Hey guys! Quick heads up that I won't be updating any of my stories until after my exams are over, which is around December 11th. Once I'm done with them, I'll be writing much more frequently and consistently, I promise! Sorry guys but exams have already taken over my life!
This prompt was so much fun to write and I loved it so thank you to the lovely guest who sent it in. The prompt is: "Natasha has a nightmare or flashback or something about her past, wakes up the whole house screaming, but only Skye can get her to talk about it."
Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to head over to the poll on my profile page and vote for which one-shot you'd like to see written out next. As always, I own nothing (I wish I did) and all mistakes are my own xx
Skye was jerked out of her dreams by rough, desperate, screams. At first she thought they were her own, that she had been having a nightmare she wasn't able to remember, but then she heard them again. She then heard two pairs of feet running down the hallway and assumed that those belonged to her parents.
The screams were gut wrenching and too high-pitched to be Trip's.
Yanking her blankets off of her, she pulled Alice close to her chest before running out of her room. She squinted as she entered the hallway, the brightness hurting her eyes, but she made her way towards the screams. The screaming stopped and the desperate sobs that took their place weren't any better.
Trip was standing outside Natasha's door. He must have heard her coming because he turned around and gave her a worried look. She jogged the last few steps towards him and tucked herself into his side, "What's going on?"
Her brother pulled her close and ran a hand over her head, "Nightmare. She hasn't had one this bad in a long time."
Skye swallowed thickly, the sound of her sister crying making tears of her own well up in her eyes, and peered into Natasha's room.
Her sister was on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs. She was sitting in the tiny space between her bed and the bedside table, looking wildly around the room and trying to catch her breath. Her eyes weren't really focusing on anything, not even on her parents, who were crouched a few feet in front of her with their hands held out, like they were trying to placate a wild animal.
Skye instinctively took a step towards Natasha, she wanted to help, wanted to do anything to get that look out of her sister's eyes, but Trip held her back. She looked up at him and he shook his head once. She didn't know why he wouldn't let her go into the room but she listened to him.
She was afraid. She had never seen Natasha like this. Her sister was almost always in control, her sister always knew what to do or how to act, and Skye wished she could ask Natasha what she should be doing to help but she couldn't because Natasha was the one who needed help right now.
Trip let go of her and they both watched the scene unfold before them.
Her mom's voice was soft and extra soothing when she said, "It's okay Natasha, you're alright sweetie."
Her dad parroted her, "You're safe, it's okay."
Her parents kept saying soothing, gentle words until Natasha's tears subsided. Her sister's eyes seemed to be a little more focused but her arms were still wrapped tightly around her legs, like she was trying to make herself as small as possible.
It was quiet for a few moments, the silence was thick Skye could still hear the echo of Natasha's sobs ringing in her ears. Her mom broke the silence, "Good girl, you're safe now."
Nattie looked around uncertainly, like she thought that she might still be dreaming. Her mom tried to take a step forward but stopped when Natasha pressed herself closer to the wall.
It hurt to watch but Skye couldn't look away. She wanted to help but she didn't know what to do. It didn't even look like her parents were helping that much.
Her mom glanced at her dad and they both shared a look before her dad stepped back, "I'll grab you a glass of water, okay sweetie?"
Nattie didn't say anything and her dad gave her a worried look before turning and walking towards her and Trip. He gave them a tiny smile that looked forced and reached down to affectionately caress her cheek before he walked out of the room. Her mom started humming a lullaby that Skye didn't recognize and they all sat there, waiting for Natasha to say something or relax a little, but nothing happened.
Her sister was still curled in on herself, sitting in a too-small space, staring at nothing. Skye felt her heart ache and unconsciously rubbed Alice's hair between her fingers when something occurred to her.
Alice used to be Natasha's doll, her sister had told her how much the doll had helped her when she had first moved in with her family… maybe it would help her now.
Quickly, she moved into the room so that Trip couldn't stop her. She slowed down as she approached Nattie and glanced at her mom. May studied her but didn't stop her so when she got a foot away from Natasha, she stopped and knelt down in front of her. Her sister looked at her but Skye could tell that she wasn't really seeing her, that she was focusing on what was going on inside her head rather than her. She needed Natasha to see that everything was alright, that her nightmare wasn't real and couldn't hurt her anymore.
Slowly, she pried one of Nattie's hands off of her leg and pushed Alice into it. She wrapped her own hand around her sister's and the doll, just in case Natasha was going to drop Alice, but that didn't matter. She felt Nattie's fingers tightly clench around the doll and it took a few seconds but Skye watched as Natasha finally focused on her.
