"Kate! Watch your six!"
Kate Bishop spun on her heel and fired a single arrow with utmost efficiency, downing her opponent with one blow. "Whoa! That was awesome!" the young archer exclaimed, looking at the assassin for what seemed like approval.
A small smile toyed at Yelena's lips. This was fun. "Could've been even more awesome if you noticed them before I did. Looks like my instincts are still better than yours, Kate Bishop."
Kate huffed and fell in line with her rival turned friend, her bow held loosely at her side. "Well, I'm sorry, I'm not a trained assassin like you and Clint!"
"And Natasha," Yelena reminded with a scolding tone before she pulled her gun from her holster and shot a man in the leg like it was just another Tuesday. "Besides, you don't need to be an assassin to have instincts. It's a naturally occurring skill, one that you clearly do not have."
The raven-haired woman watched Yelena's casual skill, her mouth slightly agape. "Okay, you have got to tell me how you got so accurate."
"Mind control," Yelena deadpanned, looking her friend in the eyes for a second too long.
Kate laughed nervously, averting her gaze. "O-oh, sorry for asking..."
"Nah." Yelena playfully nudged Kate, smiling to prove that everything was okay. "Come on; this area is almost clear. Let's get going."
This was the first mission the newbies had been allowed to work together. Usually, they would be partnered up with Natasha and Clint respectively, but with how much training they have been doing lately, they were finally able to convince their partners to let them go off on their own. The friends enjoyed working together, although sometimes Kate didn't know how to react to Yelena. She was a very open person, something Kate was not used to. But she liked her and thought it was an honor the assassin would want to work beside her.
The duo charged forward, clearing the perimeter of all enemy agents in what felt like record time. Kate grinned widely at their success. "Dude! Up top!" She raised her hand for Yelena to high-five her.
Yelena stared at her for a moment until her arm raised quickly, startling Kate with a gunshot over her shoulder.
Kate whipped around just in time to see a body fall from the watchtower. Scrunching her face up in embarrassment, she slowly turned back to the blonde, who was, as expected, giving her a disapproving look. "That..." Kate wagged her finger in the air, an uneasy smile appearing on her face. "- was my bad."
"Mhm." Yelena could hold back her smirk. "You'll learn one day, Kate Bishop."
"Again with the name thing! You don't have to say my full name all the time!"
"No." Yelena raised her finger to her ear, preparing to contact the other Avenger for a status update. "But it annoys you, so I do it anyway."
Kate scoffed and looked over her shoulder again in case someone else tried to sneak up on them while Yelena was otherwise occupied.
"Yelena and Hawkeye jr. checking in, how are we doing?" Yelena asked through the comms, not missing Kate's jaw drop at her given nickname.
"Pete and I just cleared our quadrant, heading to the rendezvous point now," came Tony's voice.
"Almost done here, just need to finish taking out the trash," Clint followed breathlessly, the faint sound of an arrow firing accompanying his statement.
Yelena stood and waited for Natasha's voice to come through, but it never did.
Kate looked toward the assassin, wondering what was taking so long.
"Nat, do you copy?" Yelena questioned again, cupping her ear to confirm it wasn't her not hearing properly.
The silence that followed scared Yelena more than anything had in a long time.
"Natasha Romanov, if you are messing with me, so help me, I will kill you myself!" Yelena spoke through gritted teeth, the bite intended behind it not reaching because of the blatant fear channeled in her voice.
Kate clenched her jaw as she observed the shift in the air. She had only known Yelena for a short while, so this was completely new territory. Now she could see just how intimating the young Russian really was.
"Barton! Stark, Peter! Please tell me you know where she last was!" Yelena could hear Tony and Peter talking on the other end.
"We don't, but we'll take to the skies now. We'll find her, mini Romanoff," Tony promised with all of the sincerity he could muster.
"Yes, she'll be okay, Ms. Belova," Peter piped in, joining the comms to reassure his friend.
