Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 07:

Wanda and Yelena, wearing wigs, dark makeup and sunglasses quickly gathered supplies. They planned to approach Rick Mason soon. The old hangar he operated out of was only ten miles from this small village. They would be leaving Mason’s place with a helicopter, either bought or taken.

“Fruit rollups.” Yelena told her, grabbing six boxes of varying flavor from the shelf.

“Are they good?” Wanda asked.

“They are very good from what I remember. Essential to our cause. They are nutritious and will provide us with the energy we need.” Yelena explained. “What else do we need? We have razors, lotion, shaving cream, hair ties, extra sunglasses, these handy fruit juice containers… tampons?”

Wanda shook her head. “Haven’t needed them since I volunteered to absorb power from an unknown alien or magic stone. I believe that avenue is closed for me.”

Yelena shrugged. “Maybe the robot can build you metal babies.”

“Yelena!”

Before Yelena could pick on her further, her phone buzzed.

“Speaking of future paramours… my Kate Bishop says Black Widow and Hawkeye left in jet an hour ago and have not come back. The other Avengers are still at the base. She says it is big compound and not hidden at all. Idiots. I am not sure of these emojis. Do you know what they mean?”

Wanda shook her head without looking. “I have no idea. I never had a cellphone until you gave me this one. Check the internet.”

“How do I type emojis into a search bar? If it didn’t involve hacking sensitive, secure information, I have no experience with computers or emojis. It is a code we must figure out. A smiley face open mouth, eyes up and tears.

“Upset?” Wanda guessed. “Perhaps the code must be taken as a whole. What is next?”

“One with a frown, then a kiss with a heart by mouth, then two smiling emojis surrounded by hearts.”

The two walked in silence down the deodorant isle giving it much thought.

“Why don’t you just ask her?”

“No! I am a spy. If I cannot crack an emoji code, what good am I?” Yelena asked.

Wanda shrugged. “I think she misses you. That would be the crying, followed by frown and heart eyes. Or perhaps she misses Clint. But she sent it to you, so she must miss you.”

“How sweet. How should I type I miss you as well? Close to same emojis?”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Just type me too . We have enough on our plate without you learning emoji language. How long did she last before she gave up your name?”

Yelena sent a rather long text.

“She says an hour and a half of grueling interrogation before he tricked her.”

“So, thirty seconds?” Wanda guessed.

Yelena nodded. “That would probably be generous.”

Wanda chuckled at the thought of the teenager with the big mouth trying to keep any secrets at all.

“Why did you tell her your real name? Clint and Natasha are looking for us. They won’t stop. We didn’t want the Avengers involved.”

Yelena was silent for a while, looking over numerous deodorants. The two continued walking, making their way to the candy isle and began randomly throwing bags in the large shopping cart, then moved to chips and cookies.

“No cookies.” Wanda told her.

Yelena pouted. “But they look so good. They have the little colored chocolate sprinkles and chocolate chips and that one has some sort of nuts. Nuts are nutritious. The sugar content…”

Wanda placed a hand on her shoulder, becoming very serious. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“You do not want to eat cookies without milk. I have done so before. Unless you are starving, it would be better to eat reindeer than cookies without milk. We have no way to keep milk cold right now.”

Yelena sighed, a disappointed look but trusting her friend. She placed the cookies back on the shelf.

“You know why.” Yelena finally said.

Wanda said nothing, understanding what she was talking about. She had her suspicions, and she was most likely right.

“They will not beat us to the Red Room. It will be ours.” Yelena further explained.

“But if we fail, if we die, they will not stop looking for it. They will be the only chance the widows have of being free.” Wanda finished. It was a good plan. “And if they get there before us?”

Yelena shrugged. “They won’t. They do not know about the mind control, or Oksana. I lived in the Red Room for ten years and I don’t know where it is. What chance do they have? They will find it eventually but not too soon. If we look in a crisis I can text Kate and tell her the location. Perhaps I can use the emoji code. There is one with a tongue hanging out of mouth and X for eyes. That is not hard to crack.

