Widow Sisters and Friends (Restoring Our Broken Hearts)

The Worst Plans Are Actually Planned

"Eto vyglyadit ochen' plokho. Eto mozhet byt' smertel'no opasno, yesli my ne potoropimsya,"1 Yelena spoke, her voice sounding strangely fearful in a manner that was not at all characteristic of the blonde. Kate tried to look over at her but she quickly gasped in spite of herself as she accidentally moved the wrong way.

"Kate, you're okay. It's okay. Natasha's coming," Yelena told her, and Kate knew there was something odd about the way that Yelena was addressing her. She just could not exactly put her finger on it. She honestly could not hardly focus on anything but the pain as Yelena placed her hands firmly over the wound in her stomach and applied pressure.

However, one word came through to her in the midst of Yelena's speaking.

Natasha.

"Tasha... Where's Tasha?" Kate questioned, looking around blearily as she tried to see the telltale flash of red that had come to bring her such deep comfort and warmth. She felt the overwhelming need to see her. The one person besides Clint that brought her infinite comfort. The one person that might even be more vital to her than Clint in terms of closeness.

"She's coming. But you have to keep your eyes open if you're going to see her, Katie-Bear," Yelena told her, and Kate furrowed her brow, almost feeling like crying but somehow knowing that there was a reason that she did not want to do that. She could not remember why, though. All she knew was that it was just so hard. She did not feel like keeping her eyes open. Her eyelids kept growing heavy.

And wait... Did Yelena just call her Katie?

"Don't call me Katie," Kate argued with her, coughing hard as she felt that drowning feeling starting to stifle her. Yelena chuckled a little, but there was something off about the sound.

"Yeah, that's right. You don't like being called Katie, do you?" Yelena questioned, and Kate suddenly felt herself being raised up. Kate whined, grabbing the hands that were holding onto her sides.

"It hurts, please, don't—"

"I know, I know. You've got to be a big girl, Kate," Yelena expressed softly, and Kate let out a pained breath, gasping once again and immediately coughing as she felt as if she had sucked down water into her lungs.

"Yelena... Yelena, I can't... I can't—"

"Natasha's coming. You want to see her, right? Keep your eyes open if you want to see Natasha," Yelena persisted, and Kate felt the hot tears pouring down her face as she struggled to breathe. It was just so hard, and her eyelids were feeling so heavy.

Kate could not hardly see anything but something that resembled tunnel vision at this point. And something that suspiciously almost looked like a shadow of a person she once knew and still loved dearly. A person that had been lost to her for years now.

"Kate, Kate, stay awake. KATE, STAY AWAKE!!!" a familiar voice floated into her ears, and with the slightest flash of red in her vision and that painfully familiar figure lingering nearby, Kate lost all consciousness.

.....................................................................................................................

Natasha wiped her eyes with one hand, keeping her other arm and hand firmly grounded around Yelena as the blonde straddled her lap and laid against her torso heavily while sleeping on her.

Kate had passed out just as Natasha got to her and Yelena, and to Natasha's surprise, Yelena had been borderline panicking as she shook and told Natasha that Kate was dying. Natasha had to somehow juggle picking up Kate to carry her to the jet and comforting her baby sister while all at the same time trying to keep down her own sense of terror.