"So you're telling me that I might be pissing into a bag for the foreseeable future?"

Yelena tried not to laugh at her sister's response to the surgical outcomes after she came to. It took Natasha until mid morning on the 26th to come out of the anesthesia and pain medication drowsiness but they figured the more sleep she could get the better. Even Wanda agreed that the longer Natasha was sleeping would be beneficial because the redhead would just be looking for ways to discharge herself home well before she was medically cleared to leave.

"I did not say that," Sonya was holding her patient's chart trying to keep a straight face. "I said that the second bullet pierced your kidney and we aren't sure if it's functioning at this time."

She strained but pointed over the side of the bed, "is that my bag of piss?"

"Yes."

Natasha looked over at her sister, "will you help me change my piss bag at home?"

Yelena scrunched up her nose, "absolutely not. Ask your girlfriend to do that for you."

"Can the two of you concentrate so I can finish going over all of the paperwork and my notes?"

Natasha frowned, "well she's no fun today."

Yelena laughed, "a few days on call will do that to a person. Go on, Sonya. I apologize for my pain in the ass sister. Any signs of infection in the wounds or stomach?"

"Her blood pulls are normal, temp is fine, you are going to be in a tremendous amount of pain while you heal. Also, from what I can see, the preliminary urine output seems normal but as you are healing there is no way to know for sure so we are recommending keeping the catheter in for 10-14 days pending the outcome of your follow up appointments. Also," she grimaced, "the chief says I'm not allowed to discharge you until the 30th."

"That is absolute bullshit and you know it. Four days? I'm supposed to stay in this shit hole for four days? What am I supposed to do here? I can heal at home. Tell her, Lena."

Yelena was scratching behind her ear knowing she had absolutely no say in the matter. Wanda had made this decision by herself and she wasn't budging, "you are going to have to talk with the chief."

All the mirth left Natasha's face, "you can bet your ass I'll be speaking with the chief. No sex?"

Sonya tried not to laugh, "I wouldn't recommend it."

Natasha shrugged, "there's plenty of other things I can withhold until I get what I want."

Yelena smirked, "but who will change your piss bag?"

"One of the nurses I suppose until she's released," Sonya looked between the two sisters, "whatever happens after she is discharged is none of my business."

"Hope you are comfortable looking at my vagina, sis. You'll be up close and personal with her soon enough if Wanda doesn't let me have my way."

"Lucky me," Yelena deadpanned before Sonya excused herself from the room stating the nurses would be around soon for pain medication and more labs. "How are you really feeling?"

Natasha's asshole personality dropped as soon as it was just her and Yelena in the room, "I feel like I was shot. Twice."

Yelena didn't look at her sister, just reached over and grabbed her hand, "it was very scary. Я видел, как так много людей умирало, когда я был за границей. Мужчины, женщины и дети, но ничто по сравнению с тем, чтобы видеть, как ты истекаешь кровью в моих объятиях. Я ничего не мог сделать, чтобы спасти тебя. Это были худшие моменты в моей жизни."

Natasha squeezed her hand, "Пара маленьких пулевых ранений не убьет меня, сестра. Я никогда тебя не оставлю. Ты меня слышишь? Я никуда не пойду."

Yelena half smiled, nodding her head at the silliness over the fact that they only felt comfortable being vulnerable while speaking Russian, "Твоя кровь испортила мои любимые скрабы," she said trying to lighten the mood.

It worked. Natasha started laughing, "oh I'm so sorry. I will work on controlling my blood flow." Even after hearing that she would be relatively okay, Yelena seemed sad. Natasha was trying to figure it out when a memory suddenly came rushing back to her, "Lena?"

"Hmm?" Ignoring the nickname and letting it slide since Natasha was injured, "what's wrong? Do you need more medicine? I can get the nurse."

"No," Yelena could tell she was uncomfortable with the words resting on her tongue. "What happened to Kate?" The bad feeling washed over the redhead, "is she dead?"

