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High on the rooftops of New York, a figure clad in black ran along them, jumping between the gaps and landing flawlessly. Her night vision goggles allowed her to track the enemy, keeping a lock on body heat signals. The wind was strong, it was like thousands of tiny icicles going through you at once. The sky was dark, clouds covered the stars and only part of the moon could be seen.
Making another security sweep of the area, long blonde hair blew in the breeze. Their old apartment was under surveillance from those after her partner, and Yelena wasn’t going to let anything happen to Kate. Making her way to the ground, Yelena swept the area, and once she was sure it was safe, she went up to their new apartment, unlocking the door, and relocking it once she was safely inside.
Taking off her night vision goggles, Yelena smoothed down her hair and sipped at the open bottle of water Kate left on the coffee table.
Kate was asleep, her brown hair fanned out behind her. Taking a second to just look at her girlfriend, Yelena knew Kate was the best thing to happen to her and she couldn’t stand to lose her. It was only a matter of time before someone broke into their old apartment and realised it was empty. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out where they currently lived, and with Kate’s life on the line, Yelena knew she had to get her out of New York and fast.
“Kate, come on, wake up my little hawk,” Yelena said as loud as she dared as she brushed the hair off Kate’s face.
“You’re not meant to be back for a few more weeks,” Kate mumbled, cuddling into her bed and grabbing Yelena’s arm and holding it close.
“Kate, please, listen,” Yelena tried, waiting until she got Kate a little more awake and had her arm back.
“What is it, it’s four in the morning?” Kate asked a little more awake. She could see the urgency on Yelena’s face and she knew it wasn’t good. If Yelena was back without telling her something had deeply troubled her.
“We need to get out of here now, my love. You are the reason I’m back. We need to get to the safehouse I still have downtown. He’s back and after you with a vengeance. Grab the bare essentials, and make sure to get your laptop and bow and arrows,” Yelena said, finding two bags and handing one to Kate.
“Okay, I can do that,” Kate said, pulling Yelena close and holding her for a moment.
“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” Yelena replied, allowing herself to relax in Kate’s arms.
“I know. Let’s get packing.” Pressing a kiss to Yelena’s temple, Kate got up and changed out of her pyjamas.
Quickly shoving the essentials into the bags whilst in the dark, Kate picked up her collapsible bow and looked at her quiver of arrows, trying to decide what ones to take with them.
“Take them all, we may need it,” Yelena said, strapping extra knives to her body.
Once they were sure they had what they needed they slowly exited the apartment and stuck to the shadows as they walked a block and half east. There was no one about and it made the small hairs on the back of Kate’s neck stand up. There should have at least been drunk people staggering their way home after a night of partying but the streets were eerily quiet for New York.
Finding Yelena’s car, they quickly loaded everything into the backseat, got in, and drove away, no lights or no sound coming from the vehicle. It was just them, the road ahead, and what minimal light the street lights and moon provided.
The drive to the safehouse felt like it was taking forever. It was dark, there were no other cars on the road, and Kate was getting increasingly anxious with each passing minute. She still didn’t know what was going on, and Yelena not saying a word just made her feel like it wasn’t good.
“Can I ask what’s going on?” Kate said, getting sick of watching the towns go past.
“Wilson Fisk is back, and he’s teamed up with the new head of the Tracksuit Mafia. Kazi Kazimierczak is also back in a role I haven’t uncovered. They all want you dead, and there’s a bounty on your head for quite a sum of money,” Yelena replied, watching Kate flop back into the seat.
“This is just what I need right now. I don’t know how to face them again. Last time I got beat senseless by Kingpin and now he wants round two? Is that why you’re back early?” Kate asked, turning to face Yelena.
“I am back because one of my Black Widow contacts warned me of the danger that was coming your way. One of them was trying to hire a Black Widow to take you out but they see you as one of us due to our relationship. You’re safe from any Black Widow. I came back as soon as I got the message. I love you, Kate Bishop, and I won’t allow anything bad to happen to you. We’re in this together, always. If someone wants to lay a finger on you, they have to get through me first,” Yelena replied, reaching out and holding Kate’s hand.
