Little info for this chapter, Fingerspelling is l-e-t-t-e-r. Signing normally is words. And an unknown sign is -unknown-
Also, credit to @MorganTheStark for the Blackhawk idea :) (Thanks a bunch Morgan!)
The farm was exactly like Yelena remembered it being.
The greeting was a bit different though.
The first person they met after landing was Nichole, one of the Widows that Yelena remembered being very confident, to the point of being somewhat rash.
Confidence killed you in the field.
But then again, Yelena couldn't blame the other Widow for being confident. Honestly, Yelena thought it was kind of a good thing she was. Most of the other Widows were more silently confident, outspoken-ness was something they needed to have around.
"Oh hey Yelena.... are those the Avengers?"
Yelena shrugged, "Only some of them."
Nichole just blinked at her, her mouth open slightly.
Apparently, she was also a fan of the Avengers.
Yelena mentally rolled her eyes, "Where's Melina?"
"Oh, uh, right," Nichole said, snapping out of her daze, "She's over in the house with Alexei and a few of the other Widows."
"How many Widows are there?" Clint asked.
"A lot." Nichole answered, glancing at Yelena to make sure what she said was okay. At least she knew enough to not tell them more information than that without clarification.
Yelena nodded at her.
"Only about ten of the others are here right now," Nichole added.
"Where are the others?" Wanda asked.
"Most of them are on missions... but....never mind. Melina will tell you about that," Nichole said, "Wait, is that Natasha?"
"Hi," Natasha said.
If Yelena didn't know better she swore that Nichole would have passed out, "Wh- .... She...?... How?"
"It's a long story," Yelena said, passing by her and heading towards the house.
The others followed her, Lila jogging a little to catch up to Nichole.
"Hi!" she said, "I'm Lila!"
"Hello. I'm Nichole."
Lila practically bounced as she talked with the widow.
Yelena led the way into the house and to the main room. It turned out that Nichole didn't tell them that all the widows that were at the farm were with Melina.
That was something Yelena wished she had known before she walked inside.
"So you're finally here?" Melina asked.
Yelena nodded, ignoring the gazes of the other widows, "And I brought a surprise."
"If you're talking about the Avengers you brought with you then I was right, I don't like this surprise," Melina replied.
"Man, the first thing you say to your daughter in almost a year and it's that you don't like her. That's mean," Natasha stepped forward, a joking smile on her lips.
Melina and the other widows were surprised to say the least. They all thought that Natasha was dead. And yet she was standing right there in front of them.
"Наташа? Это действительно ты? (Natasha? Is that really you?)" Melina asked. She seemed more comfortable with switching to her native language to talk about this in front of the others.
"Конечно, это является. (Of course it is)" Natasha replied.
Melina raised an eyebrow, "....вы умерли. (You died)"
"Видимо, не так много, как вы все думали, что у меня было. (Apparently not as much as you all thought I had)"
Yelena rolled her eyes again. Leave it to her older sister to make something so serious into a joke.
"Наши девочки вернулись, Мелина. Наша семья снова вместе. (Our girls are back, Melina. Our family is together again)" Alexei added, pulling the two girls into a hug.
Yelena wrinkled her nose, "Ты все еще пахнешь. (You still smell)"
Once they were all released from the hug, Natasha gestured to Clint, Wanda, and Lila, "Guys, this is my partner Clint, my Avenger friend Wanda, and Clint's kid Lila."
"Hello," one of the widows said, her long dark brown hair flowed down her shoulders and her slate gray eyes were bright as she talked, "I'm Tatyanna."
Another widow waved happily, her strawberry blonde hair pulled up in a relaxed ponytail and her vivid blue eyes welcoming.
"This is Anna, she's deaf, but can read lips just fine," a Widow, who Yelena remembered quite well, said, "I'm Sonia."
Yelena remembered Anna quite clearly as well. She was still young, and now refused to follow any of the rules that the Red Room set for her. The Red Room had taught her how to speak when she was younger, and forced her to do so, so now she was a chosen mute.
Rima rolled her eyes at the others' quietness, "I'm Rima," she said, smiling. Yelena frowned a little, her smile wasn't as bright as she remembered and her eyes were a little red... had she been crying before?
"The rest of the group here are Evelyn, Adira, Vaani, and Ella," Rima continued, gesturing to them in turn.
Evelyn had round hazel eyes and chestnut curly hair that reached her shoulder blades. She wore glasses, which was something you didn't see much in the Red Room, and had freckles dotting her cheeks and nose. Yelena remembered her to be sort of aloof around her, but more comfortable around the others, which led Yelena to believe that she did something to offend the young Widow.
What haven't you done?
Adira was the second youngest Widow in the batch with small bright blue eyes and wavy auburn hair that's more brown than red. Yelena didn't know much about her, only that she was practically siblings with Rima and Vikki.
...where is Vikki?
Ella had blonde hair and almond shaped green eyes. Yelena didn't know her that well, but remembered that she was quite shy, which could also be seen by the way she sort of gravitated toward the back of the group of widows.
Vaani. Yelena remembered her. They used to train together back when Yelena was on the farm. She had black straight hair and dark eyes. Yelena remembered her to be one of the Widows who was more affected by the Red Room. Yelena didn't know what happened to her exactly, and wasn't planning to ask and make her relive that.
