Archive of Our Own ^beta

Six days in the life of...

(i) Kate

After spending the Christmas holidays with Clint and his family, Kate returns to New York. There’s so much that she needs to figure out, starting from where is she going to live? Staying at her mother’s house while her mother is in jail is out of discussion, no need for more details. Her loft is still crashed though, so the only available spot seems to be her aunt’s house, again.

Kate briefly – very briefly – toys with the idea of texting Yelena to ask if she’s still in the city and maybe wants company wherever she’s bunking. It’s a bad idea and Kate really doesn’t want to take her chances one more time against a Black Widow assassin. She still doesn’t refrain from texting Yelena – calm and composed because she can keep her cool, despite what Clint thinks.

[From] Kate Bishop:

Hi, just wanted to wish you a merry christmas. You kinda disappeared after that night, wondering if you’re okay and still in nyc?

The message goes unanswered and Kate is not really surprised. Not that she cares that much anyway. It’s totally cool.

Except Yelena does message back. It might take from a week to ten days – Kate is definitely not counting – but her phone beeps with incoming texts. Plural.

[From] Yelena Belova:

Kate Bishop, still thinking about me?

[From] Yelena Belova:

I hope you had a nice Christmas with Barton, after all I decided not to kill him.

[From] Yelena Belova:

I am alive, not in New York but it would be fun seeing you again when I come back.

Alive. Kate thinks that ‘alive’ doesn’t quite make the cut for being okay or good, but all things considered ‘alive’ is more than acceptable from someone like Yelena. Hell, Kate actually starts to think it might be better to know that she’s still alive rather than just okay.

Kate thinks hard of a reply, something that doesn’t make her appear a total eager loser. She thinks too much and kills her own vibe, and when she finally finds something that she deems remotely funny and appropriate at the same time, it’s already been three days and Yelena has probably moved on with her fast paced life already. Kate’s plate is already full anyway, she has her own life – both the normal one and the superhero one, always the overachiever – to figure out and she could spare herself the threat of having a trained assassin close by.

Except that Yelena directly shows up uninvited at Kate’s house, almost giving Kate a heart attack.

“Jesus fucking christ, Yelena! Are you mad or just trying to get yourself killed?” Kate asks irritably while putting down her bow.

“Ah-ah! Always funny, Kate Bishop, never change.” Yelena mocks.

“You know, sooner or later my threats might not be that funny.”

Yelena waves Kate’s remark off and draws her attention to the large carton of pizza she has just brought, “I thought you wanted to see me again.”

Kate scoffs, “And why would you think that?”

“Cause you said you were thinking about me at Christmas.” Yelena sits down at the newly refurbished table and bites a slice of pizza, even with the dripping sauce and cheese she manages to be gracious.

“You said that.” Kate emphasizes, still maintaining a safe distance from the blonde.

Yelena rolls her eyes, “Will you sit down and eat please? Or do I have to beg like last time?”

Kate swallows down hard and tries not to think about the possible implications behind Yelena’s words. Now she’s the one projecting and she doesn’t like it one bit.

“I’m not really hungry…”

“Why?” Yelena frowns, “You never eat.”

Kate rolls her eyes, “Okay, first of all that’s not true, and second–” she takes a moment to feed Lucky a slice of pizza, “what are you doing here?”

“I told you–”

“What are you actually doing here? What do you want?” Kate points a finger at her, “And don’t be a dick.”

Yelena frowns in outrage at the accusation and sets on finishing her slice of pizza instead of engaging.

Just about when Kate decides that she’s not getting an answer, Yelena’s hand catches her wrist in a firm yet gentle grasp, “I wanted something normal, okay? Happy now?”

“Something normal?” Kate quirks an eyebrow.

“Yeah, you know, walking the dog, someone to watch movies with… maybe getting that drink.” Yelena shrugs slowly, the hint of a smile curving one side of her lips, “With you I don’t have to pretend, it feels normal.” a pause, “I feel normal.”

Kate lowers her gaze and lets the words resonate within her. She knows there are implications behind what Yelena has just said, most noticeable of all the fact that a very skilled, very much deadly Russian assassin seems to trust her. Why is that? Kate is not really sure but she knows that the ball is back in her court, she could say the words and Yelena would just disappear from her apartment, maybe even from her life, without kicking a fuss, because one does’t just live the same life Yelena does without knowing how to walk away from something, from someone.

But does she want that? Does Kate really want Yelena out of her life? Safety should be her first priority right now after everything that has happened, and yet… this is Kate, and Kate wouldn’t be herself if she constantly didn’t push her luck.

“Okay,” she says decisively, Yelena raises an eyebrow at her from the table.

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” Kate nods, “okay, let’s do it.”

Yelena’s usually unreadable expression gives away to confusion, “Let’s do… what exactly?”

“What you said: being normal.” Kate grabs her coat, “Let’s go walk Lucky, then we can watch a movie together, and then we can get a drink.”

Yelena looks mildly confused about the quick mood shift, “That was not a proper list, I was just– saying.”

Kate smiles, a real smile this time, like the genuine ones she has shared with the Barton family, “Well, list or not, I’m going to take Lucky for a walk and you’re welcome to tag along.” And before Yelena can put another word in, Kate calls Lucky over at the front door, leash already in her hand.

(i) Yelena.

“I will have to leave New York for a little while.” Yelena is washing the forgotten dirty dishes in Kate’s sink when she announces this about two weeks later.

“Uh?” Kate turns her head slightly to look at the blonde, she has been trying to set up all of her old indoors archery and workout equipment that could be salvaged after her apartment had burnt, “New mission?”

Yelena tsks, “Mission is for those Hollywood movies but yes, a new job.”

Kate nods and after a moment of silence looks back at Yelena with brighter eyes, “We should both go!”

“What?” Yelena

“Yeah! This city can bore you out of your mind and we could work well together.”

“Us working together? AH! Did I tell you you’re so funny, Kate Bishop?” When Kate doesn’t reply, Yelena’s expression morphs, “Oh, you’re serious about this?”

“What’s so strange about that?” Kate bites back.

Yelena sighs and dries her hands on a clean cloth, “It’s dangerous.” she rolls the sleeves of her blazer back down until they conceal her Widow’s Bites perfectly.

“Yeah, I know that, I was there during Christmas if you recall.”

“What happened during Christmas was one thing, the job I have to do… freeing the other Widows, striking down targets, that’s a different story.”

“But I could help! And you could teach me more and I could–”

“Kate, stop.” Yelena snaps, then slowly turns around with a serious expression, “We cannot work together, you’re sloppy and you’re messy and you’re not…”

Kate’s heart sinks with every word and that feeling – the feeling of being inadequate, of having the world in her hands and yet being an outcast… of not being enough – eats away at her.

“I’m not what?” she asks bitterly, “Smart enough? Good enough?”

Yelena remains in stubborn silence.

“Just say it Yelena.”

“You’re not a killer!” there lies the bare truth and Kate’s chest feels heavy because of all the hidden meanings behind Yelena’s answer, “You’re not a killer and that’s very fortunate for you, but I’m not you and I’m not Barton and I will not help you become one.”

The silence that follows is filled with tension and unspoken words. Kate lets the words sink in. Yelena’s tight and frowning face is a clear indication that she struggles to understand why Kate won’t just let this go. Is it so bad to want her safe? Shouldn’t that be enough to show someone that she cares? But this is Kate Bishop, and Kate Bishop is not one to give up her battles.

“I’m not asking you to…” Kate says slowly, her voice barely above a whisper, “I just want to help people. And I know it can be dangerous and risky and sometimes you have to be reckless, but I’m not a child anymore. I can be strong, god I even landed my mother in prison– I can make tough decisions.” her resolve wavers at the mention of her mother and her eyes almost spill out the tears.

Yelena remains still, a stony presence in the room. When she does speak, she’s already picked up her coat and is opening the front door of the loft, “You’re right, Kate Bishop, you’re definitely not a child and you can make tough decisions,” Yelena feels Kate’s hopeful gaze on her, everything in the younger woman’s body is vibrating in eagerness to hear the words that would validate her new world. Something pulls at Yelena’s chest, “but this is not your decision to make.”

***

It is weird to say for someone like Yelena — focus, always prepared Yelena — but she cannot stop thinking about Kate Bishop and the disappointment in her eyes. She has never asked to be someone’s sort of role model, least of all Kate’s. She also thinks of going back and saying yes, they can work together. Most of all, she thinks it would be better for everyone if she took some time off on her own.

And while she truly has to board a plane in a few hours and leave New York, Yelena finds herself rooted to the spot in front of her sister’s grave.

“We should stop meeting here.”

Yelena grits her teeth, “What do you want?”

“No doubt you’re always a joy, Yelena.” Valentina Allegra De Fontaine greets.

It’s the second time that Valentina approaches her at Natasha’s grave and Yelena is starting to run out of excuses why she should not just snap the other woman’s neck. She smiles fakely at Valentina and finishes her hot dog in one last bite, without looking she throws the dirty napkins in the closest bin and smoothes the creases in her red pants.

“Clearly. Cannot say the same for you.”

Valentina shakes her head as if she was a reproaching mother to a naughty child, “I’ve heard you had an interesting Christmas.”

“Interesting is one word for it,” Yelena scoffs.

“You haven’t completed your mission.”

“And you lied to me” Yelena’s gaze pierces through the older woman, “Clint Barton has not killed my sister.”

“Technicalities,” Valentina waves her off like it is no big deal, “she died while he was there too. It could’ve been him and it wasn’t, that’s what matters.”

Yelena clenches her jaw and imposes herself to be calm, “Killing an innocent man is a technicality then?”

At that Valentina bursts out laughing, “Innocent? God, Yelena you should hear yourself. You think Clint Barton is a poor innocent man just caught up in the crossfire of everything?”

“No,” Yelena exhales through gritted teeth, “none of us is innocent, none of us has been for a long time, but he was not Natasha’s killer. And that is what matters.”