“When they find the Red Room they will also handle it themselves. They are capable of taking it down without killing the widows inside.”

Wanda thought about that. “Tony Stark and his sidekick will blow the place up, kill everyone inside.”

“They won’t bring Tony Stark. My future wife said Clint and Natasha left alone.”

Wanda nodded. “To find the Red Room. You don’t think they will bring the rest of the Avengers in once it is found?”

Yelena shook her head. “No, she won’t call them. This is personal. Just like it is for me. For us. We know what it is like to have no agency. Natasha does too.”

“And after we free everyone and we are still alive?”

Yelena smiled widely. “I become fluent in emojis to impress my girlfriend, we find a place to sleep for weeks in nice comfortable bed, I get a puppy, you will buy us many cookies and gallons and gallons of milk, and we watch sitcoms. We also help traumatized widows deal with emotions after coming out of years of mind control. Simple.”

Wanda snorted, wondering where they planned to house the widows that wanted to come with them. That would be a nice problem for the future.

“What of Natasha? Will you seek her out?”

Yelena was silent for a moment. “I don’t know her anymore. Not really. It has been ten years. You fought by her side. What was she like?”

Wanda cringed. “Beside trapping her in her own nightmare, I never had contact with her. I don’t believe the two of us ever talked. I think you should meet her.”

Yelena was slightly surprised. “You do?”

“If you don’t, you will always wonder what could have been. You will wonder what she would have been like, what the two of you could have had. Maybe you don’t fit into each other’s lives. Your experiences have been much different, but you must find out.”

Yelena said nothing, taking in her words while they checked out.

An hour later they pulled up to an old, worn airplane hangar. There were no guards or any kind of people in sight.

“Are you sure we have the right place?”

Yelena shrugged. “He is here, or we will take what is inside. Let me do the…”

“Talking. Yes, I know. You always get to do the talking. When do I get to talk?”

“When we are in Sokovia and need someone to speak fluent Sokovian, then you will speak. I will follow your lead.”

The two were dressed casually in jeans and t shirts, advertising bands neither women had heard of. Yelena had a gun on one boot and a knife on the other, covered by her jeans, a gun at the back of her belt. She left her Widow Bite bracelets in the car, not wanting to alert the man to what she was. He was a former SHIELD agent and had many contacts from the agency. She did not want him contacting who knew who and letting them know the widows still existed.

They approached the building slowly, Wanda stretching her senses and Yelena’s eyes covering everything in front of them, assessing every vantage point someone could take a shot at them from.

“I sense only one person. He isn’t happy we are here. I suppose he expects appointments?”

“Someone like him would not appreciate surprise visits.”

Yelena stopped and aimed at an open window of the hangar that looked out onto the small overgrown runway they were on.

“Put down your weapon.” Yelena told him.

“I believe I have the advantage, tsarina. Drop yours, turn around and leave.”

Yelena sighed. “I could take him now, but we need him alive. Wiggly woo time.”

“Now you need me.” Wanda said sarcastically. She raised her hands, and the man flew out the window in a red bubble, dropping his rifle and yelping.

She gently landed him on the ground in front of them.

“What the hell are you?” he asked.

He was a handsome man with his dark hair, chiseled features, and slight accent she couldn’t place. Despite his shabby clothes, it was easy to tell he kept in shape.

“That doesn’t really matter.” Yelena told him. “We have come to do business with you. We need a large helicopter with enough fuel to land near Barcelona. We also need a safe place to land that we can refuel with no questions asked. You will provide this to us for a reasonable cost.”

Mason snorted. “Or what? You come to my home without invitation, use some sort of… red… energy… weapon… to move me to the ground and then tell me what to do. Why should I do any business with you?”

“Because I can snap your neck as easily as snapping my fingers.” Wanda answered.

Mason gulped and nodded. “Fair point. I might have something that could fit your needs. Follow me.”

