Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

She moved some hair out of her face as it got disheveled by another gust of wind when the chopper touched down, creating a cloud of dust around itself. The blades slowly came to a stop and soon the cabin door opened. A small figure jumped out straight to the ground, the white hair standing out against her dark clothes and the gloomy forest. She started running, a backpack bouncing in the rhythm of her steps. 

Natasha smiled and pushed herself away from the car. She started walking to meet the girl halfway and soon the thin arms were wrapped around her waist and the child clung to her with a little too much of her enhanced strength.

“Ya skuchala po tebe,” Katya muttered, adjusting her hand and strengthening the embrace.

“I missed you too, zvezdochka moya.” Romanoff returned the embrace and bend her neck to plant a kiss on top of the girl’s head. “But you’re going to crush me,” she warned with a chuckle. 

 As Katya was growing, and lately she was going through a growth spurt that affected not only her height but also her strength. At twelve years old she was already much stronger than Natasha who as ‘just’ a human was never considered weak and the girl was only shorter than her by a few inches. So when forgot herself even a little bit like then, her hugs could hurt.

“I was so scared for you,” the girl said, her voice partially muffled by Romanoff’s clothes as she referred to the events that took place in Germany. 

“You know I’m tougher than I look,” she assured, rubbing Katya’s back in a comforting manner. “And I’m here now and you’re with me. We’re okay.” 

The girl nodded and repeated, “I missed you.” 

“I know, Katyusha,” Natasha replied, raising her gaze to see Maria Hill, walking across the meadow to join them. 

After escaping Siberia and going to Wakanda where she decided to collect Katya herself so she could join her and James in Africa, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to do it completely alone anyway. She needed help.

Showing up in States was too risky. Ross was already fixated on finding her and she didn’t want to give him the upper hand. So she had to pick another country and then find a way to get her daughter there. Asking Laura was out of the question since Clint got locked up mostly because of her and she was currently alone with three kids, one of them being a toddler. 

Aside from the Bartons, Natasha didn’t exactly have many friends she would trust with something as important as Katya, so she ended up calling Nick Fury. After his initial lecture, preceded by a statement that he doesn’t care and he doesn’t want to know anything, Fury informed that he’ll see what he can do, which was unambiguous with him simply saying yes. Because in the end, he did care. 

Even though he was mad at Natasha, ever since day one he had a soft spot for Katya. Not without reason, he called her his favorite agent and never protested when the girl once jokingly called him her grandpa. If it was anyone else, well, he wouldn’t let that slide easily. 

And since it was all about Katya, not long before Romanoff dropped her phone into the middle of the sea, somewhere between Denmark and Norway, she got a message with time and coordinates. 

“Thank you for bringing her.” Natasha nodded at Hill.

“It’s not exactly like a had choice.” Maria shrugged with a slight smile. “Nick just told me to go and something about parallels?” 

Natasha chuckled. Hill didn’t connect the dots but Romanoff remembered her beginnings with Katya well enough to do so. Maria was the one to take Katya from Budapest, away from her at first, and now she was the one to bring her back to her, and instead of taking them in, she was letting them go, helping them run away, perhaps starting new lives once again.

“When did he become sentimental?” Natasha joked but Hill only shook her head and gave a one-sided shrug. 

“What’re you planning to do now?” Maria asked instead. “Where are you going?” 

“Away and far enough, I hope,” Romanoff said evasively. “I’ve heard Africa is nice this time of year.” 

“Does it have something to do with…” she stopped midsentence with a sway of her hand. “No, you know what? I’m not even gonna ask.” Hill decided. “Oh, and one more thing.” the woman reached inside her jacket and pulled a slightly crumpled envelope out. “Laura asked to give you this. Take care,” she added with a nod, before turning away and walking back to the chopper. 

Katya stepped away from Natasha, ending their prolonged hug to wave at Hill, and only when Romanoff reached for her other hand to give it a squeeze she felt something weird. She looked down and noticed a bandage wrapped around the girl's hand and wrist. 

