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One thing Kate truly loves the city for is the magic of New Year’s Eve. Of course, there are the drunkards and the screamers and other people of the lot that drive her nuts when they’re up past their time, but until then, she finds that all a little too interesting and is normally sitting in the window of her apartment, watching them.
She typically spends the night alone, her mother and her made an agreement years ago that Kate only had to go to one of the holiday parties, and she’s chosen the Christmas one almost every year since.
She finally arrives at her apartment, she hasn’t been back since before Christmas because she was with Clint’s family, but now that she’s regained control of her money and had people come to fix it, she’s definitely feeling a little more at home.
Once she closes the door, she hangs up Lucky’s leash and her coat, smiling at how the dog settles himself onto the couch with a dramatic sigh. He looks over at her and she kicks off her boots before looking through her bag for the dog food Clint sent her home with. She finds it and pours a portion in a bowl for Lucky, which piques his attention quickly.
While he eats, she turns on the New Year’s Celebration on TV and orders a pepperoni pizza for herself. When that’s done, she realizes the apartment’s got its normal chill, so she decides to go upstairs and look for a hoodie or anything to warm herself up.
She walks upstairs, humming the song playing on the TV from whoever’s performing and stopping completely short when she sees someone in her bed. Upon closer look, she realizes it’s the now-familiar blonde vigilante, dead asleep on the bed. She’s tangled in the blankets and has one arm wrapped around a pillow, her other arm flopped in an awkward position above her head.
Kate tilts her head, not sure of what she’s supposed to do now. Why is Yelena here ? She did mention she was on a time limit coming here, did she not? It doesn’t seem like Yelena’s here to hurt her, based on how obviously she’s not waiting for her, but no one’s ever prepared Kate for an assassin in her bed.
She furrows her eyebrows, grabs her hoodie, then walks quietly back downstairs. She’ll figure it out sooner or later, she guesses.
The pizza arrives soon thereafter and Kate’s halfway through her second slice - not without Lucky’s persistent begging for a bite, of course - when Yelena comes downstairs.
“What’re you doing here?” Yelena asks, and Kate can’t help but notice that she’s wearing one of her hoodies.
“This is my apartment,” Kate responds, “What’re you doing in my clothes?”
Yelena looks herself over and then seemingly brushes off the comment, “Your bed is very comfy. And I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”
Kate’s head swims with too many thoughts, but none of them stick and all that makes itself out, “Why are you here? And you didn’t answer my question.”
Yelena’s eyes meet hers and she smirks mischievously, licking her lips once before responding, “Your clothing is comfy, Kate Bishop.”
“We’re back to the Kate Bishop thing now?” Kate asks, choosing to ignore the little rush she got from Yelena licking her lips like that.
(Especially because with her recent luck, Yelena would never date her.)
(Also Yelena’s an assassin.)
“Of course, Kate Bishop,” Yelena draws her out her name, smirk unleaving, “So, what are you eating.”
Kate blinks, still not used to Yelena’s ability to switch tones so quickly. She looks to the crust of the pizza in her hand, then to Yelena, then the crust again.
“It’s pizza.”
Yelena raises an eyebrow and sits down on the opposite side of the couch that Kate’s sat on, “Pizza?”
“Have you never had it?” Kate asks, a little too excited to know something Yelena doesn’t. She can’t help it, Yelena seems to know everything about everything.
“Um, no,” Yelena clears her throat, “not since Ohio, no.”
“Ohio?”
Yelena nods, “That’s where Natasha and I became sisters. It was a mission that we were on. Best time of my life.”
Kate stiffens, not sure how to respond to that. God, Yelena, changing the tone like that again.
“Kate Bishop,” the playful tone returns, even though it’s undercut with the sadness of the previous statement, “don’t be so sad.”
Kate nods, gaze falling on the TV, where the host is interviewing some people from the different time zones.
“So,” Yelena draws her back and gestures toward the pizza, “you gonna share?”
Kate nods, “Yeah, help yourself.”
Yelena smirks, obviously amused, and Kate can’t tell if she’s offended or not. She’s sure that she’ll get used to Yelena’s - admittedly cute - teasing in due time, especially if the blonde keeps showing up.
Speaking of, “What’re you still doing in New York?”