“Where are we going?” Kate asked, noticing the houses begin to thin out.
“We are going to New Jersey, we’ll be there in another hour and a half or so,” Yelena replied, wanting to get Kate as far away as possible from the danger while still being able to go back to their apartment if needed.
“Is there anything there?” Kate asked, knowing they usually never went this far out. She felt the panic setting in and she knew New York was not safe for her at the moment. They had to take out those who wanted her dead, and taking on Kingpin was like signing your own death certificate.
“We have a two-bedroom safehouse there. One of the rooms is filled with weapons, armour, and suits. I had one of my contacts make us both new suits with protective lightweight armour. They may also match, as I gave him your design. There is also enough room to do basic training if we feel the need to practice. If Wilson Fisk touches one hair on your head, I’m snapping his fingers off,” Yelena replied, watching the open road in front of her.
“You got us matching suits?” Kate beamed, a huge smile on her face.
“Yes, because I know it would make you happy,” Yelena said, giving Kate’s hand a squeeze.
“I can’t wait to see them.” Letting go of Yelena’s hand, Kate looked out the window and watched their surroundings.
Kate could tell Yelena was checking all of the mirrors constantly, looking for any sign of danger coming their way. There was a look on her face, and studying her closely, Kate wondered how long it had been since Yelena had gotten a good night of rest.
The sun was starting to rise as they passed the sign for New Jersey. Kate hadn’t really travelled out this far before, but she knew it was for the best. Yelena had mentioned once or twice she had contacts out this way, and she hoped they would be able to assist them if the need arose.
Noticing they had driven around this part of town a few times, taking a different route each time, Kate had a feeling they were almost at the safehouse. Seeing a tall, derelict building up ahead, Kate saw Yelena press a button on the steering wheel.
The garage door slowly lifted up revealing an empty space inside. There was an elevator built into the wall, or what she thought was one, with a thick bulletproof cover over it.
“We’re here,” Yelena said, the garage door closing behind them. The light flickered on above allowing them to see just enough. “Help me get the bags and we’ll go upstairs.”
Finally allowing herself to breathe, Yelena felt like a small weight had been lifted off her shoulders. They had arrived safely. Now all she had to do was keep Kate safe, and given Kingpin and his goons something bigger to go after than Kate.
Waiting for the doors to the elevator to open, Yelena counted down the seconds. Stepping inside, she hit the up button and the elevator rose three floors above and opened up to an empty corridor.
Leading Kate to the safehouse, she opened the door and led them inside. There were no windows, only the artificial light from above lit the room. There was a small kitchen with a fridge, a bathroom, a weapons room, a single bedroom, and a small living room.
Helping Kate with her bags, Yelena locked the front door, and pulled the bulletproof cover over it from the inside, locking it into place.
“Yelena, when was the last time you slept?” Kate asked, going over to Yelena and unzipping her Black Widow suit.
“I don’t remember,” Yelena admitted. Now that they were safe, Yelena could feel how tired she was.
“Come on, let’s get you into something comfy and we’ll go have a lay down for a bit,” Kate suggested, pulling off Yelena’s suit, leaving her in only a tank top and underwear.
“Okay, I guess we can do that,” Yelena agreed, leaning into Kate and allowing herself a moment.
Pressing a kiss to Yelena’s head, Kate led them into the bedroom and pulled down the covers. She was thankful the bed was already made and they could just rest. Turning on the flashlight on her phone, Kate turned off the ceiling light, flicked the fan on and got into bed.
Turning her phone light off, she pulled the covers up and curled herself around Yelena, holding her tight until they both fell asleep.
Yelena usually found it hard to sleep, but when she woke up the next morning, still wrapped in Kate’s arms, she smiled to herself. She felt safe with Kate, and she knew that with her, getting some rest came easy.
