Work Text:
Before Kate had ever said it out loud, Yelena knew she had a fear of open water.
Yelena was excellent at observation and there was nobody she paid more attention to than the brunette.
She had got a couple of subtle hints here and there but failed to catch on initially. Like how sometimes when they were flying over water in the quinjet, Kate would never sit at the front where she had an open view of the deep blue water below them, instead quietly excusing herself to go to the back of the jet.
Or that one time they were in the jet and Cassie spotted some dolphins swimming together, synchronised as they dived in and out of the water.
“Hey guys,” Cassie gasped. “Come see these dolphins, they're so cool!”
All of the New Avengers, minus Kate, leaned towards the window to get a better look, smiling and laughing together as they watched them twirl through the ocean, performing neat tricks. Yelena, noticing her girlfriend was not present among them, looked back to see Kate on her phone watching a video instead.
“You do not like dolphins?” The blonde asked, coming to sit next to her.
“Eh,” Kate said, trying to look as relaxed as possible. “I mean they’re okay, I guess, but they're not exactly dogs, you know?”
“Hm.” Yelena said and left it at that.
But then Shuri decided to bring the quinjet a little bit lower to the ocean so they could get a better look at the aquatic mammals from a safe distance that did not scare them but clearly had an effect on Kate as Yelena felt her immediately grip her arm tight. Upon realising what she was doing, Kate let out a little laugh and released the tight hold she had and moved her hand down to intertwine with Yelena’s, pretending as if that was her intention from the start.
Yelena slightly quirked an eyebrow at the reaction and wondered if Kate perhaps had a fear of heights or planes. She then quickly deduced that that could not be the case as the archer usually favoured high places during missions so that she could have better range when shooting her arrows. Similarly with planes, Kate had been using the quinjet, alongside her Avengers team, for months, and rarely acted this way.
The penny finally dropped for Yelena when they were on their way to a meeting with Director Fury. They had to board a S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier that had been docked discreetly in the middle of the ocean and whilst stable, rocked slightly against the ocean's strong current.
Shuri flew the quinjet over to touch down on the landing pad and Kate, sneaking a slight glance out of the window behind her to see where they had arrived, saw a wave crash against the side of the helicarrier and immediately felt as though she was going to throw up.
“Are you coming?” Yelena asked once they had landed and were exiting the quinjet.
Kate looked down to see she was still strapped into her seat and with shaky hands struggled to unplug her belt.
“Yep!” She said, a little too high-pitched. “I’ll be with you in a minute. I just gotta get this damn seatbelt off.”
Yelena, noticing Kate’s unusually nervous demeanour, walked over to help the brunette and placed her hands over Kate’s, stilling the trembling in her fingers as she guided them to help her with her seatbelt.
“моя любовь,” Yelena said concerned. “You are shaking.” (My love)
“Am I?” Kate let out a watery laugh as she picked up her bow and quiver, trying to sound as chilled out as possible. “Must be the jet engine.”
“The quinjet is off.” Yelena said simply, fully aware her girlfriend was hiding something from her. “Are you sick?”
“No!” Kate said a bit too quickly before correcting herself. “No, I'm not sick. I’m totally fine, all good. Super good, even. Yep, that’s me.”
“You are being weird,” Yelena narrowed her eyes. “What are you not telling me?”
Kate pretended not to hear her as she exited the jet, and immediately felt her knees go weak when she stepped onto the unique surface that was the helicarrier platform. She knew in her head that what she was standing on was entirely safe, but then she felt the tide rock the helicarrier ever so slightly and thoughts about how something so heavy could stay afloat and not sink into the deep, deep ocean overtook her mind. Gripping the railing of the quinjet, she looked up to see her teammates who were looking equally concerned at her.
“You do not look well.” Shuri stated simply.
“You okay, Kate?” Peter asked slowly. “You’re looking a bit pale, bud.”
“Are you feeling okay?” Cassie asked.
“Hm?” She asked, still focused on the rocking sensation of the helicarrier, only caught on to what the blonde had said. “Oh me? Yeah, I'm all good. You know me, cool as a cucumber. I'm just taking in the neat views here.”
Kate cringed at her word vomit, but then felt her stomach churn and thought for a moment she was actually going to vomit until she felt a hand on her back as Yelena stood next to her.
Suddenly, Maria Hill came towards them and Kate envied how easily the older woman moved her legs, unlike hers which felt firmly stuck to the ground.
“You all go on ahead,” Yelena said. “Tell Fury we will be there in five.”
They reluctantly left Kate and Yelena to it, shaking hands with Maria as they left to go inside.
It was particularly windy that day and Kate feared that if she let go the wind would blow her closer to the side of the aircraft that did not have any railings.
“Why don’t they have any damn railings?” Kate said, thinking out loud.
“Hm?” Yelena said, following with her eyes to where her girlfriend was looking at the edge of the helicarrier just as another wave had crashed against the side, and then back to Kate who had a terrified look on her face. “Oh. Ohhh.”
The blonde cursed to herself in Russian for not picking up on the clues sooner.
