Yelena came downstairs with Kate to greet Lucky mostly because she wanted to get away from her sister for a minute but also because she really wanted a cigarette. "I am apologizing in advance for anything my Natasha might say to you tonight. I really wouldn't think twice if you just left right now."
Kate turned to see Yelena inhale deeply from her cigarette. Damn, she looked hot like that. There is no reason smoking a cigarette should be that fucking sexy but here Yelena was defying all of the odds. "Why is smoking so bad for you if you look sexy as hell doing it?"
Yelena chuckled, "did you mean to say that out loud?"
"No," sometimes her brain spoke without permission, "but that doesn't make it any less true. You are the sexiest person I've ever laid eyes on."
"Is the competition stiff, Kate Bishop?"
"Nothing ever serious, no. Casual hook ups. A few couple month flings but no one stuck around long enough to put up with my shit," the self-deprecating humor wasn't missed. "What about you? Any serious relationships in the past? Are there any crazy ex girlfriends going to come after me in my sleep?"
"The only crazy person who might come after you in your sleep is Natasha. No," she shook her head, "I had one serious relationship in the past before now. I didn't really have much time for relationships. Plus, in Ohio being gay in highschool was kind of a circus show. I never wanted to be anybody's dirty secret. The military is where I truly accepted myself. Then I met Emily and everything changed for the better."
"How long did you date her?" Kate couldn't be jealous of some from the past. She just had a healthy curiosity about Yelena's past relationship at least that's what she was telling herself.
"About three years…"
"So most of your military career?"
"Mhmm," she held the cigarette smoke in her lungs. Letting it burn away her emotions. "Emily.. she was very special to me."
Kate was about to ask about the breakup when she saw Carol approaching with her dog, "there's Lucky."
"My good boy," she put her cigarette out, leaning over and opening her arms as the golden retriever ran straight for her, completely ignoring his mother.
"The utter disrespect," Kate gave Lucky a side eye, "remember who feeds you the good stuff, young man. If you want your biweekly pizza you better get over here and give me a kiss." Lucky must have understood her because he turned his head briefly to lick her cheek before turning his attention back to Yelena. "We will talk about this later."
"Hey," Carol followed behind, handing Kate his leash and a backpack that she had asked Carol to grab from her house. It had stuff for Lucky as well as a change of clothes and bath products for herself. She wasn't assuming that Yelena was going to let her spend the night but she was secretly hoping for it. "He definitely missed you." She turned towards Yelena, "hi. I'm Carol. You must be the doctor."
"Dr. Belova," she shook her hand, "but you can call me Yelena. It's nice to meet you, tall blonde friend of Kate's." The woman had very long legs and was wearing short shorts, a tank top and a flannel shirt. Yelena didn't like the way this woman was looking at Kate. She was picking up on something between them and it wasn't sitting right with her. Yelena settled for a threatening glare.
"She's not that tall," Kate laughed, "I'm taller than she is."
"It's nice to put a face to the nickname tiny hot Russian doctor. She was not exaggerating."
Kate gave her friend a look, "a private nickname."
"It is okay," Yelena smirked, "I know I am Russian."
"Oh a smart ass," Carol looked the doctor up and down, "we love a smart ass. You should invite her out sometime."
Kate was silently praying Carol wouldn't say anything incriminating but she wasn't confident so she just laughed, "someday."
"So how do you two know each other?" Yelena noticed the way Kate was fidgeting in her seat. She didn't know if it was due to a past between the two of them or something more current but she didn't like it.
"Larping," Kate almost shouted, causing both women to look at her.
Carol smirked, "yeah larping. I love dressing up in costume and fighting off a bunch of nerds."
"Hey! Larping is cool and you always come back."
"Well I wouldn't get to see my favorite good boy if I didn't," she bent down to ruffle Lucky's fur and Yelena wasn't happy. That was her good boy and this woman had her hands all over him.
"Yes," Yelena was staring daggers at Carol. "Lucky is a very good boy. Thank you for bringing him by," she grabbed his leash while putting her other arm around Kate, silently marking her territory.
Carol took that as her signal that it was time to go, "well I better get out of here. Things to do. People to kill and all that," she winked at Kate before saying goodbye to Yelena and Lucky.
