Disclaimer: Everything you recognise here either came from the MCU films or the original Marvel comics, but I hope you enjoy the results anyway

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The Legacies' Triad

For her first meeting with a hero aside from her sister, Yelena had to admit that she was surprisingly unsure how to feel about it.

On the one hand, Spider-Man was clearly a relative rookie when it came to any kind of actual fighting, and there was something in his manner that put Yelena in mind of an eager child (even if she had only ever seen children properly playing such games at a distance), but on the other hand… as much as Yelena felt like she was betraying her own training, he had done a good job.

Granted, he had left himself exposed to attacks more than once, but considering what he was physically capable of, Yelena could see how he had less to worry about than a normal fighter would. Once he actually had some training rather than relying on his strength and instincts, she had a feeling the vigilante would be quite a formidable fighter, but at the moment that lack of training at least assured her that the spider wasn't affiliated with the Widow she was tracking here. The notion of working with him was an unusual one, but if her sister was unavailable, Yelena could see the advantage of allying with another Avenger with local knowledge of this city.

Doesn't hurt that he has a good butt, she allowed herself a brief smile at the thought. She doubted they would have time to do more together than track the New York Widow, but there was nothing wrong with appreciating a good view.

Right now, however, the goal had to be to follow up a new lead before it went down. The earlier robbery had been the easier target, but that was now a dead end due to Spider-Man's interference, even if Yelena was able to find anything from analysing those weapons. Still, she couldn't blame the other hero for being unaware of what she was doing when he had stepped in- she was sure her sister would approve of her focus on saving lives in that scenario- and at least this link bore a more obvious connection to the target she was really after.

She didn't know how another Widow could set up something on this scale, and she was hoping that Dreykov's orders had just been particularly detailed, but she had to accept that she should prepare for a worst-case scenario. At the moment, she wanted to believe the best of the former Red Room residents, but if life had taught her anything, it was that everyone reacted to things in different ways. For the moment, she would follow her leads and see what she could find; the question of her fellow operative's own agenda would have to wait until the time was right.

Even with the obvious need for greater stealth in the city that was at least once home to Earth's Mightiest Heroes (before Natasha left and those stupid Accords made the remaining line-up basically useless), she had worked out a good routine for getting around. She had determined that some of the Widow's agents were in action in a more upper-class part of the city this evening, which at least meant she had a chance at questioning someone directly rather than dealing with proxies like she would have been previously.

Making her way to an upper-level rooftop looking down on the identified target area, she took up position and looked down at the lower buildings. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she had binoculars and most of her standard equipment; as soon as she found something that didn't fit, she'd be ready to move on-

Her gaze settled on a particular rooftop a short distance down from her current location, where a figure was lying in a black combat suit. The attire was a very particular variation of the Red Room's familiar attire, which at least assured her that she was looking at an affiliate of Dreykov's associate, but right now that dark suit might as well have been a flashlight to Yelena. Moving as swiftly and silently as possible, she made her way towards the man, until she was in position right behind him, her gun held against the back of his head.

"What are you here for?" she asked, taking the safety off her gun as she kept her gaze fixed on her new target. In response, the man simply raised his hand, prompting Yelena to slam her own free hand against the man's rising wrist, forcing it open to reveal a basic pager that Yelena recognised as one of Dreykov's standard 'gifts' for his operatives. Gun still held against her captive's head, Yelena glanced over the side of the building and cursed as she saw three men in similar black outfits to her current prisoner leaving of the shadows of three surrounding buildings and moving downwards. Assessing their pattern of movement, Yelena identified a dark-haired teenage girl walking along the sidewalk as their most obvious point of convergence, which at least gave her a target to protect.