Facing the honest truth – or perhaps considering that Yelena is still very capable of killing someone with a flick of her wrist – Valentina holds her hands up in surrender, “Fair, you have a point. And so Clint Barton is innocent and you’ll still be paid for your job because if anything, many new things have come out from this past wonderful Christmas.”

Yelena is about to speak but Valentina beats her to it, “Oh don’t worry, Eleanor Bishop might be in prison but she would have not been the only person benefitting from Barton’s murder. In any case, she’s not the only person with money, and she was my client first.” the older woman has the audacity to wink at the Russian. The Bishop's name quickly sends Yelena’s train of thoughts on Kate. It was clear that many people could also benefit from Eleanor being behind bars, which might translate into… wanting to get rid of Kate. Canceling the Bishops once and for all.

As if reading her mind, Valentina continues, “Speaking of the Bishop women, I’ve heard you’ve grown closer to our new little Hawkeye.”

Yelena tenses imperceptibly.

“Hardly,” the lie rolls off her tongue easily, “She was in the middle of me and Barton and I simply gathered information on her.”

“Mhmm,” Valentina hums as if she is in possession of some revelation that Yelena can only dream of, “She won’t be a problem in other operations, will she?”

Yelena is not exactly sure what other operations Valentina is leading, not certain that she can ever trust the woman again after Clint, but she figures it’s better to keep someone like Valentina closer than having her as an enemy. If Valentina notices the distrust Yelena harbors towards her, she doesn’t show it. At last Yelena answers, “Kate is fine. She won’t be a problem.”

Valentina claps her hands once and smiles that sickeningly smile of hers and stares at Yelena dead in the eyes, “Very well, because if push comes to shove I wouldn’t want to have to take one of my best assets out as well.” She pats Yelena on the arm and departs without another word.

Yelena stares at Natasha’s grave long after Valentina has disappeared from sight and then mutters to herself, “What have you gotten yourself into, Kate Bishop…”

***

She is flying above the clouds when a sudden thought strikes her: the phone in her pocket has not vibrated the entire day. More precisely, since she has left Kate's apartment. Yelena would not be surprised if Kate - talkative and constantly up to something, consecutive caller and texter Kate - doesn't contact her for weeks. 

She tells herself it’s better that way.

At least Kate is safe, isn’t she?

(ii) Yelena.

“I have a job for us.”

It’s on her next visit to New York that Yelena drops the bomb off just like that.

Kate almost trips over her feet and spills the content of her laundry basket all over the floor. Yelena looks at the pile of dirty clothes and then back at Kate with an unimpressed expression.

“I’m sorry– what?”

“I said I have a job–”

“I heard you.” Kate cuts her off, she pointedly ignores Yelena’s remark about not making her repeat things twice then, “You said– uh… us?”

“Yes.” Yelena states matter of fact, “I did use that word.”

“Oh…” it’s Kate’s clever remark.

Yelena waits for the words to sink in and for Kate to react, but when the younger woman only leans down to retrieve her clothes she rolls her eyes, “Listen, if you don’t want it just say so, I’ll take care of it on my own.”

Kate leaves the basket on the floor and points her finger at Yelena, “You told me I was sloppy and messy and clearly not good enough, and now you want to work with me?”

“Correction, I want you to work with me,” Yelena points out, “and you said that you wanted to learn more and wanted me to teach you so… it would make sense.”

Yes. Yes, it would. And everything inside of Kate is yelling to quit trying to argue with Yelena and just say Yes! I accept. But this is Kate, and Kate wants more. Always more.

“Clint is my partner.”

Yelena shrugs, “And he’s also retired with kids, so not much action on that front.”

“I am not a killer, you said it yourself.”

Again, Yelena shows complete nonchalance, “I’ll do the killings if necessary.”

“No killings.”

Yelena sighs, “I can’t promise that but– I’ll see what can be done.”

“I– you…” Kate is out of excuses and, quite frankly, she feels stupid.

“Kate, do you want to do this with me or–”

“Please!” Kate cuts her off, “Yes!”

The smile that lights up Yelena’s face is worth Kate’s embarrassment over and over again.

(ii) Kate

There’s a mission that changes everything. Kate is aware that it happens in the span of several days. Even more than a week actually. But when she thinks about it, it all jumbles into a mess. So she files the mission under ‘a regular day’s happening in the life of a hero’. Or something like that – she has no patience for titles and such.

“How good are you at lying?” Yelena asks without interrupting her stride while Kate is trying to pull Lucky away from a moldy slice of pizza in a trashcan.

“What?”she says distractedly, muttering ‘bad boy Lucky, get away.” to the dog.

“Pretending. How good are you at it?”

“Oh–uhm…” Kate tries to think, “well, plenty of times lied to my mom about where I was or what I was doing.”

“Anything more professional than that?”

“Ah you don’t think that’s professional? Then you don’t know Eleanor Bishop enough.” Kate fires back, a sour taste in her mouth because clearly she also did not know her mother enough. At Yelena’s deadpanning gaze she decides to try again, “Okay, well, in high school I lied to a boy about wanting to go to prom with him when I actually liked his younger sister. I never heard her say that she liked me too, but you know… I had a hunch. Anyway, I thought if I went to the prom with him I could just find her and we could spend the night together ditching everyone else.”

Yelena does not comment, only tilts her head to the side curiously and waits for Kate to continue her tale.

“But I must’ve lied so well that he didn’t let me out of his sight the entire time, and when he tried to kiss me his sister saw us and never talked to me again.” there’s a sad smile on Kate’s face and her stare is lost miles away, “I dated him for a few months, didn’t know how to get myself out of that lie. And when I finally told him the truth, he also stopped talking to me.” There’s a pause, Kate’s gaze shifts back to reality and she turns to Yelena with a frown, “Why do you want to know?”

Yelena bites her lower lip and takes Lucky’s leash from Kate’s hands and clicks her tongue, the dog follows her eagerly, “Let’s go home, there’s something we need to discuss.”

***

“So what’s up?” Kate asks, swallowing down gulps of water once inside the loft again.

“I need you to be my fiancè.” Yelena says straightforward.

Bad idea.

Kate starts to cough uncontrollably, almost spilling out the rest of the water. Lucky barks at his owner’s discomfort and circles around Kate’s legs.

“Good Lucky, it’s okay boy.” Kate quickly scratches him behind the ear and then looks at Yelena, “Excuse me what the fuck?”

The blonde pulls back a chair from the table and unceremoniously drops on it, “There’s a new job for us, if we want to take it that it. It pays well and it’s overseas, but I wanted to talk to you first.”

There’s a pause and Yelena can tell that Kate’s mind is running in all directions trying to make sense of what this could be. She gives her thirty second before taking the deal off the table, “Listen, we don’t have to do this, I’ll just wait on another assignment.”

“No– no, I want to hear about it.” Kate finally shakes it off.

Yelena’s gaze is inquiring still, “Kate Bishop, are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Kate manages to even throw a half convincing smile in, “let’s hear about it.”

***

Kate tells herself she needs to be cool about this. She can be cool about this. She will be cool. It’s a big deal that Yelena even just thought of her for this mission, so she doesn’t want to fuck it up royally.

The mission is fairly easy – easier said than done anyway – taking down a millionaire who deals with human organs trafficking and freeing the Widow that he has hired as protection. Yelena will take care of the Widow and give her the counter-agent, while Kate will put her best arrows to use and deal with the man.

All the while pretending to be a couple madly in love that’s celebrating their newly engagement.

Piece of cake.

***

One thing they have been surprisingly good at is glossing over the amount of physical contact they would need to engage in order to make the lie more believable. Yelena has not brought the issue up and Kate has refrained from asking, assuming then that it would mean as little contact as possible and a big red sign on PDA. She reasons that looking at each other as if their lives were a fairytale will have to do.

She’s definitely not ready, then, when Yelena smiles brightly at the receptionist of the hotel, quickly intertwines their hands and raises them to show off the (fake) engagement rings they’re both sporting. Kate swallows down hard when Yelena leans over the counter to request extreme privacy in their room. The man fiddles under the Russian’s intense gaze and nods vigorously.

“Of course, Miss… nothing will interrupt your pleasant experience here.”

Yelena grins wolfishly, “Excellent. Just what I like to hear.”

Piece of cake, Kate tells herself, piece of cake.

***

They pour into the mission without further interruption, between stolen hours of sunbathing at the hotel’s pool to spy on their target and planning every possible outcome and emergency exit.

It occurs to Kate that they’re working much more smoothly together now. Yelena relies on her input more and Kate revels in the trust that is being offered to her. She’s by no means close to Yelena’s skills but maybe she doesn’t have to be, maybe she can bring her ownexpertise to the table and complement Yelena.

It is exactly what Kate decides to do when she starts to suspect that there’s more to their target than anticipated.

***

“We should go to the gala party tonight.” she says, typing away on her laptop.

Yelena is towel-drying her hair and quirks an eyebrow at Kate, “Why? We don’t need towaste that time, plenty of people have seen us around, the lie is sold.”

“It’s not about selling this… engagement,” Kate shakes her head, the word still foreign on her tongue, and turns the laptop towards the blonde, “I’ve accessed the private database of Bishop security and everything points at a larger scale operation.”

She waits for Yelena to study the few details she has been able to put together.

“And I have a good reason to think that other people connected to the operation will be here tonight.”

Yelena’s gaze shifts from the new information to Kate.

“I know what you’re about to say,” Kate stares back at Yelena seriously, “this can get real ugly real quick but we’re here to do a job, so let’s go until the end.”

There’s a smile curving Yelena’s lips, half surprised and half proud of Kate’s steely resolve. It weirdly reminds her conversation with Natasha about taking down the Red Room for good. This time though the flutter in her chest speaks of something different.

But Kate is right, they’re there for a job. And Yelena never leaves a job half undone.