There were three helicopters inside the hangar and one small plane. They chose a Solovyov Air helicopter that was the right size for their needs. Yelena transferred one hundred thousand Euros in Mason’s account and he helped them load their weapons cache and supplies into the machine.

“Anything else I can get you ladies?” he asked once the chopper had been rolled out and Yelena had checked it over.

Wanda placed a finger on the side of his head. He tried to jerk back but was frozen.

“You will never speak of us. You will tell no one what we are flying, or where we are going. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Wanda tapped the side of his cheek playfully and smiled. “That concludes our business. It was nice to meet you Rick Mason. We may do business in the future. Take care of yourself and consider better security.”

Ten minutes later, the two were in the air and flying low over the French countryside towards the border of Spain.

“The whole mind suggestion thing is very useful.” Yelena admitted. “You are getting better. He didn’t call you a devil like the police officer did.”

“That is a worthy goal.” Wanda admitted. “I am afraid I will always be a witch though.”

“Don’t be afraid.” Yelena told her. “The world needs more bad ass witches. We have two hours. Break out the fruit rollups. We must eat healthy now.”

---

Over the Atlantic Ocean

While Yelena and Wanda approached Barcelona and prepared for their assault on Oksana, Clint and Natasha were flying over the Atlantic, still four hours away from France. Clint had put the jet on auto pilot and slept a few hours then called his wife to see if any of her old contacts knew anything about the Red Room, its location or even its existence.

Laura had found out nothing.

Natasha had not slept since they left. She had told Steve and Tony that her and Clint would be leaving and contacting them later. She refused to tell them of her and Clint’s mission, only that is was personal and she did not want anyone else involved. Neither men were happy but knew they could not stop her so let it go.

She had wanted to ask Vision to contact Wanda, but he had left. She had no idea where he had gone as usual. It wasn’t unlike Vision to disappear.

Kate Bishop had made herself at home in an empty bedroom. Tony had gone out of his way to make her feel welcome. When she had left, she saw Kate outside, giggling and texting on her cellphone like a normal teenager and paid little mind. She knew nothing else. The girl was only fifteen, untrained outside of physical skills and an open book.

Her mind was on Yelena. Memories were running on a loop in her head of Ohio, the best years of her life. Her little sister was no longer little. What had the years in the Red Room done to her? Natasha wondered if any of the old Yelena remained.

Of course, Yelena was strong enough to break free, just as she had. Wanda must have decided not to kill her, and Yelena decided to take down the Red Room instead of running. Nat did not know Wanda well, none of them did but Steve and Clint had a fondness with her that was returned. She doubted Wanda was the type to force Yelena to help her. Why would Wanda even care about the Red Room? Her targets had always been HYDRA bases.

If only she had a way to get a hold of Yelena. Why didn’t Yelena just contact her?

Yelena and Wanda didn’t want the Avengers involved. That meant they weren’t trying to find Dreykov’ s base and destroy the building and everyone in it. That would kill so many widows. The Avengers weren’t known for subtlety Neither was Wanda but apparently that was changing. They weren’t on a seek and destroy mission. They were on a rescue mission.

Nat would have kept the Avengers out of it. All Yelena had to do was ask. So why didn’t she? Yelena didn’t care if Natasha knew she was alive and knew Nat would figure out their plan. Why not include her.

A chill went through her, and her stomach felt as if it would drop.

“We are the damn back up plan.” Nat said aloud, voice shaky.

“What are you talking about?” Clint asked.

Natasha closed her eyes and leaned back. “Why make it so obvious what they were doing but not reach out for us?”

“She doesn’t trust the Avengers.” Clint said.

“Wanda trusts you! She obviously trusts Steve! Why not reach out to them? Why not just tell us or give me a way to contact her if she didn’t care if I was involved? It’s because we are the backup plan! Damn it!”

Clint was beginning to understand. “We are behind them. Maybe hours, maybe a day. They know their next destination, the next stop. It will take us time to catch up.”

He stayed silent for a moment, processing that.

