[3rd POV]
After Dr Priscilla applied first aid to stop the bleeding, she showed Melina a spare room in which she could sleep.
"What about Felix?"
Melina asked Priscilla about Felix and where he was going to sleep. Priscilla told her that they should let him sleep in the living room for fear of reopening the wound because the first aid was applied to stop infection and the wound from bleeding.
She told Melina that she doesn't have medical equipment for Felix but she'll do the best she can in nursing Felix back to health.
Melina didn't argue with her and didn't do anything as she left. She looked around and realised that the house is brand new, probably less than a year old since Priscilla had moved in.
Priscilla came back with blankets and a pillow for Felix. She said good night to Melina before she headed to bed.
Priscilla saved her documents on her computer before she went to bed. Melina wanted to stay in the living room to guard Felix, but she left and came back with a pillow and blankets.
She slept on the floor near Felix.
In the middle of the night, Priscilla woke up to go to the toilet and saw Melina sleeping on the floor but didn't say anything. She decided to check on Felix, trying not to make a sound, but Melina noticed her when she got close and didn't say anything.
Priscilla saw that the bandages on Felix needed changing and she went to grab the first aid kit to change some bandages on Felix.
After that, she went back to bed.
The following day.
Melina woke up before Priscilla and decided to take a shower. "It's a good thing that Priscilla has spare toothbrushes and morning gowns, or was the house a safe house by any chance?" Melina thought to herself.
Melina decided to make breakfast. She was taught everything that could be used as a cover in an assassination attempt. She was taught how to cook, sing, dance, drive, shoot and many more things by the Red Room. Her training was harsher because the Red Room was in its initiation phase at that time.
It was a few decades ago when the Soviet Armed Forces had to fight against Hydra with its remaining agents. The U.S. Air Force released a gas in hopes of helping Soviet agents but things took a turn for the worse and the Battle of Finow happened. Afterwards, things happened and General Dreykov started the Red Room. Melina was one of the last generation of Leviathan but she wasn't programmed into the system because it was ending by that time.
Anyway, Melina made breakfast.
Priscilla was woken up by the smell of pancakes, sausage, eggs and bacon.
"Good morning," Priscilla greeted Melina as she came to the kitchen and sat down at the table.
"Morning," Melina said without much thought.
Melina was not wearing SPACE because she left the glasses in the living room on the couch when she slept last night.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Priscilla said to Melina as she ate her breakfast that was served to her. Melina understood what she was talking about but didn't know what to say.
"We were attacked."
"I can see that but what happened?" Priscilla looked blankly at Melina but still asked the same thing.
"Felix and I went to an underground auction. Felix bought something at the auction and we were attacked by ninjas."
"Ninjas?" Priscilla said in shock as she looked at Melina with a wide expression. "Ninjas! There are no ninjas in Indiana." Priscilla said because they're currently in Gary, a city in Indiana.
"Then they wouldn't be called ninjas if you knew. By the way, we were in Detroit. We were attacked because of what Felix bought and I can't think of anything besides that."
Priscilla looked at Melina in surprise, then looked in the direction of the living room where Felix was and looked at Melina afterwards.
"Did you fight all of them by yourself?" Priscilla said to Melina.
Melina showed no reaction when Priscilla asked her that. "I was fighting with Felix. Felix can fight but this was his first battle ever since he learned to fight and that's why he made a mistake by thinking the fight was over," Melina said to Priscilla.
[NB: Melina doesn't know about the Bar fight.]
"Really!" Priscilla said in surprise as she heard that. She didn't think Felix could fight even when she first met him; she thought he was a weird kid. "Anyway, I'm running out of bandages and first aid supplies for Felix. Could you go to the shop to buy them for me while I change Felix's bandages, if you don't mind?"
Priscilla said to Melina as she finished eating and stood up to change Felix's bandages in the living room. Melina finished up and decided to go get the bandages and other medical supplies.
She decided to leave but returned from the door when she realised she forgot something: the glasses. She went back to get them and decided to put them on.
«There's something you need to know.»
Immediately after putting on the glasses, SPACE talked to Melina and before Melina could respond, SPACE said something to her.
«Melina Vostokoff is dead.»
SPACE revealed some disturbing news to Melina while she was walking outside. Melina froze mid-door to comprehend what SPACE just said.
"What do you mean by that?" Melina asked SPACE in confusion.
«Keep walking and I'll explain for you to understand.»
Melina began walking towards DRIVE that was parked in front of the house. She entered DRIVE while still talking with SPACE.