They watched her walk back down the sidewalk the way she had come from, "did she say people to kill?"
Kate laughed a little too loudly, "inside joke. She's an idiot."
"She did wink at you quite a few times," Yelena handed Lucky's leash to Kate so she could pull out a fresh cigarette without having to move her hand from around Kate's shoulders.
"It's not like that."
"She is very tall," Yelena grumbled. "Freakishly long legs. And she ruffled Lucky's fur too hard."
"I wouldn't say freakishly tall," she rolled her eyes. "Besides, I like shorter women. The ones that spoon up against me like my own personal backpack."
She let the words hang between the two of them before pressing on with her line of questioning, "so she's not one of the ones you've been with?"
Kate looked at her before answering, "not one of the couple month flings."
"So a casual hook up," she lit her cigarette inhaling her feelings, "got it. Is it still going on?"
"Not currently and trust me when I say that there is nothing there except friendship."
"I trust you, little hawk. It's her winking that I don't trust."
"She's just a naturally flirty person. Nothing to worry about."
"Naturally flirty? That's plenty reason to worry."
Kate shrugged one shoulder, "I mean she is seeing someone. There seems to be a very simple solution to all this jealousy if you ask me. I think I'm kind of seeing someone too."
Yelena chuckled, "and who might that be?"
"This incredibly sexy Russian doctor who drives a motorcycle has an amazing body and is jealous of my friend for no reason. Oh she is also a great cook and good with my dog."
"Six dates?"
Kate smiled, turning to face the blonde, "six official dates."
"Would you like to be my girlfriend, Kate Bishop?"
"I thought you'd never ask," she kissed Yelena realizing she didn't mind the taste of her cigarettes.
"Natasha is going to know as soon as we go back in there. I swear her and Wanda have these hidden superhero powers where they can sense things before you even say anything."
"How bad could it be?"
When they got back upstairs, Lucky was shy at first, sniffing around the apartment and gently greeting the two other women. He quickly warmed up when Wanda gave him a couple pieces of carrots. "I didn't know you ate vegetables," Kate was speaking directly to her dog. "He's usually on a strict diet of kibble, pizza and Mac and cheese. I keep learning new things."
"Did you know Kate Bishop saved him from the middle of the road? He was about to be run over and she rushed right out to get him?"
Natasha noticed her sister's tone and smirked, "girlfriends before you've even had sex? That's a bold move, Belova."
"I told you," she eyed Kate who was furiously blushing at the remark.
"Natalia," came the warning from the other red head who was facing the stove.
Kate thought it was funny that the chief could simply give a verbal warning and Natasha fell into line knowing that her girlfriend was the boss. She wondered if that was a transferable quality when she looked over to her newly instated girlfriend who was there laughing at her sister, "so whipped Natasha." Okay, it definitely wasn't transferable.
"Thanks for having us for dinner. Lucky won't mess anything up in the apartment. I vouch for him."
"Yelena already vouched for him. I trust her," Natasha's weak icy exterior towards Kate vanished the moment she saw how happy her sister was and when she was bowled over by the eager golden retriever. She had yet to be allowed to stand up from the floor. Lucky had found himself a seat on her lap, "plus I think it's safe to assume he likes me best."
"So Kate," Wanda finally turned and walked over to the counter, "no allergies right?"
"No allergies. I eat almost anything."
Wanda held her smile back, "except vegetables or so I'm told. There will be some vegetables served tonight." She saw the look Kate's face made before she could stop it. "You'll try them and you will like them."
Kate now officially knew why Natasha so readily agreed to whatever Wanda said. It was hard to not feel the dominating presence. Probably helped her to become chief, "yes, ma'am."
That was the first night in all of Kate's 23 years of life that she could recall eating the vegetables voluntarily. Well coerced into volunteering as she didn't want to face the chief's rage if she had said no. She wouldn't admit it outloud but the roasted brussel sprouts weren't that bad. They just smelled like trash. "So how did the two of you meet?"
Wanda looked over at her girlfriend, "do you want to tell the story?"
Natasha rolled her eyes when Yelena chuckled, "oh this is good. Go on, Natasha."