Pulling a pair of handcuffs out of a pocket, she slapped one end around the man's wrist and the other around a nearby pipe; it wouldn't contain a true Red Room operative for long, but if this man had been caught off-guard that easily it should be enough to keep him out of the upcoming fight until she had dealt with things down below. That done, she leapt over the side of the building, firing her grapple gun as she fell to catch the roof above. Her descent slowed by the cable, Yelena kept her gaze fixed on the men she had already identified as her targets before she released the cable and kicked off the wall, landing directly in front of one of the men she had identified as an attacker. She gave the man a moment to shift into a combat stance before she retaliated with a sweeping kick (maybe there were advantages to Natasha's pose landing?), knocking him down as she got to her feet.

Turning back around as the few civilians in the area ran from the sudden fight, Yelena was pleasantly surprised to see that the dark-haired girl was already trying to put up a fight against the other two, but it was also clear that she wasn't an entirely experienced fighter. She clearly knew what she was doing in a fight, but Yelena guessed that the girl hadn't had much reason to use those skills outside of whatever training she had received in a professional training environment. She had apparently delivered a few good blows, but even as Yelena watched she could see how this girl had also missed a few chances to strike back. The former assassin guessed that the girl was still thinking on some level in terms of training bouts or competitions where the goal was to knock the opponent back rather than to actually knock them out.

Satisfied that her own current foe was out for the count and there was no immediate danger from civilians, Yelena ran over to the girl as she punched one of her attackers in the nose. With the man already off-balance and staggering backwards in her direction, it wasn't hard for Yelena to grab him in a chokehold and start to squeeze. The dark-haired girl was initially surprised at Yelena's intervention, but when the fourth man grabbed her shoulder, she reacted by grabbing his arm and hurling him over her shoulder in a surprisingly good judo move. The effort displayed on her face made it even clearer to Yelena that this girl wasn't used to fighting like this, particularly when she looked at her now-unconscious attacker with concern, but she had to admire the girl's success in knocking the man out in the first place. Yelena's own foe tried to struggle for a few more moments, but it wasn't long until he was as unconscious as his fellows, leaving Yelena free to let him fall to the ground.

"Good moves," she said, nodding at the other girl in approval, drawing the brunette's attention off the unconscious man and back to her.

"Uh… thanks," the girl replied, looking at Yelena with a puzzled expression. "So… who are you? I mean, I thought Black Widow at first- she's never exactly been easy to photograph- but the hair- and I think you're a bit- not that any of that's bad-"

"I am Black Widow," Yelena interjected with a smile; she would take it as a compliment to her skills that two people had compared her favourably to Natasha and not wonder about how she differed. "Just not the one you are thinking of; she is my sister."

"Black Widow has a sister?" the girl looked at her with a broader grin. "That is so- what are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you," Yelena indicated the men around them with a shrug.

"Uh… I get that, but why did I need to be rescued, and why would that attract your attention?" the girl elaborated, her excitement now fully replaced by confusion. "I mean, an Avenger's sister has better things to do than stop one random mugging, right?"

"This was not random," Yelena said, looking at the fallen men for a moment before glancing upwards. "These three are unconscious, but there is another up there; I will talk with-"

"We."

"We?" Yelena looked sharply at the girl. "This is-"

"I was the target; that makes it my business," the girl said, looking at Yelena with a surprising sense of authority in her manner. "If you're going to talk with someone about this, I'm coming with you."

"…Very well," Yelena nodded, impressed at the other girl's resolve despite herself. Decision made, she walked over to the bottom of the building she'd just leapt down from, the near-target walking along after her. Once the girl was alongside her, Yelena wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and pulled out her grappling gun.

"Hold on," she said, tightening her group on the girl as she fired the gun. The girl understood Yelena's order and wrapped her arms around Yelena's waist, holding on tight for the next few seconds as the two flew upwards. Even with the additional drag of her 'passenger', the gun's pull was so strong that Yelena was soon not only back on the roof but propelled upwards far enough that she was able to throw the gun over the edge of the roof and grab that same edge in the same motion. The additional weight of the girl on her back nearly threw Yelena's timing off, but again the girl surprised Yelena by quickly moving to release her grip around Yelena's neck and grab the roof herself. The two women had soon hauled themselves back on to the rooftop, but Yelena cursed when she saw that the handcuffs she had used earlier were hanging off the pipe, one ring hanging open.

