Kate
The funeral was on Monday. The summer heat still lingered and the sunlight beat down on Kate’s suit. She’d intended for the service to be small, but what she hadn’t anticipated was all of the people who would show up for her. Jack and Aunt Moira were there, along with some of Eleanor’s friends, but so too were many of the LARPers, some of Kate’s friends from school, some of the agents she worked with and the small group of current Avengers (or almost-Avengers, she still wasn’t sure where Bucky stood). Nick Fury was loitering in the back, and Peter Parker had even taken the train down from Boston to be there. When she’d shared her surprise with Clint he’d said, “This is what people do, Kate. We show up for funerals because we’re showing up for each other.”
The service passed in a haze. Jack sat on one side of Kate, Yelena the other. He sobbed through the whole service, giving voice to all the feelings that seemed trapped in the back of Kate’s throat. When it came time for the eulogy she thought of every horrible thing Eleanor had ever said to her, using the rage to fight back the tears that still wanted to come no matter how many times she’d practiced what she was going to say. While the anger simmered below the surface she spoke about what a wonderful mother Eleanor had been, about how they’d leaned on each other after the death of Derek. She didn’t want to talk about her mom’s astute business sense or how strong she was, for fear that the newspapers would take her words and somehow twist them around. It seemed crazy, but there was surely someone present who would speak to a reporter. Kate hadn’t lived in New York City high society her whole life without learning that.
After the service people filtered away, leaving Kate alone to face the grave. The last time she’d been faced with burying a parent her mother had been there to hold her, to promise everything would be okay. But it wasn’t okay. It would never be okay again.
An indeterminate amount of time had passed before the seat next to her was taken by Clint. She glanced around. Everyone else was gone. “I sent everyone back to the Penthouse,” he said. “I figured Jack and Yelena could handle things until you’re ready.”
Kate was glad it was Clint. She couldn’t handle Jack’s grief or Moira’s confusion or the sadness of Eleanor’s friends or the way she wanted to scream at Yelena for no good reason. “I put her here, Clint. I put her here and there is nothing I can ever do to take that back-”
“Listen, kid, you didn’t put your mom here. You didn’t kill her.”
“Yeah, but if I hadn’t called the cops-”
“Honestly Kate you probably kept her alive by calling the cops. You probably slowed Kingpin down. Because hadn’t she already threatened to expose him before you did that? How do you think she would have been safe after that?”
“But what if-”
“Kate,” said Clint gently, waiting for Kate to really listen. “Every day is a what-if. I ask myself what-if questions all the time. They can lead you down a very dark path.”
She knew what he was saying was probably true, but that didn’t make any of it any easier. Meanwhile, there was a crowd of people waiting in her mother’s- no, her home, waiting to talk to her. She stood and straightened her tie. “Alright, let’s go.”
At the Penthouse the mood was even more subdued. The group of people who knew Eleanor had actually been murdered was very small. Kate didn’t want word to get out for fear of Kingpin’s vengeance. So Jack and all of Eleanor’s friends told Kate repeatedly how shocked they were, how happy Eleanor had been, and how much she had loved Kate, as though she hadn’t committed a murder, hired assassins, used Bishop Security for her own nefarious ends, and refused to speak to her daughter for eight months. It was like a stone in her shoe. She wanted to peel everything back, correct what people were saying, but instead she continued on with the ache of the lie.
The group of Avengers and agents didn’t stay long, clearly concerned about the exposure, which Kate understood. They offered hugs, quiet condolences, or the brief brace of an arm before vanishing in pairs or alone. The LARPers stayed. It seemed as though Jack had developed quite the friendship with many of them in the aftermath of the battle at Christmas, and they stood in for his family, who had all - justifiably - refused to attend.
Finally someone carried off a very drunk Jack and then it was just Kate, Yelena, Clint, Natasha, and Maria left. Kate yanked the tie loose and threw it. “Alright, what’s the plan?”
“What plan?” asked Clint, looking alarmed.
“I do not think-”
“I don’t care what you think, Yelena,” said Kate. She was so tired of Yelena treating her like she couldn’t handle things.
“I am just trying to-”
“I know what-”
“Whoa,” said Natasha, stepping between them. “Why don’t we just…” She grabbed Yelena’s arm and dragged her from the room, making a vague gesture at Maria and Clint as she left.
“Kingpin killed my mom. I have copies of the evidence she had against him. I want to take him down.”
Clint and Maria glanced at each other. “Why don’t we just start with dinner?” asked Clint. It felt like he was trying to placate her.
“Fine, get dinner, but I’m sorting through that evidence.”