"What has it been five years now? I was getting ready for a date. I may have already started drinking. What? It was my day off," she looked at her sister who was grinning at her. "I was meeting Maria at her house and we were going to go together. But as I said… I was already a little drunk. I had my AirPods in really setting the vibes and I misstepped, fell down the stairs and broke my leg. Well I didn't know my leg was broken. My drunk ass walked to the hospital and was greeted by," she turned and looked at her girlfriend.
"I wasn't the chief yet. I was the oncall attending. Surprisingly, I had never met her before though I heard all about her from Maria. I just watched this woman walk herself into the ER and announce that she had a boo boo on her foot."
Kate laughed out loud, "a boo boo?"
"It's a medically accurate term," Natasha pouted.
"So," Wanda brought the conversation back around, "I fixed up her foot. She needed emergency surgery which I was more than happy to do as a budding chief of surgery."
"I guess I forgot to tell Maria on my drunken walk to the hospital that I got hurt but as it turns out she had messaged me saying she had to reschedule because she had something come up," there was a subtle side eye to Kate that nobody caught but her and the brunette felt immediately uncomfortable. "Mom and Dad couldn't come out and Yelena was overseas for a few more months I believe. So it was just me."
"I couldn't let her wake up alone," Wanda smiled at her girlfriend, "so I stayed with her. I had texted Maria a few times with updates but she was hard to get a hold of. I stayed with Natalia until she was up and ready to be discharged."
"Maria and I were already on the rocks so to speak," Natasha shrugged. "Wanda didn't feel comfortable leaving me at my apartment and with Maria being an intern, she brought me here and I guess I just never left."
"I wouldn't have had it any other way," Wanda leaned over and kissed Natasha's cheek.
"And Maria was cool with all of this?" Kate knew the question was stupid. She knew how Maria felt about the breakup. She really needed to work on keeping her mouth shut.
"Eventually things got better between us at work," was all Wanda said about that particular question.
"Do not let them fool you, Kate Bishop. They are disgustingly in love and have sex all over this apartment. You are lucky they seem to be on their best behavior with your company."
"False information," Natasha smirked, "I don't care if Kate's here or not. I'm only not jumping Wanda for Lucky's sake. He is far too young to see that kind of thing. Stick around long enough and I'm sure you'll get an eyeful eventually," she winked at Kate.
"As of right now," Yelena looked over at the brunette, "you are no longer welcomed here."
"Yelena dear," Wanda jumped in, "when your guest is over we will always be on our best behavior."
Kate pointed at Wanda, "she seems trustworthy. I believe her."
"She has a nice, people pleasing face but do not let it fool you, Kate Bishop. First time you let your guard down you'll come face to face with both of their naked asses and you will be searching for the bleach," she touched Kate's knee under the table tickling her with the sensation.
With the slight jolt from Kate's reaction, Natasha smirked, "inappropriate touching under the table at dinner."
"The food was delicious, chief," Kate truly never tasted a vegetable she tolerated until that evening.
"Kate and I will clean up," Yelena offered.
"Movie or game?"
"Natalia, go pick out a movie. I think these two have had enough of your questioning for one evening."
Natasha smirked and turned to Yelena, "Если ты хочешь трахнуть Кейт сегодня вечером, будь моим гостем. Стены не звуконепроницаемы, но насколько громкой она может быть?"
Kate had no idea what she had said but Yelena's jaw dropped and she'd be the first to admit, her girlfriend speaking Russian was a big turn on even if she didn't understand her.
"Продолжай в том же духе, Наташа. Как насчет того, чтобы рассказать маме и папе о том времени, когда ты трахнул Ванду на их кухне? На прилавке. Рядом с едой," Yelena had not a hint of amusement in her voice as the sisters glared at each other.
"You wouldn't dare."
Yelena smirked, "Попробуй меня."
Kate moved closer to Wanda and whispered, "okay but that was hot as fuck right?"
"It was," she whispered back, "and they do it quite frequently."
"Damn," Kate couldn't stop staring at her girlfriend, "how are you just not constantly walking around in a state of horny?"
"I never said I wasn't," she chuckled, "but I've become accustomed to their interactions. Even before Yelena moved in and we had visited them in Ohio. They've always been like this. I think it's great that they are so close given the circumstances."
"Huh?"
