Chapter Text
Previously *
Tony nodded “ that's where things get interesting.'' The holo projected the rooftop in detail. “I was able to follow the bullet trajectories to this rooftop and as it turns out she did manage to cause injury to the shooter. The blood I collected from the scene was from a dead widow”
“We need to talk to Nat or Yelena about this, how are they doing?” Steve asked, as Clint messed with the projection.
“Carol is with them now. The bullets were laced. Yelena was only grazed but it was potent. Wanda got hit in the hip. It was a through and through but her powers immediately tried to mend her and she is an alpha so she shouldn't have any trouble when she wakes. Nat got the brunt of it. She was hit twice and had to have surgery to remove the bullet left in her shoulder. She is strong though she'll probably be in a sling for a day or two after she wakes. they should be waking up today or tomorrow, their injuries have pretty much healed but the poison is still in their system, that's what is keeping them down.”
“Hey Stark, did you see this?” Clint asked, pointing to the holo…
Now*
When Tony turned around to see what Clint was going on about he was confused as to why Clint was pointing to the hologram of a shell casing from one of the rounds.Tony lifted a brow at the hawk “… a shell casing?” when that got Clint to nod his head Tony was just too tired to react any other way. He wasn't an idiot, of course he saw the casing! That's why it is on the holo! Still he took a breath and dryly replied, “yes Clint I saw the casing there are about fourteen others just like it.”
Clint ignored the tone directed at him. He knew the situation at hand ,and that all that coupled with the lack of kids, mate, and sleep, tensions were high.” that's not what I meant.” again her enlarged the holo until it was just the casing shining before them. Unlike the others, this on had managed to land on the ground with it's bottom facing up “ I know I mostly use arrows, but when a round is fired the pin leaves a small knick on the casing, not a letter” he said pointing out the visible ‘s’ on the enlarged casing.
Steve tilted his head “It looks like the shooter was trying to send us a message”
“Yeah, literally” Bucky agreed.
“Shit! How did I miss that?!”
Steve opened his mouth and lifted a finger, but was stopped by his alpha. Now was not the time to correct the frustrated beta’s language.
“FRIDAY, can you make out all that letters and markings left on the casings ?” Tony sighed fresh eyes and fresh clues just what he needed, as a fresh coffee and just maybe the day wouldn't be so bad.
After a moment FRIDAY’s voice came alive.“I am able to make out a few letters but the scans did not decipher them all”
Steve nodded. “So that's where we’ll start. Where are the casings now?”
A few hours later*
Green eyes fluttered open in confused annoyance as to why there was an infernal beeping cutting through her state of rest. When a very familiar voice came from her left side “Sestra?”
Nat blinked her eyes and shook her head as if that would help clear her mind of the fog that had decided to gather there. “Yelena?” she groaned. “Where…”
“We're at the compound. You scared us all for a minute, even Naomi and Ruth have been calling nonstop.”
The beeping of the monitor increased. That was all it took for the older widow’s memory to snap back into focus as her eyes widened and she tried to shoot up off the bed.”y/n?! Kate?!”
Again she tried to get off the bed but Yelena guided her back down. “ it's okay they're okay, they took a taxi”
“And Wanda?” Yelena pointed to the bed next to her and for the first time since she woke up, the red head realized that they weren't the only two in the room and again the monitor picked up speed.
Before her sister could as the obvious questions, the younger widow answered “ she’s okay, we're all okay”
Nat gave her an I am used sarcastic single raised eyebrow look that screamed ‘really?! We're all okay?’
Yelena’s shoulders slumped a bit “fine! It was a Shit day! The three of us got hit! Our plans went to shit! You look like Shit! And…and you scared the shit out of me okay” then she whispered “ and I couldn't do shit about it”
Nat took her sister's hand in her own and looked her in the eyes. “I'm okay sestra”
Yelena scoffed and looked away “ you almost bled to death” her accent thick with emotion.
Before anymore could be said Carol walked back in holding a plate stacked high with grilled cheese “oh great you're up, you had us worried she said as she smiled to her pack alpha “ and you you’re supposed to be resting you still have poison in your system”
Yelena scoffed “I'm sitting in a chair” then she crossed her arms and pouted like a child “plus I feel fine”
Carol rolled her eyes and shared a smirk with the older widow as she handed them each a grilled cheese. “ you're just grumpy the poison in your system is still keeping you from talking with Kate”
“It's okay sestra” she smiled “ I know you were worried about me and that you love me and you want to hug me” she teased
Yelena scoffed, unable to meet her eyes “ hardly” she replied making the two other alphas laugh before she asked Carol “ did you bring the hot sauce?”
