Summary: When Carol comes to visit Natasha and Yelena's place, she is quickly reminded of how much Yelena dislikes her. Natasha then comes up with the wonderful idea for them all to go to Walmart together. However, this great idea quickly backfires shortly after they get there...
Carol approached the door, a slight smile on her face as she raised her hand up to knock carefully.
Carol had come to visit Natasha just to check up on her and see how she was. Since Carol had the opportunity to take a bit of a break now that she was here on Earth, she was excited to check up on some of her friends here.
To her surprise, Yelena was the one that answered the door, her puppy Fanny held in one arm as she squinted a bit at the woman before her. Carol offered her a small smile, unsure of what exactly to say since she knew that Yelena was not particularly fond of her.
She wanted the opportunity to smooth things over with the shorter blonde, but she was not sure how to go about it. After the prank that Carol and Natasha had played on her, Yelena seemed to despise Carol. Of course, Carol also wondered if Yelena did not like her because she was on such good terms with her sister. Yelena always seemed to be trying to pull Natasha's attention anytime that Carol was around.
"Hi! Is your sister around?" Carol questioned with a slight grin, hoping to win over Yelena at least a little. Yelena just stared at her for a long moment before sighing unhappily.
"She's out on her run. She should be back soon enough," Yelena replied, heading inside and leaving the door open for Carol to let herself in. Carol carefully strode through the door, entering the house. She paused somewhat awkwardly by the kitchen counter as Yelena headed over to the couch and plopped back down with Fanny.
Carol stood there stiffly for a moment, looking around, but her eyes soon settled upon a container on the counter. She studied it for a moment, realizing it was some sort of food.
"What's this?" Carol spoke up, and Yelena looked in her direction with a slight raise of her eyebrow. Carol moved the container nearer to her, reading the label.
"Huh... Pup-Corn... Can I have some?" Carol questioned, and Yelena looked at her for a long moment, Fanny in her lap as she scratched at the puppy's ears. She then nodded easily, a slight grin tugging at the corners of her lips.
"Please do," Yelena told her, and Carol grinned in reply before opening the bin and pulling out a piece of the stuff.
"Oh, I get it. Pup-corn because it's shaped like dogs. That's cute," Carol acknowledged before taking a bite of the stuff. She pursed her lips slightly and she could feel Yelena's gaze on her.
"Hmm... Interesting flavor. It's cheesy," Carol acknowledged before grabbing another piece and chewing it. At that moment, Natasha came in the front door, a thin sheen of sweat covering her forehead. Carol smiled happily at the sight of her friend, offering her a wave.
Natasha offered her a smile and a nod as she passed her by, heading into the kitchen to get a sip of water from the sink.
"Hey, Nat. This is some really good cheesy popcorn. Where did you get it from? I've never seen it in the snack aisle at any store," Carol told her, and Natasha glanced in her direction, raising an eyebrow as she watched Carol pop another piece into her mouth.
Yelena hurried out of the room snickering, and Carol watched her leave with some confusion, not sure what was going on with her. Natasha just huffed a bit, still gaping at Carol.
"PetSmart?" Natasha stated in a manner that was more of a question, and Carol froze mid-chew. Her eyes widened as she glanced down at the container. She slowly swallowed what was in her mouth, wincing a little and then slowly sealing the lid back the way she found it.
"Let me guess, Yelena didn't bother stopping you, huh?" Natasha asked, gathering some water from the faucet in her hands and splashing it onto her face as she rinsed some of the sweat away.
"She actually encouraged me to," Carol acknowledged with a slight cough as she tried to keep her stomach's contents where they belonged.
"That sounds like her," Natasha chuckled a bit, and Carol sighed slightly, leaning on the counter.
"Why does she hate me?" Carol questioned with a small humorless laugh.
"She doesn't hate you. She's just... really withdrawn around new people," Natasha explained carefully, lowering her voice a bit so that Yelena would not overhear. She approached the opposite side of the counter island to increase the privacy of their conversation as she wiped her face with a hand towel.
