Everyone dove in different directions. Or well, Yelena dove into another direction than Katya and Natasha, because they always stuck together. The brunette just saw Yelena stuff the vials in her backpack and grab a set of keys before the ceiling came down. Literally. 

From the apartment above, they had made a hole into the floor, and a big chunk of concrete fell into the living room below with an insane amount of noise. In a reflex, Katya ducked and ran after Natasha without making a single sound. They'd both lost Yelena out of sight, which wasn't smart. She had the vials.

Carefully, the two snuck around the apartment, into the same room they'd been in before. If they peeked around the corner, they could see into the living room. But Katya didn't have to look to know what was going on, because red lasers swept the apartment. The kind of lasers one would find on a rifle. And given that technology, she could only assume these people belonged with the robot soldier from before. 

Natasha stood closest to the corner, facing that way, so Katya couldn't see the look in her eyes. However, it couldn't be a good one. Not after what Yelena just dropped on her shoulders.

Speaking of Yelena, the shooting started when she ran from the kitchen to the room the others were in, crossing the hallway in the process. Natasha gripped her shoulders and pushed her against the wall to keep her there, since it wasn't clear if her plan was to run away and leave them there or not. 

However, she didn't try and fight. Instead, her hand reached for a switch to her right. When it turned, the lamps in the hallway blew with a lot of smoke.

It temporarily blinded their assailants, and they took that opportunity to charge at them, momentarily take them out and crash through the front door. The apartment was a trap after all, and they needed out of there. More people would be coming. It wasn't just the two who dropped down from the ceiling.

The trio took shelter by the lift, or at least tried to. Since the stairwell was partly open, shots fired from the courtyard also made it into the building. On top of that, two assassins also shot from the stairs, a level or so down. All of it bounced off the metal and plastic around them, not once getting close enough to one of the women to wound them. 

Katya was going to get her gun out to shoot back, but Yelena stuck her hand in her backpack and came up with a grenade. A small one. It wouldn't do that much damage. But it was perfect for throwing down a stairwell. She pulled the pin and threw it. 

They didn't wait for the explosion, and since Yelena obviously knew where she was going, they followed her.

''Where are we trying to get?'' Natasha shouted when Yelena's escape plan led them upstairs and they had to duck again to protect their faces from the breaking glass on their right.

''Motorbike! East side of the building,'' Yelena answered over her shoulder, running up one step after the other without looking back.

''I don't suppose you own two?'' Katya called forward, since she was the last in the row. It was nice that Yelena had a plan, but what good would one motorcycle be if they were with three people? Looked like someone will miss their bike tomorrow.

''Why would I have two if I am alone?'' Yelena yelled back, leading them through the building to the roof, which they slid down and ran over. Katya could hear the running footsteps of another person behind them. So they sprinted as careful as possible towards a way out. Which in this case, was a thick pipe, or maybe it looked more like a chimney. At least three foot in diameter and made of bricks. Reaching all the way down to the ground. 

It would hold all three of them. 

They wrapped their arms and legs about it like a koala would a tree. And as soon as Yelena pulled the pin out that secured it to the roof, it tipped over into the courtyard, away from the building and towards the ground. Katya couldn't do anything but hold on for dear life, and not look down. Because it was at least six stories up. Maybe more. And what waited below was about half a foot of water. A nightmare really.

But if they thought this would throw the assassin behind them off, they were wrong. With a yell, she jumped the distance, despite knowing she wasn't going to make it. 

Natasha caught her wrist while managing to stay on herself. But the woman was having none of it. Like Natasha didn't just save her from falling six stories. She plucked a knife out of her belt and swatted it at Natasha's hands so she was forced to let go. 

Katya had to look away. She only heard the splash when the woman landed on the ground below, moments before she was in trouble herself. The pipe had fallen over enough so it reached the roof on the other side of the courtyard, which forced the three people to let go.

Yelena crashed through a window and landed in another stairwell. Katya managed to cling onto the window frame, the broken glass digging into her fingers painfully. But Natasha wasn't as lucky. Her hands couldn't get a grip on the frame like Katya's did, and she tumbled down, bumping into various obstacles along the way which slowed down her fall noticeably. 