Trying to slide out of bed, Kate held her closer. Smiling to herself, Yelena rolled over and pressed a kiss to the tip of Kate’s nose. Kate was adorable when she slept, and Yelena took a moment to just watch her.
“Kate, I need to get up,” Yelena said, gently caressing Kate’s face.
“Why is it bright in here, there are no windows,” Kate mumbled, holding Yelena a little tighter.
“The light automatically turns on at eight so we know it’s morning. Kate Bishop, it’s time to wake up. I’ll make us breakfast,” Yelena replied, pressing her lips to Kate’s.
“I do like breakfast,” Kate replied, releasing Yelena.
Getting up, Yelena got to work in the kitchen, finding the ingredients she needed, she whipped up some batter and made them pancakes.
Setting the plate down on the small table, she pulled out the maple syrup and butter, grabbed a knife, and two plates they could eat off.
“That smells wonderful,” Kate said, finally making an appearance.
“Only the best for my little hawk,” Yelena replied, kissing Kate.
“Let’s eat before this gets cold,” Kate said, pulling back and pressing a kiss to Yelena’s forehead.
Eating her breakfast, Yelena had a million thoughts running through her head. Why was Fisk after Kate again? What did Kazi want? And who was this new player? She needed to try and find his identity, she needed to know who he was and why he wanted Kate dead. Knowing they would both need to do some research, Yelena sipped at her cup of juice Kate poured and pondered her questions.
“Do we have a plan for today?” Kate asked through a mouthful of food.
“We will research who has it out for you. We will make lists and investigate. I suggest we call Barton and see if his contacts can pull anything up once we have more to go on,” Yelena replied, eating her last pancake.
“Okay. I can make a list of clients Bishop Security won’t work with anymore if you think that would help?”
“That would actually be very useful. Maybe turning one of those criminals away was the breaking point for them if they were up to no good,” Yelena replied, getting up and taking the dirty dishes to the sink while Kate put away what remained.
“I brought my luggage and laptop here when I got off the plane. Pull yours out and we’ll get to work on those lists,” Yelena said, opening her carry on and pulling out her laptop.
Concentrating on the screen in front of her, Yelena pulled up any and all footage she could around both Kate’s old apartment and their new apartment. She could see the Tracksuit Mafia trying to circle their old apartment – the amount of them going in to buy pizza must be making downstairs very happy.
Seeing no one around their new place, Yelena softly sighed. At least they still had somewhere safe but for how long Yelena didn’t know. She was worried, she was anxious, and if anything happened to Kate, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself.
Running a trace on Kingpin, the GPS locator she attached to his car was showing he was at his office. With the number of other criminals in the building, Yelena didn’t want to take them all on just yet.
Kazi though was different. He was more aware and street smart, and he checked for everything and anything. Going over the footage from his last known location, Yelena leaned back and got comfy as she knew this would take a while.
“I’ve sent you a list of former clients but it’s not very long,” Kate said, closing her laptop and watching the footage with Yelena.
“Kazi doesn’t like to come out anymore,” Yelena said, pointing to the screen.
“It might just be easier to go there and find him ourselves.”
“Kate Bishop, I should listen to you more often,” Yelena said, putting the laptop on the coffee table.
“You should,” Kate joked, a smile on her face as she pulled Yelena on top of her.
“But first, I want to do this,” Yelena said, closing the gap between them and kissing Kate.
Feeling Kate’s hands run under her shirt and over her sides and back, their bodies were pressed together and Yelena kissed Kate more feverously. Kissing Kate was like nothing Yelena had experienced before, and now, with her own free will, she happily kissed Kate and would until the end of time.
Breaking the kiss, Yelena slowly sucked and nibbled on the skin of Kate’s neck as her right hand found Kate’s breast through her shirt. Yelena knew they had to find who else was after Kate but for now it could wait. Kate was more important, and she wanted to make her feel good.
Hearing a phone begin to ring, Yelena rolled her eyes and got off Kate.
