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One Night in SoHo

Summary:

Yelena Belova is a New Avenger, and she hates it. Kate Bishop is... nothing, at the moment. Not a New Avenger, not Yelena's girlfriend. At least, not officially. Yelena would prefer to call them 'friends with benefits' despite Kate's best effort to be labeled otherwise. Accidentally dropping her first 'I love you' earlier this morning certainly didn't help move things along.

So Kate's stuck in a 'tryout' phase – both as a New Avengers candidate, and as a potentially-more-than-convenience romantic partner. In the meantime, Yelena is content crashing casually at Kate's place four nights a week and taking Kate on early-morning stakeouts. Nothing major. Nothing dramatic.

Until an accident at one of these stakeouts twists their world upside down.

Notes:

For those interested in a somewhat official smutty preamble to this story... it does exist:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/66675574

Chapter 1: Very Spicy Mac & Cheese

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

​​The warehouse smelled like battery acid and mildew. Kate was already regretting the way her boots squeaked on the slick concrete floor with every step. Yelena, of course, didn’t make even the slightest sound. Of course she didn’t — how the former Widow managed to operate with such elite stealth was baffling. And hot. Fuck, Kate was already getting distracted. She had promised Yel it wouldn’t be a problem.

Kate slowed her pace, shifting her weight as silently as she could, bow taut in her left hand, an arrow nocked and ready, though she knew damn well that whatever alien artifact they were chasing probably wasn’t going to pop out like a jack-in-the-box. The shadows along the walls were thick, rippling slightly in the cold breeze coming through a busted window high above. Not Kate’s first time in a spooky warehouse, not in the least — but it was her first time as an official “New Avengers Candidate” and that certainly upped the stakes. She tried to hone her senses and ignore, impossibly, the fact that Yel was finally giving her a shot.

Kate cared deeply about being a New Avenger, but she cared more (somehow) about impressing Yelena. In her mind, being recruited as an Avenger was the fastest path to Yelena and her being “official” as girlfriend-girlfriend. Talk about a tryout.

The place had probably been a metal works facility fifty years ago, but now it was just rust and old dreams and a few weird gamma radiation pings that the New Avengers’ scanner had flagged from orbit. Which was why they were here — and of course, it was probably nothing. Which is why only Yelena was tasked to scope the scene; and why Kate was finally given the shot as a tagalong.

No Bob. No Walker. Just Yelena and tagalong Kate.

“Vigilante girlfriends,” Kate mouthed the words, sure to not make a peep. She eyed Yelena out of the corner of her eye.

“What was that?” Yelena whispered.

Kate winced. “Nothing,” she muttered back, more audible this time. “Just saying that I still think this is a trap.”

Yelena didn’t answer at first as the two rounded another bend and entered a concrete hallway. She liked to be dramatic, Kate had discovered over the last few years of on-again-off-again hookups. Yel liked to let silence stretch out, make it unbearable. Then finally, a whisper: “It’s never a trap, Kate Bishop. You only think that because you are hoping it is more romantic that way.”

Kate blinked, nearly choked on air. “Romantic?”

“Yes,” Yelena said flatly. The two were forced closer together down the narrow corridor. “As in, dramatic. Fantastical.” Yel cast her a snide side-eye. “Not, like, sexy. This is not that. This is a mission.”

Kate exhaled in a hiss. “I know.” She tensed the arrow notched in her bow. “But like, it could be sexy if we wanted it to be.”

Yelena let out a curt, silent laugh. “No.” She slipped ahead, crouching beside a crumpled metal container and examining the scorch marks along its edge. “In which case, it bears repeating — don’t try anything stupid just to impress me. We’re here as operatives, not as…” Yel trailed off.

Kate crouched close beside her. Her smirk was obvious. “Not as… what? Girlfriends?”

Yelena rolled her eyes. “No, we’re here as operatives and not as friends,” she stressed.

The conversation was still fresh from earlier that morning, where Kate had sleepily said her first ‘I love you’ and Yelena had opted to respond by emphasizing their decidedly (in her mind) ‘friends with benefits’ nature of their association. Kate hadn’t liked that response, so Yelena had gone down on her and made her come twice as penance. By that point, they were late. They suited up, headed to the waterfront, and here they were.

So yes, the conversation was fresh.

“Just, keep your head focused,” Yelena continued. She had pulled out another scanner, hoping to hone in on the gamma signal. “This should be an easy mission and an easy box to check on your review process,” her voice had dropped, she was in ‘tactical Yelena mode’ as Kate called it. “So no more checking out my ass and definitely no more confusing feelings, okay?”

Kate could feel herself blushing, which she worried would be even more unprofessional if Yelena noticed. She faked a look over the top of the crate to divert her face. “I wasn’t checking you out,” Kate lied, and she knew Yel would see through the bluff. “But I don’t have any confused feelings, alright? My head is clear as day.” Kate didn’t expect to double down on the lovey-dovey-ness from earlier, but here they were. “And,” she continued, her voice escalating, “I don’t want you to feel like you have to prove some sort of weird Yelena-style detachment because of whatever you’re struggling with when it comes to me and our labels. Just make sure you’ve got my back.”

Yelena took offence. “I have everyone’s back, Kate. Of course I’d have your back. Just because I can’t say ‘I love you’ doesn't mean I don’t have your back.”

Kate snapped back her gaze, looking Yel dead in the eyes. “So you feel it but you just won’t say it?”

“That is NOT what I meant,” Yel was also talking louder now too. “We’ve just barely started seeing each other—”

“Two years is not ‘just barely’,” Kate interrupted.

“Focus on the tryout.” Yel looked back at the scanner.

Kate wasn’t having it. “Tryout for being a New Avenger or for being your girlfriend?”

“For New Avengers.”

Kate narrowed her eyes, but her lips twitched into a smile. God, Yelena was so annoying. And hot. Annoyingly hot.

Kate was planning to continue her tirade when a ping registered on Yelena’s scanner. Both of them froze. “Forward,” Yel whispered — back into full-serious stealth mode. She shuffled into a crouched walk and tugged at Kate’s arm to follow closely behind as the two snaked around a large stack of crates and into a corner further in the warehouse. The air was thicker here. Charged. Kate felt her hair rising slightly at the back of her neck. Some kind of electromagnetic field, she figured. Her fingers adjusted on the grip of her bow, arrow still held low but ready to draw and fire in half a second.

The object was nestled in the rusted hull of an old forklift, like it had grown there over time. Metallic but pulsing faintly with bioluminescent veins, like it was half-machine, half-alien-glob. Blue light strobed along its surface. It looked almost like a prism — six jagged faces, no symmetry, no seams — but humming with heat and something else. Something colder.

Kate leaned in slightly. “That’s the tech.”

“Great deduction skills, Kate,” Yelena murmured. “You do not need to say the obvious. You are not doing commentary.”

“I like talking through stuff.”

“You like hearing your own voice.”

Kate huffed, ready to snap back with a string of retorts, but looking at Yelena she noticed the movement from far beyond her shoulder — something slinking quickly towards them through the shadows. Yelena’s focus was back on her scanner, now beeping frantically. "The energy readings are incredibly abnormal," she murmured, her eyes narrowed. "Something's about to happen—"

"Movement," Kate cut her off, her hand instinctively pulling Yelena low and close. "Multiple."

Kate counted at least six, maybe eight figures in the shadows, their forms indistinct but their intentions clear. They moved with a coordinated precision that spoke of training, of experience. Not random thugs. Something organized.

"I told you this was a trap," Kate muttered, firing an arrow at one shape in the distance. "Draw them to the center, give me clean shots."

Yelena nodded, leapt into action. She wanted to be seen, to draw the figures out of the shadows. She moved like a blur, closing the distance with the closest figure, disarming them with a brutal twist and following up with a swift kick to the gut. The figure crumpled, but two more rushed in, flanking her.

Kate loosed another arrow, striking one of the figures in the shoulder. They grunted, stumbling back, but didn't fall.

Yelena was now in the thick of it, a whirlwind of motion. She blocked a punch, spun, and delivered a punishing elbow to another attacker's throat. Kate fired again, hitting a third figure in the leg, slowing them down enough for Yelena to catch them off balance with a finishing blow to the back of their head.

When another took the chance to jump Yelena from behind, Kate charged forward, leaping between Yelena and the attacker, slamming her bow into the figure's face. They staggered back, surprised, and Kate followed up with a series of quick, sharp kicks, creating space.

"Yelena, back to back!" she yelled. An attacker lunged, and Kate parried, redirecting the force of their blow. Yelena seized the moment, delivering a devastating kick to the attacker's ribs.

Another loud ping from Yelena’s sensor broke their focus. “We need to go, now!” she huffed, drawing her pistols to take down two of the assailants; it was loud, but there was no need for stealth at this point. “I’m grabbing the artifact. You cover me.”

“Roger.” Kate moved on instinct alone, lifting her bow to target another figure across the warehouse as Yel split from their formation. It seemed for a moment like the onslaught had slowed — Kate couldn’t keep track of how many they had struck down, but if Yelena managed to take the chance to grab the artifact, they might be able to escape by the skin of their teeth. Kate turned to Yel to gloat — and that’s when she saw the two figures closing in around Yelena from behind.

