LRS-Episode II: Black Widow and Hawkeye

Chapter 2

YELENA'S P.O.V.

"It was real to me, you are my mother! You WERE my real mother. The closest thing I ever had to one." The others were dead silent as Yelena sat there upset. "The best part of my life was fake... and none of you told me!"

***

"Told you what?"

Yelena woke up to see little Lena sitting up in the bed with a curious look on her small face. Had she been talking in her sleep AGAIN? What was happening here?!

"What? Oh, just another bad dream." she whispered through a yawn.

"Are all your dreams bad?" The girl put down the storybook they had read before sleep and lay next to her aunt.

"No, no, sweet girl, of course not." Yelena sighed, unsure what to make of it. "Just too many."

That dinner with her so-called parents back in 2016 was still raw sometimes. Especially given the circumstances, how Alexei had let those soldiers drug her and Natasha to be taken to the Red Room when they were kids. She didn't dare tell Lena how she'd grabbed a bottle of vodka from that dinner table to feel better. What kind of example would she be setting?

Wait... no. It may have been set the same way as that dinner, but Yelena's dream was different. She hadn't been seeing it through her own eyes. In the dream, she was her niece! In the dream the child was a young adult and, instead of Melina and Alexei, it was Yelena, Kate Bishop, and Clint Barton. In the dream, having now known about the Red Room and the Ronin (Clint's long-gone ninja disguise), the girl walked off with a thermos full of hot chocolate for comfort...

"No..." Yelena gasped, fearful of what the little girl's future may hold.

"You're ok. I am too." Lena whispered as Fanny lay her head and forelegs on the side of the bed. Sometimes the woman would wake up to see the dog nearby, pacing around or stock still, as if guarding her when she was having a bad time.

She couldn't remember whatever else she'd dreamt about. Just a bit, like the guilt about trying to kill Clint when he was practically a brother to Nat all along. She still couldn't get over the 'what have I done?' feeling.

"Can we go to Central Park?" Lena asked quietly. "Kate said it's nice."

The girl was becoming more aware of things. It was almost like Fanny's awareness. The more time Lena was here cooped up in the apartment, the more she needed to stay occupied and look around at whatever she could. It had surprised Yelena before when she said she didn't like when she was upset and tried to comfort her. Especially that it worked.

"Feel better, Auntie Lena?" said the girl's soft voice.

"I think so." she sniffed quietly, lifting a few stray hairs from little Lena's face. "Thanks for looking after me, malyshka." She gently ruffled Fanny's fur too.

All this time, the best part of Yelena's life had been when she was little, raised by two agents pretending to be hers and Natasha's parents. Now that she'd come to New York, was welcomed by Clint's family plus Kate Bishop... having her namesake and Kate close by for good company, she had a REAL family now. 'THAT was not the best part of my life.' she thought. 'THIS is.'

-/-

Another thing Yelena couldn't get rid of was that she had to consider every possible way that anyone nearby could attack her, and how she could react accordingly—to expect the unexpected and be diligent at all times. Deep down she knew it wasn't healthy. Not when she thought about how Kate and little Lena would react if she so much as mentioned it. Sure, she could win a 'real fight' in about two seconds (her little mishaps with Kate when they first met over Christmas Eve didn't count). But against other widows? She wasn't sure. Especially since honing her focus on the child had left her rusty in that area. So how was she going to protect her?