"Yelena!", Eleanor jogged after her sister-in-law who had moved very far away from the shop in a very short space of time. Clearly, her want to get away was strong. She continued to jog after her after being ignored for the nth time that day, half wondering why she was still bothering, and eventually got within a few steps of the speed walker who could give Olympians a run for their money.

"Yel-".

The blonde turned with so much force that Eleanor almost thought that the momentum could knock her over too, but for the most part, all that she could think about was the cold stare the woman in front was giving her, followed by words laced with venom, "What do you want Hughes", Yelena reiterated her old name, almost as though trying to prove some sort of point that Eleanor couldn't put her finger on.

She almost shrunk under Yelena's harsh gaze, it was incredibly unnerving, but instead with all of the exhaustion from the last few days catching up to her - with the travel to Norway, the train ride to Budapest, the countless attacks, and now this - she was about ready to snap.

"What is your problem with me? I just came out here to see if you were okay-", Eleanor stood up straighter and crossed her arms trying to outstare Yelena who tilted her head slightly, accepting the challenge.

"I am fine, and I do not have a problem with you, you just aren't worth my time", she spat back and tried to turn away, but Eleanor reached out and had a death grip on the blonde's elbow.

Eleanor to almost everyone is a calm person, one to avoid confrontation, but if placed in the middle of it will usually try and use wit and sarcasm to get through, so that the tension doesn't bubble over the edge and cause a scene. But she hadn't felt this frustrated in years, it was as though her mind was going at a hundred miles per hour, but her exhausted body was lagging behind. It was infuriating, and she did not know what she had done to make Yelena hate her so much to the point of insulting her.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean", her voice came out smooth. The voice of someone taking control of the situation.

"It means that I am not interested in getting to know you, and not interested in talking to you or becoming your friend", she tore her arm away from Eleanor and took a step back as she shook her head, "None of this is supposed to be happening", she muttered under her breath, making Eleanor pause in her feeling of complete dejection.

"What do you mean?", she breathed out.

Yelena looked at her with narrowed eyes as she again shook her head, contemplating getting everything out in the open or letting it all fester again. Ultimately, she chose the former. "You weren't supposed to be in the picture". Eleanor was about to ask more questions, in Yelena's newfound silence, but it only prompted her to continue, "I'm not done. You have gotten so much time with her, and I got nothing. The way she talks about her time with you... they were the best years of her life. Mine were with her, but hers are with you".

Eleanor's features softened as she took Yelena's words in. It wasn't that she hated Eleanor, she just hated the idea of her. She had finally gotten her sister back and had just re-entered the world as a free person again, and suddenly someone else was in the frame. It would be an adjustment.

Guilt surged up Eleanor's throat. Yelena sounded heartbroken. "Yelena, I-".

"Don't", Yelena once again interrupted, but Eleanor was determined as always.

Pursing her lips she took a step forward, "No, I am so sorry about everything, Yelena. Truly I am. Natasha told me almost everything and I just, I am so sorry, okay?". She didn't get a response other than Yelena clenching her jaw, but it was better than the passive aggressiveness and storming off, so it was a win so far. "I know that I have had so much time with her, and it's not fair it really isn't, she's your sister you should have been able to have all the time in the world with her. And yes, some of her best years are whilst we've been together, but you haven't heard the way she talks about Ohio.

She truly loves you and loved every moment she got to spend with you as a kid, you really are a huge part of her favourite bits in life. And I know it's all just scary right now and we don't know what's going on, and I know Natasha is being a complete grouch right now, but when this is all over I know for a fact she will want to have more best years with you, and I'd like to be able to get to know you too, we're family now", she offered a small smile at the end of her speech, grimacing internally at what the reaction would be as Yelena was now staring at the floor between them.

A few moments passed of silence, which really didn't help with Eleanor's nerves, but she eventually heard "Family, huh?", accompanied by Yelena's lips twitching up ever so slightly.

A soft breath was released from Eleanor as she nodded, "Of course".

