emmylou | natasha romanoff

fifty-two.

2022
Staten Island, New York

"Okay you guys have been training all your lives for this moment. This is the biggest stage you'll ever play on so are you guys ready?" Natasha asks as she looks at the group of four-year-olds. Elena, who had black paint under her little eyes nods her head eagerly at her mother's speech.

"We're ready!" Elena exclaims.

"Alright," Natasha says, "You guys know the drill. Hands in."

Natasha holds her hand out and several small ones pile onto it. Elena's the last to place her hand on the stack as she looks up at Natasha.

"Avengers on me, Avengers on three! One, two, three!"

"Avengers!"

The kids run out and take their places on the field as Natasha makes her way on the sideline. The referee, who was simply a teenager in a striped shirt, places the soccer ball in the middle of the field before blowing his whistle.

Elena kicks the ball as hard as possible, chasing after it with her little legs. Kids on the other team try to take the ball from her, but Elena stays focused as she makes her way toward the goal. The kids standing there catches a glimpse at the expression on Elena's face and lets out a whimper before running out of the way.

Elena kicks the ball into the goal and cheers, jumping in the air. She points a finger at the goalie, "Suck it loser! I just scored on you!"

"Elena!" Natasha yells from the sideline.

"Sorry, Mama!" Elena exclaims, "But I scored!"

"I'm so proud of you!" Natasha yells, "Be nice to the competition though!"

Elena looks at the girl in the goal and makes her way over to her, "I'm sorry, you don't actually suck."

"You're scary," the girl responds.

"I am not!" Elena insists, "My moms just say that I'm passionate!"

"Too passionate," the girl says.

Elena's eyes narrow, "I take it back. You do suck! And I'm going to score on you all day! Let's go blondie!"

"Elena's about to kill that girl," Diana states as she looks up at Natasha.

"Elena!" Natasha yells, "Get over here."

Elena glares at the blonde girl and holds up two fingers to her eyes and then at the goalie before running over to her mother's side.

"I apologized," Elena states, "But you and mommy told us to be honest and I was, she does suck."

"Elena it's just a game," Natasha tells her.

"It's not just a game!" Elena insists, "It's life! We're Romanoffs! We have to win!"

"We're also Allens," Diana says, "And we're supposed to be nice."

"She said that I'm scary and that I suck," Elena tells her sister. Diana frowns and looks over at the girl in the goal. She walks on the field and Natasha stares at her youngest daughter.

"Diana," Natasha warns.

"She talked about my sister," Diana states, "No one talks about my sister."

Diana makes her way over to the goal and the goalie stares at her with a raised eyebrow, "What do you want freak?"

"Your team hasn't won a game all season. You want to know why? It's because you suck at your job. Whenever someone runs toward the goal you run away! It's soccer! You have to stop the ball not run from it! If you're scared of messing up your ugly face then maybe you should enter a pageant! Not that you'd win."