“Yeah, well, at least I don’t kill people!” Peter spits before his eyes grow wide. “Wait--” He realizes that he went too far.
Yelena can pretend that it’s the wind and dry air that’s making her eyes water. She can’t help herself when she punches him in the face.
Peter retaliates with a hit and they quickly descend into blows.
Yelena doesn’t want to fight Peter. She’s just so angry and upset, she can’t help herself.
She’s rolling around with Peter, sending hit after hit. She’s not truly trying to hurt him. Well, she is but she doesn’t want to leave any permanent damage. Peter is… was her friend?
Peter’s hand then wailed down on her torso hard and there was a crunching noise before sharp pain shot through her and Yelena can’t help the howl that escapes her lips.
Peter immediately froze when the snap echoed between them, staring down at her with horror before he abruptly climbed off of her. “Oh god…” He breathes out in horror. Yelena is still sprawled on the ground, her hands cradling over her side in an attempt to abate the pain in her torso. “Shit-- Yelena I’m--”
The doors to the roof burst open; moments later, there is Natasha looking down at her. “What happened?” Natasha demands, her eyes narrowing in on Yelena grabbing her side.
“I-- I didn’t mean--” Peter stumbles from where James is looking him over for injuries as well, a solemn look on his face. “It was an accident!”
Natasha turns her attention back to Yelena when she lets out a wheezy breath. Natasha’s fingers grab the zipper of her vest and tug it down to expose Yelena’s shirt.
Yelena stares up at the sky above them, her eyes soaking in the sights of the clouds as she picks out shapes in them like she used to do when she was little and lonely. She doesn’t even realize that she’s zoned out until fingers press on her injured side and Yelena sucks in a sharp breath at the pain only for the inhale to cause more sharp burning against her side.
Tears pool in her eyes, blurring her vision as she stares up at the clouds.
Peter hurt her. Not just with his words but with his fists. Sure, she threw the first punch. But she wasn’t going to… she wasn’t going to really hurt him. She wasn’t like that anymore. She got a few hits in but mainly because she was frustrated that he was using what she confided in him to hurt her.
“Come here, little one ,” Natasha gently grasped Yelena’s upper arms. “You need to sit up.”
Yelena grimaced and readied herself before she lets Natasha tug her up. Pain shoots through her, stealing her breath away for a moment. Tears finally roll down her cheeks as she gasps for air, each sharp inhale causing more pain than the last.
“Breathe, Yelena. Small breaths. Calm down, I’m right here. You’re okay. We’ll fix you up,” Natasha cups her face, leaning forward to press their foreheads together. Yelena squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on the feeling of Natasha gently brushing away her tears with her thumbs.
Footsteps fall closer to them as someone approaches and Yelena can’t help but tense up slightly but that only causes more pain.
“Hey,” James’s voice was quiet as he crouches down beside them. “We need to move you inside and get a doctor to look at you.”
Yelena knew what he was asking and knew it was going to hurt. “Where’s Peter?” She can’t help but question. “He should see a doctor too.” She had gotten a few nasty hits in.
“Okay,” James says before Natasha can reply. “Tony’s got him. Come here.”
“She’s got fractured ribs,” Natasha warns him as James gently slides an arm under Yelena’s knees and the other around her back before he counts down.
“Three… two… one…” He hoists her up into her arms and Yelena cries out, white spots filling her vision as nausea washes over her.
The last time James had carried her, she had been injured too. He had stabbed her and refused to continue her training until she got it looked at. When the guards wouldn’t take her to get it treated, he scooped her up like she was nothing but a sack of potatoes and carried her to the infirmary himself.
Yelena searches for Natasha when he starts to walk toward the stairs. “Momma--”
“I’m right here,” Natasha reassures her, appearing just over James’s left shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”
It doesn’t take long for Tony to get a doctor there to look at her. An hour later confirms that Peter fractured three of her ribs on her left side. Yelena hadn’t fractured her ribs since she was nine. She had been taught better than that. She had been taught to block.
Why wasn’t she blocking? Why didn’t she cover herself when she fought with Peter?
“How are you holding up, Barbie?” Tony asked her shortly after she was discharged with painkillers that she’s too afraid of taking.
Yelena glances at him before looking down at her lap. “I can’t wear my vest because it’s too tight.” She says. “I can’t dance or train for six weeks. My best friend just broke three of my ribs…” Yelena swallows hard. “I don’t know… I don’t know how to fix this.” She admits quietly.
Tony lets out a soft sigh, taking a seat beside her on her bed. She was in her room, Natasha searching for ice and extra pillows to prop her up. “I have no idea what caused you and Peter to get into a fight on the roof. But you guys hurt each other more than physically, I’m guessing.”
Yelena swallows hard. “It was over a girl…” She mumbles, shame filling her when she realizes how stupid it sounded. “I messed up. I was trying to make things better but I made things worse.”
“It takes two to tango, kiddo,” Tony says, his voice gentle. “Peter’s not blameless in this.”
“But if I just let things be then this wouldn’t have happened! I just-- I just wanted to make Peter comfortable. I didn’t want him upset with me,” Yelena shakes her head with a scoff. “Look where that got me.”
“Take a few days to reflect and heal up. You can talk with Peter later on,” Tony clasped her shoulder gently. “And remember that you can fix things or you can leave things be. Some things just aren’t meant to be.”
