"I hate that despite everything, I'm still looking out for you."

NADINE

Bucky tried to convince her to stay outside. Unfortunately, Nadine couldn't stay put. She needed answers, needed to know why Dante wanted to kill her. 

So now she now stood behind the couch, watching Natasha and Fong. They'd placed Dante in one of the lower rooms of the villa and added cameras from their equipment on the plane. On the laptop screen Nadine could see that Natasha held a bucket of water in her hands. She was waiting patiently as Fong finished tying Dante to his chair. He nodded once, stepping back as she threw the water at Dante. He sputtered awake, the water jolting him up and he shook his head around to get his surroundings.

"Good," Natasha said, pulling up a chair right next to Fong, who'd sat down across from Dante. "You're awake."

"Where am I?" he heaved, his brows crinkling as he most likely felt pain from his injuries.

"How are you feeling?" Fong asked calmly. Despite his demeanor, Nadine knew he was hurting. Fong's relationship with the team was built by his first encounter with Dante, thanks to Yuna. Dante's actions hurt him like a father losing a son.

He merely scoffed. "Of course she'd send you two."

"She?" Fong pressed, but he knew who he meant.

"Nadine," he replied, venom laced to her name. "She always has to be in charge of everything."

A punch to the gut would have hurt less.

"Hey," Sam muttered as he turned from his place on the couch and looked up at Nadine, concern written all over his features. Sam had mentioned to her once that he used to hold group sessions, so helping people was in his veins. "Maybe you should go. Fong and Natasha can take care of this."

"No," she said, but she was grateful that he cared. "I need to listen."

"Nadine isn't in charge, Dante," Fong replied.

"But she is, isn't she?"

"Your behavior cannot just be petty jealousy. You are not like that."

There was a small moment of silence as Dante stared at them. Collecting his thoughts, she supposed. But that didn't make the silence and not knowing less excruciating.

"Why would I be jealous of her? She can choke, for all I care," he said eventually. It was getting difficult not to take his words to heart.

"I'm gonna kill him," Bucky muttered, his anger rolling off of him in waves. It was clear that Dante's actions were still fresh on his mind and a part of her couldn't blame him.

"Try it and I will kill you, Soldat," Kaia threatened from the other side of the room. She originally stated that she had no interest watching the interrogation, but it seemed that her curiosity won her over. She made no movements to look at the screen, though.

Bucky huffed in anger, but stayed quiet. Nadine felt his hand brush against hers as he clenched them into fists and, as if by instinct, she worked in loosening his fingers until she could lace her hand with his. He squeezed her hand in reply, a soft gesture that made her smile despite the circumstances.

"What is it then, Villanueva?" Natasha prodded. If Nadine was right, she was itching to get answers and his outbursts were just irritating her. "If it isn't buried jealousy?"

Dante raised his chin. "She'll get what she deserves."

Emilia's hand tightened around her mug. She leaned away from the laptop to collect herself, her eyes looking at anything that wasn't the screen in front of her. "He's unhinged."

Nadine thought about what happened. "You killed her," Dante had yelled at her.

You killed her. Killed who?

She thought about all the women in his life. Kaia, Emilia, his mother, hell, even Natasha. The only woman who was dead was...

Nadine pressed on her earpiece. "Nat," she called. Natasha's head tilt meant she was listening. "Ask him about Yuna."

"Talk to me about Yuna," she said immediately, and Nadine noticed how Dante glowered at the mention of her name. 

"Yuna Watanabe," he said, almost monotone. "I met her in Italy. She was working for the Hand and I fell in love. And then she killed her."

There it was. Dante was convinced that Nadine killed his girlfriend. The fact that he believed she was capable of doing such a thing...

"I didn't," Nadine muttered, a pit forming in her stomach.

"She didn't."

"Yes, she did," he insisted. A chill swept through her like ice coursing through her veins as she realized how deep in this delusion he was in. "I brought her to Maricota and Nadine said Yuna couldn't stay. So we left and she died. Her death is on her hands. Her blood is on her hands."

Fong was trying to reason with him. "But she did not kill her. The Hand did."

"Nadine didn't slice her throat, but she led Yuna right to her fate because she fucking shunned her, with her holier-than-thou bullshit."

She couldn't take it anymore. Without thinking, she let go of Bucky's hand and headed towards the interrogation room.

"Nadine!"

She ignored Kaia's call, her determination to get answers clouding her judgement. She knew no one would stop her, because her mind was made up. Stepping into the villa's basement, she didn't hesitate to walk into the room. Dante's eyes -well, one eye, considering the other was almost swollen shut- locked on her immediately. The anger in him seemed to elevate with her presence, which felt worse than a gut punch. Natasha also didn't seemed pleased, but Nadine understood that it was more so because she could be a distraction to the interrogation.

