comfort
Yelena’s not good at comforting people. She knows that not everybody likes to be touched and not everybody wants her comfort.
One thing she can do when she’s unsure of how to offer comfort is offer to braid their hair. Maria has gotten her hair braided by Yelena a few times, mainly when Yelena catches her going into her office and locking the door. Yelena will crawl through the vents and wait for Maria to notice her before dropping into her office and climbing onto the couch behind Maria to braid her hair.
She does it with Natalia too but she knows how to comfort Natalia. Natalia likes Yelena to lay on her and surround her with her warmth and her presence.
She did it for Bobbi for the first time when she gets into a fight with Hunter. Yelena catches the tail end of it, Hunter shouting expletives at Bobbi and Bobbi screaming them right back. For a few moments, Yelena thinks Hunter might hit Bobbi but the man just turns and storms off angrily.
Bobbi turns and freezes when she sees Yelena before tiredly rubbing her face. “Right. I promised to show you more moves with batons.”
“You don’t have to,” Yelena doesn’t want to butt in on an argument that has nothing to do with her.
Bobbi lets out a sigh before shaking her head. “Sorry, kiddo. Are you okay?”
Yelena blinks in surprise at the question. “What?” She doesn’t mean to sound stupid.
“The-- the yelling--” Bobbi murmurs, gesturing with her hand. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Yelena said before tilting her head to the side. “Are you?”
Bobbi nods slowly before shaking her head. “Lie to an assassin raised to read body language, why don’t you, Morse…” She murmurs to herself under her breath.
“Sit,” Yelena tells Bobbi and the tall woman glances at her in surprise and confusion. Still, she doesn't question Yelena and she moves toward the nearest chair and sits. Yelena slides behind the chair and starts to run her fingers through Bobbi’s hair to get rid of the knots before she starts to weave it in a braid, feeling the tension slowly leave Bobbi at the movement.
Bobbi starts asking Yelena to braid her hair before they start training each day.
Yelena even did May’s when she caught the woman extremely distressed. She hadn’t meant to find her, Yelena was looking for Coulson. Coulson’s office didn’t have him but it had May who was clearly looking for him as well.
Yelena approached the woman curled up in the corner, digging her fingers into her knees as she takes shaky breaths. “May?”
May’s head snaps up to peer at Yelena, her eyes growing wide.
“I think Coulson’s in debriefing,” Yelena was planning on checking in with Maria next. “What can I do to help?”
May blinks a few times before shaking her head. “What did I teach you about breathing techniques?”
Yelena takes a moment before she understands what May wants. She lowers herself to her knees a few feet away from May. “Inhale through your nose slowly, feeling your lungs expand. Feel the air in your stomach and let it flow through you. Hold it for a few seconds. Let it out through your mouth. Slowly.”
Yelena repeats it and pretends she doesn’t see May struggle to follow her instructions. When May starts to uncurl, Yelena leans back to sit on her heels, unsure of what else she can offer. “Can I braid your hair?”
The question comes out of nowhere and obviously startles May. She stares at Yelena for a few moments before slowly nodding her head. Yelena moves forward and squished between May and the wall.
“One braid or two?” Yelena asked, pulling May’s hair back out of her face.
“One.” May mumbles and Yelena sets upon running her fingers through her hair to get rid of the knots. “Are you gonna ask me?”
“About what?” Yelena starts to carefully weave her hair up. “It’s none of my business. You owe me nothing.” Yelena focuses on braiding her hair, pulling a hair tie from one of the pockets on her vest.
“You’d be the first to think that,” May grumbles quietly. “I-- I promised you an explanation.”
“You never said when,” Yelena reminds her before tying the braid off. “I’d like to know but…” She shrugs slightly. May cutting her off so abruptly still hurt. Still, Yelena’s used to it.
May swallows hard, her fingers still digging into her knees. “Come find me. Not today but you come seek me out and I will tell you.”
“Okay.” Yelena will take May up on that offer. “I’m done.”
May pulls away, peeling her body away from where she had begun to lean against Yelena. “Thank you.” She doesn’t get up yet because Yelena knows her legs would shake.
“I’ll send Coulson here when he’s done,” Yelena offers and May gives a quiet nod. Yelena stands, zipping the pocket on her vest closed and leaves Coulson’s office.
The coordinates to the place Skynet wants to meet up come nearly four days later. It’s a small diner in the city and Skynet said they’ll be in the back booth and they expect Yelena to cover the cost of the meal.
Yelena feels like she’s eight and about to go on her first solo mission again as Maria paced in front of her and Bobbi and goes of the guidelines she was to follow. Maria kept returning to the same point.
Yelena is to get out safe. Even if that means she has to bail or end the mission early. Her ending the mission would not result in punishment. Bobbi was there as backup and it was non-negotiable.
Yelena told Natalia about it and Natalia did the same thing she always did before Yelena would leave what used to be their little apartment back before they joined SHIELD. She pulled their foreheads together and squeezed the back of Yelena’s neck gently. “Come back safe and whole, little sister.” She murmurs.
“Always,” Yelena replies, closing her eyes and taking a moment to bask in the affection of her big sister.
