Chapter 3
“Alright, we're all clear here,” Clint spoke into the comms.
“We are not clear! We are very not clear!” Steve replied, wheezing as though his diaphragm had been immensely compressed.
“Alright, coming to you.”
A flash of blue rushed by them almost instantaneously as Pietro somehow managed to grab his sister in one hand and Yelena in the other. “Keep up, old man!”
The floor moved below her as Pietro put her down in an entirely different location, just outside of where Steve had been overrun with the bots. She stared out into the distant sky for what felt like a minute, attempting to hold back vomit. A flush of relief washed over her as she noticed Natasha by the edge of the floating land mass.
“Never do that again,” Yelena said abruptly. “Ever again.”
“Whatever you say, Pretty Lady.” Pietro reached down to kiss her hand before speeding into the distance.
Yelena shivered in disgust, glancing over to Wanda, who threw her an embarrassed smile.
Yelena felt sweat beginning to drip down her face as she fought off more robots than she probably should be handling at once. After a while, though, she heard a familiar voice sound over the comms once more.
“Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do,” Fury said, the smile practically seeping through his voice.
“Fury, you son of a bitch,” Steve laughed.
“Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
Yelena smiled, rushing to the edge of the city to get the view the rest were seeing. It was breathtaking. Most people are enthralled by city skylines or mountains but the massive helicarrier interested Yelena much more than anything else.
“This is S.H.I.E.L.D?” Pietro asked as they watched the helicarrier launch lifeboats.
“This is what S.H.I.E.L.D's supposed to be,” Steve responded with a look of pride.
“This is not so bad.”
Yelena glanced over to Natasha, their eyes meeting, before turning back to Steve. “Let's load 'em up.”
As the team began loading people onto the lifeboats, they watched as Rhodes dropped over the side of the helicarrier in an oversized suit, taking out any Ultron bot that approached.
“We're out of time. They're coming for the core,” Thor yelled from the city's center as he stood with The Vision.
“Avengers, time to work for a living,” Tony said, flying overhead. “Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini."
Yelena cringed at the idea, despite knowing that Natasha was running next to her as they made their way to the core. She noticed a flash of purple and watched as Kate scrambled to run over the tops of the buildings next to them.
“Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly,” Natasha replied as they entered the large structure, joining the team, Kate sliding in behind them. “What's the drill?”
Tony’s face hardened under his suit as he pointed to the core in the center of the building. “This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose.”
Moments after Tony had spoken, Ultron appeared at the foot of the church, casting an impregnable gaze upon them. Yelena felt her blood run cold under his stare as she threw the large gun off her shoulder and into her hands.
“Is that the best you can do?” Thor’s booming voice surrounded them.
Before them, Ultron raised his hand, summoning what seemed to be an endless army of his own carbon copies. Yelena wasn't sure how there could still be more, considering the masses she’d taken out alone.
“You had to ask,” Steve groaned, readying his shield.
Ultron raised both hands in an eloquent fashion, showing off what lay behind him. “This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?”
“Well, like the old man said. Together,” Tony replied, a smug grin under his suit.
The Ultron robots began flooding into the building in an instant. Yelena could feel a bruise starting to form over her shoulder by the time she’d emptied her weapon into as many bots as she could. She dropped her rifle and took to hand-to-hand combat with ease, activating her widow bites as she prowled her way through the battle, Pietro’s flash of blue surrounding them.
She knew Natasha could handle her own, but she couldn't help but glance back every so often, taking out stray Ultrons that had come too close for her liking. She knew Natasha had noticed when she shot Yelena a sharp glare, but Yelena could only muster a wheeze-like laugh in response. During one of her glances, Natasha left a subtle signal for her. Yelena quickly bent down as the other woman used her back as leverage to launch herself at the head of a bot.
“You know, with the benefit of hindsight-” Ultron’s words were cut off as the Hulk’s fist collided with the side of his chest, launching him into the distance.
“They'll try to leave the city,” Thor bellowed, rushing to smash in the head of a nearby enemy.
“We can't let 'em, not even one,” Tony replied before calling to Rhodey about what needed to be done.
Steve glanced around at his companions. “We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you.”
“What about the core?” Clint asked.
“I'll protect it. It's what I have to do,” Wanda implored, turning to Yelena with a meaningful look.
Some of the remaining Avengers made their way to one of the last open lifeboats. As they walked, Yelena couldn’t help but stare in awe at the distance between them and the ground. She stared at the tiny houses and cars that almost looked like ants. it was a terrifying view full of warped beauty which, in her mind, she could almost touch. The way it felt to fall made such a height fascinating. She hastily sat in the first available seat she found, Natasha following suit. Their ears were filled with the sound of whirring coming from the neighboring engine, as they had just begun to return back to the main helicarrier. Some of the other Avengers crowded around them, Clint taking a seat opposite her. He glanced between them in a silence Yelena knew was loaded.
