madame
Yelena’s so tired.
Her deprogramming was officially finished and she and her sister were only given a day off between the end of hers and the start of Natalia’s.
Yelena knows that Clint and Maria will be with Natalia and that Bobbi and Hunter will be with her but Yelena just wants to be with her sister the way that her sister was there for her.
Instead, Yelena waits as close as they’ll let her to the room. Bobbi finds Yelena sitting on the floor against the wall just opposite of the room Natalia was in.
Yelena’s still sleepy and for a few moments, she thinks that Bobbi will send her back to her bunk to go back to bed.
Instead, Bobbi lowers herself to sit on the ground next to Yelena. “Hey, kid.”
“Hi…” Yelena murmurs, her eyes trained on the door. “Are you gonna tell me to respect Natalia’s wishes?”
“I think that your sister needs you but doesn’t know how to ask,” Bobbi replies, bumping her shoulder against Yelena’s. “She’s scared of being seen as weak. She’s your big sister so she has to be calm and collected.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Yelena wrinkles her nose, resting her chin onto her knees that she drew up to her chest. “She got to help me but doesn’t want my help.”
Bobbi wraps an arm around Yelena’s shoulders, tugging her to lean against her side. “It’s not just that.”
Yelena lets out a sigh, reaching up to rub her face. “I know…” She mumbles before yawning, slowly letting her head rest against Bobbi’s shoulder.
She dozes for a little while until there a yell, a crash, and then the door to the room bursts open. Bobbi and Yelena both jump to their feet at the noise. One of the doctors had tumbled to a crumpled heap at Yelena’s feet, a reddening mark on their face from being hit.
Bobbi grabs Yelena’s arm when she tries to move toward the room. “Stop!”
“Natalia--” Yelena tries to argue, tugging on the hold Bobbi has on her arm. She doesn’t want to hurt Bobbi but she needs into that room.
Luckily, Maria exits the room and her eyes fall onto them. “You’re here. Good. We hit a trigger and your sister broke her thumb to slide free of the restraints. You need to calm her down.”
Yelena jerks out of Bobbi’s grip, moving to push into the room when Maria holds her arm out to stop her. Yelena narrowly shoves away the urge to hit her for getting in her way.
“If you cannot calm her down then do not be afraid to back out,” Maria tells Yelena firmly. “Do not put yourself into danger, that is an order from your commander.”
Yelena clenches her jaw before letting out a curt nod. “Yes ma’am.” She grits out. Maria lowers her arm and Yelena pushes into the room.
Natalia is still strapped into the chair but had worked her hand and head free of the straps. The look on her face tells Yelena that she’s not dealing with her sister but with Black Widow.
Yelena assessed the situation before she straightens up and marches into the room with purpose. “What is going on in here?” Yelena demands, eyeing the doctors who look bewildered at her appearance and demands.
The doctors look at each other before peering up at Yelena. “She broke one of her hands free.” One tentatively tells Yelena, unsure if they should be answering to Yelena’s authority. They only do it because Clint, watching from the corner of the room, gives them a nod.
Yelena spins to look at Black Widow. “Current mission objective?” Yelena demands.
“None.” Black Widow murmurs in a detached voice.
“Status report?” Yelena then orders, pacing in front of Black Widow in the way that her instructors used to.
“Nothing to report.” Black Widow replies evenly.
Yelena turns and slams her hand against the table nearby that held the project. “Do not lie to me, Widow!”
Black Widow doesn’t jump but she does stiffen.
Yelena moves to stand right in front of Black Widow. “Hand.” She orders, holding out her hand. Black Widow immediately offers out the injured appendage for Yelena to inspect.
It’s not a break like Maria had reported, just a dislocation. Yelena grips onto Black Widow’s forearm and then grips her dislocated thumb. “Breathe. On three. One… two--” Yelena twists the thumb back into place and Black Widow does nothing more than inhale sharply.
Yelena’s exhausted and is not up to playing the role of a Madame from the Red Room but she’d do what she had to in order to get Natalia through this.
Yelena secures Black Widow’s wrist back and then redoes the strap on her head. “ You will listen to the doctors as if their orders are my own.” Yelena jabs a finger at the doctors in the room. “I will not tolerate any further insubordination, is that understood?”
Yelena taps her finger against Black Widow’s forehead with each word, doing just what the Madame’s would have done. She feels like throwing up when Natalia finally lets out a minuscule flinch. “Yes, Madame.”
Black Widow does not recognize Yelena but she recognizes a fellow Widow in a position of authority.
