Chapter 1
Yelena had a rule that she didn’t make attachments. Particularly ones that would make her need to choose between loyalty and survival. The sisterhood that she shared with the other Black Widows was as far as she let it go because she knew their morals just as they knew hers.
So when SHIELD reached out to her regarding putting together a group in case the world decided it would like to end once again, Yelena hesitated.
But then Kate Bishop, who Yelena had reluctantly formed a partnership with, informed her that she had been recruited and accepted. Yelena sat on the offer for months before agreeing to meet with the person behind it all.
She had heard of Maria Hill, so she wasn’t too surprised to meet the woman behind it all. What she was surprised about was that she was asked to guide the group that the woman had cobbled together.
Yelena eyed the woman in front of her dubiously as she tried to ensure she understood correctly. “You’re making me the leader of your new little superhero group?”
The woman in front of her let out a very tired sigh. “You are the oldest and have the most experience."
Yelena blinked at the woman. A nagging feeling was tugging uncomfortably at her gut. “Just how old are they?” she asked cautiously.
The woman just looked even more exhausted.
Children.
Yelena stared at the little group of children that were huddled up in the center of the gym at the compound she was given directions to, looking up at her with wide eyes.
When she was told that the group was called the “Young Avengers”, she assumed it was making a joke over the fact that the originals were getting old or dead. She supposed that Kate Bishop wasn’t exactly a child at twenty-two but the rest didn’t even look old enough to drink.
“So…” the only boy awkwardly cleared his throat before he shoved a hand out at her. “Hi, I’m Peter Parker. Um, I’m also Spider-Man”
Yelena stared at the hand of the boy and resisted the urge to turn and smash her head against the nearest wall before hunting down Maria Hill just to strangle her with her bootlaces. The teenage boy, Peter Parker, slowly lowered his hand when Yelena made no move to take it.
Yelena cleared her throat before addressing them. “If I were to ask you all to go to the nearest corner store to buy me a pack of cigarettes, how many of you would come back with a box?”
The group blinked up at her as if she had asked a foolish question.
“Just me, Yelena,” Kate said before giving a disapproving finger wag. “Although smoking is bad for you.”
Yelena wanted to bury her head in her hands. “How many of you are old enough to legally drive a car?” Her words came out strangled.
One girl cocked a hip. “I’m eighteen with my license,” she declared with a smug grin before nodding. “I’m Cassie Lang.”
Yelena took a slow inhale before letting it out, observing the group. “Who is the youngest?”
“Oh, that’s America,” one of the girls grinned, nudging the girl in a jean jacket beside her with her elbow. “She’s fourteen.”
"Almost fifteen!" the youngest immediately corrected, peering up at Yelena as if trying to reassure her.
"Right," Yelena said flatly. When she was told about a new team, the supposed next Avengers, she didn't expect children. Who would? Yelena didn't think she would have to specify that she would not train nor lead child soldiers. "I apologize, there must have been some mistake."
Yelena turned on her foot ready to leave. Her sudden dismissal took the others off guard.
"What?" Kate squeaked out, reaching for Yelena's shoulder. "But--"
Yelena grabbed her wrist to stop her, looking Kate in the eyes. "There are very few rules that I stick to when I take jobs. But one thing that I will not budge on is child soldiers."
"Who are you calling a child soldier?" America puffed up angrily. "I'm not--"
Peter placed a hand on her shoulder to silence her, interrupting her angry huff. "I'm sorry. I thought you got our files."
Yelena scowled. She had naively rejected the files, having wanted to form her own untainted opinions. If she was to join a group, she didn’t want them to hate her for knowing everything about them off the bat. "I do not do this. Under the age of twenty-one is a no-go for me."
And like the children they are, she was met with begging and pleading, pouting lower lips and puppy-dog eyes.
Yelena, fed up with the behavior, reached out and snagged the closest arm to her- Kate's- and yanked.
Kate was used to Yelena trying to take her off guard and somewhat gracefully broke her landing as Yelena tossed her over her shoulder. The group went silent as Kate gasped when she hit the floor.
"What have I taught you, Kate Bishop," Yelena chided as Kate grumbled to herself while she lay on the floor.
"Expect the unexpected," Kate huffed. The girl whose name Yelena had yet to learn reached out to offer Kate a hand up.
Yelena snatched her wrist up and flipped backward to toss her as well. The girl hadn't been expecting it and Yelena had to suddenly compensate for what would have been a very painful land. The girl hit the ground with a squeak before she stared up at Yelena with wide surprised eyes.