"She seemed to take to the Avengers pretty well," Carol expressed, and Natasha shrugged slightly, looking in the direction that Yelena had disappeared to.
"She gets kind of standoffish with new female people," Natasha added to her previous explanation just a bit more, and Carol had a strong feeling that Natasha knew more than she was letting on. However, the redhead was obviously not going to release any more information than she already had.
"I wonder why," Carol spoke, trying in vain to see if Natasha would give her more, but Natasha simply shrugged with what Carol was sure was mock uncertainty.
"What if you came with us to Walmart? We were both going to go after my run, and it might give you guys a chance to spend some time together," Natasha told her, and Carol nodded.
"That would be great."
"Natashka, you ready to go? Sunny, it was good seeing you and all, but we have to leave," Yelena declared as she strode into the room, grabbing Natasha's hand and practically dragging her toward the door. Natasha resisted Yelena's tugs, a slight smirk on her face, and Carol raised an eyebrow.
"Yelena, we can't go yet, I haven't changed."
"Oh, okay. Well, make it fast. I'll take care of our guest," Yelena pointed out, shooting an evil smirk in Carol's direction.
"Thank you, Yelena. Take her out to my car and I'll be there in a minute," Natasha told her. Yelena paused, looking at Natasha confusedly.
"What? Are we driving her to the tower on our way?"
"No, Carol's coming with us to Walmart!" Natasha called loudly, and Yelena froze. Carol almost laughed at the look on her face.
It was certainly going to be an interesting trip.
.....................................................................................................................
After much complaining and irritation on the way, they finally got to Walmart. Most of Yelena's grievances had been due to the fact that Yelena had to sit in the back of the car instead of sitting shotgun as she normally would have. However, when she was not complaining, she was spending her time trying to stick her fingers inside of Natasha's ears while she was driving.
However, they managed to get there in one piece, which Carol was extremely thankful for, and now they were in the store.
"Alright, so I'm going to go to this side and pick up some grocery items. Can you two go and pick up some Fenty for me?" Natasha questioned, and Yelena looked exceedingly displeased with this arrangement. However, Carol was just confused about what they were supposed to be buying.
"What's a Fenty?" Carol asked, and Yelena just glared at her as if she were a complete moron.
"It's a brand of makeup, dips—"
"Yelena, just go get the makeup," Natasha interrupted her, and Yelena groaned deeply. It was quite clear that she did not want to go with Carol. However, after leaning near her sister and the two of them sharing a short conversation in Russian with one another, Yelena huffed and started in the direction of the makeup. Carol followed along, not questioning Yelena's sense of direction in the store since she had apparently been there before.
They both soon ended up in the makeup aisle, and Yelena just sighed with irritation as she looked through the makeup brands.
"What?"
"They don't have the makeup that she wants," Yelena pointed out, gesturing at the shelves, and Carol shrugged, looking to the side and noticing the perfume bottles nearby. She raised an eyebrow, reaching over and grabbing one as she inspected it. She then proceeded to squirt a tiny bit of it onto her hand and she wiped it on herself.
Yelena was watching her carefully, and Carol approached her.
"Yelena, what do you think? Does it smell okay?" Carol asked, and Yelena wrinkled her nose as Carol got closer.
"You smell like a cheap ho," Yelena informed her, and Carol just furrowed her brow in reply. Yelena then proceeded to get a squirt from another bottle, and she put it on her own body.
"This is better," Yelena pointed out, holding her wrist out for Carol to smell. Carol almost sneezed with the intensity of the smell, and she squirted one from another perfume bottle to try. Yelena followed suit, trying out several perfumes.
Before long, they both smelled absolutely terrible.
"You smell horrid," Yelena commented, and Carol took in a slight breath near Yelena and she coughed a bit.
"You don't smell much better," Carol acknowledged, and Yelena just scoffed, moving past her as she headed out of the aisle. Carol followed her easily.
To her surprise, Yelena was not heading back in the direction of Natasha, but Carol did not question it as she went along with her. Soon enough, they both ended up in the toy department.
Yelena strolled into the aisle, looking at all of the toys on the shelves. However, she suddenly stopped in front of a whole group of action figures and dolls. Yelena's gaze soon zeroed in on a particular toy, and she picked it up.