Yelena takes a piece of pizza and shrugs, “Got nowhere to go.”
Kate quirks an eyebrow, “You said you were here on assignment. And you very obviously didn’t take your shot.”
“Yeah, I quit,” Yelena says simply. When Kate looks to her for elaboration, she finishes the bite she was on before explaining, “I… I’ve done the assassin thing before. I know I was being forced to do it - Black Widows were mind-controlled for a time - but I still remember all of it. The more time I spend outside of it the more crazy it feels and after Barton…” she pauses, obviously trying to collect her thoughts, “I realized I should try and focus on what I still do have. It’s what N- she would’ve wanted.”
Kate watches Yelena’s expression closely, and she’s still barely able to catch the tears glittering in Yelena’s eyes. She wants to reach out, just so Yelena knows she’s there, but her body betrays her, and she resorts to anxiously rubbing her thumb against the curve of her index finger instead.
“So now what?” Kate finally asks.
Yelena shrugs, “Anything. My team helped finish most of what I was doing before the blip and when I got back, before I got the assignment about Barton, we finished everything we were doing. I can do whatever now, I guess.”
“Well,” Kate gets up off the couch and brushes herself off, feeding Lucky the half of the pizza crust she couldn’t, “sounds like we need some drinks to celebrate!”
Yelena’s eyes light up, but she looks confused, “Celebrate what?”
“Freedom,” Kate shrugs, taking the pizza box and setting it on the counter where she knows Lucky won’t get it, “C’mon.”
Yelena smiles fondly at Kate, “You did owe me a drink, Kate Bishop.”
Kate grins, “There’s a liquor store around the corner. We’ll go there, they normally have pretty good stuff.”
Yelena follows her lead (and finishes the slice of pizza she was on), and they both pull on their shoes and coats. Kate slips her house keys in one of her pockets and wallet in the other, making sure to kiss Lucky’s head and assure him that they’ll be back before leaving.
“So, Kate Bishop,” Yelena asks once they’re in the elevator, “I’m sure you’re familiar with New Year’s Eve?”
“Is that a question?” Kate responds, looking over at Yelena, smiling at the little glint of mischief in the other woman’s eyes.
“Can you tell me why Americans get so excited about it?” Yelena asks, a small smirk forming on her face.
Kate hums, “It’s a new beginning, I guess. People like to drink and to throw parties and…” The words “and kiss” die on her tongue and she clicks her mouth shut.
Yelena raises an eyebrow, “And?”
The elevator stops.
Kate smirks back at her, “Tell you later.”
They step out of the elevator and Kate quickly falls into her normal routine of mumbling to herself, trying to figure out what she wants to buy once she’s there, she’s always found it easier to know what she wants ahead of time instead of going in blind. It wasn’t noticed - or if it was, it wasn’t mentioned - by Clint, but of course, vigilante super-assassin Yelena picks it up rather quickly.
“That wasn’t in your file, you know,” Yelena says, some kind of teasing look on her face again.
“I’d love to see what’s in the file,” Kate replies, smirking back at Yelena fully now.
The two women stop walking, seemingly entering some kind of staring contest. It goes on for maybe ten seconds before they both surrender silently and burst out laughing. Something about this is just too comfortable, Kate finds herself thinking, but she doesn’t really care to think further about it. Surely, Yelena isn’t sticking it out this long just to go get drinks on New Year’s Eve.
She pushes past the thoughts and leads Yelena to the liquor store, where they quickly buy their drinks of choice (with a little bit of bewilderment from Yelena about the sheer amount of choices) and Kate makes sure to not let her thoughts linger too long on Yelena out of fear of them getting out of control.
They leave almost as quickly as they arrived and on the walk back, Kate finds herself asking, “Do you have any kind of plans for the new year?”
“I don’t know,” Yelena shrugs, “now that I’m free, I guess I could… get a real job,” she glances over at Kate, a teasing smile on her face, “maybe get involved with a mafia.”
Kate laughs, “With or without tracksuits?”
“Without, of course,” Yelena scoffs, looking herself over before humming, “Maybe this isn’t best example, but I have some nice outfits. Can’t lose that because of tracksuits , Kate Bishop.”
