Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As soon as she opens her eyes, Kate remembers she isn’t in her own apartment. If the giant Star Wars poster on the wall didn’t give it away than the extremely lumpy bed definitely would.

She didn’t drink enough last night to forget everything (tragically), but she definitely didn’t remember falling asleep after.

She’s naked, which like…of course, hooking up with strangers at a bar will usually lead to that. But the lack of that really good post sex morning ache tells her that whatever happened after the bar was mid at best.

It’s fine, at least she didn’t spend the night alone at home watching 90s sitcom re-runs with Lucky.

Lucky, who she has to get home to take out for a walk and make him breakfast. Lucky, who she would much rather feel breathing against the back of her neck than…Dave? It was Dave right? David?

Shaking her head, Kate puts her ever-developing stealth training to the test as she climbs out of his bed. His room is actually pretty clean - much cleaner than hers which is a little bit embarrassing. There are no clothes scattered all over the floor or half bottles of water on the desks. There are a lot of toys though, and Kate isn’t about to judge, everyone has their expensive hobbies - but with each corner she looks at she sees some kind of monster or machine or half naked girl that she’s never seen before in her life.

She finds her underwear in two separate places. The uncomfortable bra she put on last night will not be coming back on today - but she slides into the barely there pair of panties before grabbing her jeans. She hops on one foot as she slides a leg through, trying to find her shirt as she does. Kate replays the dance they did getting to this bedroom - remembering her jacket came off near the kitchen and her shirt-

“Doorknob,” a voice calls out and makes Kate jump, her body jerking backward and falling into something solid that makes a lot of noise. By the time she realizes she hit a dresser and knocked over a bunch of figures, it’s too late.

“Shit, fuck! Sorry, I’m sorry.” She turns quickly, her pants halfway on, and tries to pick up the little figures that have been taken down by her clumsiness. “I hope these aren’t expensive.”

There’s a slight laugh from the bed. “You’re fine. Your shirt is hanging on the doorknob. You were really impressed with your shot when you made it land there.”

Oh right, “hah, it was a good throw.” She plucks her top off the doorknob and holds it between her teeth before slipping her jeans on the rest of the way.

When she looks up, Dave is sitting up on the bed, blanket covering his legs and his arms on display. That’s when she remembers why she chose him at the bar - nice arms. “You don’t have to bounce so early, you know? I can buy you breakfast.”

“I have to get back to my dog,” she says and feels good because it isn’t a lie. Though even if Lucky weren't waiting for her, Kate wouldn't stay. She never does - her life is too crazy for anything more than this. “But I had fun last night, Dave.”

She puts her shirt on, curious when he doesn’t respond right away. This time when she looks at him, he’s frowning. “Doug,” he says back to her and it takes Kate a second to realize what he’s saying.

“Oh.” She feels a wave of shame heat up her face. “Right, of course. Sorry I…” then she remembers more from the night before and narrows her eyes. “Hang on, I called you Dave all night!”

He shrugs, “you were hot and we started making out - you could have called me whatever you wanted.”

“Then why correct me now?”

Another shrug, and Kate kind of wants to punch him. “I just…thought you’d want to know for next time.”

Okay, time to close the door. “Look Doug, you’re nice and last night was fun, but I’m not looking for anything like that.”

“Right,” he says and his tone kind of feels like he thinks she’s a slut. Or maybe Kate’s just projecting a little because lately that’s kind of how she’s felt - but her life has been a mess the last few…well…years, and so what if she’s looking for some outlets. “Well it was good to meet you, Kate.”

Right, of course he remembers her name. Which makes her feel even worse.

She has to get out of here. She offers him a small wave before stepping over one of the toys she knocked down and makes her way out of the room.

Of course, as soon as she hits the living room - there are three other fucking guys sitting around the kitchen counter eating from the same box of cereal. All of them turn to look at her, eyes wide and curious.

Great. Just fucking great. “Hey,” she says, and puts her head down and makes her way to the door. They all watch her like some kind of sideshow - and Kate just knows that she’s going to be the topic of discussion all morning for these dudes. It’s fine, she doesn't care, but she has to get out of this apartment.

As she grabs her shoes and starts putting them on, she refuses to look back at them even though she knows they’re all watching her. She didn’t even register the size of the apartment when theyw ere fumbling their way through it last night, but apparently it’s big enough for four fucking people to live in it and…god. Were they home when Kate and Doug showed up? Did they hear…

No. Nope. She’s not doing that.

“Hey,” someone calls out and Kate’s head snaps up to see one of the boys walking over to her. She’s about ready to turn around and run when he lifts his arm and holds out her coat. “It’s been raining all morning.”

Kate sighs, “great.” She takes the coat from him. “Thanks.”

“Do I know you?” he asks and goddammit she is stuck in a fucking misery vortex. “I think I know you,” he turns towards the others. “Don’t you guys recognize her?”

They’re all still looking at her. Now each one of them is trying to pinpoint it. “I have to go.” She says and then opens the door to leave.

“Wait, you’re Hawk-”

She shuts the door behind them and practically sprints to the elevator.

As soon as she reaches the streets, Kate pulls her coat up so she can use it to shield herself from the rain. It’s not a very far walk to her apartment from here once she gets her bearings and decides that she’d rather do that than interact with another human.

So she walks and tries to piece together the rest of her night last night. She was bored, she was frustrated (both sexually and with work) and her mother called her from prison and Kate declined it.

Oh right, guilt, that’s what led her into Dave/Doug’s bed last night. She didn’t want to talk to her mom because talking to her has become so uncomfortable. Her mom is in prison and sure, it’s a nice prison that is more like a hotel with bars than anything else, but at the end of the day she never seems to be able to let it go.

Sure, they don’t fight anymore, but they don’t really…anything anymore. The conversations they have are so barren and lifeless. She tries to give her mom updates, but talking about her investigation work only makes her mom lecture her. Talking about Bishop Security drives Kate nuts because she’s barely anything with that company now but her mom refuses to let go of the idea of Kate taking over as CEO until she’s free.

Which won’t be for another 8 years and Kate refuses to waste that much time doing something she hates.

It’s just…a disconnect. The life she’s been forced to build for herself here is one she’s had to build on her own - without her family. She’s got her work and her…other work. She’s doing everything she can to maintain some kind of a social group (Franny and Greer are doing their best to adjust to her Hawkeye business but they sure do freak out a lot) and she’s kept up with the LARPers too for all the various connections they give her.

Plus there’s Clint, who she talks to frequently but is trying really hard not to go to him with every single job she gets - she really wants this to be her own thing.

The point is that last night was just one of those nights where it all kind of caught up to her and so she decided she wanted to get laid and her tight white tank-top and low cut jeans have never once failed her.

Now she’s out here in the pouring rain at fucking seven in the morning splashing her way back home.

Once she makes it, she calls out to Lucky through the door. “I’m here buddy! I’m coming! Don’t pee on the floor!” She fumbles with her keys as she manages to bust the door open and finds him waiting for her - tail wagging furiously. “Hey boy! I’m sorry,” Kate tosses her coat onto the nearest barstool and knees down to pet him. “The rain’s dying down, let’s get you out okay? Let’s go, and then we can both eat!”

His enthusiastic barks are more than enough confirmation that Lucky understands everything she says and nobody can convince her otherwise.

An half hour and a very long walk later, Kate and Lucky are back in their apartment, the rain has stopped, and she’s made him a bowl of food and herself a fried egg sandwich.

Kate’s cooking skills have expanded to like…five different egg related dishes and some absolutely fucking banger spaghetti. But she still eats out more often than not.

Once she’s eaten and Lucky is now happily curled up in his dog bed napping (he probably didn’t sleep much last night, he never does when she’s out), Kate stands in front of her bathroom mirror checking herself over for hickeys.

Thankfully, he didn’t leave her with any sort of marks or…well…much of anything. She remembers what they did and how it wasn't anything special, but there’s not even a ghost of pleasure in her memory of the night. He had nice arms, she liked how they felt under her fingers - but everything else was pretty tame.

So she’s still pretty wound up when she steps under the spray of the shower and feels the warm water hit her back. Kate can't really understand what’s up with her lately. Things are good - they’re not perfect, but they’re a far cry from where they were after she put her mom in prison. Coming back to the city after that, she threw herself into this Hawkeye stuff and crashed out hard. She had a full blown breakdown, got hurt in the most ridiculous way (nobody actually taught her how to rappel down a building - she just saw everyone else doing it and thought she could) and ended up back at Clint’s farm asking for help.

So he trained her, properly, in all things badass hero and Kate took to it really well. She spent two months in Iowa just learning, living with a real family and when it was actually time to come back to the city she almost didn’t.

But this was her home and it was here that she could do the work she really wanted to do.

It’s been going well, really and truly, but holy shit is she spending a lot of time alone.

Or well, time like this alone. Mornings where she craves more than drunk one night stands and running out of strangers homes cause their weird fucking roommates are all staring at her.

Kate washes the shampoo out of her hair before leaning back against the wall as water runs down her front and her memory searching for the last time someone gave her a truly good orgasm.

It was probably Cynthia, that cute girl from her mother’s lawyer’s office that sat with her during all that paperwork. She was sweet, a little too caught up in all things social media, but she knew what she was doing in the bedroom.

Kate tries to replay what she can from that night. She remembers it happened here, she brought Cynthia home after dinner and let Cynthia pull her upstairs. They undressed quickly, not really pretending either of them wanted foreplay.

“Fuck,” Kate gasps, surprising herself when she feels her fingers press into her clit. She thinks back to how it felt when Cynthia was going down on her - the way she swirled her tongue and used her fingers - they were strong, calloused from woodworking. She liked to grab Kate’s breasts as she worked - which makes Kate reach up and squeeze her own breast.

She circles her clit slowly, steadily, not wanting to run a race but knowing she can't be in here too long or her hot water will go out.

She plays with herself for a few minutes, seeking and searching trying desperately to come because she knows she didn’t last night. But it’s not working, she can't find the right image or hit the right note.

It’s there and she’s chasing and chasing, but then her body eases off and she’s left hunting again.

When the frustration kicks in, Kate takes the showerhead off the wall and presses the spray directly against her clit. It’s sudden, impactful, but it does work her up again. She leans forward, the spray moving just a bit back and forth like she’s trying to mimic something she can't place.

It’s there, she’s so close, so fucking-

Her phone rings. Specifically, Greer’s handpicked ringtone of Down With the Sickness does its job as an absolute boner killer. “God dammit…” Kate sighs, letting herself wallow for about ten seconds before getting tired of that stupid fucking song and turning off the shower. She puts the showerhead back, legs trembling a little as she grabs her phone off the sink and answers. “This better be an emergency, dude.”

“Why?! Are you in the city? Are you okay?!” Greer’s voice is panicked, and Kate feels all of her senses heighten as she steps out of the bathroom dripping wet and moves towards her bedroom window.

“What do you mean? What’s happening?” She opens the blinds and looks out, not really seeing anything except for a cloudy sky. “Greer?”

“You’re not there? Kate, the city is getting fucking blanketed in darkness right now!”

Kate turns and moves through her apartment, still extremely fucking wet and naked - with Lucky hot on her heels. She goes downstairs to her window that looks out to the other side of the city and…

“Holy shit,” she says as her heart leaps into her throat. Greer was not exaggerating, the sky is literally just black, a cloud of darkness that is actually moving deeper and deeper into the city. “Greer? Are you okay?” Kate asks as she puts the phone on speaker and sets it on the counter before reaching the door of her fairly new, superhero secret room. She types in the code and the wall moves to the side, revealing all of her equipment and a few monitors she uses to track things around the city. It’s all kind of a work in progress, but she grabs her suit and bow as Greer continues to yell at her.

“I’m fine! But we’re all just running and trying to get away from it! Kate I don’t know what’s happening! I’m coming! Don’t go underground! There’s no way out!” Greer is screaming, panicked, Kate’s never heard her like this.

“Get somewhere safe, okay? Just keep moving away from it. I’ll see what I can find out and call you back!”

“Be careful, Kate! Don’t -”

The call cuts out and Kate sees her screen flashing “LOST SIGNAL” as she passes it. “Fuck,” she sighs but can't do anything about it now as she trudges back upstairs for underwear.

It takes her all of two minutes to get dressed, hair still wet as she comes back downstairs and grabs her bow and goes back into her war room to get arrows. She has no fucking idea what to pack for a cloud of darkness, probably not going to be able to actually stop that, so she settles for arrows she can use to help people.

Kate’s barely into her boots when she sends a quick apology to Lucky and starts sprinting downstairs.

The city is a mess as soon as she steps outside, people crowding the streets, whether they’re just staring or running - taking videos and generally just freaking out.

She takes off towards the darkness, which is a super cool sentence she has always wanted to say until the moment she’s actually doing it and now she can't help but wonder what the actual fuck is wrong with her.

The closer she gets to it, the more chaotic the world around her becomes. There are abandoned cars all over the street, people are running and crashing into one another.

Kate does her best to help with the carnage, guiding people who need help out of the way and using her bow to wrangle people off the street and out of the way of cars trying to get by.

It’s a lot of shouting and being shoved around and that damn darkness is still closing in on them when there is a sudden screech of tires and a crash of something.

Kate turns just as a car slams into the back of another and just…keeps going. The car that was hit is sent towards the sidewalk where a bunch of people are standing.

Reaching back, Kate feels around the little grooves on her arrows and finds the one she’s looking for. She draws quickly, firing it through the crowd just right to catch the tire of the out of control car and a mess of purple goo bubbles out, stalling the tires and sticking the car to the pavement - stopping it just before it tumbled into the sidewalk.

She’s on her way to check on the driver, who clearly lost control for a reason, when there is a sudden explosion that makes everyone jump - her included.

She sees the wreckage from a distance, a helicopter slamming into the side of a building near Stark Tower. She wants to go there, she needs to, but there’s no way she can make it through this crowd and people are forming a wall pressing against her as they run away from the darkness getting closer and closer.

Kate opts to let that be, she can't reach it in time to really help anyone and there are people here who need her too.

She does what she can, using a sonic arrow to move a car out of the street and clear a new path, and then ends up having to break up a fucking fistfight in the middle of all of this mess because one guy ran over another guy’s kid.

It’s stupid and so out of place, Kate knows most of it is them being scared, but when one of them catches her with an elbow in the jaw, she has enough and punches him back before shoving him further down the street and sending the other guy back to his daughter with a warning.

Before she knows it, Kate’s in a coffee shop with the windows shattered because people were trying to hide in it only to realize it wasn't safe and then they all couldn't get out through the door so they just broke the damn window and climbed out of it.

She sees a woman crouching behind the counter, can't be a day over nineteen, who is hovering over something Kate can't see. “Hey!” She shouts, stepping around the last of the crowd making their quick exit. “We can't stay here, we-”

“My abuela!” She cries out, and as she leans back, Kate sees the older woman lying on the ground, eyes closed and flat on her back.

Kate moves to kneel down next to her, fingers touching the woman’s pulse, which is still strong. “What happened?”

“This is her shop, people were destroying it and she was screaming at them and then she just fell over and I can't wake her up!” The woman leans down into her grandma’s ear and shouts at her.

Kate looks out towards the exit, where the world is getting more and more shaded - it’s getting closer. “Shit, shit, shit - what’s your name?”

“What?” The girl looks at her like she forgot Kate was there.

“Your name, what is it?”

“Theresa.”

“Okay Theresa, what’s your grandma’s name?”

The girl shakes her head, tears pouring down her cheeks. “Dia,” she says and then leans down to shake her again. “¡Despierta, por favor!”

Okay,” Kate sighs, standing up. The woman has just fainted, but she’s breathing fine, they just need to get her out of here.

Kate has a thought, moving towards the door to look out into the now empty streets - everyone has run beyond here because the darkness is literally right outside. It’s terrifying, she can't even see the parts of the city it’s covered anymore. There are a few stragglers trying to get through, running with dogs and children - panicked.

They’re too close to the void to escape, too far away for Kate to get them. She feels through her arrows again and finds the flarrow (her name, and she’s very proud of it) - lighting it with the press on the shaft before knocking it against her bow. She shoots it directly at the darkness, just hoping it might do something.

She watches her flare coast through the sky, directly into the void of black that’s barreling closer and closer. When it reaches it, she sees the light of the flare sizzle and then fade into nothing.

Leaving her standing there watching it like an idiot who really thought a single flare would stop this. “Worth a shot, I guess.” She says before tucking her bow away and making her way back into the cafe.

“Theresa, we have to-”

This time the explosion is close enough that it actually sends Kate stumbling forward into the cafe. She falls forward, the rest of the glass from the windows shattering around her as Theresa screams and covers her grandma with her body.

Kate’s ears are ringing, she’s a little dizzy and pretty sure there’s glass in her hair - but she sits up and crawls over to Theresa. “We have to go, now.” She says through gritted teeth, watching as Theresa hugs her grandma and shakes her head back and forth.

This is where she hears Clint’s voice in her head, telling her that she has to make a choice. She can't wait - she has to do something.

Logic says she should leave. Get up and get the fuck out of here - losing one person will suck, but if she dies herself then she won’t be able to save anyone else.

Until she hears Theresa mumbling to her grandma in Spanish, sobs making her voice hiccup as she speaks, and Kate knows she can't do that.

So she sits up and slides back against the counter, bow drawn and ready to take on whatever the hell comes next. It’s here now, covering the car just outside and inching through the building itself. Even Theresa seems to panic when she sees it, dragging her grandma as best she can deeper into the shop.

“Hang on!” Kate shouts, pulling an arrow back to shoot should any sort of monster or ghost or whatever the fuck come at them.

She realizes that it’s probably nothing like that, it will probably just take her like it has everyone else - into nothing, death. She thinks she should be having a life flashing moment or thinking about how she’s about to see her dad again - something prophetic.

Instead, all she can think about is how the last arrow she shot was a tiny ass flare into a literal void of darkness like it might actually do something.

Way to go, Hawkeye.

Then, just as the void touches her foot, it stops. She isn’t swallowed by darkness or evaporated into nothing.

The darkness starts to move away, much faster than it rolled in - and Kate watches in awe as the sky clears and the city regains its color.

Her heart is pounding, her ears start to pick up sound again like normal and she’s pretty sure there’s a shard of glass poking her in the butt. Kate lowers her bow, taking a deep breath before resting her head against the counter.

“¿Qué pasó?Theresa? Is that you?” She hears the older woman’s voice, raspy and tired and turns her head to see Dia sitting up with a confused look on her face.

“Abuela!” Theresa hugs her grandma tight, sobbing and rambling a hundred words a second. Kate smiles at the sight, glad to see that grandma is okay. When she sees Kate sitting there though, grandma’s frown deepens.

“Who the hell are you?”

-------------------------------

Kate’s stomach growls so loudly that even Lucky looks up from his napping spot to stare at her. She winces, starving, and only realizes then that it’s almost dark outside.

After what can only be described as one of the weirdest days of her life so far, Kate decided to spend the rest of it buried in Bishop Security paperwork. She wants to sell the company, desperately - it’s not a part of her life anymore. But the problem is that she won’t just hand it over to some random person who could do all sorts of nefarious things with it. Kate’s seen too much of how shitty the world is to give away an asset like that to just anyone.

Hell, her own mother used it to help Wilson Fisk and do all sorts of shitty stuff. So yeah, for now Kate is still in charge, even if she doesn’t go into the office save for a few times a month.

That doesn’t remove her from doing paperwork unfortunately.

Usually though, she can handle it pretty well. Today though, after spending her morning leaving a very bad one night stand and then fighting a weird cloud of darkness.

Most of the news outlets Kate looked at afterwards didn’t have any real explanation for it, Kate hasn’t really had the time to follow up. She helped Theresa and her grandmother get to a hospital, found out that Greer and Franny both made it out okay and then helped with cleanup for a few hours before finally heading home. There was a large gathering of people she saw, some kind of a press conference, but Kate needed to get back to Lucky.

Now she’s here, doing paperwork and cracking her neck as she stands up, desperately needing food.

Kate grabs her phone, scrolling again to see if there’s any new info on the attack or…whatever it was, when she sees a few scrolling headlines that catch her eye.

DE FONTAINE CHRISTENS NEW AVENGERS

AS DARKNESS TAKES MANHATTAN, NEW AVENGERS MAKE THE SAVE

DID WE JUST WITNESS THE SECOND COMING OF HEROES IN NEW YORK?

“Oh come on,” Kate sighs, scrolling past headline after headline as her frustration grows with each one. Because the actual Avengers are still out there, she’s heard about it, seen it, and has had some very long conversations with Clint about getting her name out there.

She knows who Sam Wilson is, that he’s the new Captain America, and that he’s starting a team.

“I need on that team, Clint.”

“That’s not something I can just handwave and make happen, Kate. I’m out of the game.”

“You’re an OG! You have to have some pull!”

“I don’t know what that even means.”

Then she spent the next thirty minutes explaining to him what “OG” meant and never actually got anywhere with the Avengers stuff.

Now there’s a new team, apparently, and Kate once again wasn't invited. Despite, you know, actively being out there.

Though she’s vaguely familiar with Valentina De Fontaine from a few fancy parties growing up, before she moved to DC for her political career she was trying very hard to become a player in the New York business scene. Kate was too young to really understand, but she remembers her mom saying more than once that Valentina was a snake.

“Guess it’s easy to see them when you’re in the grass too, huh mom?” She says to the empty apartment, no to Lucky - she doesn’t talk to herself she talks to Lucky.

Kate opens her fridge for a drink, trying to decide if she wants to order food or just try her luck with whatever is left in her cupboards when a steady, sharp knock is at her door.

She tenses, because nobody comes over to her house this late at night and solicitors never bother with the five flights it takes to get up here.

Tense, Kate sees Lucky lift his head up, staring at the door as she walks over to it slowly, deciding to just grab a knife from the kitchen and tuck it behind her back as she reaches the peephole.

When she looks through it, all she sees is the top of a blonde head of hair and “open the door, Kate Bishop.”

That voice sends her back in time. She’s twenty-two again and fighting for her life through an office building while also having the most fucking fun she had that entire Christmas. “Yelena?”

She watches again as that same blonde head of hair takes a step back and then looks right at her through the peephole. “Hiiiii, can you open the door now?”

With a heavy sigh, Kate steps back and opens the door to reveal Yelena standing there looking…

Well okay, she looks fucking amazing. Her hair is much shorter than Kate remembers it, fluffy and messy on top of her head but in a way that somehow looks perfect. She has on a long sleeved deep green top and black pants, a loose fitting jacket and…is that a chain around her neck?

“Kate Bishop, since when do you wear glasses?”

Oh, right, “only when I’m working on my laptop…or reading.” She says as she pulls them off and sets them down on the counter.

Their introductions are stalled when Lucky comes bounding towards the new person in the room. Kate isn’t sure what she expects, but the way Yelena’s face melts surprisingly doesn’t catch her off guard. “Oh look at you! Hi! You are the best doorman, aren’t you?” Yelena pets Lucky joyfully, her voice doing a very cute, raspy whine with each word. “You know how to welcome someone, don’t you? Not like your human, who is still standing very threateningly.”

Kate sighs, “Look between the hair and you using the front door, I was starting to think you’d been replaced by an alien clone or something.”

Yelena hums, stepping inside with her hands behind her back, head cast down as she laughs a little. Her whole body language is different than the last time Kate saw her. She’s more…reserved maybe, Kate’s not sure.

She’s still gorgeous though, which is the same problem Kate had with her last time. “Were you planning to…butter me up?”

Kate frowns, remembering very suddenly that Yelena is the kind of person that should come with a decryption code. “What?”

She watches Yelena’s eyes drift down to her hand, brows raised with a little smile before they find Kate again.

That’s when Kate looks at the knife she grabbed to defend herself. A butter knife. “Okay well, in my hands this is still a deadly weapon.”

Yelena hums and grins at her, “so deadly, Kate Bishop.”

“Still doing the full name thing, huh?”

Yelena shrugs, “I like the way it sounds.”

“Sure, so what do I owe the…pleasure?”

“Should be, I do not have any intentions to kill you-”

“Try,” Kate cuts her off, “Try and kill me, I wouldn't make it easy.”

There’s a pause, where Yelena just kind of looks at her. Again though, it isn’t like before, when she was sure Yelena was just toying with her or winding her up for no reason. No, now it’s quieter, more level grounded. “No, I don’t think you would.” Yelena looks away then, licking her lips and sighing. “I’m not here for anything really I just…I was going over the reports from today’s event and-”

“Wait, you were here for that? The whole darkness cloud thing?” She sees the guilt paint Yelena’s expression and starts to put the pieces together. “Was that…because of you?”

“Not me specifically, but I was there, yes. Me and and…well some people I met through work.”

“Through work? So assassins?”

“No,” Yelena says and then frowns deeply. “Well, yes I guess, technically - but we are not that anymore.” Yelena seems to grow frustrated, whether it be with the conversation or herself or Kate, she can't tell, but she waves her off. “It doesn't matter, the point is that I was looking through reports and I read about a girl in purple with a bow, helping civilians in the streets and…well…”

“Branding!” Kate grins triumphantly, resisting the urge to call Clint right now and have Yelena tell him exactly that. “This is what I’m talking about, people start to connect the color, the bow, to me and then when they need help they know who to call!” This is great, especially if someone like Yelena who hasn’t seen her in years still remembers her trademarks.

“It is also a good way for your enemies to know how to find you, no?”

Okay, this is true, but the fact that Yelena ‘apparently former assassin but still probably very dangerous person’ says it to her puts Kate a little on edge.

She grips the butter knife still in her hand a bit tighter. “Is it?”

“Relax, Kate Bishop. If I was here to kill you I would not have knocked and you would already be dead.”

Kate rolls her eyes, annoyed even as she turns around and puts the butter knife down. “Yeah yeah, super scary assassin, I’m a naive idiot, blah blah blah - are you hungry?”

She turns and opens her cupboard to look for…something, vaguely hoping to find a box of mac and cheese if only because she knows Yelena likes it, however all she sees is some of the extra food she bought for Thanksgiving last year.

When she realizes that Yelena hasn’t answered her, Kate thinks that when she turns around Yelena will just have disappeared as people like her tend to do in very dramatic ways.

However, when she does look back Yelena is just standing there staring at her. There’s no read on her expression, at least not one Kate can decipher - she’s just…staring. “Yelena?”

“I would never call you an idiot.”

“Oh,” that is not what she expected. “I know, I was just…I mean I’m sure you thought it.”

“No, I didn’t.” Yelena says, then narrows her eyes a little. “Do you think I’m a mean person?”

Kate can't help the snort of laughter that escapes her. “Mean? No. Scary and dangerous? Absolutely.” She shrugs a little and closes the cupboard - there’s no food here. “Even then you never seemed all that interested in hurting me. I’m not stupid enough to think you were giving me 100% in that office building. So, you know, thanks for that.”

Yelena rolls her eyes and looks away and…Kate would never say it out loud but she’s pretty sure Yelena is blushing a little. “So I don’t have any food here, but I can order something?”

“No, that is okay,” Yelena shakes her head and looks down at her feet. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay after everything today, did you uh…did it get to you?”

“You mean the haunting shadow that swallowed half the city? No, I just avoided it.”

“Good, that is good. I would not…it was not fun.”

There’s a tremor in Yelena’s voice, which is not something Kate would ever have imagined from this girl the last time they spoke. Where Yelena was so steadfastly assured of herself and her purpose. Now she seems extremely uneven and unsure of herself. Kate thinks she understands why at least a little. “So it got you then?”

Yelena nods, “it did I…I stepped into it willingly.”

“Willingly?” Kate did not expect that. “Why?”

This is enough to get Yelena to look at her, her eyes a bit glassy and her bottom lip between her teeth. “To save someone.” She shrugs, “to…find something maybe, I don’t know. It was a choice I had to make, even if the reasons don’t make a lot of sense even to me right now.”

There’s more to it, of course there’s more to it. It’s been years since the two of them interacted and even then they don’t actually know each other. Yelena is simply a part of one of the most important weeks of Kate’s entire life so there’s some feeling that she’s important. But Kate also knows that it’s all superficial, they are still effectively strangers.

“A giant black darkness engulfed the city, not much about that makes sense.”

Thankfully, her words seem to relax Yelena, whose shoulders visibly settle as she smiles. “This is true. My whole week has been…a lot.” She sounds tired, Kate could tell she was the moment she saw her (despite how fucking good she looks), but it reaches her voice now and she suddenly looks a lot more vulnerable.

Kate decides to take matters into her own hands. “Stay for dinner, you came all the way out here.”

Yelena looks up at her through the hood of her lashes, then glances at Kate's cupboard. “You have a box of something called stuffing up there and nothing else, Kate Bishop.”

“Okay, but there’s a really good Thai restaurant two blocks over with amazing dumplings and the best Panang Curry in the city.”

She watches, already knowing Yelena is going to stay when she doesn’t immediately say no. Then Yelena sighs and tilts her head in Kate’s direction. “Best in the city? You seem like the kind of person to make these claims a lot.”

“I’m confident in my opinions.”

“No doubt about that.”

Kate laughs and grabs her phone to order, not even bothering to look up as she hears Yelena start to take her jacket off. Talking to Lucky the entire time.

An hour later, they’re sitting at Kate’s kitchen counter eating quietly, the food is excellent and Kate was fully prepared to be self-conscious about shoveling dumplings into her face like a squirrel in front of the pretty girl, but as soon as they open the box, Yelena grabbed the biggest one and put the entire thing in her mouth - effectively ending any doubts about her own eating habits.

So they just sit in silence and eat, and it’s…nice. Kate hates to go the self-pity route, but she hasn’t shared a meal like this with someone in a really long time. Not since her last trip out to Iowa with the Bartons.

Still, she has never done well with quiet, so when it lingers for just a bit too long, Kate decides to fill it. “So what have you been up to the last few years?”

Yelena looks up at her, cheeks full of food and eyes wide, surprised. She chews a few times before sipping on her drink and swallowing down her bite before leaning back in her seat. “Well, I was taking contract killings when we first met. I did that few a few more years before I started getting more work stealing for the government-”

“Sheesh,” Kate can't help herself.

Thankfully, Yelena just laughs. “Yes well, it was not fun and I was…not in a very good place. I dealt with depression, a bit of a drinking problem, asked for better work and that led to my boss trying to burn me alive in an incinerator.” Kate must make a face, because Yelena quickly adds. “I survived, obviously.”

“Obviously, but still. I imagine you killed the person who did that.”

Yelena winces a little. “Not…exactly.”

“Oh?”

She shrugs, “it crossed my mind, but things have a way of going in directions you do not expect, no? And now…I technically work for her, but it is more like she works for me.”

Nobody talks in riddles quite like Yelena does, Kate is starting to remember in a frustrating sort of way. “Sounds complicated.”

“It is, very, but things are okay…I think. Perhaps they are too new to really say, but I am…making an effort. Seeing all of your worst trauma replayed to you over and over again has a way of putting things into perspective.”

It comes so far out of left field that Kate doesn’t really know how to respond properly other than to blurt out “what the fuck?”

Yelena hums into her drink. “Yes, it is as dramatic as it sounds. The void that chased you through the streets, if…if you were caught in it that is what happened. Literally just shame rooms showing you all of your worst moments on repeat.”

“Jesus, that sounds…I can't even imagine what that would have been like for me. What did you see?”

“No, Kate Bishop,” Yelena’s voice is sharp, for the first time all night, those teeth show through just a bit. “We do not talk about this.”

Boundaries, Kate will forever respect them, “okay, that’s fair.” She says simply and that seems to catch Yelena off guard - which feels like a small victory. “Still, you seem to be doing okay. All things considered.”

“I am, all things considered.” Yelena sets her drink down and closes the takeout box in front of her, but her eyes never leave Kate. “You seem different as well.”

Kate laughs, “It’s been three years so I’d sure hope so.”

“Yes but…I don’t know, it’s…as if you are the same but…more.” Yelena shrugs, still watching her. “I do not know how to say it right. Your confidence now feels less..forced than before.”

“It is less forced,” Kate admits, because god knows back then she was just trying to hype herself up 24/7. “I’m good at what I do, which wasn't easy, but I’m basically Hawkeye full time now and I’ve gotten pretty good.”

Yelena takes the word in, not saying anything for a bit but still just looking at Kate. It’s a gaze Kate feels like she should be wilting under, but she doesn’t. There’s no judgment in Yelena’s eyes, only curiosity and interest. “I do not doubt it, Kate Bishop.” Yelena smiles at her, and Kate thinks it’s the most genuine smile Yelena’s given her since she told Yelena she was hard to dislike. “I should be going, I need to sleep for at least two days.”

Kate gets up as Yelena does, feeling every bit of her long day that Yelena probably has double of considering the apparent nightmare darkness cloud she got swallowed up in. “It was nice to see you,” she says, because it was. Because she would feel bad if she didn’t say it.

“You too,” Yelena offers in return, grabbing her coat before kneeling down to pet Lucky who is still lingering near the counter hoping for scraps. “And you красивый мальчик.” The Russian words sound prettier than they should from Yelena’s lips and Kate shoves that thought as far back into her mind as possible.

When Yelena stands up and opens the door, she looks back to Kate again. “Thank you for dinner, Kate. And the company.”

“Thanks for staying, I’m…I’m glad you’re okay.”

Yelena nods slightly, cheeks a shade of pink as she grins. “You too. I will see you around.”

The ‘promise?’ gets lodged in Kate’s throat too long and Yelena is suddenly gone.

It isn’t until later that night, long after she’s cleaned up, showered and climbed into bed with the most exaggerated groan of all time, that Kate is scrolling her phone and sees it.

INTRODUCING: THE NEW AVENGERS

With Yelena front and center in the photo next to Valentina De Fontaine. “Son of a-” she drops her phone on her face.

Chapter Text

Here’s the problem with Kate’s social life.

She doesn’t have one. Like…at all. She wants one, sure, she thought life would always have enough time for everything. When she was in college it was busy of course, she was in so many different activities and clubs - not to mention her classes. Yet she still found a way to have friends and go to parties and do cool college things.

So why is it that now she can't seem to find any sort of free time for anything other than quick phone calls with her friends or one night stands with strangers?

Oh right, because she’s an idiot who wants to be a superhero and a PI and is also trying to pretend she’s at least semi-compotent in her very unfamiliar role as CEO of Bishop Industries.

Which is why Kate is shucking on a pink floral print blazer and checking her email for information from Wendy about some break-ins. Her newest client had their home vandalized and there’s been a string of break-ins in their area in the last week so Kate needs some information.

Wendy is good to her, going out of her way to help Kate with these kinds of things but never enough to actually get herself in trouble (Kate hopes). She doesn’t get anything too classified, but a few stray files here and there have gone a long way in helping Kate with her job.

This time, she gets a general location and a vague pattern that the detectives on the case have determined that most of the hits are taking place. Meaning Kate is going to be spending her night in Brooklyn.

Her day, however, belongs to Bishop Security and she is not thrilled about it.

Kate puts on a pair of sunglasses and grabs her bag of shit she’s been reviewing about their larger scale clients for today’s meeting - then fills Lucky’s food and water bowl before giving him a big kiss on the forehead and making her way out.

Here’s the thing, Kate can play a lot of roles. She’s really good at it, and has been doing it her whole life. Her parents would take her out to parties and she would be expected to show a bit of decorum - to act a certain way to represent them a certain way. Yes, her family was not nearly as strict as those she grew up around. The ones who treated their kids like accessories more than family, but still…she had to be things she wasn't from time to time.

That’s helped her out a lot recently, where she is currently playing a lot of different parts in her life. From CEO to PI to superhero - those are easy.

It’s the other ones that she’s struggling with. Friend. Girlfriend. Daughter. Mentee. She kind of sucks at that.

Because Kate has this thing where she got really tired one day of everyone thinking she couldn't handle the life she’d thrown herself into. From her mom to Clint and even her friends telling her that she needed to slow down - Kate hated it. Because she chose all of this. She needs it. She wants it. She wants to be this person and because of this, Kate has basically put everything not related to work on the back burner.

Which was fine for a while, but now there’s this…feeling digging at the back of her brain. A thing she cannot escape even now as she sits in an uber in her fancy clothes and looking every bit the part of a rich bitch, the driver has the radio on and of course they’re talking about the shiny New Avengers.

“Walker has his issues, but he represents the heart and soul of our country! He’s a veteran and I think he should be the leader.” One of the hosts says and Kate rolls her eyes.

“Bucky Barnes fought with Steve Rogers, he fought Thanos.”

“He also killed a lot of people.”

“They all have, that’s where the controversy comes in. If we’re going off body count alone I think Belova tops the list.”

“Careful, she’ll make you her next target!”

“I’d keep my door unlocked for her. Absolute fucking smokeshow that one!”

They all snicker and laugh and Kate rolls her eyes, fighting the urge to flick a coin at the dial and turn this off. Instead, she digs for her headphone in her bag and puts them in, letting Olivia Rodrigo fill in the rest of the ride.

Which gives Kate plenty of time to think about Yelena, which she really doesn’t want to do but the stupid radio hosts put her back in Kate’s head. Not that she hasn’t really been there the entire week since Yelena showed up and ate dinner with her.

Kate’s not mad at her, not really, though she would love an explanation as to why miss “Avengers are dumb” Yelena Belova (she had to learn about her last name through various news articles which also annoys her a little) is suddenly front and center of the New Avengers.

It’s frustrating, but not really because Yelena somehow managed to beat her to becoming an official hero of the world, but mostly because Kate has no way to contact her at all.

Yelena is famous, like every radio station and television news network is talking about her and her team all the fucking time. It makes sense, the “New York City Blackout” as it’s being called was a big deal. Despite the best efforts of Kate and Yelena’s new team, fourteen people died and dozens more were injured. Still, it could have been a lot worse if not for the work of the New Avengers and even if Kate is annoyed at Yelena beating her to the job - she’s…proud of her.

It feels weird to say of someone she a) barely knows and b) is at least five years older than Kate (probably more like eight or ten years). But she is, because she remembers who Yelena was when they first met and how she acted and felt. There was so much going on with her, a dark cloud that seemed to hover over her - a bitterness.

Yet, Yelena found a way to smile. To be kind to Kate, and it’s that kindness that Kate never forgot. Because Yelena was in her corner from the very beginning. Even when she came to Kate’s apartment and vaguely threatened her. It was never about scaring Kate, it was about protecting her. Sure, Kate wasn't going to sit by and let Yelena kill Clint, but Yelena was there trying to tell Kate to stay out of it.

An “I don’t want to hurt you” without saying as much.

Then Yelena sent Kate that photo of her mom and Wilson Fisk, and gave Kate the choice to do something about it. Yelena let her in when so many people were doing their best to keep her in the dark.

So yeah, Kate is happy for Yelena, if a little jealous and annoyed. Though whether that’s because she wants to be in the New Avengers or just wants to see her again, well that’s up for debate.

Either way, she has no more time to think about it when the car pulls up to Bishop Security and Kate makes her way inside. She tucks her headphones in and greets the receptionist at the desk with a smile and the gift card she bought for her a week ago to her favorite coffee shop.

“Ms. Bishop you…you didn’t have to do this.” Gloria says, her eyes shimmering behind wiry glasses as she takes the card.

Kate smiles back at her. “I owed you for the emergency sewing fix of my favorite pair of pants last month, the only reason it’s only a hundred dollar gift card is because they didn’t sell a bigger one. You’re a life saver, Gloria.”

With another quick smile, Kate makes her way through the building towards the elevator to the third floor where her office is.

Her office is a bit of a stretch - it’s just her mom’s office and outside of lying down all the photos her mom had of her in it, nothing’s really changed. Kate is barely there, and she’s pretty sure Carter, her mom’s former second that basically runs things now, uses it more than her.

He’s kind of annoying, kind of creepy, good at what he does, but Kate’s also pretty sure he’s shifted the crush she knows he had on his mom onto her.

As expected, she finds him sitting at the desk, stacks of paperwork and a woman sitting across from him as he rambles on like he does.

Kate reaches the front desk, waiting with a smirk as Dee types away and doesn’t look up at her. She waits…and waits…and waits a little more before finally Dee gives her a look. “Hey Dee.”

“Ms. Bishop,” Dee offers in return, she still really doesn’t like Kate. “You are looking…bright,” she glances down at Kate’s pink floral printed blazer and then back up at her.

Kate pulls at the lapels of her coat and grins, “pretty awesome, right?”

“It’s certainly something, Ms. Bishop. Very…fitting for you.”

It’s a backhanded compliment at best, an insult really - but Kate doesn’t care. She knows she looks good and Dee is just kind of a bitch to be honest.

So Kate gives her the brightest smile she has, “So is yours, Dee.” She says with a wink, before making her way toward the office. Dee tries to stop her but Kate just ignores the pleas and pushes the door open like she owns it (because she does, technically). “Hey! Sorry to interrupt.” They both look at her, Carter with his poorly tied, plain red tie and a woman who is actually very cute and has a massive stack of papers and notebooks on her lap. “You meeting with someone one on one must be important.”

He stands up, because he always does that whenever she walks into any room, and nods. “Yes, Ms. Bishop. This is Mel, she works with-”

“You’re Kate Bishop?” The woman cuts Carter off, looking up at Kate with a curious expression.

Kate nods, extending a hand. “The one and only, it’s good to meet you, Mel. What can Bishop Security do for you…or…wait…does UPS have that copyright still?” She looks at Mel, who says nothing, then back to Carter. “Do you know? Cause that’s pretty good if not.”

“I - I don’t know. I can have marketing look into it!”

That feels like her doing boss things, “yes. Have them look into it.” Kate glances back at Mel. “Seriously though, what are you in for?”

Mel seems to forget that Carter is even in the room, standing up to meet Kate with a very serious look on her face. “I represent Valentina Allegra De Fontine, and we’re looking to upgrade our security at The Watchtower.”

Holy fuck, okay, this is Kate’s in. She tries her absolute best to keep her expression neutral, she’s not the same crazy fangirl she was just a few years ago. She’s a badass hero herself who fought side by side with an Avenger and battled with a Widow (yes she’s claiming that, she made Yelena say “that really hurt!” that one time). She can totally be chill. “I know Valentina!” She says instead, hating herself just a little. “I mean…well…my mom did, but I met her a few times.”

Mel nods, “yes. That’s why we’ve chosen to go with Bishop Security now. Though Valentina was disappointed she wouldn't be able to work with your mother personally, but with…uh…everyhting that’s happened.”

Kate leans over to Carter who is still just standing there like a very tall potted plant, and whispers. “She means because my mom’s in jail.”

“I uh…I’m…sorry?” He says, clearly uneasy about the whole thing. It's very much not talked about in the walls of this place.

Kate doesn’t know if she gives off some kind of vibe about it or what, but it is fun to mess with people about it. “I’m very happy to take her place in setting you guys up with our absolute best. I mean…you’ve got a whole new set of Avengers taking up there, gotta make sure they’re safe.”

For the first time since she met her, Mel’s veil cracks a little. “I believe we’ll be needing the security to protect the building against them just as much as keeping them safe within the building.”

Kate thinks of Yelena then, sneaky little assassin she is, going out of her way to break into things she shouldn't just for fun. She seems the type. “Well, whatever your needs are, we can handle it.” That’s when an idea hits her. “In fact! Why don’t I accompany our team to your building and oversee all the work you might need done personally!”

“That’s…not something you’ve ever done, Kate.” Carter says and Kate shoots him a withering (she hopes, her mom was so good at it) look.

He seems to get the message, “then what better time to start than now!” She puts her smile back on and looks to Mel, who doesn't really seem to be paying attention anyway, her face buried in her phone.

“Okay…” Mel says. Kate can see her eyes scanning a message. “Okay, Valentina says that’s great. She’d like to get started today if that’s possible.”

“Of course.” Kate says, then realizes she actually has no idea if that’s possible so she looks to Carter again who just nods at her once. “Of course!” She repeats with even more excitement.

She’s going to Stark Tower, where Yelena is apparently, and she cannot fucking wait.

----------------------------------------

“Unfortunately, the New Avengers aren’t here today.”

Dammit, Kate feels herself deflate as soon as Mel says it, walking through the doors of The Watchtower (it’ll always be Stark Tower to her) and stands in the elevator with Mel all the way up, clearly the second choice for Mel to whatever is happening on her tablet and phone combination.

The crew they’ve brought with them to scout the building have stayed on the bottom floor to scout the entry way and figure out the best system for that.

And Kate is still thrilled to be here, honestly. Like sure she really wanted to meet the rest of the team and surprise Yelena, but not for nothing, the tower itself is awesome despite the vast renovations happening.

She follows Mel through the various rooms of whatever floor they’re on. Trying her best to actually do her job and Kate knows quite about security (mostly she’s taught herself to help with breaking in/surveillance and other things related to Hawkeye work), so she isn’t completely out of her depth here.

Still, Mel is way too caught up in her phone/tablet combo to really care what Kate does, and once they reach a floor where Mel gets a phone call, the tour ends and Kate is left to wander.

Which is perfect actually because she loves to wander and this place is literally iconic. She can still remember being fourteen years old and shooting her bow on the roof pretending she was Hawkeye fighting the Chitauri and shouting for Captain America to give her a boost like that one badass video of Black Widow that literally everyone knows.

Now she’s here, and even though she’s not technically an Avenger, she feels connected to them.

Also this is where Yelena will do her work, and even though Kate really needs to talk to her about this, she’s at least going to make sure the security is at it’s absolute best for her.

Kate finds herself standing near a large window, this place is all windows honestly, but this one looks out perfectly over the whole city. She feels like Tony Stark, looking out on New York and trying to think of ways to protect it (or make money off of protecting it, the guy was a billionaire for a reason).

She thinks maybe she’s like him in a way, she has a lot of money and uses it for high tech gear and equipment - trying to get better with tech and software. She wants to do as much as she can.

“Pretty cool huh?” Kate jumps, actually jumps and if she had her bow she’d have drawn it by now. Oddly enough, the guy who scared her seems to be just as scared by her reaction and takes a big step back. “Oh hey I’m sorry about that! I tend to move, like, quietly without trying to. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

This…man…seems so out of place here. Dressed in a very large brown sweater and blue sweat pants to go with it, he even has cute little slippers on. His hair is messy and his eyes are kind - so despite the first impression, Kate gives him a smile. “It’s all good, I was a little too wrapped up in my daydreaming.”

He sighs, dropping the hands he’d raised in surrender, “I do that all the time here too. With the views and all it’s easy.”

Kate has no idea who this man is, nobody is rushing in here to drag him out so he clearly belongs. He seems about as dangerous as a stray cat and, again, there’s something kind about him that Kate can't help but notice. “How are you connected to this place…” she lets the words drag out a little, hoping to get a name.

“Oh, Bob,” he extends a hand out to her, then kind of pulls it back, before seeming to compose himself and offer the hand again.

She shakes it, “Kate, good to meet you Bob.”

“I love your jacket, by the way. It’s so,” he holds out his hands in a kind of exploding motion that makes Kate laugh.

“Thanks! I’m a big fan of anything that makes people go ‘what the hell is she wearing?’, but like…they want to be me, you know?”

Bob laughs, looking down at this sweater and sweat pants. “Oh same. That’s why I’m so dressed up.” He says it in such a way that he’s clearly in on his own joke, and it makes Kate laugh. “And to answer your question I’m here because I was kind of…forced to be here. Not in a bad way!” He says when Kate must clearly make a face at his wording. “No, just…I’m a little unstable right now and the people here help with that.”

Kate frowns, she read all the reports on the New Avengers and they don’t exactly seem like the most nurturing group. All except one of them really, which must mean, “you know Yelena then?”

She sees the way his face instantly softens, the smile that tugs at his mouth that Kate is certain he doesn’t know is there. “Yeah,” he nods. “She’s great, she’s why I’m here to be honest. Told me we’re sticking together after, uh, everything last week.”

Ah, so he was around during the void thing. And he’s got a super soft spot for Yelena. Cool, that’s totally cool and fine.

What is he to her? Certainly not…that…right? No, there’s no way. This guy is sweet, but for Yelena? She couldn't even picture it. Though Kate isn’t certain what Yelena’s sexuality is she’s always just kind of assumed that it did not involve men. Kate’s gaydar has never been the strongest, but she’s still got one and Yelena made all the “men aren’t it” bells and whistles in her brain fire off.

Not your business, Bishop.

“Yelena’s a big softie like that,” Kate says, because she really does think that. Even if Yelena hasn’t shown her much of it yet, she’s seen glimpses. Also when someone comes to your apartment just to see if you’re okay cause they read your name in a report - that has to count for something.

