IVANOV ~ yelena belova

𝟎𝟏𝟒

One week had passed.
One week since the graduation ceremony.
One week since Natasha's betrayal.

The fiery redhead, who had grown to be like a sister to Karina, had fled the Red Room without turning back for her or Yelena.

She had hope before. But all hope of escaping or at least surviving the tortures of the Red Room was lost one week ago. Karina was mentally disoriented. But she kept her feelings of weightlessness and anonymity hidden.

Karina kept them hidden not only because she would be punished for displaying emotion, but also because Yelena was in far worse pain than she was. However, if you looked closely, any passerby would be able to see the weight in her walk.

Karina looked at the Belova girl, who was curled up in a ball on her bed, clutching the sheets like a stuffed toy. A heaviness, a cloud of depression and weariness, seemed to draw all of Yelena's features downward. Her high cheekbones were sunken. Her eyes were dark circles staring out with bewilderment and fear, the bright blue color terrifyingly dim.

Karina had tried to console her girlfriend several times throughout her own grief, but Yelena's eyes were emotionless and hard if they weren't clouded with unshed tears in the privacy of their room.

But, over the course of a week, Yelena began to resemble herself again. When she was with Karina, she began to laugh and smile more. The white lies she told herself led her to believe Natasha's departure had no effect on her. Natasha had left her before, and she had wept but moved on, and this time was no exception.

Yelena only wondered if she hadn't forgiven her sister, maybe she wouldn't have been troubled by the feeling of worthlessness.

She shared these feelings to Karina, who caressed her back in calming circles as they sat in the small single bed. Yelena clung to her girlfriend, her head balanced in the crook of Karina's neck. But as soon as the click of the latch rang across the small room, they hastily pulled away, and Karina made her way to her own bed.

The guard stood there, but this time, unlike any other, he spoke. "Dreykov would like to see you both."

Karina gulped, knowing that this was never a good sign. Dreykov had never asked for anyone's presence, so there couldn't be a good reason for him to see them. She looked at Yelena, who had the same fearful expression on her face. Had Dreykov discovered their relationship?

They followed the guard into Dreykov's office through a large set of double doors. They walked side by side but far apart, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible.

Dreykov sat behind his large mahogany desk, waiting for the two Widows to stand in front of him. He studied them as they stood there staring straight ahead, knowing that looking him in the eyes would be like challenging him.

"I have a mission for both of you. Now that you're both fully Widows, I believe you're ready. You go in an hour, and a guard will come and collect you." He dismissed them by placing a folder in front of them and waving his hand.

Karina took the file, and the two of them turned and walked away. The walk back to their room was deafeningly quiet. Karina was suspicious of the entire situation; why would he choose them out of all the Widows?

Yelena sat next to her on the bed after the door closed behind them, so they could both read the file.

The mission appeared to be a bounty. There wasn't a lot of information, but it was enough to understand what the task entailed. Timofey Abramov, a Russian man working undercover for the US government operation S.H.E.I.L.D, had stolen information on the Red Room's whereabouts and footage.