Never Like It Used To Be
2016, Estonia (one week later)
"Natasha, this is a really bad idea." Costia said as she looked at the scissors in her hand nervously. "Really, really, really bad idea."
The redhead laughed while grabbing the blonde hair dye from the sink. The two were in a hotel in city called Tartu, they had fled there from Ross. "We can start with the hair dye. It's what you should do anyway." Natasha smiled.
"Really?" Costia chuckled as she read the instructions on the back on the box.
Natasha nodded, "Yeah, really. I'm an expert."
"Yeah, sure." Costia laughed. "And I'm a Hydra agent."
They both stopped laughing abruptly, just looking at each other. "That wasn't funny." Natasha said dry while Costia whispered "It's a way to cope." at the same time. They ended up lauging, it surely was funny.
"Okay, disclaimer." Costia said before she opened the box and took the hairdye out, "I am not a professional and I'm not liable for any mistakes." she said before spreading the dye in Natasha's hair, trying to make it even. She knew this was a big change for Natasha because it was also for herself. The only thing that had been constant in her life was her red hair, now she wouldn't have that.
"Yeah, no worries." Natasha smiled. "I'll kill you if it looks bad though." She joked.
Costia looked at her through the mirror, acting shocked. "You would never."
"Oh, don't underestimate me, дорогой." (darling) Natasha smirked. Costia felt how the blood rushed into her cheeks, even though she was kind of used to this she would never not get nervous. Not around Natasha.
After Costia washed out Natasha's hair it was blonde, like, actually blonde. It was almost as light as Costia's hair. "Jeez, we look like sisters." Costia muttered as she looked at Natasha and herself in the mirror. Natasha chuckled while lightly hitting Costia's arm. "That is wrong on so many levels."
"Well, I guess there's no way around brown hair now." The blonde said as she glanced at the box of brown hair dye on the counter of the sink, she really didn't want to use it. But this was a matter of safety, something they should've done weeks ago.
Maybe Costia shed a few tears when she saw herself with brown hair. It was understandable though, it wasn't just a visible change. It was the prove that their lives would never be like they used to be, they would never be able to live free again. The fear of being caught was always going to be in the back of their minds.
Costia chuckled when she looked at Natasha. "You still look like me." She stated.
The expression on Natasha's face was hilarious. Costia bursted out into laughing while Natsha tried to collect herself. "That's not funny." Natasha complained when she looked in the mirror. It was partly true, the color resembled the hair color Costia had before but the rest still looked like Natasha. "I mean, I wanted to cut my hair anyway."
Costia glanced at the siccors in front of them, then she looked back at her wife. "Are you sure... Like, really sure?" She asked, but Natasha looked very determined. "Okay, then. But I still don't take any liability." Costia said while holding her hands up.
They both ended up looking okay. Costia's blonde hair was shining through the brown at some spots and Natasha's hair wasn't cut essentially straight but at the end it didn't matter that much. They looked less like themselves, which was their goal. Costia still couldn't help but feel like she lost a part of herself too. Her mind kept wandering back to her brother, he had had the same hair color as her.
"I'll call Rick." Natasha said, "See if Ross is still onto him." she added before walking out of the bathroom, leaving her wife behind.
Natasha didn't show it but all of this was getting close to her too. She was still terrified by Costia almost dying, she had nightmares about it but lectured Costia that she was fine. But the woman knew she wasn't, but she also knew there was no way she could help her. She just had to stay alive.
-
2016, Estonia (one week later)
"Natasha, I swear you're gonna make my stitches rip again." Costia said as she held onto Natasha tightly. They were driving on a motorbike, Natasha was the one driving as always. "Can't hear you." Natasha shouted, Costia could practically hear the smile in her voice. She heard her, just chose to ignore what she said.
They were driving in a little forest, the road was still pretty noticeable compared to the rest of the ground. Rick had promised them a jet, they'd need it to get out of Estonia. It was hard enough to get out of St. Petersburg, especially because Costia still wasn't in the best shape.
