Legal Disclaimer: My work is my own creative intelligence and property, but I do not own the original source material it stems from (I wouldn't be writing fanfiction if it was). The opinions and interpretations of characters and events reflected in my stories may not follow what is portrayed from the source material. Please don't sue me, I'm a stay at home mom.

WARNING: This story contains SPOILERS for the TV show Hawkeye. You have been notified.

Competition/Challenge Block
Written for/Stacked with: Monthly Challenges for All (Year 4)

MC4A: Winter Bingo (2B [Sharing Food]); Vocab Bingo (4E [Grimace]); Ship Bingo (1C [Sharing Food/Drink]); Swap & Shop (Furniture [Wooden Bookshelf]); Fireworks (Be Merry; Sapphic Paradise; Winter Wonderland); Garden (Winter Wonderland [Cookies]);

Outside Challenges: Writing in a Winter Wonderland Day 11: Secrets | Family

Word Count: 1,132

Author's Note: So, I found it odd that Kate didn't take the shot with Yelena on the rooftop, and her simply shaking her head before disappearing was quite interesting. Of course, my brain is like "Whoa, what if she met her earlier? She would be floored with this if that was the case!"

Also, unfortunately Eleanor is super sus in episode 4, like she is totally the head of this entire operation. I am so confident I would put money on it.
Anyway, enjoy my amazing Bi Disaster Kate with cookies and oogling a pretty lady and not able to process the thought that her mom hired said pretty assassin lady to go after Clint. Ho boy.

I have Yelena using a pseudo name, by the way.

Spider in the Nest

Kate returned to the penthouse the following morning from her successful attempt to cheer up Clint at the safehouse with Operation: Christmas Cheer. It would've been eerily quiet had it not been for the cheery Christmas music echoing throughout the space and the smell of fresh-baked cookies emitting from the kitchen. She couldn't believe she forgot her gear here instead of leaving it at the safehouse, especially now that she and Clint figured out how to retrieve all those arrows she carelessly shot while being chased by the Tracksuits. Just a minor setback is all.

"Mom?" she called, dropping her jacket carelessly on the bench.

Not getting an answer, she investigated the kitchen to find chocolate chip cookies on the cooling rack. Nicking a couple off the counter, she shoved one in her mouth when she turned the corner to head for her room upstairs only to freeze when she saw her mother's office door cracked open at the end of the hall.

She took a brief look around the foyer and hall before quietly approaching the door, hearing voices behind it. One was her mother's of course, but the second wasn't Jack or anyone else she recognized. It was a thick Russian accent.

"I want half now," the Russian demanded.

"Easy, little spider—" Kate raised a brow at that comment. "—I am the one who provided you with this valuable information, you have no room to make demands here," her mother countered.

"I would've been fine without your help either way," the foreigner responded with a scoff. "You're just making it all easier for me. Half now or no deal."

Kate leaned forward, her foot sliding forward just enough for that one creaky board in the floor to groan under it, giving away her cover. 'Damn, why could it never stay fixed?'

The door flew open and she was face-to-face with a blonde-haired woman with a round, calculating face sizing her up immediately. Kate did the same, but looked to her mother who approached from behind the woman for information.

"No need to be startled," her mother said reassuringly, "This is my very nosey daughter, Kate. Kate, I wasn't expecting you back so early."

"Frgot m' grr," Kate muffled out between cookie, gaze wandering back to the woman who had since moved further back into the room.

Her mother looked appalled by her lack of manners, and she quickly spit the cookie out of her mouth and into her hand, grimacing while wiping the crumbs from the corners of her mouth. "Sorry. I, uh… forgot my gear. Going to a LARP thing at the park. You know, pretend fighting and exploring and such."

"Well, that is certainly new for you," her mother said, chuckling. "Taking your skills to new heights?"

"Sorta…"

The woman folded her arms over her chest, looking very uninterested and unamused about the exchange as she pressed her back against the wooden bookshelf behind her. Kate nodded in her direction.

"Who's your friend, Mom?"

"Ah, this is Selena. She's a new business partner," her mother explained.

"Hi," Kate said when Selena said nothing. "I like your vest. For fashion or practical reasons?"

Selena smirked, rolling her head on her shoulders to lazily look down at the garment. "Mostly fashion. Though, it is very handy over a silly handbag or purse to put things in." She looked right at Kate then, a mysterious spark in her eye. "You never know what could be hiding in them, just like a purse, yeah?"

Kate chuckled like an idiot at that, unable to decide if that was supposed to be threatening or endearing as she admired the deceptive tactical vest and only seeing a few semi-obvious pocket areas. She couldn't help but let her attention wander over the tight black jeans and boots Selena wore or the solid white sweater she wore under the vest. Her hair was double-braided and secured in a messy updo at the base of her neck, and it took all of Kate's effort to not swoon at how pretty she looked.

Her mother motioned with her hand then, clearing her throat and pulling Kate back to reality.

"Well, I am glad we were able to meet about this arrangement in person, Selena. I hope that my help finds you well moving forward." She walked toward the door, pausing for Selena to exit first. "Shall I walk you out?"

Kate side-stepped out of their way, absently putting her partially eaten cookie back in her mouth. "'Twas nice meeting you, Selena."

Selena stopped directly in front of her, facing her. She looked at the cookie in Kate's mouth before meeting her eyes with a coy smirk.

"Was nice meeting you as well, Kate." Selena plucked the extra cookie from Kate's hand and took a meaningful bite from it, not breaking eye contact the entire time as she did this.

The exchange seemed to go completely unnoticed by her mother, who had gone back into the office briefly for something. Selena proceeded down the hall as if nothing had happened, and Kate had to remember how to breathe while she committed those chocolate brown eyes to memory.

'Wow…'

The altercation on the rooftop was definitely not in the plan, but she refused to leave Clint alone to handle it. She knew she could help apprehend the ambushers, what her curiosity went to was if the two black-clad individuals were working together or not.

And why did the one prevent her from simply falling off the rooftop entirely?

Getting back up to the top, Clint was pinned between both ambushers but her question on if they were together was quickly answered when the one hit the other in the face to try and get her off Clint. Without thinking, she drew a trick arrow and let it fly, not exactly sure what it would do, but the sound was near-deafening as she clamped her hands over her ears to try and stifle it.

The blow from the woman who recovered the quickest hurt, but Kate wasn't going to let the searing pain stop her. She scrambled to her feet, trying to not let the distortion get to her as she shot at the woman, getting her in the shoulder. Kate shook her head, trying to recover, and the woman was gone in an instant. Clint was still being pounced on by the other invader, so she instead focused her attention on them.

She had taken aim, blinking a couple of times to regain more sight, but froze. The person in front of her was…

Selena looked right at her, Kate held her bow taut, ready to fire, but she simply shook her head. Shocked and in utter disbelief, she lowered her bow, and she was gone in a heartbeat.

'What the…?'