“When we do find the Red Room, it will either be gone, or they will be dead, and we will take it down. We are the backup plan.” Clint finished, catching Nat’s line of thought. “That’s good though. We are starting fresh. That means they aren’t sure where the Red Room is. We just have to beat them to it. We can do that.”

“If I could just speak to her… damn it! What is wrong with me? How did I not see it? Damn Kate Bishop!”

Clint winced. “Give Kate a break. She got caught up in this. None of it is her fault. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t know anything.”

Nat glared at him. “She played us. She talked so much we thought she gave us everything.”

Clint snorted and smiled widely. “Kate Bishop, bubble gum chewing archery prodigy who never shuts up, a fifteen year old open book, played us? Get real, Nat.”

Nat scowled, seeing the absurdity of it but knowing it was true. “What was she doing when we left?”

“What all teenagers do. She had her nose in her phone, texting or posting, probably some girl judging by the blush on her face.”

Nata stared at Clint until he caught up. Understanding dawned on his face. “They were hiding out with her. Yelena would have tossed Kate’s phone the first chance she got.”

“And…” Nat prodded.

“And they wouldn’t have bothered stopping to buy her a new phone. So where did the new phone… that little brat played us!”

Natasha placed a com in her ear and called Tony.

“Red. Want to tell us where you and Legolas are heading?”

“I need you to hack into Kate Bishop’s phone and tell me what she is texting.”

Tony sighed but told her to hold on.

“This is interesting. Heavy military encryption. Untraceable. If FRIDAY pushes, the phone will fry.”

“Don’t push! I need to know what she is texting. Is there any way you can find out?”

“Yeah, FRIDAY can go back over her finger movements and translate. Give me a second.”

Tony came back a minute later. “Nothing but emojis, memes and flirting. It looks like a selfie was sent… FRIDAY can’t get a clear picture of it but… clearing up and zooming in… a brunette girl with a bag of fruit rollups, giving a thumbs up sign. Looks like it was taken in a grocery store. What the hell are you involved in, Red?”

“It’s complicated. If we need help we will call.”

“You want me to take Bishop’s phone? I’m going to need to suit up to do it. She is shadowed by Banner’s ugly cousin, and a couple lawyers and Eleanor Bishop won’t let her out of her sight. The F.B.I. can ask her for the phone but I’m pretty sure Lawyer guys aren’t going to allow it. Not to mention that taking a phone from a fifteen year old girl is more dangerous than fighting Ultron.”

Nat sighed. “Leave it but have FRIDAY watch her closely. If the blonde or brunette on the other end gives any indication to where she is, let me know immediately.”

“Alright. Be careful.”

“Always.”

Nat took the com out and raised an eyebrow at Barton.

“That little shit.” he mumbled, then smiled. “She might have some spy skills after all.”

The two landed a couple of hours later at an old airfield that had been long abandoned. The sheet iron building was falling apart, but if you gave it more than a glance, you could tell that it was sturdy. Rick Mason had disguised it well.

The two landed and walked towards the hangar. Mason rushed out to greet them.

“I am glad to see you two.” He greeted them.

The two Avengers looked at each other, worried about the look of fear on his face.

“What’s wrong, Mason? Usually, you greet uninvited guests with a gun.”

Rick shook his head. “I recognized the aircraft. I could use a few Avengers around. Where is the rest of your team?”

“Why would we need the rest of the team, Mason?” Clint asked. “What happened?”

“I…” Mason froze, his throat trying to work but no sound coming out.

“Mason?” Nat asked, noticing something was very wrong.

“I… can’t say.” he settled for.

“I think you better. You look scared and not much scares you.” Nat pointed out.

“I… can’t say! I want to say… but I can’t!”

Nat and Clint looked at each other, understanding dawning on their faces.

“Wanda.” they both said.

Nat patted Mason on the shoulder. “Let me guess. A couple of teenagers showed up.”

Mason was frozen in place.

“Wearing brunette wigs probably?” Clint guessed.

Mason tried to speak once again. “I can’t say.”

