meet me at our spot | n.r x oc | ✓

5 - total poser

[yelena's pov]

I'm sitting in a fucking vent, groaning as Stefaniya tightens the cloth around the wound on my arm. She pulls out an extra t-shirt from her backpack and tears off a piece, using it to clean up the blood that had trickled down to my fingertips.

"Thank you."

Stefaniya smiles.
"No need to thank me."

Natasha looks up from where she was staring through the metal grate to see the armored soldier jump through a tile into the floor below.

"You two okay?"

"Yeah, great plan. I love the part where I almost bled to death,"
I reply dryly.

Natasha rolls her eyes.
"Stefaniya?"

Stefaniya pulls out a piece of glass from her left thigh, quickly pressing the torn t-shirt to it.
"I'm good, thanks. And you?"

"I'm good."

"Good."

An awkward silence fills the air.

"This is cozy,"
I look around the vent.

"Barton and I spent two days hiding out up here."

"That must have been fun."

Stefaniya follows my gaze and we both look at the metal wall on top, filled with games of hangman and tic-tac-toe scrawled in permanent marker.

"Who the hell is that guy?"

"Dreykov's special project,"
I reply.

"He can mimic anyone he's ever seen. It's like fighting a mirror,"
Stefaniya adds.

"Dreykov only deploys him for top-priority missions."

Natasha shakes her head.
"That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, the truth rarely makes sense when you omit key details."
I make eye contact with Natasha.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You didn't say one word about Dreykov's daughter. You killed her."

Natasha nods.
"I had to. I needed her to lead me to Dreykov."

I see Natasha's eyes glaze over for a few moments, most likely reliving a memory of that day. I look at Stefaniya with concern. She reaches out and holds my hand, rubbing her thumb over my skin in the familiar way she has always done to comfort me.

"Dreykov's daughter was collateral damage. I needed her to be sure."

"And here you are, not so sure."

"I needed out,"
she explains.

Stefaniya nods sadly, understanding what Natasha meant. My heart aches, my mind filling with old memories.

"So, what's up with you two?"

Mine and Stefaniya's heads snap up at Natasha's blunt question.