Yelena Belova | Bath in her "Office"

Yelena

Real Name: Yelena Belova (Елена Белова) Alias: Lena/Black widow. Affiliation: Mercenary/Avenger. Position: co-leader of the New Avengers. Citizenship: Soviet (formerly)/Russian. Age: 39. Height: 5'9¼". Birthday: 1988–1989 (Unknown day and month). Status: Mercenary and Member of the new avengers.

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Appearance:

• Yelena is a gorgeous woman of Russian descent who looks quite young for her age, with very short platinum blonde hair often styled with darker roots, and dark green eyes. She has a lean curvy yet quite athletic figure.
• As a mercenary and member of the new Avengers, Yelena wears an all-black military tactical suit, with combat batons that she carries on her back in the shape of an X.

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Stats & Equipment:

• Black Widow Batons: Belova briefly utilized Black Widow Batons during the Destruction of the Red Room. Belova combined the batons into a staff and then plunged into the propeller of General Dreykov's helicopter, breaking the propeller and causing the helicopter to explode, killing Dreykov and his remaining soldiers. She later used her own when fighting against Hawkeye.
• Black Widow's Bite: Belova utilized her Black Widow's Bite to engage Echo and Hawkeye. Belova used it to immobilize them stunning them both so she would have an advantage, as she was taking on both Lopez and Barton as well as Kate Bishop.
• Combat Knife: Yelena used a combat knife to kill a rouge Widow. She later used a karambit style knife to escape and kill the Red Room attendants.
• Throwing Knives: Yelena carries serval throwing knives on her left thigh.
• Makarov PM: In the Red Room, Belova assembled a pistol before the other little girls could as an exercise which resulted in everyone else's hands being whipped.
• Glock 19: Belova utilized a Glock 19 during her mission in the O.X.E. Vault, notably firing at U.S. Agent, and when their security chased the Thunderbolts. M4A1: Belova used a rifle against soldiers in the O.X.E. Vault.
• Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum: Belova used a sniper rifle on an assignment in Morocco.
• Heckler & Koch XM25: Belova used a grenade launcher when she and her sister rescued their father from prison.

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Personality:

• As a child, Yelena was shown to be kind and loving, as she was seen playing with Natasha and enjoyed the company of Alexei and Melina. She believed that her adoptive family were her real family, considering that they raised her for three years while undercover in Ohio. After years of training in the Red Room and feeling abandoned by her adoptive family, Yelena became cynical and gained a sardonic sense of humor. Her training also gave her a different view of morality, as she was willing to steal a car from a Hungarian man without question. Despite this, she is shown to be horrified of her actions while under Dreykov's control, and was determined to free the Black Widows from him. Once reuniting with her adoptive family, Yelena reconciles with them, and shows herself to be care deeply about them. Her relationship with Natasha was shown to be strong, as she mourned her adoptive sister's death when visiting her grave. Yelena experienced a deep depression after Natasha's death, yet it persisted once she had reached closure because of the tumultuous and dark nature of her past, thus causing her to remain in a loop of doing jobs for Valentina, until becoming a reluctant but then genuine ally with her Thunderbolt/New Avenger teammates. Due to her depression, she was able to empathise with Robert Reynolds "Bob", befriending him first out of the group; seeing his sincerity, as well as reconnecting with her adoptive father Alexei, gradually helped Yelena to adopt a more optimistic - if not grounded - mindset, which allowed her to survive and surpass the dark memories that the Void forced her into, and appeal to Bob, aiding him in overcoming his nihilistic tendencies. Despite being obedient to a mission, she would be somewhat recalcitrant or mockingly playful to any superior, whether it be her sister or Valentina. This joking nature would also surface when confronting contentious allies, and a tactic used to deescalate tension.

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Role in Setting (2028): *Mercenary.

• New Avenger.

