Chapter 10
On the fourth day there, Natasha has a mental breakdown.
Clint had been checking in on Natasha before he was trying to usher Laura and the kids out to the park to play.
“It’s okay,” He tells Yelena when she tries to go upstairs. “I’ve got this.”
“You can’t keep me from her,” Yelena tells him with a sneer. “Get out of my way.”
“She doesn’t want to be touched when she’s like this,” Clint warns her.
“Then I won’t touch. She’s my sister. Get out of my way,” Yelena tells him. Clint doesn’t get out of her way but guides Yelena upstairs.
Natasha is doing ballet in the bedroom. Yelena recognizes the set she does. There’s the blank look on her face that Yelena knows means she currently is stuck in her own head.
Yelena moves into the room, shoving Clint off when he tries to grab her shoulder.
Yelena says nothing but watches for a few more seconds before falling into the set with her sister. She hums the music that they used to play under her breath. She figured that Natasha felt some need to finish the set before Yelena could even try to talk to her.
It was quiet as Yelena continues to mirror her sister’s every move. When they finish the set they both wait with their arms poised over their heads. Yelena slowly starts humming the next song that played for the next set and moved to start that one. Natasha barely hesitates before following her movements.
Good. That meant she was listening.
Yelena guides her through two more sets until she turns to look at her sister and finally reaches her hand out. “You’ve been stuck in your head, Natasha. I want you to grab my hand.”
Natasha makes no sign that she even heard her but Yelena patiently waits with her hand outstretched.
Natasha’s hand finally moves and gently sets itself onto Yelena’s hand.
“Good,” Yelena brings her sister’s hand up and gently kissed her fingertips. “Would you like to dance the final set?”
It was quiet for a few moments before Natasha nods. Yelena pressed one more kiss to her sister’s hand before letting it go and getting into position. She hums the music quietly and they dance to the strict set ingrained in their brains.
They barely finish before Natasha turns and looks at Yelena.
Yelena reaches out and Natasha moves forward toward her touch this time. Yelena wraps her arms around her big sister, feeling the older woman sag against her tiredly.
“I think the last time we danced together was in Ohio,” Yelena murmurs, reaching up to stroke her sister’s copper hair. “Remember? I think I kept trying to change the music because I found classical to be too boring.”
Yelena didn’t even remember the memory until a few moments ago. But she feels Natasha slowly nod her head and continues.
“Wish we had a radio. I’m a horrible singer. Man, I can’t even sing very well,” Yelena continues, holding her sister tightly as she sways in place.
“A radio?” Natasha’s voice cracks when she finally speaks.
“Or whatever it is people use these days. A phone or whatever,” Yelena dismisses but she smiles when she feels Natasha give a small huff of laughter. “What happened?”
Natasha gives a small shrug and Yelena drops the subject, tilting her head to the side when she feels Natasha nuzzle her face into her neck and inhale deeply.
It’s quiet, the only sound was their breathing. Yelena could feel Natasha’s heart beating quickly from where it was pressed against her chest.
“I love you,” Yelena tells her, continuing to stroke her fingers over her hair. “Forever and always.”
Natasha lets out a long breath of air. “I love you too, little one.”
“It usually takes you hours to come out of that,” Clint comments from where he had been standing in the doorway to keep everyone safe. “She brought you out of that in an hour tops.”
“The music…” Natasha frowns. “The… dancing with someone. You knew the sets. You brought me through them faster.”
“We can just teach Clint ballet,” Yelena teased. “He’d probably look good in a tutu.”
Natasha lets out a small huff of laughter against Yelena’s collar. “For an assassin, he’s not that graceful.” She murmured.
Yelena laughs and glances at Clint who was grinning.
“Did you pull anything?” Yelena glances back at Natasha. “Stitches or anything?”
“No,” Natasha shakes her head and Yelena trusts that she’s not lying.
“Right,” Clint claps his hands together. “I dunno about you but I could use some comfort food. What do you say that we get out of here and go grab greasy food?”
“Where’s MJ?” Yelena questioned.
“She went with Laura and the kids,” Clint replies. “She’ll be okay without for another hour or two.”
Yelena hesitates but then nods because her sister needed her more. “M’kay.”
It takes only a few moments for them to pull their shoes on and head to the truck in the driveway. It’s only supposed to hold two people but Yelena squishes in the middle, only minding a little that Clint was pressed right up against her side.
The road was quite bumpy on the way to town, Natasha’s jaw clenched and she grips Yelena’s hand because she wasn’t quite healed yet.
They end up at a small place that serves pancakes twenty-four-seven. It is eerily similar to the diner Yelena and MJ went to.
Yelena slides into the booth on Natasha’s side, Clint sitting opposite of them. Yelena glances around warily as a waitress sets their menus down.
Yelena briefly glances over it before setting it down and telling Natasha to choose for her because American’s come up with the dumbest names for things.
Natasha laughs and Clint starts to read aloud the choices and what they were to Yelena as if he were trying to decide himself what he wanted. Yelena appreciates the subtle attempt to help.
Yelena gets some chocolatey concoction of pancakes and was doing okay until some kid shoved their glass of milk off of the table and it shattered on the ground.
Yelena flinches, curling in on herself as she tries to remind herself that it is not a gunshot. Just a broken glass.
She manages not to have a full-blown panic attack but she does dart into the bathroom and calls MJ just to remind herself that she’s okay.
MJ doesn’t hesitate to describe her surroundings and what she was doing with the other Barton’s, taking Yelena’s mind off of things and reassuring her that she was safe.
Natasha comes in a few moments after she hangs up the phone and Yelena leans against her inside the cramped bathroom.
Natasha doesn’t Yelena if she’s okay. She instead asks “Do you want to leave?”
Yelena shakes her head. “I can finish.” She replies. “I just needed a minute.”
Natasha kisses her forehead and hums quietly and Yelena takes a moment to ground herself.
They are set to head back in two days where they would have a day to recover before going to Wakanda.
Apparently, the head scientist was an eighteen-year-old girl named Shuri who adapted some tech that Tony gave her to help free James from mental triggers and conditioning.
If anyone knew not to judge someone based on their age, it was Yelena. She only hoped that Shuri and Wakanda really could help her.