Clint dragged Yelena off to get dinner while Maria and Natasha stood guard over Kate. She wasn’t sure if they thought Kingpin would try to kill her or if she would go tearing off to try and kill him. It felt like the latter. As they ate Kate started spreading things out, making copies and printing more as she needed. The data ran over 12 years. So much of it looked like account books. In 2012 when Derek died he had owed Kingpin millions of dollars. The accounts were shady, but it looked as though Eleanor had actually already settled her portion by around the time of the snap. Kate set the accounts in a careful pile, and moved onto what Eleanor had kept as leverage.
When she looked up again it was late. Everyone but Maria was gone. “Where is everyone?”
“Out,” said Maria simply.
Kate stood. “Then I guess I should-”
“No, you should not.” Maria gestured back to Kate’s chair. Instead Kate leaned against the table and crossed her arms. There was no way she could take Maria, and she also was the least likely to let Kate even leave the penthouse.
“What’s your deal?”
“My deal?” Maria’s eyebrows went up, but she didn’t even stir in her chair, sure of her place.
“Yeah, that’s what I said.” Kate felt fire and recklessness run through her. “What is your deal? Do you just listen to whatever Natasha says? Are you going to play guard dog until she tells you to stop? I bet you think just like Yelena does - that I’m just some stupid kid. Well, I’m not. I just lost everything and I am going to figure out who did this and why. Because my mom didn’t deserve to die.” Maria hadn’t moved. “Because- because…” The righteousness drained out of Kate and she was left with the stunning realization that she’d been yelling at her boss.
“You forget, Kate, I’ve already been where you are, said goodbye to my whole family. I’ve already cursed the world. I’ve already run away. I ran all the way to Afghanistan. And you know what it got me? Not a thing. There is no way to erase the pain.” She leaned forward. “And there will never, ever be a way to get your mom back. So, yes, I’m here playing guard dog. Because we - the people who care about you - don’t want you to get hurt.”
----
The next day Kate spent hours at the lawyers' office, trying to understand her new position on the board of Bishop Security. Eleanor hadn’t transferred her shares to Kate while she’d been incarcerated, so the lawyers had been handling it, but now Kate needed a crash course on what was expected of her, especially with a quarterly meeting swiftly approaching. When she got back to the penthouse, exhausted, everyone else had returned and was loitering conspicuously. She was pretty sure that Maria had followed her to the lawyers’ office, which meant one of them had likely followed her home and only just beat her. Probably Yelena.
She changed and headed to try to corner everyone else and see what they were up to. But by the time she made it back downstairs they’d all gathered and were waiting for her.
“What’s up?” she asked curiously, bracing herself for another blow.
“We checked on everyone working at the prison that night,” said Clint.
“We couldn’t find anything,” said Natasha.
“So what? You’re just giving up?” Everything felt raw. She wanted to run out and strangle every guard in that prison, wanted to go to bed and never get up, wanted to scream at her friends, wanted to run away, wanted to kill Kingpin herself. And everyone kept treating her like she was breakable.
“No, we just need more time,” said Natasha.
Yelena was standing behind everyone else and it felt like she was hiding, pulling away from Kate. “Fine,” said Kate before turning back to the evidence she’d been working through.
The process was arduous and unforgiving. Even though Eleanor had enough evidence to get her sentence reduced, it still didn’t seem like enough to actually go after Kingpin with. What about the evidence Maria, Natasha, and Yelena had collected? So far they’d steadfastly refused to let her see any of it. But there had to be a way…
Until she got her hands additional evidence the only thing to do seemed to be moving on with her life. While the others puttered around the empty yet too-full penthouse, Kate went to her room and donned her gear. She’d learned her lesson in the spring after trying to wash blood out of purple too many times and her new suit was all-black like a widow’s, with purple on her gear and holsters. Yelena had finally taught her to use a gun in the summer and for the first time ever, she added it to her uniform, strapping it to her thigh.
When she came back down the stairs the smell of food filled the first floor. Conversation filtered out from the kitchen, but no one was in sight. She was almost to the elevator when Yelena called, “Where are you going, Kate Bishop?”
“Out.” She didn’t owe Yelena an answer, didn’t owe anyone an answer.
Yelena appeared in the doorway. “Kate…” Her eyes trailed down to the gun strapped to Kate’s thigh.
“You’re not my mother!” yelled Kate. The last thing Kate saw as the door slid shut was Yelena’s whitening face. Once she realized what she’d yelled her stomach flipped and she swallowed hastily. At least there was nothing in her stomach to come back up. When she got to the ground floor she turned away from the main entrance and the doorman. The service entrance was off to the side and she’d been hacking her way out of it for years, much to her mother’s chagrin. It brought her out in the relative darkness of the alley behind the building, and she headed east for the subway.
