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imaginedanvrs · 3 months

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part 9 l masterlist

summary: yelena belova x reader. when natasha takes you under her wing, she becomes like family, and the last thing you want is to lose that. but when you meet her younger sister who you know is off limits, you have to decide between what you really want and hope for minimal damage

word count: 5.3k

warnings: kidnapping, torture, drugging, significant injuries and blood loss, death, graphic violence, references to past sexual assault

You couldn’t move when you woke up. There were rough restraints wrapped around your torso and limbs but they weren’t necessary in keeping you in place. You felt stiff and unbelievably sore, like when a scab heals in an area that makes it hard to bend your arm or leg, except you felt it across your entire body.

There was a laceration from the bottom of your neck to your shoulder that stopped you moving your head, several across both legs that rendered them immobile, one on your right forearm, a multitude across your stomach and one deep in your back that was being dug into by whatever surface you were laying on. You exhaled shakily, feeling tears run down your already stiff cheeks.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Rae called from somewhere behind you. Your heart pumped wildly against your chest, despite already working to its limit to keep you alive.

The raven haired woman appeared at your side with an unmarked cylinder and gas mask in hand. She was smiling, beaming really, as she pulled up a chair and sat down next to you. You eyed the mask warrily, suddenly aware of the absence of blood in your mouth and how dry it had become since. You had no idea what they had done to you since you had been asleep, and you weren’t sure you wanted to know.

“I want you to stay awake for a bit so we can chat,” she told you, voice light as she fitted the mask over your mouth and nose. You tried to move your head to the side but the wound in your neck protested loudly at the stretch. You didn’t try to hold your breath, knowing it was futile as Rae opened the gas valve. You didn’t look at her as you breathed it in, instead focusing on the area around you.

There were clouded strip curtains that stopped you seeing any further than a few feet around you and the space was poorly lit. Next to your bed were machines you couldn’t make out without attempting to move your head again though you noticed several thin tubes entering your arms. You didn’t want to know what they were putting in your body. You didn’t want to know anything. You were trapped beneath a blanket of pain that prevented you from being able to focus on much else.

Rae pulled the paper thin sheet that was draped over your body off of you and you were somewhat glad that you couldn’t move your head to see the state that your body was in. But the vast stain of red was hard to miss, even out of the corner of your eyes, it was everywhere. She put her hand on your thigh where it seemed your trousers had been turned into shorts to provide access to your wounds across your legs. You winced at her touch, feeling it even through the pain.

“You haven’t really changed, you know?” She told you. “People like to believe they can change after they’ve done something bad. They decide to do some good acts, to try and make amends, but it doesn’t mean anything,” she sighs. “I suppose Natasha failed to inform you of that fact when she gave you a job, or maybe she thought it would be a good act of her own,” she pondered. You didn’t reply even when Rae removed the mask.

“Tell me about her,” she said as she put the equipment down and rested her forearms and head on the edge of the bed next to your face. “Come on, sweetheart, I didn’t touch your vocal chords for a reason. Tell me about what Natasha and Yelena are like now.” You frowned, not sure what exactly it was Rae wanted to know about the sisters. You couldn't trust that it was for a harmless reason either.

“I know you’re fucking Yelena, so there must be some interesting things about her you can tell me,” she pushed impatiently and began to trace the edges of you neck wound. You swallowed thickly under her touch as you registered that Rae knew about you and Yelena. That explained why she sent the photo that she did. But was she trying to get to the blonde too?

“She was the most ruthless child assassin the red room had ever seen,” Rae told you. You frowned, not understanding where Rae could have gotten that information from. “We were in all the same classes so I had to watch them praise her even after all the trouble she caused after her separation from Natasha.” You listened as intently as you could despite the occasional blaze of pain, trying desperately to put the pieces together but unable to catch on as fast as you would under any normal circumstance.

“No one ever seems to be punished for their actions anymore,” Rae told you as her fingers probed harder into your tender flesh. “Yelena and Natasha run away and are welcomed into the world. You go behind my back and get rewarded for it. And yet I stay loyal and get nothing,” she explained with clear agitation.

