Chapter Text
The loud blaring of shitty club music irritated you as you tried to make drinks for the influx of inebriated people that were flowing into the nightclub you worked at. It was mid-July, the heat sweltering even though the sun had set hours before. Colleges had just ended the year, so naturally heaps of students gathered there to celebrate the passing of finals (or to down their failures in cheap alcohol).
The club was called Ecstacy, a small hole-in-the-wall kind of club, owned by two married women that went by Romanoff and Maximoff. You didn't know much about them. Hell, you haven’t even seen either of them before. But what little you had heard from your coworkers, they were very powerful and respected people in this area of town.
You found the job offer on a wooden pole by a bus station (which honestly, have they not heard of the internet?) and when you saw how much they were offering an hour, you jumped to call the number on the piece of paper. The flyer had mentioned something about “dangerous work” but you figured that since it was a nightclub you would eventually have to deal with drunk men or people looking for problems quite often, so the warning really didn’t do much to deter you from calling. You were surprised to find that you were the only person that applied for the position considering the pay was so great, so by default, you were given the job on the spot. You were trained by a tall, muscular, blonde man named Steve who was very patient and understanding while training you.
He had quickly became one of your closest and only friends in such a short amount of time, and you were grateful for his company on slow nights. Thanks to Steve, your skills greatly improved with enough practice and it definitely paid off for times like now when the bar was crowded and busy.
Working during the late hours of the night never bothered you. You weren’t exactly a morning person to begin with, so night shifts worked perfectly for you. Not having any family or friends that would want your attention during the day gave you even more of a reason to take the job, and you were glad that you did, every night brought a new form of entertainment. You met a lot of interesting people working there and of course, there were downsides, like drunk men leering at you, or the threat of a club fight gone wrong looming over your head. But you didn’t worry too much, you were fairly certain that you could protect yourself if needed.
“How you holding up?” Steve asked, noticing that you were getting a little swamped because of the number of people. He often checked up on you, willing to help you make drinks or do anything to help, even though it wasn’t his job. Steve was the general manager; he mostly made sure things went smoothly and helped others with their work on occasion.
“I could use a little help, don’t know why these goons won’t just go home, it’s like 1 in the morning and they’re all blasted” you muttered.
He moved behind the bar and got to work making drinks, and about ten minutes later, the bar was mostly cleared, majority of the patrons moving out to the dance floor and various seating areas. Steve mentioned running into the back to get some more liquor, saying he’d be back so you turned around to wash and put away some abandoned glasses to keep the bartop clean. The bell above the door jingled, signaling another customer had just walked in. You heard them walk up to the counter and sit down, your back still turned to the stranger.
“I’ll be with you in a second,” you stated.
“Take all the time you need, baby” a sultry voice replied. You slowly turned around, your eyes meeting her emerald green ones. She was beautiful, easily the most beautiful woman you had ever seen in your entire twenty nine years of life. Her hair was dark red, a little bit past her shoulders, and straight. A smirk seemed to be a permanent fixture on this woman’s face, considering she hadn't stopped doing it since she sat down. Your eyes drank her in, wandering a bit and taking in what she was wearing, a pair of black suit pants paired with a white button-down shirt that hugged the muscles in her arms nicely. It had the first few buttons opened, exposing her entire neck and a bit of her chest. Your cheeks heated up a bit at the creamy skin on display, your eyes darting back up to her face, hoping she hadn’t caught you staring.
“What can I get for you?” you asked, a little breathless. This woman screamed power, the way she carried herself alone told you that she ran shit and you were more than a little intimidated.
“How about a glass of whiskey and your number,” she grinned, sending a wink your way while taking a 20 out of her wallet, deciding to place the bill directly into your palm, her smooth digits brushing against your wrist for only the quickest of moments. You rolled your eyes at the lame pick-up line and turned to pour her drink. “Keep the change, beautiful”
“Wow, I’ve never heard that one before,” you deadpanned, completely unimpressed. “The ladies must love you”
Turning back around to hand her the drink, you noticed that there was a wedding band on her finger. She reached up and gently took the glass from you, chuckling at your sarcastic remark. The woman took a large swig of her drink, keeping her dark eyes trained on you the entire time. The hunger in her stare made you feel like prey in this room full of people. Like she was going to pounce and devour you as soon as you made the mistake of turning your back to her.
