Summary: When Yelena and Natasha go on a mission, they bring Kate along to stay in the jet so that she can watch them at work. However, when Yelena gets into a bad position and she is about to call Natasha to help, Kate leaves the jet and takes action. Unfortunately, it does not turn out well for the young archer.
So this was what being shot felt like...
Kate was supposed to stay in the jet. She had come along on a mission with Natasha and Yelena to watch them from the jet since Natasha had hacked the enemy system so that Kate could see them in the cameras surrounding the place.
All had been going well with staying in the jet even though Kate was longing to go out and join the two older women in fighting. That is, right up until Yelena was suddenly in trouble. Too many guys were coming at her from inconvenient positions and she was taking too long to call Natasha for help. Therefore, Kate did what anyone with logic and ability would do. She ran out to join the fight and help Yelena fight them off hand-to-hand.
When she got there and started fighting the men, she had not exactly counted on the fact that they were all going to have guns, and that they were more put-together than the Tracksuit Mafia, which was the only other group of gun-wielding enemies she had ever faced. Needless to say, that lack of pre-planning bought her to where she was now.
Kate was quickly realizing that being shot was doubtlessly one of the worst feelings she had ever experienced.
It was familiar and unfamiliar all at the same time. It was piercing, and it was something that she had never felt. Of course, Kate had never been shot before, but she had imagined it, and somehow in her wildest dreams, she thought that the way she envisioned it to feel was accurate.
Now she knew that she was so, so wrong about that.
"KATE!!!" Yelena screamed as soon as Kate hit the ground. Kate grabbed at her stomach, trying to hold herself together despite the fact that there was a hole in her. Or was there two or three holes? She could not entirely tell at this point. She just registered the sound of a gun going off a few moments before.
She immediately heard three or four gunshots, and the sound of multiple bodies hitting the ground. Kate closed her eyes for a moment, trying not to completely break down into a panic as she felt so much like doing.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! Kate Bishop, you weren't supposed to engage!" Yelena scolded, her voice coming out terribly harsh as she looked over Kate with her gaze running over the entirety of her form. Kate tried really hard not to cry from both the pain and Yelena's tone, biting down on her bottom lip until she could taste blood.
Or was the blood taste coming from the inside of her mouth rather than her lip? Kate was not entirely sure.
All she knew was that she could not break down like this in front of Yelena. Yelena was already mad that Kate was there in the first place. She did not want to look like a sniveling baby when she had finally got into the midst of the action. Especially considering the fact that she was not necessarily supposed to be in the midst of the action in the first place.
"I'm sorry. I—I wanted to... To help you," Kate stuttered a little, trying to keep her words in a straight line despite the fact that she felt like she was losing all focus as all of her senses centered on the excruciating pain in her stomach.
"Natashka, we need help now. Kate is down," Yelena spoke into the commlink. Kate groaned, trying to avoid gasping for air despite the fact that it was all she wanted to do. It felt like she was drowning, and she could not exactly even describe why. Especially since she was not underwater.
"Eto vyglyadit ochen' plokho. Eto mozhet byt' smertel'no opasno, yesli my ne potoropimsya,"1 Yelena spoke, her voice sounding strangely fearful in a manner that was not at all characteristic of the blonde. Kate tried to look over at her but she quickly gasped in spite of herself as she accidentally moved the wrong way.
"Kate, you're okay. It's okay. Natasha's coming," Yelena told her, and Kate knew there was something odd about the way that Yelena was addressing her. She just could not exactly put her finger on it. She honestly could not hardly focus on anything but the pain as Yelena placed her hands firmly over the wound in her stomach and applied pressure.
However, one word came through to her in the midst of Yelena's speaking.
Natasha.
"Tasha... Where's Tasha?" Kate questioned, looking around blearily as she tried to see the telltale flash of red that had come to bring her such deep comfort and warmth. She felt the overwhelming need to see her. The one person besides Clint that brought her infinite comfort. The one person that might even be more vital to her than Clint in terms of closeness.
"She's coming. But you have to keep your eyes open if you're going to see her, Katie-Bear," Yelena told her, and Kate furrowed her brow, almost feeling like crying but somehow knowing that there was a reason that she did not want to do that. She could not remember why, though. All she knew was that it was just so hard. She did not feel like keeping her eyes open. Her eyelids kept growing heavy.
