Chapter 6
Yelena and Kate rushed to evacuate every citizen as irregularly bombs exploded. Yelena shared a concerned look with Kate, "This isn't gonnna end well", the obvious was communicated through eye contact. Kate let out a shaky breath before nodding.
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The moment Natasha had landed on that planet, she felt uneasy. She wasn't one to judge a scenario before completely analyzing every aspect of the situation but this was different. Vormir felt uneasy. She kept her worries at the back of her mind as she paced through the hill. She didn't pay heed to any of her doubts,
She had a mission to complete. That was all that mattered.
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As the new Captain flew over the scene of distruction, Kate paced her steps for the building nearby where a number of children were formerly sheltered. That was the last location of Nathaniel she remembered. Her heart hammering in her chest, she paced through the steps. One sight of the child, and she would be relieved. But she found none. At least not till the scream. She looked up the window to find the boy dangling over the edge of the adjacent building with one of Valentina's man keeping his gun steady at the boy's forehead.
"Nate!" Kate yelled through her position gathering the boy's attention, who's eyes were now running with tears as his face lacked any colour.
"Kate!" He let out a shout of realization earning another firm hold by the man.
"Kate Bishop, tell the Captain to stop or I'll shoot the boy I swear."
Kate, out of breath, took her loaded bow down as if to convince him she was no threat.
She saw a blonde figure nearing the man from behind, carefully placing each step to go unnoticed.
Kate didn't know since when did she begin trusting this person who once tried to kill her partner so much that she didn't hesitate for a moment when Yelena signalled to shoot the arrow. She didn't know since when their bond became this real that she knew Yelena would never lie or miscalculate, she knew this though- they were partners, in good and bad situations, they were partners. That was all that mattered.
She saw the arrow hit the man in his face. She also saw Nathaniel losing his balance on the roof, just for a second before Yelena caught him in her arms. She rushed to their side as soon as she exhaled a sigh of relief.
"You okay?" Yelena enquired once she placed the boy down to a safe distance from the edge.
Nathaniel though completely terrified, nodded.
"Good" Yelena commented as she rubbed his back to comfort him. She wanted him to be sure that he was fine now, out of danger, but she was never one good with the words, so she continued her back running that began to calm him down.
"Which one of the Bartons are you anyway?" She enquired to divert his mind. He looked at her for a while as if to examine whether she was trustworthy or not.( Smart boy then).
"Nathaniel" He answered after a while. Yelena felt her hand stop and her green eyes not daring to leave the boy's brown ones. She swallowed a lump in her throat before nodding.
Natasha's absence still lurked around her but it was moments like these that brought her to relive the pain again.
She was about to say something to her Natka's namesake as Kate rushed to her side gathering the boy in her arms. "I'm sorry, so sorry" She muttered.
Yelena knew Barton had given her the responsibility for babysitting this once and seeing how the events turned out to be, Kate probably wasn't the best choice for it and she didn't want Kate to feel guilty for it.
"I'm going to attend to Valentina's demands." Yelena announced as she looked down at Kate.
Kate won't go down Yelena's lane of guilt and regret. She won't let the crippling turmoil that kept her awake at night affect Kate as well, Yelena decided.
This ends now.
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Clint came to a halt catching his breath as he looked at Nat who looked ever so determined.
He hesitated a while before asking,"How did you find out?"
He didn't specify the context. Nat understood what he meant.
She exhaled a sigh before letting it out, it was probably the first time she was talking about it.
"I went to her last location when she won't respond to any of my calls. The widow she was trying to free was already out of the mind control. She told me then that Yelena went for a while and..." She trailed of when the heaviness of it all brought her down.
She had never let her be alone enough to think about her loss. Never had the time to truly mourn her sister. She managed to let out one emotion:hate. Hatred towards herself for not being with Yelena, not spending more time with her. Hatred towards Thanos for ripping all that she had away from her. She would dwell in the feeling when she would put on the ballet shoes and practice for hours in a row trying to find the person already long gone.
When the mission of time travel was announced, her hatred adapted into determination.
She still didn't dwell on what she lost because she knew once she did, she won't be able to stand up again.
So she did what she was best at, she diverted the topic of her emotions. "Thanos screwed us all" Clint sensed her trouble. Natasha nodded before adding, "Ya, I mean look at the attire."
Clint drew his lips in thin line before saying, genuinely hurt, "You really don't like the suit?"
Natasha just smirked, "If anything it is a compensation for the god awful haircut"
Clint pouted as he continued on his way not looking back as he heard Natasha chuckle behind him.
"Continue this and I'd be the only one to reach the cliff"
Nat shrugged, "I can easily take you in a fight."
"Oh yea?" Clint challenged, clearly amused.
They went on the journey with delight, forgetting the once persistent tension between them.
Maybe just for a moment they again took on their roles as the best of pals before the reality came crashing down.
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"Yelena! Lena!" Kate shouted as she followed the blonde out the building. Yelena didn't seem to pause as she continued, determined to end this all. Kate had to physically turn her with force to look her in the eyes.
"You are not going there alone. I can't let you-"
"Since when did I take orders from you?" Yelena was quick to interrupt.
"Since we became partners. That's what we do right." Kate tried to reason. She knew how headstrong Yelena can be.
"Kate, that's the reasonable way out. You go with Nathaniel to the quinjet with the other civilians and make sure they are safe. I'll meet you there alright?" Yelena tried in her softest voice.
Kate shook her head and was about to say something when she heard a disruption near her. Torres chose the exact moment to plan his heroic entrance scene.
"Any help needed?"
"Take Kate and the little guy to the quinjet" Yelena answered.
"I. AM. NOT. GOING. ANYWHERE." Kate said as a matter of fact, her face turned into an unexpected stern face. Yelena let out a sigh of exasperation before giving up.
"You're a pain in my ass, you know that" Kate smiled at the response as they both sprinted towards the building in question.