Chapter Text
Professional Hockey was always the goal. Kate knew it was her future from the first moment she saw Clint Barton, the left winger the world had deemed “Hawkeye”, snipe an absolute howitzer from the blue line to win for the New York City Avengers in the 2012 Tesseract Cup Series. Kate had been seated in her father’s business suite overlooking the ice. She had pulled her #57 Barton jersey tighter around her and celebrated in time with her father. Derek Bishop had swept her into his arms, jumping up and down in time with the Avengers jumping the boards to celebrate.
Since then, the New York City Avengers had always been the dream, but any team that would take Kate would do her just fine. When the call came on draft night from the newest, and most controversially named, PHL team, Kate was stunned. Shell shocked was an understatement as the announcement sounded through the PHL draft.
“With the first overall pick in the PHL 2022 draft, the Jersey City Young Avengers select Forward Katherine Bishop from the NYU Violets!”
🏒
August 2022
August in Utah is boiling but the inside of the rink remains freezing. Yelena skates circles around the rink to stretch her legs, speeding up with each lap. It’s only 5 am but she couldn’t sleep. Something about being in a new place for the first time never set right within her. She had decided around 4 that tossing and turning wasn’t worth the effort, so she had dressed and driven to the O.X.E rink, electing to skate out her frustrations.
After 20 or so laps she glided to the bench to retrieve her stick and her bucket of practice pucks. Deke right, cut left, back and forth across the ice, pull up before the goal, fake a top bin shot only to gently tuck the puck into the bottom left corner. The Belova specialty all the way from her Russian Super League days. Yelena chuckles at the thought of her days on the Widows. If she closes her eyes she can feel the atmosphere of the Red Room rink all around her, the barking of her coach as he screamed-
Yelena shakes her head and skates the opposite direction with a new puck. No time to reminisce about being stuck there, not when she was finally on Utah ice. Cut straight across, skate the blue line, pass across the ice, skate over the fresh Thunderbolts* logo, catch the puck off her rebound, draw back, SMACK, the puck flies off the snapshot and misses the net high right. Yelena huffs, moving to skate after the exact puck she sent flying when she hears her phone ring from the bench. She completely intends to ignore it but it rings again and again, to the point that her focus is completely thrown off.
Yelena throws the door to the bench open and throws her gloves onto the ground before grabbing her buzzing phone from her yellow and black Thunderbolts* gear bag. Her heart stops when the caller id displayed does not belong to the only person on her mind.
“Belova”
“Are you trying to run yourself into the ground before practices even start?”
Yelena looks upward, scanning the arena until her eyes land on a streak of grey hair descending the stands.
“Good morning Valentina,” Yelena barks back, short and clipped, “How do you know this isn’t just my process?”
Her phone beeps as Valentina ends the call, now face to face with Yelena inside the home bench.
“I prefer Ms. Allegra de Fontaine, Ms. Belova.” Valentina tuts, a disapproving smirk resting on her lips.
“Regardless, I know this is not your routine because I personally scouted you. I advise you listen to me or I may regret my decision to take on your contract regardless of your delayed arrival.”
“Right. Because the Thunderbolts can win without me.” Yelena turns to skate out only to feel Valentina’s hand close around her bicep.
“We do not need you to win, I can have any player I want to replace you. Go home Belova. Before I send you home.”
🏒
“Welcome to the first game of the 2020 Professional Hockey League season! Today we have a 2019 playoff series throwback as the Galaxy Guardians have traveled to Genosha to take on the Mutants. I’m Foggy Nelson, and I’m joined in the booth by Karen Page.”
“Thank you Foggy, now, during their wildcard playoff meetup the Genosha Mutants were able to scrape out a 3-2 series victory over the Galaxy Guardians who are known to be high scorers. Since then however, some notable squad members have left the Mutants, such as goalie Peter Rasputin who is now a member of the Krakoa X-Men.”
“Sounds like this will be an incredible watch as we see Guardians Captain Peter Quill lead his team to what they hope will serve as a statement going into this season, and the Mutants Captain Erik Lensherr who we assume hopes his newer team members can show up and show out.”
🏒
December 2016
“You’re late.” Carol’s voice echoes through the stadium suite.
Natasha smirks, “Keep it together Danvers, it’s the world juniors. I don’t need to be here.”