Kate smiles softly and they fall silent again, but it’s comfortable. Kate makes sure to not pay too much attention to Yelena, hoping that if she ignores the pull in her chest long enough that it’ll go away.
It doesn’t help that Yelena’s a very very pretty girl and Kate’s very very not straight.
“So,” Yelena says eventually, “Any other New Year’s Eve traditions?”
“Um,” Kate holds her bag a little closer to her chest, “watching the ball drop, I guess. It’s this big ball that they put on a post and slowly drop until midnight, and when it drops, boom . Happy New Year.”
Yelena hums, “2025. Wow. Still not used to that.”
Kate tilts her head, “You were…”
“Yeah,” Yelena says quietly and Kate’s stomach sinks a bit. She can’t begin to imagine what that must’ve been like. “It’s… weird.”
“I’d assume so,” Kate replies softly as they walk up to the apartment building. She unlocks the front door and holds it open, letting Yelena through first before walking in herself.
The conversation from before seems to die, and so when they step into the elevator, Kate asks, “Does the security in my building suck or are you just a really good spy?”
Yelena’s smile comes back, “Kate Bishop, I can assure you, I’m very good spy,” she then smirks once again, “and your building’s security is total shit.”
Kate snorts, “So how’d you get in?”
“Ah, Kate Bishop,” Yelena tuts, her voice dropping ever so slightly as she says, “I can’t have you knowing all of my secrets.”
Kate blinks, shellshocked for a second as the elevator dings. She comes back to her senses and gets off the elevator, leading Yelena back down the hallway to her apartment.
She unlocks the door, smiling when she sees Lucky on the other side, a wide smile on his face and nothing destroyed behind him.
She always knew he was a good dog.
She and Yelena put their bags on the counter, and Kate flicks between channels displaying New Year’s Eve broadcasts before falling on one, and in just enough time to turn around and see Yelena rubbing behind Lucky’s ears and whispering little good boys to him.
She smiles to herself again before chastising herself, she can’t be feeling things like this for Yelena.
“I’m guessing you’re a dog person,” Kate comments. Stupid, you know she’s a dog person. She told you that you got a few points from her on that.
“Of course,” Yelena responds, nuzzling noses with Lucky once again before looking at Kate, “Though I’ve heard the - generalization? I don’t know if that’s the word - is that gay women typically like cats instead of dogs.”
Oh thank god Kate isn’t eating something right now because she definitely would’ve choked.
“I think you’re thinking of stereotype ,” Kate points out after a second, trying to refocus her brain on anything else than Yelena saying that she’s into women.
“Might be,” Yelena hums before standing up and shrugging off her coat, which she forgot to do earlier, “Should we start celebrating?”
Kate doesn’t really want to drink, her brain is barely functioning as is, but she nods along anyway. Worst thing that can happen is she says something she shouldn’t and Yelena doesn’t come back. (That’s one way to get over a crush.)
An hour out from midnight finds them both a couple of drinks in, though it’s very obviously not affecting Yelena as much as it is Kate.
“Have you ever played twenty questions?” Kate asks, leaning back into the couch and popping another chip into her mouth.
“Twenty questions?” Yelena asks, raising an eyebrow. She takes another sip of the drink she’s holding and Kate brushes past how she wants to put the hair that’s fallen out of Yelena’s braid out of her face.
“Mhm,” Kate hums, “It’s a game where someone asks a question, the other one answers, then they ask a question…”
Yelena looks confused, “So it’s a conversation.”
“No,” Kate crinkles her eyebrows, “It’s a game .”
“Fine,” Yelena huffs noncommittally, takes a sip of her drink, and looks at Kate, “You begin.”
“Um,” Kate hums, popping a chip into her mouth and finishing it before asking, “What’s your favorite color?”
“Insightful,” Yelena laughs, “I don’t know, normally it’s red…” she pauses, looking at Kate with something that her drunk-brain can’t fully comprehend, “Recently I’ve liked purple a little more, though.”
Kate flushes, “That was very typical.”
Yelena smiles a little, “So, Kate Bishop, you’re an Avengers fangirl… why?”