Until Clint had given her a collapsible bow, Kate would get the occasional glance on the subway, the glances of pity or confusion for someone running around the city with a clearly primitive weapon. After the collapsible bow, she was mostly ignored. Her closed quiver looked like an unusually shaped bag, and her uniform wasn’t odd enough to attract any real attention in New York City. But riding the subway with a gun strapped to her thigh was something totally different. She felt powerful. Everyone kept an eye on her, yet tried to look inconspicuous. She kept her head down and tried to ignore them, but had to acknowledge how nice it felt to be respected for once.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket as soon as she got off in Queens. She pulled it to see an incoming call from Yelena. She rejected the call and noticed she’d missed five more from her girlfriend. Pulling open her messenger, she couldn’t resist getting back at Yelena for what she’d said the month before.
To: Yelena
9/9/2025 8:57
<<sry, cant talk while im working>>
It was still early, so Kate found a spot out of the way and pulled up the police scanner. There was always something, but not a lot that she could help with that night. By eleven there hadn’t been anything; she started prowling, moving between rooftops and alleys, hoping to stumble upon something. She stopped a few muggings, but it was a Tuesday night and there wasn’t a lot going on. By one she’d picked up a shadow, someone following her in the darkness. Based on the way the person was moving and their clear decision to let Kate see them, she had to guess it was either Natasha or Yelena. Ducking into a dark doorway in an alley, Kate waited. And waited. Finally - after what seemed like forever - Yelena dropped down in front of Kate. She’d heard something descending - knew it was coming, even - but still couldn’t help letting out a small yelp of surprise.
Yelena shook her head and smiled. “You scare easily, Kate Bishop.”
“Not true,” protested Kate, knowing it was futile. She matched Yelena’s expression cautiously. Yelena’s smile still made her heart clench and she hoped she hadn’t hurt Yelena too badly by walking out.
“May I join you?”
“That depends… are you here as my babysitter or as my partner?”
Yelena stepped closer and Kate took her in. Her face was in shadow, but the dim street light at the end of the alley highlighted her long hair, thrown up in a messy ponytail. She must have followed Kate quickly, if her hair hadn’t been braided. “Can I be here as your girlfriend?” she whispered.
“Yes,” breathed Kate, pulling Yelena in for a kiss. It felt so good, like the first thing she’d actually felt since before her mother had died. It made her feel alive. She wanted more of that feeling. Pulling Yelena closer she deepened the kiss. Yelena gasped and grabbed for the strap of Kate’s quiver. Kate turned them, pushing Yelena into the doorway.
They kissed like that forever until Kate realized she either needed to get consent for all the things she wanted to do to Yelena - to make her feel - or stop. She ran hand across Yelena’s body, feeling for weapons. She seemed unarmed, another sign that she’d left quickly. Unzipping Yelena’s jacket, she pulled up the edge of Yelena’s shirt to run a hand along her stomach. “Can I?” she whispered into Yelena’s skin.
“Kate, I don’t want to take advantage-”
“You’re not taking advantage,” said Kate. “I just want to feel… I want to feel, Yelena. Please let me- I just want to-”
“I do not want to make you-”
“-you’re not making me do anything. But if you want me to stop, I will.” Kate stopped her movements, breathing in Yelena and waiting for an answer.
“Kate… please.”
“Please what?” asked Kate, her breath quickening, her fingers itching to touch.
“Please touch me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” said Yelena, confidently enough that Kate immediately moved her hand to Yelena’s zipper.
After Yelena came apart around Kate’s fingers she withdrew, licking her fingers clean and helping Yelena to pull her uniform back together. The straps of her gear kept Yelena from even unzipping Kate’s jacket, and she wasn’t really willing to take a chance with a gun strapped to her leg. Yelena would never let her hear the end of it if she accidentally shot herself while desperately chasing an orgasm.
Yelena’s lips were swollen and she looked young, uncertain. “Come home with me,” she whispered to Kate.
“I can’t,” said Kate. “It feels like a prison there-” she cut off, realizing what she’d said. For what felt like the 100th time in a week, her eyes filled with tears. Brushing them away roughly, she wished she wasn’t so weak, wished she wasn’t showing Yelena that weakness.
“You don’t have to go to the penthouse. Come to my apartment. Please, милая?” It was the Russian that got Kate to agree, and she was pretty sure Yelena knew that, knew her well enough to play a little bit dirty.
They were waiting for their train when she finally asked the obvious question. “How did you find me?”
New York City was a big place, and it had taken Yelena a lot less time to narrow down Kate’s location than she expected. Yelena shrugged. “We tracked your phone.”
“Don’t you need to wait for me to call or something for that to work?”
“It’s not like TV, Kate Bishop,” Yelena said, clearly trying not to laugh. She leaned closer. “Especially when you use illegal technology.” Kate shook her head. She should have known that even if Yelena hadn’t had some sort of tech, Maria probably did. “It gave us a one-mile radius. From there I just had to get to Queens and follow the police scanners and your trail of chaos.”
Kate spluttered. “I do not leave a trail of chaos.”
Yelena fluttered her eyelashes. “No, of course not."