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“Hiii” she whispers as she crouches down against the boarded-up railing, taking cover next to Kate, who whips around in surprise, bow held in front of her ready to be used as an improvised melee weapon against the new threat.
Kate’s eyes widen in recognition, and she slumps back against the railing, a long breath of relief escaping her. “Yelena, what are you…? How did you get here?” she asks, doing her best to keep her voice low.
Yelena turns her head from Kate to nod at the open window on their left “That window.”
“Of course...” she hears Kate muttering.
Yelena glances over the railing, taking the opportunity to survey the inside of the warehouse. The open walkway on the upper level giving a good vantage point to scan the ground floor. Nine tracksuit Bros around; no weapons; noise from the room in the back; exit door to the-
A loud ringing noise very close to her interrupts her assessment. She ducks back into cover to find Kate franticly reaching for her phone “Shit shit shit!” Her bow only getting in the way of her movements.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Yelena can feel the rising annoyance at the clumsy display. How can this girl just jump into danger and want to fight ‘bad guys’ when she is so unprepared? If this was any real threat, she would already be dead. So much for the new Hawkeye…
Once the ringing is stopped, Kate lowers her forehead to the phone in her hands, takes a breath, and then turns to Yelena with a cheeky grin, mirth dancing in her eyes. “You think they heard it?”
A loud laugh escapes Yelena as she is caught off guard by the question, the building tension momentarily leaving her body. “I am sure we are okay.”
An absolute uproar can be heard from bellow, the thugs shouts and footsteps growing closer. “You made big mistaking coming here bro” “You cannot hide” “We just want to talk bro”
She gets up from cover to see them closing in on their position, however one of them is running in the direction of the back room. That could be troublesome.
“Cover me” she tells Kate and without waiting for a reply, attaches a hook to the floor and vaults over the railing. She adopts Natasha’s landing pose as she reaches the floor, in the hopes of attracting their attention to her and away from Kate’s position.
All eyes are on her as she slowly gets up and unhooks the line from her belt. A pang of pride at the useful theatrics leaves her with a bittersweet smile. “Looking for me?”
There is no time for an answer, or her brain simply does not register it as she quickly advances on the target closest to her. Instinct takes over, an involuntary shift, and her body is not her own anymore.
One, two, three.. and he is down.
Yelena’s movements are precise and fast as she takes down one after another with practiced ease. She knows every step in this mindless dance, had it carved on to her body for years. And these goons? Their rhythm is just too easy to follow.
The guy swinging a fist at her from behind doesn’t even stand a chance as she whirls around, baton slamming into the side of his head, knocking him unconscious upon impact.
In the same beat that he falls to the floor, an arrow flies by, missing it’s intended target.
“HEY! That one was mine!” Kate’s indignant shout echoes throughout the warehouse.
A dry chuckle escapes Yelena’s lips. “Next time shoot faster!”
There are two tracksuit guys left standing, and they are slowly backing away from Yelena. The floor is littered with their companions, some she notices groaning painfully from arrow wounds. But this is far from over. Out from the other room come rushing reinforcements. Their appearance breathing hope into the two remaining men.
“Bros this girl is crazy she- AHHH!” his agitated warning is interrupted by his own scream as he doubles over in pain, an arrow protruding from his thigh. Would you look at that, the little hawk is a fast learner. The Bro’s companion is left there just staring in surprise, so Yelena makes use of the distraction to side kick him on the chest, the momentum of the blow sending him crashing into the crates behind.
The calm is short lived though. A man more than twice her size is already upon her, baseball bat in hand swinging for her head. She barely has time to step back to try and evade it. Fortunately, the brutal gust of air and the resounding sound distortion are the only things that hit her senses.
Yelena notices a few of the men running past her, but the next wild bat swing still demands her full attention. She takes half a step back before taking off and sliding under his legs when he moves forward for another attack. As she slides past him, she plants her left hand firmly on the ground stopping her motion and using the momentum to turn into a crouching position behind him, slams her baton into the back of his right knee, throwing him off balance. She gets up to find the other men had run well past her and were clustered together fighting… Kate?!
Yelena takes off running in their direction and uses her momentum to shoulder check one of them out of the way, allowing her to breach the circle of Bros surrounding Kate.