"Good grief... Did they seriously make an action figure for you?" Yelena asked, completely unimpressed as she raised an eyebrow at Carol, and Carol shrugged, reaching over and taking the doll from Yelena. She huffed slightly with amusement, finding the little figure to be quite humorous. It looked just like her with the long blonde hair and the outfit. It was really adorable.
"I guess they did."
"Look, she's got a boob button," Yelena declared before pressing the button in the middle of the figure's chest. Carol just laughed a little as the figure called out some heroic catchphrase that Carol had never said in her life. She shook her head with a wide grin, and Yelena cackled as she inspected the back of the figurine.
"That's hilarious! And she has an off button on her butt," Yelena laughed before looking at Carol wickedly.
"Too bad you don't. It'd save me a lot of patience," Yelena commented, dead serious, and Carol rolled her eyes, beginning to think that this was just how Yelena joked.
"Oh, pipe down, shortie. I don't drive you that crazy," Carol replied, and Yelena tensed up considerably at the nickname, glaring at Carol with all of the heat of a thousand suns. Carol just flashed her a slight grin before looking at the shelf and catching sight of a particular figure that she knew Yelena would absolutely adore.
"Hey, look, they made one of your sister," Carol pointed out, and Yelena's head immediately snapped to the shelf, her irritation completely forgotten about as she searched for her sister among the toys.
As soon as she spotted it, her eyes lit up with such excitement that Carol could not help but smile softly at the sight of that much love and softness in the shorter girl's features. It never failed to shock Carol when she saw that side of Yelena.
"Look, look, look!!! It poses and everything!!!" Yelena excitedly pointed out, moving the figure in the amount that its constraints allowed in the packaging. Yelena cackled gleefully, holding it in her hands tightly and looking as if she would never release it.
"I'm buying it," Yelena declared.
"You have no money."
"Sweet, simple Sunny," Yelena condescendingly spoke, and Carol just raised an eyebrow at the nickname.
"When I said me, I meant Natasha," Yelena informed her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Carol huffed slightly, rolling her eyes, and the both of them kept heading down the aisle, not really stopping to look at the rest of the stuff as they rounded the corner and headed into the next aisle.
As soon as they got to the next aisle, they both froze, their eyes wide as they took in the sight of the aisle that was practically filled to the brim with interactive Disney toys that played all manners of songs and melodies. Yelena and Carol slowly looked at each other, grins forming on their face.
"Let's do it," Carol spoke, and they both rushed into the aisle, swiftly pressing every single button in sight as they made the entire aisle light up with noise and music from countless animated movies.
They both were laughing like madwomen as they hurried to the next aisle, the both of them wasting no time in mashing any buttons they saw in the next one. Soon enough, they alit the entire toy department with their handiwork.
They shared a smirk before Yelena furrowed her brow, narrowing her eyes just a bit as she focused her attention on something in the distance. Carol followed her gaze and a slight smile came onto her face as she spotted the hunting department.
"Do they have a freaking giant stuffed bear over there?!" Yelena demanded, and Carol nodded with a laugh. They both headed over there, and they gaped up at the creature in pure awe. Yelena swiftly shoved her action figure and her phone into Carol's hands.
"Take a picture, I'm going to climb up there with it," Yelena informed her, and Carol just nodded, one hundred percent on board with the plan. Yelena clambered up on top, posing heroically next to the bear. Carol snapped the pic, and Yelena looked down at her with a slight smile.
"Did you get it?" Yelena questioned, and Carol nodded quickly. Yelena grinned victoriously, fist-pumping as she hissed a triumphant "yes."
As soon as she got down, Carol handed the phone and the action figure back to her. Yelena pulled up her camera roll, and she smiled widely as she raised an eyebrow
"That's going to be so awesome! I'm going to get little Peter to do his shop photo thing on this and make me look like I'm in the Russian tundra!" Yelena cackled gleefully, looking at her phone with pure excitement, and Carol just chuckled as she approached the base of the bear's pedestal before offering Yelena her phone.
