Invisible string | Yelena Belova

seven

Cole sighed as he stepped off the jet, which crashed in the middle of nowhere.

"You should've brought the Avenger's superjet", Alexei said, after a minute of silence.

Annoyed, the two women started walking away, with Cole following them.

"I swear, if I hear one more word from him, I will kick him in the face", Natasha mumbled angrily.

"He's the worst", Yelena agreed softly.

"Natasha", Alexei called, trying to catch up with the three, "Natasha, Natasha. Come here, I want to ask you something", he begged.

Sighing, Natasha walked over to Alexei, while Yelena and Cole continued walking.

"Come it's important."

"What?", Natasha asked.

"Did he talk about me?", Alexei asked seriously, tugging his hands in his pockets.

"What?"

"Did he talk about me? You know, trading war stories?"

"Who? What are you talking about?", Natasha questioned, confused.

"Captain America! My great adversary in this theater of geopolitical conflict. Not so much nemesis. More like contemporary, you know? Coequal. I always thought there was a great deal of mutual respect-"

Meanwhile, Yelena and Cole had a conversation of their own

"Are you ok?", Cole asked the woman, after Natasha stepped away from them, "You know, after the things that your Dad said."

"I wasn't expecting anything else", Yelena answered driely, looking into the distance.

"Do you want to talk about it?", Cole asked.

"There's not much to say. I mean, Alexei has already said it. It was just a stupid mission that lasted three years."

"But to you, it wasn't", Cole stated, studying Yelena's reaction.

"No", Yelena laughed softly, "No, for me, it was all real, it-it is all real. Those were the best years of my life", Yelena shared, with sadness in her tone.

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be.", Yelena said, facing the man next to her, only to get lost in his eyes, before Natasha's voice caught their attention.

"Wait. You haven't seen either of us in 20 years, and you're gonna ask about you?", Natasha asked, cutting him off.

"Come on, what is this tension? It's not like it's far-fetched. Don't think I haven't noticed that we're in the presence of another Avenger," Alexei said, looking at Cole, who tensed at the statement.

"What?", Alexei asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

"Is that a serious question?", Yelena asked.

"I only ever loved you girls", Alexei said, making both women scoff, "I did my best to make sure you would succeed. To achieve your fullest potential, and everything worked out."