Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, it was very fun to write- and I hope you like this one as well, even if it's not all fluffy lesbians kissing.

Content Warnings: angst, nightmare, panic attack, You Will Be Upset With Me.

She was running.

Running from what, exactly, she wasn't sure, but it was big, and dark, and dangerous. God, why did it have to resemble him so much? Why did it have to sound like him?

Faster, faster, go faster. There's blood roaring in her ears as she forces her legs harder, her lungs to breathe deeper, sweat pouring down her back as the earth shattering scream that the thing lets out rattles her stomach. Not again, not again, please not again-

He's on her in a second, claws and teeth tearing into her too-thin skin and throwing her further into the darkness in a broken heap. She can't yell. She can't scream. His hands are human, and animalistic, and much too large as they pin her wrists down, bruising her arms, bruising her chest as he tries to suffocate her, his smile cruel and dripping the blood she had shed. Teeth sharper than knives grow longer than her forearm, and they get closer, always closer, ready to rip her throat and stomach out and feast on her heart and devour her whole-

----

Kate is awoken rather suddenly when the warm weight snuggled into her chest pushes harshly away from her without warning, tearing the blankets with her as the assassin thrashes so hard that she falls off the bed. The archer squints into the dark in a groggy haze, but snaps awake at the whimpers that were definitely not her own.

"Yelena?" Kate says hoarsely, blindly fumbling for her bedside lamp. It flickers on, and Kate cautiously slides out of bed and treds around it, breath tight in her chest. The whimpers have stopped, but the silence is deafening and rings in her ears. "Yelena?"

"Fanny," comes a small voice, rough and chipped away and lined with tears. "Need Fanny. Please."

Kate nods weakly and trips over herself in her haste to get to the stairs, her ribs seizing up for a moment and stealing the breath from her lungs until she's able to see again. Her phone light shines down into the apartment, and two sets of glowing eyes peer up at her. The dogs are curled up together on the rug, Lucky blinking sleepily and Fanny's ears pricked.

"Fanny, come," Kate calls out, half expecting the akita to stay put and force the archer to trek downstairs to get her. To her relief, she springs up before the command is even fully out of Kate's mouth, bounding up the stairs and zooming past Kate's legs and straight to Yelena.

Kate stumbles to follow her, slowly easing herself down against the wall next to the blonde heap-of-a-woman. Yelena's arms are shaking even as they're wrapped tightly around her dog, her face buried in the thick fur. Fanny has settled her weight dutifully against her mama, tucking her cold nose into the woman's neck and licking and huffing softly. Yelena is murmuring in broken up, rapid fire Russian, her words occasionally interrupted by a choked sob or sharp hiccup.

Kate stares helplessly, her brain running in every direction. Was Yelena hurt? Had something happened while she was asleep? Did someone break in? Was it a nightmare? What?

After a few minutes, Yelena's body has stopped shaking, and her labored breathing has slowed to something closer to normal. Kate's anxiety is through the fucking roof, but she steadies her own heart and scoots a little closer to the assassin. "Yelena?" she murmers gently. "Is it okay if I touch you?"

The woman is still for a moment, but then nods slowly.

Kate gives an inward sigh of relief and carefully rests her hand on Yelena's back, her fingers pressing in to rub soft circles into scarred and knitted muscle. Her mind flashes back to over a week ago- when she had been reeling from visiting Eleanor and Yelena had found her as essentially a human puddle.

"Is this alright?" Kate ventures, her touch soft when she moves her hand into Yelena's hair, scratching at her scalp.

The woman just nods, the tension in her shoulders easing. She lets out a breath as Kate's fingers continue to massage her head, chasing the nightmare-induced headache away. Fanny shifts slightly in her hold, and Yelena hugs her closer, breathing in her puppy smell.

She's distantly aware of another set of pawsteps as Lucky finally climbs the stairs to investigate, and she hears Kate greet him softly, her fingers never stopping their movement in Yelena's hair. The golden retriever sniffs at Fanny, but seems to deem the situation uninterruptible, and jumps onto the bed.

"Yelena?" Kate asks after some time has passed.

