Wednesday swung Kate's hand in her own as they stepped into their apartment. Wednesday winced as water dripped from the ceiling and the entire apartment stunk heavily of smoke.

"Oh, man," Kate mumbled.

"It's fine. I have money. We can fix it," Wednesday said.

Kate closed the door and they walked through the apartment. Wednesday headed towards the stairs, stopping when she noticed a window was wide open.

"Katie, what-" Wednesday started.

"Kate Bishop, Wednesday Elliot," a voice said.

Wednesday turned quickly, pulling a knife from her jacket. Kate lobbed a bottle of hot sauce off the table at the blonde woman, the same blonde woman from the fight but now in casual clothes.

The woman caught it easily and smiled at them.

"Hi," she sang. "I made macaroni if you want some," she added, holding up a pan.

Kate and Wednesday looked at each other for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry. What?" Kate asked.

"Well, I was starving and you two took forever. So I wanted to make food," she said.

"What do you want?" Wednesday asked.

"Relax, Wednesday Elliot. I just want to talk, okay? Are you really not hungry? That fight was so long. It's really tasty. Really tasty," the woman said, putting the pan on the table as she walked towards the kitchen.

"We know what boxed mac and cheese tastes like. We know it's... It's delicious," Kate muttered.

"Forks. Forks," the woman mumbled, rummaging through the drawers. "No. You have one fork?" she said. "There's two of you," she looked over her shoulder at them.

"I eat late, Kate eats early," Wednesday mumbled. "We only need one," she said.

"That's so weird," the woman said. She groaned and held up one set of chopsticks. "Ladies, this is not cutlery. This is not cutlery," she said.

"We are not gonna have dinner with you after you tried to kill me and then broke into our house," Kate said.

"I did not try to kill you. A, I put you on a wire to remove an obstacle. And B, I did not break anything. I am way too talented than that," the woman scoffed.

"Okay, A, that was a dick move. You scared the shit out of me. That's my girlfriend, you dick! I thought she was dead!" Wednesday said.

"Well, she's not, so stop shouting at me, okay? I wouldn't kill either of you. Jesus. You know what C is? It's to stop being so defensive. Okay? You're so hostile. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I don't have any weapons on me," the woman said. She faltered slightly. "Okay, I take that back. I don't have any weapons currently in my hands," she said.

Wednesday stared pointedly at the electric shock tech around her wrist as a bracelet. The woman nodded when she caught Wednesday's gaze.

"That's a lie also. Come on, take the fork. Eat. Eat. Please, my daddy says it's good for you," she said, flopping on one of the chairs.

Kate and Wednesday shared a look. Wednesday's fingers twirled the knife through her hands unsurely. The woman sighed.

"You're probably thinking, What? This is crazy. I'm going to have dinner with the enemy? And she made some really good smelling macaroni. But in all honesty, if I wanted to kill you two..." she trailed off.

"You would have already," Kate said.

"Right as you open the door," the woman agreed.

"I probably wouldn't have even had time to shut it," Wednesday said.

"No," the woman laughed.

"We'd have been dead. Okay," Kate nodded.

"Yeah," the woman said.

Kate and Wednesday shared another look before Kate sat down opposite the woman, tugging Wednesday onto her lap. The woman handed Wednesday the fork and she handed it back to Kate, grabbing the pan to let Kate start eating. She kept her knife in her hands, though, just in case.

"You hungry?" Kate asked Wednesday, wrapping her arm securely around her waist.

"No, I had a milkshake at the hotel. I'll grab some food when we go to your mom's," Wednesday said, resting her head on Kate's shoulder as she studied the woman. "You gonna tell us your name?" she said.

"Nope," the woman smirked.

"Great. Then your codename is gonna stay as Widow, you know that, right?" Wednesday said.

"Fine by me," the woman nodded.

"Right. Okay," Wednesday nodded.

"Are you done?" the woman looked at Kate as she pushed the pan away.

"Yeah," Kate said.

"I go?" she asked.

"Sure, can," Kate nodded.

"I could put hot sauce on it?" the woman asked.

"Hmm," Kate hummed.

"Ah, I love hot sauce. Yes," the woman grinned, squirting hot sauce all over the macaroni before digging in.

"So, what do you want?" Wednesday asked.

"Well, it's my first time in New York," the woman grinned, doing a little dance on her seat. "It's a business trip, so time is limited. But I do want to see some things. I want to see, uh, the Empire State Building, the new and improved Statue of Liberty, and the Rockefeller Center," she said.

