"You know, it's like when you told them that they could stay up late to catch Santa Claus." Melina said, glancing at Alexei.
"What? That was fun. You know, "He come down the chimney, girls." "Look out. Where is he?" You wait for him, and then when the cookies are gone, then you see he's there. No, no. What? I want them to follow their dreams. Reach for the stars, girls."
"Finding Dreykov is not a fantasy. It's unfinished business." Said Natasha with a glare.
"You can't defeat a man who commands the very will of others. You never saw the culmination of what we started in America. Nor did you."
"Natasha, always focus, focus. Get what you want." Whispered Alexei towards her as Melina got up to get something. She came back with a tablet of sorts and typed something in it.
"Come in." She commanded. Then they heard scratching on the back door.
"Did that pig just open the door?"
"Yes. It did. Good boy, Alexei. Good boy." Praised Melina.
"You named a pig after me?" Alexei looked little offended.
"You don't see the resemblance? See, he sits just like dog. Amazing. Now, watch."
"It's a little weird, to me." Alexei mumbled.
"Stop breathing." Liam's eyes widened as the pig listened. The color drained from his face. "We infiltrated the North Institute in Ohio. It was a front for S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. Actually, it was Hydra scientists at that time. In conjunction with the Winter Soldier project, they had dissected and deconstructed the human brain to create the first and only cellular blueprint of the basal ganglia. Was the hub for cognition. Voluntary motor movement, procedural learning. We didn't steal weaponry or technology. We stole the key to unlocking free will." Liam felt sick. All of that sounded a little too familiar to...
"What are you doing?" Snapped Natasha when the pig collapsed on it's side.
"Oh, I am explaining that the science is now so exact, the subject can be instructed to stop breathing and has no choice but to obey."
"Okay, you made your point. That's enough!"
"Yes, all right. Well, don't worry, Alexei could've survived 11 more seconds without oxygen. Good boy. Now, you go back, back home where it's safe. Good boy, Alexei. The world functions on a higher level when it is controlled. Dreykov has chemically subjugated agents planted around the globe."
"And do you know who they test it on?" Asked Yelena, looking sick as well. Liam knew the answer to her question.
"Hmm... No. That's not my department." Hummed Melina ignorantly.
"Ah, come on, come on. Don't lie to them. Hmm?" Said Alexei and Liam raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm not lying."
"You're Dreykov's architect, huh?"
"What were you? If I was his architect, you were his partner. You were his business partner."
"No, no, no. I was patsy!" They started arguing.
"Don't give me that..."
"He sells me ideology."
"Stop with the politics."
"All the while, bigger..."
"Shut up! You are an idiot. And you're a coward. You're a coward. And our family was never real, so there's nothing to hold on to. We're moving on." Natasha finally snapped and glared at them with so much hatred.
"Never family, huh? In my heart, I am simple man. And I think that for a couple deep undercover Russian agents I think we did pretty great as parents, huh?" Said Alexei while leaning forward in his chair.
"Yes, we had our orders, and we played our roles to perfection."
"Who cares? That wasn't real!"
"What?" Whispered Yelena with a broken voice.
"That wasn't real. Who cares?"
"Don't say that. Please don't say that. It was real. It was real to me. You are my mother. You were my real mother. The closest thing I ever had to one. The best part of my life was fake. And none of you told me." She wiped away her tears. "And those agents you chemically subjugated around the globe? That was me. Mmm. And you, you got out. Dreykov made sure no one could escape. Are you gonna say anything? No?" Melina tried to put her hand on Yelena's shoulder. "Don't touch me." Yelena hissed.
"Yelena." Natasha tried.
"No." She said with steel in her voice and walked away.
"I had no idea." Melina said, looking down.
"It's okay, it's okay. I'll go talk to her." Said Alexei and went after her.