Summary: When Yelena has her second ever big mission and is going to be gone with Steve and Clint for four to six days, Natasha is convinced that she is going to be miserable and lonely just like she always is without her baby sister there to keep her company. However, she finds odd comfort in one Kate Bishop, and the both of them use this time to grow closer and form a strange yet close bond with one another.
But this does not set well with Yelena when she finds out about this large amount of time that Kate is spending with her Natasha and how close they are growing.
"Okay, ow," Kate whined a little, her back flat against the mat as she finally got enough air in her lungs to speak. Natasha just chuckled a little in response to the girl, looking down at her as she stepped over to just at the top of Kate's head.
Natasha had been teaching Kate a little bit about how to properly counter an enemy's blocking motion, and she told Kate to come at her with anything she knew. In one of their last rounds, Kate had come in with a flying kick, trying to take Natasha off-guard.
However, by pure instinct, Natasha managed to catch her leg in a hold while Kate was in mid-air, and she threw the girl on her back, knocking the breath out of her. Natasha felt a little bit bad, but mostly, she was terribly amused at the look on Kate's face.
"You've got to anticipate your enemy's move," Natasha told her with a slight grin, and Kate groaned deeply as she held her stomach, just laying there. Natasha moved over to Kate's side, extending her hand to help the girl up to her feet.
Kate looked at her for a moment before achily raising up and taking hold of Natasha's hand tightly. Natasha heaved her upward onto her feet. Once she was there before Natasha, Kate nodded to her in thanks with a slight grin that almost resembled a grimace as she held her stomach with a hand.
"Wow... Are things supposed to ache like this? I haven't hurt this bad since I was trying to earn my black belt," Kate complained lightly with a slight awkward laugh. Natasha just smirked at her, her hand lingering on the girl's arm.
"Clint takes it too easy on you."
"But it feels like he goes harder on me usually. Well, until me and you get done training," Kate grinned lopsidedly, and Natasha squeezed her arm a little, tilting her head a bit as she gazed at the brunette.
"It's my job to pinpoint weaknesses, Kate, and I make sure that you're training to get rid of them the whole time that we're sparring together," Natasha explained to her gently, and Kate raised her eyebrows in surprise before nodding a little.
"Well... I guess that shouldn't surprise me. You're like the best fighter here, so," Kate just sort of shrugged, cutting herself off. Natasha shook her head affectionately at her before moving her hand up to Kate's shoulder and guiding her in toward her.
Kate eagerly stepped forward to receive the hug that she was being offered, and Natasha embraced her carefully. Kate immediately sunk into the embrace in that manner that was typical of her, her taller form draping over Natasha as she let herself be held while she relaxed for just a moment.
"You did a really good job," Natasha praised, and she could feel Kate grin against her as she giggled somewhat goofily.
"Thanks, but I had a great teacher," Kate quipped, and Natasha rolled her eyes fondly, rubbing a hand up and down the girl's back for a moment before letting her go hesitantly.
Something in Natasha just wanted to hold onto her and keep her in her arms. It was likely the piece of her that was already missing Yelena, but she also found that she was fond of Kate herself as well, and she enjoyed giving the kid the affection she obviously so desperately needed.
Kate stretched her arms a little, moving them so that she could stretch her back and shoulders out, too. Natasha let out a deep breath, heading over to the water bottles nearby and grabbing both of them. Natasha turned to Kate, and the brunette paused to open her hand to catch it. Natasha threw it to her, and Kate caught it with remarkable ease.
They both drank their bottles for a long moment before Kate suddenly stopped drinking and held the bottle in her hands, examining the amount of water left over. Natasha raised an eyebrow as she looked at the girl, and Kate turned her attentions to Natasha, her eyes sparkling excitedly.
"Watch this!" Kate told her before kneeling down on the floor and sticking her tongue out just barely as she focused. Natasha huffed a little, but kept her eyes on her, and Kate tossed the bottle, flipping it in mid-air. Surprisingly, it landed on its bottom perfectly and Kate fist-pumped excitedly, her enthusiasm positively adorable.
"Yes!" Kate excitedly declared, dabbing quickly. Natasha just laughed slightly in spite of herself. She was impressed with Kate's trick, but the girl was so cute with her dab and her delight that Natasha could not resist expressing a bit of mirth.
Kate immediately paused, looking a little embarrassed, but at Natasha's fond smile, she loosened up a little, realizing that Natasha was not necessarily laughing at her in a bad way. Kate grinned as she got up, picking up her water bottle. Her smile swiftly disappeared as she winced with the sudden movement.
