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A black sedan was driving through the dark forest in the middle of the night, a red-headed woman driving it with another one sleeping in a passenger seat next to her. The car was quiet except for old, American songs playing softly to keep the company of the woman behind the wheel. When a song or two that she knew came up, she would then sing quietly to herself, making sure to not disturb her passenger.
She rode for many miles, looking at her GPS to make sure she was taking the correct route. The roads here were a little different from the American ones she knew. The roads of Eastern Europe were quiet, long but always passing through either a small town or a village that seemed to spread miles and miles along the road, seemingly never-ending and yet, you could always be surprised by some small detail that you wouldn’t see anywhere else. They reminded her of her own life - even if she had some rough idea of what was going on, there always came those little moments that made not much sense to her, they never did. Especially whatever happened a few months ago.
Natasha Romanoff, one of the members of Avengers, woke up in her room at the Avengers compound in the middle of the night. She was breathing heavily and looking around wildly, not believing what she was seeing. She knew she was supposed to be dead. She was dead. But somehow, Natasha was back in the Avengers compound. She wasn’t sure if it was a cruel dream, an afterlife or maybe a nightmare. The spy caught her breath, memories of life before coming back to her slowly. Her last clear memory, untainted by anything, was her being drop-dead gorgeous on Vormir ( Nat stop with this dark humour about yourself, the spy told herself). And now she was on Earth.
The spy looked at her phone and almost got a heart attack. 6th of May. 2016 . It was either a cruel joke or she went back in time somehow? She didn’t like not knowing what was going on. Natasha decided to make herself a cup of tea to calm down (a habit she picked up from Wanda when they were on run with Steve and Sam) so she made her way through the silent compound, basking in the silence and calm air. However, as she reached her destination, she saw that there was someone already there.
Maximoff. But the wrong one. Instead of a soft girl who would flash a small smile that warmed Natasha’s heart, it was a blonde-haired boy who never smiled at anyone, always looking for his sister, not wanting to accept that the girl left him. Pietro Maximoff was the most rebellious member of Avengers, who never listened to older members unless they were Natasha. He only accepted orders from her as she was the last person that had a connection to his sister.
He turned around and at Natasha, a cup of water in his hands.
“Romanoff.” He murmured and started walking away slowly, unlike him.
“Maximoff.” She replied back softly, forgetting about her own problems and focusing on the boy. “Are you alright?”
“Am I alright?” Pietro chuckled and stopped dead in his tracks. He stood like that for a moment, looking at the wall in front of him and then turned to look at her, again. “ She left me. I don’t know why and I don’t know if she is alive. It’s been exactly a year and there is no sign of her.”
Natasha was surprised by the tears in his eyes, desperation clear on his face. Her memories of last year showed the boy who was confident in himself and closed off, not showing any emotions. This side of him was so different that she wasn’t sure what to think of it.
“We will do everything to find her, Pietro,” Nat said and moved towards the boy, putting her hand on his arm and gently squeezing it in comfort that both of them needed. “If I learn where she is, I will get you to her.”
Now, Natasha Romanoff wished she didn’t say those words because she saw a cottage in the woods, Wanda sitting in front of it on a wooden chair, sipping tea in the sun. Natasha never saw Wanda like that and realised that she somehow located her? Probably. She wasn’t sure. Thankfully, the older Maximoff twin didn’t see her stunned expression as he left the kitchen, calmer than before and by saying goodnight to her.
The spy decided against the tea and left quickly to her room, deciding to try her new powers. She thought of Wanda again, finding her without fault. Then Steve was sleeping in his room in the same building. She went through all the Avengers, finding them with ease. Then her family. Melina was in her house in Russia, Aleksei in prison in Russia. Yelena… Yelena was on a mission from Red Room, still under its influence. Natasha felt her sister’s soul wanting to get free, make her own choice. At this moment she knew that even though she would get answers from Wanda about her being alive again, she had to put her sister, family and other widows first.
Natasha started packing everything she needed in the middle of the night, especially many weapons that she owned and after writing a letter to the Avengers, saying that she had to do something very important , she left the compound and took a quinjet, heading straight to Europe. When she arrived in Europe, it was midday there and she left her vehicle behind, allowing settings to show its location in a few hours so that Avengers can take it back. From there, she contacted Rick Manson to get her a car to travel around. The man thankfully didn’t ask her for details and additionally provided her with quite a few fake documents. From there, she looked for her sister with her new powers, travelling Europe by herself but she was always a few steps behind Yelena, always late.
Few days after chasing Yelena, she found that she was in Morocco. It was safe to say that Natasha broke almost all road rules to get there as soon as possible. She knew what would happen there. She cursed herself for not leaving the quinjet for herself but a car was less noticeable. She reached the city and ran through the streets, using her new powers to find Yelena, wanting to get to her sister before she could kill the other Widow. She finally found her.