“Which is weird right?” Bob says, shaking his head with that dopey smile still there. “Considering she’s like…you know…killed a bunch of people.” He shrugs and crosses his arms. “But yeah, we’re all kind of going through stuff with what happened and… I…well...I can't really be alone right now.” Bob’s voice trails off a little, a cloud seems to fall over him and Kate fights the urge to reach out and comfort him.

She remembers what Yelena told her about the void and what people who were taken by it had seen - she can't even imagine trying to recover from having to relive your worst moments over and over again.

Her brain does that enough for her on its own.

“Sorry,” he says, and tries to smile again.

Kate shakes her head, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Bob. I talked to Yelena recently and she told me what it was like in there - I can't even-”

“She told you about it?” He doesn’t sound angry, but he doesn't sound entirely pleased either. “Did she…what did she say?”

“Not much, you know how she is - Yelena keeps a lot close to the vest.”

He laughs, “she loves her vests.” He says off-handedly and Kate makes a mental note of that. “So you know Yelena too? From before?” He says it with a bit of hesitation, like he thinks he might be encroaching on a bad memory for her.

“I do yeah, a few years ago we had a run-in with each other, fought a little, there was more going on but…yeah she popped up at my apartment last week to see if I was okay.”

That’s when a look of worry seems to fill his features. Bob’s brows furrow together, his face deepens into a frown and he suddenly won’t look her in the eyes. “Were you? Okay, I mean. Did you see-”

“No, no the shadows never got to me, they came really close, but I avoided them.”

She sees Bob exhale, nodding as he mumbles something to himself. “Good,” he says to her finally. “That’s…that’s good. It wasn't fun.”

Kate can't even imagine. In fact, all she’s really been able to think about with it is that Yelena did go through it and with her past…she wishes she could have helped more but Yelena made it pretty clear she wasn't interested in talking about it.

“Kate?” They both turn as Mel comes back into the room. Somehow the stack of papers she’s been carrying since Kate met her is even thicker now but it doesn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. “Oh Bob, you’re out and about?” Mel seems just a little bit nervous when she sees him, which only makes Kate even more curious because he seems less than harmless. Like the kind of guy who needs to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and carried out of a collapsing building or something.

Still, he nods and smiles at her just as he did with Kate. “Yeah, I was heading to the kitchens to make something to eat when I ran into Kate here.”

“Bob was kind enough to let me ramble about the skyline views.”

Mel hums, like she really doesn’t care. “Yes, the optics of the tower are very impressive, so much so that Valentina has given me the go ahead to hire your team to work on our security. No budget restrictions, the city will pay for whatever you need to make this the most secure building in New York.”

Kate beams, because she not only gets to visit Stark Tower, but she just secured a huge contract for the company without really having to do anything at all. When she sits in at the next investor meeting she is so excited to rub it in all their wrinkly old faces.

However, when she goes to say goodbye to Bob as Mel is set to drag her off for more of a tour, he’s already walking towards the elevator and out of her reach.

He’s an odd one for sure, but Kate thinks she knows now who Yelena walked into that darkness for.

-------------------------------

“Little late for a call, Hawkeye.”

Kate grins, sipping on her thermos of hot chocolate as she’s perched on a roof looking down at a row of houses that are likely the next targets of the robberies in this area.

So far nothing’s happened at all in the last two hours, but she ate her bag of pretzels and has watched every TikTok video on the planet about living in a van cross country, so she decided to call Clint. “Just doing some recon and it’s boring - you were right about stakeouts being boring, by the way.”

“Yeah that never changes either, it’s like 90% just sitting around. What are you watching?”

Kate sighs, “more on those break-ins I told you about. I’ve had a little activity but just a few people, I think they’re just scouting tonight.”

“So why not break it up and interrogate them?”

Kate shrugs, she’s considered it, “I don’t want them to get scared and go into hiding. It’s clearly more than just a few people and I don’t think it’s really about stealing stuff.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning they don’t take a lot, just a few things from each complex, but they leave huge messes behind and it’s almost like…sending a message, you know?” Kate put a lot of thought into this theory - it was really keyed up for her when one of the people who was robbed said they left all of her computer equipment behind and only took the jewelry - but somehow destroyed her entire living room. It didn’t add up.

Clint’s silence makes her doubt for just a second, but she knows what she’s doing - she’s been getting better and better at this stuff. “You’re thinking it’s about intimidation then? Someone doing their best Kingpin impression?”

Kate sighs, “or the man himself is back at it. He’s out of jail, you know?”

“I do, and I also know that you’d better be keeping safe.”

She can only laugh, because Fisk has been out of jail for six months now and she hasn’t heard a peep out of him or anyone in his circle coming near her. “I don’t really seem to be on his radar. He’s been laying extremely low and honestly this feels too messy to be him.”

Clint hums on the other end, “sounds like you’re probably right. It’s also not like Fisk would be starting from scratch like that, right? He has no reason to make people afraid of him - they already are.”

“Exactly, so…copycat, I’ll let them play their hand a bit more and then do what I can when I can take them all down at once.”

“Just be careful, okay? I swear the more I hear about the shit going on in that city the more I think you should be Hawkeye-ing out here in the farm.”

Kate can only laugh, because it is not the first, nor will it be the last time that he’s said this. Because the truth is that as much as Kate found herself falling in love with his family and their home and the simple life Clint was retiring off to - they all kind of took her in just as much. They care about her, he does, and it’s very sweet - but Kate is exactly where she’s supposed to be. “I saw Yelena,” she says, because really it’s why she called him. “Also do you know who Bob is?”

“Bob?”

“Yeah, Bob, do you know any Bobs?”

“Stop saying Bob,” he says, and then a few beats pass and he speaks again. “Who the hell is Bob?”

“That’s what I want to know! I ended up going to Stark Tower today, which they call The Watchtower now, by the way.”

“The Watchtower?” Clint says, and Kate is so ready to rant with him about how dumb the name change is. “Wow, that’s a way better name.”

Kate scoffs, actually scoffs and has to sit her hot chocolate down in outrage. “What?! You think it’s better? Clint, you’re literally an OG, we went over this!”

He laughs at her, as he does, and Kate rolls her eyes. “First of all, I asked Lila about ‘OG’ and she told me I’m not cool enough to reach OG status. Secondly, I loved Tony, but that guy would have renamed the whole city of New York after himself if they’d have let him.”

“Well still, they’re completely remodeling it and getting it all ready for the New Avengers, which includes-”

“Yelena, yeah I know.”

Kate frowns, “you did? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think it mattered. You talked to her once and she threatened you.”

“Well actually we talked like three times that Christmas, and she didn’t threaten me so much as she just warned me to stay out of the way from, you know, her trying to kill you and all that.”

Again he laughs, there is something wrong with him actually. “Good times.”

Kate rolls her eyes, “and then last week she kind of…showed up at my apartment.” She expects, well she doesn’t know what she expects. Outrage, worry, maybe even anger. Instead, all she gets is silence and when it touches nearly ten seconds, Kate speaks again. “Clint?” She asks, looking at her phone to see if the call dropped.

“I’m here, did uh…how did that go?”

He sounds different, it’s not from concern, which is more what Kate expected. She would hope maybe that’s because after they spent so much time training and she showed so much improvement, he trusts her more to take care of herself.

Still, it’s weird. “It was fine, we…she apparently got caught up in all the stuff and like…well you know, became an Avenger and all that.”

“Yeah, I heard. Fury’s not too happy about it, or so I heard.”

Kate laughs, “I doubt he would be given Valentina De Fontaine is the one who put the team together, but it sounds like they’re trying to do good. Yelena she uh…she was different.”

Again she’s met with a hesitant pause. “How so?”

Shifting in her spot, Kate props her legs up on an airconditioning box in front of her and leans back against the side of the roof. “Quieter I guess, though I do think she was pretty exhausted. We hung out for a bit and had dinner. It was nice.”

“I assume she left you with more questions than answers by the time she left.” He asks like he already knows the answer.

“Pretty much, and I haven't seen her since, she wasn't at the tower today when I went there. Just Bob.”

“Yeah I don’t know who that is, sorry. But uh…it’s…it’s good Yelena talked to you. I hope she’s doing okay.”

He sounds sincere and Kate puts the pieces together for why he’s acted so strange since she brought Yelena up. It’s a whole lot of history repeating itself. Hawkeye, finding a Widow who is careful to let herself trust - yet there’s an indescribable draw that makes Kate want to keep seeing her.

It’s probably bringing back a lot of things for him. “I think she is, but I do intend on making sure of it myself.”

This time, his laugh is instant. “She’ll probably act like she hates it but they need a little help from time to time,” then he grumbles. “And someone to make them chill the hell out on occasion.”

“Looking out for Widows? That’s our job?” She never gets tired of this feeling, of them being a pair. He’s accepted her, fully supports her. They’re bonded and it’s one of the things that kept Kate’s head above water when everything was going to shit.

“One of many, Hawkeye.”

----------------------------------

It’s closer to midnight than it should be when Kate finally makes her way up the last flight of stairs to her apartment. She has her backpack slung over her shoulder, her ass hurts a little from sitting on that roof all night and there’s a box of hot pockets in her freezer just waiting to be devoured.

She reaches her door and punches in the code to her lock system before putting her thumb on the pad to unlock the door. It pops open and the first thing Kate notices is that Lucky’s paws are not clapping on the hardwood floor to get to her.

The next thing to hit her is the smell, because her apartment smells fucking amazing and not at all ike it did when she left.

Her answer for where Lucky is is answered when she sees him sitting near the stove, tail wagging back and forth a hundred miles an hour as he looks up at Yelena.

Yelena Belova, who is in her apartment and using her stove. Yelena, who is dressed in a sleeveless t-shirt that she’s knotted at the bottom in the front and a pair of very comfortable looking black pants.

The thing that catches Kate’s attention the most is her feet (no she’s not a foot person), Yelena is barefoot. She’s standing in Kate’s apartment without shoes on, cooking in her kitchen.

“You will let the flies in if you do not close the door and your mouth, Kate Bishop.” Yelena says, not looking up from the pot she’s currently leaning over.

Kate’s mouth claps shut and she steps forward to let the door close behind her but doesn’t move any further than that. “What are you doing?”

Finally, Yelena looks back at her and Kate’s breath catches in her throat a little. Because Yelena has a soft smile, and her short hair is tied back in the cutest little ponytail. “I am making macaroni and cheese, but not from the box. This is my матери recipe.”

Taking a few more steps inside, Kate sets her backpack down on one of the chairs at the counter and scans her apartment. She didn’t clean or anything before she left, because, you know, she didn’t expect to have someone break in while she was gone.

“Did you…how did you get in here?”

Yelena clicks her tongue, “Kate Bishop-”

“No I know, I am a brilliant and stealthy assassin and this is child’s play for me,” she does her best Yelena accent and if she’s being honest Kate doesn’t think it’s that bad. But the look she gets in return tells her otherwise - Kate chooses to ignore it. “I know how you got in, I just want to know, like, where from.”

Yelena shrugs, “upstairs window, in the bathroom. Why is your showerhead so big? Are you washing vehicles in there?”

“What? No it’s normal sized!”

“For a rich girl, I suppose.”

Kate rolls her eyes, “I see you’re not too upset about using my Jade stove.”

“This stove is amazing, why do you have it?” Yelena turns back to look at her properly, leaning against said stove and crossing her arms. “You do not even cook.”

Kate shrugs, “it came with the apartment. A lot of this stuff here did.”

“Including the giant showerhead.”

She hesitates, which gives her away immediately so no point in pretending. “No,” she mumbles. “But I think considering I get beat up for a living I’m allowed a few small comforts.”

“Big comforts,” Yelena teases, but her smile is genuine. “Also you should not be getting beat up for a living, it is supposed to be the other way around, no?”

With a sigh of defeat, Kate pulls out the chair not holding her backpack and sits down on it. She kicks off her shoes and slides them over towards the door before taking her hair out of the ponytail and putting the band around her wrist.

That’s when she meets Yelena’s gaze again, catching the way Yelena looks away when their eyes meet. “I’m glad to see you, really. But why are you here?”

Yelena hums and pushes off from her lean to move closer to the counter separating them. “Bob told me you were at the Watchtower today.”

“Bob,” Kate says, the name is starting to lose meaning. “So he’s a part of your team?”

“No,” Yelena answers quickly. “Bob does not fight, he is just…well…he’s one of us.”

“Ah,” Kate frowns, “cause that’s not confusing at all.”

“It does not matter, Bob is Bob, he told me you were there today.”

She realizes then that she’s not going to get much more about Bob out of Yelena. Though Kate isn’t even really sure what she’s trying to get. “I was, Valentina asked our company to handle security for you guys, so I went there personally to oversee.”

“Oh? Is that all?”

Again, there really is no point in lying to her. “I thought I’d get the chance to see you in action. Avenger Yelena Belova, hero of the people.”

This time, it’s Yelena who rolls her eyes, turning around to focus on the pot in front of her. “Yes yes, get your teasing in while you can.”

“I’m just saying, you’re the one who omitted it when we last saw each other - and after the speech you gave me about how overrated Avengers were? It was pretty surprising.”

“I know,” Yelena says, and there’s no bite or argument in her voice which surprises Kate. Instead, she sounds almost resigned. “It was not in my plans, but…a lot has happened since that night in your old pizza shop apartment.”

Kate is struck by how badly she wants to know - wants to ask. She isn’t sure if she should. Trying to get Yelena to open up seems like a really hard job. But then Clint’s voice is in her head again.

That’s our job, Hawkeye.

“From what I hear, you saved a lot of lives that day.”

Yelena doesn’t say anything at first, just uses a big wooden spoon that Kate knows wasn't in this apartment, to stir the noodles in the pot. After a few long heartbeats pass between them, she speaks. “We did what we could.” She says before looking back to give Kate another smile. “You as well, I read. Someone called you the…what was it? Hotkeye.

“Oh my god, did someone really say that?”

“Yes, I do not think it came across as well in text but it made me laugh - big handsome hero Kate Bishop.”

Kate ignores (tries to) the flutter in her stomach at Yelena calling her handsome.

“Hawkeye and Black Widow saving New York City, seems fitting.”

It’s dangerous to bring up Natasha, any of her old names, but when Yelena doesn’t whip around and throttle her, Kate thinks it’s okay. “I am not her,” she says simply, her voice not giving anything away. “And you are not him either, much better - not nearly as annoying.”

This makes Kate laugh, “depends on who you ask.”

“I would not ask people like that anything.” Yelena turns off the stove before picking up the pot and pouring the cheesy, gooey macaroni into a very large pan (that was also not in Kate’s apartment this morning). “You are drooling, Kate.”

“Can you blame me? Holy shit that smells so good.”

“You and Lucky are the same like this, if you had a tail would it be swishing back and forth too?”

Kate can't help it, she gives Yelena a beaming smile. “Absolutely,”

Yelena’s expression matches her, even without looking at Kate’s smile. She finishes pouring the macaroni into the pan before setting the pot down and sliding the pan towards Kate. “Do not eat it yet, it is not ready.” Kate frowns and watches Yelena grab a cheese grater (that is hers) and a huge block of cheese and hand them both to her. “You do this part, put those flashy muscles of yours to use. “

“Flashy?” Kate rolls up her sleeves before taking the cheese and grater from Yelena. “Looking at my arms, Belova?” She asks with a smirk before starting to grate the cheese back and forth.

“I just hope you are doing actual workouts to benefit you and your fighting - your core and legs.”

Kate puts the cheese down just long enough to raise her shirt to show off her stomach. “My core is perfectly fit, thank you very much.”

To her surprise, Yelena looks away quickly and takes two long steps towards the refrigerator. “Drink?” She asks and Kate nods, “you do owe me one, Kate Bishop.”

“Okay actually if you remember, you owe me drinks.”

“You are the one who asked me!” Yelena protests, bringing over a bottle of water and setting it next to Kate. That’s when Kate remembers Yelena telling her about what she’d been up to - and the words ‘drinking problem’ stand out in her memory. She sees Yelena look back and forth between them and shrug, “it is all I can do, if you want a beer I do not mind.”

“No,” Kate shakes her head and doesn’t linger on Yelena’s eyes too long, going back to her grating. “Water’s fine, and you definitely owed me the drink. I asked, you said yes, but you’re the one who jumped out the window immediately after.” That’s when Kate decides the best approach to get Yelena to open up is to do it a little herself, "which is not as easy as it looks by the way. I tried it again about five months later and pretty much broke my ankle.”

“Oh?” Yelena covers her mouth, like she’s trying not to laugh. “Were you okay?”

“I mean it hurt a lot and I was embarrassed. The worst part was that the guys I was chasing saw it and then like…tried to kill me. I had to fight them off on one bad foot and ended up losing a bow in the middle of it - though I think my ego took the most damage.”

Yelena’s potential laugh seems to vanish as Kate tells her about it. It was actually the scariest fight she’d ever been in to that point outside of Fisk. Because she was hurt and at one point they had her on the ground and kept kicking her. If not for setting off a well timed flashbang arrow, they could have killed her. “What did you do about it?”

Kate finishes grating, opening the grater as cheese pours out into the container in clumps. “I asked Clint for help, like real, teach me how to be Hawkeye, help. And he delivered. Brought me out to his farm for a whole crash course, including morning workouts every day and sparring - all of it.”

“Wow, so you are really Hawkeye now?”

She shrugs, “I’m trying,” this time when she gives more of herself, it’s not really intentional. “The skills are there, but getting people who matter to notice has been slow going.” She doesn’t mean to sound so pathetic, but it is something that’s been bugging her for a while. She wants to be doing more. She likes her investigator thing, but it’s not the dream.

The dream is to be out there with all the big heroes, fighting the big fights that matter. She just wants to do more.

“I could ask-” Yelena starts, but Kate is quick to stop her.

“No, no Yelena, that's not why I told you. You’re doing your thing and I’m happy for you, but it’ll happen for me if it’s meant to. I wouldn't let Clint make any calls for me either. I don’t want to be some…like…token Avenger. If I’m meant for it then I will get it.”

Yelena looks at her for a long moment before finally nodding and then carefully decorating the top of the macaroni with the freshly grated cheese. She picks up the pan and puts it in the oven that Kate just noticed was pre-heated before moving back to the counter and refocusing on Kate. “You will find your place,” Yelena says. “You are too determined not to.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, Kate Bishop. I am never wrong about these things.”

Kate laughs and clenches her fist in her lap to stop herself from reaching up to push a stray bit of hair that’s slipped out of the ponytail and into Yelena’s face.

She may not have any idea what this is between them, but Kate will always be gay and will always appreciate a beautiful woman. And she’s not sure she’s ever seen one more beautiful than Yelena.

“Why are you cooking for me, Yelena?” She asks, hoping the sincerity in her voice will get her a real answer.

When Yelena purses her lips and looks down at the counter to collect her thoughts before answering, Kate knows she’ll get one. “I like my new team, I do. They are…friends. I think. Maybe. But we were forced together by things out of our control. I am grateful for them, but there is no one in my life that I have chosen.” She looks to Kate again, more vulnerability in her expression than Kate’s ever seen before. “I was hoping you might be the first.”

Hawkeyes and Widows, Kate thinks, this is how it’s supposed to be.

“I’d like that.”

Chapter Text

Ducking into an alley, Kate takes a deep breath and readies one of her non-lethal arrows against her bow as she hears the shouting and footsteps racing towards her.

She caught the burglary ring in full effect, seven dudes all breaking into the same house - this one bigger than their previous hits (Kate had figured out their next target and assumed they’d need more guys to do it).

She’s already taken out two of them. Left one hanging from a net on a stoplight and the other with his whole upper body in a mailbox. Now there are five of them chasing her and Kate needs to get them out of the street.

So she ran, knowing they’d chase her. Knowing they wouldn't be able to let go of one girl taking them all on like that. These are tighter quarters, but she can use that to her advantage.

As soon as the first one runs by, Kate shoots the rubber tipped arrow at the back of his knee. Between the hard end and the powerful draw strength of her bow, it basically shatters his leg on impact. He screams, kind of shrilly compared to the deep obscenities he was shouting at her earlier - but Kate doesn’t have time to gloat.

“Watch your step!” Or maybe she does.

“My leg!” He cries, rolling around back and forth. “Gut that bitch!”

“Hey that’s not-” There’s a fist barreling towards her almost immediately that she ducks and sweeps around to get behind. From there, she grabs the dude by the head and uses his body to boost herself up, running her feet along the brick wall of the building before kicking back to press her boot into the face of another guy. “Okay, you have to admit that was cool?” She asks, smiling a bit as she lands - she’s practiced that move a lot but never hit it in a fight.

Still, the guy she climbed on suddenly wraps his arms around her and just fucking falls back. She was not expecting that and it sent them both hard into the concrete. The air is knocked out of Kate as the last few make their way into the fight. She takes a single breath before kipping up to her feet and sending a kick back into the chest of one before using her bow to tangle up the arm of the one in front of her.

Kate does not want to be fighting people on both sides, so she uses her bow to make the guy in front of her bend over and then rolls over his back. With the bow still around him, she tugs on it hard and uses the force around his neck to send him barreling into the concrete.

From there she sees the gun being pulled and quickly grabs an arrow, not even taking the time to read which one it is, and shoots.

As soon as it leaves her fingers she knows she’s fucked up. Because it is just an arrow, not non-lethal, not a flarrow or anything fancy. Just a sharp, deadly arrow that plants itself directly into his chest. “Shit,” she gasps, because she did not mean to do that.

He clutches at it and backpedals into the wall, the gun dropping to the ground with him.

There are only two left, but the gun is an issue so Kate forces herself to ignore the gurgling, pained sounds of the man she just shot and instead finds one of her sticky arrows and shoots it at the gun on the ground - effectively gluing it to the concrete.

The last two rush her together, which means she’s going to take a few hits, it’s just inevitable and about making sure they don’t incapacitate her. So she lets one catch her in the jaw but then uses the momentum of her body to spin a kick and hit them back. It makes them rock away, but not go down as the other tries to rush her.

He goes low, which is fucking weird, and wraps his arms around her waist to try and lift her up. “What are you…” she starts, but he’s squeezing her so she has to do something. Kate lifts a knee to catch him in the stomach as the other guy starts to approach again. “What was your plan here?” She asks the one at her waist before kneeing him in the face and loosening his grip. It gives her room to move him backwards and send his ass into his buddy.

“You cunt, you’re gonna pay for this!”

Of course, as soon as she does this she notices the knife about a half a second too late and it slices across her right shoulder and chest. Kate hisses out at the pain, feeling it well up in her like anger.

She lifts both hands up above her head and drives her elbows down as hard as she can into the back of the guy holding her and that seems to do it. He lets out a deep, guttural groan before falling face first to the ground.

With only one guy left, Kate tosses her bow to the ground, pissed that he made her bleed and her adrenaline spiking, she lets him come at her. He swings his knife wildly and Kate weaves out of its way each time. When he gets a bit too wild with it she catches his arm at the elbow and pulls him in close enough to headbutt him as hard as she can. The chain around his neck jumps at the contact, catching her on the lip and cutting her, making blood pour into her mouth as she pulls him deeper into the alley, stumbling, before she uses the wall to run up and get momentum before sending a hard punch into his face.

He collapses to the ground, his knife clattering on the pavement with splashes of her blood on the edge.

Then suddenly it’s quiet. They’re all down, save for the ragged breathing she hears behind her.

Kate turns to see him, the man she shot, having slid down to a sitting position up against the wall. His eyes are wide, looking right at her in panic as he holds onto the arrow still sticking out of his chest. “Shit dude, are you alright? I panicked, I mean you guys were coming at me pretty hard.” The impact is high on his chest, Kate’s no anatomy teacher but she’s pretty sure it’s his lungs by how hard he’s struggling to breathe. “Crap.”

She takes out her phone and types out a quick message to Wendy about their location and that she’s taken them down, before she prepares to dial 911.

Except as soon as she’s about to hit send, the gasping breaths stop. Kate’s heart jumps into her throat as she looks at him, his eyes wide open but suddenly empty, the glow of the streetlight somehow making them even glassier than they should be.

She steps over and kneels down in front of him, pressing two fingers against his neck.

Nothing. He’s dead.

It’s not the first person she’s killed, doing what she does makes it impossible to not have a few casualties - but she tries so fucking hard to avoid it.

Her phone buzzes in her hand, making her jump a little as she looks down to see Wendy say the cops are on their way. Meaning Kate has a decision to make. These are not good men, they’ve hurt innocents and attacked anyone who tried to stop them. They’ve put multiple people in the hospital with their robberies.

Kate sighs, grabbing the arrow and yanking it out of his body. When he just flops forward, she catches him before he leans into her and carefully puts him back against the wall. She tucks the arrow back into her quiver, knowing she’ll need to wash all of it when she gets home.

After Kate picks up the rest of her arrows and puts them up, she grabs a rappelling arrow and uses it to climb the nearby building and make her exit.

As the sirens draw close, she’s already jumping to the next roof.

---------------------------------

Kate’s exhausted as she makes her way out of her apartment the next day. She spent the majority of her night stitching up the cut on her shoulder and then staring at the ceiling in her bed being tormented by her racing mind.

Nights like last night do make Kate wonder if she really is cut out for this. She knows deep down that it’s good that killing still upsets her, but at a certain point it has to stop affecting her this much, right? An entire night wasted, that will probably bleed into the rest of her week and could linger for-

No, stop catastrophising, focus.

She’s been working on her thought processing (something a YouTube video talked about), pushing aside negative ones that don’t help her. It’s not easy and she kind of sucks at it when the sun goes down - but for now in the back of a taxi heading to Stark Tower, it helps.

Kate tapped into the NYPD database this morning and read through the reports from last night, no mention of her, or how the man died - just a death report and his attached criminal record.

It’s not surprising, gang violence has been on the rise ever since Fisk stole the seat as mayor of the city. Whether it be to work with him or try to rise up against him. It’s made Kate’s night job much busier - but it’s also made the cops a lot looser with how they handle these things.

Mike Johannson, Kate remembers reading the name of the man she killed last night five or six times. She wasn't sure why she did it, but she just…mourned him in her own way.

Now she’s here at Stark Tower at eight in the morning. Two vehicles from Bishop Security are already at the building and working on the entryway - the rest are going floor to floor installing the new upgrades. The board didn’t know what to do when Kate walked into that meeting room with a freshly signed contract to one of the biggest jobs they’ve had since her mother went to prison.

Eleanor’s criminal activity took almost a full year to distance from and start to bring in even regular clients - let alone contracts like this one.

So needless to say, Kate bought herself some breathing room with the board.

She does feel a little bit of her long night fade away when they reach the tower, because she’s quite enjoying being able to come here regularly and do help out - even if it’s not exactly the way she wants to work with Avengers, it’s something.

Unfortunately, that joy is quickly swallowed up as soon as she reaches the entrance, says hi to a few of the workers she knows, and a voice sounds over the loudspeaker. “Kate! I’m so glad you decided to come in today.” Valentina’s voice echoes off the walls, as condescendingly chipper as ever. “I’m on the thirteenth floor, I would love to catch up.”

Catch up, like the two of them ever had anything more than a few random hello’s at various parties her mom dragged her too. Kate knows her mom and Valentina worked together (before her mom used Val to hire Yelena). Either way, they are not friends and Kate has no real interest in talking to this woman at all.

But she technically works for her now and it’s impossible for Kate to not at least attempt to be polite.

So Kate makes her way upstairs to Val’s office, grateful for the very long, very slow elevator ride all the way up. It gives her time to ready herself for the onslaught of bullshit that she’s certain is about to come her way. Kate can't even imagine what Valentina would want to talk to her about - hopefully it’s just related to this security contract and nothing else.

Once Kate reaches the right floor (and walks into about five different empty rooms), she finds Valentina’s office (she should have guessed it was the biggest one) only to find Val not alone.

“Yelena,” Kate says unexpectedly, like a reflex when she sees Yelena standing there across from Val’s desk. She has her arms crossed, a creased annoyance in her brow and her blonde, fluffy hair swishes atop her head when she turns to see Kate.

“Kate, what are you doing here?”

Kate gestures at Valentina just as Val speaks. “This is the woman installing all the security at the Watchtower. Kate Bishop, ensuring the safety of Earth’s mightiest heroes.” Valentina levels Kate with a wide, clearly fake smile. “Your mother told me all the time how much you wanted to be a hero, Kate. I’m happy I can help get you as close to that as possible.”

There’s a play here but Kate has no idea what it is, either way Valentina is clearly trying to strike a nerve in her - and it works. Because it’s condescending, plain and simple. Kate isn’t an idiot, she’s fully aware that her mother would use her desire to be an Avenger as a means to break the ice with people in her circle. To laugh about Eleanor Bishop’s silly, overachiever daughter who wanted to wear purple tights and fight alien invaders.

Forever missing the point entirely (also she looks damn good in her purple tights).

However, Kate isn’t able to focus on Valentina for very long because Yelena is watching her. She clocks the exact moment that Yelena notices Kate favoring her right arm. It’s not surprising, Yelena’s trained her whole life to spot weaknesses and generally just pay more attention than a normal person would.

Though the frown on her face when she sees it and finds Kate’s eyes again was probably not in her training.

“You two know each other?” Val’s voice is dangerous, like she’s just uncovered a new weapon at her disposal. “Oh right, that business with Clint Barton - wow I forgot all about that. Though I know you didn’t, Yelena. Failed missions stick with people like you, I’m sure.”

Kate tenses, not at all sure what Yelena’s reaction will be or how this might turn into something where Kate has to step in and stop Yelena from stabbing Val or…not step in and stop her.

Instead, when their eyes meet, Yelena offers Kate the smallest, knowing smile - and it settles everything in the room. It’s a gentle reminder that they’re better than Valentina. That they don’t need to bother rising up to her jabs. That, despite how much you may want to punch her in the face, it’s just not worth it.

Then Yelena turns back to Valentina and shrugs, “I don’t see that mission as a failure. Now, if we are finished I…do not want to talk to you anymore.”

Valentina stares at Yelena for a moment, probably deciding if she should poke at her more. So that’s when Kate decides to help and clears her throat, getting Val to remember she’s in the room. “You can go, I need to talk to Kate here about work. Boring stuff, you wouldn't be interested.”

Again Yelena finds Kate and it feels like she’s talking to her telepathically with her expressions.

You are not interested either, I imagine.

To which Kate smirks a little in response. Nope.

Yelena takes her leave without another glance or interaction, but Kate feels a strange boost of confidence at just knowing she’s in the building as she’s left alone with Valentina.

“Kate, I am glad you stopped by today.” Valentina gets up from her desk. The office itself is like a shrine to this woman. The window of course has the best view of the city - it’s gorgeous. But the walls themselves are just decorated with photos of Valentina with famous figures - a few Avengers, presidents from various countries and a shit load of laminated plaques documenting her many, over exaggerated achievements. “If you want I can give you the card of my makeup team. For, you know, the dark circles under your eyes.” Valentina pours herself a drink of water from a randomly chilled glass bottle of water in the far side of the room. “You look terrible. Though I imagine the stress of the last few years haven't been kind to you.”

There it is, “I’m doing fine, just busy. Did you need something?”

“Oh I just wanted to catch up, so I can have something to report back to Eleanor the next time I see her.”

Kate can't help it, she laughs, “why are you visiting my mother?”

“Why wouldn't I? We’re old friends!” She says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world - which only makes Kate roll her eyes. “Okay so maybe friends isn’t the right word, but we were…something once upon a time.”

That…that’s a strange way to phrase it. “Once upon a time?” She asks, way too many weird thoughts swirling in her head.

Valentina waves her off, “It doesn’t matter, what matters is that hard working women like your mother and I - both in fields that are usually dominated by idiotic men in terrible suits, have to stick together.”

“Sure, but my mom can't really relate to all of that now given the prison sentence.” This is not what she wants to be talking about at all. She’s not here for this and with Valentina De Fontaine of all people. “Did you-”

“You know, you remind me so much of your father it’s really something,” Val says before sipping on her water. Kate feels her shoulders tighten so much it tugs at the cut on her right side. “He was such an…opportunist. I really admired that. If he saw a chance to push his pursuits forward, he always took it.” Valentina moves from her spot near the wall and ends up stepping closer to Kate. Kate stands her ground. “I’m starting to think you’re like him in that regard too. I mean, the way you jumped on this project, putting yourself at the forefront to really sell us on it? That’s impressive - assertiveness is a trait I look for in people I work with.”

There’s always an angle with Valentina. Kate can remember her mother saying that exact same thing once years ago - when she was too little to understand it. She does now, because for some reason, Val sees Kate as an asset.

Or a threat.

“Do we work together?” Kate asks, not keeping the bite out of her tone. “I’m just here to oversee the installation of security, but Mel told me that we had free reign to handle it as we saw fit and we will do the job - but I wouldn't exactly say you and I are working together.”

Valentina purses her lips, then runs her tongue across her teeth before setting her glass down on the desk and leveling Kate with her whole attention. “Fair enough, then I’ll just cut right to the point, Kate. Or…should I say…Hawkeye?”

Kate rolls her eyes, “Are you going to get to the point or are you going to keep being super dramatic about it?” Kate puts on a big, toothy grin as she speaks, which only makes Valentina laugh.

“Fine, the point is that I’m in the business of superheroes now. Heading up the New Avengers and running point on the way the world views them, the way they contribute to our country and the future of protecting the people of America.” She moves again, this time retaking the spot behind her desk and sitting down. It’s a power move Kate’s had a lot of people on the board of her own company do when they’re trying to bully her into their ideas.

With them, Kate’s easily dismissed the move every single time. With Val, it triggers something. It makes her angry. “I don’t know why you think I’d be against it.”

“That is my problem. Your antics running around pretending to be something you aren’t makes the general public question what we’re doing. People like you, vigilantes, make other people who aren’t properly funded or trained or valuable to me think they can do the same.” Valentina’s smile never leaves, though it changes from wry to menacing at an alarming rate. “I know you want to be an Avenger, Kate. You used to talk about it all the time when you were younger, and it was cute then - it always brought the laughs when your mother would tell us the stories.” She’s trying to bait Kate into doing something stupid - which is telling Kate more and more that this big contract she landed was mostly for this moment right here. “But this is the real world, and I would hate to have to be the one to tell your mother that her only child was murdered in a back alley fighting a bunch of thieves.”

It shouldn't surprise her that Val knows about last night, this is a woman who built her entire life around information - the having and using of it to get what she wants.

Kate feels out of her depth, but at the same time, she doesn’t answer to anyone. “I’m not a threat to you, Valentina. In fact, you should be thanking me! I’m out there handling the small stuff while you and your big bad New Avengers team can prepare for demons and aliens and who knows when the next darkness cloud might blanket the city again.” She decides to toss in a jab of her own. “Knowing you like my mother used to talk about, the next catastrophe that threatens the city will likely come from some power trip experiment you funded that goes wrong.”

Valentina laughs humorlessly, nodding to herself like she’s taking in the shot Kate just sent her way. “I meant what I said, you are cute,” she says and then takes a deep breath before tapping a button on her phone. “Mel? Is our eleven o’clock still on schedule?”

The answer comes immediately. “Yes ma’am.”

“Great,” she releases the speaker button and looks at Kate again. “Sorry to cut this short, but I have a meeting coming up with the mayor that I am dreading so I’ll need some time to mentally prepare for his stories that never go anywhere or have anything to do with what we’re talking about.” Valentina doesn’t stand up, doesn’t offer a hand for Kate to shake or anything - but she does have parting words for her (of course). “Think about what I said, Kate. I didn’t hire you for nothing. You’re great with people and charming as hell - you could have an amazing, beneficial and safe career in business. I would be more than happy to help you find your footing.”

And out of Valentina’s way, that’s the part she leaves out.

Kate doesn’t give her much beyond a small nod before making her way out.

She feels a bit stupid as she makes her way through the Watchtower now, because she really thought this was something she could sink her teeth into. She wants to help, the Hawkeye stuff she does outside of here never crossed her mind as…what? Interfering with actual Avengers? Granted, there haven't been real Avengers in this city in a few years now, but there’s always going to be heroes and villains - it’s the world that’s been created by everything.

Nothing Val could say to Kate would convince her to quit what she does. She’s good at it, she’s trained for it and she’s not doing it for the praise or to have her name in lights or face on a magazine (though she’s not going to say no if those things are offered to her, obviously).

It just…always felt like the right thing to do. There will always be an eleven year old version of her that remembers how helpless she felt when aliens destroyed her whole world and she couldn't do anything about it.

That’s who she does this for. Not her mother or for Val or even for her dad, it’s for that little girl and to do whatever she can to ensure as few people as possible have to be as scared as she was that day.

Kate’s very wound up by the time she makes it to the fifth floor and the elevator door opens. She wanted to go all the way to the lobby - to get the hell out of here and go eat her weight in cheeseburgers and fries. But when the door opens, Yelena is standing there looking at her like she had simply been waiting for Kate this entire time.

“Do you…have cameras in the elevator?” Kate looks up at the various corners and doesn’t see anything.

Yelena grins, “is that not your job? Bishop Security and all.”

“I mean sure, but I was just assuming you, Yelena Belova, would have her own cameras and listening devices all over this place by now. You seem the type to not want any stone unturned or…some…better metaphor.” Kate sighs, “sorry, my wordplay is off - your boss fucked with me.”

Yelena hums then, reaching out with her foot when the door starts to close before stepping into the elevator herself. She looks…fuck…she looks really good. Her hair is softer than the last time Kate saw her. It’s also a bit messy, like she hasn’t really done anything with it since she woke up but somehow it still works.

If she’s being fully honest with herself, Yelena looks good. She looks really good - in a tight gray t-shirt tucked into her cargo pants, a light dusting of blue eyeliner and a light sheen of sweat from the humidity.

Kate’s a goddamn bisexual for a reason and women like Yelena Belova only confirm that further.

But that’s as far as she’s ever allowed herself to take it when it comes to Yelena. Because beyond barely knowing her, she is an extremely complicated person with a past that she guards like a watchdog and Kate respects those boundaries.

It’s also just…nice, to know she’s in the city. It’s not exactly friendship but it’s something, and she’s not going to jeopardize that because she likes the way Yelena’s waist fits into her shirts or how thick her thighs are.

Jesus, Kate get a hold of yourself

“You’re hurt,” Yelena says as she steps into the elevator and taps a button to a floor one two short of the lobby.

Kate can only laugh, “you saw me for like two seconds and you knew.”

“It is in my training to sense vulnerabilities. Your right arm is tucked too close to your side, as it would be if you had it in a sling - but you do not need that so…shoulder?”

“Yeah,” Kate knows it’s pointless to lie to her and honestly, she really really doesn’t want to. “Just a fight, I won by the way.”

Yelena laughs, leaning back against the wall to watch her. “I imagine you would not be standing here otherwise.” The elevator door dings to the floor Yelena pressed and then, as she’s stepping out, she looks back. “Come with me, Kate Bishop.”

Kate frowns, “uh…what? I was just-”

“Come on,” Yelena waves at her again and Kate’s body just kind of…moves and starts following her. She steps out behind her, plans to leave (she really had no idea where she was going to go for the rest of the day) apparently abandoned.

“What are we-” Kate’s question dies in her throat as she takes in the space. Because the space appears to be an entire fucking medical wing. “Holy shit,” she breathes, eyes wide as she looks at everything. “This place is like a whole emergency room.”

“Being a hero is dangerous work, is it not? We need to make sure our wounds are mended.”

Kate’s never really thought about the optics of having a team like this, and how many people would actually need to go into keeping it functional. Between the security on the building and now this, she can only imagine what other parts of the job she hasn’t considered.

It’s equal parts the coolest fucking thing ever and kind of a bummer when she thinks about stitching up her own shoulder in front of the bathroom mirror last night - thread between her teeth and Lucky trying to eat the toilet paper.

“Why are we here?” She asks, not really caring what the answer is because this place is so cool. There are actual people here too, like medical people and there seems to be an entire section for scanning and monitoring.

Her mind wanders to the thought that if Yelena were seriously hurt, this is where they’d take care of her. It’s a thought that comes unexpectedly and one she pushes away as fast as she can. “I want to check your wound, stitch it up properly.”

Kate stops, “what?”

Yelena, in turn, stops as well, turning around fully to look at her. “You said you were hurt. Last I remember you put bandages on your face all out of order and not the proper way to seal them as quickly as possible.”

“Hey they were just fine! No scars or anything! And I’m way better now than I was then.”

“That is good, I would hope you’ve improved, but I would like to check nonetheless."

Despite her best efforts to keep them down, Kate’s defensive heckles rise in her throat. Because this feels like babying. It feels like the kind of thing she’s spent the last few years working out of Clint - to trust her that she can take care of herself.

It’s worse, somehow, with Yelena. “I stitched them up fine, Yelena.” She says, sounds like a petulant child despite wanting to sound like a grown woman who can take care of herself.

The response she gets comes with Yelena’s eyebrows shooting to the sky. “Are you in pain?”

She thinks about lying again, because she would in most cases. She did it with Clint for a long time. For some reason now though, with Yelena looking at her and after everything with Val - who seems to exist off of lies - she doesn’t want to. “Some, I guess. The cut was pretty deep.”

Yelena nods, “okay, then it would be smart to check on it, no?” Kate hesitates, again because she thinks she’s fine. She had a whole plan to check on it tonight, re-bandage it, the whole nine yards. She’s been hurt before, she’s always taken care of it. “This is for me, Kate. More than anything. We have all of this equipment that Valentina pays for. Let's use it.”

That actually is a great pitch. “Fine,” she sighs, “You do it though.”

Yelena’s step slows just a little, if Kate wasn't paying such close attention to her she might not have noticed. “Me?”

“Yeah, you’re trained in this stuff, and I don’t want some doctor I’ve never met to be more careful or make fun of my purple stitches.”

Yelena snorts out a very deep laugh, “of course your stitches are purple.”

“It’s branding!”

They find a little area tucked away in the corner near a window looking out towards Central Park. It’s crazy how different the city looks from up here. Kate’s spent her whole life walking these streets, existing in this space - but up here in the tower, she feels like she can really see it through different eyes.

It’s her home, even if lately it hasn’t felt as welcoming as it used to. She thought about moving away once, head to California and start over there - just to get away from it all. But she didn’t, because this place feels like a part of her.

There are things here, people, she can't walk away from.

Though the more she deals with it, its people and its problems, Kate worries the city is trying to get rid of her in its own way.

Like last night with that guy who-

“Kate?” Yelena’s tone is a little sharper, not angry but more like this wasn't the first time she’s said Kate’s name.

“Sorry,” she flushes a little, stepping away from the window. “In my head today, I suppose.”

Yelena hums as she gestures for Kate to sit on the exam table - all of this is very legit equipment. “Valentina has a way of getting to you like that.” It’s cute to watch Yelena open up a first aid kit and set it on the little tray.

“You could have been a nurse, I think.”

As she parses through the kit, Yelena offers Kate a small smile as she works. “Is that right?”

“Mmhmm, in your blue scrubs, and that cute little ponytail you had the other night while you were making macaroni. Which, by the way, I finished the last of the leftovers two nights ago and am going through withdrawals.”

This brings out the rest of Yelena’s smile, “well it sounds like I’d better get on that.”

“I think so,” she says as Yelena sets out a few bandages and even a suture kit. “What else is on the Yelena Belova menu?”

The question is what finally gets Yelena’s eyes back on her. “Not as much as I’d like. I am or…was, before all of this craziness, I was trying to teach myself new recipes. It was…” her sentence trails off and Kate is fully expecting the walls to come up. For Yelena to make a joke and deflect or just outright not speak again. “It helped,” she says in a voice that Kate wouldn't be able to hear if they weren’t so close. “With the emptiness I was feeling at the time.”

There are at least half a dozen follow up questions Kate wants to ask. Why did you feel this way? What made it go away? Did it go away?

Is there anything I can do?

But she doesn’t, because she thinks Yelena is not the type to take well to that sort of thing and also she thinks, with who they are now, she isn’t so much curious as she is understanding.

“For me it’s tinkering,” she says instead, as Yelena pulls a stool up to sit in front of her. The way Yelena looks at her, interested, pushes her to explain. “My arrows and like…trying to find ways to do my Hawkeye stuff better.”

“Can you show me the cut?” Yelena asks, gesturing at Kate’s shoulder. She nods and starts taking off her jacket. “You experimenting with fancy trick arrows seems dangerous.” There’s a teasing tone to her voice, which Kate appreciates - it’s much different than when she was trying to tell Clint about her new workbench and he went full overbearing mentor on her because one time she triggered a sleep arrow by mistake and passed out on her desk for like seven hours. “Did you disinfect this?” Yelena asks as she runs her thumb across the skin near Kate’s bandage.

It doesn’t hurt as much right now, but the skin is pretty red and visceral around it. “I did, I swear it’s just angry today. I probably shouldn't have worn the heavy blazer over it.”

“But who is Kate Bishop without her suits?”

Kate grins, “exactly. You get it.”

Yelena gives her a look, soft and playful, before she starts to very gently peel the bandage off. Kate bites her bottom lip to stop herself from reacting. It does hurt, but it’s mostly the combination of the bandage and the air hitting her wound. “It is not so bad,” Yelena says as the bandage finally falls away. “Your self-suturing needs a little work. It takes a lot of practice to get right from these angles.”

The idea of Yelena being an expert at something like this is both unsurprising and upsetting.

“I’m not really looking to get much practice in.”

Yelena nods, already grabbing the little scissors to get started in removing the stitches. “It is not fun practice, no. Much more worth your time to simply improve hand to hand as to avoid-”

“I’ll have you know I’m a really good close combat fighter now. I’ve been training a lot.”

Yelena glances up at her for just a moment before continuing. “Is that so? Who are you training with?”

“Well there was Clint-”

“Who is closer to sixty than fifty.”

Kate rolls her eyes, “he can still go, okay? Also I trained with Laura who is way faster than she looks, and I mean…I’ve had a lot of trials by fire the last year or so since I started taking PI jobs.”

“What is this PI?” Yelena asks, leaning in closer as she continues to very carefully (and skillfully) draw Kate’s stitches out piece by piece.

“Private investigator. If people go missing or lose something or are being followed, harassed or like…think their spouses are cheating, they call me and I look into it.”

As the last of the stitches comes away, Kate starts to feel the discomfort set in and her breathing shifts a little to compensate. Yelena must have expected it, because she scoots a bit closer, then grabs the disinfectant. “This part is going to suck so…distract yourself - tell me of the case that gave you this.”

Kate really doesn’t want to get into it, but she’s learning pretty quickly that it’s very hard for her to say no to Yelena. She’s not sure why that is. Girl pretty pops into her head right away but even that doesn't work 100% of the time like it seems to now.

Still, when Yelena pours the disinfectant onto a cotton ball and waits to actually touch her, Kate knows she has no choice. “There was a string of really messy break-ins in Brooklyn and someone came to me because their house was destroyed - like they broke- fuck!” She hisses as Yelena presses onto her cut, the skin bubbling as it does what it’s supposed to.

“The bubbles are good.”

“I know, but shit it burns.”

“Break-ins, Kate - tell me about them.” Yelena’s voice is stern, pressing and Kate is appreciative for it.

She takes a deep breath, trying to block out the pain. “It wasn't about stealing, they were just…trying to send a message. Intimidating people and making them afraid, so that they would then seek help - likely from the same people without knowing.”

“A takeover tactic.”

Kate nods as another press of the cotton ball touches her skin. It doesn’t react as violently, but it still burns. “Yep, and once I was able to figure out their next target ahead of time, I camped it out and broke it up.” Yelena doesn’t say anything at first, Kate watches her studying the wound, gently brushing the cotton swab down in careful strokes before setting it aside and grabbing the suture kit.

It’s something she’s been working on for a while now, something Clint taught her and something a lifetime of being around shitty, rich liars made her a bit of a natural at - reading people. And the way Yelena didn’t react when Kate told her what happened, despite the cut on her shoulder and the bruise on her jaw that she knows Yelena can see - it’s clear to her why.

“You read the report too, didn’t you?”

Yelena’s eyes flicker up to her as she’s just about to start stitching. “I did,” she says and then goes to work. The first press of the needle through Kate’s skin makes her grind her teeth and squeeze the cushiony exam bed she’s on. “It is part of the job description, but I did not want to…” Yelena stops mid stitch, string literally hanging out of Kate’s skin but not in a painful way. Yelena looks cute really, with her tongue between her teeth as she thinks. “It was your story to tell.”

