Natasha walked lazily to Romanoff's car as he looked at her as he was already in the car waiting for her.
Natasha made her way through the snow as it looked like it had snowed once again this morning.
Natasha got into the passenger seat as she put on her seatbelt as Romanoff started the car and they drove away as they drove in silence.
"Are you really not going to say anything devochka (girl)?" asked Romanoff as he glanced at Natasha briefly before looking back at the road.
"There is nothing to say" said Natasha as she replied simply.
"Tell me why you are angry with me devochka (girl)?" asked Romanoff.
"Who said anything about me being angry?" asked Natasha.
"Don't give me that devochka (girl), with the way you are frowning, it is obvious to see" said Romanoff.
"What is the cause of your anger towards me?" asked Romanoff.
"Do you really not know?" asked Natasha as she turned to look at him.
"Please enlighten me devochka (girl), because I really am not one to ask repeatedly" said Romanoff.
"Why did you tell everyone that I am your niece, it's not true, we are not related at all" said Natasha as Romanoff was surprised that she was still on this.
"One reason devochka (girl), to protect you" said Romanoff.
"But I don't need protection, or at least not your protection" said Romanoff.
"Oh believe you me devochka (girl), you do, and I did it for your own sake, things were getting out of hand, especially with Vicki" said Romanoff.
"I don't even care about that, you didn't even apologize when I showed my displeasure for what you did" said Natasha as she scoffed and Romanoff sighed, just what was did? He never apologized to anyone, there was no need for him to, this was past what he could do, apologize? For what for protecting her for her own good.
Romanoff really did not understand Natasha at all, it was at this moment that he was thankful that he had no children demanding things from him like this.
"You want me to apologize?" asked Romanoff.
"A simple 'I'm sorry for doing that without your permission' will do" said Natasha as Romanoff shook his head.
"If I do that, you will cease to be upset?" asked Romanoff.
"We'll see if it does" said Natasha as Romanoff scoffed, if not for the fact that it was Christmas and he did not want Natasha to be in a foul mood, he would have left her be in her anger.
"Alright devochka (girl) fine, I apologize for announcing that you are my niece without your permission" said Romanoff as Natasha was actually surprised that he apologized.
"There, are you satisfied now?" asked Romanoff.
"Maybe" said Natasha as Romanoff scoffed, what a troublesome niece he had.
"It's Christmas, liven up" said Romanoff.
"Mhmm, Christmas" said Natasha as she sighed, this was her first Christmas without her baby, she could not help but feel sad.
"Your daughter… she misses you does she not?" asked Romanoff as he decided to change the subject.
"She does… and I miss her so much as well, it's her first Christmas without me, and I feel a bit guilty" said Natasha.
"You didn't tell her why you are here did you now?" asked Romanoff.
"Well yes I did, I told her that I am here to visit my Uncle" said Natasha as she scoffed.
"I take an offence to that devochka (girl)" said Romanoff as Natasha scoffed.
"She knows that I exist?" asked Romanoff.
"Yes she does, she even wants to meet you" said Natasha as Romanoff did not like the idea, if Joy was anything like Natasha, he would be in serious trouble.
"Believe me, she will not want to meet me if she sees me" said Romanoff.
"Mhmmm" said Natasha.
"Where are we going?" asked Natasha as she looked at Romanoff.
"To my house" replied Romanoff.
"Hmm" said Natasha as she looked at her phone.
…
Natasha walked into Romanoff's house as he switched on the lights and he removed his coat as she did the same and she hung it on the coat rack.
"Welcome to my home" said Romanoff.
"Hmm… it's rather bland for Christmas, don't you think?" asked Natasha as Romanoff looked at her.
"Well some of us don't have time to decorate, don't you think?" asked Romanoff as Natasha threw the question back at her as she scoffed at him.
"What do you want devochka (girl), water, juice, alcohol?" asked Romanoff as Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.
"You will allow me drink alcohol?" asked Natasha.
"Well no, just suggesting it" said Romanoff as he did not want Natasha drinking, and Natasha scoffed at him.
"Nothing, I'm fine" said Natasha.
"Alright then, suit yourself devochka (girl)" said Romanoff as he turned to walk into the kitchen as Natasha followed after him.
Romanoff walked to his grey double door fridge as he brought what looked like a bag of leftovers as he walked to put them in his grey microwave.
"You are going to eat leftovers?" asked Natasha.
"Yes why?" asked Romanoff as he looked at Natasha.
"Well firstly, it's Christmas, and secondly, eating leftovers consistently isn't good, you need to eat freshly cooked food" said Natasha.
"Well devochka (girl), I am no world class chef" said Romanoff as he replied with a smile, he rarely cooked, and when he did, he made quick meals.
"Since I'm here, how about I cook for us?" asked Natasha.