Her sister glanced at the doll for a moment before looking back at her with red-rimmed eyes and brokenly whispered, "Skye?"
Skye nodded and didn't let go of Alice when Natasha pulled the doll to her chest, "It's me, I'm right here."
Nattie nodded back at her and Skye felt relief wash through her when the panic in her sister's eyes faded completely. Natasha's eyes welled up with a new wave of tears and Skye braced herself for the heart-wrenching sobs that she had heard earlier but they never came, instead, her sister tugged her forward and Skye fell into her. Natasha squeezed her so tightly that it was sort of hard to breathe but Skye didn't try to pull away or ask her to let go, she hugged her back just as tightly. She rubbed circles onto Nattie's back, that always helped her calm down when she was upset, and pressed kisses to the side of her sister's head until Nattie loosened her grip enough for Skye to lean back but not let go.
She glanced up at her mom and saw that her dad had made his way back into the room without her noticing and both of them were watching. Skye kept rubbing circles onto Nattie's back and felt her sister bury her head against her chest and she felt helpless. She wished that she could be doing more to make Natasha feel better but she wasn't sure what to do so she settled on pressing one more kiss to Nattie's head and then wiped the remaining tears off of her face.
The sound of her mom's gentle voice had her and Natasha looking up at her, "You wanna talk about it?"
Nattie firmly shook her head and it looked like she might revert back into herself like before so Skye squeezed her hand around Nattie's and the doll's and it seemed to keep her sister grounded.
Her mom didn't press the issue and her dad spoke up, "Why don't you two get off the floor. It can't be very comfortable."
Skye let go of Natasha's hand and softly tapped her shoulder, "C'mon Nattie, we're getting up now."
Her sister let her tug her until both of them were standing and it kind of worried Skye how automatic and robotic Nattie's movements were but she managed to get both of them onto the bed. She pushed on Natasha's shoulders until her sister finally lied down and then Skye curled up next to her and pulled the blankets over them. Nattie rolled onto her side and pulled Skye impossibly closer but she didn't mind, she just rested her head on Natasha's chest.
Glancing sideways, she could see her parents looking down at them and smiled a little when her mom and dad leaned down to press a kiss to the top of hers and Natasha's heads.
"Are you alright? We can stay in here until you fall back asleep if you want."
Skye waited for Natasha to answer their mom but her sister didn't say anything so she did, "We're alright mommy."
"You sure?"
Skye could tell that her mom was waiting for Natasha to answer, to make sure that she really was alright, but her sister remained silent so Skye answered for her again, "I'm sure."
She snuggled closer to Nattie and heard the rustling of sheets and the quiet murmur of her parent's voices as they spoke to Natasha and then it was silent. The lights shut off and Nattie's grip on her got impossibly tighter so Skye called out, "Turn the lights back on please."
The lights flickered back on and a glance towards the door revealed that her parents had left it open wide. Skye's attention was brought back to Natasha when her sister let out a long, broken sigh. She wrapped one arm firmly around her sister's back and stroked Nattie's hair with her other hand, trying to be comforting. She was trying to do what Nattie did whenever Skye had a nightmare and went to her for comfort. She hoped she was getting it right.
Natasha clung to her and Skye started whispering gentle words, "It's okay Nattie, you're safe with me."
She kept whispering soothing and soft words over and over again until she felt Nattie start to relax. Her sister's breathing started to even out and Skye hoped that she was starting to fall back asleep. Stretching up, she pressed a kiss to her sister's cheek before whispering, "You can go to sleep Nattie, I'll protect you."
Skye settled back down and snuggled close to her sister. She kept her arms protectively wrapped around Natasha until she heard her sister's breathing even out and she was completely relaxed before Skye shut her eyes and fell back asleep.
When Skye opened her eyes, she blinked at the harsh lights of Natasha's room and slowly stretched out, being careful not to jostle her sister. When she rolled over and looked glanced at Natasha, she realized she hadn't needed to be careful because Nattie was already awake and staring at her. Skye gave her a bright smile and slowly reached forward and brushed Nattie's red hair away from her eyes, making sure her sister had enough time to stop her if she wanted to.
Natasha leaned into her touch and Skye stretched up so that she could press a kiss to her sister's cheek before sitting up. Nattie sat up with her and Skye studied her.
Her sister looked tired, like she hadn't gotten any sleep at all, and her eyes were a little puffy and looked haunted. Nattie didn't say anything and it was sort of unnerving but Skye knew how hard it could be to find the right words so she didn't mind.
They sat in companionable silence for a little while before Skye's tummy growled and she gave Natasha a sheepish look, "Let's go eat."
