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“Promise me, if something happens to me, you will find Yelena and give her the package.”
“Nothing will happen to you, Nat.”
“You don’t know that, Steve. Just promise me. Please.”
“I promise. You know I’d do anything for you.”
~
It had been weeks since he had returned from Vormir with a battered, but alive, Natasha in his arms. In a flurry they were rushed to Wakanda where the doctors had been treating and monitoring Natasha ever since. They were confident that she would be waking up soon with her increased brain activity and minor movements. It was just a waiting game now and Steve still refused to leave her side. Wanda and Sam had visited a couple of times, but Steve spent most of his days reading or drawing next to Natasha’s bed in between talking with her nurses and doctors.
He was working on one of said sketches when his phone rang. He made a quick glance at the caller ID before picking up. “What’s up, Sam?”
“Uh, there’s a scary blonde Russian here demanding to know who killed her sister.”
Yelena. He had totally forgot to track down Nat’s Russian family and tell them that the news was wrong.
“It’s alright Sam. She won’t hurt you, just bring her here and I’ll explain.”
“I think you’re wrong about her not hurting me. She’s been twirling a knife around and cursing us out in Russian since she got here.”
Steve heard someone in the background ask, “you know Russian?” to which Sam replied, “only some; Nat taught us curse words and critical words like ‘bomb’ and ‘gun.’”
Steve stepped in to bring the conversation back to the matter at hand. “Alright, Sam. Bring her here. Tell her Nat is here and that I’ll explain everything. Also, go into my room and find the box that’s hidden under my bed that’s labeled ‘Yelena’. There should be a letter right on top. Give her the letter and bring the box with you.”
“Aye aye, Cap. See you soon. Wish me luck.”
Steve hung up and smiled at Natasha. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. He felt two light taps back in return making him smile more.
“Your sister is coming. I’m sorry I didn’t track her down sooner, but she will be happy to know you are alive unlike what the news is saying.”
He brushed some of the stray hair away from her face. “I’ve always wanted to meet the firecracker you call a sister, ever since you told me about her after your little side quest to destroy the Red Room. I hope she likes me.”
In his head he can practically see Natasha rolling her eyes and saying ‘of course she’ll like you. It’s my father you should be worried about.’ Maybe one day he’ll also meet the infamous Red Guardian and Iron Maidan.
~
A few hours later, Steve more or less heard Yelena’s arrival before seeing either her or Sam. He placed his book on the side table before squeezing Nat’s hand and leaning over to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Someone is anxious to see you, Nat.”
Just as he stood up and removed himself from Nat’s side, the door burst open and he saw the face of a woman who had only seen in pictures prior to this point.
“Sestra.”
Steve watched as a look of pain and then relief flashed over the blonde’s face. Her hand flew to her mouth as she froze and took in the scene around her. Steve walked over to her. “Yelena, it’s nice to finally meet you. Although I had always hoped it would be under better circumstances. I’ll let you have a few minutes alone while I talk to Sam and then I’ll explain everything.”
She gave him a brief nod while only meeting his eyes momentarily before she was walking to Natasha’s bedside. He glanced back in as he was closing the door to see Yelena leaning down to rest her forehead against Natasha’s and whispering something, probably in Russian.
“So Nat has a sister? And you knew?”
“Yes and yes.”
“That’s all I get?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow.
Steve sighed slightly. He wanted to tell Sam more but it was Natasha’s story not his.
“They aren’t blood related but they do consider each other sisters. You can ask Nat for the full story when she’s recovered. And yes, Nat had told me about her other family.”
Sam nodded in understanding. He knew how much trust was between Steve and Natasha so it wasn’t too surprising that Steve knew. “Any other vengeful assassins we should be prepared for arriving at the complex?”
Steve shook his head. “I’ll make sure Yelena gets the message out that Nat is fine. Thank you for bringing her here. Did you give her the letter and bring the package like I asked?”
“Yup have it right here for you.”
Steve took the small package from Sam and pulled the man in for a hug. He was still relishing in having one of his best friends back and Steve had learned by now not to take small moments for granted.
“Thank you again Sam. I know Nat will also appreciate this and your discretion. And I’m sure once she is fully awake, she will be happy to give you the full story and offer proper introductions.”