“Hey Clint,” Kate said, trying to keep cool while answering the phone as she put it on speaker.
“Please don’t tell me you were making out with my sister just now,” Natasha butted in.
“I can make out with who I want, thank you,” Yelena chimed in at her sister.
“Back to my original call, Nat said someone was after you, and I now know Yelena got you out safe but do you know who it is?”
“Kingpin, Kazi, and we don’t know the third person yet,” Kate replied.
“Kingpin, who is thing Kingpin you speak of?” Another voice said, who Kate thought vaguely sounded like an Asgardian.
“We were going to suit up and pay Kazi a visit. We can take down a couple of bodyguards, no problem,” Kate said, as Yelena walked into the weapons room and came out holding two new suits for them.
“Don’t go over your heads with what you think you can and can’t do. You’re in a safehouse for a reason.”
“Just be safe, that’s all Clint is trying to say. Steve would also like to let you know that you need to make sure you’re covered at all times and have multiple escape routes,” Natasha said, trying to give them more advice.
“We have done this a thousand times, I’m not an amateur, Natasha,” Yelena replied, taking the phone and ending the call.
“Was that smart?” Kate asked, accepting her new suit.
“She is my sister; she’ll get over it.”
“These suits are so soft and so pretty,” Kate said, stripping down to her underwear and putting her new suit on.
Looking in the mirror, Kate smiled. It was very similar to her old Hawkeye suit except there was now a white stipe joining the purple and in the white the Black Widow symbol was embroidered into it.
Yelena’s outfit was almost the same as normal, except there was a stripe of purple with her Hawkeye symbol embroidered into it and Kate thought it was the sweetest thing ever. Yelena looked a little bashful, seeing her in her new suit and Kate thought nothing would ever be as cute as Yelena.
“You look so cute and deadly,” Kate said, wrapping her arms around Yelena and pulled her close, kissing her.
“You do too, but we need to arm ourselves with some weapons first.”
Going into the weapons room, Kate found some new arrows, and shiny rainbow iridescent knives.
“Yes, you can use those,” Yelena smiled, sliding a gun into the back of her pants.
“Awesome.” Attaching them to her belt, Kate helped Yelena pick some more weapons and when they were done, Kate grabbed her bow and quiver and they went downstairs to the garage, locking the safehouse behind them.
Getting into the car, Kate waited a moment while Yelena checked the security cameras.
“It’s safe to go,” Yelena said, the garage door opening to allow them to reverse out.
Getting back on the road felt nice, but the thought of confronting the Tracksuit Mafia again didn’t. She knew it had to be done to get the target off her back. She needed to know what they wanted with her and why.
Putting the car heating on low, Kate took a deep breath in and sighed. “What are we going to do if Kazi has skilled bodyguards?”
“I am more skilled than any bodyguard he has the money to hire. Don’t worry, Kate. Leave it to me,” Yelena replied, reaching out and holding Kate’s hand. “We are both skilled, we’ve got this.”
“We do, you’re right! Black Widow and Hawkeye are coming for you, Kazi. Kingpin next!”
“Okay, Kate Bishop, don’t get too excited,” Yelena smiled as they got on the highway back to New York. “Our plan is to pull over a few blocks from Kazi’s new base. We will go up high, look around and then sneak in and get what we need. Hopefully we can be back on the road just after lunch so we can get pizza for the drive,” Yelena added, knowing pizza made her partner happy.
Keeping her eyes on the road, they fell into a comfortable silence. Turning the radio on, American Pie was halfway through the opening and as the song went into the chorus, Yelena hummed along to it. She found it fitting that this song of all songs was the one on air.
The road ahead of them was empty, the drive between New Jersey and New York was usually a quiet one when there was no work traffic. A few cars had overtaken them, and beeped at them for going the speed limit. Looking in her rear-view mirror, Yelena nodded to herself when she saw the car of her contacts just in range of what she could see. She knew that car anywhere and she figured they also had things they needed to do in New York.
