Chapter 218: Resignation

Yelena pulled her legs up onto the chair and leaned sideways against the armrest. It was a lazy posture but a deliberate choice. A relaxed body made the other person relax as well. The Red Room’s psychology lessons were still fresh in her mind.

It irked her that Skullfire seemed to have no care for her body language. He sat on her couch like he had paid for it.

“Are you sure your team can pull it off?”

“Hmm?”

“The Widows. You make it sound like buying groceries. Knock on the door, say ‘I am Yelena’s friend,’ and everyone walks out with a happy ending. It’s not that simple.”

The Widows weren’t packed together like some big family but scattered across the continent. Each and every one of them carried the Red Room’s scars. The first thing many of them did was distance themselves from each other. Seeing another Widow was like looking into a mirror, and the mirror always showed the Red Room. Yelena was in the same boat as she had distanced herself from everyone except Natasha and Melina. She only caught up with others through voice calls, not even FaceTime.

But distance wasn’t the same as not caring. She cared for them still and wanted them to live boring, normal lives that nobody had ever let them have.

Skullfire tilted his burning head. “Do you trust Nat or not?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Then wait patiently with me.”

Yelena scoffed. “For the purpose of gathering intel, I once spent four hours inside a closet. Four hours, with a hockey stick poking my back. I’m a patient woman, okay?”

It had almost become a ritual for her to curse that Chinese spy at every recollection. Why did he even hide a hockey stick in his closet?

Skullfire's fingers started tapping his leg in a rhythm. “I can see your patience in the way you live.”

The seemingly harmless words went in like a needle.

“I don’t have to kill someone under brainwashing anymore,” Yelena said, lifting her chin proudly. “There’s nothing wrong with the way I live.”

“Well, when was the last time you stepped outside?”

Yelena opened her mouth for a quick answer and found none. She had to trace back to Christmas, which was quite annoying. “I went to buy clothes with Melina… on Christmas.”

He let out a laugh. “So you’re a shut-in now?”

“I don’t like the way you make it sound.” Yelena stared at the empty sockets of his skull, refusing to look away first. “And what are you implying with this? Is staying at home bad?”

“Going from a deadly assassin to a stay-at-home little sis is kinda…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, which was somehow worse than if he had. Her imagination filled in the gap with very not-so-kind words. Pathetic. Sad. Wasted.Useless. Burden to others.

“I’ve traveled across the world for the Red Room. This is my year-long vacation to heal my soul from all that beating.” Yelena lifted up her top and slapped a hand on her stomach. The muscles there were still hard as a rock. “Look here. I’m still a Widow. Throw me at any human and I’ll beat the shit out of them like a suka (bitch).”

Skullfire's flames flicked a little brighter. She had a feeling he was smiling at her.

“You know, normal humans stop being deadly when you fight someone powerful every day.”

That was true even for Natasha. That was why she had mentioned a human. Natasha and Skullfire were demons. Not the terrible, human-eating kind but demons, nevertheless.

Yelena grinned. “Sounds like an adventure I’d enjoy. Does your sister-in-law get an invitation? Or do I have to ‘strengthen my bond with Brother-in-Law’ first?”

“An invitation to what?”

She kept her tone light and teasing, but this wasn’t one of her jokes. What she wouldn’t give to gain the same level of strength as Natasha. To finally be useful to her, instead of a potential hostage that dragged Natasha backward. Perhaps then her life would mean something, even if that meaning was borrowed from her sister.

Skullfire shook his head. “I can’t give you superpowers. Nat will be upset.”

She wasn’t hurt by the rejection. Mostly, she was confused. “Why would she mind if I’m becoming stronger?”

“She wants all of you to live a normal life.”

Yelena let out a hearty chuckle. “After what we went through… Normal is a country we don’t have a passport for.”

“You should take it up with Nat. I don’t get to decide what’s good for her family.”

“So cheap…”

She wasn’t the type to give up easily.

“You know,” she began, resting her chin on her hand. “A man of your caliber must have magic to spare. Just some crumbs. You wouldn’t even notice it was gone.”

“A lot more than that if we’re being technical.”

She waited but nothing followed. He stayed quiet, sitting there with his eyes closed like he was meditating.

“…And?”

“And convince Natasha.”

Yelena switched tracks right away. “Think about it seriously. If SHIELD kicks down that door right now, what happens? Your precious sister-in-law gets shot. Natasha and others will cry. You’ll have to give explanations, which will turn annoying real fast.”

“Yeah, sounds annoying.”

“So?”

“So convince Natasha.”

“Okay, new offer.” She held up both hands, palms out, like she was laying her cards on a table. “A business arrangement. You give me powers, I’ll fight monsters for you. You won’t find a better deal.”

“Fifty-fifty?”

“Ninety-ten. I’m slaving myself for you here.”

“Great deal, but you should convince Natasha first.”