“What are you doing down here?” Instead of up on the top floor and safely away from the fight, where she could keep all these Bros from ever even reaching her.
Kate, with the bow at her back, is fully engaged in a fist fight with one. But, as opposed to his punches, her hits do not seem to be doing much damage.
“You were having all the fun down here. I wanted to join!” her enthusiasm clearly not discouraged by the disadvantageous position she’s in.
“Trust me, this is no fun.” Yelena scoffs. One hand reaches for her, but she grabs it instead, twists her body and tosses the man over her shoulder and into another two Bros, effectively scattering them and affording the girls some space to regroup. At that she turns back to the man fighting Kate and kicks the side of his thigh making him stumble a few steps back.
Yelena extends her arm holding out a baton to Kate. “Here try this.” And nods her head in the direction of the recovering bro.
“I get to use a black widow weapon?!” Kate takes the offered weapon, a glint in her eyes and a growing smile on her lips.
Yelena steps in front of Kate, facing their attacker, one hand grabbing his wrist and stopping the fist aiming for her head, the other coming to his shoulder. In a fluid motion she rotates him in Kate’s direction, who without hesitation smashes the baton on the back of his head, his body falling limp on the floor.
“Wooo!” Kate exclaims, throwing her arms up in celebration. “Did you see that?!” the excitement in her voice already detailing her blinding smile. Her eyes meet Yelena’s before looking back between the baton in her hands and the fallen Bro. “Okay this thing is so cool!”
“Do not get used to it, I will want it back” Despite her warning tone Yelena can’t help her own exasperated smile at the endearing display. Kate’s boundless joy strikes her as absolutely absurd, how much she is reveling at the fight; how eagerly she put herself in a danger position; how despite everything she can still be so innocent.
Yelena turns back to the remaining goons, feigning disinterest in Kate’s antics, ready to take down the rest so they can get away from this mess.
“Maybe we can trade?” Kate shoots back as she squares up with another Bro. “I’ll let you use my bow!” a short pause follows before she restarts “Do you know how to use a bow?”
Yelena raises an eyebrow upon hearing that. “Insulting me will not help you gain my favor.”
“Right, of course you do, silly question.” comes the sheepish answer before Kate decides to instead try her hand at taunting the Bros.
“Alright, who else wants a taste of my new weap--” Kate’s quip is interrupted by a solid hit to the face. Yelena immediately barking out a laugh at the incident.
Ever the overconfident, Kate gathers her wits and continues. “Not cool Bro I wasn’t done speaking-”
But it is Yelena that interrupts her this time. “You know, if you want to talk smack during a fight you need to be able to follow through.” Her eyes meeting Kate’s, a tease of a smile peeking through as she nonchalantly grabs and yanks down the man’s head, driving her knee against his temple and effectively knocking him out.
“Shut up.”
The two of them make quick work of the Bros surrounding them. Yelena keeping track of Kate’s movements to make sure they stay clear of each other’s way. But Kate’s enthusiastic fighting style means they do ungraciously bump into each other on occasion, with Yelena having to, at one time, dodge one of her wild baton swings. “I did not lend you that so you could hit me with it!”, “You hear that, Bros? No one is safe from me!” Despite her occasional fumbling, Kate’s fighting spirit is a joy to witness, not deterred by any of the hits taken and instead flourishing with every hit that she does manage to land.
As the last one falls to the ground, Kate’s enthusiasm is clear “Woo that was awesome! We just took down all of these guys!” she comes bouncing in Yelena’s direction, both hands raised and waiting expectantly.
“I did.” Yelena interjects cheekily, and she is so caught up in the contagious energy that she indulges Kate and claps their hands together in celebration.
“Yaaass!” Kate’s smile gets impossibly brighter at that, and she quickly continues gushing out in excitement “You are amazing! Just wow! What an unstoppable force!”
“I am.” Her hands go to slightly adjust her vest as she stands proudly, a smirk betraying her nonchalance. But before she can return the compliment a commotion coming from the other side of the warehouse gets her back on track.
“Come on we need to get out of here”. She taps Kate’s shoulder as she says that and takes of running towards the exit.
“But we haven’t even gotten any info.” she can hear Kate’s voice running behind.
