SUMMARY: you and Yelena wait anxiously for the vets response.

WARNINGS: cursing

DYNAMIC: Established relationship

~~~

Back at your shared apartment a week later, you and Yelena waited anxiously for the vet's office to call. Yelena was biting on her nails and tapping her fingers against her thighs.

You bounced your leg, holding your hand over your mouth as you as you started to lose focus.

The silence was almost deafening, save for the tick of the clock on the wall.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by the loud ringing of Yelena's phone. It was playing a song in Russian, which you didn't understand or know the words to.

She hurriedly picked it up off the cushion beside her, checking the caller ID before answering with a grumble and sigh.

"What do you want, Pieck?"

You couldn't hear what Pieck was saying, but you could see that Yelena was impatiently waiting for the conversation to be over.

"Uh-huh. Yeah, sounds fine." She said monotonously "really? Can't believe it. Look, I gotta go, talk to me about it later." Before Pieck could even get an answer in, Yelena hung up the phone and tossed it on the couch cushion beside her before she leaned over and rested her head on top of yours, closing her eyes.

The blonde sighed, hugging you to her.

"I wish the vet would just call already. It's already been a week." She whined softly into your hair.

You patted her thigh "I know, I wish they would, too. They're probably really busy, though."

Yelena let out a sigh "well, they should be less busy then."

You chuckled at her impatience "that's, unfortunately, not how the economy works Lena."

She groaned, plopping her head down to your lap. "Well the economy can suck my dick."

You laughed "couldn't have said it better myself."

You both sat in silence for awhile, still waiting for the response from the vet that was promised.

Yelena stared up at the ceiling, her fingers drumming against her stomach in impatience.

It was silent until your phone began ringing this time.

Before you could even move to answer the call, Yelena swiftly took it out of your hands and checked the caller ID, seeing an unknown number.

She answered for you, turning the call on speaker.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Hi, hello, is this Y/N L/N? It's the veterinary clinic. We're calling about the cat you brought in last week." a female voice came through the phone.

"No, this is her girlfriend." Yelena said.

"Oh, well I can tell you what's going on too since we have your number as well. Yelena, is it?" The woman asked.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Ok, well, his body has been accepting the medication quite well, but his injuries are still pretty severe. He's going to need to be in here for a few more weeks if that's ok."

"It's more than ok. As long as he gets the help he needs, I'll be willing to pay whatever needs to be paid." Yelena bounced her knee as she spoke.

"We appreciate it. It's really rare these days to find people who'd be willing to go so far for an animal they barley know. It's admirable, really." The woman said.

Yelena nodded, even though it wasn't seen. "We try."

After a few more words were spoken between the two of them, most of which were about the medication the cat was on. You didn't bother to pay attention, as you probably wouldn't remember.

Yelena ended the call soon after and let out a sigh of relief. "At least he's doing ok, but we have to wait a bit until we can take him home. We'd also have to keep him on meds for awhile if he keeps doing good."

You nodded, leaning back against the couch. "Whatever it take for him to be healthy, I'm fine with it."

Yelena gave you a brief smile before closing her eyes and resting her head on your lap again.

~~~

Six weeks later, you and Yelena now stood inside the vets office once again. She had received a call that morning that the kitten was well enough to bring home, but he had to be kept on antibiotics for atleast another month to fight off any lingering infections.

You both waited patiently for the kitten to be carried out. You had to admit, you were kind of nervous. What if he didn't like either of you? What if he didn't want to be taken home?

Your worrying came to a halt when Yelena grabbed your hand as the door to the back rooms opened.

You let out a sigh of relief when you saw your friend Petra holding a cat carrier in her arms as she walked out, along with the doctor you had seen last time, Eld.

Petra set the carrier in front of you as Eld began handing Yelena papers with what you assumed was bills and prescriptions for the cat.

Yelena took the papers, looking them over, before folding them neatly and putting them inside of her jacket.

You and her then crouched Infront of the carrier as Petra opened it. Inside you could see a white and orange ball of fluff. The cat seemed to have been cleaned and bathed alot during his time here.

Yelena held her hand out just outside of the crate, waiting for the cat to come sniff her.

He seemed to shrink in on himself a bit before taking a step forward, and another, and then a final step as you both saw his little head peaking out.

He was fluffed up, terrified, but he sniffed Yelena's hand nonetheless. He did so for a few seconds before slowly pulling away, a strange look on his face where his mouth was slightly open and he was staring at Yelena.

She let out a stifled laugh as you and Petra did the same.

Petra crouched down as well, softly running her finger over his spine. "It's called the Flehmen Response. Cats have an organ at the top of their mouths that helps them smell better. When they smell a scent they really like, they open their mouths like that to get more of it."

The cat approached Yelena again, bumping his nose against the back of her hand before rubbing against her.

Petra smiled "I guess he recognizes you from when you both saved him."

Both you and Yelena began to hear a low purr coming from his chest as he then came up to you, rubbing up against your knees and shins.

Yelena hesitantly ran her hand up and down his back, stopping at the base of his tail and scratching there, watching as his back arched into her touch.

She then began scratching behind his ears and under his chin, making his purrs get louder.

Petra giggled softly before adjusting the padding inside of the carrier "do you know what you're gonna name him?" She asked.

You shook your head "we haven't decided yet. We were more concerned if he would live long enough for us to actually give him a name."

Petra softly picked up the kitten by supporting both of her hands of his ribs before gently guiding him into the carrier, where he went in without a struggle.

"Well, tell me when you figure it out. I'd love to stop by and see him some time. He was such a sweetheart when he was here."

You and Yelena nodded as Petra handed you the carrier. Yelena turned to you. "You go and wait in the car, I'll pay." She gave you a kiss on the forehead before pushing you slightly towards the front door.

You chuckled before smiling at her then heading out to the car. You looked down at the cat carrier in your arms. You could see him though the small holes at the top, and he was just looking up at you with what seemed to be joy.

You smiled warmly before getting in the car and placing the carrier on your lap, looking at the cat through the front bars.

You were glad that you were finally able to give him a good home after all he had been through, and you knew Yelena felt the same.

Now having another member in your little family was enough for both of you. Yeah, you knew she'd never want kids but this was a big step. It meant she was finally ready to take care of something else other than you.

And you couldn't be anymore prouder of her than you already were.

WORD COUNT:1,696

Please leave name suggestions for the cat down in the comments! The one I like the most will be the cat's name! He, as well as Irene -the lady from the first part- will be making frequent cameos in the modern AU oneshots. I might add Irene into one of my Yelena books that I'm writing. As more of a side character of course, but still.

Fact 1: the cat was inspired by my own cat, Dobby, who I had found on my porch when he was a day old and abandoned by his mother. He's now a year old and living happily with his older brother, Colby-named after the cheese because he's an orange tabby- who also was abandoned on my porch 3 years prior by the same mom, and his adoptive Sister Kiwi who we took in after her brother died.

Fact 2:what the nurse said is true. Very recently in fact, my family took in a Great Dane puppy after we had found out he was being abused, however he was sick with Porvo, an illness very common with dogs. We don't know how long he had it, and we assumed it was before we had even gotten him. We only had him for about two days before he was sent to the vet. Sadly, we had to put him down, but that was the very same thing the nurse at the vet told us. We're now waiting for his ashes to arrive so we can always remember him, even though we didn't have him long.