Yelena could hear the concern and worry in her voice and all she could do was shrug her shoulders, "I do not know."

Natasha tried to sit up but was stopped by an intense pain in her abdomen, "fuck that hurts."

"Stop it. You are going to pop a stitch. Lay down."

"Yes, doctor," she begrudgingly laid back down. Yelena started to stand, "where are you going? Sit down. We aren't finished talking about this."

Yelena turned back around, "excuse me? I was going to get the nurse for more pain medication for you since you thought sitting up was a good idea."

Natasha grabbed her wrist, stopping her from leaving, "I know this act. Running away from our feelings is one of the things you and I both excel at. What happened to Kate? We were coming to see you for lunch and now you are telling me I got shot and you don't know if Kate is dead or not?"

Yelena sat back down and let out a frustrated noise, "I do not know where Kate Bishop is. The guys that shot you, grabbed her and took off." She explained the entire situation to her sister including everything that transpired over the past day, "oh and I got drunk in Wanda's office and broke Maria's nose."

"So to sum up…"

"I physically assaulted someone and Kate is gone."

Natasha was quiet for a few moments, absorbing everything she had just been told, "that's a shitty Christmas."

"That is exactly what I said."

"Well that settles it," Natasha started reaching for her phone.

"What are you doing?" Yelena saw where she was looking and grabbed the phone for her.

"Texting Wanda. I need to get the hell out of here so I can help you get Kate back."

"Absolutely not. Look I appreciate your willingness to help but you can't even sit up. Plus, I am meeting with Maria tonight. She said she has some things to tell me."

Natasha shook her head, "there is no way you are meeting with her alone. I don't know exactly what she has going on with these people but it can't be anything good."

"I am not going alone. Cassie is coming with me."

Natasha smirked, "good thinking. Lead your intern to her death."

"Nobody is dying tonight except maybe you if you don't get off my back. I have no idea where Kate is and I want to kill those men who took her. Maria might have some answers. What was I supposed to do?"

Natasha grabbed her hand again, "look I get it. I'd be a wreck too if something happened to Wanda and I couldn't do anything about it. Hey. Have you tried the find my phone app thing? I stalk you and Wanda on that."

Yelena pulled out her phone, "I don't have that set up."

Natasha grabbed the phone out of her hand, "seriously? Here." She pulled up the app, "I set it up for you as soon as you came to live with us. And look," she scrolled. "Kate's added you."

"She did?! Where is she?"

"Her phone isn't registering. Her watch is on here but it's a large blue circle so the last place her watch was on is in this vicinity. Looks like her battery is really low. I took a screenshot so we can look at the map more closely."

Yelena took her phone back and watched as the watch went offline, "looks like her battery died."

"Good thing I took that screenshot."

"So,"she enlarged the area with the blue circle, "their warehouse is somewhere around here. I'll question Maria about it later." She looked at the hopeful expression on her sister's face, "you aren't coming. You are staying here until your girlfriend clears you."

"I want to save Kate, too."

Yelena gave her a small smile, "I would love your help. Your body got in the way of those bullets though." She rolled her eyes, "I can come back tomorrow morning after we talk to Maria and you can still help me plan this all out."

"I guess that's the best I'm going to get."

Yelena pointed to her urine bag, "can't have you dragging your piss through the warehouse. We don't want to leave any DNA behind."

"You are going to set fire to this place?" Mac asked in both fear and excitement. "What if we don't make it out and burn to death? That doesn't sound like too much fun."

Kate knew the girl had a point as she carefully hid the cigarettes and lighters in a secure location the goons wouldn't find if they tossed their cell. Calling the room a cell was a bit of a stretch. It was an elongated closet with sleeping bags. "I just need to get out there to see what we are working with. Do they let us go to the bathroom?"

"How have you still not called anyone on your watch?"

