THE RED ROOM was a facility that floated in the sky above Belarus. Agents took Natasha and Alexei to a holding area while scientists took Yelena to operate on via Dreykov's orders. Melina walked through the corridor and looked through a door where the Widows were training.

She walked into the general's office and saw him sitting at his desk. Taskmaster was in the corner of the room standing at attention.

"My God." He got up and walked toward her. "Look at you. So, uh, how was the family reunion?"

"Oh, it was awful." She replied. "They were clingy and too emotional, and needy."

Dreykov chuckled. "Just like old times, huh?"

"Hmm."

"Yelena Belova." He said. "What's the deal with her? She was the only one affected, right?"

"As far as I know, yes." Melina answered.

"These gasses and antidotes, it's a pain in my ass. It's a problem. You need to sort it."

"I have nine pigs that will require attending to in my absence."

"Don't give a shit about your pigs." He responded and sat her down in the chair by the desk. He forcefully placed a hand on top of her head. "Cut her brain out...Hmm? Identify the weakness."

"What about Romanoff?" She asked.

Dreykov sat on the edge of his desk and faced Melina. "She's a traitor. She turned her back on her people. On her blood. She had nothing. I gave her a home. I gave her love." He stated. "Put that thing in her you do. You know, uh, chemicals. Turn her into one of your pigs." Dreykov smirked. "Can you imagine what I could do with not just one...but two Avengers under my control?"

Melina showed a slight expression of confusion at the mention of two Avengers. Dreykov took notice but kept it to himself for now.

"Wouldn't you like to speak to her first?" She asked.

"When you look into the eyes of a child you have raised, no mask in the world can hide that."

Dreykov reached over to touch her face but Melina quickly grabbed his wrist. He kept going, and she eased her grip and allowed him to tap the side of her temple. Her face glitched and distorted before the general peeled off the photostatic veil along with her wig.

It was Natasha this whole time...and Dreykov knew.

"Welcome home." Dreykov said.

Taskmaster immediately pulled out his handgun and aimed it at the Black Widow. "Romanoff. What type of sorcery is this?"

"Now, now." Dreykov called out. "Don't go breaking my new toy."

The mercenary gave a nod and holstered his gun.

Dreykov looked back at Natasha. Her plan on switching places with Melina didn't seem to have worked, which inflated his ego.

"Is this your plan?" He asked.

"My plan is to kill you." Natasha said.

"I'm alive. So, what do we do now?"

"What was my mother's name?"

"Ah..." Dreykov paused for a second. "Where we buried her, there was a tree...Um...A pink blossom. Beautiful. And there was a tombstone with her name engraved on it."

"What was her name?" She asked again.

Dreykov chuckled. "Unknown."

Natasha tried to hold back from immediately killing Dreykov there. She inhaled deeply. "You don't feel anything? You feel anything when I killed your daughter?"

The general chuckled again. He understood that what happened to Antonia still troubled her.

"Is this your haunted past? Really?" He laughed, then got up from the edge of the desk. "Thank you, Natasha."

He started walking over to Taskmaster, who had been standing there monitoring their conversation. Dreykov got behind him and placed his hands on his shoulders. "You gave me my greatest weapon." He then spoke to the mercenary.

"Say hello."

Taskmaster obeyed and pressed the button on his wrist to unfasten his metal helmet. Y/N took it off, revealing his face to Natasha. His lover looked on in shock, not being able to speak as he simply stared at her.

Dreykov paced around the room and spoke again. "Your bomb killed my Antonia. You took her from me. So in return, I took something from you."

Natasha was still speechless but was able to mutter one word. "Y/N..."

"His mission in Lithuania...we took him. We put a programming in him and waited until the perfect time to activate it." He looked at his watch and pretended to read it. "Which was about a couple of weeks ago after your friends had that fight in Germany."

The redhead simply listened as Dreykov eased closer to her and continued explaining.

"The inherent ability to copy everything they see. A perfect mimic. The perfect weapon for the Red Room."