Nat smirked despite herself and the situation. Wanda was becoming very clever, but not that clever.

“If the answer is no, stay quiet.” Nat told him. “Did they take a helicopter?”

“I can’t say.” Mason told them.

“Are they going to Italy?” Nat asked.

Mason said nothing.

“Spain?” Clint prompted.

“I can’t say.”

“Madrid?” Nat asked.

Silence.

“Barcelona?”

“I can’t say.”

“So, Barcelona it is.” Clint said. “Mason, are there any airfields we might land near Barcelona? Airfields that smugglers use?”

“Yes, one to the south of Barcelona twelve miles away. It would be the perfect place to land. I will give you detailed directions. That… argh!” he yelled, frustrated, having a dozen names he wanted to call Wanda but unable to say any of them.

“Calm down. They left an hour ago?” she asked.

Silence.

“Four hours ago?

Silence once again.

“More than six hours ago?” Nat asked.

“I can’t say.” he told them through gritted teeth.

“They are already in Barcelona.” Nat realized. “We don’t know what or who they want.”

“But we know where their chopper is.” Clint pointed out. “We are a lot faster than a helicopter. Give us the location, Mason?”

“Is this ever going to go away?!”

Nat shrugged. “After meeting them, do you ever want to talk about them again?”

Mason stayed silent, giving all the answer either needed.

Barcelona Spain

Yelena and Wanda were in a tall tree one hundred yards from what appeared to be a cabin in the woods. Yelena had dressed in her tactical suit and Wanda had returned to her normal dress of a tight low cut top and torn jeans. The wigs and sunglasses were off. The time for disguises was over.

It had taken them longer than they had hoped since the airfield, if that were what it could be called, was twenty miles away from Oksana’s last known location. It had been years but there was hope. In front of the cabin was an unremarkable car. There were shudders over the windows, the type that could easily be much stronger in an emergency.

“Not much of a lab.” Wanda whispered.

“The lab is underground.”

Wanda closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, trying to feel for signatures.

“Someone is there.” Wanda said. “What do you want to do, knock on the door? Do you think she knows you escaped the Red Room?”

Yelena wasn’t sure. “I doubt Dreykov has spread it around, but no doubt he has mind controlled widows chasing after me. The ones that are older, he would not want to admit that one of his toys escaped. Knocking on the door will be dangerous if she isn’t excepting it. This is why we bought C-4. You float us to the top of the roof. We set a minor charge, enter through the roof, and take the first floor.”

“I could paralyze her.” Wanda offered. “I could just rip the door right off and pull her to us. Less mess.”

Yelena looked over at her. “I love to blow holes in rooftops.”

“You don’t even know if she is still there.”

“The Red Room would not sell a cabin that has an underground lab underneath it, even if they stripped the material. They may abandoned it but never sell it.”

“Then you go through the roof, and I will go through the front door.” Wanda suggested.

Yelena scowled at her. “What is wrong with my way? She will not know where to shoot if I drop roof on her. If door is opened, bang, my witch is dead. I am fond of my witch.”

“I can block bullets.” Wanda reminded her.

The two stared at each other for a bit, neither giving.

Yelena sighed. “There is another option. There is a back door in underground lab, Escape hatch that leads to tunnel and opens two hundred feet behind cabin. I will wait there for her to come out. You stay here and throw wiggly woo magic at the cabin. She will panic and take tunnel. I will be waiting for her when she exits tunnel.”

Wanda agreed, thinking anything was better than blowing a hole in the roof.

“We will use that C-4 before we are done with our mission. We have much more explosives as well.”

Yelena pulled out her gun, knelt down and posed for her phone with the weapon clearly displayed.

“Please tell me you did not just take a selfie with a gun.”

“I told Kate Bishop I am about to kick ass. It’s not as if she will put it on the Instabook.”

“Instagram.” Wanda corrected. “I think. There is a book of some sort and the bird sound, tweet tweet. I’m not sure but sending her selfies…”

“Unhackable phone. Relax. You want me to send her picture of you?”

