks, bringing down entire regimes. And you didn't notice anything.''
Ross chuckled dryly. ''I know what you're doing. You're trying to get into my head. But it's not working this time. You've slipped through my hands long enough.''
He nodded for the soldiers to go ahead and cuff them. So they did, closing the gap towards the Russians.
As soon as they took the handcuffs out, Katya tensed. They weren't going to get out of these ones, and she was seconds away from getting locked into them, the soldier reaching for her wrist.
Her eyes widened, looking at Natasha, silently begging her to hurry up with this plan of hers.
''Let's make a deal!''
Her outburst stopped everyone in their tracks, afraid she'd do more than yelling. But nothing happened. The moment froze, giving her time to talk again after taking a deep breath.
''Let's make a deal,'' she repeated a lot calmer, calculated again. ''Your reputation has been... let's be honest, badly influenced by the fact that we are still running around after two years. Your government looks weak, pathetic if I may say so.''
Ross was about to explode of impatience. ''If you have a point, I suggest you get to it quickly.''
''My point is: You can take credit for everything that happened here, bringing this organization down, if you let me and Kat go. I have a feeling that will do wonders for your rep.''
Shit, she was so smart, playing into his egotistical traits. Katya started to smile again, her eyes shining smugly.
Ross scoffed. ''That's not gonna happen.'' But they both could see the idea appealed to him.
Natasha sighed; her voice exasperated. ''Listen, we have no place to go. You will find us eventually. The base is mostly whole. I'm sure you will be able to get lots of intelligence of it. We're on Russian soil. I imagine you would want that information first.''
Ross' resolve crumbled underneath the surface. His voice didn't sound so sure anymore when he replied. ''I can just take it and arrest you at the same time.''
''Can you?'' She reached for something in the belt of her suit, multiple guns cocking around them, which she paid no attention to. ''Because you'll need this key to unlock the computer.'' Between her fingers, she presented Dreykov's ring.
Wait, didn't she leave that in the office? The hell did she magically summon these objects from?
''A ring?'' Ross scoffed. And to be honest, it did sound kinda shady. ''We have the best people in the world working for us. They can work around it.''
''I couldn't,'' Natasha countered matter-of-factly. Ross' smile disappeared at that. He knew her skill level at hacking. Good thing he didn't know she hadn't even tried. ''Seems like I have something you need, and you can give something to us in return.'' They both knew she'd toss it into the fire if he tried to take it from her.
She shrugged. ''Looks simple to me. You let us go to be caught later, and you make a big score right now. Imagine how happy Department of Defense will be with all that intelligence.'' To give him the final push, she asked Katya, ''What do you think, babe? Will that earn him a medal?''
Katya smirked, knowing damn well Ross would take this deal. ''I think it will. Would look nice on that crisp jacket of his.''
''Fine!'' Ross snapped, like Dreykov had before. And like before, both Russian's smiled victoriously. But they bet that underneath those helmets, Ross' soldiers were stunned beyond belief. They literally had the two women cornered, and they were letting them go?
''Great. Here's what's gonna happen.'' Natasha started summing up things, rambling it in one go, all the carefulness gone. ''You order your cavalry back into their cars. They're gonna drive off. One can stay behind to drive you away. I don't want to see them. I don't want to hear the engines anymore. If you screw us over, we will go to the nearest journalist and expose every dirty secret we know about you and your government, starting with the Raft and the way you treat the prisoners in there.''
Right, she was still pissed about the way they treated Katya and Wanda and the others in there. How they didn't give her meds for her broken leg, didn't let her shower, kept her in the same outfit for days.
Ross' face was pulled into pure anger and frustration of getting outsmarted once again, but her threat was serious and he knew that too. ''Six hours,'' he threw out, teeth clenched together. ''Then we're after you again.''
Natasha smirked in triumph, which only fueled his annoyance. ''Perfect.''
''Do as she said. Now!'' Ross yelled to his men, who were reluctant to let the spies go, but eventually marched back to their cars and got in, driving off. The whole time, the Russians stared at Ross, until all cars but one were gone. That's when Natasha stepped forward, dropping the ring in his open palm.
''I feel sorry for you. I really do,'' she provoked him with that nasty little smirk. ''But some people are just not meant for sleeping in a tiny cell.'' Yep, such a bitch.
''I will get you one day. The world is only so big.''
Natasha hummed teasingly. ''Don't forget to look up as well.''
With one last annoying smirk, she twisted around and stepped away. And there was nobody and nothing stopping her this time, not even Ross' angry eyes on her back.
Katya followed when she walked past, about to chuckle, saying something to Natasha like how she amazed her or how annoying she was. She was about to let out a breath of relief and let her shoulders slump, until Ross called after them in one last helpless attempt to win.
''I'll tell Stark you said hello!''
Katya's movements faltered. Why did he have to say that? Why did he have to remind her of one of the friends she missed most? One of her best friends. And why did he only say Stark? What about the others? Why not Clint? Did he see Tony often, talk to him?
''He's just bluffing.'' Natasha hoped to keep Katya's spirits up, but they had already fallen, a gnawing feeling in her ribcage.
Absentmindedly, she hummed unconvincingly, suddenly annoyed by this uneven landscape that didn't let her get away from Ross fast enough. She sped up best she could, sometimes stumbling over a hole in the ground or a high patch of grass, anything to get to the tree line faster, get out of this exposed situation. All the while Natasha watched her with a frown, preparing to get yelled at very soon.
~~~~~~~~
A/N: hope you liked how I got Natasha to bullshit her way out of this hehe