Summary: When Natasha, Yelena, and Tony all go out on a mission together in northern Canada in the middle of the winter, it is freezing outside but the adrenaline pumping within them is keeping them warm. However, adrenaline pumping is not good enough to heat up Yelena when Yelena falls into freezing water. It is up to Natasha to take care of her sister and help her through the freeze.
Natasha spun around, having taken care of the enemy agents on the small side road that she was on. She had successfully blasted them through their vehicle that they were attempting to escape in, and the heat of the battle was pumping through her blood and warming her despite the freeze in the air around her.
Natasha, Yelena, and Tony had been assigned to a mission out in northern Canada in the middle of the wintertime. It was freezing cold outside and was actually below zero in temperature. Natasha had fussed relentlessly at Yelena about putting on ample layers and had managed to get her way at least a little.
However, Yelena still had not put on as many as Natasha would have liked. Yelena's words in reply to her concerns were something to the effect of her being Russian and the cold not bothering her. Natasha only allowed her to get away with that excuse because the adrenaline that would be pumping through the fight would likely keep Yelena warm enough.
They were sent to invade a particular hideout of Hydra's and Natasha and Yelena were posted on the road as Tony took on the base. Natasha and Yelena were there to ensure that no one escaped. Natasha had taken a position on a side road leading away from the base and Yelena had chosen the bridge.
So now that Natasha had taken out the guys on the bridge and there were considerably less explosions and sounds of fighting at the base up the hill, Natasha took her chance to check on Yelena.
Yelena appeared to be fighting off the men on the bridge efficiently. However, Natasha quickly noticed one running up behind the blonde, and the redhead's eyes widened as she yelled loudly in hopes of getting Yelena's attention and warning her.
"YELENA!!!" Natasha screamed as she watched her little sister. Yelena was just a moment too late, and as she turned to face him and intercept his blow, he shoved her and she went careening down the length of the bridge toward the water below. Natasha's eyes went wide as saucers, her body completely frozen in place.
She felt her heart jump as she noted Yelena shooting a line up toward the bridge. There was a chance that Yelena could make it and pull herself back up in time to avoid a collision with the frigid water.
However, Natasha's jaw slackened as the line failed and Natasha could practically feel the fear coming off of her sister even though they were far away from one another. Yelena fell, crashing into the water full-force.
Natasha screamed Yelena's name again as the men on the bridge escaped quickly. She then immediately activated her earpiece.
"Tony, immediately rendezvous to my coordinates," Natasha practically yelled into her earpiece as she immediately took off running for the water, knowing that it was freezing cold and needing to see her sister resurface to know that she was alright and relatively unharmed from the fall. Once she reached the waterside, she looked at the water's surface hopefully.
"Where is she?!" Natasha demanded, and Tony's voice quickly came over the coms as he flew above her, hovering over the water.
"I don't know, I saw her fall, too!" Tony yelled in reply, and just as Natasha was about to dive into the water herself, Tony dove downward for the water where they last saw her, and Natasha watched, feeling the fear within her heart clawing at her chest as she watched carefully.
A few moments passed before he suddenly emerged with Yelena in his arms. Natasha took off running for where he was landing some distance from their jet. As she grew close, she realized that Yelena was blue and her head was lolling about. Natasha would have been searching for a pulse as soon as she reached the both of them, but Yelena was shivering so much that it was obvious she was alive if not well.
Natasha, as much as she hated it, knew what she was going to have to do to bring Yelena back to a stable condition.
"Give her to me," Natasha immediately demanded, and Tony complied. Wasting no time, Natasha immediately put the girl on the ground and started to strip her clothes away as quickly as possible. Tony opened the face part of his suit, looking somewhat horrified, and Natasha turned her attentions to him.
"Go get me a blanket for her. Now," Natasha commanded, and he quickly complied, flying for their jet at full-speed to go and fetch a blanket. Natasha just pried the wet clothing away from her, her throat growing tight as she tried her best to remove the source of the freeze on her sister.