“It wasn't a big deal,” she tries to convince Yelena or herself she doesn’t know, but she tries.

And of course, because it’s Yelena, the attempt falls flat. “It is okay to be affected, Kate. A man died.”

“No, a man was killed,” she says, and it tastes bitter in her mouth. “He was murdered.” She says instead, the truth somehow tasting worse.

“He was not a good man.” Kate shrugs, and is then met with a pinch in her shoulder, “не двигаться!” Yelena bites and Kate doesn’t need a translator to understand don’t move.

“Sorry,” she takes a breath as the burning fades a bit. “It doesn’t matter what kind of man he was, I didn’t intend to kill anyone.”

“That doesn’t mean it wasn't necessary. Given the depth of this cut, it seems they were not hesitating to kill you.”

She’s not wrong there, because they were absolutely trying to kill her. With the guns and the chasing - Kate heard all the things they shouted at her. She was never afraid of it happening, she rarely goes into fights she can't win anymore - but it was clear evidence that murder was not beneath those guys. “I made a mistake. I grabbed the wrong arrow in the fight.”

“Then you should not beat yourself up over it,” Yelena says simply enough.

Which, of course, pisses Kate off. “I’m not.” She says, glaring at Yelena who isn’t even looking at her. “Why do you care?” It’s not what she means, but she’s tired and her shoulder hurts and Yelena was right, her stitch job last night was terrible and this one already feels more secure.

Thankfully, Yelena doesn’t shout back at her. “You know why,” Yelena says instead. And she’s right, Kate does know why - because Yelena told her last night that she wanted someone in her life that she chose. Now it was Kate’s turn to learn what being Yelena Belova’s friend meant.

So as quickly as Kate’s anger flares up, it melts away. “Sorry,” she sighs, letting her muscles relax and her tension drop. “You’re right, I’m beating myself up about it. It’s not like he’s the first person I killed but they all suck, you know?” Yelena hums, grabbing the tiny pair of scissors again to clip off the stitch and the end. “Or…maybe you don’t, I know it’s different for you.”

“Because you think I don’t care?” Yelena asks, genuinely curious.

Kate shakes her head, “you didn’t have a choice.” She’s not supposed to touch on the Red Room. She knows that and if Yelena tells her to back off she will.

Instead, Yelena reaches up and brushes the skin alongside her wound again and looks at her. “I have killed many long after my choices were my own. You are right to say it’s different for me.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think it’s because you don’t care.”

“So if the shoe was on the other foot and I was feeling guilty about something like this, what would you say to me?”

It’s such a cheap tactic, but from Yelena it has a pretty devastating effect. “Alright, fair point. Since when did you get so wise?”

“Do not say this to me, Kate Bishop. I have always been wise - you know this.”

“Uh huh, even though your big ‘Avengers are bad’ speech led to you being the face of the Avengers.”

Yelena scoffs, standing up and putting away the supplies she’d taken out. “I am not the face of anything. I am basically here against my will.”

“Oh please, of course you’re the face. I mean like…have you seen your face?”

As Yelena closes up the first aid kit on the wall, she looks back at Kate with a smirk. “Are you calling me pretty, Kate Bishop?”

“Stop fishing for compliments,” Kate sends back with a roll of her eyes, though she can't stop the smile on her face. She decides then, to take a chance, “any chance you want to come by for dinner tonight? I can make you one of my like…three recipes I know.”

The hesitant turn around Yelena gives her in return answers the question well before her voice does. “I can't, unfortunately. Valentina is flying us all out to Washington early tomorrow morning for some meetings with very annoying politicians and I have been told I must attend.”

It’s disappointing, though Kate really should know better than to try and pin Yelena down at any point. “I mean, it makes sense they’d need the face of the New Avengers front and center for the big DC press tour.”

“You are insufferable, have I told you this before?”

Kate shows all of her teeth with this smile. “In so many ways, but you came back anyway.”

------------------------------------

Later that night, it’s a girl named Meghan that Kate picks up at a club. She hadn't even wanted to go out, but Franny guilt tripped her about their ‘dying friendship’ and so Kate went.

Her mind clears with each drink she has, she doesn’t dance, but she laughs a lot - and when Meghan comes up to her at the bar with an eyebrow piercing and a sort of messy platinum blonde hair that Kate can't stop admiring, she decides the best way to get a good night’s sleep is to burn off as much stress as possible.

It’s easier than it should be, and Kate does feel a little shallow with her tactics. Buying a round for the bar, showing off her accuracy bouncing quarters into a shot glass, taking off her coat to flaunt the sleeveless top she’d chosen underneath.

Kate’s always been good at this part.

So she fucks Meghan in four different spots of Kate’s apartment, the last one having Meghan on the bed on all fours while Kate grabs a fistful of blonde hair and makes Meghan come three times.

She offers to return the favor, but Kate’s too tired and declines. When Meghan dances around the idea of exchanging numbers, Kate avoids it like a pro - with a charming joke and a promise to look her up.

Meghan leaves like she’s expecting Kate to ask her to stay, but she doesn’t and once she’s alone in her apartment again - body humming after a fun night but somehow still frustrated, Kate lays awake well into the early hours watching her ceiling fan spin. Laughing a little when Lucky slumps down on the bed next to her with a grumble that can only be described as annoyed (she made him stay downstairs while she had company).

“Sorry bud, your roommate is just going through some stuff apparently.”

Lucky’s response comes with a deep breath and the blinking of his one good eye. Kate thinks he forgives her.

She doesn't sleep well, she hasn’t in a while, but hey…

…at least her shoulder feels better.

Chapter Text

Monday morning comes and brings with it a fresh week - one that Kate is not about to squander. She’s been struggling a little. With sleep, with her work, with the company and that business with Valentina. All of it - not to mention what happened in the alley.

Still, she’s ready to hit the reset button and she’s fully prepared to start her week with a kick ass workout. She’s already been up (easy to do when you barely sleep), taken Lucky for a long walk and now she’s wearing her workout gear (a black sleeveless top and compression shorts), has her bow ready (one of her oldest, it’s too worn down to trust in real combat) and is holding a protein waffle (that she made herself, complete with chocolate chips) between her teeth as she tugs her shoes on.

Of course, right in the middle of the left shoe catching on her heel and making her have to sit down, the television she’s absentmindedly had on all morning suddenly shows the president (their third in the last four years) standing at a podium with a bunch of people around him and watching him.

Kate’s usual instinct with stuff like this is to change the channel and find cartoons to watch, but immediately her eye catches blonde hair tucked just at the edge of the screen and she remembers what Yelena told her.

This is their big press conference. They show up to shake the hand of the president and for Valentina to have her big speech where she acts like she’s actually doing anything when in reality she’s just saving her own ass. Rich bitch 101.

Still, it’s…cool. She’s happy for Yelena, truly. Sure, there’s some lingering jealousy toward all of them for getting this shot while she’s still out here working to get noticed - but she can see it in the way Yelena carries herself, and how she tries so damn hard to deflect when asked about it, that she’s proud of herself.

If not fully, it’s clear she’s trying to be.

So Kate waits just a bit and watches, feeling a little bit like a stalker for getting so attentive any time the camera moves just enough to put Yelena’s whole face on screen.

The president rambles on for so long about absolutely nothing. Talking about how heroes have saved the city and the world and more over and over again - but somehow managing to squeeze himself in like he was there.

He eventually hands the mic over to Valentina, who basically does the same thing the president did, and she goes through naming off every member of the New Avengers.

Kate only knows three of them; Yelena of course, who looks so good with her hair slicked back and a green blazer on over some kind of button down and dark pants to match. John Walker, only by news articles and so many podcasts that spent months talking about the guy. And, of course, Bucky Barnes - the freaking Winter Soldier.

Kate’s going to ask Yelena to introduce them at some point. She can tell him she knows Clint and they can bond over their jet black hair or the fact that she has a pair of boots just like the ones he’s wearing now. Something. They’ll be friends, she knows it.

As another five minutes pass and Yelena goes from shaking the president’s hand right on screen to basically moving herself completely out of view of the camera (likely on purpose), Kate gives up on any hopes Yelena might speak and turns off her TV.

It takes her twenty minutes to get to the compound where she works out. A small building she rents and sets up her own training room in. Leaving college meant she couldn't use those facilities anymore and the makeshift home gym she had was not going to cut it for real Hawkeye stuff.

So she indulged a little and leveled up her training.

Kate works herself hard, especially on a day like today when it feels like she has to punish herself a little. Maybe not the healthiest coping mechanism for all the stresses she’s had lately, but it does the job of turning her brain off.

She spends an hour on the treadmill before hitting the weights. She goes through all of her sets three times a piece, making sure to raise the weight on every workout for the last set.

Then, when her muscles feel like jello, she starts shooting. Because if she can shoot her bow with dead legs and achy arms, then when fights go too long she’ll never doubt her ability to hang in.

The sun moves from one window all the way around to the window on the opposite side before she’s done. Kate’s dripping with sweat, water pouring down her chin as she drinks greedily from her bottle and leans against the wall trying to catch her breath.

It’s good, the workout was good, the gym she’s set up here is great and everything is…good.

It really is.

But she can't figure out why that doesn't feel like enough anymore.

Even through the fog of her workout, the way her blood is pumping and her muscles are burning, she still feels some sort of itch. She’s frustrated honestly, it’s the only real explanation and seeing all the New Avengers getting their big moment still lingers in her head.

She’s just tired, it feels like she’s been treading water in the hero department for so long now and any advancements she has made are of her own doing.

Which is fine, self made heroes are nothing new - but she’s spent so much time waiting for SHIELD or someone like Valentina (though less shitty and terrible) to find her and make all of it official.

But…why? Why is she waiting? What is she waiting for? Why does she need someone else to officially make her the hero she wants to be?

Would that fill the…emptiness in her life?

She asks herself these questions over and over again as she puts her hoodie on and makes her way through the city to find something to eat.

----------------------------------

“Katie! I hear you’re having a party?”

Kate frowns, it’s not so bad to hear from Jack these days. Despite the way she treated him early on when she thought he was the one doing shady shit, he’s stuck around in Kate’s life even though she put his fiance in prison.

Still, he can talk about things sometimes that make absolutely no sense to her. “We are? When?”

“Not we, you!” Again, Kate has no fucking clue. “I just got the invitation in the mail!”

Setting down the arrow she was crafting, Kate takes off her glasses and leans back in her seat. “Jack, what invitation? I’ve been up to my eyeballs in work for the last…two years!” She laughs, despite how depressing that sentence is.

“Well I don’t know what to tell you, dear because this is a black tie event invitation with your name on it.”

Kate frowns, “read it to me. The invitation.”

Thankfully, Jack doesn’t even question it - just starts reading it out like some kind of dramatic play monologue. “As we step into a new era of protecting this city and its people, I, Kate Bishop, CEO of Bishop Security, do humbly invite all of you to the Howard Stark Ballroom, on Saturday, April twenty-seventh as we celebrate the next generation of heroes, The New Avengers.”

Before he finishes reading the invitation, Kate puts the pieces together. It’s the board, taking her newly minted contract from The Watchtower and trying to use that to gain more support, funding, influence, etc.

Doing it without telling her, while also pretending that she’s the one throwing the part. And the worst offense of all?

“They made me sound like such a douchebag oh my god.”

“You mean…these aren’t your words?” He seems genuinely confused.

Kate sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “No, Jack. Definitely not my words. I’ve never humbly done anything.”

“I suppose that’s true, that spark is what makes you so intriguing!” He really does just say things like that. What really takes the cake is the fact that he means most of them. “In any event, it sounds like it’s going to be an amazing night! You are coming, aren't you dear?”

The initial thought, even as he started reading the invitation, was to say no. It’s not something she enjoyed going to when she was younger, and why would she enjoy it now? Pretending to care about what the elite of New York City are doing with all their money - she’s had more fun getting kicked in the ribs.

But there’s another part of her that wants to prove…something. They clearly threw this event, with her name, to either draw her out into the public eye that she’s been avoiding as CEO for the last year - or they think she won’t show at all and the board can continue to press her to just go away and sell the company.

Which she has considered for a long time, but this new contract with the Avengers has made things complicated. There’s some part of her that likes being connected to them - not even in the way that she wants to be a New Avenger, but more so that she just wants to be the one helping to keep them safe.

(It’s much less embarrassing to pretend it’s about all the New Avengers when she’s only met one of them)

“You know, I probably should. My name is on the invitation.”

“That’s my girl,” Jack says with a bit of pride in his voice that Kate takes to heart. She still has no idea where to place Jack, but she’s grateful he’s stuck around.

She’s about to ask him if he’s going to bring anyone when she hears a loud THUMP above her - right where her bedroom is and locks up. She looks around for Lucky and finds him sleeping near the door (some guard dog, he didn’t even raise his head at the sound), so Kate knows it wasn't him.

“Hey Jack, I have some stuff to take care of, but I’ll see you at the party, okay?”

“Alright, Katy! Have a nice night.”

She says goodbye and hangs up before getting up and moving to the back wall of her armory. She skips the bow because it isn’t great inside an apartment at close quarters and instead grabs one of the two swords she’s collected Kate’s always been good with swords, though she’s learning more beyond just fencing styles lately.

The thirty-four inch carbon steel katana is one of her favorites to just look at. That’s why she keeps it on the back wall where she can see it while she works - it’s just super cool. It’s hefty in her hands, but feels good. She unsheaths it and slowly makes her way out of the armory into the living room.

“Stay,” she whispers to Lucky when he starts to look up - not wanting him to jump into any danger or get hurt.

Kate’s really hoping something just fell over or she’s going crazy hearing things because she does not want to fight anyone in her apartment. Though it does kind of feel like a hero right of passage or something.

Still, she reaches the bottom of the stairs and looks up into the darkness above, ready for anything.

With each step she takes, as carefully as possible, she makes no noise before reaching the top step - which always creaks a little even when Lucky walks over it.

As soon as she is outside of her bedroom door, Kate pushes it open and holds out the blade.

There’s a figure in her room, unflinching and looking out the window.

The lights from the city shining through reveal her to Kate immediately. “Yelena,” she breathes, lowering the sword. “Dude, I’m going to put a bell on you or something. I have a door.”

Kate lowers the sword, rolling her eyes as she lets her heart settle down and reaches to turn on the light. “Please don’t,” Yelena says then, her voice sounding…unfamiliar. Tight and unsettled. Kate doesn’t turn the light on. “The door meant I’d have to talk to your doorwoman and I did not want to.”

Sheathing her sword, Kate sets it down on the bed and takes a single step closer to Yelena, but knows better than to close too much distance. “Okay, just…glad you weren’t anyone trying to kill me or anything.”

“I could be,” she says then and Kate is ready to make some comment about empty threats, but Yelena doesn’t give her a chance. “That’s who I am, isn’t it? A killer?”

Okay yeah, something is definitely wrong. “Yelena, are you okay?”

She shakes her head, “please do not ask me that.”

“Alright, I won’t ask you that. Can I ask you why you’re here?”

Yelena’s head lowers a little and Kate takes in the sight of her, really seeing her even from behind. She’s dressed exactly like she was this morning at that press conference - minus the overcoat. It’s a red, longsleeved button down over a pair of black slacks - both fitting her perfectly. The shirt is untucked now though, and when she turns around, Kate sees that it’s unbuttoned - a black tank top underneath. “I could not stay there. It was not…” she sighs and looks away. “Can we just not talk? I am here, I chose to be here instead of buying a bottle of vodka because I do not want to be that person again but I do not want to talk either. Is that okay?”

There is not a single bit of room for argument in Yelena’s tone. She is clearly angry and frustrated, but there’s more - she sounds…scared. Whether it be from something that happened in DC or because she wants to drink, Kate can't be sure.

What she can do is try. “That’s fine, we don’t have to talk. We can go downstairs and sit - watch some TV. I have leftover pizza if you want?”

“Television is fine, I am not hungry.”

So Kate leads them out of the bedroom. Yelena goes first and Kate follows, bringing her sword down with her and remembering that she left the door to her super-secret armory wide open like an amateur.

If Yelena had been someone bad and found this, well then she’d have had a whole bunch of weapons to use against Kate.

Yelena stares at the armory as she reaches the main room, slowing her steps a bit as she takes it in.

“Just…pretened you don’t see it,” Kate rushes inside and puts her katana back on the wall before tapping a few buttons to close the door on her way out. “Top secret, nothing worth talking about. We’re not doing that, right? Talking? So just…yeah.”

Not intentionally, Kate manages to get the tiniest smile out of Yelena then and it feels like a victory - even at her own expense. “No, of course not. I did not see your very unorganized and messy secret lair.”

“It’s not a lair, villains have lairs. It’s an armory! I tinker with arrows and keep all my weapons safe in there!” Kate huffs when Yelena’s brows lift a little, “Whatever, fine - it’s a little messy in my armory, but to be fair I wasn't expecting any company. Though I’m starting to think I should always be prepared since you just…show up like this.” She puts no heat in her words, because she’s not upset at all - it’s…nice that Yelena came to her. Even if she won’t really say why.

Yet, after she says it, Yelena casts her head down and sighs, “I could not go back to the tower. Bob…I can't be around him like this.”

“Upset?” Kate tries, feeling like she’s stepping carefully over hot coals. Yelena’s non-answer feels like an answer. “That…makes sense. I only met him once but he seemed very careful with his emotions and stuff, like…he was trying really hard to be okay.”

Yelena swallows thickly, nodding a little which surprises Kate. She didn’t expect any confirmation. “The cloud of darkness that passed over the city, you remember?”

“Of course, how could I forget.”

“That…that was him.”

Kate’s eyes go wide. “That was Bob?”

“It was, it is not his fault - he was experimented on by Valentina. Project Sentry it was called, it…did something to him. Something Val herself cannot even explain and something Bob cannot control.”

“That…I didn’t know Val was doing stuff like that.”

“It is all very top secret, you are now one of about ten people in the world who know.” Yelena laughs, there’s no humor in it. “That is the tip of it, Kate Bishop. Valentina is a part of many terrible things.”

“Not anymore though, right? I mean…she’s pretty much front and center in the whole ‘protecting the country’ propaganda now.”

“She is, but that came as much as an accident as Bob. In fact, we all met because we were trying to destroy a lot of Valentina’s secrets, which also happened to be us - sent to kill each other.”

Kate can't help but notice the hint of mirth in Yelena’s voice as she talks about it - like the idea of becoming a team with a bunch of contracted killers who were asked to kill each other and teamed up instead, is as silly as it sounds. “Oh wow, Val really does suck, doesn't she? Wait, Bucky Barnes worked for Val?”

“No, he came later - he is the one who convinced us to join up and stop her…Sentry, to be a team.” Yelena frowns, “mostly he is just cranky and grows tired of my father’s insanity.”

Yelena might not have meant to say it, or doesn't realize it - but Kate doesn’t miss a beat. “Your…father?”

She sees the minute Yelena registers what she said. “Nothing, I said nothing, no!” She points a finger in Kate’s direction just as Kate’s smile widens. “You heard nothing, Kate Bishop.”

“Your dad is the one with the big beard oh my god!” Kate squeals. “He’s so fun! I read a whole article where he talked about merchandising! Which I immediately forwarded to Clint by the way. I had no idea that was your dad!”

With a most defeated sigh, Yelena flops down on Kate’s couch and glares at her. Sitting as she is, shirt open and legs spread wide - she looks really fucking good.

“It is nothing to celebrate.” Yelena starts, “he is loud and obnoxious and yes, like you, he takes all of this way too seriously.” Yelena even grumbles, “he would love your silly secret lair.”

Kate takes a seat in the recliner next to the couch, leaning forward on her elbows. “Well, I have to meet him now!” She says as Lucky makes his way towards Yelena and places his head on her knee. She pets him without hesitation, smiling as she does. “We have so much to talk about, have you guys put any thought into matching outfits or-”

“Ugh, Kate Bishop, this is the kind of thing I ran away from DC to avoid.”

“Costumes?”

“All of it! I am just…it’s so much,” Yelena’s voice starts to rise as she speaks. “Everyone has so many questions and I have no answers! How could I? I am not who they think I am?!”

She knows this next question might end the night early, in so many ways - but she has to try. “Who do they think you are?”

“My sister!” She snaps and Kate kind of saw it coming. “They…” that’s when the anger cracks into something worse - something deep and painful that squeezes at Kate’s chest. Because seeing Yelena like this bothers her more than it should. She’s wringing her hands in her lap, brows pinched tightly together and staring forward, unfocused. “Do you know what I did all day? I sat in meetings and met with all these people. Politicians, media, even just civilians in the city who wanted to meet these fancy New Avengers and everyone kept asking me about Natasha. Things I couldn't know, did not have the chance to learn and the worst part out of all of it was when they would tell me about her. These strangers knew more about my sister than I ever will and it-” Yelena cuts herself off as the tears roll down her cheeks.

She brushes them away with the back of her hand furiously and Kate fights every urge to go over to her. Because that would likely end very poorly for her and Kate does not want a knife in the ribs or…anything so dramatic.

“I get that sometimes too,” she says, treading lightly, but deciding to crack open a part of herself all the same. “After my dad died any time I would see someone who knew him it was like they were talking about someone I barely remembered. He and I had our own little world, but the older I got the more I realized how much I didn’t know - good and bad. Who he was beyond my dad? I have no idea. I never got to meet that version of him.” It’s funny how even after so long, talking about her dad still feels very raw. She thinks it might have a lot to do with her mom being in jail for things relating to her dad that she has only barely started to learn about. “But then I remember that the version of him that I knew only belonged to me, you know? Nobody but me will ever know that part of him and I hold onto that even when I miss him the most.” Kate can't help the next part that comes out. “Even when I worry sometimes that I shouldn't.”

The way Yelena looks at her after that, even with her eyes rimmed red and her face still pinched, Kate feels exposed. But there’s no judgment staring back at her.

“So we are just meant to stay here and struggle with the messes they left behind for us, then.”

Kate smiles, despite the weight of the words and the feeling in the room, she feels lighter. Because that’s exactly it. “I think so, yeah.” She says. “It sucks, right?”

“Terribly,” Yelena pouts but in an almost playful way before she runs her thumbs under both of her eyes to clean up the last of her tears. “I am sorry for dropping by unannounced like this.”

“It’s fine, Yelena. Really - you’re welcome here any time,” a thought hits Kate then - another risky one. “But, if you did want to announce to me when you are planning to stop by in the future - it might be nice if I had your number.”

It feels like a line, god it is a line but she really doesn’t mean it that way. Unfortunately, the smirk that spreads across Yelena’s face tells Kate that she knows it too. “So forward, Kate Bishop.”

“Don’t do that, you know what I mean,” she rolls her eyes and looks away to hide the blush that’s probably forming on her cheeks. “The one you were using three years ago isn’t active anymore. That or…uh…you’ve just ignored me.”

Yelena’s brows rise a little. “You’ve been trying to talk to me?”

“I mean sure, not for a long time cause you didn’t answer, but shortly after everything…yeah, I did.”

Yelena purses her lips together and nods, “I went through burner phones a lot back then. The number I gave you was gone by the end of that week.”

“Right, I figured as much.”

“I do not do that anymore,” she adds. “Valentina asked me to keep one number for contacting me for work.”

“Makes sense,” Kate says, still feeling kind of silly. “Well if you ever want to text me I’m sure you can find my number.”

Without saying another word, Yelena pulls out her phone and starts tapping at the screen. Kate watches with a frown, waiting for a while and trying to tell herself Yelena hadn't just ended the conversation to surf the internet or something.

Then, after about thirty seconds, her own phone dings.

She grabs it off the counter, tapping the screen to turn it on and seeing the notification.

Hello Kate Bishop

Kate can't help it, she gives Yelena a wide, full grin that makes Yelena roll her eyes but return with a little grin of her own. “I promise not to text too much.”

“I am not afraid to block your number.”

“I know,” Kate settles back in her seat and grabs the remote. “Do you still want to watch something?”

“Why not,” Yelena agrees, and the tension in the air eases a little as Kate puts on some mindless HGTV.

They watch for about an hour before Kate sees Yelena starting to fade. She slumps deeper and deeper into the seat, and when she finally tucks her knees up underneath of her and lays her head a bit to the side, Kate knows it’s coming.

About ten minutes later, Yelena’s eyes are closed and she looks about as peaceful as Kate has ever seen her. There’s a strange feeling in Kate’s stomach at the sight of her like this. Yelena is a dangerous woman, perhaps one of the deadliest people on the planet right now, and yet she seems so small on Kate’s recliner like this.

It doesn’t take a psychologist to realize that Yelena is pretty not okay. In fact, Kate’s pretty sure she can sense it strictly from experience of her own ‘not okay-ness’ that’s come and gone a lot over the last ten or so years.

She can't explain it, but Kate feels this powerful urge to be the one to look out for her. Even if Yelena might never ask for anything, Kate wants to be there to help her. Maybe it’s her own loneliness shining through - something she’s thought more and more about the last few weeks - but Yelena deserves friends.

So carefully, Kate gets up and pulls the blanket off the back of the couch, ready to cover Yelena up and let her sleep.

However, as soon as she drapes the blanket over Yelena’s body, a strong hand snaps up and reaches for her throat.

Kate’s reflexes are faster than they used to be, so she manages to catch Yelena’s hand and redirect it. A moment later, Yelena is rising out of the chair and Kate barely catches sight of the blade in her other hand before it ends up at her throat. “Yelena! It’s Kate!” She shouts, and even though she adjusts the use of her forearm to slow the knife from killing her, Yelena freezes and her eyes go wide at Kate’s voice.

“Ka - Kate,” she sighs, looking around the apartment frantically before refocusing on Kate again. “What…what are you doing?” Her voice rises with each word.

“I was just giving you a blanket,” she says, keeping her voice steady and calm - everything is fine. “You drifted off.”

Yelena’s brows pinch together tightly, “I fell asleep?”

“Yeah, you’re probably exhausted from all the stuff this morning and then flying back to New York and everything.”

“No,” Yelena bites, shaking her head. Kate keeps herself still, not mentioning that they’re still pretty tangled up in each other. Yelena’s hands are strong, her grip is steady - she also smells really nice.

Shut up, Kate.

“I do not drift off,” Yelena says angrily, though Kate thinks it’s mostly to herself. That’s when she finally lets Kate go and stares at the knife in her hand. The anger in her expression fades a bit. “I am sorry for attacking you. I…I don’t fall asleep like that ever.”

“You’ve got to be exhausted, Lena.” As soon as that version of her name slips out, Kate immediately wants to take it back.

Yelena’s eyes flicker up at her, “I should go,” she stands up and pushes the blanket off. It falls to the floor at Kate’s feet.

“Wait,” Kate doesn't grab her, but she steps forward just enough to make Yelena stop. “Just…stay here tonight. It’s past midnight and you’ve already traveled so much. This couch is really nice, I can sleep here and you can take my bed.”

“I can't,” Yelena says, her voice soft and unsure.

Kate decides to take another chance, “please? You’d be doing me a favor - I won’t sleep well if I’m worrying about you all night.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, Kate.”

“Yes, I do,” she says and she means it. “You wanted to be friends, right? That comes with the territory for me. I want my friends to be okay.” Yelena doesn’t say anything, but she also doesn’t move away from where she’s standing. “The code to my armory is 14278, if anything happens you can use that to get weapons and protect yourself. If that makes you feel safer.”

She sees the tiniest smile tug at the corner of Yelena’s mouth. “I just pulled a knife on you, I have weapons.” She says, but her voice is lighter. “What makes you think I won’t steal all your fancy equipment now?”

“Oh I’d stop you,” Kate says with no hesitation, just wanting to get a reaction.

“You could try.”

“I always do,” she hopes Yelena catches the meaning she puts into the words.

A few seconds pass and she sees Yelena thinking, her jaw clenched as she looks to the couch and then back to Kate. “I…will sleep on the couch.”

“I promise, I don’t mind-”

“No, it’s not about that, it is closer to the door. I would feel better down here.”

Kate nods, not about to argue anymore. “Okay, then just make yourself comfortable and I’ll get you some blankets.”

She doesn’t give Yelena time to think before Kate turns and races upstairs - her movements so fast Lucky gets up and starts hopping around excitedly. Kate can hear Yelena talking to him in Russian as she reaches her upstairs closet and starts pulling out some old blankets and a few extra pillows. These have only ever really been used for Lucky’s kennel, but she washed them recently along with her own bedding when she bought her new mattress so they should be fine.

Kate thinks she’s got everything Yelena might need, she even grabs an extra toothbrush from under the sink and a whole tube of toothpaste as she makes her way back downstairs, hands full.

Unfortunately, she is not prepared for what she finds when she reaches the bottom. Because Yelena has not only taken off the red button down she’d had hanging loosely on her the entire night (leaving her just the white tank top, shoulders and back on fully display), but she’s also taken off her pants. Which reveals a very small pair of black, cotton underwear that leave extensively little to the imagination.

Kate takes the last step blindly, the blanket in her arms somehow ending up under her feet and sending her and everything she’s holding toppling onto the floor.

She doesn’t hit hard, it doesn’t hurt, but she just kind of lays there hoping maybe she’s dead and won’t be in the same room as Yelena anymore. Because holy shit she did not just freak out at the sight of Yelena’s bare legs that climbed all the way up to her-

“Kate?” Yelena’s voice is too close, and she can hear her getting closer. “Are you-”

“All good!” She shouts too loudly, her voice muffled a bit by the pillow in her face as she pushes up. “Got a little tangled,” she laughs at herself, again, too loud. “I’m fine though, and I brought you some things. For uh…for your legs if you get cold - a nice blanket and a pillow and some toothpaste for…your teeth.”

Kate holds the toothpaste out towards Yelena and waits, feeling so embarrassed as Yelena takes it. “My undressing startled you.” Yelena says, and Kate remembers she’s dealing with a master at reading body language.

“Sorry,” Kate still won’t look at her. “I was just unprepared. I told you to make yourself comfortable.”

“You did,” there’s a smile in Yelena’s voice. “I do not get this comfortable for just anyone, so you should take it as a compliment. I can put my pants back on if you’d like.”

“No!” Kate says way too fast (and too loud again, chill the fuck out, Bishop). She takes a breath, “it’s totally fine. I want you to be comfortable.” Kate finally gets up and finds the courage to look at Yelena again (in the eyes) and finds her grinning.

Not even in a teasing way, but just…delighted. “I am,” she says. “More than you, it seems.”

“Oh shut up,” Kate grumbles but can't stop her own laugh. “You can use the downstairs bathroom over there, it’s got a shower too if you want to use it before bed and just…if you need anything else I’ll be upstairs, okay?” The entire time she talks, Kate is gathering up all the things off the floor. When she finally has them to hand over to Yelena, she’s met with a very soft expression looking back at her.

“Thank you,” Yelena says, and the sincerity in her voice squeezes at Kate’s ribs.

She nods sharply, making her own brain rattle a little, “of course. I uh…I’ll be upstairs then,” she steps back and nods. “Goodnight.”

Yelena, standing in Kate’s living room clutching a handful of blankets and pillows and barely dressed, has Kate severely struggling to keep her heart from beating too loudly. “Goodnight, Kate Bishop.”

----------------------------------------

The sun is barely out by the time Kate finally hears rustling in the living room.

She’s been up, well, for a while now. If you could even count what she did in her room as sleep. Just kind of lying there - maybe drifting off for an hour or two. It is what it is, but she was careful coming downstairs and slipping into her workshop to craft some arrows and read through a few police reports for potential work.

Her body is a little achy, and she desperately needs a cup of coffee and she wants to see what Yelena thinks about breakfast. However, as she’s just about to step out into the living room, Kate hears Yelena start talking.

“Morning,” her voice is husky and deep, which makes Kate’s stomach flip a little. “No I know, I’m sorry I worried you.” Kate’s not sure she’s ever heard Yelena talk so…gently before. “Are you okay? Did you have an alright night?” She thought at first Yelena might be talking to her dad, but that’s not the right tone given the rare instances she’s seen them together. “I’m fine, Bob. I promise. I would have texted you if I wasn't okay. No, I stayed with someone, just a friend.”

Just a friend, which Kate shouldn't be annoyed about in the slightest because that’s what they are. In fact, she should be over the moon that Yelena is actually acknowledging her as such. But for some reason it just feels kind of…empty. Like it doesn’t mean nearly as much as whatever is going on with her and Bob.

Bob…the guy in the sweat pants with messy hair who Yelena apparently walked into the void to save.

Maybe her gaydar really is shit.

“I will be at the tower soon. Then we can do something today, just us, before everyone returns and we’re right in the middle of it again.” Well, so much for breakfast. Kate sighs, knowing she has to shrug off this feeling. What did she expect? That Yelena would hang out with her all day? She’s an Avenger with people of her own.

And Bob, apparently, who is clearly important to her.

It’s fine, Kate’s used to it.

She doesn’t listen in anymore, just moves to the other side of her armory to adjust the weapons on the wall that don’t need adjusting anymore and waits for Yelena to finish on the phone.

“I know you’re in there, Kate Bishop.” Yelena calls out and Kate turns around and steps into the entryway to see Yelena sitting up on the couch. She has the blankets tangled around her waist, one of her bare legs sticking out and her blonde hair a wild mess atop her head (but it somehow still looks cute).

She’s so…pretty. Kate can't help but think she’s noticing it even more now than before.

She’s always wanted things she couldn't have…

“Morning!” She beams, because that’s easier. “How’d the couch treat you?”

Yelena takes a breath and pushes the blanket off the rest of the way and stands up. When her legs are suddenly fully on display, and her tanktop rides up a little to show off even more skin, Kate takes three very long steps towards the kitchen. “It was very comfortable. I can only assume you paid a lot of money for this as well?”

Kate laughs, “well you know, it’s gotta go somewhere.” Kate fires up her coffee pot and dares to look back, just in time to see Yelena’s butt slip into her pants. “Coffee?” She asks, but already knows the answer.

“No thank you, I have to get to the tower. Bob heard I went missing last night and was worried so…”

Kate can only hum, focusing on the task of making coffee. Which isn’t hard to do at all but she takes her sweet time doing it anyway. “Right, sure that makes sense.”

She’s putting the little cup into the thing, waiting for it to do…whatever it is it does to give her some coffee and trying very hard to stop her foot from tapping so hard against the floor.

“Kate?” She jumps because Yelena is right behind her.

“Hey!” She turns and nearly falls over, then laughs at herself because holy shit she’s a mess. “Hi, what’s up?”

Yelena looks at her for a moment, those beautiful green eyes staring at her, almost staring through her, then Yelena tilts her head a bit. “You were up and about all night, are you…sure you are okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah for sure! I just don’t sleep much, I’m sorry if it kept you up.”

Yelena shakes her head, “it didn’t - but is it like this every night?”

Kate shrugs, wilting a little under the softness of Yelena’s voice. It’s too much like how she talked to Bob and she doesn’t like it. Or maybe she does and somehow that feels worse. “It’s fine, Yelena,” she puts on her very best performance, because she is fine when it comes to that. “I’ve never been much of a sleeper, even when I was little. I get a few hours every night but really I just…don’t need as much.”

Her coffee maker starts pouring and Kate turns to make sure her old Avengers mug is ready (though the logo makes her feel weirdly immature this morning).

When she sees the coffee filling up properly, she looks back and finds Yelena still watching her. “Are you sure you don’t want any?”

“No, I really should go, but just…” Yelena frowns, looking a bit uncomfortable, which is not an expression she sees on Yelena before. From her pinched face to her awkward body language. “Do not work yourself too hard, Kate Bishop.”

Kate laughs, “no chance of that,” she says. “You’re the one expected to protect the country now.”

Yelena nods and finally, thankfully, takes a step back. “Thank you for letting me stay, and for…listening,” Yelena has her hands behind her back, her voice soft and careful - Kate isn’t sure why she’s surprised, but she’s enamored with how kind Yelena is.

“You’re welcome,” she says, feeling a little more like herself. Yelena is her friend, and Kate really wants that. She was just caught off guard is all, but she’ll be fine. She always is. “And you have my number now so if you need anything feel free to ask.”

“I will,” she says and then moves to the doorway to grab her shoes and put them on. Kate watches, taking her black coffee and pouring in a touch of cream and probably too much sugar. “You can do the same, okay?” Kate’s eyes flicker up to see Yelena standing in the open door, red button down back on and hair pulled back into that cute little ponytail again. “If you need something, I am here.”

Something about the way she says it. The sincerity in her voice and the warmth in her eyes makes something in Kate’s chest crack open. She realizes with some sense of terror that she doesn’t want Yelena to leave. “Okay,” she says and hopes it sounds convincing enough. “Have a good day, Yelena.”

The smile she gets back is soft, and in some way it feels like it breaks down the last remaining barrier Kate was pathetically holding up. “You too, Kate Bishop.”

When the door closes behind her and Yelena is fully gone, Kate sets her coffee cup down and leans forward to brace herself on the counter. A devastating realization sets up camp in her brain that she just knows isn’t going anywhere.

She has a very real crush on Yelena Belova. Who probably has something going on with a guy named Bob she rescued from a literal nightmare shadow.

Fuck…

Chapter Text

All things considered, Kate’s doing alright. At least, that’s what she’s told herself all morning as pretty much everything that could go wrong, has. The uber she ordered got stuck in traffic, as did the next three she tried to call. So she had to walk to the office in the rain.

She spent the better part of her morning (having tragically woken up at three) working on designs for a potential mask. The run-in with the boys at Dave’s/Doug’s/Danny’s (she can't remember) apartment with his friends made it pretty clear that if she wants to keep, you know, existing as a normal person in some capacity that she might need to work on a secret identity kind of thing.

But as good as she is at designing costumes, the actual mask designing thing was apparently not her forte. So it’s a work in progress and for now she’s decided to stick with a pretty generic balaclava (at least it’s purple) that kind of makes her look like a very colorful bank robber.

If she’s being honest, the mask and the secret identity and everything relating to her last few hookups are mostly just about her trying to sort out her social life. Which is funny to say because she barely has one at this point. The person she’s spent the most time with recently is literally an Avenger that Kate’s developed a pretty big crush on.

Which is dumb because Yelena’s certainly not looking at her the same way and that’s fine, but she has also maybe decided she’s ready for something a little more serious than a one night stand. Or at least a few one night stands where the person she’s with isn’t looking at her like they’re trying to pick her out of a lineup.

Not that she can think about that now, because she’s heading to work for a meeting and to drop off some documents she went over last night about some of the new contracts. After finding out that the company basically used her name to throw the Avengers a party and didn’t tell her, Kate decided to take up more of a frontline approach to running Bishop Security. Which is more work, and more dealing with stuffy old suits, but if it has her family’s name on it then Kate is going to do her best to keep it out of the mud.

By the time she makes it to the building, her umbrella is soaked and she can't get the stupid thing to close right so she just bends it as best she can and then sticks it in the first trashcan she finds. She offers her usual pleasantries to the girls at the front desk and this time decides to just ignore Dee entirely as she makes her way upstairs.

The meeting itself is what it is, boring, slow and filled with a lot of long winded men trying to explain why their idea is better than everyone else’s. Kate can't imagine how anything gets done in this company without someone taking charge, because all the board seems to do is talk over one another and complain about everyone else.

When it’s finally Kate’s turn to talk, she goes over everything she spent the last few days reading up on. It’s a personal delight to see the way all these crusty old men bristle and pout when they realize that she not only knows what she’s talking about, but that her ideas are better than theirs.

Not that any of them would admit it, and they go out of their way to ask her questions they think she won’t know the answer to or compare her to her father every chance they get.

It’s annoying, but by the end of it Kate uses the weight behind her CEO title to put her own plans in motion and only adopts three of their ideas - none of which belong to the biggest turd in the room.

Benedict McDaniels is a snake. That’s how her mom used to always describe him but she would always follow that up with ‘but he’s good at what he does’ and maybe he is, but all Kate’s ever known him as is a bully. She’d have fired him ages ago if it weren’t for his connections. He pulls more contracts, knows how to work with the city to get their jobs done easier and more efficiently - he is, unfortunately, good at he does.

He’s just a huge fucking creep. “Katherine,” he says as he steps into her office after the meeting, with his overly greasy salt and pepper hair and what he probably thinks is the most charming smile. “You were on fire in that meeting today,” he closes the door behind him, not bothering to ask if Kate’s busy. “Reminds me of your dad.”

Kate hums, still digging through the contents of an old box of paperwork - she’s trying to find out if the company worked for a shady old business that has been linked to one of her newest cases (there are more benefits to keeping her role as CEO than the money). “I’m sure he didn’t have to spend an hour beforehand having to prove why he deserved to be in the meeting at all, but sure.” Kate’s not really in the mood for him today - for any of this.

Not that Benedict cares what she wants. “You’ll have to forgive our colleagues, they’re used to a certain…order in their line of work.”

“They worked for my mother for years.” Kate says, pulling out a few potential documents that might help.

“Yes well, your mother was well suited at playing her own role, you know? She knew what her strengths were and wasn't as…outspoken as you are.” Kate’s eyes flicker up to him and they must show what she’s feeling because he laughs and puts his hands up in fake surrender. “Easy, I’m just saying you’re more assertive than she was, and that’s a good thing! You play the part well, with your clothes and everything.”

There it is.

“My clothes?” She asks, deciding her search can wait, she wants to hear this. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Benedict sits down across from her, again without asking and again like this is his office. She knows he wishes it was. “Nothing bad, I assure you! You have impeccable taste in suits - but some of the members of the board are traditional, they are used to women dressing more…conventionally. Your mother, for instance, could fill out a dress wonderfully.”

Oh right, that’s the other thing - Benedict has a really gross thing about her mom. “That’s…a wild thing to say to her daughter, Benny.”

It’s subtle, but she sees the way his eye twitches every time she calls him that. “Yes well, I still think complimenting a woman on her appearance is important - I know the effort you ladies put into it.”

“What do you want?” She asks, her tone clipped. “I’ve got a lot of work to do,” she gestures to all the files around her. So what if he has no idea why she has them out - it looks super busy.

Still, Benedict doesn't seem to care. “Very well, the board thinks it would be a great idea if you gave a speech and donated some money to the cause of the New Avengers at the ball next week. As you’ve not only stepped more into your mother’s role, your initiative in the new contract for The Watchtower makes you a prime candidate to talk about safety and how we here at Bishop Security, along with the New Avengers, are going to be valuable assets to keeping this city safe.”

“You want me to give a speech?”

“You’re the face of the company now, Katherine and not just when it’s convenient for you.”

Ah, so he’s taking the gloves off it seems. “I think I’m doing a pretty good job.”

“Really?” He asks, as if he doesn’t already know how he’s going to respond to whatever she says. So Kate says nothing and just waits. He pulls something out of his blazer and lays it down on the desk. It’s not even a newspaper, just some local gossip magazine.

Though the headline is pretty clear.

BISHOP OWNS THE NIGHT - AFTER PUTTING HER OWN MOTHER BEHIND BARS, KATE BISHOP SPENDS HER NIGHTS IN BARS DOING EVERYTHING (AND EVERYONE) BUT HER JOB

Now, this dirt sheet is about as classless as there is in the city. They’ve been sued, like, fifty times by various celebrities and politicians. So Kate’s not overly surprised to see a headline like this.

The headline isn’t the problem, it’s the attached photo. One of her and that girl Meghan from the club a few nights back. Photos Kate leading her outside, helping her into the car. Her hands maybe…potentially…in a few compromising spots.

It surprises Kate more than it upsets her, because honestly she thought he’d be coming after her about Hawkeye stuff. Instead he’s just a boring ass homophobe. “So what? The board is upset that I’m bisexual?”

Benedict laughs, but it’s way too loud and obnoxious to be real as he shakes his head quickly. “No, don’t be ridiculous. The board would never take such a stance like that.”

“Uh huh.”

“It’s not about who you are with, Katherine. It’s about how you are doing it, so publicly - when you know it’s a bad look that plays on every stereotype people would expect from someone like you?”

Kate can't help but wonder how her mother put up with these people for so long. “Someone like me?”

“Rich, beautiful, but seemingly detached from the business side of the job that puts you in such positions to go out to expensive clubs and bring young women back to your high rise apartment in the middle of the city. It gives a certain...unsettling feeling to the more senior members of the board.”

It takes every bit of willpower Kate has not to roll her eyes, but she manages. Instead, she just levels him with a smile. “Is one of those members that are unsettled by it in this room right now?”

“Of course not,” he waves her off as if it’s so obvious. Even though Kate knows he’s the one who suggested bringing this to her. “If I was wealthy in my youth I would have been doing the same thing.”

“Oh I’m sure, Benny.” His stupid little eyebrow twitches again.

“The problem, Ms. Bishop, is that it brings unsavory questions and with the rising influence of the New Avengers, coupled with our connections to them. There are genuine reasons for concern. We should be more…what is the word-”

“Celebate?” Kate offers with a smirk that he does not return in kind.

“Restrained,” he counters, and she can tell that she’s digging through his good guy facade with each little jab she hits. “With all due respect to the board - my personal life isn’t affecting business and it isn’t any of their business.”

“You are the face of this company.” He’s getting angrier, Kate is surprised at how much it doesn’t bother her. “We’re already dealing with the shame your mother brought upon all of us and now you are flaunting your money and your…choices for everyone to see. It is unacceptable.”

Kate lets him talk, lets him rant and rave and watches as his leathery little face turns red. It’s funny, she has the immediate thought of just firing him. It’s clear that he didn’t intend to freak out like this but now that he’s done it, he’s fully committed.

Yet, as he stands up and stares down at her, no doubt convinced he’s humbled her - Kate realizes that she needs to do something about this beyond Benedict McDaniels.

She will, in due time, but for now she’ll play the game. “Okay,” she says in her most timid voice. Which is really fucking hard to pull off and she thinks maybe she could have been an actress if she wanted. “You’re right, I’ve been lashing out and being reckless - I’m just trying to find my place in the world after everything that happened, but I know that I can't keep putting the company at risk so…I’ll do better.”

His expression shifts from the angry glare he had on to a look of clear surprise. He blinks a few times, his mouth hanging open as he takes it in. “You…that’s…really?”

Kate smiles, “yes. I think I just needed someone to tell it to me straight.”

“Oh…well of course,” his chest puffs out and he adjusts the ruffles in his blazer. “I’m sorry I had to raise my voice, but it was necessary.”

“It was, and I appreciate it. I’ll prepare a speech for the party, mapping out the future of Bishop Security and prove to the board and the public that I’m ready to step into this role as CEO.” Kate impresses even herself at how legit that all sounded.

“That’s excellent, and please do remember who was there for you as you sorted through all of this.” He winks at her, it’s gross. “You know, for when you’re handing out bonuses or…who you might wish to share a dance with.”

Oh right, he’s still a creep. “Of course,” Kate gives him a nod, still keeping herself restrained as he thanks her again for listening before leaving.

As soon as the door closes behind him, Kate exhales and shakes off the gross feeling of just being around him before gathering up the files she’d found for a few of her cases and stuffing them into her bag.

Apparently she has a speech to write, but more importantly, she’s got a whole fucking company to turn upside down.

-----------------------------------

Sliding on one knee, Kate pulls the string of her bow back and fires a shot through the broken window of the building - watching as her spotlight arrow fills the darkened room with light before she springs to her feet. She dives in through the same window, where she saw not one, but four of those weird fucking robot things attacking Yelena.

It all happened so fast, one minute Kate was leaving the office, and the next there was gunfire and chaos and literal robots started flying into the streets attacking people.

So Kate slipped into the tiny secret stash, grabbed her suit out of her backpack and found one of her spare bows and quiver she stashed away in the office and sprinted towards it.

Of course, this was also the first time she was going into a fight covering her face. It is…a temporary solution, until she finds something much cooler, but at least it will keep her face hidden.

Even if the eye holes kind of suck ass.

Still, once she’s in the building, Kate is immediately attacked by two of the bots. One of them swings at her, but she ducks it, using her bow to tangle its legs and topple it to the ground. It lets out a weird squelch of noises. “Sorry! I don’t speak beep boop!”

“Kate Bishop,” At the sound of her voice, Kate glances over at Yelena to make sure she’s okay and sees her trying to get up, a not so small amount of blood trickling down the side of her head.

“Thought you could use some help.”

Yelena looks at her, and her brows knit so tightly in confusion before they go wide. “Watch-”

Kate feels something solid and metal slam into her back and groans as she hits the ground. But she manages to move out of the way just in time before a foot meant to crush her skull can do the job.