“Okay, Kate Bishop. You packed that black tux of yours, yeah?”

Kate’s mischievous smile could light up the entire room.

***

Katherine Elizabeth – born ready – Bishop is, in fact, not ready when Yelena steps out of the elevator and into the elegant hall in a breathtaking white dress. Kate has seen the elite of New York, seen a fair share of pretty and beautiful women in her life, but none of them could even come closer to the moment her gaze lays on Yelena.

A breath catches in her throat when Yelena’s slowly strides towards her ignoring the persistent looks of the people around them.

“Kate Bishop,” Yelena sing-songs, “what do you think of this dress?”

Kate opens her mouth starstruck, “You– uh, you should not call your future wife by her entire name, not very typical.”

Yelena’s bubbling laugh is genuine and Kate wonders if that is how the ‘real’ Yelena looks like. When all fights are put to rest, who is Yelena Belova?

“Oh well, I didn’t get much practice at this, I’ll try again” Yelena jokes, then links her arm around Kate’s, “shall we go to dinner, my dear?”

For the entirety of the dinner, Kate is reminded of how her life used to be, when she didn’t suspect that her mother could be involved with the mob and certainly would not dream of hiring a Russian super assassin to kill someone. When everything was safe and Kate didn’t have to constantly watch her back thinking that someone might come crash her window to shoot her.

But thinking of her life before Clint, before Yelena, before the truth also makes her realize how bland and boring and monotonous her existence was. Rich and spoiled Kate who didn’t get the chance to grow out of her bliss but was kicked into it head first, and god she likes it. She likes the way adrenaline makes her body buzz, the way she can make each of her shots count now, the way she thinks she can make the world a better place one arrow at the time.

Yelena’s knee brushes the inside of her thigh and Kate almost jumps on the chair. If the blonde notices she doesn’t say anything about it.

“They’ll start moving any time now,” Yelena speaks quietly, her gaze discreet on their targets, “I’ve seen some of them go back and forth through that door near the emergency exit.”

Kate follows Yelena’s eyes and narrows her gaze, “We need to get closer to that door then.”

Yelena hums in approval, “Let’s dance.”

“Uh– dance?”

Yelena points at the older couples around them filling the dance floor, “It makes our appearance out of nowhere less suspicious.”

“I don’t really know how to…disco? Sure! Slow dancing? Not so sure.”

Yelena rolls her eyes and quickly stands up, offering her hand to Kate, “Come on Kate Bishop, I’ll teach you.”

And Kate thinks she doesn’t need another distractionfrom the mission like dancing, but before she knows Yelena is guiding one of Kate’s hands on her hips and they’re slowly starting to move on the dance-floor.

***

Between running and shooting arrows and ducking and kicking their way in and out, Kate replays it all in her mind.

There’s her hand gently grasping Yelena’s hip, afraid to touch her too much and not enough at the same time.

Arrows flying.

There’s Yelena’s surprised gasp when Kate pulls her closer — “I might not know how to slow dance but I know we shouldn’t be so far apart from each other.” —

Gunshots.

There’s Kate’s thumb brushing against one of the scars on Yelena’s arm, it’s almost hidden but Kate can feel the raised skin under her fingertips and Yelena lowers her gaze — “It’s a long story.” she murmurs and Kate doesn’t ask questions —

Ducking under shattered furniture.

There’s banter, because that’s who they are — “Will you stop looking around?” Yelena hisses under her breath. “Everyone is looking at us suspiciously!” Kate remarks trying not to lose her focus on the waltzing, she’s sure Yelena will snap her neck if she steps on her feet. “Of course they do! You’re looking at everyone like a mad woman.” “Because they all look suspicious!” —

Cover — “I’ll cover you six!” Yelena yells. Kate’s arrows do not let a single person come closer to Yelena.

Kate should be impressed when Yelena produces a knife from a thigh strap but she isn’t. She wonders how many weapons Yelena can hide under a fucking dress.

Split — “I’ll take the Widow, you go get the men. Meet me at the rendezvous point.”

Kate closes her eyes because hell will break loose any moment, and inhales Yelena’s sweet scent to steady herself. She doesn’t know if she will ever get this chance again and she’s fairly sure that Yelena’s relaxed head on her shoulder is not just a way to spy on their target. Kate lets herself believe for a moment that everything is perfectly normal. That this could be her life. Their lives.

“Are you ready, Kate Bishop?” Yelena whispers. It’s soft – too soft for someone who’s capable of blowing up the entire hotel.

And this is her life, just a tad different than what Kate ever expected.

She opens her eyes and stares at the very deadly, very beautiful woman in her arms like she truly would rather be nowhere else, “I was born ready.”

***

Kate only allows herself to relax when Yelena is driving both of them to a safe-house and all that is left from the fight are bruised lips and sore muscles.

She turns to look at Yelena, she has a bloody nose, scratches covering her face and Kate is positive she must not look any better.

“You look like shit.” she comments casually.

Yelena’s mouth opens slack in outrage and Kate laughs hard, “Do not make the mistake of thinking that just because both my hands are busy I cannot kill you, Kate Bishop.”

Kate laughs even more and settles better on her seat, “You wouldn’t, we work so well together.”

That earns a smile back from the Russian and her eyes dart from the road to Kate with tenderness, “Yeah, I guess we do.”

(iii) Yelena

Time feels different in America, Yelena knows that much. And time with Kate Bishop? Oh, that’s another thing entirely.

Kate has a way of making every moment count and yet wasting away entire days on a couch to watch TV or practising with her arrow. The latter not exactly a waste of time, if Yelena is being honest. And for some reason, she sticks around to see pretty much all of it.

At first she reasons that it’s because she is waiting for a new mission and there’s not another place where she is needed. She doesn’t terribly miss her adopted family in Russia yet and somehow the prospect of being away from Kate – her clumsiness and weird jokes – doesn’t excite her as much.

It still comes as some kind of a shock the day it happens.

“I think you should come live with me.”

Yelena snorts and plays it off, “I think you have no sense of self-preservation, Kate Bishop.”

Kate smiles at her sarcastically, “I like to think that my throat is not in constant danger of being slashed when you’re around me now.”

Yelena wrinkles her nose, “Your throat? Oh no, that’s such a bad way to kill someone, so much blood and effort.”

Kate rolls her eyes, “You’re avoiding my point, and where do you even live at the moment?”

“Different hotels, empty houses,” Yelena shrugs, “when I’m free I go back to visit my fake parents in Russia.”

“Wow wow there… fake parents?”

Yelena gives a stoic nod and then lays on the couch with her eyes closed, “Long story.”

A pause. Lucky licks Kate’s hand in search of attention and then scuttles towards Yelena when his plea isn’t met.

“You know, there would be time for long stories if you lived with me.”

“You talk too much, Kate Bishop.”

The corner of Kate’s mouth lifts upwards of its own accord, “It’s a gift.”

***

A stock of hot sauce and boxed mac and cheese seals the deal.

It goes as well as expected.

Yelena doesn’t carry much with her, the rest of her possessions back in Russia, but she’s adamant that she doesn’t really need much — “I’ve barely had anything to call mine for most of my life.” she tells Kate — Kate still gets two drawers empty just for her.

The new couch has a pullout bed and that’s where Yelena settles. Whenever she’s not there, the spot is occupied by Lucky which seems to have taken the liking of the blonde Russian to a whole new level.

“You better remember who’s the one feeding you.” Kate threatens him one day, the dog only nuzzles his nose against Kate’s hand in acknowledgment.

***

The nightmares are frequent for Yelena, the past is always knocking at the door, and even if she has mostly learned how to deal with the majority of them, there are some nights where the floodgates are wide open and it becomes too much even for her.

One of those nights, Kate wakes up to the bathroom light on and the splashing of water.

She makes her way barefoot and stills right before her hand can knock, scared to invade Yelena’s privacy.

The tap stops running and there’s only silence engulfing the apartment for a moment, “I know you’re out there, Kate Bishop.”

Busted, Kate slowly pushes the door open and blinks a few times when the light invades her sleepy eyes, “Yelena? Are you okay?”

Yelena dries her face and hands on a towel before responding, “I’m fine. You can go back to sleep, I’m sorry I woke you.”

“You didn’t,” Kate shakes her head, “I just saw the light and– I don’t know, I had a feeling…”

Yelena nods tiredly, “Well, it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Was it a nightmare?” Kate asks before she can stop herself, Yelena’s eyes flick in every direction except on Kate.

“It’s late and I’m tired, Kate.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I– we don’t have to talk about it,” she immediately takes a step back, feeling the cold wall against her light purple tank top, “we can just… sit down here until you’re ready to go.”

Yelena sighs heavily and wordlessly follows Kate’s movement, sliding down against the opposite wall until they’re both on the floor gazing at each other.

“Now what?” she asks after a few minutes of silence.

Kate shrugs, “Now you take your time, and I’ll be here for you if you need me.”

There’s a small smile pulling at the side of Yelena’s mouth, Kate thinks she might be dreaming when she feels the feathery touch of Yelena’s fingers wrapping her own.

***

Kate wakes up in her bed, covers pulled under her chin and she wonders if anything about the night before had happened at all.

The bathroom light is off and she can hear Yelena moving about with the pans in the kitchen. The smell of bacon and eggs wakes Kate up and her stomach prompts her out of the bed and towards the source of food.

Yelena turns to her with a grin that shows nothing of the tired and broken woman from the prior night.

Kate is starting to truly convince herself that everything was nothing more than an elaborate dream, when Yelena slides a full plate in her direction, her eyes still firm as always but there’s something else in them. The hint of vulnerability that Kate has so rarely seen in her so far. It reminds her that Yelena is just a woman like her. That she is still battling with horrifying scars inside her. And that for some reason, she is slowly making the effort of letting Kate in.

“Thank you for last night.” she says softly.

