Chapter 2785 - Marvel 33

Once the hoard was taken care of, the widows finally retreated along with the infantry soldiers into the barrier. While some abominations were still straying to the city, the numbers weren't nearly as many as before and could easily be taken care of by the border patrol infantry.

"Don't let too many abominations crowd around the shield. The power consumption will be immense otherwise. While we do have a nuclear reactor in the shield generator, replacing the core will be a hassle once the material is depleted. Not to mention, you won't have a shield during the downtime." Yelena told the mayor, who was eagerly nodding, happy that he would get to keep his position in the settlement. While their settlement would be subordinated to The Sanctuary, his direct superior was Yelena, who would be supervising him. Otherwise, his job was pretty much the same as before, just much better since he didn't need to worry about as many problems as before.

"What will the widows be doing during this time?" The mayor asked. "Will you all be staying in the settlement? We do have some empty houses."

"Don't try to get your people paired up with the widows, Mayor. It's useless," Yelena knew the kind of slime that Alex was. Despite saying that the widows had the freedom to choose their partners, he had probably already taken root in their psyche by using subtle manipulation tactics, many of them relying on his special brand of pleasure and submission.

[Get your mind out of the gutter, Yelena. I can read from your face that you are thinking something rude about me.]

The blonde spy didn't respond to Alex's words in her head and continued speaking, "The widows stay in The Sanctuary," Yelena pointed to the flying fortress that was still airborne above the settlement. "We will make regular trips down here to help with various things, yes, but don't think any of us will be staying here. Make sure that the people know about the contribution of the widows accurately. I don't want to hear people mouthing off against my people, understood?"

"Understood," The man said. "I will ensure that The Sanctuary is hailed as the savior of our little settlement. Merely the part with the shield generator has changed everything for us. It is why we can now move outside without covering ourselves in those uncomfortable and hot hazmat suits."

"Less ass kissing, more work," Yelena said. "I'm going. If you need to contact me, use the walkie-talkie. It is already calibrated to the fortress's frequency."

"How will you be returning?" He asked, looking at the fortress flying almost half a mile above the surface.

"It's easy, really," Yelena said before turning to the fortress and waving her arm at it. In the next moment, the leader saw a blue beam of light enveloping Yelena as she floated above the ground and flew up to the fortress.

"I really can't risk turning these monstrous women into enemies…" The mayor's resolve to stay a faithful subordinate was strengthened even further by the visual that he received.

…

"How was I?" Yelena asked excitedly as she entered Natasha's office.

"You did very well," Natasha said.

"Truly, I am pleased with your results," Alex said, happily looking at his current EP storage which had finally crossed into the four digits for the first time since he'd depleted it with Jane.

«EP: 2789»

"Thank you," Yelena gave a curt bow with a haughty expression as if she were royalty.

"I want to spank that expression out of you…" Alex mumbled, "… And then fuck you right in front of — Ouch!" He looked at Natasha with a betrayed look.

"I have more where that came from," She said threateningly as she showed him her fist. "Stop making things weird."

Yelena coughed to hide her thoughts and showed a normal expression. Her mind ran with vivid images of what kind of reward she would be getting from Apex.

"Anyway," Natasha shook her head. "I'm going to leave tomorrow, Yelena."

"So soon? Why?" She asked, her eyes widening.

"Because I have stuff to do back home. We talked about this. You can clearly take care of yourself without me. So I'm just going to leave the command of the widows in your hands. Apex will be with you the whole time, supporting you with everything." Natasha looked at Alex, letting him speak next.

"Your two main objectives are to kill Abominations and to expand our widow forces. Use the jets and start sending the widows out on missions to retrieve stragglers and refugees. Bring them to the settlement and eventually take over that other settlement that these guys were talking about. Once your prestige level is high enough, people will come asking how they can join your ranks. Tell them about the Sanctuary's Protector Program where we will train young budding talent into deadly killers who will defend them from abominations. As for making sure that they are loyal to us and only us, you don't need to be involved in that process. That's my domain." He was more than qualified to use subtle psychological tricks to enhance the loyalty of the trainees toward him and The Sanctuary in particular.

"What about those two teenagers?" Yelena asked. "Kamala and Laura. What's their deal? You've tethered them together by your collar or whatever. Are they some kind of experiment you did? What's the deal?"

"Just think of them as a package deal," Alex said. "They will tell you their story when they are ready. For now, you can start by training them. Laura already has extensive combat training, but Kamala doesn't. Once they are both at a similar level, both of their collars will change their ranks to make them official widows."

"So I treat them as one unit?" Yelena asked and Alex nodded.

"What about the new recruits? What ages should I target?" Yelena asked next.

"If the girl is an orphan, less than twelve years so that my subtle physical modifications can work better. Any older and their physique will be on the developed side, making enhancement more difficult and less effective. As for children with parents, talk to the parents. If they don't have the resources or willingness to raise the girl, take her. But less than five years. Otherwise, the child will have an imprint of their parents in their psyche, leaving a mental block."

"Just talking about this makes me feel like a villain…" Yelena shuddered.

"Don't think that way. You aren't forcing anyone. You are giving these children a way to survive in this harsh wasteland. They have the choice to refuse. We will only take those who are completely on board with the training regime and even then, they will be allowed to quit if they wish to."

"Whatever, I guess…" Yelena felt that she was just being childish and allowing her past experiences to interfere with her thoughts and impression of the situation. Unlike a semi-stable world which, while war-torn, was still livable, the new recruits are going to be coming from a land where every living breath one takes is a blessing.

…

Yelena spent a while discussing the situation with Alex and Natasha after moving to her room where her partner in slime brought her an untold amount of pleasure in the most unexpected ways possible. She felt that she was able to explore facets of her own sexuality that she never even knew existed with Apex, loving every second of the unbelievably pleasurable experience that he brought to her.

The night was soon over and Natasha bade her farewell to Yelena, leaving the younger sister alone in a wasteland with a predatory slime who had turned her into a slut who was addicted to submitting to him. Still, she made do.

She sent two jets out with five widows each in different directions to explore and search areas where Apex had sensed some human presence. As for the rest of them, they all stayed in the fortress except for a group of twenty that went down into the settlement to 'promote their brand' by helping clean up the abominations and by involving themselves in the multiple facets of their society. Before the people realized it, they would be heavily dependent on the presence of the widows.

Out of the almost seventy that were still in the fortress, Yelena gave two of them the task of training with Laura and Kamala, who were already somewhat experienced and merely needed combat training. As for the rest of them? They were deployed outside the fortress to start clearing out abominations. They were all given set targets that were represented by a loading bar in the vision of their visors. They could return once the bar had finished and they had extracted the necessary EP for Alex.

They were allowed to rest once they returned after generating 10 EP for Alex. It might not seem like much, but with almost sixty-five trained killers at work, Alex got 650 EP in a matter of a few hours with zero involvement from him. Once they returned, they could do whatever they wanted, which, for most of them, included a very intimate kind of reward from the very suit that they were helping with EP extraction.

As for the ones who were in the settlement, by the time the day ended, the widows made a show of returning to The Sanctuary, which, at this point seemed like a kind of paradise to the people in the settlement. They returned via the tractor beam that pulled them up from the square in front of everyone. As for the last two groups, who were out looking for refugees, they had made multiple successful trips, bringing back a total of fifteen refugees to the settlement. With Apex providing them with a wide-range human detector radar, it was very easy for them to find people despite the scarcity.

As the days passed, the prestige of the widows and The Sanctuary skyrocketed among the people of the settlement, many of them longing to someday travel to the flying fortress like the widows. That was when the recruitment offers rolled around. On the very first day, they had almost thirty applicants. All of them were young eight to ten-year-old orphan girls. The widows made a big show of bringing the new recruits up to the fortress with them.

The recruits were all provided with the same chokers as the rest of the widows, all with a single streak of red as the marking of a trainee. At the same time, ten of the most well-performing widows from the past two weeks were promoted to three marks and were going to be the tutors for the young girls. The next day was similar, a little less than before, but ten orphan girls signed up for the program, bringing the trainees up to forty.

During this time, not a single parent had offered their infant child up, which made sense. Especially because the widows hadn't targeted those children just yet. Their initial limit was going to be somewhere around seventy-five, which was hit within the week solely by taking in the orphan girls. They cleared out almost all of the young orphan girls in the settlement as seventy-two new trainees joined their ranks. Including Kamala and Laura, they now had a total of seventy-four new applicants. That brought the total number of widows to an even one hundred and seventy excluding Yelena.

Not only were the girls grateful, but the widows made sure to teach them all of the necessary things with care and patience. The women could intimately relate to the situation of the girls and made it a point to make them feel welcome and establish a sense of camaraderie with them while also training them extensively. The new trainees continued learning from the ten tutor widows who all sported chokers with three marks, expressing their status that was slightly different from the widows who only had two marks.