Sam smiled and clapped a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “I know how much she loves her secrets and mysteries, but I look forward to her healing and that story. I’m visiting Sarah and the boys this weekend but call me if anything changes. Otherwise, I’ll be back next week.”
“Will do. Say hi to Sarah for me.”
Steve waved goodbye to Sam before turning around again and lightly knocking on the door before opening it. Inside the room he saw a much more stoic young woman sitting in the chair next to Natasha’s side and holding her hand like he had been doing for weeks.
“They said she died.”
“Technically, she did.”
Yelena finally looked at him with a stone-cold glare. “Explain.”
Steve slowly walked to his chair on Natasha’s other side and sat down. “During our time travel mission to retrieve the stones, Nat went with Clint to a planet called Vormir to retrieve the soul stone. No one knew going in that it required a soul in exchange.
“I don’t know the details of what went down exactly but I do know that Nat sacrificed herself so that Clint could go home to his family. All she wanted was for everyone to be brought back.”
Yelena grumbled some curse words in Russian under her breath and Steve tended to share her feelings on the matter.
“After the battle where we brought everyone back and defeated Thanos, I was tasked with the mission of returning all of the stones to their original locations. Vormir was my last stop and the exchange, a soul for a soul, happened to work both ways.”
Steve instinctively found himself reaching for Natasha’s hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb. A gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by Yelena.
“Her body was relatively battered up but she was alive. I brought her back with me and she’s been healing here ever since. She should be waking up any time now.”
The room plunged into silence as soon as Steve finished his recount of events. It wasn’t necessarily an awkward silence but it wasn’t exactly comfortable either as Yelena continued look completely perturbed and would watch him out of the corner of her eyes every time he moved. He knew she wasn’t the warm and friendly type but he had to find a way to get through to her. He was Captain freaking America, he had to be able to find a way in with the sister of his partner.
“Yelena, I want to apologize. Natasha had left me with the duty of finding you and delivering this package if things went south and I didn’t follow through. My first priority after getting her back and stabilized should have been to contact you and your parents but I didn’t and for that I’m sorry.”
“Why?” she choked out a few minutes later. “Why didn’t you?”
Steve gave her a sad smiled and pulled himself up a little closer to Natasha. He held her hand between both of his as he turned to look at Yelena. “Because she was all I could think about. For five years, and really so much longer than that, she has been the constant by my side and I needed to be by hers now. Nothing seemed more important at the time than showing my love and support by being here for her. I now realize that was selfish which is why I’m apologizing now. You also deserved to be here.”
Yelena swallowed hard. Love. That was something that she wasn’t too familiar with but remembered vividly from her time in Ohio. Love was a concept she struggled with often since Natasha freed her from the Red Room. Growing up in the Red Room didn’t leave much room for feeling love towards others and she was still in the process of relearning how to trust and love her family.
But here was a man who she had come into this hospital hating saying that the only reason he hadn’t hunted her down was because of his love for her sister. It was something that although Yelena couldn’t fully understand, did make her feel a little less angry with him.
“You really care about her, don’t you?” she finally said quietly.
“I do. Far more than she knows.”
Yelena nodded and relaxed a bit in her chair. This time, the silence that settled between them wasn’t awkward at all.
~
Natasha slowly came out of her coma over the next couple of days. Lucidity had poked through for brief moments and the doctors were pretty sure that she should be coming around for longer periods any time and both Steve and Yelena were at her side.
“Come on Nat, can you wake up?” Steve said, gripping her hand.
Her eyes started fluttering and she mumbled out what was clearly meant to be ‘Steve.’
“Yeah, Nat, it’s Steve. Keep talking to us.”
It took a minute, but Nat finally opened her eyes all the way and was looking up at Steve’s beaming face. “Hey stranger.”
He laughed. “Hey yourself. It’s good to see you awake finally. We were worried.”
“We?” Natasha raised an eyebrow.
“Sestra,” Yelena said and took a step closer to the bed so she was easily in Natasha’s eye sight.
“Yelena,” Natasha mumbled surprised and then looked between the two people. “What happened? Why are you here?”
Steve didn’t want to overwhelm her so he summarized what led them here as best as he could. Yelena just sat back and watched the subtle emotions pass over her sister’s face. Yelena always remembered her sister being one to hide all emotions but now, the look of pain and relief passed over her features in quick succession.
