𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 『Alex Summers』

E I G H T

Evelyn stood before the foot of her bed, which resided pressed against the left side of her room a joint to a small bedside table. She furrowed her eyebrows as she studied the sheets of fabric in front of her. How did she do this?

While the Red Room did offer beds, they looked nothing like this: they were stacked on top of each other, thin mats placed atop solid pieces of metal, all joint together with cold metal poles and stacked so close you couldn't sit up if you weren't on a top bunk. And in the name of covers or pillows, there was none. She remembered her bed from when she, Natasha, Yelena, Alexi and Milena all lived together in Ohio; that bed was much smaller, fit for her when she was merely a child, with soft pink covers decorated with flowers and a fluffy panda teddy to snuggle with. But, Milena would change all the covers for her, so she was puzzled on how to do it herself.

Her brown eyes were still inspecting the white fabric of the pillowcase when a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

It had been a long time since someone gave her such a level of privacy, normally people would just barge in to the Widows communal room and do whatever they pleased. She chewed the inside of her lip slightly, drawing it from her teeth before speaking, "hello?"

"Hello." The voice called back. She couldn't recognise who's it belonged to, the slight tinge of an accent leaving her completely clueless. She walked to the door, holding the doorknob tightly as she twisted it, only opening it a slither so she could see who it was.

"I mean no harm." it was Erik. He held his hands up in an easy manor, showing her that he held nothing in his hands.

Evelyn realised she hadn't heard him speak properly before, only hearing his voice when he spoke to others. She opened the door wider, holding her right hand firmly on the cold doorknob. She wasn't exactly sure what to say to him: he looked very intimidating, and she had learned the hard way that when in presence of someone like that, you keep your mouth shut. Especially if they were your superior.

"You okay?" He asked, moving his head down sightly in the hopes of catching her expression.

"Yes, sir." She responded, the way she had been taught to her entire life. "Sorry."

Erik furrowed his eyebrows, "you don't need to call me that, Evelyn. And you have nothing to apologise for." He knew how she was feeling. He recalled the day he was saved from the Camp as a teenager; he spoke to all of the soldiers who had rescued he and his fellow prisoners as though they were people he would fear and serve. It took him a while, but he learned to stop thinking like that.

Evelyn stayed quiet, looking up to meet the man's expression with her own blank one. She wasn't supposed to ask questions. It was wrong. You never question your superior. Never. "Okay."

"Do you need any help? Charles said you were a bit confused."

Her face remained blank, "... I don't know how to put the sheets on." She told him quietly, not wanting to seem disrespectful.

He gave her a small smile, "can I help?"

She nodded slightly, taking her hand off of the doorknob so Erik could walk into the room. He did so, going over to the bed and picking up the plain white sheets, gently instructing her on what to do, "you don't need to be afraid of us, Evelyn, we won't hurt you."

She looked up at him, "that what they said." She was being disrespectful, she knew she was, "and they turned me into this."

Erik pursed his lips, "Shaw killed my mother." He kept his eyes trained onto anything but hers, "when I was a boy, my mutation showed itself, she wanted me to show him but I couldn't do it again. He said if I couldn't do it, he would kill her. I did do it again, but it was from the anger and sadness that came with her death."

Evelyn looked up at him, "he took me away from my family." Her voice was quiet, and Erik could barely hear what she was saying through her accent, "my sisters, Natasha and Yelena, were taken to the Red Room with me. I was four, Yelena was six and Natasha was eleven, but she had been there before we were took." She took a deep breath, "Our parents, Milena and Alexi, they had been working for General Dreykov and Klaus Schmidt for their entire lives."

"What happened to them? Your sisters?"

"Yelena was my partner for a mission before I was freed from full control, I sent the widow to get her next do she would be free too." Her face turned to disgust, "Natasha left years ago. She left both of us behind, not even trying to free us. We had it harder than her, we were both trapped under the control of HYDRA and The Red Room, but she had her free will. She chose to escape and leave us behind." She looked into Erik's eyes, "you should never leave family behind."