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Chapter Text

yelena.

2018

Yelena slipped her gloves off and flipped the faucet open; the sound of water running filled her ears as she looked at herself in the mirror. She let the water run through the back of her hand before taking a handful of water into her hand and lifting it to her face.

She let out a deep sigh as she felt the cold water cover her face. She felt her tiredness consume her once more; her sleep schedule had been wrecked ever since she and the Widows started the operation 2 years ago.

Suddenly, she heard a panicked voice outside the bathroom; her name was being called desperately. Yelena's head jerked up from the sink, and she stepped out of the bathroom quietly. She raised her hand, and her Widow's bites powered up.

"Ana?" Yelena muttered as she looked at her, the former Widow who was now kneeling on the ground, her fist full of what seemed like dust. Ana didn't respond; she was too disoriented to speak.

Yelena looked to the window, and all she could see and hear was the screaming of panicked and confused citizens as they all watched people being turned into dust.

That's when Yelena realized. "Where's Sonya?" Yelena looked back at Ana, and a wave of emotions crashed onto her as Ana looked up at her, then back onto her fist of dust.

Now, all Yelena could think of was her sister, Natasha.

~~~

bucky.

2018

Beads of sweat dripped down Bucky's forehead as he made his way to Steve. He was drained from the battle they were fighting. His ears were filled with the screams of troops, gunshots, the clanking of metal, and every noise of the battle filled him.

"Steve!" Bucky called out, found Steve in the distance, his voice cracking and hoarse.

Before he could approach further, everything went silent. It pleased Bucky's ears for a moment until he pulled himself back together and found the silence too silent.

"What did you do!?" Bucky heard in the distance. He looked in the corner of his eye and saw Thanos, the axe of Thor, in the middle of his chest.

Bucky looked away and moved his gaze to the battlefield in the distance, people turning into disintegrating was all he saw. Bucky's mouth went agape as he tried to comprehend the sight he was seeing.

"Steve..." Bucky weakly called out, no answer.

"Steve...?" Bucky called out once more. This time, he looked over at his best friend, whose hand was clutching onto his stomach, which had turned into dust.

"No... No!" His voice became loud and strong as he ran to Steve, and the Captain fell into his arms. His lower body was close to gone, and his breathing became weak.

"C'mon, man. Don't do this to me..." A wave of emotions crashed onto Bucky as he held his best friend in his arms, his hands clutching hard, scared that he would let go and Steve would end up like the rest.

"What's happening? Steve!?" A female voice yelled desperately from the distance and quickly became louder as Bucky heard footsteps. He looked up and saw Natasha. They both locked eyes and both glanced down at Steve, who was hanging onto dear life.

"Steve..." Natasha kneeled to Steve's side, taking his not disintegrated hand into hers and holding it tightly.

"Are you... Are you going to go too...?" Steve breathlessly muttered as he tried to keep his eyes open. Bucky could feel tears well up in his eyes.

"No... No, I'm staying right here..." Natasha tried to keep herself steady and composed, but the tears that Bucky saw in her eyes said otherwise.

Suddenly, Bucky's arms became light and empty. When he looked down, Steve was no longer in his arms, and the tears that he had kept back finally went down his cheeks

"Nat..." Bucky looked up at Natasha and saw her head slowly turning into dust.

"Yelena..." Natasha muttered before she closed her eyes and disappeared.

Bucky was now all alone.

Chapter Text

bucky.

2018

23 days later

"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth..."  Rhodey started to explain as the remaining Avengers sat around the hologram on the table.

Bucky was surrounded by a mix of faces he recognized and faces he didn't. As well as faces he really didn't want to see, like Tony's, and Bucky was sure that Tony didn't want to see his face either.

And he didn't have Steve by his side to make him feel protected; he felt exposed and uncomfortable in the compound, but he didn't really have a choice.

As much as he wanted to stay in Wakanda, he wanted to join the rest in hunting Thanos, and the compound was his only source of housing.

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans and satellites, and we got nothing." Sam joined Rhodey with the explanation.

"Is he going to say anything?" Bucky's head jerked up from the ground as his eyes met Tony's. — Here we go... Bucky sighed to himself.

"Y'know what- I do not want to hear it- No- I don't need to hear it." Tony slurred his words as he stood up from his wheelchair; his legs wobbled as he struggled to steady his stance.

Rhodey tried to stop him from ripping his IV from his arm, but he was quick. "I... shouldn't blame you. No... that's... that's wrong, it was that purple bastard's fault." Tony sharply said as he took deep gasps of air.

"He took people... He took him away." Tony managed to lift a finger and pointed at the picture of a young boy in the hologram, looking no older than sixteen years of age.

"Because we failed, I failed." It was the last thing Tony said before he crashed onto the floor, and Rhodey and his doctor carried him to his bed.

Bucky was silent throughout the whole situation. He felt nothing but pain and grief; it was nothing new to him, but this time, he felt like he couldn't endure it. He was weak and drained of this.

"You okay, Buck?" Sam turned to him, his tone laced with concern.

"I'm gonna take a breather outside." Bucky put his hands in his pockets and made his way outside the compound.

