Chapter 22: Red Room
Life at Midtown High continued as normal.
With graduation getting close, everyone had something on their mind. Which college to apply to. Which job to go after. What came next.
Leo had no such worries. College was just a formality for him. With what he already knew, getting a degree would be easy. He would walk through it without much effort.
It was an ordinary afternoon when Leo came home.
He had plans for the evening. Mary Jane's window. He had already mentally mapped the route.
Before he even opened his front door, he heard something.
A faint sound. Inside his house.
He sighed quietly and went in anyway.
Nick Fury was sitting in his living room like he owned the place. Bald head. Eye patch. Dark coat. Exactly as Leo had always imagined him.
Natasha was beside him.
Leo hadn't seen her in a while. She had been busy. Tracking Melina. Looking for signs of the Red Room. It had clearly kept her occupied.
Now both of them were here together, which meant this was not a casual visit.
Leo looked at them both and spoke first.
"You know, walking into someone's home like this, I could empty a clip."
He glanced at Natasha. "If it were just you, I might not complain."
Fury didn't react. He had dealt with difficult people his whole career. This was nothing.
"We're here to ask for your help," Fury said.
Leo sat down. "My help."
Fury leaned forward slightly. "Some time ago, you told Natasha that to deal with HYDRA properly, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself would need to be rebuilt. New people. Clean slate."
Leo remembered. He had said something like that.
"I've thought it over," Fury continued. "You were right. So I've decided to take over the Red Room's Helicarrier and bring the Black Widows in as new agents."
Leo stared at him.
That was a bold move.
The Black Widows were trained from childhood by the Red Room. There was no overlap with HYDRA.
If any of them wanted to retire, let them go. If they wanted to continue, they were ready-made agents. No wasted time, no new training required. Fury was essentially solving two problems with one operation.
"Alright," Leo said. "If I help, what do I get?"
Fury didn't hesitate. "What do you want?"
Leo thought about it.
What he wanted was access. Access to information and people that mattered. He already knew what was coming in this world. But knowing events wasn't enough. He needed to find people before those events shaped them.
There were a few names already on his list.
"First," Leo said. "I need you to locate two people. Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff. Twin siblings from Sokovia.
When they were young, a Stark Industries missile landed on their house and didn't explode. They spent days near that bomb. It changed them."
Fury's expression didn't shift, but his one visible eye sharpened slightly. He understood immediately that these two were people worth watching.
"They may not have developed their abilities yet," Leo added. "But they will."
"Understood," Fury said. "What else?"
"Second. Whatever data S.H.I.E.L.D. has on Mutants."
Fury was quiet for a moment.
Mutants existed in this world. S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about them. But the situation was complicated. There were three groups.
The Brotherhood, who were aggressive and ready to cause problems openly. The X-Men Institute, who fought the Brotherhood from the shadows. And a third group, the ones who hid themselves completely and wanted nothing to do with either side.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had never been able to recruit Mutants successfully. But data was a different matter.
"That we can provide," Fury said.
Leo considered for a moment. That covered most of what he needed. Anything else he could handle himself.
"Then we have a deal. I'll help you solve the Red Room."
Fury nodded. "Happy cooperation."
Natasha moved from where she was standing and came to Leo's side. She moved the way she always did, smooth and deliberate, like every step was decided in advance.
She stopped very close to him.
"If you help me get Yelena back," she said quietly, "I will thank you properly."
Just the way she looked at him was enough to make most men forget what they were thinking.
Leo wrapped an arm around her waist without hesitating and pulled her slightly closer.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said.
---
The team was small by design.
Fury wasn't committing many S.H.I.E.L.D. resources. Too many agents meant too many chances for HYDRA to catch wind of the operation. Only Natasha and Clint were officially involved from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s side.
Leo's side brought Peter, Gwen, and Tony.
They set the date for the weekend.
To avoid detection, Leo and the others traveled separately from Natasha. Everything was arranged cleanly and quietly.
---
On the plane, Peter could barely sit still.
"We're going abroad," he said. "Internationally. With Iron Man."
Tony, reclining with a drink, did not look up. "Try not to vibrate out of your seat."
Peter grinned, then seemed to remember something serious. "Leo, once we're there, won't this cause problems? We're crossing international borders. Taking action on foreign soil. Isn't that illegal?"
Leo looked at him calmly. "The Red Room sends Black Widows on assassination missions around the world. Do you think that should be allowed to continue?"
Peter shook his head. "Of course not."
"They kill people. Innocent people. They destabilize governments and cause harm that goes unreported for years."
"Right, so obviously we should stop them."
"Even if it makes us outlaws by someone's definition?"
Peter went quiet.
Leo looked out the window. "Peter, you're still thinking too simply about how this world works."
"What do you mean?"
"The moment you have superpowers, some people will already want to classify you as a threat. It doesn't matter if you use them or not. The right to decide what's legal and what isn't, that's not in your hands."
Tony swirled his drink and spoke without looking up. "He's completely right. Do you know why they invited me to a hearing instead of just confiscating my armor? Because I'm Tony Stark. The name means something. If I were nobody, they would have taken the suit before I landed."
