The Avengers Weakness

Twenty Five

It was almost two a.m. when Yelena's bedroom door quietly and slowly opened, revealing Kate who was looking at her with tired eyes. Yelena threw her covers to the side and motioned for the brunette to join her. Kate shuffled over to her and slipped into the bed next to her, already curling up next to the blonde. Yelena smiled lightly, Kate rolled over to face her and propped herself up on one of her arms, she was looking at her.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

Yelena shook her head, "No...you?"

The brunette nodded her head and sighed softly, "Same."

"What's keeping you up?" Yelena asked her, she knew that the brunette needed her sleep, she was a walking zombie without it.

Kate sighed, "I don't know."

Yelena flopped over onto her back, holding her arm out slightly; Kate took it as a sign to lay her head on the blonde's stomach like she usually did during their late night sleepovers. So she did, she slid down in Yelena's queen sized bed a little and adjusted herself to where her head was resting against the blonde's stomach. Yelena's fingers found their way into the brunette's hair and gently pulled the hair tie out of it so she could play with it.

"What's keeping you up?" the brunette asked.

"Can I ask you a question Kate Bishop?" the blonde asked softly.

"Sure."

"What happened to Penny Parker?"

"You promise not to tell anyone?" the brunette asked after remaining silent for a few seconds.

"Of course." she replied, nodding her head.

"Before she came here Little P lived with her Aunt and Uncle....They weren't the nicest people to live with from what I've heard." she replied quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"When she first came here, she had bruises, it was awful to see Lena.....I mean they were fading but they were there. She wore this big, oversized sweater that covered almost everything. But she had this bruise around her neck, she never said what it was from....but you could tell that from someone's hand, you could see the finger marks on her neck, even though they were faded purple. She looked so small and scared, like smaller than she already was, if that was even possible....but it was. She flinched at everything, Peter would move towards her and she'd flinch like he was going to hit her, then she'd start crying because she felt bad for doing it, even though she couldn't help it. She'd start shaking when people would raise their voices, she'd have these panic attacks at certain things and the only person who could stop them was Peter, but then she'd be having an asthma attack from having the panic attack. It was like she'd stop breathing, she'd zone out and get this far off look in her eye, it was like she wasn't here. She was so skinny, like if she moved wrong she'd break, because they'd keep food from her for a punishment or just because. She still does it sometimes, which is understandable...I mean eight years living like that can't be taken back in a month. Peter was so upset and worried, he still is worried and he's angry at them and at himself for not knowing. But nobody knew, because it was always swept under the rug and because she was terrified to tell anyone."

Yelena listened to the brunette, she felt anger bubbling up inside of her, people acted this way to a child? What was wrong with them? Kate's voice was shaking as she talked about it, Yelena could hear the emotion in her voice. Yelena hadn't heard the brunette sound like this since Yelena had told her about the red room and her nightmares. Yelena wiped a tear that was making its way down the brunette's cheek, she kept running her fingers through her hair. Kate was touch deprived in a way, her mother had been distant and formal, she wasn't one for physical attention, that was Kate's dad's job, but he died in the attack on New York a few years ago. Kate loved hugs and cuddles, she loved being able to show any kind of physical emotion, that showed how much she loved people. Yelena was the same way, the red room wasn't a place for cuddles and coddling children, it raised master assassins and spies. So the two fell into a pattern, Kate would curl up next to Yelena when she was upset and talk about her emotions, much like she was doing now and Yelena would sit and listen as she played with Kate's hair, a tactic the Yelena found calming for the both of them. When it was the other way around, Kate would hold Yelena in her lap and they'd just sit there, not saying anything because they could have conversations just through looking at each other.