The bot seems intent on attacking her again, but before it can Yelena is there, jumping onto its back and shooting her badass wrist zappers into its neck and making it glitch and shake before it topples.

When Kate makes it to her feet, she’s up just in time to watch Yelena lose her footing and start to fall over. Kate catches her before she actually leaves her feet, but then a metallic hand is grabbing her hair and tugging at it. “Hey, what the fuck?!” Kate throws an elbow, which is stupid because the thing is literally made of metal and of course, it fucking hurts her more than it. Still, it gives her an inch of separation and Kate manages to pull Yelena in close to her body to keep her up but free her hand to grab one of her arrows - fingers tracing the braille to find the one she wants.

Her bow won’t work, so she triggers it in her hand and throws it up as hard as she can to stick it into the ceiling before wrapping Yelena up in her arms and pulling them both to the ground.

The EMP goes off in a bright flash of light, with a flashbang quality that makes her ears ring violently.

She doesn’t hear so much as she feels the thumps as the last remaining robots hit the ground - their bodies dropping in heaps like anvils. As the world starts to recenter and her hearing comes back, Kate leans back and finds green eyes staring up at her. “Hi,” Kate says and Yelena looks at her for a long moment before…

She starts laughing, “what in the hell are you wearing?” She covers her mouth, she's laughing so hard, totally ignoring the fact that she almost passed out and Kate totally burst in here like a badass to save her.

“It’s a mask!” She says, pushing up on her elbow as Yelena sits up and touches the cut on her head. She hisses at the contact, but then when she looks at Kate again, she starts laughing again. “Hey!” Kate shoves her shoulder.

“You look so silly, oh my god, I need to take a photo.” Yelena literally digs her phone out of one of the many pockets on her vest.

Kate waves her off and gets up, “will you stop! I’m workingshopping a real mask, this is just temporary!”

“Clearly,” Yelena snaps like five photos of her, the last one has Kate flipping her off. “It is a ski mask you’ve cut extra holes into, Kate Bishop.”

“I know, but it is custom made with reinforced material and-”

“Purple,” Yelena giggles, taking Kate’s offered help to get up even as she’s making fun of her. “Очаровательная, красивая девушка.” Yelena reaches out and touches the mask at Kate’s cheek, somehow making her face even warmer. “What are you doing here?”

“I was leaving the office when I heard the gunfire - what is this?”

Yelena sighs and looks out towards the street, “not sure, the others are also fighting out there. The bots flew in from the north and we picked it up on our monitors but I have no clue where they came from.”

“So there are more?”

“Yes, I’d imagine - I came in here to help some civilians and then was cornered.”

Kate puffs her chest out, “before I saved the day!”

“And looked like the newest member of the Tracksuit Mafia while doing it.”

“Hey! That’s a cheap shot.”

“It’s a cheap mask, солнечный свет.”

With a huff, Kate decides to just let it slide, she knows she looks silly. Instead, she steps forward and reaches out with careful fingers to touch near Yelena’s deepest cut. “You might have a concussion.”

Yelena swallows thickly and nods, “I know, but we need to check on the others. The fight is not over.”

“We?”

“Do not let it go to your head,” Yelena picks up her batons off the ground and then hands Kate her bow. “Come on.”

Of course, Kate follows her.

-----------------------------------

The fight drags on for a long time, long enough that Kate runs out of arrows and has to resort to using a makeshift sword she literally tore off of one of the robots as they fight their way through the subway station (a brilliant idea from one of Yelena’s teammates, Ghost), to keep the robots out of the sky and grounded.

Of course, they do a shitload of property damage and when the last robot falls it gurgles out some kind of weird binary code that pretty much unsettles everyone - but in the end the threat is gone.

Which is how Kate finds herself stepping through the back door of the Watchtower. She’s mostly fine save for reopening the cut on her shoulder and she’s pretty sure she broke a few fingers trying to punch one of the robots in the face.

That’s not her concern though, her concern is Yelena who Kate wanted to stay with but was instead ushered away by that jackass John Walker who basically told her she wasn't a part of this and literally shoved her out of the way before Yelena’s dad took her into the ambulance.

Kate followed it as best she could, but they didn’t take her to a hospital and instead brought her here. With everything happening and so much media crowding the entryway, it’s easy to slip into the tower and make her way to the stairs.

She’s exhausted of course, so taking the stairs sucks balls, but it beats having to deal with any questions or attention the CEO of Bishop Security might get.

At least her mask stayed on through the fight and even some of the New Avengers who saw her didn’t know who she was.

The medical wing of the tower is surprisingly quiet given the chaos that was everything that happened today - though Kate understands that the only patients they have here are Avengers and it’s not really meant for the public, she expected more frenzy.

She can hear people working though, hustle and movement, machines working and the first thing she spots is Bucky Barnes on an exam table with a doctor checking out his back - deep purple bruising covers it. His arm is also off, sitting at his side.

Kate clamps down the fangirl desperately trying to get out at the sight of him, they’re basically colleagues now so she can't be a huge nerd about it - which is why she detours through the open space to avoid making eye contact with him.

Instead, she focuses on why she’s really here and slips through various tarps and dividers until she hears a clipped Russian accent grumbling what Kate can only assume are curse words.

When she peeks around the corner of one divider, she sees Yelena sitting up on one of the exam tables. There are two doctors around her - one seems to be stitching up a wound on the back of her head and the other has her wrist on a stand being held up as they wrap a thick bandage around it.

Kate feels a strange sense of anger bubble up in her. Yelena’s supposed to be unbreakable. She’s supposed to be able to handle anything - that’s how she felt any time Kate had interacted with her before. When they were dealing with everything three years ago, she never even considered Yelena getting hurt.

Now, seeing her with cuts and scrapes and a hurt wrist, probably a concussion, she feels a strong urge to take her somewhere safe and not let her go.

Chill the hell out, Bishop

Taking a few breaths, Kate steps through the curtain fully and gets both the doctor stitching Yelena’s head and Yelena herself to look at her. “Kate,” Yelena says and then winces when the doctor at her wrist does something and Kate remembers she’s mad (even if she doesn’t know why).

“Are you okay?” She asks, her voice louder than she means.

Yelena just looks at her, nodding slowly. “Yes,” she says. “Are you?”

Kate scoffs, “me? You’re the one with a head injury, and what happened to your wrist?”

“It’s-”

“Just a sprain,” the doctor says. “Nothing serious, and the head wound will need a few days rest, but should be fine.”

“A minor concussion,” the other doctor says and then steps away and starts taking her gloves off. “All good, Ms. Belova. If you feel any nausea or dizziness let someone know. I’m making you stay here tonight for observation.”

Yelena pouts, actually pouts and Kate sees her preparing to argue. “No, Yelena,” Kate cuts in before she can even say no. “Bed rest, you heard the doctor.”

The look she gets, with Yelena’s top lip sticking out and her eyes narrowed to tiny slits, would be the cutest thing ever if Kate wasn't dealing with so many random emotions right now. “Такой глупый, со мной все нормально.”

“Yeah yeah,” Kate doesn’t need to know what she said to know what she’s saying. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Kate slips in where the doctor who’d been patching up her head was. There’s a bandage around Yelena’s head, probably more dramatic looking than it is, but still, Kate hates it. “Here,” she says and then digs through her coat to give Yelena the candy bars she got out of the vending machine in the lobby. “I wasn't sure what your favorite would be so I just got like…one of each.” She dumps seven different candy bars on the bed and Yelena stares at them and then back up at her.

“You…bought me candy bars?”

Kate shrugs and pulls a stool over to sit down. “Us really,” Kate snatches the Twix bar and tears it open. “You cook for me, I do this for you.”

As the second doctor finishes up on Yelena’s wrist and makes his exit, Kate takes a bite of her Twix and watches Yelena grab a Three Musketeers bar and hold it. “These ones I like,” she says. “They’re very soft and melt in your mouth.”

“Mmhmm,” Kate nods and then takes another bite.

“You’re mad at me.”

Their eyes meet again as Kate swallows her bite and shakes her head. “I’m not mad at you. I’m just…mad.”

“At what?”

Kate licks her top teeth and shrugs, “you, I guess.”

“That’s what I said!”

“No it’s not that,” Kate has to stop herself, she’s yelling and that won’t help anything. “Look, I’m not mad at you, I’m just…” she sighs, “you’re not supposed to get hurt.”

The response she gets immediately is a few rapid blinks as Yelena’s mouth falls open. “I - I’m not invincible, Kate.”

“You sure seem like it sometimes.”

“Well, I’m not, and I wasn't today. I was not prepared for so many to follow me into that building and when the power went out I was swinging at darkness and losing terribly.” Yelena slowly twirls the candy bar between her fingers. “I owe you.”

The tension in Kate’s body starts to evaporate, being mad won’t fix anything. “No you don’t, I’m glad I found you.”

“Were you…looking for me?”

Kate shrugs, “I guess. I knew you guys were there cause your dad is really loud on the battlefield.”

Yelena nods, but there’s a tiny smile threatening the corners of her mouth. “Everything is a big action scene in a movie to him.”

“I mean…I get it, when I slid into the room and shot that spotlight arrow, it would have looked badass with some cool music in the background or something.”

“Mmm I don’t know,” Yelena says, and the tone tells Kate a tease is coming - she’s pretty sure she knows what about. “With that mask-”

“Alright,” Kate can't help but laugh too, she knows it looks ridiculous. “It’s temporary, okay! I’m going to make something way cooler.”

“Kate Bishop, you looked like a purple raccoon with your big blue eyes coming out of those holes! And you had to cut the nose hole part out yourself?”

“Well I have to breathe!” She says, laughing nonetheless. “What’d you think of the suit though? Minus the mask obviously, it’s not the final design, but I found someone in the city who has this material that’s super resistant to blades and even low caliber bullets. It’s a little stiffer to move in, but I took those robot punches well.”

“It was good, what I can remember - not as much purple as I’d expect from you.”

Kate frowns, “yeah,” she genuinely hates that part. The trim is purple, and once I settle on a real logo it’ll be purple too but for now I need it to be darker, different.”

“You are looking to be more discreet?”

“Mmhmm,” she sets the unfinished candybar on the table by the bed and leans forward. “I’m getting more involved at Bishop Security and it’s putting my name and my face into the public and I just…don’t want everyone knowing who I am, you know? I know some people do but it’s still only like 2% of the city. I’d like to keep it that way.” She sends a little grin Yelena’s way. “You’re the one getting a billboard.”

“Oh do not start,” Yelena groans and leans back against the pillow. “It’s so stupid, we had to pose for photos and everything and now they are talking about photoshoots and interviews. We were asked to do swimsuits, Kate Bishop. Can you imagine?”

She doesn’t think Yelena realizes how loaded that question is, because yes she absolutely can imagine. “Crazy,” is all she manages. Because if she says anything else it will probably be super embarrassing. “Are you going to do it?”

“The swimsuits? No. The rest of it? Probably, I want…it is what I wanted. Maybe not so much the attention but I want to be more forward facing and more…” she doesn’t finish the sentence, but Kate has a pretty good idea where it was going.

She wants to be more like Natasha.

“Well I’m-”

“Okay! Sorry that took so long!” Kate’s head snaps to the sound of a new voice in the room and sees Bob coming in with two big bags of what appears to be takeout. “I couldn't find the soup dumplings you wanted but Ava told me about this other place that has - oh.” He sees Kate and hesitates, but then his smile returns in full force. “Hey! Kate! It’s good to see you.”

Right, she hadn't really thought about Bob but considering how close he and Yelena are it shouldn't be surprising that he’s here, with takeout instead of candy bars. “Good to see you too, you weren’t involved in all this today, were you?”

“No,” both Bob and Yelena answer in very different tones (Bob like it’s a joke, Yelena like it’s terrifying). Bob laughs, “no I don’t fight. I just bring food after.” He holds up the bags again. “Do you want some? I got plenty.”

Kate watches Bob sit down on the edge of Yelena’s bed with the bags in between them. She watches him open the bag and hand Yelena a box of something and watches Yelena take it and thank him.

Then she stands up, “no thanks. I should really get going. I need to pick up Lucky from a friend - I just kind of ran out of the house with all the craziness and had someone get him from my place.” Reaching down, Kate starts to gather up the stupid candy bars.

“What are you doing?” Yelena asks with a frown as Kate is putting them in her pockets.

“I mean, you’ve got dumplings, I don’t think you’d want these.”

“I do,” she says. “You got them for me.”

Kate’s heart squeezes in her chest as she puts the candy bars back, “okay.”

“Oh I love these,” Bob grabs the cookies & cream bar. “Do you want an eggroll or something for the road?”

“I’m good, you guys enjoy,” Kate is ready to leave, she doesn’t want to be here for…whatever this is between them. But she can't just go, her legs won’t let her. So instead she turns back to Yelena and smiles at her. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Yelena smiles back and Kate knows she’s in so much trouble. “I am glad you made sure I was.”

Kate leaves quickly after that, the sound of Bob laughing at something Yelena says fills her ears as she steps into the stairwell.

-------------------------------------

Sat at her desk, glasses on and one single light on her desk showing the paperwork Kate has laid out, she refuses to look at the clock. It’s late, she knows it’s late because even the traffic outside her window has slowed a bit.

Still, her mind won’t shut off and distracting herself with work is the only way she’s going to stop herself from binge eating ice cream or taking her bow out on another pointless patrol.

It’s probably not the healthiest thing in the world that she can go from fighting literal robots and not bat an eye, but one interaction with the girl she has a crush on and the strange boy that’s always around her for Kate to spiral a little.

She’s pretty sure her crush is entirely physical - because why wouldn't it be. Yelena is gorgeous and incredible. She’s so strong and poised - she’s a powerhouse and Kate wants to know what Yelena looks and feels like as she falls apart.

As she picks Kate apart.

But these feelings make Kate feel rotten, because Yelena is clearly looking for a friend and Kate desperately wants to be that for her. So feeling like she does, fighting the urges to check her out every time they see each other or touch her at any chance she gets, make Kate feel like shit.

She had a boyfriend once back in college accuse her of being “emotionally distant” and Kate really had a hard time wrapping her head around it. She always felt too emotional, too connected and too ready to jump into anything and everything.

It bothered her for weeks, even after she stopped seeing him, to the point that when she finally took it to her mom for advice.

“You can be that way, yeah. But only with boys.”

“What?”

“It’s not bad, you just have a tendency to try harder with girls. You like opening doors for them and buying their meals. You like showing them off and taking them out. It feels like every time you get even remotely serious with a girl, you think it’ll be forever. With any of the boys you bring around it’s never like that. They almost seem…dispoable.”

So Kate can't help but think that maybe her mom was right, maybe her old boyfriends were right, and maybe this thing with Yelena is just her wanting to be…that person with her.

Which is the true point of it all, really. It’s all about her. Because Yelena Belova is unlike anyone Kate has ever met before. She’s so complex and untapped - there’s so much about her Kate doesn’t know, but at the same time it feels like she’s known her forever.

She can't pinpoint what it is, but she just wants more. That’s been her thought about Yelena ever since the day she met her, she just wanted to know more. Kate has always been a curious person, too stubborn to let anything go, so meeting someone like that, with so many layers tucked away under that beautiful face - it’s driven Kate mad wanting to know everything.

She’d hoped (stupidly) that maybe getting to know her better would make the feeling go away, but over the last few weeks it’s done the opposite (obviously). The more she’s learned, the more she’s craved and Kate has never been good at holding down her indulgences.

The logical thing to do would be to just tell Yelena she’s into her. Even if the thought of being rejected by this particular person scares the shit out of her, it wouldn't be the first time and Kate could handle it. The problem is Yelena wants a friend, she asked for it and Kate won’t be selfish with that.

She just needs to stay busy, stay distracted and eventually this will go away - it has to right?

That’s when her phone buzzes, after she’s read the same line of the contract in front of her five times without comprehending a single world. Kate doesn’t even need to look to know who it is. Because it’s this late and the universe loves to fuck with her, there’s only one person it could be.

Because there’s only one person Kate knows as specifically weird as she is.

YELENA: thank you for the candy bars

Her heart does that stupid flippy thing again as she reads the message a few times.

KATE: i never would have guessed three musketeers as your favorite

She forgets her work, settling back in her chair and twisting the lamp so it isn’t shining on her, watching the little bubbles on the screen bounce.

YELENA: i am not sure if it is, it is just the only one i had eaten before

This makes her smile, though she has no idea why. She wonders what Yelena might be up to right now. Still in that bed in the medical ward. Is Bob still there with her?

Stop

Did he pull up a cot to sleep next to her?

Kate…

Or is he curled up beside her?

Fucking stop

Thankfully, another message comes through to save her.

YELENA: Natasha said they were her favorite so she always had them. The little ones. I ate my first one on a helicopter to save my father from a Russian prison

Kate laughs into the emptiness of her apartment, trying to compartmentalize the visual of Black Widow handing her little sister a tiny candy bar as they fly a helicopter over a prison.

Again, there’s just so much about Yelena to uncover.

KATE: really? nothing before that?

As soon as she sends it, she regrets it, because she remembers that Yelena’s childhood was spent under mind control (Clint told her a little, she also read a few files about it when they were released to the public). So of course Yelena probably didn't have time to indulge in candy and sweets.

When the next text comes, Kate expects to be corrected or even scolded - instead she just gets more to wonder about.

YELENA: i was too interest in cookies when i was little, there were these ones called magic middles that i would eat an entire bag of and get in trouble, they were so good

Kate, again too curious for her own good, immediately looks these up on her phone to see if she can get Yelena a box only to find out that they were discontinued forever ago and that they peaked in the late 80s.

KATE: these?

She sends an attached photo as well

YELENA: YES!

YELENA: they were amazing! i was so sad when i looked for them and found out they no longer existed

Sometimes Kate forgets that she has no idea how old Yelena actually is - but if she was eating these regularly, then she had to have been alive in the early 90s at least.

It’s strange in how much it doesn’t bother her, that Yelena might be that much older - even though she was blipped (Clint told her). It might explain why she felt so out of her depth the first time they met. Though the playing field feels significantly more level now.

KATE: i’ll pull some strings, see if i can find some for you

Kate grins at herself, moving to the couch and settling in next to Lucky who is fast asleep and only grumbles a little when she rustles him.

YELENA: it is about time you use your money for a truly good cause

She laughs again, suddenly very aware of how empty and quiet her apartment is. How much she wishes Yelena was here having this conversation with her.

YELENA: truly though, i am glad you were there today

YELENA: you are getting better and better as hawkeye, kate bishop

Hearing this from someone like Yelena makes Kate’s head spin. She’s had Clint himself tell her as much, but something about Yelena’s stamp of approval means…everything.

KATE: high praise from the leader of the new avengers

YELENA: eye roll emoji

YELENA: why did it not work?

This time, Kate’s laugh startles Lucky out of his sleep and he gets off the couch entirely. “Sorry bud.”

KATE: come on grandma, you have to open the emojis tab 🙄😉

She sends it with a giggle, feeling like a teenager again. When the response comes quickly, she thinks about kicking her feet.

YELENA: grandma??? kate bishop you are treading on very thin ice 👿

YELENA: why does she have horns ☹️

That’s all it takes, Kate settles back on the couch, kicking her feet up and spending the next hour teaching Yelena all about emojis.

Ignoring that voice in the back of her head trying to tell her she’s only going to make all of this hurt even more when it blows up in her face.

Chapter Text

The next time Kate sees Yelena, it’s in print. She’s standing at a walk-up window waiting for the pizza she ordered when she sees Yelena’s face at a newsstand. She grabs the magazine, just a silly gossip thing, but the image of Yelena strikes her.

She’s just walking along the street, probably very aware that someone was hiding out taking a photo of her, but the headline is what gets Kate’s attention.

YELENA BELOVA, FROM STEALING SECRETS TO STEALING HEARTS

Why the world is falling in love with it’s newest Avenger

It’s funny to think that the world is, in fact, falling in love with Yelena. Kate’s seen it, she’s heard it on the radio and on television. She catches people talking and sees the way people have responded to Yelena online.

She’s becoming a pretty big deal, as she should, but Kate can't help but think that Yelena probably doesn’t like all the attention. She thinks Yelena wants some recognition, or at least some way to maybe inspire people to keep trying even if the world is unkind to them, but the biggest thing Kate’s noticed in all she’s heard about Yelena is how little any of them actually know her.

“Twenty-seven!” A voice calls out and Kate takes one last look at the photo of Yelena before putting the magazine back on the stand and getting her dinner. “Put a little extra vodka sauce on there for you, kid.” Tony from behind the counter says. He’s known Kate since she was little, her dad used to bring her here all the time.

“One of these days, you’ll stop calling me ‘kid’.” Kate sends back, putting the bills down on the counter. Tony doesn't even work the window like this, but he saw her out here and made it his priority to make her pizza personally.

“Not today, how’s the life of a big fancy CEO treating you?”

Kate sighs, putting on her show. "Exhausting.” She says with a laugh. “It’s a lot of work, and we’re in the process of making some pretty big changes, so…a good pie is well earned tonight.”

“Good, eat up and don’t be such a stranger, huh? We make pasta and chicken flats now so you can get more than a trio.”

“I can vouch for the flats,” a new voice grabs Kate’s attention and she turns to find herself face to face with…well…a very handsome man who is kind of shaped like a corn chip (in the best way). Her eyes track up and see a warm smile looking down at her.

It’s a guy, maybe six-foot-two and putting his t-shirt to the test with the roundness of his shoulders. He has his hair in perfectly twisted braids and a pair of fashionable glasses on - with a backpack over one shoulder. “Big fan huh?” Kate asks, finding herself…intrigued.

When she responds, his smile grows and Kate’s wishing she’d gotten a large pizza. “I get them after my workouts, which…totally sounds like a line, but I promise it’s just true. Vinny! You can vouch for me, right?”

Vinny behind the counter is taking another order, but he looks at the boy and nods, “he’s here three times a week, always asks for double protein!”

“See?” He seems a bit proud of himself, but Kate finds herself laughing.

“Fair enough, I guess I’ll give it a shot sometime. You know, after my next workout.”

His laugh is loud, vibrant might be a better word - Kate finds she likes it. “You do give off gym rat vibes.”

“Oh? What gives it away? The leather jacket or the sneakers?”

“Nah, you’re just holding that pie like it’s nothing, and I know Vinny - he stuffs them.”

Now it’s Kate’s turn to laugh, “well you caught me. This is a reward for surviving my squats.”

“So I guess that’d be a no on sharing then, huh?” He says it carefully, but very clearly seeing if there’s an opening.

Kate strangely finds herself thinking about Yelena in the moment. Because she thinks about her quite a bit in her free time but now she comes up anytime something like this happens.

Because Kate has a crush on Yelena, and she’s had crushes before but this one feels…different. She can't really explain it, maybe because their relationship now feels so unique compared to any other person she knows, but at the end of the day, they’re not anything like that to each other.

If anything, Yelena might already have someone else like that and Kate’s not about to let a good night go to waste because she’s into someone who is obviously not into her.

So as he opens the door for her, Kate decides to step in. “Vinny?” She calls back over her shoulder, seeing the old store owner already giving her a smirk, “can we get a couple of those chicken flats?”

“You got it, kid.”

She laughs and moves towards one of the tables set up on the street near the shop to eat, setting the pie down and taking a seat. “Names Jalen, by the way.” He says as he sits down across from her, setting his bag at his side as Kate cracks the pizza box open.

“Kate,” she returns, pulling out a slice before twisting the box in his direction. “Are you good with the trio?”

“Oh fuck yes, Vin’s pesto and vodka sauce combo is incredible.”

Kate hums in agreement, already taking a massive first bite.

By the time they’re a slice in, Kate’s learned that his name is Jalen, that he’s a full time elementary school teacher and a part time rock climbing instructor. “I also coach the little league team.” He says when he comes back with their chicken wraps - setting one in front of Kate as she moves the empty pizza box aside.

“Oh? Football or baseball?”

“Football, which honestly feels like baseball sometimes cause we will go like three quarters sometimes where absolutely nothing happens.”

Kate laughs, having already decided that she likes this guy enough to bring him home. He’s handsome and easy enough to talk to - a little too good perhaps to be true. Or at least to be with him longer than tonight. Because she’s pretty sure if he ever figured out who she really was he’d probably run for the hills.

So for now, Hawkeye stays hidden, but Kate Bishop is in full force. “Say the word and your team can be sponsored by Bishop Security.”

“You can just make that happen?”

“Of course! I’m the boss, and I’ve been looking for new ways to get our company name out there that don’t involve criminal activity.”

It’s easy enough to joke about it, especially with a stranger - but still she sees the way his features fall a little, that familiar pity on his face. “Right, I remembered seeing that in the news.”

“Yep,” Kate shrugs, “it’s okay - I mean it isn’t, but I’m handling it.” Not well, but she is handling it! “Now you’ve got a lot riding on these chicken flats. You’re really hyping them up, so like…if this isn’t good then you’re gonna owe me something.”

Jalen grins, tilting his head to the side. “And if you do like them? What are you gonna owe me?”

There it is, “I’m sure I can think of something.” Kate doesn’t break eye contact as she takes a bite.

------------------------------------

“Wow that was…” Kate lays flat on her stomach, hair a mess, sweat beading across her back but she feels…really good. “You must climb the hell out of those rocks.”

Jalen laughs, sitting on the edge of the bed as Kate watches with some sadness as he puts his shirt back on. “I do what I can, rocks don’t respond quite like you do though.”

“Those would be some super weird rocks though if they did,” she says before rolling onto her back as he stands up and starts to put his watch back on. “Sorry to make you bail so late.”

“Nah it’s cool, I get it - I think if I ever do marry someone we’re gonna have separate beds cause I need my space too.”

That’s the excuse Kate gave him, which felt as flimsy as his response to it - but she doesn’t want anyone to stick around past the sex part. It’s not what she’s looking for, though she can admit that he’s been the best hookup she’s had by a longshot. So much so that she’s thinking about doing something she hasn’t done in…forever. “We should do this again,” she says and watches as he looks back at her over his shoulder and raises his eyebrows.

“Yeah?”

Kate nods, lifting her arm out from under the blankets to grab her phone. She ignores the guilt of seeing Lucky on the screen, knowing he’s going to be mad at her again for making him stay downstairs all night - and flips over to her contacts.

She holds out her phone to him and he takes it. She watches as he taps in his number, then as he gives her the phone back he grabs her wrist and pulls her up to a seated position just enough to kiss her again.

Kate lets him, lets herself get a little lost in the feeling of something good. It is what it is, and Kate isn’t interested in anything more - but she hasn’t thought about her mom or Valentina or Yelena or anything for the last four hours.

More than that, she’s pretty sure she’s gonna sleep like a baby tonight.

When the kiss breaks, Kate settles back onto the bed and watches as Jalen puts his coat on before stopping at her bedroom door, “I’ll text you.” He says and Kate nods, rolling over to settle deeper into her pillows.

“Sounds good, get home safe.”

He gives her a small wave before leaving and Kate takes a deep breath, enjoying the way her body is humming.

As she lays there for a few minutes waiting for Lucky to come up and angrily snuggle her, Kate fights not to fall asleep. She’s just about to lose that fight when she suddenly hears something crash loudly downstairs.

She sits up in a flurry, instinct carrying her as she grabs a robe to haphazardly throw on and barely tie on before picking up her bow and knocking an arrow. Lucky’s barks carry on the entire time.

She races down the stairs, bow drawn to take on whatever the fuck that was when she sees the worst possible thing imaginable.

Yelena is here, standing in her kitchen (looking so good in a brown wool coat, hair slicked back and sleek blue eyeliner), with poor Jalen looking terrified as he’s pressed against the wall and a knife to his throat.

“Yelena!” Kate shouts, drawing both of their attention. “What are you doing here?”

Yelena’s eyes widen when she sees Kate, and they roam up and down her just a little - so much so that Kate lowers the bow and pulls her robe a little tighter. “He broke in! When I arrived he was rummaging through your kitchen!”

“I was looking for the protein bar you mentioned when we got here. Just something to eat on the road, I swear.” His hands are raised, and even though he’s about twice Yelena’s size, it’s pretty clear he learned really quickly just how scary she is.

Kate sighs and puts her bow on the counter, “it’s fine, Yelena. I knew he was here. He was just going home.”

Yelena looks at her for a long moment, too long and too intensely - Kate can see the whole of the situation click into place and hates how it makes her feel. “I see,” Yelena says and then turns back to Jalen, she holds steady for about five agonizing seconds before lowering her knife and taking a step back. “I apologize, I did not know you were…friends with Kate.”

The word sounds like it sticks in Yelena’s throat as much as it falls into the pit of Kate’s stomach like a boulder. “It’s all good,” he says and then laughs a bit awkwardly. “Nice to know you’ve got someone looking out for you,” Jalen adjusts his coat a little, taking what seems to be the first breath he’s had in a few minutes. “She’s scary as hell.”

“That she is,” Kate sighs and moves deeper into the kitchen. She opens the cabinet just above the sink and grabs one of her granola bars, tossing it towards Jalen. “Have a good night,” she says and he seems to thankfully get the hint.

“You too,” is all he says before grabbing his coat and leaving.

When the door shuts, it feels like the silence in the room becomes weighted, choking the air around them.

“Hey,” Kate says finally, when she can't take the quiet any longer.

Yelena looks at her as she puts the knife back in the holster under her jacket. “You should not let strangers wander freely around your home.”

Kate sighs, “he’s far from the first, Yelena. It’s not a big deal.” She sees Yelena take in the words, nodding to herself as she does. Kate can't help but wonder what Yelena thinks of her now, not that Kate would ever be ashamed of wanting and enjoying sex - but she does care about Yelena’s opinion even if she doesn’t really understand why. “What brings you here?”

“I don’t know,” she says and it sounds like she means it. “I could not sleep and I thought…I ended up here.” Yelena looks away from her, back towards the stairs Kate descended from. “I should have sent you a message I guess.”

“You barely even use the front door,” Kate tries a joke, trying anything to lighten the mood. “It’s fine, but just…trust that my place is safe. Nobody-”

“I have broken into your apartment multiple times, anyone with enough skill could do the same.” Yelena’s voice is a bit condescending, and Kate feels herself bristling.

“And yet you’re the only one who has,” she sends back. “Did you want to do something, we could watch some TV or something.”

“No,” Yelena shakes her head and takes a step towards the door, “you’re about to go to bed. I should not have assumed…” her sentence trails off and Kate can't help but notice the way Yelena is not looking at her. “Have a good night, Kate Bishop.”

“Yelena,” she has no idea what she’s going to say when she steps forward and grabs Yelena’s arm, stopping her from leaving. “I’m sorry about this, if I’d known you were stopping by I wouldn't have-”

“You should not put your life on hold for me, Kate Bishop.” Yelena shakes out of her grip and still won’t look at her.

“No, come on, don’t do that. You’re my friend and if I’d known you were coming of course I would have picked you.”

“I’m not sure you would have had as much fun with me,” Yelena says and then for good measure, taps a spot on her own neck. The same spot where Kate feels a slight itch from Jalen sucking a mark onto her skin.

She reaches up and covers it with a hand without thinking, her cheeks burning with heat as she does. “It’s nothing.”

“I know,” Yelena says back, finally looking at her and Kate kind of wishes she hadn't. Because she doesn’t look upset or sad or angry or anything, just…blank. “We are okay, Kate. I am sorry for assaulting your sexual partner and coming in uninvited.”

“You’re always invited.”

Yelena sighs and licks her lips, but still stays near the door, “sure. Fine, but I am going to leave anyway, okay?”

There’s no point in arguing, not now. It’s late and the air is too thick with discomfort. “Okay, yeah. Just uh…I’ll text you tomorrow and we’ll set up to do something. Is that…cool?”

Again, it takes Yelena a painfully long time to respond, “sure, that is cool.” She says and then opens the door to leave. Before she does, she stops and looks back at Kate, “goodnight.” She says and Kate’s heart feels like it’s trying to climb out of her throat.

“Night,” Kate gives her a smile and is relieved a bit when Yelena gives her one (albeit weak) back.

As Yelena leaves, Kate feels the air rush out of her and nearly slumps back into the wall as she replays the last five minutes over and over again in her head. Lucky comes up to her, rubbing his cold nose into her bare leg and she remembers just how naked she was for that entire exchange.

She moves to lock the door when she sees the plastic bag sitting on the ground. Yelena must have brought it with her.

Kate picks it up and opens it, her stomach coiling with rot when she does. Inside the bag are two boxes of macaroni and cheese, along with what looks to be a set of UNO cards.

Yelena had more than just a passing thought about coming over tonight. “Fuck,” Kate suddenly feels like shit as she locks the front door before gently puts the bag on the counter.

She spends a good five minutes just standing in her kitchen, mind racing over everything and frustrated with all of it. She knew going into it that a friendship with Yelena would be complicated - having a crush on her only makes it worse but it shouldn't be like this.

She feels guilty, and a little angry about feeling guilty because she didn’t do anything wrong. Yelena is the one with a standing obligation named Bob and all Kate is trying to do is work around that and keep Yelena in her life. So why does it feel like she fucked up so bad tonight?

The thought plagues her as she makes her way upstairs and climbs back into bed. The good night sleep she was so hopeful for seems miles away now.

-----------------------------------

Yelena doesn’t come over for the next week. They text a little, and she always responds, but it’s clear by the short responses that there’s a fracture in whatever the hell their friendship is.

So Kate doesn’t press, because Yelena feels like the kind of person you don’t want to push too hard - and she knows she’s going to see her tonight anyway because it’s finally time for the big party.

Kate is genuinely nervous about it too, because she’s going to ruffle a lot of feathers and while she knows what she’s planning to do is the right thing, it still scares the shit out of her.

There will be ramifications, her board members will be pissed and to be honest, it could bury the company entirely - but Kate knows she’s right.

Which is why she opts for a fresh, tailor made suit - with a black coat, crisp white undershirt and a silk Damier tie that was probably a little pricier than such a small piece of clothing should ever be.

Kate also decides to wear her hair down, letting it curl a little over one shoulder. It’s getting long, probably too long for the new hood/mask combo she’s finally ready to debut on her next patrol.

Tonight, Kate is fully giving into what the world thinks she is. She’s rented a massive limo, she’s wearing a watch that cost a small fortune and even the clip on her tie ran her about $1700 - it’s lavish as hell, but Kate’s ready to play whatever part the board needs her to play to get done what she wants.

Plus, it never hurts to look your best when the girl you’re crushing on is avoiding you - so there’s that.

As she’s getting ready, her phone buzzes and Kate scoops it up as she finishes putting on her gold arrow cufflinks.

She’s trying to avoid branding a little, but not entirely.

JALEN: Fingerpainting with second graders will wreck you way more than a full day of climbing.

Attached to the message is a photo of Jalen, shirt off (she gets it) and literally covered in paint. She can see it all the way up his arms, splashed across his face - it’s even in his hair which he’s now taken out of the braids.

He’s so…good, Kate catches herself thinking that a lot. She likes him, truly - even though they haven't spent another night together they do text a fair amount. And she can tell that he’s growing more and more interested and probably waiting for her to ask him to come over.

She should, really. She even thought about bringing him to the party tonight but that would be more of a distraction and she really doesn’t want to distract from celebrating the New Avengers or the unveiling she has planned.

Still, it’s been a week and she’s not really given him anything, so she decides then to try.

KATE: it’s a good look!! I should have asked your kids to tie dye my suit for this event tonight!

She sends him a photo of her from the mirror, suit on, head tilted to the side, a full toothy smile just for him. It’s…nice, normal even, but it doesn’t exactly give her the thrill of sending photos used to do back in college.

Though she was a lot less clothed and sober back then.

By the time she leaves her apartment and the driver is holding the door open to her limo, Kate gets a response.

JALEN: Jesus Christ, Kate! You wear a suit 1000x better than i do 🥵

She can't help herself, she looks good, she feels good and the nerves are doing what they usually do when she’s doing Hawkeye stuff, it’s making her even more aggressive.

KATE: how about we get out to dinner somewhere fancy this weekend and you can show me your suit game?

JALEN: You got it, I’ll pick you up Saturday at seven and knock your damn socks off

KATE: 😚

She puts her phone away after that, instead checking her email one last time to confirm that everything tonight is in order and ready to go. She’s spent any free time she’s had over the last month getting ready for this. She’s both excited and nervous. A part of her just wants to run to the prison where her mom is and break her out so she can come back and handle everything - but the stronger, steadier part of her knows that she’s ready to do this.

So when the car pulls up to the event, packed with media all excited to see the New Avengers arrive, Kate puts on her best ‘boss ass bitch’ face as the driver opens the door.

Immediately she’s hit with a wave of noise and camera flashes - reason enough for her to wear sunglasses at night. It’s impossible to make out the shouts coming her way, but people are everywhere, asking her questions, taking photos. A large man who works for the security team hired for the event is there to guide her into the building.

As she starts to move along the entryway, the questions become more clear.

“Kate! Are you excited to officially welcome the New Avengers tonight?!”

“There's a rumor you have history with Clint Barton! Will he be attending tonight?”

“How are you handling your new role as CEO?!”

“Is it true your mother supplied Wilson Fisk with the means to invade people’s homes?!”

She almost bites at the last one, because it’s condescending at best and accusatory at worst, but she holds steady and turns to smile at them all, more pictures being taken as she makes her way inside.

Once in the building, the noise nearly quiets - she can still hear the rumble outside as more people continue to arrive. Anyone who is anyone in New York City will be at this event tonight. Beyond just the New Avengers, they’re expecting actors and sports stars, even a few outside superheroes beyond the main group.

This is far from Kate’s first foray into an event like this, but it is the first one where she’s the only Bishop in attendance. This is her event now, her place to stand in front of the crowd and make it known what her plan is, and how the Avengers play into that.

The party itself is already going by the time Kate makes the long descent down the stairs. Eyes all turn to her as she enters, and it’s surprising when a handful of them seem to perk up at the sight of her. Before she can even reach the bottom step, there are people all around her.

Kate does her absolute fucking best to greet everyone. She’s always been good at adapting to people conversationally. She can jabber on with the absolute best and this is no different. The only hiccup is that most of the topics are super boring.

She’s asked about financial stuff, about security related stuff. A few people ask about her suit or her highrise apartment - she kind of hates how good she is at being an elitist, but she did grow up extremely wealthy and it’s pointless to pretend she didn’t.

Stumbling onto Jack is a welcome reprieve. He asks her a billion questions that Kate tries to answer as best she can. His smile is warm and welcoming, and Kate finds herself grateful that he’s still in her life, even if the circumstances are weird as hell.

Still, by the time Kate is actually offered a drink, she’s mentally drained and makes her way outside onto the balcony. There are still a lot of people out here too, scattered in separate little conversation groups - most of which try to drag her into them but Kate deftly avoids it with big smiles and silly excuses until she finally finds a spot to take a breath.

With her drink in hand, Kate leans over the railing and takes a long sip. Her mind wanders to her mother, wondering how she managed to do all of this. It was so easy for Kate to just hang around the catering or chase after a cute girl all night, to just exist in these spaces without effort.

Now? It’s like she has to be on every single second. The words people say to her mean so little, she’s baffled at how…empty all of it is. Kate’s been around a lot of these people her whole life - people who didn’t give her a second of time or interest before suddenly act like she’s the whole reason they’re even here.

Did her mom ever feel like this? Overwhelmed and out of place? Did she ever feel like she was just lying to everyone around her, even herself a little bit?

It’s not the first time in the last three years that Kate’s wished her mom was here, but tonight is the strongest that feeling has been since she broke down crying when she made it home after the trial.

Kate looks down at the streets of her city and feels the pull to be down there. She would much rather have her gear on, bow in hand as she fights for her life than up here doing this.

But she can do so much from up here, and she wants to - Hawkeye can save people but so can Kate Bishop.

“And here I thought you’d already left.”

Kate turns at the sound of Yelena’s voice suddenly next to her. She doesn’t panic so much as to throw her drink or anything, but her eyes go wide and her mouth goes dry the moment she sees her.

Because Yelena looks fucking incredible.

“You’re wearing a dress,” Kate says before her brain to mouth filter can do it’s job (classic) and her eyes betray her as they wander up and down Yelena’s whole body.

She’s wearing a backless, flowing red dress with straps on the shoulders and a dip over her cleavage that shows off more skin than Kate has ever seen on her. Her hair is slicked back, just barely touching her shoulders. Her lips are dark red, and her eyes have a thin, smokey layer around them that makes the green staring back at her pop even more than normal.

Kate’s never wanted to kiss someone more in her entire life. “I am,” Yelena says and Kate does not have any memory of what Yelena is responding to. “Your mouth is hanging open, Kate Bishop.” Yelena reaches up and gently taps her jaw and, sure enough, Kate’s mouth snaps shut.

“Sorry,” she apologizes, but does not stop taking in every bit of her. “I’ve never seen you like this. You look incredible,” Kate puts as much sincerity in her voice as possible.

Yelena shrugs, and for the first time, seems to blush a bit at Kate’s attention. “Thank you. I’ve been wanting to, how do they say it on the internet? Go glam? Glam it up? I do not remember, but I was offered this dress and I really loved it.” Yelena pulls the bottom of her dress up just enough to show her thigh (and the holster wrapped around it, “see, it hides my knives extremely well.”

Jesus fucking fuck…

“Did you uh…do you need a drink?” Kate asks, then remembers. “We have some good non-alcoholic choices if you’re interested.”

Yelena smiles at her, shaking her head. “No, thank you. I had a bit of champagne earlier.”

“Oh?” Kate can't help herself, she’s just curious.

Thankfully, Yelena doesn’t seem to mind. “I can drink, I just try to keep it limited to a glass or two on occasion.” She looks around at the city behind Kate and then shrugs, “it is easier now that I have more than just drinking.”

Right, Kate thinks. She has her team now. She has friends and missions and purpose.

She has her team and-

“Did Bob come?”

Yelena’s brows furrow a bit, “yes?” She says, clearly confused. “Why do you ask?”

Now it’s Kate’s turn to shrug, “just curious. Last time I saw him he was in sweats so I’m curious about how he cleans up.”

“Not too bad actually,” Yelena laughs. “Though it was a group effort to get his hair to cooperate. We had to be careful it didn't look too Sentry, but-”

“Sentry had special hair?”

Yelena waves her off and moves to lean on the balcony next to her. “Do not ask, it is a very long story I will tell you someday.” Yelena stares at her again, closer now and Kate can see the speckles of color in her eyes - the way her tongue darts out to lick her lips. It’s almost too much and Kate has to put her suddenly shaky hands in her pockets. “Did you come alone?” Yelena asks, looking away from Kate as she does.

“No, just me. Who would I even bring,” she laughs like it’s absurd.

But Yelena just shrugs, “perhaps the boy wandering around your apartment.”

Kate catches the slightest bit of sourness in Yelena’s tone, then remembers the bag of goodies Yelena left behind that night. “No, that wasn't anything serious.”

“I see,” Yelena finally looks at her again, saying nothing for a few beats before finally speaking again. “You look very handsome,” Yelena’s voice is so genuine Kate can only look down at her shoes to try and hide her smile.

“Thanks, I worried I went a little overboard with…everything.”

“Oh it is extremely expensive, I’m sure. The watch alone probably costs more than the home I grew up in in Ohio.” Kate takes her hand out of her pocket and holds up her watch for Yelena to get a better look at. To her surprise, Yelena grabs her hand and pulls it in to get a closer look. Those strong, dangerous fingers moving gently against her own. “Hang on, let me see if I can guess.”

Kate laughs, “this is the worst game ever.”

“Why? Because it makes you feel guilty spending such money on a watch when your time is already on your phone?”

“I mean…kinda! I was going for a vibe, you know?!”

“Rich and spoiled?”

Kate rolls her eyes, “Rich yes, but I’m not spoiled,” Yelena’s eyebrows shoot to the fucking moon. “Anymore. I work for this.”

Yelena hums, still examining the watch and Kate has to resist the urge to praise herself out loud for how good she’s being despite Yelena’s fingers basically curling around her own. “Okay, I am thinking…one-hundred and fifty thousand?”

All she can do is shake her head, “uh…well…you’re close.”

“More?” Kate’s grimace answers the question. “Kate Bishop.”

“Listen! It’s not that much more! It was one-eighty-five!”

The look she gets is nothing but teasing, and Kate can't help but bite her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing as Yelena’s mouth hangs open. “Wow, you are the picture of expensive.”

“I know,” Kate gently takes her hand back, grabbing her drink to take another ship. “I guess I just felt like I needed a costume tonight, you know? I understand how all of this works but it’s just…different now.”

“Because you are the center of attention?”

“Well, I think you are, but…yeah.”

That opens up the first chance Kate has to see Yelena’s mask slip a little. “Yes well…it was hell trying to get out here to this balcony but thankfully Walker and my father love all of this and gave me a chance to escape.”

“How are you handling all of the attention?”

Yelena takes in a deep breath (and Kate absolutely notices the way it pushes her chest out) and then leans back on her elbows against the railing. “It is not what I expected. We did a series of photoshoots the other day that was very stupid and it’s…I get it, you know? I understand that there are reasons for it. We have to sell people on who we are and why they should trust us, but it all feels very silly and unimportant. They made us stand in a boat Kate Bishop. With an American flag, так отвратительно.” Yelena’s face crinkles up with disgust and Kate grins. “I know you understand, things like this are important but-”

“But it’s not nearly as much fun as being in the fight, yeah?”

“Yes,” Yelena seems to relax a little and feels like that’s a small win. “It is also different in that way too. There is nothing to do outside of that robot thing which we still do not fully understand. When I was taking contracts there was also something to do. A place to go and a job to complete. Now we spend so much time waiting.” Yelena lays her head back in an exaggerated groan before gently turning to look at Kate again. “Have you been busy?”

“With Bishop Security or-” Yelena shakes her head and Kate smiles. “I’ve had a few interesting cases. Nothing too serious, but I did chase someone across like twelve roofs the other night. Burnt through four different grapple arrows and only managed to salvage one of them.”

“Anyone interesting?”

Kate sighs, “no, but I thought so at first! He had like…a staff and this really cool suit thing. I really thought I’d found a proper villain, you know? But then we got close and started fighting and he was terrible.” She was so hopeful he might really push her that night, but once she knocked the staff out of his hand his fighting was pretty much nonexistent.

“Poor Hawkeye,” Yelena says with a playful pout before reaching over to gently pat Kate on the shoulder. Their eyes meet and Yelena’s hand lingers a bit on her arm, sliding down and wrapping around her bicep. Kate, without really thinking, flexes a little.

“What about-”

“Ms. Bishop?” Carter’s voice is easily recognizable if only for how nervous he always sounds. Kate had kind of forgotten they were at this party - let alone that other people were here.

Yelena’s hand falls away, but she smiles at Kate before gesturing towards Carter, which is Kate’s permission to look away. “What’s up, C?”

He clears his throat, his eyes shifting back and forth between her and Yelena. “They’re ready for you inside,” he says and then he looks to Yelena again. “It’s…really cool, er uh, nice…nice to meet you Ms. Belova.”

Still leaning against the railing, Yelena gives Carter a small nod and a genuine smile. “It is good to meet you as well…C? Was it?”

“Carter, it’s…my name is Carter.”

“Ah, good to meet you Carter. I promise to bring Kate Bishop inside for her big speech.”

It’s a dismissal, a very kind one that Carter does not really pick up on until he looks at Kate and she gives him a nod that tells him to go back inside. Thankfully, he listens to that one and scurries away. “I think he’s in love with you,” Kate says and Yelena rolls her eyes.

“Please, he is so submissive around you. Yes Ms. Bishop. Anything you like, Ms. Bishop. Would you like me on my knees, Ms.-”

“Okay!” Kate stops her but can't contain the laugh in her throat. “Don’t even start,” she steps forward a bit, then turns back to Yelena and extends a hand to her. “Ready to hear about how great you are?”

“That had better not be the entirety of your speech.” Yelena takes her hand and Kate pulls her off the railing before leading them inside.

“What? You don’t like an ego boost?”

“No, I do, but I did not put this dress on just for that. I am expecting fireworks.”

Kate gives Yelena a big smile before opening the door for her. “I might have a trick or two up my very expensive sleeves.”

---------------------------------------

Taking one last drink of champagne, Kate steps up onto the stage where the band was playing and as soon as she does, a handful of people start tapping their glasses and whispering at people to pay attention.