"Were you recruited just to throw us around?" Cassie demanded. She shifted slightly as if she was going to fight Yelena.
"I was proving a point," Yelena huffed. "You all are going to get yourselves killed and I refuse to have a part in it."
"So what, you just leave?" America challenged, her face screwing up. "Teach us then. If you’re so sure then help us make sure we won’t get killed. You want us to live, don’t you?"
Something cold shot through Yelena and she moved toward America, shoving Peter back when he tried to stop her. She grabbed America's jean jacket and the girl immediately lost all bravado, shrinking in on herself as Yelena stared down at her.
"Don't you ever," Yelena started in a very low and quiet tone. "Insinuate that I would cause the death of or wish a child dead."
"Yelena, c'mon," Kate protested, already getting off the ground. "They're still green behind the ears."
Yelena squinted at her, loosening her hold on America slightly. She reluctantly had to admit, "I am unfamiliar with that meaning."
America tried to retaliate with a kick. Yelena dragged the girl up, kicked her legs out from under her, and flipped her upside down so she couldn't kick her, tucking the girl against her with one arm. America yelped, suddenly clinging to Yelena as she tried to stop herself from falling.
"Inexperienced," Peter piped up, helpfully defining the phrase to her.
“Kate Bishop, you are still inexperienced,” Yelena stated and Kate’s face grew pink with embarrassment.
“Oh yeah, well how long have you been training?” Cassie demanded as she folded her arms.
“Twenty-two years,” Yelena replied, adjusting her grip on a wiggly fourteen-year-old to jab her thumb toward Kate. “As long as she’s been alive.”
The group stared at Kate before looking back at Yelena.
“No way,” the girl still sprawled on the ground said. “You can’t be that much older than us.”
Yelena squinted at her. “Name and age?”
The girl blinked. “Kamala Khan. Ms. Marvel. I’m fifteen.”
“Kamala Khan,” Yelena echoed before nodding slowly. “I am twenty-eight.”
The group was quiet for a moment.
“You were training when you were six?” Peter breathed out with wide eyes.
“Yes.” Yelena felt the weight in her arms finally give up. America was starting to get red in the face from the blood rushing to her head. Yelena flipped her back over and gave America a moment to brush her clothes off and give her an angry look before she swept the legs out from under her.
“If you were training when you were that young then why not train us?” Kamala inquired.
Yelena looked down at the girl who didn’t look like she possessed one scar. She knew that she probably didn’t mean anything malicious by it. “Do you know the title that the people who trained me gave me?”
Kamala suddenly realized that it wasn’t really a question she could weasel her way out of. “Um… Black Widow?”
Yelena leaned down, causing Kamala to lean back away from her nervously. “They called me the Best Child Assassin. A title I earned. One I still have many, many years later.”
Kate fidgeted anxiously. Yelena observed the group and noted how they were wary of her.
“What age were you when you first killed someone?” Yelena asked the group sharply.
It was quiet. There were nervous glances exchanged. Yelena wondered why on earth Maria Hill would place her with a group who were incompetent and childish.
“Um, I don’t think any of us have killed someone,” Peter said softly.
Yelena eyed the group. Disbelief prickled in her gut.
“Yelena, they’re just kids,” Kate told her quietly. “They’re not-- they’re not like you.”
Yelena wasn’t sure whether she was glad about such a thing. She felt an urge to show them why they should just quit and go home, why this particular lifestyle wasn’t for them.
Yelena pointed fingers at each of them to ensure she got things right. “America, fourteen. Kamala Khan, fifteen. Cassie Lang, eighteen. Kate Bishop, twenty-two. Peter Parker--” she paused.
“Fifteen,” the boy piped up at the pause.
“Fifteen,” Yelena finished flatly. Too many kids for her liking, all of them very poorly trained, if trained at all. “Give me one very good reason why I shouldn’t walk out the door right now.”
“Because if you leave then Kate is in charge!” America blurted out with wide eyes.
“Hey!” Kate yelped before pausing and sighing. “I mean, yeah, fair.”
Yelena finally let her head drop into her hands as she groaned.
Yelena sat on the offer for the next month. She ranted about it to a few other Widows who lent her a sympathetic ear. Some told her to stay away, that they were just walking corpses, while some told her that they would never get better without someone to teach them how.
