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“Damn that is one high tech alarm system.” You blink your eyes open at the sound of voices.
“Yeah and your idiotness almost set it off.” Two pairs of voices so far, they sound like men. Something is wrong.
“Not like it would matter. Mark says the chick who lives here lives alone and goes on long ass trips all the time. He said she’s not here now, so we should be fine.”
“Yeah until the police show up.”
“Chill out dude you’re so paranoid. I fixed the alarm, it went off for half a second before I turned it off, the alarm company will think somebody just forgot their password everythings fine.”
“Fine dude, let’s just look for cash and jewelry.”
“Alright you take this area I’ll look for the bedroom.”
Footsteps again. This time headed in your direction. Not good. You jump out of bed as quietly as possible and slip into the closet, a very basic hiding place but the best option you have at this point.
“Hey dude.” A door knob rattles. Only one room in the apartment is locked so it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which. “Check out the lock on this door. Who needs some kinda lock like this inside their house.”
“Jesus, what do you think she’s got in there. Let’s open it.” Although it buys you some time to think of something to do, you know they’re going to be disappointed when they open the locked toy room.
Wait. If they got in that meant you could get out. You slip out of the closet trying to be quiet. You’re very grateful you left the bedroom door cracked last night before you went to bed. So all you have to do is push the door open.
You silently make the way down the hall towards the front door.
Click. A gun. “Don’t move. P-Put your hands up.” 3 voices. You do as you're told, freezing on the spot and raising your hands above your head. “Guys.”
“Holy shit. I thought you said there was no one here.”
“Mark said only one person lived here.”
“Well Mark was clearly wrong.” The third man comes into view still pointing his gun at you, his shaky voice and hands giving away how scared he is.
“You don’t have to do this.” You steel your nerves, grateful for how much practice you’ve had pretending to be calm, I mean this isn’t even the first time you’ve been held at gunpoint in this apartment.
Another man comes into view. “You never should have trusted that idiot. What are we going to do now?”
“Just leave, I won’t tell anyone you were ever here.” You lower your arms to your sides.
“Yeah like we’d believe that. As soon as we walked out the door, you’d call the police.” You can’t help the scoff as the second man speaks.
“Yeah do you see anyway I could call the police here.” You watch the men share confused glances with each other.
Gunman finally says, “you don’t have a phone?”
“If I had a phone I wouldn’t be here.”
“Holy shit.” Guy number one says.
“Are you- what are you saying?” Guy number two looks more worried now.
A new idea pops in your head, probably a terrible one but an idea is an idea. “No one has to know anything. If we all walk out together, we go our separate ways, no one ever has to know.”
“W-What?”
“This is too weird guys, I think we just go, who cares what she does.” Finally one of them shows a little sense.
Guy number three lowers his gun finally, and the three men look at each other.
Guy number two sighs, “yeah I’m done with this shit, let’s get the hell out of here this is too weird.”
All of them mumble some form of agreement and then you’re walking down the hall towards the front door with three strangers.
Leaving. You’re leaving. You’re leaving the apartment. You’re leaving Yelena. The door to the apartment is… open? Literally.
“Hey I thought I told you to close that.”
“I uh did.”
“Well it doesn’t look shut to me.”
“Well I swear I shut it.” Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
You step back. You know exactly what this means.
Bang. A gunshot. Then pain in the side of your head. Then nothing.
—-------------------------------------------------------
Ow. You blink your eyes open. You're half aware of someone touching the side of your head, the part that hurts and you turn away from them. “Yelena.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” Not Yelena. You jerk away at the unfamiliar voice. The sudden movement worsening the pain in your head.
“Natasha.” You mumble to the redhead laying your head back against the pillow. She must have carried you to your bed.
“You hit me.”
“No, I pistol whipped you. Now hold still you’re bleeding.” She pushes your chin the other way.
You grumble as her fingers brush over your head. “And whose fault is that?”