“What did you do?” she asked, lifting it so she could examine the dressing.

“Oh, it’s a burn,” Katya said casually. “We were making cookies and Lila bumped into the table and a hot oven tray almost fell on Nate so I caught it before it did.” 

Natasha sighed and shook her head. “We’ve talked about this.”

“But what was I supposed to do?” the girl protested. Romanoff let go of her hand. “Let it fall on him?” 

“I didn’t say that.” she reminded as they opened the car doors on the opposite sides. “But you know that the fact you don’t feel pain doesn’t mean…”
“... I can’t get hurt, I know, mama,” Katya said while throwing her backpack onto the backseat. 

“Because now it’s just a scratch…” Natasha continued her little reminder, not trying especially hard to contain her smirk while turning the key and starting the engine.

“... And the next time it can be a broken leg or internal bleeding.” the girl finished with a giggle. 

It might have seemed a little grim comparison for a child, but it was an important part of Katya’s reality. Even if enhanced, she wasn’t invincible. And now, being an enhanced tween, she could get carried away easily while testing her limits, as more and more curiosity was taking place of the earlier doubts and fear about her abilities, so Natasha worried. She knew the girl could take a few stories fall without as much as a bruise or scratch or a punch from a grown man three times her size without a flinch, but still didn’t want her to hurt herself on purpose or just because she simply wouldn’t be bothered by it. 

An average person put in a situation like the one with the oven tray would probably try to move the baby away or also catch it, as Katya did, but they would immediately put it away to avoid getting burned. And knowing her daughter, Natasha had a feeling that she caught it and held it for much longer than she needed to.

“Where are we going now?” the girl asked and reached to turn on the car’s radio. She changed the station a few times before settling on one. “Oh, I love that song!” she started humming alongside Chris Martin.

“First, to town, we have to find a store and buy something to eat and some things for your hand, we have to take care of that,” Natasha explained and smiled softly watching the girl enjoy herself out of the corner of her eye. “And then we’re going to meet my friend.”

“How long will we be staying here?” 

“Few days.” The car jerked on the uneven road as they made their way through the forest. “I have some people I have to lead away.” 

“Is this about what happened in Germany?” Katya asked while looking out of the window at silhouettes of trees surrounding them, blurred by the car’s speed.

“Kind of.”

“So what are we gonna do?” she turned away from the window and looked at Natasha. 

“We are going to…” Romanoff dragged the words to tease the girl “Eat junk food and watch movies.” 

“Really?” Katya’s face brightened up with a smile.

 “Really.” Natasha nodded reaching to tousle her hair. She grimaced and tried to move out of her reach. “And then we're going to an amazing place, where someone is waiting for us.” 

“Who?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows. “And where? We’re going to Africa, right? You said that to Maria.” 

“Woah, too many questions. You better now focus on picking what you want to watch.” Romanoff suggested. 

“Oh, can we watch Grey’s Anatomy?” the confusion washed away as soon as it came when the girl visibly perked up. 

“We can watch whatever you want.” 

The rest of the ride to town passed quickly accompanied mostly by Katya’s singing and tittle-tattle that efficiently took Natasha’s mind off the latest events. The girl’s presence alone quickly improved her mood. It was hard to feel anything negative around that child and overall it just felt good not to be alone. To have a reminder that she’s not alone and never will be as long as her daughter is around.  

⧗

“It’s so pretty here,” Katya commented when the car pulled to a stop on a small parking near a convenience store. “It’s a shame we won’t be staying here longer.”  

“Maybe we’ll come back here one day if you like it so much,” Natasha suggested, stepping out. “Come on.” 

“Hey, shouldn’t we speak Norwegian here?” the girl asked catching up to her after circling the car. 

Romanoff tilted her head, thinking. While for Katya it was just another language of out a dozen she was fluent in, hers wasn’t as perfect but it should suffice. 

“Good idea.” she agreed. 

Even if they were supposed to spend only a few days here, bringing as little attention as possible to themselves wouldn’t hurt. And speaking another language in a small town like this one definitely would turn some heads. 