Yelena had a dream about her sister and the time she mentioned how the Avengers had been her family. Yelena woke up in a cold sweat feeling sick, wiping sweat and tears from her face before deciding that her sister would have helped them.
She warily packed her things up before she called Maria Hill to let her know her choice.
“Where are the others?” Cassie inquired as she stepped into the gym the day after Yelena arrived.
“Just you and I today. I want to see how you work,” Yelena explained. She had already started assessing them and figured that she would try things out, and if they were truly hopeless then she’d wash her hands of them. “Tell me what you do.”
“Oh, um, okay.” Yelena had obviously caught Cassie off guard. “My alter is Stature. I specialize in size manipulation.”
Yelena nodded her head. “Let me see.”
Cassie paused for a moment. “Like, right now?”
Yelena gestured to the empty gym around them. “Go wild.”
“I don’t-- I don’t have the suit on me,” Cassie stammered and Yelena stared at her. She almost thought the girl was joking but Cassie stared at her slightly anxious.
“Why not?” Yelena finally asked in utter bafflement. “What if an enemy burst in here at this very moment? How would you defend yourself?”
Cassie blinked up at her. “We’re safe here.”
Yelena wondered if the girl was pulling her leg. She couldn’t help the snort that escaped her before realizing Cassie was serious and bitterly shaking her head. “Nowhere is safe.”
The younger girl stared at her. “That sounds like a very tiring life to live.”
Yelena shrugged, not in the mood to be judged. “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
Cassie wasn’t sure how to reply to that.
Cassie must have blabbed to the others because when Yelena asked to speak to Peter next he showed up with his suit in his hands.
“I wasn’t sure whether or not to bring my suit. I wasn’t sure if you just wanted to talk or if you wanted to see my abilities, even though I don’t always need my suit to do my usual thing--” the boy rambled nervously. Yelena could tell he wouldn’t stop unless she cut him off first.
“Before the suit,” she interrupted, and Peter went silent. “I want to know what you can do. Tell me.”
Peter perked up and started to tell her all about his powers.
“This isn’t the kinda thing where you beat me up a bunch of times until I learn something, is it?” Kamala immediately inquired upon entering the gym before Yelena could get a word out. “Because I have school tomorrow and I don’t want to be covered in bruises, the school will think I’m getting abused or something…”
Yelena stared at her and Kamala slowly trailed off. “Well, Ms. Marvel, tell me what you do.”
Kamala perked up and held up her wrists to show off the bracelets there.
America gave Yelena a wide berth when she entered, a tough facade on as she crossed her arms and looked at Yelena boredly. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Your alter identity, what is it?” Yelena folded her arms and mimicked the pose. Mirroring people was a way to indicate that you wanted to get close to somebody. Yelena would shift her position later on and hopefully America would follow and not even realize it.
“Oh…” America paused and then sheepishly admitted, “I don’t have one. I don’t really go out. I thought this whole thing was kinda crazy but then I was pushed into doing this by Stephen because he thought I could ‘use friends my own age’ as if I needed his help.”
Yelena sighed but couldn’t fault her. “Well, just America. What can you do?”
America was fascinating to Yelena. As the girl described her power of punching into alternate dimensions, Yelena briefly allowed her mind to wander into the what-ifs of her sister and if they were happy somewhere out there.
“Why don’t you show me?” Yelena asked. America, who had been content to ramble, immediately froze like a deer in headlights.
“I, um--” America sheepishly kicked at the ground as she ducked her head down. “Don’t have too good control on it yet. It’s getting better! But it usually just happens when I’m scared.”
“Then why are you here?” Yelena inquired. She realized just how blunt and cruel she was when America shrunk in on herself slightly, shame radiating off of her.
“I mean… I dunno…” America shrugged slightly. “Stephen thought I could help, I guess.”
Yelena does not apologize.
But she does feel guilt.
“I’ve been practicing!” Kate declares as she entered the gym only to immediately get laid out on her ass by Yelena.
“I could have killed you--” Yelena started before Kate finished her sentence.
“--as soon as I walked in the door, I know.” Kate squinted up at her. “How are you doing?”
Yelena was confused by the question. “I am fine.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Kate shook her head. “How are things with the team?”
Yelena does not answer her because she does not have a concrete answer yet. Kate accepts that as an answer all the same.
Yelena came up with a list to test them on. Skills that she considered basic for survival, especially when fighting. Each time she would ask them to do something for her, they would question why it was important. Yelena would never reply. When Cassie complained one too many times, Yelena started demonstrating first just to prove she wasn't being unfair.