"You want to?" asked Romanoff.
"I don't want to eat leftovers, and judging from what I see, that rice looks like it's spoilt" said Natasha.
"Well devochka (girl), you can do what you want, but mind you, I don't have that many ingredients" said Romanoff.
"I will see what I can work with" said Natasha with a smile.
"Knock yourself out devochka (girl)" said Romanoff as he smiled and he walked out of the kitchen to leave Natasha to do whatever she wanted to do.
Natasha opened Romanoff's fridge as she scanned through it, and she took out some ingredients that she was going to use on the kitchen counter as she was thinking of what to make, and then she got a simple idea.
…
"Dinner is served" said Natasha with a smile as she placed Romanoff's dish in front of him on the dining table.
"Beef Stroganoff and rice, since you seem to be fond of rice" said Natasha as Romanoff looked at his food, he had to give it to her, she did know how to cook.
"Hmm" said Romanoff as Natasha sat down across him and Romanoff tasted his food.
"It's good" replied Romanoff as Natasha smiled at him.
"I didn't know that you knew how to make beef stroganoff" said Romanoff.
"Well I do, it's my favourite Russian dish, my father used to make it all the time" said Natasha as she smiled and she ate her own food.
"Larry could cook?" asked Romanoff in disbelief.
"Yes, very much so, he's the one who taught me how to cook, I loved being in the kitchen with him, we would laugh, and get all messy" said Natasha as she smiled, remembering fond memories.
"I see, no wonder Ivanka liked him so much, he was a deal package" said Romanoff as he laughed and Natasha just looked at him as she scoffed.
"And you don't know how to cook?" asked Natasha.
"Basic knowledge devochka (girl), basic, I really don't have time to make complicated meals" said Romanoff.
"I am surprised how you are still living long with ordering takeout all the time" said Natasha.
"Hey, I am offended, Marissa and her mother occasionally send me some home cooked meals" said Romanoff.
"Hmm" said Natasha.
"Tell me devochka (girl), what else did your father teach you?" asked Romanoff.
"Everything… he taught me everything I know" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Usually… during Christmas time like this, we would decorate our Christmas tree, cook a wonderful dinner feast, and we would share stories, it was wonderful… those moments were the best of my childhood and adulthood" said Natasha as she smiled, now she felt a bit sad, her father was no more, but her memories of him, their memories were forever etched in her mind.
"You loved your father a lot didn't you?" asked Romanoff.
"More than you know, he was my super dad" said Natasha.
"Hmm" said Romanoff.
"Which Is why, you should at least understand why I want revenge for him" said Natasha as Romanoff sighed.
"You do realize that you said revenge and not justice" said Romanoff.
"Yes I do, because I know justice will take too long, and I won't be able to watch it, revenge is the best, quick" said Natasha as Romanoff looked at her.
"You should know why I want Igor to pay" said Natasha as Romanoff sighed helplessly.
"Eat devochka, eat" said Romanoff as he did not want her talking about this topic anymore as Natasha said nothing and she continued eating.
…
Romanoff walked to his record player as he looked through the many records and he finally decided on one as he played it.
Song recommendation
Vocalise – Rachmaninov
Romanoff walked to sit down across Natasha as he saw her looking at him.
"What?" asked Romanoff as the music played.
"You do know that you can get CD players, or something more modern to play your music" said Natasha.
"I prefer the traditional way devochka (girl)" said Romanoff as Natasha just looked at him.
"Maybe next Christmas you should get me one of those CD players" said Romanoff as Natasha laughed at him, who said anything about next Christmas.
"Mhmm, we'll see" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Devochka (girl), I have something for you" said Romanoff as he handed Natasha a wrapped rectangular gift
"Merry Christmas" said Romanoff as Natasha looked at the gift in her hand.
"What is it?" asked Natasha.
"Open it" said Romanoff as Natasha tore the wrapping paper, and she saw a picture frame, that had a picture in it.
"That is your mother on her 13th Birthday, 1972" said Romanoff as Natasha looked at the picture, she could see the bright smile on a girl that was the centre of the photo as she had short hair.
"My mother?" asked Natasha as she looked at Romanoff and he nodded as she looked back at the photo, it was in black and white, she could not quite make out the colours.
"Thank you Romanoff… thank you" said Natasha as she smiled at him, she had never seen any childhood photos of her mom before, simply because they never seemed to exist.
"You are welcome" said Romanoff as he smiled, he was glad that she liked it.
"But I don't have a gift for you" said Natasha.
"You don't need one devochka (girl), your presence here is more than enough" said Romanoff as he smiled, he usually spent Christmas alone, all the time, but this year was different with Natasha here.
"Thank you" said Natasha as she smiled at him.
"You see, your mother was nine, when she was orphaned, and sent to the union, to serve her country" said Romanoff.