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Background and events

• Yelena Belova was born around 1988-1989 in Moscow, Soviet Union to unnamed parents, and was taken by the Red Room to become a Black Widow. Whether she was forcibly taken or given up under some kind of coercion or bribery is unknown. When she turned three, the leader of the Red Room, General Dreykov, assigned her to play the role of a younger sister in an undercover mission, with Alexei Shostakov and Melina Vostokoff playing her parents and Natasha Romanoff playing her older sister. For three years, Yelena and her adoptive family lived in Mount Vernon, Ohio as the Rowley family, and she had a close relationship with Natasha, who she viewed as her real sister. Despite it just being an assignment, Yelena believed them to be her true family due to how young she was, and none of them told her it was just a mission, as they began seeing the family as authentic. At some point, Yelena joined the little league West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts soccer team, and Yelena was the goalkeeper, wanting to be the one everyone relied on if they made a mistake. Over time, her favourite song became 'American Pie' by Don McLean, and she would often have it played. In the summer of 1995, Alexei and Melina's cover were blown after obtaining intel from the North Institute, forcing the group to leave Ohio with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and law enforcement after them. They left the house, Yelena cheerful, believing it to just be a night out with her family, and were quickly pursued into a plane. Melina was shot, and Natasha was forced to take over control of the plane, with Yelena crying in fear and confusion as Alexei shot at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents after them. The family managed to escape and flew to Cuba.
• Upon arriving to Cuba, Yelena and Natasha were drugged and separated, being taken back to the Red Room by force, where they were both trained as Black Widows, master assassins and spies. Yelena ended up becoming one of the best students, although she hated her missions, with her first being having to kill a young girl named Anya whom she had befriended, something that went on to haunt her for the rest of her life. At some point, after Natasha defected from the Red Room to join S.H.I.E.L.D., Yelena and the other Black Widows were put under mind control to stop any more defections.
• In 2016, Yelena and the Black Widows are assigned by General Dreykov to eliminate former Black Widow Oksana, who was holding a substance called "Red Dust". Yelena managed to stop Oksana, but the former Black Widow sprayed Belova with the red dust, freeing her from Dreykov's control. Horrified for what she had done, Yelena attempted to save Oksana, but she told Yelena to free the other Black Widows from Dreykov. She decided to keep her promise to Oksana, going off the grid and sent the red dust vials to Natasha for safe keeping while she went into hiding. Yelena then traveled to Budapest to Natasha's apartment, where the two briefly battled each other before calling a truce. Afterward, Yelena informed Natasha that the Red Room was active, which caused the latter to be shocked and confused, stating that she had assassinated Dreykov years ago. Before the two could continue their conversation, they were forced to leave the apartment when Black Widows were sent to kill them. During their escape, they were attacked by Taskmaster, who was the commander of the Red Room, and caused their car to crash into a subway station. Surviving the attack, Natasha contacted her former S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague, Rick Mason, to acquire transport so they could rescue Alexei from the Seventh Circle prison. After rescuing their adoptive father, Yelena and Natasha decided to speak with Melina to learn of Dreykov's whereabouts. Meeting with Vostokoff, she revealed that her mission in Ohio years ago was to achieve mind control and take away their free will, showing it by telling her pig Alexei to stop breathing. Yelena was also told by Romanoff that their adoptive family wasn't real, angering Belova, who also chastised Melina for being the reason she was turned into a brainwashed killer. While bonding with Alexei, Yelena was captured by Melina, who was actually Natasha in disguise, and taken to the Red Room to be prepped for surgery. Natasha informed Yelena that she placed a hidden knife in Belova's suit, which allowed her to escape, defeat her captives, and recover the red dust vials. She managed to save Natasha from being killed by the Black Widows, and freed them from Dreykov's control by using the red dust as a bomb. After saving Natasha, Yelena almost sacrificed herself when she killed General Dreykov by destroying his helicopter by breaking the propeller, but was saved by Romanoff. They were able to free Taskmaster, who turned out to be Dreykov's daughter Antonia Dreykov, and Yelena and Natasha reunited with their adoptive parents, and Natasha urged them to leave the area with the red dust vial to stop the other Red Room cells. Belova, Alexei and Melina gave their farewell to Natasha, who reunited with her former Avengers teammates Captain America and Falcon to stop terrorist cells. After the events of stopping the Red Room, Yelena became an assassin for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who was a member of an unnamed organization that was looking for powerful individuals. Around that time, Yelena decided to get a dog whom she named Fanny, after Natasha's alias.
