Natasha nervously played with the remote, flipping through the channels and valiantly attempting to resist the temptation to call her sister and check on her.
Steve and Yelena had gone to capture some henchman from a Russian mafia for questioning and interrogation about their leaders. It was originally meant to be something that Steve and Nat did together, but Yelena had begged to go in her sister's stead so that she could have the immense enjoyment of telling Alexei that she went on a special mission with Captain America. Of course, Natasha had also known that the blonde was jumping for an opportunity to show that she was just efficient as her sister and to try for being an Avenger so she could fight side-by-side with Natasha all the time.
Natasha hated to send Yelena on a mission where she would not be with her, but she knew her sister was extremely skilled. Also, the heartwarming sentiment that was behind Yelena's excitement and insistence melted Natasha's heart and her resolve with it.
The redhead was quickly stirred from her thoughts as footsteps resounded outside the door. Natasha listened carefully, and easily recognized that it was two people. One of them had a heavier stride and the other was quicker and much softer in the delivery of the steps. She quickly had a good idea of who the two were. She stood up swiftly, and started heading to the door, standing not too far from it so that she could see who was coming in for sure when they entered.
However, to Natasha's shock and initial horror as the pair entered the door, she found herself looking at her baby sister being practically dragged into the room by Steve with her head bleeding, the cut dripping from above her eyebrow. The majority of her body had blood peppered all over it, but judging from the way she easily moved, Natasha assumed that the majority of it was not her own. This brought her some comfort, but the air surrounding the blonde did not reassure Natasha.
"Nat, you need to take care of her," Steve informed the redhead as he held on firmly to the blonde's arm. She jerked herself from his hold, looking almost feral as she seemed as if she would strike at anyone or anything. Natasha could see just how angry her younger sister was, and she knew something was not right with the girl.
"What happened?" Natasha demanded, her eyes worriedly looking between Steve and Yelena. Yelena looked as if she could kill someone, and Steve was not particularly happy himself. However, his irritation seemed to be directed at Yelena, and Yelena's fury seemed to be directed at anything that moved or looked at her wrong.
"Things got completely out of control, and she lost her cool. I think it'd be best to take some sort of disciplinary action," Steve answered, and Natasha just looked at her sister, feeling love, concern, and care overtaking anything and everything else.
"Steve, we'll talk about this later. Thank you for bringing her back," Natasha finally told him, ensuring that her tone was quite dismissive. There would be no further discussion of this matter, and Steve seemed to sense that they would indeed not be talking about it later if his deep sigh was anything to go by.
He muttered something in response to her and headed out the door, shutting it behind him as he left the two alone. Natasha wasted no time in reaching out to Yelena and seeing if she would be willing to allow the redhead to touch her. To her surprise, despite the intense anger within the blonde, Yelena did not react when Natasha gently took her arm.
"Where are you bleeding?" Natasha asked, and Yelena did not even look at her as she answered.
"Just where you can see," Yelena informed her. Natasha could hear the shortness in her voice and the way that she seemed fully tensed. Natasha let her go, heading to the kitchen to look for the first-aid kit underneath the sink in the cabinet.
She could hear Yelena trudging behind her and pulling out a chair to sit in. Natasha found the kit and placed it on the counter, digging through it and finding all that she needed. Once she had prepared everything, she turned around and pulled out a chair, moving it closer to her sister's so that she could inspect the blonde better.
Yelena still was not wanting to look at her, and Natasha breathed out carefully before asking the burning question that was running through her.
"What happened?" Natasha gently questioned, and Yelena just shook her head stubbornly.
"It doesn't matter," Yelena told her firmly and Natasha could easily read the discomfort in the other girl's body language. She could also see the intense anger that was very much still within her just from the way that Yelena's hands were shaking ever so slightly.
"Yelena," Natasha insisted a bit more, and Yelena's eyes flickered in Natasha's direction but did not settle there. Natasha just watched her carefully for a long moment, trying to catch her gaze. However, when it became clear that she was definitely not going to meet the redhead's eyes, Natasha just started in her task of wiping the cut on Yelena's eyebrow.
She gently placed her hand on Yelena's cheek, guiding her so that the injury was more easily accessible. Yelena leaned her face ever so slightly into the contact, and the corners of Natasha's lips curled upward just the tiniest bit as she stroked her thumb across the younger girl's cheek and put down the watery rag in favor of lifting the with the alcohol-covered one to Yelena's face. Yelena hissed as Natasha placed it there and dabbed at her wound quickly.