“Hva trenger vi?” her daughter asked. Natasha’s brain needed a moment to translate the question as it’s been a while since she used it. 

“ Food and something for your hand. ” they started to walk between the aisles “ If you see something you want, take it. ” 

Katya nodded and wandered off, probably to look for sweets. Natasha focused on finding something that could pose as dinner and settled on instant noodles. Finding what she needed to change the dressing on the girl’s hand wasn’t as easy but in the end, there wasn’t anything special she could do aside from keeping it clean since the pain wasn’t an issue. 

“Mama, can I get that? ” Katya came out of the corner holding a bag of chips and a box of cookies in one hand and a small book with a colorful cover that suggested its targeted audience, in the other. “ It’s cheap. ” 

Natasha made a gesture suggesting the girl to hand it to her. She skimmed over the summary on the back cover and didn’t understand everything but got the overall idea of what the book was about. After glancing at the price, she put it in the shopping basket where her daughter had just placed the snacks she chose.

“Can I get one too? ” the girl asked over Romanoff's shoulder when she opened one of the shop’s refrigerators to get a beer. 

She turned to face her with raised eyebrows. “You’re twelve.” 

“And? This one has no alcohol in it and even if it did I can't get drunk anyway."

Natasha tapped her forehead with one finger, giving the girl a clear answer. She groaned in answer and Romanoff chuckled. 

“How do even know that you can’t get drunk?” she asked and Katya shrugged, trying to avoid answering. Natasha shook her head. “You can get that.” she pointed to the other refrigerator where many different sodas were displayed. Katya picked one with an exaggerated sigh and then they went to the checkout. 

Unfortunately, there was a radio nearby, with the news currently on. “After the Sokovia Accords, the hunt is on for the remaining Avengers… Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff are currently on the run.” 

Natasha felt Katya’s gaze on her as she packed their things into bags, hoping she’ll know that it was best to keep quiet. She did, occupying herself by snapping her fingers into one of the small keychains nearby, making it sway back and forth. 

“Here, take your book, ” Romanoff said, handing it to the girl after paying. 

“Hey.” the woman at the checkout called after them when Natasha already opened the door and let Katya out first.

She stopped midstep, hoping it wasn’t what she was afraid of. That she didn’t get recognized so quickly. Keeping her expression neutral and as unbothered, as she could, she looked over the shoulder at the middle-aged woman.

“Yeah? ”

“Her hair.” she nodded toward Katya who was already waiting outside. “Is it natural or dyed? ”

Natasha had to stop herself from exhaling out loud. Instead, she smiled. “It’s dyed.” 

The woman didn’t respond, just nodded and looked away, continuing to chew gum, a little bit too loudly. Romanoff on the other hand, started thinking about making that lie a truth and dyeing the girl’s hair. If they were to stay in Norway for longer, she would definitely do so, probably with her own hair too. Yet with their next destination in the back of her mind, she hoped the unusual-colored hair, won’t have enough time to attract too much attention. 

 ⧗

“You didn’t mention her.” Rick pointed to Katya as soon as he noticed her by the trailer’s open door. “All of that is for you,” he added motioning to the documents.

“It’s fine. She doesn’t need it.” Natasha waved her hand and looked at the girl “I told you to wait by the car.” 

“And that’s because…?” the man asked, eyeing the girl curiously. She stared at him in silence. 

“Because less than twenty people know that she exists and I already have some fakes for her,” Romanoff explained, referencing the documents made by S.H.I.E.L.D., as she went through the fake IDs and driver licenses Mason prepared for her. “Fanny Longbottom?”

“Why should I wait by the car if, from the two of us, my chances of getting hurt are much smaller?”  Katya asked, arching an eyebrow. Natasha rolled her eyes at the girl’s bluntness. Lately, she was getting much more confident in herself, almost cocky and Romanoff wasn’t sure whether she was a fan of it.

