The Widows

Preview

Natasha Romanoff's foot tapped the floor anxiously, in a quiet room filled with just herself and her sister. She bit her nails hastily, the snapping of the tips being the only noise to fill the room.

"Don't do that." Yelena Belova told her sister, her Russian accent slipping through her irritated tone.

"I'm not doing anything." Natasha spat back, in a slightly playful way.

"You're doing that thing you do when you're nervous." Yelena said.

"Well I can't help it." Natasha replied.

"Just don't do it." Yelena scoffed, confused.

"Thanks I didn't even think of that." Natasha replied sarcastically.

The sisters were never intentionally mean to each other to offend one another, it was always playful. However when they were equally as nervous they were far less patient with one another.

The awkward silence and occasional arguing was interrupted by Wanda, Hope and Maria entering the room.

"We got your SOS." Wanda Maximoff's Sokovian concern filled her shaking voice. She gave Yelena an empathetic look, and a slight nod as if they were communicating telepathically.

Maria called Natasha out of the room to have a private conversation about what she uncovered about their new...situation.

"Is it normal that I'm offended every time they do that?" Yelena asked the others.

"You get used to it." Hope smiled, lightening the mood.

Yelena was new to the group, but was instantaneously likeable. The girls made her feel welcome immediately, and she quickly felt comfortable settling in. However, she wasn't caught up on everything, so was out of the loop with some routines.

After another 5 awkward minutes of almost complete silence, Maria re-entered the room, Natasha following. They still whispered inaudibly, which made the others impatient.

"I hate to be rude but, are you going to fill us in or do we need to guess?" Hope asked annoyed, Yelena snorted at her sudden attitude. She liked how she reacted similarly when the others pissed her off, she resonated with Hope in that way.

"Do you wanna do the honours?" Nat asked Yelena.

"I think it would add to the tension if you did." Yelena smirked. Natasha simply rolled her eyes, Wanda and Hope let out a light laugh at Yelena's reply.

"About 2 weeks ago, I was on a extraction mission. Nothing I haven't done a thousand times, at least." Natasha began, and took a deep breath.

"I was cornered. My client was nobody too special so it didn't take long for me to realise the attacker was after me, not them." Nat looked at Yelena, worried.

"But you're an Avenger, you have like a billion enemies." Hope interrupted. "No offence." She smiled awkwardly.

"None taken." Nat replied. "As I was saying," she continued, "I asked Maria to find even the smallest bit of evidence on the attacker. She managed to trace the bullets back to the origins." Natasha looked at everyone, who all looked relieved.

"So who's our guy?" Wanda asked.

"It's not that simple." Maria answered. "The bullets were Soviet made, completely untraceable." It was at this moment Yelena looked down, sadly.

"Yelena?" Wanda asked her sweetly, being patient and also wanting answers.

"The perpetrator is someone Natasha and I knew a long time ago." Yelena replied tearfully.

"How do you know that?" Hope asked, confused.

"Because it's the only thing that made sense." Natasha replied. "And what Maria found just confirmed our suspicions."

"Who are they?" Hope asked.

"Katerina Orlova." Natasha replied, a blank but distraught expression across her face.

"She is supposed to be dead." Yelena added, still looking at the ground.

"Who the hell is she?" Wanda asked, frightened.

"The first Black Widow."