Yelena couldn't even bring herself to correct Peter on her name. "Okay. Okay, split up and find her. Please. Bishop and I will do the same." The blonde dropped her hand to her side and breathed out slowly, trying to lessen her heartbeat.
"Yelena?" Kate tried, stepping closer.
"You go right, I'll go left," came a short and direct order.
Kate swallowed and gave a curt nod. "I-I'm sure she's okay, Yelena. Maybe her way of communicating just got damaged."
"If you find her, contact me immediately," Yelena continued as if the archer hadn't said anything at all. There was only one thing on her mind now, and that was to find her big sister. Nothing would stop her.
Kate gave a quick thumbs up and began jogging in the opposite direction. She didn't know the Widow as much as she knew Yelena, but she did know how much they meant to each other. That was enough of a reason to let Yelena boss her around. Just this once.
xxx
Yelena practically ran around the scene, taking out any stranglers as she went, searching for the familiar red hair of her sibling. She knew nobody else had found her because they definitely would've told her by now. Right? She rounded yet another corner, and there she discovered two bodies lying on their stomachs. One, she recognized. "Nat!" She ran towards her, dropping to the ground and sliding on her knees before coming to a stop at her side. "Talk to me. Say something, Natasha, please!"
Natasha moaned softly.
Yelena laughed breathlessly. "Thank God. C'mere, I'll help you up."
" 'lena... Don't..."
Yelena scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "What do you mean 'don't'? I'm trying to save your butt, so come on." She moved closer and worked to flip Natasha onto her back and almost fell backward when she saw it. "Nat! No, no, no..."
Despite Natasha's black uniform, an unmistakable wet spot near her ribcage confirmed the worst possible scenario. There was a bullet wound.
Yelena picked up Natasha's hand and pressed it firmly to the injury, Natasha gasping in pain when she did so. "You idiot! Why did you separate from Clint?!" the blonde insulted, her voice shaking as she gripped the top of her sister's hand. She couldn't help but notice the blood seeping between their fingers.
Natasha started to laugh, but that only made her cough, causing blood to drip from her mouth.
Yelena's eyes widened and quickly connected back to the comms. "Guys! Come to the northwest quadrant quick! Black Widow is down! Repeat, medical assistance is needed ASAP!" She leaned in closer to the redhead, brushing some of the blood from Natasha's chin and holding the side of her face. "Stay with me, okay? Please, hold on."
A strange gurgling sound came from Natasha's throat and that only scared Yelena more. They didn't have much time.
"Shh, don't try and talk." Yelena pressed harder against the bullet hole and ran her thumb across Natasha's cheek, tears welling in her eyes, preventing her from being able to tell if Natasha was able to stay awake. "They're coming for us. And-And we'll fix you up, okay? Promise me you'll keep your eyes open!"
Natasha leaned heavily against her sister's hand, the puffs of air against Yelena's palm inconsistent and wrong in every way. "I... I love-"
"No!" Yelena yelled, frantically looking around for any of their teammates. She'd even take Kate at this point, just anyone. "Don't even start. You're going to be okay; you have to be!" Tears finally escaped and traveled down her face, falling onto Natasha's already soaked torso. "Stay... Please..."
The Avenger pressed her mouth to Yelena's fingers as her eyes started to close. Natasha was trying desperately to keep them open but was losing consciousness fast. The world around her darkened, and her sister's voice grew more and more distant. This was not how she expected to die.
"Natasha! Ne sdavaysya!" Yelena begged, clutching even tighter to Natasha's hand. "You have to stay awake!" A deafening roar from overhead yanked the Russian's attention away as she looked to the sky. A few flashes of red, then both Iron Man and Spider-Man landed nearby.
Peter pulled his mask off and ran toward the two women, Tony following close behind. "Ms. Belova! What happened?!"
"She's dying!" Yelena announced loudly, her nose now running as she looked at the young boy with such a miserable expression Peter almost froze in place.