"Oh!" Kate turned to her watch, "message Yelena." The watch got the message screen up, "Lena… I'm fine, well I'm not. I'll get out of this." Before she got a chance to send the message her watch went black, "oops."

"Battery died?"

"Yes," she sat down next to Mac, "but there's still a shot she got my location before it died. I've been here for over 24 hours at this point."

"Then maybe we could just wait for her to come save us."

Kate chuckled, "I'm not waiting for anyone to save me. Do they let us go to the bathroom?"

"See that bucket over there?"

"Ahh. I see," Kate thought that was a setback but still it looked freshly cleaned so someone must switch out the buckets. "They'll have to change it eventually."

"When they take me out," Mac was fidgeting with her fingers, "I try to disassociate so I don't have to feel anything but outside this room is a larger looking warehouse room. Couches, TVs, kitchen. And it leads down hallways to different cells I guess and bedrooms. They never take me to the same room two times in a row.. There's like four or five they switch between. I guess they don't want me getting comfortable enough to plan something."

Kate nodded, taking in all the information she was receiving, "kind of sounds like the place they held me before but bigger? I'm not sure. Well do you have any suggestions?"

Mac laughed, "me? I'm just a kid."

"No. Not right now. You are my accomplice. I need you to recall anything you can about out there. Approximate meal times. Anything can help. Do you have anything you've squirreled away since being here? Anything at all?"

Mac looked over at her, seemingly looking to see if she could trust her new roommate, "I have some stuff."

"I promise you that you can trust me." She watched the young girl walk over the side of the room opposite the bucket. Underneath Kate's sleeping bag, Mac pulled out a few things and walked them back over to show Kate like a little puppy showing its toys.

"A toothbrush they gave me by accident once. A bunch of napkins. Toilet paper. And look," she pulled her most valuable item out, "two plastic knives. I know it's just plastic but I feel like this was a good start. I didn't have any plans to use any of this but I wanted something."

Kate cut her off, "something concrete to hold on to. I get it. It's something that's yours. Taking back a little bit of freedom they took away. Believe me, I get it. This stuff is great, Mac. Here," she handed her one of the small knives from her coat. "Get to work on making a shiv out of the end of your toothbrush."

"How do I do that?"

Kate smiled over at the girl, "here. Let me show you." She opened her knife, taking the tooth brush and cutting downward into the handle. "It's easy once you get going." She did a couple more cuts before passing it over to Mac, "you try."

"Oh," Mac was genuinely smiling, "it is easy. You know? I'm not happy that you got caught but I'm thankful you are with me."

"We will get out of this one, kid. I promise you that."

"Hey. I thought you said I wasn't a kid."

Kate laughed, trying her watch again without success, "I guess I did say that. Just get whittling and we can talk code names later."

Yelena rolled to a stop idling her motorcycle outside the address Cassie had texted her earlier. It was a nice looking brownstone on the other side of Manhattan. She watched her intern walk towards her, held out her spare helmet and she shook her head, "why are you dressed like a ninja?"

Cassie shrugged and took the offered helmet, "I didn't know what we're getting into. Maria isn't a problem but we are going to Kate's house. Who knows if these men are still watching it."

Yelena didn't bother holding back her smirk, "and dressing like a ninja was your plan?"

"Shut up," she shoved the helmet on and got on the back of the bike. "This bike is so cool, by the way," she said louder than necessary since Yelena didn't start it back up to full power. "I can see why Kate is so into you."

"I'm flattered," Yelena let the bike roar to life. She turned around and added, "hold on and try not to make a pass at me while I'm driving. I'd hate to save Kate just for her to kill you."

Yelena parked her bike a few blocks from Kate's apartment, "we walk through the alley from here."

Cassie noticed when Yelena leaned forward to release the kickstand that there was a gun in the back of the blonde's jeans. "Okay I know you were in the military but were you like an assassin in a past life?" She had to run to keep up with Yelena as she struggled to take off her helmet.

"Leave it on. If there are people around, do you really want them to see your face?"

