look after you × winterwidow & oc

VI. touché, captain

[selected entries from a journal of Katya Romanoff - Barnes, january 2023 - october 2023]

January 4th, 2023

So Melina came with a surprise visit. She just called me, asking for my address yesterday and an hour later she was at my doorstep. She'd never been to New York before, so I got turned into a tour guide. Doesn't matter I've been living here for four months and I've barely been out of Brooklyn, nope, not at all. But Melina doesn't seem to mind. And she's keeping Buck company while I have classes, since it's the middle of the week.

The Red Room is almost completely gone now. They managed to free all the girls that were left. Most of the ones she took in have also left by now. Antonia and Lerato are still there, but Melina thinks they will leave soon too, together. Otherwise, there are two of the little ones still left, Chiara and Rosie. She found their parents but no one survived the Blip.

Melina's staying till the weekend, she wants to take me somewhere then but hasn't said anything yet.

January 5th, 2023

My two worlds just clashed. Tony was in the city and stopped by and never, not once during these five years, have I seen him this intimated by someone. All Melina did was look at him and Tony was about to back out but she said something, I don't even remember what it was, only that it was in Russian and apparently Tony knows enough of it to understand her and it went from there.

If it wasn't for Pepper calling, they would probably be drinking vodka and discussing scientific theories by now. Honestly, this is the most unexpected duo I have ever seen, but it also makes complete sense. I mean, they're both pretty smart but in different ways. Melina has chemistry and biology, Tony has physics and everything. She doesn't give and doesn't take anyone's shit, I'd never seen her lose her cool, and he likes to mess with people, doesn't give up easily but is much more vocal about his opinions, so this could be interesting. Next time I'll make popcorn and throw them a contraversional subject. Who needs movies?

January 7th, 2023

About that somewhere Melina wanted to take me - we're in Ohio. In the house. Yes, that house. From the undercover mission. It has barely changed, due to legal stuff it was untouched for years, the furniture is all the same, and only the personal stuff is gone now. Then no one wanted the house and now it's Melina's. She bought it. Well, for now, she says it's a safe house of sorts, but she's been thinking about leaving Russia behind. A completely fresh start, once all of the Red Room's loose ends are finally tied. Maybe alone, maybe with the little ones, she's not sure yet how that will turn out.

It needs some renovations and upgrades, but it's holding up pretty well, even the playground in the backyard is still standing. It's hard to believe it's the place you told me so much about. That most of the happy memories you have from before defecting are from here. That you spent three years here and probably a ton of time on the same couch I'm sitting on now, that you ran through these halls with Yelena.

I wish I could meet this version of you.

February 23rd, 2023

If it wasn't for Tony waking me up at seven in the morning with a call to wish me a Happy Birthday, I would have forgotten about it completely. I had an exam today so I couldn't really spend it with them this year, and I thought I was going to spend this day alone, aside from Buck of course, and maybe visiting Becca.

But then Pepper knocked on my door with a bottle of wine in one hand and a tiny birthday cake in the other. She left Morgan with Tony and said she needed a girls' night and I could celebrate with them on the weekend. So we drank the wine, ate the cake, put on a movie that neither of us paid any attention to, and spent a solid three hours gossiping. I'm not even tired but Pepper's out cold on my couch. I'm pretty sure she said something about having a meeting tomorrow. Well, that's going to be fun.