Ch. 6

Sam laughed,

"I like this one" he said turning to head towards the Tower.

Ekaterina let the men walk ahead of her, staying behind with Natasha.

Natasha was happy for the company, but she knew what lay in store for them. Ekaterina would be questioned mercilessly and she couldn't protect her from it. So she gave a warning instead,

"Hey, Ekaterina" She said quietly, gaining the girl's attention.

"When we get inside" she motioned to the Tower,
"They are going to question you. They going to ask you in great detail about your time in the Red Room"

The girl stared at her. Ekaterina didn't want to talk to a stranger about her past.

"Without you and him?" She asked motioning to Bucky who was walking ahead of them.

"Yes" She said and the girl's eyes looked panicked. Searching the street for an escape.

Natasha saw this and stopped, putting both hands on the girl's small shoulders.

"We will be right outside, listening. I won't let anything happen to you. If I even sense something is wrong I will stop them, ok?" She said, her green eyes staring into the girl's brown ones.

The girl nodded and pushed a curl out of her face,

«Хорошо» (alright) was all she said as they continued their walk.

Inside the Tower, four agents were there to guide them to the interrogation room.

Bucky said goodbye to Sam and Steve and went with Natasha.

The walk to the interrogation room was silent, Ekaterina walked in the middle of Natasha and Bucky and she felt safe for the first time in her life. She felt like she could trust them but she would need more time.

The agents held open the door for her to enter. Ekaterina looked back at her two heroes who stood side by side. Natasha gave her weak smile and Bucky only nodded and with that she headed inside.

The agents were about to step inside when Natasha caught one of their arms and whispered,

"If anything happens to her, you all will answer to me personally" she threatened in a low voice. Behind her Bucky crossed his arms, face void of any emotion and nodded.

The agent's eyes widened in horror as he looked between the two ex-assassins, frantically nodding that everything would be fine.

Natasha released him and he scurried inside shutting the door.

Bucky let out a laugh.

"What?" Natasha asked as she went to stand next to him.

"You care for her don't you?" He asked

"Of course. How could I not? She needs our help."

He nodded,

"I'm glad we're on the same page"

Natasha was about to respond when the window cleared, revealing Ekaterina sitting at a metal table across from the agent Natasha had threatened.

She kept her face emotionless but she looked very out of place in her dance leotard and tights. Her blonde curly hair was a mess around her shoulders but she kept her brown eyes trained on the agent in front of her.

"Alright. Let's begin" the agent said flipping through a file, a pen in hand.

"State your full name"

"Ekaterina Nikita Ivanovna" She said blankly.

"How old are you Ms. Ivanovna?"

"I am thirteen years old"

"Birthday?"

"I do not know"

The agent looked up from the file and set the pen down,

"You know you're age but not your birthday?" The agent asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, sir. I only know my age. That is all we were allowed to know"

He nodded and wrote something down.

"How did you come to live in the Red Room?"

She stiffened,

"My parents were enemies to the Russian government, so they sold me to Hydra for their freedom. I was five years old at the time."

"Tell me about them"

"I don't remember much"

"Well, tell me what you remember"

Natasha watched the girl carefully, it was obvious she was uncomfortable but there was nothing she could do yet.

"I was born just outside of Moscow. My father was born there as well but my mother was born in Spain before she relocated to Russia"

Natasha smiled, she was born in Moscow as well. Spain? She thought, well that explains the curly hair.

"They taught me English first, then Russian. My mother tried to teach me Spanish but I didn't get very far before... I was uh given away"

The agent nodded,

"I'm just going to skip right to the point. Describe your time at the Red Room"

She looked a little taken aback by the bluntness of his question.

She started looking around and stared at the wall. Natasha knew she couldn't see her but it felt like Rina was staring right at her.

Bucky heard Natasha's breath catch and her body stiffen. He didn't know how to comfort her so he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to her. She rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the young girl face off against trained agents.

"Are you able to answer?" The agent said, obviously annoyed.

"I am. I am just trying to collect my thoughts. A lot happened in the Red Room" She was trying to remain unattached but she was struggling.

The agent nodded and Ekaterina sighed,

"Okay. I'm ready now"

The agent picked up his pen and nodded at her to begin.

"It was winter, a very harsh winter but what else would you expect from Russia?" She laughed at her own joke but the agent was not amused and tapped his pen against the table, impatiently.

