Winter's Widow

Chapter 6: Challenges

"You good?" I cracked my eyes open to see Natasha standing over me as I lay flat on my back on the mat. This was the fifth time that she had knocked me over, and I was starting to lose patience. Two could play with tricks. I jumped to my feet, standing in a ready position waiting for her to make her move. As she approached, she spun in one direction, reaching out with her hand, attempting to pull it behind my back. I pressed my other palm to her hand, sending a surge of electricity through her – not enough to hurt her, but enough that she pulled her hand off of me immediately, eyes wide. "That's cheating." She smirked.

"What's cheating, Romanoff, is expecting me to face off in hand-to-hand combat with someone who knows every martial art in the world, who was trained to become an unstoppable assassin without using my skills." I teased. I instantly regretted my decision as Natasha's eyes went dark – almost as if the spark that made them shine so much was suddenly extinguished. She stared at the ground before turning and walking away from me.

"Natasha, wait!" I called after her. She just shook her head and kept walking. Shit.

A few hours later, I was aimlessly wandering the compound trying to get more familiar with it. That was a lie – I was lost. Again. The sound of a sudden scream jolted me out of my head. It was coming from somewhere close. I bolted towards the sound, not stopping to see if the door in front of me was locked or not before pushing it open and crashing into the door jam behind it. The crashing sound must have woken her, because Natasha sat bolt upright in bed, panting and covered in sweat.

"Natasha? Are you okay?" I took a few steps into the room before stopping myself. Was it rude to walk into someone's room? Natasha struggled to catch her breath for a few moments before looking at me and nodding. I looked away when I saw her wiping her cheeks, as though she didn't want me to see there were tears.

"I'm fine, can you just go?" I nodded and turned around slowly, heading back out the door. I paused, my hand resting on the doorframe. I didn't turn around as I spoke.

"I get them too." I heard Natasha's breath catch behind me, but she didn't respond. "Let me know if you need anything," I offered before exiting fully, pulling the door closed gently behind me.

The next morning, I was impressed with myself for managing to find the kitchen without assistance. Natasha was sitting at the counter, pocket knife in one hand, cereal spoon in the other. As she ate, I watched her carving something into the counters.

"Morning." She jumped. She must be really out of it if I was able to approach without her knowing I was there. She looked at me over her shoulder and I gave her a wide birth as I approached to pour myself a cup of coffee. We both started speaking at the same time.

"Kasey,"

"Natasha,"

We paused, chuckling softly. Then it happened again.

"I am really sorry for..."

"About yesterday, I wanted..." I stopped speaking, gesturing for her to continue. "I wanted to apologize for the way I reacted." I watched her speak, her eyes never leaving mine.

"Natasha, there's nothing for you to apologize for. I wasn't thinking, and I'm so sorry." She smiled and shook her head.

"Want to go get your ass kicked again?" She teased, gesturing in the direction of the training room. I smiled, took a long sip of my coffee before setting the empty mug down on the counter.

"In your dreams, Romanoff." Her smile widened.

"Whatever you say, Sparky."

...

Yelena looked surprised as I handed her the key to her room. "What is this?" Her voice was back to being gruff and untrusting.

"Your room key." I didn't think that it really needed much more explanation. I turned away from Yelena, heading towards the elevators, smirking slightly as she followed me. The ride up was in silence. She wouldn't even so much as look at me. We attempted to exit the elevator at the same time and our shoulders bumped together and we both sighed out of frustration in unison. Yelena rolled her eyes and made an exaggerated gesture for me to go first, so I complied. Our rooms were right next to each other. Yelena watched me carefully as I opened my room door, clearing her throat right before I stepped in.

"Don't get any ideas," she warned. I raised an eyebrow.

"The only thing I'm thinking of right now is sleep, Yelena. If you're that worried about it, our rooms have a connecting door so you can kill me if you think I'm hatching some sort of evil plan." I saw her jaw twitch and I couldn't tell if I had made her angry or if she was trying not to smile.

"Fine. See you in the morning." I grunted in response, entering the room and closing the door behind me. A moment later, I heard the click of the door next door opening and closing. I threw my hastily packed bag onto the chair and flopped backwards down onto the bed. I was starting to second-guess my decision, but it's what Nat would have wanted. I smiled at the thought of her, most likely about to yell at me for running off with her sister. But then she'd smile, elbow me in the side and whisper 'thank you' under her breath. My last thoughts before fading into unconsciousness were of the redhead and her smile. Sometimes I missed her so much that it hurt. Other times – like tonight - it was a pleasurable sensation that brought me comfort.

What felt like only minutes, but was probably a few hours, later I was jolted out of a dreamless sleep by the sound of screaming. I shot upright in bed, not bothering to grab any additional clothing before heading towards the connecting door to Yelena's room, where the screams seemed to be coming from. I knocked on the door, but I doubted she could hear me. "Yelena?" I called softly. No answer, just more screaming. I sighed, jolting the doorknob with electricity before crashing into it with my shoulder, practically falling into Yelena's room. I rushed to the side of her bed, seeing her thrashing around, hands clenched tight. I touched her shoulder, trying to wake her. "Yelena, wake up." When she still didn't respond, I added a small buzz of electricity and a more forceful shake. That was – apparently – a mistake. Within seconds, I was on my back on the ground, having been shoved off of the bed. I felt knees on my chest, and heard Yelena panting roughly above me. "Yelena, it's me," I said softly. I winced as her fist slammed into the side of my face right over a bruise that hadn't even fully formed yet from the last time she hit me. I hissed in pain, but reacted quickly enough to grab her fist in my hand as it came barreling towards my face again. "Yelena, stop." I spoke more forcefully this time, catching her other hand as well, holding them away from making contact. She shrieked and squirmed above me, trying to break free. I stared up into her wild eyes before jolting her strongly enough to – hopefully – snap her out of it. "Yelena!" I shouted. Her movement stopped instantly, and she looked down at me in horror.

"I'm sorry," she choked out before nearly falling off of me and scurrying to the other side of the room. I wiped the fresh blood from my face, gingerly getting to my feet.

"It's okay," I said softly. Her eyes were hesitant to meet mine. She almost looked guilty.

"I didn't mean to." I smiled and held my hands up, walking towards her.  At that moment, however, we both became fully aware of what I was - or wasn't - wearing.  Yelena stared at me in a crop top and my boyshorts and I watched her face turn crimson.  Mine wasn't far behind it.

I backed up slowly, heading towards the door and I heard the bed shift as she must have gotten back in.  I left, attempting to shut the broken door as much as I could behind me.

"Kasey?" The voice behind me was soft, and I turned to see Yelena leaning up on an elbow, looking at me intently.

"Yeah?"

"You can leave the door cracked," I started to smile, but then she finished her sentence. "In case I need to come beat your ass again?" I rolled my eyes, catching the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

"Fine. Softy." I muttered under my breath, laughing instead when I heard a pillow hit the wall beside me.