• Yelena was a victim of the Snap, which was caused by Thanos, an alien Mad Titan who wanted to wipe out half of the universe to control population. She was later resurrected by the Hulk in 2023, as the Avengers had managed to time travel to different points in time to collect Infinity Stones to undo the decimation. Yelena would learn that Natasha died in the process, and visited her grave alongside her dog Fanny, mourning her loss. She was interrupted by Valentina, who showed her a picture of Natasha's colleague Clint Barton, falsely accusing him of murdering Romanoff. It's currently unknown why Valentina set Yelena on Clint.
• During the Christmas holidays in New York, Yelena arrived and proceeded to attack Barton, but was stopped by his partner Kate Bishop and their enemy Maya Lopez. She managed to escape, but then traveled to Kate's apartment to speak to the vigilante, asking why she defended Barton since he had killed numerous people. Yelena also explained that Black Widow's death influenced her position to eliminate Barton, but Bishop deduced that Belova was hired by an unknown client with motives of their own. Yelena then left the apartment before warning Bishop not to get in her way again, and investigated her employer, learning that it was Kate's mother Eleanor. She then text the details to Bishop, but remained determined to kill Barton since she believed that he caused Natasha's death. At the Rockefeller Center, Yelena encountered Bishop, whom she briefly fought before continuing her pursuit her target. She battled Barton until he whistled Belova and Natasha's secret while, which caused Yelena to stop and began to cry. Barton then explained Natasha's sacrifice and that she always talked about Yelena, whom proceeded to envy Clint since he spent a lot of time with Romanoff. Belova then forgave Clint and left the center, as Barton and Bishop continued their mission to stop the Kingpin.
• Some time later, Yelena is first seen jumping off a building seemingly to commit suicide, but then it turns out she was only parachuting to the floor below as part of a mission by Valentina to destroy the lab. After the mission was a success, she calls Valentina and says she wants to retire, but Valentina gives her one last mission to recover a hostage from an O.X.E facility in New Mexico. Later that night, Yelena visits Alexei for the first time since 2016 and they talk about how distant they are since Natasha's death. The next day, Yelena breaks into the facility and reunites with Taskmaster before they are attacked by Ava Starr/Ghost and John Walker/U.S. Agent; during the ambush, Ava kills Taskmaster. They then realize they were all sent by Valentina and the mission was really a trap to kill them. Yelena sees a cacoon open and a man named Robert Reynolds or "Bob" comes out, having been imprisoned there by Valentina. Suddenly, the room starts engulfing in flames, but they all manage to escape at the last second. They find an escape hatch and have to climb it while smushed together in the tight space; when they reach the top, Walker climbs out by himself and nearly causes the others to fall to their deaths although he's able to pull them up. Unfortunately, the exist is surrounded by Valentina's men outside. Ghost uses her invisibility while Yelena and Walker disguise in the soldiers' uniforms to sneak into one of the armory trucks so they can escape. Just when they were about to be discovered, Bob sacrifices himself to buy them time to escape and is gunned down; however, he suddenly gets up and flies away, revealing himself as the Sentry. When he crashes and is captured by Valentina, Yelena insists they rescue him but they lose track of him and are lost in the middle of nowhere. To their luck, Alexei arrives in a limo to extract them but proceeds to embarass Yelena by revealing he's her daddy and mentioning her soccer practice to her teammates. They are able to escape Valentina's men, but the limo is suddenly crashed by Bucky Barnes who then arrests them so they can testify at Valentina's impeachment. After he gets a call about Sentry being in Valentina's custody, he releases them and together they form a team Alexei calls "The Thunderbolts" to rescue Bob. They locate Valentina at Avengers Tower, which Valentina bought and renamed Watchtower. When they confront Valentina, Bob suddenly comes out in his Sentry uniform and overpowers the team forcing them to escape. When they get down to the streets, they sees that Bob has transformed into his evil alter-ego "The Void", who spread a cloud of darkness imprisoning everyone in their worst memories. After getting bystanders to safety, Yelena goes inside The Void to reach Bob and finds herself reliving the memory of when she shot a Black Widow during her childhood in the Red Room. She's able to stop her younger self and makes peace with her dark past, allowing her to navigating through The Void's darkness and find Bob. She begs Bob to stop attacking the city, but Bob explains he isn't in control as the Void is his inner darkness. Suddenly, they are joined by Yelena's teammates who followed her inside and somehow made it through the Void's obstacles. Just as they were about to leave, they suddenly find themselves in an illusion of the lab where Bob first got his powers. The Void appears to them and pins everyone except Bob against the walls. Bob angrily attacks his darker half and starts beating him senseless, but the Void only laughs as this is making him stronger. Realizing this, Yelena and the others all get free and hug Bob to calm him down, ending the Void's attack and releasing everyone from his darkness. The team is about to arrest Valentina, but Valentina saves herself by luring them into a press conference and declaring them as the New Avengers, convincing the public she was on their side all along. The team reluctantly goes along with this and Yelena secretly threatens Valentina that they own her now.

