Chapter 14 already!! This chapter is silly and sad and goofy and upsetting <333
We're almost to 2k reads on this thank you guys so much <33
Content warnings: Blood, injury, arguing, depression, mental illness, hangover that I quickly forgot about and didn't write in at all
It is much too early to be awake, but Kate's eyes crack open either way. Something was off; besides the hungover headache pounding against her skull.
For instance, when the hell did she get to her bed?
Secondly- where was Yelena?
Lucky was sprawled out in a rather awkward looking position on the bed, his snores rumbling his fluffy chest. Kate stretched over to pet him, and the cold of his nose had the memories of yesterday springing back.
"Oh my god. Fuck. What the fuck."
Kate stares blankly, going over it all in her head before deciding she needs caffeine to function and properly think this through.
"Where's Yelena...?" she mutters to herself, standing to walk to the stairs but stopping immediately when she realizes she's still in the clothes from yesterday. "Jesus Christ."
The archer quickly changes into sweatpants and a college T-shirt, her bare feet on the cold floor waking her up a little. Lucky follows behind her lazily, feathery tail swishing. Kate stops halfway down the stairs, eyes drawn to the figure on her couch, and relief fills her to see her friend still here.
Yelena is sitting with her elbows propped on her knees, steaming mug in her hands and a thick blanket draped over her shoulders. She's facing the tv, but the screen doesn't flicker with entertainment. Kate's apartment is eerily quiet, the barest beams of sunlight struggling to filter in.
"Good morning, Kate Bishop," Yelena says flatly, not turning around. "You're up early."
Kate struggles to understand the blonde's tone. "Didn't sleep well, I guess."
Yelena gives a noncommittal hum and sips from her mug. "I made coffee. There's probably some left in the kitchen."
Kate forgets everything else for a moment and rushes her way to the counter. "You're a godsend, Yelena." She dumps creamer and sweetener into her cup and inhales half of the beverage without bothering to check the temperature, but even the new burn on her tongue couldn't keep her from caffeine.
"Did you move me to my bed last night?" Kate inquires out loud, cautiously walking over and sitting on the other side of the couch. Yelena's fingers are wrapped around her drink tightly, her lips pursed into a thin line. Her face is clean of makeup and her hair is loose over her shoulders, falling in easy, honey gold waves.
"Yes. You are easy to maneuver." Yelena still doesn't look at her.
"...Thank you," Kate says softly, taking a sip.
"How are you?" the assassin suddenly asks, her face finally turning to meet Kate's curious gaze. The archer does a double take at the deep bruises under her eyes, brows furrowed.
"I'm alright, I guess. Did you sleep?"
Yelena stares at her and seems to take a second to process what Kate asked. "...Yes."
"You're lying." Kate slaps a hand over her mouth, mentally screaming at herself for her bitten out response.
It's too early for this shit.
Yelena must be even more exhausted than she looked, because she doesn't even bother to try to pretend that Kate is wrong. She shrugs and turns back to the tv, staring at nothing. "Went on a walk."
Kate looks deeply into her mug of coffee as if it might hold the answers to all of her worried questions, but it offers no such thing. Typical. She opens her mouth to say something, but stops when Yelena shifts around and the blanket falls off one shoulder to reveal her neck.
"Yelena," Kate chokes out, setting her drink down and pressing closer to the blonde, her hands already up and trying to figure out what to do. "Yelena, you're bleeding!"
The assassin looks at her blankly for a moment before catching on to the fear rolling off of Kate. "What?" She twists to try to see what her friend is looking at, but she winces and hisses through her teeth, as if she's just now realizing that, yes, she is wounded.
"Сука," Yelena spits, dabbing her finger under her jaw and swearing again when they come back red. She pushes herself to her feet and strides to the bathroom, Kate right on her heels.
"Is this from last night? Did Connor hurt you?" she rushed out, eyes wide as saucers as Yelena inspected the damage in the mirror and cursed colorfully.
"Sort of," the blonde mumbles, her face stormy as she starts pulling supplies out from under the sink. She is quick and efficient, cleaning the jagged cut that arched under the angle of her jaw and slathering it with ointment before dressing it with butterfly bandages.
"What do you mean, sort of? What happened?" Kate's voice is high and frantic and still rough with sleep, and Yelena looks her in the eyes through the mirror.
"I went out last night to find him after you fell asleep. He put up a fight. Got lucky. Hence... this." She waved her hand at the cut, eyes downcast.
Kate sunk down to sit on the edge of her tub, her brain giving up on her without a hitch. Her eyes wandered down to Yelena's hands, which gripped the lip of the sink tightly. If she looked closely, she could see nicks and scratches across the knuckles, the skin red and swelling.
"Is he dead?"