Kate swallows thickly and nods, she hopes her own eyes will say it for her — “Thank you for letting me see you.” —

(iii) Kate

“So uh, you and Yelena are living together now… how is it going?”

Kate turns to her street and gets into the building while holding her phone between her ear and shoulder, “Ahh yeah, it’s going much better than expected. I think it’s a surprise to us both.” she pants a little while going up the stairs and thinks that maybe it would be a good idea to invest more time in some serious workout routine.

Clint chuckles on the other side of the phone, “Yeah no kid, trust me the most surprised one here it’s me.”

Kate bites her lower lip and speaks before she can regret it, “Clint, listen, what should I do if I uh– potentially, totally hypothetically, had feelings for her? Like– like not just I’m glad you’re here but more like please hold my hand and go on a date with me?”

There’s a sharp intake of breath on the other line before Clint bursts out laughing, “Jesus kid, you really know how to pick ‘em.”

Kate rolls her eyes and huffs, trying to fit the key inside the lock, “I’m serious, you’re my partner, I need you to help me.”

“Well, how about the good ol’ advice of telling her?”

Kate steps into the apartment, “Tell her? Are you mad? You want Yelena to cut me into pieces and then feed me to Lucky?”

“Such a brutal way to die, Kate Bishop, I would not do such a thing.” comes the deadpan and Kate jumps three feet.

“Jesus fucking Christ! You scared the shit out of me, Yelena!”

Yelena raised her hands in surrender, “Didn’t want to interrupt the call but you said my name so…”

Kate opens her mouth but something else – or someone – catches her attention.

She swallows down hard, “Clint, I’m gonna have to call you back.”

“Is everything okay, kid?”

“Yeah,” Kate remains still on her spot, “peachy. Talk later, okay? Bye.”

“Yelena?” Kate calls as calmly as possible, the phone held so tight in her hand that she is afraid to break it, “Why is there a man bleeding and tied up in my living room?”

Yelena barely shifts her attention to the man in question, “Oh him?” she gives a shrug, “Tried to break in to take you out, said he works for a man called Kingpin. I presume you also have some unfinished business, Kate.”

And Kate can feel her life starting to spin out of control again.

“I’m so fucked…”

***

“So you fought him, this Kingpin man, but you didn’t kill him.”

Kate looks over at the bleeding intruder to make sure he was still unconscious before speaking, “Listen, he’s not that easy to kill, okay? I didn’t just dropkick him, I made a trick arrow explode on him and even that just knocked him out for a little while.”

Yelena dwells on the words. Part of her is having a hard time reconciling the image of a man like this Kingpin able to overcome such dangerous things like trick arrows, but then again… is she really surprised? Superheroes are all over the place.

She wonders for a second if she would be able to come unscathed from an explosive trick arrow and decides that no matter the Black Widow training, she would probably come close to death. So why is this man not dead? More importantly, this man is out there employing people to kill Kate, and that’s where Yelena draws a line.

“Then I think you and I have a new job to do, Kate Bishop.”

“No, Yelena NO–”

Turns out that trying to dissuade a Black Widow — or maybe someone as headstrong as Yelena is — from taking on what she seems to believe is a new assignment is not an easy feat.

“This man is dangerous.” Kate stresses, “Which is why I intend to stay out of his sight and lay low for a while.” Kate pointed out.

“And then what? You think he will magically forget what you have done? What your mother owes him?”

“Hey,” Kate pointed a finger at her, “we don’t even know if my mother owes him, she just wanted out of his dirty business.”

Yelena shakes her head, “Don’t you get it, Kate Bishop? From what you told me, and from what Barton told you, everyone in this city owes him and everyone is owned by him, and that includes your mother.”

“Stop talking about her like that,” Kate grits her teeth, “you don’t know her! Just cause she hired you doesn’t mean you know her.”

“No, I don’t,” Yelena sits back ona chair in her usual stoic and calm composure, “but I know people, I met all kinds of people and worked for and with them and, Kate, this is a big deal. This is who people are and sometimes you just have to accept it.”

“STOP! Okay? Just stop!” Kate springs up, uncaring of the chair falling backwards behind her, “You are not the only person with a tragic past. You are not the only one who knows people and the world, alright? I’m not a child. I know what’s going on and I know it’s dangerous, so you can stop lecturing me about it.”

“Oh but I bet you would listen to all the lectures if they came from Barton.”

“Well, at least he’s my partner.” Kate spits back and instantly regrets it when the light is drawn away from Yelena’s eyes.

The blonde nods with a bitter smile, the one that Kate has vowed to never see in Yelena’s face again, yet there it is caused and directed at her and only her.

When she speaks her voice is lower and laced with a resignation that Kate is sure she has never heard before from the blonde, “I better go before any of us says something more we’ll regret later.”

When the door slams behind Yelena’s back, Kate is left truly alone at the mercy of her thoughts — minus an unconscious man bleeding all over her floor that she will have to get rid of — and for the first time Kate lets herself feel the weight of the past months on her shoulders while she breaks down crying.

***

Yelena doesn’t return to the loft — a place that Kate now considers to be theirs — for two days, which has Kate worried and pissed off at the same time because that argument was really not about Yelena at all.

And sure, Kate doesn’t think she has handled it that well, but god she expects more from a highly skilled Russian assassin than to be petty at not being called her partner.

Until it dawns on Kate.

For most of Yelena’s life the blonde has been nothing more than a tool in the hands of others. A weapon aimed at the right targets. An empty shell to fill up with violence and trauma and loss… and still, Yelena had not lost her heart nor the ability to feel for the people she cared about. And if the argument left her so hurt and shaken that meant that she truly, deeply cared for Kate.

Even more, that without a doubt she considered Kate to be her partner, an extension of herself. No matter the danger, if Kate was in harm’s way Yelena would be right behind.

***

[From] Kate Bishop:

please come back home

***

When Yelena does return, she’s silent, like a ghost hunting a place.

Except this time Kate won’t let things go any further.

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Kate begins and she can see how Yelena’s back snaps straight like a rod.

“Kate, I don’t want to–”

“I know,” Kate interrupts her before she can finish, “I’m not asking you to speak but I need to… and I just need you to listen.”

Yelena frowns but finally turns around and crosses her arms over her chest.

“I was wrong and I am sorry– I acted like an idiot because…” Kate inhales deeply, “because I’m scared. I have tried to keep myself busy since everything happened in December so I could avoid thinking about it, about what I’ve done and what– what could possibly come from it.”

Kate lowers her gaze and bites her lip, knowing that she needs to say it all.

“And then you entered my life again. Not like the first time. This time you entered and you stayed and my life started to build around the idea of having you. I was not ready to be alone and you were there. That’s why I insisted so much in joining you in your job– and I believe in what you do, saving the Widows, I do believe in that but selfishly I think I just wanted something that would make me feel better about myself too.”

A chuckle escapes Kate’s lips, “I know, it must be pathetic to you after all you went through, but what I mean is that– I’m trying, and I want to be better and thanks to you and Clint I think I am.” Kate stares at the blonde, her eyes trying to convey the sincerity in her words, “I was wrong, you know? You’re my partner just as much as Clint is– perhaps even a bit better because, like, you are not a retired avenger, you know? But don’t tell him that, I bet it would break his heart– and now I’m gonna stop talking.”

Yelena raises an eyebrow when Kate sits down onthe couch and lowers her head again, as if she made her case and she’s ready to see it rejected.

“You don’t have to bring up my tragic past every time to show I had it worse.” Yelena deadpans and Kate’s gaze is immediately on her again, worry lacing her face but the blonde just waves her off and chuckles, “I’m just kidding Kate Bishop, do not worry your little head.”

“So you forgive me?” Kate asks expectantly.

“If that will give you peace of mind then yes.”

“And we’re still partners?”

“I don’t know, you tell me that… are we partners?”

There’s not a note of hesitation in Kate’s voice, “Yes, yes we are.”

(iv) Yelena

It happens like this.

They’re strolling down the streets of New York after seeing a new art exhibition in town — “What? I’ve missed many things in my life and now I want to do them all.” Yelena says at Kate’s curious expression when she shows the freshly booked tickets to go — When a woman taps on Kate’s shoulder, “Excuse me, will you take a picture of my family?” 

“Oh, of course,” Kate steps over and takes the woman’s phone making sure that her, the husband and their little girl areall inside the frame, “ready? Say cheese on three!”

She’s handing the phone back when Yelena’s voice catches her by surprise, she’s kneeling in front of the girl with a tender smile, “That’s a very cool t-shirt.”

Only then Kate realizes that the little girl is wearing a t-shirt with the face of Natasha Romanoff.

The girl blushes and nods, “She is my favorite Avenger.”

Yelena catches the ‘is’ and thinks that maybe Clint was right. Natasha was dead but it didn’t mean that she was gone. Not in Yelena’s heart and memory and certainly not in the people that loved her and believed in her too.

She stifles back the tears and strokes the young girl’s face gently, “Yeah, mine too.”

Yelena steps back and without thinking about it she grasps Kate’s arm with both hands. The hold is firm but it doesn’t squeeze and if Kate’s heart leaps in her chest she keeps it at bay, simply glad that Yelena can find in her the comfort she needs.

The woman that spoke to Kate first grins at them and takes the child by the hand, “You are a very cute couple.” she speaks before leaving.

“Oh–uh, we–” Kate rushes but Yelena cuts in before her with a smile.

“Thank you.”

Yelena finds it almost funny the way Kate keeps looking over at her while she cannot absolutely keep all the emotions running through her eyes at bay.

***

“Do you ever wish to become one?”

“Uhm?” Yelena is so busy going to town with her mac and cheese that Kate is almost surprised she catches her question.

“An Avenger.”

Yelena puts down her fork and relaxes back on the chair. They’re at Herman’s hearty slices, Kate’s favorite cheap pizza place. They have become such regulars there that Herman has even made an exception for Yelena and now has even developed his own recipe to make mac and cheese just for her.

