Chapter 5
Melina was the one that tracked down the base that Natasha was being held at.
Yelena was more than ready to go get Natasha. It had been nearly ten days since she had been gone and Yelena was ready to just find her sister and hang onto her and never let her go.
Yelena was ready to go take down the whole base herself as everyone makes plans and scouts emergency exits and such.
She was not very patient. She never had been. She liked to keep her body busy so that her mind doesn’t dwell on unimportant things.
Tony makes her a suit. It’s nearly the same material as the one she wore to take down the Red Room. It’s slim fitting and has a detachable vest to replace the one that had been ruined by blood. This one too was the color white and the vest a deep red.
Yelena suits up and carefully fills the pockets of her vest. She put in the photo strip she always carried, her favorite photo of Natasha, a vial of red dust, dinosaur band-aids, and knives. Plenty of knives.
The others suit up and the Avengers assemble to save Natasha. Alexei suits up, giving Steve the stink eye as they board the jet.
They go over the plan once again. They would break off into groups to eliminate threats and search for Natasha.
Tony would go in with Melina. Steve, James, and Alexei. Wanda and Antonia. Yelena and Sam. They made sure that one person on each team wouldn’t hesitate to kill if need be.
It takes six hours to fly there. It was quiet, the atmosphere tense as they shift uneasily.
Yelena stares at one spot on the wall. Her nerves were buzzing and she had never felt this way for a mission before.
Then again, she never had a mission like this. She had never rescued anybody.
Her mind can’t help but run through all the scenarios of what she could find. She was frightened because her sister had been gone for nearly two weeks and there was a lot that could have been done to her.
Natasha was strong but even the strongest people break.
A hand is set onto her knee and Yelena looks up at Antonia. Antonia gives her a small nod and Yelena takes a deep breath.
She just hoped that Natasha wasn’t mad at her for calling Melina. She could handle a lot of things but Natasha being mad at her after being gone for two weeks wasn’t one of them.
“Settle your nerves,” Antonia’s voice was quiet. “Stay out of your mind. Focus.”
It seems simple enough but Yelena needed to hear it verbally. She grips Antonia’s hand.
“We are going to get her back,” Antonia continues, turning her hand to grip Yelena’s back. “We will bring her home.”
“What if--” Yelena cuts herself off, staring down at her boots.
“We will. No matter what is thrown at us, we adapt. That’s what we were taught to do,” Antonia said.
Yelena nods slowly and focuses on the warmth in her hand for the rest of the ride.
Tony and Sam would take their partners down through the air while James landed the plane. As they hover a decent ways from the base, Sam and Tony stand.
“Alrighty ladies,” Tony grins at Melina and Yelena. “Let’s get going.”
Yelena steps up to Sam by the door, feeling the wind whip through her hair.
“Ready?” Sam reaches his arms out and Yelena shifts to grab onto him. “Three--two--one--”
Sam jumps out of the plane and Yelena squeezes her eyes closed as they fall for a few moments before the Falcon wings pop open.
They take an entrance on the West and are the first ones to make contact with anyone. Yelena’s gun was nearly silent as she takes down soldiers. Sam watches her back as Yelena heads inside.
The two of them creep down the hallway and Yelena focuses on finding a flash of red hair. She and Sam move in comfortable silence as they sweep the west side of the base.
They don’t find Natasha but they do find a centralized computer and filling system. Sam watches the door as Yelena quickly looks through the files for any sign of Natasha.
Although what she found wasn’t Natasha, it still makes her pause.
Yelena stares at the screen for a few moments before she turns and she slams her face onto the metal table, feeling her nose crack and gush blood.
“Jesus fuck--” Sam yelps.
“You have to sever the nerve--” Yelena mumbles, unable to smell anything. She then reaches up to her comms. “I have reason to believe that the Black Widow will be hostile upon contact. You will have to break her nose.”
“Pheromones?” Melina’s voice questioned as Yelena and Sam make it out of the room.
“Exactly like Dreykov’s,” Yelena replies, making her way down the hall.
“Found her--” Steve’s voice came through a few minutes later. “She’s on the south side basement.”
“Injuries?” Yelena demands as she and Sam start moving quickly toward the direction.
“Under some sort of control. Hostile. I’m unable to get close enough to determine,” Steve tells her and Yelena nearly stumbles at his report but shoves away the emotions to deal with later.
They finally come across Black Widow fighting against three super soldiers and winning.
“Stand down,” Yelena steps forward as Steve tries to coax Natasha down. “That won’t work.”
James is kicked back and retreats to her side. Yelena steps forward and watches Black Widow for a moment.
“Steve, Alexei--” She calls out, watching them fight. “Stand down. It’s my turn!”
“You’re sixteen!” Steve protests quickly.
“It’s my turn!” Yelena repeats. “I know what I’m doing!”
Alexei is the second one to pull away, a frown on his face. Steve finally pulls back when he sees James beckoning him over.
Black Widow paces like a caged animal as Yelena steps forward.
“Widow--” She speaks up, watching Black Widow give a small jolt. “It is Friday. Madame had paired us up. I am going to win dinner tonight.”
There’s a sneer on Black Widow’s face as she turns sharply toward Yelena. “I am the Black Widow. I am the best.”
“And I am the White Widow. I beat you,” Yelena retorts, sliding into her fighting stance.
They size each other up for a moment before they dart toward each other.
Yelena doesn’t need to beat her. She just needs to give her the vial of red dust and break her nose.
It was much like their fight after their reunification ten years later. Neither of them was pulling punches.
Yelena keeps managing to pin her down but can never hold her long enough to grab the red dust.
They roll around on the floor until Black Widow lifts a knife from Yelena’s side and shoves it against her neck. Yelena pauses, staring up into the glazed-over eyes of her sister.
“Are you going to let them kill me, big sister?” She questioned, the words making Black Widow pause long enough for Yelena to crush the vial of red dust in her fist and blow it into the air.
Yelena shoves them to the side and rolls over until she was on top and sends one well-placed open-hand punch to Natasha’s face, feeling her sister’s nose crunch under her touch.
Natasha gasps in pain, confusion, and anxiety painted on her face.
“It’s okay. Look at me,” Yelena gets off of Natasha, pulling her to sit up. “Everything is really confusing and overwhelming right now. I know that. We’re going to get out of here, okay?”
She doesn’t expect Natasha to shove her away but she watches Natasha skitter back as she looks around the room and sees Steve.
Yelena tries not to feel hurt when Natasha makes her way toward him, instead reaching her hand up to run along the thin slice left behind on her neck from her sister.
James pulls her up to her feet, letting her lean on him for a moment as she regains her footing.
“Give her a few moments,” James rumbles quietly to Yelena.
Yelena watches Steve help Natasha back toward the exit and her heart hurts because she was brushed off like she just didn’t exist.