Chapter Text
Kate
There are two things Kate hated: anchovies on pizza and losing to Yelena Belova.
Its the fourth time she had seen the blonde assassin- oops, reformed assassin since their festive fight a year and a half back.
She griped the mic stand a little harder as she briefly made eye contact with those evergreen eyes, the fake smile plastered to her face falling slightly as she continued her welcome speech to the Bishop Security’s fundraiser.
The company had a tough year and the comeback of the decade with Kate taking over as the CEO. She had fired old white men on the board and started employing a more diverse set of staff, their security software shooting back to claim the top 10 cyber security spot in 2026.
On one side of the coin, she was World Enquiry’s 30 under 30 youngest cyber security CEO and on the other, she had officially replaced Clint as Hawkeye and the leader of the newly made Young Avengers team.
She was fairing pretty well besides the occasional surprises of Yelena popping up when she shouldn't.
Like this afternoon.
Giving the mic back to Jack, who was the main host of the event, she made her way down the stage stairs. The rooftop garden was Kate’s idea- the afternoon sun and cool air of early fall allowed an alluring glow to the remaining flowers before the rest of autumn takes them.
“Yelena is here too,” she tapped the back of her ear, activating her earpiece. “She apparently is Mr John Walker’s plus one- there might be a Thunderbolt’s mission as we had predicted.” She had scanned her guest list two nights before, informing Sam Wilson, their lead mentor at the Avengers training compound, of the man’s presence. He had sent Cassie and Peter to the fundraiser to keep an extra eye out.
The Thunderbolts were a covert team made by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the director of the CIA for dangerous underground missions. Kate had only known about them after Nick Fury had called a meeting to the current and potential avengers line-up. She remembered her own surprise and Clint’s sullen face as Yelena’s picture appeared on screen.
“Never engage in a fight with her, Katie Kate. You will lose.” Her mentor had advised her. “I know she’s the shot you didn’t take. And to us Hawkeyes, that means a lot. But I worry now that she’s under Valentina. So stay well away. If not for your own sake, then for mine. Please.”
Oh how ironic things have turned out.
“Are you going to talk to either of them?” Peter’s voice entered. He was in a simple black suit, a ‘photographer’ pass clipped to his blazer’s breast pocket. Kamala (Ms Marvel, the first member of their team) had recruited him right after Kate, and the trio had been running around fighting bad guys unofficially till Sam called them in for the Young Avengers initiative half a year ago.
“Sam told us not to engage.” Cassie reminded them. She was dressed as one of the wait staff, gently offering appetisers to the guests. Finally having her dad’s blessing to be a superhero, she had picked up the name Stature- her suit getting a few upgrades from her grandfather Pym over the past two years.
The four of them had been a team ever since, and in the recent month, Sam had added in Eli Bradley, a young gun who inherited super-soldier blood, as well as Wanda’s sons, Billy and Tommy.
“I’ll try to speak to Yelena. But I have to make my rounds to keep up the appearance. Just make sure Mr Walker and her are in our line of sight at all times.” Kate replied before going with Jack to their networking rounds. He had somewhat became an uncle figure to her after her mother got sent to jail, they have dinner once a month and she realised he was better company than expected.
She scanned the floor once more, her nostrils flared in irritation at Yelena’s lazy smirk as she sipped on a wine glass. The blonde was in a sleeveless emerald satin dress, the v-cut dangerously going down her neck to her chest with a deep hip slit. Kate wondered where she would have hid her never-ending amount of knives. She shifted her gaze away as nonchalantly as she could. Nope, she was definitely not thinking about how the dress accentuated the blonde’s curves.
As the hour passed, neither Yelena nor John had made any moves and no one was dying. Kate was getting restless for the other shoe to drop. She soothed her suit down, feeling her collapsible bow that Clint had gifted her in the inner pocket after Yelena had stolen her previous one the second time they crossed paths. Her bag of bows laid beneath the stage, waiting for an opportunity to be used.
The archer had finally slipped out of Jack’s eye and she headed towards the dessert table. She picked up a strawberry tart, finishing it in two bites. She picked up another mango tart. All the talking had made her hungry.
Blue eyes met hazel green.
Yelena winks at her and she cursed. She just had to catch me at the worst possible time. Dusting off the pastry crumbs from her fingers, she slipped past her guests and followed the blonde.
“She wants to talk. I’m going to ask her what’s up.” She spoke to her earpiece.
“Rodger that.” Both Peter and Cassie replied.
A few more steps and she would be directly behind the woman. Yelena had made no moves to turn around but she definitely knew the archer was there.
Kate took a deep breath in, putting on a confident smirk to her face and stepped closer, leaning against the bar counter.
Yelena was even more beautiful up close.
“Kate Bishop. How have you been?”
Its the way that deep voice soaked in that thick russian accent that makes Kate feel a certain type of way. Like the blonde had casted a spell that made it hard for her to form thoughts.
Ah fuck.
-
Yelena
There are two things Yelena loved: Fanny, her Akita pup, and winning against Kate Bishop.
The first one came naturally, having picked up Fanny from a pound after a particularly rough mission. The second one came as a surprise, something that grew out of play-fighting with the young archer at the Rockefeller Center.
Kate Bishop.