He had never seen Yelena cry.
Tony stepped around Pete and kneeled beside the Widow. "Yelena, I'm going to need you to move."
Yelena whimpered barely and stood up, limping over to stand beside Peter. She knew there was nothing she could do. But that didn't make it any easier to leave Natasha's side.
Peter gave Yelena an awkward shoulder squeeze while Tony sprayed... something on Natasha's wound.
The Russian didn't know what it was, and that only terrified her more. She knew Peter was trying to talk to her, but nothing made any sense. Natasha. Natasha. Natasha.
A few moments later, Kate and Clint came into view, rushing to join the rest of the team. Kate stopped beside Peter and Yelena, looking down at the broken body of the Black Widow. Her mouth remained open in shock as Clint charged past them to sit beside Tony.
"Nat?" Clint questioned, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but it was fading fast.
"I've got to get her back to base and fast. Legolas, can you round everybody up?" Tony asked, looking to Clint for confirmation.
The archer grimly pressed his lips together and nodded.
"Yelena?" Kate started, giving her friend a concerned look. "Is that... Natasha's blood on your hands?"
The only response she got was a suppressed cry of anguish, but that was all she needed.
Peter swallowed hard. Natasha had always looked out for him, and now she had to watch Tony prepare to pick up her limp body to rush her to medic. It was hard to watch.
Clint left his best friend's side to join the others in watching Tony fly away with her, hoping with everything he had that he would get to see her smile again. That she would get to see his kids again. That she could return to Yelena.
"Clinton."
Hawkeye turned towards the voice, finding himself face to face with Yelena's darkened eyes. He almost flinched when Yelena threw her finger into his face.
"If she dies, I'm blaming you."
xxx
By the time every one returned to the compound, Natasha was already in surgery. Tony had come to reassure everyone that she was still breathing when they arrived and that he had the best doctors on the job. It would be okay. She was a fighter.
But Yelena was still covered in Natasha's blood. Until she saw Natasha for herself, nothing would be okay. The blonde wordlessly left the group, heading to the bathroom where nobody would dare follow her. There, she ran her hands under warm water, staring at herself in the mirror while she did it. Yelena didn't recognize the person in the reflection. Whoever that was, they were coated in dirt and grim, streaky tear lines running down their face. Their eyes were puffy and red, barely even human-looking. They were broken.
Yelena took a step back after she had realized how long she had been standing there. While actively trying to avoid how red she had turned the sink, she flicked the knob into the off position, sighing deeply before she pushed the bathroom door open. In the process, she almost hit a familiar face.
Kate jumped out of the way, awkwardly laughing as she straightened herself up. "Whoa, hey, don't shoot the messenger, alright?"
Yelena's blood ran cold. "Messenger? Has there been any news on Natasha?"
The newbie rubbed the back of her neck, giving the assassin a sympathetic look. "Uh, no... It just slipped out; I'm sorry."
Yelena scoffed and began walking away. She didn't have the patience for her right now.
"Wait, wait!" Kate sidestepped to block Yelena's path, holding her hands out in front of her defensively. "I... I'm sorry. If we hadn't convinced them to let us team up this time, maybe you could've stopped this..." The Russian just stared at her, causing the dark-haired girl to shift on her feet in an attempt to feel less uncomfortable. "Listen, I know things could be better right now, but... I wanna make sure you're okay too."
"I'm fine," Yelena snapped, trying once again to dodge the archer.
But Kate wasn't having it. She was not going to let Yelena get away after something tragic had happened in her life. Kate had been lucky. Despite all of the tragedy in her life, she was never truly alone. But Yelena knew what it felt like. And Kate was too stubborn to let her continue going through life alone. "You're not okay. Natasha is a fighter, Yelena. But she'll need your support when she wakes up, so you need to stay in good condition." The pair stood in the hallway for a moment, engaged in an impromptu staring contest. This was not how Kate had expected today to go. Out of nowhere, arms wrapped around her neck. Alarm bells rang for a moment. Is this a headlock? Kate squinted, then realized what was really going on.