That’s when all the eyes in the room turn to her. Every stuffed shirt and rich bitch in the elite of New York City, along with the New Avengers (all looking great dressed up, even Alexei in his obnoxiously bright red suit and newly shaved mustache) give Kate their full attention.

She catches Yelena’s eye, standing next to Bob (who did clean up very well) and Kate has to look away, and has to ignore that pinching feeling in her chest.

“What’s up everyone?!” She says, like she’s at a frat party, and then shakes her head quickly. “Wait, actually, let me start that over again.” She laughs at herself, and thankfully some in the crowd do as well. “I forget that I’m not just the daughter of the CEO anymore, I’m actually the CEO. Take two - good evening, thank you all so much for coming out tonight. It’s my honor and privilege to host this event as we welcome a new team of heroes into our city. To the New Avengers, tonight is for you, to celebrate your arrival and to thank you for protecting this city so much even in such a short time.”

A round of applause fills the room and Kate joins in on it. She again finds herself looking at the new team, fighting her own jealousy. Bucky seems reluctant to accept any of it, Walker does not as he preens and smiles along with Alexei, but Kate finds it doesn’t bother her. Ava seems surprised, but manages to settle into acceptance fast enough. Bob is actually just clapping along with everyone else, like he’s more of a fan than a part of the team.

Though he’s decidedly focused on Yelena as he does - Yelena, who is staring down at her feet, cheeks red and face hard to read.

There’s enough discomfort in her expression that Kate decides to push forward. “Now, I may not be able to go toe to toe with voids and robots and some of the scarier things that may come and threaten our city,” it hurts just to say it, but Kate Bishop has a role to play. “However, I believe those of us at Bishop Security can do more - which is why I’d like to invite Ms. De Fontaine up to the stage.” Kate starts her own applause, and delights in the confused and unexpected look on Valentina’s face.

Val, looking very good and very rich, downs the rest of her drink before she puts on her best fake smile and makes her way up to the stage.

As soon as she’s within earshot, Valentina whispers to Kate, “what the hell are you doing, Bishop?”

Kate matches her far too wide smile, “Just trying to protect the city, Val. Safely, like we talked about, right?”

It doesn’t seem possible, but somehow Val’s smile grows even more unhinged as Kate refocuses on the crowd. “I asked Ms. De Fontaine up here because I wanted her to be front and center as I introduce you all to the newest venture Bishop Security will be undertaking.” Kate finds the little gaggle of board members watching from the crowd. She wants to see their faces the most as she says it. “This company my family built was crafted around the idea of safety, of protecting the people of this city. However, as I’ve moved into this new role I’ve realized that while we do protect as many people as can afford it, we do not protect those who cannot. The ones who probably need it the most. Which is why I’m happy to announce that I have purchased the first six buildings, of what I hope will be many more, that will be transformed into secure, comfortable and completely non-profit hostels and youth centers for the underprivileged and unprotected people in this city.”

The board members all seem to panic at the same time. Eyes widening at the words “non-profit” and then turning to anger as she mentions who they are for. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so depressing that the idea of protecting people who need it most is so undesirable to them.

There’s a silence that follows her announcement that Kate expected. She looks around the room and her eyes immediately trail to Yelena, who is looking at her in the same way that always seems to make the rest of the world disappear. Then, without hesitation, Yelena starts to clap very loudly.

It’s enough to remind everyone in the room that there are media present and that they’re supposed to pretend to give a shit about people - so they all follow suit.

Suddenly, it’s raucous and people are clapping and cheering, but all Kate sees is Yelena smiling up at her.

“You sure know how to piss people off, don’t you Bishop?”

Kate leans over to Val, “it’s a gift.” Then she lifts the mic again. “And as to why I asked Ms. De Fontaine over is because as we have developed a very strong relationship with our New Avengers, I’m happy to announce that these facilities will be a part of the New Avengers initiative to bring safety and security to everyone in our city, the country and the whole world beyond that! Ms. De Fontaine herself will be helping me spearhead this project, one she and I both have been so excited to share with you! Thank you!”

The cheers erupt in the room after that, it’s all a real good show and Kate can feel the daggers Valentina is staring at her. But she doesn't care, not when she catches Yelena’s eye and sees the soft, almost surprised smile on her face.

Kate smiles back and Yelena gives her a small nod before Bob leans over and says something that gets her attention.

As far as signs go, Kate takes that one as hers to leave. So she gives one last wave to the crowd and shuffles off the stage.

This, of course, leads to the expected cornering by exactly seven different members of the board, all trying to sort out why she’s doing this without being overly aggressive about it in public.

Well, everyone except Benedict. “What the hell was that?!” He snaps at her, actually raising his voice. She’s halfway through putting a shrimp in her mouth when he barks at her and Kate lets the meaty treat hang just above her tongue as she looks at him.

“Wut?” She asks, mouth still open before she plots the tasty shrimp in it.

Benedict’s eyes narrow even more. “You went around the entire board to create a pointless, fruitless endeavor that is only going to cost this company money and then you have the audacity to spring it on all of us in front of the entire city?” His voice continues to rise, to the point that a few other people gathered at the buffet have moved on. “We all sat back and let you pretend to be your mother, I even went out of my way to keep the other members of the board off your back while you went through your….phases after Eleanor’s arrest, but this tonight is unacceptable, do you have any idea what this will do to our profit margins? The semantics alone of finding buildings, refurbishing them and then just giving them up to people with no money or prospects is absolutely insane! What were you thinking?!”

Kate lets him finish his whole speech (mostly because she was chewing and swallowing) and by the time he’s done Kate has already plucked another shrimp and put it on her cute little plate.

“The buildings are already paid for,” Kate says. “I found the first six over the last few weeks and bought them. We start the remodels next week - I’ve contracted the work out to local designers, upstarts and we’ll be sourcing everything from the city.”

Even though Kate knows her plan is solid and she really doesn’t give a shit what Benedict thinks, his anger rises with each word she says. “That is not what this company is about! We are not here to give handouts and-”

“Is there a problem here?” Both Benedict and Kate turn to the sharp voice next to them. Kate feels her mouth go dry at the dangerous look in Yelena’s eyes as she stares down Benedict, whose eyes go wide with surprise.

“Ms. Belova,” he says, much softer than he was talking to Kate. “I apologize, I was discussing the company’s new venture with Ms. Bishop here and-”

“Discussing is doing a lot of heavy lifting, Benny.” Kate says, crossing her arms as she watches him flounder. “You were disagreeing with it.”

Kate feels a soft hand press into her stomach and carefully moves her back a step as Yelena puts herself between Kate and Benedict, “you do not like the idea of helping the less fortunate and those who need protection the most?”

“No!” He says quickly, and then realizes what he said. “I mean ‘no’ as in of course I like the idea. I love it! I am just worried about the logistics and what it might mean for the future of the company if we start overreaching from our current financial plan.”

“Benny, look around - we’re dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars for a party? We have more than enough money.”

She sees the moment that Benny realizes this is a conversation he needs to get out of immediately. “Right, of course. Then I look forward to learning all the details and any way I can help with the project moving forward.” He puts on that charming smile that Kate can only assume has gotten him out of a handful of potential harassment related situations before turning to Yelena. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Belova.”

He leaves without another word, his steps faster than Kate’s ever seen before. But as the tension of that fades, Kate’s full attention is brought back to the way Yelena is still standing in front of her, watching Benedict the entire way until he’s lost in the crowd.

That’s when Kate reaches out and puts a hand on Yelena’s shoulder, feeling the tension in it soften as she turns back to Kate. “I do not like that man,” she says, looking back in the direction he went.

“I know, he’s a huge dick - but he’s a lot of bluster.”

Yelena shakes her head, “no, men like that do stupid things when they are embarrassed.”

“Hey,” Kate forgets herself for a moment, placing her fingers gently under Yelena’s chin and turning her head to face her. That’s when she realizes she’s touching Yelena without permission and pulls her hand back, but Yelena doesn't look away from her. “It’s okay, I can deal with sexist old men.”

Yelena huffs, actually huffs, and it’s adorable. “I did not like the way he spoke to you.”

“I know, but I can handle it.” Yelena still doesn’t seem sure, and god she looks so good like this. “Thanks for bailing me out though. I’d have hated to punch him in public like that.”

That’s just enough to get Yelena to laugh. It’s breathy and soft, but it’s enough. “Yes well, better you punch him than me stab him in the eye with a fork.” Now it’s Kate’s turn to smile when Yelena looks at her. “This project you are doing, it is very cool, Kate Bishop. Helping people truly in need.”

“Thanks,” she flushes, putting her hands behind her back so she doesn't fidget too much. “I figured we have so much money going to, well, stuff like this. I think there are better uses for it.”

“When you open the first one, I would like to be there to support it. The official Thunderbolts stamp of approval.”

Kate’s brain locks up a bit. “The…what?”

“What?”

“You said Thunderbolts.”

“No, I did not.” Yelena’s voice is just a bit too high pitched.

“What’s a Thunderbolt?”

Yelena heaves out the biggest, most dramatic sigh in the world and oh Kate falls a little bit harder for her. “When we were first brought together, my father wanted us to be called the Thunderbolts, which was the name of my pee wee soccer team in Ohio.”

Kate blinks a few times, the words moving in slow motion through her brain. “The…Thunderbolts?”

“Yes, the West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts.”

“Oh my god, Yelena! That is the cutest thing ever.”

She feels a very gentle push to her shoulder. “It is not cute, it is annoying and my father refuses to let it go.”

“I mean, you’re the one who said it,” Kate teases and this earns her a very narrow eyed glare that only makes her smile wider. “Thunderbolt Yelena Belova, I like it.”

“You are so annoying,” Yelena sets her face in a very deep, cute frown that Kate really wants to kiss.

Which is not a surprising thought, but it invades her mind so suddenly and with such force that it feels like a stone dropping into her stomach. Because Kate’s getting better at being aware of her surroundings and she knows that Bob is nearby, she can't tell if he’s watching them, but she knows he knows where Yelena is because he’s been keeping tabs on her all night and vice versa - it’s pretty clear they like to stay close to each other.

And Kate hates jealousy, and she hates feeling this way because it isn’t fair to them. So the best course of action for her is to just…escape. “Are you planning on staying much longer?” She asks, trying her best to sound casual (which she totally nails if you ask her).

Yelena shakes her head, “no. I am not a fan of this many people in the same place on principle and if my father has any more glasses of champagne you’re going to be paying even more of a bill for damages. Plus I think Bob is getting antsy.”

Okay, Kate can do this. She can be a friend and be supportive. She’s fine. “It’s cool that he came out with you tonight. He does clean up well.”

A quick grin paints across Yelena’s beautiful face. “He does, though it took forever to settle his hair down and he keeps saying the jacket makes him itchy.” Yelena looks back towards the crowd and Kate follows her gaze. Sure enough, there’s Bob towering over a few people, a small plate of finger foods in his hand as he gives her a little wave. “What about you? Long night ahead for big CEO Kate Bishop?”

“No,” Kate shakes her head, “I’m probably gonna go home soon. I did my speech and all that so…I’d much rather be in my pajamas with Lucky.”

Yelena hums and nods, looking oddly uncomfortable. “That sounds nice.”

They stand together quietly for a few moments before Kate decides to pull the band-aid off entirely. “I uh…I’ll let you get back to Bob and your team, but it was good to see you.”

“You too,” Yelena meets her eyes. “I will kill that man if you want me to, no questions asked.”

The tension breaks, and Kate is grateful for it as she rolls her eyes and waves Yelena off, “no killing anyone on my board.” She smiles at Yelena’s shrug, “Enjoy the rest of your night,” even as she says it, Kate fights off the images of all the ways Yelena might enjoy the rest of her night with Bob.

“Goodnight, Kate.”

“Night.”

It’s not until much later, around two in the morning as Kate’s body is starting to give into to sleep, that she texts Jalen to set up a date - anything to make her feel like less of a loser for pining after someone she couldn't even begin to have.

Chapter Text

“Okay,” Kate says to Lucky. She’s totally talking to Lucky and not herself, even though she’s not really sure if he’s still lying on the floor in the corner of the room or not. But it doesn't matter, she’s way too excited because her new outfit is finally here.

Thanks to Grills and some of the LARPers helping her with the design, Kate’s new Hawkeye gear is everything she wanted.

She inspired the idea from Clint’s Ronin look, with approval of course. The combination of the mask covering the lower half of her face and the hood over her head keeps her identity hidden.

Also it just looks really badass. It’s darker than her previous outfit, though she added enough purple to let it still feel like her. She’s got a real fancy belt for extra arrowheads, a few flashbangs (thank you Wendy for the probably illegal hookup) and her newest favorite thing she’s been practicing with.

Throwing stars.

Now listen, Kate is no ninja - but accuracy is kind of her thing and she’s pretty damn good with these. Of course, she won’t rely on them unless she runs out of arrows, but they are so fucking cool (and were extremely expensive to both purchase and ship all the way to New York City).

The material of her outfit is different from Clint’s Ronin look - it fits her much better. It cuts off just at the wrists, making it easier to wear her archery gloves (also custom made).

Needless to say, Kate is feeling pretty fucking good as she looks at herself in the mirror - feeling like the hero she’s always wanted to be since she was twelve years old.

The feeling is so overwhelming that Kate pulls the hood back, lowers the mask over her face and picks up her phone to call Clint.

It rings four times before someone picks up, but it isn’t Clint. “Hey Kate,” Laura’s voice is warm as she greets her and Kate finds herself instantly drawn to it - just like she was three years ago when they first met.

“Laura! It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“You too, Kate. Though I know you were probably looking for Clint. He took the boys out for the day and, apparently, forgot to take his phone with him.”

“Not like he ever looks at it when he does take it.”

Laura heaves the biggest sigh, so big that it makes Kate laugh. “Don’t even get me started. Important Hawkeye business?”

“Nah nothing important, just…I got my new outfit today and wanted to show it to him.”

“Oh really? You need to send us pics then. How’s the fit?”

Kate looks at herself in the mirror again, doing a little spin. “Amazing! It’s so cool and sleek and just…ugh, the purple is subtler but it really stands out, you know? And the material is incredible. I tried stabbing myself earlier and I didn’t even feel it!”

“That’s amazing! Well okay the mother in me has to immediately tell you not to stab yourself, but still! Amazing!” Laura sounds genuinely excited for her, which only makes Kate’s heart swell more. With that though comes a sinking feeling of sadness. Because she’s getting motherly reactions and feelings from someone who is not her mom.

No, her mom is still locked up and Kate hasn’t gone to see her in months. She just…can’t right now. Their conversations had become so stale and uncomfortable. She has no idea how to talk to her anymore, especially now that her life has taken on so many different directions.

But that doesn’t change the fact that there are things Kate needs to talk about with someone. And Laura Barton is kind of the perfect source for this particular subject. “Can I ask you something?” Kate starts to take off her gear, putting Laura on speaker as she wrestles her way out of the suit.

“Of course, what’s on your mind?”

There are a few approaches to this. She could straight up ask if Laura thinks Kate’s crush on Yelena is insane - or maybe ask if she should take the leap.

But there’s too much there to tell in a single conversation, and Kate’s really not ready to let anyone else know how much she likes Yelena - especially since it’s not likely to ever go anywhere.

So instead, she tries something else. “Was it hard being with Clint? Knowing…all the stuff he did for his job.”

She hears Laura take in a deep breath, like she’s thinking about the question and Kate is grateful when the tone that is sent back to her is serious and kind. “It was, yeah. I mean…I worked for SHIELD so I wasn't exactly out of the loop - but Clint was neck deep in so much stuff, you know? Dangerous stuff and he would be gone for weeks and sometimes months, with barely any communication. So it could be really scary and frustrating.”

“But worth it, obviously.”

“Of course, but there were times when I had doubts. Clint and I had a lot of conversations-slash-arguments about it too - because that’s the key. You have to express that kind of thing otherwise it just festers.”

She makes it sound so easy, but this situation is more complicated than that and…honestly, Kate isn’t even sure if it’s just about Yelena. “Did he have doubts?”

“Oh for sure, he tried to break up with me about a dozen times before I finally told him to trust that I was okay with everything.” Kate can just imagine Clint working up the courage to break up with Laura again and again, only for her to tell him ‘no, that’s not happening’ and him getting that baffled look on his face. The thought makes her smile. “Are you, and please feel free to tell me if I’m overstepping, but are you seeing someone?”

Kate sighs, “kind of? There’s this guy - Jalen. We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks. In fact we’re going out tonight.”

“Okay, and it’s going well?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s just…I feel a little guilty about it I guess. He’s such a good guy, you know? He’s so…normal. He’s a school teacher and he’s really sweet and I give him as much as I can but…not everything.”

“You mean the Hawkeye stuff?”

“Yeah,” Kate finally gets her foot out of the suit and exhales at the effort it took (it has to get easier), before she bends down to pick the suit up and put it on the workbench. “I feel like…how am I supposed to be with someone when I have to keep so much of who I am a secret, you know? It’s…I tried to be open with what I was doing at first, some of my friends know, but all that did was make them pull away from me. It’s too much and they can't relate and I don’t want to spend all my time telling them everything. So I’m pulling back, hiding it like a secret identity thing. I just…worry that if this is anything that could go somewhere it’ll just be more of that - me feeling guilty and hiding things.”

Laura hums across the line as Kate pulls on a pair of basketball shorts and makes her way out of the armory into the living room where Lucky lifts his head from the couch when he sees her. “I think that’s where we were fortunate. Clint would have things he needed to sort through, but he couldn't actually say, you know? Classified things, and as someone who worked in SHIELD I understood it. It wasn't about not wanting to tell me, it was about protecting me. When you know the secrets people like him or you, eventually, will know - whoever you tell is instantly at risk because very bad people will do very bad things to get that information.”

And this is where Kate finds herself thinking about Yelena again. Because Yelena told her about project Sentry and Valentina’s involvement and she’s sure that if Val knew what Kate knows, she would probably hire someone like she used to do with Yelena to take Kate out.

It’s the kind of thing Kate could never share with Jalen, or Franny and Greer, or anyone in her life who doesn’t know what they’re stepping into. They’d think they want to know, but in reality, it would just make them a target.

With Yelena, she doesn’t have to do that, she could tell her…everything. She can, they’re still friends, but this crush is making everything feel so heavy. “Can a relationship work with secrets like that?”

“I don’t know, Kate. I wish I had a better answer for you but all the heroes I’ve known kind of dated in their own circles, you know? And if they didn’t, then the person they met was dragged into it and…it never really ended well.”

If you choose this life, it will hurt, in ways you’ve never even considered.

Clint’s words echo in her mind. At the time she thought it was just about her mom, or the injuries she’d deal with or even the loss of her free time - but it’s not just that. It’s everything. It’s her life. Being a hero, choosing this, has altered every single part of Kate’s life. She used to have such a routine, going out for coffee and attending frat parties. Then with all of this, her last year of college was such a struggle. She had no free time for friends, barely any time for homework and relationships? Absolutely not.

Even now, with her CEO work and the PI work and the Hawkeye stuff, Kate’s not sure she can remember the last time she took a day for herself.

This date tonight felt like something she needed. Whether it’s to feel some semblance of normalcy or to just distract herself from her feelings for Yelena, it’s something she wants and needs.

Even if she knows deep down that it can't go anywhere. That she wouldn't feel comfortable letting him in like that. It’s something outside of work and training and the stress of everything she does.

“Kate?” Laura’s voice calls out and Kate realizes she hasn’t responded in a bit.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

There’s a smile in Laura’s voice, “I’m sorry I couldn't give you a better answer.”

“No, you’re fine. I needed the truth, that's why I asked you.”

“You know, just because you can't have a simple, normal life, doesn’t mean you can't enjoy a few normal experiences here and there. If this guy is nice, then have fun.”

It’s good advice, and Kate plans to, but the itch to ask about what it means when she really wants to have all of these things with Yelena gets stuck in her throat. “Okay, I’ll…do a few normal things then.”

“Good, and if you ever need a sounding board, you can always call me directly - or Clint, but don’t go to him for romantic stuff.”

Kate can't help but laugh, “says the woman he married.”

“Listen, I’m a little fucked up too. That’s why he and I work so well - you have to find someone who matches your crazy.”

Again, all Kate can think about is Yelena.

-----------------------------------

Opting for sanity, Kate goes all in on her date with Jalen. She spends an hour doing her hair and putting on makeup (which she’s not really a fan of, but she’s playing the part).

She opts for a dressier (much tighter) suit, with a loose jacket and no tie - the shirt underneath unbuttoned down to her cleavage (which is being severely boosted by the most uncomfortable bra imaginable).

Again, it all kind of feels like an act, but she doesn’t really mind. Because this is Kate Bishop, the CEO and socialite going out on a date. Not Kate Bishop the hero and hopeful Avenger.

All dolled up and ready to go, Kate has to admit she does look pretty good, if only a little uncomfortable.

Whether she’s super into her look or not, Jalen definitely is when he sees her. He compliments her suit, her hair, her eyes and she catches him staring at her tits like three times as he leads her down to the car he has waiting.

Kate offered to use the limo, but he wanted to take her out which meant he was paying for the ride and the meal.

The conversation is nice, simple and (not to beat a dead horse) very normal. He tells her all about the field trip he took his kids on to Coney Island and how he used the trip to the aquarium to teach them phonics using fish names.

It’s very cute and sounds like a lot of fun - it’s easy to tell how much he loves his job. Which leads to Kate feeling like she needs to open up a little - which is hard given she doesn’t really like her CEO work and the rest is not really meant for sharing.

Still, she can give him something. “He’s a rescue,” Kate says when Jalen asks her about Lucky. “I mean literally a rescue, I jumped into traffic for that freeloader.”

“No shit?”

“Nope, it was honestly not great, I kind of flipped over a car - it looked cool but also…not my smartest moment.”

Jalen waves her off with his fork, a cut of steak on the end of it. “Smart has nothing to do with it, you took action and I think that’s badass. I really meant it when I said I want to see you climb a mountain.”

Kate smirks, “so you can climb under me and stare at my ass?”

He laughs, “hey, you have a fantastic ass and I know it’s because you’re in crazy shape. I really want to see what you can do though, you should come by sometime. I can get you a discount.”

There’s a tease in his voice, an opening for her to flirt that he’s left wide open. So she jumps through it. “A discount? I’ve let you in my bed and the best you can do is a discount?”

“Aren’t you worth like a billion dollars?”

“Well sure but like,” Kate takes a bite of her fish, covering her mouth as she speaks. “It’s the principle of it!”

Jalen hums, a little gleam in his eye that Kate finds herself enjoying. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s spent the last few years mostly on her own, dealing with everything and working alone - but she finds herself preening under the attention.

It’s nice, really. There’s nothing complicated about being around him. They have good back and forth, he’s kind and handsome - the sex is good and she never feels obligated to text him or annoyed when he texts her.

She likes him, a lot actually. It’s just-

BZZZ BZZZ

Kate frowns as she hears her phone buzz three times in succession. Jalen is digging into his baked potato as Kate pulls her phone out of her bag and checks it.

There are three messages waiting for her, all in a row.

YELENA: kate

YELENA: i need your help

YELENA: i did not know who else to ask

Immediately, her heart starts to beat a little harder, her adrenaline spikes. This is an Avengers text, something big is going down and Yelena needs her.

Before she can even process what she’s doing, Kate stands up. So fast that her chair scratches hard across the floor and grabs Jalen’s (and a few people around them) attention. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah! Yes, I just suddenly had to pee, you know how it is,” she laughs, which only sounds slightly manic. “Be back in a flash.” She squeezes his shoulder as she walks by but after a few normal steps she’s all but jogging towards the bathroom.

As soon as she closes the door behind her, Kate does a quick scan to make sure no one else is around before pressing her back to the door and typing out a response.

KATE: of course! text me a location and i’ll be there

Kate quickly types out a text to her driver to pick her up at her apartment, then taps into her home system (fully accessible through her phone, a fun little thing she put together a few weeks ago) and unlocks her armory so it’s ready and waiting for her when she arrives.

Before Yelena texts her back, Kate is making her way back out to the table. “Hey, I am so sorry, but a friend of mine is having a really bad night and she needs me.” She does feel bad, genuinely, and when Jalen’s face drops a little as he takes her in, the guilt hits her even harder.

“That’s okay,” he says, because of course he does. “Do you need any help with anything?”

“No, she’s…complicated, but I know how to help her. I just feel bad running out on you like this.”

“Don’t,” he stands up and gives her a genuine smile, his hands finding her waist as he looks down at her. “You’re a good friend, that’s not a bad thing.”

Kate can't just leave like this, she has to give him something. She knows she’s no good for him, but a selfish part of her has liked having something. So she steps up on her tiptoes and pulls him down for a deep kiss. It lingers for a good five seconds before she pulls back, checking his face to see his reaction.

His eyes are closed and a long exhale comes through his nose before he blinks at her and smiles. “Damn,” he says and Kate laughs.

“I’m a very good kisser.”

“No kidding,” he chuckles, and Kate gives herself two seconds to look at him and try because this feels like it could be something so good. She could tell him everything right now. She could let him in and have a person to depend on. She thinks he’d get it, she thinks he’d accept it.

But she can't risk it, he doesn’t deserve the stress of her life. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? To make up for this.”

Jalen nods, his fingers brushing along her neck and Kate can see it in the way he looks at her. He’s falling for her and she…doesn’t know what to do with that. “Goodnight, Kate.”

“G’night,” she kisses him again quickly before pulling away to leave.

As soon as she’s outside, Kate thanks her past self for not giving into the idea of wearing heels and starts to run down the street towards her apartment. Of course, running in these tight ass pants isn’t the easiest thing in the world and she’s pretty sure she hears the fabric tearing as she jumps a curb outside of her building (thank god for living in the heart of Midtown) and Kate takes her steps two at a time before she reaches her door.

Lucky is there to greet her with a frantically wagging tail, bouncing back and forth on his front paws. She gives him a few good pets before slipping into her armory and grabbing her bow and packing her quiver with a mess of arrows. She has no idea what to expect, so she goes for a little bit of everything before grabbing one of the retractable swords (very Ronin) inspired and slipping it into her belt before she goes through motions of getting into her suit.

She’s still tugging her arms through the sleeves of it as she moves towards the door, grabbing her biggest coat to cover up the outfit before making her way downstairs.

The car is there waiting for her, not a limo but her driver is still holding the back door open for her. “Thanks Rusty,” Kate gives him a beaming smile and he laughs. “I didn’t pull you away from Mandy tonight, I hope?”

He waves her off, “no no, she’s at a play tonight.”

“Aww, and you weren't invited?”

This makes him laugh, “I would have gone, but no, this is a girl’s night.”

“Ohh, those are important.”

“I certainly think so,” Kate climbs into the car and he closes the door for her. As he gets in, she checks her messages and sees a text from Yelena with an address that she relays to Rusty who tips his hat at her and then starts moving through traffic. It’s just an apartment building, Kate knows where it’s at - she can only assume it’s a safe house of some kind where they’ll strategize and stuff.

Kate finds herself thinking about how cool this is, like…if her younger self could see her now - getting a text from an actual Avenger? Insane, like okay it’s just Yelena, but somehow that makes it even more cool. Because Yelena came to her, she needed help with hero stuff and she immediately thought of Kate?

It makes her heart swell in her chest, like it can't be contained and might climb out of her throat. That feeling keeps all the nerves and anxiety that usually come with the anticipation of a fight. It makes her want to be at her best, not because she thinks it could be a leg up to being brought into more big Avengers level things - but because Yelena chose her, and Kate really really wants to prove her right.

As they pull up to the building, Kate is opening the door before the car is even fully stopped. “Should I wait outside?”

Kate turns back to where Rusty has rolled the window down and shakes her head, “no, I’ll probably be here for a while. You can go home, maybe see if Mandy is up for a nightcap?”

He laughs, “I’m too old for nightcaps, Ms. Bishop.”

She scoffs at that, “please, you don’t look a day over thirty!” This makes him laugh and Kate gives him another wave before making her way up the stoop. She taps the button of the apartment number Yelena mentioned and instead of hearing Yelena’s voice, the door just buzzes Kate in.

Right, don’t want to give anything away.

Kate slips inside, bow in hand and a quiver of arrows on her back as she skips the elevator and makes her way up the stairs.

She’s surprised at how nice this building is. For a hideout, it’s pretty occupied, she passes a few people in the halls, who give her strange looks (which she understands considering the actual bow and arrows she’s holding).

When she finds the apartment Yelena gave her, Kate knocks softly and waits, trying to tame her excitement.

Then the door opens, and everything around Kate’s night seems to tilt off balance.

Because Yelena looks like a mess. Her hair is sweaty and sticking to the top of her head. She has red, puffy eyes and has very clearly been crying. Her clothes are a mess - sweat pants and a very large shirt with a dried stain of what looks like vomit sprayed across it. “Yelena?” Kate forgets herself for a second and takes a step towards her.

Yelena sighs and shakes her head, “come in, please.” She moves out of the way and Kate has to reevaluate everything about this moment because this is definitely not Avengers related.

So she steps into the apartment and gives it a quick look. There are no corkboards of locations and bad guys, no table of equipment meant for fine tuning weapons. If anything, it’s just…a home.

A nice one.

The door clicks shut behind them and Kate turns back to Yelena. “Are you okay?” She asks, setting her bow and arrows down on a barstool at the counter.

“No,” Yelena says, sounding exhausted as she takes a step away from the door and locks up, like she doesn’t know where to go next. “I - I’m sorry to text so suddenly I did not know what to do.”

Kate shakes her head, “it’s okay. More than okay, I’m glad you reached out.” Kate’s never seen Yelena like this, even when she broke in after that whole ordeal in DC she didn’t look this disjointed. Right now, Yelena looks like a strong wind might knock her over. “What’s going on?”

Yelena takes in a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before she speaks. “It’s Bob,” she says and Kate’s pulse picks up again. “He um…he relapsed. I came home and found him…on the floor. He would not wake up no matter how often I yelled at him and I tried hitting him and nothing. I…I finally got him awake but he did not know where he was. He was so scared, Kate. I didn’t know-” Yelena buries her face in her hands and starts crying and Kate drops all of her doubts away. She moves quickly, wrapping Yelena up in her arms and holding her as she cries.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Kate whispers as she runs her hands up and down Yelena’s back. “Where is he now?”

A tiny sound breaks free, like a sob, as Yelena’s voice is muffled by Kate’s coat. “In my room asleep. I managed to get him there and he told me what he took, it was not a lot but just…his body is not - with the experiments done to him I don’t know what it will do or if he’ll be okay. I was…I am scared.”

“It’s scary for sure,” Kate pulls Yelena back but keeps a hold of her, reaching up to brush the tears from her cheeks. “We’ll keep an eye on him, okay?”

“I should check on him again, or make something to eat - he threw up so much I-”

“Hey,” Kate raises her voice just a bit - not angry, but firm. “You need to breathe, Yelena. You need to take a few deep breaths and relax.”

Instead of doing that, Yelena’s eyes narrow and set on her. Kate’s not surprised that people don’t usually take this tone with Yelena, or that she doesn’t handle it well, but if Yelena stays frantic like this she’s only going to drive herself into a panic attack. “I let this happen to him. This is my fault, and if you think-”

“Yelena.” Kate grabs her a little tighter, staring into her eyes and making her pay attention. “This is not your fault. You care about him and I get that, but he made this choice and you did not. He is still here, and you made sure of that. Blaming yourself won’t make this go away or make him better - it will only make you feel worse.” To her surprise, Yelena doesn’t argue, though her glare is still there, it’s shifted more into a pout. “You know what will make you feel better? A shower and a change of clothes.”

“I can't leave him alone.”

“And you’re not, I’m here and I’ll keep an eye on him,” the and you goes unsaid but hopefully not unnoticed.

Yelena’s gaze shifts back to the bedroom as she swallows thickly and chews on her bottom lip before glancing down at her very disgusting shirt. “Okay,” she sighs and looks at Kate again. “Okay, Kate Bishop.”

All Kate can do is smile, “good.”

Kate watches quietly as Yelena shuffles off to her bedroom to get a change of clothes. She watches the way Yelena puts her lifetime of training into action as she moves silently through the apartment (which she has so many questions about).

Yelena grabs a change of clothes and stops just at the side of the bed where Bob is sleeping. He’s burrowed under a very warm looking baby blue comforter, his messy hair splayed across the pillow. He looks so normal, but the way Yelena reaches down and brushes a bit of hair out of his face tells Kate that whatever happened before she got here was pretty bad.

It hurts to see Yelena like this, and though Kate’s crush is trying to scream at her that seeing Yelena with Bob like this sucks (and it does hurt), all she can really think about is that she’s glad she’s here to help Yelena through it.

When Yelena slips down the hall into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her, Kate finally releases the breath she’s been holding the entire time. She runs her hands through her hair and glances over at her bow and arrow on the barstools near the counter and laughs - talk about a misread of the situation.

Still, she has some time now to adjust to the situation and wastes none of it. Kate takes her gear and puts it near the door (next to Yelena’s very cute and packed umbrella stand) and then takes off her big coat to hang on the rack (next to all of Yelena’s very expensive and variously colored coats) before moving back to the kitchen. Still fully decked out in her Hawkeye outfit minus the hood and mask.

She digs through the cabinets and has to do a double take at the vast amounts of teabags sitting in one particular shelf. There are so many flavors, some Kate has never even heard of. But she settles for Earl Gray (because it’s always the one she sees in movies) and starts a kettle (thanks to her aunt for teaching her how to make tea).

As the water heats up and she hears the shower turn on, Kate decides to give herself a little tour. Apparently, this is Yelena’s apartment. It’s somehow both homey and not. There aren’t any pictures or items that would truly tell you that Yelena lives here, but it’s very clear that someone does.

Someone who, based on the eclecticness of it all, is trying to find their own style by trying every style. Nothing in this apartment matches, but somehow all of it mesh. All of it is very Yelena. From the weird chairs that don’t seem fit for anyone to sit on, to the couch so big Kate thinks she could get lost in it for a week and not care one bit.

There are also smatterings of startup collections, like ceramic farm animals to little clay figurines of people all decorating the various shelves.

Yelena’s television is enormous. Her couch is angled so that the morning sun would spill across it through the windows perfectly. It’s just so…normal. There are no guns lying around disassembled to be cleaned, no knife collections on the walls or spy equipment of any kind.

This, Kate thinks, is the person Yelena wants to be beyond her work. Being here and seeing it like this, being asked to come (despite the circumstance) makes her feel special.

As she makes her way back to the kitchen for the tea, she hears the shower turn off and searches for some mugs or teacups or…something.

She opens a few cabinets, finding a handful of spices, more tea bags and a few boxes of cereal, before she finally finds the cups. However, the bottle next to them is what catches Kate’s eye. Vodka. A massive bottle of unopened vodka sitting in plain view next to the cups. Kate knows Yelena had a bit of a drinking problem before they met up again - she’s told her as much. It isn’t that surprising given the things Yelena has gone through in her life. It’s hard sometimes, just existing - especially when you live the lives they do and Yelena’s has been brutal since she was six years old.

So Kate isn’t about to judge, but her eyes linger just a bit too long on it. “Would you like some with your tea?” She jumps at the voice suddenly behind her, turning around with two mugs hooked on her fingers as she takes in Yelena watching her.

She says “take in”, because holy shit there is so much to take in. Yelena does look significantly better freshly out of the shower. The water has made her hair a bit darker, but still blonde as it hangs in loose strands around her face. Her once smeared makeup is completely gone (as is the puffiness around her eyes) leaving her glowing in such a beautiful way that Kate can't help but stare.

Yelena Belova is the most beautiful woman Kate’s ever seen in her life, and it doesn’t even feel worth it anymore to pretend otherwise. “Sorry,” she says when she realizes she’s been silent for like forty-five seconds. “I was just looking for mugs,” Kate sets them down on the counter before turning back to get the kettle. “I made tea,” she says and sees Yelena smile softly at her.

“I did not know you knew how to use a kettle, Kate Bishop.”

Kate scoffs, “please, a rich girl like me has been to all kinds of fancy tea parties.” Yelena’s brows shoot up in doubt, and Kate wilts immediately. “Okay so I have a pretty wacky aunt who went through an Old English phase and making tea was one of the many things we would do together when my mom would drop me off when she was busy.” Kate pours Yelena a cup and hands it over to her. “Plus the instructions are on the many boxes you have up there.”

Yelena hums and picks up the mug, sipping on it gently. “A lot of those flavors were not good. I fear the companies making them are trying too hard.”

“Ah, the Oreo cookie strategy.” Kate says and Yelena’s brows furrow in confusion. “They make so many absurd flavors, I swear to god they even made a candy corn flavored Oreo at one point, it’s disgusting.” Yelena only nods, clearly not entirely sure what Kate is even talking about but humoring her nonetheless. But when her eyes trail back to the bedroom again and that worried look starts to spread across her face, Kate knows she needs to keep her distracted. “So how come I didn’t know you had an apartment in the city?”

This earns her a tiny little smile, “probably because I haven't contacted Bishop Security about it.”

“Yet?” Kate teases and Yelena’s smile grows.

“Yet,” she sighs then and sets her mug down, the way her shoulders slump and her hair falls over her face is very telling of how exhausted she is. “Some chose to stay at the tower, but I couldn't…I need space and separation from all of it, and it is too…stale for me to live in.”

“I get that, I mean, sure when I was younger the idea of living in Stark Tower was the kind of shit I dreamed about but back then I was fourteen and had a crush on like…all of them so…”

“Yes, it is not the same now. I do not wish to live in the same space as John Walker.”

“Can I ask you something?” Yelena looks at her and nods. “Why bring Bob here? Why not take him to the tower where all your fancy doctors and stuff are?”

“I do not trust Valentina with him. I do not trust her in general but especially not with Bob. There are too many unknowns and now he is in this condition? No, no she would exploit it or worse.”

Yelena’s voice rises with each word she speaks, and Kate gets it - truly. She knows Valentina just enough to know she wouldn't trust that bitch with a pet rock. “He means a lot to you, doesn't he?” She asks, because she apparently likes to hurt herself.

“He is…I don’t know. I see how hard he is trying, and I see how good he is and how kind and I just…” Yelena sighs and looks down at her feet. “I can help him, you know? I can be there for him and he helps me too. He makes me feel lighter and I think people like that are worth the effort.”

Despite her crush, Kate can't find it in her heart to be jealous or disappointed in any way. Because again, Yelena keeps proving her right. “You’re a good person.”

“You have bad preservation skills, I am an assassin.”

“You’re a big softie.”

“I could kill you five times before the mug in your hand hit the ground.” Yelena tries and fails to look intimidating with her messy wet hair and oversized sweater.

Kate laughs, moving off the table to guide them over towards the couch. Kate isn’t always the most tactical person in the world, but she knows that if she can just get Yelena to relax a little, that she’ll probably fall asleep pretty easily - something Kate knows she needs.

So they take seats on the couch (Yelena sits surprisingly close to her) and drink their tea, Yelena still sitting a bit stiffly as she keeps looking back to the room where Bob is asleep. It’s nice (but still strange and kind of painful) to see just how much Yelena cares for him.

However, when Yelena’s eyes track back to her face again, she frowns. “Are you wearing makeup, Kate Bishop?”

Kate can't help herself, she looks down at her mug of tea and shrugs as the blush colors her face. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Kate,” Yelena’s voice is sharp, “Were you out with someone?”

She thinks about denying it, but lying to Yelena has never felt right. “A little bit, yeah.”

“Черт возьми! You should have told me! I would have…I don’t know, I would have been fine.”

“It’s really okay, Yelena. I’m glad you texted.”

Yelena’s frown is deep and adorable. “You were on a date and I dragged away from it.”

Kate laughs, “you didn’t drag me away. I practically ran over here.”

“Yes, with your bow and arrow because you thought it was Avengers related, didn’t you?” Okay so again Yelena is very good at reading a situation and when it comes to Kate she seems to be a fucking expert. “Is it too late? You can go back and finish your date. I’ll-”

“No,” Kate shakes her head quickly. The idea of leaving Yelena here alone now makes her stomach ache. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Yelena’s eyes narrow, again she doesn’t seem to know how to react to the way Kate pushes back at her. Or at least, she doesn’t expect it. “You are stubborn, do you know this?”

“Oh absolutely, people have been telling me that my whole life and not always so kindly.” With a huff, Yelena leans forward to put her tea on the table and then slumps back against the couch. “So I have to say, this is not the kind of home I’d expect someone…like you to have.”

“Someone like me?” Yelena seems to be fighting a grin as she speaks, but then her eyes trail around the place. “Do not make any mistakes, there are weapons and about twenty different escape routes and security measures in place all over - but…as for the rest of it, it is a work in progress.”

The one thing Kate’s been trying to learn the entire time she’s been here is if Yelena lives here by herself. She’s not seen anything that would outright tell her yes or no, but she can't ignore the fact that Yelena put Bob in her bed.

Their bed? Kate shakes that thought away as fast as she can.

“So, was this date with the same man from your apartment the other night?” Yelena asks in a way that sounds genuinely curious. Going so far as to rest her head on her elbow against the back of the couch.

“You mean the one you nearly stabbed?”

She shrugs, “I have broken into your home multiple times, that was the first time a strange man was wandering around digging through your cupboards.” She’s not wrong about that. “Is he your…boyfriend, then?”

“No,” Kate answers quickly, maybe too quickly but she really has no idea why. “I don’t know, he’s just…we’re having fun.”

“Ah, so you’re benefits buddies.”

She can't help the snort of laughter that escapes her. “Benefit buddies?”

Yelena looks so offended. “What? That is what it is called, isn’t it?”

“Friends with benefits.”

This gets Kate a nice smack on the arm. “It was close enough, you did not need to make such an obnoxious laugh.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Kate tries and fails to sound sorry. “But I don’t know what Jalen and I are.”

“He does,” Yelena says so off-handedly that it feels like casual conversation, but the words catch in Kate’s brain like sap on a tree.

“What do you mean?”

Yelena hums and shrugs her shoulders, “he changed his Facebook status a few days ago to ‘in a relationship’ and took down both of his dating profiles.”

“He did?” Kate nearly stands up right then just out of shock, but she manages to hold herself long enough to really suss out what Yelena just told her. “Wait…how did you know that?”

“I found him on a few dating sites and some social media platforms.” She says, as if that’s something normal people do

“You did what?”

“What? I am looking out for you as a friend. A man is snooping around your kitchen-”

“He was looking for a snack!”

Yelena scoffs at that, “such a flimsy excuse. Placing microphones and cameras in high cabinets and on top of refrigerators are kids' games for assassins and spies.”

“He’s not an assassin! Or a spy!”

“Yes I know that now,” Yelena grabs her tea, again her voice is just so casual it’s driving Kate mad. “He is just a teacher, and apparently a very popular one given how many of the mothers of his students are constantly messaging him about spending time together to discuss their children.” Yelena quotes the word ‘discuss’ and Kate actually already knew that because he got like four messages one night they were together from a mom. “The point is that you may not think you are dating, but he does.”

Shit. That’s not great. Not that Kate isn’t a little bit flattered but she can't say she’d ever considered them a couple. Because they’re not. They’ve hooked up a few times, they text on occasion, but tonight was their first date and even though Kate was having fun, the second Yelena texted her and she thought there was Avengers work to do, it felt like the whole world lit up.

“Well we’re not,” she says and then pinches the bridge of her nose. “It’s…”

“Complicated?” Yelena’s voice isn’t really teasing anymore, and when Kate looks over at her again, she seems interested in listening.

“I guess, he’s so…” Kate gestures her hands outward in frustration. “He’s so normal, you know? Like he’s just a guy - a teacher and a fitness buff. He roots for the Mets and Jets and he says it like that every time. He went to Syracuse and he’s allergic to shellfish and his sister’s getting married in a month and now that he apparently thinks we’re dating he’s probably going to ask me and I can't just go to Italy and-”

“Kate Bishop,” Yelena’s voice drags her out of the spiral she had not intended to go down. When she sees Yelena’s face, there is a very soft, knowing smile waiting for her. “I understand, you see this man who you think is so…normal and good, and you feel guilty because for as normal and good as he is…he is not good for you.”

Her whole body slumps back against the couch, and it suddenly feels like the last few months all catch up with her in one moment. “I think it’s the opposite. I’m not good for him.”

“Because you are a hero?”

Kate shrugs, “Yeah I guess, and friends with Avengers and every story you ever hear about Avengers is glaringly telling you that you should not bring normal people into these situations because it pretty consistently either fucks their lives up entirely or gets them killed.”

“It is a very hard life, Kate Bishop.” Through their time together, Kate is learning that there are various levels to the way Yelena uses her full name. Sometimes it’s exasperation. Sometimes it’s teasing, sometimes it’s even affectionate.

This one is when she’s about to say something she knows Kate might not like. “I know,”

“You do, and you should also know that you are not bound to it.”

“Yelena, not you too. Please. I got enough from my mom and Clint telling me not to be Hawkeye.”

“No,” Yelena shakes her head and scoots a bit closer. “No, I would never tell you not to do this and I have seen first hand how capable you are - but as your friend, I do feel it is my place to tell you that it is not something anyone would shame you for or, what is the word? Begrudge? Yes, nobody would begrudge you for wanting a normal, happy life with a school teacher.”

If she really thinks about it, Kate can almost see it. She gives up her Hawkeye work, closes down her PI business (which she has already been neglecting) and puts all of her energy into Bishop Security.

She makes truckloads of money despite herself, she travels all over the world with her handsome, normal boyfriend. They adopt a new buddy for Lucky to have and who knows, maybe Kate even decides she wants kids one day and they truly settle down outside of the city.

Her mother would leave prison and see the life Kate built for herself and be so proud of her. So relieved, probably.

It’s such an ideal - but the actual idea of it feels like rot in Kate’s stomach.

How could it not, when she’s staring into the eyes of the person Kate feels more connected to than anyone else she’s ever met? “It sounds nice, but I don’t think I could survive not fighting knowing that you’re out there.” Kate decides to take a risk, just a small one, and reaches out to grab Yelena’s hand.

To her surprise, Yelena not only lets her, but flips her hand over so their fingers can weave together. “So heroic, Kate Bishop, and for someone like me?”

“What can I say, Hawkeyes and Widows have to stick together.”

Somehow, they both end up with their heads leaning against the back of the couch, turned to face each other. Kate thinks if she were brave (or if Yelena’s maybe boyfriend wasn't in the other room after a relapse) that she might kiss her.

She won’t do that, for so many reasons, but this moment feels special and Kate doesn’t want to let it go.

“Will you stay tonight?” Yelena asks, and Kate can't help but think she already knows the answer.

“Of course,” Kate says, but then goes to move and feels her suit kind of digging into her ass and sighs. “I uh…I didn’t bring any extra clothes though.”

“Oh? Your costume is not built for sleeping in? That is a big oversight. What if you are pinned down and need to rest before-”

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Kate rolls her eyes so hard she thinks they might fall out of her head. “I’ll add ‘comfortable enough to sleep in’ in my next build.”

The smile Yelena gives her is more than enough to quell any annoyance. “Go into the bathroom and take off your suit, I will find you clothes.”

“Are you sure? I mean…no offense but we’re-”

Yelena’s eyes narrow. “We’re what, Kate Bishop?” She then stands up, now looking down at Kate on the couch. “Are you about to call me short?”

“No,” Kate says instantly. “No, of course I would never call you short. I would merely point out the fact that our heights are not the same.”

“Because I’m…short?”

“Yelena,” Kate is fighting not to laugh as Yelena’s eyes somehow narrow even more. “Is this the part where you tell me all the different ways you could kill me again?”

A beat passes and Yelena is clearly holding back the pull of a smirk on her face. “Yes, all seventy-four of them.”

“Only seventy-four?”

“I have at least twenty more than I would never do to someone as pretty as you.”

Fucking…ugh

“Well lucky me then.”

That’s when Yelena holds her hand out, glare fading and face softening. Kate takes her hand and is pulled to her feet before being ushered into the bathroom to undress.

Getting out of the costume is still a pain in the ass. She shucks the bodysuit down, which is easy enough until it reaches her hips. Then she has to kind of wiggle out of it and hop on one foot as she pulls her legs out. It’s exhausting, but thankfully she doesn’t break anything or fall over by the time she gets it off.

“Okay, so I tried to-”

Swirling around, Kate sees Yelena’s eyes go wide, staring at her as the clothes she’s holding slip out of her hands and fall to the ground. “What? What’s-”

Yelena looks away from her suddenly, cheeks a deep shade of red as she bends down to pick up the clothes. “Sorry, I am sorry, I…you…I thought you would be covering yourself with a towel or something.”

