📍OHIO , 1995
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(Y/N) ENJOYED her life, even if she had only ten years of age at the time. She seemed to have everything she ever wanted; a mother, a father, and two sisters who she loved dearly.

Her and her younger sister Yelena, who was six years old, found themselves playing in the backyard of their home for the evening, spending time doing what they pleased, doing handstands or any gymnastics, playing tag or pretending to be princesses.

A few hours passed and the two of them found themselves bored after playing too much. (Y/N) was considering to go look for her older sister Natasha when she heard a soft whistle in the distance.

Knowing exactly who it was, Yelena and (Y/N) whistled back immediately, spotting how their sister walked into the backyard with her messy blue hair.

Yelena took this as an opportunity to place herself in a bridge position, making her blonde hair fall and cover half of her face. Natasha and (Y/N) smiled at each other before copying her position.

"We're all upside down!" Yelena exclaimed happily.

"And I bet you're gonna fall down first!" Natasha teased.

"No, you will!" (Y/N) said, chuckling.

"You can't hold it much longer." Yelena stated, trying to distract both of them into falling.

Natasha and (Y/N) smiled as they made funny faces, trying to see who was the one who would crack up first and fall.

Yelena, failing to hold back a laugh, fell back from her position and stood up from the ground with Natasha and (Y/N) doing the same.

"See, Nat, I told you she would fall first." (Y/N) teased as she nudged Natasha's shoulder as they walked away.

Yelena faked a pout and ran behind them, trying to catch them to get her revenge.

"I told you! I told you!" Nat and (Y/N) kept saying as Yelena traced behind them around the backyard.

That was until Yelena tripped over the leaves and fell on her knees, accidentally scratching one of them.

"Mommy!" Yelena cried.

At this, Natasha and (Y/N) looked at each other in worry before rushing to aid their young sister. Nat grabbed her shoulders and placed Yelena's back against her chest as (Y/N) kneeled in front of her and wiped the tears away.

Their mother, Melina, walked to them and kneeled in front of the three girls, her brown hair blowing back from the wind.

"What happened?" Melina asked softly.

"She fell on her knee," Natasha explained as Yelena moved away from her sisters' touch onto her mother's.

"Oh, you bumped your knee?" Melina asked.

"Mmm-hmm," Yelena nodded.

Melina frowned and kissed the bruised part of Yelena's knee in order to calm her down, wiping the tears that fell into the little girl's cheeks.

As for Natasha and (Y/N), they moved back from the scene and climbed into the playhouse in the yard, and going down the slide, trying to distract themselves.

"-Your pain only makes you stronger," Melina said, grabbing Yelena's hand and pulling her. "Right, you two?"

"Yeah," Natasha said as (Y/N) nodded, swinging on the swings.

"Yeah?"

"Look!" Yelena said. "Forest stars."

Melina, Natasha and (Y/N) all looked up to the sky to see what was Yelena pointing at, and they found themselves staring at fireflies.

"Yeah. You know what? Those are actually part of the Lampyridae family." Melina explained.

(Y/N) and Natasha both stopped swinging to walk beside their mother in order to get a closer look. When they came close enough, Melina wrapped her arm around them, pulling them with her as they continued walking.

"And the glow, the glow that you see, that comes from a chemical reaction called. . .bioluminescence."

Natasha stared in awe as (Y/N) and Yelena smiled.

"Come on, time for dinner," Melina said, pulling Yelena with her.

"Boo-goomin-feasants?" Yelena asked her mother innocently.

"Bio-goomin-feasants, that's right." Melina's voice was heard far away as they walked inside the house, leaving Natasha and (Y/N) outside.

The two girls continued staring in amazement at the glowing fireflies, and (Y/N) sighed in relaxation and placed her head on Nat's shoulder.

"They look so beautiful!"

"Yeah, they do." Natasha agreed.

"Dinner!" Melina's voice boomed. "Come on, dinner, big girls!"

With that being said, both girls took one last look at the beautiful fireflies and walked inside their homes with faint smiles.

"I want mac and cheese," Yelena said from the kitchen.

"Oh, you want mac and cheese? Okay. Well, I want. . .caviar and champagne." Melina replied.

"(Y/N), grab the napkins, please." she told her as the girls walked into the house. (Y/N) nodded and walked into the kitchen.

"You take this, thank you." she told Yelena as she gave her a bowl with corn.

"Natasha, would you grab the ranch dressing for dad?" Melina asked.

Natasha walked over to the fridge while (Y/N) headed over to the drawers to grab the napkins as Yelena placed the bowl with corn in the dinning table. At the exact moment, the sound of the front door opening and closing echoed throughout the entire house.

