Widow Sisters and Friends (Restoring Our Broken Hearts)

On My Knees

Summary: Natasha has been cooped up in her office diligently working on paperwork. When Yelena goes in there to try to pull her away from her work for at least a little while to take a small break and spend some time with her, Natasha ends up snapping at her. Yelena's feelings are terribly hurt and Natasha end up having to go and beg her baby sister's forgiveness.

   "Hey, poser?" Yelena piped up, sticking her head through the doorway curiously, and she took in the backside of her sister where she was hunched over a desk as she had been for the past week during almost every waking moment.

Natasha was running terribly behind on paperwork, and she had been staying in her office all day for the past several days. She had started eating her meals in there and Yelena rarely got to see her or spend time with her outside of short forehead kisses as she passed by her to get food or tea. Natasha had even started coming to bed far too late and in the throes of sleep, Yelena would wake up just barely to feel Natasha's arms encircling her as she got into bed just behind her.

However, every morning without fail, Yelena had to eat breakfast alone and Natasha would leave some sort of note or something explaining where she was in the house and telling her to let her know if she needed her for some sort of emergency.

Which brought Yelena to where she was now, gazing hopefully through the doorway at Natasha as they shared the biggest conversation that they had since over a week ago.

"What is it, Rooskaya?" Natasha asked tiredly, and although her tone of voice was not the most welcoming, Yelena took the fact that she was using one of her many pet names to be a good sign. Yelena gently stepped in the office, pulling the door shut behind her carefully. She approached Natasha, stepping over to the side as she leaned against the desk and looked down at the redhead and what she was doing.

Natasha just raised an eyebrow, slight irritableness in her posture and her eyes painfully red and squinted from having to read fine print for so long.

"I think you need glasses," Yelena pointed out, reaching out carefully and wiping her thumb along the bags underneath Natasha's eyes.

"And rest. When's the last time you slept a normal eight hours?" Yelena asked, and Natasha let out a deep sigh, rubbing her face with a hand as she moved out from Yelena's grasp.

"I don't even remember," Natasha declared tiredly, and Yelena just watched her gently, her eyes raking over Natasha's form carefully as she took in the sight of her big sister that she had not really gotten to talk to or see for so long.

"And as true as both of those observations might be, there's nothing I can do about either today," Natasha resignedly expressed, adding onto her previous statement. She was obviously not in the mood to joke around, so Yelena swallowed a little with a shrug.

"I was wondering if you might want to take a break?" Yelena offered, and Natasha let out a deep sigh, shaking her head as she held her head in her hands and rubbed at her eyes.

"I can't... I'm really busy right now," Natasha informed her, a regret in her tone that was almost disguised by the irritation with the subject before her on the paper. Yelena tilted her head a little.

"C'mon... It won't hurt anything to take a break. It'll be right here waiting for you when you come back," Yelena declared with a playful grin, trying to offer some of her usual energy that she always had that seemed to cheer Natasha up when she was in one of her moods. Natasha let out an exasperated huff.

"I can't, okay? There's way too much stuff to do," Natasha replied to her firmly, her voice growing a bit more insistent with the statement, and Yelena let out a dramatic sigh.