“And seeing how you have a wedding ring on, I don't think you’ll be getting my number. You may be very attractive but I’m not a homewrecker” you added. Her smirk somehow grew in size, mirth in her eyes that you failed to recognize.
“My wife is actually the one that sent me in here, she saw you from outside,” she grinned, way too satisfied with herself. She turned around, motioning for someone that you couldn’t see to come over. “And here she comes now”
The woman who walked up next to the redhead was somehow just as stunning. She had brunette hair with a light wave, green eyes, and a smile so bright you swear you could go blind if you looked at it for too long. She was wearing a dark green dress with a slit on the side that allowed for an ample amount of leg to show. The dress was form-fitting, letting you drink in every single curve the woman had. You were stunned into silence, mouth hanging open a bit as you stared. You struggled to string words together and more so to actually speak.
“Close your mouth, baby, we wouldn’t want any flies to get in” the new woman teased. Your jaw snaps into place and your cheeks grow hot at the fact that you hadn’t even thought about how easily you obeyed her words. Glancing up, you checked to see if they noticed your embarrassment. To your horror they both donned matching grins, meaning they absolutely knew what was going through your mind right now.
“What’s your name sweetheart?” the new woman asked. You gave them both your name and realized you didn’t know theirs either, so you asked.
“My name is Wanda and this charming devil is Natasha” the brunette answered.
You let their names roll around in your head. You hadn’t expected how uncommon they were, though they were definitely fitting for the pair. They were a picture of complete power and their names somehow reflected that.
Wanda finally took a seat beside her wife, ordering a glass of an extremely expensive Bordeaux wine. As you poured her drink, you thought about the origins of the wine. It’s originally from France, but a lot of Russians love it. And since neither woman looked French, you decided it might be the latter.
“You have beautiful names, it’s nice to meet you both,” you said with a smile. It really was nice to meet them, they were beautiful and you wanted to know more about the mysterious pair. You had a feeling that there was more to them than what meets the eye. Could they be the CEOs of some big, important company? Or maybe they worked for the FBI and were deep undercover. You amused yourself with various theories on who these women could be and how they found themselves at your place of work.
“So I’m assuming the two of you are Russian?” you inquired. Natasha’s eyebrows raised, surprised at your fairly accurate guess and a bit confused as to how you knew that. When questioned, you explained your thought process about the wine and how you had come to your conclusion given its background.
“Very impressive, detka” Wanda remarked after you had finished talking. “Unfortunately though, you only guessed one of us correctly, I’m Sokovian”
Before you could get your response out, the sound of shouting had reached your ears, capturing your attention and coming from the dance floor. A fight had apparently started, people crowding around to watch it with drunken cheers. The bodyguard, Bucky, pushed through the crowd and separated the two men fighting and yelled at the bystanders, telling them to get out of the club since they wanted to cause problems. You didn’t mind closing early; you got paid well enough that missing a few hours of work wouldn’t affect you.
Bucky was an average-height, muscular Russian man with short hair and a tattoo of a red star on the upper part of his left arm. You didn’t know him really well, but from what you could tell, he was a fairly nice man. Steve seemed to really enjoy his presence and the guy was pretty funny too, so he was in your good books.
The patrons slowly cleared out after the debacle, all of them leaving except Wanda and Natasha, who had watched the entire situation silently.
“Well that was definitely interesting,” you started. "We’re closing now and I hope you don’t think this is rude but I kind of need you two to move so I can clean the stools and put them up” you nervously explained to the two women.
“Work around us darling, and while you’re at it, give me a refill” Natasha demanded, letting out a mumbled thank you as you rushed to fill her glass up.
While wiping up the many surfaces you suddenly remembered that Steve had never come back with the liquor all that time ago and now Bucky was nowhere to be found either. You got a little curious, where could they have gone in such a short time? Choosing the nosy route you excused yourself and walked to the back to see if you could find either of them. You decided to check for Steve first, maybe he had gotten hurt back there somehow. Turning the doorknob to the storage room, you were surprised to find Steve and Bucky making out like horny teenagers.