The assassin sucks in a deep breath and holds it for four seconds before slowly letting it go. "Hm?" she hums quietly, unwilling to speak.

She sounds so small.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Ah. So Kate Bishop had come to the correct conclusion.

"Mhm."

"...Do you wanna talk about it?"

Something in Yelena squeezes tightly at this, and for a second she's afraid she'll start crying again.

Only Natasha had ever asked about the nightmares. Even though her sister surely had been plagued by a great deal more, she had always known when Yelena was suffering from them, and had always known exactly what to say and do when she did.

"I don't know if I can explain it," she whispers hoarsely, so low that she worries Kate can't hear her. But the archer hums in acknowledgment, her nails massaging a soothing pattern.

"I understand that."

"You do?" Yelena finally peaks up at this, her eyes hooded and weary.

Kate nods, her heart wincing at the pain written over the blonde's face. "I have them too, sometimes. Meds help. But they're not an exact science, ironically."

Yelena stares at her, expression softening. Logically, she knew that Kate Bishop had sleeping troubles. She had seen her medications, had read the labels and purposes for each out of sheer boredom, but it hadn't really clicked in her head until now.

"I have not had this specific one in a long time."

Kate's eyebrows raise slightly when Yelena starts talking, and she shifts closer, her warmth more tangible. Yelena looks away and buries her face back into Fanny's scruff, biting hard at her lip as she frowns.

"It's always the same, too. I am being chased. I am caught. I am killed. By him."

The archer sucks in a breath at the venom in Yelena's tone, and she sees the glimmer of tears in the akita's fur. "Dreykov?" she says softly, her hand moving to cradle the blonde's chin.

Yelena nods, her cheek tilting to rest in Kate's palm.

Her throat is too tight to continue, and Kate seems to realize this, because she presses a kiss to golden blonde hair and stands quietly. "I'm gonna make some hot chocolate. Does that sound okay?"

Yelena lifts her head slightly to meet Kate's eyes, and the expression on the woman's face is so open and tender that it threatens to rip Yelena's heart in half and sew it right back together. She purses her lips and blinks hard, dipping her chin in a small yes. Kate offers a smile before clicking her tongue for Lucky and descending the stairs down to the kitchen.

She flicks on a small light and checks the time as she digs through a cupboard for the hot chocolate mix- it's not even 3am yet. Kate hums to herself absently and sets a pit of water onto the stove to boil. Sure, the microwave would be fastest. But Eleanor had always made it for her like this when she was younger.

Kate missed her mom.

Meanwhile, Yelena stays curled up with Fanny in the loft, the tears choking her throat slowly disappearing as the nightmare evaporates like fog in the morning sun. An occasional shudder hits her body, the muscles of her stomach twitching. Fanny whines softly and lifts at Yelena face, her warm tongue cleaning the salt away.

"My sweet girl. Я тебя люблю. Я так сильно тебя люблю."

The akita snuffled softly into her neck.

She doesn't lie there with her baby for very long until she's interrupted- but unfortunately, not by Kate Bishop. Yelena's phone is ringing. Yelena's burner phone. She sits up partially in confusion and stares at the wall for a moment before reaching for it in one of her concealed pockets. Because yes, she and Kate had fallen asleep in their clothes.

It's an unknown number, but that's expected, seeing as the only number she has saved in this phone is Kate Bishop's. Except that no one else is supposed to be able to reach her, not even spam calls.

Yelena doesn't know what could have possibly possessed her to answer it, but the fear is still tingling and festering at the base of her spine, and her thumb jabs at accept before she can stop herself.

She doesn't say anything, just holds the device up to her ear with bated breath. Crackling silence is what greets her from the other line, until-

"Yelena?"

She blinks and pulls the phone away to look at it in bewilderment for a moment before bringing it back to her ear, face scrunched. "Alexei?"

"Aha, Yelena! Little one! So good to hear your voice!"

Yelena winced and pulls the phone away again at her father's booming voice. "You know I hate when you call me that. How did you get this number?" she grouses, lips pursed.

"Ay, so rude to your Papa. Why the hostility?"

"How did you get this number?" Yelena repeats, nearly grinding it out between her clenched. She does not have the energy for Alexei's trouble right now.