"Dad's home!" Melina announced.

Their dad, Alexei, a man with brown hair that almost reached his eyes and round glasses walked into the house with a grim expression.

"Hey, Dad," Natasha and (Y/N) greeted.

"Hey, babies," he said quietly as he moved over to the fridge to grab a drink.

Natasha and (Y/N) took notice of his grim tone but didn't say anything about it, instead, they walked into the dinning room where Yelena and Melina already were eating their dinner.

(Y/N) took the seat in opposite of Yelena as Natasha sat down facing her mother and their began to dig on their food, but Alexei didn't take a seat in the table and took a glance out the window.

"Everything okay?" Melina asked.

Alexei turned around to face the family. "How was everybody's day?"

"Mommy taught me about lamp bugs," Yelena answered. "-And I fell and hurt on my knee, but it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Mmm-hmm," Alexei hummed as Melina stood up from the table.

"And we also saw fireflies in the backyard. That was my favorite part of the whole day."

"Yelena, we see fireflies everyday," Natasha said.

"Don't ruin her fun, Nat," (Y/N) nudged her sister's shoulder.

Yelena nodded in agreement with her as Natasha rolled her eyes, continuing to eat their food. After a few minutes, Melina and Alexei returned to the table and sat down.

"Girls," Alexei began. "You remember when I told you that one day we would have that big adventure?"

At his words, Natasha and (Y/N) froze.

"Today's the day."

"Yay!" Yelena exclaimed.

(Y/N) and Natasha shared a look but didn't say anything, continuing to eat their food, but millions of thoughts ran through their heads.

"All right, let's go." Alexei said as he stood up from the table, with Yelena following behind.

Melina, Natasha and (Y/N) stayed at the table, with (Y/N) shaking her head frantically, trying to change her mind as Natasha stared at Melina with an emotionless expression.

"I'm sorry," Melina told them, and she stood up from the table and walked away.

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"COME ON," Melina said. "We gotta hurry."

The family moved back and forth around the entire house, grabbing what was necessary to take for the 'trip'. Yelena helped Alexei with his stuff before he told her to go to the car in a hurry. Melina grabbed her equipment as Natasha grabbed her converse and walked outside to join Yelena.

(Y/N) was about to leave when she took notice of the wooden musical box standing on the shelves. It was a birthday gift from Natasha, and she didn't want to leave it behind. When she reached to grab it, Melina interfered.

"Leave it! Leave it! We gotta go."

(Y/N) tried to protest, but she gave up and walked outside to the car where Alexei was stuffing things in a bag while Yelena was getting into the backseat with no shoes on, Natasha following behind. (Y/N) got inside the car without a word and a few seconds later, Alexei and Melina got in.

Alexei drove the car way from the house, and Natasha and (Y/N) glanced out from the windows at their neighbors and friends, feeling sad at the fact that they were never going to see them again.

"Where are we going?" asked Yelena from the middle seat.

"Home." Melina answered.

"Mommy, you're silly. We just left home." Yelena said, but no one responded.

The ride kept on quiet, and (Y/N) took the time to look around at every place they drove by, trying to get it stuck in her memory. She tried to hide the tears from spilling, making an effort to look strong for her younger sister.

"I want my song," Yelena said after a long time of silence.

"Bye, bye, Miss American Pie," Yelena sang along. "Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry."

"Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, Singing 'this'll be the day that I die'"

"This'll be the day that I die."

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YELENA KEPT SINGING the song with a cheerful manner, and (Y/N) smiled as she saw her dance and move her arms around in the tune of the song.

Alexei kept on driving until he parked the car in some kind of airport, but what seemed strange about it was the fact that there was no one around.

Everyone came out of the car and grabbed their stuff, including Natasha, who grabbed a small photo of her and her sisters making a silly face to the camera.

"Come on, Yelena. Hurry up, baby." Melina said. "Let's go, Nat, (nickname). Hurry up. We gotta go."

"We gotta go. Come on, you gotta run."

Alexei took out the white sheet that covered the entrance of the place where a plane was being kept in. (Y/N) ran up to Melina and Yelena to get inside the plane, Natasha running right after her.

When the four of them got inside, Melina closed the door while Alexei stood outside with a gun in his hand.

"Okay," Melina said as she sat down on the pilot's seat.

"Why isn't Dad in the plane?" Natasha asked.

"He's coming. He's coming, baby. He's coming." Melina reassured.

Alexei cleared the way for the plane by lifting up a huge piece of rusted metal and throwing it to the side. Then, he signaled Melina to move the plane forward, and she followed.

(Y/N) looked out the window to see how Alexei started shooting at cars that made their way toward him and the plane.

