birthday
Yelena had only remembered celebrating three birthdays in her life. The year she turned four, the year she turned five, and the year she turned six. It was never a big deal. There was a small cake and Yelena had candles with the number of years she was turning on it.
That meant she had fourteen, almost fifteen years without birthday celebrations.
The morning that Natasha turns twenty-three, Yelena pulls out a bottle of vodka she had procured from Hunter.
It was actually quite simple to get it. Yelena caught the man before he went out and asked for a bottle, describing the brand and promising that she could do favors to pay him back. Hunter asked her if she was going to drink it and when she said no he took her word for it and brought her back the bottle.
The only payment he had wanted was a gaming buddy.
Yelena had also gone to some of the scientists until she found one willing to bring her back a box of zebra cakes in exchange for Yelena taking notes for them in the lab. Yelena had eaten zebra cakes with Natasha as children for snacks during school.
There was still a dull throbbing pain in her lower abdomen but Yelena pushes that away as she digs out the bottle of vodka and box of snack cakes. “Happy birthday.” She wished her sister again, crawling back into bed with the items.
“Do I even want to know how you got these?” Natasha lets out a soft laugh, turning the bottle of vodka over in her hands until she sees the label. “My favorite. How did you get it?”
“Hunter.” Yelena says, resting her head on Natasha’s shoulder. “Do you remember these?” She holds up the box of zebra cakes.
Natasha grins. “I do.” She said running her thumb along the box. “They’ve changed the packaging.”
“Do you remember the song I used to sing to you?” It had been a faint memory in the back of her mind until recently.
Natasha lets out a soft groan. “How could I forget?”
“Happy birthday to you,” Yelena starts and Natasha lets out a long groan. “You live in a zoo. You smell like a monkey. And you act like one too!”
“You are acting exactly as you did when you were six,” Natasha pulls her closer, her fingers running along a ticklish spot on Yelena’s ribs. Yelena squirms away from her wandering fingers. “Thank you for doing this for me.”
“Of course,” Yelena smiles up at her. She liked it when her big sister was happy. She deserved it.
Natasha twists the cap off the top of the bottle of vodka and brings it to her nose, inhaling deeply and letting out a soft sigh of contentment before taking a large swig.
“Can I have some?” Yelena questioned and Natasha glances at her, letting out a small sigh but holds the bottle out.
“A swallow.” Natasha says and Yelena grips the bottle. The shot burns going down her throat and makes her eyes water but it’s a familiar taste. She’s no stranger to alcohol. “Split this with me.”
Natasha tears off the top of the box of zebra cakes and taps one of the packs of snack cakes into her hand. There were two in a pack and the sisters used to split them.
Yelena used to bite the edges off before twisting the snack cake open and licking the frosting from the middle and then eating the cakes. She does the same thing now, letting out a gasp when Natasha gently bats her hand to make her get frosting on her nose when Yelena licks the middle.
“You think you’d learn,” Natasha said, referencing when she used to do the same thing to little six-year-old Yelena.
Yelena wipes the frosting from her nose and moves to wipe it off onto Natasha’s cheek. Natasha twists her head and licks the frosting from her finger before she can. “Ew!” Yelena wipes her finger onto Natasha’s shirt.
She has been covered in blood, guts, vomit, and other bodily fluids. But her big sister’s saliva? Ew.
By the time they have to get up for breakfast, they’ve made their way through half of the pack of snack cakes. Yelena had curled into her big sister, remembering when she was younger and things were much, much simpler.
Birthdays were never really a big thing so the sisters didn’t tell anyone. SHIELD had their birthdates on file but Yelena doubted that they really looked at the paperwork. It was more a formality than anything.
The day goes just as any other day goes except Yelena begs Bobbi to give her the day off to spend with Natasha. Since it’s the first time that Yelena’s asked Bobbi for such a thing, the woman caves easily, telling Yelena to enjoy herself.
Yelena finds herself doing something with Natasha that she hadn’t done with her sister since they were six.
She finds herself in the gym doing backbends, grinning at her big sister. “You’re gonna fall first.”
“Nope. You’re close to falling, I can see it,” Natasha tells Yelena with a grin.