“Yup” Carol reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out the bottle for the sister widows to share.
“Carol….?”
“Yes alpha?”
Nat held up her grilled cheese “why is there a hand print on both sides of the grilled cheese?” she asked as she bit her lip trying not to laugh.
“Um.. It's photon grilled?” Carol’s face turned red “ fine! so I can't cook but I definitely know how to use my hands.” she admitted as the other two laughed at her expense “ it's not like you can do any better Mrs peanut butter sandwich”
“Ha she's got you there” Yelena laughed.
Nat gasped “I'll have you know that I can make peanut butter sandwiches and mac and cheese and I definitely know how to use my hands just ask Wanda and Y/n!”
“Eww I don't need to hear that! And that was ONE time! I'm honestly surprised you didn't poison Y/n with that dish I swear I couldn't shit for like a week after eating that”
A few minutes later *
When they were done eating, Natasha looked over at her still unconscious mate. It worried her that Wanda was still asleep even if her injury was healed. “ So, who did this? Did Tony get them?”
As if summoned, Tony and Clint walked through the door. Natasha took in the beta’s haggard appearance and knew the answer immediately. Whoever did this was still out there, but her pack hadn't stopped looking.
Tony’s shoulders sagged and he smiled “ oh great you're both up”
Yelena rolled her eyes “It will take more than a sniper to get rid of us”
“What have you got for me Tony? What did we miss?”
“A lot actually, it's been a few days since the shooting” he handed her a pad so that she and her sister could look over the files of everything as he explained to them “ Bucky and Cap’s mission was a success. Scott, Hope, and Sam are making great progress with that last minute mission. They have already brought down 30 trafficers and over 500 kids have been reunited with their families thus far and they are still working their way through it.”
“What about the shooter?” nat interrupted. Yes she was very very proud of her team but she wanted this to be over with so that she could lift the code omega and hold both of her mates in her arms. Y/n and the other onegas must be scared if it's been a few days even if those safe rooms were designed to sustain about 5 people for at least a month.
“By the time I got there the shooter was gone, but they did leave us with a few surprises. The shots you fired gave us our first. The blood left on the rooftop came from a dead widow.”
The two widows sucked in a breath, something was wrong. There was more to this. Widows kill period. they don't leave things behind. If this widow left a surprise then there was a reason for it.
Their thoughts were interrupted when Wanda groaned beside them.
“Wands you're awake!” The redheaded widow was on the other bed spooning her mate from behind before the others could even process what happened. “ You scared me malyshka.” she whispered.
“I'm okay Tasha. How are y/n and kate?”
“They are okay, their taxi arrived the day of the shooting. they're in the safe room.”
Tony clint , Carol, and Yelena moved closer before Tony cleared his throat and continued.
“ As I was saying, as it is clear that the widow is not dead, I have Bruce making more of that red widow serum. Also Clint here was able to find two hidden messages that were left behind.”
“They weren't hidden” Clint crossed his arms with a small smile on his face.
“Anyway the first message is probably an address, the other is a written message.”
“What do you mean probably?” Nat questioned as Wanda retained her bearings . “What does the message say?”
Tony scratched his head. “Well we are trying to decipher it now but there are many possibilities. Each letter was on a separate shell casing bottom. As for the address it is a series of numbers on the sides of the casings but until we uncover the correct formation of the message then the address is also useless to us.”
Yelena made a face and raised her hand” I thought you were supposed to be the smart one but scrabble beats you ”
“Actually we came here because there is a casing that we can't decrypt and since you are widows yourself maybe you can tell us what it is. Right now we have stiltyxscogue…ht’s!?
But this last casing could be a ‘c’, or an ‘n’, or an ‘a’, or a ‘b’, or ‘d’, and it could be in either Russian or English.”
Yelena held out her hand and Clint placed the casing in her palm. Yelena turned it over and examined it herself. She stiffened in her seat as she quickly handed over the offending object to her sister. “Is that what I think it is?”
The older widow bolted up causing Wanda to do the same “it's an omega symbol ‘Ω’” she breathed.
Wanda stiffened like a board as she glowed red.
“It's a good thing they are all in their safe rooms then right?” Carol smiled. “We can protect them from here.”
Anxious pheromones flooded the room“They aren't here” Wanda whined.
Carol frowned “what do you mean? We got word that the taxi arrived, they should be in the safe room..right?”
“I can't link with y/n or Kate, they aren't here!” she whined again as she started removing all the wires attached to her.