Peter thought about that.
Leo decided to give him something more to think about.
"Tony, Nick Fury approached you about the Avengers Initiative, right?"
Tony finally glanced over. "He did. I turned down full membership. Consultant only."
Leo nodded and leaned back. "I want to tell a story. From a parallel universe. You don't have to take it seriously, but it might be worth hearing."
That got everyone's attention. Even Tony set his glass down.
---
Leo told the story simply and clearly.
A world with more heroes. A team called the New Warriors who wanted to help and livestreamed their work. A villain named Nitro who self-destructed instead of being captured. Nearly a thousand people killed. Entire blocks destroyed.
The New Warriors became the target of public rage. That rage spread. From them to the Avengers. From the Avengers to all superheroes everywhere.
Then came the bill.
Register. Document your powers. Pass an assessment. Without that, you were illegal.
The Avengers split over it.
Tony listened without interrupting as Leo described the Iron Man faction supporting registration and another group refusing to sign. A Captain who became a fugitive to protect the right to choose. Spider-Man removing his mask on live television to support the act, only to later regret it.
A civil war between heroes that ended with the city damaged and Captain voluntarily surrendering to stop the fighting.
Peter's face went through several expressions during the story.
When Leo finished, Peter asked the question he had been holding since the middle.
"Which side should I have been on?"
Leo was quiet for a moment. "There's no clean answer. Both sides believed they were right."
"Then what do you think?"
"I think superheroes need some level of accountability. But that registration act was built on fear, not reason. And I don't trust politicians to hold that kind of power over people with abilities." He paused. "More importantly, I don't trust them to keep the information secure."
Tony looked thoughtful. "I'd support registration. Supervision matters. Unchecked power always causes problems eventually."
"That's a fair position," Leo said. "Just remember that the people setting the rules aren't always acting in good faith."
Tony didn't argue. He picked up his glass again and stared at it for a while.
Peter sat quietly for the rest of the flight.
---
They landed and split up according to the plan.
Natasha went alone to Melina's research farm.
Melina hadn't expected her to come back. The two women sat across from each other in a plain room, and Natasha spoke without wasting time.
"I thought I had killed Dreykov. I thought I had freed the Black Widows. I was wrong on both. I hurt someone innocent, and he survived. I came back to fix it."
Melina looked at her for a long time. "You can't do this alone. He has hundreds of Black Widows now. The control serum works. They're like machines."
"I don't need to fight everyone," Natasha said. "I just need you to get me inside so I can reach Dreykov."
"You can't bring weapons past his security."
"I don't need weapons. I just need people."
What Natasha didn't say was that Leo could arrive directly into Dreykov's office. Security meant nothing against that.
Melina was still hesitant.
But she had already sent a message to the Red Room.
She hadn't decided to fully help Natasha. But she hadn't fully refused either. That moment of hesitation was enough.
---
Dreykov received Melina's message and smiled.
Natasha. She had come back.
He had always had complicated feelings about her. She was his finest work, and she had betrayed him. He had wanted her back for years. Now she had walked straight to him.
He gave his orders immediately. Take her alive.
---
Natasha let them come. She didn't resist.
When Yelena appeared among the Black Widows sent to collect her, Natasha's chest tightened.
"Yelena."
No reaction. Yelena looked at her and through her at the same time. The eyes were familiar but the person behind them wasn't present.
Natasha looked at Melina. "What happened to her?"
"The serum improved. They remember everything, but they can't respond." Melina's voice was flat. "You will end up the same way."
Natasha said nothing. She let Yelena disarm her and lead her onto the transport.
The Helicarrier was well hidden. S.H.I.E.L.D. had found it only after weeks of searching, and they hadn't dared move on it directly.
The plan was simple. Get Natasha inside. Then Leo would bring the rest.
---
Dreykov's office had a good view.
He watched Natasha brought in and felt something between satisfaction and anticipation.
"My Natasha. You've returned."
"I came to finish what I started," she said.
Dreykov glanced at Yelena beside him, then at his daughter Antonia, standing in her armor.
He felt very secure.
He leaned toward Antonia and whispered, "Say hello."
Antonia removed her helmet.
Natasha recognized her immediately.
The face had burn scarring. One side had been reshaped by surgery and by the chip installed to keep her functioning. Her eyes were empty, just like Yelena's.
Natasha looked at her for a long time without speaking.
The guilt sat heavy.
"When the explosion nearly killed her," Dreykov said quietly, "I had to rebuild her. Look at what you made."
Natasha breathed steadily. "Can she hear me?"
"What, you want to apologize? Make yourself feel better?" Dreykov stepped closer. "You should have considered that before you acted."
Natasha lowered her eyes for just a moment. Then she looked back up.
"A friend of mine wants to ask you something," she said. "Can you stop a bullet?"
Dreykov frowned. "What?"
"I didn't think so," Natasha said. "You're even less likely to stop his punch."
"What punch?"
Three people appeared in the room.
Not through the door. Not through a window.
Just suddenly present, as came from sparking golden circle.
Leo stepped forward and hit Dreykov once across the face.