“The Avengers are not even a thing anymore really, Kate Bishop, I thought you of all people knew that.”

“Yeah, okay, but like when they were or what if– what if Nick Fury is starting to recruit another team soon? A younger team! God, maybe I should ask Clint to pass my number to Nick Fury.”

Kate is on a roll and Yelena can feel from her voice that the archer has been thinking about this a long time. It’s no secret that Kate would be more than proud to be Clint’s successor on a more official level.

For Yelena though? That’s a no-brainer.

“No.” she simply cuts through Kate’s monologue and goes back to her mac and cheese.

“Why not?”

Yelena shrugs.

“But you’ve got to be there!” Kate insists, “That team could not exist without you.”

Yelena genuinely laughs at that, “God, Kate Bishop, sometimes I forget how funny you are. A team that doesn’t even exist would not exist without me? That is hilarious.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I truly don’t.”

“Hawkeye and Black Widow all over again.”

That freezes Yelena’s, “I’m not Natasha.” she says curtly.

“No shit, I’m not Clint.” Kate pushes.

Yelena wavesher off, “I am not trying to be my sister, okay? She believed in all of that and she was given a choice and I admire her for that, but that’s not me.”

Kate takes a moment to ponder the words. She knows she’s walking on a thin line and she doesn’t want to possibly set Yelena off and have her shut down again.

Then it comes to her, the question that Yelena must’ve heard the least in her entire life, “And so what is it that Yelena Belova wants?”

The request is sincere and it catches Yelena off guard. This time she leans forward, taking a generous sip of her drink all the while looking Kate in the eyes. There is something about this woman, something that just ticked Yelena off in all the right ways. Kate talks a lot, feeds her dog pizza more days than not, cannot steer away from troubles and has a dangerously large amount of purple items in her life.

But most of all she cares.

Kate cares so deeply that it makes Yelena wonder how she can fit all that love and care inside of her without being scared that it will be snatched away from one moment to the other.

And despite her best intentions to stay away, Yelena has failed miserably. Because she cares about Kate too. Something stirring inside her every time the archer is close; something making her blood boil at the simple idea of Kate being in danger.

She had already started to realize that all of her plans seemed to include this woman, willingly or not, and she had surrendered to it because what else was there to do when Kate was playing fetch with Lucky and looking at her like that?

“A life without the fight.”Yelena answers at last, “A life where I can put down my weapons and rest. But this is not possible until I make up for all the atrocious things I’ve done, helped more lives than what I’ve taken.”

“That was not you, Yelena.” Kate chimes in strongly but the blonde only shrugs, “Perhaps… does it absolve me from guilt?”

Kate does not have an answer to that and Yelena smiles bitterly, “When I close my eyes I can still see their faces. They come at me one by one, I see their last moments– I see who I was and I still cannot feel anything. I was an empty shell for so long that when I broke free I doubted I could truly feel things again.”

“I didn’t.” Yelena’s eyes meet Kate’s magnetic blue, “When Clint told me who you were, when I saw you again, there was something in you that felt like all the emotions at once. There is so much inside you, Yelena… and you will not always have to kick your way out of it.”

Yelena pauses, gaze dropping to Kate’s fingertips slowly brushing the inside of her wrist. The archer stops shy of Yelena’s widow bites bracelet and then gently pushes underneath, finding the steady pulse of her heart. Yelena softens under Kate’s touch, surrendering to the hopeful words. She hopes they will not be in vain.

“If I have to kick at least I know it’ll be good form.” she jokes to lighten up the mood.

Kate’s laugh fills the air and she doesn’t leave Yelena’s hand for the rest of the night.

(iv) Kate

Between touring around the remote spots of New York with Yelena and putting the pieces of her life and family back together, Kate almost forgets that real life will come banging at her door at some point.

And when Yelena comes crashing one night, vest dirty of blood and a bullet lodged in her arm, Kate feels the air being punched out of her lungs.

Good things can never last for too long.

“This place is compromised.” Yelena says pained while working on patching her arm up.

Kate offers to help before realizing that she has no idea how to extract a bullet and medicate that type of wound. Clint has not taught her that far yet.

“Compromised?” Kate peeks at Yelena from in between her fingers, hands running up and down her face nervously.

“Yes,” Yelena deadpans, “you need to get away from here.”

“Wasn’t it compromised before? You know when I found a man tied up in my living room?”

Yelena cleans the remaining of her blood stains and then calmly her eyes find Kate’s, “It was but you needed to feel grounded, to feel home again. Now it’s getting more dangerous. Even with me here… I’m not sure I will always be able to protect you, Kate.”

“I can protect myself.”

Yelena sighs gravelly, “Can you not be so stubborn for once?”

“Well, where am I supposed to go, Yelena?” Kate snaps, “My family– or whatever is left of them is still here. I will not bring Clint into this, he has a family of its own and I will not take him away from them.”

There’s a moment of silence.

Yelena’s hazel-green eyes never leave Kate. This woman who has slowly carved a way into her heart, the thought of losing her like a hand closing around her throat. Yelena’s mind is made up before she even knows it.

“Come with me.”

Kate stares back. Her blue eyes burning in Yelena’s, every question being spoken and silently answered by the same fierce determination in the blonde’s face.

I dare you to trust me one more time, is what Yelena is asking.

I do. I do. I do.

(iv) Yelena

Mason is only relatively happy to hear from her again — emphasis on the relatively.

“What can I do for you, tsarina?”

“Airplane with enough fuel for Saint Petersburg.”

***

And that’s how Yelena finds herself piloting a plane towards her adoptive mother’s house for the second time in her life.

To her credit, Melina doesn’t blink twice when she spots the taller woman next to Yelena and guides them inside.

“Could send a text next time you’re bringing someone, I didn’t really plan for dinner tonight.”

Yelena shrugs off her jacket used to Melina’s dry humor, “Kind of an emergency.”

“I am so sorry for intruding,” Kate cuts in, both Yelena and Melina turn from their little bubble to look at her, “I did not mean to spring up on you like this and I promise I won’t be in your way longer than necessary.”

Melina throws her a genuine smile, “Oh no, dear, that’s absolutely not on you. You won’t have to worry about anything.”

Kate doesn’t think she will be able to do just that but she nods anyway.

“Keeping my little girl out of trouble?”

Kate blinks taken aback, then her gaze slowly moves to Yelena who’s scoffing and a smile curves her lips when the pieces finally fall back together, “Actually,” she starts, eyes still staring at the blonde with wonder, “quite the opposite.”

***

Yelena lets herself indulge in a few more shots of vodka only when Kate is fast asleep with an exhausted Lucky by her side.

Fanny immediately circles her legs when she enters the kitchen again. She has taken a quick like to Lucky much sooner than Yelena expected.

Melina is there, tapping away at her laptop and sparing Yelena a glance when she takes the vodka out.

“Should we expect bombs raining down on us anytime soon?”

Yelena downs a shot and lays back on the couch with her eyes closed, “No, as long as she’s here she will be safe.”

“She doesn’t look like she’s planning to stay long.”

“Kate’s very stubborn.”

“Reminds me of someone…” Melina raises an eyebrow and they both chuckle.

Then, after a beat, “She likes you.”

Yelena fills up another shot–

“And you like her.”

–and gulps it down in one swift motion, the after taste of the vodka burning her throat in a familiar way.

“It could be a good thing–”

“A good thing?” Yelena turns to Melina unsettled “It’s a recipe for disaster.”

“What would you prefer? To not find anyone for the rest of your life? You’re young, Yelena, and you’re free, there’s nothing or anyone to stop you from making these decisions.”

“Did you expect to reconnect with Alexei and build a happy farm life?”

The older woman pushes the laptop away and steals the shot glass to pour herself some vodka too. She downs it in one smooth motion, “It’s more complex than that.”

“Yeah, then Kate and I are more complex than that too.”

“Is it though?” Melina probes and if it was someone else Yelena would not hesitate to shut them up, possibly for good, but it’s Melina and it’s still the closest thing to a mother Yelena has ever known.

The older Widow gently rubs one of Yelena’s shoulders, “All I see are two people who struggle to find more excuses to avoid what they feel.”

“Don’t try to lecture me, mama.”

“I’m not trying to.” Melina promises.

She pours each of them another shot of vodka and then leaves a small kiss to the side of Yelena’s head as a goodnight.

“Yelena?” Melina waits a beat, “we both know how unpredictable life can be, experience is a harsh teacher, and maybe we'll always have to make amends somehow… but doesn’t mean we don’t deserve good things too.”

***

Kate lasts ten days before she starts to become restless and grumpy. She loves to learn new things from Melina, be them about Yelena’s past or about new combat techniques but she also longs for her life back in New York.

She tries not to bother Melina with her change of moods but she cannot fool Yelena.

“Patience is not a remarkable quality of yours, Kate Bishop.”

“Hey!” Kate points a finger at her, “You were not the one that from one day to the other has been uprooted from her own apartment and city and–” she stops at the raised eyebrow that Yelena gives her.

Okay, maybe that was not the best choice of words.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re protecting me,” she starts again, “but I need to go home.”

“You are aware that some people will try to kill you as soon as you step foot in New York, Kate Bishop?”

“I can’t run forever, Yelena.”

Yelena sighs, “Kate-”

“We’ll make a plan,” Kate beats her to it, “we’ll strategise, whatever you think it’s necessary we will do. But please Yelena, let’s go back home.”

Yelena know she shouldn’t surrender. She should keep Kate where it’s safe. But it’s Kate, and there’s not a thing that she can make Kate do out of her own will. She bites her lower lip deep in thought; there’s no guarantee that she can protect Kate from this threat. And while usually she’s not one to question her abilities, Yelena knows when something is bigger than her.

But there’s this strength in Kate that Yelena has learned to respect and even admire, this resolution of not wanting to abandon her life and her people. Something that Yelena has seldom seen in someone.