Wanda noticed by the confused look on Kate's face that their adoption had not been a conversation they had had yet so she left it at that, "come on now. Enough of this glaring contest. We will go set up a movie. Yelena, I think Kate needs help clearing the table."
"Fine," she gave her sister one last scathing look as Wanda pulled her into the other room. "Do not let my sister intimidate you. I can kick her ass. Easy."
"You've done it before?"
"All the time," the blonde scoffed, "do not let this petite body fool you. I am vicious, Kate Bishop. You do not want to get on my bad side."
Kate nodded, "I mean… that was a pretty hot display back there. I may just want to get on that bad side when we are alone."
"Such a flirt, little hawk," Yelena shook her head, grabbing a few of the dishes to rinse off and load into the dishwasher. "You can not talk me into ravishing you while my sister and her girlfriend are here."
"Doesn't mean I can't try," Kate's sass was intoxicating to Yelena. "What were you and Natasha arguing about?"
"You do not wish to know," Yelena was washing the dishes that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher while Kate dried them. "Nat is a pig. That is all you need to know."
"She was asking about us having sex, got it."
They finished up with the chores while the other two women were getting ready for a cozy night in. Yelena and Kate had never changed out of their comfortable clothes after being rudely woken up. "I should probably take Lucky for a walk before the movie. He's house trained but he did just have his dinner. It's only fair that he gets some outside time."
"Of course the good boy needs to go out," Yelena ruffled his fur. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No that's okay," she shook her head, "we won't be long. I'll text you when we come back so you can come down and let us up."
Yelena looked over her shoulder to make sure they were alone before she leaned up on her tiptoes, kissing Kate softly on her lips. She sighed into the kiss, pressing a little deeper before pulling back slightly, "you always taste like candy."
"It's my super power," Kate pecked her a few times before leashing up her dog. "We will be right back."
"I'll get your bandages ready for changing," Yelena watched her leave.
"Where did Lucky go?" Natasha came out of her bathroom wearing some leggings and a sweatshirt that hung off of her shoulders.
"He had to use the little puppy's room. Kate will message me when they get back."
"Why don't you go get ready for the movie and I'll let them back in."
Yelena gave her sister an unsure look, "you will not interrogate her. You will not embarrass me or her. You go down, get them, bring them up and that is it?"
"Scouts honor, Yelena. I'll be on my best behavior."
She didn't quite believe her sister but she agreed to it, "fine. Do not take long."
Kate had walked Lucky a little ways down the sidewalk towards the hospital when felt her phone vibrate. While Lucky was picking the perfect spot for his business she answered, "what is it now Carol?"
"I didn't actually expect you to answer," she sounded surprised. "Your Russian seemed annoyed at me earlier."
"You winked at me like five times. She thinks you were flirting with me," she watched her dog finally pick a spot to go to the bathroom.
"Well she's right, I was. You are cute and I flirt with everyone. She shouldn't take it personally. If I didn't know how you can maim someone with an arrow, I'd have flirted with her too. But I'm not putting out my death wish just yet."
"Smart woman," Kate pulled out a little purple baggie to pick up Lucky's poop.
"Plus, we know I'm seeing someone."
"Yeah but she knows we've slept together," Kate almost sounded regretful that she had told Yelena that small tidbit.
"But it was never serious. You didn't tell her it was an ongoing thing did you? You did. And you told her it was over right?"
Kate sighed, "well I know that and you know that and I told Yelena that but she still looked like she wanted to hang your skin as a trophy above her bed. Maybe don't wink at me so much next time you see her."
A loud laugh came through the phone, "I can't promise that. I just breathe and the flirting comes out."
"Carol. Please," Kate wasn't above begging. "I really like her and don't want you to mess things up for me. I'm perfectly capable of messing them up on my own." She sandwiched the phone between her shoulder and her ear. "Did you call for something in particular?"
"I just wanted to let you know we are hunting for that fucker who stabbed you tonight. I'll keep you posted."
"Kill the fucker," Kate mumbled as she opened up the door to Yelena's building not paying attention. "Happy hunting. Send him my worst."
"Enjoy your tiny Russian badass. Have many orgasms. See you tomorrow."