"A fire burnt down her home, with her family in it, there she was, a little girl, alone, with no home, a perfect candidate for an agent" said Romanoff.
"But that's unfair, why would they do that?" asked Natasha.
"Well you see devochka (girl), the union branched off from the Cheka, the secret service, towards the end of the Cheka and the revolution, the union began, as a secret service as well, we preferred to recruit young orphans, who have no family, no attachments, and feeble minds to be trained" said Romanoff as Natasha felt like that was unfair.
"I took was an orphan, when I met your mother, I was 10 years older than her, and I was tasked with training her, I taught her all that she knew… she used to call me brother, all the time" said Romanoff as he smiled.
"At the beginning, I found her annoying, a pain to take care of, she followed me everywhere, but eventually, I got used to her smile, her questions, and her affection, I considered her the little sister that I never had, we always stayed together at all times" said Romanoff as Natasha smiled.
"I taught her everything I knew, and she grew more" said Romanoff.
"You see, women are not weak not at all, they are the worst weapon, as your mother grew into a fine woman, she was sent on more and more missions, until finally she was sent internationally on missions, the union was sure that people would never suspect a young beautiful girl like her as a secret agent" said Romanoff.
"I was against it so much, I did not like the idea of her being out there, in the snare of filthy men, but she assured me that she would be alright, that she would take care of herself, and not let anything happen to her, she wanted to improve, she told me that I had taught her everything I could, and I knew she was right" said Romanoff.
"Because of her determination, she got what she wanted, by the age of 21, she was the best agent on in the union, all her targets were conquered successfully, after all, who wouldn't tell everything to a young beautiful woman, with so much light in her eyes" said Romanoff.
"Gradually, I saw the light In her eyes dim, after every successful mission, she realized just how tainted the world was, there was no care, no hope, no love for good, the once bright eyed little girl, started to become a woman with dim eyes, who smiled less, whose only aim was to kill her targets" said Romanoff.
"It was messing her up, and I knew it, the same thing happened to me, and I was seeing her go through it, I knew that she was tired of the way things were" said Romanoff.
"At her age, she had dealt with many ruthless men, men who were the scum of the earth, and because she wanted the information, she would play in their games" said Romanoff.
"Once, I witnessed just how horrible they were, I was sent on the mission field with her, the job was to get a file from a very rich man of that time, Ivanka went in head first, I left them alone for a second, and I returned to the sight of him forcing herself on her, and I became enraged, I killed the man right there and then" said Romanoff.
"Ivanka, she called me brother, asking me to calm down, I asked her, just how many times something like that had happened to her, she refused to tell me the truth, saying that she always handled herself in the end, that it did not matter, she got what we wanted" said Romanoff.
"Hearing her say that, it broke my heart, because back then, I still had one, she was young, she did not deserve to go through something like that" said Romanoff.
"And then she met your father, and everything is history, to tell the truth, I was happy that she made the decision to leave, even though I could not say so out loud" said Romanoff as he looked at Natasha, who had just been listening to him the entire time.
"That picture is the only one of its kind" said Romanoff as he looked at the frame in Natasha's hand.
"That day, it was Christmas eve, and your mother was overjoyed, we went to the town, I had some work to do" said Romanoff.
"I let her roam around the streets while I went to work, and her eyes landed on a pair of beautiful red shoes" said Romanoff.
"Up until that point, your mother only had one pair of shoes, that were worn out, with holes all over them" said Romanoff.
"When I returned, she showed me the shoes, and she told me of how happy she would be if she got shoes like that, and then we left" said Romanoff.
"On Christmas morning, your mother woke up happily, and I surprised her, with a gift, they were the same red shoes that she wanted, I bought them for her, with all the money I had saved up" said Romanoff as he smiled and Natasha smiled.
"She was overjoyed, she thanked me so much, and she promised to take good care of those shoes" said Romanoff.
"That Is the first photograph that she took with her favourite pair of red shoes" said Romanoff as he smiled and Natasha looked down at the photo as she saw the shoes, they looked black here, but she could see the sign.
"That photo has to be more than 30 years old" said Romanoff as he laughed and Natasha smiled at him.
"I loved your mother, she was my only sister" said Romanoff with a sad smile.
"You… you don't have anyone else?" asked Natasha.
"No one" said Romanoff.
"No children?" asked Natasha.
"No wife, I don't do commitments, they get you nowhere, they give you weakness" said Romanoff as the music had stopped playing a long time ago.
"Devochka (girl), believe me when I say that all I want to do is protect you, because I have seen many people die, people that I care about, and I don't want that to happen to you" said Romanoff.
"Everything I do, is for your own good, believe it or not" said Romanoff as Natasha just looked at him, she believed it.
"Remember that" said Romanoff as Natasha said nothing at all to him.