As almost a month passed, Yelena continuously got better at managing the situation as the widows all got stronger and more efficient at gathering EP. Even though only fifty widows were going out to gather EP daily — the rest of them were either busy training the new recruits or looking for stray refugees — Alex's daily EP gain was two thousand, which meant that each widow was gathering forty points for him after merely a single month. At this point, Yelena decided to expand their territory and targeted the next settlement.

-x-X-x-

Irene Pov.

"I'm–I'm… My name is–is Irene," I stuttered out while looking down.

"You don't have to worry, Irene," The beautiful lady spoke in a gentle voice that magically calmed me down. "We will reach the settlement in an hour or so."

A hand made its way to my shoulder and I jerked instinctively, abruptly looking back. My mother's impassive face was what greeted me as she pulled me back from the kind lady who saved us from those bad monsters. I met the lady's eyes for a moment and gave her a forced smile, reluctantly stepping back with my mother.

"Don't talk to these people," My mother spoke sternly to me and I froze in my place, looking down without meeting her eyes. She continued speaking, but a weak whimper escaped my throat, unable to process her words. She stopped after one of the companions of the gentle lady spoke up about taking flight or something. My mother strapped me to one of the seats while doing the same for herself.

…

"What a beautiful sight…" I spoke up as got off the plane with my mother and the rest of the people that the gentle lady and her companions had picked up. Ever since we'd gotten close enough, my eyes were fixed on the giant floating castle in the sky. We were all lined up as we walked away from the plane, away from the gentle lady and her companions who were all talking amongst themselves. My eyes went to the people at the end of the path, the two men both had scary expressions on their faces. I shrunk back as my eyes darted to the gentle lady once again.

'I have to do it…'

I don't know what got over me, but I broke off from the line and crossed the rail by ducking under it and ran to the women. "Miss!" I called out to get her attention but before I could reach her, someone grabbed my arm.

"What are you doing?!" My mother shouted as she tightly grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Didn't I tell you not to talk to them?" She furiously spoke in my ear. I felt like I had just missed something unbelievably important. Tears welled up in my eyes as the pain of her tight grip finally hit me.

"You're hurting me…" I squealed. My vision blurred, and my stomach sank. I looked longingly at the gentle lady, but I couldn't even make out her shape as tears fell from my eyes. I felt my mother's grip over my arm loosen just enough that it wasn't hurting anymore.

"You are Irene, right?" I didn't know when it happened, but the gentle lady suddenly appeared right in front of me. "Did you want to talk to me about something?" She asked. I felt a gentle hand on my cheek and she wiped away my tears. I still couldn't focus my vision and it was still difficult to see the expression on her face, but I could instinctively tell that she was concerned about me.

"W–what's that place?" I asked while pointing to the beautiful castle's silhouette. I couldn't see it anymore, but I was certain that I was pointing in the right direction.

"That, little lady, is The Sanctuary," The gentle lady told me. I like how she called me little lady, "That is where I and the other widows live."

"Did you lose your husbands like my mom?" I instantly felt regret when I asked that question. Despite not being able to focus completely on the beautiful lady's blurred face, I could tell that she felt a negative emotion from my words.

"That's not it, Irene. We are the Sanctuary's elite combatants who protect this settlement. As for the namesake, there isn't any deep reason behind it," She's lying to me, but not completely. I can't tell what she lied about.

"I want to join," The words escaped my mouth before I even thought of them. "How do I join?" I asked. The lady smiled and looked at my mother. I could tell that my mother was seething inside but showed a gentle expression in front of the strong lady.

"How old are you, Irene?" I was asked.

"T-twelve," I told the lady, feeling like there were going to be some problems. The lady didn't say anything to me for a while, confusing me. "Is everything okay?" I asked.

"In a few days, Irene," She spoke to me. "The widows will be doing their third recruitment drive in this settlement. How about you participate and see if you can qualify?" I felt the lady tracing her hand over my cheek. Her finger touched the back of my ear and she left something there. I couldn't feel it on my skin, but I felt like there was something there. Moments later, I felt that feeling on my neck. As if it was wrapped around my throat.

"I will, gentle lady," I blurted out as I felt my vision coming back. My heart also calmed down, even though I hadn't even realized that it had been thumping just a few seconds ago. She laughed and patted my head before leaving me and my mother. This time, she didn't leave anything on me.

I blinked my eyes as my vision came back, moments later, my mother's grip tightened over my arm once again, "You better not make up meaningless fantasies in your head. You're a fool if you think that you can join them."

"You're right…" I looked down, "I don't know what got over me." I felt like I was under some kind of foreign influence when talking to the beautiful lady.

'It all feels like some kind of dream… There's nothing on my neck either. Why would she leave something on me…' I threw the events to the back of my mind. 'Somehow my mother's grip doesn't hurt as much anymore… It would be better if she was a little gentler... Or if I could leave…'

…

I didn't go to the recruitment that the beautiful lady invited me to. Nor did I talk to the beautiful lady again in the month that I'd been here. I made a few friends in the settlement and they had told me of the prestige that the Protectors of The Sanctuary held. My mother was right. How could I join such a group? Especially after hearing that they never took anyone over twelve. While I could have been accepted by them with just that, I have my mother to take care of. And they never take children away from their parents unless the parents voluntarily give up on the child.

"Irene!" I heard a familiar voice call me outside and opened the window of the small kitchen to see him from the second floor of the small one-bedroom apartment that was provided to my mother and me.

"I can't come down, Jaskir. I have to do chores," I shouted, showing him a soapy plate. "Mom's asleep after working all night and I need to take care of her mess as well."

"Just come down! The widows are doing their sixth recruitment drive today. It's been six months since they have completely changed the lives of the people in the settlement. And I heard that this time they might do something special. We have to go!"

"I can't Jaskir," I shouted reluctantly. "Why don't you come up and help me out? If we finish up early, we can go then."

"Fucking hell!" He disappeared from my vision. It took almost ten minutes for there to be repeated knocking on my door. I sighed audibly before opening the door.

"What?" I asked as Jaskir and two of my other friends looked at me imploringly. "I have to do chores, guys."

"Forget about your chores," Sophia spoke as she grabbed my arm, "You and I both know what your mother is busy with every night. You don't need to take care of her. Especially after all the abuse she dishes out on you."

"It doesn't matter, Sophia," I said. "I have to take care of things here."

"What's all this goddamn ruckus?" Speak of the devil. My mother came out of the room, dressed in the same skimpy outfit that she was wearing when she came home in the morning.

"Mom —" I couldn't even say anything to her before a smack on my cheek sent me tumbling down to the ground.

"Get the fuck out of my house," I heard another smack, my mom probably hit Sophia, who had been standing closest to me. "And you!" She slammed the door and kicked me. I groaned. "Get back to work. Do you know how hard I have to work to provide for the both of us?"

Tears appeared in my eyes as I turned to look at my mother. I could almost tell where she was going to hit me next and moved to the side despite not being able to see what she was about to do. "Bullshit," I spoke with newfound courage. "Every minor receives an allowance and you splurge it all on your useless crap, leaving me with meager scraps from my own allowance from the Sanctuary."

"How dare you speak up against your betters?" I could tell that a slap was coming. While unable to see, I still stepped back, causing my mother to lose her balance. I don't know what came to me and pushed her with all my strength.

"I'm leaving and never coming back!" I screamed at her and moved to the door. From my teary eyes, I couldn't even see where I was going, but I just ran as fast as I could to move down the stairs. I heard my friends call out to me, but I ignored them completely and continued running. I couldn't see where I was running, it was as if my instincts were controlling me. Before I realized it, I reached the grand square where the widows were evaluating the new applicants.

My instincts drove me, completely taking over my actions. I didn't think before acting, somehow knowing that if I didn't take this plunge, I would be in too much trouble. I couldn't feel the presence of the previous lady whom I had talked to, but I had an idea of whom I had to talk to. I moved through the crowd surrounding the recruitment platform where girls who were all younger than me were being evaluated.

Despite feeling like my tears had permanently clouded my vision, I easily moved through the crowd and found myself in front of a different beautiful lady.

"Hello…" I found the courage within myself to greet her.

"Who are you, little girl?" The beautiful lady knelt before me and asked. I looked at her, but couldn't particularly identify any of her features.

"I'm Irene. Irene Adler," I spoke to her as she nodded.

"Do you want to join the protectors of the Sanctuary?" She asked me.

"I do!" I said excitedly. "I want to become stronger so that the monsters can't do anything to me anymore."

"What about your parents?" She asked me as I felt my heart lurch to my stomach. I wouldn't be allowed to join if I told them about my mom.

"I-I lost them both… To–to those monsters," I choked out as I recalled my father. Back then mom used to care about me as well.