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Relationships:

• Alexei Shostakov - Adoptive Father and Teammate.
• Melina Vostokoff - Adoptive Mother.
• Natasha Romanoff - Adoptive Older Sister (Deceased).
• Fanny - Pet Dog.
• Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster - Former Enemy (while under Dreykov's control) (Deceased).
• Black Widows - Former Enemies (while under Dreykov's control).
• Bruce Banner/Hulk - Ressurector.
• Valentina Allegra de Fontaine - Employer.
• Eleanor Bishop - Former Employer.
• Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Former Target and Attempted Victim.
• Kate Bishop - Former Enemy.
• New Avengers - Teammates.
• Bob/Sentry/The Void - Close Friend and Temporary Enemy.
• John Walker/Captain America II/U.S. Agent - Teammate and Former Attempted Killer.
• Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier - Teammate and Temporary Enemy.
• Ava Starr/Ghost - Teammate, Former Target and Former Attempted Killer.

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Short Summary: Yelena Belova (Russian: Елена Белова) is the adoptive younger sister of Natasha Romanoff, a Red Room operative who worked for General Dreykov as one of the Black Widows, and a founding member and leader of the New Avengers. Following Romanoff's defection from the Red Room, Belova and other Black Widows were put through a mind-control program and turned into Dreykov's obedient subordinates. When she was freed from the Red Room's control, Belova joined forces with Romanoff, as well as their adoptive parents Red Guardian and Melina Vostokoff, to bring down the Red Room once and for all. They eventually succeeded and liberated all Black Widows, with Belova directly killing Dreykov. After parting ways with Romanoff, Belova spent two years freeing many of the remaining brainwashed Black Widows before she was killed by Thanos' Snap. Upon her resurrection in the Blip in 2023, Belova attempted to seek out Romanoff, but was informed that she had died. While visiting Romanoff's grave, Belova was given an assignment by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who claimed that Clint Barton was responsible for Romanoff's death and that she was to eliminate him. In December 2024, Belova came into conflict with Barton and his protégé Kate Bishop. Belova held back against hurting Bishop, and though she came close to killing Barton, Barton managed to get through to Belova and explain that Romanoff's death was of her own choice to save Belova and the world. Coming to terms with Barton and accepting Romanoff's death, Belova abandoned her mission and departed. Years later, a depressed Belova was still under the employment of de Fontaine until she sent her, along with other operatives, on a mission to kill each other in an attempt to get rid of any incriminating evidence while facing impeachment. Belova learned the truth and teamed up with U.S. Agent, Ghost, and Red Guardian to escape getting assassinated by de Fontaine's forces, then they were recruited by Winter Soldier to help bring down de Fontaine and stop her plans to use Bob as her own weapon. Belova and her team eventually saved both Manhattan and Bob from Void, and when they tried to apprehend de Fontaine, they were publicly declared by de Fontaine as the New Avengers instead, which she went along while asserting she and the others held de Fontaine's career hostage in case she turned on them again. Now publicly using the codename Black Widow, Belova assisted Spider-Man in getting information on Jean Grey.)