Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Let’s see it this way: we get some alone time.”

“Yeah, about that.” Matt frowns, head cocked to the side. “We’re not alone.”

“I want to say I can’t believe you’d stalk me, but that’d be a lie.”

Yelena shrugs. “You might have noticed if you weren’t so distracted.”

Natasha rolls her eyes, but lets it go to focus on the most pressing issue. “Why did you bring her?”

Her being the world-class assassin who also happens to be Matt’s ex-girlfriend. Natasha is a little curious, but Yelena doesn’t need to know that. Her sister doesn’t answer her question, anyway, shrugging again.

Natasha turns to Matt and Elektra, who are standing a few steps aside. They are not whispering.

“The world does not revolve around you, Matthew. Neither does my life.”

“So this is what, a coincidence?”

“Yes.” A pause. “This time it actually is.”

“That’s a little hard to believe.”

“And yet, I’m only here for Yelena. You know I’m not lying.”

“You’re, what… dating Natasha’s sister?”

“Now don’t be silly.”

“Then why are you here?”

Elektra smiles. “I promised to help kill you if you turned out to be an asshole.”

“…you came to kill me?”

“Don’t be dramatic, Matthew; I didn’t know Natasha’s boyfriend was you.” Elektra stares him down for a couple seconds. “You are kind of an asshole, though.”

Matt sighs.

“No one’s killing anyone,” Natasha says, taking a step towards them. She then turns to Yelena and glares. “We are going to talk about this, though.”

Yelena huffs. “Whatever.”

“Let’s just try to survive until the roads are cleared.” Matt puts a hand on Natasha’s shoulder and gives her a smile. It’s not his most convincing one, but she appreciates it anyway.

It’s going to be a long two days.

❄️

“You can talk, you know. I don’t bite.” Elektra smirks. “Usually.”

No wonder Yelena likes this woman. “Maybe I’m the one who bites.”

Elektra laughs. “I suppose you could be.”

Natasha closes the distance and sits down next to her. There are a few questions she’d like to ask, but for now she keeps quiet and observes. Elektra is a beautiful woman, lithe and strong; her every movement signals confidence, not unlike Natasha’s own. Not an easy target, probably.

“You’re curious,” Elektra says.

“I am.” How could she not be? Elektra’s shadow has loomed on her relationship with Matt since the start, now more than ever. And here she comes, at her sister’s side no less. She is pretty curious.

“We could fight.”

“Or we could talk, like grown-ups.”

“That’s boring, but sure. Do talk.”

“Why are you really here?”

Elektra seems unperturbed. “Why are you and Matthew apparently unable to accept I came for Yelena?”

She’d been inclined to believe it, but she had to check. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

“She has great taste,” Elektra comments. “Do you have friends, Natasha?”

Yes, but that’s none of her business. Natasha shrugs.

“Maybe this talk would be easier if you told me what you really want to know.”

Maybe. “You survived Midland Circle.”

“That is not a question.” Elektra raises a brow.

“You survived. Why didn’t you look for Matt?”

It’s Elektra’s turn to study her, now. Natasha waits her out. “He told you about me?” Natasha nods. “Good.”

Was that surprise on Elektra’s face, for a second?

“Matthew tried to die for me. I didn’t want that.”

Elektra kept a neutral tone, like it didn’t matter. Natasha isn’t so easily fooled. “You were scared.”

“Not what I said.” Elektra sighs and leans back into the sofa, eyes closed. “We could never work, anyway. We always hurt each other.”

Matt told her something similar; Natasha herself knows a thing or two about love not being enough for a relationship to work. Assuming Yelena wouldn’t want to see her, giving up before she even tried, had cost her sister years under Dreykov’s control. Natasha’d been close to losing her and hadn’t even known. They’re making it work now, though, rebuilding on the ashes of the Red Room. Did Matt and Elektra even try? Still, they have clearly made their choices at this point, and Natasha isn’t looking to change them.

Elektra opens her eyes. “I’ve never had a sister,” she says suddenly. “I don’t know if it would have changed anything or I would have been alone all the same.”

Natasha doesn’t know much about Elektra’s life before Matthew—just that she was a child soldier, like her and Yelena. She doesn’t comment.

“I’m not here for Matthew,” Elektra states, standing up. “I’m not here for you, even. But I like your sister, and I don’t like seeing her hurt.” Natasha holds her gaze, feeling vaguely threatened, her body getting ready to dodge. Elektra just smirks. “Avengers don’t scare me.”

Then she’s gone, leaving Natasha to wonder if she just got the first shovel talk of her life.

Chapter Text

“I’m not an expert, but I don’t think a vacation date usually goes like this.”

“That’s because they’re doing a stake-out, Yelena.”

