So this is a really important chapter, that we finished a rough draft on, but we need to edit it. And instead of doing that Splash and I watched Dune
(Amazing by the way! Go watch it! BUT READ THE BOOK FIRST >:( )
So we're not actually going to update this today and instead do it tomorrow. So sorry! You're just going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out who di-
Shut up Quick!
....sorry
Ok ok. Sorry about that
No we're not
Shut up!
......
Good. Anyway, at long last, here you go!
We should have waited another day...
Shush!
... fine
The car didn't really explode, but something definitely hit it, making it spin wildly out of control.
Clint was the first one to react, slamming on the breaks before jumping up out of his seat and grabbing his bow and quiver.
"Keep the kids safe!" he yelled to Yelena, before he dashed out of the car.
Natasha disappeared after him, and Yelena climbed over the seats to get to the kids. Which was not good for the car, but whatever, they would worry about that later.
Fanny was whining at the back of the car and Yelena was confused about why. There was nothing back there that would get that response from the dog. Except....
Then it hit her, "Everyone get down!"
The kids all moved to the front of the car, and ducked behind the seats, just as the back of the car erupted into flames.
"Everyone out! Go go go!"
Yelena could hear the sounds of fighting, and arrows whistling, but she didn't run towards it, instead, she hustled the kids over to the cover of some rocks on the side of the road, where she could figure out how many enemies there were.
That's when she noticed that Lila had disappeared.
"Auntie Lena! Those aren't very good words!"
Yelena looked back at the kids. "You two," she glanced at Fanny, "okay, you three, stay put and stay low."
Nathanial and Cooper nodded.
Yelena reached down and felt her pockets. Of course she didn't have a weapon on her during a road trip. All of her weapons were in the back of the car. The back of the car that exploded.
Why did I have to be so stupid to leave them back there?!
Cursing again, this time even worse words, she dashed over to the fighting, on the lookout for the enemy. She was a trained Black Widow. She didn't need a gun.
It just would have been helpful.
Where the crap is Lila?
Yelena looked around, and didn't see her anywhere. However, she did see who they were fighting. It was one freaking person.
Clint fired an arrow at the figure wearing a black suit. The attacker managed to dodge it, before shooting back at Clint. While Clint was running from the bullet spray while drawing another arrow, a head poked up from behind a large boulder.
Crap crap crap crap.
The attacker spotted Lila and turned, raising a gun. Yelena didn't stop to think if this was a good idea or not. Before any shots were fired, Yelena slammed into the attacker, throwing both of them to the ground. They wrestled for a moment before Yelena shoved her back down onto the ground.
As Yelena jumped to her feet, she took a wild glance at the attacker. The woman had long hair pulled up into a bun and darker skin. Nightfall made it hard to see the color of her hair and eyes, brown maybe?
Yelena squinted at her for a moment, it was almost as if... had she seen her before?
"Lila, get out of here," Yelena snapped, not turning to look at her. For a moment, all was still. The attacker was the first to move, pulling her gun up and firing at Yelena.
Yelena flipped out of the way, a bullet grazing her arm. She landed in a crouch and quickly looked around for anything that could help give her an advantage. That's when she noticed a decently pointy rock on the ground.
Good enough.
She snatched up the rock and charged at the women. The attacker, focused on Yelena, took an unexpected arrow to her shoulder. Momentarily distracted by the blow, the attacker was once again knocked off her feet by Yelena, dropping her gun in the process. But she didn't go down easily, she twisted around and pulled Yelena down with her.
Yelena lunged at her as they fell, trying to dig the rock into the women's side. They hit the ground with a thump, each still scrambling to gain an upper hand. The attacker finally did when she kneed Yelena in the gut and pinned her.
"Let go of her and put your hands on your head," Natasha snarled, pointing the discarded gun at the attacker's head.
The attacker looked Natasha right in the eyes and slowly moved away from Yelena. Then she lunged forward, taking Natasha and herself down. They rolled across the road and down a small incline.
The gun had fallen out of Natasha's hands and was a few yards away. The attacker jumped away from Natasha, narrowly missing an oncoming arrow. The arrow passed through Natasha, making her gasp out in pain and clutch where it hit her.
Lila jumped into view and pointed a drawn arrow at the attacker while Clint slid down the little incline and advanced on the attacker.
"You're surrounded," Yelena said, the gun now in her hands. She paused for a moment. "Who are you?"
