razor blades
Yelena refuses to be separated from her sister. They’d already seen what would happen if they tried.
There’s a bleeding scab under Yelena’s tongue from where she tucked the razor blade and had cut herself in her haste to defend herself.
They have tracking bracelets wrapped around their wrists and electronic nanny anklets secured to them. Yelena glances at Natalia, seeking out the reassuring gaze that they share. Yelena trusts Natalia and doesn’t mention how much better she feels when her sister goes first to receive the accessories.
Maria Hill is leading them through the halls to give them a tour and Yelena keeps swallowing blood. Her mouth tastes like copper and she keeps her face perfectly neutral to hide it.
That is until Natalia glances at her and stops in the middle of the hall to grab Yelena’s face. “Open.”
“I’m fine,” Yelena replies but Natalia squeezes her jaw with her fingers.
“Open!” She demands and Maria pauses when she realizes that the two sisters aren’t following her anymore. Maria turns around to glance at them.
Yelena shakes her head but Natalia applies more pressure on her jaw and Yelena finally opens her mouth, blood dribbling down her chin and dripping a few drops on the floor.
“Jesus--” Maria jerks forward as Natalia pushes two fingers into Yelena’s mouth to run along the slice in the web of tissue connecting Yelena’s tongue to her mouth.
Yelena stands still and lets her sister do whatever she wants. When Natalia is satisfied that Yelena didn’t cut her tongue out of her mouth she pulls her fingers away. “You should have said something.”
“You and I both know that neither of us would have said anything,” Yelena retorts, swallowing the blood in her mouth.
Natalia reaches out to wipe away the blood on Yelena’s chin.
“There’s a bathroom this way,” Maria tells them before starting to walk again and gesturing for them to follow her. Natalia starts to follow and Yelena trails after her.
The bathroom is a small single-stall bathroom that Maria has to unlock using a key on her belt. Natalia tugs Yelena inside and locks the door behind them before pointing at the sink. “Rinse.” She orders.
Yelena rolls her eyes but shuffles to the sink and turns it on, cupping her hands to fill with water and bringing it to her mouth to sip. She swirls the water around in her mouth and spits it out into the sink, watching the pink water wash down the drain.
“Open,” Natalia once again orders Yelena, and the teenager huffs but opens her mouth of her own volition this time. She moves her tongue to show Natalia where she was cut and lets her older sister tilt her head to get a better look.
Satisfied, Natalia pulls away to grab some paper towels and wet them down before grabbing Yelena’s face again. Yelena squirms as Natalia runs the scratchy material along her mouth and chin to clean her face.
They both know that Yelena could have done it herself but it’s only been two months since they reconnected and they’re just making excuses to be able to touch each other.
When Yelena’s face is clean once again and the bleeding in her mouth had stopped, Natalia unlocks the door and leads Yelena out. Maria is waiting just outside the bathroom, tapping onto the tablet that she carted around with her.
Maria glances up at them both. “You okay?” She questioned Yelena and Yelena gives a curt nod in response. “Good. There were not two empty quarters next to each other so I put you in the rooms closest.”
“We share a room,” Natalia interrupts Maria, and the brunette glances between them.
“Our quarters here aren’t very big,” She said slowly. “You both won’t fit comfortably.”
Yelena doesn’t say that she doesn’t care about comfort. That if they try to take her from her sister again then she’ll probably kill them and she doesn’t want that. When neither Natalia nor Yelena replies, Maria continues.
“If you insist on one room then I’ll see what I can do,” Maria gestures for them to continue to follow her to continue the tour. Yelena itches at the bracelet around her wrist as she glances around to take note of cameras, blind spots, exits, and weak points. “Within the next few days, you two are going to need medical evaluations.”
Yelena stiffens and feels Natalia gently brush her fingers along her arm to calm her.
“But that’s later. Here is where you’ll be staying. Press your hand along the fingerprint scanner,” Maria gestures to a small device next to the door. “It’ll lock in your print. You can add people you want to grant access to later.”
Natalia reaches out to push her hand along the scanner and there is a click as the door unlocks and Natalia pushes the door open.
The room is small and cramped and barely has enough room for one person on the bed. Yelena slips past her sister into the room, racking her eyes over it for cameras or microphones.
“I’ll let you two rest up here for a little bit. Agent Barton will be by later to show you to the cafeteria for dinner,” Maria pipes up, interrupting the girls as they case the room. “Welcome to SHIELD.”