Seeing Matthew again like this has been a surprise, but—in hindsight—Elektra should have seen it coming, considered the possibility at least. She can hardly imagine Black Widow would date a random civilian.

Yet she hadn’t checked beforehand, so she hadn’t known; her surprise was still nothing compared to Matthew’s. His confused expression when he’d finally heard her had been kind of funny. Kind of, because Elektra hadn’t allowed herself to get this close to him since she’d left him bloody and broken in the care of nuns. She hasn’t changed her mind one bit, but even she can’t force herself not to feel.

Matthew has always been her weakest spot.

Still, she does what she’s best at: smiles and acts as if she’s in control. “Hello, Matthew.”

❄️

After her talk with Natasha, Elektra goes up to her room and finds Yelena already there. Her friend seems worried, which is not like her.

Yelena perks up at her arrival. “I’m sorry,” she says.

Elektra arches an eyebrow. “Whatever for?” she asks, reaching her bed. She packed light for the trip; none of them had expected the snowstorm currently blocking them and any helpers, or they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. She picks an athletic top to change into for the night.

“I didn’t know we’d meet your ex.”

“It’s fine.” It didn’t occur to her to blame Yelena for the unfortunate coincidence, if she can even call it that. Talking to Matthew again has been a bit of a shock, at first, but now she finds she doesn’t mind. She’s been avoiding the past and its most vivid reminder, but—regardless of what their relationship currently looks like—Matthew has always been—still is—someone she cares a lot about. She hadn’t realized—had refused to realize—how much she’d actually missed him. “I’m not upset.”

“Aren’t you?”

Right, she’s been trying the honesty thing with Yelena. (Stick would tell her she’s grown soft, but she killed Stick.) “I wasn’t expecting it,” she says, “but I don’t mind. It’s nice seeing him.” A little weird, not being able to get as close as they used to be, but not in a bad way.

“Okay.” Yelena sits cross-legged on her own bed. “Can I ask?”

“He really is blind,” Elektra says. It might be a way to deflect more personal questions.

“I’ve seen weirder stuff than a blind man who’s really good at fighting,” Yelena returns. “I want to know if I should kick his ass.”

Elektra can’t help the laugh escaping her lips. “Not on my behalf.”

Yelena seems to measure her next words carefully. “You said it didn’t work because of different priorities.” It’s not a question, technically, but it sounds like one.

Elektra nods. Once upon a time, she berated Matthew for not letting people in, and she’s been glad to see he did open up with Natasha. The least she can do now is take her own advice. “Matthew isn’t a fan of killing.”

“He left you for that?” Yelena sounds offended, which makes Elektra smile.

“Not exactly. Well, he tried. He told me we should stop corrupting each other,” she recalls, briefly closing her eyes. She remembers his words perfectly—he hadn’t been wrong, but she’d been hurt and returned it in kind. “But we found each other again. I died for him, I came back, and he almost died for me.”

“That sounds… complicated.”

“I don’t want him to die. Not for me.” Elektra lets her words settle in the air for a second. “Besides, I couldn’t be who he wants me to be. So I chose to leave.”

“That makes sense,” Yelena says. “Thanks for telling me.”

Elektra smiles. Opening up doesn’t come naturally to her, but it feels nice.

Chapter Text

“Will you be alright?”

“Sure, I can handle a little snow.”

Matt really, really hates snow.

It messes with his senses, muffling everything, and—if you ask him—it’s the only reason he didn’t notice Elektra or Yelena earlier.

What was he thinking, when he accepted Natasha’s invitation to join her on ‘an easy mission on the Catskills’? You weren’t, buddy, that’s the problem. His inner voice sounds suspiciously like Foggy, but Matt has to concede the point. Snow is annoying in the city, but here? The world outside the cabin feels like a uniform blanket of muffled sensations, and he hates it.

He really should have thought it through. But no: It’s just an hour drive, he’d reasoned. It won’t be a problem. The criminals they’ve been sent to keep in check had just arrived when the snowfall had started. Though unexpected, it is a common occurrence here, Matt found out. As it is for the roads to be blocked until the snow stops and someone can come clean them out.

They’re stuck in the cabin for the foreseeable future, which wouldn’t really be a problem if it wasn’t for their surprise guests. One of them.

Matt sighs, stops going in circles around that thought. He doesn’t mind Yelena’s presence; meeting Natasha’s sister in better circumstances than let’s try and get Natasha back to life was already in the plans, and luckily their cabin is well-stocked so food won’t be a problem. What he didn’t know—nor did Nat, apparently—is that Yelena seems to be best friends or something with Elektra.

