Avengers/X-Men One Shots - The Blood/White Phoenix Saga

AOS 5: Yelena Belova

Hey, I'm back with a couple additional one-shots!! This is going to be set both during and after the post-credits scene of Black Widow. I absolutely loved the film and the post credit scene was a cracker and a real treat into teasing the new Disney+/Marvel show, Hawkeye. I hope you all are ready for a bit of savage Adelaide (we haven't seen her darker side in a while, not since she killed the evil doctor that experimented on her in Switzerland, that was really quite satisfying to write, in a dark sort of way). But anyway, enjoy the one-shots!!

Seven years after Civil War...

I watched the vehicle pull up from within the shadows of the forest, directly facing the lonely grave with the headstone: Natasha Romanoff. Daughter. Sister. Avenger. I watched the blonde-haired woman exit the vehicle, with a husky by her side. 

'Come on, Fanny,' I heard the woman say in a slight Russian accent. Yelena Belova, I thought, remembering the name. I watched her walk up the hill towards the grave, the dog wandering off to go sniff something. Standing in front of the grave, the blonde woman knelt down and began to rearrange all the gifts, flowers and teddy bears around the gravestone, then placed her hands on the gravestone and started to quietly weep, then whistled a long note. She stood, wiping away her tears, then moved to face the front of the headstone again. I then saw another figure, one that was all too familiar to me. The woman with the purple stripe in her dark hair blew her nose loudly. 

'Wow. Sorry,' she said with a slight Southern twang to her accent. She sniffed. 'I'm allergic to the Midwest. What this woman did,' she added, gesturing to the grave, 'honestly, I can't even imagine.' 

'You're not supposed to be bothering me on my holiday time, Valentina,' Yelena replied briskly, largely ignoring the other woman. 

'Oh, bothering you? Oh, no, no. I'm just here paying my respects.' The younger woman hummed, not convinced. 

'You know, coming here makes you look desperate,' Yelena replied in a vaguely mocking tone that made me smile. So much like Natasha, I thought. The two women laughed before Valentina spoke. 

'Okay.' 

'I want a raise,' Yelena said. 

'Oh, yeah. You and me both. Believe me, you're gonna earn it. I've got your next target. Thought I'd hand deliver it. Thought you'd like a shot at the man responsible for your sister's death.' She passed over a tablet to Yelena, and my heart sank. My suspicions were confirmed. Valentina was going after the remaining Avengers, well, what was left of the original six anyway. I checked the time on my watch. I needed to speak to Bucky as soon as I got back to Brooklyn to discuss what was going on, what was at stake. I barely heard Valentina's next words. 'Kind of a cutie, don't you think?' There was silence from the younger woman as she regarded the photo on the tablet. 

I remembered with a hint of solemnity about who had went with Natasha to Vormir on that fateful day that she died, the day I lost my best friend, the day that the Avengers lost one of their own, part of the glue that kept the original six together. It wasn't my fault, but I still feel guilty for her death, I remembered him telling me. He'd still been burdened with guilt all these months after Nat's death, even at the wedding when Bucky and I got married. I'd told him that it wasn't his fault, but I reckoned that even after her death, and after I'd spoken to him about it, that the guilt was still eating away at him. Survivor's guilt, they called it. Steve had had it, Bucky had had a little bit of it and was still fighting it, Emily was dealing with it, and I did too, for a while. I still do. Valentina walked away, and I took the time of her footsteps softly crunching away in the sticks and pine needles of the forest floor to sneak up on Yelena, enough to sit on a rock behind her and watch her silently look upon the grave of Natalia Romanova.

'Yelena Belova,' I said, loud enough to make her hear me. She turned.

'Who the hell are you?' I stood and came to the grave, standing next to her as she turned to acknowledge me.

'Adelaide Lehnsherr, better known as the White Phoenix.'

'How do you know my name?'

'I do my research.' I knelt and placed a single white rose down onto the grave. Standing, I looked upon the grave once more. 'You know, I don't come here all that often. To pay my respects, I mean. I hardly even knew that her grave was here. My condolences for your loss.'

'Did you know her?'

'Yeah... she was my best friend. Smart, strong, kind, heroic - it wasn't Clint Barton's fault that she died. Just thought I would let you know that.'

'A mission is a mission.'

'And it shall be completed, Yelena. I understand. A mission is a mission.'

'Were you here the whole time?'

'I saw you from the minute you walked up to the grave from your car with your dog to the minute I'm speaking with you now.'

'You've been spying on me.'

'I wouldn't call it spying - I'd call it observation. I'm meeting with Valentina later in the week at a confidential location to discuss some terms I've got with her should she choose to come after me as well.'

'End of life plan?'

'Gotta be prepared,' I replied ruefully. 'Before we're all like that,' I added, gesturing to the gravestone. 'Because that's where I'm heading.'

'People like us are always headed that way. You worked for HYDRA, yes?'

'That was before I became an Avenger. Now, I'm on a different path, one that involves keeping an eye on Valentina until it's time to strike. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on things.' I put my hands in my pockets and strolled away, but as I was walking away, I turned to look at her again.

'It wasn't Clint's fault. He blames himself, but I don't blame him. I know what Natasha Romanoff meant to you. I understand your pain, your desire to blame someone for her death. But she died saving the universe, just like a lot of us did. We were all prepared to do it. I think she was just more prepared than most people. Valentina's just using you. Like she'll use many others in her disposal. You don't want to know what happens when you're no longer useful. Trust me - I would know.' I turned and strolled away, hands in pockets, picking my way towards a motorcycle sitting on the gravel road a short distance from the van that Yelena had been driving. Getting on, I started up the vehicle, pulled back the kickstand, revved up the throttle and sped up the gravel lane, leaving dust in my wake.