"I think... I think I'd like that", Yelena swallowed thickly, letting her guard down a considerable amount considering the tough armour she had been wearing since meeting her.

A few beats went by and a soft wind blew past the two who were now looking at each other with a newfound understanding. Both were big-hearted people with a lot of love to give, which was, unfortunately, being clouded by a giant Russian organisation.

"I've been told I give good hugs", Eleanor chuckled to try and alleviate any leftover tension and try to properly clear the air, though she doubted Yelena would actually hug her, she was just hoping for a sarcastic remark in response. But the unthinkable happened.

"You can have one", Yelena quirked a brow and tilted her head back slightly. It took Eleanor a moment to process what was happening, and her jaw went slack slightly, looking like a seven-year-old seeing algebra for the first time, but she shook the confusion away and moved forward.

Tentatively, she wrapped her arm around Yelena who was as stiff as a board at first, but a couple of seconds into it softened up and reciprocated. Eleanor ignored the small satisfied sigh that escaped Yelena, though it did make her feel as though she'd won a trophy. She had gotten through to her in some way, and clearly, she was liking the contact.

"Don't think that this means I'll be nice to you from now on, Hughes".

She chuckled at the warning, "Oh, I wouldn't expect anything else, Lena". Immediately Yelena recoiled and pushed Eleanor back a few steps with a short laugh as she pointed a finger at Eleanor who was innocently shrugging.

"You are annoying", she smiled and looked away, both women not noticing how Natasha was watching from the shop door, unable to hide the grin on her face. Feeling as though the puzzle pieces of her life that were still up in the air, were falling into place.

---

The trio began walking with their supplies again, hoping to find somewhere comfortable to spend some of the evening, and hopefully the night. Standing in a gas station parking lot until they can figure out what to do with the vials didn't sound awfully appealing. Luckily, because they were on the edge of the city and into the smaller towns' territories, it wasn't hard to find somewhere cosy.

The walk had some tension in the air because of the small spat between Natasha and Yelena in the shop, but after walking for a good half an hour or so, the conversation went back to normal, allowing Eleanor to breathe out a sigh of relief. It wasn't nice seeing either of them feeling uncomfortable, especially as she knew that Natasha had been dreaming about getting to know Yelena again in the future.

Though everyone had hoped that it would have been under different circumstances. Preferably not when they were being hunted down, with a couple of them only just finding out that the Red Room is still functional present day. That fact still felt like a kick in the teeth.

When a quaint roadside diner came into view in the middle of a conversation about which restaurants they missed back home, with Eleanor suggesting that Yelena had to try her favourite burger joint place someday, all of them flocked towards the building.

It was cute. It had a nice seating area with lighting which was useful because of how dark it was, with a wood beam roof going over the top. "I'll go get the drinks and see if there's any food", Nat smiled and placed a hand on Yelena's shoulder before slipping past Eleanor, brushing her fingers against hers as she moved inside.

The other two nodded and found a nice table at the edge of the seating area. Yelena quickly got to work with the alcohol that she had purchased earlier and poured it on the wound on her arm from the car wreck.

Eleanor had been busy looking at the environment, the kids playing football on the other side of the diner with the parents watching fondly. With everything that had happened, it was nice to know that the world hadn't exactly fallen apart.

Her attention was soon drawn back to the table though when Yelena grunted in pain and Natasha returned with some beers. She sat down opposite Yelena who was diagonal to Eleanor and just blankly stared over at the garage next to the diner. A small pout rested on her lips as she continued looking, oblivious to the concerned gaze of her wife.

"That gas", Yelena started, pulling the attention of both Nat and Eleanor back to her, "The counteragent, it was synthesised in secret by an older woman from Melina's generation. I was on the mission to retrieve it and she exposed me, and I killed the widow that freed me". The pain in Yelena's voice didn't go unnoticed as she looked down at the table before looking back up at her sister.

"Did you have a choice?", was Nat's first response, which made Eleanor shake her head slightly.

