"Hey R2, how do you feel about the name Nexus?" I asked, while standing over a bubbling pot of spaghetti.
[Nexus? It's better than R2, that's for sure… Why the change Riven?]
I hummed, "Well R2 was just a placeholder project name to be honest, and I feel like you deserve a proper name."
[Nexus is a proper name?]
I scratched the back of my head, "I guess…"
[Hm. Sure, Nexus it is — but my friends will call me Nex.]
I laughed, "Nex, my man! I welcome you to the world once more!"
[Woman.] Nex corrected.
"Huh? You wanna be a woman? Why?"
[Because they're prettier than men.]
I couldn't help but nod, "So true…"
[So Riven, what are you planning now?]
I turned the stove off, straining the salty water from my pasta noodles. The starchy scent filling the air.
"Mm… Nex can you track down Natasha Romanov? She should be somewhere in Norway, I think — also, keep an eye out for reports of woman in jumpsuits assassinating people."
[… Are you into that sort of thing?]
I scoffed, "What do you take me for Nex?" I asked her while lathering my spaghetti with aromatic San Marzano tomato sauce.
[Reckless and foolish with light hints of narcissism.]
What the hell…
I rolled my eyes, digging into my dinner. "Thanks for the psychological analysis Nex, but no, it's not for kinky shit, there's a facility called the Red Room — floating sky base ran by some old smuck called Dreykov. Serial kidnapper, and monster in a human flesh suit."
[And you want to help them?]
I tilted my head, did I? Man… am I really a sucker for pretty deadly women? Dreykov is just nasty, nasty enough that I'd go out my way to kill the fucker.
"Perhaps… but it's not really out of altruism per-se… I think it's just a selfish want. Some people deserve to die, while others deserve to live, it's as simple as that."
[Hm. Okay, I'll keep an eye out.]
"Thanks Nex."
—
Not a day later I received a text, interestingly, from an unknown number.
Which Nex promptly traced to around Budapest.
Budapesch?
[Unknown:] Give a pretty lady a hand?
… Nat huh, didn't even need to find her myself. I was surprised she even reached out, but I guess most of the Avengers' are a little busy, half of them imprisoned, some off-world while the other half is all pissy about the whole Accord thing. I'm surprised she didn't go through Fury, guess she wants this part of her life off-the-books.
[Me:] When & Where?
[Unknown:] No why?
[Me:] Nah.
[Unknown:] … Magan Benzinkut Fast Gas — Budapest.
—
After opening a space door to the western outskirts of Budapest, a town called Etyek, I cruised through the suburbs on Lilith. The streets were quiet as I passed by pyramid roofed houses painted with light yellows and off-whites. It was the first time I'd been in Hungary, so the experience was interesting.
I pulled up to the gas station, my eyes sweeping over the sporadic gaggle of half-drunk men, drinking their woes away and nearby families too enamored in their love and joy to care about me.
I saw Nat, dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans, in the process of stitching up a blonde's arm. Yelena Belanova was dressed in a white tank top and cargo pants, wincing as the needle stabbed in and out of her arm.
My arrival turned a couple heads, though only for a short moment, most were more interested at what lay at the bottom of their bottles.
Nat glanced over, her emerald gaze sharp — clearly still on high alert. She gave me a wry smile when she saw the false face I had worn around her previously.
"Really David?" She said as I approached.
"What? Not happy to see a business acquaintance?"
Yelena tilted her head over her shoulder, eyes scanning me with deadly curiosity.
"Avenger?" She asked, turning to Nat, who lightly shook her head.
"Avenger?" I echoed, taking a seat at their table. "I barely even know her."
Nat rolled her eyes while Yelena quirked a brow at me, a small smile on her lips.
"That was terrible."
I shrugged, looking at her wounded arm. "Want me to fix that?"
"Oh no, I like the way it stings, and the scar is going to look sooo cool." Yelena said sarcastically, to which Nat smacked the back of her head.
"Hey!"
"You have medical training?" Nat asked me, a little suspicious.
I shook my head. "Nope!"
The two sisters shared a look before Yelena turned to me. "You can help if you show me your face."
I gave them a deadpan look. Shaking my head again with a sigh.
"Is this a trust thing or something?"
Yelena shrugged, "I don't like strangers touching me, call me crazyyy."
Nat opted to remain silent, though from the smirk on her lips I could tell she was enjoying this.
I groaned, grabbing the bottom of my face mask and pulling it off while simultaneously canceling the illusion on my hair. My blue eyes turned black, blonde hair draining of color until it was as dark as the night above us.
I slapped the face-mask on the table, splaying my hands out.
"Tah dah~!"
The two assassins stared at me. Nat was the first to speak.
"You're so…"
"Handsome?" I finished for her, rubbing a hand along my jaw.
"Young." She said with another eye roll. Yelena laughed, before also giving me a once over.
"Not bad, okay, you can help me now."
"You're so gracious…" I scoffed motioning her to show me her wound. Yelena tentatively showed me her arm, still a little suspicious about what was about to happen.
