Chapter 4
Two hours later after inviting Aidan to stop by and drink a few beers, Kate moved somewhat impatiently in her apartment while Yelena adjusted her electric batons on the sides of her suit.
“I hope we're doing the right thing here, or I just brought my enemy into my house.” Kate said as she kept her quiver with arrows behind one of the boxes. If a fight started, she would have a way to defend herself.
Knock Knock.
The two women look at each other, nodding and taking their respective places. Yelena hid somewhere while Kate headed for the door, took a few moments to take a deep breath, and then opened it with a fake smile.
“Hey.” The taller woman greeted, holding out a box of beer. “I brought something as a gift.”
“That's amazing, come on.” She stepped aside, letting the stranger walk into her house. As Aidan looked around the place, Kate took the opportunity to do the same with the guest to discover her intentions. She dressed like a typical badass woman, dark jacket, dark jeans.
“I have to say it, I was surprised by your invitation.” Aidan commented breaking that moment as she turned to see Kate, who took the opportunity to leave the box of beers on the table.
“Yeah, I was kind of curious...” She looked down, she didn't know how long she could sustain that lie. Kate was not a good liar at all.
“Curious about what?” Aidan cocked her head. From behind, Yelena walked slowly out of her hiding place and Kate knew it was the signal.
“How did you know my last name if I never told you.” She lifted her chin, taking position to fight if it was necessary. But Aidan didn't seem willing to fight, she was even with her hands still into her pockets, she smiled.
“Straight to business, huh? You’re somewhat perceptive, although it’s not your greatest strength.” She pointed at the archer. “But the widow… she does.”
But one movement changed everything, and that was when Yelena threw herself at Aidan to attack her from behind. In an almost unbelievable way, the woman moved to the side to stop the hit in some special way making Yelena a little bit surprised. That move was known to one person, and widows. Aidan did it fast but she couldn't stop the kick to the stomach that Yelena made perfectly. She had no chance against the widow.
Aidan took a few steps back but moved quickly to avoid the next hit, kicking into the blonde's abdomen and ribs, pushing her back. Ribs beginning to heal; Yelena grunted in pain and held a moment, she knew that movement but she had not seen it in anyone else.
“Wait, Belova, I don’t wanna fight!” Aidan gasped.
Somewhat confused, Yelena leaped back to charge and catch the brunette between her legs, using her weight to bring them down hard. Both on the ground, Aidan was trying to scape from Yelena’s grip even though she was beginning to run out of air.
“Damn!” Kate exclaimed, thinking that maybe they could work things out without her apartment going to hell again. The archer took the bow and finally aimed at the other brunette, she raised her voice. “Stop! Stay still and don't move or I'll shoot.”
Both women stopped when they noticed that Kate was pointing an arrow at them, and not a regular one. It was one of her special arrows and neither of them wanted to get hurt by darts or some kind of sonic bomb.
Aidan raised her hands and walked away from the widow, both looked somewhat exhausted but before Kate could say anything else, Yelena hit Aidan with strenght enough to knock her unconscious.
“I had it under control!” Kate exclaimed annoyed, her partner just shrugged and gasped.
***
“Do you think she's a widow?” Kate asked curiously as they finished tying the taller brunette to the chair in front of them. Kate took the woman’s phone from her pocket and tried to unlock it with her fingerprint, but it didn't work, she needed a password. “Damn it. And she doesn’t have any type of identification, who goes out without identification on New York?”
“I don't remember waking her up.” Yelena said and took a piece of cloth, using it as a gag so she couldn't scream.
“So… Kingpin?” That option seemed much more terrifying.
“I don't know, we'll only know if...” Yelena sighed and after a moment, she started smacking Aidan's face to wake her up. “Wake up, little bird. Wake.”
“What are you doing?” Asked Kate. Those smacks began to take effect little by little, the brunette began to blink slowly, somewhat dizzy.
“Who you are? How did you know I was going to do that move?!”
“She won't speak if she’s gagged!” Kate rolled her eyes. Aidan just narrowed her eyes. “Wait, don't you think we should…?”
“Do what? This person has been hunting you, Kate Bishop.” Yelena seemed tired of talking. “Your life could be in danger. Are you going to forgive her just because she's beautiful and she brought you some beers? Are you two going to end up kissing?”
Kate and Aidan widened their eyes, of course neither of them had that in mind. The second one couldn't even defend herself, so she just shook her head.
“What? What the fuck, Yelena?… Why do you sound so jealous?”
