Katya knew Natasha wasn't mad at her, but there was still a weird silence between them when they got off the train in Budapest. It had taken dozens of transfers and a lot of time, but they made it to the Hungarian capital. The city was beautiful, with elegant buildings and small streets, but they weren't there on vacation, unfortunately.

Katya walked behind Natasha off the train. Keeping one eye on her braided hair and the other on all the other passengers around. Their heads were low to avoid cameras, and silently, they moved through the crowd. It was a sunny day, pretty warm. A nice difference with the cold Norway. They didn't dare take off their jackets though, in Natasha's pocket were the vials.

In the streets, people walked past without noticing them. Apparently, even if your faces are all over the news every day, people are blind. Katya also questioned how willing the public was to turn them in. Sure, they were labeled as criminals, but nobody had forgotten New York, Sokovia. In a lot of cases, people still saw them as the heroes, despite everything that happened with the Accords.

Katya rarely envied normal citizens with boring jobs and a house and bills, but a young girl walked through the streets with a smile on her face, talking with her friend happily, laughing, and a sting shot through her stomach. Must be nice to be carefree, oblivious. 

But then Natasha's arm accidentally hit hers because of how close they were walking together, and all that jealousy disappeared. 

She had everything she needed right here. Her life might be dangerous and tiring, and she might be on the run and without a place to live, but it was never boring and she wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Without getting spotted, they arrived at the apartment. Neither of them had good memories here. Natasha because of the Budapest fiasco they never talked about, and Katya hated being here because of how tense her wife got. She walked towards the apartment because she had to, practically forcing herself to. Because they both knew who would be waiting in there.

The gate into the courtyard creaked when Natasha opened it, her busy eyes shooting everywhere, analyzing everything. The people, the balconies higher up. Anything that could remotely be a threat. But there was nothing but a couple pigeons and some civilians hanging their clothes out to dry.

The rattly elevator let them in and with a lot of noise, brought them up to the floor one below the apartment. Natasha was nervous, exhaling deeply to try and get rid of the gnawing feeling in her chest. She either wished the elevator would hurry up or go back down so she could run away. 

Katya wanted to tell her it'd be fine, but she had said those words too much over the past months already, and Natasha never truly believed them anyway. Besides, the last thing she wanted right now was comfort. She'd probably glare or snap, with how tense she was.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, she was out, keeping her footsteps silent on the small tials. They'd stored guns into the chimney in the hallway, behind some small metal doors, months ago. For situations exactly like this.

Natasha dropped to her knees, felt around inside, and came up with the white cloths they had wrapped them in. Without saying anything, she checked the magazines, loaded the guns and handed one to Katya. 

She stood and hesitated, her eyes finally flickering up to Katya. They held a mixture of sadness, stress, and guilt. ''Let me deal with her,'' she said. It sounded like a plea. 

Katya shook her head, gripping her gun a bit tighter. ''I'm not gonna let you walk in there alone.'' It could be another trap. There could be more than one person inside. And with their previous assailant still fresh on their minds, it was simply not smart.

''She knows me better, and two people will feel like an ambush,'' Natasha countered, stuffing her gun into her waistband. She stared at Katya expectantly, seeing how her blue eyes scanned her face and saw how much she wanted to do this herself. So Katya sighed and slightly narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

''Fine. Okay. But if I hear something I don't like, I'm kicking the door in anyway.''

''No," Natasha protested, shaking her head. "Stay here. I'll call you in. Trust me. I got this.'' 

Hesitantly, Katya nodded. She wanted nothing more than to barge in if a fight broke out, but she had to respect Natasha's wishes of talking to her sister alone. Damn, that was so weird to think. Sister.

She followed Natasha up to the apartment door, making herself comfortable against the wall while the redhead picked the lock. Or at least tried to. Because before it worked, a muffled voice traveled through the door, and both their hearts stopped.

''I know you're out there.''

Natasha had to unfreeze herself. A wall of emotions and memories hit her head-first. Triggered by the voice with the strong Russian accent.

''I know you know I'm out here,'' she mumbled back, giving up on being subtle and just pushing the door open, her hand wrapping around her gun and tugging it out of her jeans.

''Good luck,'' Katya quickly whispered before she could disappear. She received no answer, not even a nod or a glance, before the door closed. Or, actually, Natasha kicked it closed from the inside because both her hands were wrapped around her gun.

It went against all Katya's instincts to stand there and wait, especially when the fighting started. She knew that would happen, but without eyes on them, she couldn't know if the right person was winning or not. Natasha said she had to trust her, so she did, although her ears pricked for any sign of her name. 

She prayed the neighbors wouldn't come and check what the hell was going on inside. Because things were breaking, and loud thuds and crashes came through the door. Although they probably suspected something shady was happening inside this apartment anyway. Did they know it was a safe house?

Impatiently, she tapped her foot up and down, readjusting the gun in her hand every few seconds. Right when she blew out a deep breath and leaned the back of her head against the wall, she heard a very faint, ''Kat. You can come in now.''