"Good point," Cassie shoved the helmet back on, "but the assassin thing?"

Yelena's chuckle was dark, "if that helps you sleep at night, little Lang."

"You aren't actually going to shoot Maria are you? Like for information?"

A heavy sigh was heard from the other woman, "no I'm not. This," she pointed to where her gun was hidden, "is just a precaution in case any of Kate's other acquaintances show up. I need to protect us somehow."

They had made it to Kate's building and quickly walked up the backstairs, entering the charred loft. Kate hadn't bothered to fix it up while she was staying with Yelena because the thought process was that they would just fuck it up again before this was all over, "and what's the plan if they do show up?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Yelena took her helmet off, setting it on the counter watching her intern do the same. She took a small hand sized pistol out of her boot and handed it to Cassie, "here. Put this in your boot, under the sock. Only use it if you need to. Turn the safety off like this." She showed Cassie how to operate the gun. "Also, take this knife."

"Somehow this doesn't make me feel any better," Cassie concealed her newly appointed weapons.

"You offered to be my plus one. Terrible decision on your part, truly." There was a knock on the door and Yelena held her finger up to her lips. She walked over silently looking through the peephole. Satisfied that only one person was out in the hall, she opened the door to show a very tired looking Maria. "Looks different than before, doesn't it?"

"Hello to you too," Maria pushed past the blonde making her way just inside the door of the destroyed loft. "Could use a new coat of paint if Kate returns."

"If Kate returns?"

"Yeah," Cassie walked over to stand next to the blonde mirroring her posture, arms crossed over her chest, "what's this if bullshit? Are you insinuating she is already dead?"

Maria looked between the two women, "really Belova? The pitbull got herself a chihuahua? Can I come in or do we have to do this in the threshold?"

"Come on in," Yelena pulled Cassie over to the side, "which charred piece of furniture would you like to sit on?" They watched Maria walk around the apartment. She clearly had been there before, noted by her familiarity to the room. Maria chose to sit on one of the high top stools, "sit," she instructed Cassie to follow suit as she went over to deadbolt the door. "How did they know Kate was going to be at the hospital yesterday?"

"Because I told them. I overheard you telling Sonya that your sister and girlfriend were coming for lunch on Christmas Day. I looked at your schedule and saw when you were taking your break and I made a call." She never broke eye contact with Yelena and saw her cool exterior cracking, "look I'm not happy or proud that I was a part in this. I did what I had to do to fix it."

"Fix what?"

Yelena looked at her intern before speaking, "you heard the girl. Answer her questions." She suddenly was very grateful for the partner in this one. Had she been alone she probably would've just shot Maria and left many questions unanswered.

"It had been a few months before I met your sister. I was finishing up my last year in medical school and starting to look for hospital placements for my residency. I guess maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time but I was walking through Central Park on my way back to my dorm and I was jumped. Apparently I had been followed for quite some time. Whatever. Can't change the past. I knew I didn't want to get raped or killed so I did the only thing a 20 something would do and I told them I'd do whatever they wanted." She stopped to see the two women still staring at her. "Not my finest moment but I wanted to live. I was just a means to an end for them."

"Then end being Kate Bishop?" Yelena tried but failed to keep the disgust out of her voice.

"There were two girls going around and hurting these men. In my opinion, they were justified but I clearly couldn't say that to these guys. Like I said, I didn't want to die. I didn't find out much of anything. I had to finish school and then they instructed which hospital I was to have my residency at. I know that they weren't interested in Carol, only Kate. I was to help them obtain the brunette. The first attempt was that night in the park. When Kate stopped the rapist from getting me, I saw how young she was and…"

"And what your conscience ticked for a second before you jumped back into the fray? Obviously your change of heart never happened if you were still helping them."

"I told you. You can't shake these guys."

"Why do they want Kate?"

