Neither of us shot, we just kept our guns pointed at each other. I felt my fire bubbling under my skin again, but before it could break through, she came launching at me, trying to knock my gun out of my hand. I was fasted and stepped to the side, taking advantage of her long hair and tugging on it sharply, causing her head to wrench back. She elbowed me in the ribs and I buckled slightly, letting go of her hair enough for her to pull me into a quick headlock. I thrashed and tried to aim a blow at her ribs. She spun to the side, still keeping a firm grip on me and pulling back on my neck further. I scratched at her arm, trying to get free as she pressed against my windpipe. I continued to struggle for a couple of seconds before I let myself slowly fall limp, trying to fake unconsciousness.

She chuckled and slowly removed her arm from around my neck and I took the critical seconds to grab the second Glock I had felt in a hidden cloak pocket, pressing the trigger. Despite being thrown off by my surprise, she still managed to duck before I even pressed the bullet. She launched at me again and I spun out of the way, trying to keep my gun in her hand as she went through my throat.

"Emily, what the Hell is going on?" A familiar voice spoke just as the woman pinned me to the side of the Avengers compound, her hand wrapped around my throat as I tried to get a good enough grip on the gun again to shoot. "Put the gun down."

"Its... HYDRA." I choked out, growling at the woman as I moved to kick her in the stomach hard enough to send her stumbling back.

Nat caught the woman gently, wrapping her hand around her arm to stop her from launching at me again.

"It's not HYDRA." Nat shook her head, giving me a small smile as the woman slowly relaxed. "Its my sister, Yelena."

"Sister?" I paused for a moment, rubbing my neck slightly as I stared at the both of them.

"Long story." Nat gave me a smile before spinning her 'sister' around and wrapping her in a big hug.

"It's good to see you again Tasha." The woman, Yelena spoke, wrapping her arms around Nat as well.

"What are you doing here?" Nat asked, eventually pulling back from Yelena.

"Stark invited me." She shrugged. "He was very persistent. I only agreed because I don't have anyone else to spend Christmas with, and I doubted you would have left the compound. Did think there would be such... intense security measures here." Her gaze slowly drifted back to me and I narrowed my eyes.

"Relax Emily." Nat chuckled, squeezing Yelena's shoulder. "It's okay. She's not gonna hurt you," She paused, looking at her sister for a moment. "Not without reason." She amended.

"I think the HYDRA symbol on her is enough." Yelena nodded to my utility belt, which sure enough had a red HYDRA symbol on both holsters, causing me to swallow thickly.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump behind me and I turned around sharply, only to see that it was Steve, his shield in his hand as he jumped from the top of the compound.

"You okay Emily?" His eyes scanned over me. "We heard a gunshot." He finally seemed to notice Nat's sister. "Yelena?"

"Captain." Yelena smirked, her eyes scanning up and down him shamelessly before her eyes darted behind him. "Is that Barnes?"

I looked behind Steve as well and saw Bucky standing just behind Steve, his gun being loosely held in his metal hand. Bucky's eyes slid over to me and I gave him a small smile, picking my gun up from the ground and sliding it back into my holster.

"You should all get back inside." Steve tossed his shield onto his back. "You're going to get sick otherwise."

He gently began to usher us back inside, Nat and Yelena going first, followed by me after Steve forced me to go in front of him and Bucky. I breathed a small sigh of relief at the warmth that immediately hit me, but any relief quickly disappeared when I sat Laura crouching behind the couch with Clint and their kids, Nathaniel crying softly. Guilt immediately overtook me and my steps faltered slightly, especially when I saw Clint and Laura watching me warily.

"You okay Emily?" Tony was standing in front of them slightly, dressed in his Iron Man suit, but the helmet folded back to reveal his face.

"It's all okay." Nat nodded. "Just a slight misunderstanding."

I ducked my head in embarrassment and guilt at the fact that I had scared Laura and her kids, basically slinking back over to the couch where I tried to bury myself under a blanket. Loki offered me a small smile and pulled me against him, the movement surprising, but not unwelcome, helping me to feel a little comforted

"What's wrong?" Loki murmured softly to me as Yelena went around for greetings and introductions.

"I don't trust her." I murmured, watching Yelena out of the corner of my eye.

