It's Sunday which means update!! Double update because these two chapters kinda go together <3
Hooray to Kate's depression and the reminder of mommy issues :)))
Content warnings: medication, Eleanor, prison, missing person's poster, depression
Kate spends the rest of the day in a confused daze, forcing her body to go through the motions of cleaning her apartment while she lets her mind wander. She sweeps, vacuums, and then mops the floors, all while going over the conversation with Yelena to pick out every detail she can.
The honey blonde curl of Yelena's hair falling over her shoulder, getting caught in the buttons of her jacket. The flash of her silver rings as she made mac n cheese and pancakes and cleaned as she went. The soft lilt of her accent when she was calm, the way it got thicker when she became aggravated.
Goddamnit Kate Bishop.
Kate picked up her room, made her bed, and cleaned the windows while humming the Taylor Swift song Yelena had been playing earlier. She found herself wondering what the woman's favorite song was, what it sounded like coming from her lips, if the lyrics meant anything special to her.
Lucky follows her around half of the time, his tail wagging at the smallest bit of attention and whenever he's able to steal a sock from her without getting caught. For the rest of it, he perches himself on the couch and either stares at her or sleeps, his chest rumbling with little doggy snores.
By the time that the dinner hour rolls around, Kate's body is aching and her brain feels swollen, and Lucky looks rather refreshed. She lets herself indulge in some floor time, and her puppy joins her where she lays on the carpet. He snuggles under her arm and gives a happy little sigh.
Kate buries her face in his scruff and scratches at his ears slowly, feeling rather tempted to take another nap. But who's to say Yelena wouldn't show back up to drag her outside for fresh air or just kill her? Kate wouldn't put it past her.
She eventually gets up off the floor with a grumpy mumble at the thought.
Kate somehow convinces herself to go to the grocery store and look for actual food instead of giving in to living on pizza and mac-n-cheese and whatever God-given concoction Yelena came up with. (If she even came back. Kate didn't know. She secretly hoped that she would.) Lucky watches her sullenly before the door is shut on his face, and Kate mutters a little sorry to him before striding to the elevator, shrugging her coat on.
The air is bitter and cold once she steps outside, and Kate glances longingly at the warm interior of the pizza shop below her apartment before tucking further into her warm layers. She misses the Christmas lights and general coziness that Christmas was capable of bringing to New York. It was almost easy to ignore the dark parts of it all.
A missing person's poster stapled to a bench brings her mind to her mother. Eleanor Bishop had been sentenced to 30 years in prison, but Kate doubted it would really last that long seeing as she had a lot of fucking money. Either way, Kate felt a needle sink through her chest at the thought of her mother behind bars on Christmas Day. And New Years. And every day since then. And every day into her late 70's.
Eleanor deserved it. Kate knew that. She had killed Armand, conspired with the mafia, and tried to get Clint killed.
But it was her mom. And Kate missed her.
Her shopping went in a haze, and Kate barely registered what she purchased or how much she spent. But at least she had actual fruits and vegetables in her fridge, and maybe Yelena would see that and be less of a pain in her ass.
Doubtful.
Not that she really minded Yelena's behavior, odd as the situation was.
Kate furrowed her brow, absently making her way back to her apartment. This situation was very odd. Odd not only in the sense that Yelena had appeared with a terrible explanation and vanished almost as quickly, but also odd in the fact that Kate was barely questioning it. She had batted an eye at first, of course, but something about the former Black Widow made her relax almost instinctively.
The fact that Yelena could kill her with just a snap of the wrist should've scared Kate away, she supposed, but if she was being honest? That was extremely attractive. Especially with the woman on her side, now. She thinks.
Kate almost expected Yelena to be waiting for her back at her apartment, rings and smile gleaming, armed with ridiculously good food and a quip to make Kate laugh. But, alas, that was some gay ass wishful thinking, and it was just Lucky, who had chewed on a pillow until it was dark with slobber.
"You literally have toys made to be chewed on," Kate scolded him, dumping her bags of groceries onto her kitchen counter. He continued to eat away at the foam, and Kate let him, shaking her head tiredly while she unloaded the various goods into their respective locations. Aka, haphazardly shoved into the fridge, freezer, and random cabinets.
"I don't know how to handle feeling like a U-Haul Lesbian, Lucky," Kate muttered, tossing the empty plastic bags into a drawer and shuffling over to the couch with a box of Poptarts. "Yelena is suddenly here, and she's like, super cool, right? But she also tried to kill Clint. And kind of me, even though she said she didn't." Lucky watched her ramble on amicably, eventually following to sit on the couch with her, abandoning his new chew toy in the process.