«Mr Vale thought that the whole agreement you had with him would backfire as time went by.»
[Melina POV]
What agreement is she talking about?
Is she talking about how I had to work for him while I report back to Dreykov about how the mission is going while I sit back and relax?
"Are you talking about the agreement about not working for Dreykov?"
«Yes. So, Mr Vale came up with the idea to fake your death but the death has to be believable and real.»
Great. Even unconscious, he still had a contingency plan. Did he thought he'd be attacked soon?
»Temporary permission is granted until The Director is back.«
So now the car is giving me permission to drive it.
"How did you kill me?"
«I edited the footage of last night by making you receive the attack that was meant for Mr Vale. In other words, I switched your place with Mr Vale by not making Mr Vale save you like you did to him.»
SPACE showed an edited video to Melina.
So Felix was going to die from that attack if I hadn't pulled him.
Something doesn't add up... Clearly we were caught off guard but...
"What did Felix mean when he said 'Stay dead' to me? Did he plan for this?"
«No, he didn't.»
"Then what was the plan?"
I'm curious what he was planning.
«He was going to shoot you.»
"ЧТО!!"
[3rd POV]
Melina was surprised to hear what Felix was going to do to her. She drove the car as she thought about what SPACE had just said.
She suddenly had a thought about something.
"Was it his idea to shoot me or was it yours?" she said out loud as she waited for SPACE's answer.
It was his. He didn't like my ideas.
"And what were your ideas?"
«The first idea was to buy a car and rig it with a bomb. When you entered the car and started the ignition, the bomb would explode in front of civilians. That way you're presumed dead and the witnesses are manipulated. It'll force the government and news outlets to be involved.»
«The second idea was to rig your body with explosives and make you enter a bank while you blow yourself up in front of everyone. That idea would force us to extract approximately 2 litres of blood from your body before the idea could be acted on.»
«The third idea was...»
"Wait, wait..." Melina was in shock from what she was hearing from SPACE, so she cut in while SPACE was talking. "All your ideas are about BLOWING ME UP IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE!!!"
Melina said in frustration.
Melina was wearing black pants with side-zipper knee-high black heeled boots and a gray hoodie that she borrowed from Priscilla because her upper clothes were too bloody. She thought about borrowing some clothes from Priscilla but decided otherwise and took only her hoodie to wear because it fit her.
[A/N: I never mentioned what she was wearing at the auction. I just said "...Melina dressed simply but respectably" because that's why.]
Turns out, the hoodie doesn't belong to Priscilla. Felix bought a few hoodies and pants for future situations like this one. Felix only thought about himself because he thought he'd be running from Melina or the Red Room when he thought about spare clothes.
When Melina heard that, she didn't become angry but understood Felix.
[/A/N: I realised something. I don't like to mention every detail, like Melina and Priscilla talking about some stuff while they were eating breakfast, or that Felix receives 2–3 calls a week from his mother, or that the last time Felix had sex was 4 weeks ago, or that his grandmother goes to church alone, and so on. I tend to focus on the necessary information, but I'll try to mention more details in 3rd POV.]
Returning to the conversation with SPACE.
Melina realised that SPACE didn't mention how she was going to survive that. "How would I survive those situations?" she said towards SPACE, or more like herself, because she appeared to be talking alone in the car.
«You were going to take NAPS.»
"What?! You were planning to BLOW ME UP and think NAPS would save me? Imagine, 'Oh, the car is blowing up, let me take a nap and I'll survive!'" Melina said in an angry, sarcastic tone.
«Not naps but NAPS—Nanite Adaptability Protection Suit. The suit Mr Vale was wearing.»
Melina thought about the suit Felix was wearing last night and understood what SPACE was talking about. "You think the suit can tank the explosion?" Melina said without much thought. She saw what the suit could do last night, but she didn't believe the suit was that powerful.
«The suit won't tank the explosion but absorb the impact of the explosion because the suit is made of Vibranium.»
"Okay. Now I understand," Melina said as she kept quiet afterwards and started to focus on driving. She switched on the music in the car.
She drove towards the supermarket. Since she didn't have anything on her, let alone a handbag, she had no money or cards. She went to a nearby ATM to withdraw money, but cardless withdrawal hadn't been invented yet, so that was another problem.
She stared at the ATM machine while thinking she should rob it or steal money from people walking past her.
«Hold the Cancel and Enter buttons simultaneously while pressing 5 and 0 after 3 seconds.»
[NB: Just For Show]
SPACE spoke to Melina, and she was surprised to hear that.
"What will happen after I do that?" Melina asked while doing what she was told.