"Does he recognize me?" Natasha finally asked, eyes still glued to the mercenary.

"What? You want to try and reach out?" Dreykov laughed. "It's too late. He's mine from now on, and there's nothing you can do about it." He looked at Taskmaster. "Isn't that right, soldier?"

"Yes, General." Y/N simply stated.

Natasha stood there in angered silence as her blood started to boil. She looked at Dreykov. "I'm going to fucking kill you."

"Are you?" He interjected.

Natasha pulled out her pistol and aimed at his face. Y/N, still with his helmet off, reciprocated the threat and aimed at the redhead.

"I have a faster trigger finger, Widow." He said.

"It's okay, soldier." Dreykov eased then looked back at Natasha. "Try, then. Do it."

Natasha grunted as she tried to pull the trigger of the handgun. Something was keeping her from doing so.

"Is the safety on?" He asked.

She kept straining, but again, her fingers weren't letting her.

"No? Try your knife."

Natasha unsheathed her blade and stabbed down towards him, but her body wasn't letting her finish the act.

"Ah..." Dreykov grabbed her wrist and forced the knife to drop. "You're in trouble."

"How are you controlling me?" She asked.

"I'm not controlling you, Natasha. Well, not yet." He started to explain. "But there is a pheromonal lock. Smelling my pheromones prevents you from committing violence against me."

He raised his hand and pretended as if he was going to hit her, which caused her to flinch. Dreykov smirked.

"I'm very upset with Melina. It's a shame I have to kill her." He said and walked back over to his desk. "So, this was the big plan, huh? Melina was going to land the Red Room and hand me over to the authorities."

Dreykov picked up his tablet and made sure to close the doors to the engine rooms.

"So, what now, you're gonna fold me into your pathetic little puppeteer act?" Natasha asked after composing herself. "Pair me and L/N up as your special op agents?"

"Pathetic, huh?"

"Yeah, what would you call it?"

"I would call it—"

"When was the last time that you had a conversation with somebody that wasn't forced to talk to you?" She interjected.

"You ran away to fight in the wrong war. The real war was fought here, in the shadows." He shot back.

"You didn't fight in the shadows. You hid in the dark."

"Real power comes from undetectable influence."

Natasha leaned over his desk. "If no one's noticed, then why even do it? You're nothing."

"Hmm."

"You have nothing."

"There are 50 people on this planet—"

She scoffed. "Oh, stop it."

Dreykov stood up from his seat and shouted. "Don't tell me to stop!"

"If I don't tell you when to stop, then how will you know when to shut up?" She shot back.

The general immediately punched Natasha across the face. Weirdly, Y/N flinched a bit upon seeing the act.

"Come on." Natasha said as she stumbled back and chuckled. "Think I can't take a punch?"

Dreykov left his desk and punched her again. Y/N's breathing hitched after seeing the Widow being assaulted.

"God damn it, you're weak." Natasha told the general.

"Weak?"

"I bet it's easier to be tough in front of defenseless little girls, huh?"

"That's enough."

He punched her again and sent Natasha to the floor. Y/N looked down and ran a hand over his face. He then witnessed Dreykov kick her in the stomach, and his widened eyes started forming into a glare.

Unbeknownst to Dreykov, it had already been an hour past the deadline to reactivate the Taskmaster protocol and keep his mind in check.

"You wouldn't be so glib if you had any notion of the scope of what I've built." Dreykov told Natasha. "I own this world. Me."

She wiped the blood from her mouth. "You seem desperate to impress me."

"I don't need to impress you. I don't need to impress anyone." He gritted his teeth and was about to hit Natasha again, but his arm was grabbed from behind. Y/N landed a right hook across his face and sent the old man to the floor.

"You sure don't impress me." Y/N said and grabbed him by the collar. He threw him toward the sofa nearby and knocked it over.