"What you experienced was psychological conditioning, I'm talking about chemically altering brain functions". Natasha nodded along as a deep frown resided between Eleanor's brows. She hated being reminded of the type of past that Natasha had to live through, she always acted okay but Eleanor knew that even now she struggled.

"They're two completely different things. You're fully conscious but you don't know which part is you. I'm still not sure", Yelena shrugged, again breaking Eleanor's heart.

Natasha had nothing to say. The guilt from the Red Room ending mission all those years ago failing, and causing Yelena to remain stuck in the system was still weighing her down like an anchor. So, she did the next best thing that she could do in the moment. Dragging her chair around she placed herself next to Yelena, beginning to prep some materials to help with the injury.

The raw emotion that Yelena stared at Natasha with was enough to make Eleanor feel as though she was intruding, so she allowed her attention to be captivated by the glowing red vials she could see in Yelena's bag.

"Is that all there is left?".

"Mhm", Yelena hummed in response, "It's the only thing that can stop Dreykov and his network of widows", she got louder through her speech as Natasha's ministrations on her cut got painful. But she calmed down when Nat tenderly blew on the wound to stop the burning sensation.

"He takes more every day, children who don't have anyone to protect them, just like us when we were small. Maybe one in twenty survives the training, becomes a widow, the rest he kills. To him we are just things. Weapons with no face that he can just throw away, because there is always more". Eleanor felt utterly sick to her stomach and had to resort to shuffling around in her seat slightly to ease the nausea flowing through her. Even after years of knowing that this had happened in the world, it still hit like a truck whenever Natasha spoke about it, and now Yelena was here to explain her experience too.

"And no one's even looking thanks to you and Alexei".

"Alexei?".

Yelena chuckled dryly, "Dad", she drawled out as Natasha finished the bandages and moved back next to Eleanor, who was now staring down the hole of her beer bottle, truly feeling like she was still interrupting the moment. But she looked up when she felt Nat's hand resting on her wrist, both offering each other small smiles of reassurance before everyone turned to the kids playing again at hearing laughter.

"Did you ever look for your parents? Your real ones?", Yelena asked obviously prompted by seeing the happy families nearby. The question was obviously meant for Natasha, Eleanor knew exactly where her real parents were. But the question and the scenes in front of her still made her smile sadly as her nose scrunched slightly.

Watching the parents run around with their kids, tossing them up in the air and hugging them brought back some fuzzy memories. She missed her parents every day, but it was times of fear and uncertainty like this that just made her want a hug from her Mum, and for her Dad to tell her that everything will be okay. But that couldn't happen.

"Well my Mom abandoned me in the street like garbage", Nat offered an awkward smile whilst Eleanor turned around with a sniff, trying not to allow herself to get too emotional. "What about you?".

"They destroyed my birth certificate so I reinvented it", Yelena leaned forward with her bottle, "My parents still live in Ohio. My sister moved out west".

Nat and Eleanor smiled fondly, images of their brief stint in Malibu flashing through their minds. "Is that right?", Nat challenged, earning an enthusiastic nod from the blonde in front of her.

"You're a science teacher. You're working part-time though, especially after you had your son. Your wife-", she motioned towards Eleanor with her head, "She renovates houses".

Eleanor let out a small chuckle as Natasha tilted her head, "Wife, huh?".

"I mean yeah, I always knew", Yelena gave a knowing smirk, making Eleanor laugh again as she swallowed her beer.

"It was the blue hair wasn't it?", Eleanor piped up, earning a small smack to the arm from her wife.

"Of course it was the blue hair", Eleanor got a playful eye roll in response, much to Natasha's dismay who looked like she just wanted the Earth to swallow her up there and then.

"Aw honey it's okay", Eleanor cooed and shuffled her chair closer to Nat to wrap an arm around her shoulders, "It looked cute, and you could sure as hell rock it now", she grinned.

Natasha just scoffed as she tried to hide a smile, "Gerroff", she shoved Eleanor away and the group allowed themselves to have a moment of peace before Yelena got distracted by the children again.