Yelena hadn't meant to do it, but her body had pitched forward and latched onto the younger Hawkeye, hugging her despite having never done it before. Her eyes shut tightly, and for a second, it felt like Natasha was there. You know, if it weren't for that fact Kate was much taller than the Widow.
Kate carefully returned the embrace, at first not knowing where to put her hands. Comforting someone was not her strong suit. But she would try. If Yelena trusted her enough to break down in front of her, she had to make it worth it. She just had to.
xxx
An hour later, it was just Yelena, Clint, and Tony. Peter had wanted to stay, but Aunt May had pulled him away on personal business, and Kate was going to visit her mother in prison. But before she left, Kate had promised
Yelena she would return when the visitation was over. Yelena could only smile a tight-lipped smile in return. There had been no updates yet. It had been over an hour, and nobody had told them if Natasha was still alive. This sucked.
Tony sat far back in his seat, his chin resting in his hand.
Clint was leaning against the wall, his head tilted upward as he tried to keep his cool.
And Yelena, she sat across from them, her face resting in her palms, trying not to cry or punch a wall. Or both. She knew she should apologize to Clint. Natasha was just as stubborn as her and probably had gone off on her own without telling him. It wasn't his fault. But she knew he probably already blamed himself.
"You know, kid, if we haven't heard anything yet, that's probably a good thing."
Yelena's head snapped up when Tony began speaking.
"Most of the time, when a surgery goes wrong, it happens in the early stages."
The Russian gritted her teeth and leaned back in her chair, unimpressed. "You're not helping, Stark."
Tony held her arms up in surrender. "Hey, I was just trying to be useful."
Yelena sighed and shook her head. "Well, stop trying. You're not my dad. And I'm not a kid."
The inventor nodded and promptly stopped talking. Tony knew to choose his battles wisely, and arguing with a scared assassin was not something he was about to mess with. Even he wasn't that stupid.
After another 20 minutes of agony, Clint finally pulled away from the wall and chose to sit near Yelena.
Tony gave him a look, but Clint just waved him off.
"Yelena? Can we talk? Please?"
Much to both men's surprise, she nodded and stood up.
Hawkeye followed her a ways away so that Tony was out of earshot. He wanted this to be just between the two of them. "Listen-"
Yelena spun on her heel to face him, her arms crossed over her chest.
"You know Natasha. She's fiercely independent and decided to split up. And I, well, I didn't even think twice about it. I see now that I should have." Clint breathed out slowly, mirroring Yelena's position. "I'm sorry for not having her back. But she means a lot to me, Yelena. And I would never have let this happen otherwise. I hope you know that."
The blonde looked at him for a second, then nodded again. "You're her best friend."
"I am," Clint agreed, wondering where she was going with this.
"But I'm her sister."
Clint agreed again, slower this time.
"I should've protected her."
"Yelena, don't put this all on yourself. It's not your fault."
"I should've been with her!" Yelena argued, raising her voice loud enough that surely Tony could hear them now. "But I wasn't... and now she's in surgery..."
Clint pursed his lips. He had meant to clear the air between them, and in the process, he made an entirely new problem. Sounds about right. "Yelena. Natasha is her own person. And sometimes she's an idiot, but she's our idiot."
Yelena raised her eyes to meet his.
"She wouldn't want us to argue. You know full well she only blames herself."
"I..." Yelena clenched her hand into a fist and huffed. Dang it, Barton, why are you always right?
"So." Clint held his hand out for Yelena to shake. "Let's call a truce, yeah?"
Yelena was about to accept the archer's offer but was distracted by Tony jogging down the hallway towards them.
"If you assassins are done duking it out, I have a very important announcement to make," Tony stated, clasping his hands together.
Yelena dropped her hand so she could give Tony her full attention, her heart beating faster as she awaited the news.