She watched them punch, kick, jump, climb, fall, and, to their confusion, scream.
She also counted mistakes, unbeknown to them. With each mistake, she wanted to turn around and walk away from what she anticipated was a disaster waiting to happen. She couldn't stand by and watch more kids get killed but she didn't know how to teach them without using how she was raised. She was taught with violence, and it was etched on her skin and in her veins.
But she figured that if she was going to try and teach them at least something, then it would be something simple that would help them later on. She just needed to figure out how.
“Are you actually going to teach us anything or is this just blab about whatever and then kick our ass?” Cassie inquired, her suit in hand as Yelena asked questions.
“Patience,” Yelena hummed.
“Um, not to be rude, but aren’t we supposed to train as a group?” Peter awkwardly inquired as he hung from the ceiling.
“Not yet,” Yelena replied.
America groaned. “When will we actually do--”
Yelena leveled a look at her.
America let the rest of the question die on her tongue.
The group as a whole wouldn’t survive against a Black Widow assassin, that Yelena was positive about. Some of them were more experienced than others while some still tucked their thumb when Yelena asked them to punch.
Nearly a month after her arrival, Yelena was relatively pleased with the investigation she had carried out. She gathered the group up very early in the morning, watching sleepy faces gaze up at her with confusion and ire at being woken up. Yelena caught them on a weekend when they didn’t have school or had to be at whatever home they were at when they weren’t there.
“I need a volunteer,” Yelena stated. Wary looks suddenly crossed their faces. They all glanced at each other to see who might crack and go first. “How about youngest to oldest, hmm?”
America’s eyes grew wide as the sleep fell from her. “Oh, um--”
“C’mon, Chavez. Up.” Yelena pointed to the ground in front of her. “Don’t make me wait.”
“I’ll go,” Kate suddenly said.
“Too late,” Yelena shook her head, tapping her foot impatiently. “I meant today, Chavez.”
America slowly shuffled toward her. When she was close enough, Yelena reached out to guide her to the position she wanted her in.
“Right. Watch very closely,” Yelena instructed the others before turning to look at a very nervous America. “Hit me.”
America blinked at her, glancing at the others as if to see if it was a joke.
“Hey,” Yelena snapped her fingers. “Don’t look at them. Look at me.”
America’s eyes immediately latched onto her. “I don’t really want to hit you.”
“Too bad.” Yelena spread her arms open. “C’mon. Give me your best shot. Revenge for the first day we met.”
America snuck a glance at the others before she got into a stance and reared her arm back. She sent a punch and Yelena sidestepped, grabbing the outstretched arm and using the momentum to yank America and flip her.
America whined when she hit the mat, looking up at Yelena with betrayal in her eyes. “Why would you ask me to hit you if you were just gonna toss me!”
“Did you really think I’d let you punch me?” Yelena inquired incredulously. She hoisted America up by her arm before letting go of the girl. “Khan, you’re up next.”
Kamala moved forward hesitantly. “Are you gonna throw me too?”
“If you don’t move quick enough,” Yelena said honestly. Kamala’s eyes grew wide and she gulped before nodding her head.
Kamala tried. Yelena had to give her credit for that. But it took mere seconds before the girl hit the mats where America was moments ago.
Peter lasted a little longer. He dodged a few times but when he actually landed a hit he froze and Yelena tossed him to the ground as well.
Cassie lasted about as long as Kamala.
When it was Kate’s turn, she gave Yelena a nervous grin. “Well, there was that one time in the elevator, can that count?”
Yelena stared at her as she remembered when Kate slapped her. “Try it again.”
Kate sighed before nodding and steeling herself. Yelena had worked with her a few times and had given her some pointers so Kate lasted longer than the others when she truly tried and wasn’t taken off guard. But Kate was ultimately laid out on the floor.
“Did you really get us up early to throw us on the ground?” America scowled as she fought off a yawn.
“Your turn,” Yelena said. America’s eyes widened.
“What?” she squawked. “I already went!”
“Yes. Now it is your turn again,” Yelena said impatiently. America finally shuffled forward. She stiffened when Yelena gripped her wrist. “Listen to me. Pay attention.”
Yelena proceeded to show America how to hit the ground safely. The last thing she needed was one of them breaking their arms or neck trying to brace themselves.
She taught the rest and spent the morning throwing kids on the ground to teach them how to land themselves safely.
It wasn't as hard as she expected.