He kept deflecting every attempt with the same calm answer. Convince Natasha. It was like arguing with a wall that had learned one sentence. Eventually she gave up, slumped in the chair, and took out her phone to scroll through social media for funny clips. This was the not-so-proud purpose of her intel-gathering skills.

Beside her, Skullfire also immersed himself in his own phone.

“Why do you think I have this ability to make others stronger?” He asked. “Natasha doesn’t, so why should I?”

Yelena’s answer came without hesitation, “Natasha signed some sort of pact with a demon, I know that much. But looking at you, I get the impression you do the pact for others. I'm saying you're the big, bad demon of Hell sorta figure.”

He glanced at her as if she was an idiot and dipped his skull back toward his phone. Her elaborate observation didn’t even get acknowledged by the other party.

Yelena, being Yelena, leaned over like she was checking time on a stranger’s watch, not intruding their privacy whatsoever.

In the top section, she saw a name: Silvija. And in the text sections, she saw hearts. Lots of hearts. The man beside her was truly a criminal of hearts.

Her eyes lit up like she had seen three sevens on a slot machine.

The phone in her vision locked with a click as that skull turned toward her slowly. A burning skull staring her down at close range was one of the creepiest things she had experienced.

He pushed her head away. “What are you doing?”

“Should I tell Natasha,” Yelena said sweetly. “That you’re cheating on her with this Silvija?”

In the back of her mind, a devious scheme came together: blackmail him, extract some demonic magic, become all-powerful, and profit. She’d reveal it to Natasha, obviously. She wasn’t a monster. But she’d feel zero guilt squeezing a cheater on the way there.

“How do you know,” Skullfire asked calmly. “We aren’t just friends?”

“Those were a lot of hearts for a friend.” She crossed her arms, still smug like she held all the cards in her hands. “I’ve never dated anyone, but I’m not naive.”

“Is it really cheating if both parties know and approve?”

His question made her eyes wide. “Wait! Are you saying Natasha approves of your cheating?”

She knew, deep down, that her sister was a little stupid about certain things. A genius in many things but an idiot elsewhere. But this was something else. There was just no way Natasha Romanoff would let her share her boyfriend with someone else.

“It’s not cheating,” he corrected her again, patiently as if he was used to dealing with these kinds of situations. “Sister-in-law, I skipped breakfast for Natasha. You got something for me?”

Yelena recognized the maneuver for what it was—his attempt to stop her from bothering him. However, there was a chance he had come here on an empty stomach. She couldn’t let that chance ruin his first impression of her. And besides, she could continue this conversation after serving him a quick breakfast.

She got off the chair with a groan. “What do you want? Scratch that, don’t tell me. I only cook stupidly simple dishes. Manage your expectations, cheater brother-in-law.”

“Nothing’s wrong with simple things.”

Yelena nodded at that and headed to the kitchen. This was where her motivation usually died but today felt different. She had the energy to cook something other than potatoes. Of course, she added potatoes into the mix as hashbrowns.

Twenty minutes later, she examined her work with her puffing up with pride. Scrambled eggs with bacon, hashbrowns on the side, and vanilla ice cream with berries for the dessert. For once, she was quite proud of her cooking.

She carried it back to him and put it down on the table. The way he stared at her made her giggle.

“I don’t do this for everyone. Eat up.”

“More like you don’t have anyone,” he muttered.

She winced. Apart from Melina and Natasha, no one had entered the apartment in months.

She sat back down. “Are you going to eat like that?”

“Like what?”

“With your demon mask,” she said, circling her finger at his skull face. “I don’t believe that is your true face. Natasha gets her burning thing through transformation. You should be the same.”

“And you’d be correct, mostly.”

The flames died down. The white skull faded and flesh took its place. Black hair and pale skin was just a deadly combo when combined with a sharp jaw and eyes with depths of a universe.

“Well, damn…”

She had expected Natasha’s boyfriend would be good-looking since he was constantly surrounded by female heroes. But she wasn’t prepared for this.

“What’s your real name then?”

“Dante.”

“...Fitting.”

“Why did you get so quiet?” He picked up the fork with a chuckle. “Don’t tell me the second deadliest Widow is blushing.”

“I’m not blushing!” Yelena groaned. “For the record, I’m the deadliest Widow. I’d kick Natasha’s ass with one hand if she didn’t have those superpowers.”

Dante didn’t even acknowledge her explanation. He busied himself with the plate, making short work of it. He was scraping up the last of the melted ice cream when the handheld radio buzzed. He pressed the button.

“Darling.” Emma Frost’s voice came through. “We’ve neutralized twenty-nine SHIELD operators and recovered every Widow on the list. Except Yelena and the ones staying near Melina.”

“I assigned Laura and Ava there. Did they run into some trouble?”

“Not exactly trouble. Their location has plenty of spots for SHIELD to hide their people. I told them to take their time. I don’t believe SHIELD wouldn’t put anyone around Melina.”