And wait... Did Yelena just call her Katie?
"Don't call me Katie," Kate argued with her, coughing hard as she felt that drowning feeling starting to stifle her. Yelena chuckled a little, but there was something off about the sound.
"Yeah, that's right. You don't like being called Katie, do you?" Yelena questioned, and Kate suddenly felt herself being raised up. Kate whined, grabbing the hands that were holding onto her sides.
"It hurts, please, don't—"
"I know, I know. You've got to be a big girl, Kate," Yelena expressed softly, and Kate let out a pained breath, gasping once again and immediately coughing as she felt as if she had sucked down water into her lungs.
"Yelena... Yelena, I can't... I can't—"
"Natasha's coming. You want to see her, right? Keep your eyes open if you want to see Natasha," Yelena persisted, and Kate felt the hot tears pouring down her face as she struggled to breathe. It was just so hard, and her eyelids were feeling so heavy.
Kate could not hardly see anything but something that resembled tunnel vision at this point. And something that suspiciously almost looked like a shadow of a person she once knew and still loved dearly. A person that had been lost to her for years now.
"Kate, Kate, stay awake. KATE, STAY AWAKE!!!" a familiar voice floated into her ears, and with the slightest flash of red in her vision and that painfully familiar figure lingering nearby, Kate lost all consciousness.
.....................................................................................................................
Natasha wiped her eyes with one hand, keeping her other arm and hand firmly grounded around Yelena as the blonde straddled her lap and laid against her torso heavily while sleeping on her.
Kate had passed out just as Natasha got to her and Yelena, and to Natasha's surprise, Yelena had been borderline panicking as she shook and told Natasha that Kate was dying. Natasha had to somehow juggle picking up Kate to carry her to the jet and comforting her baby sister while all at the same time trying to keep down her own sense of terror.
As soon as she saw Kate there on the ground with Yelena looking between her and Natasha so helplessly, Natasha felt as if she had been positively destroyed on the inside. She loved Kate so, so much, and it was at that moment that she had realized precisely how much Kate meant to her. Kate was like a baby sister to Natasha, and although the redhead had never thought of it before, she knew that it was one of the most real things she had felt.
Immediately when she got to the jet, she tried to ground Yelena as she commanded the jet to fly her immediately to a hospital. All Yelena had been able to tell her was that it was Yelena's fault for not seeing Kate soon enough and that she had somehow missed her and could not protect her. Natasha tried her best to offer Yelena affection and also try to stop Kate's bleeding at least temporarily.
It had been hard, but as they reached the hospital, Natasha found a safe place to land on top and was immediately met by medical staff that had heard the commotion, and they had swept Kate away quickly. Yelena had wanted to fight them about it a little given her inherent distrust of hospitals as a result of the Red Room, but Natasha had been quick to grab her and take her in her arms to reassure her.
Kate had ended up having two bullet wounds in her stomach, and they had to operate on her immediately to give her better chances of survival. Natasha and Yelena had kept watch over Kate as the doctors worked on her. Natasha had been watching in pure terror, and Yelena had looked scared but also horribly guilty as she just gazed at the situation with a firmly clenched jaw.
Granted, Natasha had been feeling her fair share of guilt as well since she could settle down long enough to think about it, but she had been doing her best not to focus on her own feelings since Yelena and even Kate needed her to be strong.
Fortunately, Kate had managed to pull through the surgery, and Yelena and Natasha were now waiting in the hospital room where Kate was still knocked out completely and they had what looked like three thousand IVs attached to her.
Several things in her torso area were damaged, and they had to keep a close eye on her for internal bleeding. There was the smallest chance that Kate could die from it, but there were large odds that she would be alright. It was just that small chance that terrified Natasha to her very core. They did not know when she would wake up either, but if she woke up, she was almost guaranteed to make it through this safely.
Natasha looked down at the hospital bed that they were sitting next to, and she painfully noted that Kate still did not appear to be awake or anywhere near waking up. She looked so pale in the bed, and her skin that was normally so vibrantly glowing with life was almost as blank as the sheets surrounding her. Natasha reached out and took Kate's hand that was nearest to her, running her thumb over Kate's hand as she squeezed softly three times to communicate a wordless "I love you."