"Did you two ever think about kids?". Immediately Eleanor pursed her lips, knowing that it was a sensitive topic for Nat due to the graduation. It wasn't as though it hadn't been brought up at all, it was just it had been agreed that with their current lifestyle it simply wasn't safe to even consider looking after a child. Having a dependent.

Yelena understood the silence, "I want a dog", she said as she put a vest on that she pulled out of her bag.

Eleanor's face immediately lit up, but she knew better than to bring up the topic of getting a dog to Natasha again for the hundredth time. Much like with the baby situation it wasn't like they had time to safely care for a dog.

"Where you gonna go?".

"I don't know, I don't really have anywhere to go back to, so I guess anywhere". Natasha smiled at Yelena's answer and leaned very far forward in her chair, clearly about to propose something. Eleanor leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, greatly interested in what Natasha was going to say. "Don't".

"Don't what", Nat blandly replied.

Yelena chuckled in disbelief, "You're gonna give me some big hero speech, I can feel it". Natasha shook her head as Eleanor snorted.

"Nat can't give speeches, that's more like Steve's thing", Eleanor laughed slightly, making Yelena shrug with a "Huh".

"It was going to be more like an invitation", Natasha continued, and immediately Eleanor leaned her head all the way back past the back of the chair, before lifting her head up with the most awkward smile on her face that she could muster. She knew where this was going, and she knew that they were not going to get a break any time soon.

"To go to the Red Room and kill Dreykov?", Yelena clarified. Precisely.

"Yeah".

"Even though the Red Room is impossible to find and Dreykov is too slippery to kill?".

"Yeah".

"That sounds like a shitload of work". Again, Eleanor gave a small chuckle, that's exactly what it sounded like.

"Yup", Natasha sighed but started smiling, causing a small smile to erupt on Eleanor's face. It was contagious. "Could be fun though".

"Yup".

There was silence as the group sat in anticipation, wondering what was going to happen next. "I saw where he put the keys".

"Top drawer, green cabinet", Yelena smiled as the three clinked their bottles together.

Though there was one thing that entered Eleanor's mind. Rather two things. "Let me quote you from earlier", she turned to Nat, "You can't just steal a guy's car", she quirked her brow and Nat simply shook her head with her lips pointing to one side in thought.

"If needs must", she shrugged.

"Okay fair enough. Slight topic change though, did they have food in there?", Eleanor gestured to the diner, only to receive looks calling her stupid from the other two. Though she didn't think it was a stupid question considering there was only beer in front of them, and she was starving... at a diner.

Natasha was about to make fun of Eleanor for asking that as she did indeed think it was a redundant question, but she decided against it when she heard her wife's stomach rumble with hunger, and suddenly the teasing demeanour shifted into guilt again. None of them had eaten for quite some time. "Their food was really expensive", she answered with a solemn tone, "I don't think any of us have much money on us now correct?", she looked between the two in front of her whose faces said it all.

But Eleanor didn't want the spirits to be dampened, they were the highest they had been all day. Plus she brought Oreos earlier at the gas station. "The thing I miss most from home is Tony's credit card", she joked, with Nat nodding in agreement.

"Doesn't matter though, because I got us Oreos", she grinned as though she had just won the Nobel peace prize as she yanked the treats out of Yelena's bag who looked back and forth between Eleanor and her backpack.

"When did you put them in there?", Yelena asked with genuine shock.

"When you hugged me", she shrugged as Nat and Yelena looked at each other wide-eyed whilst Eleanor handed out the treats to everyone who happily scoffed them down along with generous sips of the alcohol. "Let's just have a five-minute breather before hitting the road, yeah?", Eleanor turned in her chair, leaning against the arm as she draped her legs over Natasha whilst she continued inhaling her portion of Oreos.

It was calm, and Yelena smiled softly at the way on instinct Nat gently placed her hands on Eleanor's knees as she dotingly stared at her wife. It had been a bumpy start, but she was now satisfied in knowing that Natasha had truly been happy over the last few years. It was all she wanted for her.