“Loyal… to who?” You forced the words out and felt like you were pushing them through a grinder. Rae looked down at you with a fond smile that made you sweat.

“The red room, malysh.” You stared at the woman above you as the temperature around you seemed to plummet.

“You’re a widow,” you whispered. Rae hummed, collecting some of your blood on her thumb and smearing it across your neck.

“There aren’t many of us left after what they did,” Rae recalled. “But we’re rebuilding. We’re replicating the serum Melina perfected when she was using her talents to their full potential and gathering the right people. And you, dorogoy, are one of them. You helped us years ago and you’ll do it again once the serums are ready,” she explained.

“I never helped you and I never will,” you protested weakly, trying to move your abused limbs to get as far away from Rae as you could but failed to her amusement.

“Yes, you did,” she corrected, producing a knife from the table next to her. “You were helping the moment I was sent to you and asked you out on that first date. That was always how it was meant to go,” she explained, picking something else up as you struggled, your mind racing as you realised how much worse the situation was than you had thought. Not only that, but hearing that even your best times with Rae were an act certainly pained you more than you would ever care to admit. You had once loved Rae, caught up in a relationship that had never been real.

In your panicked haze, you didn’t register the click or the dancing orange flame Rae placed under the flat side of her knife. “Though of course I’m not expecting you to do any work in your condition, so we’re just going to close up those nasty wounds first,” Rae explained matter-of-factly as she lifted up your shirt and placed the glowing blade on the deepest slash.

Your apartment didn’t provide the same comfort to Yelena as it usually did. Your absence seemed to have stripped it of its refuge entirely and it instead felt like being in an empty shell that she had no right to stand in. Yelena always loved your apartment, even from the first time she broke in and hadn’t yet met you. She liked the slightly mismatched furniture that always seemed to have at least one blanket each and the clean smell they always seemed to carry despite you insisting on using unscented fabric wash. She liked the display of random artwork you had placed around the space, most of which being slightly scratched from you walking into them so many times. She liked the soft lighting from various lamps placed in specific areas to create the right brightness level that was never too harsh or dim. She liked that the apartment always smelt of you, even in that moment when she wandered through it alone. That would fade, she realised, unless you were back there soon.

Yelena walked into the kitchen and spotted a neglected mug left on the side next to the kitchen. You would never have done that purposefully, always insistent on having everything washed up and put away before you left the apartment so that you wouldn’t have to deal with it when you got back. Yelena had sometimes done it for you if you had fallen asleep before you were due to go out.

The blonde picked the mug up, recognising it to be your favourite one, and began to wash it with a small amount of soap, rinsed it, and put it to the side to drain as her eyes scanned your home for anything else out of place. That was when she noticed a piece of paper folded up on your coffee table.

Yelena picked up the discarded paper as she sat down and opened it up, seeing her name on the top line and realising it was a letter to her. She paused and considered putting the letter back, feeling intrusive to be looking through your belongings without you there to nag her to stop being so nosey. You never did truly care though. You always just threw a pillow at her and continued whatever you were doing to let Yelena carry on with her overt snooping. So she opened the paper back up and began to read.

Yelena,

So I guess first and foremost, I’m sorry. I realised I’ve said that a lot by now, but I haven’t said what for. I’m sorry for being a complete moron for starters. It somehow never dawned on me that this was new territory for you so it was inevitable that there was going to be some confusion about what we actually were. Though I can tell you one thing, if we were dating I would have never wanted to keep that a secret, not that I enjoyed keeping the secret we had, but that would have been something I would want to announce to the whole world because you’re everything, Lena. You really are and you never deserved to be hidden.

I’m sorry I kept what we had a secret without giving it much thought about how you felt about that. You never said it bothered you, but I could tell in the last couple weeks that it did. I should have been able to tell sooner and I should have done something about it sooner, maybe even just addressed it better, but I was afraid of upsetting Nat. I know it's ironic and I definitely wasn’t trying to put my friendship with Nat above yours, but it terrified me to think I could lose her and I never once thought I would lose you.

