"Emotional pain cannot kill you, but running from it can. Allow. Embrace. Let yourself feel. Let yourself heal."
― Vironika Tugaleva
Kate padded into the command center. Her eyes moved from left to right and she looked over to the other door and saw Yelena's retreating form. "Lena?" She called out, a frown coming to her lips as the door slid closed.
"She's headed out on another mission, Kate." Sam said, watching her stutter step and come to a halt, her brown eyes turning towards him. Sam could see the questions and a hint of sadness staring at him. He took a deep breath and started his briefing.
Kate's eyes continued to travel towards the door throughout the speech.
>>>
Yelena's quinjet entered its final approach and the new Widow looked down at the planes, noticing that the larger team jet was already in its usual spot. "Widow 2-1, requesting permission to land."
The quinjet settled down on the pad and the ramp lowered slowly. Yelena could feel her heartbeat speeding up and she started to bounce on the balls of her feet. She peeked over the edge of the ramp and slowly relaxed as no hint of purple was awaiting her arrival.
"Damn, Belova! Why don't you just talk to her?" Bobbi Morse smiled as she passed the shorter woman, her boot heels tapping on the metal grate.
"Why don't you just talk to her?" Yelena sarcastically mimicked as the Mockingbird skipped down the ramp. She released a deep sigh and headed towards the command center. As she passed through the door, she heard Kate's voice calling at her. She resisted the urge to look back until the door slid close, blocking her view of the young brunette.
>>>
Kate was leaving her room as Bobbi caught her. "Hey, Hawkeye! Want to work out for a bit?"
Kate nodded, with no trace of joy on her face. "Fine."
>>>
Yelena stood, staring out over the grounds. "Kate Bishop, can we talk?" She was whispering to herself. "Kate Bish..." She stopped, shaking her head. "Kate? Can we talk?"
"Belova! You want to go head-to-head?" Bucky Barnes hollered as he walked onto the patio.
"Da!" Kate responded without emotion.
>>>
The large sliding doors opened with a whisper and Yelena's eyes widened as she watched Kate get shoved through the door across the room by a laughing Bobbi Morse.
"What the hell...oomph." She got out before she felt a metal arm rest itself between her shoulder blades and push her forward.
"You two can come out. After you talk." Bucky smiled as the door slid shut between them.
Kate stood stock still as Yelena growled and swore, in Russian, at the doors.
>>>
After fifteen minutes, Yelena stopped yelling and sat down, her back facing Kate. Her shoulders were tight, and she was breathing hard.
"Lena?" Kate whispered as she approached after another fifteen minutes.
Yelena tensed, almost as if she had forgotten Kate was in the room with her. "What?" She snapped and could actually feel Kate stop and back away.
"Sorry." Kate whispered, even lower this time. Then she backed up and headed towards the range. Yelena could feel the tension in the room thicken, and she dropped her head.
>>>
Yelena heard the arrows slicing through the air, another launching before she could hear the first strike the target. She turned her head, watching as Kate released arrow after arrow, almost faster than she could unload her pistol. Without thinking, she stood and moved towards the other woman, drawn by a feeling she just couldn't keep denying.
The last arrow left her quiver, and Kate didn't even watch its flight as she spun to grab more. Her eyes sprang open in surprise as she came almost face to face with Yelena. "What do you want?" She almost yelled, and stumbled back, dropping her bow.
"To say wow, Kate Bishop." Yelena smiled. "To apologize?" Her hands came together, and she started to pull on the fingers of her right hand. A nervous tick that none of the other Avengers had discovered yet.
Kate's eyes traveled down to Yelena's hands, and she reached out, then pulled back, afraid to break what seemed to be a fragile truce between them. "What did I do wrong, Lena?"
Yelena's breath caught at the pain in Kate's voice, and she choked back a sarcastic remark. "Nothing, dorogoy." She bit her tongue then, afraid to say more and her body tensed up.
Kate felt the tension, but instead of backing off, she marched forward. "Then why are you avoiding me?"
"Because..." Yelena started, then paused. "Because I think I'm falling in love with you, Kate Bishop." Yelena's lower lip was caught between her teeth, and she sucked in ragged breath. "That's why I've been avoiding you."
Kate's scowl turned into a smile. "Why didn't you just say so?" Her fingers reached down, grasping Yelena's hands. "Is falling in love with me such a bad thing?"
Yelena's downcast eyes rose up and met Kate's. "No, but..."
"Shut up, dorogoy." Kate smiled even harder at Yelena's reaction to her Russian. "I've been studying with Bucky."
"I'm sor..." Yelena stuttered.
"I said shut up, Lena." Kate then pulled her forward and all Yelena's worries melted away.