“Thank you,” Natasha whispered out when Steve finished. Yelena watched as her sister squeezed the soldier’s hand and he leaned down to kiss her forehead. Yelena forced herself to look away once Natasha closed her eyes, clearly soaking in the moment. It felt like she was invading on something deeply personal that she didn’t understand.
“I would go to the ends of the universe for you, Nat. I hope you realize that now.”
“I do.”
Yelena felt like the room was closing in on her with all these deep emotions. “Maybe I should give you two a minute.” She tried pulling her hand out of Natasha’s grasp, but her sister held on tight.
“Stay. You still haven’t opened the box.”
“I figured that since you’re alive, I didn’t need to.”
Natasha shook her head. “Nonsense. The plan was always for you to have it if we managed to bring everyone back, regardless of my own personal state.”
This time when Yelena pulled back her hand, Natasha let go. Yelena slowly shifted around so that she could open the box. She could feel both of them watching her intently as she removed the tissue paper and lifted up a familiar green vest. She felt a lump in her throat almost instantly.
“My vest. Why are you giving it back to me?”
Natasha smiled sadly. “After everyone disappeared, I wore it a lot because it reminded me of you. You probably don’t know but I was wearing it the day we fought Thanos’ army. I have a love hate relationship with that vest but I always knew, if you ever came back, I would return it. It served it’s purpose for me and now I think it’s time for you to take it back and embrace the freedom it represented when you first bought it.”
Yelena looked between the vest and her sister. This was the first thing she bought as a free woman and the only thing she could think of to give Natasha as a token of her gratitude after they brought down the Red Room. She noticed the minute differences in the vest showing its wear and tear over the five years she was gone. She didn’t know what to say but luckily no words were needed between the sisters, they both knew Yelena would take the vest back.
“Plus, it’s a pretty good look for The Black Widow,” Natasha said casually with a slight smile glancing between Steve and Yelena.
Yelena tilted her head in confusion. “You’re The Black Widow though.”
“Not for much longer,” Natasha said, feeling embolden by the tight squeeze from Steve knowing they were still on the same page. This was something they had only discussed in the hypothetical, but the hypothetical was here and she knew he would be on the same page. “We will both be stepping back from active duty. Steve is going to pass on the shield and I want to pass on my role to you. I know you probably think I’m crazy but at least think about it and we can talk about it more later once I’m out of this hospital.”
Yelena was stunned into silence. She couldn’t imagine taking her sisters place on the Avengers team but on the other hand, she always liked a challenge. Plus, she did sometimes miss her missions with the other widows even if they weren’t fully in control of their actions. They still supported each other. Maybe working on a team could be fun.
“I’ll think about it.”
By Natasha and Steve’s grins, Yelena knew that she would end up saying yes.
~
Hours later, after Natasha had taken a nap and they had dinner, they finally convinced Yelena to take a nap on the cot in the room which gave them some time to talk alone. Natasha moved further to one side and motioned for Steve to lay beside her. He was far too big but laid down on his side beside her anyways. She moved to rest her head against his shoulder. They had come so far and no words were really needed for either of them to express their content and happiness to be together in that moment.
“Thank you,” she whispered out several minutes later.
He ran his fingers through her hair which he knew she loved despite never explicitly saying so. “You never have to thank me.”
“But I do. You saved my life and found my sister again. I can never repay you for that.”
Steve brushed his lips against her temple. “You can repay me by following through on our hypothetical scenario where we both retire and leave the team in Sam’s capable hands.”
Natasha hummed. It would be hard to let go but the thought was more appealing now than ever before. She spent five years running herself into the ground trying to keep the Avengers afloat and given her state of dying and being resurrected, now seemed as good of time as any to move on.
“I think I can agree to that.” She buried her face further into his body, the physical content grounding her back to this reality. “But I still want to stay on as counsel and offer to help train new recruits.”
“I can agree to those terms.” Steve wrapped his arms around her and she had never felt so safe. He had saved her and they had won. Against all odds, they had done it. She had got her family back. She had never been good with words, so she did the next best thing and tapped his chest three times.
“I love you too, Nat. Now get some sleep.”
That night, she had her first peaceful night of sleep in over five years.