Natasha looked on in surprise and started to feel elation as Y/N seemed to have returned to normal. But as the soldier walked up to the downed Dreykov, the general toggled a button on his watch.

Suddenly, the speakers in the room started to play Fortunate Son.

"Argh!" Y/N held his head and dropped to his knees. Dreykov wiped the blood from his nose and stumbled toward him.

"You think you can escape? You're mine, soldier! It's only a matter of time before I make the programming permanent." He shouted.

Y/N fell to the floor and grunted amidst the splitting headache he was feeling. Natasha looked at Y/N then at Dreykov, still not being able to do anything because of the pheromonal lock.

"You're a monster."

He simply chuckled in response, then looked at Y/N. "Время подниматься, имитировать (Time to rise, mimic)."

The pain ceased after the trigger words and Y/N let out an exhale as he got back to his feet. He stood straight up, glancing at Natasha before looking back at Dreykov.

"Will you be compliant, soldier?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." He spoke, which garnered a nod from the general.

"Now go." He commanded. "Deal with the rats in the basement."

Taskmaster nodded and put on his helmet, then walked out of the office.

Red Guardian and Melina escaped their cell. It was time for the Widow to find a way to land the Red Room facility and save the rest of the girls.

"Come on, now. If we're just going to press buttons and hack computers..." Alexei said. He stood in the middle of the room with Melina.

"Yes." She replied.

"I mean, I don't know. There's nothing for me to do. I want to...I want to break something."

"Oh, you do?"

Footsteps approached from behind him, and the older Widow saw who was coming. "Oh, there is something you can break."

Red Guardian looked back, seeing Taskmaster walking out of the elevator. He chuckled and put on his helmet before getting into a stance.

"Guardian. Another washed up freak reliving his glory days." Taskmaster said before activating his claws. "I got you on lockdown, old man."

"Melina, if this is the last time that we..." He looked back and noticed his partner had left to continue their plan. He sighed. "Ah, damn it."

Red Guardian charged and Y/N quickly tossed his shield at him. He hit it aside, but Y/N leaped at him and kicked Alexei with his feet, flipping back into a stance. Taskmaster unsheathed his knife and engaged Alexei again.

Y/N dodged one of his punches and swiped at him with the knife, but he also dodged it. He punched Alexei in the stomach and tried to stab him again, still missing but flipping the knife back in his hand to try again.

Alexei parried one his thrusts but got punched by Y/N again. He hit Red Guardian another time before picking him up and throwing him through a glass barrier.

He groaned on the floor as Taskmaster faced him and kicked his shield back up.

"I thought prison would've polished your fighting skills, Shostakov."

Alexei panted. "Come on."

Y/N ran and hit him in the face with the shield, then struck him in the leg before hitting him once more across the face. He fell to the floor, and Taskmaster threw the shield at his back before he can get up.

Red Guardian slowly got to his knees, but Y/N walked up to him and grabbed his collar. Activating a blade from his gauntlet, Taskmaster prepared to finish off Alexei but was quickly attacked by Melina.

She got him with a scissor kick and threw Y/N into a cell, quickly locking him behind an impenetrable glass door. He started to punch the door.

"Ah. Good one." Y/N remarked with a chuckle. "You Widows frickin' love that move."

"He won't get out of this. Let's go." Melina told Alexei.

They ran off, leaving Y/N behind as he still kept punching the door.

"It's my network of widows that help me control the scales of power." Dreykov explained as she showed the map on the screen. He started to show brief clips. "One command, the oil and stock markets crumble. One command, and a quarter of the planet will starve. My Widows can start and end wars. They can make and break kings."

"You control all of that from here?" Natasha asked.

He ignored her question. "And with you, another Avenger under my control, I can finally come out of the shadows using the only natural resource that the world has too much of. Girls."

Natasha looked at the many pictures of young girls that flashed on the screen. She sighed, and turned back around to face the general.

"All from that little console?" She asked with a taunting voice.

"Yeah."

Natasha chuckled.

