As Yelena slowly walks toward the wooden cottage by the lake of water, she immediately observes a crowd of people standing quietly. She follows their gaze and sees a little green wreath with a metal object in it floating on the water.
She cocks her head, eyes darting around the crowd of people. Her whole body has been filled with sadness since she learned of her sister's death, but now she begins to feel anger. There was no sign of any sort of memorial to her sister, while the rich billionaire who, from Yelena's personal point of view, was a bit of a dick.
It is then that she feels a pair of eyes on her and turns toward the porch of the wooden cottage. A man with one eye covered in an eyepatch looks directly at her and Yelena is immediately able to recognize him as Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD.
She gives no outward sign that she recognizes him, but moves in his direction, curious to meet the man. Yelena knows that acting out of anger at the funeral of a man, even a man she does not like, would be wrong.
So, instead of walking toward the water where all of the people are gathered, she walks away from it toward the cottage and toward Nick Fury. She passes by a tall female with short hair, quickly identifying her as Carol Danvers. She knows better than to anger the superpowered woman, so she nods briefly to her.
Yelena climbs the stairs methodically, pausing to look out over the crowd of people. It isn't hard to tell that every surviving Avenger or hero is present for the sendoff of Tony Stark, but for the life of her, she cannot make herself see the famed Iron Man as any more than the rick prick that he always seemed to be.
She approaches Nick Fury, coming to a stop at his side. "You know, one may consider funeral crashing to be extremely rude," the man says.
Yelena shrugs, "One may also consider it rude to not provide any sort of recognition for a fallen hero."
Nick Fury turns then, looking directly at her. "I assume that this is about Agent Romanoff, then."
"Natasha," Yelena hisses back at him, her eyes flashing.
The man holds up one hand, "Whoah there. I meant no offense. There is no need to cause a scene."
Yelena takes a deep breath, "Fine." She pauses for a long moment. "Natasha saved everyone here. Why is she not getting the same service as Tony Stark?"
Nick Fury shrugs, "For the answer to that, you would need to ask someone with more knowledge about these things. I am not exactly up to speed on recent events."
Yelena nods in recognition, "The Snap took you, then."
Fury nods, "I turned to dust, yes. It makes it rather difficult for me to accurately tell you why Age-, Natasha is not getting a funeral service. For all I know, they could have already had one."
"They haven't," Yelena hisses. "I would know if they had."
Fury shrugs, falling silent for a long moment. "Okay, now that we have spoken. Would you care to introduce yourself?"
Yelena shakes her head, "I will hold off on that, Director Fury. I have people I need to speak with."
Fury shakes his head, "Now hold on a moment, this is a funeral. You can't just go around speaking to however you want. I did not mind you speaking to me, but the other guests are not to be disturbed until the service is concluded."
Yelena scoffs, a soft chuckle escaping from her lips. "Oh, I can't? I think you will find, Director Fury, that it is better to not try and stop me from doing anything that I want to."
"Alright, that is enough," Fury finally says, hand shifting toward his hip where a gun is clearly present. "Who are you and why do you care so much about Miss Romanoff? Who was she to you?"
Yelena takes a step toward, stopping when his fingers itch toward his gun. "You know, Natasha called the Avengers a family. I believed her because I trusted her judgment. I am not seeing any of that now."
"Just answer the question. Who are you?" Fury demands, hand getting dangerously close to his weapon.
Yelena sighs, "I…I am Natasha's family. And no one here seems to care that she died saving her family. Well, the worse part of her family, anyway. Her true family has honored her sacrifice from the moment we found out she was dead."
"Agent Romanoff didn't have any family," Fury says, flinching slightly at Yelena's blazing eyes as he uses the word 'agent' again.
"That is what she wanted the world to believe. My sister never was one to allow people into her life."
That makes Director Fury pause. "Excuse me, did you just say that Romanoff was your sister?"
Yelena scoffs again, growing tired of the man's barrage of questions. "Yes, dipshit. I'm Yelena. It's…" she hesitates, glancing him over. "…nice…to meet you. My sister never spoke of you."
"I am sorry, who are you?" A new voice says and Yelena spins to find Carol Danvers approaching the two of them.
"Yelena Belova, it is good to meet you, Miss Danvers," Yelena forces some of her old energetic personality back into her actions and holds out a hand toward the woman.
Carol cautiously reaches out and shakes her hand, making Yelena laugh internally. One of the most powerful beings on the planet and she is nervous about shaking my hand?
"Why are you here?" The woman asks, looking between her and Fury.
"I was just dropping by to pay my respects to Mister Stark. I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, but I have heard many things about him."
Carol nods, sending one last look at Fury before walking away again. Yelena turns her attention back to Fury. "I do not believe we were properly introduced, Miss Belova," the man states, holding out a hand. "I am Fury."
Yelena glances at his hand for a long moment before shaking her head. "I know who you are, Fury. I previously addressed you by your name, did I not?"
"Yes, you did. You also told Carol your real name, one I happen to recognize."
Yelena allows herself a slight smile. "Ah, my reputation precedes me, does it?"
Fury looks at her for a long moment. "Something like that. I know you to be one of the most efficient assassins to ever walk this Earth. You were on SHIELD's radar a few years ago but we could never find you."