She didn't hesitate. “Down, Yelena!” With a hurried shout, Kate sprinted forward, firing an arrow into the shoulder of one of the masked figures, momentarily distracting it. She then tackled the other, knocking them away from Yelena just as they reached out for her. The momentum carried Kate and the figure towards the forklift where the glowing alien artifact was already dangerously perched. Kate knew that her movement was chaotic and unplanned — her angle was too hot, her footing was too rash. She just wanted to protect Yelena, but at the expense of her own sense of safety. She barrelled forward, knocking Yelena to safety and delivering a low, frenzied kick to her attacker in the same movement — and toppling into the forklift.

Then something exploded

Not a boom explosion, more like crack-whomp — a concussive burst that ripped air backwards and sent Kate flying into a stack of rusted barrels. Her head smacked against something hard and her vision went sideways. There was smoke. Lots of it. The light flared again and she couldn’t tell if it was coming from the floor or her brain, but either way, everything shimmered… weirdly.

Then — for half a second, no more — she saw herself.

No. Not herself. A mirror. Like, a full-length reflective pane hovering in mid-air. Her thoughts were still garbled, but she still tried to make sense of it: why this glowing alien glob would morph into a mirror (of all things) once shattered into a million pieces.

“Yelena?” Kate croaked. Her voice sounded weird. Echoey.

Then footsteps. Coughing. A tight, aggressive grip on her elbow pulling her out of the smoke.

Yelena’s voice was sharp now, clipped in a way that made Kate’s heart lurch. “Get up, Kate. We’re leaving — now. Fast.”

Kate blinked through the confusion. “What was that—”

“No time. Move,” Yel spoke flatly. Kate had never heard her so serious before.

Kate was being hauled toward the exit at the far side of the warehouse. She staggered against Yelena, trying to focus on her own feet, trying not to vomit. “Yelena, I—”

“MAC AND CHEESE,” Yelena shouted the words as though they had been rehearsed. “VERY SPICY MAC AND CHEESE.”

Kate froze. The words hit harder than the explosion did. “You said my codeword system was dumb.”

“It is dumb, Kate Bishop,” Yelena growled. Her face looked pained by the admission. “But it’s effective and VERY SPICY MAC AND CHEESE.” She repeated the phrase that Kate had insisted they memorized.

“You remembered.” Kate almost swooned, until it clicked what Yelena was trying to communicate. ‘Mac and cheese’ was their code word for meeting back at the apartment. ‘Very spicy,’ was their word for, in brief, things have just seriously hit the fan.

They had made it to the doorway by this point, when Yelena shoved Kate back into daylight and turned to head back inside. “Trust me Kate,” she snapped. “I’m serious.”

Kate wanted to probe — to ask what the hell was going on — but she knew when and how to take Yelena at her word. “Mac and cheese,” Kate repeated. Got it.”

“And take the long way home!” Yel shouted over her shoulder as she moved swiftly back into the smoke of the warehouse interior.

Kate didn’t think twice, turning to put some distance between herself and the warehouse behind her. Whatever had happened in there, it rattled Yelena somehow. For things to go very spicy was not an easy switch to flip for the blonde.

But… through it all, Kate couldn’t shake the thought still bouncing around her brain.

“She remembered the codewords,” Kate whispered to herself. “That feels like progress.”

Notes:

Very eager to continue pulling at these threads. Please leave feedback!! I'm curious to know what everyone thinks.

Love writing about my girls.

Chapter 2: I'm One Person

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The slow walk back to her apartment was a blur. The kind of half-lucid, stumbling post-mission haze that Kate knew all-too-well by this point, where the edges of reality still hadn’t snapped all the way back into place and everything tasted like copper and soot and adrenaline that hadn’t burned off yet. Kate had realized at some point that she must have sustained a punch to the kidney; the pain was deep, and caused her to limp just slightly, but it was manageable. Nothing that required urgent care. And she was bleeding from a cut on her cheek, but that wasn’t new — the gash was from a mission two weeks ago that just hadn’t gotten the chance to heal up.

Worse than the pain was the confusion. She had never seen Yelena get really, truly spooked. But something in that warehouse had done the trick — and Kate intended to take it seriously. Yelena had insisted she take the long route back to their rendezvous, and Kate wanted to impress. It took her two hours to make what would normally have been a twenty-minute stroll. She wanted Yelena to be dazzled by her commitment.

It was late afternoon when Kate decided that her journey was lengthy-enough to earn herself at least a few kisses. And her feet were starting to hurt more than the bruise on her ribcage, so she turned her route towards SoHo and made a beeline towards her apartment. It was a slog to climb the steps, but she had made it. And she found the door already unlocked.

Kate sighed, and smiled. Yelena. God she was beautiful.

She was standing in Kate’s kitchen area, not calm — but she looked to have escaped without even a scratch. She still wore her tactical stealth gear from the mission. Her arms were crossed.

“Inside. Now,” she snapped. Still serious.

Kate followed the command, but still took the chance to hopefully lighten the mood. “Nice to see you too, sweetheart. How long have you been waiting—”

Clearly Kate wasn’t moving quick enough — Yel closed the distance and shut the door swiftly behind her, shoving Kate forward out of the doorway. “Bedroom, Kate. Quickly.”

“What?”

“No time. Go.” Yelena hadn’t stopped shoving Kate forward — borderline aggressively, even — through the loft and towards her bedroom.

“Yelena, what’s going on?” Kate tried to resist before Yelena twisted her back into lockstep. For a brief, fleeting, confused moment… Kate almost got turned on. Then she snapped back to reality. “Look we’re here and we’re safe, aren’t we? And I probably have a concussion, and maybe a broken rib. Can we take it easy?”

Yelena said nothing. Just pushed Kate backward into the bedroom and shut the door behind them.

“You’re being extremely cryptic and that’s usually my thing,” Kate continued, glancing around like maybe she’d spot a reason for the sudden lockdown. Everything seemed normal. She slumped back onto her bed. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Yelena crossed the room in two strides and pressed both hands to Kate’s shoulders, eyes burning. “Quarantine,” she said. “Non-negotiable.”

Kate blinked. “That’s not an answer.”

“I am not giving you one yet.” Yelena seemed to soften, just slightly. “I know I’m asking for a lot of trust, but Kate, please… let me wrap my head around things and then I’ll loop you in, I promise.”

She looked tired. Kate almost wanted to use the opportunity to rant about trust and relationships and love and all the buzzwords she held on the tip of her tongue. Yelena could clearly see her gears turning.

“Because,” Yel sighed before Kate could open her mouth, “if you really do love me, you have to trust me. Stay put and stay quiet. Okay, Kate?”

There was no countering that. Kate settled onto the bed and nodded.

Then, faintly, she heard it.

The door.

The front door.

It creaked open.

Kate’s blood ran cold. Someone else was in her apartment. “Who—”

Yelena didn’t give her a chance. “Trust me, Kate Bishop,” she blurted before retreating and shutting the bedroom door behind her.

Kate stood — partly out of impulse, partly out of confusion. “What the fuck?” she whispered to herself, running her hands through her hair and just… just… “Fuck.”

She was so tired that she didn’t want to fight it. Whatever reason Yelena had for being cryptic, and assertive, and inviting someone else into her apartment… Kate did trust her. She sat back down on the edge of the bed and didn’t move.

The minutes stretched.

Ten, maybe more.

Nothing. No noise. No screaming. No fighting. Just muffled whispers and the occasional shifting of footsteps.

Then finally: the door creaked open again.

Yelena re-entered. Not rushed, but not relaxed either. Her face was tight. She didn’t speak for a second. Just stared.

Kate forced a smile, but it felt cheesy. “Okay. What the hell?”

Yelena stepped forward, crouching in front of Kate. She reached out a hand to inspect Kate’s face. It was odd, and intimate… and Kate was feeling herself getting distracted again. “Tell me how you got that cut on your cheek,” Yelena whispered.

Kate was even more confused now. “What do you mean? You were there. We were tracking down that munitions dealer in Harlem and I took a bad hit.”

“And?” Yelena raised an eyebrow.

“And,” Kate sighed, “I stumbled through a pane glass window.”

“Ok.” Yelena nodded, satisfied, which was bizarre given that she had teased Kate about it ever since. It was an odd line of questioning. “And when was the first time we kissed?”

Kate blinked. “Seriously?”

Yelena raised an eyebrow. “Answer.”

Kate felt her heart flutter. “Rooftop of the parking garage on 53rd. You said you’d ‘reward me for a clean kill,’ and I said that was horrifying, but you kissed me anyway.”

Yelena’s mouth twitched. “Acceptable.”

“Okay, your turn,” Kate smiled. Yel was suddenly acting so sweet. “What the hell is going on?”

“Not done.” Yelena stood again. “Tell me something private. Something you’ve never told anyone.”

Kate gaped. “What?”

“Now.”

“God, okay—um—” She ran a hand through her hair, still sticky with sweat and warehouse grit. “Sometimes I have this dream where I win an archery competition but I’m naked and everyone applauds anyway and I wake up kind of turned on and it freaks me out because I don’t think it’s about the nudity so much as the praise.”

Yelena blinked.

Kate threw up her hands. “You wanted private!”

Yelena nodded, quiet. “That works.”

Then, without another word, she left again.

Kate jumped to her feet. “Are you kidding me?! You can’t just—”

But Yelena was already gone. Door shut. Locked.

Kate waited. The minutes dragged on — again, longer, tenser. She was growing furious.

When the door opened again, it was more gentle this time. Yelena walked in slowly. She seemed tired, but content. It was as though the danger that she feared earlier had been dispelled, and now she just seemed… overwhelmed.

“Okay,” Yelena sighed. “Ask away.”

“What the fuck is going on,” Kate cut right to the point.

Yelena shook her head. “I honestly don’t know. Next question.”

