CHAPTER TWENTY:
TAKING DOWN THE RED ROOM
THE ENTIRE ROOM was only one color, and that was white. It was quiet, other than the chatters of the doctors in the Red Room as they spoke to one another, caps on their heads, masks covering the bottom half of their faces, their eyes and a bit of their forehead being seen to their patient strapped to the chair at the moment. The occasional sound of beeping added to their chatters as they stood near a metal table, a tray with needles and many other things on top.
The patient on the chair didn't know how long she had been strapped, but she had woken up like this with doctors all around her, their gloved covered hands on her as they used their fingers to force her eyes open, shining a light against her gaze when she was unconscious, checking to make sure she was okay before they'd begin to do what Dreykov had told them to do after he found out a bit about the girl who was originally from HYDRA.
The man was fascinated from what Melina had told him, about the girl's powers and how strong and powerful she was. And the man had a plan to use her like he used all the widows he had taken as the years went on, how he had used and taken the girl's mother. Y/n's e/c eyes stared up at the white ceiling above her, taking a few glances around every so often in hopes of finding a way out and finding the others.
However, she was strapped to the chair, keeping her in place. In the corner of her eye, she caught sight of one of the doctors holding a needle, looking to be preparing it and it made her tense. Despite being given needles back when she was in HYDRA quite a few times, she had grown to hate them and fear the sharp prick, even if she was so used to them. All her weapons had been taken, her gun and knife and the only weapon she had left was her powers.
"Y/n, it's me. It's grandma." The soft voice of Melina comes through her ear, confusing her. "You have a two-inch blade concealed in your beltline."
Glancing to the doctors and seeing they were distracted, she slowly reaches down to her beltline, feeling the handle of the blade on the tip of her fingers. Just as the doctor was turning to her, a needle in his hand, the girl clenched her hands into fists as she focused on getting out. All of a sudden, the doctors were all thrown back, the entire room being destroyed from her powers as the air strongly pushed them all back.
Grabbing ahold of the blade, the girl cuts the straps, letting her sit up. As she got to her feet, putting the knife back down in her pocket, a doctor was slowly stumbling up to his feet, ready to attack. However, he was knocked unconscious by the Romanoff girl's hard punch, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he collapsed back to the floor.
Hearing Melina's voice tell her to go meet up with Yelena, the blonde having another com so they could hear one another, Y/n jogs out of the room and down the hall, making sure to be careful in case of any guards in the Red Room catching her. It wasn't long as she turned the corner, seeing the blonde right there.
Once catching sight of the younger girl, Yelena was quick to give her a side hug before she dropped the wet wipe onto the floor after wiping off the black line that had been drawn onto her forehead by the doctors, to which she knew that she was gonna have some type of surgery with her head.
"Where did he take the vials?" Yelena asks.
"Probably down to cold storage. Dreykov still has the widows under his control, so you two have to expose them to this antidote." Melina informs.
Y/n sighs. "Yeah. Sure. Easy."
As she said that, their eyes casted to a vent on the ceiling just ahead of them before they shared a look and a nod, knowing where they could travel around to. Yelena cupped her hands, boosting Y/n up as she opened the vent before climbing in, letting her hand down to help Yelena up before they were crawling through the vents. Occasionally, they saw guards of the Red Room venturing simultaneously through the halls.
When they got to cold storage, Yelena opened up the vent before dropping down into the hall, landing in the same signature pose Natasha and Y/n had done that she called out about. A groan of disgust escapes the blonde as she stands up from the position, walking near the wall with Y/n right behind her, both girls hiding behind the wall upon hearing a voice on the other side.
Peaking from the wall to see the guard's back turned to them, Yelena rushes out, grabbing ahold of the guard's neck as she flips in front of him before kicking underneath his legs, his head banging against the wall, knocking him out cold.
"You know, now you're a poser too." Y/n states, remembering just a few seconds ago.
Yelena scrunches her face up, letting out a groan. "That was disgusting."
Shaking her head with a slight chuckle, Y/n bends down and grabs the guard's arm and with the help of Yelena, they got his glove off before slamming his hand against the handprint machine that would unlock the door to the cold storage room. When the door opened, they were quick to step inside, turning a few corners in search of the vials that they needed to cure the widows of the Red Room.
Seeing a bright red in the corner of her eye, the e/c eyed girl stops to see the red vials inside. Yelena placed her hand to the com near her ear, informing Melina they found the vials, receiving a response about the woman having a slight setback before she ushered them to get to the widows. As they ran through the halls and in the direction of where the widows would be, an alarm had started blaring through the halls, a flash of red shining through.
