August 31: Favored
Title: Favored
Author: Vashti (tvashti)
Fandom: Black Widow, BtVS
Character(s): Antona Dreykov, Yelena Belova, Melina Vostokoff, Dr. Emily Ling (OC), Buffy
Rating: PG/FR-13
Summary: The time has come to try freeing the rest of the captive Black Widows.
Length: ~1,370 words
Disclaimer: Only the words are mine, and that’s probably up for philosophical debate.
Notes: Spoilers for Black Widow. Don't say I didn't warn you. For BTVS, set after S7 and borrows random bits from the comics.
Notes2: Follows (in reverse order) Tilt, Beloved, Tender, Overflow, Empty, Mountain, Alegria, Focus, Precious, Rarified and Committed
Favored
There were all sorts of reasons why Yelena was the last Widow to leave Scotland. Some of it was purely logistical: she couldn't leave without her ride and her ride had only gotten her own orders early that morning. Some of it was embarrassingly emotional: messed up though they all were, it was hard to leave Melina and Alexi again. No one was forcing her to go this time. It was entirely within her power to return. She was expected to return. It still felt like the last time -- very final. But she'd been wrong about that, right?
And then, of course, there was guilt. By design, none of the Widows had ever been close to Antonia. Few within Red Room had known anything about her identity outside of her function as Dreykov's Taskmaster, Yelena included. But Antonia was still one of them. And though she was one of the youngest, she was about to become the savior of them all.
Yelena reached for Antonia's hands and was met halfway. She looked so very different than when they had arrived. In a way they all did. They had all bruised, all disoriented...all but Antonia unable to say the name of the place where they had flown to for refuge.
They were all a good deal healthier now, if not completely healed. (That kind of healing might take all of the rest of their lives.) Their minds were their own for the first time since they were children. They could all say "slayer" without getting tongue-tied - just in time to leave Slayer Central.
Life was like that.
"You are sure you don't want one of us to stay," Yelena asked Antonia. She didn't bother to mention that there were no other Widows left. It would be insulting to think Antonia didn't already know.
"I'm sure."
Years of training helped Yelena not too react to Antonia's flat American accent with it's soft Scotland burr. The scars were mostly gone as well, and her hair was a long thick plait draped over her shoulder. Only Antonia's eyes were the same as they'd been the first time Yelena had seen her, a wide and wondering pale blue. In this new face they helped to make her look like the young women she was.
"I can stay if you want," Yelena said. She wanted to go. She wanted to do everything she could to help burn the remnants of Red Room to the ground and sift her sister-Widows from the ashes like the irreplaceably precious treasures they were. And damage control. There would definitely need to be damage control.
She also didn't want to leave Antonia alone in the hands of scientists, the way she'd been left alone for far too long. Especially when one of those scientists was the mother figure who had created the drugs that had made them all slaves. "I mean it. It's not a problem."
Antonia smiled that little smile of hers. It wasn't beautiful. She wasn't beautiful. But her smile was hopeful and bright.
"I promise I will destroy them all personally if they hurt you," Yelena promised. Her hands tightened over Antonia's. "You know I know how."
Antonia giggled then drew her into a hug. Yelena patted her back awkwardly.
"I like hugging even though you're not very good at it."
Yelena pulled away with a frown. "It's not like I have had many opportunities to practice."
"But you will. That's my promise to you."
Yelena swore as she swiped at her eyes. "I was really trying not to run my makeup. Now I have to do it again before I leave."
Antonia giggled.
*-*-*
If she didn't think about it, it couldn't really hurt her. Hadn't she spent almost ten years as a ghost in her own body? Fled into a corner of her mind where she could admire an intimate mosaic before a lifeless body spoiled it? Or remember the pleasant cold of ice cream cooling her as doctors forced unnamed drugs into her body?
Instead Antonia would think of how funny it was to exasperate Dr Ling over things that weren't very important at all, no matter what she said; of how pleasant it was to speak Russian with Melina Vostokoff or learn Japanese from Mizumi or Klingon with the Komunyaka twins; of the pleasure that came from moving as one with her sisters.
Except...except Antonia didn’t want to go back to bing a ghost in her own body, not again, not even for a few hours. Possibly not even for her sisters still living as ghosts in theirs.
*-*-*
Melina knew the look in Antonia Dreykov’s eyes. Girls who were going to try to run from Red Room all had that look sooner or later: frightened and determined. It was the look of girls who had made up their minds to do the impossible, though it might mean their death.
“It won’t take so long,” Melina reassured her in Russian. “When we perform Red Willow’s spell, you will be freed with all Widows around world.”
Antonia nodded, answering in Russian, “I know this.”
“And besides, you have your guard Doctor here watching out for you.”
Both turned to look at Dr. Ling, scowling at Willow and the witches surrounding her.
Antonia smiled. “I know.”
“Still, it is scary thing, no? To go back, even for little while?”
