You thought you knew Kate better than anyone else. The two of you had been friends your entire childhood. The two of you had similar upbringings and had similar interests.
Both you and Kate had taken archery as well as fencing courses. While your best friend chose the bow and arrow, you opted for the sword.
After Kate's fiasco with the bell tower, the two of you headed home for winter break. The only thing was you had rarely seen Kate since you made it to New York.
It seemed like every time you wanted to hang out with her, she was mysteriously busy. For the first time in your life, it felt like Kate was hiding something from you. Something big.
You tried to confront her about this, but you could never get face to face with her. It felt like you no longer knew your best friend. Whatever she was doing was all of a sudden more important than the relationship you had cultivated.
Your life felt empty without the girl involved, and you hated that. It wasn't necessarily codependency, but Kate was definitely a highlight in your life. The quirky girl knew exactly how to brighten your day.
When you heard about the fire in her apartment, you nearly had a heart attack. Luckily she reached out to you after that letting you know she was okay. Her excuse for the fire was mediocre, and you wanted to push, but you knew you wouldn't get the answers you wanted.
You didn't know what time it was when you heard a rattling at your apartment door. All you knew was that it was late. You frowned as the sound continued. Reluctantly you got out of your bed, taking the knife you had on your dresser with you.
You were certain that you had heard your front door close. Quietly, you watched as a figure stood inside your house. The figure was looking at your decor. The figure had a relaxed composure that left you unsettled.
Quickly, you walked around your apartment so that you could be behind the figure. When you went to attack the figure, you were flipped onto your back.
You didn't stay down long, as soon as you were on your feet you were slashing your knife with precision. The person was expertly dodging your attempts, but they neglected to see that you were backing them into a corner.
With one knee to the gut, they stumbled back into a wall where you then used one hand to pin them in place and the other to hold the knife at their neck.
The figure raised their hands in surrender and when your eyes adjusted you dropped your knife.
" Kate?"
" Um hey Y/nn"
You looked at the girl incredulously," Why did you break into my house? I could've killed you, Kate. Jesus Christ."
You could've kept going, but Kate wrapped her arms around you, effectively shutting you up. She was squeezing you like her life depended on it. You immediately returned her hug, and you heard her sigh into your shoulder.
" What happened?"
When she pulls away from you, you notice the cuts on her face. Your hands carefully caress her face, scoping out how bad the injuries truly are.
" Oh, Kate," you make her sit on your couch. You turn the lights on and get the first aid kit from your bathroom.
She protests when she sees the kit," I'm fine"
You give her a stern look," No you're not"
You begin to clean her wounds in a professional manner. You see her searching for something behind your eyes, but you keep them focused.
There was an anger boiling up inside of you. The girl had been avoiding you for what felt like forever. Now she's breaking into your apartment, battered and bruised.
" How's your break been," the woman tries to lighten the mood.
You resist the urge to glare at her," Well it's been shitty. My best friend has been ignoring me since we've been home and the first time I get to see her over the break she's hurt"
" I'm fine rea-"
" KATE"
You can't help but raise your voice at her. She puts her head down in shame and mumbles a sorry.
" I can explain if you let me"
You let her explain. Part of you wished you hadn't. Knowing your friend's life has been in danger this whole time made you sick. The fact that she hadn't told you before was also eating away at you.
The fact that she had been teaming up with an Avenger put you at ease a little bit. At least she wasn't doing all of this on her own. The stuff with Armand and Jack was absolutely insane.
" And now he doesn't want me involved because there's this assassin woman and I just don't know what to do, Y/n. I can't give up when we're this close."
" Well you're in a bit of a dead end now, but that's never stopped you before. Tomorrow we're going to go to Clint's and figure the rest out from there," you were rubbing your temples.
" We?" You heard the questioning in her voice.
" Yes, we. Now that I know that my best friend has been running around town vigilante style without me, you think I'm not going to join?"
There's a new display of worry on Kate's face," Y/n this is dangerous you could get hurt and-"
" And I can handle myself. Only one of us ended up with a knife against their neck, Kate. I'm not letting you do this without me"
You could see that she wanted to protest, but she didn't. Instead, she just laid her head on your shoulder. You wrapped one arm around her, pulling her into your embrace.
