Chapter 26
Yelena is sitting at the counter in Layla’s kitchen, watching quietly as Layla unpacks the snacks they had gotten from the trip to the store. She wasn’t hungry at all, a hollow pit in her stomach as Layla finally leans on the counter in front of her. “So…”
Yelena looks down at the marble countertop to avoid her stare.
“Wanna tell me why you tried to hunt down and kill two Avengers?” Layla questioned, tilting her head to the side.
Yelena should leave and just go back to her safe house, she has no reason to stay here and be questioned by Layla. She doesn’t owe her anything.
But she doesn’t want to be alone. She’s always had someone by her side, even in the Red Room. Her sister, other Widows, her handlers, Khonshu.
“I told Clint Barton if I ever saw him again then I was going to kill him,” Yelena replies carefully, focusing on the marble countertop rather than Layla’s face. “Why did you stop me?”
Layla was quiet for a few moments before she lets out a sigh. “I know that Black Widow is your sister.”
Yelena straightens up, going tense as she looks up at Layla. “How?” She demands, her fingers itching toward a knife.
“I saw the pictures in your boots when I was cleaning up the bathroom when you were sleeping. It was an accident,” Layla said, her body language open and honest.
“You thought I was going to hurt her?” Yelena asked quietly, her chest clenching because she thought Layla understood that she didn’t hurt innocent people, only those who really deserved it.
“No.” Layla shakes her head, leaning onto the counter to look Yelena in the eyes. “I stopped you because you don’t want to get your sister dragged into this mess. You’ve died like twice since I met you and that wasn’t even a whole week ago yet.” Layla points out. “You have an angry God hunting you down trying to kill you.”
Yelena looks down at her lap. She hadn’t considered it that way.
“Do you want to talk about her?” Layla asked, her voice softening. “It must have been a long time since you’ve seen her, she didn’t even recognize you.”
“I haven’t seen her since I was six,” Yelena confessed, looking down before she reaches down and unties her shoe, pulling the photograph Layla had seen out of the heel. “She’s not actually my sister.”
Layla accepts the photograph when Yelena offers it out, peering down at it with a small smile. “You look like sisters here.”
“What do you know about my childhood?” Yelena watches Layla carefully, worried about the woman damaging the photograph she had worked so hard to keep preserved.
“Tawaret said that you were trafficked,” Layla confessed and Yelena isn’t too surprised at the revelation.
“Before I became the White Knight, I was known by another name,” Yelena reaches out for the photograph and Layla relinquishes her hold. “They called me White Widow.”
“I’ve never heard of you,” Layla admits, leaning back to look at Yelena better. “Wait, White Widow… like Black Widow?”
Yelena inclines her head, tucking the photograph back into her boot safely. “The White Widow was known for her ruthlessness, her bloodthirsty and cold attitude. Anybody who crossed paths with her didn’t make it out alive.” Yelena stays bent over, one hand on her shoe as she takes a deep breath. “I was also known as the best child assassin there ever was.”
“You were an assassin before Khonshu?” Layla questioned and Yelena straightens up when she hears no judgment in the tone. Layla was moving around the counter to sit next to Yelena.
“I was handpicked at three and started my training at six,” Yelena shakes her head slightly. “Natasha was sent on a mission with me when I was three and she was eight. I thought they were my actual family. She was my sister, my big sister Nattie, and I loved her more than anything.”
“But Natasha has been an Avenger for a few years. I’ve seen her on the news,” Layla’s brow was furrowed. “If you’re her sister then why didn’t come for you.”
Yelena sucks in a sharp breath at the question, looking down at her hands. “I don’t know if she knows I’m alive.” She admits. “I died in the temple of Khonshu. The Red Room probably paraded my death around, letting the others know that not even the best child assassin was safe from their grasp.”
“The Red Room?” Layla echoes, a strange tone in her voice. Yelena peers up at her curiously. “I… I’ve heard about them.”
“Really?” Yelena sits up. “From where?”
“Tawaret. She’s mentioned them before. Goddess of women and children, remember?” Layla said softly.
“Have you killed for her?” Yelena can’t help but question, watching as Layla flinches slightly.
“Yeah. Yeah, a handful of times. I only did it on purpose twice,” Layla’s finger trails along the design on the marble countertop.
“You’re going to kill more in the future,” Yelena states, hating that she makes Layla shrink in on herself. “It comes with the job of being an avatar, especially when you are helping the way that you are.”
“Does… shit, does it get easier?” Layla asked her and Yelena hates that she can nod her head.
“It’s more-- it’s more like a job now. It has to happen. The people I kill are scum, they are the worst of the worst and they hurt people. I can only kill them after they hurt.” Yelena wanted to kill them before they had the chance but Khonshu told her that she couldn’t, that that wasn’t how it worked.
“I’m sorry.” Layla said and Yelena eyes her in confusion.
“For what?” She inquired and Layla turned, reaching out and grabbing Yelena’s hand.
“You deserve more than that,” Layla said sincerely.
“My ledger is dripping with red. I can’t stop. That’s why I can’t see my sister,” Yelena shakes her head, looking down at the hand Layla held. “She’d try to make me stop. And I can’t. And I don’t want to pick.”
“You said that.” Layla admits and Yelena frowns, peering up at her in confusion. “Yesterday. When I was carrying you back, you told me I reminded you of your sister but that you couldn’t go back to her because she’d hate you for killing.”
Yelena doesn’t remember that. “I see her when I die.” She whispers the confession, feeling Layla squeeze her hand. “I go back to when I was a six-year-old, back before everything went to shit, and I see her there and she loves me and I miss her.”
