A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Time to deal with the Red Room~

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If there was even a chance they could free the others and take down Dreykov and the Red Room once and for all, then they had to take it. Yelena grunts and prepares to push herself to her feet before asking them all for their help. However, just as she opens her mouth to speak…

"We have to help them."

The Russian Super Spy blinks owlishly at the Bullet Proof Hunk's words. Thaddeus looks determined and resolved.

"It's not just you is it? It's all of the other Black Widows too. How many? How many women has the Red Room done this to?"

Yelena glances over at Natasha, a little surprised by how much Thaddeus seems to care. But Natasha looks too horrified for her to be able to get anything from the other woman.

"… I should never have just left you behind, Yelena. I shouldn't have taken SHIELD's word for it. I'm sorry."

Blinking rapidly now, Yelena feels a certain somewhat foreign sensation clog up in her throat and… and fucking tears of all things welling up in her eyes. Fucking hell, since when did she get so sentimental?

"It's… it's fine."

But Natasha just shakes her head.

"It's not fine. None of this is fine."

Thaddeus jumps in again, nodding decisively.

"She's right. We need to stop the Red Room and free everyone."

Well that was exactly what Yelena had been about to beg them to do. She supposed she didn't have to beg now though. Caught a little off guard by the fact that they'd decided to help her without her even asking, she narrows her eyes a bit.

"… It will be dangerous, you know. Not easy. Not fun."

Thaddeus gives her a raised eyebrow.

"Did you think we came out here with Natasha today for 'easy' or 'fun'? This was a rescue operation… as far as I'm concerned, we're just extending that rescue operation. Right?"

Only then does he look to the blonde and black haired beauties at his sides. And only then does he look just a bit uncertain. Yelena's training tells her that the dynamic between the group is… interesting. From what she's seen so far, Natasha is beholden to Thaddeus and so is the black-haired one, leaving them instinctively deferential to the big man.

The blonde though, Emma was what she'd been called… she presents something of a contradiction. On the one hand, it's obvious Thaddeus has some experience with making decisions and leading in the heat of the moment. On the other hand, the blonde isn't nearly as submissive in her posture. If anything, he seems to be a little bit deferential towards her.

This is confirmed when his gaze lingers a bit longer on Emma rather than her raven-haired opposite… and ultimately, the blonde gives a small nod and a smile. Thaddeus immediately turns back to Yelena at that, smiling too.

"Right. Let's go save everyone."

Yelena's mouth opens and closes wordlessly for a few seconds before she finally finds her voice again.

"… It won't be that easy. The Red Room is different now."

When Natasha furrows her brow and wrinkles her nose, Yelena shrugs one shoulder and explains.

"Recent change. Probably after you tried to kill Dreykov now that I think about it. Red Room got skittish. Moved everything, shut down old facilities. And they got really touchy about operational security. I don't even know where their main base is anymore, or how they got me or the other Widows there and back when they need to…"

There's a pause as everyone digests that information. Then, Emma smiles and shakes her head.

"That won't be a problem. Fortunately, there are protocols for capturing defected agents and potential assets alive."

Wait, what? Before Yelena can ask what the hell that means… someone else is suddenly standing in the doorway. Multiple someone elses, actually. Yelena blanches when she realizes that she's staring at a Red Room Cleanup Team. No Black Widows among them, not this time it seemed, but they're still special forces on the Red Room's payroll and trained for hunting down and taking care of… inconveniences like her.

"Shit, behind you!"

But… nothing happens. The people in the room with her don't react. The people in the hallway don't react either. In fact, they don't even have their rifles raised right now, instead letting them hang uselessly at their sides.

"It's alright. We have things entirely under control."

Emma's supreme confidence has Yelena looking at her and the black haired woman more closely… and belatedly realizing that they're both doing something, exerting themselves in some way despite just standing there rather casually.

Natasha hugs her from the side, leaning in close.

"It's alright, Yelena. They're not… they're mutants. Specifically, they're both telepathic. But they're on our side. And if anyone is going to be able to break the other Widows free of this… this chemical control, it's going to be them."