"Whoo... Y'know, I think I've got a hot shower calling my name," Kate stated, and Natasha nodded a little, suddenly feeling an oddly unsettled and sad weight in her stomach. She did not want Kate to leave and Natasha did not want to go home all alone. Kate started to turn to climb out of the ring, and Natasha quickly strode over behind her. Kate paused as she realized that Natasha was right there not too far from her, and she looked at the older woman curiously.
"Hey... I was wondering if you might want to come and have dinner at my place? Don't feel like you have to or anything. I just thought I'd offer," Natasha trailed off for a moment, unsure of exactly how to go about this.
She did not want the girl to feel obligated to come or something. It was just that Natasha could not stand the thought of being alone and facing another several days of horror as she had the last time that Yelena had went on a mission that lasted for more than one day.
Just as she was about to reopen her mouth and quickly try to undo the damage she had so successfully dealt, Kate's smile turned practically blinding as her eyes lit up ridiculously brightly.
"Gosh, yeah! I mean, I would love to," Kate tried to sound a little calmer, but the excitement was still seeping into even the manner in which she was standing. She could hardly remain still as she fidgeted in place, an enormous grin on her face. Natasha felt relief flooding her, and she was so thankful that Kate actually seemed to want to come for dinner of her own volition and perhaps not out of a sense of duty.
"That's great... Umm... I can wait on you to finish showering and you can ride home with me if you want?" Natasha offered hesitantly, and somehow, it almost seemed as if Kate's smile grew even bigger. Natasha was sure that if it grew any wider, it would split her face in half.
"Yeah! That'd be awesome! As long as I'm not holding you up or anything," Kate slowed down a little in her babbling, suddenly looking a little uncertain of herself even through her excitement.
"No, you're not holding me up. No one's home waiting on me, anyway, so there's no hurry," Natasha could not help but accidentally let a bit more sadness than she meant to have in her voice slip into her tone. Kate nodded quickly, sympathy in her gaze before it was quickly taken over by unbridled joy.
"Well, I guess I'll meet you in a little bit! I won't be long!" Kate excitedly declared as she hurried out of the gym to go to her apartment and shower. Natasha grinned a little, feeling some semblance of contentment and familiarity fill her at the knowledge that she was actually not going to be alone.
Eventually, Kate finished her shower, and Natasha drove the both of them home. They grabbed some takeout and were cooking some popcorn to go with the food since Natasha had offered for the both of them to watch a movie together. Kate had been positively thrilled, and Natasha had left Kate with cooking the popcorn while she went to go get some non-sacred blankets that Yelena would not be upset with her for using with the brunette.
Kate strode toward the kitchen, aiming to go in and check the popcorn in the microwave since she knew the popcorn package had likely lied about the amount of time to cook the stuff for. After all, those bags oftentimes were wrongly labeled with their time limits.
However, she was quickly distracted by Natasha's phone ringing. Kate paused for just a moment, looking at the screen to check and see who was calling. To her excitement, it was Yelena. Kate knew Natasha was likely not going to be able to answer the phone before it stopped ringing, so Kate swiftly reached out, grabbing it and answering it as she put it to her ear.
"Hey, Yelena!" Kate greeted happily, and there was a strange, strangled noise of surprise on the other side of the phone.
"Wh—Kate Bishop?" Yelena questioned, sounding completely and utterly baffled and confused.
"Yeah! How's the mission going?" Kate excitedly questioned, a grin on her face as she eagerly awaited Yelena's answer and perhaps some information about Clint.
Kate was not hoping for much since she knew that Yelena was on a burner phone and that she had a limited number of minutes available to speak on it. It was the only way that Yelena could call Natasha during missions. Of course, if the mission was more high stakes, she would not even be allowed to call on a burner phone.
"Peachy. Why do you have my sister's phone?" Yelena cut to the chase, her tone sounding on that dangerous edge of danger despite the boredom and slight coolness in her tone. Kate was about to reply, but she suddenly heard the microwave timer going off. Kate's eyes widened, knowing that the popcorn had likely burned by now.
"Crap, just hang on a sec, Yelena!" Kate yelped before hurrying away and checking the microwave. She heard something that sounded suspiciously insulting and a lot like "you're burning my minutes" loudly coming from the phone as she opened the microwave quickly, grabbing the popcorn quickly in the tips of her fingers as she threw it on the counter.