Truth be told, Yelena wasn’t worried about Melina or anyone around her. Melina was a veteran—the veteran. SHIELD’s only real chance against her was catching her by surprise. With the surprise factor flipped, the Widows were deadlier than most of SHIELD’s agents.

“I'm not worried about them,” he said with a smile. “Nicely done, Emma.”

“Praise your hardworking heroes. Or should I call them the Future Force?”

“...Let’s stick to Team Alpha, Bravo and so on.”

“Roger, Leader!”

Dante was about to hang up when Emma interrupted, “Wait, be careful. This is a direct attack. SHIELD won’t let this slide.”

“I know.” He lowered the radio and turned to Yelena. “Let’s go.”

He lifted a hand and made a simple gesture like turning a key for an invisible door. A ring of orange-red fire spun, quickly transforming into a portal that had become popular through video footage. She wanted to prod around the spinning magical portal, see what exactly it was.

Before she could, her feet left the floor.

“Dante, what are you doing?!”

He stayed quiet as something invisible wrapped around her and dragged her through the portal, paying no mind to her yelps.

On the other side was the same room she had seen Natasha in during the call, except now she saw the parts the camera had hidden. The room was surrounded by ridiculously reinforced glass walls and sealed from every side like a containment cell. This was undoubtedly a prison cell.

Natasha got off the bed in an instant. “You’re here.”

Whatever was holding Yelena up in the air suddenly let go. She landed, stumbled, and immediately skittered behind Natasha’s back, glaring at Dante over her sister’s shoulder.

“Your boyfriend manhandled me.”

Dante ignored her, so did Natasha. “It’s done.”

Yelena felt Natasha’s stiff shoulders loosen at that one sentence.

“Finally. I have—”

Footsteps echoed from the corridors. Everyone in the room paused and turned toward the glass door. A tall Black man in a long leather coat soon stopped outside the containment cell, one eye taking in the portal, the two Widows, and Skullfire without the skull and fire standing beside them.

Yelena knew this face, even if the rest of the world didn’t.

Nick Fury.

Dante pulled her to his side, cutting her off from asking any questions. She jabbed her elbow into his ribs in retaliation, but he didn’t even grunt. It was like elbowing a wall.

“Romanoff, you’ve got a lot of nerve.” His eyes moved to Dante. “Was it necessary?”

“Was it necessary to imprison Natasha to begin with?” Yelena asked. “She is working her ass off for you, and this is what she gets.”

“Enough, Yelena.”

Yelena blinked. She was speaking on Natasha’s behalf, yet she got told to quiet down like a child. This wasn’t justice.

Natasha looked squarely at Fury. “Director, I’m tired of this.”

“That’s enough, Natasha. You can still turn this back and make things right.”

“I don’t want to.” Natasha shook her head. “SHIELD has made my life miserable. I didn’t sign up to be a prisoner.”

“That decision came from above.”

“Doesn’t change the end-result.”

Nick Fury watched with one eye as Natasha took off her Widow’s Bite bracelets, one by one, and tossed them on the floor.

“Romanoff—”

“Consider this my resignation.”

Nick Fury's expression hardened. “If you walk out of here, I won’t be able to protect you from what comes next.”

“You should protect yourself and SHIELD first,” Natasha replied calmly. “I have someone who will protect me at a small price of loyalty.”

Yelena knew Natasha was talking about the man by her side, who was quietly watching Natasha burn down every bridge with SHIELD. He must be feeling elated to be trusted this much by Natasha, at least Yelena would in his position.

Natasha walked into the still-spinning portal without looking back. Dante grabbed Yelena’s sleeve and dragged her in after him. The portal closed behind with a soft humming sound.

“Natasha, are you sure about this?”

Natasha suddenly turned around and hugged her. It wasn’t the quick shoulder-bump, for-the-sake-of-formality hug. Natasha’s arms were wrapped tight around her, chin resting on her shoulder. This was a real hug that left her with a warm, fuzzy feeling every time.

Yelena stood stiff as a mannequin with her hands hovering in the air. “…Natasha?”

Natasha stepped away and shook her head, like she was telling Yelena to forget it happened. “I’m tired as hell. You mind if I pass out on the couch?”

It wasn’t hard to understand why she hadn’t slept. She was worried about everyone.

Yelena gestured grandly. “This is your apartment. You can sleep in the bathtub if you want.”

Natasha snickered but she didn’t move toward the couch. Her eyes slid past Yelena to Dante and lingered on him. The more they talked with their eyes, the more Yelena felt like a piece of unwanted furniture in her own living room. She didn’t know a human being could go down to this level of ‘unwanted’.

“Send your mating call later,” Yelena said, shoving at Natasha’s shoulder. “Go to sleep.”

Natasha laughed, which stopped abruptly. Her face went grim. “Dante?”

Dante was staring at nothing, his head cocked as if listening to a voice only he could hear. When he looked at them, his expression didn't get any better. “Ava’s life is in danger. I have to go.”