Red Daughter

Thirteen

"Want to drive?" Yelena asks Elodie as they enter the garage the next day.

Elodie looks over at her, "you'd let me?"

Yelena shrugs, "you've had the same training as us and by the time we were your age, we could drive better than most people."

"Drive like someone is shooting at you," Elodie mutters, remembering one of her driving lessons.

"Exactly," Yelena says with a nod. "So, you driving?"

"Natasha will hate it," Elodie tells Yelena. "Let's just not tell her."

Elodie grabs the keys and they hop in the same car they'd taken shopping and just as Natasha had, Elodie whips the car out of the garage and into oncoming traffic, swerving around the cars in her way and blowing through several stop lights.

Yelena sits calmly in the passenger seat, watching the girl smile as she maneuvers the car and tells her when to turn. They get to the mall even faster then they did with Natasha, and Elodie screeches to a halt in the back of the parking lot.

"Thanks for that," Elodie tells Yelena after they'd gotten out. "I think I needed it."

Yelena nods, "I think Natasha forgets what it's like to be fresh from the Red Room. Sometimes we need the adrenaline to feel normal."

"Is that why you fly so fast?" Elodie asks as they enter the busy mall.

"Partly," Yelena chuckles. "Mainly it's to annoy Tony. He always thinks I will break his toys."

"He's got the money to fix them," Elodie snorts.

"That's what I said!" Yelena agrees loudly. They stop at the mall map and look for a store that would have the type of bathing suits Elodie wants. "What about this one?" Yelena asks as she points to a sporting goods store.

"Would they have.. boys bathing suits?" Elodie asks hesitantly. She wasn't sure why she was nervous all of a sudden. Natasha had given her permission and blessing for her to get a boys bathing suit, but it still felt weird and like something she shouldn't be doing.

Yelena just nods, unaware of the feelings bubbling in Elodie. "If they sell kayaks I'm sure they have swimsuits." She turns to the girl and frowns slightly, "are you alright?"

"I'm just.. not used to being able to be.. me," Elodie admits. "It's nerve wracking."

"It's hard at first," Yelena agrees. "It gets easier, especially when you talk about it. You can talk to me if you want," Yelena offers. "I won't tell Natasha," she adds. "Especially if it's about her."

"Thanks," Elodie says as they start towards the sporting goods store. She's silent for a few minutes before asking, "is she.. happy that I'm here?" It's something she'd been wanting to know for a while but didn't know who or how to ask.

"Yes," Yelena tells her without hesitation. "Escaping was harder for her than it was for me. I had her to help me through me it, but she was alone. Sure she had Barton and the team, but none of them knew what it was like, what she had gone through. When she found me, she was dark. I like to think that I brought some light back into her, but it didn't last long. She hides it well, but she was unhappy for a long while." Yelena pauses to look at Elodie who is listening adamantly, "I haven't seen her this happy in a long time. The day you showed up, the darkness in her started to fade. She might not say it, but she loves you. And when Natasha loves someone, she loves them with everything she has."

"Is it.. ok that I don't know how I feel?" She asks. "After being around her this past month, I don't hate her like I used to. But I.. I don't know if I love her. I've never really loved anyone except.." she pauses and takes a deep breath as the memory tries to force its way out. "And even then I don't know if that was love. And I like Wanda and maybe one day I'll love her.. and maybe Natasha.. but I don't know."

Yelena makes a humming noise before saying, "yeah love isn't really my area of expertise. But I do know that as long as you stay true to yourself and are willing to learn and accept things, it'll be alright. You'll always have Natasha and me, and no matter what happens between you and Wanda, she'll always be around too."

"Thanks Aunt Lenny," Elodie says as she bumps Yelena's shoulder.

Yelena grins, "you've never called me Aunt before. And you've stopped calling Natasha, Natalia."

Elodie nods, "she was right. I grew up hating Natalia, but she's not that person anymore and it's time I stopped treating her like she is." Her face crinkles as she grimaces, "I don't think I could call her mom though. It just feels odd after not having one for so long."

"I think she is just happy you've stopped calling her Natalia," Yelena tells her as they walk into the sport shop. "Let's see," she mumbles as she looks around. "Kayaks, golfing, baseball, Ah! Bathing suits!" She leads the way towards a rack of clothing off in a corner. "Is this what you wanted?" She asks as she pulls off a long sleeve uv shirt.

Elodie nods excitedly, "it's perfect. Although maybe not bright pink."

Yelena shrugs and puts it back, "you should get one of each color, then you'd have plenty and never run out of comfortable bathing suits."

Elodie looks up from the rack of dark tactical colors, "will I need more than one?"

"Yes."

"Oh," Elodie mutters. She hadn't been planning on getting more than one. "Maybe two of these," she says as she pulls two dark shirts off. "And two of these," she adds as she also grabs two light ones.

"I will hold them while you look at the shorts," Yelena says as she takes the shirts from her.

"They have matching ones!" Elodie tells her as she pulls the almost spandex shorts from the rack. She gives them an experimental pull, "reminds me of the Widow suits. Similar material."

Yelena feels the shorts and nods, "get the loose ones if you want. You don't have to wear anything that reminds you of that place."

"You do," she points out. "Your uniform is a Widow suit just a different color."

"Yes, but I'm used to it," Yelena answers. "Tony would make me a new one if I asked, but I'm not ready yet." She looks at Elodie gently, "but I think you are."

Elodie looks between the tight shorts and Yelena, her brow furrowed as she debates. Finally, she puts the shorts back and picks up a pair of loose swim trunks, "I'll take these."