Chapter Text
Kate watches the rain pound the pavement through the tempered glass. The vehicle comes to another stop, the lull of morning traffic making her eyelids open and close with sudden movements. She toys with her necklace, tracing the arrow that rests gently against her skin.
Yelena is likely halfway around the world now, stepping off her plane in Munich in precisely twenty-four minutes according to her watch. She sighs and shuffles further in her seat, leaning her elbow on the door as the car grinds to a halt again. Horns blare in the distance, and Kate can’t get used to the traffic. It’s easier when there is someone to chat with, but with Yelena gone and a sleepy Lucky, morning traffic is worse.
Her phone chimes with daily reports and news notifications already filling her inbox. The company has undergone a significant shift in direction since she took the helm. She’s increased funding in R&D and decreased funding significantly in PR and ‘company relations’, which was just another term for expensive dinners with politicians or questionable business partners.
Bishop Securities has stabilized by all means – with new investors foaming at the mouth to enter the fold, Kate has had a whirlwind of months. She remembers the day they got back from Finland, terribly exhausted and giddy. The press of Yelena’s engagement ring between her fingers or on her lower back still took her breath away. She had called Clint the next morning, unable to hide the smile on the video chat as the entire family congratulated her.
Her phone pings with a message from Franny’s Pizza: On the ground. Contact you in a few days. Love you.
She smiles and thumbs out a quick response, waiting until the message has been delivered before deleting the texts. She runs her hand absentmindedly along her cheek, brushing her thumbs where Yelena’s lips last touched her in the airport yesterday morning.
Yelena had been in Jersey all of last week, conducting a surveillance op on a shady company with ties to a Black Widow. She remembers the blaring phone call going off in the middle of the night from Sonya, telling Yelena she had to get to Jersey as soon as possible. Kate had walked her to the truck and kissed her goodbye, holding on a moment longer.
“Don’t forget about me while you’re gallivanting around the Jersey shores,” She had teased, nose tucked into the sweater Yelena stole from her closet.
“It is hardly a trip for pleasure, Kate Bishop,” Yelena sighed and wrapped her arms tighter around her waist. “I must go before this trail runs cold.”
“I know, I know,” Kate repeated, cupped her cheeks, and pulled their lips together in a soft kiss beneath the streetlamp. “Call me when you can. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Yelena repeated instantly, lifting her hand, and kissing her palm before sliding into her truck.
The car revs again, shaking Kate out of her reverie and glancing down at her emails again. She sighs and begins the tedious work of replying to each one, sending some to her CFO, Dee, for further thought. The light disappears from around them and Kate glances up briefly, scanning the parking garage on instinct now. She had a panic attack one night when she was alone, crippled by the fear of being shot again by someone she could not see. It was Dee who found her, crouched by a concrete beam with tears streaming down her face. It still happens sometimes, but she’s better equipped now – she can get through most of them on her own, or with the help of Dee or Yelena. Her therapist calls it positive steps to regain a sense of control in traumatic situations.
Her therapist also says she should deal with her feelings surrounding her mother’s imprisonment, but Rome wasn’t built in a day and things are good right now.
Why would she rock the boat?
She steps off the plane, curling her nose at the smell of manure. She pushes her sunglasses down and scowls at Sonya, wondering why they had to land the plane in the middle of a farm utopia.
“Do not get your expensive American panties in a knot, Yelena,” Sonya grins as she reaches out to accept the large duffle bag. “It cannot be glamorous all the time, you know.”
“I am aware,” She narrows her eyes at her partner, punching her lightly on the arm as they trek through the high grass to the ‘borrowed’ van. “My underwear is fantastic, thank you for asking.”
Sonya tips her head to the sky and laughs, pulling the door open to reveal a gleeful Ana who wraps her in a koala hug.
“Nice to see you too, Ana,” Yelena pats her friend on the back. “Family is good?”
“Yes,” Ana nods, helping her toss her gear in the van. “And you have a certain glow.”
Yelena rolls her eyes and slides the door shut behind her, taking a seat in the warn brown leather seat.
“You have a blush! Sonya, look at her!”
Her face heats further and she scowls at her team, picking up an empty water bottle and throwing it at Ana.
“It is the Bishop effect,” Sonya grins as she starts the van, shifting into gear.
“What is a Bishop?”
“More like who.”
“Enough. Both of you, please. We have a mission to execute. I did not spend a week in New Jersey’s worst motel to suffer more.”
“I will hear everything about this Bishop before we finish this mission, but I digress,” Ana holds up a hand, stopping a scowl from her. “By the intel you gathered, I would say your stakeout was a success. We have the location – we just need to scout the guard rotation and access their system and find Joline.”
“Like taking candy from a baby,” Sonya adjusts her baseball cap, pushing her sunglasses on. “Joline has been suffering for far too long.”
Joline has been an operative since Yelena could remember the walls of the Red Room. She was a prized object of Dreykov’s, assigned to ‘crucial missions’ and the picture of perfect she and her sisters were trained after. Joline is, by all means, a formidable operative, they have spent months trying to pin her down, but she vanishes in the wind at every corner. Her next trail had gone cold by mere minutes. That’s why Jersey was such a crucial win in their hunt. They were able to find the company currently employing Joline, and since Yelena is located so close to New York, she was able to quickly arrive at the grungy motel and set up surveillance on the company’s CFO before this trail went cold. She discovered Manuel Global Solutions have a bureau in rural Munich, where they are testing a new chemical weapon for potential buyers. Joline is believed to be one of those buyers.
She’s no longer just an operative under mind control – she’s a threat to global security with higher ambitions.
“Have we considered the notion she could be doing this willingly?”
“Ana,” Yelena sighs, reaching out to place a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Nobody blames you.”
“I know,” Ana shrugs, looking out the window to mask the emotions coursing through her. “It was the one thing I was good at. I just…I understand – to a certain degree.”
“We won’t know until we find her,” Sonya chips in softly, meeting Yelena’s concerned eyes in the rear-view mirror. “And it isn’t smart to speculate. We go with what we know, sestra.”
“You are right,” Ana hums, sitting up straighter. “Tell me about this Bishop.”
Yelena groans, slumping back in her seat and covering her ears at the sound of her friend's laughter.
This was going to be a long week.