Missing
Their relationship seemed to grow with each visit, so Natasha was surprised to find herself in this situation.
Yelena was furious, storming down the halls of a new SHIELD base, as agents tried to sink into the walls to escape her. She made it to her destination, and Natasha's heart broke at the sight of Maria in her office.
The deputy director was tense, jaw set as the new widow slammed the door shut.
"Can't you knock?"
There's a photo of her on the desk, Nat doesn't want to focus on it, knowing the utter agony it would cause to remember the life she lost for the world.
Yelena must have known, as her next words were cold.
"I don't want her to hear this."
She slapped the photo down, glaring into blue eyes.
"Where is she?"
Maria's eye had a slight twitch, a look Nat knew from whenever she was about to break a rule, or disobey an order. She locked her computer and joined her fingers together on the desk.
"Explain what you mean."
She used that calming tone Natasha loved to tease her for, it was comforting to know it would work for others as well as it did her.
Yelena's shoulders sagged momentarily before shooting back up.
"Kate Bishop, your people showed up and took her away, she left a note. It was that sudden, I left for takeout and she was gone when I came back!"
Natasha knew there was an issue when Maria's eyes furrowed, and held her needless breath when she spoke.
"We didn't send anyone for Kate, Yelena. We offered training which she accepted, but she isn't even written in for fieldwork, let alone last minute like that."
Yelena scoffs and takes a threatening step closer, Natasha didn't like it, but her wife didn't even flinch.
"So you're saying she ran away from me?"
Maria shook her head as she stood from her desk.
"No, I'm suggesting someone abducted her."
Like ink dipping into water, Yelena's eyes darkened in all but colour as rage dropped into her head. She ignored the impulse to kill everyone and everything who could possibly be involved, and instead took a calming breath, tapping her fingers on her thigh like how Kate would when they cuddled.
She steadied herself.
"... Help me find her."
Maria was around the desk, shoulder to shoulder with the sister she knew so little about, offering a nod and a glance at the photo of her love.
"Already made the calls, we'll find her, Yelena. We don't have the best spies in the world for nothing."
She smiled tightly and walked from the office, Yelena staring at Natasha's wedding photo on the wall a moment before following, hearing Maria's voice from before her.
"Clint, check your eggs, some might fall."
There's a pause on the line, he knows what the code means, and he sighs in concern.
"Confirm, I never liked omelettes, more of a shawarma guy."
Maria hung up without responding, knowing Yelena was behind her, silent as ever.
"Transportation is outside, let's go find her."
A hand stops her, and Yelena offers a genuine smile, normally saved for Kate and shocking enough to make Maria stop a moment too long.
"You're a good sister in law."
She walks ahead as Maria watches, shaking her head with a small grin.
You're alright too, she thinks, intended to be a private inner monologue, unaware of the single listener she had.
If she could, Natasha would have cried.