Winter's Widow

Chapter 27: Warnings

"Natasha, Bruce said not to push it for at least a week," I pleaded, following behind the determined redhead as she pulled herself out of bed and pulled a tank top over her head, wincing as the motion disturbed her new stitches.

"I'm fine, Winter." She scoffed over her shoulder. I took a deep breath, sighing in resignation.

"What are you planning on doing for training?" I asked, giving her a side glance. She smirked, tossing one of her t-shirts at my head causing me to stutter.

"I'm fighting you, dumbass. If that's not taking it easy, I don't know what is." I glared at her, mouth open in shock as she chuckled.

"That's just rude, Romanoff." I got to my feet, pulling the t-shirt on over my sports bra, wincing myself as I stretched what was likely to be a decent bruise on my ribs. Natasha smirked, flexing her shoulder muscles. She turned, trying to hide the fact that she still winced again, but I caught it. We jogged down the hall playing a game of tag back and forth that we had taken to in the hallways, trying to make the other person 'it' so the other got bragging rights. Natasha squealed as she curled in on herself trying to escape my fingertip and I jolted her to close the distance.

"Cheating! You're Cheating!" She crowed loudly as Sam walked past us going the other way. He glanced between us then held up his hands.

"Nope, I don't want to know," he muttered as he backed the other way down the hallway. Natasha and I collapsed into giggles, leaning into each other for support and then wheezing when we were almost immediately reminded of our injuries. We got on the elevator just as Happy was getting off. He glanced between us and rolled his eyes.

"I mean it, you two. No funny business," he wagged his finger at us. Natasha and I both bit our lips to keep from laughing in his face, holding it in (barely) until the elevator doors slid shut behind us. "I can still hear you!" Happy called down from the floor above as Natasha and I descended in another giggling fit until we arrived at the training room. Instead of sparring, we both settled for biking/walking beside each other on the stationary machines. As we began reminding our muscles who was boss, we exchanged gossip about the team, touched base on previous missions and touched on everyone's love life. An hour later, I gasped as Natasha turned to grab a towel.

"Tasha, your stitches," I pointed to her shirt where blood was beginning to seep through.

"Bruce is going to kill me," she muttered, glancing over her shoulder. Thirty minutes later, Bruce was once more explaining, in great detail, the importance of allowing our bodies to heal before any kind of strenuous exercise. Natasha and I nodded our agreement before pushing past each other to exit the room first, immediately resuming our game of tag, laughing as we chased each other through the compound relentlessly.

...

For the next week while I recovered, I had a small, angry, blond, shadow. Every time I moved; she was right there. If I even thought about being thirsty, she handed me a glass of water. It was a miracle if she let me roll over to grab my phone off of the table next to my bed. Oh yeah, she also moved in my room. She announced it once Shuri cleared me to leave the lab. "I'm staying with you. You can't be trusted on your own." Shuri glanced at me over Yelena's head, but I didn't have the chance to smirk because Yelena was tilting my face to look at her as her hazel eyes bored holes into mine. "Understand?" I gulped. She was terrifying – also, hot. Wow. I caught myself staring at her lips until I felt her finger tilt my head up slightly further until I was looking her in the eyes. "Understood?" She asked again, softer but with much more oomph.

"S...sounds good, thank you," I mumbled. Shuri coughed behind Yelena, I'm relatively certain it was to cover up a chuckle.

"One more thing, Kasey," Shuri mumbled, and I looked at her expectantly. "Until you heal fully internally, I would avoid using your powers." She cautioned. I inhaled sharply, but understood.

"Why?" Yelena asked. Shuri glanced at me and I nodded that it was okay to share.

"Kasey will have some lingering internal injuries, although we have addressed the most critical. Electricity could interrupt the healing and potentially cause some serious side effects for a while." Yelena nodded.

"But she's free to go for now, yes?" Shuri nodded her assent. Yelena nodded in satisfaction before she wrapped an arm tightly around my waist, supporting a good majority of my weight as she helped me back to our room. She settled me on the bed, before pulling the table over to what she deemed my side, acquiring some water, some snacks, and a book.

"Get some rest," she murmured gruffly as my eyes followed her around the room.

"What are you going to do?" She shrugged, gesturing to the chair in the corner.

"Take care of you." I gave her puppy dog eyes and made grabby hand gestures. She stared at me in utter confusion and I huffed at her.

"Come here," I whined slightly. Yelena smirked and rolled her eyes, but nevertheless made her way over to the bed, sitting lightly beside me.

"I'm right here, малышка," She reached out, hesitating before her fingers finally made contact with my forehead, wiping away a stray strand of hair. I smirked at her.

"I don't want to know what that means, do I?" I smirked at her and she laughed. It was so rare to see her let out a big, hearty laugh like that and I adored the sound.

"If it's good enough for you to call me, it's good enough for you," she smirked down at me, her fingertips lightly grazing my cheeks. I pulled her down next to me, leaning against her side. A few moments later, after what seemed to be some kind of internal civil war, I felt Yelena's arm go around my shoulder and I smiled. She pulled me into her lightly before relaxing her grip, allowing me to settle into her however was comfortable. I handed her the remote and she flipped through the channels. I felt my eyes drifting closed, the sound of Yelena's heartbeat and her warm skin lulling me into a deep and dreamless sleep.