Katya hopelessly tried to see where she landed, but it was useless and Yelena's head popped up through the window. 

''Come on,'' she panted, offering Katya a hand so she could pull her up and in. 

''I got it,'' Katya bit back. Again, too rudely. She had trusted Yelena blindly to get them out of here, but as soon as the danger was gone for a second, she went back to mistrusting her. 

Yelena's expression turned into a scowl as she stepped back. ''I'm just trying to help,'' she muttered to herself, pissed and frustrated. Katya ignored her words and pulled herself up, using all the power still in her arms. She hadn't eaten in a while and that lack of energy started to catch up. The glass cut her and pulled on her clothes, but finally, her two feet stood on the floor and Yelena took off without waiting.

Katya's heart pounded louder because of Natasha then the effort that move had taken. She didn't fall as high as the other girl - or as hard - but if she landed wrong... 

The stairs downwards didn't seem to end. After every corner was another set of stairs. Katya quickly overtook Yelena, stumbling over the steps because of how swiftly her feet moved, desperate to get to Natasha.

And all Yelena felt was a small stab in the center of her chest. Jealousy. Because she wished someone cared about her that way. Because Katya was that person to Natasha and not her.

The brunette barged into the courtyard to see - to her relief - Natasha on her feet, only clutching her ribs. So she finally let out the breath she had been holding in. 

But her eyebrows furrowed when Natasha took a step closer to the assassin on the ground and dropped to her knees in defeat. Katya only saw her back and couldn't see the other woman's face at all, but it didn't look like she was alive. 

Doing her best to ignore the water, Katya waded through it, alerting Natasha of her presence if she hadn't already. Her breath hitched when her eyes found the stranger's face. Or what was left of it. The whole left side was burned, and her lifeless eyes stared up into the sky. 

Only one weapon did that. A weapon Natasha also carried when in her suit. 

Blue eyes traveled down to the woman's belt, which gave her the confirmation she needed. That the Red Room wasn't shut down. That Dreykov was still alive. 

This was a Widow. Yelena was a Widow before she broke out. Of mind control, if they had to believe that part. Well, they kinda had to now. Because this woman by her feet did this to herself. She killed herself. Only because of a broken leg. That wasn't voluntary.

Katya was, for the first time in her life, speechless. This was impossible to process. For years, she lived in peace because Natasha thought she killed the man in charge of their horrible childhoods. They thought they were safe and that the world was safe. But they'd slipped up, accepted that it was over too quickly. Things of this scale never died that easily.

A gentle hand landed on Natasha's shoulder, squeezing softly, but she didn't look up until Yelena ran into the courtyard rather loudly, stopping abruptly like Katya had done when she saw the scene. 

Slowly, she stuffed one of the vials she had taken out of the package back in. The Widow was dead. They were too late to free her. ''Do you believe me now?'' Her voice wavered, like she was about to cry, which told Katya a lot about her. Yelena cared about people.

''How many others?'' Natasha asked, some water dripping off her face from her fall. Her question also held an answer: yes. How could they not after seeing this?

Yelena clenched her jaw and backed up. ''Enough.''

Katya pulled Natasha to her feet and set after Yelena. Because the Widow behind them might be dead, but more than one had shot at them earlier, so they weren't safe yet. Katya guessed six, but had no clue if the surrounding rooftops held more snipers.

''You good?'' she panted in the middle of their sprint, heading East like Yelena told them to.

''Yeah,'' Natasha breathed back. And she did appear fine. Probably more of that black and blue bruising on her body tomorrow. ''Which one's yours?'' she yelled at Yelena when they caught up with her, the vials safe in her little backpack again.

Right, they still hadn't fixed the bike problem, but since Katya didn't trust Yelena, it was better to have her with Natasha and make her look after her.

So the brunette cracked her fingers in advance and pulled the knife from her belt, ready for some high-speed hotwiring. 

