IVANOV ~ yelena belova

𝟎𝟐𝟓

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗵𝗶 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲! 𝗶'𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘀𝗼 𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹 𝗪𝗮𝗿.

𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐂𝐎

Morocco's buildings were bathed in the vibrant colours of the sun. The black concrete sizzled as the paint on the building's exterior walls cracked. The blue sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds that drifted lazily in the gentle breeze as the blazing midday sun shone relentlessly on the blonde assassin.

Yelena, on the other hand, felt at ease, as if the tight black suit wasn't restricting her breathing or causing warm droplets of sweat to form on her brow. She was at peace as she looked through the eyepiece of her sniper rifle. But Dreykov's orders were constantly ringing in her ears, never letting up.

She only wanted silence, but that was apparently too much to ask. She didn't have control over her mind or actions, not any more.

Due to the old building's roof, dust plumes brushed her fingers as she crouched down. The air smelled warm, and the taste of dry heat lingered in the back of her throat, but she didn't complain, she couldn't.

"Eyes on target. Waiting for the package," Yelena murmured, her gaze fixed on the building in front of her. "I have sights on collateral one. Firing in place of three. Five, four..." she continued but was cut off when an alarm in the building in front of her went off.

Chaos erupted as children screamed in terror. Something in Yelena told her to stop and abandon the mission. The voice sounded familiar, one she hadn't heard in a long time and one she wished she could hear in person. But she ignored it, the obnoxious ringing of the Red Room's orders drowning out the angel on her shoulder.

Instead, she indulged in the sensation of nothingness, with no guilt, fear, or pain. However, there was no happiness or love. But she didn't realise she was missing it, that the empty hole in her stomach could be filled and fixed.

As a result, she relished in the angel's voice on her shoulder before the devil would eventually triumph in the fight of good vs evil.

Evil won.

"She made us. Target deployed smoke. She's on foot with the package. Stay high. I'm going to ground," her partner's voice rang through the blonde's ear. Her 𝘯𝘦𝘸 partner. She couldn't seem to stay with the same one since she yearned for the one partner she couldn't have.

Yelena sighed as she stood up, tired of the sweltering heat and dusty air. She fastened her harness around her waist before descending the building horizontally onto the road below.

The street was rife with people, and Yelena stood out like a sore thumb. But she didn't seem to mind as she stepped out onto the road, whipping her head around frantically in search of the target.

A car horn blared loudly in front of her as it came to a screech, but she simply tapped the hood and slid gracefully out of the way. Yelena swung open the door, knocking the target off her feet, just as she was about to leave the building.

The black box containing her mission slid out onto the sidewalk. Yelena raised her eyes to the woman in front of her; the older woman seemed to be familiar, but her face appeared to have aged. But Yelena couldn't put her finger on who she was, too engrossed in the mission's adrenaline.

Yelena slid on her knees to retrieve the case, but the older widow outpaced her. She gripped the case before striking the blonde in the face, causing her to stumble back a little, yet she wished to have felt the throbbing pain instead of numbness.

Yelena took her knife from her boot and sliced her target's leg, causing her to groan in agony. The woman staggered away in an attempt to avoid the blonde assassin's venom.

They fought until the older assassin had Yelena by the hair, yanking it taut so she had to look at her. The older woman's eyes seemed to beg her to remember or at the very least recognise her.

Instead, Yelena grunted audibly and drove her dagger into the woman's stomach, twisting it harshly until she felt the satisfaction of having finished her target. She ripped her knife through her target's abdomen before pushing her away carelessly.

The blonde stumbled before regaining her footing and wiping the sweat from her brow. She rolled over the now-whimpering woman to retrieve the black case.

But she was met with a different result. The woman pressed a button, and red gas shot from the canister's end. The vibrant colours glinted in the sun as the red dust floated peacefully before attaching themselves to Yelena's face.

The blonde brushed her face in an attempt to remove the red dust that tickled her face, but when she breathed in, she was met with something different. It was as if she had just awoken from a fever dream that contained violent slashes and rivers of blood.

It was as if everything was new to her, as if she could see for the first time. And soon, the angel's voice on her shoulder became clearer, and she recognised it.

It was Karina. Karina was the one who convinced her that everything would be okay even when she felt nothing at all.

Yelena moved her head around, in search for her old partner, her friend, and the one she loved. But she was met with silence, Karina wasn't there. It hit her like a train wreck.

The bombing.

The feeling of Karina's warm hand in hers before they passed out.

And then nothing.

Yelena looked down, her eyes widening in terror at what she saw.

"Mariya?!" Yelena exclaimed, her voice trembled. As she looked at the Widow she had stabbed, the sob that had been building up in her chest erupted. The woman's warm familiar eyes returned Yelena's heartbroken stare, yet her gentle smile never left her lips.

"Yelena, it's okay," she whispered weakly as her eyelids began to droop.

"It's not, it's not okay," she repeated, pressing down on Mariya's open wound.

"This was all for Karina, for you," Mariya said, staring at the black case. "Find Karina for me. I know she's still alive," she pleaded weakly, gently squeezing Yelena's hands before her eyelids became too heavy for her to keep open.

As she kneeled in the middle of the street, Yelena's body trembled and her eyes couldn't seem to stop watering. Her hands refused to let go of Mariya's.

"I'm so sorry Karina."