"Oh, you find this amusing?" Dreykov asked. "Why are you smiling?"

She walked up to his desk. "Don't take it personal, but, uh...thank you for your cooperation." She sighed and looked around the table. "You weren't quite strong enough, so...I'll have to finish it myself."

"What are you going to do?" Dreykov asked with a chuckle.

Natasha brought her face down onto the desk and broke her nose. Dreykov looked on in shock and confusion. With her olfactory nerve cut, the pheromones wouldn't affect her anymore.

"Sever the nerve." She said.

Dreykov quickly pressed the panic button on his desk, then Natasha grabbed his hand and punched him across the face. He fell to the floor and let out a groan.

The alarms blared. Because of Melina, the facility also rumbled as it was now in a controlled crash downwards toward the earth. Natasha didn't care though. She was going to kill Dreykov once and for all. 

"Not so talkative now, are you?"

She kicked him in the face and knocked off his glasses.

"You took my childhood. You took my choices and tried to break me." She said. "You made Y/N into something he's been trying to avoid."

Natasha brought out her ice pick and continued. "But you're never gonna do that to anybody ever again."

Before she can attack Dreykov, a grapple stuck to Natasha and pulled her down. A group of Widows stood by the door holding their weapons. 

"Nobody leaves this room until she's dead." Dreykov told them as he got up and put on his glasses. He started to leave the room. "Make her suffer."

Natasha got back up and faced the Widows. "I don't wanna hurt you. You don't wanna hurt me."

A Widow ignored the plea and engaged her. Natasha dodged her attack and hit her across the face with her baton. Another Widow kicked her in the knee and brought her down, but she grabbed her arm and spun back around to kick another incoming Widow.

Natasha was kicked into the side of the desk and held down by one of the women. She shot one of her attackers with her widow's bite as she was held down. Natasha got out of her grasp but was instantly kicked in the face by a Widow. Another one grabbed her waist from behind and threw her across the room.

Natasha got back up and faced the group of women. She shot as many down as she could with her widow's bite, but an attacker pinned her to the column with her staff. Two more came to assist, but Natasha detached the staff and got out of the hold before kicking the Widow away and engaging the other two.

They grabbed Natasha by the neck and threw back toward the desk. She hit the top of it before rolling back down to the floor.

The Widows didn't let her get up as they continued kicking her. She tried to shoot but they hit her again and a Widow picked her up and put her in a chokehold as each women got their chance to punch her more.

Natasha grunted in their grasp as she continued to take the beating. Suddenly, she heard beeping above as the red dust vials, wrapped around a flash grenade, exploded and spread the red chemicals around the room.

Yelena watched from the doorway as the red dust fell onto the Widows. The women looked at one another in confusion, as the slight feeling of freedom crept within them. It felt like a burden was off their shoulders and they could breathe again.

One of the Widows let go of Natasha and Yelena ran up to her. 

"Hey. Are you okay?" She asked and saw a piece of shrapnel in her sister's shoulder. "That looks like it hurts. Okay. I take out on three, ready?"

Yelena didn't bother counting as she immediately pulled out the shrapnel. Natasha yelped.

"I'm sorry." Yelena apologized.

"Mitä me teemme nyt? (What do we do now?)" One of the Widows asked.

Natasha panted as she looked at the women. "Get as far away from here as possible. You get to make your own choices now."

They felt rumbling as an explosion erupted within the facility. It was only a matter of time until the whole place collapsed.

"We gotta get outta here." Natasha said.

"We need to find Dreykov." Yelena told the Widows. She turned back around and saw her sister walking back toward the desk. "Are you coming?"

"I'm right behind you." She replied.

Natasha took out the ring she took from Dreykov during their scuffle and unlocked the computer. She logged in and began to download the files into her USB.

She exhaled as she put her hands to her broken nose and shifted it back into its normal place.

The data transfer was completed and Natasha ran out of the office as it collapsed and was engulfed in flames.