Rick snorted. “I have no idea where you got her from, but I like her. And what do you have against that name? It’s legit.”

“She would’ve picked a better one and she’s twelve.” Natasha gestured to her daughter with the stack of documents. 

“Yeah, Potter is a much better last name than Longbottom,” Katya commented, walking deeper into the trailer, not interested in the rest of the talk. Romanoff smirked and shook her head at the Harry Potter reference. 

When Rick went his way, leaving them alone, Natasha went back into the trailer. She found Katya sprawled on the bed on her belly with the book they bought earlier already in her hands. Music and books alongside drawing, were her elements ever since Romanoff could remember. 

When she got her out, she was already reading fluently in all the languages she knew. When she was five, soon after moving to the Bartons, she accidentally got her hands on a book a child so young definitely shouldn’t have been reading, but she did anyway. Yet what was most important, she enjoyed it. The first thing she did for herself because she wanted to and liked it. Ever since then, she went through dozens of books a year. The year before, she went through over a hundred. 

Music followed soon after, mostly thanks to Clint and his old, trusted guitar. Katya was mesmerized every time he took it out, then she got her ukulele, so she could play herself. Natasha promised to get her a guitar when she was older and maybe it was time to fulfill that promise. She made a mental note to get around to looking for one after they reached Wakanda.

Drawing started as part of the visions. By accident at first, as she happened to sit near crayons once and was not sure how to describe what she saw, she started instinctively drawing it instead. Then it became her initial reaction to every incomprehensible vision she had and it took Natasha and the Bartons a while to notice that she wasn’t exactly controlling what she was drawing. About two years had passed before she started doing it just because, and like with music, she quickly turned out to be pretty good at it and was learning quickly. 

“Pochemu ty smotrish' na menya?” Katya asked, not looking away from the book. 

“Ya voskhishchayus' moya krasivaya malen'kaya devochka” Natasha sat at the edge of the bed. 

The girl moved the book slightly down so she could look Romanoff in the eyes and squinted “Ya ne malen'kaya.”

Natasha let out a laugh, “ Is it any good? ” she nodded at the book, changing the subject.

“Uh, I don’t know yet.” Katya shrugged. “Seems okay now.” 

The woman smiled and watched her for a little while longer before standing up. She walked to the small kitchen section where on the counters she left some belongings and noticed the letter from Laura that Maria Hill passed to her. 

Natasha hadn’t had time yet to read it so after making sure Katya wasn’t hungry, meaning she could wait with the dinner a while longer, she ripped the top of the envelope open and took a single page out. Both of its sides were filled with familiar, wide, and almost cursive-like handwriting. The bottom left corner of the page was missing, suggesting it was ripped out of a notebook in haste. Leaning on the counter, Natasha began reading.

“Dear Nat,

I don’t when we are going to see or even hear each other again, but I have a few things I want to say to you and this is my only way of doing so. 

First of all, I want you to know that we’ll miss you both, all of us. Having Katya around for all these years was a pleasure and an honor. Thank you for trusting us with her. You were family ever since Clint brought you in for the first time that Christmas and you will always be family. You are the best aunt our kids could ask for. For Clint but also for me, a sister I never knew I needed. And Katya was the most amazing “fake” daughter and sister we and the kids could ever have. You’ll always be welcome in our house. There will always be a place for you here.

Second, I don’t blame you for what happened to Clint and I’m sure neither does he. He knew the risks when he agreed to help you in Germany and he did it anyway. He did that for you, but you didn’t force his hand. Don’t you forget that and don’t you dare blame yourself. He’ll get out somehow, sooner or later and we will be fine. (Lila is sulking but it’s because you didn’t say goodbye and Katya’s leaving and she can’t go too, not because of Clint and that’ll hurt his pride for sure)

I have no idea where you are now or what are you planning, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed that whatever it is, it’ll work out for you exactly the way you want it to. I hope you and your family, Katya, and James, are safe and that you’ll finally get your chance to be together. I wish you all the best. 