~~~

Bucky spent a few minutes outside, his shoulders and heart finally relaxing, but it wasn't for long until he heard the blaring noise of the compound's security.

"Security has been breached! Initiating defense protocol!"  FRIDAY repeated as Bucky made his inside. Bucky still had his comms in, and he heard Rhodey telling the team where the attacker was.

"I got a visual on the target. They are in security and check-in." Bucky quickly made his way out once again and ran to the building where the target was.

The building was dead quiet —Bucky assumed that defense protocol was now initiated. Bucky pushed the hallway doors open, and he saw the bodies of security guards scattered around the halls. Whoever did this was clearly out for blood.

"Barnes, are you in need of backup?"

"I can handle it on my own."

Suddenly, the lights went dark, and Bucky reached for his gun, but it wasn't in his holster. He felt an arm wrap around his neck behind him. He took the wrist of his attacker and swiftly flipped them, but they landed on their feet and made a hard blow on Bucky's stomach.

"Open the lights!" Bucky grunted in his comms, and the lights switched on. Revealing a woman with long blond hair, which was tucked into a messy ponytail, and striking green eyes that met his.

"Get out of my way." Her Russian accent drenched her English as she held her chin high and pulled out a knife from her thigh holster

"How about no?" Bucky's humor was covered with resilience as he held his fists up and observed her movements.

With a grunt, the female jumped him, and Bucky didn't hesitate to do the same. The woman fell to her knees and attempted to slice Bucky's stomach, which Bucky quickly dodged by taking her wrist with the knife and pushing it away from him.

The attacker got up on her feet, flipped her knife to her other hand, and redeemed herself by landing a cut on his human bicep. Bucky let out a soft grunt as he looked at the cut through the ripped sleeve of his leather jacket.