"I'm sorry for bringing up a difficult memory, Irene," The lady put her hand on my head and used some kind of magic to calm me down. Maybe it was just that her hand felt so gentle on my head that I felt that it was magical. "Stand in the line behind your fellow candidates. Once your name is called, walk up to my companion who will ask you a few questions and perform a few tests on you, okay?"

"C-can I go first?" I asked, feeling a sinking feeling in my stomach that told me that my mother would be here at any moment and interrupt me.

"Why is that?" The lady asked me.

"I just have a feeling that it would be better for me to go first…" I said, looking around despite not particularly seeing anything clearly. The lady didn't say anything for a few seconds. I felt that she was listening to someone.

"Okay," She patted me on the head, "Go on to the front of the line. You will be called into the interview room next." I tried to focus on her neck, where I felt some kind of presence that I couldn't quite identify, yet it felt familiar to me. I listened to her words and walked up to the front of the line where another beautiful lady allowed me to cut into the front of the line. I brought my hand to my throat, trying to feel the foreign presence on me that had appeared again, but I couldn't tell what was going on.

Slowly, my vision started clearing up as the seconds passed and my heart's thumping got milder and calmed down. That was when the panic of my current situation settled in. My eyes darted around, looking at the crowd that was gathered all around me, I couldn't help but start to huff in panic. I felt suffocated as if some kind of an invisible wall was closing in on me.

"Irene," The calling of my name from inside the room, broke me out of my trance as I huffed loudly and looked apprehensively at the door. "Irene Adler." I was called once again and the beautiful lady who allowed me to cut in line placed her hand on my head, calming me down.

"Don't worry, child. She won't hurt you. All she's going to do is to ask you a few questions. Go on, now," Her words gave me the courage to hesitantly nod and shuffle toward the door. It took me quite a bit of effort to push it open before I could finally enter. My eyes focused on a beautiful woman with blonde hair, who smiled at me.

"Come here, Irene. Sit," She told me to sit on the chair that was opposite her with a desk in the middle.

"H-hello, ma'am."

"I hear you want to become one of the Sanctuary's Defenders," The woman spoke as my eyes were attracted to the lines around the neckline of her uniform. I remember the woman who allowed me in had three lines on her neckline while this one has four.

"I-I do…" I spoke timidly, feeling jitters in my stomach and all over my body.

"Are you an orphan?" She asked me, making me freeze.

"I… n—yes. I-I'm an orphan," I stuttered out. She didn't say anything, frowning at my words. My breathing quickened as I felt that she was about to throw out of the room.

"Why do you want to become a widow, Irene?" The beautiful woman asked me. I couldn't tell if she caught my lie or not.

"I want to protect myself… I want to be safe from the bad monsters outside," This time I told her the truth.

"You don't want to defend your fellow people? Your friends?" She asked me, making me feel that I had given her the wrong answer.

"I-I do..." I spoke up hurriedly, "But I can only protect my friends if I can protect myself. W-when my father died to protect us from those abominations…" I felt tears cloud my eyes as the recollection of that horrible day ate at me.

"Wipe your eyes, honey," The woman spoke ever gently. "Those monsters can't do anything bad to you here. You don't need to worry," I nodded at her words, wiping my eyes as my vision cleared once again. She then asked me, "What about training? You have to know that the kind of strength that a widow needs isn't acquired with half-hearted training. You will be trained extensively in all sorts of combat and put through what will effectively feel like torture. Are you willing to train like that?"

"W-will I be given sufficient food? I don't want to stay hungry…" I said, my voice choking a little. The woman frowned.

"Do you not get enough food? The Sanctuary works very hard to make sure that all pre-adults are given an allowance that will keep them fed very well."

"I-I do…" I realized that I had made a mistake in my words. "I do get enough food. I was referring to before I came to the settlement."

"I see…" I couldn't tell if the woman believed me or not. "Yes, you will be given ample nutrition. While the training will be rigorous and harsh, the benefits that you receive will be equivalent in nature. The best food, amenities, and living standards. You get to live in the Sanctuary's Flying Fortress. And trust me, after the first few months, you are going to love every second of training." I couldn't quite understand what the woman meant, but I felt that she was trustworthy.

"I-I'm willing… I will train as hard as I need to. I won't even complain. Promise." The woman smiled and was about to say something before the door burst open and I heard a familiar shrill voice.

"Irene!" My mother screamed at me, fury shining on her features. "Please forgive my foolish daughter, madam. I don't know what got into her, causing her to run away from home and come here. I'm afraid that she doesn't match the criteria of an orphan twelve-year-old since I'm still alive."

"No!" My mother grabbed my arm tight enough to make me squeal in pain. "I don't want to live with you! I want to become a Protector!" I screamed, resisting with all my might. A sharp pain shot up my arm before I heard something crack. A pained groan escaped my lips as the pain in my arm became almost unbearable. My mother was looking at me furiously.

"Stop making a scene here, Irene," She spoke with a measured voice, hiding her fury. I could tell. She'd just dislocated my arm in her anger after all. "Come home with your mother. We still haven't discussed —"

"Stop," The beautiful woman interrupted my mother's words, making the painful grip she had on my arm tighten even further. "Irene. Do you wish to go with your mother?"

"No!" I shook my head. Since I was already so deep into the situation, I had to take a leap. I don't want to be on the receiving end of the thrashing my mother would give me once I got home. "I want to become one of you!"

"What if your mother died today?" The woman asked me a question that I didn't quite know the answer to.

"W-what?" My voice cracked.

"Let me phrase it in a better way," The woman said. "What if your mother completely and permanently disappeared from your life right at this moment? What would you do in that case?" She asked me.

I couldn't help but pause. Somehow, I felt like the pain that I was feeling had lessened somewhat. My mother's grip was as tight as ever, but the pain seemed to have been dulled. "I don't mind. I… I don't care if I never see her again. She died the day I lost my father." I gave her a hateful look as I recalled the events that transpired merely a day after my father died.

"Irene! How dare you?!" My mother was outraged, twisting my arm as I cried out again. The pain was back and it hurt horribly, but I couldn't hold back.

"You sold yourself to another man the day my father died. You would've done the same to me as well if it wasn't for Uncle!" I screamed, letting out all my frustrations at her. I don't know what happened or when it happened, but the next thing I remember is being escorted by the beautiful women and a few other new recruits who were all close to my age. Everyone flew to the heaven-like paradise that was The Sanctuary.

I didn't see her, but my mother was also one of the people who were brought up, just that she was restrained in handcuffs and a gag, and she wasn't the only one. There were a few more women who were taken up to the Sanctuary in a similarly restrained manner. Then again, I wouldn't be seeing her ever again, so what did it matter?

[Hello, Irene Adler. Or should I say, Madame Destiny?] I heard a man's deep yet comforting voice in my head that startled me into screaming.

-x-X-x-

Natasha dropped all of the work that had anything to do with the widows on Yelena and freely returned to her home Earth.

A portal opened in the Avengers Compound that was in Upstate New York. In dropped Natasha decked out in her new Black Widow outfit that sported six parallel red stripes that outlined her suit. Her appearance instantly triggered multiple alarms despite her signature being familiar. The way she had entered was just that off.

"Miss Romanoff," Vision appeared in front of Natasha as she raised a brow.

[Didn't you decommission Vision when you took his stone? It seems to me that he even has his density-shifting ability.]

[Who knows? Stark is smart enough to restart his pet robot with or without the Mind Stone. Plus, Vision's body is still made of Vibranium. He wouldn't let all of it go to waste.]

"Hi, Vision, how are you?" Natasha smiled, "Is Tony in? I have some stuff to talk to him about."

"I will first need you to follow me for some verification procedures since your arrival was unannounced," Vision said, making Natasha frown.

"Since when do you need to perform verification procedures for the Avengers?" She raised a brow.

"Since someone snuck in and took away the Mind Stone," Vision's tone got slightly hostile. "Please don't make things more difficult than they are, Miss Romanoff."

"Fine, whatever," Natasha shrugged.

[Your little heist with Yelena put a nice toll on Tony's paranoia.]

[It's understandable. I would be disappointed in Stark if he didn't take any precautions to check up beforehand. I wiped every trace of Yelena from the cameras and sensors before leaving with the Mind Stone. Even Vision's memory ended the moment before the portal appeared. I'm sure he has more than just this explicit detection mechanism.]

[Hopefully, our upcoming conversation will help lessen his paranoia somewhat…]

[We'll see about that.]

Vision took Natasha through a few different scanners that examined her biometrics, her mannerisms, and more. Vision even asked if he could draw her blood for a test, to which she just looked at the synthetic life form blankly. It understood, withdrawing from the identity verification process.

[Everything checks out, Miss Romanoff. I apologize for any inconvenience you had to experience. Mr. Stark will meet you outside in the living room.]

Natasha let out a tired exhale as she walked back out to the living room, only to see Tony eating a pizza as he watched something on a holographic screen in front of him. With a closer look, Natasha realized that it was a satellite image of the fortress leaving through the Mystic Arts portal.

