so i watched don't worry darling yesterday instead of going to my feminism class... what a movie, honestly. anyway enjoy this! it's cute :)
"She's one of our best."
His slimy hand rested on her shoulder and she stared straight ahead. The only present parts of her were trying too hard to not be here and the part that was being told what to do was doing nothing. That was the instruction, anyway, stand at attention, wait for the command.
"She broke her knee two months ago," the woman replies, disgust all over her face, "and that woman that was her sister... she's a deserter."
"Ah," Dreykov's hand left Yelena's shoulder, "she's better now. Bring out one of your girls, the control has been working effortlessly. She is better than ever."
The woman scoffed, eyes not leaving Yelena, "Marika. Come."
One of the widows that was previously against the wall walked over, never meeting anyone's eyes and wearing a carefully blank look. She hadn't been subjugated yet.
"In the middle, the two of you," Dreykov pushed at the small of Yelena's back and the only parts of her left were cringing and trying to hide.
The two of them faced each other, both not moving a muscle as they awaited the command.
"Go."
Yelena jolts awake, heart pounding in her chest as she sits up on the couch.
She didn't mean to fall asleep out here. She and Kate were watching a movie, she thinks. God, what was it? They watche d tick, tick...BOOM! the other night, not tonight. What were they watching tonight?
She takes a deep breath, trying to remember how to calm down. epiphany pops in her head almost immediately and she grabs the remote, deciding to turn the song on.
It doesn't take long for her to calm down once she hears it and she takes a deep breath again. Where is Kate? It's not like her to leave Yelena out on the couch. She must be somewhere important. Or something must've happened.
Oh god, what happened?
Yelena looks over to her leg that's propped up against the couch. She's supposed to be using it as practice - it's not what her final leg is going to be, just something to learn with - but she's kind of just let it sit until Kate tells her that she has to walk.
She hasn't walked today. Maybe it's not nighttime? The curtains are closed, but they're always closed. Yelena hates open curtains, far too many ways for people to see into her world. She'd know.
It's now that she realizes that there is in fact some light from above the curtains and that there's a note on the coffee table.
Ran out to pick up food, will be back soon!!
xoxo - Kate Bishop :)
Yelena relaxes. Not entirely, something still feels mind-numbingly wrong, but she does relax a little.
She looks at the leg again. She should be trying to walk in it.
She really doesn't want to. She's done rehab before. Half-assed rehab that got her to be just okay enough to be back in the field but rehab nonetheless. Dreykov could never afford to lose his best widow.
Yelena runs her nails along her opposite arm, lightly scratching as she thinks. She's home. There was a movie on the TV but now it's playing epiphany. Lucky is asleep in the armchair and Fanny's asleep in her bed. Kate will be home soon.
She wonders how far away Kate actually is and groans when she sees that her phone's on the mantle under the TV.
She didn't mean to leave it there, sometimes she just puts it in places because she doesn't really need it too often and forgets about it.
(How it ended up on the mantle is beyond her, though. The only thing she can truly come up with is that she left it there yesterday when Kate was helping her walk around the house.)
God, how does she need help walking? She was an assassin for twenty years and now she can't even manage to get her phone on her own.
And her leg is there, staring at her and taunting her. She knows she could use it. She's walked by herself before with just crutches. That doesn't mean she wants to do it, though.
She instead grabs her crutches, groaning when it takes more effort than she's used to to get herself up off the couch. She fidgets, trying to get more steady as she balances on her remaining foot.
It really doesn't help that Fanny's staring at her, somehow concerned even though there's no way her doggy brain can understand anything going on.
She maneuvers her way to the mantle, grabbing the phone and hearing her doctors' voices in her head that she really shouldn't be letting her leg hang down this long without her compression sock. They're all so irritating, honestly.
She grabs her phone, using her crutches to center herself as she looks up Kate's location.
That doesn't last long, though, because she can't even open the app to see where Kate is before the front door opens and her girlfriend comes in.
Kate is quiet, eyes not landing on Yelena for a good thirty seconds and blinking when they do, "Oh, hey!"
She looks bewildered. She seems confused, like why would Yelena be up on her own when she's refused to do anything related to that for the past week that she's had her prosthetic? Yelena guesses that it must raise a lot of questions.
Kate puts the bag of food down on the counter, "What're you doing?"
"My phone was left up here," Yelena says matter-of-factly, "and you weren't home."
Kate nods, "Have you walked with your prosthetic yet? You haven't done that today."
Yelena sighs, really not wanting to answer the question. She doesn't want to use it. It's clunky and awkward and not fun. She doesn't enjoy it and all it does is serve as a reminder that she can't do simple human functions anymore.
"Let's do a little right now," Kate's hands land on her shoulders, concern that haunts Yelena's nightmares all over her face, "please? Just a few minutes and then we can eat dinner."
"Food's going to get cold," Yelena responds, hoping Kate just hears how much she doesn't want to walk.
"They're sandwiches, they're supposed to be cold," Kate retorts, stubbornly keeping eye contact with Yelena, "You gotta at least put the sock on, Lena. Come on."
"I'll just go back to the couch," Yelena says, anger flaming in her chest when Kate takes her left crutch away and she has to fully lean on her remaining leg and right crutch, "Kate!"
"I'm asking for five minutes, that's it," Kate replies, getting Yelena's prosthetic and her liner, "Just five minutes."
"And you'll shut up about it," Yelena confirms, really wanting this to be over with. She hates the stupid leg.
"For tonight," Kate says, holding the liner in her hands, "Can I move your PJ pants so I can put this on for you?"