Kate couldn’t help but laugh at the non-answer. “Okay, then — can I leave the bedroom?”

“Yes,” Yelena nodded. “I think so, after I get you up to speed.” Yelena walked forward slowly and took a seat on the bed. She gestured for Kate to join her.

Kate just felt numb at this point. Like Yelena’s sense of overwhelming exhaustion was rubbing off on her. “Can you tell me,” she asked quietly, “what happened in the warehouse at least?”

Yelena nodded. “You definitely got caught in the radius of the artifact when it exploded.” She looked at Kate sweetly. “And there were… side effects.”

Kate gulped. “Such as?”

“Such as,” Yelena sighed, “I think the explosion cloned you.”

Kate blinked. And laughed. “I’m sorry?”

“You,” Yelena said slowly, “and… you. There are two of you. Exactly the same. Down to your scars and your memories and your annoying panic rants and deeply inappropriate dreams about nude applause.” Yelena gestured at the bedroom door. “She’s sitting out there on the couch.”

Kate squinted her eyes trying to process what Yelena was saying. “That’s…” she struggled to comprehend. “That’s not a thing. That’s not — like, there’s no science for that, we’re not in a Star Trek episode, this isn’t—"

“I interrogated you both,” Yelena cut her off, but gently. “And she said the same thing. Same dorky ‘not a Star Trek’ response, Kate. I wish it was obvious which one of you was, I don’t know, an imposter. I’d take a little tiny bit of joy killing an evil fake version of you,” Yelena made herself chuckle at the thought. “But I think you’re both legit.”

“Bullshit—” Kate stood up. “She’s the imposter, Yelena! Let me out and I’ll kill her myself.”

Yelena laughed, louder this time. “She said the same thing about you. And I think the two of you fighting to the death would do more harm than good at this point.”

Kate let out a breath, hollow and confused. If Yelena was pulling her leg, the bit had gone on long enough. For a moment, despite how impossible it sounded… Kate started to believe her. She paused. Another breath. Another, long, heavy string of breaths. Holy shit.

“So what now?” Kate finally asked.

Yelena just shrugged. She gestured at the door. “I’ll let the two of you figure that out yourselves.”

Notes:

Taking a big swing with this. Let's see where it goes from here :)

Chapter 3: Judgmental Bitch

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

There was a drifting unreality to the air in the apartment, like the walls had been shifted two inches to the left while no one was looking, or like the ground might give way if Kate stepped on the wrong creaky floorboard. She felt like she was underwater, just drifting through space. Kate walked into her own living room like it wasn’t hers — like she hadn’t been living here for years.

And she was already there. Kate was already sitting there, waiting for her.

Her double was on the couch, legs crossed tight under her body nervously, wearing the same dark-purple tactical get-up as the Kate that emerged from the bedroom. Hair in the exact same messy ponytail. Band-aid at the exact same angle on her cheek. The sight hit Kate like whiplash — not a mirror, not a twin, not a doppelgänger, but a copy. An uncanny, glitch-in-the-Matrix breathing echo of her entire being. It made her stomach fold in on itself.

She couldn’t help but stare. The other Kate stood from the sofa to stare back.

And for a second — just a second — they both tilted their heads at the exact same angle. It was innocuous, but Kate felt herself grow red hot with… what was it, anger? Spite? Something. Some emotion she didn’t know how to process, but she hated it nonetheless. She hated being somehow less unique than she was when the day began.

Yelena had slyly positioned herself between them. Her stance was wide. Combat-ready, just in case shit hit the fan.

“Alright,” Yelena said flatly, clearly trying for calm but underscored with tight anxiety, “this is a conversation. Not a cage match. You are both Kate Bishop. You are not here to determine who’s the real one, and I hate that I have to emphasize this,” her voice sounded tired, “but do not fight yourself. I will staple your hands together if I have to.”

“I mean—” both Kates muttered simultaneously, preparing for the same quippy retort. They stopped short, turning to glare at each other instead.

“Nope. No. No speaking in unison,” Yelena said immediately, stepping back, her hands trying to almost dispel the very notion of what just happened like a bad aroma. “I won’t be able to handle your voice in stereo. You,” she pointed and snapped her fingers at the Kate who had risen off the sofa. “Arbitrarily, you speak first.”

Kate — the other Kate, the one from the bedroom — tried to breathe. Her chest ached in that way it always did when she got too far into her own head, like her lungs were trying to crawl backward. She couldn’t stop staring at her other self. At the way she was clenching her jaw.

Sofa Kate just shook her head. “There’s nothing to say. This is fucked up.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Bedroom Kate replied quickly, instinctively.

“Yes, it’s fucking insane right now,” Yelena said, her tone a forced attempt at being soothing. “But nobody’s in danger. At least you’re out of sync. Now we can all try to solve this together.”

Kate’s haze didn’t lift for the next several minutes. Yelena tried to explain some ground rules and a bit of a plan to get this sorted out — she said she could call Banner, he was on retainer to consult with the New Avengers for just this type of scientific mishap. “Well, not this specifically,” Yelena had clarified, “but other similarly odd events.” Yel mostly muttered this all under her breath while she talked through various courses of action, all the while combing the apartment for sharp objects like knives and arrows and shoving them in the closet, out of the Kates’ immediate reach. Again, just in case.

Both Kates meanwhile had sat themselves down on the sofa a few feet apart. It took a long while for them to do anything other than stare dead-ahead into the middle distance. Kate didn’t want to look at her — the other, identical self that had popped into her life — but she stole glances. Who wouldn’t?

She was hoping for a while that this other Kate would slip up — would do or say something entirely un-Kate-like and reveal themselves as an imposter. Those hopes were quickly replaced by Kate getting distracted by every subtle movement or gesture from the clone — tics in how she shifted her weight or cleared her throat. From how they mirrored the show of discomfort, they both found it irritating.

“Stop tapping your foot,” Bedroom Kate snapped first.

“You’re doing it too,” Sofa Kate countered sharply. “I get it. We’re spiraling. Let’s just let Yelena figure this out.”

“I’m not spiraling,” the first Kate argued back. “Or so what if I am?” They were eying each other now across the sofa. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re a judgmental bitch.”

“You’re the one judging me!” Sofa Kate stood to her feet. “Don’t talk down to me like I’m not you,” she said, voice sharp as a knife.

“I’m not talking down.” The other stood in a mirrored huff. “I’m talking to a version of me that apparently doesn’t know how to shut the fuck up and stay focused when things get scary.”

“Right, because you’re so calm and centered right now?”

“More than you—”

“Girls,” Yelena warned loudly from across the apartment, her voice like the crack of cold metal.

But it was too late.

Because there was something uniquely unbearable about seeing every inch of your own insecurity mirrored and personified in front of you — something awful about watching your own worst habits move independently, made into someone you could blame. Every fidget, every snide retort, every self-deprecating eye roll thrown back in your face, and Kate couldn’t help it, couldn’t not see it as a flaw, couldn’t not recoil at how sharp and brittle her own voice sounded when it wasn’t coming from inside her own skull.

“You really think you’re more real just because you walked into the apartment first?” Sofa Kate barked, stepping forward with fire in her cheeks and a defiant edge to her posture that the other Kate immediately mirrored as the two neared.

“No, I think I’m more real because I know that it’s true—”

“—Get the fuck out of here, you’re a science experiment at best.”

Yelena moved forward fast, arms up between them again, but not fast enough.

Because Kate’s fist was already in motion. Twice.

They launched at each other — a twist of limbs and snarls and teeth-gritted grunts, hands reaching to pull hair, elbows thrown into ribs, the kind of fight that was neither practiced nor professional but feral, all survival instinct. One Kate thrust a punch into the other’s shoulder, forcing her back against the coffee table and nearly off-balance. When the other lunged back ahead, her fist connected with the second Kate's jaw with a sickening thud.

“Shit—” she hesitated, almost ready to apologize, before the other Kate returned an equally brutal blow. Next were kicks to the gut, parries that hurled bodies into shelves and cabinets and onto the coffee table — it was a no-holds-bar trading of blows. One Kate tackled her clone to the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs and desperate attempts to gain the upper hand.

“Enough!” Yelena’s voice split the air like thunder, and then hands — so strong, always stronger than they looked — grabbed each of them by the collar and yanked them off the ground and a safe distance apart. One Kate slammed into the arm of the couch. The other stumbled and caught herself on the bookshelf. Both were panting, lips bleeding, eyes wide.

Yelena stood in the center of the room, her eyes piercing — darting back and forth between the two Kates with a harsh, wordless, splinteringly clear message: I TOLD YOU NOT TO FIGHT.

Yelena let the silence linger before she finally spoke. “If either of you,” Yelena said, quiet but lethal, “touch each other again, I’m gone. I mean it. I go back to New Avengers tower. You two can tear each other apart and I will not come back to pick up the pieces. Do you understand?”

Neither Kate spoke.

Yelena didn’t blink. “Say it.”

“Yes,” one Kate said.

“Yes,” echoed the other, softer.

Yelena’s shoulders dropped, just barely. She continued to glance back and forth between the women, eying them up and down, no doubt making sure that neither of them maimed the other enough to require medical attention.

Bedroom Kate wiped blood from her lip. “Sorry,” she said, looking at her clone.

Sofa Kate said it too.

Yelena sat down on the coffee table — the unbroken half — and sighed. “You’re the same fucking person. I get it, you’re scared. You’re lashing out. It’s okay. But… come on, Kate Bishop. Fighting with yourself is a bit too on the nose.”