“And whose fault is that?”
“Excus- yeah, no that’s fair.”
When they reach Yelena’s parked motorbike, she swiftly steals her baton back from Kate’s unsuspecting hands, and before she can protest pushes a helmet back to her hands in exchange.
“Put it on.”
Kate looks up from the offered helmet back at her, the outrage at the loss of her new weapon quickly replaced by uncertainty.
“What about you?”
But she is already on the bike and ready to leave. “Can you hurry?” Her eyes glued to the door they exited from.
“Okay, okay.” Kate rushes to put on and fasten the helmet.
As soon as Kate gets on the motorbike Yelena takes off, giving her no chance to settle in. There is no time for that, through the side mirrors she can see the door burst open and a gang of bros rushing forwards.
Yelena races through the streets, weaving her way through traffic, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and the warehouse.
After some time, Yelena spares another glance to the side mirrors but finds no trace of anyone giving chase. Kate is huddled behind her, holding on for dear life, the highspeed escape too unsteady for her. Feeling confident that she lost them, Yelena takes a steadying breath and allows the weight of Kate at her back to ground her. They are safe.
She slows down, the blurred lights streaking by starting to come into focus, the roaring wind no longer drowning out her senses, and gradually the dizzying race turns into a leisurely ride through the city night life. With that, Yelena feels the vice-like grip at her waist begin to relax. Kate tentatively straightens up in her seat, head now held high and over Yelena’s shoulder taking in the sights.
Despite the late hour the city is still bubbling with activity, people milling about in the sidewalks, locals and tourists alike out enjoying the night. The constant flow of traffic accompanies them, an ever-changing entourage as they ride across town.
Under different circumstances this would be really nice. If, as opposed to coming back empty handed from a failed intel-gathering mission, they were just going out for a girl’s night out to grab some drinks and perhaps later down the night even indulge in a bit of dancing at some club. It is a foolish thought, but she allows herself a moment to selfishly bask in the mundane normalcy of what could be just another Friday night.
***
They make it safely to Kate’s apartment building, Yelena wordlessly following her inside. Kate, however, seems to take her silence the wrong way.
“Okay so how mad are you that I messed up tonight?” Head downturned in shame as she poses the question.
But that’s the thing, even though her plans were thwarted by Kate running into that warehouse, she is not mad. She is actually glad that she found Kate tonight. “Does Barton know that you are out here playing superhero alone? Where was your back up?”
“Uhm not about tonight in particular... but he agreed to share his title, I’m also Hawkeye now!” Kate finishes her announcement standing proud, puffed-up chest and hands on her hips in what Yelena guesses must be her best superhero pose.
At the lack of reaction, Kate falters slightly in dismay before continuing. “Besides you showed up, so I wasn’t alone! In the end everything turned out well!”
Yelena wants to berate her but as they enter Kate’s apartment they are greeted by a golden retriever and those words are gone.
“You kept him.” Yelena kneels down to pet his soft fur.
“Yeah, I mean look at him, how could I not?”
He is beside himself at the attention and rewards her with several licks. “Hey there buddy.” She greets him back.
“His name is Lucky.”
“It suits him.”
With one last scratch behind his ears, she gets up to find Kate still standing there, looking at her with a much too tender smile, that she does not want to dwell on. So, she turns her gaze away and finally takes in the rest of the apartment, all the traces of fire damage are gone and new furniture decorates the place.
“I am glad to see that you have upgraded from charred chic.”
The tease seems to dispel Kate, who chuckles before responding. “Yeah, I think Ikea is more my style.” She motions around the place. “Well, make yourself comfortable I guess, I just need to…” and trails off imperceptibly as she goes further into the kitchen.
She comes back after a moment with a first aid kit, places it on the countertop island and starts rummaging through it.
Yelena approaches her slowly and extends a hand “Let me.”
“I can take care of myself you know.” Kate snaps indignantly, and only when she turns does she notice the proffered hand. Kate’s gaze raises from her hand to meet her eyes and scrutinizes her for a moment longer before relenting. “Ugh fiiine, you can help.” Pushing the first aid kit towards her.
Yelena motions towards the chair at the kitchen island and goes to wash her hands while Kate takes a seat. Moving back to stand in front of Kate she finally takes full stock of her injuries. The bruising along her left eye and cheek is already swelling, and her jaw does not look that much better.