"Not one for jokes? Got it. It was winter and my parents told me I was going to attend a ballet academy and would be able to visit them over holiday. I quickly came to learn that was not true"

She let out a breath and continued,

"As you know I was then trained in not only ballet but also martial arts, combat, emotional manipulation and weapons. There were 28 of us when I started and as of today I am the lone survivor of the Red Room's Little Widow program"

"Little Widow? I thought it was the Black Widow program" the agent inquired

She shook her head,

"The Little Widow program was designed to be more deadly than the Black Widow program. They took the same idea but focused less on the weapons and more on the combat and emotional manipulation".

Natasha stiffen in James's arms. The Widow program? Not again was all she could think.

Natasha couldn't focus after that and before she knew it the agent was closing the file and opening the door.

Ekaterina walked out of the door, grateful to be out of that small room after what had seemed like forever. The first thing she saw was a tired looking Natasha leaning against an equally tired Bucky. They tried to stand up and look strong for her but she could tell they were exhausted. She had been in there for hours.

Natasha saw the door open and stood up, James did the same and they stared at the girl in front of them.

Ekaterina could not believe they had stayed. No one ever stayed. As she looked at them, standing side by side, she remembered what Natasha had said about what that man had done earlier. A hug she had called it.

She decided to try it. She stepped forward and wrapped one arm around Natasha and the other around Bucky.

They both stared at each other, not knowing what to do they returned her hug awkwardly. Natasha met his eyes and gave him a smiled which he returned.

They stayed that way for a while causing a few shield agents to have to step around the three ex-assassins group hug.

Ekaterina was the first to pull away. She tucked a curl behind her ear and looking embarrassed, asked Natasha,

"Did I do it right?"

The two adults smiled and laughed,

"Perfect" was all Natasha said.

"Hey" James said to Natasha, pulling her away slightly,

"Steve texted me and said that Tony and everyone else wants to meet her"

Natasha sighed,

"Can she catch a break? She just went through three hours of questioning and now you want to throw Tony at her? God-" she was interrupted by a small voice

"It's alright, Natasha. I can take it. I will answer any questions your, uh.." she paused thinking,

"What is the word?" She whispered, thinking out loud

"Ah, your friends!" She said finally remembering the word.

"Yes, I will answer any questions your friends have" she said finishing her thought.

Nat nodded,

"If that's what you want"

She nodded eagerly.

Bucky nodded and began walking toward the elevator.

The Avengers had assembled (I'm hilarious btw) in the living room. Sam sat on the couch next to Steve, Wanda and Vision sat next to him. Tony sat in an armchair while Rhodey stood next to him. Peter was laying on the couch next to Tony.

The elevator stopped and Ekaterina walked out between the two adults, feeling very small, she just barely reached Natasha's chin and she had to tilt her head back to even look at Bucky.

As they came closer everyone stood up. Wanda was the first to approach them.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're back" she said giving the red head a hug. She pulled away from her friend to look at Ekaterina.

"Hello Ekaterina, I am Wanda. It is nice to meet you", she said smiling at the young girl.

Ekaterina shifted her feet, uncomfortable but she didn't move, instead she put a small smile on her face and said,

"Hello Wanda it is nice to meet you as well"

Then to Natasha she whispered,

«Должен ли я сделать эту странную вещь?» (do I have to do that weird thing?"

Wanda leaned forward,

«что странного?» (What weird thing?) she whispered

Ekaterina stared at her. She didn't think the lady would understand her. She looked up at Natasha for back up but the red head only let out a small laugh and nodded her head at Wanda, as if telling her to explain.

"Oh no" Rina whispered

"What did she call it?" She thought out loud,

"Hugging. It is strange all you people do it. It is very odd" she finished

Wanda smiles at her,

"No, you do not have to. I enjoy them but you don't have to do them to any one if they make you uncomfortable" she said kindly.

Ekaterina nodded and smiled at her. She liked this woman, there was something very sad about her. Sad but kind.

Wanda gave one last smile before taking the hand of the red man behind her and going back to sit on the couch. she guessed that he was Vision. Natasha and Bucky had given her a quick break down of all the Avengers but they were all mixed up in her head.

Steve and Sam remained seated and waved at her. She gave a small wave back, she remembered them from earlier.

Tony and Rhody came next.

Ekaterina felt Natasha shift and cross her arms from behind her where she stood with Bucky.

"Great now I have three assassins living in my Tower" Tony said smugly as he approached.

Natasha stepped forward,

"Don't try anything, Stark" she spat at the man with the mustache.