“Whoah whoah, hold on a minute” Tony said “you just woke up, you can't contact y/n because you still have poison in your system”
“No! You don't understand! Even if my links are down my powers aren't! “ she whirled around and pleaded with her alpha “They aren't here! I can't feel them!”
Natasha ran. It had been days! DAYS! She knew the others were behind her but she didn't bother to see how far they had fallen behind her. She knew for a fact that they were there, but she had to check. She had to see…
She didn’t know how long it took her to reach their room but she’s clawing open the hidden panel and placing palm at its center as it draws a bit of blood, scans her eyes, and then has Wanda do the same all before entering in a specific code.
The eldest widow stumbles back and falls to the ground when everyone is met with an empty room and sinking stomachs.
“No” she breathes “NO!” She gripped her chest with her good hand as she scrambled to get off the floor with her one good arm.
Y/n and Kate had been gone for days and no one had even noticed. She’d failed them, failed her family, failed her pack. This couldn’t be happening. She was on the verge of tears but she couldn’t right now, she needed a lead, needed to find them.
Yelena slammed Tony against the wall “The taxi, i thought you said they arrived in a taxi”
“I was told that a taxi arrived. We were all busy taking care of the three of you and the other casualties of the shooting”
“FRIDAY did a taxi arrive on the day of the shooting?” Wanda asked desperately.
“Yes alpha”
“If it wasn’t y/n and Kate then who was in the taxi?”Carol asked as Wanda magiced their clothes and mission gear on.
“ from my records it appears to be an ice cream delivery, they left after placing the bag in the freezer”
“”SHIT!” Yelena yelled as she punched the wall. Her mate was gone and she didn’t hadn’t even noticed. How much time had gone by while she was just sitting there?!
The four alphas and Two betas made their way to the roof as their alpha gave the orders. “ inform us the moment you crack the messages on the casings. If we aren’t back by then send a team a head to the address the message uncovers. They might… we might find them there. For now Wanda, Carol, Yelena and I will check the ice cream shop.
With that said the four of them lifted off into the air, three of them surrounded by a red glow as Yelena took out her phone.
“Please tell me you have a tracker on Kate” Wanda begged. Whatever had happened to the omegas had happened while they were together so chances were that they were still together now.
“It says that they are at the ice cream shop”
Natasha knew they were all hoping that both omegas were there and that that was why Ruth and Naomi had been calling them but she just knew they wouldn’t be there. She was just praying that when they investigated that address, that y/n and Kate were in there alive and not…
The second the four of them enter the shop Naomi is dragging them through the kitchen area and heading outside “you need to see this” there was no greeting, no warm hug, not even a hello and they were all grateful for it. With everything going on it wouldn't have seemed right. Nothing seemed right already.
Yelena, wanda, and Nat all shared a look and they knew that each breath they took felt wrong for them all without their omegas besides them.
Once they made it out the door they came out into the alleyway and that's when they smelt it…blood
Y/n and Kate’s blood…
All five alphas tried valiantly to hold in their emotions but the pheromones in the air was a nauseating mixture of fear, anger, ,determination, confusion, worry, and even self loathing that broadcasted to everyone the true weight of the situation at hand.
“It's it's over here.” They came to a stacking of crates and cardboard “ I had to cover it up so that it wasn't messed with” Naomi started taking down the carefully constructed pile “ I should have done more.. I tried calling but I knew you three were hurt. I didn't know what else to do”
“You are not responsible for the actions of others. You did what you could, that's more than a lot of other people would have done”
When the stack was moved out of the way Naomi removed the trap she had placed over the section of the wall that needed to be preserved.
As Naomi uncovered the was Yelena and Natasha took a step back in horror, for under the tarp was a clear message to them both…
There on the wall before them was a new logo with a widows hourglass at it's center sprouting eight tentacles ,and within hung the bloodied collars of y/n and Kate.
This was their fault, they caused this. This was revenge for their actions …
Wanda’s phone went off and she answered it immediately. It was Tony “ we figure out out the message, the x wasn't an x it was a widows symbol. The message on the casings reads…” he paused and the sound of a computer same through before he continued.
“Guilty!
Cost?…
The Widow’s omegas”
The sisters shook their heads trying desperately to suppress their grief. They knew why this was happening for under the new symbol on the wall read two words…
FOR DREYKOV
Y/n and Kate.. They were gone…
Elsewhere*
Y/n’s bloodied and exposed form trembled on the ground as she shied away from the three dominos beside her. The sound of a door being slammed let her know that she and Kate were left in the darkness again as she whimpered out for her mates.
“ Max, N-Natty please” she cried “please.”