Yelena pushed her stomach up toward the ceiling more, ignoring the dull throbbing that still lingered from the day before. She could last much longer than when she was six.
But a sharp jolt of pain shooting through her lower abdomen causes her to crumple, landing on her back with a sharp gasp. Never before had the pain lingered for so long.
“What’s wrong?” Natasha lets her bridge collapse and rolls over to move toward Yelena. “Are you still hurting?”
“I’m fine!” Yelena can’t help but snap slightly, sitting up. She doesn’t want to admit that the pain lingering behind was bothering her. “Let’s go again, I’ll beat you this time.”
Natasha reaches toward her and Yelena pulls away from her touch. She doesn’t want Natasha to be fretting over her. It was Natasha’s birthday and Yelena doesn’t need to make it all about her.
“Come here,” Natasha tells her firmly, the use of Russian taking Yelena off guard but it startles her enough to let Natasha pull her closer. Natasha guides Yelena’s head against her shoulder and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I know you don’t feel well. You don’t have to hide it from me.”
“But it’s your birthday.” Yelena points out quietly, squeezing her eyes shut. “And it’s just scar tissue. Doctor Thomas Malley said so. It just means I’m growing. I’m gonna be taller than you.”
Both sisters knew how scar tissue could ache and throb when it got cold or rained but this was different and deep down Yelena knew it. “You’ll never be taller.” Natasha replies, running her fingers down along Yelena’s belly and pushing down gently. Yelena clenches her jaw at the jolt of pain that shoots through her abdomen. “Does it hurt?”
Natasha would be able to tell if she lied so Yelena gives a tiny curt nod against Natasha’s neck. Natasha frowns, gently rubbing over the area she pressed down on to try and relieve the pain she had caused.
“I’m sorry.” Yelena can’t help but apologize.
“Don’t be,” Natasha finally replies in English, pulling Yelena closer. “It’s not your fault.”
Yelena swallows hard and curls into her big sister, guilt still settled in her stomach.
The rest of Natasha’s birthday passes by without too much difference from their normal schedule. Yelena got to snuggle with Natasha for the majority of the day.
She checks in with Maria just after dinner like she was supposed to, Natasha accompanying her this time. Maria beckons Yelena closer instead of dismissing her like before. “How are you feeling today?” She questioned. “Any better?”
Yelena doesn’t want to lie to her but she also doesn’t want to be forced to medical. She wasn’t going to medical unless she was on death’s door, you could quote her on that. “Better.” It’s not a lie, she was much better than the previous day, even if the pain lingered. Natasha doesn’t call her out on her non-answer.
“That’s good. I have good news for you,” Maria moves toward Yelena and holds out a piece of paper. Yelena peers down at it in confusion, reaching out to take it.
“What is this?” She asked, still not quite good a reading English and there was a lot of formal language on this. Natasha leans over her shoulder, her eyes scanning the typed letter.
“Approval for you to leave with Clint. He’ll technically be your handler while off the helicarrier so you can’t go anywhere without him, you’ll have to call to check in every day, and you’ll have to wear a tracker while you’re gone. But you can go to the farm for Christmas,” Maria tells her, tapping the paper to point out the terms that had been outlined. “If you want to talk about changing something then we can.”
“Are these for both of us or just me?” Yelena questioned. She hadn’t had to do this last time she left to stay with Clint and she can’t help but think of all the progress she lost not only with SHIELD but with Maria and the Director.
“Just you,” Maria said, her tone softening. “The council considers you a flight risk.”
“You had to report me when I was missing…” Yelena deflates slightly.
“I held out for as long as I could but when it became clear that you were gone then I had no choice,” Maria sounded apologetic.
Yelena peers down at the rules. “Do I have to wear the tracker?” She asked quietly. It chafed her wrist and made it hard to wear her handcuffs. She could deal with the rest but she hated having her every move tracked.
“I’m sorry.” Maria replies and Yelena knows the answer.
Yelena takes a moment to peer down at the paper, feeling Natasha rest her hand against her shoulder.
“I’m still not sorry.” Yelena tells Maria, peering up at the commander. She’s sorry for worrying Maria but that’s it.
And Maria stares at her with a sigh. “I know.” She said but Yelena’s pretty sure there’s a hint of fond exasperation in there too.