Tony broke out into a wide grin. "The surgery was a success. Natasha will be out of commission for a while, but they predict she'll make a full recovery."
A breath Yelena didn't know she had been holding in released, and so did the waterworks. "She's okay...?"
The inventor nodded, and Clint ran his fingers through his hair in relief. Natasha had pulled through.
"So we can see her?"Yelena asked, playing with her fingers as means to stay calm.
"Well..."
Yelena's heart sank.
"We're only allowed one at a time for now. And the anesthesia hasn't worn off yet, so she's not awake."
"But-"
"Yes, Yelena." Tony smiled softly and gestured behind him. "You go and be there when she wakes up."
Yelena let out a watery laugh and took off down the hall, her mind blank except for one thing. Get to Natasha.
"Hey, kid, don't you want to know where her room is?!"
xxx
Yelena pulled up a chair near Natasha's bedside, taking her sister's hand in her own. She hated this. Natasha's torso was mostly covered, but Yelena could still see the edge of the bandage wrapped around her ribcage. Her lip quivered as she observed Natasha's expression. She looked so peaceful. But Yelena knew it was just the drugs, and after they wore off, it would be weeks of pain.
Yelena tightened her grip on Natasha's hand, bringing it to her lips to press a soft kiss to her knuckles. "You're so dumb sometimes, starshaya sestra..." She stared longingly at the Avenger's face, silently urging her to open her eyes and give her the smile she so desperately wanted to see. The color had returned to Natasha's face, but seeing her lying there like this didn't ease her worry. Hospital rooms still made her nervous.
The assassin pushed forward and rested her chin on the bed, intending to keep an eye on her sister until she woke up, but she was so tired...
xxx
There were fingers in her hair. The touch was gentle and almost intoxicating. But Tony and Clint wouldn't dare try anything like this. So that means... Yelena shot up in her seat, startling Natasha in the process. "You..." Yelena grinned, and not the first time today she felt her eyes grow watery. "You're awake."
Natasha smiled, her eyes still heavy with sleep. "I am. I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, no! It's-" Yelena laughed joyously and leaned in to press a long kiss to Natasha's forehead.
Natasha hummed and leaned into her touch. "Wow, guess I need to get shot more often."
"No!" Yelena pulled away and acted like she was going to slap Natasha, who shifted slightly and chuckled. "Don't even joke about that, Romanov; you scared me half to death!"
"I'm sorry." The Avenger rested her head back on her pillow and sighed softly. "Are you okay?"
"Am I-? Are you even hearing yourself right now?" Yelena asked, offended that Natasha would immediately switch to worrying about her even though only one of them was in a hospital bed. "You could've died, Nat!"
Natasha pressed her lips together in thought. She knew she should have been more careful. Sometimes it was easy to lose sight of the more important things, like safety. In the process, she scared the rest of her team, Yelena especially. Guilt rode up Natasha's throat that made her feel like crying. She should've done better. "Hey." The redhead carefully shifted over in the bed, not missing Yelena's urges to be more cautious. "Come up here."
Yelena breathed out of her nose, a smile tugging at her lips. "I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't." Natasha cutely gestured for her to join her again. "Besides, I could really use a hug right now."
The Russian growled slightly. Natasha always knew how to get her way. "Fine, I'm coming, I'm coming." Yelena stood and climbed onto the bed, lying on her side and facing her big sister.
Natasha wasn't allowed to move very much, so she reached up to pat the side of Yelena's face. "Come on. It'll be okay."
"Alright, alright." Yelena adjusted again and rested her head on Natasha's chest, her palm placed lightly on Natasha's stomach.
Natasha kissed her head, holding the back of her neck as it was the only thing she could do. She wished she could embrace her like she was never going to let go. "You found me, rooskaya. Thank you."
Yelena nuzzled her nose into Natasha's skin, fighting back the sob in her throat. "I'll always find you, sestra..."
xxx
Ne sdavaysya! - Don't give up on me!