"Very funny," Kate smiled.

"What, it's not good?" the woman asked seriously.

"Oh. No, they're-they're great. Yeah, you... I mean, you've gotta see the tree," Kate stuttered. The woman gasped.

"Mmm. Exactly. See? I love American Christmases. The tree, the presents, the super-powered reindeer, Rudolph," she said.

"Mmm-hmm," Wednesday hummed.

"Rudolph. Heh. He is so weird," the woman laughed. "Have you ever eaten reindeer?" she asked.

"Cannot say we've had the pleasure," Wednesday said.

"No. It's... No, it is not a pleasure," the woman laughed. "No, it's, um, it's really tough. It's chewy. Mm, you have to braise it for a really long time. But, hey, Kate Bishop, Wednesday Elliot, you grew up here, right? You must have some recommendations for me," she said.

"Yeah... Um..." Kate trailed off. " Yeah, I-I have, um, let's see. The High Line. High Line is great. Um... There's a Christmas market in Union Square," Kate said.

"Uh, I'm not quite sure those are the right fit for the blood-thirsty vigilante type," Wednesday said. The woman laughed loudly.

"Blood-thirsty vigilante. Sometimes you're funny, Wednesday Elliot," the woman said.

"Do you say my whole name to point out that you know it?" Wednesday asked.

"Yes. I know a lot about you both," the woman looked at Kate first. "Mother, Eleanor. Lives on Park and 41st. Father, Derek, deceased. Very sad. Um... University GPA 3.8. Senior, double major, and-" she said.

"Okay, my turn," Wednesday said. The woman looked at Wednesday.

"Mother, April, deceased. Father, August, deceased. Very sad, too. Brother, Monday, alive and staying in a hotel near the Empire State Building with his wife and twin sons, Max and Ben Elliott. Ben is deaf, Max has autism and ADHD. University GPA 4.0. Senior, double major. And you recently walked into traffic to save a dog, which I'll admit is pretty cool, and you got a few points from me on that," she said.

"Walked into traffic? I slid halfway across the road and shredded my knees!" Wednesday said.

She kicked her legs onto the table and yanked her jeans up, showing the woman the messy state of her knees.

"No way, that's so cool!" the woman said, peering at them. "You are cleaning them?" she said.

"Duh. Like Kate will let me get away with not cleaning them," Wednesday said.

"Right, okay. We get it. Thank you. Are you in New York to talk to Clint? Is that why you're here?" Kate asked.

"No. No, no, no. I'm here to kill him," the woman said. Kate and Wednesday stared at her, Wednesday slowly moving her legs off the table. "I have a question for you two," she added.

"What is it?" Wednesday asked.

"Why do you risk your life for him, Clint Barton? How has everybody forgiven him for his past?" the woman asked.

"He saved the world," Kate said.

"No. My sister saved the world. Natasha Romanoff, she saved the world," she said firmly. Wednesday's jaw dropped, but Kate seemed to hide her surprise badly. "Stop pretending like you're not surprised. It does not look cool," she added.

"You're really Natasha's sister?" Kate asked.

"Yes," the woman nodded.

"Wow. I did not see that coming. Thank God, I didn't kill you up there," Kate mumbled. The woman laughed loudly and Wednesday bit her lip to bite back a smirk.

"You kill me? Oh, Kate Bishop, you are so funny. That's hilarious. That one is the funniest," the woman laughed.

"Natasha and Clint were friends. Why are you after him?" Kate asked.

"You are so fond of him. It tells me you don't really know who he is," the woman said.

"He came out here to protect us," Kate said.

"No. He came here to protect his reputation. Do you know how many people he killed? The trail of blood that follows him, it could wrap around the entire world," the woman said.

"Okay. Wow. That was very Russian," Wednesday scoffed.

"He's still an Avenger," Kate said.

"What does that word even mean? Huh? That it holds so much power. You call him a hero no matter what he does?" the woman asked.

"It means that when you choose to spend your life trying to help people, there are going to be things that you lose. When you face the kind of threats that he has, there's going to be collateral damage," Kate said.

Wednesday winced at the choice of words.

"My sister is gone because of him," the woman glared at Kate. Kate shook her head.

"What? No. No, that is... No," she said.

"She's gone. Is she collateral damage?" the woman asked.

"No, look, there is no way that that is true. He would not let that happen," Kate said.

"How long have you known Clint Barton?" the woman asked.

"About a week," Wednesday muttered reluctantly.

"It will not be difficult for me to complete this assignment," the woman said.