Antonia nodded.
“Brave girl.” Melina took her face gently in her hands, and kissed her forehead. Time spent with the Widows that Yelena had freed, and in the general presence of the slayers had done much to shift her perception of the work she had done for the Red Room, particularly as a scientist. For perhaps the first time, she had real, far-reaching regrets. Two of her greatest regrets were already out in the world, but there were still many days when she wished she had run *away* with her girls instead of running to Red Room.
Another of her regrets was sitting before her, hair loose, eyes hardening, as she steeled herself to re-enter a silent hell, and Melina wondered why she had thought the drugs were better; why she hadn’t given her daughters, her sisters, a back door to freedom instead of an iron-bound leash.
*-*-*
Emily administered the drugs that would take Antonia’s mind from her. She didn’t trust anyone else to do it. Which was silly really. Her medical staff was the best from around the world.
It was fast acting. Emily watched the light die in Antonia’s eyes.
She turned to Willow and Melina. “She’s all yours. Don’t screw it up.”
*-*-*
It was impossible to be a ghost in her body. Not when she was connected to all of her sisters across the globe.
Part of her could feel the hair floating away from her body as a wind pulled at her loose clothing. A greater part of her, however, had a hand or a finger on every one of her sisters.
In that way, Antonia finally met Buffy. She and a few others blazed in her mind like beacons. Some cold, some hot, all brilliant and blinding.
Buffy drew her in. “Mmm, been here. Done this. Gotta Scythe as a souvenir,” she said, holding up a red battle axe. “But, like, totally trippy, right?”
Antonia could only nod.
“I can’t see them the way you do because they’re not mine. But you gotta wake’em up somehow or your magic dust is just gonna make’em sneeze. You catch me?”
“Maybe.”
For a moment, Buffy enfolded her in her brightness, and every woman connected to Antonia blazed with it. “Look,” she said, pulling away, “I’ll tell you what worked for me. You make it work for you, ‘kay?”
“Okay.”
*-*-*
Willow spoke the final words of the spell just as Antonia’s eyes, nostrils and open mouth turned to pure white light.
“Are you ready to be free?” she said to no one, to everyone. She inhaled and Melina blew the recreated Red Dust in her face.
The light in her eyes, nostrils and face turned glittering red and gold, blazing bright. Then going out.
The room felt plunged into darkness though not one bulb had flickered.
“Did it work?”
fin
Notes3: Thank you everyone for a really great FAD! I think this is the most I've ever written.
Author: Vashti (tvashti)
Fandom: Black Widow, BtVS
Character(s): Antona Dreykov, Yelena Belova, Melina Vostokoff, Dr. Emily Ling (OC), Buffy
Rating: PG/FR-13
Summary: The time has come to try freeing the rest of the captive Black Widows.
Length: ~1,370 words
Disclaimer: Only the words are mine, and that’s probably up for philosophical debate.
Notes: Spoilers for Black Widow. Don't say I didn't warn you. For BTVS, set after S7 and borrows random bits from the comics.
Notes2: Follows (in reverse order) Tilt, Beloved, Tender, Overflow, Empty, Mountain, Alegria, Focus, Precious, Rarified and Committed
Favored
There were all sorts of reasons why Yelena was the last Widow to leave Scotland. Some of it was purely logistical: she couldn't leave without her ride and her ride had only gotten her own orders early that morning. Some of it was embarrassingly emotional: messed up though they all were, it was hard to leave Melina and Alexi again. No one was forcing her to go this time. It was entirely within her power to return. She was expected to return. It still felt like the last time -- very final. But she'd been wrong about that, right?
And then, of course, there was guilt. By design, none of the Widows had ever been close to Antonia. Few within Red Room had known anything about her identity outside of her function as Dreykov's Taskmaster, Yelena included. But Antonia was still one of them. And though she was one of the youngest, she was about to become the savior of them all.
Yelena reached for Antonia's hands and was met halfway. She looked so very different than when they had arrived. In a way they all did. They had all bruised, all disoriented...all but Antonia unable to say the name of the place where they had flown to for refuge.
They were all a good deal healthier now, if not completely healed. (That kind of healing might take all of the rest of their lives.) Their minds were their own for the first time since they were children. They could all say "slayer" without getting tongue-tied - just in time to leave Slayer Central.
Life was like that.
"You are sure you don't want one of us to stay," Yelena asked Antonia. She didn't bother to mention that there were no other Widows left. It would be insulting to think Antonia didn't already know.
"I'm sure."
Years of training helped Yelena not too react to Antonia's flat American accent with it's soft Scotland burr. The scars were mostly gone as well, and her hair was a long thick plait draped over her shoulder. Only Antonia's eyes were the same as they'd been the first time Yelena had seen her, a wide and wondering pale blue. In this new face they helped to make her look like the young women she was.