“Wow, I don’t pay attention for two seconds and you practically fuck in the storage room,” you teased, making your appearance known.
Steve blushed a deep red and stuck his face between Bucky’s neck and shoulder, trying (and failing) to hide from you. They were both sporting matching hard-ons which Steve fell over himself trying to cover up.
“I already saw you Stevie boy, it’s too late” you laughed.
He groaned into Bucky’s neck, “Leave us alone please.”
“Yeah lay off of him,” Bucky interjected. His glee could be heard in his voice. “Steve here is gonna turn into a damn tomato in a minute”
You and Bucky smiled at each other, “I’ll do you one better, how about I finish closing and you two get out of here. You owe me one though”
Steve looked up, “Really?”
“Yes, really. Now get out before I change my mind” you joked. The two separated (barely) and headed for the back door, each thanking you before leaving.
You shook your head, a smile still on your face. You had noticed what you thought was flirting between them a few weeks ago, and you were extremely satisfied that you turned out to be right. They do make a cute couple, you thought as you headed back out to the main room. To your surprise Natasha and her wife were still sitting at the bar, exchanging hushed words.
“Ah there you are, we were wondering what was keeping you” Wanda commented.
“Oh, I was just telling Steve and Bucky that I’ll close for them” you offhandedly mentioned.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea for you to be leaving by yourself at this hour?” Natasha questioned, concern laced in her voice.
“Well,” you started. “This wouldn’t be the first time I've walked home alone at this hour, I only live a few minutes away. Plus I’m a big girl, I can protect myself”
Wanda frowned at this. She didn’t seem to like the idea of you being out by yourself at night, no matter how well you claimed you could defend yourself, and her wife was thinking the same thing. These streets were too dangerous at night to be walking around, no matter what gender you were. Uneasiness settled onto both of them and weighed on their minds.
“I don’t think pepper spray would stop any of the sick fucks out there from taking you, princess” Natasha stated.
Even though they barely knew you and vice versa, you thought the concern was cute. And to be honest, it's been a while since anyone has tried to look out for your well-being. “Look, I appreciate the concern but you guys don’t know me, I’ve been doing fine so far and I’m sure that I'll be fine in the future, no need to worry”
You went on to finish closing, sweeping, and wiping down the seats and putting them up, save for the two that your apparent guests occupied. They seemed quieter and more reserved since they found out how often you braved the streets alone at odd hours. Natasha and Wanda didn't know why the thought rubbed the wrong way, but it did, and they weren't going to let this feeling fester. You started putting up the last of the glasses when a man walked through the door.
“Hey buddy, we’re closed,” you said with your back turned to the door.
The man ignored you, instead asking where the bathroom was. You internally groaned and rolled your eyes, why do men have to be so difficult? You figured you’d have Steve clean whatever mess the seemingly drunk man was gonna leave in the bathroom tomorrow as the favor he owes you. Sighing, you pointed towards the men’s restroom and watched as he stumbled in and shut the door behind him.
“Ladies, it’s been fun but I'm done cleaning. So when the guy gets out of the bathroom, I have to lock up” you said to them. They had been eerily quiet ever since the man walked in; it made you nervous. Did they see something you didn’t? You did have your back to him after all. Anxiety started to claw at your insides. The atmosphere had become tense, Natasha losing all playfulness in her eyes. And Wanda’s face had gone stone cold. Seeing their reactions, you decided to be safe than sorry and reached under the counter to grab the gun taped to the underside. No one but you knew it was there and it was mostly a precaution just in case someone shot up the place. You've never had to use it but normally just it being there was comfort enough. Now though, with the cool metal pressed against your skin, you felt nervous. The reality that you could be in danger seeped into your mind and stuck there. Maybe you shouldn't have let him in. This was New York, after all, and the people here can be crazy and unpredictable.
