NEFARIOUS [MOONKNIGHT]

TWENTY

"Rise, you workers of salvation..." Alexei sang as he mumbled the last couple of lines to himself looking at Melina.

"Family... back together again." He mumbled and Vera rolled her eyes looking at Yelena who looked absolutely disgusted.

"Seeing as our...family construct was just a calculated ruse that lasted only three years, I don't think that we can use this term anymore, can we?" Melina asked as she took a shot of tequila and Natasha nodded as Elle looked at the Russians.

"Agreed, so here's what's gonna happen..." Natasha said then Alexei interrupted her. Vera clenched her jaw and blinked furiously at the people in front of her and she breathed in deep.

"Vera, don't leave your weapons at the table, it's bad. Put them at the door." Melina said scolding Vera like she was 7 years old. Vera glared at Melina and grabbed her knives and stood up from the table and walked into the front of the house. She placed her weapons on the floor and looked down at her palms.

"You okay?" Natasha asked looking at the back of her head. Vera breathed in deep and spoke.

"Yup." She said popping the 'p' and she turned and began to walk past Natasha. Natasha grabbed her wrist and spoke.

"Vera, we have to talk about-" She said but Vera yanked her wrist out of Natasha's.

"About what? About the fact that 2 years ago you practically disowned me to your new family?" She asked and Natasha rolled her eyes and spoke.

"Vera-" She went to say but Vera cut her off.

"I am your sister, Natasha. They- They are nothing." She said, as tears threatened to fall.

"You are not my sister. Yelena is not my sister. Alexei and Melina aren't my parents. Why won't you guys understand this?" She asked and Vera shook her head and spoke.

"You're unbelievable." She said and a tear fell down her cheek.

"All my life- I had this planned. That when I would see you again I'd tell you how much you meant to me. How much you shaped me." Vera said looking at Natasha.

"You might not have thought we were siblings because we were just another ploy to Dreykov. But it was real to me. The best parts of my life were a lie and all I wanted was for you to accept that fact that I was- am- your sister." She said and then she shook her head and spoke.

"But I guess we had things planned out wrong." She said and then she shook her head and angrily wiped a tear off her cheek. She turned back facing the door and walked out of the house.

"Where are you going?" Alexei asked from behind Vera and Vera kept her gaze on the floor and began walking away.

"Vera, talk to your dad." He said and Vera shook her head angrily and spoke.

"Stop! Stop saying that!" She said and Alexei furrowed his eyebrows inwards confused.

"You and Yelena have to stop. We aren't family. We were never family." She said and she walked away, passed the pig experiments and on the way to the small trail behind Melina's home.

Vera looked at the two people who stood in her kitchen that practically raised her and she squinted at them as Marc spoke to them. She held a cup of whiskey and watched as the three of them spoke to each other.

Vera blinked a couple of times and spoke.

"I want to know about the missing girls. Not about how you lost weight." She said speaking to Alexei and Melina nodded and spoke.

"Right, the girls are in Madrid." She said and Vera furrowed her eyebrows inwards, and spoke.

"How do you know?" She asked and Melina shrugged her shoulders and spoke.

"Because that's where Dreykov's father stopped recruiting. There's a base there." She said and Vera nodded and let out a humorless laugh.

"Of course you'd know you were his favorite." She said and Melina glared at her.

"We spoke about this, Vera." She said and Vera shrugged and spoke.

"That was before Nat died. Now, I don't really care. You both can leave now, I'll deal with this on my own." She said and before Steven could speak Melina grimaced.

"Well..." She said and Vera threw her head back and spoke.

"You called Yelena, didn't you." She said and Melina gave her an apologetic look and Vera shook her head and cursed in Russian.

"Of course." She said and then she glared at her parents and spoke.

"We leave tomorrow morning. Get out." Vera said and Alexei stood and so did Melina and they stalked out of the house, Vera following right behind them, holding a piece of bread

"We'll see you tomorrow." Alexei said and Vera slammed the door behind them and leaned against it.

"I actually liked them. I can see where you get your anger fro-" Steven went to say but Vera threw her piece of bread at Steven hitting him square in the jaw. She shook her head and her thoughts flew back to Natasha.