Softly humming along to the next song, Yelena felt something hit the car hard as it pushed it with great force. Her head cracked against the steering wheel, she was seeing stars, her ribs were hurting, something hit her, and Kate was screaming and panicking. Trying to get control, she hit the brake and got them off the road just as everything went black around her.
---
Seeing Yelena pass out, Kate quickly put the car in park. She was uninjured, nothing hurt, but Yelena!
There was blood coming from her head, dripping down onto the floor. Taking off her seatbelt, Kate kicked her door open and pulled the towel from the backseat.
Going to Yelena’s side of the car, it was a mess and there was no way she was going to get that door open. The head wound was gushing blood. Kate knew better than to move her, but she also didn’t see another choice. Jumping back inside the car, she gently eased Yelena back while supporting her neck. Pressing the towel to the gash on Yelena’s head, Kate tried to steady her breathing while trying to get the blood to stop.
She knew she couldn’t call for help, not from the official authorities. Yelena’s phone had been destroyed when they were hit, and her phone flew and hit the windscreen, the screen shattered and unusable.
“Hey, what happened, is she okay?” A couple asked, coming over to them.
“I don’t know, I really don’t,” Kate replied, on the verge of tears.
“Jason, get the first aid kit out the back of the car. Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’m Steph and I can help. I trained with a very formidable doctor in Africa and I have a fair amount of medical training. It’s going to be okay. What’s your name?” Steph said, introducing herself.
“Kate, and this is Yelena,” Kate said. “She hit her head on the steering wheel pretty hard and then she passed out.”
Watching as Steph climbed into the backseat of the car, she reached forward and hit the button on the seat, moving it so Yelena was now in a sitting position.
“Here babe,” Jason said, handing Steph the first-aid kit.
“Thank you. Can you please try to get the door open so we can get her out? Kate and I are going to patch this head wound.”
“What can I do?” Kate asked, looking between them as Steph tied her long blonde hair back.
“I need you to show me the wound,” Steph said.
Lifting the towel off Yelena’s head, Kate could still see blood oozing out of the wound. It looked like it wasn’t slowing down. Putting the towel back on the wound, Kate watched as Steph put on a pair of sterile gloves and handed her a pair as well.
“I’m going to work from the back, and you’re going from the side. We are going to clean the wound, and with this gauze, I need you to wipe it while I glue it back together. “
“Okay, I can do it.” Having more confidence than she ever thought she would have in someone pulling over to help, Kate listened to Steph and together they managed to clean out the wound. Helping Steph hold the skin together as she glued it, Kate was grateful the bleeding had slowed.
“Can I get you to put some butterfly closures over the area while I find a bandage?” Steph asked, looking expectantly at Kate.
“I definitely know how to do that,” Kate replied. Getting started, Kate examined the now oozing wound, and where there was blood, she wiped it away and pulled the wound even closer together with the closures. Happy with her work after placing four of them on Yelena’s head, she looked at Steph who had a protective gauze and a bandage in her hand, her gloves changed.
“Good job Kate. Are you able to kneel over Yelena and gently support her neck while I bandage her up?”
“I can do that.” Getting into position, Kate worked with Steph and Jason finally got the door open on Yelena’s side.
“Good job, the both of you,” Jason said, running his fingers through his hair, the white stripe at the front flopping to one side. “Where are you headed?”
“New York.”
“What part, we’ll take you there and help get Yelena inside. No official help I’m guessing?”
“It’s seven or eight blocks east of Herman’s Hearty Slice Pizzeria. I don’t remember the street name just yet but I can direct us there,” Kate replied, liking that they knew not to involve the cops.
“I’ve finished wrapping her head, just be careful, Jason,” Steph said, getting out of the car.
“Kate, get in the back and I’ll lay Yelena across the seats, it’s your job to take care of her for the drive. If you need me to pull over at any time, let me know.”
Sliding into the back of the car, Kate put her seatbelt on, and only a few seconds later, Jason appeared with Yelena in his arms and laid her across the seats, her head in Kate’s lap.