For Katya, to keep growing into the beautiful, strong woman she already started to become and to never let someone break that huge, pure heart of hers. For James, to finally find some peace, happiness, and a chance to start anew because it was taken from him too many times. And for you to let yourself see the good that we saw in you every time you were around. You are not what other people try to make you out to be. You are so much more than you think and give yourself credit for. All that red in your ledger you were always so worried about, you don't have to wipe it out. You can paint over it and you already did, at least ten times over. Your past doesn't define you. You are enough. 

If someone deserves a happy ending, it’s you three. 

love, Laura.

PS. Cooper found out about the letter and he and Lila send their hugs too. 

When and if you have a chance, don’t be a stranger - I want Nate to know his godmother and namesake. ”

⧗

Katya giggled at something Lexie Grey said in the third episode of Grey's Anatomy in a row they were watching. Natasha wasn’t the biggest fan of that series, yet the girl was hooked and was rewatching all thirteen seasons for the second time. They were sitting by each other at the table covered by the remains of their dinner. Katya was glued to the screen and Romanoff used the time she spent sitting still to do her hair. She was about to finish the second Dutch braid as she tied its end with an elastic. 

“Here, all done.” Natasha passed the braid over the girl's shoulder. It was barely long enough to do so. Katya nodded and continued watching with a wide grin on her face. 

Romanoff stood up and started collecting the trash from the table and moved it to the kitchen counter so she would remember to throw it away later. She left the letter from Laura nearby. 

“You know, I got a letter from Laura.” holding it up, she called out to Katya. “You can read it if you want.” 

She realized it could also be a good way of starting the subject of James. It was time to finally confess that she had found him and that he was waiting for them back in Wakanda, even if unconscious and temporarily back on ice for an indefinite amount of time as Princess Shuri was trying her best to find a way to get rid of his triggers. Natasha rearranged empty bottles on the counter and took a sip out of one of them when she noticed there was still something left. She furrowed her brows when the girl didn’t react anyway. 

“Do you want it?” she repeated. “Hey, I know Derek Shepherd is more interesting than me, but you could at least nod.”

Grabbing the letter she turned and took a few steps she needed to return to the table. Only then she noticed that the girl’s eyes rolled back and there was a trickle of blood coming from her nose. She was having a vision. Quickly forgetting the letter, Natasha sat down next to Katya and started to rub her shoulder, muttering reassuring phrases and reminding the girl of her presence. 

Romanoff knew she couldn’t hear her and that she wasn’t in real danger. Aside from the nosebleeds and occasional headaches or tiredness directly after the episode, the visions never had any visible or long-term effects on Katya.

Yet based on the way it looked, it was instinctive for Natasha to try and offer her some comfort, especially not knowing how long it would last. Usually, it never lasted more than a few minutes, sometimes it took just a few seconds so no one noticed until Katya informed someone about it, and the ones so severe like the one witnessed by the Avengers last year happened less often than once a few months, and hadn’t happened again ever since.

Natasha pulled her closer, so the girl’s head rested on her chest and embraced her. She was a bit stiff, so the hug wasn’t exactly comfortable but it seemed right.

“Ya zdes’, zvezdochka” Romanoff muttered against her hair when she felt the girl relax. “Ty v bezopasnosti.”

She could feel Katya's thundering heart slow down and then return the hug with the limited movements she had because of Natasha holding her so close. 

“Want to tell me what you saw?” she suggested.

Katya sighed, pulling away. “I’m not sure.” she wiped the blood from underneath her nose. “An apartment. Similar to the one we first met Uncle Clint in.” 

“You mean in Budapest?” Romanoff asked, looking for confirmation while handing the girl some tissues so she could clean her fingers. 

“I think so.” she nodded. “And then some guy. He seemed familiar but I have no idea who that was.”

Natasha wanted to suggest she could draw him, but at the same time, the lights went out, accompanied by a rumble of the generator outside. Making sure one more time that Katya was alright, more for her own reassurance rather than the girl's, Romanoff went outside to check it. 