Natasha felt like her heart was being torn out of her chest. Even Yelena's grounding weight on top of her was not doing much to keep her from feeling the fear and guilt coursing through her from Kate's condition.
Natasha let out a deep breath, stroking Yelena's back with a hand as the blonde slept. It had been a tiresome day for Yelena, and it honestly shocked Natasha that Yelena had been so upset about Kate. She knew that Yelena would have taken the bullet for Kate and that Yelena cared about Kate to some degree, but she did not know that Kate meant that much to her.
It warmed her heart to see her baby sister warming up to the younger girl especially since Kate wanted both of the sisters to like her. Kate really cared about Natasha and even loved her, and she knew that it hurt Kate that Yelena seemed to dislike her so strongly.
However, it was evident to Natasha now that Kate obviously meant so much more to Yelena than Natasha and Kate had thought. The kid must have wormed her way into Yelena's heart just as she had so successfully won over everyone else.
She knew that Yelena would deny it to the bitter end that she cared for Kate and that now that Natasha had managed to calm her down some, she would likely wake up much more put-together, but Natasha also hoped that maybe Yelena would be a little gentler with Kate now. Or at least a tiny bit more civil. Of course, she by no means believed that Yelena would stop teasing Kate relentlessly and aggravating her or even that Yelena would stop being jealous of her altogether.
Natasha squeezed Kate's hand again, wishing that she could be able to hold both Yelena and Kate at the same time. She wanted more than anything to be able to move nearer to Kate while also keeping hold of Yelena and letting her stay close to her.
But Natasha was quickly distracted as she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up quickly, her hands tightening defensively on both of her girls. She quickly relaxed as she realized it was Clint, and she smiled softly yet somewhat painedly at him as she tried her best to hold herself together.
Now that Yelena was asleep and did not need her support and strength and since Kate was quietly sleeping, Natasha felt an overwhelming desire to cry. Especially now that Clint was here and she had someone she could trust to cry on. It was not that she did not trust Yelena. It was just that she knew Yelena needed her support rather than for her to cry all over her right now.
Clint looked somewhat grim as he looked over his protégée, and he swallowed hard as he looked over at Natasha and moved a hand up to touch her shoulder softly. Natasha slowly and softly leaned her head against his hand, closing her eyes as she allowed a few silent tears to slip softly down her cheeks.
"She'll be okay, Nat. She's just got to get some strength back," he quietly assured her, and Natasha opened her eyes, looking at him through the blur of tears. She shook her head, the guilt bubbling up within her all over again as she cursed herself for allowing herself to let Kate come on the jet and for not letting Yelena convince her that it should have been just the two of them.
"I should've been there to watch over them both. Yelena wouldn't feel so guilty about this, and I could have prevented Kate from getting hurt," Natasha whispered, trying to keep her voice as quiet as she could to avoid disturbing Yelena and waking her up.
"Nat, there's nothing you could do. Sometimes things happen, and people make their choices about things. Kate made a stupid choice, but a choice nonetheless. And it was one you or Yelena couldn't control or change," Clint explained, squeezing her shoulder a little more tightly. Natasha just let out a breath, lifting her hand a little from Yelena's back as she wiped at her eyes.
"I shouldn't have let her come in the jet," Natasha admitted, and Clint shook his head. Natasha swallowed hard as he rubbed her shoulder gently with his thumb in reassurance.
"You didn't know this was going to happen. You can't blame yourself," Clint told her, and Yelena shifted just a little against her. Natasha paused for a moment, forcing herself to calm down enough to stroke Yelena's hair softly and try to soothe her back to sleep.
Yelena let out a small breath through her mouth, and Natasha realized that a bit of drool had oozed from Yelena's mouth onto her shoulder. Natasha allowed herself a wet chuckle as she kissed Yelena's head gently and sniffled a little.
"You should've seen the panic in Yelena's eyes. Knowing that I could've eased that pain and even saved Kate is torture, Clint," Natasha told her, looking over at him as she felt her bottom lip threatening to tremble a bit. Clint shook his head, looking at her carefully with those calm green-blues.