“Kate Bishop, you really need to stop blocking punches with your face.” Even though she was trying to tease her with a scolding tone, by the end of her remark she is laughing.
“That’s not what I was trying to do!” Kate defends herself lamely. “You’re such an asshole!” Despite the jab at her pride Kate joins on the laugh, shaking her head. “How come you don’t even have a scratch?”
“I am very good.” Yelena states simply, shrugging her shoulders.
“Any chance you’d teach me?”
“I don’t know if I want to waste my talents on such a hopeless cause.”
“Hey! I kicked ass out there!”
“Hmm...” She continues teasing, a hand coming to her own chin in a fake pensive expression. Kate is all but ready to protest when she ultimately concedes. “Yes, you did pretty good. You are a talented fighter.
“Ha! I knew it! That fight was awesome, I was in the zone!”
Yelena takes the supplies and proceeds to clean and treat the wounds while Kate excitedly retells all her favorite moments from tonight’s fight, as if Yelena hadn’t witnessed them firsthand. Kate’s injuries are not that bad, just a few cuts and bruises, still she goes over them methodically. She appreciates the simple and repetitive nature of the task as she listens intently, occasionally adding a throwaway comment.
All throughout, Kate’s eyes never leave her, tracing her features, following her reactions, seemingly enraptured at the chance to take her in from up close. Yelena ignores the blatant staring, it’s a more innocuous fee than what she is used to pay to maintain the status quo and she still wants some answers.
In this position, she stands slightly taller than her, so she brings a hand to the side of Kate’s face, two fingers barely touching skin to lift Kate’s head, granting a better view of the wound on her jaw. Kate, whose words had barely stopped for a breath a moment ago, starts to trail off at the delicate movement.
“You’ve gone quiet.” Yelena points out softly, as she cleans the cut.
“I just don’t want you to mess up my face.” Kate is quick to defend.
“Fear not, I am very skilled with my hands.”
A heavy flush takes over Kate’s features, lips twitching undecided as she ultimately looks away.
Not one to waste an opportunity when the opponent’s guard is down, Yelena shoots. “What were you doing there?”
“What?” Kate looks back confused, but Yelena spurs her on by refusing to elaborate.
“I… There has been no news of Kingpin’s arrest. He was down when I left, I don’t understand. I need to find out what happened, if he escaped, I need find a way to arrest him. So, I decided to start by checking out the Bro’s hideout, I was hoping to find something.”
Yelena sighs. “I do not know if you are incredibly brave or just stupid. He is a very dangerous man, with half of this city working for him. You will get yourself killed before you even find his trail.”
“So what? I’m just supposed to ignore it and let him roam free to keep his reign over the city?”
“Yes, that is exactly what you should do! Let some other superheroes go after him, there are plenty of those around.”
Whatever Kate’s initial retort was is dropped as she immediately stops herself and instead asks. “Is that why you were there tonight? Are you after him?”
Yelena just laughs at the notion. As if, she would ever claim herself to be a hero.
“No, that is not my mission.”
“What is your mission?”
Yelena places one last adhesive stitch before stepping back. “There, all done.”
“I could help you!” Kate blurts out eagerly.
Yelena lets out a warm chuckle. While she may be an expert at not giving anything away, it seems Kate is a master at speaking out her every whim.
“Okay yeah, you clearly don’t need my help to fight, but I can still be useful! Plus, you were there tonight so somehow our goals are connected. I have ways of getting information, I know I can find him.”
“Kate-”
“No. I need to stop him, Yelena. I can’t let him continue to ruin people’s lives!” Kate says fiercely.
And at that moment, Kate’s determination and stubborn self-righteous way clutches at her heart with memories of Natasha.
“I understand.” Yelena speaks softly as she turns to leave. “But you better not go after him alone again if you want me to help you.”
“Wait, you will?”
“Just stay out of trouble while I sort out some things, can you do that?” Yelena glances back at Kate one last time, as she makes for the window.
“I-Yes of course, you won’t regret it!” She already does.
“See you around, Kate Bishop.” And with those words Yelena dives back into the night unsure of what she just agreed to or if she will even come back.