Her first instinct is to be more than a little wary. What if they'd fucked with Natasha's head and she just didn't know it? And yet… they'd done nothing except help her so far. And they'd done nothing to make her distrust them either. This was all just natural paranoia and suspicion talking. She needed the help if she was going to take down the Red Room. So in the end…

"Alright. What's the plan?"

-x-X-x-

The Americans had a saying. When life gave you lemons, you made lemonade. General Dreykov had, of course, always been more partial to his own version. When life gave you a surplus of little girls, you made them into killers, spies, and weapons.

Regardless, when he heard that not only had Yelena Belova been captured alive but also led to the capture of Natasha Romanoff and three other individuals, Dreykov had been… ecstatic. He had, of course, immediately approved the request to sedate and transport instead of eliminating the targets. To see the woman who had tried to kill him again faced with her own inferiority would be… excellent.

It was just a shame that Project Taskmaster wasn't ready yet. It would be several more years before that came to fruition and he didn't actually expect to keep Romanoff alive that long. No matter. In the end, he was giddy, like a child in a candy shop, waiting for the prisoners to be delivered to his brand new, state of the art facility… high in the sky above Mother Russia.

The Red Room had never been more powerful, more modern, sleeker and more versatile. And the next generations of Black Widows were already being trained, already being brought up to the level of the current crop… and made to surpass it in a variety of different ways.

To be fair, that the new generation be better than the old wasn't just some passing fancy on his part. It was necessary. The world was changing rapidly with the turn of the twenty-first century. There had always been monsters lurking on the fringe of civilization and polite society, but… they weren't lurking anymore.

It was worse over in the United States. Groups like the Avengers, or the Fantastic Four on one side, with other groups like the Brotherhood of Mutants on the other. Dreykov had gotten his hands on a few mutant Russian girls himself for his next crop of Black Widows, but their powers made them… less predictable. He still wasn't sure whether they would work out or not.

One thing was certain, however. The Red Room couldn't afford to be left behind. That's why the moment the prisoners are delivered, Dreykov has Romanoff and Belova put in an interrogation room. Strapped down to a pair of chairs and made to face one another, he makes sure they're both secured several times over before finally giving the order to wake them from their sedation.

As they come awake, Dreykov stays outside of the room, watching from afar. From their foreheads down to their ankles, they're secured to the chairs by over a dozen different straps. Even the slightest movement is all but impossible, but he still has to be sure.

He watches them struggle for a time. He watches them make eye contact. He watches as Natasha tells Yelena that it will be okay, that they'll get out of here. Even now, after all these years, their bond remains untouched.

Dreykov knows their trainers had done their best to break them of that nasty affliction the undercover operation in their early years had left them with. However, he can't help but be glad now that the Red Room failed to tear them apart. After all, that weakness… had led them both right back into his grasp.

Once he's certain that neither is going to be able to break free of their restraints any time soon, Dreykov finally enters the interrogation room, a smile on his face. Natasha's reaction to his survival is muted, no doubt because Yelena got the chance to tell her before they were captured. Both women tense up though, his very presence enough to make them fearful.

"Ah… my two wayward Black Widows. The prodigal daughters returned to me at long last."

Natasha hisses, flexing against her restraints as she glares daggers at him.

"Dreykov."

She spits the word with such vitriol that if words could kill, he would likely be dead. Of course, sometimes words CAN kill… his words, anyways. Stepping up beside Yelena, Dreykov reaches out and grabs the chair that she's strapped too, watching Natasha's eyes follow his movements the entire time.

"Now, now. Is that any way to address the man who has given you everything, Natasha? Such an ungrateful brat you turned out to be. Not like dear Yelena here. She was obedient at least… until unfortunate circumstances took her away from me."

"You controlled her, Dreykov! You turned her and the others into puppets!"

Yes, he had done that. Smiling wickedly, Dreykov immediately moves to twist the knife deeper.

"Yes, and I couldn't have done it without Melina either. You remember her I imagine. Melina Vostokoff. The Red Room's head scientist for more than twenty years now."