“You have a fear of water,” Yelena said, smiling slightly as she finally understood why the archer was freaking out. “I am right, yes?”
“What? No!” Kate said dramatically. “I don’t have a fear of anything.”
“Okay then,” Yelena said simply, taking a step back from Kate, knowing the girl was playing on her usual trait of being overly confident. “Take your hand off the railing so we can go inside.”
“Okay.” Kate said, but did not move.
“Okay,” Yelena repeated, folding her arms as she and Kate continued to make eye contact, staring each other down. “Kate Bishop, I am waiting.”
Kate broke eye contact first and sighed in frustration. “I can’t, okay!”
“You can,” Yelena said, holding her hands out. “Let go of the railing, and hold on to me.”
With one hand, Kate grabbed Yelena’s, gripping it firmly despite the sweat that had begun to build in her palms from anxiety.
“Okay, now the other.” Yelena said. “I promise I will not let anything happen to you.”
Taking a deep breath, Kate shakily released the railing and held on to Yelena’s other hand. Kate felt a wave of nausea as Yelena was strong but she wasn’t heavy quinjet planted to the ground strong. The thought of the heavy aircraft on water just made Kate feel faint, however, as she tightened her grip on the Russian, who did not show any pain, only pride in the archer.
“Kate Bishop, you are doing so well!” Yelena beamed. “Now let go of one of my hands and we will take a few steps, yes?”
Kate felt as though she was seconds away from a full blown panic attack but swallowed hard and nodded feverishly. She gave herself a quick pep talk of her next steps and began slowly loosening her grip on the assassin's hand. The outside area was mainly deserted with most of the crew inside where it was less windy. Those who were out were tending to their aircrafts, leaving Kate and Yelena with privacy.
Kate struggled to find any words as she focused all her attention on taking a few shaky steps with Yelena towards the door, whilst the other girl said nothing but encouragement.
“Listen to my voice, I have got you,” Yelena said as they managed to make it halfway across the platform, trying to distract Kate from the strong wind that was blowing in their faces. “I have always got you.”
Once they made it across the short distance to the door, Kate gripped the handle and opened it at record speed. Once inside, Kate slammed the door behind her and felt the warmth envelope her, smiling to herself in relief as she leaned against the wall whilst she caught her breath.
“Let’s go,” Kate said as if nothing had just happened. “I don’t know about you but I do not want to make Fury angry.”
“Do you not want to talk about what just happened?” Yelena questioned, confused at why her girlfriend was so adamant to avoid talking about her fears.
“Oh that? That was nothing,” she smiled, pecking her girlfriend on the lips. “Come on, let’s go.”
Yelena furrowed her eyebrows but decided to respect her girlfriend’s wishes of not wanting to talk about her fear at this moment and followed her down the hall to their meeting with Fury.
-
That night in bed, when they were making out, Yelena brought it up again.
“Why do you fear water?” Yelena said after breaking a long slow kiss.
“Now?” Kate groaned at the lack of contact. “You want to do this now?”
“It is important we talk about these things,” Yelena moaned as Kate started kissing her neck in an attempt to distract her. She felt her eyes flutter shut and began to struggle to remember what they were even talking about when Kate began sucking on her pulse point just below her ear. Kate's plan almost worked until Yelena used all the strength she could muster to focus and opened her eyes. “Kate.”
“What?” Kate said as seductively as she could. “I thought you liked it when I did this.”
Yelena leaned back on her elbows, reluctantly disconnecting Kate's mouth from her neck. “What is it that frightens you?”
Kate groaned and flopped back on the bed. “It’s not water I'm scared of exactly, more the ocean itself, I don’t know, it’s silly.”
“Kate Bishop,” Yelena reached for her hand, tracing patterns into her palm. “Being afraid is not silly. Although I am surprised you are afraid of the ocean being where you are from.”
“I’m from New York!” Kate defended.
“Yes, but there is water around New York.” Yelena replied, unsure how Kate’s answer was relevant.
“Yeah, but we don’t swim in it!” Kate replied, looking at Yelena as if she were deluded.
“Have you never wanted to go see the Statue of Liberty?” The blonde asked. “I thought we could go one day.”
“We can see it fine from Battery park!” Kate huffed. “Anyway, I'm an Avenger and I shouldn't be afraid of things like that.”
“Fear is something in us all, it is what makes us human.” Yelena shrugged. “Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will. Do you want to overcome it?”
Kate considered this for a moment. She had never spoken about her fear like this to anyone. The archer had spent all of her life avoiding the ocean, which was easier to do when you lived in the city. Kate felt she could go her whole life doing that but what she wanted most of all was to be the best Avenger she could be and did not want to be limited by a childhood fear she had developed.
“I guess I do,” Kate said. “But I don’t know how.”
“You can leave that to me, моя любовь.” Yelena said with a playful glint in her eye before reconnecting her mouth to Kate’s and hummed against her lips, “Now, where were we?”
