Chapter Text
Yelena liked to run at night. It was cooler and less crowded than it was during the day, and she got to see things she never thought she would, like a raccoon fighting with a cat over a bag of trash. Plus, she preferred seeing the stars rather than the clouds.
She ran around the block surrounding Avenger’s Tower, the sweat down her stomach very visible due to her crop top. She got to a little late-night café around sunset and stopped for a quick coffee break. Although she wouldn’t admit it to anyone other than Natasha, she also preferred night runs so she wouldn’t have to sleep and be plagued with nightmares.
She entered the line behind a tall man, waiting. She felt a small body bump into her from behind and turned to look at the person responsible.
“Oh, I’m really sorry.” The person behind her was a short woman with black hair. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Yelena stared for a moment, taking in the woman’s features until she realizes that it was too long and the woman was now looking quite awkward where she stood. She carefully hid her Russian accent before speaking. “Don’t worry about it.”
Yelena turned back into the line that was now empty, and made her way to the front, ordering a fancy drink she heard Natasha order the last time they were here. She waited by the end of the counter, watching the girl from before order a black coffee and stand next to her, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” The girl laughed.
“Okay,” Yelena pulled out her phone, snapping a quick picture of the now protesting girl and smiling to herself. “Yelena Belova.”
“Kate Bishop,” she replied, as both of their drinks were placed on the counter in front of them.
“Okay, Kate Bishop. I’m going to take you somewhere.”
“What, like a kidnapping?”
“Shut up,” She laughed, grabbing her coffee and hooking her arm around the other girl’s, leading her out of the café. Yelena dragged the other woman down the road and into an older-looking apartment building.
“If you wanted to get me into your bed, you could’ve just asked,” Kate said, entering an elevator behind Yelena.
“This isn’t my apartment building.”
“Hm, never thought about doing it in someone else’s bed before. Not judging though.”
“You are so annoying, I’m regretting this already,” Yelena joked, leading her out of the elevator, and out onto the roof of the building through a maintenance exit. Yelena had found this place on her first night in The Tower when once again, she couldn’t sleep through the night. She had instead explored the city until dawn.
The sun had completely gone down by now to reveal the millions of stars above them. Yelena followed Kate as she rushed to the railing at the edge, grasping at the metal as she leaned over the city. She was gaping at the lights below and above, but Yelena focused her gaze on the woman’s face, watching every minute change in expression. Kate was pretty sure that anyone else would find it creepy, but surprisingly, she didn’t.
“If I had known you were taking me here, I would’ve saved my sex jokes,” she said, turning to look at Yelena. “I just realized how weird it was for me to run off with a stranger.”
Yelena laughed at her, “If I was going to kidnap you, you wouldn’t be conscious right now.”
“Thanks, I think?”
“Plus, been there, done that. Not a huge fan of the human trafficking thing.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive.” She panicked, but Yelena ignored her and moved on, pointing at a constellation in front of them.
“That one's Orion, people like to think he was a person put among the stars by Zeus.” Yelena followed suit and leaned off the railing next to Kate. “And that one’s Canis Major, it was hunting dog that Zeus gave one of his consorts as a gift.”
“Well look at you, smartie pants. How do you know so much about stars?”
“Because stars are the only constants I had growing up. They were always there, and they don’t get moody with me like my sister does, so knowing kind of comforted me in a way.” Yelena smiled to herself. “But also, if I didn’t know about stars, how would I be able to impress a pretty girl like you.”
Kate gasped over exaggeratedly, “You think I’m pretty?”
“Shut up.”
“What about that one?” Kate asked, pointing to a patch of stars to their left.
“Lepus. It doesn’t have much to do with mythology but people like to say it’s a rabbit that Orion hunted.” Yelena reached over, moving the girl's arm slightly so her finger was pointed at the brightest star, “That star there is a white supergiant, it's pretty much thousands of light-years away.”
Kate couldn’t help herself from staring at Yelena’s exposed abs as she spoke, which earned a grin from the girl.
“Wanna sit?” Yelena asked, motioning to the flat roof of the elevated half of the building that contained the elevator. Kate nodded and they both climbed the ladder, sitting on the edge of the building with their legs dangling off the side and their shoulders pressed together. “Why did you come with me?”
Kate sighed, clicking her heels together. “To be honest, I didn’t want to go home. Why did you bring me?”
“I didn’t want to go, either.” Yelena leaned back, laying on the smooth concrete roof. Kate followed suit and joined her to look straight up at the stars. “I still don’t.”
Kate could hear just a twinge of sadness in her voice and carefully reached her hand over to lace together their fingers with a squeeze. Kate hadn’t moved her attention from the stars, but when she felt Yelena’s gaze on the side of her head, she turned her head to look back. Yelena reached out, their eyes locked, and used her middle finger to sweep a strand of hair behind Kate’s ear.
Kate propped herself up, never dropping the eye contact or her hand. She reached over with her free hand, cupping the side of Yelena’s face and leaning down to kiss her. Yelena squeaked in surprise, but quickly recovered, pulling Kate into her lap and throwing her arms over the other woman’s shoulders to trail them down her back.
“Anyone could see us right now,” Yelena hummed. Her dangling feet were starting to tingle but she paid no mind.
“I think that might make it better.” Kate smiled against her lips, moving her hands to run them under the other girl’s shirt. She listened to Yelena let out a quiet whine as she ran her thumbs under the hem of her sports bra and moved to pull off her shirt. They were interrupted by a sudden ringing of a phone.
It was Yelena’s and she groaned before answering it, watching Kate as she sat up, but did not move from her position over her. “I’m kind of busy right now, Tasha.”
“Sorry, I know you're usually on your run about now. Did you stop at that coffee place down the street?” Yelena listened intently in an attempt to focus as she watched Kate fumble around with the button on her pants. Kate enjoyed watched the mix of yearning emotions in her eyes, but Yelena’s voice never once faltered.
“Yeah, I did, I got a latte. Do you need something from me or is this a friendly call?” Kate undid the zipper and moved to press her lips against Yelena’s stomach, sucking lightly, resisting the urge to bite. Yelena had to open her mouth slightly to keep her sudden intake of air from being too loud.
“We’re about to start a movie, and I guess Peter’s here and he’s insisting that you have to see the movie too. It’s called The Princess Bride”
“Yeah, okay. Give me ten minutes.” She hung up the phone, tossing it next to her to pull Kate back down into an urgent kiss. She slipped her tongue into her mouth and arched her back to press her stomach against Kate, only breaking it when neither of them could go any longer without air.
They paused, Kate’s forearms on either side of Yelena’s head and their foreheads pressed together. The only sound they could hear was the city below and the sounds of both their heavy breathing. Yelena reveled in the feeling of the woman’s warm breath against her skin, wishing they could stay like that forever and completely forgetting about the fact that they had just met.
“By the sound of that language, you aren’t from around here,” Kate said after a moment.
“It’s complicated.” Yelena breathed, her accent slipping through. “I have to go.”
They stood, Yelena, buttoning her pants back up as they both made their way back to the elevator and out the front door of the apartment complex. Kate left one last lingering kiss on the other girl’s forehead before finally separating.
“I’ll see you around,” Kate yelled.
“You better.”
Later that night, as Kate lay in her bed, she heard her phone vibrate. She clicked it on, seeing a single text from an unknown number reading:
“Tomorrow. Eight pm. Same place. <3”