"Iron Fist of Justice."
Dreykov dropped.
Leo used less than five percent of his actual strength. Enough to knock a man unconscious. Not enough to take his head off, which would have been easy.
Control mattered. Leo had learned that early.
He wrapped Dreykov in webbing before he could hit the floor, then pulled the ring off his hand and tossed it to Natasha.
"That ring is the access code for his control system. Get to the computer. Recall all the Black Widows. Administer the antidote. Start with Yelena."
Natasha caught the ring and moved immediately.
Peter and Gwen moved at the same time, restraining Taskmaster and Yelena before either could react.
Tony looked around the room.
"So there's genuinely nothing left for me to do."
Dreykov woke up a few minutes later to find himself on the floor wrapped in webbing. He stared up at the ceiling and then recognized the people standing over him.
Iron Man. Spider-Man. Ghost-Spider. The one who had taken down Kingpin.
He had heard about them. He had assumed he was safe at this altitude, in this location.
He had been wrong.
His ring was gone. His controls were gone. Natasha was at his terminal right now.
Everything he had built over decades was collapsing in real time, and he could not move.
"Natasha," he said. "You've ruined everything."
Natasha didn't look up from the keyboard. "Yes."
---
The Black Widows on assignment were recalled.
Melina had quietly prepared the antidote some time ago. She brought it now without being asked.
Yelena came back first.
She blinked. Looked around. Her expression shifted from blank to confused to something raw and unsettled.
She looked at Melina.
"Mom?"
Melina's face tightened. "I'm not your mother."
The words were flat but not without pain.
Yelena didn't cry. She had done enough of that, long ago. What she had now was clarity and something quieter underneath it.
She looked at Natasha. "You came back."
"I told you I would fix it," Natasha said.
"You used me to get to Dreykov. Back then."
"Yes."
Yelena was quiet.
"I know it doesn't help," Natasha said. "I've thought about that moment for years. I made the wrong choice. I'm here because of it."
Yelena exhaled slowly. "Okay."
That was all. No forgiveness declared. No condemnation either. Just acknowledgement.
"Tell me what to do," Yelena said.
"Go with Melina. Help bring the others back."
Yelena nodded and moved.
---
Antonia recovered more slowly.
When her eyes cleared and she understood where she was and what had happened, she looked directly at Natasha.
The anger was visible.
Natasha walked toward her without hesitating.
Leo watched from the side as Natasha stopped in front of Antonia and just stood there.
"I know you hate me," Natasha said. "What happened to you was because of my plan. I didn't intend for you to be there, but that doesn't change what happened to you."
Antonia said nothing.
"If you want to come after me for it, come after me. I won't hide from it."
Natasha then came to Leo.
Her eyes were wet, just slightly.
"Leo. I know you have a way."
Leo looked at her.
She was good at reading people. She had figured it out from Bella and Aunt May, both of whom had come very close to death and both of whom seemed somehow fine afterward. A little more than fine, even.
"It's not a simple thing," Leo said.
Natasha closed the space between them. She looped an arm around his neck. Her face was very close.
"I know," she said softly. "But if you help me—"
Then she kissed him.
It was brief. When she pulled back, her expression was calm but her eyes said everything.
"Down payment," she said.
"I'm not opposed to the concept," Leo said, "but you should know Gwen is standing directly behind you."
Natasha glanced back.
Gwen's expression was controlled but clearly not happy.
Natasha leaned in and whispered to Leo, "I'll handle her."
"You'll handle her," Leo repeated.
"Trust me."
Leo had no idea what that meant. But he agreed to help Antonia regardless.
He used his time power carefully, directing it inward to Antonia's damaged nerves and tissue. The scarring on her face, the damage to her spine from the original explosion, the modifications Dreykov had made just to keep her functional. Time rewound on all of it, slowly, precisely.
When it was done, Antonia regained her original appearance and sat quietly for a while.
Then she looked at her hands. Her face. Reached up to touch the skin that had been damaged for so long.
"Thank you," Natasha said to Leo.
"Don't thank me yet. Figure out what you're going to say to Gwen."
Natasha smiled faintly and turned back to Antonia.
---
Melina and Yelena returned with more Black Widows. About a dozen, all treated, all themselves again.
They were all looking at Dreykov.
"What do we do with him?" Yelena asked.
Natasha looked at him for a moment.
Dreykov was still on the floor. The webbing had been loosened. He hadn't tried to move.
"Natasha," he said. "You can't run this Helicarrier. You can't take care of all these women. You've destroyed something that took decades to build. What exactly have you won?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. can take the Helicarrier," Natasha said simply.
Dreykov laughed bitterly. "S.H.I.E.L.D. That's... rotten from the inside."
"We know," Natasha said. "We're cleaning it up."
Then she shot him.
One shot. Quick. Final.
No speech. No ceremony.
The room was quiet for a moment.
The Black Widows who had been under his control for years stood in that silence. And one by one, their expressions changed. Not to grief. To something else. Relief. Anger finding nowhere left to go. The particular stillness that comes after a very long ordeal ends.
Several of them looked lighter.
---