Yelena was quivering and shaking violently despite her unconscious state, and Tony soon returned with the blanket. Yelena was almost naked, and Natasha had lifted the blonde into her arms and maneuvered her so that she was straddling her lap as she tried to keep the blonde from touching the snow any more than she had to considering her already compromised condition.
"Thank you," Natasha whispered as she grabbed the blanket and wrapped Yelena in it, bundling her like a burrito. Natasha just held her for a little while there in the snow, letting Yelena very slowly get a bit warmer.
"Don't you think it'd be a better idea to bring her back to the jet and get her warm instead of keeping her out here in the tundra?"
"I don't want to move too fast with this. She needs to slowly acclimate to warmth," Natasha told him immediately. A few moments passed before Natasha finally decided it was time to head to the jet.
"Okay... Let's go," Natasha finally ordered as she stood up, struggling to keep Yelena wrapped around her. Yelena's legs tightened around her waist, and Natasha knew that the blonde must be regaining some sense of consciousness.
"Hang on, detka, we're getting there," Natasha comforted her softly, and Tony opened his arms to take Yelena from her. Natasha shook her head at him, knowing that the metal of his suit was definitely not going to be good for the girl while she was in this state.
Soon enough, they reached the jet, and Natasha stepped up inside of it, immediately heading for a seat as she let Yelena just slump down on her. Yelena was definitely coming back into the conscious world now, and she was shivering even more miserably as she strained to get even closer to Natasha.
"Natashka," Yelena whined, and Natasha kissed the side of her head, running her hands up and down Yelena's back in an attempt to rub the heat into her.
"It's okay, it's okay... Shh," Natasha soothed as Yelena whimpered. Tony started to drive the jet, wordlessly starting them on the trip to home.
Natasha held her in her arms tightly, massaging her back softly as she tried to acclimate Yelena just a bit more to the idea of warmth. Yelena was still gripping at her as tightly as she could, trying to draw even closer despite the fact that she was as near to Natasha as she could possibly manage at the moment.
"Tony, can you turn up the heat just a little?" Natasha asked, and Tony quickly complied, turning it on.
"Not too much. Slowly inch it up every few minutes," Natasha told him, and Tony nodded, keeping his attentions on the console.
Natasha pressed a few more kisses against Yelena's face as she almost had the blanket pulled up over their faces. Natasha reached between them with one hand, grabbing Yelena's hand and bringing it up to her mouth as she held it between her hands and breathed hot air on it. She then rubbed Yelena's hands between hers, taking in the slight blackness as the frostbite was starting to set in upon the blonde.
"You're okay," Natasha gently expressed before bringing up Yelena's other hand and trying to distribute her attentions between both of them. She took Yelena's hand that she was not blowing warm air on and pressed it against her neck in an attempt to try to bring life back into both of them.
"So cold," Yelena shakily declared, and Natasha nodded, deciding that it was probably time to start skin-to-skin contact with the blonde since they had likely moved slowly enough to keep from putting Yelena in a state of shock.
"Okay, okay... I think you're ready," Natasha stated softly as she stood up, her arms around Yelena as she hoisted her up. She then carried her baby sister into the back of the jet, her arms around her as Yelena wrapped her legs around Natasha's waist tightly.
Soon enough, they were at the small bed installed in the back of the jet, and Natasha placed Yelena's blanket-wrapped body down on the bed before her. Yelena immediately whimpered, trying to hold onto Natasha still.
"Let me go, sweet girl. It's okay," Natasha quietly told her, kissing her temple and trying to guide her back onto the bed.
"Here, lay down. I'm going to strip down somewhat so I can get you warmer. You're stable enough to get warmer a lot faster now," Natasha murmured, trying to explain her actions even though she knew Yelena likely was aware of her reasons. It mostly kept the redhead grounded as she fought for a sense of control and calmness in the midst of this terror.