“Of course I don't sound like that! It's about time you stop being so soft and act, Kate.” They both stared at each other, furious. Between them, a rather confused Aidan watched them fight.
“Yelena, go take some air now.” Asked Kate.
Yelena complained annoyed, muttering words in Russian and started to leave, but not before taking a picture of Aidan's face and going out slamming the door. Kate looked at her somewhat confused, not really understanding what was going on with her.
“I'm sorry, she's a little… sore, that makes her grumpy. And I think you hit her ribs, which is what hurts the most.” She added that last almost in an undetectable whisper, but enough for Aidan to read her lips.
Aidan tried to speak, but couldn’t, just an unintelligible babble was heard thanks to the gag that kept her mouth shut.
“I can't understand her, I mean... I can't really understand the situation we are in, this tension that we've experienced since we met in this same place.”
Aidan frowned at her, confused.
“Oh no. Not you and me. Yelena and me.” She quickly clarified. “At first… she tried to kill my partner, not me. Then she came to my apartment, this place, and she made me mac and cheese, she threatened me or something like that... We had a pretty cool fight in which I think she let me 'win' because she could well smash my face with her eyes closed, then she realized that she was being manipulated, and didn’t murder my partner.” Kate explained everything so quickly and so honestly that even if Aidan could speak, she wouldn't. “Then we spent New Years Eve together, and… we kissed. Well, those kisses at the end of the year, they say they bring luck... But we kissed, then she disappeared for a few weeks until the day that you and I met. That night she arrived injured and I took care of her, we spent all these weeks together and… I don't know what to do. She sends me all these kinds of mixed signals that, I don't understand and…”
That story was interrupted by a Yelena who re-entered that apartment in the same way she had left. Aidan's eyes widened at her when she saw her approach her with a karambit knife but instead of hurting her, she cut the cloth that kept her quiet from her.
“What are you doing? She could be dangerous!” Kate exclaimed, even more surprised than Aidan.
“Who are you?” Yelena asked once more, handing her own phone to Kate so she could see her new information. Just by sending her face, she got the info what she wanted, but not in the way she expected.
“Fucking finally! Ugh! I already told you. My name is Aidan. Aidan Longshadow.” Aidan said impatiently, willing to die with that truth. She swallowed looking how Yelena took her baton.
“Tell me something good enough to not kill you right now.” She threatened the woman with her electric baton. Aidan turned to see Kate sideways, sighing. Anyway, she would have to know.
“You, baby Hawkeye… Have you recently been interested in watches? A really, special wristwatch.”
Yelena turned to see her, and to Kate's surprise, she had no idea what she was talking about.
“Me? No, of course n- Wait…” her mind finally clicked, everything fell into her place and her lips formed a perfect 'o'. “Watches, the wristwatch. The wristwatch!”
“What wristwatch?!” Yelena frowned at her, even more confused than before.
“Do you remember the first time we met? We were there to find a wristwatch, Clint said that…” She stopped understanding everything. “Clint.”
“Barton?” Asked Yelena. “What about him?”
“You are an agent!” Kate said in amazement, it looked really funny. “Laura! Laura had that wristwatch, it had the logo of… Are you from S.W.O.R.D?”
“S.H.I.E.L.D.” She corrected and then coughed aside and spit out some blood. She rose from the chair, stretching her arms. “Or what used to be the real S.H.I.E.L.D. before the fall, and after the whole world went to hell for five damn years.”
“Laura sent you? I am so sorry! I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. I was worried that you would actually let a stranger into your house, I was testing you.” And although Yelena knew she was an agent, she didn’t stop looking at them from the corner of her eye. Still suspecting.
“We kicked a S.H.I.E.L.D agent.” She whispered to Yelena.
“I kicked, you just aimed.” Yelena complained.
“Anyway, those who love you want to make sure you're okay. There aren't many people to trust these days. And besides, they didn't want you to know.” Aidan shrugged as she walked over to grab a bottle of beer and open it.
“And they send a babysitter to look after her? Ha.” Yelena gave a wry laugh, taking a beer too.
“Listen blondie, I didn't know you were her friend. I had the information that a Black Widow was looking after Kate, and I decided to find out if she was okay. This is not about you being a girl in danger, but about you not being alone in a city like this. There are things happening right now…” Aidan answered fiercely.
“Avengers stuff?” Kate sounded somewhat excited.
