Zola Barnes, daughter of Natasha Romanoff, and the adoptive daughter of Clint Barton is raised in the red room for the first few years of her life. She grew up to the feeling of the Winter Soldier's metal fist punishing her for every mistake she mad...
Zola's birthday wish all those years ago had come true a while ago. She had another baby sister.
Her name was Ivessa Romanoff Barton. Thankfully, Natasha and Clint had learned their lesson from last time. Zola wasn't feeling unloved or unappreciated. She was very happy this time around because she could have fun with her little sister instead of never wanting to be around her.
It was the year of 2009. Ilona was turning five soon, and Ivessa was three. Zola, the oldest, was twelve years old.
She was growing up so fast. She had a lot more responsibilities around the house. She really hated it because her sisters got to lay around and play all day, but it made sense because they were little.
Over the years, Zola's wall became decorate with notes from the mysterious man named Bucky. She really liked him, even if she had never met him. He always took the time to write her nice notes even if it wasn't her birthday. He would write on the holidays or maybe just for fun sometimes. She never got to meet him, though.
Her parents found out about the notes and they didn't seem too happy. However, they were understanding. Zola was happy to get the notes, and Bucky was happy to write them. They knew that Bucky wanted to be in her life in some way, and writing small notes wouldn't hurt anyone. Except for Clint, because he was starting to feel less and less like he was her dad.
Just a few months ago, Zola noticed that he didn't write a note for her birthday. She had been looking forward to her annual late-night cupcake with a note from him, but it never came. She was pretty sad about it. She thought that he had forgotten about her.
Then she waited until Christmas came, hoping to see an annual gift from him under the Christmas tree. He would come down the chimney and drop a gift under there for her. Clint and Natasha were trying to let Bucky find creative ways to insert himself into Zola's life without showing up or making an appearance. As long as he didn't really come near her, and as long as she didn't know who he was.
He didn't leave a gift for her either. She wondered where he could have been. She would fantasize about where he was, what he looked like, and why he wouldn't show his face. She would ask her parents if they had any idea why, and they would try their best to come up with lame excuses.
Zola noticed that Bucky didn't write notes for her sisters. She thought that it was kind of weird. She wondered if maybe she was his favorite? Or maybe he didn't know that she had sisters. He only got gifts for her, it was never for Ilona and Ivessa.
Bucky hadn't been leaving any gifts lately because he'd been caught. The re-builders of HYDRA took him away. He was no longer Bucky: he was forced the be the winter soldier. Only the winter soldier.
He was worried about Zola. He knew that she was safe, but he couldn't help but worry. In a way, he felt closer to her by getting to write her the notes. He felt more connected. He felt like he was getting to be a part of her life. He felt like he was getting closer to what he really wanted, which was custody of his kid.
But then they took him. Now he wouldn't get that close again for years and years. Even if he could barely remember it, it was heartbreaking for him. He was so close.
He knew that she was in good hands. He knew that she would be there when he escaped again because he knew that she would be taken care of. He wanted her to be safe. If being safe meant that she couldn't automatically be his, he would take it.
It had been an okay four years. Nothing crazy had been happening. Again, they had time to finally relax and be happy as a family.
They would have only so much more time until things got out of hand again. They tried their best to cherish each moment because they never knew when these moments would be gone. They never knew when something would go wrong.
Zola's knowledge had clearly expanded at this point. She understood that cherishing moments was one of the most important things to do right now. While they had the chance, they should enjoy each other's company and love. It was easier to enjoy her sister's company this time around since her parents had been more affectionate toward her.
They were all growing, they were all learning to be better for each other, which was something that they would really need to work on for the next three years.
Fury had been working on his plan. All those years ago, the plan that he had developed during the bringing down of the red room was coming into action.
He had started planning it in the late 1900s, but he was finally putting it together, and he needed Natasha's help to do it. He needed to evaluate and recruit. He was sending Natasha off on the recruiting and evaluating mission in just a few months, so she was trying to get to know her target: Anthony Stark.
She had been researching plenty on him, she had been looking up events that he had attended. Even though she had heard about him, she wanted to get to know him so that she could execute her job much better. She would watch documentaries on him, study how he wanted to be treated and how he did not. She didn't want to blow anything once she finally went out to do the mission.
The running was over. They were rested and relaxing, enjoying this time together. It wouldn't ever be a common thing for them to have, so they might as well enjoy it, right?
The running was over, but the chaos was just beginning.
ZOLA, HER SISTERS, CLINT, AND NATASHA WILL ALL RETURN IN "CONTROL".
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