“Oh,” Kate hadn't even thought about it, her mind going in so many different directions. But then she looks down and remembers that she wore underwear specifically designed to show off her body. The slim, barely there underwear and the bra that’s pushing her tits to the fucking moon. “Sorry, I wasn't thinking.” Kate grabs a towel and puts it over herself, but she can't stop thinking about the way Yelena reacted. How she’s not looking at her, how red her cheeks are (all the way to her ears) and how rigid she’s standing. “I’m covered now.”

Yelena nods a few times, seemingly to herself, before taking a few steps into the bathroom and handing over the clothes. “These should fit, the sweater is for if you get cold.”

Kate takes them gently, unable to hide her smile at how…bashful Yelena seems. “Okay, thank you.”

There’s no verbal response from Yelena, instead she turns and leaves with the door gently shutting behind her.

It takes Kate at least two minutes to start moving again. She keeps telling herself to stop, because Yelena’s…Bob is lying in Yelena’s bed after relapsing and the last thing Kate needs to do is overthink any of this.

Except she can't stop thinking about the way Yelena looked at her. How she didn’t look at her.

She fights her mind the entire time she changes (taking off the very uncomfortable bra before slipping into the shirt Yelena gave her). The clothes are fine, a bit short in places but not too tight. She even takes a little time to wipe the makeup off her face before leaving.

Yelena is just stepping out of her bedroom when Kate closes the bathroom door. Their eyes meet across the hall and Yelena doesn't look away this time. “Do they fit?” Her voice is soft, probably the same voice she was talking to Bob with while he slept.

Kate nods, running her hands down the very warm sweater. “Yeah, they’ll work.”

“Good, I am sorry, again, for barging in-”

“You don’t have to apologize. I’m not embarrassed."

Yelena guides them back into the living room. “I imagine not, you were dressed like someone expecting to be seen naked.”

So it seems they’re joking about it. Okay, Kate can do that. “Yeah well, I only bring out that bra for a reason.”

“It is…very good.” Yelena says, “or…good at it’s job. It’s…”

“Wow you’re so bad at this.”

“Oh shut up, Kate Bishop.”

She laughs as they settle onto the couch again and the moment seems to hover over them for a few seconds before passing.

Kate glances towards the big TV on the wall. “Do you want to watch something?” She knows if they turn the television on, one if not both of them will fall asleep.

Yelena nods and then both of them move without another word. Kate shifts towards the corner of the couch as Yelena gets up to grab the remote. Kate moves the mugs of tea out of the way and puts her feet up on the coffee table.

When Yelena sits back down, she doesn’t even bother with the rest of the couch, instead pressing herself directly into Kate.

Some part of Kate is screaming at her to say something, to ask Yelena to move or…anything to rescue her. Because she can't do this. She can't fall for her friend…who may be her best friend and is certainly the one person in the world Kate feels like she can truly go to with anything.

She should say something, do something, shout Bob’s name or get up and move to another place in the apartment - but when Yelena settles in next to her, all Kate manages to do is put an arm around her shoulder and hold her.

Because Yelena called her for help, and asked her to stay and Kate’s realizing very suddenly that she would do pretty much anything if Yelena asked her to.

They only get through two episodes of Chopped before Yelena falls asleep pressed against her, but sleep evades Kate for hours.

Chapter Text

To say Kate was having a bad day would be a massive understatement.

The first thing she did that morning was slip on a pile of dog puke at the side of her bed and fall on her ass. Which, of course, led her downstairs to find three more piles of puke and Lucky happily wagging his tail because he’d gotten all of the bad chicken that Kate knew he dug out of the trash that day before out of his system.

She scolded him as best she could, which ended almost immediately as soon as his ears went flat and his tail dropped between his legs. Instead leaving Kate to simply bring it up to him all morning and hoping the message got through.

Then she had a text from Jalen asking if he could see her. She’s running out of excuses to avoid him like she has been for the last three days.

Which was exactly the reason she was avoiding him in the first place. Because Kate figured out around five thirty in the morning a few nights ago, with Yelena asleep on her shoulder and her heart in her throat, that she was just leading him on.

It’s not that Kate doesn’t like him, but she knows that he could never fit into her world. Honestly, Kate isn’t sure if anyone could truly fit into her world right now. Because so much is uncertain, and she’s trying to become a hero, while balancing a billion dollar company and then there’s her whole crush on Yelena that is getting way too out of hand.

It was that morning, with Yelena pressed up against her, that Kate knew she had to take a big step back from anything romantic. Because all she was doing was hurting herself and if she led it on any longer, she was going to hurt Jalen too and he didn’t deserve that.

So she broke up with him, which was easy because he told her that he kind of saw it coming - which naturally made her feel worse.

“You always felt a little out of my reach,” he told her with a smile, like he was softening the blow for her.

All it did was ring back those words her mom told her years ago, about how she didn’t treat the boys in her life like the girls - how she was emotionally distant.

She hugged him, thanked him for being good to her and he told her that if she needed anything, his number was open for her to use. It sounded genuine too, not even a line for future hookups.

So yeah, Kate feels like shit as she finishes putting on her leather jacket, ties her hair up and slips on a pair of glasses (since she has to read the hand-written opening speech) and makes her way down to the car.

Today, Kate’s opening the very first of the Bishop Security youth centers. The building she purchased that required the least amount of work was, thankfully, the one closest to her own building and right in the heart of Midtown.

There’s going to be press, a ribbon cutting ceremony and Kate will be diving into her plan for future openings and what to expect the buildings to be available for.

It’s a whole thing, but a good thing, and Kate is excited about it. Of course, she made sure that every single member of the board was required to be there to support the company's new endeavor and with so much media expected, they’ll all have to put on their best fake smiles.

By the time the car arrives, there’s already a mass of people. An entire street is blocked off and a good amount of locals have gathered around the barriers to watch.

Not that Kate is surprised, because Valentina made sure that at least one of her New Avengers would be there for the opening (she herself flat out refused to come). It’s not Yelena, tragically. Kate texted her last night and Yelena was on her way to London for a conference or something. More PR bullshit, as Yelena had so bluntly put it.

Yelena is a bit of a touchy subject for Kate right now. Touchy in the sense of if she thinks about her too long she starts to yearn, and god Kate is way too young and hot to be yearning.

Still, she does, because this crush of hers is starting to spiral out of control. Which can happen when you wake up next to someone on a couch at four in the morning, watching the way the light from the television left on because you were both too comfortable to care bounces off the girl you’re into’s pretty face.

Kate spent at least ten minutes just admiring the shape of Yelena’s features. The curve of her jaw and the slant of her nose - she admired the way her lips puffed out when she took in a deep breath.

It’s all Kate’s been able to think about, and if she was struggling to sleep before, knowing now what it feels like to have Yelena pressed up against her makes sleeping alone even harder.

They haven't seen each other in a week since then. Yelena’s been giving her updates on Bob (and Kate even offered to pay for anything Yelena might need to help him). Bob is doing better, Yelena thinks it was only a one time thing but she’s been spending extra time with him.

Thus Kate not seeing her, thus Kate being miserable and pouty all week.

So when Kate starts making her way through the crowd of media, she has on her absolute best smile and puts an extra bounce in her step. Because she is glad to be here, even though the whole press conference thing is a little bit over the top - she does want to get word of these places out to as many people as possible.

Security is waiting for her at the door and her publicist (who she’s met exactly twice) starts to go over everything she’s expected to do today. It’s so much, and the attention is kind of overwhelming when both a hair and makeup artist are offered to help her touch up or look more “camera ready”.

She lets them do a little bit to her, not much because it’s too many hands on her at once, but it’s mostly about playing the part.

It’s all so much and Kate feels extremely out of place.

That is, until she steps into the green room away from the press and attention and sees the honorary New Avengers Valentina had left out of London to attend the conference.

“Ms. Bishop,” Bucky Barnes’ smile is kind, as he tilts his head in her direction, a bit of his hair falls over his face.

“Winter Bucky!” She says and then hears it back in her head. What the fuck, Kate? “Hang on,” Kate shakes her head and takes a breath. “Let me try that again,” she extends a hand to him. “It’s good to meet you, Mr. Barnes.”

Thankfully, he smiles back at her and it seems very genuine. “You too, Kate, and please, call me Bucky.” He shakes her hand with his metal one (Kate totally didn’t do that on purpose and hopes he isn’t offended). “This is a really good thing you’re doing here.”

“Eh,” Kate shrugs and moves to stand next to him so they can both look out at the gaggle of people that have come here in hopes of being on the news. “This is totally going to sound like a brag or something but the company makes so much money like…every single hour, that spending a little bit of it on some abandoned buildings and turning them into shelters really is like shaving a tiny bit of ice to fill your glass off of an iceberg.” She really needs to stop talking.

“Still, a lot of people in this city…the world, have money. Very few of them even go this far.” He looks over at her and smiles and for a second Kate fully understands why so many girls (and guys, let's be honest) were in love with this dude. “I think it’s good to take the small victories where you can.”

It’s a good point, and probably something Kate should start doing more often. Lately it feels like nothing she’s doing is good enough or big enough. She’s been neck deep in paperwork prepping for all of this. Her caseload as a PI has dwindled of her own choosing and even the Hawkeye work lately has mostly been muggings and purse snatchers.

“So no London fluff promotion for you?”

Bucky laughs, which Kate thinks is pretty fucking cool that she made the Winter Soldier laugh (even if entirely unintentional). “No, I believe Val’s exact words were ‘your sour face would send the wrong message’.”

“But John Walker’s face sends the right one?”

“He’s a better bullshitter than me. Besides, Alexei will do most of the talking.”

“I really need to meet him,” Kate has been thinking about it for weeks. “Did Bob go?”

It must not be the right thing to say, or she just really caught him off guard, because his eyes narrow a bit as he looks at her. “How do you know Bob?”

“Oh uh…I mean…I met him at the tower when we were installing the new security system.”

She sees him relax pretty instantly and realizes suddenly that the entire team might just be as protective of Bob as Yelena is. “Oh, okay - sorry…too many years dealing with double agents.” He frowns a little, somehow still hot. “Or being one, I guess.”

Kate laughs, “I’m too much of a blabbermouth to be a double agent, or so I’ve been told.” She very specifically remembers Yelena telling her exactly this when Kate jokingly asked why Yelena trusted her so easily. “I just didn't know if Bob would be up for a big trip after the whole…shadow over New York thing.”

“Okay, how do you know about that? Like six people in the world know that was him.”

Kate winces as she immediately proves her point. “See? Blabbermouth,” she sighs. “Yelena told me.”

“Yelena?” Kate nods. “Told you?” She nods again. “About Sentry?”

“Yep, yep, yep.”

“That’s…” his voice trails off, still looking at her like he thinks she’s going to peel some kind of skin mask off and reveal herself as his greatest nemesis.

Who would be The Winter Soldier’s nemesis? Red Skull? No. Walker? No way, he’s not even in Bucky’s league. Maybe-

“You and Yelena are closer than I thought,” he says finally and Kate feels like her brain malfunctions a little because what do you mean the Winter freaking Soldier is talking to her about her situationship with Yelena.

“Uh…I mean…we’ve had a few run ins.”

“And you showed up during the fight with those bots and saved her ass.”

Kate feels her face pale a little, “that wasn't me…”

“Kate, I’ve been around for a really long time and you also talk a lot on the battlefield by the way.”

“Oh.” Note to self, shut the fuck up while you fight.

“Yeah, plus Barton and I go way back, he told me to keep an eye on you.”

That makes Kate bristle a little because of course Clint is telling his old war buddies to keep tabs on her here in the city. “Well, as you saw that day, I don’t need anyone looking out for me.”

He laughs again, this time Kate doesn’t find it as charming. “It never hurts to have someone watching your back.” Then he levels her with a very knowing look. “I guess Yelena found that out first hand, huh?”

Kate can't help it, she blushes just a little. “It was nothing.”

“Risking your life to help people is never nothing.”

“Well, I’m just glad I had the chance, and you guys are doing good work so any way I can support that, I will.”

Kate’s really loving being in like…mid hero bonding with The Winter Soldier, but then her publicist arrives and tells them it’s time to cut the ribbon and do all the big speeches and stuff.

It’s easy enough to slip on the mask (one of many Kate’s found herself wearing lately). She gives her speech, makes sure to devote a lot of it to the New Avengers and gets Bucky a well deserved round of applause (that he clearly isn’t comfortable with) before diving into her plans for the new project.

She spends the majority of her time talking about it staring directly at the board members she dragged out here (Benedict looks like he’s about to pop a blood vessel). Because this is as much a safe place for people in the community as it is a fuck you to these stuffed shirts who think she’s destroying the company her family built.

The crowd that’s gathered seems very happy with the whole idea, the media asks her a bunch of questions that Kate answers as best she can. It’s all very corporate and somewhere along the way she feels herself getting a little too lost in it and it upsets her stomach.

Because Valentina is kind of right, she could do this. She could devote all of her time and energy into Bishop Security and probably do pretty well for herself. She has a lot of ideas, and talking to people - convincing them they need things from her - has always come naturally.

But she doesn’t want that, she is fine playing the role sparingly here and there, but as she concedes the floor to poor Bucky and listens to him answer Avengers related questions, Kate feels a ridiculous pang of jealousy.

The press conference wraps up and Kate thanks everyone for coming out before she ducks off the stage and makes a swift return to the little makeshift greenroom.

By the time the clock rolls into 1PM, it’s too hot for the leather jacket so Kate takes it off as she digs out her phone, trying to wash away the sinking feeling in her stomach that her Avengers dreams are just never going to come true and desperately starts to seek an outlet.

Jalen’s name sits on the screen, her finger hovering over it as she tries to decide if she should say fuck it and go have sex to make herself feel better. Even though she knows the good feeling would only last until she was back in a car on the way home and then she’d just feel even worse for leading him on.

Still, the hour or so of fun might be enough to get her back on track.

She could go to her gym and workout for the next three hours, just destroy her body and melt her brain a little in this heat and hope it takes the discomfort away.

All she knows is that she can't stay here, she has to move or do something, she-

“Kate Bishop,” Yelena’s voice makes Kate react immediately. Closing her phone and tucking it into her pocket before she turns and sees Yelena smiling at her.

Yelena, with her hair down and slicked back, her eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and…a fucking gold chain around her neck that makes Kate instantly imagine tugging on it with two fingers and pulling Yelena into a kiss.

She quickly shakes that thought away but can't stop herself from staring. “You’re…here?” Kate says and watches the smirk grow on Yelena’s face. “You’re supposed to be in London!”

Yelena shrugs, moving deeper into the room and directly into Kate’s space. She steps around her, but not enough to prevent herself from using Kate’s shoulder to balance on as she grabs a donut hole off of the table of food and takes a bite of it. “I did my part, shook all the hands and took all the photos - but I knew you were doing this today and I told you I wanted to be here to support it.”

The speed that Kate’s heart starts to race would be concerning if it didn’t feel so nice. Especially when Yelena pops the rest of the donut hole into her mouth and smiles at her with puffy cheeks. “You…you just missed the ceremony.”

Yelena swallows the bite and shakes her head, “no I was there, but I did not fly all the way back here to give another speech. I came here to support you, and judging by the tension in your shoulders, I think you might need it.”

Kate is tense, more so now that Yelena is here in front of her than she was before, but still she feels it. She’s not herself, for a lot of reasons. “Oh…well…thanks. I’m…I’m okay. Just a little wound up I guess,” Kate looks around the room, spotting some of her board members huddled in conversation (about her no doubt). “I want to say I’m out of my element but I think I’m uncomfortable because this is starting to feel like my element and I hate it.”

With a hum, Yelena looks her over a few times, eyes lingering a bit on Kate’s neck and shoulders. Her stare lasts just long enough that Kate starts to wilt a little under it. Then Yelena nods, seemingly to herself, and gestures to Kate towards the exit. “Come, we will do some training and decompress.”

“What?” Kate asks, but somehow her legs are already moving to follow Yelena.

“You need to relax, and I can help - come.”

Please stop telling me to ‘come’, Yelena. I might just

“Kate?”

Something about the words or maybe the commanding tone makes Kate’s brain melt a little bit. “You’re wearing jeans.”

Yelena grins, “We will stop by my apartment first to change - do you need clothes?”

Kate shakes her head, “no I…I keep a bag of spare stuff in my car.”

“Good,”

“What about Bucky? I can't just leave him here to deal-”

“Oh Kate,” Yelena turns, but keeps walking backwards, not at all caring that people have to move out of the way. “Bucky left as I was arriving. He is long gone back to his cat.”

Kate thinks maybe she had heat stroke or something on stage and all of this is just a dream. “Bucky has a cat?”

“Yes, he is very cute.”

They make their way through the crowd, Yelena moving with a purpose and Kate racing to follow her. It’s only when they’re nearing the exit that Kate realizes Yelena is leading them to her car. “How do you know where I parked?” Yelena only looks back at her with a ‘come on, Kate Bishop’ kind of look and sure enough, as soon as they’re outside, Kate’s car is right there - minus her driver. “Where’s Rusty?”

“Oh I gave him some money for a fancy meal and a ride home.” Yelena basically skips over to the passenger door and opens it, then meets Kate’s eyes. “I will be your chauffeur today, Ms. Bishop.”

It’s a whirlwind really, which is kind of the whole Yelena Belova experience in a nutshell. Shaking her head, Kate doesn't know why she’s hesitating, a day with Yelena is pretty much the only place she’d like to be right now. So she sighs and puts on a smile before climbing into the car.

When Yelena settles in next to her, Kate just lets herself admire a little. “Thanks for coming back to support me.”

“It is a cause worth supporting.” Yelena says as she starts the car and gently starts to pull out onto the road. “There were a lot of sour faced businessmen watching your speech, by the way. I really enjoyed that part.”

“I know, I’ve really poured a bucket of ice water on the board - but also they’re just kinda out there wasting money and not really helping anyone, you know? Like we do security, but only if you can afford it and I think that’s lame.”

“Like I said, you are worth supporting.”

That’s not exactly what she said, but Yelena gives her a look that says she means this version and Kate feels the strangest pride bloom in her chest. “How was London?”

“Eh, better than DC, but not by much. We are not as popular there.”

“So not as many questions?”

“None as pressing as DC. They wanted to know more about the older heroes, kept asking me if I’d met Iron Man.”

Kate can't help but laugh, Yelena and Tony Stark is a conversation she’d love to have been a fly on the wall for. “Good flight at least?”

“Oh first class, I know at least two of Valentina’s credit card numbers by heart, she paid for a very comfortable trip home.”

-----------------------------------------

By the time they arrive at Yelena’s apartment, the sun has started to set a little. Kate’s mood has improved dramatically just from an hour in the car with her. They just…work. She can't really put it into words and maybe on the outside it might not seem like the right fit.

But there's something about Yelena Belova that makes Kate feel comfortable. Kate’s never had an issue saying whatever nonsense her brain cooks up, but Yelena is maybe the first person she’s ever known that takes every bit of it in. Beyond that, Yelena gives it back to her tenfold.

When Kate casually mentioned her theory on what came first, bugs being called bugs because they’re bothersome or bothering someone being called bugging them because bugs are annoying - she wasn't even sure the sentence made sense.

Then Yelena just started diving into the whole thing with her and that was the next half hour of the ride.

Now they’re bounding up the stairs, Kate with her workout clothes in hand and Yelena shouting down the hallway in Russian. “Who are you talking to?”

Yelena sighs, “Fanny, if she knows I am coming she will not freak out when she hears the keys in the lock.”

“Who’s Fanny?” Kate asks but then Yelena opens the door and is suddenly cooing at a very large, gorgeous dog. “Oh my god?!” Kate rushes in, nearly falling over to get inside where Yelena’s dog is very excitedly receiving pets. “I didn’t know you had a dog?”

“Yes!” Yelena rises up to her feet and that’s when Kate kneels down and Fanny happily moves over to her. “I was finally able to bring her here once I found an apartment. It is not as free and open as my mother’s farm where she was staying, but I take her for many walks.” Yelena’s voice carries as she slips through the kitchen and into the hallway where her bedroom is.

Kate continues to pet Fanny, but her eyes linger on the couch where she fell asleep with Yelena in her arms the last time she was here.

The last time she’s had a good sleep, really.

“How’s Bob doing?” Kate asks, feeling a little bit more comfortable in bringing it up without Yelena right in front of her.

“Okay,” she says from down the hall. “We are taking it one day at a time, he was very regretful and apologized so much I finally had to tell him to stop. For now, he is staying at the tower and we are all doing what we can to keep him busy and out of his head. He will be with Bucky and his cat this evening.”

That’s about when Yelena steps out of the bedroom in her workout attire.

Attire that immediately makes Kate’s body react in ways she was not at all prepared for. Because Yelena is wearing a very tight tank top that pinches at the skins of her shoulders and waist, and the tightest pair of biker shorts Kate has maybe ever seen.

It’s all…too much, and the only thought Kate has suddenly is something Greer asked her once - why does she work so hard on having strong arms.

Kate used to say it was for archery or martial arts or even for that short stint she had on the rugby team.

But no, Kate knows why she worked so hard on her shoulders all those years. It’s so they could be broad enough to hold Yelena’s thighs on them.

That’s the image in Kate’s head now, the idea of those thighs (that are so…perfect) wrapped around her head in any way Yelena might be willing to offer.

-----------------------------------------

Somehow, someway, about thirty minutes and a change of clothes later, Kate finds herself standing outside of the last place she expected Yelena to take her. “Yoga?”

Yelena’s smile is broad, beautiful. “It has become my favorite way to relax.”

“A public yoga studio?”

“It is not that public. The woman who runs it, Destiny, has a lot of very famous clients - heroes and singers and movie stars. We will not be bothered.”

Despite the whirlwind running through her head (which is dominated by the fact that Yelena’s butt looks so unbelievably good in these shorts), she manages to push through and step forward to open the door for her. “Destiny? Really?”

“It is not her real name, her real name is Sandra Carruth, she is from New Jersey, which she also lies about when she tells her clients she is from South America.”

“Why is she lying? And why do you know she’s lying?”

Yelena shrugs and slips past Kate into the studio, which is somehow warmer than it is outside - but at least the sun isn’t beating down on them. “I do my research on anyone I meet. Most people do not understand how long of a paper trail they leave.”

“Oh I remember.”

“And your GPA from university, and your shoe size,” Yelena winks when she says it and Kate blushes.

“You also still use my full name all the time.”

Yelena’s grin makes Kate’s stomach do a little flip. “I just like the way it sounds.” She winks. “Kate Bishop.”

Fuck

The studio itself is nice, wide open spaces and dim, comfortable lighting. The walls are decorated with glowing neon signs and a ton of cliche words to make you feel like you’re being super productive and healthy.

The clientele is vast, the building is pretty packed, but to Kate’s surprise not one person gives them more than a passing glance. Which, sure, Kate isn’t exactly famous but she’s been on TV a few times!

Yelena though has been everywhere lately. You can't go ten steps in downtown New York without seeing Yelena’s face on a billboard or magazine - yet nobody here seems to care.

It’s nice, and as they step into a smaller room where a class is about to start, they are again greeted with only slight glances and a few kind waves - but less hero worship and more just people who have trained with Yelena before. “How often do you come here?” Kate asks, as she’s glancing around the room and taking it all in. When the answer doesn't come right away though, she looks over at Yelena and sees her…

Oh

Yelena’s staring at her. More specifically, she’s staring at Kate’s cleavage. Because Kate’s tank top is pretty low cut (Yelena told her it would be hot in the studio so she wanted to be breathable!) and it does show off the girls a little bit.

But she didn’t expect it to do…this.

Those green eyes seem to realize what they’re doing and snap up to Kate with a wide stare. “I…what? I’m sorry, I was lost in thought.”

Kate…doesn’t know what to do with that. Yelena was very clearly checking her out and not in a ‘your top looks weird’ kind of way. Not if the pink in her cheeks is any indication. “It’s okay,” she says because what the fuck is she supposed to say? “I just asked how often you come here.”

“A few times a week when I can, three or four. It depends on how hard we work or how annoying my father is.”

“I still really want to meet him.”

Yelena shakes her head, seemingly recovered from before (but now not looking at Kate almost intentionally). “I will do everything in my power to prevent this from happening.” She says and Kate can only laugh as again Yelena moves deeper into the room and Kate follows her.

And maybe Kate gives Yelena’s ass a good look as they walk into one of the isolated training rooms. It’s only fair.

They meet Destiny, who is perfectly kind despite the fact that Kate can't get over the fake name (or the absurdity of said fake name) and then settle into the back of the class as it starts.

Kate is thankful for their placement in the class as soon as they get past the first three exercises. Because despite going to the gym a lot, she is not the most…bendy person in the world.

She’s built her body to be strong, to be able to take a hit and handle a bow with a near fifty pound draw weight.

However, as soon as they call for a three-legged downward dog pose, Kate knows she’s in trouble.

She tries it once and nearly falls over, then settles back onto her knees and glances over to see how Yelena is doing.

Yelena is, of course, doing the position perfectly and looking incredibly sexy as she does it. Her abs are flexing, the muscles in her arms tense and coiled tight. Her short, blonde hair falling almost majestically (seriously Kate needs to chill the fuck out) over her eyes and then she sees Kate looking at her fucking winks.

Kate’s heart starts to pound again, that tension returning, so she refocuses and tries again to hit the pose just right.

Once she’s balanced enough, Kate starts to lift her right leg up off the mat and into the air. It’s not perfect and she feels pretty fucking wobbly, but she gets there.

Four more poses come and go, Kate struggling through each one and thinking at any point her hip or entire lower back are going to pop out of place. By the time they reach the pigeon pose, which Kate can mostly do without feeling completely stretched out, she’s worked up a considerable sweat.

After one particularly deep breath, she looks at Yelena again, and again catches her staring. This time Yelena’s trying to be more discreet about it. But Kate’s been gawked at enough in her life to know when someone is checking her out. Kate follows her stare down to the space between her chest where a considerable glisten has formed between her breasts and makes a decision to take a chance.

If Yelena’s going to stare, Kate will give her something to look at. So Kate leans back a bit, letting her breasts stick out a bit more as she cracks her neck back and forth, letting out a fairly exaggerated little moan on one particular stretch.

When she glances in Yelena’s direction again, her head snaps forward and now it’s Yelena with the tense shoulders.

All of this has Kate’s head spinning. Because a part of her always knew that Yelena was into women - the way she dressed and her whole…everything screamed it. But now she knows for a fact and more than that, Yelena is into her.

At least physically, which is a whole hell of a lot more than Kate thought she had even an hour ago.

That’s when her mind starts to play over the whole of today. How Yelena was in London literally yesterday and somehow flew all the way back to New York just to be here for Kate’s big event. It’s…a lot and while she knows they’re friends, this feels like so much more than that. It feels like someone sensing Kate would be struggling today and just…knowing they needed to be there for her.

The attraction side of it is one thing, and Kate has done her fair share of staring today too, but something about Yelena’s kindness to just be here for her, has Kate’s head spinning.

The rest of the session is, well, honestly it kicks the shit out of her. She is not built for yoga at all. She’s more of a brute force kind of person, not exactly dexterous, but she survives and honestly feels pretty damn good afterwards despite the actual layer of sweat on her.

Yelena meanwhile, looks absolutely fucking glowing as the session comes to an end and Destiny (seemingly having dropped the instructor act a little) rushes over and gives Yelena a hug.

They chat for a bit, Kate happy to settle back and just watch - witness the way Yelena talks to random people in her life. It’s very clear that Yelena has somewhat of a unique persona she puts on for everyone. Kate isn’t sure which one she gets, but she’s pretty sure there aren’t many people that get to hold Yelena when she cries so Kate counts herself lucky for that.

Kate’s also very good at spotting flirting (she is, despite what her friends say) and Destiny severely wants to get into Yelena’s yoga pants. If the way she keeps laughing at everything Yelena says and leaning forward to talk to her wasn't enough, it’s the flickering of her eyes up to Kate who is watching them that really gives her away.

It’s enough that Kate decides to have a little fun with it, pushing off the wall and walking over towards them. “Wow, that was intense? Did we just hot yoga?”

Destiny looks at her like she’s speaking an alien language and Yelena just laughs, “no, Лучик. If it was hot yoga, you would know.”

“Ah, so the whole sweating buckets is just a me thing, then?” She pokes at herself a little, which has always come pretty easy. Kate has enough confidence to take a few self-inflicted hits if it makes someone she cares about smile.

Which it does with Yelena, but Destiny isn’t laughing and is, instead, looking back and forth between them. “Are you going to be a regular here, Kate?” Destiny asks her, surprisingly enough she sounds hopeful.

“Maybe! probably only if this one drags me here,” Kate nudges Yelena’s shoulder with her own and again sees Destiny’s brows furrow. “It was much needed today though, I was a little tense.”

“You were so coiled up I thought you might break in half.” Yelena sends back to her and Kate rolls her eyes.

“It wasn't that bad.”

“It was worse,” Yelena says in a very loud whisper to Destiny who huffs a small, forced laugh. “Thank you for the good session, I should get this one back to her busy life.” Yelena smiles up at Kate, who instantly melts under the warmth in her expression.

They exchange a few quick goodbyes, Destiny giving Yelena a hug and not even offering Kate a handshake as they make their way out.

“You know she’s into you, right?” Kate asks as they climb into the car, Kate using the towel around her neck to wipe a little sweat off her temple.

Yelena sighs as she buckles in, cracking her neck in the sexiest way possible (she doesn’t even do it on purpose, she’s just…naturally sexy). “Yes, I do, but it is fine. She will not push and there is no harm in it.”

“Does Bob agree with that?” Kate says and then immediately regrets it because what the fuck? Why would she say that out loud?

When Yelena doesn’t instantly start driving and a silence fills the car, Kate knows she’s fucked up, or at least knows that Yelena is staring at her.

So after a few long seconds, Kate looks over at her and is met with a deep, thoughtful frown. “Why would Bob care if a woman is flirting with me?”

Shit, now or never Bishop.

“Oh I just…I don’t know, if my girlfriend was being flirted with by a hot bendy yoga lady I might be a little interested.”

Somehow, Yelena’s frown deepens. It's quite literally the cutest thing in the world, more so on the face of someone as notably dangerous and scary as Yelena Belova. Still, the look paints an extremely confused expression on her face. “You think I am dating Bob?”

Now it’s Kate’s turn to frown, “are you…not?”

That’s when Yelena’s eyes go wide and for a split second Kate thinks she’s about to be scolded or worse - but then Yelena just bursts out laughing. “Oh my…Kate…Kate Bishop. Ты глупый лучик солнца You think I'm dating Bob?” She throws her head back, slapping her knee, the whole nine-fucking-yards as she laughs.

Kate’s confusion quickly shifts to annoyance. “It’s not that funny!” She says, trying to sound offended despite the whirlwind of emotions in her head. “You’re so close to him! And he’s living with you and…”

“He is not living with me. He lives in the tower where he has a therapist and specialists who can keep an eye on him. I am just there to support him and look out for him!”

Now Kate feels a wave of embarrassment. “Oh, well it’s just…he was so…and you light up when you see him I don’t know.”

Yelena’s laughter dies down a little, but she still wipes at her eyes very dramatically and shakes her head. “No, Kate I am not dating Bob. I do care for him a lot, but more like…мой брат, a sibling.”

“Oh,” Kate says again, looking down at her lap. “Well then that…that makes sense.”

Again there is silence and Kate can't help but hope that one of those inter-dimensional portals might open up and swallow her whole. It doesn’t, and when she dares look up at Yelena again, she’s met with a smile. “You are very silly, Kate Bishop.” Yelena grins at her, shaking her head. “If I was dating Bob, I do not think Destiny the yoga instructor would be at the top of his list of people to worry about.” It would be a simple, casual comment if not for the way she’s looking at Kate. And Kate has no idea how to really take it. “So funny, Kate Bishop. Dating Bob…truly, I will laugh about this all week.”

Kate can only roll her eyes and pout, even though it feels like this whole new part of her world just burst open.

-------------------------------

Nothing else comes of the rest of her afternoon. When Yelena drops Kate off at her apartment, they agree to text and set up another time to workout together - Kate offering to bring Yelena to her warehouse.

More jokes are made, Kate takes them in stride - just happy to have that little dark cloud no longer hanging over her. But she has no idea what to do with it now.

Can she just…ask Yelena out? There’s something there between them, right? There has to be, Yelena flew all the way from London to spend the day with her! That has to mean something.

The idea of taking Yelena Belova out for a date is daunting to say the very least. Kate has all the money in the world but that doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would matter very much to Yelena.

She would have to come up with something fun. Something unique just for them, and that’s where the hope of it all really is because there are no limits with Yelena. When she was trying to do…whatever it was with Jalen, she had to be careful and play the right part. The side of her life that mattered to her the most had to be carefully tucked away.

That’s not the case with Yelena. Hell, they could probably have a fun date night patrolling the streets for crime or sparring before drinks and dinner.

It’s too much, and she’s been pretty much unproductive the entire afternoon by the time the sun sets and Kate decides she needs to clear her head.

So she takes a walk through the streets to do just that. Letting herself really dig into the possibilities of dating Yelena Belova. She knows it wouldn't be easy. Not only is Yelena a relatively hard person to read sometimes and has her own deep backlog of trauma - but she’s also fast becoming one of the most famous people in not just New York, but the whole country.

It would be a lot of attention, the CEO of Bishop Security and an Avenger? A potential Avenger and an Avenger?

There’s so much…weight around the whole idea of it and Kate doesn’t even really know if Yelena feels the same way but it’s…there. The chance to take a chance or…something.

Her thoughts are spiraling in a delightful way when she hears the scream. It comes from a deeper corner of the street, where there’s almost no foot traffic and a few shady old buildings down the block.

As soon as she rounds the corner she sees the two men cornering a woman in the alley and feels her anger pique. “Hey!”

They both jump at the shout and the woman draws back and smacks one of them with her purse. “Get off me!” She screams and the man does, in fact let her go. She tries to get away but one of them grabs her arm and pulls her back.

“This isn’t your business! She owes us money!”

“I paid you! I don’t owe you shit! Let me go!”

“She said let her go!” Kate takes two more steps down the alley. She assesses the two men, neither of whom are very big or daunting. One of them has his hands tucked in his pocket and could have a gun, but Kate’s pretty sure if he did he’d have drawn it by now.

“You want to take her place? You pay us what she owes then. Ten large, and that’s me being reasonable and not adding interest.”

Kate rolls her eyes, “I’m not paying you. I’m telling you to let her go.”

The guy holding the woman against the wall rolls his eyes and sighs, looking back at his buddy. “Deal with this bitch, please.”

“With pleasure, she’s a cutie.” The man starts to walk steadily in Kate’s direction and Kate stands her ground to let him make the first move.

He does, and as soon as he does Kate immediately dodges it and kicks him in the stomach. He gasps at the impact, stumbling backwards and going wide eyed.

He comes at her again and this time Kate makes sure to have him go a certain way and when he does, he exposes the entire right side of his body for her to jam an elbow into his ribs before hooking his arm with her own and pulling him into position to drive her knee up into his face.

She makes contact, but he somehow manages to grab her knee and hold onto it, which is mostly just annoying and Kate still has the full upper hand and basically tugs on his torso and lifts him up. “Shit dude, are you like eighty pounds?” She drops him onto the concrete with a smack and he groans, trying to push up to his feet. “Just stay dow-”

“Look out!” The woman shouts and before Kate can react, she’s being punched in her lower back. It’s a hot jolt of pain down her body, he caught her good.

“Jesus fuck,” Kate hisses, but manages to throw an elbow back and slam it into his face. “Who punches someone from behind?” Kate turns around and hits him directly in the face. “See! That’s how you punch someone, no cheap shots, dude!”

He stumbles back, clutching his face and groaning. “You fucking…bitch.”

“Why is it always ‘bitch’? It’s like you’re not even trying! I’m begging you guys to get cleverer insults.” Kate says before grabbing the dude by the scruff of his hoodie and throwing him into the side of the building. “Wait…is ‘cleverer’ a word? More clever?” Kate really has no idea as she finishes the fight with a kick to one of their faces.

They’re both down, groaning and trying to crawl away as Kate turns to the woman clutching her purse and staring up at Kate with wide, worried eyes. “That was…are you some kind of hero or something?”

Kate laughs, reaching out to help the woman up - her side where she was punched crying out a little as she does. “No, just a passerby who takes the occasional karate lesson.”

“Wow, thank you! I didn’t think anyone would come by, let alone do…that.”

“It’s no problem, do you need me to walk you home?”

The woman shakes her head, “no, no but here…” she digs in her purse and pulls out a handful of messy, crumbled bills. “Buy yourself a bagel or a whiskey or something, on me.”

“No, keep your money, just be careful going out at night.”

The woman sighs and nods, tucking her little wad of cash away before she thanks Kate again two more times as she leaves.

As the adrenaline dumps while Kate is making her way back home, she feels the ache in her lower back where that dude hit her from behind. He must have been wearing a solid fucking ring or something because it hurts.

“The one time I go out without any gear and I get into a fight,” Kate mumbles as she steps into the apartment building and makes her way to the elevator.

She takes a little time before going up to shed her jacket and lift up her shirt to examine the wound. It’s a red welt, definitely a ring, and it’s gonna leave a hell of a bruise. “Asshole…”

Once the door dings on her floor, Kate steps out and is immediately met by Ms. Williams, the very sweet and very old rich lady from 7C. “Katie dear, I just wanted to let you know that there’s a large, African American man standing outside of your door.”

Kate frowns, Ms. Williams is also a little too blunt (kind of racist) for her own good sometimes. “Okay, it’s probably just Jalen.” Kate can't imagine why Jalen would be here so suddenly after she dumped him (if it even qualifies as dumping after three weeks of hooking up and one real date that she ran out on for a girl she likes), maybe he left something at her apartment.

“You should be careful, dear. Bringing strange men home like that can be dangerous.”

Kate smiles, “I know, I promise all the people I invite over are thoroughly vetted.”

Ms. Williams nods, but doesn’t seem convinced. Not that Kate has time (or interest) in convincing her and instead just keeps making her way home.

Sure enough, there’s a guy leaning against the wall next to her apartment door - but it isn’t Jalen. “Kate Bishop?” He asks, pushing off the wall with a tilted head and a curious smile.

“Oh my god,” Kate recognizes him instantly. “You - you’re Sam Wilson.”

“That I am. Clint told me you’d know who I was.” He laughs and then takes a step towards her with his hand out. “Sorry for leering outside your door, to be honest I wanted to do the cool, superhero thing and already be inside by the time you got here but your security system is no joke.”

Kate shakes his hand, dumbfounded and doing her absolute fucking best to stay calm. “I do own the biggest security company in New York.” She says, still vigorously shaking his hand. “Clint talked to you about me?”

Sam nods, staring down at their still moving hands and then back at her. Kate instantly lets him go and shoves her treacherous hand in her pocket. “He did. Told me if I was starting a real version of the Avengers that you were a prime candidate.”

Holy fuck, Kate thinks. Then Sam laughs and she realizes she actually said that out loud. “You…you want me in the Avengers?”

“I do, Fury’s building the team, asked me to lead it - we’re still pretty bare bones, but Clint gave me a lead and I can't help but think; who better than the second coming of Hawkeye to join the fight.” He grins at her, like it’s nothing - even as Kate’s whole world starts to spin around her. “What do you say?”

“Holy fuck…”

Chapter Text

“I need a day to think about it…” Kate mumbles to herself as she takes a deep breath and lines up her shot. “I can't believe I told Captain freaking America that I needed a whole damn day to think about joining the Avengers!” She lets the arrow go, watching it sail through the night sky and plant itself just above the window to Yelena’s bedroom. “I’ve waited all this time and the offer is right there in front of me and I hesitate? What the fuck is wrong with me?” She moves forward to the side of the apartment building and starts to climb the grapple hook. “Yikes, don’t open that can of worms, Bishop.”

She feels like a fucking idiot, honestly. Because everything she’s been waiting for since she bought her own bow at twelve years old is at her fingertips and for some reason she’s scared.

Scared of what? Scared of the weight of it? Scared of being proven wrong? Scared of the danger or the responsibility?

She can't pinpoint exactly what her fucking problem is. All she knows is that it’s the middle of the night and Sam said he’d be stopping by tomorrow night for her answer and Kate needs help.

So she’s climbing up the side of Yelena’s apartment building in a very dramatic fashion to get that help.

Thankfully Yelena is only five floors up, and when Kate reaches the window she gets good enough footing to dig out a little tool to help wiggle the latch on the window open.

It’s not exactly her style, but she kind of understands the idea of wanting to skip any and all pleasantries with strangers and just get straight to Yelena.

After about five attempts (give her a break, she’s never broken into a window while simultaneously having her life on the brink of changing forever) the latch finally pops open and Kate pumps her fist and nearly loses her footing because sliding the window open very slowly and climbing inside.

She just barely gets her foot on the ground when she hears a strange pop that sounds almost electrical and-

Her entire body tenses, a shockwave running from her chest all the way through her limbs has her flopping down onto the ground like a fish out of water.

Kate’s trying to claw at whatever is stuck on her shirt and zapping the shit out of her as a light turns on in the room. “Что за хрень! Kate?” Yelena’s voice is raspy and angry. Harsh footsteps race over to her as two hands grab at her shirt and yank the taser coils off, giving Kate the chance to breathe again.

“Jesus fucking shit, what…what was that?” Kate blinks away the tears in her eyes as Yelena (with a deep scowl on her face and a cute dog looking over her shoulder) comes into view. “Oh hey.”

“Hey? You break into my apartment and all you can say for yourself is ‘hey’? I could have killed you!”

Kate can't help herself, she smiles as Yelena hovers over her. She’s just so pretty, no makeup and hair messy and covering part of her face. “Do I smell like bacon?” She asks and then starts to giggle when Fanny is suddenly sniffing around her face.

“Kate,” Yelena growls, gently moving Fanny away with a few soft, Russian words before pulling Kate up by the scruff of her shirt so she’s sitting upright. “Why are you here?”

It’s once she’s sitting that Kate really gets the chance to take Yelena in and…that is a huge mistake. Because Yelena is wearing the most open shirt Kate has ever seen. The sides might as well not exist and it’s just long enough to cover the top of her thighs enough that Kate can't tell if Yelena’s even wearing panties.

The shock and this sensory overload has her mouth opening but no actual words find their way out.

“Are you possessed? Indoctrinated? Do I need to shock you again?”

“No!” Kate does not want to be shocked again. “No I’m…I’m sorry, I just needed to see you.”

Yelena frowns, but seems to relax a bit and settles more onto her knees in front of Kate. “I have a door, and you have my number! You could have texted or called me!”

Kate nods, her senses slowly starting to come back to her. Along with the knowledge that this impulsive idea of sneaking into a trained assassin’s apartment was probably not her best. “I know, I’m…I’m sorry, my head is all over the place. Something crazy happened tonight!”

“Yes, Kate Bishop tried to be super cool like me and ended up on her ass.”

That’s all it takes to make Kate relax, she laughs (despite still feeling a bit zappy) and looks down at where Yelena is holding her hands. “Sorry about that, I just…I wanted to try it.” She looks up and sees curious eyes looking at her. “Sam Wilson was outside my apartment tonight.”

Yelena frowns. “Sam Wilson?”

“Do you know who that is?”

“Да,” she says. “Bucky talks about him all the time. It is very annoying.”

For some reason, this makes Kate laugh - she forgets that all the Avengers have endless drama. “Yeah well he uh…he was there and he maybe sort of offered me a job.”

Yelena’s eyes narrow a bit, “custodial?”

“Oh ha ha!” Kate sighs and rolls her eyes, “will you stop. You know what I mean!” The smile she gets back makes her heart flutter a bit. “He asked me to be an Avenger.”

“I see,” Yelena hums deep in the back of her throat and starts to stand up. To Kate’s surprise Yelena doesn’t let her go and ends up dragging Kate to her feet as well. “Bucky said he was starting his own team. The B-team Avengers, that is very impressive.” It’s a tease, and Kate takes the bait willingly.

“Big talk from someone who acts like she doesn’t care about all this Avengers stuff most of the time.”

“I care when our status is questioned. We had a press conference and everything! I had to shake the hand of your gross president for this!” Kate still has a hard time believing that Yelena goes through with all of this, but she knows that Yelena has her reasons. Beyond that, she does it in her own way - and probably in a way that drives Valentina insane, which is a bonus. “So if this is the big moment you have been waiting for, why are you here looking so uncertain and failing at sneaking into my apartment?”

“Okay, first of all, harsh. I climbed like five stories to get up here.”

“And put your stupid grapple hook in the side of the building, now you have tarnished the spot above my window.”

Kate looks back at the open window, where the rope from her grapple arrow is still dangling back and forth. “Okay well…it’s not that bad.” Kate turns back to Yelena again, already seeing the tiniest smile threatening on her lips. “Second of all, I told him I needed time to think about it.”

That gets the most reaction from Yelena, whose brows knit together in confusion. “You did? Why?”

“I don’t know!” She pulls away from Yelena then, needing to move, needing to keep up with her racing mind. “Like you said, it’s all I’ve been waiting for and hesitating and I don’t know why!” Kate moves all around Yelena’s apartment, from the dresser (which has a really absurd number of knives on it), to the bed (which has…handcuffs on the headboard?) and then back to Yelena. “What are those?” Kate asks, pointing at said handcuffs.

Yelena’s brows raise, “do you really not know or…?”

“Why are they there? Are you…is this…do you have company over?”

This makes Yelena snort out a laugh, “you think I am handcuffing a sexual partner to the bed tonight, Kate Bishop?”

So many images flood through her mind, some she feels herself get stuck in like quicksand.

Yelena strapping her wrist to the bed

Yelena straddling her lap

Yelena staring down at her as she smiles - hair falling across her face

“I’ve got you in my web now, Kate Bishop…”

She shakes her head and looks away from them. “No, of course not. I don’t know. I thought you were dating Bob, so clearly I can't read a room! I’m not entirely convinced I wasn't knocked out in my fight tonight and all of this is just a fever dream!”

“You were in a fight tonight?” Yelena asks and before Kate can really answer, Yelena is grabbing her chin and moving her head from side to side. “Were you hurt? Who were you fighting? I dropped you off at your apartment three hours ago.”

Kate, letting herself be jostled around, nods as Yelena continues to look her up and down. “I know, I was…it’s been a day, okay. Between this Sam thing and you flying out here to see me it’s…” like a fucking freight train, the realization hits her.

She’s hesitant to join Sam’s team because that means going in opposite directions from Yelena.

Yelena, who has weaved her way into Kate’s life to a point that Kate thinks about her with everything she does. When she goes shopping, she thinks about getting things Yelena might like. If she’s patrolling, she considers how she could fill Yelena in on what she found.

When she thinks about future setup and work for Hawkeye, she has to figure out how to fit Yelena into her plans.

Somehow, without warning, Yelena Belova became the most important person in her life. “It’ll change everything.”

“What will?”

You

“If I take the job,” she says, her voice suddenly trembling a little as the weight of it all truly catches up to her. “I - I’ll be an Avenger. A full blown, Earth’s mightiest hero.”

“Well, I mean maybe - I still think we are technically the mightest.” Kate laughs at that, because somehow Yelena always knows how to make her settle down. “Why does it have to change everything?” Yelena asks and before Kate knows it, she’s being guided to sit down on Yelena’s bed (which is surprisingly the softest bed she’s ever been on).

“I don’t know, I just…I’m starting this new chapter as Hawkeye. I have a new outfit and everything!”

“Hopefully better than the bad ski mask.”

“Way better and please let that go, I can't have you bringing that up for the rest of our lives.”

Yelena smirks, “only when you need to be knocked down a peg or two.”

“And I just…can I keep working at Bishop Security while I do this? What about this big new project I just started! I can't abandon it.”

“So don’t,” Yelena shrugs, as if it’s nothing - but Kate knows that Yelena won’t just brush her worries aside. “Tony Stark never left his company long after the entire world knew who he was.”

Kate’s eyes narrow, “you know for someone so indifferent do it all you sure do know a lot about The Avengers.”

“Well duh, Kate Bishop. My sister was one of them!”

“No I know, but like…you just seemed so indifferent about it.” She thinks back to the first time she met Yelena. “You thought they were posers.”