“I don’t know,” Kate says, searching absentmindedly for a full chip instead of a fragment of one. Truthfully, she’s been thinking of her affixation with the Avengers more and more since Yelena asked her about the true meaning of Avenger and why everyone gives it so much power . “When I was younger, I lived here when the battle of New York happened and my dad died. And I remember Clint…” Yelena tenses ever-so-slightly at that, “and then… well it was 2012 so the internet was a little limited, but I got all of the information I needed to trust that they would save the world from evil.”
She pauses, trying to collect her words properly, “The veil dropped when people fell out of existence and we were still expected to go on…”
A silence falls over the two of them and Kate toys with her fingers, “Mind if I ask one now?”
“Go ahead.”
Kate looks Yelena up and down, “What happened with Clint?”
Yelena hums, “He didn’t kill Natasha. She… sacrificed herself. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive her for it.”
“For leaving you alone?”
Yelena nods slowly, “My turn. Do you think you’ll ever forgive your mom?”
Kate shrugs, “She’s a criminal. I know it was for a better life for me, but I’d rather live a harder life than one made easier because blood was spilled.”
It’s almost hauntingly quiet now aside from the music playing on the TV and Lucky’s whistley breathing as he sleeps.
“Alright, me now,” Kate hums, “will you ever forgive Natasha?”
Yelena bites her lip, “I knew Natasha for five years. The three when we were little and she was my hero, and then the two years after we took down the red room until I… disappeared. And even for those two years she barely kept in touch. We called each other once a month, but I only saw her in person three times. And only one of those was for more than a day.”
Kate’s heart sinks, “So you don’t know who you’re forgiving?”
Yelena nods, voice breaking, “I wish I did. She was… at the core, the same, but the Natasha I knew when I was little was barely there when we did that mission together. And now I’ll never get the chance to actually know her.”
“I guess we both got the rug ripped out from underneath us,” Kate says quietly, leaning on to the armrest.
Yelena crinkles her nose (and Kate really has to ignore how cute it is), “The rug ripped out from underneath us?”
“It’s a saying,” Kate replies, catching a glance at the TV and seeing that there’s only three minutes left until midnight.
“Huh,” Yelena looks to the TV as well, “I have another question for you.”
“What is it?” Kate asks, looking back over at her.
“I don’t have any plan now,” Yelena starts, “would you help me make one?”
“A plan?” Kate raises an eyebrow, “What would this plan entail?”
“Teaching me about the city,” Yelena’s signature smirk returns, “what you do… how to make friends… you know?”
“American holidays?”
“Mhm.”
“Why there are rats in the subways?”
“Maybe.”
“Why you all trust something that’s routinely failed you?”
Kate snorts, “Sure.”
Yelena smiles triumphantly, “Okay, Kate Bishop.” She pauses for a minute, looking at the TV, “your turn for a question.”
“Do you listen to music?” Kate asks almost abruptly, furrowing her eyebrows and holding her chip bag a little closer.
Yelena looks taken aback, as if she that was the last thing she expected to come out of Kate’s mouth (and truly, Kate barely thought about it before it came out of her mouth), “That was so random , Kate Bishop.”
Kate crinkles her nose, “I change my question, why do you insist on saying my full name all the time?”
“It’s your name,” Yelena replies, face dropping ever-so-slightly, “Why? Do you not like it?”
Honestly I’ll listen to anything that comes out of your mouth- “No, I don’t mind it. Just curious.”
“Well,” Yelena shrugs, “it’s your name, Kate Bishop.”
Her smirk returns this time and maybe it’s Kate’s drunk-muddled brain or maybe it’s just her being insanely gay for this woman, but Kate finds herself wanting to kiss it.
Forty five seconds until midnight.
“There’s another tradition that I forgot to mention,” Kate says quietly, and Yelena raises an eyebrow.
“And what is this tradition?”
Kate’s stomach is swirling with anxiety, but she responds simply and coolly, “Kissing at midnight.”
“Kissing?”
Twenty seconds until midnight.
“You kiss someone you’re with on New Years Eve for good luck,” Kate says, all of her senses on fire as Yelena moves closer to her on the couch.
“Good luck?” Yelena laughs a little, “God, you Americans and your superstitions.”
Kate hums, “Can’t hurt to try, right?”
Five seconds.
Yelena smiles, one hand on Kate’s jaw, “No.”
“Happy New Year!”