“I know what I need to do,” Clint said, out of the blue. “The dining room! If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice workspace for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling; she can't hear the kids running around. What do you think?”
“You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway,” Natasha agreed.
“Nobody eats in the dining room,” Yelena added, laughing.
The moment was cut short by the sound of bullets overhead, each one piercing further into the aircraft’s metal hull. The present Avengers bolted into action, doing what it is they did best. Whoever had been controlling the carrier had drifted slightly, moving closer and closer to the neighboring lifeboat.
“Everyone off,” Clint shouted over the commotion. “We need to move to the next one over!”
Yelena began ushering people over, as did Natasha. She helped up an older man, doing her best to convince him to increase his speed. Yelena watched as Natasha did the same with shocked civilians, too stunned to move.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw steve grabbing as many children as he could physically carry in his arms, and leap over the gap himself, bringing them to safety. Yelena continued to steer people away from their current seats but in doing so she felt as though she had no free time to think. Her mind went blank as she worked, plagued by not even fear as she helped these people. That might have been the kicker for her. She was saving people and that was an odd change in pace for her.
Yelena leaped over the gap onto the other carrier. She placed her hand on the shoulder’s of people she’d passed, steadying herself as she scanned the people they'd moved over. Yelena paused as the color drained from her face. She looked over to Clint, who, by the look on his face, noticed too. The quin jet had turned around, raining bullets over the carrier's engine for a second time. Only then was it that they noticed Natasha had still been on the other carrier. She kneeled by the engine that had just been shot at, cowering over something Yelena couldn't see from her angle.
“My leg is a bit out of commission over here, boys,” Natasha laughed dryly, the sadness filling her voice in a way that made Yelena feel as though she could break at any moment.
“Fuck. Fuck, that engine is going to blow any second. None of us will make it,” Clint panicked, asking Tony how far away he was, but it was no use. “What are we going to do?”
Whoever went after her was damning themselves. Not only would the engine blow, even if it didn't, the carrier had drifted too high to make it back.
“It’s alright. There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?” Natasha admitted. “Мне жаль, что я не смог защитить тебяI'm sorry I couldn't protect you.”
Yelena’s eyes widened.
She felt her body run hot, the ends of her fingers feeling as though she were vibrating. She tried to say something, to Natasha or even the team but the words caught in the back of her throat. She stared at the back of Natasha’s head, her bright red hair glowing in the light. After a moment, she plastered a broad smile over her face, one that ran from ear to ear.
She quickly turned, running across the way to a row of seats. She brushed aside the legs of civilians, not bothering to mutter an apology, to grab an emergency parachute from under the seat. She’d be a fool to think S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t prepare for every possibly scenario.
Yelena sprinted back to the edge of the hellicarrier, bracing her foot over the metal railing and tumbling onto the opposing aircraft. She regained her footing as soon as she had lost it, not bothing to fall into one of their famous superhero landings, and bolted between rows of seats. She quickly threw herself over the last row, coming face to face with the redhead, encompassing her into a false embrace as she strapped the parachute over her chest.
“No, you don't get to do this,” Natasha yelled, tears welling at the corner of her eyes.
Yelena winked in response, pushing the other woman as hard as she could over the edge of the lifeboat into the open sky. She turned and found, to her surprise, a frail, blonde girl who looked as if she’d begun to thin at the cheeks. Natasha had stayed to protect a little girl.
Yelena grabbed the girl, tucking her under her arm as she ran. She had only made it halfway across the lifeboat before the engine exploded. The blast threw her forward onto her hands. She used all of her strength to keep herself from falling on top of the small child. Yelena felt as sheets of metal and mechanical components embedded themselves into her skin as they were launched from the engine. Her body burned, the metal under her skin continuing to sear into her after the initial blast. She could taste the copper pooling in the base of her mouth, knowing she’d bit her own tongue. She felt bile rising in her throat but she pushed it down, lest she’d vomit on the girl underneath her. She hoped she was at least lucky enough that her wounds would cauterize themselves.
Her mind went blank as she stared out in front of her. There were bit of metal, among other things, scattered as far as she could see, some of which was somehow lit aflame. She kept straying back to the dull, thudding pain throughout her lower body that almost felt numb. It was like trying to hear someone over loud music, though she supposed it was due to the adrenalin which had yet to wear off.