“Quit your whining. Yelena will be here soon and I need to clean this up before she gets here. If she sees you all bleeding like this she’ll murder me.”
You wince as Natasha rubs something, probably antiseptic, on your head. “You suck.”
“Mhm. If I remember correctly you rather enjoyed it last time.”
“Shut up.” You try to hold still as she keeps tending your wounds.
“You always have such an attitude.” Natasha finishes and sits down on the edge of the bed. “I don’t understand why Yelena puts up with it.”
You grumble and roll away from her.
“Ha. You know maybe if you were more respectful I would consider not telling Yelena that you were on your way out the door with those men when I got here.”
You freeze, a spark of fear shooting through your body. You didn’t even think about that, you just assumed Natasha hadn’t heard or didn’t realize what was happening.
“Yeah I heard that little plan you hatched.” Natahsa pokes you in the rib, almost teasingly.
“I didn’t mean it. I was afraid.” You mumble into your pillow.
“Mhm, do you think Yelena will believe that because I don’t. And you know you still haven’t thanked me. I saved your life.” She leans back on her arms.
“You pistol whipped me and then shot some dudes. And they weren’t even going to shoot me.” You roll back over to look up at her.
“Yeah but then I had to call a guy and help get rid of the bodies.”
You shoot up momentarily ignoring the pain in your head. “They’re dead?”
Natasha cocks her head, “yes. Of course what did you think I would just let them leave. They broke into my little sister's apartment and held you at gunpoint. Besides, even if I had let them live, you think Yelena would have let them keep breathing.”
You try to ignore the warm feeling in your chest and focus on Natasha’s words. “Wait, there was someone else here? How long have I been asleep?”
“A while, long enough to clean up the mess.” Natasha pulls her phone out of her pocket and glances down. She makes a hum sound before setting it on the bed.
“How’d you even know they were here? You just happened to stop by?”
“Yelena told me of course. They set off the alarm but turned it off, Yelena knew it wasn’t you because you don’t know the code, and also can’t open the door. She also checked the camera, saw them, and told me.”
You scoff. “Yeah because if it was me leaving then nothing would’ve happened and you wouldn't have come to stop me.”
“Well turns out that is what happened isn’t it.” Natasha glances at her phone again and smirks. “You know how to work a phone?”
“What?” You squint up at her. “Yeah I know how to work a phone.”
“Good.” She clicks a button and hands it to you.
You take it gingerly, the device feeling weird in your hand after not having access to one for so long, and hold it to your ear.
“Hello?”
“Hi baby, are you okay?” You hate how your body relaxes the second you hear Yelena’s thick accent on the other end of the phone.
“Yes I’m uh- fine.”
You think you hear her sigh on the other end of the phone. “Good. They didn’t hurt you did they?”
You glance at Natasha, “if by they you mean Natasha then yes.”
“Yes, she told me. Although from what she told me, you deserved it.” Although her words are accusing her tone is still soft and it strips away all your will.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t- I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s okay,” Yelena cuts you off. “I’ll forgive it because you were under duress.”
“And Natasha pistol whipped me already.”
Yelena’s laugh echoes through the phone. “Okay okay. I’ll be home in a few hours, Natasha will stay with you until I get back.”
You glance warily at the redhead, who is so obviously listening to your conversation. “She doesn’t have to.”
“She does. You might have a concussion so we can’t leave you alone.”
You sigh and close your eyes, a habit you developed to prevent from rolling them. “Well that’s not my fault is it?”
“She’s staying.” There it is, the slight shift in her tone. The warning that you were nearing the end of her patience.
“Yeah okay.”
“I have to go, I'll be there soon. Goodbye my love.”
“Mkay see you soon.” You pull the phone away and click the end call button.
You stare at the screen for a few seconds, taking in the fact that you’re holding a phone until Natasha clears her throat and you slip it back into her hand.
You try to close your eyes, but you can feel Natasha’s eyes on you. “I know you’re concerned about my brain damage, but can you stop staring.”
