Chapter 33
Yelena noticed the stares of the other Widows as she and Melina go through photo albums.
Melina was open to the idea of copying some pictures to give to Yelena. In exchange, Yelena gave her one of the photos she had taken of Natasha with a genuine carefree expression on her face.
It wasn’t that the stares bothered her. She knew that there was a reputation around her.
Yelena Belova, The White Widow, the youngest child assassin to date and the only surviving member of her section of Widows. She was the youngest and known for her ruthlessness and callousness when disposing of those that were unlucky to call themselves her enemy.
The long line of Widows ended with her because she was Dreykov’s perfect creation.
Natasha had picked up on the staring too. Yelena could see her sister give a warning glare to anyone that stared at Yelena for more than a few seconds.
Yelena finally spots the Widow that had saved her from Alexei and pulls away from the stacks of photos that she and Melina were sorting through. “Is something wrong? You’ve passed by this room five times.”
The Widow glances away from her. “I’m doing parameter sweeps.” She replies quietly.
Yelena raised an eyebrow. “And that requires you to walk by the living room five times in the past hour?”
The Widow gives a wry grin. “The Red Guardian.”
Yelena can’t help but stiffen at the name and the Widow gives a small nod.
“See? That is why,” The Widow replies and Yelena blinks in confusion.
“What is why?” Yelena tilts her head to the side.
The Widow reaches out toward her and Yelena flinches, Natasha quickly moving between them and pinning the Widow to the wall.
“That’s is why,” The Widow doesn’t look at all affected that she was pinned to the wall. “You came here yesterday very excited and now every move makes you flinch. The Red Guardian pinned you down onto the couch.”
Yelena tugs Natasha away from the Widow. “I still don’t think I’m following.” She admits.
“You are one of us,” The Widow tells her. “You saved us and broke us free. We owe you a great debt, White Widow.”
“White Widow?” Natasha repeats, glancing at Yelena. “I thought everybody was a Black Widow.”
“No, no. Not her.” The Widow looks down at Yelena. “She was special. Dreykov’s favorite.”
Yelena curls in on herself at the mention of his name and the Widow frowns.
“I have passed the living room five times in the past hour because I have been taking shifts with other Widows to keep the Red Guardian away.” The Widow tells her before kneeling in front of Yelena. “We owe you our lives, White Widow.”
Yelena can feel her face go bright red. “Please don’t kneel for me. You’re a person, just like I am.”
The Widow springs to her feet and wraps her thin arms around Yelena. “You are much too kind for what Dreykov has done to you.”
Yelena lets the Widow hold her close, glancing at Natasha who was stiff and ready to intervene at any moment. “I am more than the person that Dreykov made me. My name is Yelena Fyodorovna Belova. I am sixteen and I like photography. I one day want to get a dog.”
The Widow grins at her widely before letting her go. “My name is Anastasia. I am twenty-seven and I watched you grow up in the Red Room.”
Yelena looks up at her with a small smile. “What do you want to do with your life, Anastasia?”
Anastasia gives a shy smile. “I want to be a mechanic.”
Yelena looks down at the top the woman wore. “I like your sweater.”
Anastasia looks down at the brightly colored sweater that hurt Yelena’s eyes. “Thank you. It’s the first piece of clothing that I bought and it’s mine.”
Yelena’s eyes light up. “The first piece of clothing I bought was a green vest and it had so many pockets!”
Yelena isn’t all that surprised when Toni tells her that she plans on traveling with them. While a lot of the Widows apparently respected and felt some sort of obligation to protect or serve Yelena, they despited Toni merely for who her father was.
Yelena is there to watch as Melina signs her name along the dotted line on the guardianship papers before sliding them toward Alexei.
Alexei had no less than four Widows between him and Yelena as a barrier. He glares at Natasha and huffs as he picks up the pens and accidently snaps it in half in his anger. Ink coats his hand and his shirt and he lets out an angry yell.
Natasha pulls Yelena close to her and Yelena lets herself lean into the hold.
Alexei cleans up and is handed another pen. He scrawls his name sloppily across the line and all but shoves the papers at the girls. Yelena collects them up, glancing at the two people she had once considered her parents before looking up at her sister.
Natasha smiles down at her warmly and Yelena’s grin grows as realization sets in. She can’t help but bounce before turning and throwing her arms around her sister’s neck. “Look, look!”
“I see,” Natasha mused, wrapping her arms around her and Yelena is too excited to care.
“You can adopt me now!” Yelena tries to whisper but she’s too excited to contain herself. She doesn’t think she’s ever felt such joy before.
Her whole body feels like it’s vibrating and she thinks that she might understand now what MJ meant about happy tears.
Natasha grins, Yelena’s joy infectious as she pulls her closer. “We can’t do anything without Tony, he’d throw a fit if he wasn’t there.”
Yelena tilts her head back and lets out a laugh because she’s just so happy.
Sure, they still have to deal with Ross and the Rogue Avengers and Hydra, but right now Yelena is happy.
Yelena Fyodorovna Belova was going to finally be her sister's. She was finally going to have the stability and support that she had so desperately craved all of her life and nobody could do anything to stop her.