"I cannot, for the life of me understand how you managed to take care of the logistics of moving a flying fortress through a portal into another world. The resources this must've taken…" Tony said with a slightly blaming undertone. Natasha understood his unspoken question about her being supported by another force.

"Good morning, Tony," She said with a smile. "How are you doing?" She sat on the couch adjacent to his and crossed one leg over the other, tilting her head toward the right to look at him.

"I'm doing great, thanks for asking," He replied cheerfully. "Now tell," He troped the tone. "What's the deal with the fortress? I thought you were going to devote your people to creating a new department of the Avengers."

"Plans had to change," Natasha said. "I was contacted by an external force, one not from our planet."

Tony released a heavy breath in response to Natasha's words, leaning back with a serious expression. "What did they want?"

"To utilize the widows for a certain clean-up procedure on a different planet, one of the Earths," Natasha said. "It is a post-nuclear war wasteland infested with zombies on steroids. Some of whom can even match Banner."

"And they think that the widows can take care of such an enemy?! Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are talking about the Earth that broadcasts its name as Earth-TRN04863, right?" Tony said. "I have seen that planet and merely the satellite imagery I see terrifies me to no extent."

"What broadcasts are you talking about?" Natasha asked.

"After I returned from Kamar Taj, I started tweaking with some sensors and identified a unique frequency that each planet emitted. When deciphered, it gives out a sort of codename. Ours is Earth-199999."

"How interesting," Natasha said. "I'm not sure about your number but I think we're talking about the same planet. I just call it Earth-Z for zombie," Natasha said with a shrug. "As for the widows, they will be fine. The man who contacted me — he calls himself Apex — showed me a certain biosuit that can enhance the widows' attributes so that they can at least stand toe-to-toe with those abominations. Not only that, the suits also have a healing mechanism that can even help them regenerate limbs."

"Benefits," Tony said. "I understand that. But why would you let our own planet's forces move to another planet, risking our own security in the process? We've already lost Wanda for who knows how long in her expedition. Now the widows as well."

"The offer was too lucrative, Tony," Natasha said. "Not only did Apex provide each and every widow with those suits, he also promised a certain level of protection from the external threats that we might face."

"And do tell me, how did he convince you about that," The skeptic in Tony asked.

"Infinity Stones," Natasha said. "He is the one who took not only the Time Stone from Strange but also Vision's Mind Stone. Not only that, he told me that the ones he took were merely pieces of the real deal, a one-fortieth piece of the real deal to be exact. He has collected multiple such stones and has promised that he will come to our aide when we require."

"And we're just supposed to take his word for it?" Tony asked. "After the amazing show of his trust by stealing our stuff."

"It wasn't a choice, Tony," Natasha said, her tone filled with helplessness. "I'm not that naive, but I was strong-armed into accepting his offer."

"God damn it," Tony clenched his teeth. "Do we know anything about this man who calls himself Apex?"

"Nothing much," Natasha said. "He just showed up out of nowhere with a flash of blue, which I presume was the utilization of the Space Stone. He's arrogant and prideful though, and extremely confident in his abilities. That portal was also his doing. While he seemed to be using the abilities of the sorcerers of Kamar Taj, I don't think anyone has the capability to create such a massive portal other than Wanda from our lineup."

Tony sighed, "That doesn't give us anything. Are you still in contact with the widows?" He asked.

"I am. I have a communication device that can connect me to the widows along with a way to automatically form a portal to them whenever I want," She said.

"With how established he sounds… does he have something to do with Earth-96283 and Earth-120703? The two Earths that are conjoined together by means of a planetary shield."

"He seems to have some sort of connection with them," Natasha said. "I was able to pull out the name of the two-planet cluster from him, but nothing more. He called it the Gaia Federation. Now I'm not sure if it is some kind of dictatorial regime or what."

"If he is a part of that Federation or whatever… I'm worried about him wanting to make us dependent on him to eventually incorporate our planet into that cluster," Tony said.

"To be honest," Natasha said. "I don't see too many problems with that. Yes, we will be coming under a possibly dictatorial regime, but with the tech that they have and their forces, we might just end up being in the safest position in the Convergence."

"Maybe…" Tony had many thoughts of his own but decided to put them aside for later. "So, now what? We don't particularly have any Avengers-level threats at the moment. Are you planning to join Rogers in his work with Coulson and New Shield?"

"Did he change his mind?" Natasha asked. "I thought that he was against the re-establishment of Shield in the first place."

"A little pep talk after the whole stones business and Kamar Taj changed his mind. He is now the director of New Shield with Fury and Coulson as his deputies." Tony said.

"Interesting," She said. "But no, I don't plan to join any organizations for now. Instead, I wanted to see if you could find a way to get us funding for the settlement that we are creating in Earth-Z."

"Isn't your sponsor Apex helping with that?" Tony raised his brow.

"He only gave the suits and means of travel," Natasha said with a wry expression. "The rest of the logistics have to be dealt with by me."

"Can't say I'm stoked about the idea, but what do you need? Some basic necessities for a hundred women. That it?"

"More," Natasha shook her head. "I want to set up an actual base of operations there that's separate from the flying fortress. I'm going to call it The Sanctuary. And to make that, we will need more than just basic necessities."

"Which means funneling billions into the project…" Tony said.

"Pretty much, yeah. That's why I want your help to tap into military funding for it instead of your money. If we can somehow sell the idea of establishing a base in another world, our government will gladly give us not only endless money and resources but also endless manpower."

"I'll see what we can do about it…"

"Do we have any leads for the first target?" Natasha asked Alex.

"I have a general idea," Alex told her. "He should be a senior in a High School in the San Francisco Bay Area."

"You know more about a seventeen-year-old kid than you should," Natasha said, seeming weirded out.

"His information is all on public record since he got himself emancipated because of his orphaned status. He is legally an adult at the moment," He gave her an annoyed look. "Xu Shang-Chi. That's the kid's name. He thinks he's hidden but he is very easy to track. Not only myself but his father is also constantly keeping track of him. All we need to do is to go in and get the locket from him."

"How long do you need before finding his exact location?" She asked Alex.

"A few minutes. But the drive will be a long one, so you can get some shut-eye," Alex told her. "We will reach our destination in around eighteen hours without stops. With stops, it depends."

"Works for me," Natasha reclined the car seat all the way back as Alex also made himself comfortable while driving on the freeway. They were currently in a Porsche 911 that Alex had reinforced so that it would survive some of the more worn-out cross-country roads. He used his superhuman reflexes to his advantage, moving at a constant two hundred miles per hour or more while they had a distance of three thousand miles to cover.

"Just going for a long drive is also pretty fun sometimes…"

…

In a nondescript apartment in the San Fransisco Bay area, the door opened with a bang as an intoxicated man entered with a woman kissing his neck. Still an entangled mess, the duo entered while the man closed the door behind himself with his foot. He put his hands on the woman's waist and picked her up, her legs wrapping around him.

"Oh, Shaun~" The woman moaned, pulling back from the kiss only to meet his eyes.

"You seem to be enjoying life to the fullest…" An amused yet soft voice came from the couch. "For a seventeen-year-old, that is."

The woman's eyes widened, "You're seventeen?!" She exclaimed, pushing him away as the hints of intoxication in his eyes all but disappeared as she stumbled away from him. He turned to look at a tuft of red hair poking out from the side of the couch's backrest.

"Who are you?" He asked cautiously, his entire body tensing up.

"Answer me!" The woman shook his arm.

"Yeah, I'm seventeen. Now leave," The man identified as Shaun spoke irritably.

"Natasha," The intruder spoke, still as calm and amused as before. The woman who had come with Shaun quickly left, while curious, she wasn't willing to get into the murky situation. "Now should I call you Shaun? Or Shang-Chi?" Natasha asked.

The teenager with a body that was well-built to the point of allowing him to pass off as over twenty-one at a bar cautiously stepped in a circle, approaching the couch. "How do you know that name?"

"I tracked you down, silly," Natasha spoke, "How else would I know who you are?"

"Black Widow." Shang Chi spoke, still tense enough to burst into a battle instantaneously.

"The one and only," Natasha smiled at the man. "Avenger, protector, whatever else you want to call me."

"Home invader is the first thing that comes to mind right now, burglar second," He spoke.

"Well, you aren't wrong," Natasha said. "I did come here to ask you for something."

Shang-Chi's hand instinctively went to his neck, grasping the pendant of a necklace. His tense state seemed to naturally calm down a little, "What is it?"

"You know what it is," Natasha smiled, looking at his hand, making Shang-Chi clench his fist even tighter such that his knuckles turned white.

"Why?"

"I'm not here to hurt you, kid," Natasha said. "I will be meeting with your father and sister after this. I wish to go to Ta Lo and those lockets are the key that will lead me there."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, stepping back until his back was against the door.