Melina increased the speed as Alexei ran right behind the plane, trying to avoid the bullets that were being shot at him.  That's when (Y/N) got worried. She saw how he was struggling to keep up with the speed of the plane.

"Mom," she said, almost telling her to slow down when Alexei jumped on the wing of the plane, holding his gun in his hand as he continued shooting.

The people inside the black cars kept on shooting, managing to make holes to the windows of the plane. Another round of shots was fired, and this time they succeeded, injuring Melina's shoulder.

"Mom!" (Y/N) and Natasha yelled in terror.

"Nat, I need you up here," Melina groaned.

Natasha didn't hesitate to rush over to her, sitting down in the copilot seat.

"I need you to pull right," Melina said, and Natasha followed the order.

"Mom, you've got blood on you," Natasha said with worry.

"It's okay, baby."

(Y/N) took notice of Yelena beside her, seeing how she looked on the verge of tears. She wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling the little girl close to her in order to distract her from what was going outside.

"Hit the accelerator there," Melina ordered.

(Y/N) spotted two more cars driving in front of them, starting to shoot at the plane windows, making Natasha scream out of fear.

"Hold it steady, hold it steady." Melina continued.

"You're gonna pull back at 55 knots."

(Y/N) and Yelena were still wrapped in each other's arms, and Yelena's face was completely buried in (Y/N)'s shirt as her body shook because of silent sobs.

"Come on, you can do it," Melina encouraged. "Pull back. All your strength."

Natasha followed the instruction, pulling back with all the strength she had, and the plane lifted itself off the ground at the exact moment it was going to crash with the cars in front.

Yelena finally calmed down, removing her face from (Y/N)'a shirt and both of them moved to where Natasha and Melina were sitting, taking a glance at the window to see Alexei hanging from the wing of the plane.

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📍CUBA

AFTER HOURS OF flying, the plane finally landed on a military base of an island. Melina was still weak from the bullet in her shoulder, and when they landed on the ground, Alexei carried her in his arms as Natasha, (Y/N) and Yelena followed behind them.

A few soldiers were carrying a stretcher, holding onto it as Alexei placed Melina softly in it. The three girls, worried of their mother walked beside her laying form with teary eyes. (Y/N) grabbed her left hand as Yelena held onto her right hand.

The soldiers placed the stretcher on the ground and the girls kneeled down beside her, still holding her hands.

"Get up, mommy. Pain only makes you stronger, remember?" Yelena choked out as she placed her head on her mother's chest.

"Forgive me, mom." Natasha said in Russian.

"Im scared," (Y/N) murmured to her mother.

"Never let them take your hearts." Melina whispered.

A soldier pushed the girls back harshly, and they stood up from their position on the ground and held onto each other as they continued crying.

"It's gonna be okay," Natasha reassured.

They watched how the soldiers lifted the stretcher off the ground and placed it inside a truck, making the girls worried.

"Mommy?"

"Mom?"

"Daddy!" Yelena exclaimed and tried to run to Alexei, but a soldier grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back. "Daddy! Daddy!"

"Yelena!" Natasha and (Y/N) yelled.

"Don't touch her!" (Y/N) screamed.

"Get away from her!" Natasha yelled.

(Y/N) ran up behind the soldier and kicked him in the back of the knee making the man yell in pain as Natasha kicked his arm to release Yelena out of his hold to grab his gun.

"I will shoot!" Natasha yelled.

"Don't touch them! I will kill you all!"

"Natasha," Alexei called. "You need to hand me that gun."

"Please don't take us back there." (Y/N) teared up, the hold on Natasha's arm grew tighter.

"I wanna stay in Ohio." Natasha said.

"You can't take her. You can't." Natasha pleaded as Yelena wrapped her arms around her waist.

"She's only six."  (Y/N) said.

"You two were even younger." Alexei said, carefully taking the gun out of Natasha's hand.

"It's okay," he said, kneeling down. "Come here."

(Y/N) stifled a sob.

"You're gonna be alright." Alexei placed a kiss on Yelena's head. "Do you know why it's gonna be all right?"

"'Cause my girls are the toughest girls in the world. You're gonna take care of each other, okay? And everything, everything's gonna be fine."

At that exact moment, three soldiers snuck up behind the girls to stick a needle in their neck, making them fall asleep instantly in the men's arms.

Alexei stood up from his kneeling position and watched as the three girls were being carried away to get them inside a new plane.

"The oldest ones, they have fire in them." Dreykov said to Alexei.  "What were their names?"

"Natasha and (Y/N)." Alexei responded.

"Ah. . .Natasha and (Y/N)."