“We have a friend coming to tow the car, I’ll give you his details,” Jason said, getting into the car.
Feeling the car ease back onto the road, Kate looked at Yelena and ran her finger gently down Yelena’s face. She still couldn’t believe this happened, and she hoped she made the right choice in taking them back to their apartment.
---
Waking to dim light coming in through the window, Yelena felt like she had been hit by a truck. Her memory was foggy and as she tried to get up, she felt pain radiate through her body.
“Hey, hey, you’re okay,” Kate said calmly as she came over to their bed.
“What happened?” Yelena asked, her throat dry.
“Here, water first,” Kate replied, helping Yelena to sit up fully.
“Thank you.” Sipping on the water, she didn’t question it when Kate handed her some painkillers.
“We were driving back here to corner Kazi and find out more information but something hit the car and you were able to stop the car but your head hit on the steering wheel and when the airbag went off, I think it bruised your ribs. Before you ask, I’m not injured at all. I got lucky,” Kate explained, taking the now empty cup from Yelena.
“How did we get here?” Yelena questioned, feeling the bandage around her head.
“A couple stopped when they saw us on the side of the road. I was still in the car trying to get your head to stop bleeding and they came to the rescue. Steph, the woman, said she had medical training and she patched you up on the spot. I was thankful they had first aid supplies. Jason, her husband, put you on the backseat with me and helped me to get you here. They didn’t even hesitate, and didn’t ask once what it was about. They were pretty cool.”
Smiling Yelena looked at Kate. “Steph was blonde, in purple, and Jason had dark hair, with a white streak, and has a love of red and leather?”
“How did you know?” Kate asked, a little shocked hearing this.
“I see you met my contacts in New Jersey,” Yelena smiled.
“You may need to call them and thank them when you’re feeling better. Are you up to eating something?” Kate asked.
“I think so, I’m starving,” Yelena said, getting up with a little help.
“Would you like me to make you mac and cheese?” Kate fondly asked as Yelena leaned into her.
“How did you know?” Yelena replied, pressing a kiss to Kate’s shoulder.
“I know you. You always want macaroni, and you only like the kind I have to go on a quest to find,” Kate said, heading into the kitchen as Yelena went to the bathroom.
Getting to work in the kitchen, Kate wanted Yelena to be as comfortable as she could be today. They would rest and do some more digging, but other than that, Kate wasn’t letting Yelena out of her sight.
Hearing the bathroom door open, Kate turned and looked at Yelena, she looked exhausted. “The macaroni is cooking. Would you like anything to drink? Go sit down, I’ll bring you anything you want,” Kate said, giving the pot a stir.
“A cup of tea, please,” Yelena said, listening to Kate. Her head hurt like a bitch and her ribs weren’t much better.
Multitasking, Kate turned the macaroni to low while she brought Yelena her tea. Going back to the pot, she tipped out some of the water and mixed the cheese through it and let it simmer for a moment. Putting it into two bowls, she pulled out the hot sauce and drew a heart on Yelena’s before sticking a fork in it.
“Only the finest mac and cheese for my lovely girlfriend,” Kate smiled, handing Yelena a bowl.
“And you drew a heart in it! I love you, my little hawk,” Yelena replied, shovelling a forkful of food into her mouth.
“After we finish, I would like to take the bandage off your head and change the dressing if it needs it. You were out for almost half a day. I was told to expect it, and now you’re up, I think you want to see it too.”
“I do. This bandage is not needed from where the pain is.” Shovelling more mac and cheese into her mouth, Yelena leaned back into the couch and tried to stop the feeling of spinning around. She could tell this wasn’t your average head injury and she knew she had a concussion.
Yelena knew she had to rest, to get her strength back, but she wanted to give Kingpin and Kazi a piece of her mind. They attacked her and Kate, they put a hit on her girlfriend, and she wanted them to see the error of their ways.