" I've got to get some things from my apartment," she begins to play with your fingers.
" Then we should go before it gets any later," you interlocked your fingers and stood up from the couch.
She followed your lead and the two of you walked in comfortable silence to her apartment.
Something was off as you entered the apartment. You sensed it immediately and took a subtle defensive standing over Kate.
She sees it the same time you do. Her window is open.
" Kate Bishop"
You don't hesitate to throw a knife at the direction where the voice came from. There was a blonde woman who caught the knife by her hand.
" And friend"
You look at Kate," Is this the assassin woman?"
" Yep"
" She caught my knife"
" She did"
The blonde woman interjects," She also made macaroni"
She holds up a pot of what is undoubtedly boxed macaroni.
Kate flares up a bit," I'm sorry, what?"
The woman continues as though this was completely normal," Well I was starving, and you took forever, so I wanted to make food"
" What do you want?"
The woman approaches the table to your right," Relax, Kate Bishop and friend. I just want to talk, okay. Are you really not hungry, the fight was so long. It's really tasty, really tasty"
She turns her back to the two of you yet again. You find yourself dipping a finger into the mac and cheese and tasting it.
" Y/N! That could be poisoned."
You shrugged," It's just the regular cheesy goodness that is boxed mac and cheese"
The blonde woman goes over to where the silverware would be, but you chime in," Kate's only got 1 fork. She lives alone"
" That's so weird? Kate, this is not cutlery," she holds up a set of plastic ware.
Kate has an outburst," I'm not having dinner with you when you just tried to kill me and then broke into my apartment"
" Well…" you say and Kate gives you a look of disbelief.
" I mean, if she wanted to kill you, I'm sure she would've done it by now," you point out.
The blonde points at you with a fork," I like you Kate Bishop's friend. You are right, she would be totally dead by now. I simply removed her from the fight. Do you see anything broken? No because I'm way too talented to do that"
You take a seat at the table opting for the plastic silverware," Kate, the macaroni is really good."
" Fine," Kate sits down next to you.
You mostly focus on the macaroni and ignore the weird tension between the two.
" I will put hot sauce on this? You okay with that?"
" I love hot sauce," the hot sauce only elevates the flavor.
" See, you need to take lessons from your friend Kate Bishop," the woman gets a spoon full of the mac and cheese.
" So, what do you want?"
Kate was kind of over the games. It wasn't a game for her, there were many things at sake. However, the blonde responded with general questions about the city. That baffled the both of you even more. She even delved into the festivities of Christmas.
It seems that she sliced through the fun of the conversation excellent. Basically admitting to have been keeping an ever so watchful eye on Kate. The hostility in the room multiplied by tenfold when Kate heard that the woman was here to kill Clint.
They had a healthy back and forth about Clint and the kind of man he was. You had nothing to say, as you did not know Clint. Two things were clear; the first being that Kate deeply cared for the man and trusted him with her life; the second was that as much as Kate trusted him was nothing compared to how much the blonde despised him.
The part that piqued your interest was that she wasn't doing this of her own wishes. Someone sent her after Clint for whatever reason. When she made her dramatic exit, you could see Kate's shoulder drop.
" Well, she was something else, wasn't she?"
Kate rolls her eyes at your behavior," You would know, with all the indulging you did"
You scoff at her answer," Kate, you know I like women. A hot and funny Russian spy walks in, and I'm supposed to keep my composure?"
Her hands fly up in the air," Yes, you are. Did you miss the part where she's under instruction to kill my partner?"
Her partner. There was a time when you considered each other partners in crime. A time when you would have never thought that Kate would get involved in something like this without telling you. Why were you so jealous of the relationship she had suddenly formed with the Avenger?
There was something building up under your surface, but you let it go," Let's just go back to my place and figure some things out"
This time as you walked back to your place, the silence was tense. Kate was upset with you, and you were upset with her.
When you got back to your place, you realized that the two of you had been so caught up with Yelena that you didn't grab anything from Kate's house.