World’s greatest archer. Newly inaugurated Hawkeye. Resident leader of the Young Avengers.
Also a royal pain in Yelena’s ass.
They had crossed paths a few times over the past year and a half, and Yelena had always looked forward to thwart the young avenger’s missions. It was not her problem that she was better than Kate.
“Retrieving data soon. Yelena, its go time.” Ghost’s voice resonated through her earpiece. Her team mate was in the servers, with Antonia on the lookout. She was at a Bishop Security’s fundraiser with the Thunderbolts, on a mission for Valentina.
Yelena gave a pointed look at John Walker who was busy throwing flirty glances at any rich man’s daughter who passed them by the bar tables. He had a glass of margarita in his hand and all she wanted to do was choke him with it.
She had done fairly well with the Thunderbolts, though she still thinks John was an uptight ass and had no idea why Valentina wanted to recruit him. He was average at best on missions. Fake, pompous Captain America. If it was a competition on taking over mantles, Kate was- oh nevermind.
She sipped her glass of wine. The taste of expensive chardonnay was divine. She scanned the grounds, the fundraiser being held on a rooftop garden. The late afternoon sun reflects off the table, warmth kissing her skin as she spotted her target.
Thanks to her assassin training, she had sense Kate’s stare since the opening speech but she had been busied with shareholders and other rich snobs, a confident smile plastered to her face as she went around networking. She had also spotted Cassie Lang and Peter Parker, the other two team mates of Kate’s. Nothing she couldn’t handle against the archer and the two bug heroes anyway.
She waited for her chance to strike. She allowed her periphery vision to work, her hearing to stretch, and her skin prickled with the vibrations of Kate’s movement through the air.
Kate had finally appeared alone near the dessert table and its those striking blue eyes that drew Yelena in first. The woman was in a dark purple tailored suit, dark hair blown out and cascading down her shoulders, shiny leather dress shoes that finished the look.
In a very Kate bishop fashion, the archer with her doe eyes was picking out tarts from the table and being very adorable eating them. Not that Yelena would admit it out loud, of course.
She winks at Kate and heads over to the main bar counter, knowing that the heir of the Bishop empire would follow her.
Slipping on her silk gloves, she hailed for the bartender and ordered a shot of vodka.
She felt Kate’s presence as the brunette slips into the empty spot beside her.
“Kate Bishop. How have you been?” She gave the woman an easy smile before downing her shot.
“Miss Belova, I did not realise you were Mr Walker’s plus one. I would have assumed he was bringing his wife.”
“Ah, she was unwell.”
This was the game between them. They would meet, do this dance, and Yelena would eventually win. Though Kate with all her tenacity, had never given up on wanting to beat the former assassin and there was something about that, that made it fun.
Kate let out a low chuckle. She reached out for those gloved fingers on the widow’s right hand, ducking her head and giving her knuckles a light kiss. “Mind if we dance?”
“Finger print copied.” Ghost’s voice rang out.
So easy, Kate Bishop. Yelena smirked. "Dancing is a dangerous game, Kate Bishop. But sure. Just one."
Kate beamed at her and she allowed herself to be led to the dance floor. The taller woman's hands rested easily on her waist as she snaked her arms around the taller woman’s neck. They started swaying lightly to Dean Martin’s Blue moon.
Blue moon you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
She stared intently at Kate, whose face was creeping up in a blush. She knew the archer was attracted to her. Reading Kate was easy and it was amusing knowing Kate was bothered she could not do the same.
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for
And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will ever hold
The archer was the first to break. “Seeing that both you and Walker are here, I’m hoping you could give me the courtesy to evacuate the people present if something is about to go down.”
“Whaaat?” Yelena gave a mocking shocked face. “No, Kate Bishop. No need for anyone to evacuate. I’m here as a plus one for a man who was invited.”
Kate searched her eyes and then huffed. “Let’s cut the crap, Yelena. Just tell me what business you have with this fundraiser. Some rich guy harbouring black market dealer information that you need to kill?”
“Iris copied. Downloading data now.” Ghost’s voice announced.
And her work was done.
“You sure have a… ah, what do the Americans say? Ah, a stick up your ass. This is unbecoming of you, Kate Bishop,” the blonde mused. “No. I’m not killing anyone today.”
“Then… why?”
“I promise you no harm will be upon these rich snobs this afternoon.”
“You know, I thought we were having some sort of moment the last time we met.”
Yelena barked out in laughter. Oh how foolish, Kate Bishop. “As I had already told you, your place just happened to be the closest. And you are too weak minded to let me die.”
It was more than that but they were working on different sides. She does all the dirty work, the torturing, the killing. And Kate- oh kind and endearing Kate Bishop was a superhero, the one that sends the killers to a maximum security cell.
She let her fingers dance across Kate’s collar and down to her lapels. “Being a great assassin-spy is not only being good at the killing, Kate Bishop.”
The archer swallowed hard, the tip of her ears embarrassingly hot.
“It is also about being a good distraction.” She tip toed slightly, whispering in the archer's ear. The woman’s face was redder than ever, her breath hitched.
Perhaps in another lifetime, there would be something.
“You looked very handsome, Kate Bishop. Shame our time today is short.” She kissed Kate’s jaw lightly before sauntering away.