"Here, get a picture of me, too," Carol told her, and Yelena took the phone from her carefully, balancing the action figure in the crook of her arm. Carol then focused her strength into her legs, jumping and landing gracefully on the stand with the bear.
"Show-off," Yelena disdainfully declared, and Carol turned back to Yelena, a smirk on her face as she waggled her eyebrows playfully. Yelena just rolled her eyes, not even the slightest hints of a grin on her face, but Carol noticed out of the corner of her eye that the shorter blonde smiled just a little at Carol's antics.
Carol felt a slight swell in her chest, thankful that she had managed to win over Yelena at least a little. She crouched next to the bear, faking a roar as she brought her fingers up to mimic claws. Yelena huffed in response to the pose but took the picture nevertheless. Carol smiled, straightening as she readied herself to jump down.
However, before she could do this, there was suddenly a loud yell.
"HEY! You're not supposed to be up there! Get down!" the man cried and Carol's eyes snapped to the guy, realizing he was a worker. Carol glanced down, realizing that Yelena was already looking like she was about to bolt. Carol wasted no time in jumping down and taking off running with Yelena quick on her heels. The both of them were rushing through the length of the aisle as they tried to escape with the man yelling somewhere behind them, and they soon found their way in the gardening department.
They both moved into an aisle, Yelena's chest moving somewhat rapidly from the sprinting, and Carol just quietly breathed, not quite as out of breath as Yelena because of her superhuman gifts. Carol listened carefully for any signs of people approaching, and after a moment, they both started to laugh breathlessly, somehow enjoying the thrill of the chase.
"He looked so mad," Carol pointed out, and Yelena snorted in reply to her as she looked at all of the aisles.
"He'll get over it eventually," Yelena commented in reply, and Carol grinned widely.
"Maybe you shouldn't have gotten up there with the bear."
"If I remember correctly, it was you that he caught up there, Sunny," Yelena acknowledged with slightly narrowed eyes, not particularly pleased with Carol. Carol turned a bit solemn, not sure if she had made Yelena unhappy as she seemed to be so good at.
However, Yelena did not seem to be paying much attention to her anymore as she sat her action figure down on the shelf and grabbed a plastic pot, examining it with a slight chuckle. Carol approached her, trying to figure out what was so funny about the pot.
It was then that Yelena threw the pot and successfully landed it on Carol's head. Carol furrowed her brow, her vision obstructed by the pot.
"Congratulations, you're a pothead," Yelena sarcastically spoke, and Carol lifted the pot off of her head. Yelena had a slight smirk on her face and a positively evil glint to her eyes. Carol simply shrugged, taking off the pot and placing it on Yelena's head.
"It looks better on you, short stuff," Carol told her with a grin, and Yelena's eyes narrowed, her nostrils flaring with her fury.
"Don't call me short."
"But you are," Carol joked with a smile, and when Yelena made a move as if she might jump Carol, Carol held a hand up.
"Don't do it. You remember last time," Carol informed her warningly, and Yelena growled under her breath.
"Last time Natasha was there to stop me. No one is here to protect you now," Yelena told her before launching herself at Carol. Carol just held out her hand, catching Yelena by the forehead and pushing her back. Carol shook her head at the girl.
"Come on, let's go find Natasha," Carol told her with a slight chuckle, and Yelena narrowed her eyes as she spotted something nearby them. She quickly rushed over to a stand, and Carol followed her, seeing that she had found tiki torches. Yelena pulled out two of them, and she offered one to Carol.
"Alright, look. Here's the deal. We fight like women, and if I win, you don't call me short anymore," Yelena challenged and Carol raised her eyebrows, looking down at the tiki torch in her grasp before returning her gaze to Yelena.
"Okay. And if I win, don't call me Sunny," Carol commented, and Yelena made a fake pout as her eyes hardened with the challenge.
"But you're so bright that your mama called you Sunny!" Yelena mocked, and Carol narrowed her eyes as she started to fight with Yelena, the two of them slamming their tiki torches against each other.