One Kate decided to sit back on the sofa. The other opted to pace along the far side of the loft, crossing her arms. “What would you recommend, then?” she asked as she walked towards the window that overlooked the street below. It was early evening, by this point. “Yel, if we’re stuck like this, what do you think we should do?”

Yelena blinked at her. “What do you mean? I don’t have a plan beyond not letting you kill yourself.”

The Kate from the sofa continued the thought. “We mean, you said we should talk together. We did that. We almost killed each other, but now we got that out of our system. So what’s the next step? You must have been in weirder spy shit than this.”

“No, this tops my list.” Yelena rubbed her forehead. “This isn’t normal weird. This is Kate Bishop times two. My brain is fried. I think we just have to wait it out.”

The pacing Kate had finished her lap. “Wait for what?”

Yelena shrugged. “I don’t know. De-cloning. Dissolution. A molecular reset. Maybe one of you fades away tonight, or tomorrow, or in a week.”

“A week!?” Both Kate’s shouted in unison.

Yelena winced at the echo. “I don’t know. I don’t know how long you’ll be stuck like this.”

The silence lingered. The pacing Kate opted to sit herself back on the sofa — still a solid arms-length from the clone, but getting this close without throwing punches was progress. From this angle, at least both Kates could stare at Yelena and let the blonde process. They sat like this, the three of them, in the weird detente of post-fight adrenaline. The air still felt a little off, but it was settling. It almost seemed normal, for a brief moment.

“I think you need rules,” Yelena said at last, hands steepled. “Ground rules. Shared space. Shared life. Until we figure out how to fix this.”

One Kate lifted a brow. “Like a roommate agreement?”

“Like an existential containment protocol,” Yelena muttered, “But yes. Roommate agreement, if that helps you figure it out.”

The Kates turned to look at each other. “We can make a truce,” one said confidently.

“I think so,” the other stated as though it was fact — as though both Kates had already made the decision that a truce was imminent, so why fight it? It would happen, by force if necessary.

“Good,” Yelena stood from the table. “Work on it. I need to get us food.”

Yelena seemed to have flipped a switch — there was no tension in her movements as she walked to the kitchenette and opened the fridge. Not checking back over her shoulder, not hiding any more could-be-weapons; she seemed to believe that the tension had been resolved. Her attitude shift was unsettlingly quick.

“So, no fighting,” one Kate whispered. “Obviously.”

“Obviously,” the other repeated. She was staring at Kate but kept eying Yelena’s movement out of the corner of her eye, suspicious that the two were being watched like misbehaving kids in the presence of the school principal. “And let’s not be too focused on our faults. Please.”

“Agreed. Sorry about that.”

“No worries.”

They tried to cover the basics. It was awkward. They agreed on limiting the harsh sentiments, and on trying to treat the other person as a living breathing individual and not just a temporary emotional punching bag. They agreed that neither of them was the ‘real Kate’ and that had to be something they stop obsessing over. It felt like progress.

“We can’t be possessive over stuff in this apartment, either,” one Kate tried to elaborate. “Like the trick arrows, those belong to both of us.”

“Got it,” the other nodded along, “And the leftover pizza, we’ll split it.”

“Right,” they seemed to be hitting a rhythm. These felt like small, easy details, but it was nice to find common footing. Kate smiled, and the other mirrored the gesture.

Yelena had meanwhile moved her puttering from the kitchen to the bedroom. She couldn’t help but overhear. “There isn’t enough pizza for the three of us,” she shouted from the other room. “But I can order more. Or I’ll make us some mac and cheese. Seems like we’re in for a long night.”

Then she emerged. It was still Yel — casual, relaxed — but she had stripped off her tactical gear. Why wouldn’t she, now that the mission was over? All that was left was a sweaty white tank-top that showed the sharp angles and perfect tone of her shoulder blades. And she wasn’t wearing her padded leggings. She had grabbed a pair of Kate’s sleep shorts. Her thighs looked perfect. She walked barefoot, leaving the bedroom and heading back to the kitchen.

Kate’s eyes tracked her, focused hard like a cat watching a laser pointer. She craned her neck to follow the blonde across the apartment… and noticed her clone doing the same.

“Oh,” Kate’s gears seemed to turn especially slowly. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” the other Kate whispered. “This is going to be harder than we thought.”

Notes:

Uh oh :)

Chapter 4: No Touching

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The noise of the city’s streets outside Kate’s SoHo apartment window had slowly shifted into the dull evening hum of traffic and bustle and the occasional distant siren. The sun had set — sometime between Kate’s long walk back home from the docks and the very beginnings of her coming to the terms that she now existed in two identical bodies. It had been a long, weird day.

Inside the apartment the air had settled like thick syrup. It was slightly less weird now than it had been thirty-minutes prior, when Kate had first come face to face with a clone of herself and had to come to terms with seeing her own worst qualities from outside her body. No, now the vibe was just… funky. Yelena gave them space while the Kates still sat mostly in silence on the sofa, apart from the occasional whisper:

“Hm.”

“I know.”

“Right.”

They were clearly running through the same internal monologue. There was no need to speak it out loud — to give voice to the truly upsetting and complicated realization: We both want to fuck Yelena Belova and that’s probably going to get messy and weird.

“Yeah.”

“I know.”

Both Kates were stressed and fidgety. One had put her hair up in a higher ponytail; the other’s still draped loose and messy down her shoulders. It was the first time that they looked at all distinct since the evening began. ‘Hair Down’ Kate would have preferred to readjust her ponytail as well, but she realized for the sake of Yelena’s sanity, it might help her tell the two of them apart.

“So,” Ponytail Kate cleared her throat, finally ready to let the conversation spill into the open apartment air, albeit still in a whisper and at a safe distance from Yelena’s ears. “We can’t let this get aggressive again.”

“Definitely not,” Hair Down Kate agreed. “I don’t plan to.”

“Me neither.”

Both women had been mostly staring at Yelena over the last few minutes, swooning in frustrated silence. But now, their eyes darted back towards each other. It had been uncomfortable — very uncomfortable — to stare at herself at first. Now though, the Kates realized that this other woman was basically an ally navigating a topsy-turvy situation. They had to get along, otherwise their lives would be split open at the seams.

“Sorry about punching you.”

“Sorry about punching you, too.”

It wasn’t actually bad, staring at herself. There was an alien comfort to it, now that an inkling of trust had been established.

“Do you want to say it,” Ponytail asked, “Or should I?”

“You mean the fact that we agreed not to get possessive,” Hair Down nodded subtly, “and we can sense that it’s going to happen any minute now?”

Ponytail nodded. “Cause Yelena’s flaunting around that ass and it’s going to drive us up the wall.”

“Seriously,” Down almost laughed. “Why does she have to be so fucking hot all the time—”

“—Tell me about it.”

They looked back over to her. Yelena had brought the kitchenette to life — or, as lively as possible for Kate’s meager dining space. The fridge was open and the microwave was running, heating up a few days-worth of old pizza. Water was boiling for mac and cheese, too. Yelena was clearly starving — or she had just never cooked for two Kates before and she didn’t know where to start.

It was deeply unfair how good she looked. Soft white tank top and violet sleep shorts she had borrowed from Kate’s drawer. Blonde hair tousled and messy but still a perfect frame around her face. Every time she bent over the microwave, the Kates forgot how to breathe.

“We are so fucked,” Ponytail gasped.

“Don’t say ‘fucked’ right now,” Down groaned, flopping deeper into the sofa beneath her. She unzipped her tactical top. She needed to cool herself down.

“I mean it, though,” Ponytail said. “We can’t both want her tonight. I mean, obviously we do, but we can’t.”

Down rolled her head to the side and stared at her twin. “I know. You don’t have to state the obvious.”

“Everything we’re going to say to each other is obvious,” the other countered. “So let’s not get bothered by it.”

They were too aware of every sound Yelena made — every cabinet hinge creaking, chair leg scraping against tile, the way she tapped her fingers against the edge of the plate while waiting for the microwave to finish its work. Not even nervous. Just fidgeting. Casual. Adorable.

“I want to kiss her on the face.”

“Same.”

“How’s it going over there, Kate Bishop?” Yelena shouted a lazy reminder to the Kates that she was still in the same small apartment and — very likely — fully aware of their shared ogling. “It’s gotten awfully quiet over there. Do I need to do a wellness check to make sure you’re both still breathing?”

“We’re fine!” They shouted. In tandem, again. Yelena laughed.

“Just tell me,” Ponytail returned to their whispers on the sofa. “How are we going to navigate this? Because if I’m going to be totally honest with myself — weird to say that literally — the thought of you kissing her is driving me absolutely batshit jealous and I’m sure that you’d feel the same way.”

“Agreed,” Down whispered back. “So we both just… don’t? Like, we take the evening off?”

“Fuck, I hate that idea too—”

“—I know, the moment I said it, it felt weird—”

“—After she left us all hot and bothered this morning? With the ‘I love you’ stuff lingering in the air?”

“—Seriously, we need to make sure she doesn’t go back up town tonight.”

They popped their heads up to check on her. Yup, still in the kitchen, still pretending to be busy, still blonde and hot. They needed a plan.

“Are we sure she’s even feeling it tonight?” Hair Down Kate asked, her head reeling trying to process the evening ahead. “Maybe she’d prefer if nothing happened.”

“Oh please,” Ponytail Kate rolled her eyes. “Have you met her? And I hate myself for even thinking it, but come on…”

“What?” Down played dumb.

“She has two of her girlfriend. Her mind is probably going to some downright filthy places right now,” Ponytail winced at the thought.

