Chapter Text
Yelena looks down at the red vials, iridescent in the light. She closed the case with a snap, letting out a small huff as she sets the case into a box.
She had worked hard-- tirelessly to protect these so she could send them to the only hero she knew.
Natasha Romanoff.
Well, Yelena knew her as Natalia Alianovna back then. But it had been a while since she’d seen her. Almost nine years exactly.
She tapes the box shut, peeling a sticker from the sheet of labels and smoothing it on top of the box, scrawling the name on. There’s no return address.
She hesitates before she cuts open the box and takes out the case, opening it to look at the red vials once more. She reaches into her pocket, a weathered photo strip coming into contact with her fingers. The feeling is comforting.
She takes it out of her pocket and uses her hair tie to attach it to the vials before closing the case and repacking it before she can change her mind.
She drops it off at the post office and she waits. She watches the news. She stalks any news of Natalia or the Avengers.
She waits.
No mention of Hydra or the Red Room. In fact, no mention of anything. Yelena knows the package reached her, she was sure of it.
She keeps waiting, holding out hope that she didn’t pick the wrong choice.
She knows that Natalia doesn’t take it down when agents are after her and she moves from hideout to hideout.
A year passes.
She waits.