With a wave of my hand a faint pulse of magic erupted in the air between us. Both of their eyes widened. Yelena almost pulling back in surprise, only for me to grab her hand to stop her.
"Stay." I ordered, while I focusing on the healing magic. The sisters watched in open awe as Yelena's wound began mending, the makeshift stitches popping out of her skin one by one as the flesh stitched itself together.
A couple minutes later the wound was nothing more than a faint scar.
I hummed, "The scar will slowly heal on its own, but hey, at least it looks cool." I said, sitting back with a smug smile. Thoroughly enjoying the feelings of awe, surprise and confusion through the Force.
"What the hell was that." Yelena said, turning her arm over to see the healed wound. Her fingers rubbed along the scar, her eyes filled with disbelief at what just transpired. She looked at me, then to Nat, waiting for someone to answer her question.
"David… who are you?" Nat slowly asked.
I couldn't help but grin. "Thats—" I began to say only for Nat to cut me off.
"--If you say classified I'm telling Fury."
My mouth opened in mock shock. "Wow, that's a low blow — after all we've been through?" I sighed, ruefully shaking my head.
"Mmm… I guess it doesn't really matter anymore." I mused aloud, and in all honesty it was true.
I was no longer at risk of being taken out by a sniper, no longer living in fear of truck fenders, I finally had some degree of security — freedom in strength.
"Riven."
"Riven?" Yelena parroted in her thick accent, her tongue gently rolling over the 'R' of my name.
"Yeah, and you are?"
"Yelena."
I grinned, "Lovely to meet you Yelena, so…" I said drawing out the word and turning to Nat. "You didn't just call me here to patch her up did ya?"
Nat shook her head, leaning towards me and lowering her voice. "Red Room, heard of it?"
I nodded, which surprised her. "Soviet assassin training program with some pretty nefarious recruitment procedures."
Yelena scoffed, "That is putting it lightly."
I gave her a wry smile, "Yeah, I've heard a few things — and they're not pretty. I take it you're trying to kill Dreykov?"
Nat's brows furrowed. "How did you know Dreykov isn't dead?"
Yelena smirked, "Told you~"
I shrugged. "A magician never reveals his secrets."
Nat quietly clicked her tongue before turning to me with dangerously softened eyes, her lips pursed, a pleading look on her face.
"Even for a pretty lady?"
I soured my face at her. "You're never going to let that go huh?"
She grinned, "You should be more careful with what you reveal, Riven."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, I'll keep that in mind. Anyways, the Red Room isn't easy to find, and even harder to get to."
Nat and Yelena eyes narrowed at me. "You know where the Red Room is?" The latter asked.
I shook my head. "No, but I do know what it is." I pointed a single finger to the sky. The sisters gave me confused looks, following my finger up to the wooden ceiling as if the Red Room was right above us.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Nat asked.
I chuckled, "It means, that you're going to need aerial transport to reach it."
Yelena couldn't help but scrunch her face. "Shut up… the Red Room is in the sky?" She muttered, not fully believing the words leaving her mouth.
I bounced my index finger back and forth. "Ding ding ding! A fortress of sorts."
Nat groaned, "That makes things so much harder…"
"Yeah, and that's not even taking into account all the killer assassins roaming about the place. How are you planning to handle all the Widows?" I asked.
Nat turned to her sister and gave her a nod, Yelena reached into her backpack and pulled out a red vial.
"The Widows are being chemically controlled, this-" She said sliding the vial to me, "-is a synthetic gas, the counteragent to the chemical subjugation, it immunizes the brains' neuropathways from external manipulation and frees them from their mind control... do you also need that in English?"
I chuckled. "No, I get it, how much do you have?"
"Not much, not enough — you wouldn't happen to know any super-scientists who could help?"
I smirked, leaning forwards and grabbing the vial, turning it over to watch the red dust swirl around.
"Y'know, I'm something of a scientist myself… "
"Really?" Nat couldn't help but ask.
"Natasha… your lack of faith is disturbing." I said with a sly smile. "I can synthesize more, you'll also want a better way to deliver the agent — I'm thinking tear-gas canisters, or something similar."
Yelena let out a breath of relief, "Really? I mean seriously? You can do that?"
I nodded, "Yeah, shouldn't be too hard, I could probably make enough gas to drown the whole Red Room — but I still need to check the chemical composition of it."
Yelena smacked her hands on the table, "Well what are we waiting for?!"
Nat placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, we still don't even know where the Red Room is."
Yelena groaned, "I guess we still need to visit Alexei."
"Alexei?" I asked.
"Red guardian, our dad, he's in prison."
My brow quirked, looking over at Nat. "You're sisters?"
She smiled, "For awhile, it's a long story, not important right now. Where are you going to synthesize the agent? We're kinda on the run and… actually, now that I think about it how'd you get here so fast?"
I gave her a wolfish grin. "Ah — and so the plot thickens."