"You can't know that for sure. You can't keep beating yourself up about something that you don't even know for a fact that you could've even stopped," Clint assured her, his hand squeezing a bit as his thumb continued to rub gentle yet grounding circles on her. Natasha took in a deep breath as the tears still threatened to spill down her cheeks.
"I can't stand seeing Kate like this. I love her so much," Natasha told him as she tightened her grip on Kate's hand as she slept peacefully and almost hauntingly in the bed next to them. Clint nodded, his mouth tightening into a thin line as he took in the sight of her.
"I know. It's hurting me, too. She's so energetic and a lot of times, way too much, but she's just a ray of sunshine," Clint trailed off, growing quiet as he eyed the girl wordlessly. Natasha pressed her nose to Yelena's hair, breathing in the girl's scent as she tried to calm the pain raging within her.
"Miss Romanoff?" a tentative voice questioned softly from behind her, breaking the silence between Natasha and Clint.
Natasha craned her neck to look back. She quickly spotted Peter, and she felt her heart melting at the sight of him. He looked so terribly worried and concerned, and he looked so hesitant to come in. Natasha wiped her face a little, trying to pull herself together to maintain at least some semblance of normalcy.
"Come in, Peter," Natasha gently beckoned, and he followed her instruction, coming in and sitting on the opposite side from Natasha as he pulled up a seat softly next to Kate's bed. He immediately looked horrified as he took in the sight of her, and Natasha felt her stomach twist.
"She's... Wow," Peter was almost speechless, aching pain contorting his face as he watched her.
"She was shot two times in the stomach. She was supposed to stay on the jet, but when Yelena was in trouble, she took action," Natasha explained stiffly, trying to distance herself from the situation as much as she could despite the fact that everything in her wanted to scream and throw herself upon Kate to try to drag her back to the land of the living.
Peter nodded slowly, taking in the news as he swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing a little with the motion. Natasha returned to hiding her face against Yelena, closing her eyes and trying to contain herself.
"She's gonna be okay?" Peter asked tentatively, and Clint hummed in affirmation.
"She'll be fine, kid. After all, Heaven knows she'd come crawling back from death itself just to keep aggravating me," Clint declared, chuckling softly as he no doubt considered Kate's persistent nature. Peter smiled a little, nodding, and they all fell into a comfortable silence as they waited patiently for their favorite awkward, soft puppy to wake up.
Natasha just hoped Kate would wake up soon.
.....................................................................................................................
It was three days later, and Kate still had not awoken. Clint, insisting that they needed to get out and do something, headed to the gym down the road, and Peter, after much conniving, had managed to convince Yelena to come with him to the store to go help him get groceries for Aunt May.
Natasha knew Yelena had not wanted to leave her, but she also knew that Yelena was getting stir-crazy and needed some time out of the hospital since it was bringing back far too many memories that were best left buried in the past. Natasha also knew that Yelena still felt guilt about not being able to save Kate, and that sitting there and watching Kate through the agonizing minutes was taking a real toll on her.
Therefore, Natasha had urged Yelena to leave her side and go to the store to free her mind a little and for her to have a little fun. Yelena had hesitantly left her, and she had hugged Natasha for a solid five minutes before leaving, and it had taken several kisses to her cheeks and forehead for her to officially and finally leave Natasha there.
For now, Natasha was using the time alone to just sit there as close as she could to Kate's bedside, both of her hands gently grasping Kate's hand as she lifted it to her lips and kissed it gently every few minutes. Natasha alternated her left hand between holding Kate's hand and touching her face as she ran her thumb gently across her cheek.
"Sweet, sweet one... Please wake up for me... I love you so, so much. You mean so much to me, and I just wish I could have told you before, Kate," Natasha expressed painedly, feeling tears welling up in her eyes.
"Shchenok, you're just a bright light to everyone. I don't know if you could hear Clint just the other day, but he said so, too. I know that would've meant everything for you to hear," Natasha chuckled gently, her voice remaining soft and just the slightest bit hoarse as she addressed her. Kate remained still, and Natasha sighed gently.