Katya didn't hesitate for a second, barging through the door a tad too rude. 

''Kat?'' The Russian voice asked before Katya could find them. But when she stepped into the living room, realization filled the blonde woman's face. She rolled her eyes and turned on her heels to move to the kitchen. ''Oh, great, you brought the girlfriend as well?''

''Nice to see you too, Yelena,'' Katya responded sarcastically, subtly checking Natasha to make sure she was fine. But her physical pain wasn't the problem here. Seeing her 'sister' again shook her to her core. And Katya had to admit, it was weird. Especially now that Yelena was kind of her sister-in-law? In some weird and twisted way? Because although the blonde wasn't family by blood, Natasha considered her to be.

''Ah, you remembered,'' Yelena spoke, rummaging through the fridge. It was obvious that this sarcastic tone of hers was here to stay. And even though Katya hadn't seen her in... what, seventeen years? It felt familiar. She grew up with this girl, and she hadn't changed a lot.

Katya shrugged and followed her wife to the round table in the middle of the kitchen. '''Course I did.''

Yelena grabbed a bottle of vodka from the shelf, kicking the fridge door closed. Her eye fell on Katya's gun when she placed the bottle and some shot glasses on the table and poured them full. ''You can put that away, you know. We're obviously past the part where we try and kill each other.''

''Excuse me for not trusting you.'' But she put it away anyway. Yelena wasn't a threat. At least not at the moment. ''I mean, you did unintentionally send some robot soldier assassin after us. Almost drowned again. So thanks for that. And for luring us to this godforsaken nightmare of a city.'' When she realized how that sounded, she reached for a shot glass and downed it in one go. She didn't even flinch and ignored the stares.

''Is she always this mean?'' Yelena questioned. But she was met with two plain faces and silence. ''Anyway, I came here because I thought you wouldn't. But since you're here, what bullet does that?'' Her hand gestured at some strange impact holes in the concrete wall. 

Katya and Natasha looked over their shoulders. ''Not bullets. Arrows,'' Natasha answered without any further explanation. Her mind shot to Clint, and so did Katya. They hoped he was safe at home, on his house arrest. At least he had a home.

''Ah, right.'' Yelena wasn't helped with that answer in any way. 

''If you didn't think I'd come here, why'd you send me this?'' Natasha slammed the vials on the table, placing the picture next to it so Yelena couldn't deny she sent them. Those two happy girls in the picture were so much different than the women glaring at each other now. 

''You brought it back here?'' Yelena exclaimed, pushing past her and Katya with quick steps. She knew she had to leave now, and wasted no time gathering some stuff.

Natasha swiped the picture off the table and stalked after her. ''I'm not here trying to be your friend, but you need to tell me what that is,'' she ordered. Her voice didn't leave any room for questions.

''And why we almost died because of it,'' Katya added, walking the same stifling hallways as months before. Something about this place had shivers running down her spine and the hairs on her arms rise. Just a general feeling of tension and anxiety hung in this building.

''It's a synthetic gas. The counteragent to chemical subjugation. The gas immunizes the brain's neuropathways from external manipulation,'' Yelena answered in one very long breath as she crouched down in front of a closet in one of the rooms and pulled a backpack out, filling it with stuff. 

The words flew out of her mouth, and Katya had to blink at the amount of information. Even Natasha's fast brain couldn't keep up.

''Maybe in English next time?'' She barged into the room as well, aiming for the clothing rack by the covered window to change into a shirt that wasn't two days old and slept in. 

''Противоядие от контроля над разумом. (It's an antidote to mind control)'' Yelena childishly responded in Russian, snapping the words at Natasha, who rolled her eyes.

''Очень зрелый. (Real mature)'' she snapped back over her shoulder, her back turned to the blonde.

''Why don't you take it to one of your super-scientist friends? They can explain it to you.'' Yelena was still on her sarcastic warpath. She had every right to be pissed because they brought her in danger again, but what did she expect? ''Tony Stark, maybe?''

''Oh, yeah.'' Katya chuckled humorlessly, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. The name of her friend sent a stab through her chest. ''We're not really talking right now, so...''

She caught the shirt Natasha threw at her and shook off her jacket and top quickly. It didn't smell fresh, but she knew it was clean. And black, of course.

Yelena groaned and threw her head back. ''Great. Perfect timing. Where's an Avenger when you need one?''

Natasha snapped around, getting fed-up with her tone. ''We don't wanna be here. We're on the run. You could've gotten us killed.''

''Well, what was I supposed to do? You're the only superhero person that I know.'' Her voice faltered at the end, because Natasha had taken her shirt off, exposing her bruised back. 

Purple, almost black spots bigger than the size of Katya's hand were littered all over them. From getting thrown around in the car crash and the fight afterwards. Because she definitely didn't have those yet when they took that shower together. 