Down mirrored the sentiment of disgust. “I know you’re right but please don’t say that.” She shook her head aggressively to dispel the notion. “And we’re not her girlfriend yet, remember?”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up.”

Ponytail tried to reset their focus. “To answer your question literally, whether she’s up for something, just look at her. Flaunting around that body like a sexy bisexual Russian asset—” They looked over at Yelena testing the mac and cheese for proper done-ness. “She absolutely does.”

“So we’re stuck, then,” Down said slowly. “Because it seems like our two options are that we both pass on the chance, or…” She chose her words carefully. “Despite the freakiness of it all… we agree… to share her, in some way.”

“...In some way,” Ponytail tried to process the thought.

“Do we want wine tonight?” Yelena shouted again from the kitchenette. “And the mac and cheese is almost done. We only have one bottle of red but I don’t know, maybe it’s a wine night? Feels like we all need to relax.” Yelena’s voice was so… normal, given the circumstances. Kate couldn’t decide whether she was faking an effort to be a calming presence, or whether she had just naturally forgotten how fucking insane their current situation really was.

The Kates looked at each other. Given the topic at hand, ‘wine’ almost felt coded. Like a suggestion that being tipsy might help them… cope with the decision at hand.

“I think wine sounds good,” Ponytail shouted.

“Agreed!” Down made sure she sounded neutral and cheery. “Sounds perfect.”

Both Kates had fully taken off their tactical gear at this point — wearing just their purple athletic tees and back leggings now. They felt overheated. The longer the silence lingered, the longer the indecision about tonight almost felt real — almost felt like it was going to happen, in some shape or form. They were going to share Yelena. The wine had been poured and the mac and cheese was mixed and prepped. Yelena seemed preoccupied by the need for squeezing a third chair at the table.

“We need rules,” Ponytail broke the silence, whispering back to her clone frantically, “if this is going to happen. Like real ground rules. Because I don’t want to kiss Yelena and worry that you’re going to slit my throat from behind—”

“—Right,” Down continued. “And I don’t to have to tell you to leave the room and break my momentum once I start getting Yel in the mood—”

“—I’m not leaving shit,” Ponytail took offense. “You’re not fucking her without me—” she winced. “That sounded so fucked up, but you know what I’m saying. I can’t stand the fact of her getting with someone else.”

“I’m not someone else.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Okay, first rule,” Down dropped her voice. This was serious. “No touching. Absolutely not. I don’t want to feel a single finger of yours on me.”

“Agreed,” Ponytail nodded. “And no staring. Like, we don’t have to avoid each other entirely, but if I’m focused on her I don’t want you ogling.”

“I wouldn’t, you perv,” Down countered. “And I agree. But we’re okay doing stuff to her at the same time?”

They both looked at Yelena across the apartment. The table was nearly set.

“I think we have to be,” Ponytail said slowly. “And for specifics… we trust our gut, right? We can’t run through all the scenarios now.”

“Fine,” the other Kate whispered. “We table the bedroom details. They’re too loaded. And honestly we’re both too emotionally fried to deal with it like adults.”

Ponytail nodded. “Okay,” she sighed deeply and labored. “And we try our best to not kill each other.”

They laughed — hushed, identical, but wholesome. This was fucked up beyond belief, they both knew it. Still, the agreement had been set. For now. The pause that followed wasn’t heavy or angry, just… pensive. Like they were finally syncing back up, somehow. Like being turned into two people had ripped them apart just enough to see each other clearly for the first time. Like realizing, oh. Maybe I hate me a little less when I understand me.

“I love her so much,” Down said finally. “The way she laughs. Or the way she puts her hands on my waist when she’s trying to get my attention.”

“God,” Ponytail crooned. “Her hands.”

“Right?”

“Like, I’d die for her. But also? I’d let her ruin me.”

Down bit her lip. “I’m still reeling from this morning.”

“Same.”

They stared at each other again. Not with suspicion this time. Not with competition. Just… with this weird, hushed reverence.

“We can’t share her,” Down said.

“No.”

“We might have to, though.”

“…yeah.”

“Later.”

“Later.”

“And we don’t touch.”

“Obviously.”

Yelena coughed suddenly, and both of them jolted like kids caught whispering in the back of class. “Dinner is up,” Yelena said. “Assuming you’re fine sharing a fork.”

Notes:

Well now we're getting somewhere. What on earth have I gotten myself into...

Also - I made a new tumblr for my new handle! Find me at tumblr.com/hawkgal-2 — please leave a comment, the feedback fuels me 💜💚 and I'm on discord @hawkgal97 too!

Chapter 5: Hot Sauce

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The plates were mostly empty, smeared with trails of sriracha and cheese and pizza grease. Yelena had opted to take the wobbly third chair around Kate’s small dining table, precariously tilted like it didn’t belong. It was an awkward-enough configuration that the trio knew that their time in the kitchenette was limited. They had all moved back to the small “living room” nook of the loft apartment. Yelena had lounged herself on the sofa, each of the Kates taking a position cross-legged on the floor.

In the most uncanny, unpredictable way — it felt nice. Yelena found herself reveling in how normal the evening had become, in the most impossible ways.

She of course had to suppress all the spy- and assassin-training hardwired into her brain that kept shouting ‘This is fucking crazy!!!’ and just roll with the punches, which took a bit of brute force at first. But she wanted Kate to feel calm and, if possible, even comfortable given the paradoxical circumstances. Yelena had finally begun to see Kate (both of them) slowly relaxing into their normal, bubbly, beautiful selves. Even as a group, they all got along.

And when working together, the Kates were a wickedly dynamic duo of one-uppers and storytellers. Of course they were. Yelena was absolutely tickled once they found a rhythm.

“And remember the first time we trained with a bow staff—” Ponytail Kate nearly cackled as one story led into the next and the next and the next.

“—I nearly knocked my teeth out. Yelena, I’m not even joking,” Hair Down Kate was struggling to get through the words, she was laughing so hard. “How have I never told you this story before?”

“It’s the reason we picked up archery in the first place,” the other continued.

“Besides idolizing Clint,” the first countered.

“Obviously,” they were ping-ponging back and forth, “But I mean—”

“—Right, when I focused on it for competition—”

“—And knew I had potential—”

“—All because I almost killed myself with that damn staff!”

They laughed — the same identical, loud, uninhibited cackle. Yelena joined in. That full-body kind of laugh that started in the belly and shook her shoulders. Kate had a knack for bringing that out of her.

“You two are something else,” Yelena shifted her giggle into a slow, heavy groan, as if she hated to admit that she was entertained. “It’s amazing watching you finally have someone who can keep up with your insane stream of consciousness.”

Ponytail Kate giggled. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the base of the sofa by Yelena’s feet. She downed the last of her wine glass. “You’re just jealous, Yel, now that we finally get along.”

“I concur,” said Hair Down Kate, sitting cross legged on the far side of the coffee table. She noticed the empty glass and bounced up to head to the kitchen. “We have some beer if you want it.” She gestured to both the blonde and the brunette.

“I know we do,” Ponytail feigned some sass, smiling. “Yeah that’d be great, Kate.”

“Sure thing, Kate,” Down replied. She was feeling tipsy, for sure. Saying her own name was trippy and awkward, but she felt like having fun with it. This little house-of-mirrors that the two of them were in was still twisted, but not half bad if they embraced the oddity head-on.

“I’ll take one, too,” Yelena piped up. “And to set the record straight, no there is no hint of jealousy. I just think you’re absolutely ridiculous. Both of you. I don’t know how you’ve survived this long.”

“We’re scrappy,” Ponytail said cheerily.

“And lucky,” Down added, returning with three bottles and doling them out. She flopped back onto the floor opposite the coffee table.

“Lucky,” Yelena mused at the word. “I’m glad that dog of yours isn’t here this weekend. Seeing two of you would damn near give him a heart attack.” She sat up to open the bottle and take a sip. “And speaking of luck, at least you can admit it now. That explosion earlier could have easily killed you. Scared me half to death to see you caught up in that blast. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Ponytail guffawed. “You call this okay?” She gestured back and forth between herself and her double.

Yelena took a moment to reply. She rested a hand on Ponytail’s shoulder. “You know what I mean, Kate.”

It was sweet, the way Yelena touched her. She traced the curve of Ponytail’s shoulder with a gentle, comforting weight. The back of Yelena’s index finger slid up the soft curve of Kate’s collarbone. It was an involuntary gesture, a quiet offering of affection. Kate leaned into the touch.

Across the coffee table, the other Kate could only stare. Her heart leapt to her throat. The words that flooded her mind were frantic and panicked: Don’t touch her, touch me. She’s not me. Yelena don’t touch her, please, stop touching her. She’s not actually me! Her hands clenched — the reflex of gripping her bow and drawing back a lethal shot.

But then she watched the other Kate breathe deep, eyes closed. She was so… happy. Both Kates craved the show of intimacy from Yelena — it just so happened that only one was able to receive it.

Down took a deep breath, still staring at the couple, but she let her mind relax. The jealousy was still there — of course it was — but it was laced with… an odd sense of sentimentality. Watching Yelena be so sweet with her, with herself, just for a moment, was comforting.

Until Yelena pulled back her hand like she’d touched a hot stovetop.

“Sorry,” the blonde whispered. “Got caught up in the moment.”

There was a tiny silence. Not cold, not sharp. Just... careful. Ponytail Kate snapped back to reality too. She awkwardly shifted her weight, afraid that she too had done something wrong. Like she had inadvertently tricked Yelena into picking a favorite.