Costia heard birds chirping in the trees as her and Natasha got off from the motorbike. The pain from her wound had gotten less, she had a lot more injuries, though. But nothing too serious. The two laid their helmets on the motorbike before walking towards Rick who was laying in the grass, snoring happily. He seemed to do that a lot, sleeping and snoring.
Natasha kicked his foot which made him twitch awake. "You ever not sleep?" She mocked him as he stood up.
"I've been in six different time zones in three days because of you two." Rick said as he started to walk along the road, the trees were getting less closer to each other.
"Oh, really?" Natasha smiled.
"Yeah."
"What, are you scrapping together some parts?" Costia continued with Natasha's mocking. The small smile on Rick's face didn't go unnoticed by her, though.
"What'd you get us this time, like, an upside-down lawnmower?" Natasha joked before they came to a clearing. Rick pointed at a jet, it looked a lot like a Quinjet. Maybe it was one.
"You see what I can get you with a bit of time and money?" He wondered. The two women studied the jet in front of them. "Go on, say it. I wanna hear it. It would really be good for me to hear it. Really."
Natasha and Costia smiled approvingly before they both looked over at him. "I'm impressed."
"Well, yeah." Rick played it off. Costia chuckled before she looked back at the aircraft again. She was more than relieved to have it, she had some ideas on what she'd like to do and the jet would be more than helpful.
"You've always been a really good friend to us." Natasha smiled.
"That's what every man wants to hear." Rick nodded. "Where you gonna go?"
"It's funny. My whole life, I didn't think I had any family. Turns out I got two, so... One of them's a bit of a mess right now. We're probably gonna go break a few of them out of prison, see if I can't help patch things up." Natasha sighed.
Both of the women smiled when they started to walk towards the jet, glancing at Rick for one last time. They both didn't want to say goodbye, they really hated it. Natasha glanced back at him once again as they were approaching the jet.
When they walked inside they immediately made their way to the cockpit, Natasha sat down at the pilot seat as always. They started the engine and took off shortly after, leaving the ground and Rick behind.
"Where do we go first?" Natasha asked as she sat looked at the sky in front of them. The sun way just going down which painted the clouds in beautiful colours. "We could go anywhere I guess." Costia replied. "But... I think I'd like to..."
"What?" Natasha asked. "What is it, darling?"
Costia had though about searching for her brother in the last few days, more often than she'd like to admit. But she just couldn't believe he was dead, wouldn't she remember something like that? "I want to look for my brother." She said as she glanced at her wife. "Doesn't matter if he's alive or... not."
Natasha smiled. "Yeah, sure. The others can wait." She said. "Do you know where to look?"
"I don't know, uh... Maybe at my childhood home. In Moscow."
"Alright." Natasha sighed while typing in coordinates. "Back home." She wasn't annoyed or upset, she had closed off with her past now. Finding her old family brought her some kind of peace, something she wished Costia could get, too.
Costia watched as the sun slowly disappeared and it got darker. It was a pretty cloudy day but because they were flying above the clouds they were able to see some stars. Costia wondered what was up there. She knew there were quite a few things, Thor always told them stories.
She wondered where the god was, she hadn't seen them in ages. He had wandered off earth at some point, Costia wasn't sure if he was ever coming back. She missed him, but she'd manage.
"Why didn't we visit your home when we took a trip to Moscow?" Natasha's voice interrupted the brunettes thoughts. She was referring to the journey they made years ago, back then Shield was still standing. Costia looked away from the sky to face her wife. "I honestly didn't even remember it was there. When Shield fell and I was under Hydra's influence I remembered it, it has been on my mind since then."
"That was more than three years ago." Natasha stated, she wasn't too surprised by Costia not telling her. She always kept things to herself she didn't think others need to know.
"Yup." Costia nodded. "It's time for some closure."
A/N:
Sorry, it's only a short chapter and I haven't updated in a while. I can't promise it'll be more frequently again though, sorry. I'm not doing so well.
- Elle <3