Pulling Me

Part Twenty. You're Here

Yelena packed her things up and readied herself to head back to her apartment. She'd actually enjoyed the last night, but this text exchange showed her exactly what she needed to see. Y/N is a target and she needs to stay focused before she gets taken out herself.

Walking out the door of their apartment, she closed it behind her and checked to make sure it was locked. Why it mattered, she wasn't sure. She didn't want to care. She didn't care. At least, that's what she was telling herself. Locked or not, they probably wouldn't make it back anyway.

Down the hall, she felt herself beginning to worry. No matter how hard she tried not to care about Y/N, she couldn't stop thinking about them. Since the day they'd locked eyes in the coffee shop, she couldn't get them out of her head.

Touching them, kissing them... Those things made it all even harder. She could still feel the warmth of them on her lips and smell their shampoo on her shoulder from where they'd laid down on her just before heading to work. Her core still ached from the teasing they'd done and her mind was still riddled with the daydreams she'd had of them while they slept.

She made her way to the elevator, trying her best to shake the feeling. Continuing as an assassin isn't what she wanted, but it was all she knew. It was all she could do to stay alive. What was she supposed to do now? Her childhood was taken from her. This was all she had. 

Waiting as it clicked through each floor until it was finally there. The doors opened and a familiar face was standing there in front of her. "Yelena?!" Kate yelled, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Yelena smiled, "Kate Bishop. It's so good to see you again. How have you been? How's our friend Clint Barton?"

Kate's face fell into a smolder as she stared at the woman who was targeting the person she was falling for. She'd just gotten done seeing Mariah and was going to get some food to come back and surprise Y/N after work. Kate knew she hadn't been the best with communicating after they'd told her what Wanda had warned them about.

But now, as she stood across from the woman who she'd once thought she might befriend, her blood boiled. She thought Yelena was different. Once Clint had told Kate about Natasha, she had more empathy. Once Yelena had broken in front of her, explaining that her sister had saved the world, she tried to understand.

Innocent people, though? Clint was at least someone who was pegged to have murdered her sister. Y/N was... just an ex. They were the ex of Wanda Maximoff, barely. Years and years before. Why would she target them?

The elevator door closed as they sat in silence, the one thing Yelena was ridiculously good at compared to Kate. She wanted to fill it, ask questions, beg and plead for her to leave them alone.

Unfortunately, her nerves got the best of her. She thought about slamming all the elevator buttons again as she had a few weeks ago, but she didn't feel like wreaking havoc in Y/N's apartment building. She still hadn't even told them about her own deal with the Avengers, well Avenger.

Just before the doors opened, she finally spoke, "Just tell me why someone would send you after Y/N when you know they're innocent. Clint, I understand that now. You thought he killed your sister-" Yelena shot a glare at Kate, warning her to watch her words, "I.. I'm just saying. Y/N hasn't done a thing to you, to anyone. Why are you after them?"

Yelena's ribs expanded as she took a deep breath. How was she to explain her business to Kate? How she'd been contracted to eliminate Y/N but now was stuck thinking about her lips pressed on theirs? Stuck thinking about how her clothes would look on their floor? Stuck thinking about how they'd taste in the middle of the night? How was she supposed to explain her job when she couldn't even focus on it?

"Kate Bishop, I am begging you to stay out of things that have nothing to do with you."

Kate threw her hand up, "It has everything to do with me. I like Y/N, a lot. Their sister is my best friend, so it's not nothing to me. It's everything. They're everything."

Yelena's eyes squinted, trying to piece together all of her thoughts. Her pleading the night before was finally making sense. Were they an item? Was Yelena now an intruder on a relationship she had no idea about?

"You're dating Y/N?" she asked, quickly feeling her throat dry out. Why did she care? Why did it matter? They were a target and she was doing her job, but she hated cheaters.

Kate's eyes darted around, "Well.. no. Not dating, I don't know what we are. I don't even know if we're anything, I just know I like them. I know I want there to be more. I want the chance to even try, Yelena. You're taking that from me."

Little did Kate know that she was taking it from her in more ways than one. The pit in her stomach grew as she realized the weight of her mission. Taking them out would hurt so many people, but would it hurt anyone as much as it might hurt herself?

Her thoughts were circling faster and faster. Without responding to Kate, Yelena took off. Though Kate had inches on her and much longer legs, Yelena was fast. They hadn't even gotten a block down before Kate lost sight of Yelena.

She's used her grappler to reach the top of a building before Kate had turned the corner to see her. Now, on the rooftop, she laid down. Catching her breath, she tried to set her thoughts straight. What was she doing getting all wrapped up in a mission like this? Why did she even care that Kate had feelings for Y/N? Why did it bother her knowing that they might feel the same way?

Maybe she thought this would be different. She thought they could figure it out and maybe she wouldn't have to follow her contract. They could do this together, keep Y/N safe, and live a normal life.

But as she looked up at her phone and saw a text from Y/N, she closed her eyes and let her head hit the ground. Why did this have to be so hard? Why couldn't she just do what she was trained to do?

Another text came in; this time from Kate.

Kate Bishop
Please just think about what I
said Yelena. They're innocent
and you know that. They don't
deserve to die. You're better
than this. 

The thing was that she was thinking about what Kate said. She'd been thinking about it for days and after last night, she'd been dying to figure out why Y/N meant so much to her. She sighed before her phone buzzed again. Yet another text from Kate.

Kate Bishop
Natasha wouldn't
have wanted this for you.

Her breath caught in her throat. The nerve Kate had to say something like that almost threw her over the edge until she really let it sink in. Taking her mind off that, she quickly flipped over to the text from Y/N.

Y/N
Everything should be fine.
Can't say I'm excited about
losing time with you. I wanted
to finish what we started this
morning when I got home ;)

Her eyes shut, arm flinging over while her phone lay on the rooftop. This morning they'd come close to living through all Yelena's dreams from the night before. The memory replayed in her head as she lay there, alone.

Yelena
You owe me when you get
home then, don't you?

Y/N
Yes ma'am. Whatever you want.

Fuck, she thought. Fuck, fuck, fuck I am so horribly, terribly, and utterly fucked.