Nattie stared at her, like she was trying to understand the words, before nodding slightly.
Throwing the blankets off of them, Skye stood up, stretched, and reached back to intertwine her pinky with Natasha's. She tugged on her sister's hand until Nattie was standing beside her and then gently led her out of the room and downstairs.
It was worrying Skye how robotic Natasha's actions were, how she was just letting herself be led around without talking, but she didn't say anything about. She didn't want to make Nattie feel bad, she never wanted her sister to feel bad ever again, so she was going to try and make everything better.
Their dad was almost finished making breakfast and surprisingly, their mom was already downstairs with him. Her parents must have heard them coming down the stairs because both of them turned to greet them as she and Natasha walked into the kitchen.
May met them halfway and pulled Natasha into a hug. Skye was sort of in the way, she was partially squashed between her mom and her sister, but when she tried to move away, Nattie's grip on her pinky tightened so she stayed where she was. After a long moment, her mom loosened her grip on Natasha and leaned back a little, "Whenever you're ready to talk, we're here to listen, okay?"
Skye piped up, "Me too."
Nattie gave them a grateful look but stayed silent. Her dad walked up to them and pressed a kiss to Natasha's forehead before reaching down and ruffling Skye's hair. She grinned a little and pushed his hand away before tugging on Nattie's pinky, "C'mon, I'm hungry."
She pulled Natasha into the dining room and pushed her until she was sitting in a chair. Skye then dragged her chair as close to Natasha's as possible before plopping down. Their parents brought the food to the table and Skye automatically reached for a chocolate chip pancake and some strawberries. She was pouring syrup all over her pancake when she realized that Natasha hadn't moved.
Moving around in her seat so that she was kneeling on her chair, she reached for Natasha's plate and put a bunch of fruit on it before grabbing a piece of toast. It was kind of hard to get the strawberry jam all over the piece of toast, she got a little bit on the table too but she pretended not to notice, but she finally did and set the toast on Nattie's plate and pushed it in front of her.
Her sister stared at it for a little while before Skye pushed it even closer to her and said, "Eat." It was more like an order rather than a suggestion but it seemed to work because Nattie slowly reached for a grape and carefully ate it.
Happy that her sister was eating, Skye dug into her chocolate chip pancake.
Breakfast was a silent affair, with only Skye and her parents exchanging a few words, but Skye didn't mind. She just ate her food and occasionally pushed a piece of fruit towards Natasha until she ate it.
Once everyone was done and Skye determined that her sister had eaten enough, she pulled Nattie into the living room and guided her until they were both sitting on the couch. She grabbed a blanket from where it was hanging over the back of the couch and draped it over the both of them before picking up the remote, perusing through the DVR, and clicking on an episode of Cupcake Wars.
She set the remote back down, wiggled around until she was comfortable, grabbed Natasha's hand and held it on her lap, and watched the show. She didn't want to pressure Nattie into talking, she would do it when she was ready, she just wanted her sister to know that she was here for her.
They made it through four episodes before Natasha finally spoke.
Skye was in the middle of laughing at what one of the baker's had said when she heard Nattie clear her throat.
She didn't pause the show but she did look over to her sister and waited for her to say something.
Natasha glanced from the tv screen to her a couple of times before letting out a big breath and focusing on her, "The people I used to live with… they were bad."
Skye squeezed Nattie's hand and waited for her to continue.
Her sister nibbled on her lower lip for a second or two before saying, "Sometimes it was easier to just hide. If they couldn't find me, then nothing bad could happen. But one time I hid in the back of a bathroom closet and someone found me."
Nattie paused and blinked rapidly before going on, "They found me and locked me in there for… for I don't even know how long."
Her sister stopped talking and Skye scooted closer. She leaned her head against Nattie's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry Nattie."
Natasha shook her head, "It's not your fault. I just haven't had a nightmare like that in a long time. It was like I was back there."
Sitting up so she could look at her sister's face, she looked up at her earnestly, "It's okay now. You're safe and I won't let anything happen to you ever again."
Her sister gave her a half-smile, the first one since last night, "Thanks Skye."
She let go of Nattie's hand so that she could put her hands on each of her sister's cheeks, "I mean it, I'll keep you safe."
Natasha started at her for a minute before pulling her into a tight hug. Skye leaned into the embrace and felt her sister rest her chin on Skye's shoulder, "Right back at you маленькая звезда."
What'd you guys think? I really liked writing this chapter out even though it was kind of dark. Good luck to everyone who'd going through exams right now! xx -Ariel
