Chapter 2
Yelena can’t sleep. She’s so tired all of the time and the only way she can get any semblance of sleep is with MJ.
Tony sends a car to collect MJ every day after school. He buys her favorite drinks and snacks and offers her whatever she wants if she will just cuddle with Yelena to let her sleep.
MJ asks for nothing but car rides and art supplies. To cover with her parents, Tony sets up an “internship” for her at SI.
MJ is nothing close to her sister but Yelena trusts her. Her body can relax and her mind can rest because she trusts MJ to protect her while she sleeps.
MJ lays with her and does her homework while Yelena sleeps.
Yelena is so grateful for her friend. She’s never had a best friend before but she thinks that MJ goes above and beyond it.
Clint shows up three days later. Yelena is so relieved to see him because she knows that Clint will also work above and beyond anything to bring Natasha home.
Not that they others won’t. But they don’t have the close relationship with Natasha like Yelena and Clint.
Six days after Natasha is taken, Melina and Alexei show up with an unexpected guest.
Yelena doesn’t expect to see Antonia. While she’s grateful for the help, Antonia has some of her father’s features.
“Yelena!” Alexei’s voice booms as he crosses the room to meet her. Yelena takes a few steps toward her but she backs away from him.
Tony steps in front of her, interrupting them. “Hey. Great to see you. Tony Stark, Yelena’s guardian when Nat isn’t available!” He chirps, sticking his hand out. Yelena blinks in surprise, having not known that bit of information.
Alexei takes his hand. “Yelena called. She said something about needing help.”
“Natasha was taken by Hydra,” Yelena steps out from behind Tony. “We need to get her back. Mam-- Melina has more information on Hydra than I do.”
Melina lets out a curt nod. “I do. Give me a rundown.”
Yelena talks about what happened, giving all the details. Her voice is strangely detached as she gives a mission report.
Melina nods, Alexei’s face serious. When she finished, Yelena stares at them.
“We’ll do what we can to help,” Melina glances at Tony. “Where are you set up?”
Tony sets a hand onto Yelena’s shoulder, giving a brief squeeze as he leads them to his lab where the maps of the Hydra bases Yelena had drawn were pulled up along with the faces of the dead soldiers that had been killed while invading the tower.
The phone that Yelena had snagged was taken apart and nothing but pieces on the table.
Melina glances around, giving a small nod of approval. She turns toward Yelena. “Walk me through it.”
Tony starts to speak but Melina interrupts him. “I asked Yelena.”
Yelena straightens, her hands clasped behind her back as she relays the exact information from behind, telling her what they’d done and what is being done. She explains the maps and the faces and the phone.
Melina nods and dismisses her with a wave of her hand.
It takes Yelena a second to realize that it was meant for her. That’s fine. She’s not going to wait around while Melina does god knows what.
She moves back to Natasha’s room to curl up back in bed and cocoon herself in the blanket that smells like her sister.
She checks in on them later, Melina busy scrolling through maps and people, Antonia mumbling comments as Alexei plays around with the holograms.
“Ah! Yelena!” He perks up when he sees her. “There you are!”
Yelena shuffles away from him when he attempts to approach.
“Come, come!” Alexei grins, reaching out. “I have much to tell you in the time you have been missing!”
Yelena jerks away from him, bumping into the table behind her and causing something to crash to the ground.
She turns to look at one of the projects Tony was working on. He’d been working on it for a while now. She knew that this was important to him.
Yelena looks up, trying to find Tony.
Her eyes meet his and suddenly she can’t breathe.
It’s been nearly six days that she’s been gone and Natasha doesn’t know how much longer she can hold out.
She’s trying. She’s trying but she’s probably not trying as hard as she could have been.
She failed. She finally failed.
What kind of a big sister does that make her? She couldn’t even protect Yelena when she had needed it most.
Yelena’s dead now. She’s dead and it is all Natasha’s fault.
Yelena died trying to jump after her and missing. Yelena died by one of her greatest fears; falling.
Natasha wasn’t there to catch her this time.
What would the others think?
Oh god. Melina. Alexei. She was going to have to tell them.
Alexei would say ‘I told you so’. How she wasn’t ready to take care of Yelena in the first place.
Melina would be that silent, judging type. She’d never say it but Natasha would know that she just wants to yell.
What would Natasha tell Yelena’s best friend?
Yelena could have been much safer if she was on the farm with Clint or Melina.
Everybody kept telling her that she couldn’t do it, that she couldn’t care for Yelena as she needed.
Maybe they were right. But Yelena deserved a choice and Yelena chose to stay with her.
Natasha was in no way equipped to adopt anyone but this wasn’t just anyone. This had been her little sister. She had so much to make up for.
And yet, Natasha failed her again. Yelena had died and Natasha had failed and that was all there was to say.
But however much Natasha just wants to give in and be selfish and die right along with her sister, the world needs her more. She has people who need her. She can’t die just yet.
She needs to go and give Yelena the funeral she deserved and finish the list of things that Yelena never got to do.
She needs to live for Yelena because her sister deserved so much better.