"Wait a minute, somebody hired you to kill him? All I'll say is that if there is someone out there that is telling you Clint is a bad guy, then maybe you should ask yourself what kind of person hired you. He is not perfect. Nobody's perfect. But he is good," Kate said firmly.

"However he convinced you about who he is or how many people think or call him a hero, truth is, it doesn't matter. We are defined by what we do. Not by nice words. Like it or not, there is no escaping this. So... Where is he?" the woman said, a small frown on her face.

"We don't know," Wednesday said honestly.

"Okay," the woman nodded. She stood up and walked towards the open window. "Thank you for the girls' night, truly. You two are very adorable, by the way. Disgusting, but adorable," she said.

"Thank you?" Wednesday said unsurely.

"How long have you two been together?" she asked.

"Uh, a day? Not even that?" Kate said.

"What?" the woman's jaw dropped. "But you're so in love and happy that it makes me want to kill myself," she said.

"We've been in love with each other for twelve years, like," Wednesday said.

"That explains it," she nodded.

"Yeah," Wednesday and Kate said.

"Oh. And, Kate Bishop, Wednesday Elliot, do not get in my way again," the woman said.

She stepped up onto the window ledge and shot a claw out of her wrist into the wall. She fell backwards out of the window with a smirk.

"You think she'll kill Ben and Max?" Wednesday whispered.

"No. Killing kids is bad," Kate said.

"Killing anyone is bad and, over the past week, we've befriended two people who make a living out of that kind of thing. We really wanna talk about good and bad right now?" Wednesday asked.

"Good point," Kate winced. "Well, probably not," she said.

"I'm not going to touch the kids!" the woman yelled from the street.

"Thank you!" Wednesday yelled back to her. She looked at Kate. "Brownies, now?" she asked.

"Brownies. Right," Kate mumbled.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Wednesday smirked at Kate as she stumbled out of the bathroom the next morning.

"Morning, baby," Kate dropped a kiss on Wednesday's forehead as Wednesday curled her hair in Kate's vanity mirror.

"I'm heading to meet the kids for the day out in New York, so you are going to try and talk to Clint, okay?" Wednesday said.

"Do I have to?" Kate whined.

"Yes. You do," Wednesday said.

"But I'd rather be with you," Kate said.

"I know, but we have shit to do and it's almost Christmas, so we're working quickly," Wednesday said.

"I know," Kate sighed, starting to grab clothes from the wardrobe.

Wednesday was already dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with her leather jacket on the end of Kate's bed, her Docs on her feet. Kate quickly changed, then brushed her hair.

"I'll walk you out," Kate said.

"Thanks," Wednesday said.

She got up when she finished her hair and shrugged her jacket on, grabbing her phone and purse. She and Kate headed out of Kate's bedroom and down the stairs, but stopped halfway down when they saw Jack being arrested by two police officers while a distraught Eleanor watched.

"We're gonna need you to come in and answer some questions," one of the officers said.

"I promise you this is all a big misunderstanding. I've never worked a day in my life," Jack said.

"We have some tax records that will beg to differ," the other officer said.

"I'm telling you, the only Sloan I've ever known was this woman I dated in Palm Beach and she was an absolute nightmare," Jack said.

Kate and Wednesday crossed the foyer to Eleanor's side, Kate pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," Kate said softly.

"I looked into it, honey, and you were right," Eleanor said.

"I don't blame you for calling the police. I would have done exactly the same thing. I've obviously been framed. I'll clear all this up and be back in a jiffy for your Christmas party, you'll see," Jack said.

The officers pulled him into the lift and the doors closed, sending Jack downstairs and away from them.

Wednesday hugged Eleanor when Kate let go.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"It's not your fault, girls. I promise," Eleanor said. "Now, girls, I believe you have a fun day planned with Monday, Emily and the boys. You should go and have fun, okay? Get your mind off things," Eleanor said.

"I'm staying here, so Wes can spend a bit of time with them on her own," Kate lied quickly. She couldn't exactly tell Eleanor that she was staying home to call Clint Barton and find out what the plan was.

"Oh, that'll be fun," Eleanor said.

"Yeah," Wednesday said sarcastically.

She sighed when she checked the time on her phone.

"I should get going," she said.

"Okay, honey. Have fun," Eleanor smiled.

"I'll try," Wednesday said.

Kate followed Wednesday over to the elevator and pressed the button, then pulled Wednesday into a hug.

"Try and have fun. If he annoys you, knock him on his ass," Kate whispered.