Katya stared at them sadly until they were covered by fabric once again. Seeing someone in pain was never nice, but when that person was your wife, it was even worse.

Yelena's voice was a lot gentler when she continued, now that she saw what her actions had caused. ''That was the whole reason I sent it to you. I kept checking the news, expecting to see Captain America bringing down the Red Room.''

Hearing that name caused the same reaction in both Katya and Natasha. Their hearts skipped a beat and an awful feeling settled in their chests. All their muscles tensed, like their fight-or-flight response activated, and neither could give an immediate response.

That name was never mentioned. Ever. It was always 'The Academy' or 'The Program' or something vague. If they talked about it. Which also never happened. That chapter was very much off-limits. Not a part of the story they ever want to go back and read. It triggered so much loss, pain and loneliness. And self-hatred.

Natasha was the first to snap out of it, swinging her own jacket on while following Yelena around the apartment again. More specifically, towards the small armory. ''What? Taking down the Red Room? What are you talking about? It's been gone for years. Dreykov's dead. I killed him.''

Silently and in a bit of a trance, Katya stood next to her, hoping to be some sort of support. But her own stomach had some weird feeling swirling in it, and she dreaded whatever Yelena was about to tell them.

''You don't actually believe that, do you?'' the blonde scoffed, loading her backpack with weapons. But when she was met with silence, she stopped her actions and studied Natasha, standing in front of her. ''You really do believe that.'' Katya didn't know any better either. As far as she knew, Natasha killed him. She wouldn't lie about that.

''Dreykov's dead,'' Natasha confirmed with full confidence. ''It took almost destroying the entire city just to get to him.''

Yelena looked her dead in the eyes, calmly, like a challenge. ''If you're so sure, then tell me what happened. Tell me exactly.''

''Yelena,'' Katya warned. This was the most sensitive subject of all, the Budapest mission, and she kept pressing Natasha about it. But the redhead entirely ignored Katya. 

''We rigged bombs,'' she said, more hesitantly, her confidence faltering.

''Who's ''we''?''

''Clint Barton.'' Katya couldn't listen to this. She shifted her weight uncomfortably, looking at her feet instead of Yelena's face across from her. ''Killing Dreykov was the final step in my defection to S.H.I.E.L.D.'' 

Easy as that. Kill a man, better your own life. She didn't have an ex-lover vouching for her. Had to do all the hard work on her own. Katya could only imagine how lonely she had been.

Yelena studied her with disbelief in her eyes. ''Simple as that?''

Natasha, as well as Katya, couldn't believe that word just left her mouth. She gave Yelena a disbelieving look and muttered, ''Yeah, sure, ''simple''.'' 

She had the same idea as Katya before, needing something to help numb those memories. So she walked off towards the kitchen, her voice drained of all energy when she spoke again. ''That's what I'd call imploding a five-story building and then shooting it out with the Hungarian Special Forces. Took ten days in hiding before we could even get out of Budapest.''

She downed the shot of vodka as easily as Katya had done, her eyes distant. She did a good job keeping the fear out of her eyes, but refused to look up.

''And you checked the body? Confirmed the kill?'' Yelena asked. It was obvious what she meant to say, what she wanted Natasha to realize. But she wasn't ready to hear that the person she thought couldn't hurt her anymore, was alive and well after all this time.

''You should back off,'' Katya warned. It was too much for Natasha. Too much to handle at once. She knew every look her wife had by now. And this wasn't a good one. But her words fell on deaf ears.

''There was no body left to check.'' Natasha's voice faltered slightly. She needed out of this conversation, quickly, turning on her heels and stalking off. But in the middle of her journey to the hallway, Yelena's voice froze her in place.

''You're forgetting Dreykov's daughter.''

Time stopped. Or some dramatic background music boomed loudly. Natasha couldn't move, and Katya had to force herself to turn her head to study Yelena's expression.

She wasn't lying. Hadn't lied since they set foot inside this apartment. But what she talked about now was a big part of Natasha's trauma. 

She never spoke about it, but Katya heard from Clint what her wife had to do to gain her spot within SHIELD. Sometimes, she wondered if Natasha regretted it. Trading a girl's life for her own safety, her own gain. The only damn time she had been selfish in her life, and it had to end like that. 

If she found herself in that situation again, Katya was almost sure Natasha wouldn't let it have the same outcome. She'd rather have a life outside SHIELD, on her own, completely vulnerable and unprotected from her enemies, than kill that girl again.

''What are you-'' But Katya cut herself off when a sound came from the apartment above. Three heads shot in that direction, and their ears picked up the sound of people running. And the footsteps came closer real quick.

They'd already been found. 

~~~~~~~~

A/N: easy start to Kat & Yelena's (obvious) friendship. I promise there's a lot more to come ;) Oh and I skipped writing the whole apartment fight because I didn't want to put two chapters of literally only action after each other and I think that moment should stay between Nat & Yelena because it's kinda sister stuff :)