A Shot in the Dark - Yelena Belova

девять (Nine)

2009

Okay, and now, back to the romantic side of things - finally.

It hadn't always been romantic between them. Not at the start. But Sascha and Yelena quickly grew close.

"Yelena's taken a great liking to you," Melina told Sascha one day.

"да?"

"да. She can curl up into a shell of doubt, but you help pull her out of that."

She left Sascha smiling.

"Compared to you, I'm a dinosaur," Sascha later remarked to the blonde. 

Yelena snorted at the comment.

"It's true. They do say out with the old and in with the new."

"And?" Yelena rested her head on her hand. "What if I like the old?"

Sascha laughed.

Yelena continued to stare at her from across the table. "What about Tatiana? What dreams did she have?"

Sascha answered without hesitation - one didn't just lose sight of their dreams, even if it wasn't exactly what they still desired. "She wanted to be an inventor. She worked in a factory before the army, building things. She was also training to be a ballerina."

"Oh?"

"да. She worked in the factory to pay for her dance training. The Room liked that. Good cover."

"And, do you still want that?"

"I don't know to be honest, that was so long ago."

"Well clearly you love your modern technology."

"That I do. But, there was no time for those things, those dreams, not after I joined the Room. After that I was a soldier during the Second World War, then an intelligence officer and spy during the Cold War. War war war. There seems to always be some sort of war going on, in some form or another," 

"Well, not here. Don't worry, we're safe here," Yelena said as though she could read Sascha's mind. "It's home." 

"Still you can never be too safe."

"Don't I know it." 

Sascha winced suddenly then and pressed a hand over her forehead, eyes squeezed shut tight.

"Are you okay?" Yelena asked.

"да. It's a mind thing, something I've had, well, always it seems. And ever since I joined the Room."

"A mind thing?"

"The serum and experiments messed with my mind even more. I see things sometimes - like memories, but not. Well, some like memories, да, but others more like visions... I know, it sounds silly."

"No, not silly. And you're clearly in a lot of pain."

"I'm used to it - or I should be."

"No one should be used to pain." And by the way she spoke, the way she said it, Sascha could tell Yelena had experienced a lot of her own pain. 

This came up again, the 'mind thing', one night a couple of weeks later. Sascha was up in the middle of the night.

"I'm sorry if I woke you," she said softly into the darkness. 

Yelena hadn't been able to sneak up on her, she had always known she was there. She emerged from the shadows.  "You didn't. How long have you been up?"

Sascha shrugged into the darkness. "An hour, maybe. Maybe more." 

Yelena then nodded to the items spread out before Sascha on the table. "Vodka and sleep medication - an interesting combination, especially at this time of night."

"I cannot get drunk, you don't need to worry-"

"Well I am worried - alcohol and medicine is not a good combination for anyone, even a super soldier." She slid into the seat beside Sascha at the table. "Do they help?"

"I don't know. I've had this long before the serum. It only enhanced them, the visions."

"Made them clearer?"

"Not clearer, more frequent. They're still vague as ever... I may never know what they are or what they mean, or where they come from." She shrugged. "Though they give me one hell of a time while I'm trying to sleep. They're always the worst then."

There was a pause before Yelena said, "Can I try something?"

"да."

She reached out towards Sascha. "Do you trust me?"

They were very close now, able to feel one another's soft breath against each other's faces. 

Sascha's voice was low and quiet when she spoke, barely audible, but Yelena heard her. "да."

Yelena's soft and gentle fingertips touched either side of Sascha's head. Their touch lingered there for a moment before they began to move, Yelena rubbing slow circles on Sascha's temples. 

"Hmm..." The read-head couldn't help it when she hummed in approval.

"Feels nice?"

"да. It's helping."

"Good. I'm glad."

"Where did you learn it?"

"Melina taught me. Good for headaches. And good for bad dreams too, it seems."

"Yes, that too. Thank you, Yelena."

"Any time, Sascha. And I mean it. You don't need to be in pain. No one does."

Sascha nodded and gazed around them at the dark room, the dark kitchen. "This is not a painful place. It is good."

Yelena smiled.  "It's home."

Sascha smiled back. "да, I think it could be."  

Russian Translations

да - Yes 

(Exciting news: I'm seeing the movie tonight! :D So that means I will be able to update this story more regularly, yay! And don't worry, I'll make sure to put a warning  about spoilers.

On that note, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) See you soon for the rest of the story, and thank you again for sticking with me and being so patient throughout it all, I really appreciate it! :))