Euphoria // 𝐘𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐚

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟓, 𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑒

The girls found it uncomfortably easy to talk to each other. Neither of them fought the urge to, though. They found comfort in each other, one that not even their alleged parents could provide. Inessa knew it all was too good to be true. She knew nothing good turned out from friendships in the red room, especially with Dreykov in charge, but she had already gone too far to back off now.

She did the one thing she promised she wouldn't do.

Get attached.

One began being afraid to lose the other, the pure dread that rose in their stomach when they saw the state the other was in after a mission was enough confirmation.

Inessa saw how worried Yelena sometimes got when she returned from a mission. Blood pouring from her mouth and the stab wounds, limbs and muscles torn and sprained. Yelena was quick to fix her injuries. It was an unwritten rule; they took care of each other, no matter the consequences.

Inessa would always stop her halfway through, looking into her eyes before she told the blonde not to worry.

"What we do requires us to get a little injured."

"I know."

"Then don't look so worried."

Yelena would nod, but despite the amount of times Inessa ensured her that she was fine and that she would be fine, the blonde had to convince herself twice as hard.

It was the other way round too. Yelena was named Dreykov's most ruthless, so she was sent out on regular stake outs and assassination missions just for the pure confirmation that they'd be completed. Dreykov didn't care that she came back battered because he knew she'd heal and he could use her over and over again.

She'd always come back with a injury that would require stitching, which she'd let Inessa fix, even if it was a simple mission that didn't require killing.

Although Yelena had become one of the best assassins in the red room, Inessa was always better at acting. She was naturally better at hiding emotions, so when it came to stitching Yelena up, she showed absolutely no emotion towards her. But Yelena soon broke through her tough exterior, and found out that when Inessa was quiet and emotionless, it usually meant she was trying to hide whatever she was feeling inside.

"I can hear your thoughts."

"Of course you can't."

"I can. They're pretty loud. Stop worrying. I'm fine, see?"

Both girls knew that there would be a point at which they'd be caught. Friendships were strictly forbidden for pure reassurance they wouldn't all gang up on Dreykov one day, but that didn't stop the widows from helping out each other with wounds.

Inessa vowed at one point to the rest of the girls that they'd help each other if injuries needed fixing, and that they wouldn't snitch. Of course this was all before the gas was introduced, when they could think for themselves on missions.

As far as fixing injuries went, the girls went beyond that. When Dreykov deemed a girl as disobedient, he'd refuse to give her food for a certain amount of time. Although rarely, Inessa had found herself to be one of those girls, and when Yelena figured a way to sneak food into her room, she'd do it until Inessa was allowed to eat food normally.

Neither of them really thought that they'd be caught. They felt invincible, they hadn't been caught so far, so why would they be caught now?

When the two girls were called into Dreykov's office, they both thought their time together had ended. They thought someone snitched that they were helping each other with various things. And although it seemed unlikely, they where totally prepared to be scowled at. Maybe he found out about Yelena sneaking in food, or maybe that Inessa had stolen antiseptic wipes to patch up Yelena.