«The machine is not that advanced. What you're doing is causing the machine to glitch, and I'll log you in so you can withdraw money, though I could probably have done it without that.»
Melina wanted to say something but decided otherwise, and SPACE was able to log her into the ATM. Melina decided to withdraw a little over $5,000 since there was no account she was withdrawing from.
She decided to enter the supermarket. Some people tried to flirt with her, but she paid them no mind and just focused on her tasks.
She bought 5 first aid kits and 50 rolls of bandages. The reason she bought 5 first aid kits was because she realised that there was no first aid kit in DRIVE, just in case, and Priscilla's kit needed to be replaced. She probably bought 1 for the office and 1 for herself too.
She bought other stuff as well before she left the supermarket.
She realised that she currently had no clothes and decided to buy a few. After that, Melina was ready to return.
Priscilla was surprised that Melina bought that many first aid kits and said nothing. She was thankful that she bought many bandages because Felix would need clean bandages every day.
Priscilla was thinking of washing and reusing them since she had only 4 bandages.
The day went by, and Priscilla changed Felix's bandages in the evening. SPACE was getting low on battery, and SPACE told Melina to throw the glasses at the wall.
Felix learned this later after upgrading SPACE with Vibranium to make the glasses unbreakable and avoid building new ones every time they broke. SPACE needed to be charged regularly like any device.
So, one time, SPACE fell to the ground and the Vibranium absorbed the kinetic energy. Somehow, the kinetic energy was converted into electricity. So, Vibranium acted as a battery and also as a shield, which was cool.
After that, everyone went to sleep, and Felix hadn't woken up.
The following day, his grandmother called to know where he was, and Melina was afraid to pick up the phone because she didn't know what to say.
His grandmother left 31 missed call in a span of 1 hour.
[3rd POV]
No matter how many times SPACE rang, Melina wouldn't answer the call.
All of Felix's electronic devices are connected to SPACE and the JBOD he created. JBOD is just for family and friends, not for the company.
[A/N: Forgot about that.]
It's not because Melina was scared to answer the calls; it's more that she didn't know what to say... or she didn't want to say it.
After a while, Maria called Felix, and Melina didn't pick up. SPACE even advised her not to answer any calls. SPACE understood that it's not right to ignore someone who is calling because it puts stress on the caller, but it was better than answering a barrage of questions.
More people began to call Felix, and none of the calls were answered. Priscilla told Melina to just text them and lie on Felix's behalf, but Melina said nothing.
Melina remembered that Felix was incapable of lying, or at least bad at it. She understood that Felix would rather withhold the truth than lie. Well, Felix did lie, but his lies were either playful lies or beautiful lies; for example, a husband telling his pregnant wife that she doesn't look fat like a cow, or telling Maria she's weak while knowing full well that she's stronger than most kids her age.
[A/N: FIGURE OF SPEECH]
Those simple lies.
Melina asked SPACE to mimic Felix's voice just so she could tell people that Felix was okay, but SPACE refused.
Priscilla kept cleaning Felix and changing his bandages from time to time. Melina didn't have anything to do besides watching Priscilla write her book after she changed Felix's bandages. She would get curious about what Priscilla was writing and ask questions from time to time. She would help around the kitchen and train herself when possible.
She realised something: she didn't have any mission or objective. She had lived on missions and tasks, but after "her death," she felt relief. For as long as she could remember, she had always had a task, and even right now, her task was to monitor Felix and report back. But since "she died," that meant the task was cancelled, or they would send another Black Widow to monitor Felix or execute him.
Either way, she didn't need to report anymore.
The day, Monday, went by, and Felix still hadn't woken up yet.
________________
[3rd POV] - Lauren
An alarm rang beside Lauren's bed, indicating the time of 06:00.
Lauren woke up and began to prepare herself for the day. She woke up her daughter after she finished showering since it was just the two of them in the house.
She fixed her bed, wore business attire—a black business skirt with leggings, high heels, a white shirt, and a black business jacket—and she began to prepare breakfast.
She cleaned the house real quick since there wasn't much to clean.
Riley finished preparing herself and came to the kitchen.
They lived in a lower-middle-class household, while Lauren was currently earning a middle-class income. It's because the firm is starting up, and she runs the entire law firm.
She lives in a small bungalow house with her 13-year-old daughter, Riley Mercer. After her divorce from her ex-husband, she changed her last name, as well as her daughter's last name, to her parents' name.
Lauren ate breakfast with her daughter while reading a newspaper.
"Mom."
