Project Vita Nova || Yelena x oc

Chapter 13

"What do you mean she survived?" Delick yelled, slamming his hands down on his desk.

"One...one of our sources spotted her arriving at an apartment complex in Virginia Beach." Dr. Anar flinched ever so slightly as he stammered through his report.

"Do you want me to eliminate her, sir?" Tren asked, snapping to attention at the offer.

"No, we can't touch her." Delick leaned back in his desk chair, eyeing Anar and Tren.

"What do you mean?" Anar quietly asked. When Delick didn't respond, Anar approached the desk with a new frustration. "What have you done now Delick?"

"We can't touch her because the council is still ordering me to capture 24 alive! They are still unaware of the attempt on her life." Delick said through gritted teeth.

"You didn't tell the council you tried to kill 24? You stabbed her in the stomach! You're lucky she's still alive or else you would soon be meeting her." Anar hissed, crossing his arms.

"I'm well aware of that!" Delick snapped, flinging several strands of spit in Anar's direction.

"I'll send a squad in, capture her and kill whoever is with her." Tren responded, obviously antsy to get involved in some action.

"No, we'll have her come to us." Delick's face twisted into his usual grin.

"Do you not remember what happened last time you suggested that?" Anar spat sarcastically.

"Last time we lured 24 and her friends into a trap. This time we let her and the Avengers think they're winning. Let them believe they have the high ground." Delick's grin widened as his mind began to formulate a plan.

*****

Two months went by since Valary was stabbed. Recovery was tedious and boring, but Valary didn't complain. She did as she was told and stayed in the apartment, never leaving the side of Yelena or Natasha.

The three of them rarely ever talk about what happened the day Valary got injured. Whenever the subject was brought up, Valary's mind always shut down and it would take several days for her to regain the energy to socialize again.

Delick and his goons seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. Fury had gone through the recovered data from the beginning of this whole situation, but never found anything that helped. He had Tony using high tech what-nots and tasked Steve with looking for Delick, but each lead they had come across always led to a dead end. But Fury and Avengers never stopped looking.

Natasha would often come and go from the apartment due to the fact that Fury would sometimes have her investigate nearby leads that could help in the investigation for Delick. Because of this, Yelena rarely left Valary's side.

The two became quite close very quickly. Early on, Yelena had banned Valary to bed for days so she could heal properly, only letting her get up for a few minutes to use the bathroom or stretch her legs. After a few days, Yelena would allow Valary to take small walks around the apartment. But she never left the injured girl's side, always making sure she was comfortable. A few weeks later, the cut Delick had given Valary on the face had healed, leaving a nasty scar that ran down the side of her face.

Valary was grateful for the quiet two months. It gave her time to think about everything that was going on, not just with Delick, but also everything going on in her mind. After twelve years of being alone to the devices of Delick, the two months with Yelena seemed like heaven. But Yelena brought up emotions in Valary that she had no idea existed. All too quickly, Valary realized that she still had the emotional range of an eleven year old, with the exception of fear and hatred. But she never talked about this to anyone, fearing the kind of conversation that would lead to.