"Yelena, Y/n, slight change of plan. I completely demolished one of the engines and we are going into a controlled crash." Melina explains.
"Fantastic." Y/n comments as they ran.
"We're heading to the widows now." Yelena adds.
Just as they get to the room where the widows train, the blonde opens the door and they head inside, only to stop when they saw no one. No widow, no guard, nothing. Noticing one of the bombs on the wall, Y/n grabs it before grabbing the vials, wrapping them around the bomb before tying it together with her hair tie before they exit the room, Yelena leading the way. Just then, the entire building had started shaking, making them stumble a bit but they continued on.
It wasn't long until they were speeding out of the elevator and into Dreykov's office, seeing all the widows standing together as they crowded around a beaten up Natasha, who was being held in a chokehold. Getting the bomb on and hearing it beep, Y/n was quick to throw it in their direction, her and Yelena watching as it exploded all the vials when it set off, the red substance inside falling down and onto the widows below. All their gazes soon soften as they stood up, glancing at themselves and each other.
Noticing her mother in the middle, Y/n quickly rushes down the stairs and further into the room as all the widows look at her, letting them walk by as Y/n led her mother out from the group. Yelena walks to her other side, noticing a small blade etched into the redhead's shoulder.
Reassuring her that she'd count down to three, the blonde was quick to take the knife out without a warning, receiving a loud, echoing cry from the redhead. Clutching her shoulder, she looks out at all the widows in front of her, seeing they had been staring at them and watching the interaction.
"Chto nam teper' delat'?" One widow questions. (What do we do now?)
"Get as far away from here as possible. You get to make your own choices now." Natasha informs just as the entire building shakes. "We gotta get outta here."
"We need to find Dreykov. Are you coming?" Yelena asks.
"I'm right behind you." Natasha assures.
Giving her daughter a reassuring squeeze as if to tell he she'd be okay, the redhead walks back to Dreykov's desk as the widows follow Yelena and Y/n. As they turned down a hallway, Y/n stopped to the side, ushering them go keep going just as an explosion happens right as they passed her, sending the girl back on the other side that caught Yelena's attention.
The blonde was hesitant when Y/n told her to keep going and to get the widows out, but she did as told, knowing that the girl would be able to get out before the entire helicarrier exploded and collapsed.
The e/c eyed girl frantically stood to her feet, rushing around and stumbling as the helicarrier continued shaking from the many explosions happening around her. As the time went by, she went to turn down one hallway, only to see another explosion happen as the fire made it's way towards her.
Noticing a window, the girl quickly found herself speeding to it, the impact of the explosion sending her forward a bit just as she jumps through the window, breaking the glass. Y/n continued falling down, her hand reaching out to stop her as she used her powers before she landed on the floor with a thud.
At the sight of two figures running, her eyes widened when she saw her mother running while Yelena was jumping onto a plane with guards and Dreykov being seen inside. Natasha stops when she heard a voice shout to her, seeing her daughter making her way over.
The redhead quickly wrapped her arms around her in relief before they saw Yelena on the wing of the plane just as it was slowly rising up, a weapon in her hand to show that she was gonna stop the fan and kill Dreykov inside.
"Yelena!" Natasha shouts, making the blonde look up. "Don't do it!"
"This was fun!" Yelena calls back.
Y/n shakes her head. "No!"
Next thing they knew, the blonde was stabbing the weapon into the fan, causing the entire plane to explode while the impact sent her back and over the helicarrier as the plane fell the other way, the entire thing exploding and killing everyone in it. Quickly, the mother and daughter ran forward, Natasha being a bit ahead as she grabbed a parachute just as they jumped off the helicarrier.
It wasn't long until Natasha grabbed ahold of Yelena, putting the parachute on her before she grabbed Y/n's hand before she could fall past them, the parachute going up as they held onto Yelena, who was slowly waking up from unconsciousness until she saw the two there. Natasha glanced between the two of them before she pushed against Yelena, letting herself fall down and away from them.
As they got closer and closer to the ground, Y/n's eyes widened at the sight of a large object falling their way and without a thought, she was able to turn themselves around so the object would hit her instead. And when it did, her grip had released from the ropes of the parachute, causing her to fall down, Yelena's shouts echoing through her ears.
