One evening, there was a particularly bad storm; wind and rain pounded the windows and grey clouds loomed low in the sky.
Natasha lay awake in her bed; it didn't take much to wake her up, she'd learnt long ago to sleep lightly.
She climbed from the bed and watched Clint for a moment, he was still sound asleep under the warm blankets; she envied him a little. She wished she could crawl in beside him and just sleep, but her life had been saved on more than one occasion because she was such a light sleeper.
She went and sat by the window in the lounge, a mug of hot chocolate in her hands and a blanket draped over her shoulders. She enjoyed watching the weather; it was reassuring.
She thought back to her past; when she was six years old an older Red Room recruit had been sent to her in the middle of the night; it was a test to see how alert she was while she was asleep. It had been a particular tough day; she'd spent it swimming back and forth in freezing cold rivers, and she was exhausted.
She hadn't heard the door open, or the quiet approach of the older girl. Natasha was dragged from her bed and beaten, left bloodied and broken on the hard cold floor. Several days later it occurred again, and again. Natasha had more broken bones than she'd had since she started her training but her brain was fast learning that she was never safe, it was never okay to let her guard down; someone could come for her at anytime and she needed to be ready. She had no one else to rely on but herself. The next time someone was sent to her room it wasn't her that was left beaten on the floor. She had passed the test.
Those who did not learn were used as target practice, and Natasha had never slept soundly since.
Yes the weather was reassuring; it was nature, nothing more sinister. No one was coming for her, not tonight.