You discreetly put the gun in your waistband and walked from behind the bar, grabbing your keys and leaning against the counter next to Wanda. The brunette looked at you then, “We’ll give you a ride home, detka” the tone of her voice leaving you no room to argue. You sighed and agreed, you doubted that these women were any kind of threat to you. Natasha suddenly stood mumbling a quick Let’s get the hell out of here, grabbing her car keys and helping her wife up as well. The two women nudged you in the direction of the exit, ignoring your protests that you need to lock up.
The toilet flushed and the three of you looked towards the bathroom door, waiting with bated breath for the man to appear. He stepped out silently, his face suddenly serious and devoid of the drunkenness that he had arrived with. The tension somehow grew thicker, Natasha stepping in front of Wanda out of instinct as the man got closer to where the three of you stood.
“Y’know, when I heard that the two dykes running one of the most respected mafia groups in New York had a club I was surprised. I mean who in the hell would allow your kind to own an establishment?” the man said nonchalantly. "I sure as hell wouldn't. And I'm surprised you faggots get as much business as you do"
Holy shit, that is not what you expected him to say.
“The fuck did you just say?” Natasha fumed, stepping away from Wanda to encroach on the man’s personal space, hoping to intimidate him into submission. Natasha and the man were now face-to-face, but he held no fear. A cocky look adorned his features and you couldn't for the life of you understand why.
Confusion then settled in, he said Natasha and Wanda were the heads of a mafia group!? You almost couldn’t believe it, earlier you were wondering what they did but you never expected that you had been in the company of mafia dons. If it was true you wouldn’t mind it, to be honest, you thought it was a bit hot. The power they must have to control the ones under them made you wonder just how they could use that power to control and use you as they please. The fact that they were most likely extremely dangerous got you a little hot and bothered, you'd always had a thing for the "bad boy" type but more often than not they turned out to be toxic or just an asshole. You focused your attention back on the situation at hand once you heard the man speak again.
“You heard me, slut. Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to. Next time I won’t let it slide” He snapped, pulling a gun from his own waistband and pointing it directly at Natasha’s head. Natasha froze and Wanda’s face twisted in rage. The man stalked closer, pressing the cold metal against Natasha’s temple and gripping her throat, breath hitting her face. Wanda moved to take a step toward them and he quickly pointed the weapon at her. She froze in her tracks and looked even more furious but you could see in her eyes that she felt completely helpless. You could tell it was killing her inside that she couldn't do anything. The look of despair that covered her face made your heart twist painfully.
“Don’t,” he said. “You. Get out.”
You realized he was addressing you and didn’t know what to do, should you really just leave Natasha and Wanda like this? You didn’t even know them, but you realized you were willing to put yourself in danger to save them from this man.
Natasha sensed your hesitancy, “Hey, look at me, princess,” you turned your gaze to her. “You can go, we’ll be okay”
Her words did little to comfort you, and you weren’t just going to leave them to fend for themselves. Regardless, you pretended to listen to her and slowly made your way to the door. Once you had opened it the man looked back at Natasha, assuming you had left since he heard the door shut. He continued speaking, “People like you make me sick, thinking you can just flaunt your disease to everyone without facing any consequences,” he smirked, pressing his hips into Natasha. “Don’t worry, slut. I'm going to fix you both, you’ll feel me for days”
His words made you nauseous, bile threatening to rise up your throat as the man ground his front against Natasha as she struggled against his grasp. You looked at Wanda, her face pale and looking just as sick as you. Deciding that this man had to be dealt with now you slowly crept towards him, untucking your own gun from your waistband. Natasha’s eyes widened seeing you pull out the weapon, and the subtle expression didn’t go unnoticed. The man whipped back around to see you, gun in hand and shot in your direction, the bullet piercing through your shoulder.
The pain was excruciating and hot, the feeling of your own blood dripping out of the wound made your head spin, the metallic scent of it making you dizzy. You didn't have time to think about the pain or anything else you were feeling, you had to keep it together and act fast before he shot again. You raised your arm enough to shoot him straight in the dick, a weak smile on your face. He screeched, dropping his gun and finally releasing Natasha’s throat. The redhead took a deep breath and rushed to Wanda’s side, intent on shielding her wife from whatever may happen next.