"But she's Natasha's sister. Natasha Fucking Romanoff. And she's- fuck, Lucky, she's really pretty." Kate continues on, stuffing sugar into her mouth and going off about anything she can think of, as long as it's related to Yelena.
Kate ends up on the floor again, curled around Lucky with his warm body pressed into her stomach. He's patient with her, letting her squeeze and jostle and pet him however she needs to. Kate feels immensely grateful for him for the millionth time that day. What a dog.
"What'll I do, bud? Huh? What happens if she's too good and then she's gone? Like Clint?" Lucky's eye blinks slowly, and he licks at her cheek before snuggling back in. Logically, Kate knows that Clint did not leave her. He lives in a completely different state, for Pete's sake. He has a family and a home and retirement to look forward to.
But he was what she had idolized for so long, and even after getting to know the dad behind the bow and arrow, she had him on a pedestal. His approval meant everything. His attention and care meant everything. He was a father and Kate could use one of those. Jack was sweet, but she had no clue where he was. Or if he even wanted to see her.
"Maybe I could call him," Kate mumbled aloud, pressing kisses to her dog's soft head. "Bug him about how I'm having a gay crisis over the sister of his dead best friend who tried to kill him and whom I barely know and probably shouldn't trust."
Kate lets that sentence settle in the air for a moment before letting out a sharp laugh. It sounded so fucking ridiculous.
"Maybe I should just try to get through drinks with her first. Whenever that will be."
————
Kate stares heavily through the thick pane of glass in front of her the next morning, her hand sweaty and shaking on the plastic phone she holds to her ear. Her mother looks back, the phone on her side completely untouched. Her eyes are sad and cold and she looks haunted by age, and Kate wants to scream and cry and pull her away from this horrible place so she can take care of her mom.
But Eleanor was a murderer. She lied. She cheated and stole and kicked and clawed and now here she was.
Because Kate put her there.
(Yelena was a murderer, too. What was her excuse?)
"Mom," Kate chokes out, tapping a finger to the phone in the hope that Eleanor would get the hint and grab the other one. She can feel the tears building behind her eyes, hot and uncomfortable and pushing into her skull to create a headache.
Eleanor Bishop does not move. She just looks at Kate. Her eyes shift, but barely. She doesn't even look like she's breathing.
Kate stares desperately, trying to keep her own breathing in check. She can't start hyperventilating, not in a prison, not in front of her mother, not when she forgot her meds that morning and she didn't bring any emergency ones with her in her jacket. "Mom," she tries again, her mouth wobbling. "Mom, please pick up the phone." She knows her mother can read her lips. The glass is not completely soundproof. But she does nothing.
Kate is about to leave when Eleanor's hand appears, and her too-thin fingers grab the phone and bring it to her ear. Kate can barely keep the wail of relief down.
"Mom," Kate whispers, blinking harshly to keep her eyes dry. "Mama."
Eleanor looks a little less haggard at that, but her mouth stays shut.
"Are you eating?"
"Yes."
Her voice almost sends Kate into sobs.
"I miss you," the archer mutters, shame building in her gut. Why was she here?
Eleanor barely reacts, her mouth tightening. Kate can feel anger flaring, but she pushes it down.
"Is it gonna be like this every time I visit?" she asks weakly, her legs starting to bounce. "Are you gonna refuse to talk to me completely one day?"
"Are you going to put anyone else into jail for Christmas someday?"
Kate's jaw drops, and she feels like her mother punched her in the face. Shots fired.
"Are you taking your meds?" Eleanor says, completely changing the direction of this almost one-sided conversation.
Kate stumbles over her words for a moment, headache forming at the verbal and mental whiplash. "I- yes. Yes, I'm taking my meds." Mostly.
Her mother nods and inhales deeply. "I love you, Katie."
Kate lets the tears fall this time, her throat constricting. "I love you too, mom. I'm sorry."
Eleanor puts her phone down, and a guard escorts her away. She doesn't look back at her daughter. Kate barely makes it back home before she collapses into bed and resolves to stay there forever, the tears choking her.
So like- if you thought this was all gonna be soft and sugary you are wrong !! :)) We've now been introduced to the angst and it will continue <<333 dw there's still a lot of gay stuff
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QOTD: Do you enjoy grocery shopping?
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