“We need to find out where Kazi and Kingpin are now,” Kate said, putting her empty bowl on the coffee table.
“We do, they will pay for what they did,” Yelena replied, adding her bowl to Kate’s.
“First, let me check your head wound,” Kate said, going to remove the bandage before stopping. “Hands, need to wash them.” Quickly washing her hands, Kate went back to Yelena and slowly undid the bandage and removed the blood-covered gauze from on top of the wound.
“How does it look?” Yelena asked, feeling it sting a little with the air now hitting it.
“We need to clean it up a little, there’s dried blood on your forehead.”
Getting up, Yelena felt herself sway a little as she grabbed at her ribs as they started to hurt. Feeling a steady hand on her arm, she leaned on Kate as they made their way to the bathroom.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Yelena gently touched the area before getting a sterile wipe out of the first-aid kit and wiping the area clean. There were four butterfly closures holding her skin together close to her hairline. She could tell the wound was also glued shut, and she made note to thank Steph for her handiwork. She was pretty sure it would only leave the faintest scar.
“I think my head is okay to leave like this. My ribs though, they don’t feel broken, but I think they’re badly bruised. We may need to strap them somehow,” Yelena said, wanting the injuries to heal properly so she wouldn’t have any problem with them later on. She couldn’t afford to have a permanent injury.
“We have the large bandages in the other first-aid box for that reason, come with me,” Kate said, gently taking hold of Yelena’s hand and leading her back into the living room.
Opening the linen press, Kate pulled the larger box out and removed a roll of bandage. Checking the size, she tucked it under her arm and went over to Yelena. “Shirt off, please.”
Rolling her eyes playfully, Yelena took her shirt off and allowed Kate to look at the area.
‘You have some bruising coming up, but it’s nothing major. Not for us, anyway,” Kate said, taking the plastic wrap off the bandage.
“Tight but not too tight, please,” Yelena said, holding the beginning of the bandage until Kate wrapped it around her ribs a few times.
“I know, baby. I know how you like it,” Kate replied, stopping midway to press a kiss to Yelena’s shoulder.
“There are a lot more places to kiss, like my lips,” Yelena said, seeing Kate smile.
“Soon,” Kate replied, securing the bandage in place. “How does that feel?”
“Better, thank you.” Putting her shirt back on, Yelena went over to Kate and stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to Kate’s lips. “My favourite nurse.”
“I’m always here to patch you up,” Kate said fondly, remembering the many times they had patched each other up over the last year.
“I need my laptop.” Looking around the apartment, Yelena stopped for a moment and remembered it was in the car when they got hit.
“I have them, don’t panic. God knows how they survived,” Kate said, pulling the bag out from behind the door.
“We need to track them down again and see if there is any chatter about us and our car getting hit,” Yelena said, accepting her laptop and sitting down on the couch.
“I’ll use Bishop Security to see if anything is going on there and to pull up any video surveillance of it.” Joining Yelena, Kate propped her feet onto the coffee table and opened her laptop.
Pulling up the portal to Bishop Security, Kate went through the holes in the system she placed there for herself and began to examine the data crossing her screen. Finding traffic cameras in the area they got hit, Kate went through the footage until she found the one of them getting hit.
“Watch this,” Kate said, moving her laptop so they could both see the screen.
Watching the video play out, Yelena put it back to the beginning and slowed it down to see if they could get a better look at what hit them.
“It looks like one of the road dividers was a small bomb and when we were near it, it exploded into my side of the car. Send the video to me and I’ll see if my contacts can get any debris from it that we can analyse.”
“It’s sent,” Kate said after a few strokes and clicks.
“Thank you. I have nothing much yet. Kingpin is still pinging from his office, and Kazi has dropped off the radar. I’ll start tracking him again.”
“Okay. I’ll continue to search for any leads through the company.”
Running program after program, Yelena felt like she was getting closer to finding Kazi’s new hideout. Cross checking with maps, she hoped to find something soon.
