Pulling Me

Part Twenty-Seven: You Again

(11:47 pm)

unknown
Are you here?

"Of course I'm here. How are you an Avenger again? Did my sister teach you nothing?" Yelena stated as she descended from her rope hung off the top of the building.

He rolled his eyes as he watched her, "I'm not afraid of you so I'm not on edge or worried." Clint knew that no matter what, Yelena really was harmless in the end. He didn't believe she wanted to do any of this. There was something much larger at play here. "So tell me what the hell is going on."

She planted her feet on the ground and allowed her rope to retract back into her belt. "What are we talking about?"

"Don't fuck with me, Yelena. You know what I'm talking about. Why are you doing this? I thought when we had our conversation that you'd realize whoever you were working for was on the wrong side."

Yelena dusted her hands off and huffed, "It's all I've ever known, Clint. How else am I supposed to survive? Get a normal job? With what fucking degree?"

He stepped forward, eyes narrowing as he tried his best to grasp all of her attention. Clint was begging her to hear him and genuinely listen for once, "You can come work with us. I'll put in a good word. We can get you turned around like we did Nat."

The sound of her sister's name made her stomach flip. SHIELD had taken her in and now might be offering the same thing. "Is this from you or from the organization itself?"

"It's from me but I'm the one who got Nat with us. I can do it again. She was the best of us. I know that they'd listen to me and they would take note of you being her sister."

She thought about it. If she worked for SHIELD, she'd be protected as well. She could start a new life... She could be with Y/N without worries. Maybe they'd never even have to know about this.

"Do you know Y/N?"

"Not well, no. I met them this morning though," her breath hitched at his response. Fuck, she thought.

Yelena cleared her throat, "Do... do they know? About this? About me?"

His head tilted down. Everything was making sense to him now. Why she hadn't finished the job. Why Y/N had darted out of the compound and left so quickly. Part of him was thankful while another part of him knew this was just going to make everything infinitely more difficult if it didn't go according to the plan he'd set up with Nick and Maria that morning.

She hadn't finished the job yet because of her feelings for them and they left so quickly because of their feelings for her. He could see the pain building in her face, "They do, yes. They were briefed this morning but left before anyone could really talk to them about it. It looked like they were really distraught with the news."

Her hand covered her mouth as she turned slightly. They hadn't at all acted as though they'd known on their date... but maybe that's why they were so quiet. Maybe that's why they acted differently after she'd said she was theirs... Because they didn't believe her.

It was starting to crash down around her and she had no idea what to do now. If they were really upset, they wouldn't have taken her on that date, right? They wouldn't have done what they did in the cab or at dinner. They wouldn't have gone to break things off with Kate when she asked.

Clint grabbed her hand to shift her attention, "Just come with me. If you come with me willingly to SHIELD, we can get this all turned around for you. We can keep you and Y/N safe."

That's all she wanted, but her worries were clouding her now. The people who'd contracted her were not as easy to take down. She'd been briefed before the mission about Wanda and everything she'd done. Yelena didn't really care, but she was shocked to see all that she'd lost at the hands of these people.

Maybe they would be safe with SHIELD, but at what cost? Would they have to hide for the rest of their lives? Would Y/N ever really trust her?

"Can I think about it?" she asked, "Let me talk to Y/N before we get this all settled, please."

He smiled, "They seem pretty special to you." More than you could ever imagine, she thought. Yelena was still unable to even piece together why they were so special. She and Y/N hadn't spent much time together, but there was something there. A spark, maybe? She'd heard that in movies before but thought it was bullshit.

Her eyes traveled down and followed the cracks in the sidewalk, "I don't know what it is. I've never had this problem before. I just... How did I go from being contracted to murdering them to falling for them?"

Clint watched as her eyes looked around and tried gathering her thoughts, "Because you're a good person, Yelena. You always have been. You and your sister. It's unfortunate what you two went through, but you're not that person anymore and you know it." She nodded as he continued, "and maybe it took you meeting Y/N to realize this and that's fine. Just come with me... Let us help you now."

"After I talk with Y/N, I promise I will," she finally looked up and met his eyes, "I need to make sure I set this all straight and I want them with me when we head out. I need to make sure they're safe." He nodded. Understood what she was getting at.

As he went to respond, wheels squealed down the street. They both looked down and noticed a black SUV speeding toward them. "Clint, that's them. We have to go." But as she went to run, someone came from behind her. An arm was locked around her neck. She kicked back as hard as she could, but whoever stood behind her felt like stone.

Clint tried jumping for her, but the man flung his gun at just the right spot on Clint's head. He was knocked out immediately.

Yelena continued struggling until the grip around her neck caused her to pass out. The tree stump of a man carried her into the SUV that pulled up next to them. He sat her in the back seat and made sure the doors were locked so that she could not escape.

As he was closing the door, Clint was starting to come to again. His eyes blinked hard trying to reorient himself to where he was. Looking up, he saw the man throw Yelena into the back seat before he heard him speak to the driver, "Secured. Off to Bishop's apartment."

He tried to stand before they left, but couldn't make it up. Rolling over and flipping his phone out, he called Kate as quickly as he could. She answered within seconds, "Hello?"

Clint spent no time beating around the bush and did not allow Kate to speak at all, "They took Yelena. They're on their way to you for Y/N. Get out of there, now. I'll have SHIELD track your phone and meet you. Just go, NOW!"