Yelena steps back, moving toward the wall where Natalia had waited with Maria while Yelena was in the chair. The doctors slowly start to move again and Yelena feels Maria reenter the room and stand next to her.
Yelena reaches up to cover her face with her hands and tries to pull herself back together. A hand lands on her shoulder and Yelena flinches, her head popping up to see that it’s only Clint.
“You okay, beanie baby?” He murmurs.
“Fine.” Yelena whispers before running a hand through her hair. “I just…” She doesn’t know how to form her thoughts into words so she helplessly lets her statement trail off.
“I know,” Clint squeezed her shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”
For the rest of the session that day, every single time that Black Widow got unsettled, Yelena would step forward into view and order her to relax.
By the time that Black Widow was sharing a headspace with Natalia as the copper-haired woman came back, Yelena was warily watching.
When the session was over for the day, Yelena stands in front of Natalia and stares at her face for a few moments before she lets anybody touch the restraints. When Natalia’s tired and weary eyes meet hers, Yelena finally reaches out to undo the straps.
“I don’t remember very much,” Natalia mumbles, stumbling slightly when she tries to get up immediately when her limbs are freed, having the same issue that Yelena had. “My body’s not responding right--”
“I know,” Yelena steadies her. “I’ve got you.”
Natalia was quiet for a few moments, leaning on Natalia before she looks down at her hand, flexing her fingers. “Did I dislocate something? When did you come in the room? I told Maria not to call you--” Natalia goes quiet when Yelena wraps her arms around her. “Oh…”
“You got lost in your head,” Yelena replies quietly. “You wouldn’t listen to anybody, not even Maria.”
“Maria called you in?” Natalia is leaning against Yelena despite trying to maintain a strong facade.
“You were going to hurt yourself or somebody else,” Yelena replies, helping Natalia take a few steps. “I know you’re tired. Come on.”
Clint moves toward them finally but Natalia shies away from his touch. He takes no offense to it, holding the door open for them instead. Natalia won’t even look at Maria.
To Yelena’s surprise, Bobbi’s still waiting for her just outside the room. Bobbi gives her a small smile and steps forward.
Yelena doesn’t expect Natalia to accept Bobbi’s gesture to help but she does let Bobbi take up the other side of her so she’s not fully leaning on Yelena.
They make it back to their bunk and Bobbi gives the sisters a small smile. “I’ll be with Hunter in his room if you need me.” Bobbi tells Yelena who knows where Hunter’s bunk was located. “Rest up.”
Natalia manages to make the few shaky steps toward the bed, curling up on it when she lays down.
Yelena moves forward and undoes her shoes, pulling them off of her feet like Natalia did when Yelena was just too tired after the sessions.
Yelena doesn’t sleep that night, even though she’s exhausted from her sessions. She stays up to try her best and soothe Natalia throughout the night.
The next day happens pretty much the same. Yelena falls asleep on Bobbi just outside the room until Maria steps out to ask Yelena to calm Natalia down.
Natalia is always the Black Widow when Yelena enters and she always settles down when Yelena takes charge and gives orders.
It’s safe to listen to the Madame’s. The Madame’s always knew what they were doing and sometimes Yelena took comfort in that because they were always explicit in their instructions.
By the fourth day, Yelena’s exhausted and running on fumes. She falls asleep in the hallway before Bobbi even meets up with her. When Maria steps out to ask Yelena to step in, it takes a few moments of Bobbi nudging her before Yelena realizes that she’s needed.
She’s so tired that she feels like she’s back in the Red Room and they’re testing just how long she can go without sleep for. Her head still feels muddled and fuzzy and she just wants a full eight hours of sleep.
Hunter gives her energy drinks when he sees her and comments that she looks like shit. The drinks do help some and Yelena’s surprised she’s never had them before. Caffeine wasn’t allowed in the Red Room and coffee was only permitted to maintain covers.
Near the end of the first week of Natalia’s deprogramming, both of the sisters were exhausted. Yelena doesn’t even bother hiding just how tired she was as she leans against whoever is near her to close her eyes and squeeze in just a few minutes of sleep. She’s done it to Bobbi, Clint, Hunter, even Maria.
Each of them will ask if she’s okay, wrapping an arm around her to keep her steady. Yelena will let out an indiscernible hum and lean into the warmth.
They don’t even realize that as an assassin, she’s showing them the ultimate sign of trust. You only slept with people you felt comfortable being vulnerable around. For Yelena to lean against them and fall asleep without even feeling a need to keep one eye open spoke just how much she trusted that they were not going to physically harm her as she slept.