Always You

Chapter 32: Time Between

Six months had now passed since Y/N left Nat and Yelena in France. They'd thrown themselves back into work while the sisters continued freeing widows around the world. It had been a month since they'd heard from either of them. The last message from Nat stated that they were in South Korea.

Y/N and Yelena had not texted once since their last conversation about the letter they left. They'd said hi and caught up on the calls Nat had made, but that was it. Both were set on keeping their word about focusing on themselves.

But it didn't mean Y/N didn't think of her every single day. They'd actually begun keeping a running note in their phone of all the things they thought about. That way they'd at least get the thoughts out of their head and feel like they told someone.

Simmons had been their confidant and even though she said it didn't bother her listening to them talk about Yelena so much, they felt bad. Daisy had gotten better with her issues and had even come around to finally talking to Y/N again in the past month. Thankfully, she'd even respected their boundaries. It was clear how hard it was for her still, but Y/N was thankful she was understanding and doing her best.

Across the world, Nat and Yelena had taken down over twenty different operative buildings. They were now closing in on their last one in Australia. Once they finished this last mission, they'd be done with their known stations. Afterward, they would head to NYC to be set up with SHIELD.

Nat had pulled some strings with Fury and Coulson to get Yelena a position helping with Red Room operatives. Just because they'd taken their known ones down didn't mean there weren't more out there. In order to be safe, they thought it would be best.

Yelena was more than excited to start this position. She'd done so much work alongside her sister in the past six months that she'd finally started to feel as though she'd grown. Her feelings were getting easier to handle and she'd made a few friends along the way.

But no one matched Y/N.

She thought of them every second her mind was free. When she woke, when she laid down to sleep, when she drove, when she flew. It didn't matter where she was, she thought of them. She and Nat had thought about calling them whenever they found out Nick had her approved for the position, but it was sweeter to surprise.

Nat had hatched the idea herself and Yelena quickly jumped on board. After finishing up this last station, they would pack their things and head to SHIELD's headquarters to debrief their past seven months. Nat would take Yelena to her apartment, let her get settled in, and then surprise Y/N the following day at their apartment.

It was all Yelena could think about. What would they say? Would they be excited? Nat reassured her that they were still waiting, but she still wondered. What if Daisy interfered while she was gone? What if Y/N found someone else?

"They haven't, Yelena. I talked to Simmons, you know, their roommate? They haven't stopped talking about you since they got home," Nat reminded her.

She bit back a smile. It made her whole body light up with joy hearing about them. Parts of her still worried if she was enough, but Nat made sure to work through that with her. They'd spent days together talking about worth and why Yelena was more than enough for Y/N.

"Truthfully, I would say Y/N isn't good enough for you," Nat laughed. "but that's not true either. I love them and you're both just so good for each other. I can't wait to see them."

Neither of them had even told Y/N they were close to finishing their mission. To their knowledge, Nat and Yelena might be gone another year. It didn't matter to them. Waiting was waiting and they would wait forever if it meant being with her in the end.

"So, what's on the agenda for today then? I want to get this done quickly. I'm ready to get out of here," Yelena laughed, cracking her knuckles and turning her head back and forth to pop it.

Nat ran over the blueprints of the last building they'd be infiltrating, "It looks like we just have to get here," she pointed to a square room in the middle of the building.

"Easy enough," Yelena replied.

But after almost 25 stations were taken down, Nat knew that none of this was ever easy. They'd gone through the plan again step by step. Yelena would take the inside, dressed to impress. Her disguise had begun pulling in a million different styles to distract those around her. She would make her way through the lobby, checking each person.

Once she made it to the elevator, she would hack the keypad that allowed them into the office they'd set eyes on when they looked over the blueprint. Nat would be circling the building until she noted that it was all clear through the comms. Once clear, she would head to the floor where Yelena would step out of the elevators.

Two hours passed before they were calling SHIELD through to pick up their last operative. Everyone was freed and thanking them relentlessly. "God, how long have we been under?" A brunette asked them as tears dripped down their cheeks.

The truth was, they had no clue. Yelena had been under since she was a child and her last memories, true memories of who she was and what she felt, ended when she was around six or seven.

"What do you remember last?" she asked as Nat spoke with the agents taking in the Red Room officers.

She looked around wracking her brain, "I don't know... I guess one of the last things I can really see is my tenth birthday."

Yelena nodded, "It was probably not long after that you went under. I'm sorry."

The woman jumped forward, hugging her tight, "Don't be sorry. You helped me. You freed us. We can never repay you. Please tell me, what's your name?"

She smiled as the woman pulled back to see her face, "Yelena Belova."

Her face dropped immediately after hearing the name, "You mean... you're her? You're the Yelena Belova? Child assassin? The most red in her ledger? That Yelena Belova?"

"Uh..." taken back by the reminder of her past, "Yeah, yes. That's me. Well, it was me."

"What changed? How did you go from the highest-ranking widow to freeing us all?"

"I don't know if I'd say highest-ranking but you see that woman over there?" Yelena nodded over to her sister, "That's Natasha Romanoff, the Avenger. She's my sister. She helped me do all of this. Another widow had found me and freed me about a year ago. Now, I've spent the past half-year freeing more and more."

The woman looked at Natasha, stunned by the idea that the Red Room's two finest women had turned against them and taken them down. More tears fell, "You're amazing. Both of you."

Yelena smiled. This was the first interaction she'd had to this extent. It was normal for them to cry and thank her an absurd amount, but something about this one changed her. She had said, out loud, for the first time that she was not that Yelena Belova anymore.

She was this Yelena. The one who traveled alongside her sister. The one who made friends at every restaurant they stopped by. The one who laughed at sitcoms and cried during romantic movies. The one that grew to find herself and her own desires and passions. Most importantly, she was the Yelena who had fallen for someone. The Yelena who was dying to settle in somewhere, to plant her roots, and tell the person she'd been thinking about for months that she wanted to be with them.

That she loved them.