She slides herself into the seat on Carol’s right; slinging her arm out to rest on the back of her teammates chair. The rink is just the right amount of cold to chill suite E4 and Natasha revels in it before allowing her gaze to flit down to the ice. Russia vs the United States. Every skater seems miniscule as they circle each other, passing, shooting, and attempting to create space to make a play. PHL coaches fill the front row against the boards, notebooks clutched tightly, tension gathering in their shoulders.
Feet land on the top of Natasha’s chair. “See that short one by the right hand goal? Number 5? We’ve been watching her for Fury. She sure seems special, Tash. I uh- hear she's 18. Got talent to go number one if she skips out on school and the super league.”
Natasha hums. She follows Clint’s pointed toe in her vision, letting her eyes land on a short, but admittedly built, blonde woman.
“Position?”
“Center.” He answers, just as the woman on the ice breaks hard at the blue line, sending a cascade of snow up into the air. She uses the distraction to deke around the defender, pull back, and send a rocket shot into the top net corner.
Something in the motion is familiar, almost startlingly reminiscent. It’s a move Natasha has pulled many times. A move that has propelled their team to the playoffs every year she’s been an Avenger. The arena sharpens as the girl takes her helmet off, frees her intricate braid of golden hair, and sends a pointed look right through Natasha’s heart. Everything stops as her breath catches.
“Might be worth a look for us. We do pick first this year, plus, don’t want a talent like that falling to Philly.” Carol argues, but her voice is muffled in Natasha’s ears.
Clint hums in agreement. “Might be the right idea Danvers. Whatcha think Tash? Think she’d be a good fit?”
Her voice fails her as her sister tsks, places her helmet back upon her head, and skates onto the bench.
“Natasha?”
“Oh, well… I don’t know. We have Walker, so maybe we don’t need her. It can be hard to escape Russia. Might just be a waste of a pick.”
“Well, you did it right? Maybe you could help her?”
Natasha pushes Clint’s foot off her shoulder and makes her way to the suite exit.
Carol turns to Clint with a questioning gaze. “What was that about?”
He shrugs, watching until Natasha exits from the back of the suite before turning back to the ice to watch.
🏒
Ignored. Again.
She shouldn’t be surprised or upset, but it still hurts. Yelena shakes her head to erase the image of her sister along with the memory of the year long unanswered text streak. What mattered was the play on the ice. Making sure she could return to Russia with a World Junior’s win. There were no other options.
The line changed with her teammates crashing back onto the bench. Sonya slammed her stick down and grabbed the water bottle Yelena was clutching right out of her hands.
“Cyka.” Yelena growled as she snatched the bottle back.
Sonya chuckled and grabbed her own bottle from the caddy.
“Alright Belova, my bad,” Her russian accent sharpened her words at the consonants. “I thought a goal would lighten your mood. We are ten minutes from being world champions.”
Yelena stayed silent. Her eyes tracked the puck lazily as it bounced from stick to stick. Team USA was strong this year, just not as strong as team Russia. Still, Yelena had found herself captivated by their right winger on the 3rd line. She was young; had to be barely old enough to make the tournament. Yelena could see the green in her hesitance to shoot and her deference to the older members of her shift line.
The young forward received a pass from her center, cleared the neutral zone, and glided uncovered across the blue line. Russia’s own 3rd line danced around the USA offense, leading the forward to zip a pass across the ice and skate down the wall to the corner of Russian territory.
Yelena nearly cheered when she finally made out the text on the back of the jersey.
Bishop
#12
“Belova? Are you listening?”
Yelena flinched but didn’t respond. Down the bench her number was called just as the puck was stolen from Bishop by Yelena’s teammate Mikhail. Without a second glance in Sonya’s direction she was jumping the boards and accepting a perfectly timed pass from Mikhail Ursus.
She flew down the ice on the breakaway. The American goalie had nervous sweat pouring down his face and Yelena capitalized. Deke once, cut to center ice, rush the corner, fake the backhand on the goalie’s right, circle the net, and finally- tuck the puck safely into the corner of the net.
With five minutes left on the clock Yelena forgot all about her sister and number 12. Instead, she allowed herself to think about returning to Russia a hero.
🏒
“Thank’s for joining us folks! We hope to see you again tomorrow night for a brand new PHL matchup!”
“That’s right Karen! Tomorrow night at 7pm EST, we will watch the Utah Thunderbolts visit the Jersey City Young Avengers in the inaugural game for both teams! But that’s not all, the Thunderbolts will be joined by 2017 first round draft pick Yelena Belova who has finally come over from the Russian Super League.”