I’m sorry for never telling you how I felt, that I was scared of us becoming something serious because last time that happened things didn’t end so well. That was something I never wanted to talk about, but that’s not just with you. I don’t want to think about the past, even though that’s what’s been holding me back this entire time, from not being able to give you all of me, from not being able to ask you out and from not being able to tell you that I love you.

A droplet fell onto the second paragraph and Yelena swiftly wiped her cheeks of the tears that continued to fall. She let the letter drop to the floor as she leant back against the sofa, staring up at the ceiling as she fought to control her breathing. It was all too much. She had thought she lost you days ago, and then to discover that you actually loved her. Now you weren’t there for her to go to? It hurt almost too much to bear. She needed you but knew you needed her more in that moment. Things could have been different if she just stayed to hear you out. If she stayed that night, you wouldn’t have been on your own in the days that followed. If she had stayed that night, she wouldn’t have left your side until you were begging for space. Because she loved you too.

Yelena sprang up for her place on the sofa when she heard the lock on the other side of your apartment door being adjusted. The blonde raised her wrist with her widow bites wrapped around and narrowed her eyes at the door, ready to shoot whoever was about to invade your space. Yelena lowered her arm with a shaky exhale when Kate opened the door, stumbling slightly when she saw the Russian already there.

“Hi,” Kate muttered, taking in Yelena’s state. The blonde nodded, her eyes falling to the two dogs at her side and felt her heart squeeze when she saw Marty trot towards her. She knelt down on the floor within a second and pulled the dog close to her chest, feeling him nuzzle into her and taking little notice of Kate who awkwardly shifted in the doorway.

“Marty’s a fussy eater when y/n’s not around,” Kate explained as she trudged over to the kitchen where you kept the dog food.

“Marty,” Yelena scolded softly as she scratched under his ears.

“Any news?” Kate asked when a silence settled over the apartment. Yelena stiffened slightly and stood up, trying to recollect her composure in front of the young archer. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Kate seeing her upset, it was just that she didn’t like anyone seeing her upset.

“We found her phone. Stark reckons it had been hacked,” Yelena informed. “But I think she would have noticed something like that,” she added, not believing that that was really what happened.

“She wasn’t thinking properly,” Kate pointed out, despite how uncomfortable it was to do so. “I’m sorry,” she said suddenly. It was only then that Yelena noted the redness and bags under Kate’s eyes. “I told her she should have stayed with me for a few days but she wanted to come back here. I should have insisted more. I was at home when it happened so I would have been able spot it or-”

“It is not your fault, Kate,” Yelena told her sternly, cutting off Kate’s rambles the moment she noticed the light shimmering off of her eyes. If Kate started crying, she probably would too. “She will be back soon,” Yelena assured as she picked up the letter and stuffed it in her coat pocket. Kate clocked it instantly and noticeably brightened at the sight of the paper.

“I hope she said everything she needed to,” the archer said.

“I will double check when I see her,” Yelena informed lightly, making Kate smile as her eyes still shimmered. She nodded, picking up the bag of food and called for Marty to follow her out.

“Call me if- when you hear something,” Kate requested.

“Okay,” Yelena said, unsure if she was going to actually do it. As far as she knew, Kate hadn’t seen the inside of that warehouse so she had no idea what she could be facing if she helped. For the time being, it was best if Kate stayed away. Besides, Yelena didn’t want the young archer to see what she would do when she got her hands on the people that took you from her.

Thankfully, you spent the majority of your time unconscious once Rae began to cauterise, your body able to spare you the sympathy of that alone. You spent most of your fleeting moments of consciousness alone and in incredible pain, but every so often there was someone in the room with you and it wasn’t always Rae. You didn’t recognise the others and they never acknowledged you. You didn’t try to talk to them, far too exhausted to even entertain the idea.

There was no possible way for you to know that several days passed with you laying in that bed. Every so often your condition would decline, then stabilise, sometimes improving. The widow’s resources weren’t as impressive as they were in the previous red room and at times they struggled to attain what you needed, having to cut corners that aided in your wavering recovery. You weren’t aware of any of that though, even when Rae told you.

