18 JANUARY | BLACK WIDOW HOUSE | PG-13 Leon and Chris check out their soon to be new home
warnings none
Leon still couldn’t quite believe that Revy had gone. He couldn’t quite make sense of it. So many people had disappeared all at once; it still didn’t feel real. But one thing was obvious: house hunting was cursed, and there was no way in hell he was ever going to do it again.
Leon had lived in his Morningside Apartment ever since he’d arrived in Vallo nearly three years ago. It was a nice place, all things said and done – nicer than any of the apartments he could afford to live in in L.A., that was for sure – and while he’d considered moving into a bigger suite once it became clear that Chris was sticking around in Vallo. While Revy had her own apartment, she spent hardly any time there, and his one-bedroom apartment was a little crowded for the three of them. But Revy had floated the idea of buying a house, all three of them together, and Leon had stupidly let himself be coaxed into the idea, even after house hunting had gone so disastrously with James.
Even now, part of him was reluctant to leave his apartment. But all of Yelena’s people had been taken in one fell swoop, and with Revy gone… well, it would be nice to have someone else around to watch Chris. And so he’d let himself be convinced to at least check out the Black Widow house.
It wasn’t the first time that Leon had been there, not even close. But it was different now that everyone else was gone. Quieter. A little unnerving. No wonder Yelena wanted someone else to come fill up some of that suddenly empty space.
“It’s big enough that at least we won’t be stepping on one another’s toes,” he muttered, frowning. He’d never lived with Yelena, not really, but he’d been over at James’ often enough that it had been a near enough thing. Back then, she’d drove him a little nuts, but looking back, he thought that that had had more to do with jealousy than anything Yelena had done.
Except for when she barged into their bedroom to announce Disneyland was in town. And the time she’d tried throwing him out the window. And her noisy bird. Still, mostly jealousy.
He frowned and plucked a small stiletto dagger out of his little brother’s hands.
“But I don’t know if a house that had been filled with a-s-s-a-s-s-i-n-s,” Chris gave him a sceptical look, “is really the best place for a nine-year-old, Yelena.”
“I’m packing shit away,” Yelena said, a box already in her hands, partially filled with her own items. Normally, she kept them around the house, her sisters knowing where they were located. A nine-year-old she was allowing to take residence in her house along with his older brother… that meant she had to take them out of their hiding spots. She managed to get most of them, except for the one that Leon had in his hand right now.
She held out a hand for the dagger.
“Besides, Kate apparently had her future twin goobers in here during those two weeks that Vallo decided to let future kids come through. They were fine.” Probably because there was always an adult around them. Better to put her stuff away before that happened again, before she turned into her teen self again. Which would be a disaster without her sisters here.
“Having some kids over for a couple weeks is different than having them around full-time.” At least, he figured it was. Some of the best hiding spots took longer than two weeks to suss out. He placed the dagger in Yelena’s waiting hand. “Chris is pretty good. I’ve drilled him about gun safety, and he’s smart enough to not go playing with knives, right Chris?” The boy nodded, and to his credit, didn’t look at all sheepish. That was a good sign. “But accidents can happen. You guys have a safe?”
“Hefty ones,” Yelena said, placing the knife in its designated box. “One in Natasha’s room and one in mine.” Not to mention the fact that the box itself also had a lock so double security. “Also one in the basement but that would be more of a communal space for all, so I’ll keep most of them in my room. I am sure I can trust Chris not to go in there.” She mustered a smile warm enough for the kid. She could do that much, even if her heart was still breaking for her sisters, one of whom was gone for good in her world.
“Also,” she started to add, “he can have lessons later on if he wanted to learn.”
“Can I?” Chris asked, turning hopeful eyes at his big brother.
“Well talk about it,” Leon said, ruffling his hair. “But I don’t see why not.”
He’d already been teaching his brother how to use a gun. The easiest way for Chris to not hurt himself with a gun was being shown how to use and care for one – it was how Leon’s dad had always treated the subject with him when he’d been a kid. He figured the same principle probably applied to any weapon that Chris happened to be sharing a home with. Besides, in Vallo, it was probably better for Chris to know how to defend himself with whatever was handy.
Yelena gave him another smile and then said, “Do you want to check out the rooms again, see which one you like?” Her sisters’ stuff (minus the weapons) were still in there but she would let him pick where he would want to sleep. Assuming Leon would be okay with it. She was ready to have him change his mind and stay at Morningside, but there was a part of Yelena that hoped. Physically, she was rarely alone, nor did she ever feel alone until after the five year gap between her blipping out of the world and then recollecting back into it and learning about her sister’s demise.
And she realized she hated it with a passion. She never wanted to be alone. She didn’t have much of a choice about it in her world but Vallo was a different situation.
“Go ahead Chris. Pick whatever room you want. If you see anything and you don’t know what it is, don’t fucking touch it. Come let us know.” For all he knew, they had fucking superhero grenades lying around that he needed to lock up. Chris nodded and took off ahead of them.
He frowned at him, and then rubbed the side of his head. “You sure you’re alright with this, Lena?” he asked after a minute. “Living with a kid is different, you know? I’m pretty fucking terrible at it myself, but I don’t want to force us on you just because you’re feeling obligated or whatever.”
Yelena kept up her smile as Chris went off. When he was out of sight, she let it drop. She was relieved they were here, yes, and she was still in too much pain to be able to just smile it all away but she didn’t Chris to see that. Leon was a different story, he was her best friend and she couldn’t lie to him. Unless she was intentionally being a dick to him.
“I rather have you both here than be alone,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I may not have that much experience with actually living with a kid but considering the shit childhood we had, I think I’d be able to make sure things will be okay with Chris.”
Leon shot Yelena a small smile. He’d been alone for most of his life, and he’d grown accustomed to it. Living with Chris had been so foreign to him in his 20s that he hadn’t even protested when Count D had taken one look at his apartment and declared that the child was living in the petshop from now on, since Leon clearly had no idea how to care for children.
“Alright,” he said. Leon liked to pretend he didn’t, but he still remembered those first few months on his own, less than a year after his father’s death and weeks after his mother’s, when his aunt and uncle had taken Chris to the other side of the country and Leon was living in his first bachelor apartment, smaller than his old bedroom, after he’d had to sell the house to pay for his mother’s hospital bills, and how unbearably lonely he’d been then. He’d thrown himself into his training at the police academy, and then into his work, and eventually he’d stopped noticing the loneliness so much. Eventually, some part of him had decided that it preferred it. He didn’t want that for Yelena.
“He’s a pretty good kid. He won’t make things hard, and I think he’s naturally happy so.” He shot Yelena a half-smile. “Let’s do this.”
“Great,” she responded at first, getting back to securing whatever was in her hand. But then Yelena paused and then she was stepping closer to Leon and putting her arms around him. “Thank you.”
Leon stiffened, just for a moment, more surprised than resistant. He’d never been much of a hugger in his last life. Or rather, there weren’t a lot of chances for hugs back then, not after his mom died. He’d been growing more used to them now that he’d lived on Vallo for a couple years. Adora was a big hugger. He wrapped his arms around Yelena too, and gave her a squeeze.
“Back at you, Lena,” he said, voice soft. And then added, “But if you throw me or any of my shit out a window, I’ll regret it.”
Yelena let out a laugh at that as she stepped back, wiping at her eye real quick to catch a stray tear that threatened to make its way out. “Not out the window, got it.”