"Money? Power? To kill her? I don't know what they never said. So I took the internship right before the attempted rape but nobody at the hospital knew me yet because I hadn't started. After that, I noticed Kate would come into the ER quite frequently with the normal cuts and bruises, broken bones and she was desperate for a friend. I wanted to get her to trust me and at first I thought it was because of my assignment but then I realized I felt bad for the girl," Maria didn't think all of this information was necessary for the storyline but she had never talked about any of this before. "Of course Kate remembered me because there was no way her hero complex would let her forget someone she saved."

"Careful," Yelena growled, "you are already on thin ice."

"Stand down, pitbull. You asked for the story so I'm telling you the story. Seriously Lang, control her a little better."

Cassie did her best not to look flustered, "considering she's covered in weapons and you are still breathing… I'd say she's pretty calm."

Maria rolled her eyes, "whatever. Should I continue?"

"Please," Yelena managed a smile though the word came out with a bite to it.

"The plan was to befriend the girl and turn her over to men. I always got assigned to Kate when she came into the ER and slowly she started opening up to me. Probably because I didn't ask too many questions or judge her. One day Carol came into the ER with her and she didn't trust me from the minute she met me. Can't see why, I'm very charming."

"Ha!" Yelena barked out a laugh, "sure you are."

"Anyway, I got to know Kate and I started having second thoughts about giving her over. That night your sister got hurt and she connected with Wanda? I was here trying to talk some sense into Kate. I was trying to tell her while not specifically telling her the danger she was in. Carol showed up and things got ugly. Carol made it very clear that if I wanted to see Kate anymore it wouldn't be without her present."

"What happened next?" Cassie was on the edge of her seat.

"Nothing until you showed up," Maria looked at Yelena. "Kate had been lying low with Carol. Still coming in and out of the ER but the guys seemed to slow down on looking for her. Then you came to work, Kate showed interest in something they could take away and they pulled me back in."

"So the plan was?"

"To kill you," Maria said without a hint of amusement. "Kill you to get Kate."

"That night this happened," Yelena looked around the charred loft, "you sent them here. Told them where we would be? Were you watching to know we'd be here?"

Maria reached over and grabbed Yelena's phone, popping the back open, "I haven't been watching," she let the wiretap fall out of the phone.

Yelena was upset before and now she was just furious. That means that the apartment was probably bugged too. These people heard all of it and she was disgusted but she couldn't let it show knowing they were probably still listening, "what do they want Kate for?"

Maria shrugged, "as best I could gather… her mother owes them millions."

"So not to traffick her?"

Maria shrugged again and Yelena was ready to slap her, "I think it's money and politics. Kate's first escape got them disbanded for years. I don't think they ever got over that."

"Isn't Kate's mom in prison?" Cassie knew the highlights of Kate's past from the few nights they spent together but didn't know every detail.

"She is," Maria confirmed.

"Do they still want me dead?"

"I won't lie. Now that they have Kate, you aren't their top priority but they are worried you'll come for her and get in their way."

Yelena pulled the gun out from her waist band, "and what's to stop me from killing you right now?"

Cassie was starting to sweat. She hadn't known Yelena long but there was no doubt in her mind that she would pull the trigger if she had to, "do you know where Kate is being held?"

"Don't ask her any more questions, little Lang. She's not going to help us."

Maria smiled, "well that's just not true. I warned Kate at Carol's funeral." She turned to face Cassie, "and from what I hear, you've already been there."

Cassie's eyes went wide in realization, "fuck." It was where they were the night Carol died.

"Time to go, Cassie," Yelena pulled Cassie with her towards the front door but before she could turn the knob a series of smoke grenades filled the loft followed by one very loud flashbang. The room filled with smoke, making it impossible to see, "Lang go," she twisted the knob and tried to push the girl out when gunshots started firing in the room. Yelena pulled her own gun out and fired back. Crouched down behind the island, she felt a searing pain rip through her arm, "mother fuckers," she shook it off and started firing again after she reloaded. It could've been seconds, minutes or hours but when the smoke finally started to dissipate, Yelena saw two figures lying on the floor. "Shit," she looked at her left shoulder and saw blood trailing down her arm. The body closest to her was a man in riot gear. She laughed as she checked his pulse, "lucky bastard. You will make a nice hostage." She stood up and kicked the unconscious man before making her way over to the other body. Maria lay on the ground, blood pooling around the right side of her throat. "Try not to move," Yelena grabbed a towel from the counter and started pressing it into the bullet hole in Maria's neck.

