RESURRECTION OVERTURE ▹ barnes-romanoff

twenty-one.

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄.
chapter twenty—one
a family reunion

The crash landing isn't too bad. They don't die, at least, which Svetlana considers a major plus. When they more or less safely emerge from the creaking helicopter, she sees black smoke from the top of the propellers. This thing is definitely never going to fly again.

Svet coughs at the smoke in her lungs and shivers a little, taking a better look at their surroundings. The pale sun is hovering close to the horizon, threatening to set and leave them in a bitterly cold darkness. Her white suit helps against the chill which is a relief in the Russian wasteland where only a few shrubs can grow.

Alexei looks at Natasha with a frown, "You should've brought the Avengers' superjet."

Svetlana drops her forehead onto her palm. Her mother tightens her hands into fists, turns on her heel, and begins stalking down the hill. The two younger girls quickly fall into step, Alexei trailing behind them sadly.

"I swear, if I hear one more word from him, I will kick him in the face." As Svet giggles, Yelena softly groans, "He's the worst."

Even so, Svetlana adores him already.

"Natasha?" He chases after them, jogging a few steps, "Natasha! Svetlana, stop your mother. Come here, I want to ask you something. Come, it's important."

With a huff, her mother half turns to look back at him, "What?"

The man suddenly slips his hands into his pockets, feigning nonchalance, "Did he talk to you about me?"

"What?" Natasha squints.

"Did he talk to you about me?" His voice drops as he shrugs a shoulder, looking across the landscape, "You know, trading war stories?"

Svet is just as confused as Natasha is, "What are you talking about?"

"Captain America."

Svet cocks her head thoughtfully, "You mean my uncle Steve, Dedushka?"

"Uncle... He is your uncle?" Alexei's eyes are wide when he snaps over to look at his daughter, "Uncle to my little vnuchka, Natasha, how could you?"

Her mother looks completely whiplashed, eyes squinted and lips pinched, "What?"

"My great adversary in this theater of geopolitical conflict. Not so much a nemesis." He shrugs casually, puffing his chest and raising his chin, "More like a contemporary, you know? Coequal. I always thought there was a great deal of mutual respect..."

"Wait." Natasha stops and glares at him, "You haven't seen either one of us in twenty years and you've never even met my daughter, and you're gonna ask me about you?"

Dedushka paces away, hands extended through his pockets, "What is with this tension? Did I do something wrong?"

Svet sighs and puts her hands on her hips in great remorse. This can only go badly.

Yelena scratches her brow in disbelief, "Is that a serious question?"

"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."

Natasha's gaze sharpens, "Everything worked out?"

"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." When the blonde woman gives him nothing, he quickly turns to his oldest daughter, "And Natasha, not just a spy, not just toppling regimes, destroying empires from within, but an Avenger. Then Svetlana, a granddaughter I only just met, a child assassin whose expert anonymity means the greatest possibility for murder and sabotage. You all have killed so many people." He tugs each shocked girl into his chest, "Your ledgers must be dripping, just gushing red. I couldn't be more proud of you."