The Winter Widow

One

Natasha Romanoff heard enough of Alexei and Melina reminiscing on their past lives so she decided to put her foot down and get to why they were really there.

"So here's what's gonna happen-" Natasha tried saying again, but was then interrupted by Melina who ignored what she was saying and told her,
"Natasha, don't slouch."
"I'm not slouching," the redhead said back in defense.
"Yes you are," the older of the two pointed out.
"I don't slouch," Natasha stated as she fixed her posture.
"You're going to get the back hunch," Melina said back casually and demonstrated what she meant by that.
"Listen to your mom," Alexei said which caused Natasha to lash out and say,
"Enough. All of you!"
"I didn't say anything. That's not fair," Yelena said in reply innocently.
"You know Mila used to slouch a lot too," Melina said without thinking as she turned to Yelena. Yelena shot her a look and Natasha noticed.
"Who's Mila?" Nat asked with a raised eyebrow. Yelena sighed as she shook her head at Melina and then looked down, avoiding eye contact with her sister.
"She still doesn't know?" Melina asked.
Yelena looked up and shook her head again as she lowered her head on her folded hands.
"Well, this is awkward," Alexei said, stating the obvious.
"Who's Mila," Natasha asked again with more force.
"Natasha-" Melina tried.
"Just answer the question," Nat told her seriously. She couldn't understand why they weren't telling her who this girl was.

"Mila became one of the best child assassins and was a personal spy for Dreykov. I only heard stories about her," Alexei spoke up and told her.
"Okay, why was that so difficult to say?" the redhead asked with a look. She knew there was more to the story.
"Because she is also your daughter," Melina explained with a sigh.
Natasha's brow furrowed in further confusion but she instantly reacted by saying,
"No I was sterilized when I was in the Red Room-"
"Yes, I remember. The chop chop," Alexei interrupted, thinking back to when Yelena explained it to him earlier that day.

Melina just gave her older daughter a sympathetic look and tried to say,
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you-"
"What? No. I can't have kids. It's impossible, right?" Natasha stated, ending the sentence with less confidence than she started with.
"Just tell her," Yelena said and turned to the woman she saw as her mom.
"Tell me what?" Natasha asked. She was clearly lost and confused. There's no way she could have a daughter. She would've remembered being pregnant.
Melina nodded and finally gave in as she explained Mila's origins.

"Before your graduation ceremony, Dreykov artificially inseminated you. You don't remember because you were under his mind control. When you gave birth you were then sterilized and Dreykov took Mila and raised her in the Red Room. He said your genetics were just too good to only have one of you."
"You're lying," Natasha said with a light scoff. At least, she hoped the woman was lying.
"And you're in denial," Yelena told her.
"You knew?" Natasha asked her and turned her attention to her younger sister. If looks could kill, Yelena would be a goner from the way Natasha had her eyes intensely locked on her.
"I trained her but I didn't know who she really was until I woke up and found out myself. I tried to go back to get her out but Dreykov moved her and the Red Room by then. I'm sorry," Yelena told her sister with an empathetic look. She felt bad and she really did try to get the girl out, but Dreykov had her locked up for safety.
"So she's under his mind control too?" Natasha asked.
Melina nodded.
"How old is she?" Natasha asked.
"It's complicated. Dreykov would keep her on ice when he didn't need her. He only used her for certain missions. As a child she went undetected and people would underestimate her. But she looks and has the maturity of about a 14-year old." Melina explained.
"Does- does she know about me?" Natasha asked hopefully.
"She got the same story as everybody else. She was told she was abandoned by her mother," Melina explained.
Natasha raised an eyebrow at that statement and then said lowly.
"How could you let this happened? You're a coward. You work for a monster and tear girls away from their families just to create fake ones. None of it was real. You're not my mother and you sure as hell are not my father!" Natasha said and raised her voice as she looked at Alexei.
"Stop! Okay? Those were the best years of my life and you're saying it was all fake. It was real to me!" Yelena yelled and stood up. Then she stormed to a room and closed the door behind her. Alexei, wanting to spare himself from a conversation with Natasha went and followed Yelena saying,
"I'll talk to her."

Once they were both gone, Natasha said to Melina,
"Where's Mila now? And don't say you don't know, because I know you do."
"She's with Dreykov. She's always with Dreykov," Melina answered.
Natasha took a deep breath before asking her next question
"Is Dreykov her father?" she asked, scared for what the answer could be.
Melina shook her head,
"No. He needed the child whether male or female to be the very best so due to his ties with Hydra he used the Winter Soldier as a sperm donor. Of course he was unaware so he doesn't know of her existence either."
Natasha jaw dropped to the floor.
"What?" Melina asked.
"I know him. I've met him before in passing and... he's an old friend of Captain America's."
"Do you want to see a picture of her?" Melina asked.
Natasha hesitated but then gave in and nodded. Melina got up and started to walk away so Nat followed her. Melina stopped at a bookshelf that had staged scrapbooks and pictures of the girl's when they were younger. In one of the books was a single picture and she took it out.
"This is the only one I have of her. She didn't like to be photographed often. She's about 9 years old here," Melina said and handed Natasha the picture.

Mila was a small child but very fierce and serious looking. She had long raven hair that fell below her shoulder and stunning green eyes just like her mother. Her eyes looked cold and in her hand was a gun. Natasha shivered at the thought of that small child going through training at the Red Room.

Nat felt her emotions getting the better of her and tears started to well up in her eyes as she stared at the picture of the daughter she just found out about. She suddenly felt a yearning to hold her child. She always believed having kids wasn't in her future and she accepted that a long time ago, but now seeing Mila seemed to kick her maternal instincts into full gear.

"Where's Dreykov?" Natasha asked as she blinked her eyes quickly before a tear had the chance to fall. Suddenly there were big lights everywhere and Melina knew she had to talk fast.