Elektra, who is alive and well and suddenly in his life after eight years. It shouldn’t be this surprising that she has a friend, maybe, but Matt’s never seen her with friends before. Not in college, not when he found out she worked for Stick, certainly not when the Hand brought her back.

He should be happy for her. She’s moved on, she’s building a life for herself. One that doesn’t include him in any way, which shouldn’t hurt but it does.

He moved on, too. He’s happy with Natasha and has no intention of throwing it away. It still hurts, to have her back with no explanations and not even willingly—she’s not here for him, like he overheard her saying to Nat. Which is fine, good even, but it messes with him all the same.

Deep breaths, Matt.

“Hey.” Nat enters the room with a tray. “I brought dinner up.”

Saving him from having to face the past just yet, she doesn’t say. Matt thanks her anyway. “Sorry I didn’t help.”

“That’s okay. You can make lunch tomorrow.” She sits down next to him on the bed. “You don’t look great, Matt.”

“Wow, thanks.”

Natasha huffs. “I won’t force you to talk about it. Come on, let’s eat.”

He’s pretty sure she means she won’t force him now, but he’ll take the reprieve. He’s just not ready yet.

It’s only after he’s put down his bowl that Natasha closes the distance to rest her head on his shoulder. “I talked with Yelena a little.”

Matt hums. He spent most of the afternoon in their room, trying to get his thoughts in order and postponing the inevitable confrontations. He knows he won’t be able to escape forever, resigned himself to face the past tomorrow. Still, he’s not expecting Natasha’s next words.

“She wants to talk to you.”

It takes him a second to react. “Oh.” Maybe he got the person he will have to face wrong, after all.

It’s not that comfortable a thought.

❄️

“Do you have a type? Is Highly Lethal Woman your type?”

“That’s not…” Matt can’t find it in himself to finish that sentence. Claire might be the least lethal woman he’s fallen for, and she didn’t hesitate to show him how to better torture a man.

“It is.”

Yelena barely waited a second after they were left alone to go on the attack. Matt hasn’t had enough coffee for this. “Is there anything wrong with liking strong women?” he asks. It feels like being in court, with Yelena acting like both prosecutor and judge. Natasha let Elektra escort her out of the kitchen, leaving him to fend for himself, which is fair enough; Matt will be sure to return the favor whenever he’ll bring her to meet Foggy’s family.

“Maybe.”

Objection, he thinks, that’s not an answer. Somehow he doesn’t believe that kind of comment would help his situation. “Look, Yelena,” he starts, trying to aim his eyes in her direction. “I care about your sister. That’s all there is to our relationship.” Her worry would be kind of cute, if Matt wasn’t certain that she wouldn’t hesitate to maim him should he be found unworthy of Natasha’s love.

Yelena hums. “You brought her back,” she says. “That gives you many points. But…” She pauses for a minute, and Matt is sure she’ll bring up Elektra and how he’s hurt her—how much does she know? He wonders if she’ll accept We hurt each other as an excuse. Probably not. “I’ll be watching you.”

It’s meant as a threat, but honestly? Matt feels relief. It sounds like he’s passed, for now. He gives her one of his best smiles and ignores her subsequent recoiling. He couldn’t expect Natasha to have a normal family, whatever normal could mean—he certainly doesn’t have any experience of one.

“Are you done?” Elektra appears on the door, and Matt inwardly blames the snow for not noticing earlier.

“Yes. Is it still snowing?” Yelena asks, getting a nod in answer. She huffs. “We could spar.”

“Later,” Elektra offers. She’s entered the room now. “I’ll let you spend time with your sister first.”

“Okay,” Yelena simply says, closing the door after herself.

Matt refills his cup of coffee.

“I’m glad you’re doing well, you know.”

He stops mid-sip. “Are you?” He can’t help the accusation on the tip of his tongue. “You vanished.”

All of his senses are focused on Elektra, so he doesn’t miss her shrug. “I am here now.”

“Not for me.”

Elektra takes a seat. “Let’s not do this, Matthew.” She sounds a bit tired. “The past is done. I am not sorry for my choices. Are you?”

His choices being, Midland Circle? God help him, he does not regret it.

“I know you. You know me. That never changed.” She’s smiling now, he hears it in her voice. “I’ve avoided you, yes. But maybe…” She lets the silence linger for a minute. “Maybe we could be friends, now.”

Friends. Can they really? “Maybe.”

She nods, standing up. “You should cover yourself more, by the way. Colds make you unsufferable.”

He huffs out a laugh, and any leftover tension leaves his body through it. Friends. Maybe that’ll actually work.

Chapter Text

“Why did you follow us? Really.”

“I was bored.”

Natasha is looking at her, frowning.