The corridor she was in started to topple and an explosion broke the floor out from under her. She fell through and landed on the ground, grunting amidst the rubble as she looked up.

There he was, Taskmaster behind the glass of the holding cell. He simply looked back at her.

"Y/N." She breathed out. The redhead stood up and neared the door, but the mercenary punched the glass.

"No!" Natasha exclaimed in between pants. She started to sob, and tried to her best to keep her composure. "I'm gonna open the door. You're gonna come after me—"

Y/N grunted as he punched the glass again. Natasha kept pleading.

"It's okay. It's okay. I know you're still in there. And I'm not gonna leave you. Okay."

Y/N didn't say anything. No taunts. No quips. Nothing. She felt like a part of him was still in there despite being recently reactivated.

Natasha unlocked the door and it whirred open. Y/N stepped out, facing her but still not saying a word.

Before either of them could act, the floor below exploded and the room was destroyed. Natasha was heaved in one direction as Y/N fell through the floor.

Natasha was able to get to safety and dropped down onto the platform where the Red Room helicopters once were. She saw Yelena running toward the one Dreykov and his agents were in and Natasha went after her.

The blonde grappled up onto the top of the aircraft and stood by the motor, taking out her batons and forming then into a staff.

"Yelena!" Natasha shouted.

From inside, Dreykov saw the Widow. "She's on the wing! Move! What are you waiting for?"

Natasha kept shouting as she knew what her sister was going to do. "Don't do it!"

"This was fun!" She shouted back.

"No!"

Yelena jabbed the staff into the motor and it exploded. Inside, Dreykov and his men were blown up along with the aircraft.

The blonde was launched backward by the explosion and started falling down toward the earth. Natasha quickly picked up a chute and leaped off the platform.

Natasha dove toward her, dodging falling debris as she neared Yelena. She ultimately grabbed her sister and strapped the chute onto her back. It activated and their descent slowed.

The sisters sighed in relief, but the redhead looked ahead and saw Taskmaster free-falling toward them.

Natasha let go of Yelena and let her descend on her own. She dove downward as Taskmaster pursued, the mercenary taking out his sword in preparation.

Taskmaster tackled Natasha and the two struggled amidst their fall toward the earth. She pulled the cord to his chute and their descent slowed as the two of them hit the ground and rolled over. Debris and rubble from the destroyed Red Room facility surrounded them as Y/N faced Natasha on the field.

"That was a nice act up there." He spoke. "Teary eyed and wanting me back. It's too bad."

He walked across the shallow pond towards her. She got up and faced him as the mercenary continued.

"This ends here, Widow.

"Okay." She breathed out. "Let's go."

Y/N unsheathed his sword and thrusted at her, but Natasha evaded the attack and grabbed his arm. The two struggled as she began to disarm him, ultimately succeeding and flipping herself off of Y/N to gain separation.

She pointed the blade towards him but put her arms up to show that she was unwilling to hurt him.

"Enough." She pleaded, dropping the sword.

"Big mistake." He said with a chuckle.

He took her dropped guard as a chance to grab Natasha by the neck and choke her. She gasped and immediately hit his arm with her elbow to escape the hold. She then jumped up and wrapped her legs around Y/N's collar, lifting his arm up to press the button on his wrist that controlled his helmet.

Natasha flipped him over, knocking Taskmaster down with his helmet coming off. Natasha also rolled over, the vial of red dust falling out of her pocket. Y/N glared and was ready to engage her again.

Natasha quickly kipped up and punched down at the vial, breaking it open and causing its contents to spill on his face.

Y/N stopped his attack, feeling the chemicals seeping through his skin and as if buried memories were resurfacing. Natasha grabbed his shoulder and looked into Y/N's eyes.

She pressed her forehead against his, hoping that he remembered her.

He did.

"I'm here...I'm here." She started to say.

The super-soldier took quick breaths as he began to process everything. "...Tasha?"

He fell over, exhausted as his brain recovered from the weeks of mind control. Natasha leaned over and kept his head up.

