➶ ｡˚ ° ➶ ｡˚➶ ｡˚ ➶ ｡˚ ➶ ｡˚
(𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐘)
CHAPTER NINE——>

When you're young.

You feel invincible.

Iskra knew she wasn't invincible. No one was.

Her Mama lost her life to self-sacrifice, so many people had died around her. Hell, she had almost died more than a couple of times.

However, her biological mother seemed to be just that. The fight had dragged on and on, and now that Iskra finally had the woman in a position she could win, she hesitated.

Iskra Romanoff-Hill never hesitates.

"Do it. Kill me, Iskra." the woman breathed, an unsettling smile on her face.

Tears sprang up in Iskra's eyes, "Tell me who my father is." the silence was so loud, the only thing Iskra could hear were extremely muffled voices, "No."

No.

Iskra read the woman's lips clearly, "Tell me," she shouted, her voice breaking with tears.

A gunshot rang out, zooming right by Iskra, she didn't have time to react, as her biological mother's body fell limp.

"No, no, no," she whispered out, falling forward into the pooling blood, her head snapped in the other direction, it was Bucky's gun that had fired the shot, and Maria who was nearby rushed over to her daughter.

The blood was sticky on Iskra's hands as Maria wrapped her arms around her, "Mommy," she whispered, old habits from when she was just a kid slipping through. Maria just held her, and Kate stood in place, not wanting to disrupt the moment.

"It's going to be okay, I love you Iz," Maria whispered and although Iskra couldn't hear her, she could feel the vibrations of Maria's voice, and just held on to her.

"я хочу пойти домой" (I wanna go home) she whispered, and Maria nodded, "Ok, yes, let's go home,"

Maria helped Iskra to her feet, and Sam came around to her other side supporting the redhead, "Is she hurt?" Bucky turned to Kate, and Kate shook her head, "I don't think so...at least not physically."

Iskra passed out the second they stopped walking, complete exhaustion taking over her.

And the next time she woke, there was a dull ringing in her ears that seem to grow louder and louder by the second, she reached her hands up to the side of her head, trying to rub away the invisible pain.

Iskra sat up and the room began to spin, "Hey, hey, be careful." Kate whispered finding Iskra's side, touching her shoulder.

Iskra melted into the touch, turning towards Kate, "I'm sorry," Iskra whispered, and Kate's eyebrows pulled together, "For what?"

For

What

"Ever since you met me, I've completely pulled apart your life. Oh god, I'm so sorry Kate. This is all my fault. Everything."

"No, no. It's not your fault Iskra. My life before was boring...and now I have this super awesome girlfriend." Kate reassured finding the red head's eyes.

Not your fault.

awesome.

Girlfriend.

Iskra leaned forward pressing a kiss to Kate's lips, "You're my everything, Kate." she whispered, and Kate smiled, but it faltered briefly.

Iskra noticed.

Iskra pulled away from Kate, "мои уши не перестанут звенеть," (My ears won't stop ringing) she muttered, "Can you go get my mom?"

Kate nodded, pressing a kiss to Iskra's forehead, "I'll be back."

It wasn't Kate or Maria that entered the room next, it was Melina. "How are you feeling?" she asked, "Maria's on the phone with Barton. She'll be in here in a minute."

"A bit shaken up, I guess."  Iskra shrugged, "I can't really focus on anything, since the ringing in my ears is so bad." she added.

"Maybe you were right, maybe the past is better left behind." Iskra spoke after a minute, "This whole search has only caused issues...but I'm in too deep now."

"Maybe so, but sometimes it isn't all that bad, I got two amazing grandchildren, out of reconnecting with my past." a smile flickered on to Iskra's face, "Yeah, I am pretty cool." the two of them laughed,

Maria was smiling gently from the doorway, "I'll leave you to it," Melina spoke, giving Iskra's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Maria walked further into the room, sitting by Iskra, "I was scared, Mom."

"I know sweetheart," Maria spoke, "I...I think I'm done with this superhero stuff," Iskra stated, "Like for good."

"Ok, you know I'll always support you." Maria said, "I wanna go to college, and just...be, normal, I guess." Iskra added, "Ok."

"Good," Iskra smiled a bit, "I"m gonna shower,"

"Okay, we'll talk more after."

---

Iskra couldn't help but play Eloise's words through her mind over and over.

"Why don't you ask your girlfriend?"

Iskra toweled the end of her freshly dyed hair dry, and spotted Kate's bag across the room, "Curiosity killed the damn cat." she muttered to herself, but still found herself walking over to it.

At first, she found nothing, and then shook her head at herself, why was she letting that woman get into her head.

And then she found a piece of paper, folded up almost as small as it could go. She unfolded it carefully and she swore her heart had never dropped faster.

Clinton Francis Barton

Is her father.