You went in your room and dug through some of your clothes. You tossed Kate a shirt and a pair of boy shorts she could throw on to sleep in.
" This is my shirt," she holds up the graphic tee quizzically.
You blush red and avoid eye contact with her," Uh ya"
" When did you steal this from me?" She lets out a little laugh.
You try to defend yourself," I didn't steal it. You gave it to me when I slept over at your place last time. I guess I just forgot to give it back"
" Sure," you can hear the smirk in her voice.
" Don't act like you don't have my blue beanie and my black hoodie. They've been missing for months," you accuse her, and she goes still.
She tries to recover," I have no idea what you're talking about"
It's your turn to smirk," Sure"
She gets changed, and you do the same before you both meet up on the couch again.
" You know, I thought you hated me or something," you admit to her.
Kate whips her head to stare at you," Why on Earth would you think that?"
" You were curving me extra hard, Kate. You were lying to me so that you could run around with Clint," there was a vulnerability to the tone of your voice.
" I- I just didn't want to drag you into my mess."
You grab one of her hands," Kate you're my best friend, I want you to drag me into your mess. I want to know what's going on with you, and I want to help."
She squeezes your hand," I know, but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you"
Your gaze shifts from your hands to her eyes," Back in the day, when we were partners; if I didn't have my back, you did. If you didn't have yours, I did."
" We're still partners," she says, peering into your eyes.
You shake your head," Clint is your mentor, your partner."
" Y/n-"
You cut her off," It's okay, Kate. You trust him enough to risk this much for him"
" Y/n-"
" He's literally your idol. You've been obsessed with him forever. If anyone could take my spot, it would be him"
" Y/n-"
" I can't even blame you-"
" Would you listen to me, you big dope," Kate grabs your face with both of her hands.
Your face is squishing in her grip," Clint is like my work partner. Y/n, you're my life partner. I would never replace you. You know me better than anyone else in the world. I'm sorry for not telling you about all of this sooner. I was just trying to protect you, but you're right. I have your back, and I'm sorry that I forgot that"
Kate's eyes were pouring into your soul, and yours returned that same energy. You two were staring each other for who knows how long before you broke the silence.
" Kate"
She nods, still staring intensely into your eyes.
" You're squishing my face," you slut out the sentence, and she drops her hands immediately.
" I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Kate stops in the middle of her sentence as this time your hand rest on either side of her face.
You press your forehead against hers, and you can hear the woman gulp. You watch as her eyes slowly drift to your lips.
" Y/n?"
" Yeah Kate."
" Are you going to kiss me?"
" I can."
" I think you should."
" Yeah?"
" Yeah."
You pull the brunette into your lips. The kiss feels like it has been a lifetime in a making. Partly because it has. You and Kate just go together. Your soft lips against her slightly chapped ones feels right.
Your hands settle to lock around her neck as her wrap around your back, making you lay on top of her. A moan slipped out of your mouth, causing her to smirk, which broke the kiss.
" I've been waiting for you to do that for years," Kate exclaims from under you.
" I've been waiting for you to make the first move," you throw right back at her.
She kisses you again," Well we finally did it"
You put your head on her chest cuddling up to her," And we'll do it again"
She nods," Many times over"
You close your eyes," After this Clint stuff is settled, you should take me on a date"
She places her hand in your hair," Why can't you take me on a date?"
You yawn," I figured you owed me for all the lying and everything"
Kate chuckles," You're never going to let that go, are you"
" Nope. Plus I initiated the first kiss, so it's only fair"
" It took you forever to even kiss me"
" I was trying to add emphasis to the moment," you argue, placing a kiss on her collarbone.
She shutters," Fine, I'll take you on a date."
" A nice date?"
" Well, my mom froze my credit cards?"
You open your eyes to glare at her.
" The nicest date, sweetheart. I promise," she kisses the top of your head.
You close your eyes yet again," Goodnight Kate"
You feel the brunette hold you a little tighter," Night, Y/n"
Kate was convinced that whatever the outcome of the situation of Clint yielded; it would turn out alright. When you were by her side, there was no way that she was willing to lose.