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It had been a month since my last mission with Fury, and during these last thirty days, I had focused on my lab work, but still, the vibrant memories of Copycat and her death haunted me in the darkest corners of my subconscious.
I didn't understand why death was something I had already seen in large numbers to the point that I no longer saw any difference between slaughtering animals for food or killing a human to complete my goals.
Her death, although brutal and painful, shouldn't affect me.
What bothered me was not her death as such; it was her look of dread after transforming into me, after trying to use my powers against me.
Her screams for mercy.
I had to be honest with myself. What really kept Copycat's last moments on earth in my mind was the doubt she had awakened in me. Where did my powers come from?
I wasn't so blind not to notice similarities in what happened to Copycat and what happened to Betelgeuse when he tried to possess Subaru. And even though my only sample comparison came from an anime, it was the only thing that made sense to me.
Either that or my immunity to psychic attacks killed her. But I really didn't have much to go on; I had no idea if Copycat's power was psychic in nature, never read much about her.
All I knew was that she was like Mystique, but somewhat better.
Maybe I just needed to focus on my work even more.
Taking a deep breath, I turned on the lights in my lab and began to work, when suddenly, I noticed something.
Two red dots were currently approaching my house. By the looks of it, they were roughly four miles away from the neighborhood.
"I don't get a day off." I sighed, opening a portal to my kitchen to make a sandwich, considering I had like ten minutes before they were dangerously close.
"Care to make me one?" Natasha said as she walked into the kitchen with a small smile on her face.
Little by little, she was warming up to me, with Emily on the other hand; they were super tight, like real sisters. It's surprising how fast Emily manages to capture the hearts of others.
"Sure." I nodded.
"Extra ham on mine; I am a growing young lady after all." Natasha grinned.
"Aye." I chuckled.
"Dad!" Was the last thing I heard before Emily tackled with a portal hug, which is basically her opening a portal behind me to avoid possible escapes; not sure why I would never deny her a hug.
"Sup champ." I smiled, ruffling her hair. "Want a sandwich?"
"Yes, I do." Emily nodded, jumping off me to sit beside Natasha. "Extra cheese and lettuce!"
"Coming right up!" I nodded.
Moments like this really take a huge weight out of me; who would've thought I would come to crave normality.
"Princess Goose also wants one, but with tuna," Emily said.
"Princess Goose?" I raised an eyebrow at that as I turned around to face Emily, just to see her and Goose with a cat-sized tiara on her head. "How?"
"I made it," Emily replied proudly.
"Once again... how?" I asked as Natasha started to giggle under her breath.
"With magic." Emily grinned.
"Meow." Goose purred, her chest puffing proudly; she obviously liked the tiara.
"I also made her a dress, but I'm still trying to convince her to let me put it on on her." Emily pouted.
"I'm sure Goose will eventually let you dress her up," I replied, getting a small narrow glare from Goose. "Oops, I mean, Princess Goose." at this, she purred. She was really getting into her new role.
"I also made Nat a tiara, but she refuses to wear it in public." Emily pouted, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Natasha.
"I have a reputation to uphold." Natasha defended with a small smile. "Kids think I'm the tough girl, can't tarnish that."
"Princesses are tough!" Emily defended, with Goose nodding at her side.
"Ok, ok. Enough about that, let's eat." I chuckled, giving the girls their sandwiches, extra cheese and lettuce for Emily, and extra ham for Nat.
"Meow!" Goose complained.
"I apologize, your highness." I bowed with a smile, giving her her tuna sandwich.
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After giving the girls and her royal highness their sandwiches, I teleported to where the red dots currently were, a two-star cheap motel. Apparently, they change course to the closest motel to camp the night.
"I am very insulted; now they don't even pay my enemies good hotels, but hour motels." I chuckled, kicking the door to their room open.
When I kicked the door of the STD farm known as the hourly motel, I expected many things, one burning my boots after finishing the enemies, two rats, maybe?
But Alexei and Melena were not something I expected.
"Sir, this is our room," Melena said as Alexei approached her, looking at me with a warm smile.
Oh yeah, he didn't know how I looked.
"Didn't I impale you?" I asked, pointing to his stomach. I mean, he looked fine, fucking super soldier cheat.
What happened next took two seconds at best, one for them to realize who I was and two for them to draw their weapons.
"Yeah, not gonna fight anyone in STD villa," I stated, pushing them to the wall with my telekinesis.
"We came here to talk!" Melina exclaimed.
"And the guns were your ice breaker?" I snorted. "And I thought I was bad at socializing."
"It was in case we needed to defend ourselves," Alexei added.
"I would've believed that if it wasn't for the fact you two aimed your guns at me after I said hi." I rolled my eyes. "Then again, I would've aimed at me too; I am dangerous after all."
"We truly just want to talk," Melina repeated.
"Then let's." I smiled, tightening their hold. After all, there was more than one way to talk.
