Inheritance of ash

day three - part one

Pietro shushed them sharply, eyes fixed on the door. "You want the whole tower hearing you?!"

Too late.

The garage door creaked open.

Yelena stood in the frame, Bob nowhere in sight this time, her sharp eyes zeroing instantly on her motorcycle.

The three of them held their breath, motionless.

Yelena's gaze narrowed. She scanned the bike, then the air around it, her stare so precise it felt like she could see straight through Wanda's hex.

Kate's heart slammed against her ribs. For one horrible second, she thought Yelena really could.

Then Yelena slipped a small keyring from her pocket. Dangling from it was a keychain with a tiny red bulb that blinked in perfect sync with the motorcycle's light.

She pressed it. The blinking stopped.

Yelena closed her eyes, let out a long sigh, and muttered something sharp in Russian. Hands on her hips, shoulders tense.

When she opened her eyes again, her voice cut like a blade. "Wanda, drop it."

Wanda's throat bobbed, but she said nothing.

Kate stayed stubbornly silent.

Yelena didn't falter. "I said. Drop. It."

Pietro broke first, his tone resigned. "She knows anyway."

Wanda reluctantly dropped her hand. The shimmer of red dissolved, and the three of them blinked into view.

Wanda looked guilty, head ducked. Pietro looked annoyed at being caught, arms crossed. And Kate—Kate stayed kneeling by the bike, staring up at Yelena like, yeah, and what about it?

Yelena didn't meet her eyes. She just stepped closer to the bike, her voice flat. "What are you doing? And why are you—" Her gaze dropped to the exposed wiring. "—hot-wiring my motorcycle."

Wanda winced. "We're sorry."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm not."

Pietro sighed. "We're going to SHIELD. To read Bucky's files. Maybe then we can actually help him—"

Kate smacked his arm, hissing, "You could've said literally anything else! Like, I don't know, that we were going to the zoo?"

Pietro glared at her. "She isn't stupid, Kate."

Kate muttered under her breath, "Could've fooled me," and bent right back to the wires, ignoring Yelena's burning stare.

For a moment, silence stretched—thick, tense, heavy.

Then Yelena stepped forward, crouching just enough to grab the bike's handle. Her voice was low, hard. "Get up."

Kate froze. "Excuse me?"

"I'll drive you," Yelena said firmly, yanking the tools from Kate's hands. "Before you get yourself killed."

Kate snapped back, eyes flashing. "Like you care."

That finally made Yelena look at her. For the first time since yesterday. She met Kate's eyes. Their gazes locked, sharp and unflinching.

"Do you want to keep acting like a child," Yelena asked quietly, "or do you want to move?"

The words cut through Kate's bravado like ice water.

Wanda stepped in quickly, voice urgent. "She's right. We should go. Before someone else comes in."

Kate shut her eyes for a moment, jaw tight. Then she exhaled, barely audible. "Fine."

Pietro pressed the button to roll the garage door open. Yelena swung onto her bike, the engine silent for now. She wheeled it forward like it weighed nothing.