"Why not?" He asked me curiously.

"She..." I paused, taking a deep breath and facing him. "She's not giving off a very good feeling."

"Is it because she has a Russian accent?" He raised an eyebrow and I sighed heavily, looking away.

"Maybe." I muttered, my eyes darting back to her for a moment. "She carries a gun around as well."

"Since when did that bother you?" Loki chuckled softly, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder comfortingly. "Trust me, she's fine. She's Natasha's sister."

"What are you pair doing?" Thor sat down heavily on the couch, causing me to bounce up slightly, Loki sending his brother a glare.

"Is that beer?' I raised an eyebrow at the big mug that Thor was holding, looking into it slightly. "You know you shouldn't be drinking that around kids."

"They don't care." Thor shrugged, taking a gulp. "In fact, I offered some to the young boy before."

"Thor!" I gasped. "He's like... ten or something!"

"Good to start them young." He grinned. "Builds them up stronger." His gaze drifted away from me. "Excuse me, I should go talk to Lady Belova."

I rolled my eyes and watched as he went over to Yelena as I curled up back under my blanket next to Loki, who was also rolling his eyes at his brother. I opened my mouth to say something when Wanda suddenly jumped upright.

"Vis!" She squealed, causing me to jump slightly and we all turned around to see a man walking in.

Well, he sort of seemed like a man, but he had silver and red skin that seemed almost... robotic. His eyes were even robotic looking.

He went around and introduced himself to everyone and I eyed him warily as he came towards me, holding out his hand for me to shake, shocking me with how cold it felt, almost like metal. Even as he left, I was still watching him warily.

As Tony revealed once everyone sat either on the couch or on the floor, he had invited the Bartons, Vision and Yelena to stay during the Christmas period and join in all of the celebrations, claiming that they were all like family.

They all began to mingle again and I easily excused myself to grab some of the leftover snacks from the fridge to set out on the coffee table for them all, since Pepper was listening to a conversation with Vision. I felt completely out of place with them all, they were all talking like they had known each other for years, which they probably had, while I was over in the kitchen, snacking on leftover chocolate-dipped strawberries.

"Hey Emily." Laura spoke up from behind me as I grabbed stuff out of the fridge and I quickly spun around to see her leaning on the kitchen bench, smiling softly. "I haven't really gotten the chance to talk to you lately. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Yeah, I'm pretty good." I smiled softly, before beginning to arrange a small cheese board like Pepper had shown me the other day.

"Define good." She gave me a look. "Clint told me everything."

I sighed and paused for a moment before looking up at her again, hating the sympathetic look in her eyes than made me feel weak all over again.

"How much is everything?" I murmured softly, almost sheepishly as I slowly closed the fridge door and leant with my hip up against the kitchen bench.

"The suicide attempt seemed enough." She replied gently. "Why didn't you reach out to someone? They would have helped you."

"I..." I murmured, looking away, the sympathy in her eyes becoming too much. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Sorry." She fell silent. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay." I finally looked up at her again, giving her a faint smile.

"So what else have you been doing?" She asked, thankfully changing the topic.

"Mainly helping Pepper with the Christmas." I shrugged, turning back to the food I was setting up.

"She told me about all of your help." She smiled softly. "I'm looking forward to having some tomorrow, as well as the party. It has been a while since I have gone to a party, with the kids and everything."

"I've never been to a party before." I admitted softly.

"You'll love it, I promise." She broke out into a grin.

"I hope so." I replied, giving her a small smile.

That was the end of our conversation as Thor called out for some food and I huffed out a small laugh before I carried over the plates of food with Laura's help.

For the rest of the night, we all crowded in the living room and settled down to watch a kids Christmas movie, which was surprisingly still enjoyable, even though I sensed a couple of the Avengers were getting a little bored with it. After a massive serving of the delicious Shepard's pie that Steve and Wanda cooked, and the delicious desert that Laura had brought, I was so full I could barely move.

By around 11pm, my eyes were drooping and Wanda gently coaxed me to bed, saying that I needed to get some rest before the big Christmas celebrations tomorrow. I managed to shower and change into my warm pajamas before I quite literally threw myself into bed and fell into a deep sleep seconds later.