good
Yelena noticed that Maria seemed to be pulling away from her. She was always at work and didn’t engage or speak much with Yelena when she came back at odd hours. She was always absorbed in work or too tired.
Maria is frustrated by something so it’s only logical that Yelena assumes it is her. She doesn’t know what she did wrong but she doesn’t want Maria to be any more frustrated with her.
So Yelena tries to be good. Or at least, what the Red Room defined as good. She became quieter and she stopped interrupting Maria’s meetings when she needed her. If Yelena needed Maria, she’d pull herself together and find somewhere dark or small to curl up until she didn’t feel the urge to scurry to her mama.
Yelena even stopped crawling into Maria’s bed anymore, falling back into old habits. She unthreaded the shoelaces from her sneakers and tied it tight around her wrist to try and simulate the feeling of the handcuffs on her wrist. She couldn’t tie herself to the bed because Maria would find out but the chafing pressure on her wrist helped.
Yelena was the same way with Clint, May, and Coulson. She tries to be on her best behavior. She was very independent and self-sufficient before she was adopted, she can be the same way again.
She insists on doing things on her own and walking by herself. She refuses to be carried and wears her jacket all the time to hide the red marks on her wrist. She says that she’s cold whenever someone points it out and it’s a reasonable excuse considering how far up in the air they were.
Yelena doesn’t want to bother Maria by asking about Natasha. She promised May she wouldn’t sneak off to go see Natasha anymore so Yelena paces the hallway just outside the detainment hall. A few of the guards give her a few glances but nobody stops to ask her what she’s doing.
Clint finally tries to intervene but Yelena reacts to his touch like he was trying to hurt her. Clint is so startled at her reaction that he lets her go and Yelena darts off to find a safe place.
Her feet take her to Maria’s office but she stops when she sees the closed door meaning that Maria was on a call or doing important work.
“Are you gonna go in or stare at the door all day?”
Yelena startles at the sudden voice as Fury exits his office nearby.
“She’s busy,” Yelena murmurs.
“That’s never stopped you before,” Fury points out and Yelena tilts her head down, letting out a shuddery breath. “Come here.”
Yelena approached him, her head still down. Fury leads her into his office, closing the door behind him.
“What do you need?” Fury grunts out and Yelena glances at him in confusion. “Instead of Maria, what do you need?”
“Someplace small and dark and quiet,” Yelena said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.
Fury grunts before approaching his desk and pulling his chair out. “Underneath.” He orders. Yelena looks at the underneath of the desk, small and dark. She glances up at him before getting down and crawling under his desk.
Yelena lets out a small breath, leaning against the side and curling up. Fury retakes his seat, scooting in slightly. Yelena was quiet, listening to the sound of Fury scribbling on papers just up above her.
She doesn’t know how long she was quiet but eventually, the sound of Fury’s voice startled her. “Your mother’s worried about you.”
Yelena chews on her lower lip. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah. And I’m the Queen of England,” Fury lets out a huff. “Kid, anyone can see that you’re not fine.”
“I am fine!” Yelena protests, raising her voice slightly before slamming her hands over her mouth when she realizes what she did. “I’m sorry. I’ll be good.”
Fury lets out a grunt and it was quiet for a few more moments. “Your mother thinks that it’s your sister that is making you isolated. Did Romanov say something to you?”
“No. Mama won’t take me to see her,” Yelena pulls her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them. “And I promised May I won’t go sneak off to see her.”
“I have to listen to Hill ramble on about how worried she is about you,” Fury says, and guilt pools in Yelena’s stomach. “Tell me why you’re pulling away.”
“I’m not pulling away, she’s pulling away!” Yelena protests. “She’s never around anymore and she’s always really busy with work! So I’m being good so she doesn’t have to worry about me anymore. I won’t distract her or be a problem.”
The sound of pen scribbling on paper abruptly stops and Fury suddenly pushed himself away from the desk, leaning over to peer under the desk. “You think you’re a problem for her?”
“She’s just busy. If she didn’t have to worry about me then it would be one less thing to be busy about,” Yelena can’t look him in the eye. “If she didn’t adopt me then--”
“Shush.” Fury says and Yelena abruptly goes silent. Fury straightens up, scooting back in, and picks his pen back up. “You are not a burden to your mother.”
“But I’m a Widow,” Yelena protests slightly, getting hot in her jacket under the desk.
“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” Fury questioned, shuffling through papers.
“Widows destroy things. They ruin all good things that come to them. All my family leaves me eventually, it just happens,” Yelena explains quietly, unzipping her jacket slowly to try and cool down.
“If all mothers dropped their kids when things got tough then nobody would have mothers,” Fury tells her. “But they stick it out through the thick and the thin. You are Maria’s kid now, there’s no changing that. She’s not gonna change her mind no matter what you do.”
