𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 | ᶜᵒᵐᵖˡᵉᵗᵉᵈ

𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 ▸𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 & 𝒚𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒂

"Fanny!" cried Yelena, stopping in the middle of the road, looking around. The hound seemed to bark in response, instead of running back to her. "Fanny, what are you doing?" the woman muttered to herself, thrusting her hands into her pockets and following. When the sound of footsteps reached Fanny, she raised her head and pricked her ears. She watched closely as the woman approached her, and when Yelena reached for her collar, Fanny ducked her head and ran merrily away from her. Yelena smiled only slightly and bent down to make a small snowball out of the snow. She put on an innocent expression, and Fanny barked as if urging her to try something if she had the courage. The woman smiled in amusement and gently threw the snowball at her, and Fanny, as if she thought it was a ball, jumped up and caught it in her mouth. Then she shook her head and began licking herself, snow all over her nose. When Yelena saw her, she laughed.

"Come on, you dummy," Yelena said, patting her thigh as she moved on. The dog barked at her, then sprinted after her, sending the snow flying. When she caught up with her, she started bouncing around, snarling playfully at her, and jumping up at her now and then, almost knocking her out in the snow for the first time. "You like that, huh?" Yelena snarled back at her, and Fanny barked. The woman grabbed her quickly in her arms and then, laughing, fell with her into the snow. The dog squirmed in her arms, yapping in frustration, but eventually began to lick her face lovingly. Yelena threw snow at her and get up to her feet. Snow was everywhere, both she and her pet. She probably won't be able to drag out her visit with her sister for very long, lest they both catch a cold.

The memory of Natasha hurt her again, and her good humor began to fade again. Yes, they hadn't seen each other in years, and after a while, Yelena was coming to terms with the idea of never seeing her sister again, but then Natasha showed up and she got back everything she wanted. But for how long? Natasha was last seen after the destruction of the Red Room. At the time, they both believed it wouldn't be the last time they would see each other. But then this Thanos came along and wiped out half of humanity. Yelena was among them. And when she returned, she found that five long years had passed and that her sister had died. She sacrificed herself for the world. And Yelena couldn't believe how quickly she lost everything again. This wasn't fair.

"Fanny, come here, easy, girl!" she shouted, as the dog ran off, suddenly cheerful. Yelena whistled, but the dog made no response. With a sigh, she picked up her pace, and in a few moments, she saw where and why Fanny had been in such a hurry. For a young man was kneeling by one of the graves, and the dog, always curious, had to come with him at once. "Fanny!" yelled Yelena a second before Fanny playfully leaped at him. The young man yelped, shocked for a few moments, but then he laughed hesitantly, and Fanny, standing on his chest with her front paws, began to lick his face eagerly. Yelena ran toward them.

"Jeez, I'm so sorry, she doesn't normally do that," she apologized hurriedly when she showed up, grabbing Fanny's collar, pulling her away from the young man. Then she held out her hand to help him to his feet. Surprised to find he was even younger than her, he looked like he was still in high school. "You okay?" she asked him carefully.

With thanks to her, he accepted her hand and rose to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've seen worse, believe me," he smiled amiably at her, then bent to scratch the dog's ears. "She's cute. I'd like a dog, too, but I don't think my aunt would like that very much."

"Well, I had to wait until I could get my wish, too," Yelena said, and when she was sure Fanny wouldn't freak out again, she let her go. The dog sniffed the young man quickly before running away from them and exploring the area. Yelena was gasping for more to say when she caught sight of the name on the tombstone. She had no idea they'd made it here ... She looked at the young man a little incredulously. "You ... you knew Natasha Romanoff?"

He smiled somewhat ruefully. "Honestly, the whole world should know her name." Then he put his hands in his pockets and stared at Natasha's tombstone. His eyes glittered. "I guess I can't say I knew her, but . . . yeah, I met her. We fought together. Like on a team, not against each other-"

"What are you, fifteen? Aren't you a little young to be a superhero?" she couldn't keep up the nagging remark, but as soon as she said it, she regretted it. "Sorry, this was... this was stupid. Forget it."

He shrugged his shoulder and looked at her. "Well, sometimes you can't choose when to be a superhero. And if you want to become one at all. If you want to live a normal life more..."

She sighed. "Yeah, you're right," she said bitterly. What she would give to live a normal life with her parents, with her sister. She didn't want to become Black Widow.

He held out his hand to her. "I'm Peter, by the way," he finally introduced himself.

Yelena hesitated for a moment, then accepted his hand. "I am Yelena." She did not miss his inquisitive glance. "I'm her sister. Stepsister."

Peter looked astonished. "I didn't know Natasha had a sister."

"Well, I'd be surprised if you knew. She didn't tell people on sight. Things were complicated between us. And when it finally settled . . . we didn't get a chance to continue our relationship."

"I'm sorry," Peter said, and he could be heard to be sincere. Yelena nodded.

"Thanks for coming to see her."

"Yeah, well . . . I thought I'd . . . come and see them, since it's Christmas. To see her, Mr. Stark..." To see mum and dad, Uncle Ben. He wiped his damp nose with the back of his hand.

"No. I do that, too. It's normal to want to be with them on days like this. Even if this is the only way we can be with them," she said quietly. "Is it silly?"

"No. I do that, too. It's normal to want to be with them on days like this. Even if this is the only way we can be with them," she said quietly.

He nodded. "Do you have a family? Because no one should be alone at Christmas. Hey, I have an idea! I'm going to stop at the base today, so why don't you come with me? At least you'll get to know the other Avengers, they're all very nice-"

"I don't know if that's a good idea . . ."

"Please! I'd blame myself if I said goodbye to you and left, even though I know you'll be alone today." He saw her draw a breath and raise his index finger. "Fanny doesn't count."

She sighed. She didn't want to do it. But then an idea occurred to her . . . "So you're an Avenger, huh?" she asked with a slight smile, feeling her heart race as he nodded proudly. She took a deep breath and asked as casually as she could, "You must know Hawkeye, too . . ."