She rested on one elbow, the other stretched in front of her. She had dipped her head over the small girl as she curled up underneath her. Yelena let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, unable to see any physical injuries on the child from where she was. Her vision began to blur as she forced herself to keep her eyes open.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Yelena murmured, tears welling in her eyes as she watched the little girl sob. She wasn't sure if she’d been comforting the kid or herself.
Yelena’s head perked up, despite the pain, as she heard the sound of Ironman's suit, a sense of relief flooding over her. She watched as Tony flew Natasha back to the main helicarrier before turning back for her. Yelena tried to focus on her breathing, but the only thing she could think about was the bar of metal submerged in her calf, or the steady drip of blood, or the overwhelming amount of things happening around her.
The lifeboat remained in the air due to it’s three other engines, but after a moment, The Hulk launched himself onto the edge of it, using it as a bounce pad. He landed almost gracefully into the back of the quin jet above as it attempted to make its escape. Yelena thought for a moment she was int he clear, though after a moment, the carrier had begun to tip, and Yelena’s body slowly began to slide down towards the edge. The height was nauseating. As desperately as she tried to fight it, Yelena felt a dullness wash over her; the cold around her seeping under her skin.
Her slide became more of a slip as they trailed through what was her own, still warm blood, which burned against her skin. She hadn't been lucky enough.
Before they could go overboard into the endless abyss below them, Tony had flown in full speed, picking up the two of them unceremoniously. Yelena hissed in pain as she was thrown into his arms; the bar of metal getting caught on the carrier, abruptly dislodging from her leg. She smacked her head against Tony’s metal suit to distract herself from the pain, feeling as though she could vomit up everything she’d ever eaten at any moment.
Yelena felt her feet hit the concrete as Tony attempted to lower her to the ground. She fell forward onto her knees, holding herself up with one arm as the other cradled her stomach. Her muscles forcibly tensed, forcing her to clumsily drop to resting on her elbow rather than her hand. She promptly emptied the contents of her stomach over the floor, an uncomfortable percentage of which being that familiar viscous red.
Yelena looked to the side to see unsettling amounts of blood staining the gold of Tony’s suit. She looked away, feeling a wave of nausea flow over her once more, the world seeming as though it spun around her. She peered around for Natasha, hoping desperately to find her, but the woman was nowhere in sight.
Natasha sat at a panel inside the control room, her head resting in her hands as she stared blankly at the floor. Maria Hill had rushed passed her as soon as Natasha entered, and Fury remained in the center, guiding his team, so she sat alone and unbothered. Not many other SHIELD agents dared approach her, and she assumed her current state would leave her even more unapproachable.
Her grip tightened around her hairline as her elbows dug into the desk in front of her. It was her fault and there was nothing she could do anymore. Natasha knew this day would come because she recognized their attachment to eachother years ago and she’d told herself she’d add some distance but she never could bring herself to do it. She couldn't bring herself to refuse those sweet eyes.
Natasha slid her head further into her arms, resting her fingers at the back of her own neck.
Tony had burst through the doors not a moment later without his suit. He had been the person Natasha expected least to approach her. Natasha glanced up at him. Most of the team had followed behind him, except for Kate, which did not surprise Natasha.
“So,” Tony began, taking an aggressive stance in front of her, while the other Avengers took seats around them, looking exasperated. Natasha wasnt sure how Tony had more fight in him after everything theyd just been through. “Do you want to explain what just happened or should I?”
“Whatever it is you want me to confess to, can it wait five minutes, Stark? Please?” Natasha replied, her voice sounding almost as if she were begging.
“Guess you do.” He let out a sardonic chuckle to himself. “Had anyone else been on that carrier, they’d have died. That girl wouldn’t have come to the rescue if it hadn’t been you and you didnt think that was important to share with us.”
“Do we have to do this right now?”
“Someone could have died, Natasha!”
“And she still could.” Natasha's voice cracked slightly as she raised it. “Don’t you think I know that?”
“FRIDAY, pull up the slideshow I had you put together,” Tony asked cooly, refusing to break eye contact with Natasha. A large tab opened over Fury’s workspace, revealing a rotating selection of images that looked almost like a laptop screen saver. “Natasha knows the little serial killer very well and elected not to tell us.”
Pictures flashed over the screen. First of Natasha and Yelena running from The Taskmaster in the metro; probably posted to someone's social media. Security footage of them drinking together on the outskirts of Budapest. Footage of them on the run, leaping from building to building. What caught Natasha off guard was the images began going further and further back in her own timeline. Photos Tony should not have access to. Photos that shouldn't even exist anymore.
