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Electricity from Yelena's widow bite dances so close to Kate's face that it singes her hair. She's desperately using both of her hands to keep the bites from reaching her but Yelena is so strong and Kate is so tired. Her muscles are shaking and threatening to go out at any moment. Ice cold water is seeping into her clothes, weighing her down even more.
Kate's foot slips on one of the slick rocks at the bottom of the shallow riverbed, forcing her to drop to her knee so that she's nearly waste deep in the water. Nervously, the exhausted hero glances behind her to see that their fight has driven them dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Kate's gone cliff diving at similar heights before, but she has no idea what could be waiting for her at the bottom of this small waterfall. Something in her gut tells her that the water's too shallow to properly cushion a fall from this high up.
Kate's gaze moves back to meet the steely gaze of the former Black Widow standing above her. The set of her jaw looks almost too determined. Her expression almost too blank.
"Please." Kate begs. Her throat is raw from being strangled earlier and it's still so incredibly painful to speak. But she needs to try. "We can do this. Together. We can do this. Please."
The pressure against Kate's arms releases and they fall to her sides. It takes everything she has not to fall over. The slight hum of the widow bites turn off as Yelena shifts away from her. In spite of everything that's happened in the last twelve hours, hope blooms in Kate's chest. A pathetically happy sound rips from somewhere deep in her before she has the chance to stop it. But that doesn't matter. Because they can win. If Kate and Yelena work together the young hero knows that they'd be unstoppable. They could face any insurmountable odds together. Kate knows it.
Just as quickly as it appears, Kate's hope is crushed as she examines Yelena's expression. The assassin's eyes are watery and her trembling lips are pulled down into a pout that Kate knows only happens when Yelena is truly upset. This close to each other, Kate can see the difference between the tears forming in her eyes and the droplets of river water clinging to her eyelashes. Yelena has never before been so open and easy to read to Kate.
Her next words are more devastating than any physical blow she could possibly give. "I'm sorry Kate. I'm not like you. And I'm not like her. I'm not a hero."
Even if Kate's trembling muscles could move fast enough to block the punch, Yelena's words, hopeless expression abs the fact that she didn’t call her ‘Kate Bishop’ has rendered her numb. Yelena's fist makes contact with the archer's jaw and the world goes dark.