"I hate you. Goodnight," Kate hung up the phone and noticed Natasha sitting on the bench staring at her with her arms crossed over her chest. "Oh hey. I was just getting ready to text Yelena that we were back." She started walking in the direction of the elevator, "did you come down here to let us up or just to try to kill me with your eyes?"
Natasha joined her in the elevator. When they were passing the third floor, she reached out and pushed the emergency stop.
"What are you doing?"
"We need to have a little conversation about your intentions with my sister."
Kate wasn't panicking that she was stuck in an elevator with a woman who clearly wasn't her biggest fan, "can't it wait until we aren't suspended in an elevator shaft."
"No," she wasn't budging. "Now seems like the perfect time to me. We aren't really going anywhere. Plenty of time to talk."
"Okay then just give me the older sister death threat so we can go upstairs before I start to have a panic attack in here."
Natasha crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against the wall of the elevator, "scared of enclosed spaces?"
"No," she scoffed, "but I'm kind of scared of you."
Natasha chuckled, "good as you should be. Now," she looked down at the phone in Kate's hand, "I don't know what you have going on with your friends but I sense something slightly off about you. Maria used to talk about you a lot. I didn't pay much attention but she was worried about you. Now, I don't know what kind of hold you have over my sister but I've never seen her this smitten with anybody. The girls in highschool were awful to her. I never met Emily but after what happened, she hasn't shown interest in anybody since returning home. So whatever spell you have on her is working." She took a breath, silently daring Kate to speak. When she didn't, Natasha continued, "I'm going to find out what you are up to. I have my ways. If I find out that you hurt my sister in any way, intentionally or not, I have no qualms with killing you. And trust me when I say, they will never find the body."
Kate had heard Yelena when she said her sister was scary but she didn't really believe her until now. She cleared her throat, "when I took Yelena on the slingshot ride, you said you'd kill me if she died. I thought she was joking."
"She wasn't joking."
"Yes," Kate was having a hard time keeping eye contact, "I can see that now."
"So we are clear. You hurt Yelena and I kill you. And by hurt I mean, physically, emotionally, spiritually, or any other sort of hurt that can happen."
"Got it," Kate breathed a sigh of relief when the redhead seemed satisfied and pushed the button to start the elevator again. "Just for the record, I have no intention of hurting your sister. She's very special to me."
"She's special to me too, Kate. She was all I had for a few years before we found our home but that's a story for Yelena to tell."
"Fair enough. So," she followed her out of the elevator, "do you ever think you and I will be friends?"
Natasha laughed, "Yelena was right. You are very funny."
"What's so funny?" Yelena asked, intercepting Lucky who ran to her when the front door opened and they came back inside.
"Little Katie here asked if we could be friends."
"Natalia," came a warning call from the living room.
"Nevermind," Natasha conceded and made her way over towards the living room. "Poltergeist tonight."
"Ooo," Yelena's eyes got excited, "I love that one."
"Haven't seen it," Kate unclipped Lucky's leash. "I heard it's not that scary."
"Well nothing will ever be as scary as that rubber band ride. You are correct there," Yelena gave her a peck before whispering, "my sister did not give you a hard time did she?"
Kate thought about telling her about the threat but decided against it, "nope. She mainly talked to Lucky. I swear everybody here likes my dog more than me."
Yelena looked over her shoulder to make sure the other two women were occupied before backing Kate into the door, kissing her below her jaw, "well that is just not true." She didn't take it any further than a couple kisses down Kate's throat knowing they weren't alone. She whispered as she peppered kisses along her collarbone, "I like you very much."
A throat clearing interrupted the moment, "are we going to watch the movie or do you want us to leave so you can fuck Kate against the front door?"
"I'm going to have to kill her," she groaned, dropping her forehead to Kate's shoulder. "Fuck off and give us five minutes. I need to change her dressings."
"Five minutes," Natasha tried her best not to sound annoyed. "I'll get some snacks ready. Anything special Kate?"
"Whatever you have is fine."
"The perfect little guest," she smirked.
"Oh stop," Wanda pulled her away. "Leave the girl alone. You don't always have to be at 100% Natalia."
"Fine," she sighed, "I'll drop down to 92% but that's the best I can do."