''Black. Brown seat!'' Yelena yelled back. She stopped next to the bike and patted her pockets impatiently while Katya jumped on another bike and started looking for the plastic connector by the key switch. It wasn't hard at all to do this. But with the growing time pressure, she had trouble keeping her head straight. 

''Where are my keys?'' Yelena grumbled. Her words were followed by some rattling: Natasha throwing the keys up in the air and catching them casually. She must have swept them off the woman earlier. Despite the hurry they were in, Katya chuckled. Yelena's face was priceless. ''Ah, сука. (bitch)'' she complained. And Katya found it too funny to scold her for that.

But all the joking abruptly died down when to their right, in the street perpendicular to theirs, a car literally flew past. A low rumbling followed, the ground shaking because of the weight of the vehicle that came their way. Could they please catch a break? First it was six Widows and now it was a tank?

Natasha revved her bike's engine, impatiently ordering Yelena to jump on the back. ''Any day now.'' The seat quickly got occupied by her, her arms hesitantly wrapping around the redhead's waist. ''Katya?'' she asked anxiously, feeling the shaking of the Earth and the roaring of the tank's engine come closer.

''I got it. I got it,'' she chanted, but it sounded more like a prayer while her hands fumbled with all the wires. Honestly, they shook too much to focus.

''Does she though?'' Yelena mumbled under her breath, patiently waiting behind Natasha.

''Shut up,'' Natasha and Katya hissed at the same time, in the same tone. 

If Yelena hadn't had her arms wrapped around Natasha so tightly, she would have raised them in surrender. ''I'm just saying. I don't want to die because she doesn't know how to hotwire a bike.''

As if on cue, the engine roared to life and Katya quicky grabbed the handles, kicking the stand back. With raised eyebrows, she looked at Yelena. ''What was that?'' she smirked. She already loved this sister banter.

Yelena rolled her eyes and held onto Natasha tighter. ''Just drive.''

She didn't have to say that again, because the tank - which was absolutely huge - crashed around the corner, into the small street. It barely fit between the buildings, taking down everything in its path as it raced after the two motorbikes. Entire poles and even construction scaffolds got taken down with a lot of noise, all to get to the three Russians.

But they had the better vehicles for this town with the busy traffic and the narrow streets. 

Natasha, who drove slightly in front of Katya, braked and took a hard right into a pedestrian underpass between two buildings, which was more than wide enough for the bikes, but could never fit the tank, even if it tried. Katya, who hadn't predicted this move, cursed under her breath and tipped her steer just in time to make it, her rear tire almost sliding away under her. She wanted to yell something sarcastic, but it wasn't the time.

The underpass ended in a parallel street to the previous one, but this one held a lot of traffic. With their best steering skills, they zigzagged between the cars much too fast. They had no clue where they were going, but as far away from their attackers as possible was a good start. Because the tank might be off their backs for a while, another Widow was already on her own bike behind them.

Katya wanted to take her gun out and shoot backwards, but she was too busy avoiding a collision with a car or a sidewalk. She raced towards the end of the block, ending in another perpendicular road, and could see a river beyond. Which was awesome. Water was the topic of the past few days apparently.

Her ears picked up the recognizable sound of a tram, coming from their right. Natasha had seen it too, she knew that. And if they could cross the tracks right before it passed, it would block the Widow behind them for at least ten seconds. 

Katya sped up so she was next to Natasha, holding her breath as the tram got closer and closer, hoping it wouldn't hit them.

It was close, but they made it. If they had been any slower or the tram any faster, it would have touched their rear tires and sent them flying. But now, it zoomed behind them, honking loudly.

However, Katya's victory was short-lived when she realized that her tires had been shot and she couldn't steer or brake anymore. The Widow must have hit them before the train shielded them. A railing appeared out of nowhere, and without control, they flew off the bikes, onto the busy street a couple feet below. 

Luckily, the roof of a BMW caught their fall. Or well, lucky for them, less lucky for the driver, whose kindness came to bite him in the ass when he got out to check on them and Yelena pointed a gun at his face.