“Something like that. Something more like secret S.H.I.E.L.D stuff.” Aidan rubbed the back of her neck somewhat sore, using the cold beer to decrease the swelling of the hit. “We need you to be safe, and with the mess you've made with your mami, now everyone knows that you work with Hawkeye. Because 67 different cameras caught you live shooting weird arrows from a car, and an arrow the size of a fucking bus went through a bridge! The DODC has PYM on the ropes, that tec doesn’t seem right for anyone. To carry that kind of technology… is too dangerous. An arrow the size of a bus? Try worst, try something more… complex. Or small and dangerous. Think of seventy Yelenas around the world, invisible.”
Kate and Yelena were quiet for a moment, she was right. Imagine a group of black widows the size of Scott Lang, murdering important people in the world. That would be pretty scary.
“Now, being an avenger is okay, if you can follow the rules. There are things that S.W.O.R.D and DODC intelligence will not go unnoticed, but he’s Hawkeye. He saved the world in 2012, then brought half the planet alongside Natasha Romanoff. But you…”
“I am a nobody.” She ended up saying, somewhat embarrassed.
“No, you are everything.” She sighed and then took off her jacket, complaining about the pain in her back.
“Kate, stop being so harsh on yourself like that.” Yelena said, placing a hand on her archer's shoulder.
“You two are so damn important and if they can, they will use you if they need it. Yelena knows very well who I am talking about.”
“Val.” Yelena replied through her teeth, somewhat ashamed too.
“Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.” Aidan said.
“Who?” Kate seemed somewhat disoriented as she was the only one who didn’t know who that person was.
“A dangerous woman, not very nice.” Yelena set the beer on the side of the table.
“She likes to surround herself with people with interesting abilities, and the Avengers don't have three founders. Valentina has gone after John Walker, the ‘ex’ Captain America. After the Blip, everything has changed in this place ... They will use your mother if necessary.” Aidan assured and sighed, walking slowly towards the door. “I will be in contact with you, and thanks for this little show, it was a pleasure fighting with you, Yelena. Thanks for the invitation, I hope next time you will be a little less aggressive with the guest.” The agent said commented something sarcastically. “I'll keep in touch.”
The agent left that apartment, although before leaving, she called Kate with a small gesture inviting her out for a short personal conversation. Somewhat confused, Kate followed in her footsteps and closed the door behind her, leaving both of them in the hallway. Leaving also a jealous Yelena.
“Look, baby arrows. Even though I couldn't answer you because I had a fucking gag, I heard your whole story and…” Aidan took a deep breath. “She seems to like you, to care a lot for you and I don’t deny that all this time where I believed she was a threat, she had opportunities to kill you and she didn’t. I don't know Yelena, but widows don't make Mac and Cheese to threat people. I know the type of person that she is and I met someone like that… and you seem to be important to her. Seems that you like her, girl, is fucking obvious… you’re melting for that girl ... and you both have an incredible chemistry. But that girl wants to protect you with her own life, and that in a widow ... is quite important. Just take that jump, Kate.”
“You think so?” She smiled, somewhat flushed.
“I think so.” Aidan answered with a cute smile. “Do you want to know what I would do? I would try it. What do you have to lose? " She shrugged. “You'll never know if you don't try, you'll never know if you've hit the target if you don't shoot that arrow. This world is very strange, one day you could be and the next second… poof. Gone. If I had had that opportunity before the blip, I would have done it.”
“Thanks. I really needed that…” Those words had been all she needed to hear, finally from someone who could give her advice from a different point of view.
“No problem. Now if you don't mind, I'll go. A bathtub with hot water, a rubber duck, painkillers, delicious midnight tea and my huge bed awaits me. All my fucking bones ache.” She complained as she turned to walk down the hall, but instead of taking the path to the elevator, Aidan made her way to the last door of the hall. “Damn S.H.I.E.L.D., I should have gone to Hydra when they started recruiting us.”
“Wait ... where are you going? The elevator is over there and…” Kate started, but seeing the agent take out some keys and open the door, her jaw dropped to her surprise. “DO YOU LIVE IN THE OTHER APARTMENT?”
"I told you, closer than you thought." She screamed from the other side before closing the door.
Kate smiled and shook her head, willing to accept a new person in her life and most of all, a confidante. Even though Yelena was her best friend, it was nice to be able to express her feelings for her with someone other than an old, blushing Clint.
The archer returned to her apartment and searched for her friend around the place until she found Yelena taking her clothes and throwing them on a backpack, ready to leave.