“It’s not that.” You open your eyes to find Natasha with an almost confused expression on her face.
“What?” You prop yourself up on your elbows.
“You love her.”
“What?” You squint at her, you still feel like your brain is slow.
“If you could have seen the way your body reacted just by hearing her voice it was like instant.” She has what appears to be a genuine smile on her face now and it kind of scares you.
“What do you mean?”
“You have been so on edge and agitated this entire time, and then as soon as you heard her voice you just dropped into relaxation and were calm.”
“That’s not-”
“It definitely is. Don’t be embarrassed, it's adorable.” You huff and roll away from her facing the wall.
“Okay okay get some rest, I’ll be in the living room if you need anything.” Natasha stands up and you hear her footsteps leave the room.
You close your eyes and try to block out everything she said.
—------------------------------------------------------------
The mattress shifting wakes you up. You jerk away from the figure sitting next to you but soft hands curl around your wrist and pull you forward.
“Shh, it’s me.” You allow Yelena to pull you against her and rest your head against her shoulder. “Are you okay, love.”
You nod your head against her neck, “m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Yelena nudges your head back so she can look into your eyes.
“Yeah, I’m fine Yelena.” You press your head back against her shoulder and breathe deeply, relishing in her scent.
“Are you smelling me?”
“You smell good… and I missed you.” You feel Yelena tense slightly. It’s the first time you had said something likethst without it being coaxed into it or her saying it first, maybe Natasha’s words got to you after all.
“I missed you too.” She wraps her arms around you and pulls you both down onto the bed. “Is that why you tried to leave with those men?”
You hum and shimmy closer to her, not feeling afraid at all despite the circumstances. “I was afraid.”
“Of them?” She pushes you back once again tilting your head back to look into her eyes. “Or me?”
“Both.”
Yelena hums and brushes some hair out of your eyes. “Is there anything they said?”
“About?”
“Who they were. Natasha killed them before asking questions and I thought you might’ve heard something that gave away who they were.”
“No, I don't think they said anything.” Mark. They said Mark. Mark knew they were here. Mark knew they went missing. Mark might contact somebody to come looking. Mark would-
“What is it?” You stare back at Yelena trying to mask your face. “There’s something you thought of, tell me.”
“I didn’t.” Based on Yelena’s face she doesn’t fall for your lie.
Her arms tighten ever so slightly around you. “Baby, right now I'm in a good mood and am just glad you’re safe. You really don’t want that to change do you?” She pauses and waits for you to shake your head. “Then why are you lying? Tell me the truth. Now.”
“I’m sorry.” You stall trying to think clearly.
“Y/N. Tell me now.” She lets go of you with one arm and wraps her hand around your neck, a warning for you.
She must be in a good mood- she rarely gives you warnings. “Mark.” Your voice is barely above a whisper.
“Mark? What does that mean?”
“It’s a name.” Her grip tightens.
“Whose?”
“I don’t know, when they were talking they said something about a guy named Mark.” Her grip relaxes slightly at your compliance. “He’s the one who they said gave them the address.”
Yelena releases you completely and climbs out of the bed.
“What are you doing?” You ask as she slides weapons into their place in her suit, which you now notice she’s still wearing.
“Going to find Mark.”
There’s nothing you can say that would stop her, so you don’t even try. The only thing you can do is watch as Yelena leaves and wait for her to come back.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It’s not until hours later that Yelena finally climbs back into bed with you. She’s showered and is in her pajamas so you assume she’s here to stay this time.
You remain silent as she presses up against your back and wraps her arm around your waist. “You don’t have to worry about anyone else coming here. You’re safe here.”
You resist the urge to roll your eyes at the notion of being safe in Yelena’s arms but at the same time you feel yourself sink back into her just slightly.
“I know.”
She hums contently as you entwine your fingers with hers. “I love you.”
“I know that too.”
“Y/N.”
“I love you too.”
“I know.”