She talked to you a lot. Rarely did anything she said actually process and perhaps that was why she did it, but her presence and voice agitated you at the times where you had the energy to care. She talked about Natasha and Yelena the most, telling you what they were like to grow up with. She hated them, that much was clear. And you hated her.

There was one thing you were aware of above all else and that was that you were beginning to lose feeling in your lower back down to your toes. It had just been numb at first, the pain still prominent in your lower half, but overtime you realised that you could feel the rough restraints against your arms and torso more than you could your legs. You tried not to focus too hard on it, knowing you were incapable of doing anything about it, but you couldn’t help but wonder what condition you would find yourself in in the month that followed, provided you made it that long.

“I’ve got something!” Tony called, taking Yelena and Natasha’s attention away from checking their phones for the umpteenth time to appear next to the American and stare at his screen. “I think I’ve managed to get through the fake traces and find the genuine one,” he explained, bringing up a satellite image. Several more pixelated images appeared alongside it to give the three a general idea of what the perimeter looked like.

“Are you sure?” Natasha confirmed as she examined the contents in front of her.

“Looking at the kind of defence they have on the perimeter of the sight and the kind of signals coming off of it, this is it,” Tony said. “Want me to call it in to the team?”

“No, just Wanda. We need to be subtle about this so that we don’t get noticed,” Natasha explained. “And make sure all the support vehicles stay clear until we give them the go ahead.”

“Got it,” Tony said as the sisters were already leaving to retrieve everything they needed. They didn’t have any time to waste, already made anxious by how long it had taken to get the location confirmed. You would have found it sooner.

“Yelena,” Natasha said as the pair slipped on their tactical suits and loaded them with the needed weapons. It didn’t go unnoticed to the older sister that Yelena was loading more than she needed. The blonde hummed in response. “Sestra.” Yelena looked up at that, noting Natasha’s concern. “You need a clear head for this, no one will think less of you if you want to stay behind,” she assured. Yelena scoffed and turned around as she finished securing her weapons.

“I’m coming,” she said, leaving no room for arguing.

“And I’m not going to stop you, I just need to know that you’re not going to be reckless,” Natasha insisted, concerned that there could be a red tint to her sister’s vision that could escalate the mission.

“Being reckless could cost y/n her life. I will not do that,” Yelena said, slamming a locker shut and marching out of the room.

Natasha wasn’t blind to Yelena’s cold shoulder since you had gone. She had been giving it to everyone, but the redhead knew that there could be several reasons why she was getting it. In Yelena’s eyes, Natasha’s disapproval of her involvement with you was what made you so scared to allow it to progress the way you both wanted. And she was right, but that was never the redhead’s intention and she was still trying to find the right moment to tell her that. For the time being, the best thing Natasha could do for her sister was stop her getting too hot headed.

Wanda was already waiting for them by the jet though one glance at Yelena told her that there wasn’t going to be much chat on the way there. She was concerned for your wellbeing too, but the Sokovian always needed an extra run through of the plan before a mission and Natasha didn’t hesitate to do so, their voices being the only ones to carry through the plane on the way.

They had to make the last stretch of their approach to the base on foot as despite the jet’s cloaking technology, they couldn’t risk being detected by whatever technology your captures possessed. The trio stopped short of the tree line along the edge of where the base was established in an abandoned prison in the 70s. There wasn’t a great deal of noticeable security, but the building's foundations played against the three heroes even with them knowing the rough floor plan.

Once they came across their first patrol, Wanda used her red mist to render the guard unconscious as the swiftest and most discreet way to do so, though a frown flickered across her features as red overtook the guard’s eyes and she slumped against the Sokovian. “What is it?” Natasha asked.

“Her mind,” Wanda began. “It’s… clouded,” her frown deepened and Yelena huffed.

“It doesn’t matter, let’s keep moving,” she insisted, already moving out from behind the corner and finding herself face to face with two more guards. They raised their guns with a shout but the blonde was quicker and stunned them both with her widow bites.

“Yelena,” Natasha warned. The plan had been for Wanda to deal with as many as the guards as possible. “They’re widows,” she announced when she spotted the identical weapons on the women’s wrists. Yelena paused, glancing back to where her teammates still lingered.