She had officially earned a spot in Bucky's short list of people who landed a blow on him.

~~~

yelena.

2018

Yelena ran out of patience. Her parents were gone because of the blip — That's what the media is calling it. And her sister was unresponsive, which gave Yelena thoughts that were not pleasant.

She wanted answers.

So, she made her way here. This wasn't the way she wanted to be welcomed into her sister's office, but she wasn't the person to take the friendly route, to say the least. 

Her plan was simple. She breaks into the compound, finds one of her sister's little superhero friends, and gets answers. But she didn't plan it well enough —She isn't really the planner type; that was more of her mother's forte.

Yelena underestimated the security of Stark Industries, and the defense protocol was initiated the moment she entered the vents of the compound, which then led her to end up in the Security and Check-in area, which led her to no choice but to take out the security guards.

And now, she found herself here, fighting another security guard with dark hair that ended just about his shoulders and a fresh cut on his bicep from her. But, he didn't show any sign of backing down; his blue eyes only showed resilience.

"That's all you got? The man commented as he took off his jacket, revealing his metal arm that was hidden underneath. Yelena's eyes stayed on him when he tossed his jacket onto the floor.

Yelena barely paid attention to anything else as she was distracted by his arm. He was the Winter Soldier; she connected the dots quickly. —No wonder he felt familiar.

Yelena kept her composure. This won't change anything; she won't allow herself to do such. "Why don't you find out for yourself?" She challenged as she played with her knife

She can't hold back now. If she does —Why is everything blurry?  Yelena thought to herself, she looked behind her, and the last thing she saw was a red drone and a tranquilizer dart on her neck.

"сука..." Yelena cursed before dropping onto the floor.

Chapter Text

bucky.

2018

With the help of Sam, they took the intruder  —Who was still in a deep sleep. into one of the interrogation rooms and cuffed her to the table. While they were doing that, Rhodey was occupied finding out the identity of their uninvited guest.

As Sam and he disarmed the blonde of her weapons, one particular weapon caught the soldier's attention.

"Widow bites..." Bucky thought to himself in silence, his thoughts going back to his late comrade, Natasha, who wielded the same weapon, and even explained some context behind it.

"Honestly, Nat, you treat those things like they're your children." Steve chuckled as he pushed his earpiece into his left ear. Earning a laugh from him and the rest of the people who were also gearing up, except for Natasha, who grimaced but soon joined the laughter.

"Yeah, so? They do the job perfectly, and look perfect as well." Natasha sassily retorted with a smirk on her lips as her Widow bites clicked into place on her wrists, glowing a deep red.

"Why do you wear them?" Bucky asked, which earned him the attention of the pair in front of him. He initially wanted to ask what the use of the weapon but he suddenly remembered he got a live

demonstration when Natasha used it on T'Challa.

The pair looked at each other, Steve giving an encouraging nudge at Natasha, and she responded with a chuckle.

"I just..." — Natasha tried to find the words — "It's just like my signature weapon, y'know? A Black Widow's signature weapon." That's when Bucky learned the signature weapon of the Black Widows.

Bucky looked up from the Widow bites and placed them on the table, his gaze shifting to the unconscious blonde.

"Yelena..."

Natasha's last words echoed in his ears. Could it be possible?

"What are you thinking, Buck?" Sam broke Bucky's chain of thought, and he looked away from the blonde.

"Stay here, I need to talk to Rhodey for a sec." Bucky left the room before Sam could answer, and he found himself hastily looking for Rhodey, eventually finding him standing in front of the holographic table.

Bucky stayed silent as the hologram showed multiple pictures of the intruder, and eventually showed her information —But, extremely limited.— The name 'Belova, Yelena' popped up under her picture.

"Shit.." Bucky unintentionally murmured, catching the attention of Rhodey, who was confused and surprised at Bucky's sudden appearance, but invited him forward nevertheless.

"Her name is Yelena Belova, her age is not known, nor is her place of birth. But I did get her affiliation, though. The Red Room, but her status, if she's active or not, is unknown." Rhodey explained.

Bucky listened, but his eyes were glued to the screen and the pictures that popped up. One in particular caught his eye, it was located in Budapest —The quality was trash since it was through a security camera—  Yelena sat alone with a cut on her arm, where it looked like to was some kind of restaurant and a garage not far from her, but that wasn't the point.

It was what she was wearing: a green vest. The same green vest that Natasha wore during the war. They were clearly related to each other, but in what way?

"She knew Natasha." Bucky blurted out, looking away from the screen. He didn't want to keep Rhodey in the dark, knowing how much he and Natasha were close.

"What makes you say that?"

Before Bucky could elaborate, a video was pulled up by FRIDAY, it was Yelena and Natasha getting out of the car that crashed into a subway.

Then another one: the same trash-quality video of Yelena wearing the green vest, but now she was accompanied by Natasha, both sharing a beer.

Bucky didn't explain further, and Rhodey gave him a knowing look in return.

"It still doesn't explain her break-in, though." Bucky hummed in agreement.

"Maybe she can explain for herself." Sam's voice cut through Rhodey and Bucky's conversation, and they both glanced at the man.

"She's awake."

All three men made their way to the interrogation room, itching for answers.

~~~

yelena.

2018

"Прости меня, сестрёнка..."

"It was real to me too..."

The sweet voice of her sister rang in her ears, and she found herself calling her name weakly. It felt like she was really there.

"Natasha..." She mumbled as she opened her eyes, expecting to see her sister in front of her; instead, she found herself sitting, cuffed to a desk, and a man staring down at her.

The man looks confused? Shocked? But whatever was wrong with him, she was not happy with it.

"Are we just going to stare at each other or what?" Yelena called him out, shaking her head and hand a little.

"I'll be right back." The man murmured before hastily getting out of the room. Once Yelena heard the door shut, she let out an exasperated sigh, tilting her head back in the process.

She looked down at the cuffs that were detaining her — These won't hold me long. The Widow thought to herself that she had also been disarmed of all her weapons. Smart fools.