She very carefully and hesitantly opened the bag, steam flowing out of it quickly from the heat. She leaned over it, squinting in the midst of the waves coming up, and she let out a breath of relief as she took in the sight of pretty golden popcorn. Kate then strode back over to the phone, picking it back up again.
"I'm back. I almost burned our popcorn," Kate chuckled, awkwardness in her tone as she leaned against the counter.
"Our popcorn? Who's our?"
"Me and Natasha's. We're watching a movie together tonight. She asked me over for dinner after we trained today, which was super sweet of her," Kate caught herself describing a little too much about the situation, and she quickly stopped, growing quiet. She got a little too excited and forgot who she was talking to.
She knew how Yelena would likely feel about the fact that Kate was spending one-on-one attention with Natasha while Yelena was gone. From what little she had understood from Yelena, Kate knew that the blonde had a strange yet very strong jealousy issue when it came to Natasha spending time with females that were not her. Kate was not sure if it was because the girl was afraid of someone replacing her or if it was just that Natasha was hers and no one else's, but Kate did not want to upset her or mess up the tentative friendship they had begun recently.
Kate could see that Yelena was growing fonder of her lately. It was in the way that she looked at her with a slight amusement sometimes and in the fact that she would actually offer her somewhat hard shoulder bumps occasionally that was a rougher imitation of the shoves that Yelena would give Natasha. They hurt, but Kate was thankful for them because they obviously showed some beginnings of real friendship.
Right now, there was dead silence on the other end of the line, and Kate just waited for a moment, swallowing as she waited somewhat nervously for Yelena's response to her. Finally, Kate could not stand the silence any longer and she laughed nervously.
"Who's using up your minutes now?" Kate teased but quickly cursed herself for using something so sarcastic. Yelena let out a sigh that sounded somewhere between extremely irritated and somewhat amused.
"Can I talk to Natasha?" Yelena asked, keeping her voice remarkably calm despite the presence of something within her tone that was less than perfectly friendly.
"Sure! She's in the back getting blankets, but," Kate paused as she turned to the couch, realizing that Natasha was just now entering and throwing the blankets on the couch. Kate grinned a little as she hurried over to the redhead.
"Don't worry, here she is!" Kate announced quickly, handing the phone to Natasha before hurrying back into the kitchen to tend to the popcorn. Natasha's eyes widened a little but she took the phone and raised it to her ear.
"Hello?" Kate heard Natasha question.
"Hey, sweet girl! How's the mission going?" Natasha voice was sweeter than sugar and warmer than the Sun as she addressed the girl on the phone.
Kate found that a part of her wished that Natasha would talk to her that way, too. Some strange piece of Kate wanted to be a part of this strong bond between Natasha and Yelena, and although she knew Yelena would never accept her in, she was beginning to think that Natasha never actually could either. After all, Natasha did not talk to anyone like she talked to Yelena.
Natasha grew quiet for a few moments, and Kate turned to see what was going on. To her surprise, Natasha was not even in the same room with her anymore. She furrowed her brow, wondering where the woman had escaped to so quietly and so efficiently. She soon enough settled on the explanation that Natasha was likely wanting to talk to Yelena privately.
In the other room, Natasha was currently trying to calm Yelena down and explain things. Yelena was not obviously and openly mad, but Natasha could hear the obvious hurt and pain in her voice.
"Detka, I just asked her over because it's so hard without you, and I'm just... I'm lonely," Natasha told her, and Yelena immediately spoke up in response to her.
"But I know you're fond of her, Natasha. I know that you care about her deeply, and I know that's part of why you asked her. If you just wanted any company at all, you would've asked Peter," Yelena countered, her voice quiet yet still packing a punch with the deep injury and agitation in it. Natasha felt as if she had been hit in the gut with the sound of Yelena's dejectedness paired with the fact that the girl had called her by her actual name instead of the ordinary fond variation Yelena always used. Natasha let out a deep breath.
"I wanted to spend some time with her because I feel like the kid needs a positive older female figure in her life. But know that this entire time, I have been missing you. I care about Kate, but she's not you, lyubov. She'll never be you," Natasha assured her. Yelena was quiet for a long moment, and Natasha felt her heart aching as she closed her eyes, trying to picture Yelena's face in her head.
"I wish I could see you right now," Natasha admitted finally and interrupted the silence, her voice just the slightest bit thick as she wished that Yelena was there and in her arms. At that, Yelena let out a gentle hum in response.
"I wish I could be there," Yelena confessed, her voice small as she replied to the redhead. Natasha let out a gentle breath, pressing the button on her bracelet and remaining quiet as she waited for Yelena's response.
