enough
Everybody has bad days. Yelena doesn’t know how to regulate her emotions sometimes.
She wakes up angry. She wakes up frustrated and full of emotions that she doesn’t know what to do with.
Natalia knows immediately what she needs. “Get changed.”
“It’s only four in the morning,” Yelena grumbles but tugs her shirt off to change into her gym wear.
The training room that Yelena and May use is empty so the girls slip into there.
“Shoes off. No biting. We go until we can’t,” Natalia lays out her terms.
Yelena nods her head, stepping onto the mat and stretching for a moment before darting toward Natalia.
Natalia had five or so more years of training under her belt. Yelena had learned new moves from May and Bobbi.
Natalia lets out an appreciative hum the first time Yelena pins her. They are nearly evenly matched but they both have tricks up their sleeves.
Yelena and Natalia both pause from where they’re wrapped around each other when the door opens.
“Romanov. Belova.” May greets from the doorway. “Please don’t let me stop you.”
That’s all that Natalia needed to keep going. Yelena lets out a choke as Natalia twists her shirt and choked her.
Yelena kicks her body up and wrapped her legs around Natalia’s neck. Natalia keeps the momentum going and twists them to the ground.
The two roll around on the ground for a little while, each not letting the other get up.
“Hey May--” The door opens again and Bobbi paused in the doorway. “Oh. Sorry, my bad--”
Yelena is caught off guard at Bobbi’s voice and Natalia pins her.
Yelena wiggles uncomfortably under the weight of her sister for a moment before taking a deep breath and using a move May had taught her to reverse their position.
Natalia grins up at Yelena.
They’re eventually interrupted by May. “As much as I’d like to keep watching, breakfast will be served soon and you both need showers.”
Bobbi merely lets out a low whistle in response. “Damn.”
Natalia and Yelean break apart and catch their breaths.
“You did well,” Natalia comments and Yelena grins up at her.
“I’ve learned,” Yelena hums, bumping her shoulder against Natalia’s.
“Feel any better?” Natalia asked and Yelena nods. The boiling pot of emotions was at a slow simmer at the moment. She’d need to spar again later on. “Good. Then go shower, you stink.”
“You say that as if you smell like roses,” Yelena wrinkles her nose and rolls her eyes.
“Fuck off you little asshole,” Natalia laughs, and Yelena snickers.
Yelena’s good mood quickly fades as she realizes the date and suddenly her bad mood makes sense.
It had been eleven years to the day since Yelena had left Ohio. Since she was ripped away from her home and her family .
Yelena pokes at the food during breakfast. “Do you remember when we ate Pop-tarts?” Yelena comments quietly and Natalia glances at her in surprise. “We got to eat them on the weekends when we didn’t have to eat a ‘proper’ breakfast before school.”
Natalia frowns. “I can ask Clint if he can get some for you. He has a way of doing things like that.”
Yelena pokes at the bowl of oatmeal on her tray. “I miss Ohio…” She whispers.
Natalia only frowns more at Yelena’s words.
Training that day sucked. Yelena was having a hard time focusing and May could tell that Yelena’s head was somewhere else.
“Focus, Belova,” May reminds Yelena again. “Enemies aren’t going to wait for you to attack.”
Yelena clenches her jaw and sends another hit toward May. “I’m fine.”
“You’re losing focus,” May shakes her head. “Again.”
Yelena huffs and sends another hit toward May. “I’m fine!”
“Again!” The Russian May speaks startles Yelena and she hesitates. “Again!”
Yelena does it again.
She keeps going until the clock said that their time is up but May shakes her head.
“I didn’t dismiss you,” May said. “Back onto the mats.”
Yelena inhales sharply but steps back onto the mats as May tells her to do the same move again.
The door opens when Natalia wonders where she was and May signals for Natalia to wait. “Again.”
Yelena lets out a growl and does the move again. May easily blocks her.
Yelena thinks about tapping out. She thinks about telling May that her mind is all over the place and that she needs to take a break.