“Oh I still do,”

Kate throws her arms in the air, “but you’re one of them!”

“True, but a much cooler version. No silly costumes-”

“Oh I’ve seen your dad’s costume.”

That’s enough to throw Yelena off her game just a bit. She opens her mouth, then claps it shut and glowers at nothing…everything. “Yes well, he is stuck in the past and still thinks he is Captain America’s greatest nemesis. Meanwhile Natasha told me Steve Rogers never brought him up, not once!”

The way Yelena talks about Natasha is so endearing. There’s an emotion that lifts in her voice, in her expression, that Kate hasn’t seen her use for any other person or subject. It’s gentle, like she’s cracking open a valuable safe that could crumble at any moment.

It’s the kind of thing that Kate thinks she’d love to learn how to tend to. “Did your sister ever talk to you about her time as an Avenger?” It’s a dangerous subject to broach, but Kate’s becoming more and more comfortable pushing through Yelena’s barriers. If only because most of them seem to have just enough room for her to pass through.

“She did, but I think she was not the best person to ask about it.” Yelena scoots back on the bed a bit, curling her (thick as hell) legs underneath her to get more comfortable. “She had…what is the expression? The rose colored glasses?” Kate nods, though she’s not sure Yelena was looking for confirmation on her phrasing. “To her they were this big, happy family, but I do not know if it truly was or she was just…hoping it was.”

“Do the Thunderbolts feel like family to you?”

Surprisingly, instead of immediate dismissal of the idea, Yelena shrugs. “I care for them in ways I do not fully understand. I think John Walker is a loudmouthed idiot who needs to be humbled. But…if anyone other than me did that I would probably fight them.”

Kate can only grin, “so also like a brother then?”

“Yes, I suppose. They are all like that in their own way. Ava pretends like she does not care for us but when I stepped through the void she was the first one who decided to come after me.”

“That’s Ghost, right? The lady who can do the cool invisibility thing?”

“Yes, and it may seem cool, but she is very annoying with it and uses it to steal things. Mostly, my expensive clothing.”

“That you, yourself, stole?”

Yelena’s mouth falls open so dramatically that Kate has to hide her own laugh and then just barely move out of the way when Yelena takes a playful swing at her. “You wound me, Kate.” She drops her scowl and takes a breath, still looking at Kate like she has Yelena’s full attention. It might just be her favorite place to be. “I do not know if I would call our team a ‘family’, but I am glad that I have them. It is nice to have people.”

It is nice to have people. Though Kate’s kind of been without people for a really long time now. After Christmas a few years ago, sending her mother to jail and Clint going back to Iowa, Kate’s been mostly on her own. She’s thrived in so many ways. Finding her footing as Hawkeye and stepping into her mother’s role as CEO of their company. She’s handled every single thing that’s come her way, but she’s kind of forgotten about the whole social side of it.

Kate is on a first name basis with half of this city, but the list of people she could actually call if she needed them was basically zero.

Until…

She looks into Yelena’s eyes and thinks about kissing her. She won’t, can't - it would throw even more chaos into her life that already kind of feels like it’s spiraling out of her control.

But the thought hits her all the same, and the way Yelena’s lips are pouty and perfect and right there makes her stomach ache.

“Kate?” Yelena’s voice pulls her out of the madness. “Have you eaten tonight?”

“What?”

“After I took you home, did you eat food?”

She thinks about her night after the yoga, and how she basically paced around her apartment for a few hours before taking her restlessness out to the streets. Then she got into a fight and Sam Wilson showed up and she scaled a building and-

“No,” she admits and shrugs. “I hadn't really thought about it, I guess.”

Yelena frowns, and then without warning gets up off the bed and…god help her, Yelena’s shirt doesn’t cover her butt (that has all but swallowed her barely there underwear) fast enough and Kate gets a full view of it. She looks away like she’s seen Medusa herself and begs her brain to let the image go.

(closing her eyes only makes her see it again)

“Come,” Yelena beckons her and when Kate opens her eyes, Yelena extends a hand out to her. “I have leftovers from a few days ago. You need food.”

Kate has no other choice but to take Yelena’s hand and let herself be led through the apartment. She’s guided to the kitchen and Yelena points at a stool and Kate sits down. She watches as Yelena opens the fridge and pulls out a tupperware dish of something.

Then Yelena moves to her cupboards and opens one up, when she reaches to grab a bowl, her shirt rides up high again and not only does Kate see her butt again, but also her lower back (complete with the sexiest fucking dimples) and a few faded scars that Kate wants to map out with her fingers.

Yelena’s right, she is hungry. Starving, but food is the last thing on her mind. “So what’s the story with the handcuffs?” She asks, and really she just wanted to say something to get her mind off of the urge to grab two big handfuls of Yelena’s ass, but this is not exactly the diversion she was going for.

At least, she didn’t think so until Yelena met her question with an extended silence.

She’s halfway through dishing out a bowl of…something red and cheesy, when she stops and shakes her head. “It is not a fun story, I’m afraid.”

That’s all Kate needs to reign in her lust. “Oh, okay. You uh…you don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable.”

“I know,” Yelena says as she pops open the microwave and slides the bowl into it. Grabbing a napkin off the roll and laying it gently overtop. Kate always forgets to do that part. “I’ve never had to tell anyone why I do it.” She presses a few buttons before the microwave hums to life. As it starts to heat up the food, Yelena turns around and leans back against the counter. It’s interesting to see her like this, so unguarded and comfortable.

Safe, Kate thinks. Yelena feels safe here.

“In the Red Room, they used psychological tactics, brainwashing, to make us into their weapons. Our minds, our bodies, our emotions, all of it was altered and broken down into what they needed. We were…conditioned to believe that the Red Room was all there was. It was everything, no matter how much it hurt or how hard it could be. No matter what we lost, you were trained to be loyal.” Yelena loses her eyes and swallows a thick lump in her throat. “Until someone escaped.”

Kate knows this part, Clint told her as much. “Natasha.”

Yelena’s eyes are cold when they find her, like the mention of that name is some kind of trigger. For a split second, Kate thinks Yelena might snap at her or worse - but then the microwave beeps and Yelena seems to come back to her. “Yes,” she says as she takes the bowl out, stirring the food (Kate sees now that it’s some kind of pasta) and dipping her pinky into it to test.

She hums before setting the bowl down in front of Kate with a fork. “Thank you,” Kate says as the amazing smell of fresh tomato sauce fills her nose. “This looks so good.”

Yelena nods as she leans forward against the counter. “It is very good.” She says, a bit cocky but Kate’s eaten Yelena’s food before so she knows it’s earned. “And yes, it was Natasha. She escaped.”

“Clint helped her,” Kate says, doubting very much that she’s filling in any blanks - but wanting to make sure Yelena doesn't have to say any more than necessary.

“He did, he…” she sighs. “That was one of the many reasons I hated him for so long after I was freed. It felt like…like he took her from me.” Yelena laughs, but there’s no humor to it. “Which doesn't even make sense because we were so broken by then that I barely recognized her when we crossed paths, which was rare.”

“You two never worked together?” Kate asks before taking a bite, and holy fuck it’s so good.

“No,” Yelena says before she pushes off the counter and moves around it to sit down next to Kate. “After she escaped, everything changed. Many of us were isolated for months and had no real idea why. No missions, no leaving the base - it was very strange, but you were trained not to question. And then-” She cuts herself off quickly, like the words stick in her throat.

Kate hesitates to take her next bite, just waiting and ready to do whatever she needs to. “Yelena…”

“They started injecting us with chemicals, we didn’t resist, we didn’t even blink as they started to subjugate us - change us. They…they trapped us in our bodies. They took away any and all free will. We would…” She clamps her eyes shut again, like she’s reliving a memory. “We would go on missions together and I can remember sharing hideouts and camps with other widows and we would all just sit around cleaning our weapons or scouting or just eating food to keep ourselves alive and not saying a single word to each other.”

Kate’s glad she ate a lot as soon as Yelena gave her the bowl because her appetite turns a bit sour the more she hears. All she can picture is Yelena being forced to march, to kill, not being allowed to feel or speak her mind or be who she is.

It feels wrong, it feels…dispicable. She wants to find the people who did this to her and…

“That’s awful,” she says and Yelena shakes her head.

“Please do not pity me.”

“It’s not pity,” Kate says without thinking, like she herself is losing control a bit. “It’s anger, I fucking…” she grits her teeth and tries to calm down. “I hate this fucking world sometimes, you know? Like…nobody deserves that but the thought of it happening to you just…” a sound akin to a growl rips from her throat as Kate sets the fork down in the bowl and takes a few deep breaths. “Sorry,” she says, pushing her own anger and frustration down as far as she can. “This isn’t about me.”

Once she manages to calm down, her gaze turns up to find Yelena looking at her with wide eyes and the smallest smile on her face. “Did you just…growl, Kate Bishop?”

Just like that, all of Kate’s anger fades as she laughs. “I think so,” she says. “Can’t say I’ve done that before but…”

“You do not seem to get angry often.”

“No, I try not to. My uh…my parents used to fight a lot when I was little and they thought I couldn't hear them and I always hated it. So I try my best to not let stuff like that get to me.”

“I see,” Yelena’s voice softens, her teasing tone dissipates and Kate thinks she really does understand in her own way. “The handcuffs are for nights when I do not feel like myself. When I…think too much and worry that I am still under the subjugation. I wear them to make sure if I lose control I do not do something I regret.”

Kate resists that anger, it won’t do either of them any good. “Does that happen a lot?”

“Less now than before. For a while after Natasha died I…I was not kind to myself in many ways.” She looks at Kate like there’s more to the story, but she doesn’t have the energy to get into it.

So Kate changes the subject. “Do you think I should say yes to Sam?”

“I think you will and I think you know that already. There is just something you are afraid of and unless you confront it it will not go away.” Yelena turns a bit on the stool to face Kate, gaze piercing through her like only Yelena can. “What are you afraid of, Kate Bishop?”

Nerves spike through Kate’s body, her foot starts to bounce and her hands start to shake. Now or never. “Losing you.”

Yelena is clearly not expecting that, because she blinks rapidly about five or six times before her mouth falls open a little. “Why would you lose me?”

“Because everything will change. We’ll be on separate teams and I’ll somehow be even busier and…”

Her words falter, but then her left hand is being grabbed and pulled up. Yelena’s fingers coiled around them just like they did at the party a few weeks ago. “I am still not seeing the part where you lose me.” Kate looks at her, not sure what to say but hoping Yelena will just know. “You will be very busy and we will be on different teams, but you will still be the person I chose to have in my life. For me, Kate, that is everything and there is nothing that could take that away.”

Kate feels the heat burning in the back of her eyes, finally understanding that Yelena letting Kate into her life wasn't just about giving Yelena someone to hold onto.

It was the same thing for Kate. She needed someone too. “Promise?”

Yelena smiles at her like the rest of the world doesn't exist and Kate might just be falling in love with her. “I promise.”

--------------------------------------

Maybe it’s exhaustion. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s almost midnight. Hell, maybe it’s just the fact that Yelena spared Kate’s life and decided to put pants on. Whatever the case may be, Kate’s stomach hurts from laughing so hard and so long.

Because Yelena pulled out the UNO cards when the weight of their conversation grew too heavy, and when Kate introduced her to the seven card rule (if you play a seven, then you have to switch hands) Yelena has been constantly losing good hands.

“Kate Bishop! This is so stupid! This is not how you play UNO!” Kate giggles behind her hand, seeing the glare Yelena is giving her before grabbing her phone to show her the rules she found online, again. Yelena pushes Kate’s hand away. “Ты такой надоедливый, if you put that silly screen in my face again, I will break your hand.”

“Wow,” Kate sets the phone down and leans back against the front of the couch. They’ve moved to the floor, Kate changing into the same clothes she wore the last time she was here and Yelena with her (growing) hair tied back in a half updo. “I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you’d be a sore loser.”

“I am not a loser! I keep creating these amazing hands and playing my cards with such skill! It is you and your stupid sevens rule that keeps ruining it!”

Kate shrugs, “I’m sorry, that’s how the rules are written.”

“Чушь, these are not the same rules I played back in Ohio. These must be something new and silly the youths of today created.”

Oh…oh no, “the youths of today?” Kate gives Yelena the most obnoxious, pitying look she has. “I sometimes forget how old you are.”

“You are treading on very thin ice, Kate Bishop.”

She knows it, but she kind of loves the rush. “Oh? You know I’ve never really deciphered just how much older than me you are. Five years? Seven?”

Setting her (very large) hand of cards face down on the table, Yelena leans back against the wall behind her and crosses her arms. “Thirteen, actually.”

Kate’s smile drops and her eyes go wide. “What? No way! There’s no way you’re thirty-nine years old.”

“Technically? I was born thirty-nine years ago - but I was snapped, remember?”

“Oh, that’s…that’s true, you lost five years.” Kate has dealt with people trying to find their place in the world after the blip, beyond just what to do. It changed the perception of their lives, of time. Losing five years when some of the people in your life didn’t.

“I did, so physically, I am only thirty-four, but I was born in 1989 - or so Melina told me.”

“It’s gotta be weird losing five years like that.”

Yelena hums, her shoulders relaxing a little. “It is, moving past the bigger reasons of how different my world was after the snap, the little things took time to recover.” She uncrosses her arms and picks her cards back up, thumbing through them before dropping one down on the table. “Who did you lose?”

Kate sighs, “Basically my entire friend group. We had this little group that was super close, I was the only one out of the group who didn’t blip. When they came back it was never the same. I was this whole new person.”

“You had grown up and they had not.”

“Yep, we were sophomores in high school when they were snapped and by the time they came back, I had graduated and like…grew up in a very specific way, you know. The world was a lot different for those five years. Like…a global mourning kind of thing.” She’s thought about that time a lot with each year that passes. It was the hardest time of her life right after losing her dad. “I never really tried to reconnect with anyone after the snap. I got pretty isolated, transferred to a private, all girl’s school. I buried myself in sports and any activity I could. I kind of stopped wanting to be a kid and just wanted to be a super hero.” She can't help but laugh at her own words. “Sounds pretty silly, huh?”

“It would, if you had not actually accomplished it.”

Somehow, Yelena always knows how to break through Kate’s doubts. She’s not even sure if Yelena knows she’s doing it, but she’s found a way in even though Kate’s so rarely provided anyone the chance to really know her. “So you think I should go for it?”

“I think you have already made up your mind to go for it, I think you did when you were still just a little girl hanging Clint Barton posters on your wall.”

“Pfft, I didn’t do that…” Kate says and Yelena’s eyebrows rise slowly. “You’ve been in my childhood room, haven't you?”

“Just for intel, I did not snoop,” Now it’s Kate’s turn to quirk a brow of doubt. “Much, nothing too personal. And the posters were all over the place!”

“Uh huh, you’re just nosy.”

Yelena’s grin twists just a bit mischievous. “Or maybe I just wanted to know more about you.”

Which brings Kate’s whole world back to the existential crisis she was having right before Sam Wilson blew her whole fucking world upside down.

Yelena Belova is, in fact, very single and she’s spent her whole night playing games with Kate and talking her through said upside down world. That’s not to say Kate is surprised or anything - Yelena has proven to be a very good friend who goes out of her way for the people in her life that she cares about.

Kate feels such pride at being one of those people, but damn her heart for not letting it stay as just that. No, because when she looks across as Yelena eyes the cards in her hand, tongue slightly pressed between her lips and eyes narrowed as if this is the most important thing she’s ever done - all Kate wants to do is kiss her.

“Well, what did you find out?” It seems like an innocent enough question. Kate puts down another card, a plus two that makes Yelena curse in Russian.

“You have more trophies in boxes than you do on your walls. Seriously, Kate Bishop, did you do anything other than compete in school?”

Kate shrugs, “not really, I told you, I was a lonely kid.”

Yelena eyes her a bit suspiciously, “I’m not so sure I believe that. There were also many photos deep in your drawers of you with various girls looking quite friendly.”

“Oh my god you found those? I forgot they were there!” Then her brain catches up with the words. “Wait…Yelena, those were in my underwear drawer?”

“You find the most important things there! People always hide things with their нижнее белье!”

She rolls her eyes, realizing once again that there aren’t going to be any secrets with Yelena in her life. Not that Kate really needs that, but it’s a little annoying. “I said I was lonely in high school, I didn’t say I wasn't having fun.”

“You were, what is the word? Slaying in school?”

“Slaying?” Kate can't fight the laugh in her throat. “That is not what I would say.”

“What would you say?”

Kate ponders it for a bit. She remembers a very specific moment in a bathroom stall when a few girls were talking about her - one of them said she was dangerous but in the kind of way that made all the other girls ooh and ahh. “I would just say that I did well, I guess, sexually. I was impressive in competitions, I won some championships for the school’s pretty empty trophy display and…I had a lot of money.”

“So you slayed?”

“Fine, I…I slayed a little, I did well.” Yelena grins at that, like she’s won something. “You’re so annoying.”

“And yet you keep coming back.” She says with a wink and Kate feels herself getting lost again.

“Even though I clearly have no read on you,” she’s stepping into dangerous territory here, but it’s also making her heart race. “Considering I thought you were dating Bob.” She tries to make it a joke - laughs awkwardly as she says it.

Yelena, thankfully, gives her a little grace and laughs back. “That was a big misstep on your part, Kate Bishop. Like…wow, just…so far off of the base.”

“Come on, you can't blame me for thinking it, you two were so…clingy.”

“Oh I can and will blame you for thinking such things. A man? You think I would be interested in a man?” Yelena scoffs in a very exaggerated (but entirely unique to her) way. “I am offended.”

She’s teasing the hell out of Kate, no doubt but all Kate can think about is that her gaydar does work! “Ha! I knew it! I knew you weren’t into guys!

“I am not, I am a very big лесбиянка.”

“That means lesbian, right?”

Yelena sighs, “Yes, Kate.”

“Nailed it,” Kate pumps her fist. “I knew it.”

“And yet…you thought I was with Bob?”

“Okay so that was a miss on my part, but I think I was just…I don’t know, projecting. Nothing in my life for the last few years has really gone my way so I figured this-” Kate just barely catches herself before she finishes that sentence. That treacherous, rambling sentence where she almost admitted that her crush on Yelena was right up there with all the other things in her life that she wanted and couldn't have.

Of course, nearly slipping up (and catching herself perfectly just like Kate did) would work well with a normal person. But Yelena is far from normal, she’s extraordinary, and of course she picks up on it. “You figured what?”

Her brain whispers to her again

Now or never

“I figured, of course the girl I’m into already found someone else.”

It seems that, even though Kate thought Yelena could read where she was going, she couldn't. Because Yelena’s eyes widen to an almost comically large state. Her shoulders hitch up tight and she drops all of her UNO cards messily on the table.

The silence lingers for too long afterwards, and Kate can't help herself. “How do you have five plus-four cards?”

“I like you,” Yelena says, her voice sounding strained and almost desperate. Now it’s Kate’s turn to have all of her hardwiring fried. Thankfully, Yelena keeps going. “I did not intend to feel this way, I don’t…know what to do with it. But you are here,” she presses two fingers to her chest and then closes her fist over it. “I cannot remember what it is like to do something and not want to know what you would think about it.”

The way Yelena speaks, the way she’s bashfully not looking at Kate, but instead staring at her cards on the table (Kate realizes in that moment that Yelena is definitely cheating), is an image Kate will carry with her for the rest of her life.

Because how is she supposed to recover from this? What is she supposed to do now, when the most amazing woman she’s ever met just confessed feelings to her.

“Please say something, Kate Bishop. I will jump out of the window if you do not.”

Kate forces herself to return to the ground, she takes a breath and puts her own UNO cards down. “You like me?”

Yelena looks up at her, staring into her eyes, and nods. “I do and it feels very childish to say it like this and hear it back from you like that, but it is true. The problem is that I don’t…” she sighs, shaking her head. “I feel selfish, and I have been trying to keep you close while not saying anything because I am not sure that I am in a place to be…anything, for someone else. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, of course. You’re not ready.”

“I am not, I - I have been healing, but before everything with Bob and the void I was in a very bad place. You saw the handcuffs on the bed and you know why they are there. That is a step up from where I was, which should tell you a lot. Before that I had reached a point where I did not have the desire to be alive.”

Kate isn’t sure what she expected to hear, she knew Yelena had been struggling, she’d been told as much - but to know it was that bad makes her heart ache. “You seem better now.” She says, trying not to offer pity.

“I am, but there is still a long way to go. You do not recover from the pain I was in before so quickly.”

“I know, I get it. I…I’m glad you’re feeling better though.”

Yelena smiles just a little. “I do not want to be selfish with you, Kate. I have no right to ask you anything and…well…you haven't told me exactly how you feel.”

Oh, right, she should probably drop that whole act she’s been putting on. “Yelena, come on. You have to know that I adore you.” She says and kind of hates how cheesy it sounds. However, Yelena seems to melt at her words so Kate keeps going. “The whole time I thought you were with Bob I was genuinely suffering, like it sucked and I couldn't act like it because if it made you happy then who was I to resent that? All I wanted was for you to be happy.”

“I am getting there,” she says, her eyes shimmering a little with unshed tears - Kate feels her hands itching to reach across the coffee table and brush them away. “So much in my life is changing, I have barely been able to keep up. Between that and my new role I do not know what is coming even tomorrow. And now you’re going to be starting your new Avenger life as well and I just…” Yelena cuts herself off, Kate’s never seen her so uncertain and unsteady. So she reaches across the table and grabs Yelena’s hand, hoping the single gesture lets her know that she’s here, that she’s got her. “It feels so selfish of me to ask but…will you wait for me, Kate Bishop? To be ready?”

Wait, for Yelena. The words dance around in her head like the kind of song you hear when you’re younger that changes your life. She has felt so uncertain about the future ever since the day she put her mom in prison. Everything has been out of her control since. Each choice she’s made has been in an effort to pull her life back together.

She’s done it scared and she’s mostly done it alone. Now, the future seems even more uncertain and tomorrow she’s going to accept a role with the fucking Avengers and life will get ten times harder and scarier.

The idea that Yelena is here, wanting her, even if they can't dive into anything yet, feels like it slows everything down. “Of course I will. I’ll wait as long as you need, forever if I have to.”

Yelena smiles, a big, toothy smile that makes her nose scrunch and those threatening tears slip out. “It should not be forever, I do not think.”

“I don’t know, it took you three years to find me again.”

“There were circumstances!”

Kate laughs, “uh huh, like a paranoid assassin who had to change phones every week.”

“You would be a terrible assassin, probably register a phone in your own name so that it shows up when you call people! ‘Hello’,” Yelena puts on a very good American accent - Kate hates it. “‘Yes hi this is Kate Beeshop, I am going to sneak into your apartment very loudly and-”

“Okay first of all, shut up,” Kate points a finger at her and Yelena snickers. “Second, I did sneak into your apartment quietly, you just happen to be a super paranoid person who can hear everything!”

The warmth that touches Yelena’s smile makes Kate almost forget what it is they’re even talking about. “Your grapple arrows make very loud clunk sounds on brick exteriors, Kate Bishop. It is not an effective way to climb buildings.”

Kate huffs, “well it’s all I’ve got. Despite wishing for it every night since I was twelve, I still can't fly.”

She feels Yelena squeeze her hand as she laughs, a tear slipping down her cheek. She wipes at her eyes with her free hand, but flips the other hand over so she can entwine her fingers with Kate’s. “Will you stay tonight? We can share the couch again.”

This is the start of…something, Kate has no idea what but it feels like the kind of something that means her life will never be the same again. “Yes,” she says and then, for good measure, squeezes Yelena’s hand in her own. “But only if you admit that you can only beat me at UNO if you cheat.”

“It is your fake rules that made me have to cheat!”

“They’re not fake! Don’t make me get my phone out again.”

“Не могу поверить, что у меня есть чувства к идиоту!”

----------------------------------

“I guess my secret identity idea is kinda in the mud now.”

Yelena frowns, twisting her neck from where she is currently lying across Kate’s chest to look at her - the morning sun brushing gently over her back and through her hair. “Why is that?”

Kate sighs, “Sam wants Hawkeye and Kate Bishop to join the Avengers. He wants Bishop Security to be like…tied to it, I guess. Something about safety and protection.” Kate remembers what Sam told her before she went running to Yelena’s “Kind of ironic, given my parents and their whole ‘using the business to help criminals in secret’ thing, but I don’t know. He said I’m the kind of person people will rally behind.” She feels like such a douche repeating his words out loud.

Still, Yelena hums and presses her hand to Kate’s collarbone. They are full on cuddling right now, even if it was just a result of sharing the couch, neither of them have moved and Kate is very aware of every part of Yelena that is touching her. “He is not wrong, you are a good person and you do good things for people. It is smart of Sam Wilson to exploit that.”

“Exploit?” Kate laughs, “I’m not sure that’s what’s happening.”

“Of course it is. Our Avengers team is built on people with violent and tragic pasts, Sam is trying to create his own team as the opposite of what we are. Good people with good intentions.”

“Your intentions are good, and so are you.” Kate has a feeling she’s going to be spending most of the rest of her life defending Yelena from Yelena. “Violent past or not you were never a bad person.”

There’s a small silence between them. Kate isn’t sure if she’s allowed to talk about Yelena’s past yet. It had been made very clear to her before that she wasn't - but a lot has changed since that night. “I was, though, and I could be that person again if I wanted. It would not be a hard switch to flip.”

“Maybe that’s true, but knowing you’re the one in charge of the switch, I’m not worried.”

Where Kate thinks Yelena might close off, or even tell her not to talk about it, instead she just grins. “You think you know me so well, don’t you?”

Kate matches her smile. “I think I’m getting there. Obviously I don’t know everything, you know with the whole Bob thing-”

“That was so bad.”

“Yeah yeah, but still…I’m good at judging people and I think I knew you were worth my time the moment we met.”

Yelena sits up a bit, tilting her head to the side. “When you had me at arrowpoint?”

“As you were trying to kill my mentor, yeah.”

“So, Kate Bishop, who knows me so well; why did you not shoot me?”

Kate shrugs, “I wasn't going to kill you or anything.”

“I know, but you could have incapacitated me and pulled your frail, old mentor off of that roof.”

Yelena will never stop roasting poor Clint. “Still, even if I had intended to like…stop you at all costs, when you looked at me I don’t know…Clint told me a story about the first time he met Natasha and how he just…couldn’t take the shot. He said she looked like she wanted to get out or escape or something and when I saw you I felt that same kind of thing. Like I just…couldn’t,” Kate shakes her head, hating that phrasing. “Not couldn't, didn’t want to.”

Mentioning Natasha might always feel a little scary, but Yelena’s face doesn’t really change much as she takes in Kate’s words, “you thought I wanted out? Of what?”

“No I don’t know, it wasn't as specific as Clint’s, you know? Our circumstances were different, but I just…I think I saw you in that environment and I was so scared and the way you looked at me, having protected me before, getting me out of the way.”

“By throwing you off a roof?”

“You used a wire.”

Yelena gives her a tiny smile, “I did. You were annoying and just came right back upstairs.”

“Not annoying, persistent.”

“Potato, potato.”

Now it’s Kate’s turn to frown, “that’s not…it doesn’t work if you say the word the same way twice.”

“What?”

“Potato, Potahto.”

Yelena’s eyes narrow, “who says potahto? That is not at all how the word is spelled. There is no ah anywhere in it.”

“I know but…that’s not the point. The point is that I think in some way I’ll never really be able to explain - seeing you on that roof that night was like…finding someone you want to know from the moment you lay eyes on them. I had no idea in the moment if I would ever have the chance to know you, but I knew if I shot you then I never would.”

She still remembers that night, how hard it was and how Clint basically telling her to stop trying to help and give up her dreams (she understands he was emotional and also wrong) broke her heart. She spent hours lying in her bed going over the situation again and again. Fighting with Maya, hearing Clint’s words, feeling the fear when she was falling off that roof.

The thing she saw the most that night was Yelena’s face. Yelena, seeing her in that situation. Not threatening her, not attacking her, just telling her to stop.

She didn’t realize it until much later, that Yelena was protecting her - that Yelena has been protecting her since the moment they met.

How the fuck was she not going to fall for her?

“I think a part of me always knew Clint Barton was not to blame for Natasha’s death.” Yelena’s voice is soft, like she’s cracking open a very delicate part of herself and if she rushes it, she might break entirely. “It is like…I knew my sister, I fought against her and with her. Barton is good, but he is not on her level. Not as crafty, not as smart in combat. I do not doubt he tried to save her, I also know from talking to him that he did not think he deserved to live over her. I was angry at him, at the world, at myself, for letting her do it. I still am.”

There are so many cliches that pop into her head all at once.

It wasn't your fault

You can't blame yourself

She wouldn't want you to hurt so much for her

She did it for you

But Kate ignores them all, because she thinks Yelena probably doesn’t want or need to hear it. She imagines Yelena, much like herself after her father died, has played those words and so many more in her head hundreds of times already.

So instead, Kate reaches up and grabs a loose strand of Yelena’s hair and gently moves it behind her ear. Those green eyes look at her, mouth open just a bit as Kate strokes her thumb along Yelena’s ear. “Life can be really shit sometimes, can't it?”

“Yes,” Yelena breathes, her voice raspy and soft. “It has its moments, though.”

Kate's body betrays her for just a second. This feeling, this...want, it nearly overwhelms her. She catches herself leaning forward to kiss Yelena, but when she feels Yelena tense beneath her, Kate freezes. "Shit," Kate breathes and shakes her head quickly. "That's...sorry,"

Yelena draws back a bit, but her hold on Kate doesn't waver. Kate worries that her slip might scare Yelena away, she literally said she needed time and Kate...

Fuck

"We can't, Kate."

"I know, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It's just hard when we're close like this."

Yelena's eyes soften, her frown deepens. "It is not fair of me, I know. I wish I could-"

"No," Kate cuts her off, “don't apologize, okay? I can keep my shit together and I will. Whatever makes you feel comfortable is what we'll do. I just have to reign it in a little."

Kate is fully ready to get off the couch, change her clothes and leave. But when she starts to move, Yelena grabs a hold of her again.

“Please do not apologize for wanting to kiss me. It is really nice. I am very glad that you do.”

The words are as sincere as anything Yelena has ever said to her, but Kate can tell there’s more to it. “But?”

Yelena takes in a deep breath, swallowing a thick lump in her throat. “But I meant what I said, I am not ready yet for…all of this. All of you, I need to be better, healthier and more steady.”

“Ready and steady,” Kate smiles and grabs Yelena’s hand, pulling it to her lips to kiss it. “I told you, I have no problem waiting for you.”

“Even if I do not know what exactly I am waiting for?”

Kate nods, sitting up a little to meet Yelena’s eyes again. “Even then, you’ll know when you know.”

That’s when Kate knows she’s done something right, because Yelena uses both hands to sandwich her own and just…holds her hand. She strokes over Kate’s fingers and down her wrist, their legs tangled together as the sun halos the back of Yelena’s head.

Kate can only hope the world will give them a chance.

Chapter Text

Okay so the world can go fuck itself.

Because the very next day after Kate and Yelena become…something undefined, Kate officially joins Sam Wilson’s Avengers.

Though not that there is really much of an Avengers team to join. He tells her very specifically that it will take time, a lot of time, to find the right people.

Still, Kate signs on, offers him whatever he needs from her, but in return, she has her own set of…demands?

No, demands is too strong a word. Isn’t it?

Maybe it isn’t, she knows her worth, and he came to her first. So yeah! Demands!

They go as follows.

#1. She has to stay in New York. She can travel if need be, but with the company and her mom and, well, her Yelena situation - this is where she has to be.

#2. She wants to keep her identity secret, for now at least. Her work with Bishop Security needs her to be one thing, and her work as Hawkeye needs her to be another. For as long as she can, Kate would like to keep those two things separate.

#3. She wants a fancy bow. Something like Clint had that’s retractable, with all the neat bells and whistles that Avengers always seem to have in their equipment. Kate even offered to pay for it no matter the cost. Sam wasn't really sure what that meant, but he said he’d talk to SHIELD about it.

He agreed to all fronts, though she’s still waiting on her new bow.

That was two months ago and Kate has only been able to see Yelena twice in that time.

It took less than a week for Yelena to be pulled away on a very important, very secret mission somewhere Yelena couldn't tell her about.

“Not because it’s classified, but because we genuinely have no idea where we’re going to end up.”

And Kate’s only had a few texts with her since. She learned eventually that Yelena’s mission took her to Wakanda, which sounded so fucking cool and Kate kept asking for pictures. She got a lot, but mostly just trees and stuff. When she asked for things like…the buildings and technology or stuff related to the mission - she was met with photos of Yelena standing in front of all the cool things, smiling at her like the cat who got the canary.

Which worked well enough to sate Kate’s curiosity, and also she didn’t have time for curiosity because despite there not officially being an Avengers team, Kate is immediately swamped with work.

She spends two weeks tracking a strange splinter group straight out of the fucking tracksuits who are not nearly as incompetent (though still as poorly dressed), who decide that they want a piece of the new Hawkeye.

They catch Kate off guard once, just once, by finding her on a patrol and luring her to the docks where about seven of them are there with the idea of beating the crap out of her.

They do kind of, just a little, but Kate holds her own and manages to find some high ground to give her the advantage. It was going well enough when one wrong step sent her falling off of a shipping crate and making her land right on her (very nice) ass.

Kate thought she was going to have to use the old smoke show escape arrow as they converged on her and the last few (dangerous) arrows she had left were busted from the fall, but then a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man (literally he was shooting freaking webs from his wrist!) helped her.

He was nice, and when she thanked him he went super shy and brushed her off like it was nothing - swinging away before Kate could even ask him any questions about his web.

That was the Hawkeye stuff, which was somehow easier for Kate to deal with than the CEO stuff.

The board has been all over her about her lack of time in the office lately - because, you know, big fancy Avenger. She knows at some point they’re going to find out, it’s inevitable, but for now she’s living two very different lives and trying to balance them both.

Which is why when she gets a call at five in the morning (she’s already been up for two hours) and sees Clint’s name flashing on her phone, Kate feels the hint of guilt.

“Hey! Hi! Long time no…see? Hear?” Kate frowns, that doesn’t sound right. “Long time no listen,” she settles on as she tips her huge thermos of coffee to her lips and tastes it. Bitter, but it’ll keep her awake. “Wait, is that offensive? Cause of the hearing thing?”

“Kate,” his voice is soft and almost…careful as he stops her rambling. Kate doesn’t like that gentle tone one bit.

“Right, sorry! What’s up? Why do you sound like the Bengals just lost the Super Bowl?”

He laughs, but she can tell it’s kind of forced. “I saw the news and wanted to see if you were okay, but I’m guessing you don’t know yet.”

Kate feels a pit in her stomach, because that is never a good sentence to hear from someone.

She moves through her apartment, ignoring the mess of her late night workshopping that made its way out of the armory and into her living room, and grabs the remote for her television. “What are you talking about?” She asks, flipping the channels to find any news that might-

“-news as Eleanor Bishop has been set free, with a pardon and a glowing speech from Mayor Fisk about her importance to the community. Eleanor was serving an eight year sentence for her involvement in the murder of Armond Duquense, on top of other outstanding charges centered around the Bishop Security scandal three years ago.”

Kate stares at the screen, she can hear Clint in her ear saying exactly what the TV is telling her, but all she can focus on is the image of her mother they keep showing over and over again as she’s being escorted out of a courtroom by security, not in cuffs or anything - a big smile on her face and Wilson fucking Fisk right there with her.

“Kate?” Clint’s voice is sharp, like he’s said her name more than once.

As they replay the clip of Kate’s mom coming out of the courtroom again, she turns her TV off and throws her remote on the couch. “I’m here,” she says, trying and failing to reign in her anger. “I don’t get it, like…who the fuck is this woman? God dammit!” She screams, she doesn’t mean to but she screams.

Clint is, thankfully, patient with her. “I know, it sucks, but you can't let it get to you.”

“It’s not getting to me,” she grumbles.

And Clint’s laugh tells her as much. “Sure, because it’s totally rational to scream obscenities like that.”

Kate can't help her eye roll, and the little smile he brings out of her. “Obscenities,” she teases, but her heart isn’t in it. “You’re so old.”

He doesn’t respond to that with more than a chuckle, but when he speaks again, his voice is careful and kind. “What are you gonna do?”

That’s a hell of a question, isn’t it? What the fuck is she going to do?

She knows what she should do, but god she really doesn’t want to. So she decides to seek alternatives. “What do you think I should do?”

“Talk to her.”

Fuck…

“You’re the worst.”

He laughs again, this one more lighthearted. “Sometimes the most obvious choice is the right one.”

“Most obvious and most annoying. I can't even begin to think of how I would talk to her, it's like…” Kate has been avoiding her mom for so long now that opening this up feels like stepping into a darkness she’s been running from for a few years now. “I see her on TV or like…in a courtroom and it’s my mom, you know? She’s right there, but then it feels like she’s not my mom at all. She’s this stranger in my mom’s body and I don’t know how to talk to this version of her.”

“People change, Kate. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the absolute worst. It’s a possibility with anyone you care about. Not just for heroes, but for everyone.”

He’s right, of course he is. Because being a hero doesn’t immediately remove her from family drama and greed and all the corruptible things that continue to wreak havoc on the world. “Ugh, why are the non-Avenger problems so much harder than the actual, save the world shit?”

“Because there are no arrows in existence that can make someone see what they’re doing is wrong.”

Kate huffs, “you’d think someone would have come up with something by now - we’ve got people hopping dimensions but we can't make our families stop being idiots.”

“Afraid not, free will and all that.”

She can only sigh, because he’s right and Kate knows he’s right and even if she can pretend that she was hoping he’d give her a different way to handle this, she mostly just needed him to assure her that he was there. “Alright well uh…thanks for the heads up, and I’m sorry I haven't reached out much lately, I’ve just been swamped with like…everything right now.”

“I figured, between the company and now this, I know Sam’s still putting the team together but have you gotten the chance to actually do any work?”

Kate shrugs to the empty room, feeling Lucky’s cold nose on her leg asking for pets that she happily gives him. “A little, this robot thing is kind of getting out of hand. Sam says this girl he’s brought in, Riri, apparently she’s crazy smart and she recognizes some of the bots coding but we have no idea why they keep showing up or what they’re tied to. That’s not a part of my job description though. I just shoot arrows at ‘em.”

“Yep, sounds about right, Hawkeye.”

-----------------------------------

YELENA: i hope your day is going better than my evening

KATE: i mean, it’s not, but why are you even awake? isn’t it like 1am where you are?

YELENA: yes, but there are limited rooms and i am stuck with my father who snores like he is a choo choo train

YELENA: 🚂🚆🚃🚄🚅

YELENA: why are there so many little train emojis?

Kate smiles, her first in the last six hours if she’s being honest. Because Yelena is very cute and she can almost hear her going “choo choo” in that sweet, raspy voice of hers.

God, she misses her.

YELENA: i hate that word by the way

KATE: emoji?

YELENA: yes! it is stupid and feels bad on my tongue when i say it

Despite making her way through the lobby of the absolute last place she wants to be (after having ducked and dodged multiple collections of media both outside her home and this one), Kate finds herself feeling a little giddy.

KATE: well if it makes you feel better, i think your snoring dad is more fun than the conversation i’m about to have

YELENA: i am sorry kate bishop. it does not make me happy that you are having to deal with this again

God Kate wishes Yelena was here right now, or at least in the city for her to go to after this.

KATE: thanks, really. i hope you get some sleep but if not text me in an hour and i’ll keep you company

YELENA: good luck with your mother

She has a feeling she’s gonna need more than luck, but the sentiment makes her feel better.

Kate doesn’t have to use any of her detective skills to know that her mom probably went straight to her penthouse after her release. If one thing is consistent about her mom, it’s that she loves that penthouse and even though she thought about it a time or two, Kate could never bring herself to sell it.

This is still the first time she’s been here in almost sixteen months and as she takes the elevator up to the main floor, Kate steadies herself. Because her mom is still her mom and even though Kate is coming here as more than just her daughter, it still feels so easy to get lost in those old patterns.

When the elevator dings and she’s face to face with the front door, Kate takes a deep breath and knocks. She realizes at this moment that she’s never actually knocked on this door before. It’s never felt like anything less than her home before. Even when she didn’t live here after graduating she would come over without a care and just barge right in.

Now, she can't imagine just walking in.

Kate takes her hands out of the pockets of her trench coat and shakes the tingly, anxious energy out of them just as the door opens and…

“Benedict?” She says his name in shock at first, but then the overwhelming feeling that hits her is anger. “What the hell are you doing here?”

His smile, his disgusting, snake-like smile grows wide as he sees her. “Kate, your mother knew you’d be coming to see her.”

She shakes her head, “you didn’t answer my question. What are you doing here?”

He opens the door a bit wider and she really takes him in. Not only is he in her home, but he’s dressed down like he’s been here for a while. Wearing a dark green sweater with a white t-shirt collar sticking up just a bit from under it. He has on slacks and a painfully familiar pair of slippers as opposed to shoes of any kind.

There’s also a drink in his hand. “I’ve been here helping your mom sort out her situation now that she’s been granted her freedom.”

“How…how are you here? How did you…” Her mom used to go on and on about how annoying this man was. How he was arrogant and obnoxious, how he was constantly stealing other people’s ideas and claiming them as his own.

“Relax, Kate, I mean no ill harm, truly. I am here because your mother has asked me to be here.” He steps aside and gives her space to come in. “I was just updating her on the work we’ve been doing with the company.”

Kate steps inside, deftly avoiding the way Benedict tries to put his hand on her as she walks by him.

The penthouse hasn’t changed much at all. She’s not been here in forever but she’s been paying the bill to have it cleaned at least once every few months in case she did decide to sell it off.

Now though, she can hear the music playing over the speakers, the specific blinds her mom likes the most have been drawn open and she can just...feel her mother in the room.

“This is such a lovely home. I was as shocked as your mother when I learned you didn't live here.” Benedict says, and Kate had been so wrapped up in gawking around her own childhood home that she’d forgotten he was here. “The view alone seems worth it, but it’s also closer to the office and-”

“Where is my mom?” She asks, tired of this and in no mood for small talk.

“Kate?” The soft, familiar voice of Eleanor Bishop is suddenly in her ear and Kate turns around so fast to see her, the tail of her coat fans out like a dress. “You’re here.”

She’s here, and so is her mom. Her mom, who she hasn’t seen outside of a prison in almost three years. Now she’s standing in her home, dressed in her old clothes, a bit skinner than Kate remembers, but still mostly the same.

It hits her then how three years was somehow both a long time and not nearly long enough - not for the things Eleanor did. “So are you,” Kate says, and then her lip curls and she looks behind her to where Benedict is standing. “Still trying to figure out why he is here though.”

His eyes narrow a bit at her, but her mom speaks first. “Benedict is here at my request, Kate. I needed to know what was happening with Bishop Security.” Eleanor takes a few steps more towards Kate, hesitant, and Kate can't blame her. She isn’t exactly jumping for joy at seeing her mom free. “He tells me you’ve taken quite the initiative.”

“Is that how he put it? Cause when he talks to me about it he mostly just tells me I’m ruining everything.”

Benedict laughs, that obnoxious fake one that might work in a fancy bar or a strip club where he’s already paid for the company, but it won’t work here. “Oh come now, I’m just trying to keep everything in view, you’ve made bold decisions but those can be risky!”

Kate feels her heckles rising with each word he speaks. “Mom, why is he here?”

“He’s here because he helped facilitate my release, Kate.”

“So he’s the one that contacted Wilson-fucking-Fisk to get you out of prison?”

Her mom sighs, “Mayor Fisk, and yes.” Kate feels like she’s walked into an alternate universe or something. “Are you not happy to see me?” Eleanor steps closer again, this time reaching out and putting both hands on Kate’s shoulders. “Kate, I know this is a lot to take in, but this is a good thing. I can deal with the company and you can get back to your life now.”

For just a brief moment, Kate feels seventeen again - asking her mom if she can start focusing on becoming an Avenger and being entirely dismissed and reminded that her future is with Bishop Industries. Her mom has always spoken to her like she’s biding her time. Letting Kate’s fantasies and silly dreams run their course, while silently keeping her on a very guided path.

There’s no denying that her mother loves her, even now as she looks at her for the first time in months, there’s love in her eyes that feels very real.

The problem, Kate’s learned, is that her mother’s love is for a very specific version of her. Certainly not the grown woman standing in front of her right now. “This is my life now, Mom. You made sure of that when you broke the law and got people killed and left me to clean up the mess.”

Eleanor sighs, like she’s disappointed and somehow even after all this time and circumstances, it still makes Kate feel like shit. “You’re the one who had me arrested, Kate. I could have been here to help you, but you made the decision to put me in prison.” Despite the scolding words, Eleanor’s voice is still soft, and she even goes so far as to press her palm to Kate’s cheek. “But we can move past that now, okay? A fresh start for the both of us. I can have a press conference set up tomorrow and you can hand the company back over to me, I won’t turn away the work you’ve done - Benedict has told me about your little community outreach programs and I think they’re great.”

Her little outreach program. The tone, the words, they grind on Kate’s brain and break her heart.

But it’s also just enough to make her stand her ground. “No,” she says, taking a step back and out of her mother’s reach. “I’m not giving you the company back. I’m not letting you have that kind of access while you’re walking side by side with Kingpin and letting a snake like this in our home.”

Benedict clicks his tongue, “this is a discussion we’ll have with the board.” He says, a threat and nothing more.

“Don’t fucking talk to me.” She all but snarls at him, and her tone is enough to shut him up.

“Kate-” her mother tries, but she shakes her head and starts to back away towards the exit.

“No! This isn’t how this works anymore. You don’t get to come back and just be in charge again. You lost that privilege when you associated yourself with a man like Wilson Fisk!”

Eleanor takes a deep breath, eyeing Kate like she used to when Kate was little and would come home after getting in trouble at school. “Who do you think has more blood on their hands, Kate? Wilson Fisk or Clint Barton?”

Kate scoffs, “that’s not even remotely the same and we’re not talking about him. We’re talking about you and the trash you keep associating yourself with all in the name of keeping your status!”

“Our status, Kate. You’ve benefited from everything we’ve done, everything your father did, just as much as I have.”

It’s a cheap shot, one that lands a critical hit that makes Kate realize she needs to get the fuck out of here.

“I don’t know who you are anymore - and you don’t know me either.” She opens the door and stops, for just a moment, to take one look back. “I miss who you used to be, Mom.” Kate says, but then decides she needs to clarify, "or maybe I just miss who I thought you were."

It’s not much, but the facade of steadiness her mom always seems to have cracks just a bit right before Kate walks away.

---------------------------------------

It should be easy, she’s done this hundreds of times, but today Kate can't get this stupid band-aid open.

After seeing her mom, Kate needed to clear her head, so she put on her Hawkeye gear and went out to patrol - while shutting her phone off to just forget about everything for a while.

It was fine, she scared off a few robbers and watched over an arrest from a rooftop to make sure the cops didn’t go too far, before she finally got herself into what she was looking for, a fight.

She found three men trying to break into a car and when the initial threat didn’t make them leave, Kate knew she was gonna have to take them down.

They came at her in a rush, but none of them were very skilled. Just bros who throw big punches that are easy to miss.

On any normal night, Kate could have taken them down easily but tonight was far from normal. So when they started to come at her and she was blocking their silly punches, Kate had so many chances to hit back but just…didn’t.

Instead she backed herself into a corner and put her guard down and let them get in a few shots.

They hurt, of course, but Kate wanted to feel something other than the pit of dread and discomfort that had been rotting in her stomach all day. She needed an ache, a pain, something to get her attention and hold it long enough to take a few breaths.

So yeah, they hit her pretty hard, busted her lip and put a dent in her nose, but in the end she turned it on and wiped them out. Probably a little harder than necessary.

It wasn't until she made it back home and saw her bow sitting on the table that Kate realized she forgot to take it with her.

Now she’s here, in her bathroom, trying and failing to put a bandage on one of her facial cuts because her stupid hands won’t stop shaking.

When she does finally get the bandage on her nose, Kate closes her eyes and takes a long, deep breath to try and calm herself down just as her phone buzzes sharply on the sink next to her.

She taps the screen and sees the notification - a text from an unsaved number.

Kate, it’s Benedict McDaniels, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve scheduled a board meeting to discuss the future of Bishop Security now that your mother has returned. We’ll see you promptly at 8AM on Monday morning.