There was no auditory response, but as soon as the light went off on Natasha's bracelet, it lit up again, and Natasha knew that her little sister had pressed the button on her bracelet.
"I wish I could hug you. I miss you so much," Natasha spoke, and Yelena chuckled softly.
"Wow. I just left today, and you're already missing me so much that you can't stand yourself," Yelena joked, her tone a husk of her ordinary mischievousness. Natasha laughed quietly, shrugging despite the fact that Yelena could not see the response.
"I always miss you, little one. Even if you're just five minutes away," Natasha expressed, honesty in her voice. Yelena grew very quiet after that, and Natasha saw her bracelet lighting up again. Natasha smiled in spite of herself.
"I love you. More than anything or anyone in the world, moya krasivaya mladshaya sestra,"1 Natasha whispered after a few minutes, and Yelena let out a gentle breath.
"I love you, too. So much," Yelena told her quietly, and Natasha sighed deeply, knowing that they had already wasted quite a few minutes on Yelena's phone. Natasha knew that Yelena was not about to hang up the phone first since she never hung up with Natasha first, so the redhead knew that she had to take matters into her own hands.
"We're burning up minutes on your phone... I guess I should get off," Natasha stated, and Yelena hummed in affirmation.
"Okay... Don't forget," Yelena trailed off, not finishing her sentence, and Natasha felt her heart cracking with Yelena's unsaid meaning.
Don't forget her.
"I'll never forget," Natasha assured her. Yelena made a small noise of acknowledgement that sounded oddly strained.
They exchanged goodbyes and Natasha got off of the phone, heading into the other room to the couch where she knew Kate would be waiting for her.
Sure enough, Kate was sitting there on the couch, the plates already on the table and giant popcorn bowl on the table. Kate smiled happily at her when she came in, and Natasha felt a little bit of the pain from her conversation with her baby sister dissipating somewhat at the mere sight of the girl and her cheerfulness.
"Hey! I picked the movie, but I wasn't sure if there was something else you'd rather watch. I just went on Disney Plus and clicked Three Men and a Baby. We can definitely watch something else if you want, though," Kate sweetly told her, and Natasha shook her head affectionately, sitting down next to the girl on the couch.
Their shoulders brushed, and Natasha was immediately overcome with the desire to feel something or someone in her arms. She just wanted to hold her baby sister more than anything. But this was Kate, and she did not want to make the girl uncomfortable.
"That sounds perfect. I trust your judgement," Natasha expressed, reaching down and getting her plate. Kate followed her example and put her own plate in her lap.
"Just be ready... It's a little inappropriate throughout," Kate stated before turning a little red as she seemed to realize who she was talking to. Natasha raised an eyebrow playfully.
"I've lived with the Avengers for quite a while now with most of them being male, Kate. You don't have to worry about me," Natasha teased, and Kate shook her head quickly.
"Sorry, I know, I completely get it. I got into the habit of saying that stuff to my mom. I don't know why. I guess she was just like majorly offended by every single little thing. Like even just the mildest curse words got under her skin if I was the one showing it to her, so I just thought that maybe if I warned her, I might not get the stink-eye for putting on something less than perfectly appropriate," Kate admitted quietly, and Natasha felt her heart squeeze a little in response to the kid's words.
"Well, don't worry about me, sweetheart. I'm not judging. Besides, you're an adult, and I'm pretty sure you've heard people say a few dirty words," Natasha pointed out with a playful wink.
"Maybe a few," Kate admitted with a slight smirk, gratefulness shining in her eyes, and Natasha smiled. She then got the remote, clicking play on the movie, and they both settled down quietly, watching the movie.
However, at some point much later in the movie, Kate's head found itself on Natasha's shoulder in a manner that was painstakingly familiar to the way Yelena laid her head on Natasha. Kate carried a different scent to her, but if Natasha held her breath and closed her eyes, she could almost pretend it was her baby sister back at her side.
Natasha looked down at her with surprise, taking in the scene on her shoulder. Kate was adorably sleeping on her shoulder, her nose nuzzled into Natasha's shirt. Natasha's chest warmed as she gazed at her.
Natasha carefully maneuvered the blanket near her so that it was draped over the both of them. She then maneuvered herself so that she was more comfortably lounged on the couch, her head moving over slightly to rest her cheek on Kate's hair. Natasha did not have the heart to wake the kid up.
Besides, it would not really hurt anything if she just closed her eyes, too. At least for a moment, anyway.