It wasn't long until she heard footsteps again and was able to make out some of the things they were saying over the door.

"... She said Natasha when she woke up- like she was talking in her sleep, then she said 'Natasha...'" — The man imitated her raspy voice and accent, which made her laugh a little. "I was shocked to say the least." The man finished rambling, then she heard another unfamiliar voice speak up.

"Just wait until you hear what we found out." Was Yelena heard before the doors swung open.

Awkward was the word Yelena would use,  she didn't know if it was the air, but it was awkward. Usually, when someone breaks into a building, the energy would be intimidating and cool, but right now, it was anything but that.

Yelena immediately locked eyes with the Soldier, his eyes were still cold and empty as she remembered, but she could see a tint of change in his gaze, a tint of softness.

The three men took their places and introduced themselves in a tone that was neither inviting nor cold, perfectly in the middle. Yelena's attention was now away from the Soldier, and contrary to popular belief, the awkward tension dissipated slightly.

The man she woke up to was Sam Wilson. 

As for the man sitting in front of her, his name was Rhodey, Colonel James Rhodes to be specific.

Which left the Soldier. 

"Name's Bucky." Very straightforward.

She and Bucky already had their introduction, which included her slitting his arm with her knife.

"I'm sure you both had the pleasure of meeting each other." The colonel's words dripped sarcasm, which earned him an amused smirk from the blonde.

"Oh, yes... great pleasure I had." Yelena slowly nodded her head, her smirk widening just a bit as she glanced at Bucky from the corner of her eye.

"So, Yelena." —Someone's done their homework. "What do we owe you for the pleasure of your presence? Enlighten us." Rhodey leaned forward, placing his hands on the desk.

Yelena got to talking. 

Chapter Text

yelena.

2018

"Sisters? You and Natasha? Sisters, like this?" The colonel crisscrosses his fingers and asks again as if he were mishearing.

"Christ... How many times do you want me to say it? We are sisters!" Yelena said, half-laughing, half-shouting as she found the situation incredibly frustrating, but hilarious at the same time.

"We found out you guys knew each other, but... we weren't expecting this." The colonel murmured, calming a bit after taking a seat.

"Who's we?" Sam asked, a bit dumbfounded, and Rhodey tilted his head to Bucky's direction, who only shrugged in response.

"I see how it is." Sam mumbled sharply before Rhodey took his defense, and Bucky watched silently, his arms crossed.

Yelena sighed and rolled her eyes at the scene —This is going to take a while. "Quiet! From the top, shall we?" Expecting the opposite, they actually listened and quieted down. Waiting for her to speak.

"So..." Yelena started to explain everything they needed to know, from the incident in Budapest to the fall from The Red Room.

By the end of the explanation, they were all silent. Yelena stayed vague about the Ohio part because some part of her still breaks when she tries to reminisce, and mostly focused the story on Natasha. She didn't really want to bore them with a tragic tale of her own.

"Now, tell me. What happened to my sister?" Yelena just wanted closure, that's all she wanted. She didn't want to make her assumption and run with that for the rest of her life. She wanted the truth.

Before Rhodey could open his mouth, Bucky's voice cut through, taking her attention.

"She blipped. The last thing she said was your name." —She thought of you in her last breath.

Yelena took a deep breath before letting it all out. It felt like everything that was weighing her down was taken off, and she could finally breathe properly.

"Thank you." That was the only thing she was able to let out. While she tried to take in the wave of emotions hitting her, she heard a click and her wrist felt lighter. She looked up and saw that Rhodey had uncuffed her.

Both gave each other a knowing look and nod, Yelena bringing her wrist to her hand, rubbing and twisting it to ease the ache.

The four walked out of the interrogation room and found themselves in the lounge area, where some stood and some sat in silence. Suddenly, Yelena remembered something. Something that Natasha would want them to have.

"There is something that I want to give you or... something my sister would want you to have." Yelena voiced out, cutting out the silence as she stood up.

"What is it?" Sam asked with an eyebrow up.

"It's better if I show you. It's outside, in the forest, not far from here." Yelena tilted her head, motioning to the window.

The trio looked at her, then at each other, like they were discussing through their eyes.

"Bucky will come with you." Rhodey nodded, which Yelena didn't protest, it was reasonable.

Bucky didn't protest either. He and Yelena gave each other a knowing look, and they made their way out of the compound.

