A/N: anything in bold is spoken in Russian (this chapter picks up right where the last Natasha POV left off)

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~at the lakehouse~

"You have a sister?" Tony asked.

"Yes." I kept my gaze locked on Yelena. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to make sure you were safe," she replied.

Slowly, I lowered my gun. Yelena did the same. "Why wouldn't I be safe?"

Yelena flickered her gaze to Tony. "Get rid of Stark and then we'll talk."

Tony scoffed in protest. "You obviously know who I am, so why shouldn't I stay?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Tony. Go inside."

"Fine. But you're the one who dragged me all the way—"

"Tony!" Yelena and I yelled at the same time.

He put his hands up in defense and moped up the driveway.

"Yelena, why are you here?" I asked again.

"You missed our meet," Yelena spoke in Russian.

"Russian, yeah? Fine. I had a prior engagement."

Yelena nodded to my left hand. "I see you're not unfamiliar with that term."

"Don't change the subject."

"Then tell me the truth."

"Why don't you? You didn't get my message?"

"What message?"

I sighed and started pacing. "How did you find me?"

"Easy. I had some help from a few of your colleagues."

"Who?" I asked.

Yelena smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know." She thrust her hand out to the side, a familiar light appearing at her fingertips.

"Watch out!" Before I knew it I was pinned to the ground and could hear Yelena cursing in Russian somewhere behind me.

"Well hello there," Steve said as I looked up into his eyes from where he'd pinned me to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. That seemed to be a common theme of the day.

"Rescuing you?" he said, only it came out more like a question, as he helped me up.

Yelena laughed. "Wow. I was right."

"Right about what?" I asked. I glared at Steve. "Is she the reason you didn't come home last night? The reason why Fury revoked my access?"

"Um, maybe?" Steve shifted uncomfortably while Yelena laughed.

"Wow, this is too good." She mockingly slow-clapped. "My sister, dating America's golden boy. I honestly didn't even expect that. Well, no. That's a lie. I suspected it yesterday. Although seeing you here with Stark—"

"Wait, Tony's here?" Steve asked.

I winced. "Yeah. He's inside."

"Why?"

"It was meant to be a surprise. He was helping me with a venue," I told him before turning back to Yelena. "I'm not going to ask again, Yelena. How did you find me?"

"I'm here because your colleagues at SHIELD picked me up. At our meeting spot. Someone tipped them off," she said.

I froze. "Any leads on who?"

Yelena shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of. But you may wanna ask Steve."

"No leads," Steve piped up. "But um, I think I'll go inside and talk with Tony. You two should...well, there's probably a lot to catch up on." He walked away without another word.

"I think I intimidate him," Yelena said, her gaze glued to his backside.

"Stop staring at his ass. And yes, you do."

Yelena smirked. "I'm not staring. I'm checking out his jeans brand."

"Bullshit," I said. "Now, in all seriousness, did you tell anyone about our meet?"

Yelena shook her head. "No. You know I wouldn't do that. I showed up at 9pm. Like always. And you weren't there."

"Something came up," I lied.

Yelena saw right through me. "You can just say you were with Steve. It's understandable, a guy like that. I get what you see in him."

I rolled my eyes as my lips twitched into a smile. "So, you didn't get my note? I left it in our usual spot."

"What did it say?"

"It said that I needed to reschedule our meet. If I'd known what was going to happen, I never would've canceled."

"That's not your fault, Nat. We never could've predicted it."

I started pacing the driveway. "So, either someone knew where our spot was and was after both of us or someone intercepted my note and was after you."

Yelena shrugged. "I'm betting on the latter."

"Wait a minute. Why?"

"Because of Kristina. You know she's recruiting former widows for ASSET, right."

"What?! Yelena, what do you mean she's recruiting former widows? I thought ASSET was an initiative through SHIELD."

"Oh, you are so naive. She's the mastermind. It's why we've both been targeted."

"How did—"

"She told me. Said you'd volunteered to be in her experiment."

There it was again. My supposed 'volunteerism'. I needed to figure this out. How did Kristina manipulate me? How did she get me my new powers?

"Nat," Yelena said, waving her hands in front of my face. "You good?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sorry. Kristina told you that I volunteered?"

"Yeah. It seemed legit at the time, given your...dedication."

"That was a past I never wanted to return to, Lena. I've dedicated the rest of my life to righting those wrong. And I never volunteered for Kristina's experiment. Although, how much do you know about it? How much do you know...about dream manipulation?'

Yelena shrugged. "Not much. I'm an assassin, not a wizard. Although, having these powers is pretty cool."