“Hey, Yelena, who’s Stefan Migdal? He’s currently trying to hack Bishop Security, not very well though and he’s trying to access the list of hitmen my mother made,” Kate said, easily blocking his attempts with a few strokes on her keyboard.
“Stefan Migdal? Trace where it’s coming from and send me a location. I’m going to pay him a visit,” Yelena replied, feeling the anger build within her.
“Who is he?” Kate asked, running her tracking program on his IP address.
“He is the younger brother of two men I killed many years ago. His brothers were kidnapping children and selling them for sex trafficking. I was hired to kill them by the parents of one of the girls. He’s now going after you to get back at me. He’s after the one thing in this world I love more than anything,” Yelena replied, clenching her fists shut.
“I have his location. How about I go pay him a visit?” Kate replied, sending the coordinates to their phones.
“I’m coming with you. He is my problem, not yours,” Yelena replied, standing quickly and closing her eyes tightly.
“Yelena, sweetie, you are injured, your head is still mending,” Kate said, pulling Yelena close and holding her.
“I’m still coming. He needs the fear of death put into him.” Trying to take a step away from Kate, Yelena grabbed at her ribs, and fell back into Kate’s arms.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Kate said, her arms wrapped around Yelena as she pressed a kiss to her head.
“She’s right, actually, neither of you are going anywhere,” Natasha said, walking into the apartment with Clint close behind. “Yelena, you’re injured, let Kate take care of you before I drag your arse down to the local hospital and have your head scanned.”
“And you Kate, you need to be here and make sure she does nothing stupid,” Clint added, taking Kate’s phone and sending the information to himself and Natasha.
“I’m your big sister, let me help. Somebody literally tried to take you out, and I’m going to put the fear of Natasha Romanov into them.” Going over to Yelena, Natasha looked at her with an unnerving gaze. “I’m pretty damn sure you have a concussion.”
“I am fine,” Yelena said, flopping onto the couch and closing her eyes.
“You can say that all you want. This problem isn’t yours anymore,” Natasha replied, cupping Yelena’s face. “Behave and let Kate take care of you. I love you and want nothing bad to happen to you.”
“The people after you two now have the Avengers to deal with. When you called us and let us know it was Kingpin, Kazi, and now Stefan after you, Thor was visiting, and he’s paying them both a visit right now. By the end of the night, you’ll both have nothing to worry about. We’ll keep you updated as things progress but please, just relax and order something that’s not pizza,” Clint said, a smile tugging on his face as he saw the look he was getting from them both.
“Give them the Avengers credit card so they can get whatever they want,” Natasha said, raising an eyebrow until Clint handed over the card.
“Promise me now, both of you, that you will not pursue this anymore,” Clint said, looking between them.
“We promise, my head hurts anyway,” Yelena replied, knowing she was still in no state to do anything.
“Kate?”
“I promise we won’t do anything stupid and I’ll take care of Yelena.”
“Let’s go deal with this scumbag. He hurt my little sister,” Natasha said, grabbing Clint and exiting the apartment, the door slamming shut behind them.
Letting out the breath she didn’t realise she was holding, Yelena closed her eyes and rested her head on Kate’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong, my love?” Kate asked, wrapping an arm around her, pressing another kiss to her head.
“I’m just not used to people being there for me,” Yelena replied, touching her head wound. “I was alone for so long and now I have you, I have my sister back, and I even have Barton.”
“You do, you have us all and we love you.”
“I think I need to rest. Will you join me?” Yelena asked, looking at Kate.
“Of course, always. Let me grab my laptop and the credit card and we can order so much food the fridge will be full for days.”
“Indian. I want Indian,” Yelena said, taking Kate’s hand as she led them into the bedroom.
Cuddling up to Kate as she pulled up the restaurants in towns, Yelena allowed herself to relax as they went through and ordered as much food as they wanted.
Watching Kate put the laptop down, Yelena pulled her close and kissed her, feeling herself melt into the touch of the woman she loved.