“No, I’m good.” Wanda said. “Tell her I said hello.”

Yelena moved away and texted Wanda a minute later.

Wanda moved towards the front door. She saw a shutter move and decided not to wait to see if a gun would be aimed at her. Her eyes glowed red and balls of energy lit up in her hands. She tossed both towards the front door, rocking the house and taking the front door and most of the surrounding wall with it.

“Oops.”

Placing a shield of energy in front of her, she moved towards the house, waiting for gunfire to break out. She made her way inside and saw no one there but a closet door was open. Wanda moved closer and saw a stairway at the back of the closet leading down into what must have been the lab.

The woman was running. Now it was Yelena’s turn.

Yelena stood at the front of the exit with gun drawn. When Oksana ran out, Yelena’s gun was aimed perfectly at her head.

The woman froze. A look of resignation came over her and she dropped the M-4 rifle she had been carrying.

“Hello, Oksana. Do you remember me?”

“I remember you all. The ones Dreykov enslaved. How did he find out about what I was doing?”

Yelena raised an eyebrow.

“What exactly are you doing, Oksana?” Yelena asked.

Oksana looked closer at Yelena, their eyes locked, Yelena aiming her weapon and Oksana with her hands raised.

“What is your name?”

“Yelena Belova? You said you knew us all. I would suggest not asking my status. I am a bit sensitive about that and I answer to no one any longer. We need to talk.”

“About?” Oksana asked, still staring at Yelena.

“I want to know where the Red Room is. You are going to tell me, or my friend who just blew up your front door will rip it from your mind. She isn’t very subtle, but she is effective. I want to know where the Red Room is, and I want to know how to counteract the brainwashing chemical. Tell me both and I kill you clean. I don’t mind if this gets dirty though.”

“My god, you are free, aren’t you? How did you do it?”

Yelena’s face stayed stony, not showing any emotion. “I’m asking the questions.”

“And I will answer them. I… Dreykov doesn’t know what I am doing, does he?”

Wanda walked up behind her, keeping a safe distance. “What is it you are doing?”

Oksana turned quickly and flinched, seeing Wanda standing still, her eyes red and hands lit up, surrounded by red energy.

“I’m curing the widows. I’m curing them all. I am so close. Yelena! You are free!” Oksana turned back to Wanda. “Did you do it? How did you do it?”

Yelena lowered her gun but kept it ready.

“Maybe you should tell us what you are doing and why you are worried about Dreykov finding out.”

“I would offer you tea, but the front of my house is blown away.”

Yelena huffed. “I wanted to drop in from the roof.”

Wanda sent a tendril of red from her fingertips that wrapped gently around Oksana’s head. The older Widow stood perfectly still, eyes wide, afraid to move.

“She isn’t lying.” Wanda told Yelena. “She is being honest. I can feel it.”

Yelena nodded to Wanda and looked towards Oksana. Oksana’s arms were stretched out and a dozen knives and two guns floated away from her body. Yelena patted her down and when satisfied, told Wanda to drop her.

“Is the lab secure?” Yelena asked. “Are you expecting any widows?”

“No.”

Yelena sat down in a chair directly opposite Oksana, while Wanda stayed behind. Yelena caught the older widow up on what had been going on.

“So, you are the chemist who made this drug that my friend pulled out of my body?” Yelena finally asked.

Oksana shook her head. “I would die first. A year ago, a widow arrived, your age, named Sonnya. She was on a mission and needed a drug that could mimic a brain aneurysm. I knew something had been going on. The younger generation acted like… zombies. Robotic. She spoke like some robot as well, like she was just a machine. I told her I needed a blood sample to test it on. She never questioned why I didn’t use my own. I’m not sure she was capable of questions. I was older, her superior, so she did as told.”

“We weren’t allowed to ask questions that did not pertain to the mission.” Yelena confirmed.

“I discovered the drug in her blood stream. However you got it out of Yelena, it was a miracle.” Oksana said, turning to Wanda.