Riley stopped eating and looked at her mother to say something. Lauren stopped looking at the newspaper and decided to converse with her.
"What is it?" Lauren asked nicely, thinking she was going to talk about puberty or menstruation.
"Can I ask why Felix didn't pick me up yesterday?"
Riley asked about Felix because he usually picked her up every day after school, especially on Mondays, unless something came up and he told them he couldn't pick Riley up the following day. He didn't do that, and that was surprising as well as concerning.
"Well, I don't know, honey..."
Lauren said to Riley and thought about saying something but cut herself off. She finished her meal, and Riley finished hers. They talked about Felix, work, and school stuff.
Lauren packed her lunch and Riley's lunch before they took off. She dropped Riley off at her school and headed to work.
She arrived at work.
She walked inside, spotted the security guard she hired, and greeted him.
"Good morning, Mr Jackson." She greeted him with a happy smile, and he greeted her back formally.
"Good morning, Miss Mercer."
She greeted everyone she passed, most of whom were general workers who came from headquarters because there were more general workers there, and Felix sent half of them, about 4.
At this law firm, there's an associate attorney she hired, a junior associate, and the rest are either interns or law clerks/students. There was a receptionist, an IT department, and a finance department that Felix sent to the firm. She's the one who currently hires everyone, so she's working as an HR manager as well.
She arrived at her office, and the nameplate on the door says [PRINCIPAL ATTORNEY - LAUREN MERCER]. Every time she looks at it, she feels that she currently doesn't deserve that title because she's new to working as a lawyer, but she's getting used to it.
She sat down and started to go over her files. She's currently working on a contingency case about employment. She offered pro bono services, but the client changed it to a contingency case.
[A/N: Pro bono is free legal service for those who can't afford it, and a contingency case means getting paid after the case is won. Who the hell would refuse a free service?]
She did her job.
________________
[3rd POV] - Maria
At a school in Chicago, Illinois.
The school is a high school. It is a public school and has 5 floors. The 1st years (Freshmen) are on the first floor, also known as the ground floor, and the lockers for each student are in the hallway. The school gym is also on the first floor.
The 2nd floor is for the 2nd years, which is the same as the 1st floor, and the 3rd floor is for the cafeteria, study areas (library and study hall), teacher's lounge, student support areas (infirmary, counselor's office, and special education room), and computer lab.
The 4th floor is for Juniors, and it has a science lab, art room, music room, and a workshop.
The 5th floor is for Seniors, and it has department offices, the principal's office, as well as the vice principal's office. The faculty meeting room is on the 1st floor.
Maria could be seen staring at the building.
[A/N: American School time/schedule is confusing. I forgot it's still break and the school begins in Late August or early September by my study. This scene was about Maria talking with a teacher about something in school but I had to change it somehow and I ain't deleting the entire scene about Maria. I'll just recreating it. The current date is middle July 1998. Maybe I should write whatever, if it clashes then it clashes.]
She took a walk, trying to clear her head because she was worried about Felix. Everyone had called Felix yesterday, and there was no pickup. Nobody thought Felix had been kidnapped or lost his phone, which only left one reason why he couldn't pick up the calls... Felix was injured.
If Felix had been kidnapped, then SPACE would've sent his location to his mother, grandmother, or Maria, and there was no way he could lose his glasses. Only a few people knew about the capabilities of SPACE.
Maria hadn't been able to focus since yesterday. She just looked at the school for a bit before she decided to leave.
It wasn't long after she left the school that she happened to bump into her teacher. The teacher doesn't live far from the school, and she sometimes comes to school on foot. She's a friendly teacher whom everyone can talk to easily. There's a summer school taking place, and she had gone somewhere during lunch for personal reasons.
She saw Maria from across the road, and Maria looked worried. She approached her, hoping to cheer her up.
"Good afternoon, Mary." She said to Maria with a smile on her face. Everyone calls Maria Mary, mostly people who know her, especially friends and family, except Felix.
"Good afternoon, Mrs Manson." Maria greeted her back with a friendly smile.
They talked for a while, mostly about school since that's what connected them. Mrs Manson asked about Felix, and it looked like Maria was trying to avoid talking about him, so Mrs Manson changed the topic.
"Anyway, can I ask something, if you don't mind?" Mrs Manson said while sounding serious.
"Yes, you can."
"Can I ask how long?"
Maria was surprised by the question, but she understood what was being asked and wanted to deny it.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Mrs Manson looked at her for a few seconds without saying anything at first, but she eventually decided to speak.
"Does your mother know?"