"They insulted you," Yelena finally spoke, her voice quiet and low. Natasha furrowed her brow, considering the words.
"They called you lewd, inappropriate names, and I killed them," Yelena stated it as if it were the simplest of facts, but her entire being was alight with fury.
"Yelena—"
"And I'd do it again," Yelena cut her off with just a fraction of the barely unbridled rage within her coating her voice. She quickly moved her face out of Natasha's hold as she folded her arms across her chest. Natasha just watched the blonde carefully.
The words made Natasha's heart ache, and the sensation could have been attributed to the pain she felt at her sister being hurt and the fact that she would be willing to get hurt all over again. Adding to those reasons, Natasha also felt some amount of awe, amazement, and adoration at the fact that Yelena cared so much about what people said about her big sister.
"Little one, they're just words," Natasha spoke softly, remembering all of the many times she had been called things such as that actually to her own face.
"They were disrespectful, and I will not tolerate it," Yelena informed her, finally meeting Natasha's eyes, and the redhead could see the pain, the love, and the rage within her honey-green pools.
"Honey, I'm sure it was nothing I haven't heard before a million times," Natasha assured her, and Yelena looked almost even more hurt at the thought.
"You don't need to get yourself hurt for me," Natasha quickly added before Yelena could have an opportunity to truly mull over her previous words.
"Would you do it?"
"What?"
"Would you do it? If you were in my situation," Yelena demanded, and Natasha sighed deeply, looking away from the blonde. She knew she could not lie to her, but she truly did not want to answer her and validate Yelena's actions. Natasha could not stand for Yelena to get hurt any more over something as silly as Natasha's pride and honor. She had no honor truly. She was doing the best she could, but she would always be all of those things people said she was.
"You know the answer to that. But you—"
"But what?! No one gets to insult you," Yelena told her, and Natasha could hear the fire rising in her voice as she stood up from where she was sitting in front of the redhead. Natasha looked up at her, feeling a tiredness come over her as she met her gaze.
"Sweet girl, you don't need to go throwing yourself into danger every time someone says something about me," Natasha told her, her voice quiet and tender as she stood up so she could face Yelena more efficiently. Yelena's cut had started bleeding just a bit, and Natasha eyed it worriedly before turning around and grabbing a band-aid from the bag she had nearby.
"Besides, they're always going to say and think those things about me. Everyone that has met me does or has thought those things at some point," Natasha stated plainly, and she turned back to face the blonde, unwrapping the band-aid as she met the girl's eyes. To her surprise, Yelena looked almost heartbroken as she gazed at Natasha with an uncharacteristic softness in her.
"I've never thought that," Yelena told her, and they just stared at each other for a long moment. Natasha blinked quickly, swallowing before carefully sticking the band-aid to Yelena's head. Something about the sincerity in the younger woman's voice brought Natasha to tears.
While Yelena could sometimes be so hardened and cruel, she could also be one of the softest, most marshmallow-like people that Natasha had ever seen.
"Natashka… Did you really believe everyone thought that about you?" Yelena questioned, and it hurt Natasha's heart to hear all of the concern and seriousness in her voice that Yelena so rarely showed. Natasha shifted her gaze from Yelena's eyes to the floor quickly as she let her hands drop.
"Not exactly… It just feels that way sometimes, y'know?"
"I will kill whoever has made you feel that way," Yelena expressed, and Natasha knew that it was a definitive and wholehearted promise. Natasha shook her head, stepping closer and taking the back of Yelena's head in her hand before pulling her forward and kissing her forehead.
"I know. It doesn't matter anymore," Natasha spoke against Yelena's skin, and Yelena stepped closer, raising her head and meeting Natasha's eyes.
"It matters to me," Yelena assured her, and Natasha could see that she meant every single word. Natasha just eyed her carefully before gently tugging her baby sister into her arms. She almost wanted to cry just from the sheer love that she felt from the girl.
Natasha had never really had anyone be so quick to defend her and so willing to do anything it took just to protect Natasha's feelings of all things. It was so selfless and so caring that it made Natasha feel the prickles of tears in her eyes just from the sheer adoration that was welling up within her.