“Don’t apologize.” It was Down who offered reassurance from across the small nook. Her voice was tense, but she tried to keep her words honest. “I only wanted to kill her for, like, five seconds. And neither of you did anything wrong. It’s hard, but it’s nice to see affection between you,” she struggled with the words. “Between us. I don’t know how to phrase it. It’s fine.”

“Sure, that’s good to hear,” Yelena cleared her throat. “I guess I should be heading back up to the Tower. Sort of getting late.”

When she stood, the Kates stood with her, jumping to attention like golden retrievers. “Um—”

“No—”

“Wait—” They stammered, each cautious to close the distance, but terrified about letting Yelena gain any hint of inertia to the front door.

“You should stay—” Ponytail said. “Right?”

“Totally.” Down nodded emphatically. “Stay, Yel. Please.”

Yelena darted her head back and forth between the two identical brunettes inadvertently flanking her in their panic. “Bozhe moi,” Yelena tried and failed to retreat to a safe distance. "I didn’t mean anything by it. I just don’t think…” She trailed off, almost hoping that the Kates wouldn’t let her finish. But no, they waited, wide-eyed and hanging on Yelena’s every word. “Even if it doesn’t make you mad, I feel weird showing affection to just one of you. And to be honest, I didn’t want to presume the sleeping arrangement, okay? Stop acting like a bunch of hawks, Kate. I’ll stay if you want me to.”

Yelena finally squeezed her way free from being cornered by the corner of the sofa. The Kates stood flatfooted, paralyzed, unsure of what to do or say. Once Yelena had some distance, she turned back to look at them.

“And I really do hate the idea of making either of you jealous, alright?” Yelena was at a near-shout now. She shrugged. “I was trying to be thoughtful.”

Down Kate could feel herself blushing. She made a quick glance to her side and confirmed that Ponytail was doing the same. “That’s kind of sweet, Yel.”

“Yeah,” the other nodded. “We get it. We just didn’t want to be alone tonight.”

The noise that came out of Yelena’s throat was low, and accidental, and animalistic. Like a confused purr. Her eyes widened. Kate had never seen her so stupefied. “You…” she stammered. “Wait, you mean…” Yelena gestured between all three of them. “Really?”

“Oh!” Ponytail reacted first. “Geez! No, not like that.”

“Nope, nope,” Down joined in the aggressive denial. “No, not like all of us at once, ew. Yelena we just wanted you to stay—”

“—And we agreed we wouldn’t get jealous,” Ponytail finished the thought. “We talked about it and figured we’d find a way to share you.”

Yelena raised an eyebrow. “Share… me?” She stressed the words. “I get that you’re trying to downplay what’s about to happen, but Kate, that's still one of the hottest fucking things I’ve ever heard in my life.”

The Kates looked at each other, then back to Yelena. They seemed to have gotten her to consent to spending the night, but at the same time… what the hell had they just walked into?

“So,” Yelena crossed her arms. “You two already talked about this?” Yelena gestured for the two Kates to take a seat. She wanted to get up to speed. “Ponytail, how about you go first?”

“Oh, um,” Ponytail Kate stammered as she and the twin sat gingerly side by side on the sofa, “we just agreed that we didn’t want you to leave, and also… you know…” She looked at the clone awkwardly. “Yeah we’re not quite into the whole twin threesome thing, so we felt like drawing some boundaries.”

Yelena nodded along calmly. “So asking the two of you to make out would be… not okay?”

“Yelena!” The Kates rebuffed in tandem.

Yelena smiled. “Figured I’d ask. That’d be hot.”

“No, Yelena, ew,” Hair Down Kate piped in. “We agreed that we don’t want to interact with each other, but that we’re okay if both of us interact with you.” She could see Yelena following along. “Not to get too clinical about it, but we wanted clear ground rules.”

Yelena nodded again. “That’s fine with me. I can work with that.”

“Really?” Ponytail asked. “You’re into it?”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Kate?” Yelena brought a hand to her temple. “Look, I wasn’t going to hope for a threesome, but I’m presuming that after we get past this whole boundary-setting gabfest, yes I’ll be quite enthusiastic about the arrangement.”

“I don’t think it’s a threesome,” Ponytail whispered.

“Yeah,” Down nodded. “It’s one of you and two of me but that doesn’t make it a threesome.” She only half-believed the words, but the distinction felt critical in the moment.

“Fine!” Yelena threw her hands up in the air again. “I’ll get fucked by two of my girlfriend but it won’t be a threesome. Kate Bishop, you’re insufferable sometimes.”

Yelena exhaled, steadying herself. She waited for the Kates to do something — to quip, to disagree, to continue with their extended back-and-forth consultation… but no, just silence.

“What is it?” Yelena asked. The Kates were staring.

“Did you catch that?” Ponytail asked, looking at the other Kate.

“You bet I did,” Down said, grinning. “She called us her girlfriend.”

“No,” Yelena stepped forward. “Hold on, no I didn’t. You just overwhelmed me.”

“No, you said it,” Ponytail stood — so did the other Kate. And hearing Yelena say ‘overwhelmed’ was too much of an invitation to pass up. Their impulses were kicking in. That moment when Kate flipped from awkward cutie to a sexual animal with the instincts to back it up. “We heard you say it.”

“And it sounded like you meant it,” Down said, taking a stride to Yelena’s right while Ponytail moved to her left. “No take backsies.”

“I…” Yelena darted her gaze from one Kate to the other as they neared her, long steady strides, their eyes locked on Yel and ready to pounce. “Kate, you have no idea how weird this is right now.”

“I have some idea,” Down laughed. “And don’t change the subject.”

“Look, fine,” Yelena’s voice had dropped. The Kates were closing in. “My brain is tired and… I suppose it just slipped out. I don’t want it to be official but, okay, maybe we’re getting close to a girlfriend label. Alright?”

Ponytail nodded. She had closed the distance with Yelena, placed a hand softly on the blonde’s stomach, just above the hemline of her shorts. “I’ll take that as a win.”

“So,” Yel’s voice was almost trembling. “Remind me your ground rules?”

“They’re not that complicated,” Down neared Yelena from behind, her hands tracing up the small of her back. “The two of us won’t touch each other, but we get to touch you as much as we want.” She leaned in closer to Yelena’s ear. “How does that sound?”

Yelena gulped. “And you won’t get jealous?”

Down smirked. She locked eyes across Yelena’s shoulder at her clone. “Permission to speak freely?”

Ponytail was happy to play along. “Permission granted.”

“I know we agreed not to stare, but… I liked watching earlier, when Yelena was touching your neck.” Down was still whispering into Yelena’s ear, even though she was addressing the other Kate. “Once I got used to it, I didn’t feel jealous at all. It was weird, sort of like an out of body thing, but…” She placed a gentle kiss on Yelena's earlobe as she spoke. “It was nice to see the two of you being close with each other.”

“Fuck,” Yelena whispered. She nearly collapsed to her knees.

Ponytail had stretched her hands to grip more of Yelena’s waistline and abdomen, making plenty of space for the other Kate to focus on Yelena’s neck and shoulders from behind. Ponytail hooked her thumbs under the elastic of Yelena’s shorts; she wasn’t eager to remove them yet, but she wanted to prove that at any minute — she could. Hair Down Kate from Yelena’s rear had begun lifting up her tank top, revealing more of the blonde’s abdomen.

“So many hands,” Yelena almost giggled, the words catching on her breath. She had never felt so disarmed. So paralyzed. “This isn’t fair, Kate.”

“What would be fair, Yelena?” Ponytail teased, leaning to capture the blonde’s lips in a deep, lazy kiss. Fuck, it was turning Kate on to be able to do this to Yelena — to overwhelm her so effortlessly, and to push her buttons with a new magnitude of coordination and control. Kate loved the sense that she could make Yelena feel especially taken care of. She nipped at Yelena’s lip before slowly licking at the corner of her mouth, tracing her hands around from the front of Yelena’s shorts to grab her ass—

“Oh, shitballs, sorry—” Ponytail Kate blurted, swiftly pulling back from the kiss at the feeling of her hands grazing against the other set of Kate fingers that had already laid claim to Yelena’s backside.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Hair Down Kate said from behind Yelena. “Honest.”

“That’s okay,” Ponytail whispered, her voice rushed and awkward.

“You two talk too much,” Yelena was still in her daze. Her eyes were closed, her body slowly lilting front and back, gleefully trapped in her makeshift cage of brunette hair and purple lycra.

From behind Yelena, it was the other Kate who smirked. “Oh, come on, Yelena,” her voice was playful. “I’m sure we’re worth it…” She snaked a hand around Yelena’s collarbone, up her neckline. “Watching you kiss me like that is such a turn-on.”

“Oh, really?” Ponytail raised her eyebrow. Her hands had found their way back to Yelena’s front, focusing on territory that she knew was safe — the blonde’s abs, her chest, her nipples already hard as diamonds underneath her white sports bra. “Sounds like quite the show.”

Hair Down had placed two fingers on Yelena's jaw: just her thumb and pointer, gently poised against the blonde’s chin. When she beckoned Yelena’s head to the side, it didn’t take much force at all to convince her to turn her head back over her shoulder into reach. Yelena leaned backward slightly, as the Kate to her rear captured her lips — it was a hungry, eager kiss, mouths open, tongues dancing. Kate wanted to claim her. She knew her double was watching, just inches away.

“Kate—” Yelena almost laughed the name, half-gasping. The kiss was almost too much.