The attacker stayed silent, taking a small step backward. Lila let her arrow fly. It shot past the attacker, landing close to where the younger kids were hiding, making Nathanial give a panicked yelp. Glancing in that direction to make sure they were alright, the four surrounding the attacker were distracted for just a moment.
The attacker took the split second of distraction and ran, dodging between Yelena and Clint. They all reacted at the same time, Yelena dashing after her and Lila shooting another arrow, Natasha and Clint following close behind.
Something strange hit Yelena about the shape of the arrow, and she skidded to a stop but wasn't quite fast enough.
The arrow exploded. Which sent Yelena and the attacker flying in opposite directions.
The world around Yelena went dark for just a moment, and when she opened her eyes again, all she could hear was ringing. She was on the ground. The feel of the rough rocks pressing against her cheek told her that.
Her head throbbed and her vision was blurry, but she forced herself to her knees anyway. Raising one hand to her temples, Yelena wished the throbbing pain and ringing in her ears would just stop.
Seconds later, the ringing stopped, and Yelena's vision cleared. The throbbing was still there, but Yelena paid no mind to it, something else catching her attention instead.
The attacker had had a gun pointed at Lila's head.
Clint and Natasha stood a few feet away, arms raised to show that they wouldn't do anything. It seemed like the attacker had her focus on them, and hadn't yet noticed that Yelena was mostly recovered.
Think fast Yelena, or else you might be an aunt for one less kid.
Glancing around widely, Yelena spotted Lila's bow next to her, with a few arrows scattered next to it. She snatched it and drew one arrow, closing her eyes for a split second.
Come on Yelena, don't screw up now.
She let the arrow go. It dug into the attacker's shoulder just before she fired, making her aim jolt, the bullet hitting the ground next to Lila. Yelena took a few steps forward and snatched up another arrow, drawing it. She aimed it at the attacker once again.
"Don't. Hurt. Lila."
There's no way I can make that shot again.
"If you don't want to die, drop the gun and walk away."
The attacker slowly backed away from Lila as Clint grabbed his bow from where he had dropped it at his feet. Yelena moved towards Lila, still having an arrow drawn, but she relaxed her position when Clint drew his own bow.
Knowing that Clint had the attacker at arrow point, Yelena rushed to Lila and helped her to her feet before the sound of a gunshot made her attention snap back to the attacker.
The attacker had a gun in her hand, one that was probably hidden in her armor. Clint dropped his bow, cursing and pressing his hand to his arm, where the bullet had grazed him.
"Get down!" Yelena shouted, shoving Lila back onto the ground, just as another shot rang out.
Yelena gasped as the bullet tore into her abdomen, a sharp pain overtaking her senses. She dropped to one knee, grabbing the wound where the blood was pouring out. Putting pressure on it, even though it made the pain worse, was one of the things the Red Room has drilled into her mind.
"You could bleed out in five minutes. Stopping, or even slowing the blood flow would give you just enough time to finish your mission. That's the only importance. Never fail a mission."
Yelena shook the memory away and looked back up to find the attacker fleeing. Through the throbbing in her head and the sharp pain in her left side, she forced herself to stand up and rush after her, even though her whole body was screaming at her.
She was not weak. She was a Widow. She could handle a little pain.
But it was no use, the attacker was gone.
Yelena let out a string of offensive Russian words and dropped to her knees. She couldn't catch the attacker. She couldn't deal with a little pain.
She failed her mission.
She failed.
Why couldn't she do anything right?
Natasha hurried to her, concern etched across her features. She gently helped Yelena to her feet and mumbled an apology when Yelena let out a hiss of pain. Then she let Yelena lean on her as they made their way to Clint and the kids, who had recently come out of hiding.
"How are we going to get to the compound now?" Cooper asked.
"We can't walk, Yelena wouldn't be able to make it," Natasha replied.
"I could if we needed to," Yelena snapped back defensively.
"But we don't need to, Auntie Lena! There's a car over there," Nathanial said, pointing to a car on the side of the road that was there just for plot convenience.
Clint ran ahead of the others and hot-wired the car. Then he helped everyone get settled in. Lila and Fanny sat in the passenger seat, Nathanial and Cooper sat in the back seats, and Natasha laid Yelena carefully in the middle seat, then started helping put pressure on the wound.
Clint hopped in the driver's seat of the car and stuck it in drive. "Don't tell your mother I broke the car, got one of your aunts shot, and then hotwired some stranger's car," he told the kids before pressing the gas down.
The kids made no promises.
"You got shot, and you kept running," Natasha muttered.
Yelena grinned through the pain, "You added the part where I almost bled to death."