"I will, and I'll video it," Wednesday whispered back.

Kate laughed as she pulled back, then kissed Wednesday three times in a row.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you more," Wednesday beamed.

She stepped onto the elevator and waved at Eleanor, who was taking photographs of the whole interaction.

"Oh, you've finally confessed your feelings! Emily and I have been betting how long it would take. Kate, you're telling me everything today. Oh, I have to text Emily and tell her the good news so we can get both sides of the story!" Eleanor beamed, disappearing into the living room.

"Wait, what?!" Kate ran after her mom. "Bye, I love you!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"I love you, too," Wednesday laughed, the elevator doors closing over on her.

"Hey, my little people!" Wednesday grinned as Ben and Max ran up to her as she stood outside of the Christmas market they were meeting at.

She scooped her nephews up and kissed their cheeks, then put them back on their feet.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Excited!" they said, jumping up and down.

Emily and Monday walked over to them with smiles, gloved hands intertwined.

"So, Eleanor text me-" Emily started.

"What do you guys say we go and find some Christmas treats?" Wednesday looked at the twins.

"Yes!" Max yelled. "Piggy back?" he looked at Wednesday.

"Of course," Wednesday knelt down, letting Max climb up on her back. She held her hand out to Ben, who grinned at her as he took it. "Let's go, my little people!" Wednesday said, leading them into the market.

"Aunt Wes?" Max looked at Wednesday as the twins and Wednesday drank hot chocolate on a bench near the ice skating rink.

Monday and Emily were still skating, as Wednesday's knees were hurting a fair bit and the twins wanted hot chocolate, so she'd offered to take them.

"Yeah?" Wednesday said.

"Who's the pretty lady walking towards us?" Ben pointed ahead of them.

Wednesday's eyes snapped up, seeing the Widow walking towards them in casual winter clothes, hands in her pockets.

"What are you doing here?" Wednesday said, standing up and stepping in front of the twins.

"Relax, Wednesday Elliot, I just want to talk," the woman sighed.

"I still don't know your name, you turned up to my apartment and told me you were gonna kill Clint, and now you're finding me when I'm with my family. This is not the time," Wednesday hissed.

"Wes, who's this?" Emily walked over to them in her skates, Monday following.

"Just a friend. I'll be one minute," Wednesday said.

She grabbed the woman's arm and yanked her away from her family so they wouldn't overhear this.

"What the hell are you doing here? We haven't done anything," Wednesday said.

"Jeez. All of your hostility is making me doubt my idea of giving you a birthday present," she rolled her eyes, pulling a flat box out of the inner pocket of her coat.

Wednesday stared at the box for a few seconds, then looked up at the woman.

"You got me a birthday present? You?" Wednesday said.

"Why is that so surprising? I'm not a bad person, you know," the woman frowned.

"No, I know, but you haven't exactly given me much of a reason to like you after our conversation last night. You want to kill Clint and you threw my girlfriend off the side of a building," Wednesday said.

"Well, you don't have to take the present, but I thought you might like it and, surprising or not, I happen to like you. You and your girlfriend are skilled fighters and good people. So, here," the woman said, holding it out to her.

Wednesday took it slowly and opened the box. Her mouth dropped open and she grabbed the new set of throwing knives.

"Holy shit," she whispered.

She quickly spun two in her hand at once, throwing them up and catching them easily.

"Oh my god, this is amazing!" Wednesday said.

She put them back in the box and put the box in an inside pocket of her jacket, then pulled the woman into a hug.

"I hate hugs, you probably do, too, but deal with it, 'cause you're actually sweet and I like you, now," Wednesday said.

"Thank you, Wednesday Elliot," the woman chuckled, patting Wednesday's back before pulling away. "I should go. Merry Christmas to you and Kate Bishop, and happy birthday. Twenty two is a good year, I imagine," she said.

"Can I get your name, now? I think we're friends, considering you got me a birthday present," Wednesday said.

The woman smiled as she started walking away.

"Yelena," she said, waving before she disappeared into a crowd of people.

Wednesday smiled after her, walking back over to her family.

"Who was that?" Ben asked.

"My friend," she said.

Her phone beeped and she pulled it out, seeing it was a text from Kate asking how it was going. Wednesday sent back a quick reply.

"I have to be back with Kate by eight to help her and Eleanor go over last minute details for the Christmas party, and it's three now. So, what do you guys say we go see the tree before we get some food?" Wednesday said.

"Yes!" Ben said.

"Tree!" Max squealed, bouncing up and down in his seat.