Stranger Who Knows All My Secrets [A Marvel FanFic]

Chapter 27: Little Paris of the East

Normalcy or as normal as one could be when you defend the world for a living and yet life for Bucky no longer seemed to revolve around missions, in fact, now they were just the interlude between hanging out with his friends. Bucky hadn't been that close to a group of people since he and Steve had formed the Howling Commandos all those years ago. Although, the Avengers were way more foul-mouthed and drunk much more often than Dugan and the boys could have ever been which was a little concerning and a tad bit terrifying. 

It was definitely stress and bad coping mechanisms combined because rarely were they all sober at the same time and Natasha was probably the one with the biggest problem. That tiny woman could drink til' the cows came home and then some which often led to many nights of Elena and Steve soothing a drunken breakdown.

Natasha was a lot like Elena when it came to certain things, namely, her unwillingness to open up and share the things that had bothered her most. It was on one night in particular that Bucky learned that Natasha and Elena were more alike than he had ever realized. Poor Natasha had gotten wasted and found herself unable to stand as she began weeping to Elena in the bar repeatedly calling her Yelena and apologizing for getting her killed. 

It made no sense to Bucky at first but Nat was hysterical, venting all these things to her friend and eavesdroppers about their shared childhood and how Natasha should have tried harder to get her out of the Widows sooner. Bucky carried her home that night with Elena leading the way because Steve, who would have usually done it had his overly sweet girlfriend with him that night.

Nat slept hard after they threw her into the large bed in her sterile and insanely large luxury apartment in Soho. A few days later, when he met up with Elena at the compound to go over their next assignment he asked about all the shit Natasha had been rambling about because as far as he was aware, the two women didn't know each other in childhood. 

She didn't feel comfortable telling him everything and instead simply told Bucky that Natasha had also grown up without parents and in the red room where she had been trained, there was only one person she cared for, a younger girl named Yelena Belova. They were like sisters, they had been in deep cover together in the U.S. as children and worked and trained together as Black Widows until Natasha's defection to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Natasha had only just brought down the Soviet program when Steve came calling about Thanos and Yelena, now free, joined her sister. It was a strange five years after The Snap, the women reconciled and supported each other, and then Yelena died. She had gone to a planet called Vormir with Natasha and Barton as part of a time heist to retrieve one of the Infinity Stones to use in a last-ditch effort against Thanos but in order to get it, they had to lose someone they loved. Natasha refused to let Clint sacrifice himself, he had a wife and kids but Barton refused to let her do the same because he loved her, she was his partner and he couldn't let her do it.

Neither of them had even considered Yelena as a sacrificial option, she was too young, and they wouldn't allow it. However, while they were arguing, Yelena made the decision for both of them and jumped because, in her eyes, Natasha was worth it and so was the family that the older redhead had built for herself. Natasha was a mess after coming back, it was why she had so badly spaced out when the compound collapsed on top of the Romanian. She had lost her sister and in the wake of her grief, saving the world no longer mattered. Now, almost a year and a half later, Natasha still sometimes blurred the lines between where Yelena had ended and Elena began. She often drank herself stupid trying to forget.

Bucky decided at that moment the team needed less alcohol and more fun times sober and it wasn't really that hard for him and Steve to convince them to stay dry for a night or two at a time. Sometimes when they were all too beat to go out drinking, Sam, Natasha, Elena, Steve, and every other Avenger would squeeze into each other's tiny (except Nat's) New York City apartments and watch movies which were always nice and relaxing.