"I didn't want her to die," she said simply, not fully knowing what to say. She didn't really think it through, but she needed him to understand that what he was saying was false. 

"You wanted her to pay because you didn't think Yuna deserved me."

"She didn't," she agreed, maybe a little too quickly than she should have. "You deserved someone who didn't leave the Hand out of fucking necessity. You know she loved what she did."

That seemed to amuse him, but not in the lighthearted way Nadine's quips used to. "And you don't?"

"I don't," Nadine confirmed, not really understanding what he meant. 

"Is that how you sleep at night?" he asked, a hint of a smirk appearing on his bruised face. "Lying to yourself?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You and I both know that Jameson didn't call you his 'chaos bringer' because you spat rainbows and radiated sunshine." Dante was relentless, she had to admit. He wasn't holding back a thing, and the worst part was that he seemed to enjoy hurting her. "Face it, Nadine. There's a monster in you that you try to hide, but it's there. You judge, but you're no better than them. You're no better than Yuna. Hell, you went and fucked a monster just like you."

"Don't talk about him," Nadine threatened, lifting a finger as a warning. She was almost whispering. "Don't."

Dante seemed to revel in the murderous undertone in her threat. "Or what?" he challenged, staring right at her. She felt like he was seeing right through her, picking on her guilt with his psychological warfare. "You'll kill me too?"

"What happened to you, Dante?!" she asked, her voice rising. She was dumbfounded that he'd been turned against her so quickly. Most of all, she was heartbroken. Hearing him say those words and use her guilt against her was hollowing her out.

"Kristina helped me see the truth behind your deception."

Nadine was exhausted of his delusions. "I didn't kill Yuna. For hell's sake, I would never have touched her or the baby."

"W-What?" he stuttered, his eye narrowing incredulously. 

"Yuna was pregnant," she repeated, assuming he didn't understand her. "With your kid."

Dante seemed confused for a second, which was odd. The anger he was displaying almost dissipated. For some reason, it looked like new information to him.

"Dante," Fong called to get his attention, his gaze portraying the concern he felt in the moment. "You and Yuna were going to parents."

"I don't... I... No. That's not..."

"What was the baby's name again?" Natasha pressed, catching on quickly and applying more pressure. She knew he was right there. "You don't know, do you? You don't remember."

"Of course I remember my kid," Dante snapped at her, but he didn't seem too sure.

Natasha tilted her head a bit, eyebrow raised as she studied him. She was playing him like a fiddle now that they were getting somewhere. "Then what's his name?"

Dante was silent, but the look on his face made it clear that his mind wasn't. She could almost see the gears turning in his head, and for a second, she pitied him. 

He didn't remember. He didn't remember his unborn child. 

"His name was Mateo," Nadine eventually said. Her tone held no anger or malice, only dread as she realized that whatever Kristina did affect more than just his relationship with Nadine. Her stomach was in knots at the thought. "And he's dead."

"N-No, I... That's not, that's not..." He was hyperventilating, the information presented overwhelming him. Dante closed his eyes shut in an attempt to calm himself before he opened them again. Nadine's breath hitched at the color. Orange. They were orange. What the hell was that?

The glow dissipated. "Did you see that?" 

"Yes."

"See what?!" Dante was desperate. He didn't seem to understand the implication of their words, which wasn't possible. "Wait! What are you-"

"The sphere." Fong concluded. He stood from his seat in front of Dante at the same time as Natasha and looked at Nadine. He looked like he'd aged ten years after all of that. "It is not farfetched. They did have it."

"Wait, where are you going?! You can't just tell me I had a kid and then leave!"

"I will be right back, Dante," Fong assured. "I am going to bring you some food. And then we can talk."

As Fong and Natasha made their way to the door, Nadine stood in front of him, gut-wrenching heartbreak manifesting itself in a lump on her throat as Dante wouldn't look at her.

"Let's go, Nadine," Natasha said, but Nadine wouldn't move just yet.

"Do you even care?" she asked him in a feeble attempt to salvage whatever was left. But even before his answer, she knew. She knew it wasn't going to give her hope. 

Dante simply stared. "Why would I care about you?"

• • •

Kristina Alexandrina Petrova. As one of Jameson's pupils, the woman learned from early on how to establish her place in the world. She had to work twice as hard as a man so she could be accepted in areas that weren't seduction and deceiving men to get intel. She didn't want to be a mere cipher, she wanted to be more. When Nadine was still under Jameson's control, he made sure to teach Nadine about the woman as a sisterly figure. He wanted them to be equals, partners.