“Exactly Foggy, Belova will be part of the Thunderbolts starting lineup on Saturday night and will face off against Young Avenger’s rookie forward Kate Bishop. It is important to note that Belova was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Defenders before they moved to Utah.”
“Interestingly enough Karen, Bishop and Belova have faced each other before. In 2016, Yelena Belova was 18 and captain of the Russian World Juniors team. Likewise, Bishop was just 16, barely made the age cut, and was placed on the 3rd line for team USA. Of course, Russia took home the win that year, with America placing second in a 5-3 championship loss after Belova herself scored the game sealing goal.”
🏒
July 2022
“Welcome to rookie introduction week.” PHL commissioner Phil Coulson stood tall on stage. “The Professional Hockey League has gathered all first year players to allow you the opportunity to hear from veterans, make connections, and truly become PHL players.”
The auditorium erupted in clapping and Kate took the moment to take in the faces surrounding her. Given the youth of the Young Avengers organization, Kate was surrounded by teammates on both sides but she hadn’t familiarized herself with the rest of the league rookies yet.
She let her eyes flit across faces, pushing her name memory to its limits.
David Alleyne, defenseman for the X-Men, Peter Parker forward for the Avengers, Shuri forward for the Panthers.
Kate kept going, attempting to burn every face, name, and position into her mind. It wasn’t until she reached Bob Reynolds that she paused. He was seated all the way in the back but he wasn’t by himself like some of the other goalies in the room. Next to him was a short blonde woman with a slicked back rocker haircut. She was turned into Reynolds and appeared to be whispering something that made him laugh.
Kate traced the stacked piercings along the woman’s ear, then let her eyes trail down her neck, inevitably studying her defined arms through her muscle shirt. She was sure that she had never seen nor heard of this woman until she pulled back. Immediately Kate was back in 2016, watching as Russia’s Yelena Belova put the final nail in team USA’s coffin. It had been Kate’s first world juniors tournament and an admittedly tough loss. As a result Kate had spent the past four years following Yelena’s career. Watching and waiting for the moment she would make her PHL debut after going second overall in the 2017 draft.
She had to admit, she felt the way things had turned out could only be described as serendipitous. When Commissioner Coulson dismissed the room, Kate rose to her feet and began to make her way towards Yelena. She absentmindedly ignored her teammates' questions, dodged an overeager Peter Parker, and ended up running face first into an unsuspecting Bob Reynolds.
Kate landed backwards on the landing of the top auditorium row.
“Oh lord I am so so sorry.” she spoke, reaching towards the man she’d bowled over.
Reynolds had fallen face first into whoever he was speaking to, and was now clutching his nose tightly.
“It’s uh- it’s no big deal, I’m a goalie so I’ve had worse I guess.” He stammered.
Kate chuckled, relieved by his nervousness.
“Thunderbolts right?”
Reynolds nodded. “Yup, name’s Bob. Well, Robert I guess. But Bob is fine. That’s what they call me anyway. They being everyone.”
Kate smiled and stuck her hand out to him. “Well Bob, I’m Kate Bishop, forward for the Young Avengers.”
Bob shook her hand and moved to speak again before a small, well manicured hand landed on his shoulder.
“Make a friend Robert?”
The woman’s accent was thick. Kate felt her heart stutter in her chest just watching her slide over to stand beside Bob.
“Well we hadn’t really gotten past introductions yet, Yelena. Anyway, Yelena, Kate Bishop, Kate Bishop- Yelena Belova.”
Unlike Bob, Yelena did not stick out her hand. She didn’t move to speak either. She simply gave Kate a once over, allowing her eyes to linger on her thighs, her arms, and finally, Kate’s eyes. She was mesmerizing and Kate didn’t have it in her to break eye contact. Not when Yelena’s eyes were such a pure shade of green. So sharp and inviting that Kate wanted nothing more than to swim in the green waters of her irises.
“I uh,” Kate started. “I play for the Young Avengers. Or I will, I guess, play for them. Once the season starts anyway. Just one more month!”
Yelena smirked as Kate fumbled.
“It is nice to formally meet you Kate Bishop, but we must be going.” Yelena replied.
Kate deflated within herself. She’d blown the only interaction she had been looking forward to all night.
“Oh, yeah that, that makes sense. Well I um, guess I’ll see you in September! First game of the season and all.”
Bob nodded enthusiastically while Yelena began to pull him away. “Have a nice night Kate Bishop.”
