An Impervious Few // KateLena Apocalypse AU

Eclipse

Yelena tackled Natasha with such force that it sent them both tumbling to the ground. Natasha's sullied canvas jacket grew even dirtier as they rolled in the mud, laughing and hollering like wrestling children. Kate had never seen Yelena's smile so big, her eyes so full of relief.

"Oh, Nat..." Yelena cried, releasing her grapple to look her sister in the face. "Natasha, I never thought I'd see you again."

Natasha, hands cut and bloody as she caressed Yelena's cheeks, replied, "But you came anyway. I can't believe this. It's really you."

Sheepish, Yelena took one of Natasha's hands, examining a rather deep gash across her palm. "I'm sorry I was so late."

"You, late?" Natasha crushed her in another hug, cheeks pressed together as her eyes welled with tired tears. "I told you I would come back. I'm sorry I hadn't. I didn't want to be gone so long, but shit went left and... well, I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry I left you."

The younger sister, throat constricted with emotion, just allowed herself to be held. Her muscles relaxed for a brief moment, shoulders slumping and tension leaving her face. She looked younger, more vulnerable. The weight lifting from her shoulders was almost palpable, and for the first time Kate realized how differently all this could have ended.

A million things could have gone wrong- the Widows could've reached her first, or the Lurkers, leaving Yelena to recover her body. She could, as so many did in the apocalypse, have succumbed to the elements over the long, harsh winter, freezing or starving or dying of thirst. Or, Natasha could've been forced off course to another city, and with no way to track her, doom Yelena to a life of wandering, chasing ghosts.

This was a miracle. The fact that she was here, alive, and relatively unharmed, was an act of providence so radical that it had everyone questioning whether it was a dream. Natasha delicately stroked Yelena's cheek as if to ensure she was real; Yelena looked to the heavens in disbelief and gratitude.

At the pure emotional charge of the exchange, Kate unconsciously backed a few steps away, making eye contact with the other woman, Natasha's presumed partner. She was a bit shorter than Kate, with long, light red hair pulled into a high ponytail. Over her torn red sweatshirt, she wore what looked to be a Black Widow jacket without the signifying patches. Kate could not get a good look at her face, though, as a red bandana was pulled up over her nose, leaving only her intense green eyes visible. Imposing in her own right, she stayed vigilantly at Natasha's side, massive machete in hand and sniper rifle slung over her shoulder.

Yelena, forehead resting against Natasha's, frowned at the sound of more gunfire, screaming, pounding footfall coming alarmingly close. "We should go. We'll talk later."

Natasha nodded, standing and taking the sniper off of the other woman's shoulder. Kate noticed she reloaded in the same calm, practiced manner Yelena always did, so ingrained in her muscle memory she hardly had to spare a glance down to the rifle. In fact, there were myriad similarities Kate noted off the bat, like the shifty, calculating looks in their eyes, the way they stood so confidently, undaunted by the chaos. They moved like a pair of wolves, protective and deadly.

"Do you have a plan? A safe house?" Yelena asked, countenance immediately reverting to stoic focus.

"That was our safe house," Natasha said, gesturing to the bullet-riddled hotel from which they fled. "Give me a second. Let me think."

As the group ducked away into the covered front porch of a quaint beach house, Natasha closed her eyes, listening intently. Kate strained her ears as well, catching telltale signs of Lurker grumbling to the south- the horde. From the cacophony of dragging bone and involuntary gurgling, it could have been twenty, thirty, maybe more.