Yelena wonders if Kate knows how much she means to her.

“We’ll make a plan and stick to it, Kate Bishop, no exception.” Yelena demands with a finger pointed at Kate.

Yelena knows that she’s kidding herself before Kate even nods eagerly.

(v) Kate

Okay, this looks bad.

Kate blinks, sunlight stabbing her sensitive eyes. She’s laying down, body heavy and wrecked and tired. God, she’s so tired. As if she had spent a good part of the night before chasing and trading punches. And, apparently, getting her ass beaten up. A groan escapes her lips as soon as she tries to get up and her body simply falls limp. She wrinkles her nose as a pungent odor hits her nostrils and... is she laying in a fucking trash bin?

Kate has no idea of how the hell she ended up there even though her wounded body seems to be giving her all the hints. Flashes from the night before rush to her mind.

Heavy rain.

Men – no doubt hired by Kingpin – chasing her.

A fight. Then more fight. Then some more.

The men laying on the ground defeated.

Tiredness and pain spreading all over her.

A van approaching the dark hallway and more of Fisk mercenaries spreading around to find her.

The last thing she remembers is jumping out of sight, after that there’s only black.

Kate is sure that her memory will slowly piece back everything — she hopes so at least — but for now she just needs to figure out where the hell she is and get back home. Hopefully without any more fight or ambushes. Oh and, of course, how to get out of that damn trash bin.

***

Kate doesn’t exactly know how she manages to drag herself from the remote hallway to the door of her loft. She can hear some music playing inside her apartment and the thick Russian accent humming along the lyrics makes it clear that Yelena is inside. One of Kate’s arms is draped protectively across her body’s midsection in a worthless attempt to stifle the pain.She can feel strength abandoning her. With her other hand grasping the side of the wall so tightly her knuckles are white, Kate resorts to gently headbutting the door a couple times as a knock.

“It’s open!” comes the voice inside, and seriously, Kate thinks Yelena should be more careful with leaving doors and windows open given what they do for a living, but then again… it is Yelena on the other side and there is a more than fair chance that no intruder could get past the front door even if they tried.

Kate’s free hand leaves the wall long enough to turn the knob and enter. She is greeted by the smell of delicious cooking and the ending notes of a Russian song that Yelena was just singing.

The blonde doesn’t come out of the kitchen while she speaks, “Kate Bishop, finally, I’m starting to think that you truly don’t know what are the times for lunch and dinner. I’m starving here and I made the most delicious beef Stroganoff.”

Kate wants to smile, wants to will her mouth to talk, to say anything that would give her a quick out towards the bathroom and possibly collapse in bed, but the only thing that comes out of her mouth is a weak whimper. This time Yelena’s head peeks from behind the kitchen wall and her grin quickly morphs into a frown, “Kate?” Kate reaches for the wall to steady her, misses and falls to her knees with a pained grunt.

“KATE!”

Yelena immediately reaches her side, propping Kate’s face up with a hand under her chin, “What happened? What did you do?” the blonde’s tone is in between worry and anger.

Kate forces a smirk, “You should see the other guy…”

“Oh shut up,” Yelena cuts her off hastily, “who did this to you?”

“Doesn’t matter, took care of it,” Kate rasps out attempting to pull herself up.

“Who is it?” Yelena asks again, her voice clouded and dangerous.

“Yelena,” Kate calls softly and then shakes her head, “please, later…”

The Russian assassin sighs hard, not pleased with the lack of information but listens to the words and without batting an eyelash she props one of Kate’s arms around her neck and helps her up towards the bed. She mutters a “Kate, you reckless idiot…” to which Kate only laughs and unceremoniously face-plants her king size bed.

“Don’t lay on your wounds.” Yelena commands while walking to the bathroom and starting to rummage through the cabinets, “And get that costume of yours off.”

“Wow wow, I thought dinner came first.”

Yelena ignores Kate’s remark as she sits on the bed next to her, “It would’ve, if only you’d manage to get yourself home safe and on time for once.”

“For once?” Kate’s voice comes strained as she fights the material of the suit off her skin, “I’m never late, you just like to appear at random times and expect me to be always around.”

Yelena sucks in a breath as soon as her eyes catch sight of Kate’s wounds. Three long gashes adorn the brunette’s torso, two of them at belly’s height and one right on the upper part of her chest. Kate’s black sports bra is soaked in caked blood, but luckily the gashes do not seem to run deep.

“Fine, whatever,” Yelena concedes the argument, “now lay still and try not to cry like a baby.”

“I do not cry like a– OUCH!”

“Told you,”

“THAT STINGS!” Kate rebuts and Yelena scoffs.

“Yeah, well that’s what you get when you play at being superhero.”

“I did not– fuck!” Kate bites her lower lip and tries to calm herself down, “I was not messing around.”

“Bullshit.”

“I swear!”

Yelena eyes her seriously but seeing no trace of lies in Kate’s eyes she only hums thoughtfully, “Then what was it?”

Kate exhales, “Remember when I told you I had that whole tracksuit mafia thing under control?”

“Yes, and?”

“Well… it might have been a lie.”

Yelena’s expression hardens as she pours more sterilizing alcohol on Kate’s wounds than needed.

“AH FUCK– YELENA!”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“I– I wanted to but I thought–”

“You thought wrong!” Yelena snaps, throwing the dirty gauze away and starting to pace back and forth inside the room.

“Yelena, listen, I’m sorry, I should’ve told you–”

“Of course you should’ve! And you even let me go out of the country thinking you were safe?!” Yelena stares Kate down with a harsh gaze, then her eyes fall onto Kate’s wounds and softens, almost pained for the other woman, “Kate, god, you don’t understand how dangerous the people we deal with can become. It doesn’t matter if a job seems like a piece of cake to you… how can you be my partner if I cannot trust you?”

Kate recoils from the words as if a slap has just hit her.

“So that’s it? There’s no room for mistakes with you?”

Yelena furrows her brow as if Kate was missing the entire point of the conversation and paces back to the bed, almost kneeling in front of Kate so that they are both face to face.

“There’s room for mistakes and then there’s almost getting yourself killed.”

“I will be fine–”

“This time!” Yelena hisses gaze burning through Kate’s, and then almost in a whisper, “I’m not going to lose you too…”

Kate stills completely, breath catching in her throat at how intimate the confession sounds. She could almost feel Yelena’s pain in the words slicing through her skin anew. Swallowing down, Kate gently bumps her forehead with Yelena feeling the intensity of the blonde’s gaze entirely on her.

“You won’t… I’m not going anywhere.”

Yelena shakes her head, “Kate, you cannot promise–”

“Yelena,” Kate hushes her, a tender smile curving her lips, “I said I’m not going anywhere. Trust me.”

“Trust you?”

“Yes,” Kate nods weakly, “trust me.” she cannot help her eyes falling from Yelena’s eyes to her lips. They are so close and Yelena’s breath on her face is warm and she smells of home cooked food and Kate might have actually come close to dying and she is tired of waiting–

And then Lucky barks. Traitor of a dog

Yelena scrambles off her feet and clears her throat as if nothing out of the ordinary has just happened. Kate wishes she could keep her cool in the same way, instead her eyes are wide open and everything in her face betrays the deep desire running through her veins. And just about when she was gathering her courage.

“Right, okay, your wounds will be fine, I cannot promise anything short of some cool scars but other than that… you should be okay. We’ll check on them before you go to sleep.”

Calm, organized and practical. Everything that Yelena is and all that Kate is not. When Kate only nods, Yelena points downstairs, “Food is ready, come down whenever you want.”

“Shouldn’t I avoid any strains and remain in bed given my condition?” Kate retorts playfully and she could swear there’s a slight tint of red on Yelena’s cheeks.

Could it be? Did she feel it too? Had she wanted to kiss Kate just as badly?

Kate doesn’t know and she doesn’t want to hold on false hopes, but maybe… just maybe.

“Yes. Yeah, of course, you should actually stay in bed Kate Bishop, I will bring food to you.”

“How kind of you.” Kate shouts back when Yelena is already down the stairs.

When Kate wakes up the morning after, Yelena is gone. The pots and plates have been washed and stored back and nothing in the house hints at the blonde presence except the small note on the kitchen table.

– Away to meet some people, I’ll come back when it’s the right time. Rest and heal. Call me only for emergencies –

Kate rolls her eyes, by now she should be used to Yelena’s antics… and yet, the idea of being put aside (nevermind the soreness of her body and stiffness of her muscles) of being left to her own devices like a child irks her in the wrong way. Grabbing her phone to text Greer if she would like to come over, Kate finds another message waiting for her.

[From] Yelena Belova:

I do trust you, Kate Bishop.

Oh.

(v) Yelena

Yelena has admittedly felt her heart stopping in her chest only a handful of times in her life.

The first time when she got ripped from her found family at such young age.

The second time when her best friend had been brutally killed during one of their early missions. The Red Room showed no mercy to its pupils and only a handful of the little girls who entered actually made it out as fully trained Black Widows, which was also the only way to come out of it alive.

The third time when the counter agent was thrust upon her and she had to face – to truly face – the horrible actions she had committed.

The fourth time when she had found out about Natasha’s death – nevermind the shock of being blipped for five years and then re-entering a world that had drastically changed.

The fifth time when Kate Bishop – damn her and those blue eyes that had carved a permanent spot inside Yelena’s chest – gets stabbed and dies in her arms. Almost.

***

It’s not that Yelena doesn’t trust Kate anymore, that would be a plain lie. It’s more that since Kate’s last solo adventure Yelena is reluctant in letting her out of her sight for too long. She likes to call it supervising but Kate, being Kate, likes to always take things a step further.

“Another day of stalking my every move, Yelena?”

Yelena looks outraged, “I’m not stalking you, Kate, that would be ridiculous, we live in the same apartment.”

“Yeah, and you keep tabs on how many times I go to the bathroom.” Kate fires back.