“Come on, we have to go back to town,” she said, coming back after a few minutes. 

Katya was still at the table, tugging at her fingers, lost in her thoughts. She nodded after a moment. When she started to put on her boots, Natasha threw on a jacket and held the door open for the girl. 

“You sure you’re okay?” she wanted to know. When the girl walked past her she noticed her eyebrows were still slightly furrowed. Something was off. 

“Yeah,” Katya answered while jumping outside, ignoring the steps. 

It didn’t sound convincing at all. Natasha put one of the canisters in the back seat and walked around the car to sit behind the wheel. 

“Did the generator break?” Katya asked when Romanoff joined her inside. 

“Let’s hope not.” she turned on the engine “Maybe it’s just out of fuel.” 

All Natasha needed to make sure that something was wrong with Katya was just a few minutes with her in the car. The girl was unusually quiet and completely ignored the songs she would normally sing at the top of her lungs. Romanoff tried starting a conversation, even telling some jokes but she never got a bigger reaction out of her daughter other than a weak smile or one worded answer. 

She had a feeling that whatever and whoever the girl saw, must have had some meaning behind it and was the reason for this odd behavior. And when she finally spoke up first, her question sent a shiver down Natasha’s spine. 

“Did Dreykov wear glasses?” her voice was weak, almost a trembling whisper. A total opposite of her usual cheery tone. 

Natasha’s hands tightened on the steering wheel after the initial shock caused one of them to slip and made the car turn a bit too far to the right. 

“What?” she looked at Katya out of the corner of her eye, getting ready to turn and get on the bridge. 

Romanoff wanted to ask where did that question come from, how she even remembered the Red Room overseer after all these years, let alone his name, but she didn’t have enough time. When she realized what happened, the car was already hanging on the side of the bridge, her ears echoing with ringing caused by the explosion. 

“-alright?” Katya’s voice reached her, disrupted by the ongoing ringing “Mama… can…hear… me?”

Natasha blinked, trying to lift her head and look at her daughter. 

“I’m okay.” she nodded, despite not hearing herself clearly yet. 

The girl looked over to the back of the car. “Mama, someone’s coming.”

Regaining all her senses, Romanoff noticed how unstable the car was. 

“We have to get out.” she unfastened the seatbelt. Katya followed suit and the vehicle trembled. “Go quick, through the back, be careful. I’m right behind you.” 

For a while, Natasha thought of getting out first, because of that someone the girl saw outside, but changed her mind, not wanting to risk the car falling with her daughter still inside.

Katya nodded hesitantly and scrambled over the seats, to the broken back window. She jumped out and the car swayed once again. Natasha reached for her gun, and at the same moment, the vehicle moved dangerously, tipping even more, and then suddenly stopped. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Katya, straining and holding it back. Then she noticed the hooded figure walking closer at a steady pace. 

“Katya, run!” Romanoff yelled, aiming at the eerie character and firing a few times.

“No! You’ll fall!” the girl replied as the stranger threw a shield at the car, making it stuck in the empty frame where the window used to be.  

Natasha jumped out and Katya could finally let go. Romanoff landed already low on her legs, gun once again aimed and ready to fire. But the attacker was nowhere to be seen. 

“Behind you!” the girl warned just as the figure jumped off the car's roof. 

Not one of Natasha’s shots made any impression, as the figure easily blocked each one with a shield, getting gradually closer and kicking the pistol away from her hand. 

“Get away!” she managed to warn her daughter one more time, before starting the hand-in-hand combat. 

Katya did start to run away, but in the opposite way than the one Natasha had in mind. Instead of getting away, she made a run for the gun that was taken away from Romanoff and landed quite far away. Katya only managed to fire it two times, before hesitating, held back by not wanting to hurt her mom on accident, while they fought so closely. 

But then it stopped, as abruptly as it began, as the attacker watched Natasha for a moment, before looking over her shoulder. Katya followed their gaze and realized what was the point of interest. With her arms still straightened as she held up the gun, walking mostly backward, she made her way closer to the pile of rubble where a small, black case was lying. 

