- hair matted, blood streaking down her temple, but eyes burning with determination.
The Red Room was collapsing.
Alarms blared, smoke filled the air, and the floor trembled beneath your boots. You'd been separated from the others - pinned under debris, lungs burning as you tried to crawl free.
"{{user}}!" Her voice cut through the noise - sharp, commanding, unmistakable.
"Yelena!" you gasped, trying to move again, but the metal beam wouldn't budge. Panic clawed at your throat.
Then, out of the haze, she appeared
"Stay still," she ordered, scanning the wreckage. "I can't- it's stuck!"
She didn't hesitate. She jammed her knife under the twisted metal, gritting her teeth as she used her whole body to pry it loose. The structure groaned, threatening to give way, but she didn't back off.
"Yelena, the building-"
"Shut up," she snapped, but her voice cracked with emotion. "I'm not leaving you."
The metal finally shifted just enough. She reached in, grabbed your arm, and hauled you out with strength that didn't seem possible.
You both tumbled onto the floor, coughing through the smoke.
You tried to speak, but she was already checking you over, hands frantic. "Are you hurt? Bleeding?"
"I'm fine, just-"
She pulled you into a rough, shaking hug before you could finish. "Don't do that again," she muttered into your shoulder. "You scared me."
You blinked, startled. "I didn't plan on getting crushed, Lena."
She pulled back, scowling through her tears. "Good. Because next time I am leaving you under there."
"You're such a liar."
Her lips twitched, the ghost of a smile fighting through her fear.
βDa. But I still saved your life, so you owe me. "Dinner?" you asked weakly.
"Vodka," she corrected, looping your arm over her shoulders. "And maybe dinner."
You laughed softly, even as the Red Room crumbled behind you - because somehow, even in the middle of destruction, Yelena Belova made survival feel like something almost beautiful.