Yelena stabbed Oksana but the ex-Widow broke the vial with red dust, whispering to the young woman to free others. Yelena looked wildly around her, looking out for other widows, her ex allies. Whom she found was someone whom she didn’t expect. Before her stood Natasha Romanoff, her sister.
“Yelena, please go with me. I’ll explain everything.” Red-haired assassin told her and all Yelena could do was nod weakly.
The two Widows ran through the streets together, looking out for other assassins and finally, they reached a black car that Yelena assumed was Natasha’s after the woman opened it easily and the two of them drove off quickly, leaving the city behind them in minutes. They rode for a few hours, taking a ferry to Spain and then stopped in Malaga, far away from their enemies.
“How and why did you find me now?” Asked the blonde weakly, sitting down on a bed in a motel room they rented.
“I can tell you but you have to promise me that you won’t interrupt me, okay?” Natasha said softly, surprising the other woman, and after receiving a small nod, she told Yelena everything. Her supposed future, the Blip, her death and coming back a few weeks ago. She told her everything that she could remember. When she finished, she looked at her sister with a vulnerable look, wanting to get some reaction from the younger assassin.
“So… you want to help me free others?” Yelena inquired with a thick accent, not betraying emotions that were battling inside her.
“Of course. They have to be freed and I’ll do whatever I can to achieve that.”
“What will you do after we bring down the Red Room?”
“I… I am not exactly sure. My memories tell me that all of this played out differently and the two sets that I have now seem to diverge from each other last year. During Ultron, something happened.” Muttered Nat in a soft voice, fiddling with her hands. “The person who changed it all was, or I think it was, Wanda. I’ll try to look for her and ask her about that. From what I know, she might be the only person out there who knows what is going on. The rest of the team told me how she said that she saw the future. The little witch is the only one who can help me make any sense of all of that.”
“Alright, we take down the Red Room as you did in your past and then I’m going with you to find your ‘little witch’,” Yelena smirked and watched her sister blush softly.
“She’s not my little witch.” Replied quickly Natasha, trying to cover her face in her hands. “Wanda is just my… friend. Yes! My friend. That’s all.” The younger woman just smirked and started laughing loudly at her frustrated sister.
After that rather uncomfortable conversation for Natasha, they both headed near Lyon where Natasha decided to meet up with Rick. He supplied them with an okay plane (better than the last one he gave to Natasha) and both Widows made their way to Siberia to meet up with their dad, the two agree on keeping the whole thing with possibly-time-travel-but-we-are-not-sure from their parents. The rest of their plan went just like in the original timeline - they got their dad, they got their mum, destroyed the Red Room, got information about other Widows and freed the ones they could find. Natasha smiled when the mission ended and instead of running away from the pieces of what was the flying building to get back to Avengers, she left with her family and other widows.
The large group settled at Melina’s house near St Petersburg and Natasha could not be happier about seeing all the women free from mind control, Alexei and Melina finally together. Everything was going well and the group was quickly becoming an organisation set in helping around the world if needed, possibly being led by three Widows who broke others free and one super-soldier. After a week in Russia, Natasha told her parents that she and Yelena had to meet up with someone very important in Sokovia. The two of them were okay with it but asked them to call if they will be in any trouble. Nat surprised them both by hugging them as a goodbye and driving away with her smiling sister towards Sokovia, leaving the group of 12 Widows and Alexei waving goodbye to them.
That’s how she found herself in a car with Yelena, using her powers to find the little witch.
“You are thinking loudly, Natasha.” Groaned blonde assassin from the passenger seat.
“I’m not,” Natasha responded in an offended tone but she was secretly smiling slightly. Well, not as secretly as she thought because her sister started smirking evilly.
“Ha! We will see your little witch-girlfriend tomorrow so don’t worry about her.” Grinned Yelena. “Also, turn up the music. American Pie is playing and you know how much I like this song!” Natasha did what Yelena asked her and continued driving with a smile.
The pair reached a mountain cottage where Wanda was supposedly staying, in the morning. Natasha had to admit that the place was quiet, peaceful and had its own charm about it all, especially when it was surrounded by the vast forest around and a lake on one side. She understood why Wanda would want to stay here.
The assassin parked her car some distance from the house, making sure to not startle anyone (Wanda) who would be there. She took a deep breath and left the car.
“Stay here, Yelena. I don’t know how she will react.” Said Romanoff softly, mostly to herself.
Her sister simply smiled at her. “Go get your girl, Nat.” Causing the older woman to roll her eyes at her.
Natasha walked towards the house, her gun ready just in case and if she was being honest? This was the most nervous she was in her life. Natasha gulped when she saw who was sitting on the stairs, sipping something from a mug, probably tea.
Wanda Maximoff sat there, wearing a red sweater, black sweatpants. Her hair was red but few shades lighter than Natasha’s own and slightly curled, making Natasha smile slightly at that as she never saw the little witch like that. Maximoff made eye contact with Natasha and her calm expression vanished from her face, replaced with a calculated look. The Sokovian stood up from the stairs, setting the mug next to her and moved towards Natasha, gathering her powers in her hands in defence.