“I got very lucky.” Wanda admitted. “I cannot do so again under pressure. We need an antidote and a delivery system. Do you have one?”

Oksana nodded. “Yes. I finished it last week, but I haven’t had a chance to test it. I made it a fine dust. A small amount needs to be breathed in and the drug should be countered.”

“A small amount of red dust can counter that much of a chemical in the blood stream?” Yelena asked, not quite believing it.

“I am very good at what I do. I have also had help. I won’t tell you who. I can only say there are many who work in secret, trying to right the wrongs of this world, scientists who want to make a difference. We collaborate together often. I thought perhaps Dreykov had discovered my project and sent you to kill me, Yelena.”

Yelena and Wanda were silent for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.

“How? How have you betrayed Dreykov? Only one widow who was not mind controlled did so.” Yelena pointed out.

“Natasha Romanoff.” “Oksana. “I’m not sure when I began turning against Dreykov. I’m not sure how many drugs I made to kill targets and I’ve lost count of how many I have killed with my own hands. I am thirty three and have been in the field for twenty one years. I cannot tell you the exact moment. Natasha’s defection gave me much to think about though. No matter how Dreykov tried, we all heard about her defection and later attempt on his life.”

“She inspired you to turn on him.” Yelena guessed.

Oksana nodded. “But I could not leave. I could do more good staying on the inside, looking for ways to bring him down, using the skills I was taught to succeed where Natasha failed. I never got the chance. After Natasha attempted to kill him, he never left the Red Room and I have no idea where it could be. I wait for the day I am in striking distance. For the past year, my mission has changed. I want to free as many young widows as I can. If I can kill Dreykov in the process, even better.”

Wanda looked around the lab. “How much red dust do you have?”

“Enough to free twenty or so widows right now. I keep the dust in aerosol vials. If I can get close to one and spray it in the girl’s face, it is almost instantaneous. At least… it should be.”

Yelena stood up and began pacing, her mind running over hundreds of scenarios.

“Do you have another lab? A safe house you could go to?”

Oksana paused, wondering if she should answer.

“We are your only allies in the world. Open up, woman. If Wanda cracks your skull, you won’t like what becomes of you.” Yelena told her.

“Yes, I have one in Morocco. One of the group works there and backs up my work. We can move there. Once I leave, Dreykov will suspect I have turned on him.”

Wanda shrugged. “Dreykov will soon be dead. We are going to free them all. Any widow that is not under mind control who stands in our way dies as well. The Red Room. You must have some suspicion as to where it is.””

Oksana shook her head. “I have no idea. Yelena, you know we are sedated when we enter and leave. I know the inside. There are no widows, only halls. There are no sounds, beside the footsteps of the trainers and guards who keep us in line and the gunshots from the firing range.”

Wanda gritted her teeth. “Somebody must know! A guard who gets a weekend off, a handler, a widow…”

“The Iron Maiden.” Oksana finally said.

Yelena stopped pacing. “I didn’t think she was real.”

“Who is the Iron Maiden? Did Tony Stark build a girlfriend who could stand him?” Wanda asked. “Stark doesn’t have a sister, does he?”

“The Iron Maiden is supposedly the deadliest Black Widow in the program’s history. As little girls we were told to behave, or she would come to kill us in our sleep. She was vicious, cold, had no heart. She was close to Dreykov.”

Oksana shook her head. “Not just close. She is a brilliant spy as well as an assassin. She believes whole heartedly in the mission of the Red Room. She is his right hand. She is also the one who developed the drug that subjugates the young widows. If anyone knows where the Red Room is, it would be the Iron Maiden.”

“We must chase a ghost.” Yelena said. “We don’t have time for that.”

“I know where she is. I know where she works.” Oksana told them. “The three of us can take her easily. We will build up our stock in Morocco then fly to St. Petersburg Russia. She works in a farm outside the city performing experiments on pigs before she passes on her drugs to young girls.”

Wanda’s eyes glowed red, anger welling up in her. “We inject her with her own drugs. She will tell us where the Red Room is. We test the antidote on her. Then we inject her again and make her drown herself in a pig’s trough.”