“I think they’re using the serum,” Wanda said. She of course had no experience with biotechnology, but from what she had been told about it and what she saw when she peered into just one mind, she was sure that was the cause.

“We’ll deal with it once y/n is safe,” Yelena hissed as she continued to stalk through the corridor. Wanda and Natasha exchanged a concerned glance and followed.

The new red room that the trio found themselves in was nothing like the original. It was clear that whoever was running it didn’t have the power, wealth or technology that Drekov did, but it was a running operation nonetheless. The control room that Natasha begrudgingly continued past had several screens set up with pinpoints coordinated though they seemed to only expand inside the US. There was a lab too, a simple one, that seemed to be producing the serum at a steady pace and those inside handling it appeared to do so with caution. Judged on these factors alone, Natasha got the feeling that no one in the base truly knew what they were doing. But the widows still knew how to fight.

As the three women continued to make their way through the building, Yelena showed no hesitance in handling the widows a little more aggressively than necessary. Wanda and Natasha reminded her numerous times that it would be more efficient for Wanda to handle the guards as Yelena’s advances were becoming gradually less quiet, but the blonde ignored them, set on getting to you. It took a while, but eventually Yelena opened the right door.

Peering around the compact room, all Yelena could see at first were the series of five strip curtains. The ones closest to the door were open, displaying an empty bed without any sheets or pillows with drawers overflowing with bandages and wraps next to it. It was some kind of medical ward, so Yelena crept in with Wanda behind her and Natasha watching the door.

The blonde pulled back each set of curtains to reveal more empty beds until she pulled back the last set and revealed your blood soaked one. Natasha swore internally when she saw Yelena take in your form, knowing that it was bad and that she should have prepared her sister for what she would find.

“Let me carry her,” Wanda said gently as she took the tubes out of your arms, watching the monitor next to you carefully as she did so. It was a gamble taking you away from the machines and medicine, but you couldn’t stay attached to them on the way out.

Yelena didn’t move. She stood in place and watched you sleep, noting how your chest wasn’t rising as much as it usually did and that you didn’t look peaceful like she always told you. She couldn’t help but stare at the deep wounds you wore across your body that looked as though they had been burned shut while others were wrapped. Even the bandages were stained red.

Once Wanda was done, she let her powers wrap securely around you, lifting you gradually into the air without you waking. “We need to go,” she said when Yelena didn’t move. Fortunately that was enough to break Yelena from her trance and she led the way out, avoiding Natasha's gaze.

The older sister let Yelena storm on ahead, knowing that she was in no mood to receive any comfort in that moment and that they probably didn’t have the time to give it. Given how many guards Yelena had left lying around, someone was bound to have noticed, and yet no alarms sounded.

“You guys are leaving already?” Rae asked, standing between the group and their exit. “And taking my stuff with you?” She frowned with faux hurt.

“She’s not yours, Rae,” Natasha declared as she stepped closer, immediately recognising the woman she had spent so long trying to track down. Natasha had never stopped, she promised you that, but Rae had been a ghost.

“But I thought we could talk before you go, it’s been twenty years,” she said as she stared at the widows with interest.

“Ruslana,” Yelena muttered as she registered that the woman in front of them wasn’t a stranger, but someone quite familiar. They had trained together, never with Natasha who she had only spent time with on that one mission, and the bitterness that had always been prominent in her performances was just as clear twenty years later.

“There you are,” Ruslana beamed. “Put y/n down and let me show you what I’m building,” she said, beckoning the widows that emerged from the surrounding corridors.

“Wanda,” Natasha warned.

“Going,” she agreed, having been in enough similar situations to know that a head start was always helpful. She started back the way she came with you close by her side.

“Tony, we need the widow’s antidote right now.” Natasha ordered into her coms. “Yelena, come on!” Natasha urged. As much as she wanted to stay to make sure Ruslana faced what she had assured you she would someday get, it wasn’t the time.

“Oh but Yelena, I was hoping we could exchange stories about our shared ex,” she pushed. Yelena’s gaze hardened. “Though I’m sure I'll win my y/n back once she’s got that serum in her,” Ruslana said, just as the widows around them bolted forwards as one.