“You promised me that you’d help me with my case after I helped you find your God,” Layla gestures to her desk that held the artifact notes and books. “I want to make another vow.”
Yelena frowns. “What?” She hadn’t been expecting that. “What vow?” The sudden proposition came out of nowhere.
“I’ll help you reach out and get into contact with your sister after our first vow is completed,” Layla replies.
“What do I owe you in return? It works two ways,” Yelena reminds her.
“In return, I want your vow that if you get in over your head then you’ll know that you can come here to me and I’ll help, no questions asked,” Layla doesn’t look like she’s joking.
“That’s something else to benefit you,” Yelena points out and Layla shakes her head.
“Kid, I’m going to be honest with you,” Layla’s tone is serious as she reaches out to grip Yelena’s other hand as well. “You scare the shit out of me. You look like you’re a baby but you’re actually an assassin, apparently the best child assassin, and you have a lot of red in your ledger.”
Yelena shrinks in on herself more with each word. She didn’t want Layla to be afraid of her.
“But, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be your friend. I’ve grown attached to you since you stumbled into my apartment covered in blood and I don’t tend to let things I’ve grown attached to go,” Layla lets go of Yelena’s hand, instead reaching up to run her thumb along a scar on the side of Yelena’s head by her hairline before cupping the side of her face. “I want you safe.”
Yelena’s stomach twists uncomfortably because it had been so long since someone had said that to her. Khonshu wanted that for her too but he wouldn’t tell her that because he was a grumpy God. Yelena poked fun at him all the time for it. “I…” Yelena tries not to lean into the hand on her face. “I want you to promise that back to me.”
“Two vows then,” Layla nods her head, easily agreeing to Yelena’s terms. “Come here.”
Yelena finds herself liking Layla’s hugs. Khonshu didn’t hug her. He would grip her shoulder, loom over her protectively, and even drape his cape over her like a shield to let her melt into the shadows. But to be held close in someone’s arms, pressed into their warmth as they delicately cradle the back of your head to their chest is something different altogether and Yelena craves more of it.
Yelena’s eyes burn and she fights back tears. She shouldn’t be crying over a hug, that’s pathetic.
“You’re a good kid, Yelena,” Layla mumbles into her ear and Yelena lets out a choked laugh.
“Not a kid,” She murmurs into Layla’s shoulder but Layla doesn’t listen to her. Khonshu called her ‘child’ but she figured that was because he was thousands of years old and she was practically an infant compared to that. But Layla was in her late twenties to early thirties, Yelena didn’t really know, she didn’t do any research on Layla out of her respect for Tawaret.
Still, she thinks back to when Natasha used to tease her, holding the last piece of candy above Yelena’s head and calling her ‘little one’ , even when Yelena would protest that she was a big girl now. Natasha had said that she’d always be her little one.
“Come on,” Layla pulls away. “I’ll find us a knife.”
Yelena produces one of her own and Layla lets out a laugh.
“Why am I not surprised?” Layla reaches out to take it, dragging it along the palm of her hand. Yelena takes it and drags it across her own, reaching out to join hands with Layla and make another vow.
“Gonna tell me why you’re hiding in here yet?”
Natasha peers over to where Maria was looking up from her desk to where she was laying across the couch in her office. “No.”
Maria lets out a sigh, putting her pen down and turning in her chair to face Natasha. “What happened? Clint reported about the chase and we confirmed that she was likely a child soldier.”
Natasha turns her head to peer up at the ceiling. “I think I know her.”
Maria was quiet for a few moments before she lets out a sigh. “You think or you know?”
“I think. Something-- something about her is familiar. She-- she looked at me and I saw her face and…” Natasha trails off, remembering the startling youth of the girl.
“Are you compromised?” Maria inquired and Natasha’s fingers curl into a fist.
“No.” Natasha replies but she’s unsure. If Maria picks up on her lie then she doesn’t mention it.
“Are you going to be able to complete the mission?” Maria asked and Natasha’s stomach twists uncomfortably.
“She’s a child.” The protest falls from Natasha’s lips before she can help it, betraying the distance she had just assured Maria she had.
“She’s a murderer. She’s killed our agents,” Maria reminds her and Natasha lets out a huff.
“I know that.” She turns to peer over at Maria. “I did too.”
Maria lets out a deep sigh, leaning back in her chair. “You want to bring her in.”
“I want to give her a second chance like Clint did for me,” Natasha admits.
“You’ve never expressed an interest with any of the other assassins we’ve come across,” Maria points out. “You’re too close to the situation. She’s a Widow.”
“She’s probably lost. She’s a child that doesn’t know how to function in the real world after the fall of the Red Room. How else is she going to survive? I just--” Natasha sits up, turning to face Maria. “If I can’t bring her in then I’ll do it personally. But she doesn’t need to be taken out.”
Maria tilts her head to the side, eyeing her closely. Natasha hates that she can’t get a good read on her.
“Fine. You’ll get the chance to try and bring her in next time provided that she doesn’t kill any more agents in the meantime,” Maria barters and Natasha ensures that she doesn’t know the rush of relief flooding through her.
She was almost positive that she knew the girl. More than just as a Widow of the Red Room. She thinks of the shirt and how she knew that smell. She knew that face. Her memories of the Red Room weren’t the best, especially after she went through deprogramming, but she’s tired of little girls dying. If she can get White Knight to defect from whatever hit jobs she’s been taking then Natasha can help her.
She just needs a chance.