The walk was quiet but not awkward. They only spoke once they reached the spot. Yelena pulled back the pebbles and leaves covering the duffel bag beneath.

Yelena bent down, and Bucky joined as she started to go through it. Bucky got a glimpse of what was inside. He saw some extra weapons, clothes, and a disk, which she pulled out.

She handed it to Bucky while she continued going through the bag. "What's in it?" Bucky asked as he observed the disk in his hand.

"A lot of important stuff that a lot of important people would want."  Yelena humored dryly as she struggled to pick up the bag, which was stuck under a heavy rock. —Damn, rock. Yelena cursed in her mind.

"Here, let me help you." Bucky bent down, lifting the rock with ease and retrieving the bag for her. Before she could take it, he had already put it around his shoulder.

"I can carry my own bag, Barnes." The blonde chuckled lightly as she pointed at her bag on Bucky's shoulder.

"Oh... yeah." Bucky murmured, handing the bag to her. They looked at each other for a brief moment before scurrying together.

Minutes into the walk back, Yelena totally forgot to thank him for his help. —You idiot. "Thanks, by the way, for earlier." Yelena plastered an awkward but thankful smile on her lips.

"No problem."

~~~

bucky. 

2018

When he and Yelena returned, they were greeted by multiple voices chattering. 

"Hey, hey, hey. We'd be going in short-handed, you know." Bucky recognized the voice to be Bruce's. Yelena and Bucky shared a knowing look before walking over to Sam, who stood far but near enough to be included in the discussion.

"What's up?" Bucky asked, his eyes glancing at the group.

"He used the stones again." Sam responded vaguely—He. Thanos. When Sam noticed Yelena and Bucky's confused faces, he elaborated.

"He didn't use the stone here. He used it on a planet called 'The Garden', and now we're discussing whether we should go or not."

Three of them shared a knowing look and put full attention on the hot debate in front of them.

But it wasn’t long until Sam broke the silence among the trio.

”So, you wanted to give us something?” 

Yelena nodded at Bucky, and he handed the disk to Sam.

“What’s in it?” Sam lifted his eye from the disk and glanced at the blonde lady in front of him.

Before Yelena could open her mouth, Bucky humorously responded.

“A shitton of dangerous stuff that a lot of dangerous people want.” Bucky glanced at Yelena, noticing that the corners of her lips were twitching slightly.—She smiled. Almost. What are you so proud for, Barnes?  Bucky looked away, not shy to show his small grin of pride.

Sam quietly observed the pair with confusion and amusement and awkwardly chuckled at Bucky’s joke, which seemed more of an inside joke between Yelena and him.

“Belova?” Sam raised an eyebrow, eyes glancing at the disk and Yelena back and forth.

Yelena opened her mouth, then closed it again. “It’s better if I just show you.”

The trio made their way to a briefing room, and with Sam's help, Yelena was able to transfer the information on the disk to FRIDAY.

The hologram showed all the data of the Red Room. The horrific things that were said to be legend all unfolded in front of them.

Pictures of thousands of girls popped up, ranging in all ages.

Bucky felt his stomach twist in disgust. God only knows how much pain these girls went through.

Videos of experiments, training, and ballet were shown.

The pressure, the suffocation, the control.

Bucky knew that feeling all too well.

“Bucky!” Sam’s voice cut his train of thought, and he straightened up.

He didn’t even realize the hologram was finished, and he was zoning out.

”You good?” He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder, looking over to see it was Sam.

”All good.”

”You need a breather?”

He nudged Sam’s hand off his shoulder gently and shook his head no.

He locked eyes with Yelena; her eyes showed understanding and knowing.

“Excuse me while I update Rhodey.” Sam shared a nod with Yelena before leaving the room alone, to Yelena and Bucky.

Both sat in silence as they took time to process.

“Do you think it will ever end?” Yelena’s soft voice echoed, slowly. “Or is pain and suffering always every day?”

“No.” Bucky replied, his voice gentle but firm, “But, you can make peace with it. Somehow." He gives her a small smile, which Yelena returns with a smile of her own.—Beautiful. So beautiful.

Pause.

"Shut. Up. Creep." Bucky curses himself before looking away. But he finds himself stealing a look now and then before finally getting caught. He doesn't speak, and Yelena doesn't acknowledge. They fall silent and wait until Rhodey and Sam return.