Chapter Text
“Get away from her!” Natasha yelled kicking the big man’s arm. “Don’t touch her!” She held Yelena with an arm behind her back, circling holding up a gun. Yelena didn’t know when she got it. “я буду стрелять,” She continued yelling. It had been a while since Yelena had heard Russian but she still knew exactly what it meant. “Don’t touch her! I will kill you all!” The soldiers around them all had their guns drawn, pointing them at Natasha. Yelena was terrified, yesterday she was with her loving family, and now her mom had been taken away from her, and her older sister was threatening to kill all of these people. She didn’t know what was going on.
“Honey, you’re gonna need to hand me that gun,” Her dad said holding his hands up. Natasha lowered the gun slightly, but still held it ready to shoot.
“I don’t want to go back there, I want to stay in Ohio. You can’t take her, you can’t, Natasha said, her voice breaking as she sobbed through her words, “She’s only six.” Yelena didn’t know what she was talking about. She moved closer to Natasha and wrapped her hand around her waist. True she was only six, but she could run the fastest in her class.
“You were even younger,” Her dad replied, reaching out for the gun and taking it from Natasha grasp, “It’s ok, come here,” He said beckoning toward himself. He dropped to one knee, setting the gun down away from him, “You’re gonna be alright,” He planted a kiss on Yelena’s head as she has hugging Nat, “Do you know why it’s gonna be alright? ‘Cause my girls are the toughest girls in the world. You’re gonna take care of each other, okay? And everything, everything this going to be fine,” Yelena still had no idea what her dad was talking about, what did he mean, she wondered. She then felt a sharp prick in the side of her neck, before she collapsed.
- Roughly 45 minutes later
Yelena felt groggy, her eyes felt heavy, and her body like a million pounds. The last thing she remembered was feeling an injection in her neck. She opened her eyes and realized she was in a helicopter. She was lying in Nat’s lap. She heard Nat sobbing while stroking her hair, she was muttering, “I’m so sorry Lena, I said I would protect you, I failed, I failed.” Yelena realized that this was the first time she’d ever seen Nat cry. Her tough-as-nails sister, never showed weakness around her, but now here she was sobbing and cradling her. Yelena sat up taking in the surroundings, there were two benches in the helicopter with stripped cushions that looked dirty. As soon as Natasha saw that Yelena was awake she stopped crying wiping away her tears.
“Yelena you have to promise me, you will stay alive, do whatever they tell you, i’ll get you out,” Natasha said panicked. Yelena was confused, what did her sister mean stay alive? Was Yelena sick? A sliding panel door opened and a man wearing a soldiers uniform stepped out. He walked over to them, and without saying a word, stuck a needle into Natasha’s neck. She instantly collapsed, and Yelena tried to scoot away from the man. She kept scooting as she murmured, “please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me.” She backed into the helicopter wall, and the soldier reached out with another syringe, sticking Yelena in the neck.
- One flight to Russia later
Yelena was asleep, but this time without the aid of a sedative. She had woken up in a shipping crate, with 20 other girls, being hugged by Natasha once again. As soon as she had woken up, Natasha urged her to go back to sleep. Yelena had been groggy from the sedatives and fell asleep almost immediately, but Natasha stayed awake, watch over her, and the other girls. Yelena woke up again to the sight of a soldier in tactical gear, holding a big gun screaming at them in russian, “Get out, get out!” All of the girls screamed at the sight, and some began sobbing. Natasha stood up quickly, pulling Yelena up with her, as all the girls filled out. Some of the girls had refused to move, and as soon as the girls were out of the crate, Yelena heard shots, and screams. She was shocked, she knew what death was but didn’t quite understand until that moment, when she resolved that that would not be her. The soldiers forced all of the girls into a line, where Natasha still had a tight grip on Yelena, they were both crying. Yelena noticed a bunch of army trucks around her, and wondered what they were for. Various girls were being pulled out of line, some being shot and others made to form a different line. Yelena felt strong hands grab her other arm, and try to pull her away from Natasha.
“No!!!” she screamed, pleading with the soldier. Natasha readjusted her grip trying to keep Yelena close, but she was no match for a fully grown man. He separated the two, picking Yelena up and putting her down a few feet away. Natasha was being ushered towards another line, but she broke free of the soldiers grasp and ran to Yelena.
“Take it! Take it!” she cried desperately thrusting a picture into Yelena’s hand. A soldier came over and grabbed Natasha’s arm, dragging her over to the other line. Yelena took the picture and put it into the sports bra she insisted on wearing to feel like a big girl. Another soldier shoved Yelena against a shipping crate a little too roughly, and she felt the sting of pain in her shoulder. She was terrified, first her mom had been taken, then her dad, and now Nat. She didn’t know why this was happening to her. She was crying along with everyone else in her line when someone barked an order at them,
“Move!”
Yelena stumbled over her feet as she hurried to move along. She didn’t have shoes on, and her feet were black with dirt. She followed the line into a big building.