A photo appeared of Natasha and Yelena dressed the best they'd ever had, drinking at some fancy party. Natasha had been twenty-three while Yelena had been twenty. A school photo of Natasha and Yelena very young; Natasha’s hair still blue. The slide show stopped at zoomed-in security footage of Natasha and Yelena on a roof in Oslo. Natasha had sat next to Yelena, who had been laying down, and was leaning over the other woman to press their heads together, cupping her face. That photo had been the one that got the two of them caught.
“Maybe we should consult S.H.I.E.L.D’s fraternization policy between members of a team,” Tony ridiculed. Natasha knew that it was a joke, but her breath caught in the back of her throat.
“Okay, I’m shutting this down,” Hill said as she began pulling the tab off of the screen.
“Where did you get that picture?” Natasha asked with a piercing gaze, referring to the last photo on the screen.
“Yes, because that is more important than you lying to and endangering your own team.”
“You need to tell me exactly where you got that picture, Stark,” Natasha repeated, raising her voice as she stood, feeling her leg tremble slightly under her weight.
“Or what?”
Natasha pulled her gun from her beltline, pointing it directly at him. Natasha let out a shaky exhale, her body trembling with it in a wave. She could see the members of her own team now standing in her peripheral vision.
“Those pictures shouldn't exist anymore,” Natasha cautioned, tightening her grip over the gun. “I made very well sure of that, so where did you get them?”
“Why don’t you ask your boss?”
Natasha waivered, turning her attention to Fury. She could see her teammates doing the same.
“Did you know about this?” Steve asked, motioning to Natasha with his thumb.
“The only reason those images could be accessed again was because of our HYDRA infestation. Those pictures exist out here because of that little stunt the two of you executed,” Fury replied, pulling up the ship's cameras which had once been on his screen before Tony had interrupted.
“That wasn’t his question,” Natasha glared, lowering her gun.
“Yes, I was aware of her identity,” He huffed. “Half of those images were taken by SHIELD in the first place. You were there when I found that HYDRA had been shuffling our intel back into Russian intelligence organizations for years.”
Natasha couldn't help but laugh; it was all she could think of to do anymore. Her body shook with laughter as she slid to rest her head over her knees. She dug her fingers into the base of her neck as her other wrist limply lay over her knee with the weight of the gun. Her leg seared in pain as she now held all of her weight on it, but it didn't falter her laughter.
“Is something funny?” Tony asked, incredulously. “You endangered us and then left her out there to die without a care after she saved your life.”
“I was shuffled through the KGB because of intel the organization I still work for supplied.”A laugh tore through her chest as if it were sharp. Wiping tears from her eyes, she sat back to extend her injured leg. “I was taken from people I love because of the organization I willingly choose to work for.”
Tony clenched his jaw as he glanced away from the hunched woman. He groaned, rubbing his chin with the back of his hand. “This would be exactly why we can’t have nice things.”
Natasha watched as Tony left in frustration, down a flight of stairs to what Natasha assumed to be a lower floor. She felt as though the laughter would never stop as she leaned into the chair she’d once sat in. Natasha knew the only thing Tony thought she did was pity herself, but she also knew that was his own projection. She knew how frustrated he must be thinking that she only cared about the terrible things that happened to herself; it only made her laugh harder. She could feel the eyes of the rest of her team burrowing under her skin. She could feel her skin splitting under their gazes, her blood pouring out as their incessant curiosity tore further under her skin.
Natasha dropped the gun to the floor with a thud, her laughter descending into a light hum. She reached for the ledge of the desk, her knuckles turning a pale white as she gripped the surface. Natasha forced herself into a standing position, wincing as she did so. She ignored the looks as she staggered to the wall opposing her, leaning against it. She stared at a landline that hung next to her, debating for a moment before turning back to the crowd.
“What’s our ETA?” She asked abruptly, her voice shockingly normal compared to her body's current condition. She looked to Maria, who glanced quickly down at a screen in front of her.
“An estimated five and a half hours,” Maria paused. Natasha watched as the woman bit her lower lip, visibly in thought. Natasha knew what she would say before the words had fallen from her. “Do you want me to-”
“No.” Natasha cringed at the thought that they might pity her, something that made Tony’s theory so ridiculous. She didn't want this kind of pity from anyone. “I’ll be fine, Commander.”
Natasha picked up the plastic phone, punching in the numbers before putting it to her ear. The line rang a total of three times before being picked up. “Мелина? Мне нужно, чтобы ты встретилась со мной где-нибудь через несколько часов. Это ЕленаMelina? I need you to meet me somewhere in a few hours. It's Yelena.”