Yelena countered every one of Carol's moves with practiced grace, and Carol haphazardly blocked Yelena's motions. Truthfully, Carol had no idea how to fight with bow staffs or anything akin to them, so she was at a loss and doing the best she could.
They kept smacking the torches together, the sharp thwacks of the wood resounding throughout the back of the store. Carol was growing increasingly afraid that Yelena was going to win, but she refused to give up.
However, just as Yelena was surely about to win, they smacked torches and Carol's splintered where Yelena's had hit. They both froze, gaping at each other.
But before they could say anything to each other, the man from before started yelling.
"Stop right there! Both of you, stop!" They both turned and looked and to their horror, the man now had multiple security guards with him. Yelena and Carol immediately took off running.
They were racing through the store with the greatest speed they could muster, security on their tail as they rushed through.
"For the record, I won!" Yelena breathed out as they ran, and Carol just scoffed, keeping pace with Yelena easily.
"You wish!"
"STOP!!!"
.....................................................................................................................
On the other side of the store, Natasha was loading her cart up with groceries, absently wondering why Yelena and Carol had not come back yet. She was hoping that Yelena had not started some sort of fight with Carol. She was not worried about Carol hurting her or anything since the taller blonde was mostly calm and level-headed despite her tendency to tease.
Just as Natasha placed the rocky road ice cream in the buggy, knowing how much Yelena loved the stuff, a voice over the loudspeaker started talking.
"Attention, Walmart shoppers, please be on the lookout for two trouble-makers running through the store, and please report them to the nearest employee if you see them," the woman spoke, and Natasha winced, her mind immediately going to her earlier concerns about Carol and Yelena's whereabouts.
"Please don't let it be my trouble-makers," Natasha muttered under her breath.
"Here is the physical description I've been given: a tall blonde woman with long hair and a shorter blonde woman with a ponytail. One of them is wearing a brown leather jacket and the other one has a green vest," the woman announced, and Natasha groaned deeply.
"Oh, no.... It is my trouble-makers," Natasha grumbled before leaving her cart and taking off through the store in an attempt to find Yelena and Carol. She just knew they were going to be banned or kicked out if Natasha did not find them and get them out fast.
Natasha rushed through the aisles, trying to figure out how she was going to find the pair. It was an enormous store and she would not be able to find them easily at all.
However, it was then that she remembered all of the other times that she had tried to find Yelena in the past when they were children, and the way that she always managed to accomplish the task. It was a surefire way she could find Yelena without bringing too much attention to herself or the other women.
Natasha pursed her lips, whistling her note of her and Yelena's special tune, and she paused carefully to listen. There was silence except for the usual noise of the store, and Natasha whistled once more, waiting carefully.
After a few beats, Yelena's notes rang out, and Natasha smiled just barely with relief. She then hurried in the direction that she heard the whistle. She hurried past the aisles, and she soon found herself in the department specializing in vehicles and car parts. She strode through carefully, her brow furrowed as she looked around and tried to figure out where the women had ended up.
However, to her shock, someone firmly locked their hand around her arm and yanked her into the aisle. Out of reflexes, Natasha immediately swung a punch, readying for a fight.
She was absolutely horrified to see Carol wincing and pinching at her nose. Yelena was grinning wider than Natasha had seen her in quite some time, and Natasha immediately realized that she had punched Carol.
"Ow," Carol complained a bit, obviously not having been ready for the hit, and Natasha's gaze hardened just a little.
"I'm sorry, but after the stunt you've pulled now, I think you might deserve it," Natasha scolded the both of them. Carol let her hand fall away from her face as she sheepishly looked at the redhead. Yelena immediately lost the grin, looking a bit more serious.
"What were you two thinking?! What have you been doing?!" Natasha demanded, taking in a deep breath through her nose. However, as soon as she did, she choked up, a hand flying up to cover her nose as she gaped at the two women.
"And why do you smell like you swam in perfume bottles?!" Natasha asked, feeling her head growing a bit dizzy with the smell of the two. Yelena instantly started smirking and laughing a little, and Carol grinned a bit with her, the both of them looking at each other before returning their gaze to Natasha.