If she didn’t know any better, Yelena might think she was disappointed. But she’s learning to know her sister, and she’s pretty sure that’s not it. It’s more probable that Natasha simply wants to understand; not letting her isn’t quite fair, Yelena can admit.

“I care about you,” she says.

“I know that, Yelena.”

“Maybe this is my way of caring.” Opening up to Natasha isn’t quite as easy as it was with Elektra, she’s finding out.

Natasha relaxes her body and closes their distance. “Stalking me? You can do better than this, ‘Lena.” She’s not angry, and that’s dangerous: it makes Yelena want to melt and say sorry, but she’s still a bit hurt, however irrational it may be.

“I care about you,” she repeats, “and I’ve been missing you.”

“You could have called.”

“To hear you tell me you’re busy? Because you’ve been. Busy. A lot.” Yelena crosses her arms. “You never go on missions with me anymore. And when I came over a couple weeks ago, what you told me…” She pauses, collects herself. Uncrosses her arms and resolves to be honest. “I didn’t react very well to it.”

“You mean when I told you about Matt?” Natasha sounds surprised.

“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting you to be in love.” Yelena sees her sister oper her mouth, stops her with a raised hand. “That kind of love, I don’t feel it. I don’t care for it. I thought you were like me, but you’re not, and that hurt in the moment.”

“You mean…”

“I know it’s not on you. You’re free to date.”

Natasha shakes her head. “Yeah, I am. But I’m sorry I hurt you in the process, ‘Lena. I wish we didn’t need to get snowed in together for this conversation to happen.” Natasha hugs her then. “You’re my sister, and I love you. I am sorry I made you feel like you weren’t important.”

Yelena hadn’t known it until right then, but she’d needed to hear those words. She squeezes right back. “I forgive you.”

They stay like that for a while. Yelena lets Natasha guide her to the sofa, and they both sit—it’s pretty cozy.

“Is that it, then? You came because you missed me?”

“Well, yes.” Yelena shrugs. “And to make sure your boyfriend is worth your time.”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “You’re not killing Matt,” she warns. “Not hurting him even. You don’t need to protect me.”

“I know I don’t need to.”

Natasha glares at her, but it’s not very effective. Most people would be reasonably scared of the Black Widow—Yelena isn’t one of them. “What about your friend? You needed help to kill my partner?”

Yelena hums. “Moral support, mostly.”

“Mhm.”

Yelena sighs. “The ex thing is a coincidence. We didn’t know.” Natasha raises a brow, but Yelena doesn’t want to talk about Elektra—not now. “I still want to talk to him, by the way.”

Natasha lets go with a laugh. “Matt can defend himself, but do not hurt him, Yelena.”

She smiles. “No promises.”

❄️

It’s been a weird couple of days, but Yelena doesn’t regret coming. She spent time with her sister, got to know and subtly threaten her guy—the devil part she can get behind, but she wasn’t expecting a lawyer. At least he can cook; he made both lunch and dinner the day before, possibly trying to impress her. Yelena pointedly abstained from letting him know she’d enjoyed it, but he seemed to know anyway, which was annoying.

Their forced cohabitation is coming to an end. The air outside is chilly, but it stopped snowing and Yelena is used to colder weather. She and Elektra agreed to leave them to their mission, but Natasha promised they’ll go out for drinks when she gets back.

“You’re happy,” Elektra says. She’s taken a while to get ready.

“You’re slow,” Yelena deflects.

Elektra smirks. “Perfection takes time.”

Yelena is about to retort when Natasha and Matthew come out in a rush. She raises a brow inquiringly, but her sister isn’t looking at her. She turns, then, and sees three huge vans up the road, driving straight to the cabin Natasha is supposed to spy on.

“I can’t tell from here,” Matthew says, sounding frustrated, “but I’d still take a guess about those trucks being full of weapons or otherwise illegal stuff.”

“Yeah.” Natasha is looking at her phone. “New plan: we handle them and get everything.”

“So much for a cozy mission.” There’s amusement in Matthew’s voice, but Yelena punches him on the arm anyway.

“Looks like you need help.”

“You think we can’t deal with a dozen men?” Natasha looks offended. “I could do it on my own.”

“But you won’t,” Matt points out.

“Sounds fun,” Elektra joins in, putting her bag down. Yelena does the same.

“Oh, whatever.”

Getting in Natasha’s car takes no time; Yelena gets to sit in the front. She’s not sure if Matthew is trying to win her over by not fighting her over stuff, but if that’s the case she’s prepared to take full advantage.

Natasha starts the engine. “No killing,” she says then. “I’m not covering for you two in the report.”

Yelena meets Elektra’s gaze, shrugs. “Sure,” they say in unison. Matthew sighs.

Yeah, she thinks getting out of the car, gun drawn. I am happy.