"You're no help," I grumbled.

"You're a pessimist," Yelena threw back. She turned on her heel and fast-walked up toward the lakehouse.

I followed close behind. "Lena, hold on!" I stopped inside when I saw Steve and Tony sitting on the sofa. Drinking beer. "What are you doing?"

"Chillin'," Tony replied. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out my sister." I flopped down on the couch next to Steve and grabbed his beer, taking a long sip. He didn't even protest.

Yelena rolled her eyes. "You are impossible. Look, all I'm saying is we've been trained like dancing monkeys our whole lives. I think it's about time we start embracing these new powers."

"First you have to learn to control them," I told her.

"We have to learn to control them."

"Whatever. What else do you know about ASSET?"

Yelena nodded at Steve. "I think he should fill you in. You got any food around here?"

"In the kitchen," Tony piped up. "I'll help."

"No funny business!" I called after them, not exactly directing the demand to either in particular.

Steve started to get up from the sofa.

"Hold up, Capsicle," I said. "What do you know about ASSET?"

Steve sighed. "I only know what you told me. And a little of what Fury told me.

"Is Kristina still in holding at headquarters?" I asked.

"According to Fury, yes. Although, he wouldn't let me talk to her while I was there. I wanted to ask her about your powers and—" he stopped mid-sentence as Tony returned.

"Hey, you two. We have a surprise for you," Tony told us.

Steve and I exchanged glances. "Where?"

"Follow me." He started to walk in the direction of...the bathroom?

"Um, Tony. What's going on?"

He opened the door to the bathroom where Yelena was standing, smiling. I almost didn't recognize the room. Candles lined the room and the tub was already filled and bubbly.

"Surprise!" Yelena said. "We got to talking and decided that the two of you could use some alone time."

"It was her idea," Tony piped up.

"This looks fantastic," Steve commented "but if we're in here, where are you two gonna be?"

"We'll head back to the compound. You and Nat have been working really hard lately, and you really deserve time off," Tony replied.

"Thanks, Tony." My eyes flickered to Yelena. "Lena, can I talk to you in private for a second?"

"Sure." She led the way back to the living room. "What's up?"

"You know you didn't have to do this," I said.

"I know. But I figured if you had to choose between reuniting with your sister or a night in with your fiance, you'd choose Steve. It's ok, he's your life now. I get it. Plus, I get to meet your friends."

I laughed. "Yeah. Oh, um, about that. Do you remember Sergeant Barnes?"

"James? Didn't the two of you fool around together while you were engaged to Alexei?"

"That's what you remember about him?"

Yelena smirked. "You didn't answer my question."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Same guy. Anyway, do me a favor and don't say anything to him."

"Wait a minute. You're still in contact?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Technically."

Yelena raised her eyebrows. "Technically? Please tell me he doesn't live with you."

I cleared my throat.

"Oh my god. Nat!"

"I know, I know, it's not ideal. But please. Don't say anything to him. I don't need my past brought up again."

Yelena wrinkled her nose. "Again? You know what, I don't wanna know. Anyway, you should probably know he and I have a history together too."

"You what? Did you sleep with him? Jeez, I'm gonna punch him."

"We didn't sleep together. We just...fooled around. Once. It was a long time ago. Plus, you're one to talk."

"Oh don't start with me. You're my sister."

"Nat, chill! It's not like I still have feelings for him."

I opened my mouth to yell at her but she put her hands up in defense.

"I'm kidding. Lighten up, Natasha," she said.

I lightly punched her shoulder. "Go. Get some rest." I gave her a hug and watched her leave before heading back to Steve.

"Hey you," he greeted me.

"Mm, alone at last," I replied, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Should we get in?"

"Well, I don't think we should let the water get cold." Steve shrugged out of his shirt.

Once we were in the water covered in bubbles, Steve started to massage my shoulders. "Relax, Nat."

I closed my eyes. "You know I always relax with you."

He kissed my neck. "It's just us here with no one to interrupt."

I smiled and turned around, straddling his waist. "Could be fun."

Steve smirked. "What did you have in mind?"

"What do I always have in mind?" I asked. And then I kissed him.

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A/N: haha yeah so Tony and Yelena met 😅 and Nat and Steve got to reunite after their brief stint away and get funky 😏 (I know that lead up was cringy af, please forgive lol). Also I was thinking of that scene in How I Met Your Mother when Marshall makes Lily a bath at Barney's apartment during the hurricane when I wrote this ending so that's where the inspo is from lol

As always, I hope you enjoyed!

~Han