"When we went to go get your makeup, we decided to try out some perfume," Yelena explained, and Natasha just gaped at them.
"Why?!" Natasha hissed, still trying to avoid taking too deep breaths. Yelena looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"Natashka! There were free samples!" Yelena told her as if it were absolutely obvious. Natasha just groaned.
"I just asked you to get makeup. Just makeup. Was that too much to ask?" Natasha questioned, and Carol somewhat guiltily looked at her.
"Well, the bright side is that it wasn't like we didn't look for the makeup. It was just that they didn't have any of your makeup left in stock and we got distracted," Carol admitted, and Yelena nodded with a big grin. Natasha just rolled her eyes before moving away from them and looking out from the aisle to see if anyone was around.
"We'll talk more about this later," Natasha dismissively told them as she examined the nearby area. "First, we've gotta get out of here."
"Plus, they had a really goofy action figure of you that I wanted to buy. It posed just like you!" Yelena excitedly told her, her voice quiet despite her enthusiasm, and Natasha huffed slightly.
"Oh, goody gumdrops," Natasha deadpanned, and she could practically feel Yelena's huge smirk.
"Alright, since our whole shopping trip is bust, we're going to have to figure out some way to escape," Natasha muttered half to herself, and Yelena just made a scolding sound by clicking her tongue.
"Natashka... Do be more positive," Yelena teased, and Natasha ignored her mostly, her brain mapping out an escape route. She could hear Carol chuckling along with Yelena's words.
"I'm positive you're going to be in trouble when we get to the car," Natasha absently replied to her before turning to face Carol.
"Can you get us out of here fast? Like fly us or something?" Natasha asked, and Carol pursed her lips slightly.
"Maybe? I've never flew anyone before. But I'm up for trying," Carol shrugged easily, and Natasha nodded as she stepped over next to Carol. Carol wrapped her arm around Natasha firmly and Natasha grabbed onto her. Carol and Natasha looked at Yelena expectantly, and the shorter blonde just furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes.
"I am not getting all snuggly with Sunny," Yelena informed the both of them, and Natasha just flashed her a death glare. Yelena hesitated for a moment, shifting her gaze between Carol and Natasha. Carol just winked at her with a grin.
"Don't worry, short stuff. I don't bite," Carol assured her, and Yelena just groaned deeply, growling under her breath as she grabbed onto Carol hesitantly. Carol returned the hold, and she readied herself.
"You two ready?" Carol asked, and Natasha nodded. Yelena begrudgingly grunted her agreeance. Carol's hair started to fly upward as she began to glow, and Natasha immediately noted the weirdness of the sensation running through her. It was like a mild jolt of electricity running through her. It was not overly pleasant, and it felt a bit like a strange tickle.
Carol then took off, flying through the aisles extremely fast, and Natasha's breath left her for a moment as she experienced the feeling of flying like this for the first time.
However, she did not have long to think about it when they were suddenly outside at the car. Carol released the two of them, letting out a slight breath and a laugh as she looked back at the store.
"Alright, get in the car, come on," Natasha urged, and Carol hurried over to the passenger seat and Yelena hopped into the back since it was the most convenient place to sit.
"Why do you keep getting to ride shotgun?" Yelena demanded as soon as they were all inside the vehicle, her eyes narrowed as she glared at Carol. Natasha's hands clenched the steering wheel, trying to maintain her patience.
"Because I'm older," Carol commented with a slight grin, and Yelena scoffed.
"That's not fair!" Yelena declared, looking at Natasha in the rearview mirror. Natasha sighed deeply.
"Who started that mess in the Walmart?" Natasha spoke, and Carol and Yelena were silent for a long moment before Yelena swiftly pointed at Carol.
"It was her fault. She started trying out the perfumes and distracted me," Yelena declared, and Carol's eyes widened as she looked back at her.
"You came up with most of the other stuff! And the other stuff was way worse than trying one kind of perfume!" Carol retorted defensively, and Natasha just shook her head, rolling her eyes as she backed out of the parking spot and started on the long trip back home.
Some things never changed...