Kate watched them go, feeling more dejected by the second. She’d been dreaming about speaking to Yelena Belova for years and had never imagined she could screw it up that badly. It didn’t feel like it was all her fault though. Yelena had been hostile, right? Yeah, totally hostile. Maybe she really was the aggressive, un-friendly woman everyone said she was.
Kate turned and walked back to join her fellow Young Avengers, worried she would never know Yelena Belova beyond an opponent.
🏒
“Isn’t the point of today to make friends?”
Bob’s voice was small, like he already knew Yelena was going to whole-heartedly disagree with him. She hated it. Yelena always hated when people treated her like a bomb that was likely to go off at any minute.
“You made a friend, Bob. That Kate Bishop seemed to be someone you would get along with. All fumbling words and clumsiness.”
Yelena looked up to meet Bob’s gaze across the table. It had been hours since the introductory “lecture” from the commissioner and now they were in an even stuffier room awaiting another lecture from a veteran player on the importance of player bonding. Despite the passing of time, Bob remained just as dejected as he was when Yelena had pulled him from the auditorium early.
Yelena sighed and leaned forward just enough to be closer to Bob without being too close. “I’m sorry we left early. I am not used to team bonding. Not much of that allowed in Russia.”
Her goalie nodded. “Well, it’ll be different for you here. The rest of the Thunderbolts seem to be nice and Kate really was kind even though she knocked me down.”
Before Yelena could reply, Kate Bishop’s voice floated over her head.
“I am still very sorry about that by the way.”
Yelena twisted completely around to get a good look at the young woman the words had come from. Sure enough, there was Kate Bishop, standing directly behind her in a white sweatsuit with orange and yellow Young Avengers accents and team lettering. If Yelena had to guess, she would assume Kate’s name and number were situated on the back of the hoodie.
“Well, if it isn’t Kate Bishop.” Yelena let herself draw Kate’s name out, attempting to come across as intimidating as possible. Instead, Kate’s face was taken over by a look of confusion.
“Uh, sure is! The program for the veteran speaker says I sit here with you guys if that’s okay? My teammate Teddy is supposed to sit here too. He’s a goalie, you’ll like him Bob.”
At that, Bob positively beamed. “I would love to make friends with another goalie! We’d love to have you sit with us Kate. Guess we don’t really have a real choice anyway though huh?”
“Guess not.” Yelena muttered while Kate pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. The girl's posture gave away her nerves and unsure demeanor.
For the next two hours Yelena tried her hardest to tune out Thor Odinson, the chosen veteran for the evening speech. She knew enough about him to not care about what he had to say. He had been part of the Avengers dynasty that had given her sister three league titles. A sure fire defenseman, hit like a macktruck, heart of gold, and a brother who played forward for as many teams in the league as would take him. Nothing Thor had to say would matter to Yelena.
Instead, Yelena focused on Kate Bishop’s mannerisms. She was enthralled by Thor’s speech, hanging off his every word. It was clear to Yelena that the girl was a major Avenger’s fan, just another reason for Yelena to want to ignore her. Though the harder she tried, the more intune to Kate she became.
Every minute or so, Kate would spin the ring on her left index finger. A small signet with what appeared to be a family crest. Once she had spun the ring, her right hand would turn her necklace over and over, before gently tugging the collar of her hoodie away from her neck. Just like the World Juniors in 2016, Yelena was entranced by Kate’s actions. Every move she made caught her eye, leading to Yelena wondering what else Kate did to distract herself.
What could she do to distract Kate Bishop?
No. That wouldn’t do. Yelena could not afford distractions going into a season where she would have to prove herself more than anyone.
When Thor left the stage, most of the rookies began to flood out immediately. Yelena however, was rooted to the spot. Bob had even stood, making his way out of the room with his new best friend Teddy, and Yelena hadn’t even noticed. She was completely inside her own head, warring with her wants and needs. By some miracle, a voice cut through the fog. Or maybe it was because the voice was right against her ear.
“You spent the whole night watching me didn’t you?”
Yelena gulped as Kate Bishop called her out. How obvious had she been?
Kate gave her a second to respond, only continuing when Yelena’s prolonged silence made it clear she had nothing to say.
“I’m in room 3016, come by before midnight if you want. If not, we can forget I ever said anything.”
With that, Kate stood and left the room without looking back. When Yelena knocked on the door to 3016 later that night, Kate made sure she had no more room in her head for rational thought.