“What if I’m bad?” Yelena can’t help but question.
“Then you’re bad. All kids are brats but their mothers love them anyway.” Fury suddenly holds a stack of papers underneath the table. “Here, these reports are shit. Doodle all over them.”
Yelena reaches out to take the stack of reports along with the pen he offered. She scribbles on the reports like he wanted, drawing flowers and stars in the margins and crossing out each time the word ‘soldier’ was mentioned just because she could. On the back of one, she even drew Captain America.
Yelena holds the reports up to him when she’s done and he takes them. There is a rustling before a few moments later his hand reappears with a single blue raspberry jolly rancher sitting in his hand.
Yelena slowly reaches out to take it, unwrapping it and sniffing it before popping it into her mouth.
Fury proceeds to give her each shit report he receives to doodle on and then rewards her with a jolly rancher when she finishes it.
Yelena’s in the middle of drawing a row of houses on the back of one of the reports when the door to Fury’s office opens abruptly. “Sir, we can’t find my daughter.” Maria’s voice was raised in panic, slightly out of breath. Yelena can hear a few other people with her, also breathing slightly heavily.
“She’s here with me,” Fury replies and Yelena hears a shuffle before another jolly rancher is passed down to her.
It was quiet for a few moments. “Is she… is she under your desk?” Clint questioned, confusion in his tone.
“No Barton, I’m feeding some other brat under my desk candy,” Fury snaps at him and Yelena peers up at him as he scoots backward. “Out.” He orders her.
Yelena crawls out and only as soon as she stands does Maria grab her and look her over. Yelena stands patiently as Maria grabs her face.
“What are you doing in here?” Maria questioned, finally pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“You were busy,” Yelena said quietly, slowly leaning into the touch. “I didn’t wanna bother you.”
“Baby, you’re never a bother,” Maria frowns, smoothing back Yelena’s hair. “You know that.”
Yelena peers over at where Clint and Coulson were also in the doorway. “But I made everybody worry.”
“It’s only because we love you so much,” Maria scoops her up and Yelena can’t help but burrow against her, having missed being held by her mama. Maria cuddles Yelena close, kissing the top of her head.
Yelena lets out a soft sigh. “Are you done with work for right now?”
“She is,” Fury interrupts before Maria can reply.
“Sir, I have--” Maria starts but Fury spoke over her.
“You’re dismissed for the day. Take the kid to go see her sister,” Fury orders. Yelena perks up, having missed Natasha immensely.
“Yes sir,” Maria said and turned on her foot. Maria carries Yelena down the hallway, Coulson and Clint following her.
“Glad you’re okay,” Clint says as Yelena peers over Maria’s shoulder at them. “Pretty good hiding place. You’d totally win if you challenged everyone to a hide and seek contest.”
Maria takes them to the holding cells and finally sets Yelena down just outside of Natasha’s cell. Natasha glances over at them and only as soon as Maria unlocks the cell for Yelena does she dart inside and throw her arms around Natasha.
Natasha holds her close, cupping the back of her head to her shoulder. Yelena lets out a soft sigh of contentment. She doesn’t mean for the frustrated whine to escape her lips when Natasha pulls away all too soon. Natasha looks her over before reaching out to grab her arm.
Yelena can see everyone who was watching them tense up at the action.
“Jacket off.” Natasha orders her in Russian.
“Don’t wanna,” Yelena tries to tug away but Natasha doesn’t let her go. “Nattie!”
“Jacket off. Now.” Natasha gives her the same warning look that she would give Yelena in Ohio.
Yelena huffs. “I can’t take my jacket off with you grabbing my arm!”
Natasha lets her go and Yelena slowly peels her jacket off, dumping it onto the ground unhappily. Natasha immediately grabs her forearms to inspect her red wrists.
Yelena averts her eyes in shame at being caught. She startles slightly when, just like in Ohio, Natasha kisses her boo-boo.
“Does your ‘mama’ know you’re cuffing yourself?” Natasha asked her quietly and Yelena shakes her head. “Does me being here upset you that much that you need cuffs?”
“No! You’re not upsetting me,” Yelena quickly shakes her head in protest. “I just… I just want all of my family to stay together and instead I think I’m making everybody go away.”
Natasha hoists Yelena up onto her hip, snuggling her close. “They cannot fake the affection they hold for you.” She tells Yelena. “Nor can I pretend I don’t love you, little one.”
Yelena rests her head onto her big sister’s shoulder as Natasha sways.
“They gave me an offer. A chance to defect,” Natasha tells her softly. “I’m going to take it.”
Yelena can’t stop the small smile that crosses her face as she buries her head into the crook of Natasha’s neck.
Just like when Yelena was a toddler, Natasha makes her fingers walk up along the girl’s spine and hums the ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ as she sways.
Yelena finally relaxes for the first time in days.