Once she was only in her bra and underwear, Natasha let out a deep breath, noting how the jet was growing slowly warmer in order to gradually acclimate Yelena to increased temperatures. Natasha looked down at her shivering, whimpering baby sister that was fighting to fold in on herself as much as she possibly could. Yelena's somewhat panicked gaze was locked onto Natasha and she looked as if she would launch herself onto the redhead if she was just a bit less cold.
Natasha moved forward, crawling onto the bed as she pulled the covers back and put them over both of their legs.
"It's okay, it's okay... It's going to be awkward, but it's okay. We have to do it," Natasha whispered to her carefully, prying the fuzzy blanket away from Yelena and exposing her bra and underwear-clad body. Yelena was shivering violently, and Natasha wasted no time in lowering her own similarly dressed form down onto her, their skin touching immediately. She encircled Yelena with her skin, pressing herself as firmly against her as she could.
Natasha tried not to gasp as soon as the freezing cold skin touched her, instead choosing to bury her face in Yelena's neck in an attempt to bring as much of their skin together as possible. Yelena shakily raised her arms to wrap around Natasha's back as she placed her hands there. Natasha reached around for the covers carefully, grabbing and throwing them over them as she tried to ensure that they were cocooned in warmth.
Yelena was still shaking, and Natasha started rubbing her hands up and down Yelena's arms, trying to create more friction. Yelena's fingers were like sharp daggers of chill against Natasha's bare back.
"Sweet girl, your fingers are still like ice... Come here," Natasha gently beckoned. She took hold of Yelena's arms and pulled so that she eventually could grab hold of the blonde's wrists. She then tucked Yelena's hands between them, squishing them between their bodies as she tried her best to warm up the blonde.
"Natashka... It hurts," Yelena whispered, her voice barely making sense because of how jittery she was. Natasha nodded sympathetically, leaving Yelena's hands between them as she rubbed the younger woman's arms rigorously.
"I know it's cold, I know... I'm here with you. It's going to be okay," Natasha kissed the skin around the sides of Yelena's neck and face, noticing how cold they were. She then raised her hands to rub at Yelena's cold cheeks and neck.
"You're warm," Yelena muttered pitifully, her voice trembling with the rest of her body. Natasha felt her heart aching at the blonde's shuddering.
Natasha never wanted to see her baby sister like this. It broke her heart to see her so cold and shivering so much. Natasha knew that it was going to be a long time before she let Yelena go on any missions at cold-weather locations.
Natasha wished that she could just take all the cold from Yelena's body and put it into her own. She would take the intense ache and the biting freeze in a heartbeat if it meant sparing her most favorite person in the world of any pain.
She had been so terrified when she saw Yelena's body plummeting downward, but her heart had fell to her feet when she watched Yelena try to shoot a line for the bridge and the line did not lock onto anything.
The mere remembrance of it threatened to bring tears to her eyes, but she forced them away in favor of concentrating on keeping Yelena warm. She could not be weak when Yelena needed her to play the role of the strong, confident, infallible older sister.
"Skin-to-skin feels nice," Yelena whispered in between her teeth clattering and Natasha allowed herself a small chuckle despite the fact that nothing was funny about this at all. It was mostly a way to let out the immense stress within her.
"Oh, yeah?" Natasha asked, trying to keep Yelena talking in an attempt to try to assess if the blonde was making good sense with her sentences and if the heating process was actually bringing her back.
"Feels closer," Yelena murmured, her voice shaking as she tried to press as near to Natasha as she possibly could.
"Yes," Natasha chuckled again, trying her hardest to hold back tears at the fact that Yelena seemed as if she was going to be okay. If Natasha was looking outside of her sheer panic that was within her, she knew that Yelena's shivering was letting up some now, and although Natasha had not checked Yelena's fingers, she could feel that they were much warmer than they had been before.
Natasha closed her eyes tightly, thanking everything that her baby sister was alive and well in her arms.
"I love you, little one," Natasha whispered to her gently, and Yelena immediately turned her face into Natasha's neck as she pressed her cool nose against the redhead's warm skin.
"I love you, too."