“Yelena!” Natasha yelled, having no choice but to advance on the widows and give Wanda more time to get away with you. At that same moment, Yelena went straight for Ruslana who welcomed her advance with a grin.

The blonde struck at Ruslana just as she produced a concealed knife from her waistband and slashed it across Yelena’s forearm with precision. Yelena hissed at the burn but managed to land several punches with her anger driving her.

“I was so sorry to hear that things didn’t work out between you and y/n,” Ruslana continued to taunt as she outmanoeuvred the attacks she had been trained in. “You guys seemed cute together.”

“Fuck you,” Yelena spat. Her red vision was beginning to be a problem and stopped her noticing Ruslana’s tricks that allowed her to get a couple more swipes from the knife in hand. She couldn’t understand how you had ever been with a widow, or how Natasha recognised her.

“I’m sure you got enough of that from y/n. I taught her what she knows so you’re welcome for that,” she snipped.

“Yelena, we need to go now!” Natasha bellowed as the distance between her and Yelena gradually increased. She couldn’t keep the widows back for much longer and she couldn’t leave without her sister who wasn’t listening to a word she said.

One wrong move from Yelena and her legs were brought out from under her as Ruslana forced her to the ground with her knee in the blonde’s ribcage and her knife against her neck. Ruslana gazed down at Yelena with wild eyes, having anticipated that triumph ever since she was training in the red room. Yelena struggled, but the knee on her chest was pressing dangerously against her lungs.

“Oh you two really were perfect for each other,” Ruslana cooed. “You both look so good when you’re fighting for your lives,” she hissed with a manic grin. “And you both had it coming. I just wish I had hit her a couple more times with that axe,” she mused. At the confirmation that Ruslana was responsible for your injuries, something in Yelena snapped.

She hauled Ruslana’s head back by her hair and snatched the knife swiftly enough that Ruslana couldn’t stop her. She flipped their bodies over with enough force that the older Russian’s head hit the concrete with a sickening thud that Ruslana barely had the time to process because Yelena was bringing her knife down on her throat, digging it into the bone. Ruslana’s eyes widened as her lungs filled with blood and she gazed up at Yelena, gargling on the blood that had managed to pool in her mouth. Yelena lifted the blade out and brought it back down on her chest, directly into your attacker’s heart. The puncture was a deep one but drawn out enough that Yelena got to witness the moment it all registered for Ruslana.

“Suka,” Yelena muttered, keeping the knife lodged in Ruslana’s body and turning back to Natasha who had watched what she had done.

The pair didn’t waste another second in returning the way they had come with the widows hot on their trail. It would have been simpler just to take the exit in front of them, but they had to follow after Wanda to ensure she had made it out okay too. They had no reason to worry.

Just as the Russians made it out of the prison, they saw Wanda standing just several feet away with her arms raised and eyes set on the widows behind them. In an instant, a barrier was placed across the doorway much to the widows displeasure. They protested and fought against Wanda’s magic but it remained strong.

“Take her to the jet,” Natasha ordered to Yelena. “Me and Wanda need to keep the widows here until the antidote arrives,” she said with a finality Yelena didn’t question. She looked down at your still sleeping form and picked you up in the most comfortable position for your wounds, not wanting to cause more damage.

Yelena carried you for half a mile at the fastest jog she could physically handle. Though you didn’t wake for the entire journey, your rattly breathing echoed through Yelena’s consciousness and gave her the drive to continue to the awaiting jet. She couldn’t wipe away the sweat on her forehead or the tears falling down her cheeks because she mostly focused on the dampness that was spreading across her suit from you. Her own injuries were minor and foolish in comparison.

The medical team took over as soon as you and Yelena were in sight of the jet but Yelena was adamant on carrying you all the way, not trusting anyone to be as quick or careful as she was. When she finally laid you down on the awaiting stretcher, she took several stumbling steps back and watched on as the medics went to work, suddenly feeling useless as all she could do was observe the strangers save your life.

#marvel #yelena belova imagine #yelena belova x reader #yelena belova #natasha romanoff #kate bishop #wanda maximoff

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