Widow Sisters and Friends (Restoring Our Broken Hearts)

Fanny Longbottom

Summary: When Yelena goes out for her run, she brings home an unexpected houseguest. Natasha is not particularly impressed at first, but when she sees how happy Yelena is, she finds herself swiftly giving in. But naming it Fanny is something she's going to have a hard time getting used to.

   "Natashka!" Yelena called from the opposite side of the house, and Natasha smiled a little, happy to hear Yelena's voice.

"I'm in my room folding laundry!" Natasha shouted in reply, letting her younger sister know where she was, and she returned her attentions to her pile of clothes she had resting on her bed.

Yelena had gone out for her usual run, and Natasha had remained inside to catch up on some household stuff. At the moment, she was folding her laundry and quickly realizing that Yelena had stolen ninety percent of her hoodies. It was cute but it was getting sort of frustrating since Natasha really liked wearing those hoodies.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard the oddest sound and her sister's panicked voice.

"Hey! No, no, no, no! Don't go in there yet!" Yelena whisper-yelled and Natasha quirked a brow, looking over her shoulder at the doorway. She could hear something that sounded like skittering across the floor accompanied by Yelena's quick footsteps. Natasha just gazed at the doorway, hearing the commotion growing nearer.

To her pure and unadulterated shock, a fluffy little ball of chubby folds and fur came racing through her doorway and stopped at her feet, sniffing her excitedly and jumping up on her legs. Natasha froze, staring down at the creature and quickly realizing that it was a dog looking up at her.

Yelena quickly came rushing through the door at that moment and she froze, staring at Natasha like a deer in the headlights. Natasha ripped her gaze away from the dog to meet Yelena's eyes, her own light greens questioning.

"Yelena... what is this?"

"A puppy," Yelena replied, suddenly finding her words again and striding forward to pick up the little dog in her arms. Natasha furrowed her brow as she took in the sight.

"I can see that," Natasha spoke slowly, studying the creature before shifting her gaze back up to Yelena.

"What's it doing here?" Natasha asked, and Yelena straightened her posture just a bit, running her fingers through the puppy's fur carefully.

"Well, you see, I was out on my run," Yelena started, holding the little puppy in her arms, and Natasha nodded, never taking her eyes off of Yelena as she patiently awaited the full answer to her question.

"And I passed by my favorite convenience store, thinking about getting a slushie," Yelena continued, and Natasha winced just a little at the thought of those disgusting things that Yelena loved so much, and Yelena smirked just a tiny bit in response to the expression.

"But before I went in, I heard something by the dumpster, and I went over to check it out. And that's where I found this cutie," Yelena explained, and Natasha glanced down at the little pup again, noticing how the creature was just panting happily and looking between Natasha and Yelena as if it were just thrilled to be there with them.

"She was alone so I picked her up and I went in and asked the people at the store if she was a stray or if she belonged to any of them."

"And they said?"

"They said that she had been lingering around there for several days and they didn't think she had a home," Yelena answered, and Natasha sighed deeply, knowing exactly where Yelena was going with this entire story and situation. And unfortunately, even though Natasha was not particularly fond of dogs, the redhead knew exactly how she was going to answer Yelena when it came down to the question that the blonde was no doubt going to ask.