★彡[ ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴡʜᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ ʀᴇᴜɴɪᴏɴ ]彡★

The helicopter soon powered down, running out of fuel, and crashed on the ground, leaving the four stranded in a plain. Natasha got out first with Lia and Yelena after her, Alexei following after the three.

"You should've brought the Avengers' super jet," Alexei stated. 

"I swear, if I hear one more word from him, I will kick him in the face," Yelena whispered in annoyance. 

"If you don't, I will," Lia grumbled.

"He's the worst," Natasha muttered in agreement. 

"Natasha. Natasha. Natasha," Alexei called her, getting her attention. "Come here, I want to ask you something. Come, it's important." 

Natasha slowed down her speed until she was walking beside Alexei, while both Yelena and Lia walked ahead. The blonde glanced at the nephilim who had silent pretty much the whole ride, which was very unlike her.

Yelena gently nudged Lia's shoulder. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm great," Lia replied in a monotone voice.

Yelena's eyebrows furrowed. "I really can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not."

"I guess that's a good thing," Lia muttered.

Before Yelena could ask what she meant by that, Natasha's voice increased in volume. "Wait. You haven't seen either one of us in twenty years and you're gonna ask me about you?"

"What is with this tension?" Alexei asked cluelessly. "Did I do something wrong?" 

Yelena scoffed. "Is that a serious question?"

"I only ever loved you girls." He glanced between Yelena and Natasha. "I did my best to make sure you would succeed to achieve your fullest potential, and everything worked out."

"Everything worked out?" Natasha asked in a bitter tone.

"Yes. For you, yes." He turned his attention to her. "We accomplished our mission in Ohio."

"Yelena, you went on to become the greatest child assassin the world has ever known." Alexei ranted, walking close to Yelena. "No one can match your efficiency, your ruthlessness."

He turned to Natasha. "And Natasha, not just a spy, not just toppling regimes, destroying empires from within, but an Avenger." 

"You two have killed so many people." Alexei stepped forward, grabbing Yelena's and Natasha's wrist, shaking them. "Your ledgers must be dripping, just gushing red."

He pulled the two in for a hug. "I couldn't be more proud of you."

The two pushed themselves away from him, glaring at him before walking forward to join Lia, who just silently trudged ahead.

"So, are we there yet?" Yelena asked him as they all down the path. 

"You'll know when we're there," Alexei replied simply before walking ahead down the hill to get to the fence surrounding a home where a woman stood.

"Honey, we're home," Alexei told the woman while the three exchanged glances.

"Come on, girls," Melina said and led them to her house, Alexei following after her with Natasha behind. 

Yelena turned to Lia who halted in her tracks. "Hey, you aren't coming?"

Lia shook her head. "Uh, no. You go ahead, I feel like I'm intruding your family reunion."

Yelena rolled her eyes. "No, you aren't. Now come on. I don't want to be in there by myself."

Lia wanted to protest and say that Natasha was also there but remained silent as Yelena grabbed onto her hand, dragging her inside the house towards the dining room where Natasha and Melina were seated.

Yelena poured herself a shot while Lia awkwardly took a seat beside her, having no idea what to be doing right now, and she really didn't want to be there. Melina poured another shot, offering it to Lia who shook her head, declining politely.

"Ah, you're Dina and Ezra's daughter," the older woman recalled. "That's why you seemed familiar."

Lia clenched her jaw, nodding silently in response, the tension at the table growing incredibly. Before anything could make it anymore awkward, Alexei walked out, leaning against the wall in his Red Guardian suit.

"Still fits." He grinned while Melina whistled in a cat calling way.

"Oh, my god," Natasha muttered while Lia wanted to bleach her eyeballs out to get the image out of her sight.

"I never washed it once," Melina stated as she poured another drink. "Come and drink."

"Rise, you workers of salvation." Alexei sung before taking a seat. "Family back together again."

"Seeing as our family construct was just a calculated ruse that only lasted three years, I don't think that we can use this term anymore, can we?" Melina asked.

"Agreed. So, here's what's gonna happen-" Natasha was cut off.

"Okay. A reunion then, huh? And, uh..." He started. "I want to say something right off the bat. You haven't aged a day, huh? You're just as beautiful and as supple as the day they staged our marriage."

"You got fat," Melina stated in a monotone voice. 

"But still good." Alexei laughed. "I just got out of prison. I, uh... I have a lot of energy." 

"By the angel, please don't do that," Lia mumbled. 

"So, here's what's gonna happen." Natasha started. 

"Natasha, don't slouch," Melina interrupted her. 

"I'm not slouching," the redhead defended. 

"Yes, yes, you are." 

"I don't slouch!" 

"You're going to get a back hunch. Listen to your mother."

Lia glanced between them like a tennis match, a tired sigh escaping her lips. It really wasn't going well.

"All right, enough. All of you," Natasha yelled to try and quiet everyone.

"I didn't say anything. That's not fair," Yelena defended. 

"Alright, here's what's gonna happen-" Natasha started again only to be cut off once again. 

"I don't want any food," Yelena grumbled to Melina who added more food to her plate. 

"Eat a little something, Yelena, for God's sake," Melina chided. 

