Widow Sisters and Friends (Restoring Our Broken Hearts)

Listen to Me: Part 6

Summary: It was supposed to be a routine catch and release for Natasha. However, when Vibranium cuffs, Natasha's old Red Room instructor, and, worst of all, Yelena are all mixed in the mission, it quickly becomes one of the worst missions Natasha has ever been on. However, even after the Avengers rescue her and Yelena, there are still somewhat longer-term consequences that the two have to face with Yelena taking the brunt of those said consequences. But Natasha will be there for her every step of the way.

   Natasha eagerly waited by Yelena's bedside with Kate near her. Peter had to go to school, and he had to leave before Yelena woke up and before she had even completed her surgery. Kate, however, had no other engagements and was more than happy to spend time with Natasha and wait for Yelena to wake up.

Kate had been adorably fighting to stay awake on Natasha's shoulder this whole time, still not able to fight off her drowsiness from having to wake up so early. She had been somewhere between drooling on Natasha's shoulder and trying to make conversation. At this point, she was halfheartedly trying to talk about something while seeming almost as if she were half-dozing as she spoke.

"Y'know, when she wakes up, we should get her a banana popsicle... Like her nickname's Yelena-Banana, and it'd just be perfect. Plus, she's blonde so... Yellow popsicle, yellow hair," Kate explained carefreely, shrugging with a light laugh. Natasha shook her head, looking upon Yelena's sleeping face with the utmost fondness. Natasha had one hand occupied with holding Yelena's hand and the other one was running through Kate's hair softly.

"Don't ever tell her she has yellow hair, shchenok. She has already explained to me thoroughly that she has a very exquisite shade of blonde bordering on platinum," Natasha switched over to a Russian accent to imitate Yelena more accurately, and Kate lifted her head just a little as she laughed just a bit. Those pretty gunmetal blues were eyeing her with so much adoration, and Natasha smiled softly and somewhat sheepishly.

"Oh, my gosh, you sound literally just like her," Kate pointed out, and Natasha shrugged nonchalantly with a wide grin. Kate then settled her head back in its place on Natasha's shoulder, and Natasha leaned her head against her gently, unable to keep from smiling a little in reply to Kate's goofiness despite her intense nervousness about Yelena and her condition.

She was hoping and praying more than anything that Yelena would be alright and that the surgery would actually work out well for her. She knew that Yelena was going to be so upset and so hurt and that she would lose so much of her self-worth if it did not go well.

Yelena was everything to her, and she herself never would see Yelena any less regardless of her ability to hear or her lack thereof. However, she knew Yelena was not quite going to view things that way. A lot of Yelena's own concept of her worth was hinged upon whether she was useful. It was something that was deeply rooted in her Red Room training, because in the Red Room, one's worth was based entirely upon their skillset and their physical abilities.

"But y'know, I mean, I understand why she'd get offended... Like... If you're not whitening, you're yellowing," Kate suddenly spoke up again, interrupting Natasha's thoughts, and the statement was so random and out of the blue that it took a minute for Natasha to fully realize what Kate was talking about. She had been so lost in her own head that she truthfully sort of forgotten what she and Kate had been talking about.

However, as it all came flooding back to her, she immediately laughed far too hard. Kate laughed a little with her, grinning widely as she pulled back to look at Natasha. Natasha shook her head.

"Sweetheart, you are crazy," Natasha expressed, huffing as she tried to stop laughing quite so much. Most of her laughter was primarily caused as a result of the nervousness coursing through her at the moment, but she supposed that she could only laugh or cry at this point given how much stress she was feeling.