"Hello! I'm Lila! Though Auntie Tasha already told you that!" Lila grinned, "I have so many aunts!" Lila whispered energetically.
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with us?"
"You're all my aunts!" Lila exclaimed. "You're all kinda Auntie Tasha's sisters and Auntie Tasha is kinda my aunt so you're all my kinda kinda aunts, but I just shortened it to aunts."
Tatyana let out a snort of laughter while some of the other widows smiled slightly.
"Yeah, sorry about that, she kind of just does that," Clint said, "You don't have to agree to be her aunt if you don't want to."
Most of the widows smiled, but Vaani only frowned, crossing her arms.
"You seem to be in bad shape," Melina said, noting the slight way Yelena favored her left side, the way Wanda favored her arm, and the dark bruise on Natasha's jaw.
She reached one hand up and gently traced the bruise. To most people, the unconcern in her eyes would make it seem like she didn't actually care that Natasha was injured, but Yelena and Natasha knew that this was Melina's way she showed that she cared.
Yelena could also see that she cared in the tender way she touched the bruise and the way she pulled back when Natasha stopped herself from flinching in pain.
"We got into a bit of a fight," Natasha replied, "It looks worse than it actually is."
"Ah, just like my girls, always getting into fights," Alexei said.
Yelena rolled her eyes, "We got into a fight saving another Widow, not just because we wanted to."
"But it was still a fight," Alexei replied.
Melina frowned, "Another Widow?"
Yelena nodded, "Inaya. She was under mind control the whole time. The Red Room's secret weapon to get rid of me and Natasha."
"You freed her?" Melina asked.
Natasha, Clint, Yelena, and Wanda all nodded.
Someone snapping their fingers pulled everyone's attention to them.
If you freed her, where is she? Anna signed.
Knowing that most everyone there knew ASL, Yelena signed back, She stayed behind at Clint's place. She felt more comfortable there. It was her choice.
Anna nodded, Choices are important.
You're deaf? Clint signed to Anna.
Anna raised an eyebrow, a grin on her face, What? Did you not believe Sonia when she said I was?
No... I did but I was just surprised because you seem to follow the conversation so well. Clint replied.
Anna's smile dropped slightly, -unknown- taught me how to read lips and body language accurately. They also taught me how to speak.
What was that first word? Clint asked.
T-h-e R-e-d R-o-o-m Anna signed out, then repeated the full sign, The Red Room.
Clint nodded, I'll remember that sign for later. If they taught you how to speak, then why don't you?
Anna's smile dropped fully, a haunted gaze taking it's place. Vaani, Evelyn, and Sonia moved closer to her, Sonia actually placing herself between Clint and Anna.
"Just leave her alone," Sonia said.
"She doesn't need to relive that crap," Evelyn added.
Vaani didn't say anything, instead choosing to glare. Honestly, Yelena thought that the glare threatened more than any words could. It was a glare that could make even death itself scamper away with its tail between its legs.
"Okay, I'm sorry," Clint said, then repeated himself in ASL, I'm really sorry.
That made Evelyn and Sonia step down a little, and Vaani's gaze lightened, but they were still on edge.
It's okay. It really is. Anna signed, letting out a breath of air, He didn't know.
"Speaking of other widows," Yelena began, hoping to change the subject to something less heated, "where's Sydney?"
"She's on a 'vacation' with Cerise. They both needed one," Nichole said.
Natasha raised an eyebrow, "A vacation?"
"It's like a half mission, half vacation. No danger, just recon," Melina filled in. "Something they could do while relaxing?"
"Recon on what?" Clint asked.
"Underground drug dealers," Melina replied casually.
"That's recon??" he said.
"Sounds fun," Lila added.
Wanda seemed impressed, "What else do you guys do?"
"We've taken down a lot. Gangs, kidnappers, drug dealers, weapon dealers." Melina replied.
"We've done a lot more than just that," Evelyn added.
Vaani spoke up before anyone else could, "After all, who else was going to do it. The Avengers were too 'depressed' about their losses. Well, guess what, we all lost things. Some of us, even more than the Avengers did."
Yelena frowned slightly. Vaani was right and was voicing something that even Yelena had thought before.
Wanda glanced away from Vaani's intense gaze. Something about Wanda's body language made Yelena want to comfort her.
"You have a point," Clint said, "I think after that last battle... we just sort of gave up hope of trying anything and succeeded. We shouldn't have. We should have kept trying and kept doing our jobs to help people. I wish we could change things."
Vaani rolled her eyes with a huff, "I doubt that."
Yelena looked around at the other widows, trying to see if they agreed or not. She could definitely tell that some of them disagreed, and some agreed, but others were harder to read. Evelyn for example.
Just to make sure an argument didn't break out, Yelena interrupted, "Why did you call us here, Melina?"
"I called you here, not them," Melina's gaze was cold, "but the reason I did was because we need your help."
Something's very wrong.
Yelena glanced at the widows again, and the dark look on Rima's face.
Suddenly, it hit her, "No..."
Natasha brushed her arm against Yelena's, noticing how her younger sister tensed up. Wanda frowned, sensing that something was off.
Melina nodded grimly, "Vikki, Hazel, Jaiyana, and Asteria vanished three days ago."