Down took the chance to pull Yelena closer, deeper still. She strengthened the touch on Yelena’s chin to ensure the blonde wouldn’t escape. The kiss was uninhibited — Yelena clearly surprised and entertained by Kate’s fervor, and at least for the moment, very willing to oblige.

Especially when the second pair of lips found the exposed skin on her neck. Ponytail didn’t want to wait. Yelena’s mouth was occupied, but with her head craned to the side, there was plenty of skin free for the other Kate to claim. As Yelena and Down continued to make out, Ponytail kissed Yelena’s ear, then down the side of her neck to the sensitive patch of skin on her collarbone.

“You two—” Yelena purred into Down’s lips and tongue, but she couldn’t finish the thought, not before Down seized her lips with even more eagerness. She snaked her hand further around Yelena’s throat. She didn’t want to release her — not yet, not ever.

Then—

“Watch it!” Ponytail snapped.

Down growled back. “It was a fucking accident.”

“Then move.”

“I’m not done.”

Yelena finally opened her eyes. She could see what had happened: Down had been eager with her hands, wrapping them around Yelena’s neck as they had made out over her shoulder, accidentally encroaching into Ponytail’s domain and (Yelena could only presume) brushing inadvertently against the other’s Kate’s cheek.

“Do I need to get the fucking spray bottle for you two?!” Yelena was so turned on it was making her head spin, but this was ridiculous. “Like seriously, Kate. What happened to the two of you being, I don’t know… a sexy pair on the same page about fucking me?”

The Kate’s retreated, each in a huff, each also clearly turned on and confused and… struggling. Just struggling.

“It’s just difficult, Yel—” Ponytail whined.

“We want it,” Down shared the same sentiment. “But come on, just give us a moment. We’re trying.”

“Yuh,” Yelena gaped. “Clearly. And you were doing a great job. This whole competition thing between the two of you…” She pointed back and forth between the Kates. “Love it. Keep competing for me, okay? I want to see more of that.”

Each Kate smiled.

Yelena ran her hands through her hair. She needed to catch her breath. Bring down her heart rate a bit. “Do you need me to, what is the American sports analogy…” She mumbled. “To be a quarterback for you two? Help coordinate you through this?”

“You don’t have to—” Both Kates countered in tandem.

“—Clearly I sort of do?” Yelena interrupted, a bit more forcefully, but still smiling. Still cute, and helpful, and eager. “Look, I know you’re awkward-times-two right now, but also… Kate — Kates — I want to help you relax tonight. And I can definitely handle two of your body, so I’m not worried about… you know… this not working.” She gestured between the trio again.

They stood in an awkward triangle between the sofa and the small dining table. Night had fully set in by this point, and the apartment was getting dark. Kate only had a few lamps scattered about the apartment, and two of them were broken. The dim neon amber from the street outside her window was the largest source of light — it made the apartment feel buzzy and dreamlike.

“Have you ever had a threesome before?” Ponytail broke the heavy silence. Her voice sounded shy.

Yelena crossed her arms. “I thought this wasn’t a threesome?”

Ponytail shrugged. Down did too. “We know that it pretty much is,” Down answered. She and Ponytail hadn’t talked out these details, but the duo had reached a point now where they could presume — very safely — that whatever thoughts one Kate had, the other was right there beside her. Same brain, just in two bodies.

“I’ll follow your rules, but you have to trust me,” Yelena said. Her voice was smooth and reassuring. She didn’t want to answer Kate’s question about the threesome directly. Kate loved asking about Yelena’s past trysts — she was a walking brunette bundle of disquieted sexual envy — and anytime Yelena answered her questions directly, it kicked Kate into a spiral. But the confidence behind Yelena’s words spoke volumes: “If you want this to happen, we can make it happen. But you two have to do what I say.”

The Kates looked at each other. Nervous, but into it.

“Okay,” Ponytail nodded.

“Yeah, Yel,” Down agreed. “We’re in.”

“Very good,” Yelena clapped her hands together. She looked at Ponytail: “You, fix your ponytail. The two of you are starting to look too similar and I really don’t want to lose track of who’s who.” Then she snapped her fingers and pointed to Hair Down: “And you, get ready,” she gestured back to Ponytail, “because we’re about to make Ponytail over there very jealous.”

Notes:

no turning back from here...

please leave feedback! I'm flying by the seat of my pants.

Chapter 6: Tag-Team

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Yelena never minded taking control. She enjoyed it, really. Making Kate Bishop bend until she almost broke was her favorite pastime.

Sure, being overwhelmed by an army of Kates ready to take charge was a singularly wild and momentarily very enjoyable experience… but Yelena was gifted at being in charge, especially with Kate, especially when the timing was right.

For a brief moment, she tried to block out the insanity from the night. She locked eyes with the Kate in front of her, hair down, messy around her shoulders, her lips and cheekbones and big blue eyes absolutely gorgeous. Yelena was enamored by her — and from the look on her face, she was tired. Hungry. In need of comfort.

Yelena tried to forget about the other Kate sitting on the sofa behind her — not that she was any less enamored by the identical copy, but if her plan was going to work… she needed both Kates to feel seen. Taken care of.

“Hi,” Yelena stepped closer to Hair Down Kate, reaching up to take her face in her hands. When their mouths met, Yelena was ready. Ready to make this Kate feel tended to. Her mouth moved slow and tender against Kate’s lips, making her whimper like she hadn’t been touched properly in months. Yelena wanted it to feel different than the starved, energized kiss that the two had shared just moments ago, in the confused heat of the moment — she wanted it to feel like they were starting from scratch. Like it was the first time they had ever kissed.

From behind her, Ponytail Kate sat on the edge of the sofa, leaning forward, hands pressed uselessly against her thighs like she was physically holding herself back. “Mnn,” she let out a faint moan, just watching, knowing her turn would come soon. She bit her lip to keep herself quiet.

Yelena heard, but she didn’t want to acknowledge it, other than the side of her lip curling into the faintest smile. She wanted to take her time before shifting any focus away from the Kate already wrapped around her finger.

It was another twenty seconds before Yelena finally pulled back from the kiss. She dropped back down from her tiptoes and slowly turned to look over her shoulder. “How you doing down there, Ponytail?”

Ponytail released the grip she had on her knees. Her nails had left marks. “It’s…” She was struggling. She sounded out of breath. “I know you were trying to make me jealous, and it worked. But I didn’t mind the show, either.”

Yelena grabbed the other Kate by her wrist as she sauntered over towards the seated brunette. “What I’ve discovered, Kate, is that you’ve presented me with an entirely new way of torturing you. And I don’t plan to let it go to waste.” She turned on a dime, spinning back to Hair Down Kate, pressing her body flush against her. Her gaze though was still locked on Ponytail, seated just a few feet away.

Yelena slowly began snaking her fingers into the waistline of the standing brunette, guiding her leggings over her hip bones and slowly down her thighs. “I like having you watch me,” Yelena cooed towards Ponytail Kate. “You’re such a good girl, sitting there, waiting your turn.”

Ponytail moaned again. Yelena could see her clenching her legs, her nails were back on her knees digging in to prevent her from toppling forward.

Yelena took that as a cue: once Down’s leggings were on the floor, Yelena slid a curious hand beneath the elastic of her panties. “She’s so wet for me,” Yelena spoke at Ponytail, her voice raspy. “Do you want me to fuck her?”

Yelena’s body was close-enough to Down that she could feel the brunette’s breath catch in her throat — but her focus was still locked on their spectator.

“Yeah,” Ponytail could barely form the words. “Yes. She would like that very much.”

Yelena laughed at the formality, but she could see Kate’s wires getting fried in real time. She’d tease her for it later — now was a time to follow through on her word. Yelena angled her wrist and slid two fingers between the legs of the standing Kate. Her movement was slow, but firm and skilled, with a slow, steady intent as she curled her fingers up to the knuckle to make sure that Kate felt every inch of the gesture.

And then she withdrew. “We’ll get there,” Yelena whispered, low and sharp. She took a full, sauntering stride towards the seated Kate. “I don’t want to leave you entirely on the sidelines.”

Ponytail didn’t even have time to brace herself. Yelena climbed into her lap without preamble — hips lowering slowly, dragging against Ponytail’s leggings like she wanted their bodies to generate a static charge — grinding down with one smooth, practiced drag of pressure that made Ponytail gasp.

“Yelena—” she barely got the name out.

Yelena leaned in close, mouth brushing her ear.

“You’re gonna let me ride your thigh,” she whispered, voice dark and silky. “And then you’re gonna fuck me using your fingers. Sound fair?”

Ponytail almost choked on air.

“And,” Yelena looked back over her shoulder and nodded her head towards Hair Down Kate, standing flat footed wearing just her purple athletic tee and black panties. “I’m going to be touching her at the same time. How do we all feel about that?”

Silence. Then nods, from both Kates. Cautious, but definitive.

“Good girls,” Yelena said. She captured Ponytails lips in a lustful kiss, moaning into her mouth and repeating the praise: “Good girls. Good Katie.” But the kiss didn’t last long, as Yelena pulled back and spun her body around slowly. She lowered her backside down onto the seated Kate’s lap — Yelena knew how well their bodies fit together like this. She sank down comfortably onto Kate’s thighs.

Then she leaned back, nesting her face against Ponytail’s cheek, her breath hot against her ear. “You wanna touch me?” Yelena asked, dragging one of Kate’s hands by its wrist up to cup her chest — pressing her palm tight against the soft swell of her breast like she was daring her to squeeze harder.

Ponytail did.

God, she did.