"Someone escaped?" the girl asked, looking apologetically at Yelena.

"Someone escaped," Yelena nodded; clearly her captive had been more capable then she had anticipated. A quick glance around confirmed that he was nowhere to be seen around the other rooftops, which meant he must have made it some way from here before she got back up to the roof. Resigned to the loss of that particular potential source, she walked back to the edge of the roof and looked down for the other potential attackers. She just had time to contemplate how long it would take her to get down and secure one of the unconscious attackers for interrogation when she heard police sirens approaching the fight; clearly someone around those streets wasn't just the shocked observer they had appeared to be. "And now the police are here."

"And… you're not registered under those dumb Accords, right?" the girl asked.

"I am not," Yelena nodded at the girl with a smile as they moved away from the edge of the roof. "You dislike the Accords?"

"Well… seriously, what's the point in trying to control the Avengers?" the girl shrugged. "Most of the time the kind of things that would merit them getting involved aren't going to give anyone a time frame where any kind of committee can approve them going into action before it's too late, and that's before I get into all that extra stuff that's basically forcing anyone on the team to be nothing but a government 'asset' for the rest of their lives. Seriously, did nobody else in the world see the Bourne movies and realise that kind of life isn't a good thing to force on people?"

"…Yes," Yelena said, making a note to find out what these 'Bourne movies' were; it was disturbing to realise how much popular culture had essentially passed her by since she was returned to the Red Room.

"Well, that's my point; the Accords suck, and if you're not part of them, good for you," the girl grinned at Yelena before a more apprehensive expression crossed her face. "Uh… do you know why these guys were after me in the first place?"

"I do not," Yelena shook her head. "That was why I intended to question these men… but that is not an option."

"OK…" the girl said, looking apprehensively down at the street before she looked back at Yelena. "So… if you don't know why they were after me… I get that this is probably a lot to ask of you, but… do you have somewhere I could hide for a bit?"

"Hide?"

"From whoever's trying to get me? Maybe I could help you by being bait or something later, but if that's going to work out you kind of need to help me make sure I'm not going to get caught by them first, I don't exactly need to worry about anyone missing me at home since my mom's away for a few weeks, and security at my school is stupidly advanced…"

A part of Yelena's mind kept listening as the girl continued talking, but the rest of her turned over the young woman's offer. She didn't like the notion of dragging someone else into this case, particularly not when this was an actual civilian whereas Spider-Man was at least a superhuman with some experience and an affiliation with the Avengers, but she had to concede to the girl's point that the only thing she knew for sure about the rogue Widow's plans was that she had tried to capture this girl. She doubted that it would be a hostage situation as Dreykov's contacts would give him a wide range of financial resources already, which meant that there was no obvious reason for anyone to go after this girl as far as she knew.

Bait may not be practical, but she is now the subject of several questions, and she does need to be kept safe

"Come with me," Yelena said at last, looking at the girl with a cautious smile. "I have safehouse; you can hide there while we learn more about this."

"Safehouse?" the girl grinned at her. "Sounds cool; count me in!"

"You are sure-?"

"Trust me, I can cover my bases; nobody's going to notice I'm not at home for a while," the girl said. There was a brief pained expression on her face as she spoke, as though there was at least one person she wished would notice that she was gone, but the moment passed so quickly that Yelena doubted anyone would have seen it without her training in reading people. "So, if we're going to be roomies for a while, what's your name?"

"Yelena," Yelena replied, deciding the girl deserved that much; Spider-Man might at least respect professional distance and accept just learning her code name, but a civilian would find a name easier.

"Yelena; cool," the girl grinned at her with a warmer smile. "Kate Bishop; near-abduction aside, good to meet you."

Yelena had no idea how this particular mission had led to her working with an Avenger and becoming an apparent guardian for a teenage girl, but she had a feeling that Natasha would appreciate that she was making a few new acquaintances now.