"I love you," Natasha simply settled upon saying finally, and Yelena melted into her further, her arms wrapping around Natasha firmly. Natasha could not even really bring herself to care that Yelena's bloody clothes were staining her own.
"I love you, too," Yelena immediately reciprocated. Natasha ran her fingers through Yelena's hair, gently combing through it with her digits as she reveled in her younger sister's closeness and just everything about her.
"I'm so proud of you," Natasha muttered under her breath, and at first, she was not sure if Yelena heard her. However, she quickly felt Yelena press her forehead against her shoulder firmly, her nose squished against Natasha firmly as she squeezed Natasha impossibly tightly. Natasha pressed her cheek against the side of Yelena's head and just held her securely.
"Thank you," Yelena murmured, and the pure gratitude and awe in her tone broke Natasha's heart. She rubbed Yelena's back with the hand that was not running through her hair, and she tried to communicate all that she felt through that simple gesture.
"Please don't get hurt for me," Natasha gently requested, and Yelena just shook her head in reply.
"I can't promise that, Natashka," Yelena quietly replied, and Natasha honestly had not really expected her to promise such a thing to her.
"I just want you to try. For me," Natasha expressed, and Yelena sighed a bit, breathing in deeply.
"I can try," Yelena noncommittally conceded, and Natasha accepted the answer, knowing that was the best that she was going to coax from the younger girl.
After a moment, she pulled away from the girl, bringing a hand up and cradling her cheek fondly before letting her hand drop.
"C'mon. Let's go get some clean clothes," Natasha told her, and Yelena nodded as she cast a bit of a sheepish glance toward Natasha's now bloodstained garments.
The both of them headed to Yelena's room, and Natasha started to search through the dresser. To her horror, everything inside of it was haphazardly stuffed in and looked completely opposite of her own dresser.
"I thought I told you to clean up your dresser?" Natasha questioned, looking over her shoulder and noting the wicked grin on Yelena's face as she took off her shirt and shifted her gaze between her older sister and the dresser.
"You did. But this is my room, so my rules," Yelena cheekily proclaimed, and Natasha just quirked an eyebrow.
"It's my house and that trumps everything," Natasha informed her, chucking a clean white tank top in Yelena's direction and aiming for her face. Yelena quickly lifted her hand and caught the shirt just before it hit her. The blonde narrowed her eyes a little as she slid the tank top over her bra-covered torso.
"I hope that blood on your hands is dry," Natasha spoke, her voice completely deadpan, and Yelena pulled her tank top out a bit from her body to examine the pristine, white fabric.
"No stains, so I would assume so," Yelena replied, and Natasha fondly rolled her eyes.
"Go wash your hands, you gremlin," Natasha told her, and Yelena stuck her tongue out at her before heading to the bathroom with a spring in her step.
It was easy to see the blonde's complete mood change that occurred after Natasha's praise, and it made the redhead hurt just a little to see how much Yelena obviously needed to be told these things. She understood it, but it still injured her somewhat to see how starved Yelena had been of all good things.
She kept digging through the clothes in the dresser, trying to see if she could find some comfortable sweatpants in the midst of the huge mess in the drawer. Natasha could hear the water turning off. After a few moments, Yelena's footsteps sounded almost silently from the bathroom and across the floor.
However, to Natasha's surprise, Yelena ran her hands underneath Natasha's shirt and placed her freezing cold palms against the redhead's stomach as she wrapped her arms around her big sister. Natasha quickly gasped, turning her head quickly to look at the little turd holding onto her. Yelena was looking up at her with an almost evil grin, and Natasha rolled her eyes, starting to get used to the chill. Besides, she was not going to let Yelena win the battle of the wills.
But her younger sister's contact soon turned softer and more affectionate as she wrapped her arms more fully around Natasha's waist and rested her head between her older sister's shoulder blades. Natasha smiled a little, enjoying the feeling of Yelena hugging her.
Yelena took in a breath as if she were about to say something, but quickly exhaled and just snuggled closer.
Even though she never said anything, Natasha knew what she meant, and in reciprocation, Natasha brought a hand up to squeeze Yelena's arm fondly.
Thank you.
A/N: I know I'm just too soft when I write these two… But I saw such softness in the movie, so it has to be at least a little valid! XD
I hope you guys are having a great day, and please let me know if y'all enjoyed it! :)