Oksana raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure she isn’t a widow?” she asked Yelena.

“We need a plan to free the girls. We can’t attack the Red Room, engage guards and the widows, and hope to expose them to the antidote one by one.” Yelena pointed out. “Our next stop is Morocco. Then to Russia. I want to meet this Iron Maiden very badly.”

Oksana cleared her throat. “Yelena, you should know… you already have. The Iron Maiden is Melina Vostokoff.”

Yelena stood in place, taking that in.

“Yelena, are you okay?” Wanda asked.

Yelena said nothing, her face as blank as a white wall.

“Yelena!” Wanda nearly shouted, grabbing hold of her shoulders. “What did you do? Who is this Melina?” she asked Oksana.

It was Yelena who answered. “Melina was my mama in Ohio. She was the only real mother I ever had. I thought she was dead. Now I am going to make sure of it. We have much to do. Gather what equipment you need, Oksana.”

Only Yelena was not surprised to see an Avenger’s quinjet parked next to their helicopter.

“They aren’t inside waiting. They are looking for us.” Yelena explained. “They aren’t sure if we are coming back. They are in the city, probably bullying the police into checking cameras, upset that they don’t have facial recognition.

“They are very close behind.” Wanda said. “They are the backup plan, right?”

Yelena brushed it off. She had been quieter than usual since the reveal of the Iron Maiden’s name. Her playfulness and childlike wonder she sometimes exhibited was gone.

“They know nothing. Natasha thinks Melina is dead, as I did. I will send her after someone else who may give her the information she needs to find the Iron Maiden. By the time she has it, we will have already gotten what we needed from Melina and have assaulted the Red Room.”

Four hours later, Clint and Natasha returned to the airfield, deciding to wait by the chopper and hope the girls returned to it.

They both cursed when the chopper was no longer there.

A note was attached to the door of the jet.

“Hello sister,

“By this time, you have figured out my plan. Me and my witch will take the first shot at the Red Room. If we fail it will be you and your archer’s turn. I have a lead on one who might know the location. When I find the Red Room, I will leave the location with my Little Archer. For now, I must free our dear papa, the Red Guardian himself. Wish me luck and be prepared to avenge me if I fail. See what I did there? Avenge? I am so funny. You have no idea.

Remember, pain makes us stronger.

Love, your little sister, Yelena

Natasha handed the note to Clint and wiped a tear that had fallen down her cheek.

“The Red Guardian? Who is he?” Clint asked. “The guy who played your father in Ohio. What does he have to do with this?”

“Yelena thinks he knows where the Red Room might be. When I was with SHIELD I found out he was in a Siberian prison. Dreykov had him put there for life. I’m not sure why and I don’t care. But Yelena believes he might know where the Red Room is. Yelena and Wanda are going to break him out.”

Clint shook his head. “We are missing something. We don’t know why they were here. Why come to Barcelona just to leave a note saying they are going to break into a Siberian prison?”

Nat walked around, looking at the ground, hoping that something might have fallen out of the chopper they missed when they first landed. Any scrap of paper, a receipt, something beside a note that left just as many questions as answers.

She stopped where the helicopter had been parked.

“Clint, look at this.”

Clint made his way over. He saw nothing but pavement.

“What am I looking at?”

“The dirt. There are footprints.”

Clint nodded. “Yes… and?”

“There are three sets.” Natasha pointed out. Three different treads around here and three different sizes, all smaller than a normal man’s size. They picked someone up here.”

“Who?” Natasha shook her head.

“I’m not sure. Yelena is… all we can do is hope to beat them to this prison. They are right. If anyone has a chance of knowing where the Red Room, its Alexei. We free him and get the information.”

Clint hated the idea of freeing that bastard. “The last time you saw him, he distracted you while guards drugged you and ripped you and Yelena apart. You really want to see him?”

“I want to find out what he knows.” Nat said. “And then I will kill him.”