The super soldier huffs indignantly on the other line. "I don't know, Yelena, your mother had it. How are you? We miss you!"

Yelena ignores his questions again, rubbing her eyes wearily. "Is Melina there? I want to talk to her."

Alexei's grumbling is extremely evident from the other line, but the phone is quickly passed to another. "Hello, мой маленький медвежонок."

"Melina." Yelena's shoulder visibly loosen as her mother's thick voice rings through. "Why did I get a call? There's no way you only wanted to reach out to merely chat."

A sigh. "Yes, Yelena, correct. We, ah- hmmm. We are having problems with tracking down some of the last subjugated Widows."

Uneasiness settles familiarly into Yelena's stomach. "And?"

"And, they are few remnants left of your past team. We need your help to find them, and to administer the antidote. You know them best. A familiar face will aid our efforts."

Something in Yelena's chest freezes, the air escaping her lungs in one quick breath, like a punch to the ribs. She knew exactly who Melina meant. Before the Blip, the three of them had spent their time hunting the brain washed Widows and aiding them in returning to a life of their own choosing.

Only half of her team had been in the Red Room facility when they took it down, and the three left were quick to make themselves nearly impossible to locate. Even with their trackers and the chip full of information, they were elusive. Yelena had chosen only the best of the Widows.

But they had also been her friends. Her sisters.

"Yelena?"

"Hi, sorry, I..." Yelena's mouth tightens, and she scrunches her eyes shut, laying her head into her palm. Fanny whines softly and nudges her wet little nose into her mama's neck, huffing hotly against her skin. Yelena sighs and buries her face into the dog's thick fur.

Her mind is running, but not in any direction that's coherent. "When?" she asks quietly after a small moment.

"As soon as possible. We ambush their safehouse in 48 hours."

Yelena's head hurts much too strongly for this.

"I don't..."

I don't want to, is what she doesn't say. I want to stay here. I want to stay with Kate Bishop.

"Let us know, мой маленький медвежонок. Alexei and I have more planning to finish."

Yelena mumbles an okay into the phone before the line disconnects, and the assassin drops the device into her lap, her arms feeling impossibly heavy. She can hear Kate Bishop preparing hot chocolate for the both of them, and the fact both warms her heart and shatters it in one go.

She did want to leave. Not even for a second. Especially not for another mission.

"Kate? Kate Bishop?" Yelena calls out weakly, her bottom lip starting to tremble again as she struggles to sit back on the bed. The archer is upstairs in a flash, her eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" Kate asks softly, kneeling in front of the blonde with her hands planted gently on her knees.

Yelena just cups the woman's face and leans down to connect their lips. "Just kiss me. Please."

Kate does so more than happily, her alarm melting into softness as she pushes closer into Yelena's warmth, their mouths moving together slowly.

Yelena kisses her harder, deeper, almost desperately- she wants to tell Kate to make her stay, to say that she wants her to stay, to ask her to never leave. Any reason to keep Yelena here. Anything to give her something solid to hold on to.

But Kate pulls back and perks up after a moment that is much too short, pressing one last brief kiss to Yelena's cheek before hurrying downstairs. "Sorry, sweetheart, just a moment- water's boiling."

The assassin stares after her, her chest heavy with tight breaths. Come back, she wants to scream, hold me and make me stay with you.

Yelena's phone is ringing again, the soft buzz rustling the tangled bed sheets. She looks at it sluggishly, eyes unfocused. It's still an unknown number, but not the one her parents had just called her with.

Her wariness is gone, and she picks up the call. "What."

"Now now, Agent Belova. That's no way to talk to your boss, now, is it?"

Yelena's blood runs cold, and for a moment she debates smashing the phone against the wall.

"Valentina."

Ok before you start grabbing the torches and pitchforks... actually I have nothing to say for myself other than I'm the author and ultimately in charge. :) Climax is fast approaching. Buckle in loves.

Translations:
-мой маленький медвежонок (moy malen'kiy medvezhonok): My little bear.

Kate Bishop Counter: 6

QOTD: How many electronic devices do you have?

This chapter's meme:

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