"You're gonna tell us the location of the Red Room!" Natasha snapped, banging her hands on the table, the whole room going silent. 

Melina inhaled sharply before turning to Alexei. "You know, it's like when you told them that they could stay up late to catch Santa Claus."

"What? That was fun. You know, He come down the chimney, girls," Alexei recalled. "Look out. Where is he? You wait for him, and then when the cookies are gone, then you see he's there. No, no. What? I want them to follow their dreams."

"No good," Melina complained. 

"Reach for the stars, girls," Alexei said. 

"Finding Dreykov is not a fantasy. It's unfinished business," Natasha stated.

"You can't defeat a man who commands the very will of others," Melina snarked. "You never saw the culmination of what we started in America. Nor did you. Natasha, always focus, focus. Get what you want." 

"Come in." Melina tapped a few commands on the tablet before a pig opened the door and came in.

Lia blinked. "Did that pig just open the door?"

"Yes. It did." Melina nodded. "Good boy, Alexei. Good boy."

"You named a pig after me?" Alexei stared at her. 

"You don't see the resemblance?" Melina asked while Lia coughed, trying to cover her chuckle. 

"See, he sits just like dog. Amazing. Now, watch."

"It's a little weird, to me," Alexei stated.

"Stop breathing," Melina ordered the pig who grunted before stopping. "We infiltrated the North Institute in Ohio. It was a front for S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. Actually, it was Hydra scientists at that time. In conjunction with the Winter Soldier project, they had dissected and deconstructed the human brain to create the first and only cellular blueprint of the basal ganglia. Was the hub for cognition."

"Uh, I think you should stop, Melina," Lia started, seeing Yelena becoming noticeably uncomfortable.

"The pig is fine, let me finish," Melina said before continuing. "Voluntary motor movement, procedural learning. We didn't steal weaponry or technology. We stole the key to unlocking free will."

"What are you doing?" Natasha asked. 

"Oh, I am explaining that the science is now so exact," Melina explained. "The subject can be instructed to stop breathing and has no choice but to obey."

"Okay, you made your point. That's enough," Natasha stated. 

"Yes, all right. Well, don't worry, Alexei could've survived eleven more seconds without oxygen. Good boy. Now, you go back, back home where it's safe," she ordered the pig, and it left the room. "You go. You go back home, back home where it's safe. Good boy, Alexei."

"The world functions on a higher level when it is controlled," Melina stated. "Dreykov has chemically subjugated agents planted around the globe."

"And do you know who they test it on?" Yelena asked. 

"Hmm..." she questioned, "No. That's not my department." 

"Ah, come on, come on," Alexei started. "Don't lie to them. Hmm?" 

"I'm not lying."

"You're Dreykov's architect, huh?" Alexei said. 

"What were you?" Melina asked. "If I was his architect, you were his partner. You were his business partner." 

"No, no, no. I was patsy!" Alexei said and banged the table 

"Don't give me that ..."

"He sell me ideology." 

"Stop with the politics."

"All the while, bigger..."

"Shut up! You are an idiot," Natasha snapped, pointing at Alexei before turning to Melina. "And you're a coward. You're a coward. And our family was never real, so there's nothing to hold on to. We're moving on."

"Never family, huh?" Alexei questioned. "In my heart, I am simple man. And I think that for a couple deep undercover Russian agents, I think we did pretty great as parents, huh?"

"Yes, we had our orders, and we played our roles to perfection," Melina agreed.

"Who cares? That wasn't real," Natasha yelled. 

"What?" Yelena piped in. 

"That wasn't real," Natasha repeated. "Who cares?" 

Lia stared at the redhead. "Natasha, don't."

"Don't say that," Yelena stated. "Please don't say that. It was real. It was real to me! You are my mother. You were my real mother. The closest thing I ever had to one. The best part of my life was fake?" 

The blonde took a deep breath to compose herself, but it didn't work. "And none of you told me?" 

She banged her fist on the table. "And those agents you chemically subjugated around the globe? That was me."

Yelena then turned to Natasha. "Mmm. And you, you got out. Dreykov made sure no one could escape. Are you gonna say anything? No." 

Melina went to to hold her hand but Yelena pushed her away. "Don't touch me."

The blonde stood up, grabbing the scotch bottle before walking away from the table, ignoring Natasha's call as she made her way to another room, closing the door behind her.

"I had no idea," Melina whispered.

"It's okay. It's okay," Alexei reassured her.

Lia stood up, casting a glare at the three before silently walking towards the room Yelena was in, opening the door before closing it behind her. She spotted the blonde sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, her hands wrapped around her knees.

"I came in here because I didn't want to talk," Yelena mumbled.

The nephilim took a seat beside her on the ground, smiling at her warmly. "I know. You don't need to talk. I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you, if you want to talk or not."

Yelena smiled softly at Lia's words, leaning on the nephilim's shoulder as the two sat in a comfortable silence which was soon ruined by Alexei who awkwardly walked in.

"Hey sweetheart."

Yelena glowered at him. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Okay. We, uh ... We just sit," he replied, taking a seat at the couch beside them awkwardly while both Yelena and Lia glared at him.