Yelena sighs, shaking her head. "My past is not why I am here, Director Fury. I am here to speak about the future."
"What exactly is it that you want?" Fury questions.
"I want my sister to be given the proper memorial for her heroic actions. Without her, this Earth and the rest of the Galaxy would be ruled by a giant purple alien."
"In your mind, what would be a proper memorial for her actions, Miss Belova? Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. Over the years, Miss Romanoff has done a great many things that should earn her the respect of everyone in the world."
Yelena shrugs, "To be honest, I don't know or care. What I do care about is that I have not heard or seen any one of the Avengers speak about her since it happened. I have been keeping a close eye on them since it happened, and they haven't once considered a funeral for her. Not even the honorable Captain Rogers has thought to give her the respect her actions have merited."
Yelena does not notice that her voice rises in volume as she speaks, being consumed by the passion of what she feels. However, when she finishes speaking, she feels eyes upon her and turns to find a few of those that were previously observing the funeral of Stark walking back toward the cottage.
Her eyes immediately find Steve Rogers as he slowly walks away from the water. It is obvious that he has not seen her yet, as his eyes are downcast. He reaches the stairs eventually and walks up them, his eyes finding her a few moments later. "Fury, who is this?"
Fury goes to speak, but Yelena beats him to it. "I am Yelena, Captain Rogers. I must say, you disappoint me."
The man's blue eyes narrow as he looks at her sharply, "I just met you, how could I have already disappointed you? What have I done to antagonize you?"
Yelena scoffs, "More like what haven't you done."
"I beg your pardon?"
"This is Miss Romanoff's sister, Captain Rogers," Fury chimes in quietly.
Yelena hears muttering and sees more eyes settling on her from on the grass next to the porch and decides that it is time. "I know that you all are here to observe a moment of respect for Tony Stark and the sacrifice that he made to save us all."
No one says anything so she continues speaking, "I have nothing against that. I am grateful for his sacrifice and I give my condolences to those who were the closest to him."
"I am here for another reason, however." She states, not backing down even as the eyes of every single living Avenger and the most powerful beings on the planet look at her. "Many of you know that the Black Widow died to help save this planet and everyone on it. She sacrificed herself so that Clint Barton could remain with his family."
Her eyes find Clint as he looks at her, guilt and sadness flashing through his eyes. "What none of you know is that Natasha Romanoff had a family besides all of you. I am her sister."
That gets everyone's full attention. "Natasha told me that the Avengers were like a family to her, and yet I come here to find that she has not been honored in any way. Shouldn't you, her family, treat her with the same respect as you do Tony Stark? She made the same ultimate sacrifice as he did, after all."
For a long moment, she allows her words to sink in. Then she continues to speak. "I have never loved anyone as much as I loved my sister and I never will. She meant everything to me. It angers me to see those she cared so much about doing so little for her. No, it disgusts me. How could you so easily dismiss her?"
Behind her, Steve Rogers speaks. "Did you say your name was Yelena?"
She nods, "That I did, why?"
"Natasha never mentioned you to us. She never told any of us that she had a family. Why do you show up now?"
Yelena turns to look at him, burning with incredulity. "I speak about the disgust and disappointment I have for you all and your first question is about me? The great Captain America…" she begins, mockingly going over every syllable in his name. "…you disgust me."
She shakes herself, turning back toward the rest of the gathered people. "My sister gave her life to save you all. The least you could do is give her the respect she deserves."
With her piece said, Yelena runs to the left balcony of the porch and athletically leaps over it, rolling when she hits the ground. She runs toward the forest, her heart and body aching with every step she takes.
She finally comes to a stop in a deserted clearing deep in the forest, panting for breath. She looks up at the sky, her emotions coming out of her in a loud yell of fury. Yelena falls to her knees then, unable to remain standing.
It is then that she glances at the woods around her, eyes immediately noting the fireflies as they flit through the forest in the darkening sky. She allows her head to fall backward, landing on the forest floor with a thump.
Tears begin to build in her eyes, but her horizontal positioning makes it harder for them to escape. Her vision blurs, her heart throbbing like it never has before. In the darkening sky above, the stars begin to become visible. As Yelena lies with her back on the forest floor, she notices a pattern of stars that she had not noticed before.
She slowly traces a line through the stars in her mind, a loud sob escaping her lips as she recognizes it. The stars form the indistinct but recognizable form of her sister landing in one of her fighting poses.
Yelena cries more as she takes that in, remembering what she had said to her sister. "This thing that you do when you whip your hair when you're fighting…It's a fighting pose. You're a total poser."
As Yelena slowly collects herself and stops crying, she allows herself to take in the beauty of her surroundings. The effects of bioluminescence do not pass by her like they once may have.
As her eyes begin to droop closed, she brings her lips together, letting out a familiar whistle. She awaits, desperately wishing to hear a response. She does not get one.
The last thought she has before she fully loses consciousness is of Natasha. She sees the moment when the two of them were separated at the Red Room camp play within her mind, before, a moment later, she witnesses their, admittedly violent reunion.
Yelena Belova, that very night, vows to take up her sister's name and continue her legacy. The great Natasha Romanoff is dead, laying down her life to save all of life. But the Black Widow is still alive, and her first target may not live to see another sunrise.
NOTE: This was written a while ago and published on AO3. I am merely importing all of my work over there to this site.