Maria understood what she meant and stopped trying to deny it.
"I think she knew before I did because when I felt weak and tired, she was the one who took me to see the doctor. Before she took me to the doctor, I vomited that morning, and that's when I became sure."
Maria explained it, and Mrs Manson listened without interrupting her.
"The doctor said I was two weeks pregnant at that time, and that's when I stopped havi-... becoming inti-... doing it with Felix."
"How long ago was that?"
"Four weeks ago."
"So you're still in your first trimester. Who else knows besides your mother?"
"Felix's grandma, and I'm not sure about Felix's mom because she doesn't live with them anymore. Maybe Grandma told her. I don't know, and I didn't ask," Maria said to Mrs Manson. Mrs Manson didn't say anything and just listened.
After Maria shared her thoughts, they kept walking slowly without saying anything.
"You know..." Mrs Manson decided to say something after thinking for a while. "When I became pregnant, I was scared too. I didn't know what to do and was scared to tell anyone, especially the father of the child. I was scared of my dad because my family are firm believers in Christianity, haha."
Mrs Manson decided to share her story with Maria, and Maria just listened.
"I hated going to church. I hated everything my parents asked me to do. I started rebelling against them instead of talking to them. I started smoking weed."
"You smoked? That's a surprise."
"Yes, I smoked, drank, and partied. I was a teenager once. Anyway, my dad found out I was smoking and drinking, so we had an argument. My dad is a Reverend in the church. I ran away from home afterwards.
That night, I met a disgusting and scary delinquent, haha. He was horrible, haha... Just remembering that is... complicated. You know what this guy said to me..."
Maria listened attentively and asked, "What did he say?"
"'Go home, bitch.' That's what he said, and I got really angry because he said it in a deep voice, trying to look tough. I shouted at him despite being afraid of him. Then he slapped me across the face and said, 'I said go home, bitch.'" Mrs Manson smiled while remembering that moment and continued after a brief pause.
"I started bothering the guy, and before I knew it, I had fallen deeply in love with him. I eventually became pregnant with his child. My mom found out I was pregnant even though I was trying to hide it. I had a talk with my parents after that, and surprisingly, my dad didn't get angry at me. I stopped seeing the baby's father while I was pregnant."
Mrs Manson became quiet and smiled at the end.
"My mom and dad were with me in the room before I went into labour. Suddenly, someone burst through the door, sweating a lot. The nurses tried to remove him from the room, and he screamed out loud, 'I'M THE CHILD'S FATHER!' Before I knew it, tears started flowing down my face while I smiled at him."
Mrs Manson smiled after saying all that.
"Mary, the message from that story was... our insecurities cloud our judgment, making us predict the worst things will happen."
Mrs Manson looked at Maria, held her hand, and said, "You have to tell him, and it needs to come from you. Sooner or later, he will find out."
"I know, Mrs Manson."
Maria didn't say anything afterwards.
Mrs Manson left shortly after, and Maria walked back home alone. She thought about what Mrs Manson had said to her on the way home.
Meanwhile, everyone was focused on their own things.
Lauren was focused on her case, which was turning into chaos.
Grandma Nora was worried about Felix all day because she couldn't reach him, and she even went to the police to file a missing person's report for her grandson.
Maria was worried about Felix and her pregnancy. She talked to her mother about the discussion she had with Mrs Manson.
Meanwhile, at Priscilla's place.
In the morning, Priscilla would bathe Felix after she finished bathing and change his bandages with Melina's help.
They moved Felix to the bedroom and started cleaning the living room.
Melina had a conversation with Priscilla about her life in general. She realised something: Priscilla is in jail, but not literally in jail.
First of all, she made a deal with a Skrull for the Skrull to take her place if she died, but Felix cured her. Varra offered to let her forget the deal she had with her when she called her once, but she rejected the offer.
Felix bought her a house to live in and gave her a fake identity so she could have something, but she chose to stay indoors. The only places she goes are the mall and supermarkets, but nowhere else after that.
She writes books mostly about everything, but mainly about mutants, heroes, and stuff like that.
Melina eventually felt jealous of her life. She has no mission, task, or schedule to work on, and no one bosses her around every other day.
Eventually, the day went by in the blink of an eye, and it was evening.
Melina and Priscilla cooked dinner and began to eat their dinner in peace.
Felix was lying in bed, and his hand twitched a little.
{-}
Felix began to wake while lying on a bed covered in bandages.
"Shit. My body is all sore. I guess I'm back to reality."
Felix opened his eyes but couldn't move his body because he wasn't fully healed.
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.