“That’s not- that’s simply wrong.” Yelena stumbles over her words. Yelena never stumbles and Kate almost chants victory. But not yet, she wants to hear it.

“Uh-uh,” she nods sarcastically, “whenever you’re ready to admit it.”

Yelena waves her off.

“Listen, I appreciate the worry and how much you took care of me but I’m fine now, so please stop treating me like I’m gonna die in the next five minutes.” Kate reappears leaning against the kitchen’s wall.

Yelena grunts and turns around annoyed, “You don’t get it, do you? You think playing superhero is cool and the fact that people, dangerous people, are still looking for you is a minor problem.”

Kate huffs, “Not this again…”

“Yes this again!” Yelena insists.

“I promised, okay? I said you’re not going to lose me and I intend to keep my promise,” with a few steps forward Kate is already in Yelena’s personal space and gently takes her hands between her own. If it were anyone else, Yelena would not hesitate to break both their wrist and then their neck. But this is Kate. The same Kate who lately makes her heart beat just a tad bit faster.

Yelena sighs and shakes her head, “This life… Kate, you could still walk away, have something normal, something good for yourself-”

Kate immediately drops Yelena’s hands, “You think I could do that? Walk away from Clint? My mother?” she looks at Yelena betrayed, “Walk away from you?”

Yelena lowers her gaze. Melina’s words spring up to her mind and she hates how much her adoptive mother has easily seen through both her and Kate’s façade. How this thing between them is destined to explode sooner or later. And she hates how her once steely resolution quivers now at the thought of living her life without Kate Bishop in it.

“No,” she says at last, “no, you couldn’t.”

“I won’t.” Kate confirms, “And if you truly trust me, like you said you did, then… show me.”

Yelena nods and looks deeply at Kate, “I do trust you, Kate.”

Saying it out loud it makes it painfully clear to Yelena how much she means it. Her words soft and vulnerable. But Yelena has seen life, stared at the ugly truth of it and she knows it – god she knows it so well – that those words will come and haunt her.

***

Because she means it, and because Yelena is nothing but truthful to her given word, she doesn’t put up resistance when Sonya approaches them – much to Kate’s enthusiasm – with a new job.

The gist is the same, saving a nest of widows from mind control, but the plan is more elaborate and the targets more elusive and dangerous. It’s nothing she hasn’t encountered before and yet each widow is different, each mission could go hayway in many different instances. Still, Yelena doesn’t batter an eyelash while the three of them work and rework the details of the operation to exhaustion. Jots down Kate’s inputs and adds them to the plan. And when there’s nothing more to plan and the night before their operation is dark like any other night, Yelena locks herself in her bedroom and prays to everything dear to her that everything will be okay. That they will be okay. That Kate will be okay.

(vi) Kate

In hindsight, Kate should’ve known that diverging from the main plan was going to mean trouble, but what was she supposed to do, carry a little notebook with ‘Rules for survival when you’re a Black Widow’s partner in crime?’ If she has to be fair, it does not sound like a bad idea, especially because she has no clue how many more ideas she is going to get while hanging upside down on the side of a very tall building by a foot.

There is a huge commotion, Kate can hear Sonya and Yelena communicating in Russian over the ear piece.

“English!” she groans annoyed and then, before she has time for anything else, her rope is being cut and she’s free falling. Anyone would panic but – believe it or not – Kate has been there before. And learned from it, because instead of screaming her lungs out or blacking out, she swiftly pulls a grapple arrow from her quiver and shoots it. So now she’s still hanging from the side of a very tall building but not by a foot and certainly closer to a window she can smash and enter – maybe picking up after Yelena is not so bad –

Yelena’s voice hisses through the earpiece, “Kate Bishop, where the hell are you? I called our positions five minutes ago!”

“Sorry!” Kate rushes while running through the building to find her mark, “Got stuck for a hot second.”

Yelena’s voice comes out quieter this time, “Are you okay?”

“All good and in position.”

“If you two are done playing house, I’ve got visual on her.” Sonya chimes through seriously.

“Good.” Yelena is stoic, steely in her resolution, “Then let’s get to work.”

***

It’s hard to catch the widow, Kate hears the struggles of the fight through her earpiece but she tells herself that Sonya and Yelena are highly experienced and they will be just fine and she brings her focus solely on the security guards in front of her. That’s her job. That’s the part of the mission she has agreed to and that’s what she’ll stick to because she wants to show Yelena that she can trust her. Kate is fast with her arrows, a lethal precision that clears out her route in less than five minutes. She can feel her entire body responding better after each mission, getting stronger and agile after every training session. She makes sure that no one else is following her or hiding behind corners before pressing the earpiece closer to her mouth, “The way out is clear when you’re ready.”

There are grunts and pained gasps on the other side before Sonya finally answers, “Well done, Kate but it’s going to take us a bit longer.” something shatters to the ground and Sonya curses in Russian, “We were not expecting two widows here!”

“Two? What do you mean two?”

“One of them escaped so be prepared for anything.”

The connection breaks and Kate looks around alarmed. Two widows. Now that sounds like a problem. And if both Sonya and Yelena were struggling against one...

Kate decides on impulse, “Sonya, if you can hear me I am going to clear the back exit so you have another way out. I’ll meet you both there.”

Finally, Yelena’s voice comes through the earpiece muffled and pained, “Kate, be careful, this doesn’t feel like all the other missions.”

Kate nods to herself, “I’ll meet you both outside.”

***

The back exit is already unguarded and the security men disposed of. Kate’s first thought is that Sonya and Yelena must’ve entered through there but the slit throats are definitely not their style. And anyway the plan said that both Yelena and Sonya would enter from the roof and make their way down from there.

Which can only mean…

“Fuck!”

Kate turns around just in time to face the widow before the wind is knocked out of her with a kick.

Yeah, that part she still needs to work on.

The widow is on her in a second and Kate just about rolls away before a boot collides with her face. Kate manages to recover the collapsible bow but her quiver must’ve slipped off.

Okay, she has one problem. A big one.

“Listen, I don’t wanna hurt you,” the widow scoffs at the words but Kate ignores it, “no one wants, we just need you to understand–”

But Kate knows the only reasoning possible is trading punches until one of them makes a break for it… or dies.

Yelena’s voice is all but calm when Kate hears her one more time, “Kate, what are you doing? Get the hell away from there, it’s two of them on the loose!”

“I’ve got one, you get the other one. Wish me luck.”

“Kate, no! I said–”

The connection breaks again and Kate takes a deep breath. Time to see if all her training will pay off.

***

It would be a feat for every avenger to fight and win against a Black Widow. Which is why Kate plans on bragging about it for the rest of her life and tell Clint as soon as possible. When she’s sure that her immobilizing arrows are going to hold the woman still until Yelena or Sonya arrive, Kate allows her shoulder to relax. She’s going to hurt like crazy the day after but hey, she kind of did ask for it after all.

It only takes a few minutes before she hears quick steps and then Yelena appears running in her direction.

Kate’s smile is bright even when she teases, “Took your sweet time huh?”

Yelena doesn’t reply while Kate steps closer to her and gently frames her face, “Are you okay? Where is Sonya?”

Yelena swallows and turns her head to where the other widow is still tied up and immobilized.

“She’s all yours now,” Kate quips, “only did the hard job for you but okay.”

More footsteps running in their direction. Kate’s brow frowns as she turns around only to see Sonya and… Yelena again sprinting towards her.

Sonya looks worried but it’s Yelena’s pure terrified expression that has Kate chilling to the bone.

Oh no.

It all happens in a moment.

Yelena’s yell, “KATE GET AWAY!”

Sonya aiming at the second widow.

Kate barely turning around before she feels the searing pain in her stomach. The widow twists and drags the knife up and in response to Kate’s strained gasp and wide eyes, she peels away Yelena’s nanotech face only to show the blank expression of an unknown woman.

Then Sonya’s bullets hit her and it’s all that Kate sees before her legs give up. A pair of arms catch her before she can hit the ground and Yelena – her real Yelena – invades her field of view.

“Kate! Kate… hey, it’s okay, you’re okay.”

Kate struggles to breathe, she feels weak but still musters up half a smile, “Took you long enough.”

“Shhh, don’t speak. I’m getting you away from here.” Yelena cradles Kate’s body and presses down on the wound. There’s so much blood. Too much blood and Yelena feels the breath catching in her throat.

“You liberated two more widows. We’re winning this…”

“Shut up, Kate!” Yelena can feel her own heart quickening in fear, “I don’t care about this! I don’t care! Not if it means–” she cuts herself off with a shake of the head.

“Yes you do…” Kate coughs out fatigued, her voice low and strained, “it’s something good. Something bigger than us.”

Yelena grits her teeth and tries to ignore the shivers that ripple through the archer’s body. She looks up and Sonya has just finished administrating the counter agent to both widows. Normally Yelena would want to be there, it is a horrible feeling to come back to the world and facing all the terrible things you’ve done.

But not this time.

“Sonya, I need to get out of here! I need to– Kate is…” she refuses to pronounce the word. She can’t let it happen. She won’t let it happen. “Help me…” Yelena cries out.

Sonya is next to her in less than a second, and with a bleeding and unconscious Kate between them, Sonya calls in a favour.

Yelena calls Clint Barton.

***

(vi) Yelena

Claire Temple has seen all types of wounds, patched up all kinds of people, helped save some, lost some others and - believe it or not - had her fair share of runs-in with NY vigilantes and heroes.

Rarely, though, she has seen the kind of look that was in Yelena’s eyes while she examined and quite literally brought back to life Kate Bishop.

“Is she okay?” Clint asks as soon as Claire emerges from the room where Kate is resting still sedated.

“She will,” Claire sighs and then cracks a smile, “quite the fighter you got there, uh? And she’s so young.”

“Too young.” Clint mutters to himself more than anyone.