''You can't just steal a guy's car,'' Natasha scolded her, apparently completely forgetting the number of cars she had stolen in her lifetime. Oh, and the bike Katya took like ten minutes ago. 

''So you want me to chase him down and un-steal it?'' Yelena countered in her usual sarcastic tone as she scooted over to the passenger's seat so Natasha could sit behind the wheel. Katya climbed in the back, once again chuckling softly at the blonde's humor. She sensed that it was the same as hers. Dry, sarcastic comments. And when Natasha couldn't find the right gear and shot backwards instead of forwards, she complained again. ''Okay. Any time now, please.''

''Shut up,'' she said back, panicking slightly while also having to duck for the spray of bullets coming their way again. The tram had passed. The Widow's path was free again.

Finally, she found the right gear and shot forward, bumping into other cars left and right as she drove over the median line of the road, along the river. Katya did her best to not think about landing into the water with the car, instead twisting in her seat to keep her eye on the Widow on the motorbike who was catching up quickly.

Katya got her gun out and aimed, but both Natasha and the Widow swerved too much to get a good shot. In fact, she was the one who got shot at - how many bullets did the assassin's gun have? - which forced her to duck again.

''Okay, you got a plan, or shall I just stay duck-and-cover?'' Yelena asked Natasha as she steered away from the river and into the city again. At this point, she was aimlessly driving, trying to shake the bike off. 

''Yeah, my plan was to drive us away,'' Natasha yelled back. The chaos in this car, it was both hilarious and ill-timed. So much chaotic energy.

''That's a shit plan.''

Katya sunk a bit further in her seat when another spray of bullets came their way. Why was she in the backseat in the first place? ''Gotta agree with sister here! It sucks!''

''Whose side are you on?'' Natasha exclaimed, throwing a look in the rearview mirror.

''Yours, but only if your plans make sense and get us out alive!''

''God, you guys argue like a married couple,'' Yelena grumbled, oblivious to the fact that they were indeed married. She just didn't have a good look at their hands yet. 

With a grunt, she took hold of the steering wheel and gave it a good twist, yanking the gearbox into reverse. In a surprising turn of events, the car made a perfect 180 degree turn and continued at the same speed. They could now all see the Widow in front of them, through the windshield, still after them. But Yelena saved their asses, again.

The perfect BMW lost a door when the blonde threw hers open. It hit a pole, flew off and into the bike. It was perfect. The Widow tumbled through the air, her bike undoubtedly broken. They wouldn't have to worry about her anymore.

''You're welcome,'' Yelena casually said after Natasha turned the car around again and sped up, taking another hard right onto a wider street. This whole chase was by far the most exciting thing to happen in two years.

''Nice,'' Katya genuinely complimented her, using her arms to push herself up in her seat now that she didn't have to worry about her head getting used as target practice.

Yelena's eyes lit up and she gave Katya a faint smile, like she had complimented her shirt and not her attempt at murdering someone. ''Ah, thank you.'' 

But their relief was short-lived when the damn tank from before swerved into the street, gaining on them in rapid pace. The driver didn't care if cars were in his way, he just crashed into them left and right while Natasha had to zigzag through traffic.

''Oh, shit. He's back.'' 

Both Yelena and Katya twisted in their seats, doing their best to see what was happening behind. The tank evened out, like it was put in auto pilot, and the top opened. And what popped up was Katya's worst nightmare at the moment. The damn robot soldier thing from the bridge in Norway. He was still pissed they got the vials and fooled him.

''Not him again,'' Katya groaned. But her eyes widened when he pulled out a bow and nocked an arrow that didn't look like anything good. 

She was already scrambling for her seatbelt when Natasha ordered the same thing. ''Put your seat belt on.''

''You're such a mom,'' Yelena grumbled, but did what she said anyway. 

And then, for the second time this week, Katya found herself in a car crash.

~~~~~~~~

A/N: hi! Like I said in the other book, I will be taking a tiny break from writing. Next chapter will be up on Friday next week (the 6th) and not Monday :)