This plot point was a new idea suggested by a reader.
I need to revise and supplement the outline to clarify the plot.
Before the outline is finalized, the updates for the next two days will be divided into two parts: 2000 words in the early morning and 2000 words in the evening.
The update schedule will be altered in the coming days. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
Natasha was busy with her work.
Coulson sent over the new recruits' final review files, and Hill also requested two reports on the sealing of equipment left over from the old S.H.I.E.L.D..
While she sat at her desk in the apartment dealing with these things, Lynn would stay in the living room, occasionally going over to Tony's place for a while, or brewing a pot of coffee for her in the kitchen.
Yelena's case was temporarily put on hold.
It's not that she doesn't care; it's just that once something like this starts, it's pointless to stop halfway through.
Natasha used the most cautious method, sending a very short message to an encrypted port that Yelena had left on the old dark web.
There was no signature, no extra content, only an old-fashioned code that only the two of them could understand. It was something they had invented when they were still in Ohio, hiding under the covers.
Yelena once said that when she grew up, if anyone went missing, she should leave this sentence in every place she could think of. At the time, Natasha thought she was naive.
After sending the message, Natasha stopped watching.
She handled her work as usual, attended meetings at SSC as usual, and had dinner with Lynn when she returned home in the evening.
Lynn didn't ask any more questions, she just went to Tony's place every day.
Tony has been in good spirits lately and is adjusting the parameters of the Mark XLVII.
Peter would occasionally come over for training, and even if Tony criticized him a couple of times in the lab, he wouldn't get angry. He would happily carry his new armor module back to school. Lynn sat beside him watching the two of them bicker, and thought that this kind of daily life was actually quite nice.
On the fourth night, Natasha finally received a response.
The message came from an unfamiliar relay node, and the content was short: the same childish yet familiar code, containing an address. Natasha stared at the words, her expression complex. She didn't speak, but sat on the edge of the bed for a while before turning to look at Lynn.
Lynn had just come out of the bathroom, his hair still wet. Seeing her expression, he paused in drying his hair. "Found it?"
"She's alive," Natasha said softly, "In Bucharest..."
Lynn didn't say much, but simply walked over and sat down next to her, draping a towel over her shoulder. "When are you leaving?"
"Now."
Lynn nodded, stood up, put on his clothes, and raised his hand.
Orange sparks burst forth in the center of the bedroom, and a portal slowly took shape. On the other side of the portal was a drab, narrow alley, its entrance illuminated by the dim, yellowish streetlights typical of old Eastern European towns.
Natasha looked at the alley, held her breath for two seconds, and then stepped inside. Lynn followed behind her.
The nights in Bucharest are cool, the air thick with the smells of old buildings and damp paint. The address corresponds to an unassuming old apartment building on the fourth floor.
Natasha walked ahead, her steps very light.
Lynn didn't say anything, she just followed behind her.
The door opened by itself the moment they stopped.
Yelena stood in the doorway. She was thinner than Natasha remembered, her hair was tied in a messy ponytail, there was a wound near her eye, and a band-aid on the corner of her mouth. She held a gun in her hand, and the moment she saw who it was, the muzzle slowly lowered.
" Natasha." Her voice was terribly hoarse, as if she hadn't spoken properly to anyone in a long time.
Natasha didn't move or respond. Yelena also fell silent, and the two of them just stood there.
Yelena gave a mocking smile, as if she were taunting herself. "Looks like they didn't come to kill me."
Natasha walked up to her. This time Yelena finally moved; she reached out and hugged Natasha, burying her face in the crook of her neck, just like when she was a child. Natasha didn't hesitate, and hugged her back very gently but very tightly.
Lynn didn't go over; he just stood quietly behind her. He saw Yelena lift her head from Natasha's shoulder and scrutinize him with a sharp look over Natasha. Lynn knew that look all too well—the instinctive reaction of a trained person assessing a potential threat.
"Who are you?" Yelena released Natasha, her tone turning cold. Although she didn't raise the gun again, her finger remained on the trigger.
" Lynn." Lynn stood outside the door without moving, even taking his hand out of his pocket, spreading it open, and smiling. " Natasha's friend."
"Friends? She wouldn't bring ordinary friends to a place like this."
"Things have changed." Natasha nodded to Lynn, gesturing for him to come in. Lynn entered, closing the door behind him, but not completely shut it, just leaving it ajar. Yelena glanced at him but said nothing more.
The light was switched on, and a dim, yellowish light filled the entire small room.
Yelena sat in the innermost corner, resting her gun on her lap, and began to tell her story.
She mentioned that her mind control was unexpectedly broken recently, and she also unexpectedly obtained ' Red Dust,' which was the potion that had previously broken the control.
The Red Room is hunting her down. She has a potion that can break the pheromone control of other Black Widow.
She wanted to rescue those still in the Red Room; without this thing, they would be puppets until death.
" Dreykov?" Natasha's eyes changed instantly. " Dreykov is dead. I blew it up myself. That explosion... I thought the Red Room was over a long time ago."
Yelena shook her head. She revealed a truth that sent chills down Natasha's spine.
She looked up at Natasha. " Dreykov is still alive. The Red Room is still alive. He uses pheromones to control all the trained Black Widow in the world. We are all in his hands. Without the drug, no one can escape."
Natasha clenched her fists.
She remembered what Lynn had said a few days earlier: that the Red Room still existed and that Dreykov wasn't dead. She hadn't believed it then, but now that the Red Room was still there and Yelena said he was still alive, she couldn't help but believe it.
She slowly turned her head to look at Lynn.
Lynn was leaning against the door, quietly watching her.
He simply nodded slightly, as if to say: No matter what you choose, I will support you.
Yelena carried the box containing the medicine onto the table. The box was small, containing several neatly stacked tubes of dark red medicine. She closed the box and looked at Natasha: "This is all I have right now. You'll need to find someone to analyze it and make some more."
The people in the Red Room are chasing me; the medicine must not fall into their hands.
"Let's go now," Natasha said, her tone leaving no room for negotiation. She looked at Lynn.
Lynn smiled at her and drew a circle in the air with his hand. Orange sparks silently bloomed in the room. Yelena subconsciously took a step back, her eyes filled with wariness and shock. She stared at the portal, then looked at Lynn incredulously. "You... you're that low-profile mage from SSC? They said you appeared out of thin air and disappeared just like that. I thought it was just the intelligence team exaggerating."
"No exaggeration." Natasha walked back to Lynn's side, then turned back and extended her hand to Yelena. "Come with us. Let's get out of here first."
Yelena glanced at the hand, then at the slowly rotating portal, finally picked up the box and followed.
Before stepping through the portal, she glanced back at the dimly lit room behind her.