The woman looked scared yet calm, "it's cold in here."

"I know. Seriously try not to move. I'm going to reach in your pants for your phone so I can call 911." She already knew there was no way Maria would even make it the length of the ambulance ride from here to the hospital.

"No," Maria coughed some blood. "It's fine. I know it's over. Just sit with me."

"Don't talk. Just close your eyes and relax. The pain will be over soon." Yelena had sat with many people during her time in the military. Watching the light go from someone's eyes was always difficult.

"They got Lang."

"Fuck," Yelena's head dropped. This was becoming more messed up by the day. She was going to bring them all back or die trying. "Maria?"

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes to look at Yelena.

Maria's breathing was labored and her skin was cold to the touch, "why did you do this?"

Tears started rolling down her cheeks, "they took my mother. Right after you came," she coughed more blood, "they took my mom."

"Jesus. Hill. I could've… We could've helped."

Maria closed her eyes, "when you find them. Tell my mother I love her and I'm sorry."

Before Yelena could assure her that she would find her mom, Maria took her last breath. She let go of the blood soaked rag and took out her phone, "Wanda?" She waited for the woman to reply, "I need your help."

Cassie was dragged out of the apartment and thrown into the back of a van. She pretended to be unconscious so they wouldn't try to talk to her or question her. It was a small miracle that they didn't touch her while they thought she was out. She could hear them talking from the front seat, "did you see Hill?"

The other one responded, "dead. I think."

"Boss won't be happy his informant is gone. What about Jessie?"

"I think he was dead, too. I thought we were grabbing the blonde. Why did we take this one?"

"Blonde had a gun. This one didn't put up a fight. We will just have to go back for the other one."

Cassie willed herself not to freak out. They must be taking her to wherever they have Kate. They didn't even want her. They wanted Yelena. She just hoped when she got dumped into her holding cell they wouldn't have the forethought to search her. The drive was short and Cassie played dead when they opened the sliding door. "This one is light. Should we throw her in with the others?"

"Couldn't hurt."

Kate had been restless all night waiting for someone to come in and grab her or Mac. She didn't trust any of them and was scared they would come looking for them if they got bored. Her fears shot through the roof when she heard some men outside. Quickly she grabbed her knife and had it concealed under her sleeping bag. The door opened and blinding light poured in. One man threw in another sleeping bag while the other dropped a body onto it, "leave her here. We will deal with it in the morning."

Kate waited unmoving until the door was fully shut and locked again. She didn't want to speak first so she waited until she saw the figure start to stir. "Hello?" She whispered to the body.

"Kate?" The familiar voice called before rolling over. "Oh thank God you are okay," Cassie threw herself into her friend's arms.

"How? What? Why?"

Cassie shook her head, "Maria set us up. The men were coming for Yelena but she started shooting so they grabbed me instead. It was a nightmare."

"Who's that?" Mac asked, rolling over in her bag. "Why is she hugging you?"

"It's okay, Mac. I know her from the outside," Kate introduced the two girls. "I need to hear more about this setup but Mac said they do more frequent rounds at night so we should try to get some sleep."

"Plus if they hear us talking they will definitely come in and beat us."

"Don't worry about that," Cassie's grin grew wider. "I've got the answer to all of our problems. That girlfriend of yours is a keeper." She reached into her shoes and pulled out her gun, knife and telephone. "They didn't even search me, idiots."

Mac looked at the weapons and fully charged cell phone, "you've got to marry that woman."