"Peter's worried about you, and he's stayed here for several days now. He finally managed to drag Yelena away to the store to get a break from the hospital," Natasha told her gently, keeping her eyes focused on Kate's face for any sign of a reaction.
"Yelena feels awful about the whole thing, and she panicked so much when you passed out... She cares about you a lot, Kate. Even if she doesn't admit it," Natasha expressed, and Kate still remained still as she breathed softly. Natasha felt her bottom lip trembling again as a sharp stab came to her heart from the worry overwhelming her that Kate could be in this state forever or at least for a while longer.
"I wish I could have told you, Kate... I wish I could have told you how much you mean to me. That you're like... You're like another baby sister. And I love about you so, so much," Natasha managed to choke out, tears starting to spill from her eyes as she lowered her head a little to press her forehead against their joined hands. Natasha closed her eyes tightly, releasing a deep, shaky breath as she tried to hold back the sob that threatened to wrack through her.
However, she suddenly felt a small squeeze to her hand, and Natasha immediately opened her eyes, looking up at Kate's face as hope soared within her. She saw the girl scrunch her nose adorably as she strained to try to open her eyes, and Natasha had to use all of her self-control to keep from launching herself to hug the girl.
Kate barely opened her eyes, taking in the sight of the room before looking over at Natasha. She furrowed her brow, looking terribly concerned despite her drowsiness and the weakness overtaking her.
"Did we do good on the mission?" Kate asked, her voice barely coming through loud enough to hear. Natasha just laughed a little, tears rolling down her cheeks as she moved up to cup Kate's face and kiss her head lovingly. She just remained there for a long moment, thanking everything that Kate was awake. She then finally moved back a little to be able to look at the girl.
"Two bullet wounds, Kate. Two bullets, and you're asking about the mission's success," Natasha chuckled in spite of herself, trying not to sob painfully. Kate just smiled at her gently, her eyes half-lidded as she tried to focus on her.
"You're crying," Kate pointed out suddenly as she tried to lift her hand just a little to touch Natasha's face. Natasha just shook her head, gently reaching down and putting Kate's hand back so it could lay on the bed.
"I'm okay. It's fine," Natasha reassured softly, wiping her eyes as she looked down at the sweet, wonderful person just before her. Natasha gently sat on the bed so that she could remain near to her, and Kate shifted her hand a little so that it was resting on Natasha's leg. As much as Natasha did not want the girl to strain herself, she allowed her to move her hand just that small bit.
"I was worried sick, Kate. We all were," Natasha sighed, her hands cupping Kate's face as she stroked her cheeks. Kate let out a gentle breath, her eyes soft as she gazed at her with a smile.
However, Kate lost a bit of her smile as she looked down for a moment. Natasha furrowed her brow, feeling concern rising within her as she watched the brunette carefully. She did not know what she was feeling at the moment, and she seemed strangely closed off in that moment. Natasha tilted her head a little, patiently awaiting the moment when Kate would speak up.
To her shock, Kate suddenly looked up at her again, and Natasha just kept her eyes locked onto those gorgeous gunmetal blues.
"Did you mean it?" Kate questioned feebly, her eyes shining with some combination of fear and love as she eyed Natasha. Natasha swallowed a little, wondering what Kate meant exactly.
"Of course I meant it. We were all worried to death about you. Especially me and Yelena," Natasha expressed, and Kate shook her head slowly, still looking terribly conflicted. Natasha grew silent, allowing Kate to specify her meaning.
"Did you mean what you said about... Me being a sister to you?" Kate questioned, her voice terribly small and sounding awfully vulnerable as she watched Natasha. Natasha felt her breath catching in her throat, not sure what Kate was thinking about what she had said. Kate seemed to be acting so odd about it, and Natasha was honestly scared that Kate did not feel the same way about her.
However, she knew that Kate must have heard her, and she could not begin to deny any of it now. Of course, she also knew that the girl deserved to know how Natasha felt about her.
"Yeah... I did," Natasha replied softly, and Kate just watched her carefully. Natasha looked down, quickly trying to avoid seeing how Kate was going to react as she released the younger girl and put her hands in her lap.