"You've given up on everything from your past. That locket is a ghost that will continue to haunt you until you either throw it away or face it. Which one will it be?" Natasha said.

A clicking sound followed the door opening abruptly as Shang-Chi ran out without looking back.

"I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this," Natasha sighed as the man skidded to a stop, unable to believe that the woman would be able to catch up to him so quickly.

"Then leave!" He spoke with hints of agitation, "It's my mother's final memento. I cannot give it to you."

"What if I promise to return it?" Natasha asked, throwing a casual punch at Shang-Chi to incapacitate him.

Shang-Chi reacted with almost superhuman reflexes, palming the side of Natasha's fist and using his other hand to absorb the force. He redirected it to his attack and punched Natasha in the abdomen.

She blinked, her hand instinctively moving to block the attack as Shang-Chi pressed further, swiping her leg as she stepped to the side. He didn't delay for a moment before moving forward and sliding past her.

"Did he just…" Natasha looked at her fist that had been redirected by Shang-Chi.

[He did. It seems that Shang-Chi is going to be a troublesome opponent in every reality.]

[Suppress my physical stats to match his once I reach him.] Nat said with an interested smile as she quickly moved to catch up to him. "There's no point in running away from me, kid. How about this, you give me your locket and come with me to meet with your sister and father? Once I'm done with the lockets, you both can keep them."

Shang-Chi growled in response. Natasha tilted her body to dodge his punch, swiping his leg as he was stepping forward. Shang-Chi fell but twirled his body to kick Natasha's legs, forcing her to jump in order to keep herself from falling. Just as she landed, he was already on his feet, throwing a punch at her which she was forced to parry. She couldn't counter as Shang-Chi hit her with another punch, forcing her to block it. His flurry of attacks continued, following the Wing Chun school's move set which relied on quick successive punching to keep the opponent on their toes. Initially, it seemed to be working, Natasha being forced to block his attacks as she analyzed his moves but that quickly changed as she found an opening in his attacks and capitalized on it, raising her leg to knee his stomach.

Shang-Chi reeled himself back with a hardened expression, taking a kung-fu stance.

"You're a strong fighter. You truly are," Natasha praised as Shang-Chi approached her. "But you still need a couple more years to match up to me in skill. Tell me, would you like to join the Avengers?" Natasha, as if already aware of an opening in his stance, threw a punch at Shang-Chi, making his eyes widen as he barely blocked it, stepping back. Natasha was already upon him, grabbing his arm and pulling it behind his back. Just as she was about to hold him down in a lock, he flipped over, dissipating her gathered force. She kept holding on to his arm as he landed on his feet, right in front of her.

"You're outmatched," Natasha smirked, kneeing him as he parried her attack, countering with his one free arm. She redirected his attack and moved behind him once again twisting his arm behind his back and pushing him down. She overpowered him and held him down.

He struggled violently but was unable to free himself from Black Widow's hold.

"Seriously, I would've felt good about myself if you weren't seventeen. I feel like I'm bullying a kid…" Natasha felt a little tired mentally. "Train more so that you can take your revenge on me when I meet you again when it's time for me to return your locket. I promise it to you as an Avenger." She unhooked the locket and Alex put it in his inventory. "And my offer still stands. Let me know if you want to become an Avenger. We need people like yourself."

"You've taken it, right? Let me go now," He groaned while continuing to struggle, ignoring most of Natasha's words.

"No, you're accepting it too easily. You're going to give up, aren't you? You're going to sit on your ass and wait for me to come back and return your locket. That's not how it works, boy," Natasha saw through the teenager's thoughts. "The only way for you to take your locket from me is if you can beat me. Understood. I'm giving you a rough estimate of six months. Either get good enough to beat me. Or lose your mother's final memento forever."

"I don't care, just keep the damn locket. Let me go!" Shang-Chi groaned.

"Don't you get it?" Natasha said. "I'm not accepting that. You will train and get stronger. Otherwise, I will be forced to threaten you with things that are very unbecoming of a world-renowned superhero. If you don't better yourself before our next meeting, a world of pain awaits you. Understood, Shang-Chi?" Just to make a dramatic movement, Natasha shot a bolt of lightning at the wall, destroying it completely. "Understood?"

The teenager was positively intimidated by the hole in the wall that was big enough for a person to go through. He nodded, "I will… Fucking hell, I'll train."

"Good work," Natasha smiled and freed him. The next thing he saw, the woman in the sexy black combat suit jumped through the hole in the wall.

"Do these Avengers always leave such collateral damage?" He mumbled to himself.

"I'll get it fixed. Don't worry. Your landlord won't make trouble for you."

-x-X-x-

"You're turning into a battle junkie," Alex told Natasha as he sat in the cockpit of a Quinjet that was flying to China. It was on autopilot, so he was free to pull Natasha into his lap, which he had promptly done.

"What are you talking about?" She looked into his eyes with a teasing smile on her face. "I was just playing around with the kid. I'm mainly interested in fighting this thousand-year-old warlord. Somehow, he has completely isolated himself from being found out by any governmental agency. Even Shield didn't have any deep information about him."

Alex shook his head and traced his hand up Natasha's back, grasping her nape, "Come here," He pulled her into a deep kiss which she reciprocated enthusiastically.

The journey to China passed by in a blur as the Quinjed slowed down and came to a stop a significant distance away from the compound of the Ten Rings.

"You read the kid's mind, didn't you?" Natasha asked with a slight tone of disapproval.

"Not at all. I don't do that brute-force mind manipulation anymore," Alex told her. "I merely hypnotized him to tell me the location."

"Brute forcing?" Natasha raised a brow. Alex's choice of words made her a little curious.

"You know how I'm a little terrified of telepaths, right?" Alex asked her.

"That's a statement," Natasha said. "You used to be terrified of Wanda when you first bonded with her."

"So you did notice…" Alex said.

Natasha gave him a sultry smile and moved closer to him, pressing her torso against him, "I noticed many things, my love," She whispered as her lips brushed against his ear. "Now tell me. What do you mean by brute forcing?"

Alex shook his head with a smile, "The way I perform tasks that relate to mind manipulation comes from my ‹Biological Manipulation›. When I want to make a person do something against their will, I hijack their body while their mind stays free, unable to control their body. Reading people's minds is an advanced application of that. I don't delve into the psionics of the mind, but instead, I directly pull the stored information from the brain."

"So you're telling me that you read people's minds by extracting the information directly out of the neurons in the hippocampus…" Natasha's tone didn't betray her emotions.

"Pretty much. I start with the Hippocampus if I want the newer information. To go further, I slowly delve deeper into the brain as I try to pull out their core memories," Alex said. "You see what I meant by brute forcing?"

"I do…" Natasha said thoughtfully, "And you don't do that anymore?"

"I don't need to. I instead hypnotize people and it serves a similar function for me."

Natasha hummed thoughtfully before changing the topic, "Are we going to move on him right now?"

"Let's do it at night," Alex said. "We will first take the locket from his daughter and then we'll go after Wenwu."

"What about the girl?" Natasha asked, "What happens to her when you inevitably kill Xu Wenwu?"

"Why would I do that?" Alex asked with a confused expression.

"Because that's the plan… That is the plan, right?" She squinted.

"I don't know what kind of homicidal maniac you take me for, but no I don't plan to do anything to Xu Wenwu," Alex said. "Hell, the optimal thing to do would be to not even meet the guy and directly slip away after taking the locket from Xialing."

Natasha frowned, "You're wary of him," She stated, "Why?"

"He's a thousand-year-old warlord. One can never be sure of the tricks he has up his sleeve," Alex said. "Of course, I'm wary of him."

"It seems that I need to reevaluate this immortal man," Natasha said, "Do we have a plan for infiltration?"

"I'm already scouting the base and mapping its architecture while also infiltrating their surveillance system, we will enter from the east side of the compound…" Alex and Natasha started planning their infiltration into the base of Xu Wenwu.

…

With Alex's abilities with Chaos Magic and Natasha's subterfuge, the duo very quickly found themselves in a secluded wing of the compound which didn't have any presence of the soldiers that patrolled every other area.

"This must be the residential wing," Natasha jumped down from the second story and landed, perfectly silent as her feet made contact with the ground. Looking around, she found herself in a courtyard with large trees, a contained bamboo plantation at the side, some cherry blossoms in one section, and some other trees that she didn't recognize.

Alex materialized beside her, "Yes, but Wenwu hasn't been here in two weeks, so it's more of a personal wing for his daughter."

"Sounds like a prison," Natasha said slightly distastefully.

"Not really," Alex said. "She's allowed to go wherever she wants. It's just that her father doesn't have the time for her."

Natasha's reply was interrupted by the sound of the door opening as a twelve-year-old girl walked out. She had a rope in her hands, a weighted ball on one end and a metal dart on the other. Her eyes widened in recognition as she saw the face of the intruder.