As she fell, the fell against a glass object, her back slamming against it as she spun around, a wince escaping past her lips. When another object hit her, banging her head against it, she felt her eyes slowly open and close as her vision went dark. Her body continued falling until she landed with a rough thud against the dirt and grass on the ground, rubble landing all over her face and clothing as she laid there unconscious.
However, it wasn't too long until her e/c eyes were fluttering open, a cough mixed with a groan leaving her. Shakily, feeling a pain at her side, the girl stands up before looking down to see a piece of glass ledged into her suit and skin at her side. Taking a deep breath, she took the glass out, another wince leaving her as her hand clutched the side, the blood seeping through her white suit and onto the skin of her hands.
Remembering her mother and Yelena, she begins stumbling a bit forward while searching for them, a few grunts of pain escaping her. Meanwhile, Natasha and Yelena had shared a hug after the redhead's confession before the blonde caught sight of the girl she learned to care for. The girl she felt could be like her niece, her family. Natasha follows her gaze, seeing her daughter leaning against something and she was quick to rush over.
Y/n's head snapped up at the sound of rushed footsteps, seeing her mother speeding her way over and they met halfway before their arms wrapped around one another. When they pulled away and Yelena got to them, Y/n turned to her just as the blonde wrapped her arms around the younger girl.
They slowly pulled away at the sound of grunts from behind them, turning around to see Melina and Alexei making their way over, the woman having a limp in her step as the super soldier helped her along the way until they were right in front of the girls.
"Everybody good?" Natasha questions.
"I am clearly injured." Melina points out.
Nodding, Natasha looks over to Alexei. "You got something to say?"
"I'd just mess it up." Alexei replies.
After that, he holds out his hand in her direction and the redhead places her hand in his, the super soldier giving her a small squeeze before he holds out his hand towards Y/n. Shakily, the girl puts her free hand in his, both squeezing each other's hands. As the girl glanced between the two oldest people of the five of them, Melina and Alexei give her smiles, showing that she was welcomed.
They already knew she was welcomed into the family since she was Natasha's adoptive daughter, but after seeing how brave she was and how determined she was for her family and her mother, they knew she was part of the family. As they pulled back, Y/n's e/c eyes caught sight of many vehicles speeding their way towards their direction, a bit away on a dirt road.
Y/n motions with her head in that direction. "Here comes the cavalry."
"So, what's our plan?" Melina asks.
"You guys go. I'll stay." Natasha tells them.
Alexei shakes his head. "That's insanity. We fight. We fight with you."
As the redhead continued to insist on them going before Ross and the government saw them, Melina and Yelena had been quick to agree with Alexei as they insisted they fought with her, but the Avenger wasn't having it.
"You guys, go." Natasha repeats. "Besides, if it can work out with the five of us, you know, there may be some hope for the Avengers. Little bit."
"Okay, well, if you're leaving, then I guess you should take this. I know how much you like it." Yelena speaks up, taking off her vest and handing it to her sister.
Natasha smiles, chuckling as she grabs it. "It does have a lot of pockets."
"Very handy pockets, yeah." Yelena agrees with a smile.
"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." Natasha explains as she hands some of the vials she had gotten to her sister.
Just then, the sound of an engine catches all their attention, causing their heads to look over to see a plane landing just a few feet away from them before the door opens, revealing all the widows they had saved. Yelena ventures towards them, speaking to them and Natasha watches with a smile as she slowly starts to walk by them, her hands clasping with theirs together.
"I'm staying with you." Y/n declares, making the redhead open her mouth. "I'm a fugitive just like you, Mom, so they're not gonna stop till they catch me as well. Besides, you're my family and so are the Avengers."
Natasha nods. "Alright."
"Hey." Melina calls, making them look over at her. "You two take care of yourselves, okay? And take care of each other."
With her free hand, the older woman squeezed Natasha's hand before Y/n softly placed her hand in her bigger one, feeling her softly squeeze it. As they turned around and began walking to the plane, a widow crouched down in front of the same person who had attacked the mother and daughter on the bridge, and the person happened to be Dreykov's daughter, Antonia, who Natasha had cured with the vials.
Looking back over to her sister, Yelena lets out an all too familiar whistle, receiving another familiar one back from the Avenger. The mother and daughter watched as their family and all the widows hopped into the plane before the door closed and they flew up into the air.
As they watched the plane fly away, Y/n slipped her hand into her mother's just as sirens filled their eardrums, making them turn around to see the vehicles getting closer and closer towards them. As they stared at the vehicles coming closer and closer, Natasha squeezed her daughter's hand. No matter what happened, they'd stick together through it all.