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https://www.patreón.com/cornbringer
Discord invite: https://discord.gg/XHduApz
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After capturing Alexei and Melena, I transported them to one of my technically inescapable prisons, the same prison I was using to keep Sabertooth out of my life.
Then, as a good host, I allowed them to explain why they had come to New York, or more specifically, why they wanted to talk to me.
Alexei was the first to start talking, telling me that I was right, that he was a coward.
Followed by Melena saying that it took her a while to realize she loved Natasha and Yelena more than her own country, that now she understood why the RED ROOM castrated them.
I could see in their eyes that they were not lying to me.
"Yelena misses you guys," I said with a sigh. "Natasha does too, but she is mature enough to understand it all."
I could see the sorrow in their eyes, the shame, but even so, even knowing that they were not lying to me, I was not going to trust them; I couldn't.
"But... I won't let any of you go near them." I added with a stern look on my face.
"I understand." Melena croaked, tears coursing down her cheeks one after the other.
"I understand that you don't trust us, but here we are, we betrayed our country for them..." Alexei exclaimed pleadingly.
"You betrayed your country?" I laughed, pushing the man against the wall in anger. "They trusted you, they loved you... they still do, and you saw them as nothing more than objects to be used, as stones to be used to cement your glory!"
"I know," Alexei replied without looking at me in the eyes, his whole body in a submissive state of acceptance, not a single muscle tense.
In other words, he was ready to let me kill him without even trying to stop me.
"We'll do anything," Melena said, looking into my eyes as I held Alexei against the wall. "But let us be a part of their lives."
Taking a deep breath, I let go of Alexei.
A small part of me wanted to give them a chance; I really wanted to believe they would not hurt them, but how could I trust them? How could I put Nat and Yelena on this ship again?
"Anything?" I asked, looking into her eyes.
"Yes," Melena replied.
I might regret this in the future, but I would give them a chance to start over. "If you hurt them if you breathe out of line, if you blink without telling me about it, I will find you, and I will kill you, but not without making the two of you suffer."
"Are.. are you giving us a chance?" Alexei muttered.
"Yes." I nodded with a sigh, rubbing my temples. "You two will work for me, and in exchange, you will get to be part of their lives, but keep this in mind. I will monitor your every move."
"We are traitors to our homeland; we have nothing but them anyways," Alexei muttered.
"And I don't care," I replied with a hiss. "My only concern is keeping them safe, and that also includes their emotional safety. So, watch your moves. I don't give a flying fuck if you betrayed Santa on the north pole, but what you do from now on."
"What would we do for you?" Melena asked. "You said we would work for you, but in what?"
"More than not, eliminating organizations like the Red Room," I answered.
"Like you did with Hydra," Alexei added.
"Yes," I nodded. "Though I am not sure they are gone, not completely, at best, they are a street gang now."
"Thank you," Melena said with sincerity. "Thank you for this opportunity."
"Don't get too excited," I said, looking at them. "I won't force the girls to do anything; Yelena could be the only daughter you two still have." with that said, I opened a portal to my house, but before I left them on their cell, I added one last bit. "I will come back in a day or two to talk about our agreement. Enjoy the time to think."
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The first one I explained what had happened was Natasha, who seemed distressed at the idea, a part of her, was happy, I could see that much, but another part was angry, afraid.
"You are free to give them a second chance, worry not, I will protect you if anything comes to happen," I said, hugging Nat.
"I... don't want to go," Natasha mumbled into my chest; I could tell she was on the verge of crying. "I want to stay here... but I don't want to lose Yelena."
"They won't be far away; heck, they will be next door," I said, patting her on the head. "If you want to stay, you are free to do so."
"But... do you want me to stay?" Natasha mumbled in a barely audible voice.
"What?" I asked.
"Emily said you wanted her to stay, to be your daughter. Is it the same for me?" Nat muttered, looking into my eyes.
"Do you want to be my daughter?" I asked, looking at her in the eyes with a small smile. "Because if you say yes, there is no turning back."
Nat turned, her head looking down as she muttered something I couldn't quite hear.
"What?"
"Yes," Nat said, this time a bit louder. "I want to be part of your family, for real, I want to have what Emily has... I want to... be loved by someone who would burn a country down for me, I love them, I do... but I want what Emily has, I deserve what Emily has!" she finished with tears.
"Then welcome to the family." I hugged her; who would've thought I would have two daughters by the age of twenty-five.
"I'm a selfish person, aren't I?" Nat muttered.
"No." I shook my head. "You crave what every person craves, unconditional love; it's a human condition, and fortunately for you, I have plenty to give," I added with a smirk.
"Do I have to call you dad now... or..." Nat chuckled, using her shirt to clean the tears and snot off her face.
"I mean, you can take your time," I replied, scratching the back of my head. "Emily took hers; you can do the same; I don't mind, I will be happy when you do it, but I won't force it to happen."
"Yelena will be happy with them." Nat sighed.
"And you will be happy here with me, I hope." I smiled, "Like I said, all transactions are final; you have lost your freedom until your college graduation."
"I already am." Nat hugged me.
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