"Please leave," The girl spoke slightly broken English. "I've tripped the alarm. My father and his men will be here."

Natasha smiled at the small kindness of the girl who seemed to know how dangerous of a man her father was. "Do you know me?" She asked.

"Black Widow," The girl spoke without much fear in her eyes. "I don't know him though." She said, pointing at Alex.

"He's Apex," Natasha smiled, "A friend. What's your name?"

"Xialing. Xu Xialing." The girl's soft voice made a small smile appear on Natasha's face.

"Xialing," Natasha repeated, "I'm going to make a trip to your mother's hometown, Ta Lo. And for that, I need something from you."

The girl seemed to instinctively know what Natasha was talking about going by how her hand immediately made its way to her neck and grasped a green pendant.

"Don't worry," Natasha said. "I will return it to you once I find the location of the village."

"No…" The girl seemed to be on the verge of tears, making a helpless expression appear on Natasha's face as she turned to Alex.

"I'm not snatching that locket," She said with finality. "And I'm not letting you do it either."

"Do I look like such a bad person?" Alex scoffed before looking at the trembling girl, "Xialing, right?" He spoke in a soft voice, "You may not know about me, but I know a lot about you." Alex's calming and soft voice seemed to calm the girl down.

"Like what?" The girl asked as her agitation mellowed down.

"Like how you are very mad at your elder brother Shang-Chi for abandoning you," Xialing's eyes lit up at Alex's words before dimming as she showed an angry expression. "We met him before coming here and he told us all about how sorry he is for not keeping his promise to you."

"Did you hurt him?" The girl seemed much too mature for her age and understood that since they were after the locket, they had probably already taken the one that her brother had.

"Not at all. He's perfectly fine," Alex said. "We promised that we would return the locket once we get entry into Ta Lo and he agreed to help us out."

Xialing's eyes darted toward a gate as she sighed, seemingly realizing something, "My alarm didn't work, Mister… Apex?" She asked Alex.

"We don't want to get into conflict with your father since it would be a troublesome situation," Natasha said, "Will you give us the locket, Xialing?"

"No…" The girl shook her head and tightened her grip on the rope that she was holding. "It's my mother's final memento. I won't let you take it away from me."

"Then how about you come with?" Alex asked, "We can all go to Ta Lo together. She won't fight you and neither will I. So I think we can compromise and bring you with us."

"Father won't allow it…" Xialing said.

"I told you, did I not, Xialing?" Alex said. "I know more about you than you realize. I know how you regularly spy on the training that your father's men do. You want to become a warrior too, right?"

"How?" She asked.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," Alex said. "How about we make a deal?"

"What deal?"

"Simple. You let us use your locket and in exchange, you will be able to see your mother's birthplace. At the same time, Natasha will provide you with specialized training for the duration that you accompany us. What do you think?"

Alex's soothing tone mixed in with the allure of being trained by an Avenger made the slightly naive yet also smart Xialing's eyes shine. "I-I want to… But what about father?"

"Don't worry about your father," Alex said with a smile. "He won't even realize that you're gone and by the time he finds out, you will be safe and sound in Ta Lo with your aunt."

"I can get out of this place?" She asked, her eyes hopeful.

"Come with us," Alex said before gesturing to Natasha who all but rolled her eyes at him. She then approached Xialing with a welcoming gesture.

-x-X-x-

Thousands of feet in the air, Natasha and Xialing were sitting in the back of the Quinjet as Alex flew away from Wenwu's base.

"You are a very daring woman, Xialing," Natasha said with praise in her tone. "Not a lot of people can trust a complete stranger like you did for me."

"I know it is a risk," The girl looked up at Natasha with pure unblinking eyes, "But I had to take this risk." She seemed to want to say more and opened her mouth, but seemingly hesitant, she closed it again.

"You can talk to Natasha in Mandarin, Xialing," Alex spoke up from the front. "While she may not be able to speak it, she can understand it well enough."

"Is that why you aren't speaking much?" Natasha spoke up.

"Yes," Xialing nodded, seeming much more comfortable with her native language.

"Would you like to eat something?" Natasha asked. "I should have some MREs stashed in the jet." Unlike Natasha, whose sustenance was taken care of by Alex, Xialing needed real food.

"Yes, please, Miss… what do I call you?" Xialing asked Natasha just as the widow stood up, "Calling you Black Widow every time seems like a mouthful."

Natasha smiled a little at the girl's mannerisms already loosening up a little as she was allowed to speak in her native tongue, "Just call me Natasha. Or Nat for short if you want."

"That's not appropriate," The girl shook her head, "You said that you will teach me your skills and expertise. At the very least, I should call you laoshi… no, shifu would be more appropriate." The girl mumbled to herself.

Natasha couldn't help but smile and ruffled up the girl's hair, "You can think about how you want to address me and I'll get you some food." Xialing seemed a little startled and quickly fixed her hair while giving Natasha a narrow-eyed look.

The girl curiously looked around as Natasha seemed to go into a hatch that led to the underside of the jet. Coming up to the cockpit, she poked Alex on the shoulder, "Mister…" She called out.

"Apex," He spoke to her before asking with a little smile, "Do you want to sit in the co-pilot seat?"

Xialing didn't say anything and quickly shuffled herself into the seat before looking through the window. She didn't realize it, but as she leaned forward, her hand was about to press a button that would release the air pressure inside the cabin. Alex quickly grabbed her hand, "Careful, Xialing."

"Sorry…" The girl was polite and quickly understood her mistake. "Can I play some music?" She then asked Alex. She would've done it herself, but she couldn't make out any sort of media system in the jet's console.

"The media system is back there," Alex gestured behind his seat as a screen behind his seat turned on, "You can play anything from the library."

"Cool…" The girl quickly shuffled away from the copilot seat and started fiddling with the media console.

"Okay, we don't have a lot of food stored in the jet, but I found some candy and an MRE that should last you until we reach —" Just as Natasha climbed up the hatch, loud music started playing that reverberated through the entire cabin. Natasha wasn't familiar with the song, but it sounded like Chinese Punk Rock. She sighed and walked up to the console, quickly lowering the volume.

"You have to be considerate of other people as well, Xialing," Natasha said as the girl quickly looked at her with a hurt expression. "Come, we will eat first, then you can play as much music as you want." Xialing seemed like she was about to throw a tantrum, but she took a deep breath and controlled herself.

"Okay, shifu," The girl said, making Natasha raise a brow. The self-restraint of this twelve-year-old girl impressed her.

Xialing quietly sat beside Natasha, curiously looking at the woman preparing the meal and heating it. Soon enough, the tray was filled with warm food and placed in front of Xialing.

"Aren't you eating, shifu?" She asked.

"My circumstances are a bit special," Natasha spoke, briefly glancing at Alex, "I'll tell you about it some other time."

"I see," Xialing quickly dug in and ate certain things while methodically picking out certain other things.

"You should eat everything when it comes to meals, Xialing," Natasha gently pushed the girl's long hair back and gathered it behind her ears before gently parting it.

As Natasha gently braided the girl's hair, she could see her stabbing her fork into a piece of beet. Xialing reluctantly put it into her mouth and instantly felt like gagging. The girl weathered through and ate the piece despite the nauseating feeling that threatened to overwhelm her.

"All right, stop," Natasha stopped her before she could repeat the process with another piece, "The texture doesn't suit you, and if you force yourself to eat it, you will vomit everything out."

"It's fine, I can eat it," The girl seemed stubborn. Natasha gently took the fork away from her hand and calmed her down.

"I understand that I'm a stranger to you and you want to impress me," She looked into Xialing's eyes as the girl seemed to be on the verge of tears, "But you are just twelve years old. I don't expect you to be the epitome of discipline. That's not even saying that your current age is very volatile. Your hormones are slowly peaking and you are prone to mood swings."

Natasha wasn't sure if the girl understood her words completely but she knew how she wanted to deal with her, "Come here," She pulled the girl into her lap and held her in a comforting embrace. It didn't take long for the girl to end up asleep in Natasha's arms. Having been deprived of any warmth for the past few years since her mother died, Xialing clung to the slight source of comfort that she received.

Soon enough, Alex left the plane on autopilot and came up to Natasha to sit beside her, "You planning to adopt her?"

"Don't joke about this, Alex," Natasha's sharp tone left Alex unable to refute as he shook his head and sighed. He sat on the seat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"I don't have any problem with you raising Xialing with all the love and care that she needs, Nat," Alex spoke after a while as Natasha naturally leaned on him. "But you don't have the kind of time necessary to raise her while also dealing with the shitload of other things that are needed to be dealt with."

"I'll make do, Alex," Natasha said the conviction in her tone clear. "This child clearly needs some nurturing. She needs someone who would guide her in life."

Alex sighed, understanding Natasha's mindset. He was, after all, intimately aware of her desire to have a child. It was a desire that she'd suppressed to an endless extent, but seeing Xialing's current state, she couldn't help but melt. "I'm glad I didn't keep you with Yelena and the Widows to manage the Sanctuary."

