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Kate limped into her apartment, shutting the door before dropping her bow and quiver on the floor, wishing more than anything that she could sink in the couch and just sleep but the dull ache in her thigh had progressed into a throbbing, burning pain impossible to ignore.
She looked down and winced, seeing that the blood had soaked through the makeshift bandages she’d tied around her leg, torn from the tank top she wore under her costume and pulled as taut as shaking, blood-covered hands would allow.
Clint and Yelena had both taught her better first aid (could hear them chastising her then), but she’d needed to get away from the building fast and had only stopped long enough to stem the blood pouring from the wound before pushing on.
She knelt to get the first aid kit from under the sink, careful to keep the weight off her injured leg as she straightened and moved back over to the couch, opening the kit and laying out everything she thought she would need before grabbing the scissors and cutting away the bandages and the leg of her pants.
Kate hadn’t really gotten a good look at it before wrapping it up and, honestly, she was glad she hadn’t because the jagged two-inch laceration was nauseating and would’ve definitely chased away the numbing adrenaline a lot faster.
Smaller pieces of glass were still stuck in the wound and the skin around it, glittering in the light of her living room and she dug through the kit for the tweezer, taking a deep breath and beginning the long, painful process of pulling every piece she could find, her swimming vision making it harder and harder to find them all.
She set the tweezers aside and grabbed the bottle of isopropyl alcohol and twisted the top off with her teeth, bracing herself as she squeezed the arm rest, took a deep breath, and tipped the bottle.
A strangled scream escaped her as fire engulfed her leg, tears spilling over as she squeezed the arm rest with white knuckles, jaw clenched so tight she feared her teeth would crack, and it was during those moments that she missed her front door opening or the deliberate footsteps coming up behind her.
“What happened?”
Kate started at the closeness of Yelena’s voice, head snapping up to find the woman standing next the couch, sharp hazel eyes taking in the situation quickly and while Kate knew that her conclusions about everything were correct, Yelena wanted to be sure.
“Interrupted a big drug deal. There were more people than I thought and when I went to retreat this man came out of nowhere and threw me through a window.” She motioned to her leg, “I wrapped it the best I could and walked home and well...you get the rest.”
Yelena muttered something exasperated in Russian (an insult most likely), “Give me that.”
Kate handed her the bottle.
Yelena was surprisingly gentle as she propped the leg on the coffee table, taking the tweezers and examining the wound for any pieces left behind, pulling maybe four more out before setting the tool aside and readying a needle and thread. “Do you have any sort of numbing agent?”
“Used the last of it on that bullet graze a couple weeks ago.”
“Then this will hurt.”
Kate dropped her head back, “I figured.”
Yelena pinched the edges of the wound together and began to stitch, humming apologetically every time Kate let out a low hiss, but she kept going, her hands steady and sure as she pulled the thread through the skin once, twice, three times...
Ten stitches later, Yelena was finished and Kate exhaled in relief.
Yelena rubbed a slave over the line of stitches, bandaged it, then wrapped it in fresh gauze, cleaning up the mess without a word, at least until everything was put away and she sat next to Kate, holding out a cup of water and two white pills.
Kate took them both and drank greedily, “Thanks...for all of that.”
“Not a problem. Just bring back up next time.”
Kate raised a brow, “You offering?”
Yelena looked at her from the corner of her eye, “If I am available.”
Kate smiled, resting her head on Yelena’s shoulder and closing her eyes, the last of the fight’s adrenaline fading and leaving her exhausted. “I will definitely...” She failed to conceal her yawn in time. “...be taking you up on that offer.”
It was a testament to how long they’d spent together that Yelena didn’t even stiffen at the impromptu cuddling and Kate could’ve sworn she heard amusement in her voice. “Get some sleep, Kate Bishop.”
And like her body obeyed Yelena’s word, she drifted off to sleep.