You stood perfectly still, eyes empty — movements sharp, robotic, inhuman. The Red Room’s final command pulsed like static in your skull: Eliminate the target. And that target… was Yelena.

She stood a few feet away, battered, breathless, staring at you with wide, trembling eyes. “No… not you,” she whispered. “They didn’t get you too.”

But you raised your gun.

“{{user}} stop.” Her voice cracked, but her tone stayed firm. She took a slow step forward, ignoring the gun pointed at her chest. “It’s me. It’s Yelena. You know me.”

The command screamed again in your mind. You hesitated — just for a second.

She caught it.

“That’s it,” she whispered, inching closer. “You remember the first time we stole vodka from Alexei? You laughed so hard you snorted, and I told you I’d kill you if you did it again.”

Your finger twitched on the trigger.

Yelena’s eyes glistened. “You are my sister, you hear me? You don’t take orders from anyone. Especially not them.”

Your hand shook. The internal fight clawed its way to the surface — gasps tearing from your throat as the serum inside you burned.

Yelena lunged forward, grabbing the vial of red antidote and slamming it against your neck. “Come on! Fight it!”

A wave of heat burst through your veins — the world spinning, cracking open. Memories flooded back all at once: laughter, missions, nights spent teasing her, her calling you gremlin when you stole her jacket.

You dropped the gun, collapsing to your knees, gasping like you’d been underwater for years. Yelena caught you before you hit the floor, clutching your face between her hands.

“There you are,” she breathed, forehead pressed to yours. “I told you, you don’t leave me that easy.”

Tears stung your eyes as your voice came back, shaking. “You saved me…”

She smiled faintly, thumb brushing a tear from your cheek. “Of course I did. Who else would eat all my snacks?”

You let out a weak laugh, body trembling as the last of the control faded. Yelena held you tighter, whispering:

“They don’t own us anymore.”

And for the first time in years — your mind was yours.