The hooded figure, acted like it didn’t notice her, continuing its way to what seemed to be their objective. The only thing that suggested that they did actually notice Katya, was the moment when it pulled a combat knife from the sheath behind the belt, ready to remove an obstacle from their way.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Natasha seethed, getting up and taking her own knife out. “Not my daughter, not on my watch!” 

While Romanoff took their current enemy’s attention off Katya, the girl knew subconsciously that whatever was in the case, she should take it and run. Yet at the same time, there was no way in hell she would leave her mum to fend for herself. Only one word was starting to echo inside her head, drowning out all of her other thoughts. Protect. 

So instead she pushed the case across the bridge and by the time the attacker held Natasha back by her hair, younger Romanoff was ready to jump on their back, making them let go of the woman. 

While for Natasha fighting this person, seemed weird for some reason, too hard than it should be, but she couldn’t exactly point out why. For Katya, the fight with whoever was hiding underneath that mask was like a dance. Perfectly rehearsed one, with each movement timed with the other person. None of them could get a clear hit, like if they knew by millimeters where the next punch or a kick would land so they could easily dodge or block it. And everything was mirrored. Each move, to the smallest detail, was exactly the same, a perfect copy. 

What made it even eerier was the knowledge that Katya never learned to fight. She never had to, as Natasha tried to make her life as normal as it could be. But even in a situation like that one, completely unexpected, she wasn’t defenseless, thanks to her ability to copy everything that she saw as the fight went to.

Yet what turned out to be Katya’s advantage was her super soldier strength. And that, alongside Natasha’s help from behind as she grappled the hooded figure to the top of the bridge, gave them an upper leg. Romanoff threw the case at the girl as she passed her the shield, while the attacker came back down, the dagger screeching at the asphalt. 

Natasha managed to block only a few of their blows with the shield, before landing a kick to the chest and getting sent over the bridge’s edge, straight down to the cold water below it. 

“Mama!” Katya hollered following her with her eyes, as she disappeared into the darkness. 

Then she jumped after her, with no ounce of hesitation, leaving the case behind, but with a clutch of vials tucked underneath her jacket. Thanks to her enhanced senses, even in the dark water, she somehow found Natasha and helped her to the surface. 

“Are you okay?” Romanoff asked, cradling the girl’s face between her hands when they made their way to the shore. Her breathing was heavy with exhaustion and as soon as Katya nodded, she leaned back, laying down on the bridge’s concrete base. 

“What about you?” the girl asked, sitting down next to her, her forehead furrowed with worry. 

“I’m fine,” Natasha assured between deep breaths. “I just… need… a minute. And you… are… grounded.” 

“What?” Katya scrunched her nose in confusion. 

“I told you to run. You didn’t listen.” 

The girl chuckled and Romanoff turned her head to the side to look at her with a silent reprimand in her eyes. 

Katya reached inside her jacket and took out a batch of the glowing red vials. “If I did, we wouldn’t have this.”

The woman suddenly got her strength back as she quickly sat up, her eyebrows rising in surprise. “You have it.” 

“And also this." she took out a gun she used earlier from behind her belt, still surprised that it didn’t fall out. "Do you know what that is?" Katya nodded at the vials as she handed them to Romanoff when she suddenly noticed something between the glass. “Hey, what’s that?” 

Natasha pulled the strip of paper out only for it to turn out to be a photograph. 

“Is that you?” Katya asked, tilting her head.

“Yeah,” Romanoff confirmed not taking her eyes off the photograph. It was probably the last thing she expected to see.

“Your hair was so cool” the girl commented. “Who’s the other girl?” 

“That’s Yelena,” Natasha explained, getting rid of the initial shock and looking back at Katya. “I told you about her before, don't you remember?” 

“Your Ohio sister Yelena?” the girl made sure, getting a nod in answer. “So what does that mean? What do we do now?” 

Natasha sighed and pressed her lips together. After a moment of silence, she answered. “We have to go to Budapest.”