"I'm sorry." Natasha apologized, for not knowing what happened to him, for not being there to stop it. "I'm sorry."

Y/N exhaled, eyes squinted but then fully opening to look at his lover. Seeing her face again brought a sense of relief and happiness that he never thought he'd feel again.

"Is...is it over?" He asked.

Natasha smiled and nodded. Her gesture brought a small smile to his face. In Y/N's exhausted state, he reached over and held her hand.

"Don't leave me." He said, remembering the feeling he had when he was first activated. He felt alone as his mind was being warped into something he hated.

Natasha recalled leaving Yelena...leaving the family she had before. From now on she wanted to keep them close...especially Y/N.

She kissed him deeply, then parted to run a thumb across his cheek.

"I won't."

Natasha ran over to Yelena, who was laying near debris. She knelt down and held her head.

"Yelena?"

She opened her eyes and smiled, recalling a moment they had back when they were little girls.

"We're both upside down." She remarked before sitting back up. Natasha placed her hands on her shoulders and looked at her.

"Прости меня, младшая сестра (Forgive me, little sister)." She started to tear up. "I should've come back for you."

"You don't have to say that. It's okay." Yelena replied.

"Hey. Hey." Natasha thought back at their conversation back in St. Petersburg. "It was real to me, too."

The blonde smiled and began to cry. She hugged her sister tightly. "Thank you."

Nearby, Alexei was helping a limping Melina. Natasha went back over to Y/N, who was now sitting up and catching his breath. She helped him up, and along with Yelena walked over to her parents.

"Everybody good?" Natasha asked.

"I am clearly injured." Melina replied.

Alexei looked at Y/N beside his daughter. He raised a brow. "The Lieutenant? How—?"

Before he could say anything, Melina spoke. "Dreykov took him and activated his Taskmaster protocol...I let it happen." She looked at Y/N. "And I'm sorry."

There was no grudge to be had. Y/N understood what the Widows had to go through under Dreykov's orders. She had no choice but to comply.  

"I forgive you." Y/N said.

Natasha looked back at Alexei. "You got something else to say?"

He shrugged. "I'd just mess it up."

Alexei reached over and held Natasha's hand. She replicated the act and gave a light smile.

They heard vehicles approaching in the distance. The redhead knew it was Ross and his agents.

"Here comes the cavalry." She remarked.

"Ross?" Y/N asked, to which she nodded.

"So, what's our plan?" Melina asked.

"You guys go." Natasha held Y/N's hand and he gave a nod. "We'll stay."

"That's insanity. We fight. We fight with you." Red Guardian replied.

"We'll hold them off." Y/N said.

"No, we fight." Alexei interjected.

"We can't split up. You're so pigheaded." Melina told Natasha.

"You guys, go." She told them.

Yelena sighed. "Oh, my God. You reunite with your love-bear and all of a sudden you think you can take on the government by yourselves."

"Oh, these guys?" Y/N pointed back at the incoming cars. "We've been through worse."

Natasha chuckled. "Besides, if it can work out with the four of us, you know, there may be some hope for the Avengers." The redhead added and showed a tiny gap between her fingers. "Little bit."

Yelena started to take off her vest. "Okay, well, if you're leaving, then I guess you should take this." She handed it to her. "I know how much you like it."

"Shucks."

Y/N glanced at it. "Whoa. That has a lot of pockets."

"It does." Natasha chuckled.

"Very handy pockets, yeah." Yelena added and looked at Y/N. "I would've gifted you something but I didn't know you were basically here this whole time."

Y/N laughed and shrugged it off. There was a brief silence before Natasha spoke again.

"He had Widows implanted all over the world." She handed Yelena a vial of the red dust. "Melina will need to copy the formula, but you should be the one to tell 'em it's over."

A jet landed nearby and the Widows exited the aircraft. They walked up to the family.

"You came back for us." Yelena said in surprise.