Who the fuck did this man think he was? Insulting Natasha and Wanda simply because they were gay, and then touching Natasha, hoping to “fix her” in his own sick way. The thought made you fume, you were so angry that you forgot that you had been shot yourself, walking up to the crying man holding his bleeding junk. You looked down at him, watching the blood seep from his groin, reveling in the agonized look on his face.
Delivering a harsh kick to his abdomen, you knocked the air out of his lungs. Leaving him gasping for breath while desperately trying to scramble away. Looking up for a moment, you searched the faces of the other two women. Wanda’s mouth was hanging open in obvious shock while Natasha was looking at you with an expression you couldn’t quite place. She had her hands clasped in front of her with a twinkle in her eye that was reminiscent of adoration.
Looking away, you kneeled down to his level, grabbing his face with one hand and reaching into the back pocket of your jeans to retrieve a small pocket knife that you kept on you at all times. Flipping the blade open, you placed the tip of it right on his jugular, adding a little pressure. Not enough to fatally injure him, but enough that the point slowly cut through his skin, letting a small stream of blood flow out slowly.
“Alright, first, you’re gonna apologize to them for what the fuck you just did. And then, you’re gonna tell me who you are and why you’re here”
“I ain’t telling you shit” he spat through heaving breaths.
“Okay,” you nonchalantly replied while gradually applying more and more pressure with the knife, the stream of blood beginning to drip down his neck and disappearing into his shirt while he groaned at the pain. “You have two options. You tell me what I want to know and I let you die quickly, or you continue being a stubborn piece of shit and I start cutting your fingers off until you tell me. Either way, it doesn't matter to me, but my patience is thinning.”
He stayed silent and stared into your eyes, trying to call your bluff, but instead found nothing but malice in them. You took his silence as an incentive to continue your torture, removing the blade from his neck and grabbing his bloodied hand, fully prepared to start slicing.
“WAIT, WAIT, OKAY I’LL TELL YOU,” he screamed.
“Apologize first”
He looked Natasha in the eyes, chest heaving and body shaking, “I’m so sorry, please forgive me. Have mercy, I'm begging you”
Natasha glared at him in disgust and ignored his pleas.
A sadistic smile made its way back onto your face as you watched the man’s face contort in horror.
“Tell me who you are. Now.” You ordered, patience running thinner. You wanted to be done with this now, the adrenaline slowly wearing off making you register the amount of pain you were in. You could feel the wetness seeping into your shirt and how it clung to you. All you could smell was the coppery scent of your and his blood. Your head was spinning viciously, your sight starting to blur. You let out a weak groan when you thought no one was paying attention, but Wanda had heard it. She knew you were in pain and close to losing consciousness.
“My- my name is Ivan Kuznetsov. My boss sent me here to take them out,” he said, nodding towards the women.
Wanda tilted her head, “And who’s your boss?”
“Dreykov, I don’t know his first name, he makes all of us refer to him as that”
"Why did he send you here to deal with us?" Natasha questioned, stepping a bit closer to Ivan.
"I think he's planning something but I don't know what," he claimed. Natasha didn't believe him and stalked closer, placing her shiny Oxford above his crotch, slightly putting her weight onto her foot. The man screamed, his voice crackling, but the redhead didn't ease up.
"PLEASE, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING OTHER THAN THAT I SWEAR" Ivan screamed, he was sobbing now, begging Natasha to take her foot off his bleeding junk. She relented only slightly, just enough to let him catch a breath. You decided that Ivan was rather useless now since he apparently didn't know anything, tightening your grip on your gun and sending a bullet straight through his skull. His head hit the wall and blood splattered onto it because of the force of the bullet. Ivan's body slumped, and his eyes were devoid of life. He slid off the wall and landed on the floor with a heavy thud. You were breathing heavily now, the recoil sent shocks through your arm and up into your injured shoulder. You were dizzy with pain and the blurriness in your eyes got worse, you felt unbalanced, like if you exhaled too hard you would topple over.
“Would it be wrong to say I am extremely turned on right now?” Natasha joked, trying to ease the remaining tension.
You let out a weak laugh and turned to face her, that's when your legs gave out, and the last thing you saw was Natasha rushing towards you.