Her thumb circled over Yelena’s nipple through the thin fabric of her tank top, and Yelena arched into it, grinding her hips harder into Kate’s lap with an unapologetic moan. Ponytail’s hands moved on instinct — cupping, kneading, her mouth finding its way to the nape of Yelena’s neck like gravity pulled her there.

Yelena’s hips never stopped moving, grinding with her ass against Ponytail’s thighs as if committed with all her fiber to get the brunette to climax from friction alone.

And all the while, Yelena’s eyes were locked forward, on the twin Kate that stood gawking at her. “Don’t just stand there, Kate. Come join the fun.” Yelena moaned. “Don’t make me beg for it.”

Down gulped. She approached gingerly, like the floor beneath her was about to give way — but Yelena’s vision was masterful, and the puzzle-piecing of the two Kate bodies worked just as she intended. Hair Down slowly straddled overtop Yelena on the sofa, her knees finding enough available upholstery to balance herself overtop the already-engaged duo without any undue contact with her clone.

And Yelena just rested there, between their bodies, electrified, in control, sandwiched between two identical brunettes and loving every second of it.

Yelena shifted her legs slightly to wordlessly give the Kates a pointer on how to make this work; Hair Down, from up above, was able to straddle Yelena’s left thigh. At the same time, Yelena splayed her hips wider — deepening her contact into the lower Kate and opening herself up for more foreplay. Yelena reached for Ponytail’s wrist. She was ready for her.

But four Kate limbs, plus two of her own… it was a lot to keep track of. And reaching for Ponytail’s hand, Yelena came up empty.

Then: “Don’t hate me for this,” Ponytail whispered.

Yelena was confused. She turned her head to try and find Ponytail’s hand — hungry for the feel of her fingers — but instead saw Kate reaching forward, past Yelena, towards the other Kate straddling them both.

“I can see you’re being too cautious,” Ponytail whispered again, and that’s when Yelena realized that the words weren’t meant for her — they were meant for the clone. “Just,” Ponytail’s voice sounded hoarse and shy, “Just try this…”

Ponytail reached out a hand to grip her clone by the thigh, and in a swift movement, coaxed Down tighter into their formation.

Yelena gasped. She hadn’t realized Kate was holding back — but now… Yelena could feel the heat from Down’s pussy through the fabric of her panties. She was downright tripping. The angle forced Yelena’s skin into perfect, flushed contact.

“Way to lend a hand,” Yelena smiled through the words. “You helping each other out now? That’s cute.”

Yelena looked up at the Kate straddling her body, expecting her to show signs of embarrassment or shock at the gesture, but no — her eyes were fierce, electric, animalistic. And they weren’t looking at Yelena.

“Now maybe I am jealous,” Yelena moaned, barely able to gasp through the words. The stimulation was already intense — grinding her body against two women at once — but the realization that the Kates were locking eyes just drove her even more wild. “You like watching yourself get off, Kate?”

Yelena needed to take back control. She pulsed her ass even harder into the woman beneath her, and at the same time, reached two hands towards the woman straddling her torso. She swiftly pulled Hair Down Kate’s athletic tee up over her chest, pulling her sports bra in the process, exposing her chest. She leaned up and captured Down’s left nipple in a ravenous kiss.

That was the moment that Ponytail snaked a hand around her thigh, latching a firm, comforting hand around Yelena’s pussy. She used Yelena’s friction to her advantage, countering the blonde’s movements and sinking the length of her pointer finger deep to Kate’s core.

“Fu—” they gasped, all of them, frantic and confused and burning.

Yelena could live in Kate’s chest for ages, but she didn’t want Down to be the only member of their triad not getting what she needed. Swiftly pulling back from her breast, Yelena clawed her hands down the woman’s perfect abs and back under the elastic of Down’s panties. For a long, lingering moment, the trio moved in perfect rhythm — Yelena grinding against one Kate’s hand, while pulsing her hand against the other.

When Yelena leaned back to find Ponytail over her shoulder, the two stumbled into a long, slow kiss — mouth hot and insistent, tongue teasing at her bottom lip until Kate opened for her fully. Just as quickly as the kiss escalated, Yelena reached up to grab Down Kate by the nape of the neck and drag her into the kiss too.

Three mouths, too many teeth, breathless and sloppy.

Yelena kissed between them like she was orchestrating the whole thing — tongue fucking one Kate’s mouth, then the other’s, moaning softly into both like she couldn’t decide who she wanted more. All the while, between the locked legs and the friction of Yelena’s movement and their tangle of fingers teasing and entering holes — it was working. Fuck was it working for all of them.

“Good Katie,” Yelena breathed against Ponytail’s mouth when she ground down harder.

“Such a good girl,” Yelena moaned against Down Kate’s throat when her twin leaned in to help slide Yelena’s shorts the rest of the way down.

When Yelena finally stood up, it was only to tug both Kates to their feet like she couldn’t bear another second of fabric between them.

“We’re wearing too many clothes,” she announced, voice rough-edged with hunger.

Ponytail barely had time to blink before her shirt was over her head.

Down Kate kicked off her panties like she was racing against time.

Yelena pulled off her last layer and dropped backward onto the couch, sprawling like a queen laying claim to her throne. Her gaze swept over both of them — hungry, impatient, full of wicked intention.

“Decide who goes where,” she smirked, spreading her thighs wide. “I need one of you down here, the other up on my face. Now.”

The Kates locked eyes again — this time with a silent understanding that didn’t need words.

Down Kate dropped to her knees on the sofa, crawling between Yelena’s legs, already pushing her shoulders between them like she was starved for it.

Ponytail climbed up to straddling Yelena’s chest, hesitating just barely before lowering herself down — thighs trembling, already eager for her — until she was seated square over Yelena’s face. Yelena purred against Ponytail’s thigh as she snaked one hand to the small of her back, guiding her into position against her mouth — and with her other hand, she reached out to find the back of Down’s head, anchoring her face in place between her legs.

Yelena initiated both of them, at the same time, guiding them to move against her. Her body trembled — and she felt the two Kates commit, one on top of her rocking her hips back and forth, the other using her tongue to part her folds. Yelena nearly sobbed.

From between her legs, Down dragged her tongue slow and relentlessly up Yelena’s folds. Yelena tasted perfect — sweet and tangy as always, but Kate had craved her now for so long. Since dinner. Since the warehouse. Since waking up this morning. She had needed this taste. It didn’t matter that she was sharing her. She needed Yelena like a body needs to breathe. Down could feel Yelena’s fingertips tighten against her scalp to confirm that her placement, pacing, intensity was all picture perfect. She worked her mouth slow against Yelena’s pussy with slow, deep strokes of the tongue — then fingers joining suit, curling up inside the blonde she moaned shamelessly into Yelena, every wet sound echoing against the walls.

Then she heard the other Kate moan: “Fuck, Yelena— Fuck me—”

Ponytail was the only of the trio with her mouth free to vocalize — the other two women were busy, focused, committed. But for Down, the sound of her own voice gasping in ecstasy drove her wild. And when she stroked Yelena particularly deep and raspy with the length of her tongue, she heard the other Kate gasp again. It was like a domino effect — every movement that Down placed between Yelena’s thighs, Yelena passed the gesture along to the other brunette.

And christ that fucked with Down’s brain. She wasn’t touching the other Kate, but… it felt like she was. Indirectly, but still real. It felt like the boundaries between their bodies — between who was fucking whom — started to blur.

Down opened her eyes. She kept her face locked between Yelena’s thighs, but her gaze drifted upwards — over the blonde’s tummy and tits, eager to steal a glance at the other woman. Down could see the athletic, nude brunette body riding high above the other two. It was just her back, but with her hair high in a ponytail, Down could see plenty of detail: her neckline and shoulders, the chiseled muscles down the small of her back. Even her ass, spread wide over Yelena’s chin.

Down was confused — this twisted perspective of watching her own body near climax, all the while needing to maintain her focus licking and teasing Yelena… but it worked for her. It got her hot — excited —electrified. She dipped one hand away from Yelena’s pussy and slid the fingers beneath her body, between her own legs. It wouldn’t take much to pleasure herself, not with this showcase of bodies and sex happening before her.

She couldn’t stop staring at the other Kate. It was incredible to watch herself be fucked by Yelena like this. To watch her body climax from behind. She kept her gaze locked on Ponytail as she fell apart, obsessed with the frantic roll of her hips — while her own hand worked harder, fingers curling deep, tongue never letting up until Yelena’s moans grew sharp and frantic.

Kate above… Kate below…

Both moving together.

Both breaking at the same time.

When it happened — when it finally, finally happened — both Kates came like their bodies had been wound up on the same impossible string.

Ponytail crying out, legs trembling, hips grinding down against Yelena’s face until she thought she’d collapse.

Down Kate sobbing softly against Yelena’s thighs, her own fingers buried deep between her legs, coming hard to the taste of Yelena’s body.

Yelena held them both through it — hands still locked tight on each of them like she could anchor them through the fall.

And when it was done…

When their bodies finally stilled…

Yelena just caught her breath. Neither Kate moved much, letting the air settle, waiting for Yelena to say something to release them.

“That was,” Yelena laughed, hoarse and wrecked and delighted. There was nothing more she could say. “Wow.”

Notes:

well... this was it: the scene that I had in my head that I *needed* to put out into the world. and now that it's done, I'm happy... but I don't know where to go from here.

so please drop me an idea or two! because I really want to give this story closure, but for the last month I haven't been able to think past this one visual x💜💚💜x – so what should come next?