"Мы бы не оставили тебя позади (We wouldn't leave you behind)." One of them said.

The blonde joined hands with her. "Thank you."

Melina turned around and looked at her daughter and her boyfriend.

"Hey. You two take care of yourselves, okay?"

"Don't worry. We got this." She replied.

"I know."

"You." Alexei said with a deep tone as he looked at Y/N, but his expression softened after a moment. "Thank you for making her happy."

Y/N simply smiled as Alexei and Melina walked toward the jet. Before Yelena entered it, she whistled a long note that got Natasha's attention.

The redhead whistled back, and her sister smiled before fully entering the aircraft.

The jet left the scene, leaving Natasha and Y/N alone in the field awaiting their confrontation with the authorities. She started putting on the vest Yelena gave her.

"I gotta say, that looks nice on you." Y/N remarked.

Natasha chuckled. "I'd say the same thing about that armor. Sucks that Ross is probably going to take it."

The trucks arrived and dozens of officers and agents stepped out of their vehicles. Natasha got on her knees and put her hands behind her head, which Y/N replicated.

Ross walked up to them with his cane. They then eased themselves back to their feet after Thaddeus motioned his agents to relax.

"L/N. Romanoff. I sensed this sort of collusion." He spoke. "What the hell happened here?"

"The Red Room." Natasha answered.

"The Cold War spooks? They've been gone for years."

They heard rumbling as the rest of the facility crashed down miles away. Ross looked back at the wreckage.

"That's what I thought, too." She added.

"They were never gone, Ross." Y/N stated. "Just in the shadows."

"That must be your thing. Killing and slipping away to hide." Ross shot back as he remembered the agents that died.

"That wasn't him." Natasha retorted. "The leader of the Red Room, he had him under his control."

Ross stayed quiet, then ordered officers to apprehend the fugitives and take them to the transport vehicles. They put them in the back and started driving off.

"The Red Room..." Ross began as he sat in the front. "Under the radar all these years. I can't imagine how much damage they've done." He looked at the two through the rearview mirror. "And you took them down all on your own."

"We had some help." Natasha said.

"Who?" He asked.

"I'm just being humble. It was just us." She lied as she looked at Y/N. She wasn't going to tell him about her family and the Widows.

There was a brief silence before the conversation continued.

"Y/N." Ross called out. "She says you were mind-controlled."

"I was." He replied. "It all started when I took your mission in Lithuania. That whole week I was missing...they were implanting their programming into my head. About three weeks ago was when they figured it was time to kick it off."

Ross sighed. He was the one that assigned him on the mission that got him kidnapped. A part of him felt guilty. Y/N saved him in Vietnam, but he couldn't save him from the fate of being Dreykov's mercenary.

"Natasha saved me, Thaddeus." Y/N added. "If it wasn't for her...I'd still be living that hell."

Ross looked at the redhead through the mirror. "I'm realizing it's impossible to ever know who you really are. I mean, to me, you're a turncoat assassin, but then you go and save the world...save L/N...when the world wants to lock you up. It's impossible for me to see who's side you're on."

"You and I have that in common." Natasha replied, and unbeknownst to him she was already trying to unlock her cuffs.

Ross nodded, then after a brief pause, he suddenly took out a taser he had and incapacitated the driver. Since they were the last car in the convoy, the vehicles in front didn't notice them stop.

"Ross?" Y/N asked in surprise as he witnessed his act. The old man looked through the grate at the two fugitives.

"I said I'd repay you one day, Y/N." Ross said. "Go. Both of you."

Natasha took off her cuffs and was about to unlock Y/N's, but the soldier simply broke out of them using his strength. Once they were free they opened the back doors and Natasha leaped out. Y/N looked back at Thaddeus.

"Thank you."

"Lieutenant." Ross simply replied with a nod.

Y/N and Natasha fled, running through the shrubbery and into the woods. Ross sat there and let out a sigh.

"Now...how am I going to make it look like I was attacked...?"