The facility in Chevy Chase, Maryland seemed abandoned. The building had been listed as a medical supply distributor, but hardly anything was left on the shelves. Thankfully, Yelena Belova and Kate Bishop did not give up easily. They had searched the place top to bottom after Yelena had activated a broadcast scrambler and the two of them had located and Kate had hacked the camera system. That gave them plenty of time to search for hidden surprises. When they found the entrance to an underground tunnel, it was precisely the jackpot they had expected. They slipped into the tunnel and Kate drew an arrow immediately after her feet touched the ground.
“Do you have which arrow is which straight yet?” Yelena asked. “I would rather not blow up in such a tiny place.”
“I would rather not blow up at all but I know what you mean,” Kate said. “I have everything straight now. I packed my own quiver and Clint has definitely quizzed me enough.”
Yelena grunted. It had only been a few weeks since the incident at Rockefeller Center where Kate and Clint had faced off against Yelena, the Tracksuit Mafia, and “The Kingpin” Wilson Fisk. Yelena had apparently abandoned her vendetta against Clint for the death of her sister Natasha Romanov, the Avenger Black Widow. Even though Yelena seemed to have smartened up that Clint did not kill Natasha, it was still a really touchy subject. It was a subject that Kate had consciously avoided whenever she had coffee with Yelena. Of course, she had also avoided telling Clint about those coffee meetups. Kate wanted to be Yelena’s friend without it being weird which meant that Kate took all of the awkwardness onto herself. It was obviously the perfect situation.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” Kate said. “I shouldn’t have mentioned his name. That was dumb. It has to still be a sore spot.”
“Of course not,” Yelena said. “Just because my employer told me half-truths in an effort to capitalize on my grief for my one and only sister in order to murder Clint Barton? That’s silly. That’s totally silly.”
“Definitely silly,” Kate said, letting the matter drop. “As long as we’re on the same page. This Contessa is the bad guy or girl or whatever. Right? She has to answer some questions.”
“She will definitely be answering some questions,” Yelena said. “All of the questions.”
“Wow. That gave me literal chills,” Kate said. “That was really good. Very intimidating.”
“It comes from all of my extensive training and perhaps also from when one’s big sister keeps stealing the little sister’s favorite toy,” Yelena said. “Anyway, such intimidation is not for rookies like you.”
“I usually just shoot something pointy near their head without actually hitting their head,” Kate said. “That usually works for me.”
“I am sure,” Yelena said. “Your vast experience is comforting.” Her words were of course dripping with sarcasm.
“Hey,” Kate said. “You agreed to take me along. I’m helping.”
“Only because you would not leave me alone,” Yelena said but a hint of a smile passed over her face. “You are a very annoying sidekick.”
“I’m not your sidekick!” Kate said. “I mean I’m not a sidekick at all. Damn it.”
Actually, Kate had been surprised that Yelena invited her along even though Kate had indeed pestered her relentlessly about it. The acquiescence had felt like validation to Kate who was still pretty new to the superhero thing. At least all of her injuries had healed from Christmas. She briefly wondered how her mother was doing in jail and then pushed the thought away for another time. This was mission time.
“Please hold,” Yelena said softly. “The tracker device says we are very very close.”
“How close?” Kate asked.
As if to answer, several soldiers stepped out from their hiding places.
“Very close,” Yelena said.
The two young ladies lept into action, fighting these seasoned soldiers. Kate’s arrows and Yelena’s fists flew everywhere. Neither of them was trying to kill their targets but the same could not be said about the soldiers who were thankfully wielding knives instead of guns. They must have been worried about firing in such a tight space. Yelena and Kate made short work of them even though they were outnumbered. That was when John Walker stepped out from the shadows, carrying a replica of Cap’s shield.
“Back off, Yelena,” Walker said. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but you are off mission.”
“Where is she?” Yelena asked calmly.
“Nowhere near here,” Walker said and held up the tracking device. “She figured you out.”
“I’m sure she figured you out too,” Yelena said. “Perhaps she is using you like she used me.”
“I don’t care,” Walker said and dropped the tracking device to the ground and stomped on it. “You’re not going any further with this.”
“The hell we aren’t,” Kate said and drew an arrow. “Come and stop us.”
“I could, you know,” Walker said. “Instead, I rigged this place with explosives. So enjoy that.” The defeated soldiers started scrambling away as Walker pressed a button on a remote and explosives started to go off.
Yelena and Kate ran like mad as everything started to collapse around them. They barely made it back to the warehouse, gasping for air as they tried to recover.