"But it doesn't matter. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything, and it's fine if you don't feel that way toward me, because—"
Natasha froze as Kate suddenly touched the side of Natasha's face gingerly. Natasha's gaze immediately snapped to Kate's to look into her eyes carefully. Natasha found herself absolutely shocked to see tears shining in Kate's gaze, and Kate smiling far too widely considering her condition.
"Tasha, you're like the big sister I never had," Kate admitted, and Natasha felt tears starting to come into her own eyes as she raised her hand to touch Kate's hand and hold it to her face. Natasha reached out with her free hand to touch Kate's face.
"Kate, you have no idea how much you mean to me. You are so special, and you're such a shining light in my life. You and Yelena both bring so much brightness and happiness to my life every day," Natasha admitted gently, and Kate blinked, tears slipping down her cheeks with the meaning of the words. Natasha swiped her thumb over Kate's cheek softly, wiping away the tears.
"Tasha, I love you," Kate whispered to her, trying to keep herself held together. Natasha smiled softly to her, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to Kate's head between her eyebrows. Kate closed her eyes with the touch, and Natasha stroked her thumbs along Kate's face lightly as she moved both hands to cup Kate's face.
"I love you, too, my sweet shchenok," Natasha whispered against her before simply remaining silently there with her lips against Kate's head and her hands stroking her cheeks gently.
"Huh. So the little patient is finally awake," Yelena's voice piped up suddenly, and Natasha gently released Kate to look back at Yelena.
Yelena was standing not too far from them, and Natasha smiled gently at her, feeling her heart warm as she noticed the love and the concern in Yelena's eyes. Natasha knew the love was toward herself and that the concern was for Kate, but she nevertheless appreciated the fact that Yelena was actually seeming to care about Kate.
Natasha kept her hand on Kate's face as she opened her free arm to beckon Yelena over to her. Yelena complied with her wordless request, and she came over to stand near Kate's bedside, leaning into Natasha's side as she looked down at the brunette. Kate looked up at her, and Natasha noted the happiness in Kate's eyes as she no doubt remembered what Natasha had said about Yelena being worried about her and caring about her.
"You didn't stay in the jet," Yelena immediately broached the subject. Kate shrugged a little, wincing slightly with the pain as she leaned her face into Natasha's hand against her cheek.
"You needed help," Kate stated as if it were going to explain everything. Yelena rolled her eyes with a huff.
"I had it under control," Yelena shot back, and Kate simply watched her gently. Yelena was quiet for just a moment, and Natasha noted how she clenched her jaw for a short moment and then finally looked back at Kate with a surprising amount of softness in her eyes.
"You shouldn't have done it, and it was stupid... but thank you," Yelena expressed, and Kate smiled at her a little.
"Next time just make sure you start getting involved in stuff you shouldn't when I can see you. Unless you just have a death wish and want to get shot," Yelena declared, trying to mask the genuineness and the kindness in her words with sarcasm. Natasha tightened her arm around her, leaning her head against Yelena's side affectionately as she laughed a little. Kate just huffed with a grin.
"You sound like you were worried," Kate teased a little, and Yelena scoffed, completely unimpressed as she tightened her grip on Natasha and squeezed Natasha's shoulder with a hand.
"You wish, Katie-Bear," Yelena nonchalantly shot back, and Natasha just grinned up at her baby sister. Yelena smirked down at her, and Natasha saw the affection in Yelena's eyes as she looked at the redhead.
"I know, Yelena-Banana. Natasha's told me a lot of stuff," Kate declared, and Yelena immediately narrowed her eyes at Natasha as she glanced between her and Kate.
"First of all, you're lucky you're broken and in the bed or I would hang you up in the gym by your ankles for calling me that. And second, what have you been telling her, poser?" Yelena questioned expectantly, staring Natasha down. Natasha glanced over at Kate, sharing a look before laughing as she grinned at the brunette. She looked back at Yelena with a gentle smile.
"Just the good things," Natasha expressed softly before looking back at Kate. The corners of Kate's lips upturned, love glowing in her eyes, and Natasha felt her heart warming.
Turned out she had two baby sisters. Even though one of them was not aware of that fact just yet.
But as Natasha noted the gentler look in Yelena's eyes, maybe it would not be too long before Natasha could share that with her.
(1) "This looks really bad. It could be deadly if we don't hurry."