Arcane (Wanda Maximoff)

Twenty

They did not make it to St. Petersburg. The plane crashed about five miles from where Alexei said Melina lived. The four of them piled out, Maggie rubbing the stitches where they were irritating her face.

Yelena and Natasha had both reached to pull her hand down. They stared at each other before Yelena had stepped away. Natasha was Maggie's mother, after all, even if Yelena had known her before Natasha had and for just a bit longer than Natasha had known Maggie.

Yelena had always been the baby in her family but she'd been assigned to train Maggie and she'd always looked at the girl like a little sister. She had only been five when she'd joined the Red Room, barely after her fifth birthday. Yelena had been six when she'd joined, fifteen when Maggie came, and she knew it was hard. She had barely survived without the thought of Natasha to keep her going.

So, she vowed to be Maggie's lifeline in there, and it had worked for the next five years. And then Maggie had disappeared. Yelena had been told she was dead and part of her had hated herself for letting the innocent little girl die when she was supposed to be watching out for her.

"You should've brought the Avengers' superjet," Alexei said. Maggie, Yelena and Natasha started walking ahead of him quickly.

"I swear, if I hear one more word from him, I will kick him in the face," Yelena said.

"He's the worst," Natasha muttered.

"Natasha. Natasha. Natasha. Come here, I want to ask you something. Come, it's important," Alexei jogged after them.

"What?" Natasha frowned, falling back a bit.

"Did he talk to you about me?" Alexei said. Maggie raised an eyebrow at Yelena, who shrugged.

"What?" Natasha said.

"Did he talk to you about me? You know, trading war stories?" Alexei said.

"Who? What are you talking about?" Natasha frowned.

"Captain America. My great adversary in this theater of geopolitical conflict. Not so much a nemesis. More like a contemporary, you know? Coequal. I always thought there was a great deal of mutual respect..." Alexei trailed off.

"Wait. You haven't seen either one of us in 20 years and you're gonna ask me about you?" Natasha scoffed. Maggie and Yelena turned to look at them.

"What is with this tension? Did I do something wrong?" Alexei said.

"Is that a serious question?" Yelena frowned.

"I only ever loved you girls. I did my best to make sure you would succeed to achieve your fullest potential, and everything worked out," Alexei said firmly.

"Everything worked out?" Natasha scoffed.

"Yes. For you, yes. We accomplished our mission in Ohio. Yelena, you went on to become the greatest child assassin the world has ever known. No one can match your efficiency, your ruthlessness. And Natasha, not just a spy, not just toppling regimes, destroying empires from within, but an Avenger. You have a daughter, so she will be just as powerful as you are. You both have killed so many people. Your ledgers must be dripping, just gushing red. I couldn't be more proud of you," Alexei took Natasha and Yelena's wrists, shaking them with a grin.

He pulled them into a hug and Natasha scoffed, wriggling free. She grabbed Maggie's hand and pulled her ahead.

"You okay?" Maggie mumbled.

"I hate family," Natasha muttered.

"Yeah, the feeling is mutual," Maggie sighed.

Yelena stepped beside them again.