Kate and Lucky did end up spending the night over at Yelena's, both loving the time they got to spend with the woman. There wasn't a dog bed there but the blonde brought a few extra blankets and made a makeshift bed for Lucky next to her window for him to rest while they continued their snuggling from earlier after the family movie. Kate had looked over a few times and saw Natasha and Wanda making out. She knew better than to call them out. Unfortunately the next day, their welcome was worn out when everyone had to head back to work. Lucky and Kate walked Yelena to the hospital before heading back to her own loft.
Looking around her place, it wasn't necessarily small but it was undeniably quiet and she felt lonely. Lucky whined when he walked over and flopped down onto his spot on the couch, "I know buddy. I miss her too. Should I order us some pizza?" He barked twice which clearly meant yes. "Okay," she grabbed her laptop, bringing it over to the couch with a Coke Zero for herself. After she placed the order for their pizza from downstairs, she checked her email, "oh fuck. What's the date?" She looked over at Lucky who just stared at her. She had to log into her school account, "oops. Do you think my professor will believe I accidentally died and that's why I didn't do my assignment?" Lucky snorted, "okay. Well I'm a little behind. Honestly, it's their fault for kicking me off campus. It's not my fault I can't remember to sign onto this online crap. At least when I was on campus, there was a slightly better chance I showed up." She opened a new email and addressed it to her professor. "Okay. How do I ask for an extension when most of my time has been spent trying to get this girl to ask me out?" She quickly typed up an excuse and she sent it off hoping her Professor would give her an extension on the term paper that was due two days ago. She blamed the stab wound for forgetting. "Maybe school isn't for me, Lucky. It would be amazing if they started paying vigilantes. Not that we need money. Drowning in trust funds is not a bad problem to have." As the doorbell rang signaling the pizza was here, there was a knock at the window. "Come in," she called out, knowing exactly who it was. She grabbed the pizza and two plates plus Lucky's special pizza plate.
"At least I knocked this time," Carol slid the window open and jumped onto the platform. "So how was the sex?"
"Ugh," she sat down with one leg curled under her body. "We haven't had sex yet."
"I didn't think you looked very satisfied," she smirked.
"Do not," Kate glared at her, "keep it up and I won't feed you."
"I didn't say a word," Carol pretended to zip her lips waiting for Kate to hand her a plate. She watched the brunette get a slice for Lucky and pass it over to him on the floor. "Your friend called me last night."
"Which friend?" Kate handed Carol a plate with a couple of slices on it as she settled back against her spot with her own plate.
"The squirrelly over eager one."
"Oh," Kate chuckled, "Cassie. I knew she'd be easy to recruit. I heard something about her wanting to cut that one dude's penis off. Her dad said the same thing. Maybe we can recruit him."
"No men," Carol left no room for argument. "You know this."
"I know," she rolled her eyes, "you aren't the only founding member."
"Then you remember why we started this in the first place," Carol leaned over and grabbed the remote. "Trashy tv?"
"Fine," Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to say no to that." They settled on some dumb dating competition and fell into their comfortable silence, eating and making fun of the competitors on the show. "So what did you think of Cassie?"
"I actually met up with her for a few minutes last night before the hunt," she looked over and saw the face Kate was making. "Don't worry I didn't take her with me. I just wanted to put my feelers out there and see if she'd be a good fit. She's perfect. I think we can trust her."
"Yeah," Kate agreed, "I got good vibes from her when I met up with her at the bar that night. She really hates men."
"Can't say I blame her," Carol laughed. "So when do you think Yelena will come out with us?"
Kate laughed louder than necessary, "I know we just started officially dating but would you like to go out maiming with me and my friends? Oh and your intern?"
"Touché. I see your point."
"Though her sister…"
Carol looked intrigued, "the hot firefighter?"
"That exact one," Kate didn't bother asking how Carol knew her. It seemed everybody knew everybody in the city if you lived here long enough. Especially the women in the lesbian community. "She's pretty fucking scary. She'd either be a great asset to the team or she's going to murder me before we have a chance to carry out our… well you know."
"You think she's going to be a problem? Interrupt our cause?"
Kate shrugged, "I don't think she'll be a problem for anyone except me. I'm going to try to befriend her before Maria gets to her."
"Fucking Hill," Carol let her head fall back on the couch, "it always comes back to that woman, doesn't it?"
