Missions rarely go according to plan, Kate knew this, but she’d never been on a mission that went south so quickly.
She and Clint had gone to a black market auction — yes, another one — to try and retrieve another artifact that had been stolen from the Avengers compound earlier tonight. Everything was going fine at first; the bidders bid, the scumbag selling the priceless items rattled off some ridiculously high numbers, and she and Clint stuck to the sidelines, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves. And then everything went to shit.
It seemed that one of the organizers for this little shindig recognized Kate — yes, Kate, no, not Clint — and then, well, things got ugly pretty quickly after that.
To make a long story short, Kate and Clint both made it out alive and with the artifact, but not completely unscathed. Clint was mostly fine, a couple of scratches and a black eye, but Kate… Kate had gotten the worst of it. Her wrist was most likely sprained — Clint assured her it was not broken — her ribs were heavily bruised, her arms and legs were sore beyond belief, and there was a nasty cut that began at her hairline and made its way down to her eyebrow.
She was banged up and exhausted and all she wanted to do was get home and go to sleep. But she knew that first, she’d have some explaining to do.
As soon as Kate opened the door she heard a quiet gasp.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she muttered as she dropped her bag and bow by the door. “No need to make a big deal out of it.”
“Clearly you have not looked at yourself in a mirror,” Yelena responded. “What happened? Did you take on all of the bad guys by yourself?”
Kate half smiled and shrugged, trying not to wince. “Most of them. Clint helped a little.”
Yelena looked at her through narrowed eyes for a second, then sighed.
“Sit. I will get the first aid kit.”
Kate normally would have argued but the cut on her forehead was still bleeding a little and Clint had given her countless lectures on cleaning her wounds right away, so she did as she was told and haphazardly threw herself onto the couch, groaning at the initial contact. After a minute she relaxed into the soft cushions and sighed contently, listening to Yelena rummage around the bathroom cabinets until she found what she was looking for.
It was still so strange to think about, Yelena living with her. Initially, it was only supposed to be for a few days while Yelena found a place of her own but, at some point, it became a permanent thing. And it wasn’t because she couldn’t find a place or because she couldn’t afford it, it was because they enjoyed each other’s company. They had systems in place for chores and walking Lucky, and for buying groceries. They hung out on their days off and watched movies, or went to the park and played fetch with Lucky. They baked cookies together and took walks around the city at 2 am when they couldn’t sleep. They were friends. As unlikely as that may seem.
Yelena emerged from the bathroom a minute later, red and white first aid kit in hand. She walked over to the couch and took a seat next to Kate, tugging on the girl’s suit to get her to sit up.
“Come on,” Yelena said. “The sooner I get this done the sooner you can go to bed. Now sit up.”
Kate groaned and whined but sat up straight nonetheless.
Yelena opened the box and pulled out her supplies, laying them out beside her.
As soon as the alcohol-soaked cotton pad made contact with the wound, Kate flinched and gritted her teeth.
“Hold still,” Yelena muttered, her eyes focused on the cut.
“It hurts,” Kate mumbled, sinking further into the couch.
“If you’re going to pick fights with guys twice your size then you do not get to complain.”
Yelena set down the cotton pad and squeezed out some antibiotic ointment onto a cotton swab. As she dabbed it onto Kate’s injury, she asked, “So other than getting your butt kicked, how did the mission go?”
Kate rolled her eyes but responded anyway.
“I’d say it went pretty well. We got what we went for, nobody died, and the cops arrested everyone shortly after we left so, I’d call that a victory.”
Yelena smiled. “Yes, I would say that that sounds like a victory too.”
Once Yelena finished applying the Strawberry Shortcake-themed band-aid to Kate’s forehead — it was the only one they had and, secretly, Kate loved it, though it wasn’t really much of a secret — Kate turned to look at the blonde with a grateful smile.
“Thanks,” she said. “I don’t think I would have had the energy to do all that.”
“Not a problem, Kate Bishop.” Yelena snapped the box shut and got up, heading for the bathroom to put it away. “That is what friends are for, no?”
Kate forced a smile even though Yelena was already halfway gone.
“Friends,” she whispered. “Right.”
The truth is, Kate hated being friends with Yelena. Okay, that might’ve come out wrong. She didn’t not want to be her friend, it’s just… sometimes she wanted to be more than just friends. She wanted to cuddle with her and hold her hand and kiss her. She wanted to take her out on dates and show her around the city and hold her when she had a bad dream, which happened a lot.
She wasn’t sure when she started having these thoughts and, desires of sorts, all she knew was that they were ruining her life. Before she started feeling this way things were a lot simpler. But now, it just made things awkward. Like the other day when she walked in on Yelena changing. No big deal, they did it all the time, changed in front of each other without a second thought, and usually, it didn’t bother Kate. And it didn’t necessarily bother her, it just kind of left her, well, hot and bothered.
Once again, Yelena returned from the bathroom, this time empty-handed, and made her way over to Kate. She reached out a hand and gently pulled Kate to her feet, dragging her up the stairs to her room.
“Do you need help getting out of your suit?” Yelena asked. She pulled out Kate’s favorite t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts and set them down on the corner of the bed.
“What?” Kate asked, dumbfounded. Then a second later the words clicked and she shook her head. “Oh! Um, no, no I’m- I’m good. Thanks.”
She tried. She really, really tried.
When Kate reached up to try and pull her jacket off a sharp pain ran through her arm, the worst of it concentrated on her wrist, and she yelped out in pain. She tried to wave off Yelena’s concerned expression, but the blonde was not taking no for an answer this time. The second time Kate audibly winced, Yelena was the one to wave her off.
“Okay, okay,” she said, pulling Kate’s arms down. “Let me. Please.”
“Yelena-”
“Kate,” Yelena said firmly. Kate knew she meant business when she didn’t use her full name.
She let out a defeated sigh and let her arms fall to her sides.
Yelena smoothly pried the skin-tight jacket off of her, tossing it over by Kate’s dresser, then proceeded to peel off her tank top, leaving her in nothing but a bra.
Again, this was not the first time that they had ever done this. The roles had even been reversed on a couple of occasions, so this should not be affecting Kate this much, but it was. And she hated that it was.
Kate hated that her heart was beating at a thousand miles an hour, and so loudly that she swore Yelena could probably hear it. She hated that her stomach felt like she was on an endless roller coaster. She hated that her palms were sweaty and that her legs were shaky, and she hated the thoughts that were currently running through her mind, but there was nothing she could do to stop any of it.
And there was nothing she could do about it either.
“Are you okay?” Yelena asked. “You’re looking kind of pale. Did I hurt you?”
Kate smiled fondly. “No. You didn’t hurt me. I’m just really tired.”
Yelena mirrored her smile. “Well then let’s get you changed so we can both go to bed. Okay?”
Kate nodded and allowed Yelena to undress and redress her. Those two minutes felt like hours but as soon as it was all over and Kate was lying down on her cozy mattress she couldn’t help but miss the feeling of Yelena’s hands on her body.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Yelena asked again, seemingly very concerned.
Kate nodded. “I’m sure.”
“Okay,” Yelena muttered. “Goodnight, Kate Bishop. I will see you in the morning.”
“Night, Yelena. Thanks again.”
Yelena shot her a smile over her shoulder as she walked down the stairs. And then she was gone.
Kate rolled over onto her side carefully and closed her eyes. This crush of hers would be the death of her, she was absolutely certain of it.