He held his hands up in mock surrender,

"Stand down, mama bear. I just want to see the child I'm letting stay here, that's all"

Ekaterina took a step forward,

"I am Ekaterina and I am thirteen" she said looking him straight in the eyes.

"Again, a child" he said

"Not much younger than Peter and you've basically adopted him and made him the heir of your company" Bucky pointed out from behind her.

Upon hearing his name, he popped out from behind Tony.

"Mr. Bucky" he whined, "I'm almost fifteen and I only help in the lab sometimes"

"That's only a year. Even I can do that math!" Steve called from his position on the couch.

"Shut it Capsicle" Tony shot back.

"Hi little spider" Natasha smiled, trying to break the tension in the room.

"Hi Nat!" Peter beamed up at her, coming forward to give her a hug.

Ekaterina rolled her eyes, again with the hugging.

He then fished something out of his pocket, while walking over to Bucky.

"I got you this from my field trip to MOMA!" He said showing him a small magnet.

He smiled at the kid and said,

"Stick it on, kid"

Peter bounced in excitement, walking over to his left side, sticking the magnet directly in the middle of bicep.

"Cool" Peter nodded

Peter circled his way back around to Ekaterina,

"Hi I'm Spider-Man! But everyone calls me Peter! It's nice to meet you Ekaterina!!" He said sticking his right hand out.

She stared at him, confused. What was she supposed to do? It was like he was asking to be flipped.

"Ohhh" Peter said realizing she didn't know what to do, he reached down with his left hand, grabbing her right hand and putting it in his, shaking it.

Natasha sucked in a breath, she didn't know how Ekaterina would react to being touched. She didn't know how she would react to Peter, she had probably never seen a boy her age before.

To Natasha's surprise, Ekaterina returned the shake and said,

"You are strange"

Everyone released the breath they were holding to let out a laugh. Steve and Sam were almost on the ground from laughing so hard while Tony snickered and Wanda laughed, leaning into Vision.

Ekaterina turned around to face Nat and Bucky,
"Did I do alright?" She asked.

"You did perfect" Natasha assured her.

She turned on her heel,

"Come on. I'll show you to you're room. It's near mine"

She happily followed behind, leaving the noise behind her.

"Bye Rina!" Peter shouted

"Bye Spider!" She replied, turning around to wave before running to catch up to Natasha.

"Here we are" Natasha said pulling a key out of her pocket.

She opened the room for Ekaterina, letting her go in first. The room was much bigger than anything she had ever known. She was used to sharing a room with the other girls, but she was on her own now.

"This is my room?"

Natasha nodded from the doorway as the girl began to walk around the room. It was very plain but she loved it.

She fell face first onto the queen-sized bed and Natasha laughed at the dramatic fall.

"I am never moving again" Rina said, muffled from the covers.

Natasha walked inside, and opened the dresser in the corner

"I put some of my old clothes in here. You came on such short notice that we don't have much for you. But I should be able to get some clothes in your size tomorrow." She told the girl

There was no response.

"Ekaterina?"

No response.

Natasha walked over the bed and heard soft snoring. Of course she would be tired this was probably the longest day of her young life.

Natasha started to walk toward the door but stopped, she couldn't leave her like this. She quickly sent Bucky a text and waited for him in the chair by the door.

He opened the door,

"Natasha wha-" he started but was met with Natasha's hand wrapped around his mouth.

"Shhh!" She hissed in his ear pointing to the girl sleeping on top of the bed.

"Help me move her" she whispered

He gave her a look but helped her anyway.

Bucky pulled back one corner of the covers while Natasha untied the laces of the girl's shoes.

"Carefully" Bucky whispered as they both moved the girl to the middle of the bed before covering her again.

They shared a silent high five before watching the girl shift in her sleep.

Bucky tugged Natasha's sleeve,

"Let's go" he whispered

They made their way out and silently closed the door behind them.

Natasha opened the door to her room,

"I know you can't get drunk but would you like a drink?" She said with her signature smirk.

He laughed,

"Sure"

Two chapters in two days??! You guys I'm on a roll! Lol. I have so many plans for this book. My child Ekaterina finally met all the other Avengers! She will interact with them more. It was so hard to write for all of them I found Tony was the hardest to write for because of his snarky personality. There was a lot of hugging in this chapter, I don't think Rina appreciated that. I hope you all have a good day or night wherever you are!!
Xo,
Renee

UPDATE: Ekaterina's face claim (or who she looks like) is Tori Kelly. A younger version though, lol.