Fury’s the one that gives her a weapon. He passes her the gun and grips her hand when she takes it. “Extreme measures only.” He instills and Yelena gives a small nod. “I expect it back upon your safe return.”
Yelena feels like they’re taking things too seriously. If she needed a quick escape then she’d manage it. Bobbi being there was just… collateral.
Bobbi goes over everything again as they’re dropped off at the ground base and take a car to the diner. They go over various scenarios until they arrive.
“I’ll enter after you,” Bobbi said and Yelena nods her head before exiting the car and walking into the diner.
There’s a small figure with their hood on in the corner booth and Yelena approached them. She slides into the booth across from them and they look up at her.
Yelena’s learned not to judge people by their ages but she certainly wasn’t expecting a girl younger than her sitting there. She’s probably only fifteen years old and looks like she’s been living on the streets.
“Bring money for food?” She breaks the silence and Yelena nods her head. “Great, I’m starved.”
Yelena lets out a hum. “Pleasure to finally meet face to face.”
“How’d you know I’m not someone they sent to make sure they weren’t set up?” She questioned, pulling the menu up to look it over.
“I’ve learned not to judge appearances. If you are just some kid they sent then I’d like to speak to Skynet,” Yelena said, resisting a laugh when the girl bristles.
“I’m not just--” She abruptly cuts herself off. “Touche…” She grumbles before glancing to the side. “You didn’t come alone.”
“It was this or nothing,” Yelena props her head up on her hand as she inspects the girl’s movements. “She won’t interfere unless you start waving a gun around.”
“I don’t even own a gun nevertheless know how to shoot one,” The girl chuckles. “So… Tiny_Dancer, huh? Yelena Belova, seventeen years of age, used to be a member of an organization called the Red Room until recently when you sought out asylum with SHIELD.”
Yelena clicks her tongue against her teeth. “It seems you have me at a disadvantage.”
“That’s ‘cause I erased myself from the internet,” The girl shrugs and grins when a waiter comes over to take their order. She orders a burger, fries, and shake. Yelena gets a cherry cola for herself and a plate of fries.
Once the waiter disappears into the back, the girl continues. “My name is Skye. That’s S-K-Y-E.” She holds out her hand. “No last name.”
Yelena grins slightly. “Skye. Pleasure to put a name to a face.” She takes the hand held out. “You’ve been getting on SHIELD’s nerves. How old are you?”
Skye jerks her hand away. “Old enough.” She huffs.
“Your defensive body language and tone tell me that you’re younger than I am. I am going to guess… fourteen? Fifteen?” Yelena can’t get a good look at her stature in her seated position so she was mostly guessing.
Skye wrinkles her nose, glancing over at where Bobbi was sitting before looking back at Yelena. “Good guesses. Fifteen.”
Their drinks are brought out and Skye immediately starts sucking down her shake. “Ooh, it’s been forever since I’ve had one of these.”
Yelena watches, stirring her drink with her straw. “Shall we get down to business then?”
Skye glance up at Yelena. “You’ve helped me out over the past few years but I don’t trust you beyond delivering information to me. Our partnership was always give and take. I have nothing to offer you in return.”
Yelena considered it for a few moments. “I want the truth behind why you’re seeking this information. The whole truth.”
Skye scrunches her face up before letting out a soft sigh. “That’s… fair, I guess…”
Still, Skye busies herself sucking on the straw to her shake, avoiding eye contact with Yelena. She obviously wasn’t a spy and she wasn’t trained. Yelena could see that she was skinny and probably didn’t have the muscles for a proper punch or kick.
It’s not until their food arrives and Skye had already wolfed downed half of her burger that she starts to speak. “I’m looking for my parents.”
“Are they SHIELD agents?” Yelena inquired and Skye wrinkles her nose.
“Dunno…” She takes another bite of her burger. “Every time I search for them, it leads me to a SHIELD file that’s beyond redacted. I may be a good hacker but I can’t pull files that aren’t digital.” Skye sets down her burger and lets out a sigh. “I can’t remember my parents or if I’ve ever met them. I just… I just wanna know.”
Yelena eats a few fries, taking a moment to think over the information given to her. She’s not a SHIELD agent so she can’t make decisions on their behalf. Her eyes meet Bobbi’s across the diner and the woman gives her a reassuring nod. “I can’t promise you answers. I can’t even promise you the information you’re after. But… if you let my friend come over, we can start talking business.”
Skye shoves the rest of her burger into her mouth before giving a slow nod.
Bobbi, obviously listening in on the conversation, approaches with a single gesture from Yelena. She slides into the booth next to Yelena, giving a small nod to Skye. “I’ve been asked to bring you back to talk with the big bosses.”
Skye immediately tenses up, her eyes sliding to Yelena.
“It’s not a trick,” Yelena replies, scrunching her nose up when Bobbi steals some of her fries. “I can assure you that you’ll be able to walk out whenever you want.”
Skye thinks about it for a few moments, clearing her plate. “Fine.” She agrees. “But you’re there the whole time to escort me in and out.”
Yelena nods her head. “I can do that.” She agrees, taking a sip of her drink as Skye loudly finishes the last of the shake in her cup. “You done?”
Skye lets out a sigh of content before nodding. “Yup.”
Yelena calls for the check and pretends she doesn’t notice how nervous Skye was.