"I can stay if you want," Yelena said. She wanted to go. She wanted to do everything she could to help burn the remnants of Red Room to the ground and sift her sister-Widows from the ashes like the irreplaceably precious treasures they were. And damage control. There would definitely need to be damage control.
She also didn't want to leave Antonia alone in the hands of scientists, the way she'd been left alone for far too long. Especially when one of those scientists was the mother figure who had created the drugs that had made them all slaves. "I mean it. It's not a problem."
Antonia smiled that little smile of hers. It wasn't beautiful. She wasn't beautiful. But her smile was hopeful and bright.
"I promise I will destroy them all personally if they hurt you," Yelena promised. Her hands tightened over Antonia's. "You know I know how."
Antonia giggled then drew her into a hug. Yelena patted her back awkwardly.
"I like hugging even though you're not very good at it."
Yelena pulled away with a frown. "It's not like I have had many opportunities to practice."
"But you will. That's my promise to you."
Yelena swore as she swiped at her eyes. "I was really trying not to run my makeup. Now I have to do it again before I leave."
Antonia giggled.
*-*-*
If she didn't think about it, it couldn't really hurt her. Hadn't she spent almost ten years as a ghost in her own body? Fled into a corner of her mind where she could admire an intimate mosaic before a lifeless body spoiled it? Or remember the pleasant cold of ice cream cooling her as doctors forced unnamed drugs into her body?
Instead Antonia would think of how funny it was to exasperate Dr Ling over things that weren't very important at all, no matter what she said; of how pleasant it was to speak Russian with Melina Vostokoff or learn Japanese from Mizumi or Klingon with the Komunyaka twins; of the pleasure that came from moving as one with her sisters.
Except...except Antonia didn’t want to go back to bing a ghost in her own body, not again, not even for a few hours. Possibly not even for her sisters still living as ghosts in theirs.
*-*-*
Melina knew the look in Antonia Dreykov’s eyes. Girls who were going to try to run from Red Room all had that look sooner or later: frightened and determined. It was the look of girls who had made up their minds to do the impossible, though it might mean their death.
“It won’t take so long,” Melina reassured her in Russian. “When we perform Red Willow’s spell, you will be freed with all Widows around world.”
Antonia nodded, answering in Russian, “I know this.”
“And besides, you have your guard Doctor here watching out for you.”
Both turned to look at Dr. Ling, scowling at Willow and the witches surrounding her.
Antonia smiled. “I know.”
“Still, it is scary thing, no? To go back, even for little while?”
Antonia nodded.
“Brave girl.” Melina took her face gently in her hands, and kissed her forehead. Time spent with the Widows that Yelena had freed, and in the general presence of the slayers had done much to shift her perception of the work she had done for the Red Room, particularly as a scientist. For perhaps the first time, she had real, far-reaching regrets. Two of her greatest regrets were already out in the world, but there were still many days when she wished she had run *away* with her girls instead of running to Red Room.
Another of her regrets was sitting before her, hair loose, eyes hardening, as she steeled herself to re-enter a silent hell, and Melina wondered why she had thought the drugs were better; why she hadn’t given her daughters, her sisters, a back door to freedom instead of an iron-bound leash.
*-*-*
Emily administered the drugs that would take Antonia’s mind from her. She didn’t trust anyone else to do it. Which was silly really. Her medical staff was the best from around the world.
It was fast acting. Emily watched the light die in Antonia’s eyes.
She turned to Willow and Melina. “She’s all yours. Don’t screw it up.”
*-*-*
It was impossible to be a ghost in her body. Not when she was connected to all of her sisters across the globe.
Part of her could feel the hair floating away from her body as a wind pulled at her loose clothing. A greater part of her, however, had a hand or a finger on every one of her sisters.
In that way, Antonia finally met Buffy. She and a few others blazed in her mind like beacons. Some cold, some hot, all brilliant and blinding.
Buffy drew her in. “Mmm, been here. Done this. Gotta Scythe as a souvenir,” she said, holding up a red battle axe. “But, like, totally trippy, right?”
Antonia could only nod.
“I can’t see them the way you do because they’re not mine. But you gotta wake’em up somehow or your magic dust is just gonna make’em sneeze. You catch me?”
“Maybe.”
For a moment, Buffy enfolded her in her brightness, and every woman connected to Antonia blazed with it. “Look,” she said, pulling away, “I’ll tell you what worked for me. You make it work for you, ‘kay?”
“Okay.”
*-*-*
Willow spoke the final words of the spell just as Antonia’s eyes, nostrils and open mouth turned to pure white light.
“Are you ready to be free?” she said to no one, to everyone. She inhaled and Melina blew the recreated Red Dust in her face.
The light in her eyes, nostrils and face turned glittering red and gold, blazing bright. Then going out.
The room felt plunged into darkness though not one bulb had flickered.
“Did it work?”
fin
Notes3: Thank you everyone for a really great FAD! I think this is the most I've ever written.