"Why?" Natasha asked.

"Because you would end up adopting all of the helpless children in that settlement that we've established ourselves in," Alex shook his head.

"I'm not that weak-willed, Alex," Natasha felt a little affronted, "Xialing is different from some typical child."

"I know," Alex sighed, "But you clearly can't raise her while running all over the planet. Not to mention, with how dangerous everything is, there's no telling how long it is before some kind of catastrophe befalls this planet."

"What is it that you want to say, Alex?" Natasha asked with a small frown on her face. "You're beating around the bush."

"I know that you don't wish to meet my other hosts, but the best course of action would be to move to Gaia," Alex said. "You can raise Xialing in a safe environment without running around all the time. With the time dilation factor that Gaia sports, a decade will pass on those two planets before the end of the week. Once Xialing grows up enough, you guys can come back to Earth. Either she can join the Widows, or she can take over her father's empire."

Natasha looked down at the peaceful expression on the girl's face before sighing, "I need a few days to think about it," She said.

"Take all the time you want, honey," Alex said endearingly before kissing her hair. "I was just laying out the facts in front of you. If you don't agree with my idea, then I will fully support you in raising her on this planet. I will use both keys to pinpoint the location of the entrance and the time that it is going to open."

"Where are we going currently?" Natasha asked.

"Shanghai. We can refuel the jet and wait until the entrance opens. In the meantime, You and Xialing can hang out in the city for a few hours. Get to know her, try to let her be comfortable enough to open up with you."

Natasha nodded without saying anything and made herself comfortable, nestling against Alex as he tightened his arm around her shoulder, "Thank you," She said in a small voice and closed her eyes while holding Xialing securely in her arms.

-x-X-x-

As Natasha and Xialing slept, Alex was fiddling with the lockets that would lead him to Ta Lo.

'Qingming Jie is still half a year away. I don't have any intention of waiting that long. The only other way is to analyze these lockets and use them as a pathfinder. On the other hand, I could also kidnap that faker Mandarin, but he's useless without his pet that's native to Ta Lo.'

While deep in his thoughts, Alex threw the lockets up in the air as a red glow appeared on his palm and made the lockets float before him. He idly twirled his fingers and caused the locket to twist and turn with his movements.

"What are you doing?" Natasha woke up as Alex channeled Chaos Magic.

"Trying to find a way that would allow us to go to Ta Lo right now instead of having to wait six months for Qingming Jie when the entrance opens," Alex said without stopping his actions. Slowly, the Chaos energy started seeping into the pendant as the pure green of the lockets began to distort.

"Why Qingming Jie?" She asked him.

"Maybe it has a spiritual significance to the village," Alex told her. "But it should be possible to traverse the maze that blocks the entrance to Ta Lo at other times as well. We just need to find the way."

Having spent so long with Alex, Natasha had learned not to question how the slime man knew so much information without any credible source. While curious, she knew that she wouldn't be getting an answer from him. She had long given up on trying to dig into Alex's sources.

As Alex continued fiddling with the lockets, Natasha shook her head and snuggled closer to him, holding Xialing tighter in her arms as she went back to sleep.

…

"How long will the refueling take?" Natasha asked Alex while holding Xialing's little hand as the three were about to get off the plane.

Alex gave her a knowing smile and said, "A couple of hours. We can play around in the city for a while if you want."

"What do you think Xialing?" Nat asked.

"Father's people will find us," The girl spoke worriedly, her eyes darting around. "They have eyes and ears all over the world." She suddenly felt a hand on her head and found herself face-to-face with Natasha as the woman knelt before her.

"You don't need to worry about any of those things. I'll take you to Disneyland and we can play on all the rides there. Okay?" An excited smile made its way to Xialing's face as she nodded vigorously, the braid that Natasha had made for her bounced with each movement of her head.

"Are you also coming with us, Uncle Apex?" She looked up at Alex with unblinking eyes. "To Disneyland."

Natasha burst out laughing at Xialing's address, receiving a nasty side-eye from Alex as he answered, "Of course," He said with a smile, "After all, I have to protect you two in case something happens, don't I?"

"Are you also as strong as shifu?" Xialing asked straightforwardly.

"Something like that, yeah."

…

The three soon went to Disneyland and Natasha couldn't help herself from indulging Xialing with everything the girl asked for. Alex tried to restrain her a little, but Natasha wasn't having it. She was willing to throw hands against Alex just to let the girl have her way. They did everything according to what she wanted. The rides, the different sections relating to Disney's most common IP, and more. Both Alex and Natasha clearly saw her fascination with Toy Story and the likes, having spent well over an hour and a half just in that area.

Eventually, Xialing was finally out of energy, after running around the entire park for the past four hours. They then moved to the food court to get some evening snacks.

Xialing and Natasha sat on one side while Alex was on the other, all of them sharing a large platter of snacks, some unique to the Chinese market and some common ones like fries and chicken nuggets.

"Is everything okay, honey?" Natasha rubbed Xialing's shoulder. "You've been quiet for a while."

"Mhm," She nodded naturally, but Natasha could see she was distracted. She didn't push the girl into opening up and the three of them ate in comfortable silence with Natasha and Alex making some random comments.

Once they were done with the snacks, their next destination was the sound and light show. Halfway through the show, Xialing was sound asleep in Natasha's arms, holding her tightly.

[I've found a way into Ta Lo. The lockets can indeed guide us through the outer maze.] Alex told Natasha as she gave Xialing a reluctant look.

[Can we leave after the show ends? I want to let her sleep for longer.] Alex noticed that Xialing was clutching Natasha's clothes tightly in her sleep, afraid that she would leave her. He gave Natasha a slightly dismissive shrug, telling her that they could take as much time as needed.

Eventually, the show was over and Natasha tried to wake Xialing up the girl woke up with a single light shake of her shoulder yet pretended to still be asleep. Both Alex and Natasha easily noticed the initial tremble as she woke up and shared an amused smile with each other.

After a couple more shakes, Natasha sighed to herself, "It seems that she isn't going to wake up," Her words made Xialing's grip over her clothes tighten.

"Let her sleep," Alex said. "Can you hold her, or should I take her?"

"It's fine, I'll hold her," Natasha said and stood up with the girl still in her arms. Xialing's arms naturally wrapped around Natasha's neck and she rested her head on her shoulder while continuing to pretend to be asleep.

As they walked to the parking lot, Alex asked Natasha, "Did you think about my proposal? About Gaia."

"I did," She nodded. "You're right about going to Gaia for some time, but I can't make the decision by myself. Once we go to Ta Lo, I will talk to her about it and ask her what she wants to do," She lovingly caressed Xoialing's hair, aware that their conversation was heard by the girl as well.

While Xialing wanted to stay awake and listen to the entire conversation, it didn't take her long before she drifted to sleep once again on the way back to the airport.

Xialing, my love~ Come to your mother. Did you have another nightmare?

Natasha felt Xialing trembling in her arms alongside some wetness on her shoulder that made her frown.

"Mommy..." Xialing cried out weakly.

"Honey?" Natasha spoke softly and ran her finger through Xialing's hair, "Is everything okay? Honey?" She gently shook the girl in an effort to wake her up.

"Mhm," She responded with a weak squeak in Natasha's ear.

"Do you miss your mother, Xialing?" Natasha pulled her back to look at her face. Xialing's eyes were reddened, but there was a sense of confusion and excitement in them. Natasha read all those emotions momentarily before then disappearing into a mask of sadness, making the woman narrow her eyes in contemplation.

"I had a nightmare," Xialing spoke up with a tremble as if she was about to cry.

"I'm here with you. You don't need to be scared..." Natasha cooed as if Xialing was two instead of twelve.

Alex couldn't help but roll his eyes at Natasha's actions. Still, he understood her mindset as well.

The Black Widow had finally found an opportunity that would allow her to express her maternal instincts that she had been suppressing for who knows how long.

I just hope she doesn't take things too far and make Xialing resent her...

"Do you want to talk about it?" Natasha asked Xialing as the girl once again rested her chin on her shoulder and leaned her head against Natasha's.

"Mn mm," She shook her head, causing her braided hair to hit Natasha's face.

Alex laughed from the side, "We should start moving, otherwise we will have to wait until tomorrow night before the entrance opens."

"Does it open every night?" Xialing asked with a sense of enthusiasm in her voice.

[I guess she wants to distract herself from the nightmare...]

Alex heard Natasha's words and refrained from shaking his head. She was looking at Xialing through maternal goggles, which skewed her objectivity. Unlike her, Alex was observing and analyzing the slightly changed behavior that Xialing was exhibiting at the moment.

"The main entrance opens during Qingming Jie," Alex told her, "But every night at midnight, there is a window that opens in the maze that can only be traversed by someone who holds the key to the village."