"Yeah," Yelena sighs, looking up at the ceiling as Kate kneels and undoes the knot Yelena put in her pants.
She whispers to Yelena, telling her to hold the pants up and asking her permission before every step. Despite the horribleness of this whole situation, her chest warms with how gentle Kate is.
Kate brings the leg over now and gently helps Yelena get her stump into the socket.
"Press down," Kate says softly, "Wait for it to release air so you know it's not going anywhere."
"I know," Yelena responds, keeping her eyes off of everything below her waist. Seeing how she's been handicapped still feels like too much.
"Are you steady?" Kate asks, looking up at her from where she's crouched on the floor.
"I need my other shoe," Yelena says softly, referencing her bare foot and how the prosthetic has one of her workout shoes on it.
"Alright," Kate stands and presses a kiss to her forehead, "I'll be right back."
Yelena whimpers into her palm that she's pressed against her mouth, willing this horrible feeling in her chest away. She can't stand it. Stupid cancer.
She's at least happy that her song is still playing in the room, the hums of it reverberating throughout the room and soothing some of her anxiety.
A part of her wonders what Dreykov would think of his best asset now; she's been weakened by chemo and her mental illness that she somehow suppressed for the first 27 years of her life. She's barely a regularly functioning human now, let alone a weapon at his disposal.
God, she has nothing without her ability to move around.
"We should sit down for this part," Kate says as she walks back into the room, "Also, your sister's texting me, apparently there's something on the news that we should be concerned about."
Yelena nods, blinking back tears of frustration as Kate helps lead her over to the edge of the couch. Kate gently helps her ease down and the part of Yelena that's so over all of this desperately wants to rip the prosthetic off and never see it again.
"Here," Kate hands her the remote, "Put the news on. It must be big if she's texting me."
Yelena nods, humming an acknowledgment as Kate helps her put her shoe and sock on her foot.
"Holy shit," Yelena can't help but blurt once the news comes on, "Holy shit."
"What is it?" Kate whips her head around to look at the TV, her jaw dropping almost comically, "Oh my god."
"How old is he again?" the newscaster asks, obviously bewildered.
"Eighteen," the other one shakes his head, "The enhanced are kids now. Alright, if you're just tuning in, the news broke ten minutes ago that Peter Parker is Spider-Man."
"Oh my god," Yelena echoes, stomach now twisting for a whole different reason, "When was the last time you talked to him? Has he called you?"
Kate shakes her head, "The last time I talked to him, he was thinking about dropping out of MIT. Holy shit."
Kate reaches for her phone, obviously ready to call him. Yelena stops her, "Give him a couple of minutes. Everyone's probably trying to contact him right now, there's no reason in getting panicky right now, okay? We'll call him later."
Kate nods, "Alright. Let's get you walking, then."
"I was hoping you'd forget about that," Yelena grumbles, hands growing clammy with anxiety. She really doesn't like walking.
"Mm," Kate huffs, getting up and grabbing Yelena's crutches, "One thing my mother always hated was that I'm very stubborn."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Yelena sighs and lets Kate help her up.
"You gotta put some weight on it, Lena," Kate tells her once she's standing, obviously noticing how Yelena's favoring her right side, "That's how you're gonna learn to walk again."
"I'm going to fall."
"No, you're not," Kate smiles softly, "I'm right here. Just a couple of steps."
"Kate Bishop," Yelena whines, not moving.
"I'll kiss you for every step," Kate assures her this time, "Promise."
The offer is admittedly tempting.
"I'll be right here," Kate tells her, taking a couple of steps back so Yelena has room to move, "the whole time."
Yelena sighs, tuning out the sound of the newscasters in the background and slowly leaning back on her leg, trying to do what Dr. Lange told her and move her actual leg before the prosthetic leg. Something about treating her prosthetic as an actual leg rather than dead weight.
"Put your hands on my waist," Yelena says softly, "and move with me. Please."
"Okay," Kate responds, gently resting her hands on Yelena's hips, "Whenever you're ready."
Yelena nods, moving slowly and trying to do what she was told - carry the weight from one leg to the other, something she learned to an extent when she was a baby and now has to relearn with a leg that she can't even feel.
She takes a step forward and Kate doesn't say anything, but she can feel the excitement in the way that Kate gently squeezes her hips with her fingertips. It's assuring.
She uses the momentum to take a step forward with her prosthetic this time and her heart jumps in her chest. She finds herself murmuring epiphany to herself and hears a voice in her head telling her to be careful and not hurt herself.
"Here, let's go in the kitchen," Kate suggests, slowly turning so they're facing the kitchen, "then we can ditch the crutches and use the counters like the bars you have at PT."
Yelena nods, trying to enjoy this high as long as she can. She slowly makes her way forward and the motions feel familiar despite feeling completely foreign.
Kate helps her prop her crutches against the island in a spot where they won't be in the way and then gently helps her adjust herself between the counters.
They walk around the island, eventually at the end of the area where Yelena can support herself and Kate grins, her eyes teary.
"Why are you crying?" Yelena asks, swallowing the little lump in her throat.
Kate laughs, wiping at her eyes, "It's just... it's been a long time since I've been able to stand up and look at you at the same level. Well, maybe not the exact same..."
"Kate Bishop, are you calling me short?" Yelena asks, laughing a little, too.
"Only a little," Kate moves a little closer, holding her waist, "I love you, so much. And I am so proud of you."
Yelena smiles, pressing her forehead to Kate's, "I love you, too."
Kate kisses her again, "We really need to eat those sandwiches."
Yelena grins, "You said a kiss for every step, Kate Bishop. Are you already falling through on this promise?"