Yelena wallows in his words.
While Yelena didn’t mind Natasha fussing over her, she was starting to go stir-crazy. It’s not her first set of broken ribs nor is she a weak child that needs to be fawned over.
She is a Widow. Pain makes her stronger (even if she doesn’t believe it anymore, she can still utilize it like a weapon).
Yelena wanted to speak to Peter. She had been too afraid to reach out to MJ after the fight and it had been three days.
Finally, Pepper told Yelena that she needed to call MJ. Yelena admits that she was scared, worried that she wouldn’t just lose her best friend but her girlfriend as well. MJ was Peter’s friend first and Yelena didn’t want to make her pick sides.
When Yelena finally does tell MJ, MJ lectures her. Yelena listens as MJ paces and rants at her about how irresponsible and foolish getting into a fight was and freezes when MJ finally plops into the spot next to her to hug her. “You’re not leaving?” Yelena can’t help but blurt and MJ pulls away to cup her face in her hands.
"I’m not leaving you over a mistake,” MJ tells her sincerely.
“But Peter’s your friend… and I hurt him,” Yelena protests quietly.
“And you’re my girlfriend and he hurt you. Does that mean I should no longer be his friend?” MJ questioned and Yelena shakes her head.
“But that’s different,” She replies, trying to make MJ understand something that she didn’t quite understand herself. “He was your friend first.”
MJ pursed her lips for a few moments. “I know that the concept of having friends is new to you…” She treads lightly, not wanting to offend Yelena. “But friends can fight sometimes and still be okay. But I also know that a lot of people have hurt you in the past and if Peter hurting you makes it so that you can’t be around him then I understand that.”
“I don’t want to make you pick, it’s not fair,” Yelena mumbles, her eyes flickering away as she can’t help but lean into MJ’s hands. MJ pulls Yelena closer and kisses her forehead.
“I love that you take my feelings and thoughts into account. But they’re mine to make decisions with. It’s okay to draw boundaries, Yelena. I’m not going to be mad at you for that,” MJ says and Yelens lets out a deep breath of air, wincing at the pain it caused.
“I wanna be okay with Peter.” She says quietly.
“Then try and talk things out,” MJ says, having no knowledge that Natasha practically banned Yelena from seeing Peter in no uncertain terms.
Yet Yelena thinks she needed this. “Okay.”
Yelena stares at Peter as he sits across the metal workbench from her. They were in Tony’s lab, Tony tinkering nearby. It was neutral ground and he was there to step in if things got heated again.
“How… how are your ribs?” Peter starts, clearing his throat nervously as he glanced at her torso before quickly looking away.
“Fractured,” Yelena retorts, looking down at her hands. She’d like nothing more than to wear her vest but she wasn’t approved to do it yet. “You haven’t been going out as Spider-Man.”
“I needed to step back,” Peter tells her, shame in his tone. “I made a mistake.”
“The world needs its friendly neighborhood Spider-Man,” Yelena tells him and Peter clenched his fist.
“Before my uncle passed, he told me one thing that stuck with me. He said, with great power comes great responsibility,” Peter slowly shakes his head. “I hurt you. I used my strength and I broke your ribs.”
“It was an accident,” Yelena points out and Peter shakes his head.
“I-- I wanted to hurt you. I wanted to make you feel like I was feeling and I went too far. I was foolish and childish,” Peter tells her, tilting his chin up. “So I need to take responsibility for my actions.”
“Peter…” Yelena starts, leaning forward slightly. “We are children.” It had taken her a long time to realize that being called a child wasn’t an insult. It was simply a fact. She was under the age of eighteen, therefore she was a child. “I got in trouble for fighting with you. Natasha gave me a long lecture. I was under mind control. I didn’t get the chance to learn to control my emotions the way that others do. I made a mistake. I pushed you too hard and I’m sorry.”
Peter swallows hard, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
“It’s admirable that you want to take a step back. But the world needs you. New York Needs you. You shouldn’t stop being Spider-Man just because of me,” Yelena finishes and Peter lets out a small nod.
“I’m sorry, Yelena.” He peers up at her. “I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t mean--” He clenched his jaw as he swallows hard. Yelena adjusts her position in her seat but a sharp jolt sends her through her side. She nearly topples off the chair and Peter lurches forward to catch her.
But all she sees is Peter coming at her and she thinks of the rooftop. She can’t help but violently flinch away from the hand coming at her, falling off the chair and crashing to the ground.
She hits the ground hard and it knocks the wind out of her, white spots filling her vision. Yelena gasps for air that won’t come, the only important thing for her was keeping her vital organs safe.
She almost forgets where she is until her momma is in front of her, sharp concern on her face as she tries to see if Yelena injured herself further.
Tony stands next to Peter, who looks on with horror on his face.
“Get out of here!” Natasha tells Peter harshly and Peter shrinks in on himself.
“I’m sorry,” He tells them one last time.
Unfortunately, it’s too little too late. Tears prickle at her eyes as she watches Peter leave.
She lost her first friend because she couldn’t let things lay. She was trying to fix the awkward air between them and instead ignited the fuel to a massive fire that ultimately ended their friendship.
Peter no longer acknowledges her, even when her ribs are healed.
And she’s terrified of making things worse. So she ignores him too, even though it hurts to lose her first friend.