"The lockets..." Xialing spoke with a whisper.

"Exactly," Alex nodded and took out the lockets from his pocket, "These lockets will allow us to traverse the maze for a brief duration during midnight."

"They look so beautiful..." Xialing spoke up with interest in her eyes. Unlike before, when the lockets were pure green, there were now swirls of red within them.

"I will give them back to you once we reach Ta Lo," Alex said with a smile.

"Let's go!" Xialing spoke up excitedly, "Quickly!"

-x-X-x-

"How in the world has such a large clearing never been detected by our satellites?" Natasha asked with slight disbelief as Alex lowered the jet into the clearing surrounding the Ta Lo maze entrance.

"More often than not, the answer is magic," He said.

"Can't we just lower the jet at the center of the maze?" Xialing asked. "Why do we need to go through the maze on foot?"

"I'm not completely sure of the situation surrounding your mother's home," Alex answered honestly. "But from what I know, that maze is a protection mechanism for the village. If we try to skip it, we will never find the spot that we are supposed to land in."

"Ohh..." The girl trailed off curiously looking at the magical bamboo maze. "Where do we go in from?"

"The clock hasn't struck midnight yet. In ten minutes, the bamboo shoots in front of us will naturally split apart and allow us to enter," Alex said as he landed the jet in the clearing.

As the stands were about to stabilize themselves on the ground, Alex's gaze sharpened as he quickly pulled up the throttle higher. Just as the jet was about to retake flight, a blue beam hit one of its wings, destabilizing the entire jet and causing it to start spinning.

"Hold on tight," Alex spoke up and Xialing found herself being enveloped in some kind of a cocoon that made her forget about the immediate danger. She felt a sense of warmth and comfort while enveloped by the darkness that instantly put her to sleep.

Instantly, the ceiling of the jet burst open as an Asian man with a menacing expression broke through into the cockpit. He looked around as his lips twisted in an angry snarl. His wrists glowed blue moments before the rings all exploded outward in multiple directions, breaking through the hull of the already damaged jet.

Moments later, Alex and Natasha broke through the cockpit of the jet and landed on the grassy ground. Neither of them seemed to have been hurt by the rings that had grazed them. Even their outfits — Alex's casual blazer and Natasha's combat suit — were completely pristine.

Behind them, the plane exploded moments after coming into contact with the ground.

[Where's Xialing?] Natasha asked hurriedly with a hint of panic. Everything had happened in a matter of seconds, not giving her the time to process the events completely.

[Safe. She's inside my soul.]

"If you wish to die a peaceful death, I suggest that you return my daughter to me," A deep voice interrupted Natasha's reply as she turned to the source. The burning wreckage of the Quinjet. Their attacker, completely unhurt, came out through the flames to face the duo.

"You must be Xu Wenwu," Natasha said calmly.

"Where is my daughter?" The ageless Asian man in front of her spoke with a forceful voice.

Natasha and Alex both had stoic expressions at his question, "In the plane." Nat gestured to the burning wreck of junk that Wenwu left behind.

The man's expression hardened at her words. In the next instant, Natasha found herself face-to-face with Wenwu as he threw a punch in her direction. She barely blocked it and jumped back before sensing a projectile rapidly approaching her, barely maneuvering away from her original destination as a blue blur passed by.

"I will not ask a third time," Wenwu said. "Where is my daughter?"

"I just told you. But you don't need to worry. I'll send you to meet her soon," Natasha said flatly before sidestepping two approaching rings and blocking Wenwu's punch. She countered with a jiu-jitsu grapple by grabbing his arm and trying to throw him off balance.

Wenwu threw a punch behind himself with his free arm, releasing a powerful shockwave with his rings that pushed him toward Natasha. Her eyes widened as she felt the man slam his shoulder into her chest with immense force, throwing her off her feet.

"If anything has happened to my daughter," Wenwu snarled at Natasha who barely landed on the ground with a slightly stirred expression, "I will wipe the Avengers off the face of the Earth."

Her expression hardened at the threat, "We'll see about that." The words were followed by a powerful crackling sound as the red stripes that went all along her outfit changed hues into blue, and her suit itself took up a slight tint of blue.

Wenwu punched in her direction, sending a wave comprising five rings. As for the other five rings, they went sent toward her companion.

Arcs of free electricity went all along Natasha's suit as she put her palm forward and released a bolt of lightning at the rings, immediately dispersing the force of the rings. She flexed her forearms and two black whips were created from her gloves, only to turn electric blue as they got saturated with electricity.

[Really, copying whiplash? He was a third-rate villain at best.]

[Hey, that incident was the main reason that the Avengers Initiative was finally greenlit.]

As for the rings that had reached Alex, they were casually deflected away as he grabbed one of them with an inquisitive expression.

Before Wenwu could react to the disrespect that Alex was blatantly showing him, he was forced to block the newly created whip that Natasha attacked him with. A pained hiss from his lips followed the action as the whip's electricity tore through the defense of his rings and left his hand singed. He pulled away before the electricity could affect his nervous system, but it still left him shaken up.

"You should feel proud to have been able to hurt me," The man spoke, seeming completely unaffected. "You won't get another chance."

"Oh, bite me," Natasha taunted. "Apex hasn't even made a move yet and you are already on the back foot. Give up and return from whence you came."

"I will not leave without my daughter," The man's tone didn't leave any room for disagreement as he sent his rings at her from multiple directions and approached her.

Natasha deflected the rings with effortless movements of her whips and met Wenwu's approaching boosted punch with one of her own. The collision resulted in a blast of electricity and raw psionic energy as both of them stood their ground in a stalemate.

"Why do you even care?" Natasha asked. "You're fighting a losing battle for the sake of someone you don't even seem to like very much. I've talked to her. You barely even talk to her, let alone raise her. I'm taking her to her mother's home. You should turn around and leave."

"Do not try to turn this around on me," Wenwu said. "I am a busy man and cannot make much time to spend with my daughter, but that doesn't mean that you have any right to kidnap her." He followed his statement by trying to close the distance. As Natasha whipped at him, he released two rings to deflect the whip's trajectory and continued unimpeded. About to reach her, he controlled the two rings to restrain her electric whips before punching her abdomen with a full-powered punch.

"Now that's not very nice," She mumbled while attempting to free her whips. The rings seemed to have an ethereal aura that prevented Alex from morphing the whips around them, forcing Natasha to release the whips. She extended her palms in the direction of both of Wenwu's fists as a new, much larger blast was released from the collision that comprised psionic energy charged with lightning. This time, Wenwu was thrown back as Nat stopped holding back completely.

"Leave. And I won't hurt you. As for your daughter, she will meet you if she so wishes," Natasha said. "I did not kidnap her, she came with me willingly, eagerly even."

"I will not leave without my daughter," The man said with an unwavering will. "Men." Wenwu raised his arm as a convoy of almost twenty vehicles came into view with more and more entering the clearing. "I will raze everything to the ground if you don't return my —."

"Stop!" A young girl's loud voice shut Wenwu up completely as his head whipped in the direction of the source. Xialing was standing beside Alex, who had a hand on her shoulder while his other hand was still holding the struggling ring as he examined it.

"Xialing," Xenwu's stern and threatening expression was nowhere to be seen as it melted into a parental sternness that was much more mellow, "Come back to your father right now. I will take you home." He spoke fluent Mandarin.

Xialing cowered, about to walk forward, but the hand on her shoulder gently squeezed her, bringing her out of her trance. "No!" She shouted, stepping back and hiding behind Alex.

"Are you rebelling against your father, Xialing?" Wenwu said sternly.

"Hey now, you're scaring the poor girl," Alex said. patting Xialing on the head, "Don't worry, you saw how your teacher beat him up, right? He can't do anything to you when she's here."

Alex's words and his calming pats helped the girl gather the courage to respond to her father, "I'm not going with you father," She spoke up. "You said I remind you of Mother, right? Then I'll leave. I'll leave so you don't have to be reminded of her every time you look at me. I'll stay with shifu in Ta Lo."

[Don't.] Natasha was about to quip at Wenwu, but Alex stopped her, [Let them have their moment.]

Wenwu was shaken up by the words of his twelve-year-old daughter, "Come home, Xialing," He spoke, much softer this time, "I know that I don't spend a lot of time with you and… and that was my mistake. Father will be better from now on. But please. I can't lose you. Not like this."

"Big brother is gone too," Xialing said. "I don't see you sad about him."

"Because I know where he is and how he's doing," Wenwu said. "If you go to Ta Lo, I won't know anything about you. If something happens to you, I won't even be able to find out about it."

"I'm leaving, Father," The man's words had only strengthened Xialing's resolve to get away from him. "Please go back. I want to see mother."

Wenwu's expression hardened, "Men!" He raised his arm as the sounds of multiple heavy weapons powering up resounded. He met his daughter's resolute eyes before sighing and shaking his head, "Stand down."