She reads the message three times, each one making her stomach turn.

The writing is on the wall, the board hates her, Benedict went behind her back to free her mom and now they’re going to push her out.

Worst of all; what the fuck can she even do about it?

She hates this, she hates the feeling of wishing her mom was still locked up. How fucked up is that?

It hurts so much. She misses the woman her mom was, misses what they used to have - this person she is now feels like a stranger and Kate wants so badly to hate her.

But she can't, because it’s not hate that she’s feeling, it’s sadness. She’s heartbroken and now they’re going to give the company back to her and for what? So she can hand over anything and everything to Wilson Fisk?

No, no she can't let that happen. She has resources right? She’s an Avenger now. She could ask for help. Tell Sam or SHIELD what might happen. But then she would just be dragging her brand new team that she barely interacts with into family drama and for what? So SHIELD can take over the company and use its resources. Kate knows they’re good, but SHIELD has also had a lot of shady shit going on.

It’s just…so much, it’s too much. Her head is spinning and her body hurts. She hasn’t slept more than a few hours in weeks and she wants it all to slow down for a second so she can catch her breath.

“Kate?”

She hears Yelena’s voice and at first thinks it’s an illusion - that her mind has truly cracked. Because Yelena is away on a mission and has been for a while. They were supposed to call tonight but Kate couldn't focus enough to settle down and do it.

“Kate Bishop?” Her voice is closer, moving through the house. Kate should open the door and see if she really is losing her mind but all her legs do is take two steps back towards the bathtub and suddenly she’s sitting down leaning against it.

Her mom was right, Clint was right, she can't do this. She’s not ready for this. She’s not smart enough, not clever enough, not skilled enough. Who the fuck was she to think she could run a billion dollar company and be a hero and still be a good person?

That’s not how the world works. No, her parents knew that - her dad did. That’s why he did so many horrible things and hid them from her, because he knew just like she’s learning now, that the world is only built for shitty people who do shitty things and people like her get eaten alive.

“Stupid, you’re so stupid, Kate. You’re just an immature child who can't-”

Knock knock

“Kate? I can hear you talking to yourself in there.” Yelena’s voice is soft, right up against the door and when Kate opens her mouth to say something, all that comes out is a broken sob. That’s when her heart starts racing, because she can't stop the flood of thoughts that feel like they’re physically piercing her brain. It’s everything, all the stresses and doubts just swarming her like locusts.

Now she can't catch her breath, she can't focus - the edges of her vision are going dark when she hears her name called again - louder.

Then there’s a loud clanking sound and a thud, she notices the door open and sees legs shuffling closer to her.

“Kate Bishop,” Yelena’s voice is soft, her hands are warm as they cradle Kate’s jaw and pull her chin up to meet their eyes. Yelena’s brows are furrowed with worry, lips pulled down in a deep frown as she strokes her thumb over Kate’s cheeks. “What is wrong? Are you hurt?”

Reaching up, Kate wraps her hands around Yelena’s wrist just desperate to feel grounded. She squeezes hard, too hard, but Yelena doesn’t pull away. “Can’t…breathe…” she squeaks out a plea, feeling tears start to roll down her cheeks.

She’s panicking. She’s having a panic attack. Something that hasn’t happened to her since she was fourteen in a school bathroom when something reminded her of her dad.

“I’m here,” Yelena moves to sit down on the tiled floor right in front of her. Before Kate can even process what’s happening, Yelena pulls her in so they’re sitting face to face. Yelena lays Kate’s legs over her own, sliding closer until their chests are flush. “Feel me, Kate Bishop, listen to me,” Yelena’s voice is right in Kate’s ear, soft and kind. “I am going to breathe in, and I want you to do exactly the same, okay? Nod if you understand.”

The lump Kate tries to swallow gets caught in her throat a little, but she manages to nod anyway. “Good, very good. Now…breathe in through your nose with me.” Yelena takes in a deep, slow breath that Kate tries to match. Hers is shaky, and it makes her chest hurt, but she gets it there. “Now out straight through the mouth.” When she exhales, Yelena’s breath tickles Kate’s neck and is just enough to get her to release her own. Again, she struggles. The stupid tears won’t stop pouring down her cheeks and her body won’t stop trembling. “Good, good girl, we will keep going, yeah?”

Kate nods again, and it’s only after the third breath that she realizes Yelena’s arms are wrapped around her back, holding her.

Slowly, the world starts to settle. Her vision clears just a bit, her breathing takes less effort, but she just can't stop crying. She feels it all, every bit of the pressure and the anxiety and the exhaustion. It’s all so much and Kate has no idea how to stop it.

“Lena,” she whispers, her face tucked into the junction of Yelena’s neck and shoulder.

“I’m here,” Yelena soothes her, and oh Kate has never felt so safe in her entire life. “I am here and you are here and we are okay.”

Eventually, the panic attack fades and the relief of it is just enough to make her finally lean back and meet those green eyes that are watching her.

Yelena’s hair is getting longer, it touches her shoulders now and though she’s combed it back, a few strands are dangling over her eyes. “You’re here?”

“I am,” her smile crinkles her nose, Kate’s favorite.

“You’re supposed to be in Wakanda.”

“I know, but I left early - we found what we were looking for, and Bucky is more comfortable there so he took point. I needed-” Yelena purses her lips, seemingly changing course. “I was ready to be home.”

Kate can't even pretend to be anything other than glad. “Lucky me,” she says, then her brain hears the words in her head again. “Oh my god, Lucky!”

“He is fine,” Yelena holds her as she tries to get up. “He was very happy to see me, and who isn’t obviously, I gave him a nice, safe doggie bone as a present and he is enjoying it in the living room.”

Oh god, Yelena brought her dog a bone. Yelena, who showed up after a who knows how long flight and swooped in just in time to save her from her own head. It’s too much, she feels the tears threatening again as she rests their foreheads together. “What would I do without you?”

Yelena hums, her thumb gently pressing into the pulse point on Kate’s neck. “Eat much worse food, I imagine.”

Kate smiles, “definitely.” She feels another wave of exhaustion hit her. “I’m so fucking tired.”

“I know, you do not sleep and it is not healthy.”

Normally, Kate would brush this off. Truly, she has never been a big sleeper - but lately it’s been way worse. There’s just so much going on and it feels like she’s constantly trying to keep up with her own shadow.

“Okay,” Yelena starts to move and Kate can't help the whine that escapes her because she doesn’t want this random cuddle on her bathroom floor to end. However, before she can say anything, Yelena is pulling her to her feet. “You, go and get a change of clothes.” Yelena reaches around her and suddenly turns the water on in the bathtub. “I will run you a nice bath, bring you the delicious takeout I brought with me and you will relax.”

Kate, standing face to face with Yelena now, blinks as she’s met with a stern nod. “I’m…what?”

“Go get clothes, Kate Bishop. Something comfy to wear after your bath!”

“My bath,”

Yelena sighs deeply, “Yes, I swear it is в одно ухо, в другое.” She then grabs Kate by the shoulders and starts guiding her to the door. “Get clothes, pet your dog, I will use bubbles!”

That’s the last thing Yelena says before pushing her out the door towards the hall.

Kate stands there for a few seconds just…staring back at the partly closed door where Yelena Belova, Avenger and best assassin probably in the whole damn world, is adding bubbles to a bath specifically for her.

She’s going to start crying again if she just stands here, so Kate shuffles her feet down the hall to her bedroom.

Her brain doesn’t really work properly as she just kind of shuffles through her drawers, pulling out a pair of sweats and a light, long sleeved shirt that matches her favorite pair of fluffy purple socks.

She sees Lucky as she crosses through the apartment again, gnawing joyfully on a bone, tail wagging as she calls him spoiled but not nearly enough to draw his attention away from the treat. When she reaches the bathroom again, Yelena is sitting on the edge of the tub, her sleeve rolled up as she runs her hand through the bubbly water.

Kate realizes at that exact moment that she’s in love with her.

When Yelena sees her, she smiles, and Kate suddenly feels very vulnerable and has to look away. “Alright,” Yelena turns the tub off and gets up, walking over to Kate. “You get in there and get comfortable and I will come back with food. I got burgers from that place you talk about far more than anyone should ever talk about a single restaurant.”

It’s so sweet, so thoughtful and when Kate meets her eyes again there’s nothing there but kindness. “Thank you I - I might not be able to eat too much, my stomach is a little shaky.”

Yelena frowns, that deep, thoughtful one that Kate adores so much. She steps forward, carefully putting the back of her hand on Kate’s forehead. “You are warm, are you feeling sick?”

“Maybe,” Kate shrugs, she hasn’t felt like herself all night. “I haven't slept well lately-” Yelena’s eyebrows go up with a bit of accusation in them. “More so than usual.”

That hand on Kate’s forehead slides downward, the back of Yelena’s knuckles brushing along Kate’s cheek. “You worry me, Kate Bishop. I don’t like that you do not sleep.”

“I know.”

Still watching her, almost studying her, Yelena nods once and then steps aside. “Get in the tub, I will bring the food and we can see how you feel when you smell it, just do not fall asleep in the tub, okay?”

That vulnerability, the thing that’s been clinging to her all night, rears its ugly head again. “Can you…stay? I will totally understand if it’s too uncomfortable and I’m not…this isn’t me trying to do anything, but I just,” Kate has to stare at the floor, she hates feeling like this. “I don’t want to be alone.”

Yelena doesn’t answer right away. The silence lasts long enough that Kate has to look at her again to gauge anything, but what she’s met with is a smile. “I will be back then once you are in the tub.”

Kate can't hold back, she leans forward and kisses Yelena’s cheek. “Thank you.”

By the time Yelena comes back, Kate is undressed and buried under the healthy amount of bubbles Yelena put into the bath. It’s…perfect, the water is warm on her achy body - the apartment is quiet save for the sounds of Yelena moving through it. Kate’s body is still extremely coiled, recovering from its earlier panic, but she feels better.

“Okay, I brought burgers from that place you like that makes them all flat and with the crispy edges.”

Kate’s eyes light up, “oh my god, smash burgers?”

Yelena grins, “yes that!” She settles down next to the top, popping open the takeout bag and pulling out all the things. She has multiple burgers and their amazing curly fries in bulk.

When Yelena turns the bag over and about a dozen little packets of hot sauce pour out Kate can't help but laugh. “There she is,” she teases, learning her chin on the edge of the tub to watch.

As Yelena unravels a burger that Kate can already smell and is so glad it doesn’t make her stomach turn over, she holds it out for Kate to take.

However, when she reaches for it, her wet, bubbly hand comes into view and she frowns. “Oh, I can't…I’ll just make the bread wet,” Kate shudders at the very thought. “I hate wet bread.”

Yelena, mouth full of fries, pulls the burger away and Kate is fully ready to pout at the idea of her food getting cold while she’s in the bath.

But then Yelena shifts, scooting even closer to the tub and bringing the bag of food with her. “Here,” she says as she swallows. “Open.” Kate stares at her for a good twenty seconds, mouth clamped shut the entire time. Yelena rolls her eyes. “Open your mouth, Kate Bishop. I will feed you.”

Oh, so at some point tonight Kate must have gotten a concussion, because there’s no way Yelena just said she was going to feed her.

Yet, as she pushes the smashburger closer, Kate’s mouth falls open and Yelena puts just enough in there for her to bite down. Their eyes never look away from each other, even as Kate feels a dribble of sauce push out of the corner of her mouth.

When Yelena pulls back, Kate chews and reaches up to wipe at her mouth, but again her hands are bubbly and it’ll just make an even bigger mess. “Here,” Yelena says and then dabs gently at Kate’s mouth with a napkin, “so messy.” She teases and smiles and makes everything feel like it’s totally normal and fine.

How does she do that?

Kate feels the emotions starting to spike again. Her whole day has been one solid wall of overwhelming emotion and now the one winning out is just…warmth. She feels so warm and safe and it’s dawning on her now that she hasn’t felt this way in years.

There hasn’t been anyone to look after her. To be there for her when she has a bad day or needs to turn off and just…rest.

She doesn’t say anything, because if she does she will probably just start crying or worse, but each time Yelena gives her another bite of food Kate falls even more in love with her.

It’s not until they’ve finished, when Yelena is balling up the wrappers and tucking them into the bag, that Yelena finally fills the silence. “What happened tonight, Kate?” She asks, her voice soft but pressing just a bit - letting Kate know she wants the truth. “Was it your mother?”

Kate nods, sinking back down into the water. “Yeah, she uh…the board basically went behind my back to Mayor Fisk and convinced him to pardon her. With the idea of pushing me out of the company and putting her back as CEO. Which, you know, would give Fisk full access to our database-” that’s when it hits her like a truck. “Which now includes The Watchtower.” She can already feel the anxiety rising again because that changes everything. It puts even more people at risk. It puts Yelena at risk. “Fuck, Yelena…I don’t know what to do, I can't…she has the board, the mayor, she has all this leverage and I have no cards left to play.”

She won’t let Fisk get anywhere near that information. No, Kate will burn the building to the ground before she lets her mother or Wilson Fisk or anyone else have access to the place Yelena works, to the people Yelena cares about. No, she’ll-

“You say that, but it is not true.”

Kate’s head snaps up to Yelena’s, a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth. There’s anger seeping into her skin mixed with some sort of despair she’s desperate to be rid of, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, your mother may have many cards, as you say - but there is one you and only you have.”

She watches Yelena lean against the side of the tub, a smile on her face that makes Kate’s heart race, “wh - what card is that?”

“Me,” she says with a smile. “Your mother did not just use her company to help Wilson Fisk or even to kill some rich businessman with a boring, overused name. She tried to have an Avenger killed, she hired an assassin to do it - the same assassin who was just feeding you food like a little baby bird.”

“Okay first of all when birds feed their babies don’t they like…basically throw it up into their mouths?”

Yelena pulls a bitter face, “gross, Kate Bishop. I am making a great point and you are being gross!”

“You’re not making a great point! Yelena, I can't ask you to speak out about that. I won’t…you’re trying to put all that behind you!”

Yelena nods, but her expression remains undeterred. “Да, this is true - but it does not matter when I can help.”

“No, it does matter, your comfort and feelings matter to me and I won’t-”

“Kate, you do not understand, I am…” Yelena’s mask fades a bit, that bravado slipping as she shifts awkwardly on the tiled floor. “I told you that I chose you, and that I…you know how I feel about you.”

If she questioned it at all before tonight, she doesn't anymore. How could she? When Yelena took care of her, pulled her back to solid ground and then literally fed her her favorite burger in the bathtub. Still, this feels like so much. “I don’t want to put you at risk.”

Yelena’s hand reaches up then, gently cupping Kate’s cheek and, with only slight hesitation, Yelena leans forward and kisses her forehead. Kate sinks into it, the kiss is soft and careful, they’re so not ready for more than that. They’re not…anything right now, but this feels like a promise that weighs for more than anything Kate’s ever had in her life before.

Yelena pulls back slowly, but instead of letting Kate go, she presses their foreheads together and exhales. “It is not a risk to me if it means protecting you.” Kate blinks a few times and looks up, seeing Yelena staring back at her. “Let me help.”

Kate answers with action, pulling her bubbly, wet hand out of the tub and wrapping it around the back of Yelena's head to bring their foreheads back together again - she’s quickly finding out this is her favorite place to be in the world.

If Yelena is upset about the water dripping down her back, she doesn’t say anything.

Chapter Text

“I can't believe you kept this,” Kate says as she looks over the contract, with both Yelena and her mother’s signatures on it. “It’s more…formal than I expected a murder contract to be.”

Yelena hums, sipping on her coffee as they sit at Kate’s kitchen counter in the early hours of the morning. Yelena slipped back home before dawn, while Kate was still asleep (best sleep she’s had in months) to grab the contract and take care of Fanny in the morning. When she came back, contract and two coffees in hand, Kate fought like hell to resist the urge to kiss her.

They’re still entirely undefined, which is so not the point of today but also something Kate can't seem to stop thinking about. Because Yelena saved her last night, in so many ways, and is still here today ready and willing to do anything for her.

It’s a beautiful madness that she’s getting lost in at this point - knowing and feeling what it’s like to truly have someone in her corner.

“I am not sure why I did either, even long after I gave up killing Barton I just…kept it.” Yelena glances over at her, watching and waiting until Kate finally caves and looks back. “Maybe I just wanted something to remember you by, dě́tka.”

Her voice is soft, and the words are so sweet, but Kate focuses on the one she doesn’t know. “What’s that mean? Dě́tka?”

She watches Yelena’s attention pull away from the contract, from the coffee, and focus directly on her. “What do you think it means?”

Oh right, that’s another thing Kate’s coming to terms with now, Yelena just kind of flirts with her all the time. “Well, based on the way you say it, it’s good, soft. Like maybe a term of endearment?”

“You are smart, Kate Bishop.”

Kate rolls her eyes, “I’ve been saying!” Yelena laughs and again it’s enough to put the weight of all of this back on Kate’s shoulders. Because she really does love Yelena’s laugh and her smile and she doesn’t want to risk taking those away from her. “Are you sure about this? Like I know, you said all the right things last night but I just…won’t this look bad for you too? You were a contract killer.”

Yelena hums and takes a deep breath, settling a little deeper into her seat. “I was, but you’ve heard all of this news and people talking, they think that all of my killing came when I was in the Red Room, and we have crafted the story to reflect that. For all the public will know, Yelena Belova was subjugated when she was hired to kill Clint Barton - she had no choice.”

“And you’re okay with that?” She asks, but then realizes that’s not the question she means. “Not the lying part, that’s…I support that.”

“Wow, I am corrupting you.”

Kate rolls her eyes, “I can be a rebel, you know?” Yelena’s eyebrows shoot up towards the ceiling. “I can! Remember the bell tower I destroyed, or the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center I knocked down! I’m basically a vigilante and a borderline anti-hero!” The entire time she speaks, Yelena’s eyes soften and her smile grows.

“You have three pairs of Snoopy socks, Kate Bishop.”

“Stop going through my dresser!” She says but the laugh in her throat takes out all the heat her words might have had. “I’m just saying, lying isn’t what I’m worried about. I just don’t want you to have to rehash all of this Red Room stuff.”

She watches Yelena shift a bit, the stool she’s sitting on squeaking against the floor as she scoots closer towards Kate - right until their knees are touching. When they do, Yelena puts a hand on the juncture between Kate’s shoulder and neck and gently massages it. “I do not say this for pity or sadness, Kate so don’t get protective like you do.” Kate squirms a bit in her seat, wanting to protest that being protective of Yelena is something she enjoys - but holding her tongue so Yelena can speak. “But I relive it every single day regardless. It is, more often than not, the first thing that I think about as I wake up and it lingers with me in the night when I am trying to sleep.”

Kate hates it, she isn’t even entirely sure if she’s allowed to feel as strongly as she does about it - but Yelena’s time in the Red Room makes her furious. “If you’re sure?” She asks one last time, because she just…she just wants Yelena to know they’ll be okay regardless.

Unsurprisingly, Yelena doesn't hesitate. “I am sure. It will be fun! I can make Valentina sweat and you can hold this over your stuffy board members.”

“How do you think she’ll react? Val?”

Yelena sighs, almost dreamily. “Oh she will be very upset. She has gone to great lengths to keep all of her dirty laundry in check - now this? She will be on our side if only to protect herself. That woman does not have loyalty to anyone. Not even someone she used to sleep with.”

Kate laughs at first, because she believes it and the way Yelena talks about it is kind of cute. But then the words Yelena said caught up to her and…wait…

“What?” Kate blurts out, suddenly standing up without realizing it. “Did you just say…what?”

Yelena has the tiniest little smile on her face. “Something wrong, Kate Bishop? I thought you knew.”

“I - I mean…she mentioned something the last time I talked to her about being close to my mom and my mind betrayed me for a heartbeat or two but…no,” Kate laughs. Shaking her head almost maniacally. “My mom is the straightest person I know. She’s so straight she almost married Jack, and don’t get me wrong - I adore the guy now but only a hetero would-”

Kate’s words are cut off by Yelena’s laughter, hand over her mouth like she’s trying (she isn’t) to cover it up. “You knew,” Yelena says, reaching out and grabbing Kate’s hand. “Despite any teasing, you are one of the smartest people I know and even if it is not something you wanted to believe, deep down…you knew. Your…what is it? Gaydar didn’t pick up anything from Val?”

“I mean Val, sure! She has a real mistress vibe going with that assistant of hers but not my mom! What the fuck? My mom has sex with women?” Kate is suddenly assaulted with images that have her shaking her head back and forth. “Oh god, okay. You…I need to call Clint and talk to him about all this contract business and just…wash my face with bleach or something.”

Kate turns to head upstairs and grab her phone, but Yelena keeps a hold of her hand and makes Kate stop. When she turns around, Yelena is on her feet and suddenly very close. “Are you feeling better today?” It’s a check in, and Kate melts under the weight of it. She was not in a good place last night at all, and even though she slept well, it lingered well into the morning.

Yet, with Yelena here and looking at her like that, Kate’s resolve feels endless. “Yeah, I’m okay - better.” She twists Yelena’s hand up and pulls it towards her lips. Getting more and more comfortable with these little shows of affection. Unlabeled or not, there is no denying that whatever this is between them is very very real. “Thank you for being here for me last night. I haven't…” a wave of unexpected shyness hits her then and makes her look away, but she needs to say it. “Nobody’s taken care of me like that in a really long time.”

The knuckles Kate kisses are suddenly bruising against her cheek, drawing her attention. “Nobody has taken care of me the way you did ever in my life.” Yelena lifts up on her toes and kisses Kate’s cheek. “Returning the favor was a pleasure.”

Yep, yeah…Kate Bishop is in love.

------------------------------------

“Hey Hawkeye, long time no speak.”

Kate laughs, propping her feet up on the footstool she has set up on the balcony on the highest floor of her apartment, the view of New York’s skyline forever making her feel better. “Yeah sorry about that, it’s been…insane here lately.”

“Being an Avenger means you’re busy pretty much all the time. It doesn't get any slower after this.”

“Good to know,” Kate says, even though it’s felt slow so far with everything still being in the pretty early stages. She’s talked to Sam a few times (nothing from Fury yet, but any day he’ll call her and officially welcome her to the team) but apparently Sam is busy recruiting all of the country. “How’s life on the farm?”

Clint laughs, as he always does when she asks him that. “Same as always, believe it or not I moved out here to avoid crazy things happening. Everything here is steady and consistent.”

“So…boring?” She teases as she puts the phone on speaker and starts to get dressed for the day. She has to go see a lawyer to go over everything Yelena gave her, and apparently Yelena knows one who deals with shitty people all the time - Kate has no fucking clue how Yelena has so many contacts in this city.

“Kate, I’m halfway through my second cup of coffee and halfway through the sports section of the paper so unless you need something-”

“Dude, you’re like a walking billboard for the retirement home at this point.” Kate pulls on a bra, fumbling a bit with the clasp as she eyes her closet and the various dressy shirts available to her. A lot of purple, a lot of white, but her eyes settle on the turquoise one she hasn’t gotten to wear yet.

“Walking is the key word, still walking after all this time.” He sends back and Kate smiles at that before stepping out of her sweats. “Seriously though, is everything okay? I know this stuff with your mom can't be easy.”

Kate sighs, which she thinks is something she’s going to do for the rest of her life whenever her mom is brought up in conversation. That thought alone makes her heart ache - because how does someone so important to her suddenly become such a dark corner of her life. “It’s uh…it’s actually why I called.”

“Alright,” Clint seems to shift from whatever he’s doing, sounding more alert. Kate remembers why she adores him so much. “What’s up?”

Taking a deep breath, Kate tells him everything. She tells him about how her mom was released, about seeing her again. She tells him about Benedict being at her home and how he played a role in getting Eleanor out. She opens up about the veiled threat they’ve made to her, removing her from the board and giving the company back to her mom. She tells him everything, not letting herself stop because if she does, the ache in her chest might win out again.

It isn’t until she starts going into her panic attack that he finally interrupts her. “Yelena showed up?”

Kate swallows the thick lump in her throat, focusing on putting on her shoes as she sits on the bed, hands shaking a little. “Yeah, she uh…she flew back from Wakanda and showed up as I was mid freakout.”

“So you two really have gotten close then?”

She wants to laugh, because close feels like an understatement at this point. Yelena tended to her every need last night, in a way nobody else in Kate’s life has ever done before. “Yeah, we have. She’s…she’s special.” Clint hums in response, as he tends to do when she talks about Yelena. At first Kate thought it was because he didn’t like her - which she would understand given the whole trying to kill him thing. But on the occasions when he does talk about her - it feels more like he sees so much of Natasha in her. “She’s also kind of why I’m calling you.”

“I’m listening, Kate. Whatever you need you know I’ve got you.”

That does it, a few of her tears slip by and Kate brushes them away quickly. “I know, but this is a big one. I uh…so like I said about the board trying to push me out. They have all the leverage, and Fisk behind them so I didn’t know what to do. Like…how do I paint this to get anyone on my side, you know?” She stands up, grabbing her turquoise top and slipping it over her head. “At least that’s what I thought, until Yelena reminded me that my mom did one more really shitty thing that nobody else knows about…” she lets it linger, hoping their shared Hawkeye energy will clue him in.

“You mean when she hired an assassin to kill me?”

Bless you Hawkeye energy. “Exactly, and apparently Yelena really is always thinking multiple steps ahead because she kind of kept the whole contract she signed to do it and…well, it might be just the leverage we need to keep my mom out of power.”

“By outing Yelena attempting to kill me?”

Kate sighs, “I know, I said the same thing but she was insistent. She…” Kate digs through her jewelry box, finding a watch to wear. “She wants to help.”

What follows is an extended silence, long enough for Kate to clip the watch on and sort through all of her necklaces before deciding none of them fit. When she looks down at her phone on the dresser to make sure the call didn’t disconnect, he finally responds. “What’s going on with you two?” He asks, as if that’s the most relevant thing going on right now.

“Did you not hear me? She wants to put her attempted hit on you out to the public.”

“No I know, I got that, but what I don’t understand is why she’s going so far and beyond for you.”

Kate’s feathers ruffle a little. “Wow, okay, I mean I think I’m pretty awesome and charming but-”

Clint sighs, “that’s not what I meant. What I meant was that Yelena has so much of her own shit going on right now last I remember we weren’t exactly her favorite people.” She wants to tell him to speak for himself, but keeps her mouth shut. “What do you need from me?”

“Oh nothing, at least…not right now. I just wanted to talk to you and tell you the plan and like…I don’t know how my mom is going to react. I’m hoping this will scare her off and she’ll back down but if she doesn’t-” the thought is so upsetting Kate struggles to even say it.

Thankfully, Clint gets it. “If she doesn’t, you’ll have to go public.”

“Yeah, and I didn’t want your name suddenly out there again without you knowing why.” Kate’s halfway through putting on her shoes when the weight of it all hits her. “God I hope I don’t have to go public,” she sighs. “I don’t recognize her anymore, Clint.”

“I know, and I didn’t know your mom before everything so I can't judge and I won’t judge based on her, you know, trying to have me killed.” Kate winces again, because fuck she can't believe her mom tried to kill her hero. “But I do know you and I know that the way you’re handling this is pretty badass. I’m proud of you, Katie.”

Ah there it is, that’s the moment Clint decided to make her cry, “dude come on, I have to leave the house in like ten minutes,” she says as she sniffles and quickly brushes at her eyes.

Clint’s chuckle fills her ears. “Sorry, Laura told me I needed to express my feelings more to the kids and, well, you’re like an extension of that so-”

“Stop! Oh my god!” Kate throws her head back, pinching the bridge of her nose, “I’m not going to cry now, okay. I’m saving it for after I once again threaten to put my mother in jail.”

“You’ll be fine, and like you said, you’ve got Yelena in your corner, right? So at least you’re not dealing with it alone - and if you need more help just ask. The kids have been bugging me for months about going back to New York.”

As she wraps up the call, promising to keep Clint informed, she really hopes the next time he and the family come to the city, it isn’t for a trial against her mother.

------------------------------------------

YELENA: do not forget to breathe, kate bishop

Kate smiles as she rides the elevator up to her mother’s penthouse, clinging to the texts, the idea that Yelena is with her at least in spirit, as the anxiety desperately tries to overwhelm her.

KATE: breathe, noted 🫡

KATE: if only my hands would stop shaking

The elevator dings as the door rolls open and Kate sees the door to the penthouse in front of her. She thinks back to all the conversations she had with her mom when she was in jail, which weren't many, and how each one felt more and more distant from what they used to be.

After today, she thinks, there is probably no going back. Kate can't really decide if it’s more painful to lose her father and never see him again, or lose her mother and know she’s still out there.

YELENA: relax, trust yourself, and know that when you come home afterwards there will be a very good bowl of soup waiting for you

Kate’s not sure any single sentence has been more comforting than that one. No matter what happens next, Yelena will be waiting for her.

KATE: i’m so glad you’re in my life

She lets her finger hover over the message for just a few seconds before pressing send and shoving her phone in her pocket. Then, with the courage Yelena gave her, she knocks on the door.

Thankfully, the only person who she sees when the door opens is her mom. “Kate,” she sighs, a smile blooming on her face as Kate takes her in. She looks every bit the same woman Kate knew three years ago. Her hair is a little longer, maybe she’s a bit thinner, but mostly it’s just her mom. “I was really hoping you’d come by, I hate the way we left things.”

Kate stuffs her hands in her pockets, nodding as she stays planted near the entrance. “Yeah well, it wasn't exactly a great conversation.”

“No, it wasn't and I don’t want it to be like that with us. Please, come in, we can sort this out.” Eleanor steps aside, gesturing for Kate to come through. WHen she does, Kate tenses as her mom pulls her in for a hug. “Wow,” Eleanor pulls back and runs her hands up and down Kate’s arms. “You’ve put on muscle.”

“Helps with my work.”

Eleanor hums, “I assume you don’t mean Bishop Security?” Kate doesn’t answer, just shakes her head. “So you really went through with it, huh? Being a hero?”

“I’m trying to be,” she says simply enough. “Life doesn’t always make it easy.”

She sees her mom’s face fall a bit, disappointment that Kate knows well. “So what am I to you then? Your mother or a villain?”

Maybe Eleanor is trying to guilt her, maybe she’s trying to find a weakness in Kate’s armor or maybe she is just genuinely curious. Either way, Kate’s resolve tremors just a bit. “You’ll always be my mom,” she says. “Even if I don’t recognize you sometimes.”

Her mom sighs, moving away from Kate to step deeper into the penthouse. “Kate, that’s not fair. I’m not doing any of this to try and hurt you, I just want my life back.”

“Mom, you had someone killed, you were giving Wilson Fisk personal information to the clients of the company and he was using that to hurt more people and hold this city hostage. How can you-”

“Kate, you don’t understand, you weren’t there. If he didn’t get that from me he’d get it from someone else. I could keep him under control, I could decide-”

“It’s not up to you to decide!” Kate shouts, not really meaning to but she’s tired of being talked down to. “And who are you to decide? What moral compass do you have that makes you think you’re any better than he is?”

That seems to hit a nerve, because her mother, who was in the process of pouring herself a drink, stops cold. “So you do think I’m a villain?”

Kate huffs, shrugging, “I think you act like it sometimes, yeah.”

Eleanor stares at her for a few long moments before finishing her pour. She grabs a second glass and gestures it towards Kate. Kate shakes her head, and Eleanor puts the empty glass down before grabbing her own. “I think you’ll understand at some point, Kate. Why I did what I did and you’ll know that it wasn't like I sought this out. I didn’t go looking for Wilson Fisk and offering him up what we had. I was just dealing with the cards-” she stops herself, like she’s forgotten she was talking to her daughter and not a lawyer.

Still, Kate knows where she’s going. “The cards Dad dealt you?”

A flicker of something, pain or guilt or sadness, flashes across her mother’s face. “We did our best.”

“You did your best to stay rich, don’t say you did it for me.”

Eleanor laughs, “I will say that because it’s true. And look at how you benefited from it. All of those classes we took to you, all the training and events you attended - the trophies and medals you won, our money went into that. The hero you are now, Kate, we funded her.” She’s landing sharp blows and she knows it, because Kate knows it’s true. The opportunities she had were granted to her by the fact that her family had money. All the things she was able to accomplish, the world class trainers who molded her archery, karate, her strength, that’s not something normal people had. “This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, Kate. I’m not going to let it get out of hand this time. I’ll do better, I won’t…I won’t spiral and I won’t have to because I know now that I don’t have to worry so much about you.”

Kate feels her frustration coming back again, “don’t try to put what you did on me.”

“I was protecting you,”

“You were protecting your money.”

Eleanor levels her with a hard look. “Our money,” she says. “Don’t you pretend like you didn’t take advantage of every bit of it just like I did. There’s a belltower that I paid to repair because of you, remember?” With that, Eleanor puts her drink down and takes two long strides back towards Kate. This time, she cradles Kate’s face between her hands, just like she used to when Kate was little. “You’re a hero now, Kate and I think that’s so amazing. And with me here to take the company you can focus on that. We don’t have to be on opposite sides and we don’t have to go through with all of this mess with the board. It can be clean, I will keep funding whatever it is you’re doing now and you can focus on that, okay?” Eleanor’s thumb traces lightly over Kate’s cheek, her smile soft and warm - it used to be so comforting. “Just sign the papers and we can move past this.”

Taking in a deep breath, Kate closes her eyes and leans forward, wrapping her fingers around her mom’s wrists as she presses their foreheads together. She loves her mom so much, and she wishes more than anything that they could go back to the way things were.

But Kate knows too much now, and that voice in her head that never shuts up won’t let this go and Kate knows it’s right, “I’m not signing the papers, Mom.”

Eleanor exhales slowly, like she expected it, and then she’s the one who steps away. “Well then I don’t think I have any other choice, Kate. I want my life back.”

“More than your daughter?” Kate asks, not sure why when she already knows the answer.

“I want both, but you’re being unreasonable and I just…I think you need time to see what I’m trying to show you and you’ll get there, I won’t give up on that.”

There it is, the line in the sand - there really is no going back. “You won’t get either,” Kate says as she then pulls out her phone and taps the photo Yelena sent her and shows it to her mom.

Eleanor takes the phone and looks at it, her face shifting from disappointed to curious and then instantly into a deep frown. “What is this? Who is this?”

“So you didn’t meet her in person, then?”

“Who?”

Kate reaches over and taps the screen, “that’s Yelena Belova, you’ve probably seen her on TV a lot lately. One of the New Avengers.”

The confusion on her mom’s face doesn’t fade, even as she looks at the photo again. “I suppose, yeah. What does she have to do with this? You can't bring the Avengers into this, Kate. It’s not-”

“I’m not bringing the Avengers into this, I’m bringing her into this. Because what you don’t know is that before Yelena was an Avenger, she was actually an assassin for hire.” She sees the lights slowly start to come on in her mom’s head. Eyes flicking up to Kate as her brows soften and her mouth falls open. “She actually worked for an old…friend of yours. Valentina De Fontaine.”

Eleanor’s entire body tenses up, “Kate, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything, you’re the one forcing my hand here. You’re the one who won’t see reason.”

“Kate, this is not a joke. She’s an incredibly dangerous woman - a killer. How do you know her?”

“That’s irrelevant, what is relevant is that you hired her to kill Clint Barton, who wasn't even the first person you either had killed or killed yourself.”

“That’s not-”

“He’s an Avenger, Mom. One of the most beloved heroes in history. Saved the fucking world countless times and you hired someone to kill him. If that goes public do you really think the city…hell…the world will still be on your side?”

She watches in some combination of fascination and agony as her mom comes to terms with everything Kate is saying. She can see the way her breathing picks up, she keeps looking at the photo and even seems to register that Yelena is holding the contract Eleanor signed. “You can't do this, Kate. You don’t understand, this is…she’ll…won’t this be just as bad for her as it would be for me? Would you do that to her?”

“Her? You mean the girl who was chemically subjugated by the Red Room and wasn't in control of her own mind? That’s the person you hired out to kill Clint, Mom. Someone who was hardwired to do things against her will.” It’s a lie, but Kate doesn’t care. She can get dirty if she needs to to protect the things she cares about. “Yelena has the contract, she is ready to go public with the story and throw you, Fisk, Val and anyone associated with this under the world's biggest bus,” Now it’s Kate’s turn to take a step towards her mom, to try.

However, when she does, Eleanor takes a step away from her and Kate’s heart shatters. “You would really do that to me? Again? You would really ruin my life a second time?”

Her life, Kate thinks. That’s all that matters to her. “I can, but I don’t want to,” Kate moves in closer again, this time to grab her phone and put it away. “If you tell me right now that you won’t pursue the company. Cancel the meeting, call off all of this and walk away right now, none of this has to go public. Yelena will keep the contract hidden away, nobody will know you tried to have Clint killed and…” Kate feels the ache in her chest as she realizes she’s burying the last shred of a relationship she had with her mom. “We can be done.”

The words taste like ash in her mouth, but she doesn't give away how much it’s breaking her heart to say it. Because she needs to be stronger now, she has to hold her ground - she has to protect the city from Fisk and, apparently, people like her mother.

Eleanor stares at her for a long time, like she’s trying to get a read on her or maybe see beyond where they are now and find some shred of the daughter she thought she had.

When she looks away, Eleanor shakes her head and closes her eyes for a few moments before nodding. “Fine, I’ll…I’ll call off the meeting and I won’t interfere in…your business.”

Kate thought she’d feel relief at this, and maybe she will eventually, but for now it just hurts. Because her mom won’t look at her and there’s nothing she can say or do now to fix it.

It’s not hers to fix, “thank you.” Kate says finally. She feels like there should be more, she should say something or try…anything, but Eleanor doesn’t move and Kate can't find the courage beyond what she already has. “Okay, I’ll uh…I guess I’ll go.” Eleanor nods slowly, but still won’t look at her. “Thank you, Mom. I’m sorry it’s…all like this.”

When she realizes that no words are coming back to her, Kate swallows the lump in her throat and makes for the door. She’s just about outside when she finally hears her mom call out to her. “Take an umbrella, it’s supposed to rain.”

She looks back and sees her mom finally looking at her, no expression on her face, impossible to read, but still looking.

Kate nods once, plucking the same purple umbrella she always grabbed whenever her mom would tell her to before she left.

----------------------------------

Unfortunately, the world keeps spinning and the day keeps moving forward. Kate sends texts to all her people. Telling Yelena and Clint that her mom won’t push for the board spot and then telling the board the meeting is off.

Three of the board members resign in response, including Benedict who sends Kate a very elongated message that is basically just ‘fuck you’ after saying he will not be back in the office on Monday.

Kate desperately wants to go to her gym and beat the shit out of a punching bag for a few hours but instead she goes to the office for damage control. Carter is there to meet her, seemingly delighted that she’s sticking around and giving her the rundown on her options with filling up the empty spots on the board.

“Do you want one?” She asks Carter as he stops, mid french fry heading towards his mouth from the fast food Kate bought for them.

“Want one, what?”

Kate shrugs, “a spot on the board. You know this company better than pretty much anyone else here, you worked with my mom directly and now with me - why not?”

He blinks a few times, fries still hanging close to his mouth as he takes in what she said. “You…can do that?” She raises her brows at him and he puts the fries down. “You’re the boss, of course you can - but why would you…I’m barely thirty and I don’t have any-”

“You have plenty of experience! Like all the stuff I literally just mentioned!” Kate plucks her own fries, not hesitating to stuff them in her face. “And,” she mumbles, sipping her coke to swallow faster. “You’re loyal, which is super underrated and growing more and more appreciated by the fucking day, let me tell you.”

Kate goes back to her burger (which is fucking amazing) and settles into the extended silence as she lets poor Carter have a crisis. However, when he does speak, it’s softer than she expects. “Are you…is this a real offer or are you just kidding?”

It’s not a bad question, Kate says crazy shit all the time in this office. It’s part of how she copes with all of it. She’ll threaten to sell the building, joke about turning it into a really big Chuck E. Cheese or change the meaning of ‘security’ to be about protecting famous musicians. So him thinking she’s just being a goof again makes sense.

“It’s a real offer if you want it. I know you think it’s out of left field, but you really do know everything. I’d be lost around here if you weren’t like…you know…you.”

He leans forward in his seat across from her, the wrappers of their food and the stacks of paperwork in between them and looks directly at her. “That comes with a raise, right?”

“Probably a big one!” Kate really has no idea. “Truly, it’s yours if you want it. It’s not a joke or a handout, you’re genuinely very good at your job and I think you’d fill Benedict’s role of bringing in new clients outside of our networks easily.”

She can see the moment he decides to accept, it doesn’t take long and Kate’s not surprised. “Yes, okay, yes I - I accept!”

Kate beams, “great!” She reaches across the table to shake his hand and laughs when he grabs hers with both of his and waggles them up and down excitedly. “Just know, your first act as a board member is to find me a new assistant who is just as good as you. Like…fail that and we’ll have to reevaluate.”

Carter, letting her hand go and grinning a little, shrugs, “I mean, if I'm a board member now you can't technically fire me.”

“Wow, corporate life is changing you already, C.”

His grin turns back into that shy little laugh of his and Kate knows she made the right choice.

At least she made someone happy today.

-----------------------------------

By the time Kate makes it home, she’s about as emotionally drained as she has been in years. Her body feels achy, her head is foggy and she’s pretty sure if she stops and lets herself think about the last twenty-four hours she’s going to have a full on breakdown.

When she opens the door to her apartment, it only gets worse because she was pinning a lot of hope on saving her night by seeing Yelena waiting for her. Instead, she’s only met by Lucky (who she loves and gives so many kisses to) and nothing else.

Kate sheds her coat and sighs as she hangs it up, stopping for a second to lean against the door and take a deep breath. She more or less ended her relationship with her mother today, the company’s hierarchy has basically been gutted and she’ll have to retool so many different departments.

Sam texted her that he’s sending some younger new recruits her way to join her to help establish a presence in the city and that just means more responsibility on her shoulders.

She wants to sleep, but knows if she tries now it won’t work. So Kate pushes herself off the wall and decides to make some food before settling in for a long night of reality TV.

However, when she goes to the kitchen, she spots a small sheet of paper on the counter and frowns.

It’s a note.

KATE BISHOP

GET COMFORTABLE AND HEAD TO THE ROOF

Her heart starts to race a little because there’s only one person in the world that uses her name like that and somehow it even feels unique to see it on paper.

Kate looks towards the window with the fire escape that she uses to get to the roof and starts heading that way. She wrestles with her stupid bra under her shirt as she opens the window, just trying to rid herself of the damn thing, before making her way up the steps.

Once she’s as high as it goes, Kate lifts herself up the rest of the way and is suddenly on the roof. It’s not a particularly warm night, but the rain has passed and now the air is thick with humidity that drowns out a chill a bit. The sky is perfectly clear, the city lights burn bright and map out the entirety of the roof before her.

Giving Kate a perfect view of what’s waiting for her.

Yelena is sitting at a table (Kate has no fucking idea how she got it up here) with two chairs, a handful of what seem to be very cheap little wireless lights spread around and a big pot in the middle of the table with two bowls waiting.

“Kate Bishop,” Yelena gets up and Kate’s legs lock in place as she starts walking towards her.

Yelena looks amazing, as she always does, but tonight is just different. Maybe it’s the exhaustion or the fact that the top three buttons on Yelena’s Hawaiian shirt are open, but Kate feels an instant pang of desire as she’s pulled into a hug.

“Hey,” she manages to say, her arms wrapping around Yelena with ease. “What is all this?” She asks, eyes peering up again to the layout.

Yelena steps away, keeping a hand on Kate’s back as she guides them toward the table. “You had a very long day and I wanted to do something nice for you. And you have not shut up about my delicious and amazing macaroni so…”

Kate’s stomach literally growls at the thought of it. “Oh my god, you made me the good mac?”

“The best mac, actually.” Yelena pulls out a chair for her and then looks her up and down. “I told you to get comfortable, you are still wearing your work clothes.”

With a sigh, Kate sits, “I know, but I could barely get my bra off on the way up here. The rest of it seemed like too much work.”

“Бедный маленький ястреб,” Yelena says and then for good measure, kisses the top of Kate’s head. “Well, you can take it easy for the night. I made food and the sky is cooperating very nicely after the rain earlier. We will relax.”

As Yelena moves to her seat, Kate reaches out and grabs her by the wrist to stop her. Yelena looks back, confused, but then Kate stands up and pulls Yelena into her arms again. She holds her tight, squeezing maybe a bit too much but just too tired and overwhelmed to care. “Thank you,” she says and can feel Yelena smile against her cheek.

“You are welcome, Kate Bishop.”

She sits back down and watches as Yelena dishes out food for the both of them, going into a funny story about some old woman at the market who was trying to take the last of the “good shallots” from her and how Yelena basically followed the woman around the store the rest of the time with a threatening look.

“See, you do like to scare people for fun!” Kate says between bites (because it’s better to talk after taking one than moan like she wants to).

Yelena seems miffed by this, “it is not fun, it is necessary. She broke store etiquette, I was clearly zeroing in on those particular shallots and she tried to swoop in and steal them from me. Where I am from, this is punishable by death or at least a combat to the death.”

Kate snorts, “where you’re from - you mean Ohio?”

“No! Russia! Keep up!”

“How can I? You’re from like five different places and you use whichever one works best for your threats - which by the way I’m starting to think you’re just a big talker cause you never follow through on them.”

“Oh? Name one?”

Kate smirks and puts on her favorite Yelena accent, “oh Kyate Beeshup, if I wanted you dead, I would have had you in da cold tundra just like where I grew up.”

Yelena’s mouth falls open in the most absurdly wide manner - enough to make Kate start cackling. “You think you are so funny, don’t you? Making fun of me, my accent, my homeland!”

“When was the last time you were actually in Russia?”

“Not that long ago! My mother lives there, you would not be saying these things if she were here.”

Something about the thought of Yelena’s mom, specifically Kate meeting Yelena’s mom, feels weirdly intimate. “I will say the idea of your mom being terrifying does make a lot of sense. Like your dad is so…you know?”

“Loud? Obnoxious? Stupid?”

Kate hums, “I was going to say eccentric, but sure.” She stabs another hefty bite of macaroni. “But like…despite the jokes you are scary and I know the Red Room is kind of a part of that but it feels more like something you picked up on when you were little. So it has to be your mom.”

Yelena seems to think about this for a minute as Kate takes a few more bites. She didn’t realize just how hungry she was until she started eating, which led her to dig out another helping. “I suppose you’re right,” Yelena says, leaning back in her seat. “My mother is a…complicated woman. Which even that feels inadequate as a way to describe her. She is, just like me, a victim of the Red Room.”

“Jesus,” Kate breathes. “I’m so glad you guys fucked that place up.”

This makes Yelena smile, “we did.” She then leans forward a bit, eyes never leaving Kate. “Speaking of mothers-”

“Oh god, I don’t…” Kate sighs.

“Sorry, I was just curious. Your text was vague. We do not have to talk about it.”

Kate waves off the apology. “It’s fine, it was just a lot.” She closes her eyes and can immediately see the distant look in her mom’s eyes when she accepted the offer. “I’m not even sure if I can call her my mom anymore.”

“She will always be your мать. And if she accepted the offer then maybe…maybe there is still a part of her that knows to pick you over herself.”

“I think some part of her thinks that’s what she’s doing with every decision she makes. Even hiring you.”

Yelena nods, like she’s remembering something. “Not hurting you was the first and most important note I received in the contract. It was underlined three times.”

“It’s funny,” Kate says, getting lost in Yelena’s eyes. “Maybe it didn’t happen the way she planned but her hiring you did turn out to be one of the best things for me.”

That’s how she manages to make Yelena fucking Belova blush like a teenager, “You’re ridiculous,”

Kate lifts her foot up under the table and rubs it along Yelena’s calf, “and you’re cute.”

This time when their eyes meet, Yelena’s are just a shade darker. “Eat your dinner, Kate Bishop.”

Everything in her life is a scattered fucking mess right now, but this girl that she’s all but certain she’s in love with is staring across from her at a whole outdoor setup she put together just because Kate had a bad day. She doesn’t look away from Yelena as she takes her next bite. She wants to get the message across that all of this matters to her, that she is both patient and waiting on the edge of the cliff.

They’re still not ready, not yet, but Kate is committed fully - she’s ready to give everything to Yelena. When Yelena smiles at her, Kate can't help but think that the next step in their relationship is going to be equal parts hard work and the most fun she’s ever had in her life.