-
That’s how, the next weekend, the New Avengers had ended up at the beach in East Hampton, New York. It was a scorching hot day in July and Yelena had convinced them all they were in need of a well deserved beach break. Everyone had been up for it, especially Peter once he was told that yes, MJ could come along too. The team hadn’t interacted with MJ much, except for the time when Kate and Yelena were begged by Peter to go on a double date with the two just before both couples were official, creating a very lovely but chaotic evening that is a story for another day.
Kate and Peter were busy playing a competitive game of volleyball and Yelena was busy admiring just how good Kate looked in her deep purple bikini, her long brown hair flowing naturally down her back. Her, Cassie, MJ and Shuri were basking in the sun, sipping on some questionable cocktails Cassie had packed in their cooler.
“What is in this?” MJ said looking up from her book, grimacing at the strong taste of alcohol.
“Oh you know,” Cassie said with her eyes closed. “A little bit of this, a little bit of that.”
“Here,” Yelena laughed, chucking MJ a cold beer who gladly accepted. “Cassie does not understand measurements.”
“Hey, you love my cocktails!” Cassie said, pulling down her sunglasses. “But you are Russian, you can actually handle them.”
“Sometimes I miss Russia. The literature, the architecture, the alcohol,” Yelena breathed out, closing her eyes. “But the weather? The weather I do not miss.”
“Totally unfair!” Yelena heard Kate huff after they had finished their game. “You have super fast reflexes!”
“You have amazing accuracy!” Peter defended. “They totally cancel each other out in volleyball.”
“Do not be a sore loser, Kate Bishop.” Yelena teased her girlfriend who jokingly pouted in response.
“It is much too hot to not be in the ocean,” Shuri said, getting up. “Who is coming?”
Everyone agreed that it was way too hot to not cool down in the sea, the soft waves of which reflected calmly against the sun. Everyone except Kate, who sat on her beach towel watching everyone else with slight fomo as they headed straight for the open water. And Yelena, who held back and joined the brunette, playing with her hair and tucking it behind her ear.
“Do you want to come in the sea with me?” Yelena asked gently.
“I do and I don’t,” Kate said, hugging her knees to her chin. “Is that weird?”
“Not at all,” Yelena smiled. “We can take it slow.”
“When I was seven,” Kate started, feeling nervous. “I was with my mom and dad on one of their old yachts one summer when we were in Greece. I didn’t listen to my dad when he kept telling me not to lean over the boat when it was moving, we were docking close to an island. I just really loved the way the sea looked, you know, as the boat moved through it. I didn’t mean to but I slipped and when I fell in the current pulled me under. I felt powerless against the ocean and I don’t think I have ever been more scared of anything my whole life, which is surprising with the amount of shit we’ve been through.”
“What happened after?” Yelena asked, listening intently to the other girl.
“My dad dived in after me,” Kate laughed weakly. “He pulled me close to him and we resurfaced. My parents were so angry at me, but they got over it pretty quickly. After that day I refused to step foot on another boat again. I must have been under the water for what, fifteen seconds? But yeah, since then I haven’t been able to move on.”
“Thank you for telling me that,” Yelena said, taking one of Kate’s hands and placing a kiss against her knuckles. “We do not have to go in the sea if you do not want to.”
“No, I want to,” Kate said, feeling that confidence she is so often accused of having come back. “With you.”
Yelena smiled and stood up, reaching her hand out to the archer.
Kate had a nervous smile on her face as she took her girlfriend's hand who guided her towards the sea, hearing her friends get up to all sorts of mayhem and mischief in the water. As they reached the damp sand, Kate took a sharp intake of breath and allowed for the tide to come in and wash over her feet, burying them slightly under the sand.
“Oh my god, It’s so cold!” Kate laughed with a goofy smile on her face as she looked at her girlfriend.
“It is lovely.” Yelena said, smiling softly, breathing in the fresh sea air through her nose.
“It really is.” She smiled in awe at Yelena, who looked incredibly relaxed. “I don’t know if I'm ready to get much deeper just yet.”
“We have all the time in the world, Kate Bishop.” Yelena nodded. “We can keep coming here and take it step by step. Whatever you are comfortable with.”
An hour or so later the New Avengers and MJ were all still in the ocean, relaxing and having fun in the heat.
Although Yelena had not said anything, her teammates had all clocked on to some degree that Kate had an issue with water and so left the two of them to it, occasionally sneaking glances at the two girls who were just too adorable not too.
“They’re so cute!” Cassie said looking over to Kate and Yelena who had their fingers interlaced and were now knee deep into the water. Kate let out a small high pitch scream when Yelena splashed her with some water that was cold to the touch, but got the girl back by catching her off guard by tripping her, causing her to fall back into the water.
“I’ve never seen Yelena so… Soft,” MJ said tilting her head slightly as she struggled to find the word to describe the blonde. “She always seems so intimidating.”
Kate hesitantly kneeled into the water, so that she reached eye level with Yelena. Snaking her hand around the back of her neck, Kate pulled Yelena into a long slow kiss that caused both of the girls’ eyes to flutter closed as they became lost in each other.
“The two are not mutually exclusive,” Shuri said, adding her own two cents. “It just depends on how you treat her girlfriend, Kate Bishop.”