She doesn’t. She doesn’t because she’s angry and upset and she can’t think straight.
Yelena eventually snaps. “Fuck off!”
“Again,” May demands and Yelena shakes her head.
“Bite me!” Yelena sneers at her.
Yelena lunges although she’s aiming to hurt May this time. Natalia yanks Yelena away and pins her against the wall.
“Romanov, this is not your fight,” May reprimands.
“Enough is enough,” Natalia tells Yelena. Yelena twists in her hold and lets out a frustrated yell.
“Let me go!” Yelena snaps at her and Natalia grabs the back of her neck and squeezed slightly.
“Hey--” May steps forward when Natalia does so. “Not her neck.”
“I got this!” Natalia snaps at her before looking at Yelena. “Submit.”
The fight leaves Yelena and she slumps against Natalia. The grip on her neck turns gentle and Natalia keeps a hold on Yelena.
“Sorry.” Yelena whispers against Natalia’s shoulder.
“I know,” Natalia said softly. “I’m not upset.”
Natalia then pulls away. “En pointe!”
Yelena is relieved that Natalia seems to gain an understanding of her headspace.
“She’s already sparred with you, trained with me, not to mention that I kept her after,” May comments, ready to intervene. “She needs a break.”
“Not now,” Natalia said as Yelena pushed herself up onto her toes. “First position!”
Yelena lets herself sink into her head knowing that Natalia will look after her. The movements are easy, she’s done them thousands of times before.
She’s brought out of her head at the sound of arguing.
“Enough is enough. She’s bleeding, Romanov.”
“Let me finish this.”
“You don’t care that your sister is bleeding?”
“You don’t understand. She needs me to finish this.”
Yelena waits for the next command from her sister, her head fuzzy but all she feels is too much and not enough at the same time.
“En pointe!” Natalia calls out when Yelena anxiously wants just a little too long.
Yelena finishes the set, finally noticing the burning in her calves and toes. Her feet are bleeding and Yelena lets out a shuddering breath.
The first thing she notices is that Maria was there along with Coulson. May looked very unhappy, Coulson looked concerned and Maria was watching Yelena with narrowed eyes.
“Rookie Agent Belova, are you back with us?” Maria interrupts the fighting and heads snap to look at her.
“Yes ma’am,” Yelena murmurs, falling from her toes to rest her feet flat back on the ground.
Natalia reaches out and cups the back of Yelena’s neck, her fingers brushing against the fine baby hairs. “How do you feel?”
“Safe…” Yelena whispers, pressing her forehead against Natalia’s. “It’s been eleven years.”
“I know,” Natalia whispers back and pulls Yelena against her.
“Go get your feet looked after in medical,” Maria orders Yelena. “That’s an order.”
“I’m fine.” Yelena protests. “It’s barely bleeding.”
“That’s an order, Belova,” Maria said. “Doctor Malley should be working.”
Yelena’s too emotionally spent to argue and sighs, nodding. “Yes ma’am.”
“Romanov, we will talk punishment of arguing with a superior at another time,” Maria tells the redhead. “For now assist Belova to medical.”
The two slowly make their way to medical and Yelena ends up sitting there for an hour as Thomas Malley fills two basins with icy water and makes her stick her feet in them. The ice water tinges pink with blood and Yelena shivers, pressed against Natalia.
Clint joins them halfway through and takes a seat on the other side of Yelena.
“So, beanie baby, a little birdy told me that you love toasted pastries,” Clint hums and Yelena glances up at him in confusion. Clint pulls three shiny foil packets from his pocket and Yelena can’t help but perk up at the sight of the Pop-tarts.
Clint passed her one and Yelena tears the packet open. They taste exactly as they did in Ohio.
Natalia has her own packet but saves it for later. Clint eats one of them and frowns when he sees Yelena. “You’re crying.”
“I’m not…” Yelena protests but feels Natalia reach out to use her thumb and brush away a tear from her cheek.
Clint doesn’t mention it and Yelena cries quietly as she eats the rest of her treat.
Yelena misses Ohio.