In reality, Kristina hated her a little too much for that to even be a possibility.

When Nadine entered the room first, a tied-up Kristina smirked. She was still wearing the gown from the night before, and though her hair and makeup were disheveled, the cold elegance was still there. It took everything in Nadine not wring her in the neck.

"Ah, sister," she mused. "I was wondering when I would see you again."

At first, Nadine didn't utter a reply, just stood across from her, hands clenched as she maintained her composure. 

"You look terrible," Kristina mocked, trying to get a rise out of her. "Was the soldier a little too violent in bed?"

"Don't talk about him," she threatened once again, only this time, she knew she wouldn't hesitate to hurt Kristina if she so much as uttered a word referring Bucky. 

She let out a breathy laugh, freezing momentarily as the door opened behind Nadine, and Natasha and Emilia joined them. Kristina smiled a little more maliciously when she noticed the younger Villanueva sibling. "Ah, little Emilia."

Emilia was livid. She didn't go see Dante out of fear, but when Natasha and Nadine mentioned Kristina, she was more than willing to come in, with the condition that she'd stay put and didn't let Kristina's mind games rile her up, which tended to happen. Despite her manipulation tactics, Emilia was a short fuse, especially in regards to the trauma she endured by the woman in front of her.

Unsatisfied with Emilia's lack of response, she turned to Nadine again, asking, "If you are not here to entertain me with your soldier's sexual prowess, why are you here?"

"What did you do to him?" Nadine said.

Another smirk. "A little something."

"What the hell does that sphere do?" Emilia asked, desperate to know how the sphere turned her brother against them. Kristina shrugged. The indifference made Nadine feel like she was being forced to walk across a bed of hot coals with how angry it made her. She blew out a breath, slowly pacing for a few seconds before kicking her in the chest. 

Kristina choked with the sudden movement, her and the chair falling backwards until they collapsed on the floor. She squatted next to her, the movement making Nadine gasp on a pained breath, but she masked it before Kristina could snap out of the pain hitting her head caused. "I don't have the patience to treat you with respect," she muttered, ignoring the woman's deathly glare. "So please, for the love of your mother, tell us what we want to know."

"You could never understand the magnitude of its power," Kristina grunted, blowing strands of hair out of her face.

"Try us."

"Well, sit me up first," she bemoaned, a bit too dramatic for her own good. 

Nadine nodded at Natasha. Between the two of them they sat her up, Kristina groaning and complaining about how they were manhandling her. She may have been exaggerating, but it hearing her was like someone was using sandpaper in Nadine's ears because of how grating it was.

"The sphere defies everything that we know of," she eventually said. A small crack was heard as she adjusted her neck from the force of the fall. "The wielder can control life. It can control souls. Just one word, and you can alter a person from the inside out. Dante was a success."

"So you brainwashed him into your perfect soldier," Nadine concluded. "Made him hate me."

"I enjoyed digging into his buried feelings."

Buried feelings?

Kristina's smirk grew when after she waited patiently for the comment to sink in. The way she seemed to mock Nadine made it clear that she incited the reaction she wanted. "How adorable, you thought little Dante's hatred for you was fake. Let me assure you that it is very real. He just doesn't express it."

"Why?" Nadine questioned. "What was that all about, Kristina? Revenge?"

"Dante was only the beginning."

Nadine was about to respond, but a soft rumble shut her up. It reminded her of an engine, maybe of a car in the distance. 

"No! Taj! He's getting away!" Kaia yelled suddenly. All three women looked at each other, similar startled and confused expressions as they took it what was happening. Taj?

"Go! Both of you are our fastest!"

In all of their worrying, they hadn't even considered Taj was affected too. They just assumed he was exhausted. 

"Where did you send Taj?" Emilia boomed. She didn't hesitate to rush over to Kristina and grab her neck. "Where did you send her?!"

"Emilia!"

Kristina only smiled. "He has been dying to go back home."

"Uganda? What could you possibly have back there?" Nadine asked. 

"No, Dina, she means Wakanda," Natasha finished. In all this time, she'd barely uttered a word. And now, she delivered the most ominous ones yet. "His real home."

____________________________

A/N: *booms* HELLO I HAVE RETURNED

I hate that it's been so long but I was finishing up school because I graduated. Ya girl's got  MFA on her name now! 

The fact that I started this book before grad school and now I've finished grad school. Wow, time flies so much 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I love y'all for sticking by this story and waiting so patiently. It means the world to me that people like this book sm! 

I'm gonna go, but please leave your thoughts and theories! I always love hearing your thoughts. 

<3 love y'all sm!!