Natasha flinches… and so does Yelena. He basks in their mounting horror, even as he chuckles.

"She was instrumental to the creation of this new, modernized Red Room. The old training still has its place of course, but as we see with the two of you, it was far from infallible. No, a combination of old with new will see the next batches of Black Widows not just better, not just stronger… but also far more obedient and loyal. Like dear Yelena was until those rebels got to her."

It was extremely unfortunate that Melina Vostokoff's invention had a counteragent developed for it so quickly. This 'Red Dust' had just started cropping up in recent months. And the worst part was, the effects were irreversible.

Vostokoff was already hard at work in developing a new version of her serum that would work on those exposed to the Red Dust, of course. However, as things currently stood, if someone was exposed to the original serum and then exposed to Red Dust, the Red Dust didn't just scour the serum from their systems, it immunized them to it as well.

Yes, unfortunate to say the least… but in the end, it mattered little. And he certainly wasn't about to explain anything to these two. No, they would be the ones answering questions here.

"Now then, Natasha. Shall we get down to business?"

The vivacious red head stiffens in her restraints, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You'll get nothing out of me, you bastard."

Smirking, Dreykov tilts his head towards Yelena rather pointedly.

"Won't I? Really, do you care more about your new masters at SHIELD than you do Yelena here? I want to know everything you told them, Natasha. I want to know everything you learned in their employ. Then and only then, will I grant you the mercy of death."

There's a pause as his words hang in the air, Dreykov letting the reality of the situation sink in. There was no escape for either of them. They were… used goods at this point, only worth extracting every last ounce of value before being disposed of.

Only… Natasha doesn't look nearly as defeated as she should. If anything, rather than fall into despair, she seems to be smiling more and more by the second. Dreykov narrows his eyes at the grin spreading across her face. He considers briefly hitting Yelena to wipe the grin away but then thinks better of it.

"What's so amusing, my dear? Are you that eager for torture to begin?"

"No… no, it's just… your information is hilariously outdated, isn't it? I'm not with SHIELD anymore."

Wait, what? She'd defected again? Dreykov furrows his brow and scowls, the urge to begin engaging in some physical violence towards Yelena once again rising up… and then simmering back down. He'll have to torture Yelena eventually to get Natasha to talk… but not now. Not yet.

"What are you talking about? Who poached you from SHIELD?"

When Natasha just smirks at him, Dreykov's temper gets the better of him. He stomps forward, away from Yelena, and rears back his arm to backhand Natasha across the face. Except… then he stops in his tracks. He gets himself back under control. He pulls his hand back and clears his throat.

"Feeling alright, General? Weren't you going to torture us? Hurt us? Make us give you the answers you sought?"

Dreykov doesn't understand what's going on anymore. He does indeed want to hurt them. He was looking forward to this interrogation from the moment that he heard they'd been captured. Although… he'd only decided to personally handle the interrogation after they'd arrived.

… Why had he done that? He had more capable torturers than himself. Normally, he was perfectly content with watching. So why… why was he in here with these two? Even if they were perfectly secured it wasn't-

Dreykov's eyes widen as the straps binding Natasha and Yelena to their chairs ever so tightly… begin to come undone all on their own. He'd watched as his people strapped their sedated forms into the chairs. He'd watched them test the tightness of each strap himself.

But this isn't the straps snapping or coming loose or anything like that. No, this is them unstrapping themselves right before his eyes.

Dreykov takes a step back, even as Natasha and Yelena rise from their respective chairs and turn to him with smirks on their faces.

"You… I don't… I don't understand. What is happening?"

Natasha chuckles softly.

"It's like I said, General. Your information was outdated. And my new employers didn't appreciate learning just what sort of things you'd been doing here…"

He finally tries to make a run for the door. Except he can't. Its like his feet are stuck to the ground, and more and more of his body is frozen by the moment. He opens his mouth to speak, to shout orders to any who might be listening… but nothing comes out. Only silence.

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The Vote:

[ ] Stick with Dreykov's POV - 24%

[ ] Switch to Thaddeus' POV - 17%

[X] Switch to Natasha's POV - 59%

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