Beneath the wreckage (Natasha Romanoff X reader)

Ireland

32 HOURS EARLIER; BELGIUM:

"Target is on the move, I'm going in."

"Natasha, no. You'd be going in completely blind."

"Too late, almost to the door."

"Идиот! Just wait, I'll be there in a minute."

"Breaching in 3...2..." A loud thud sounded through the comms, followed by a series of grunts and a flurry of gunshots. Yelena ran toward the apartment as fast as she could, but she would never make it in time. She could tell by the sounds of struggle through the comms that there had been more Widows than they anticipated. 'She's going to get herself killed. This is why you don't go in blind,' Yelena thought to herself as she sprinted up the stairs in the apartment complex.

The gunshots no longer rang out through her earpiece, and Yelena's stomach dropped at the possibility of losing Natasha right after she finally got her back.

"Natasha, what is your status? Say something, dammit! Natasha!"

Yelena stormed through the front door and raked her eyes over the apartment. There were three unconscious Widows laying on the ground. She saw a blob of red hair on the kitchen floor from the corner of her eye, but she refused to look, afraid of what she might see. She quickly checked the small apartment for threats before hastily making her way into the kitchen. She knelt down beside the unconscious woman and her hands hovered over her sister's body, afraid of making anything worse.

She quickly snapped out of her hesitancy and put pressure on the gunshot wound. It was bleeding a lot, but not so much that Natasha was going to bleed out (well, as long as she got medical attention). She carefully rolled Natasha onto her side to check for an exit wound- there wasn't one, which meant the bullet was still buried somewhere inside Natasha's abdomen.

She grabbed some kitchen towels and quickly tied them around Natasha's stomach in a makeshift bandage. Yelena dragged the passed-out Widows into one pile and cracked a vial of the Red Dust over their heads- there was now only one vial remaining.

She returned to Natasha's side and repeatedly tapped her cheek, trying to wake her up. After a few fairly hard slaps, Natasha's eyes fluttered open, a pained groan immediately falling from her lips.

"Good morning, сестра. Nice of you to finally join the land of the living. I'm going to pick you up now. I need you to work with me here," Yelena said as she awkwardly wrapped one of Natasha's arms around her shoulders. Without any warning, she lifted Natasha until she was standing, not that the redhead could support much of her own weight.

"Oh! Fuuu..." Natasha's exclamation of pain trailed off into a groan that almost sounded like a whine.

"Oh, suck it up. If you had just stuck to the plan, we wouldn't be in this situation," Yelena grumbled as they slowly made their way out of the apartment.

"Well, I got to the Widows, so it didn't turn out horribly."

"You got shot in the stomach! The bullet is still inside you! You're going to need surgery, Natasha. I really don't think Mason knows how to work a scalpel. And it's not like we can just waltz into a hospital- we're still fugitives, remember." After the fall of the Red Room, Ross had let them get away, but he wouldn't clear their names. Something about it damaging his reputation.

"Just give me a minute to think of something, Yelena." The blonde gave a tilted nod and muttered 'okay'.

It was quiet the whole way back to the vehicle. Yelena laid her older sister down in the backseat before climbing in the front. "So where to?"

"I know someone, an old friend. She'll be able to do the operation and give us a place to lay low. She might even be able to replicate the counteragent."

"It's called the Red Dus-"

"Oh, will you shut up? I'm not calling it that," Natasha complained, cutting her off.

"It's catchy and you know it. So do I get a name or are you going to be all mysterious and vague?"

"I happen to think 'mysterious and vague' is fun."

"Seriously? You're not gonna tell me anything about this woman? Do I know her?"

Natasha hesitated before answering. "You used to. We both did. Drive us back to the safehouse, the information is all there."

Knowing that she wouldn't get any more information at the moment, Yelena put the car in drive and started toward the safehouse. The Widows in the area had been much more active lately, so the Russian duo was planning on moving again soon, anyway. They were fairly certain that the Widows had been tracking them. Natasha and Yelena had freed countless Widows already, but there were still many left.

After a short drive, Yelena pulled up to the safehouse. She turned around to face Natasha, and was met with closed eyes and shallow breathing. "Natasha? Are you awake?"

"Mhm," she hummed, "I don't think I can get inside the safehouse. Just help me into a different vehicle and go in by yourself."

"Okay, fine," Yelena replied shortly. She exited the vehicle and broke into an SUV with dark-tinted windows. She walked back to the car and half-carried Natasha into the SUV, laying her down in the same position as before.

"There's a cardboard box- a little smaller than a shoebox. It has a letter and a burner phone inside. That's what we need. It's hidden beneath the floorboards under my bed; grab it and get out."

"Got it. Just stay here and don't move. I really don't need you bleeding out on me while I'm gone," Yelena said with a smirk before closing the car door.

She entered the small apartment and went directly to the shared bedroom. There were only two small twin beds with rock-hard mattresses, but it was better than nothing. She knelt down beside Natasha's bed and wiggled the loose floorboard out. She reached inside and felt around, pulling out a cardboard box. She quickly opened it to confirm its contents, then shut it and left the room.

She grabbed the emergency duffle bag with food, medical supplies, identities, and weapons, as well as a bottle of vodka, before leaving the safehouse. She walked back to the SUV at a careful pace; fast enough to save time, but not fast enough to raise suspicion.

She climbed into the driver's seat and threw the box and duffle bag next to Natasha. "There you go. Fix yourself up a little bit while I drive. Speaking of which, where the hell am I going?"

Natasha handed Yelena the slip of paper from the box and said, "There should be a safehouse at those coordinates, as well as someone we can trust."

"The mysterious and vague woman?"

"Yeah, her. Drive to the private airport on the edge of town, I have a small plane parked there for emergencies. They won't question you about anything. Stop in the UK to fuel up- there are reliable airports marked on a map inside the plane. Then fly to Ireland and land as close as possible to those coordinates, even if it means a controlled crash. The forest is dense in that area, so we'll have to finish it on foot. If I pass out and you need to leave me behind, do it. The important thing is that you get-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. What the hell are you talking about, Natasha? I'm not going to leave you anywhere. And why are you talking like you're going to die?" Yelena was trying desperately to keep her voice from breaking, but it trembled, nonetheless. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was shaking her head in disbelief.

"We both know I might not make it out of this, Lena. Even if I do, chances are I'll pass out pretty soon from blood loss. Just remember everything I told you, okay?"

The blonde huffed out a sharp breath before saying, "Okay."