Yelena only looked at her through the mirror again, and the shadows in her eyes gave Kate her answer.
Kate knew she should care more about Connor's safety than she did, but the only thing going through her mind was that he had managed to hurt Yelena, too. He would never do it again, but the fact that the woman in front of her had bled in order to bring Kate more peace of mind was doing something to her heart.
But it was also making her angry.
"I don't need you to fight my battles, Yelena," Kate said gruffly, something hot and uncomfortable squeezing in her chest. The bathroom suddenly felt much too small and suffocating, and she stood to quickly walk out.
Yelena made a noise of confusion and followed behind her. "Kate Bishop, I don't understand. I thought you would be upset about me hunting him down. What is wrong?"
Kate paced in a circle between the couch and the tv, wringing her hands together. It was way too early for this shit. "I'm not mad about that, no. I'm mad because- I- I can take care of myself, you know?" Tears were starting to build up in her eyes, and she wondered why the hell she was so emotional about this.
Yelena softened slightly, still keeping her guard up. She had never known an angry Kate, and did not know how this would play out. "Of course I know that, Kate. You are very capable."
"Then why- you didn't have to go after him. The police could've handled it," she rasped, pacing harder.
Yelena watched her warily, her concern growing. "Kate Bishop, do you truly think your American law enforcement would have given a shit?"
"I don't know! Maybe!" Kate threw her hands in the air, her arms trembling. The tears came, burning hot and angry. Yelena was in front of her in two strides, her palms cradling Kate's cheeks, fingers curling to cup her jaw.
"What's wrong, Kate? What's wrong?"
"He hurt you, that's what's wrong!" Kate burst out, her face twisting. She grabbed one of Yelena's hands from her face to hold it up between them, then gestured to the cut on her neck. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
"Kate Bishop." Yelena's face had melted into a desperate pout, her hands coming back up to cradle the back of Kate's neck. "Kate Bishop, I am fine." Her thumbs brush tears from her friend's cheeks. "I am merely scraped. He will never touch either of us again."
"I saw the way you looked at him when he became a threat to me- like you wanted to burn the world down." Kate is angry and scared and so so confused as to why she's crying the way she is- she knew what Yelena did, what she was capable of. But knowing that her abusive ex had gotten a lick at Yelena because of Kate's presence alone was horrifying to her.
"So what if I did want to, Kate Bishop? Hm?" Yelena challenged, her fingers once again hooking behind her jaw and pressing into her skin. The pressure probably would've scared someone else, but the contact only served to ground Kate. "I am a raised and seasoned killer. I was called the greatest child assassin in the Red Room for a reason, Kate Bishop. I am virtually unkillable. Untouchable."
"But-"
"No, Kate. No. I know how to handle myself; I will be okay. I do not anticipate that I will be put in any situation alike to this again because of you."
Kate's bottom lip trembled, but she didn't retort again, instead leaning back to sit down on the couch and curl in on herself. Yelena watched her sadly and plopped down next to her, gladly accepting Lucky's love when he trotted over to give her kisses.
"We're both alone, aren't we?" Yelena suddenly said quietly, her eyes on Lucky but tone directed towards Kate. The golden retriever stares deep into her eyes and licks her nose.
Kate nods, a small movement of her head, eyes cast to the ceiling. Lucky seems to take offense to this, because he hops up on the couch and clambers into Kate's lap, whining and licking at her face furiously as if to remind her that if he's here, she clearly isn't alone. A laugh bursts from her mouth, and she grins wide, (albeit wobbly), scooping her pup into her arms and doting on him vigorously.
Yelena smiles softly at this, suddenly feeling the exhaustion of too many hours awake settle over her shoulders. She yawns into her hand, missing her own dog. "Do you have an itinerary for yourself today, Kate Bishop?"
The archer sighed, drying her tears in her dog's fur before inhaling deeply to soak in his still-lingering puppy scent. "I guess I need to take Lucky on a walk."
Yelena immediately perked up, the smile on her face now genuine. "Doggy play date!"
"...Pardon?"
"Kate Bishop, would you like to meet my Fanny?"
"Your- your what?" Kate sputtered, cheeks reddening.
Yelena rolls her eyes and presses close to her friend, hands on her shoulders over Lucky. "My dog, Kate Bishop. I have a dog. She is most красивая девушка you will ever see. Do you want to meet her? May I bring her over?"
Kate's expression matches Yelena's quickly, and the prospect of double the canine friends seems to melt away all of their worries. "I would like that."
It's puppy time hooray!! Kate is not okay :)
Translations:
-Сука (Suka): Bitch
-красивая девушка (Krasivaya devushka): Beautiful girl
Kate Bishop counter: 10
QOTD: What's your biggest fear?
This chapter's meme:
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