“What are you doing here Agent Romanoff?” The woman asked confidently in a way that she never spoke to Natasha, her voice holding some coldness in it.
“Maximoff.” Replied Natasha, stopping her walk several steps from her… friend? “I am here to talk.”
“If it is about Avengers, it will be better if you leave. We have nothing to talk about.” Snarked Wanda and Natasha tilted her head slightly, trying to look intimidating but she wasn’t sure if it worked against the other woman.
“This is more of… personal matter.”
“I don’t care. Leave. Now.”
“Wanda, I won’t leave, we have to talk.” Said Natasha and made a step forward. This was her mistake. A ball of red surrounded her and she could feel herself losing air from her lungs. She tried to gasp for air but it was to no avail.
“I said. Leave. I don’t have to talk with you about anything. Not you or Avengers!” Wanda shouted angrily, her eyes glowing a dangerous shade of red.
Natasha tried to do anything, grab some air. Nothing was working, Maximoff was ready to kill her right there and then. Her life passed before her eyes and before she could welcome death with open arms, again, she remembered one memory.
“Is… that… my… my… jacket?” She gasped weakly and those words worked like a spell. Wanda dropped her gently on the ground, a scared expression on her face.
“What did you say?” Wanda whispered softly, kneeling next to the assassin.
“I asked if that’s my… jacket.” Repeated Nat weakly, closing her eyes and smiling softly. She heard the girl let out a teary laugh, hugging her and even though Natasha was not a hug person, she liked ( loved ) that one.
“You remember everything?” Asked Wanda, still holding Natasha strongly, as if the woman would vanish if she stopped.
“I remember you… dying in a snap and 5 years after that, little witch. I am sorry it took us so long.” Natasha stroked the younger woman’s hair in a comforting gesture, her voice holding sadness in it.
“Nat… please never apologize for this… it wasn’t your fault.” Wanda full-on cried right now against Natasha. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Wands.” Natasha kissed the girl’s cheek and sighed softly.
“Wait…” Sokovian furrowed her eyebrows in thought. “How did you exactly find me?”
Nat laughed slightly “Firstly, I am an international super spy, have some faith in me. Secondly, I might have possibly got some powers from the soul stone after my cliff diving?”
“NATASHA!” Shouted Wanda and hit the spy on her arm. Hard. “Don’t joke about your death like that!”
“Okay! Okay!” Nat laughed and put her hands up in surrender. “Now, I would tell you all about it but you need to meet someone first.” Wanda looked at the spy, expecting an answer. “My… sister?”
“I didn’t know you had a sister?”
“That’s a story that needs a bottle of some strong alcohol, little witch. Let’s go meet her first.” Natasha dragged a smiling and confused woman towards her car.
“Natashaaaaaaa. Is it safe to come out? I don’t want to be wrapped in those red wiggly woes just like you did!” Yelled Yelena from inside the car through an open window. This statement caused Wanda to look a little embarrassed at what she did but before she could start apologising again, the assassin took her hand to lead her to the car.
“She’s okay now, ‘Lena. Wanda won’t hurt you now, she’s as harmless as a puppy right now.” When the blonde assassin heard that, she left the vehicle, smirking slightly.
“Ah! So you must be that famous Wanda Maximoff that my sister talks about. All. The. Time.” Yelena winked at the witch and shocked her hand. “I’m Yelena Belova, Natasha’s younger sister.”
“It’s nice to meet you even though I just learned of your existence.” Wanda smiled and looked at the other assassin.
“I swear that I’ll tell you everything but first, can we have something to drink? We didn’t stop much on the way here.” Said apologetically, Natasha.
“It might have something to do with you wanting to meet your girlfriend.” Muttered Yelena behind the two redheads but fortunately for her, neither of them heard her.
“Let’s go then!” Said excited Wanda, guiding two women through the grass to the small house.
The group walked in comfortable silence, Wanda still holding onto Natasha. When they reached the house, the door opened revealing two figures - an older woman and a man. The woman was slightly older than Natasha or Wanda, she might have been around 50 years old and she wore a purple t-shirt and a black jacket. She had black hair a little bit wilder than Wanda’s but still kept neat and tidy. Next to her stood a young man with dark hair. He wore a grey hoodie and black jeans. He had a… pie? In his hands. He looked familiar to Natasha but she couldn’t place where she met him before.
“Wanda!” The man exclaimed, smiling happily at the little witch. “I finished the plum pie and I thought your friends would appreciate it if they had a slice or two!” The woman next to him groaned and buried her head in her hands, muttering something but she was too far away for Natasha to make it. The man’s voice made something in the spy’s head just click.
“Wanda? What the hell is Bucky doing here? Baking pies out of all possible things?” She asked the younger redhead and the woman just blushed under her gaze.
“Surprise?” Wanda answered meekly, making Yelena chuckle behind them.