Claire’s gaze shifts to the blonde Russian. Yelena is silent and as still as a log. She doesn’t say anything, asks nothing, but her eyes are fixed on the closed door like she wants to pierce through with her intense stare.

“You can visit her if you want, she won’t respond yet and she will probably have no memory of the encounter when she wakes up, but she’s there.” Claire says to no one in particular.

When she leaves the trio to have some privacy, she can feel Yelena’s gaze burning her back.

***

It seems that all Yelena was waiting for was a sort of official permission, because every time since then Claire finds her in Kate’s room. She’s either reading a book, napping on the uncomfortable chair or talking to Kate. The talking stops as soon as Claire enters the room, Yelena respectfully steps back and watches Claire administrate her care, only nodding in silent thanks when she leaves.

It’s Claire that breaks the unspoken routine.

“You care about her.” Yelena doesn’t react, only regards the other woman with a slight frown. Claire smiles to herself because well, of course Yelena cares, and tries again, “What I mean is you care more about her.”

“Barton cares about her a lot too.” Yelena replies stoically.

Claire changes the empty bag of IV fluid with a new one, “If Barton looked at her the same way you do I’d be worried.”

That gets a strained chuckle out of the blonde, then after a beat, “Kate Bishop is… something else.”

Claire hums, “Yeah, I can tell.” to Yelena’s enquiring look Claire sighs, “I’ve looked at someone like that myself.”

“I doubt it was someone like Kate Bishop.” Yelena doesn’t lose a beat.

Claire laughs lightly at the remark, “Well, I don’t know your Kate Bishop, but what I meant was like… someone who wants to change things for the better. Someone who won’t accept the world as ugly and bad and wants to make a difference. Someone who needs you at their side and won’t accept defeat or danger.” she checks Kate’s wounds and bandages, Yelena’s eyes following her every movement, “And we can’t help but love them for who they are.”

Claire expects the Russian to correct her, to shut her up, but Yelena remains quiet. Claire is about to leave the room when the blonde finally speaks again, “Is your someone still alive?”

Claire smiles gently at her, “Oh he’s out there, but he’s not my someone anymore.”

“Why?”

And Claire could try to explain but it would be too complicated to revive such feelings and wounds. She settles for a truth that she knows Yelena will understand.

“Because he’s not Kate Bishop.”

***

It takes days, maybe a week, Yelena is not counting and anyway time feels all blended together in that fateful moment: Kate is alive then suddenly she’s not.

Then Kate wakes up and she’s groggy and lethargic and pained, but otherwise just the same Kate.

“Yelena?” is the first word out of her mouth.

Yelena jumps from the chair to the bed where Kate is resting. She doesn’t take it like a sign of fate, she was there and, simply put, the first person Kate is seeing. But Kate is looking at her like she’s everything, relief flooding her blue eyes and Yelena lets herself be hopeful. Ignoring the wild beats of her heart and the tears that prickles at the corner of her eyes, Yelena carefully squeezes Kate’s hand, “Kate Bishop, you’re gonna have to do a better job if you don’t want me to think you’re about to die every five minutes.”

Kate’s laugh has never sounded so sweet.

And on the seventh day...

(vii) Yelena

“I don’t think I fully understand what you’re asking me.”

Yelena huffs with impatience, “Permission, Barton.”

“Permission, okay, for what exactly? Dating Kate?”

“Asking her out, yes.” Yelena downs the remaining of her vodka.

“I’m not her father, and Kate is an adult, she can do whatever she wants.” part of Clint is severely tempted to turn his hearing aid off but then again, might be better not to risk it around Yelena.

“But you are a father figure to her, you’re an important part of her life.”

Clint clicks his tongue and considers the request for what truly is, he has known Natasha for a very long time and learned to read between the lines when needed. Yelena is not Natasha, of course, but Clint suspect some of Nat’s tendencies might have rubbed off on her younger sister.

“You want to know if I think it would be a good idea.”

It’s not a question. Yelena’s jaw twitches as she nods curtly, “Yes.”

“Do you think it is a good idea?” Clint crosses his arms and relaxes a bit more against the back of the chair. Picking out the mind of an ex-widow has always been amongst his favourite pastimes.

Yelena huffs a laugh, “My mother seems to think so.”

“Melina?”

Yelena nods again.

“And what did you tell her?”

“That it would be a recipe for disaster.”

Clint smiles. Predictable answer. Yes, Yelena is no Natasha but she has taken one or two pages out from her book.

“Thinking that Kate would be safer away from you is only a wild guess, Yelena.”

“Not a stupid one though.”

“No, not a stupid one.” Clint concedes. “You know, it is not far from what I asked myself countless times before marrying Laura and then when our children came. And many times I answered yes in my head and many times I was wrong.” He sighs, “We believe that we can make a great difference by staying away from the people we love, that our sacrifice will save them in the long run… sometimes it might be true, most of the times it just means hurting us both until it’s too late. Natasha told me that. In some ways, I think she even taught me that.”

Yelena lowers her gaze, Clint’s words resonating inside. He allows a moment of silence more before speaking again.

“And Kate is… well–”

“Kate.” Yelena finishes for him, the hint of a smile on her lips.

“So, what are you gonna do?” Clint asks after a beat.

Yelena looks outside of the window, the sun is setting over Clint’s farm house. It is peaceful out there but some parts of her miss New York. The noise and the people and the way the city can make you feel both lost and at home. She misses home. She misses Kate.

She knows what to do.

(vii) Kate

“Kate Bishop.”

Kate jumps on the spot at the sudden sound of the familiar voice and almost drops the pot in her hands.

“Dammit! What did we say about not scaring me anymore around the apartment?”

Yelena raises an eyebrow amused, “We never had such discussion.”

“It’s implied.”

“By you.”

Kate scoffs and waves the conversation off, the annoyance can’t keep at bay the ear splitting grin that lights up her entire face, “You’re back.”

“I’m back.” Yelena confirms.

***

Kate had just come out from a delicate recovery process after their last mission and was finally ready to start training again. But the jumbled mess of that last mission had taken a toll none of them could ignore.

The two liberated widow went under Sonya’s care and guidance until they found a new place of their own. It was the first time that Yelena had decided not to be part of the process and just stay away from it overall. It was not something permanent but she needed her time. Looking at the face of Simona, the widow who had morphed her face into Yelena’s, was like like looking directly at the face of Kate’s murderer for the blonde.

So no, Yelena didn’t think she could do it this time. What she had not expected was a sudden need to distance herself from Kate as well. The more she looked at Kate on that hospital bed trying to crack jokes with Barton as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn’t almost certainly died, tickled Yelena the wrong way. She understood Kate’s need to process in her own way – hell, she didn’t even blame Kate for it, but she needed her own time. Kate was okay. Kate was alive and well on the way of recovery and Yelena’s heart had not stopped clenching for a moment. Every night her nightmares would bring her back to the moment Kate had collapsed in her arms, body limp and heavy, eyes semi closed and dazed… and each night Yelena did everything she could to save her.

Kate had been more gracious than expected on her part. Understanding other people’s needs had not always been her strongest suit but she was learning. Maybe learning when to let go was also part of what it meant to be a hero, or an adult or both. So she had squeezed Yelena’s hand, thumb rubbing softly on the back of her hand, “You know where home is.”

Simple as that. Kate knew Yelena would understand.

***

Kate tilts the pot slightly, “I made too much food for myself, in case you’re feeling hungry.”

From the look of it, Yelena fails to understand what they are supposed to be eating, “You absolutely sure that is edible?”

“I’m not that bad,” Kate bites back, then on a second look she just shrugs, “okay, I see your point. Wanna go get some pizza?”

And Yelena smiles because that’s the Kate Bishop she knows. Her Kate.

***

“You seriously brought me to the same rooftop where we first met?”

“Symbolism is important, Kate.”

Kate chuckles, “Sure, the place where you kicked my ass for the first time and almost killed me is very sentimental.”

Yelena shakes her head, “We’ve been through this already, Kate. I was not trying to kill you, I was–”

“Removing an obstacle, yes, you said it.” there’s no bite behind Kate’s words as she sends a smile towards Yelena.

Kate walks around for a few moments admiring the city from afar, then with her back against the blonde she tenses, “Are you leaving again?”

Yelena remains silent sensing more is coming.

“Because if you are then–” Kate’s voice breaks and she sighs before continuing, “I get why you needed to leave. I get that sometimes you might still need to leave. And I get that it might mean that some nights I’ll be awake thinking about you, where you are, if you are safe, if you’re…” Kate shakes her head and finally turns around to face Yelena, “What I can’t get is if it’s the same for you.”

“All the time.” the answer is immediate.

“What?” Kate blinks in disbelief.

“I think about you all the time, Kate Bishop.” Yelena takes a few steps closer and slowly intertwines her fingers with Kate’s, “You’re still clumsy and reckless and need to properly understand what having a set of cutlery means but…”

Kate’s laugh cover the pause.

“but you want to change things for the better. You don’t accept danger or defeat and you refuse to let the world be an ugly place.” Yelena inhales deeply and meets Kate’s expectant blue eyes, “And I can’t help loving you for that.”

“And for everything else?”

Yelena smiles softly and echoes, “And for everything else.”

Kate looses the hold on Yelena’s hands only to frame her face, fingers tracing the soft skin with adoration. She lets their foreheads touch, the tips of their noses brushing together and she breathes on Yelena’s lips, “Stay.”

Yelena kisses her and it feels like atonement. An oasis of peace she has longed for and found in Kate Bishop’s mouth, in her arms, in her fierce and unrelenting way of caring and loving.

The way in which Kate licks around her mouth and then tilts her head to change the direction of the kiss has Yelena wishing that the moment could prolong for eternity.

And there will always be another battle waiting for them, blood that they will both spill, wounds they will have to patch, but as Yelena grasps the lapels of the archer’s jacket to pull her even closer against her body, Kate knows what they’re fighting for.