"Jarvis, can you notify me if any noise comes from Katya's room after 1:30 AM."
"Of course Miss Romanoff." The AI assistant responded while Natasha put her toothbrush away. Quietly, she crawled into bed and fell into a light sleep.
Though only a few hours into her rest she heard the monotone voice in the darkness of her room.
"Miss Romanoff, I have detected a large amount of noise and movement from Miss Smirnova's room."
"Ugh, what are you up to, you little weasel." She jumped out of bed, and grabbed a gun just in case. Her room was locked, but Natasha was prepared, she had a key and quickly unlocked it. She entered the room, it was quiet, the bed's sheets were crumpled, and empty still. The bed was still warm, so Natasha figured Katya had moved only very recently, the window showed no signs of being opened, and the bathroom was empty. She was about to leave and check the hall, when she heard a mumble. She moved around the room and the mumbles turned to cries. She walked around the room until the cries became clearer, carefully she laid down on the floor and looked underneath the bed. Katya was curled up in a fetal position, her back facing Natasha. She sobbed quietly, not yet aware of Natasha's presence.
"Katya." She whispered, but the girl gave no response.
"Hey, it's just me. Nothing is going to happen to you, I swear." Natasha shimmied under the bed, and rubbed the girl's shoulder.
"Now, I'm gonna get you out of here. Okay?" The girl said nothing. Gently, Natasha pulled her out so that they both lay on the floor. The girl was still curled up and crying, with her eyes tightly shut. They were both covered in dust and dark grey spider webs that inhabited the dark space between the bed and the floor. Natasha stood up and looked down at the girl who was now trembling. Katya opened her eyes and stared up at Natasha with sheer terror in her eyes. Natsha pulled the girl up to her feet. Natasha wrapped an arm around the girl and opened the door. She led her across the hallway and went into her own room.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Was all that Katya said, she covered her face in her hands while Natasha got her to lay down on the bed.
"It's not your fault. People keep telling you it's okay, but it's not. I know. The way you and I grew up wasn't like anybody else here. We're more scarred than most."
"Does this happen to you?" She asked sheepishly.
"It did, for a long time. It still does sometimes…"
"When will it stop?"
"I'm sorry, It will take a long time to recover, even then there is no cure. You can stay with me for the night if it will make you feel any better." The girl just cried and nodded. Natasha wiped off the girl's tears with her sleeve, then got into bed and waited for the girl to fall asleep. Katya pulled her knees close to her chest and continued to shake, as she tried to focus on the scenery out the window. Natasha stroked the girl's back, trying to comfort her. Finally, at about 4:30 in the morning Katya's breathing slowed and became more relaxed and rhythmic. Unknowingly, Katya rolled over and pressed closer to Natasha, she lay her head on Natasha's shoulder. Unconsciously this girl craved love and the presence of someone else. Natasha soon fell asleep too, surprisingly comforted by Katya's warmth and company. Unfortunately, the long night didn't end there. Natasha woke up 3 more times to Katya thrashing around. Natasha would wake her up and wrap her arms around her until she fell asleep again.
Finally, at about 7:30, Natasha got up, and went to make breakfast while Katya continued to sleep. She sipped coffee while she flipped an egg in a pan.
"You're up early." Clint said behind her.
"Aren't I always?" She said.
"Yeah, I guess." Clint chuckled.
"Have you seen your mini-me yet?"
"Yeah, all night long."
"What?"
"I had Jarvis inform me if there was any noise coming from her room in the middle of the night. I woke up at 2:00, I thought she was trying to escape."
"Was she?"
"No, she was terrified. I found her hiding under the bed, shaking."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure, probably a nightmare or hallucination, or something."
"Where is she now?"
"I brought her to my room, she's sleeping right now."
"Sounds like someone needs therapy." Clint said. Natasha just glared at him.
"So, what's the plan with her anyway?"
"Well, she's currently the only one who knows what the Red Room is like now, so we're hoping she'll help us locate and destroy it for good. Fury wanted to get started right away, but I persuaded him to give her more time to recover. She's really underweight and has problems trusting people if you can believe that."
"She sounds a lot like someone else I know." Natasha playfully hip checked him while she sat down at the table with her breakfast.
"Any advice for me, Papa bear?"
"Advice about what?"
"I don't know, getting a kid to fall asleep."
"Read her one of your mission reports, that ought to bore her to sleep."
"I'm serious Clint."
"Well, Coop had trouble sleeping when he was a newborn, we used to open the window and let the fresh air put him to sleep. The only problem is the girl is like what, 18, a trained assassin, and the city has little to no fresh air."
"First of all she is 15, secondly none of that was helpful."
"Well, I don't know, I don't have any experience with teenagers. Why don't you get her something to comfort her, remind her of home, that might help."
"That's a good idea, but it's hard for someone who was raised in Satan's orphanage to feel at home. I could handcuff her to the bed, but that just seems cruel."
"What? What sane person handcuffs little girl's to their beds?"
"Any teacher at the Red Room."
"How did you sleep at night?"
"Very lightly, and with my hand chained to the headboard."
"Cozy." Was all Clint said.
"What's going on guys?" Steve said as he entered the kitchen and sat on Natasha's other side.
"We're talking about how Nat here grew up by being chained to her bed each night."
"Oh, how, unpleasant." Steve said, clearly unnerved.
"Yeah, it was a real bummer." Natasha said as she rose and put her dishes in the dishwasher. She trusted Clint, she had known him for a long time, but she tried to avoid talking about her childhood, if you could call it that, as much as possible.
"I'm gonna go make sure she hasn't burrowed under the bed... again." Steve stared after Natasha until she disappeared into her room, then gave Clint a puzzled look.
"I'll explain later."
Katya was still asleep when Natasha went inside. She still slept the same way she did when they were younger. Her knees were slightly bent, and she rested her head in her hands, one covered her eyes, and the other rested on her cheek. Natasha sat at her desk and began writing an email to Fury describing her progress.
To: Nick Fury ( 50 )
From: Natasha Romanoff ( )
Director Fury,
We are approaching the first full day of Katya staying with us. So far, she has cleaned herself, changed into clean clothes, and eaten dinner. She had a rough night last night though, at 2:00 AM I was awoken by Jarvis alerting me that there was a large amount of movement and noise coming from her room. I assumed she was trying to escape, but she was not. I found her curled up under a bed crying, from what I can only assume to be a nightmare or hallucination. Though I am no psychologist, I think that she may have some symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I would recommend therapy and maybe even medication, but if she is anything like me when I first arrived I doubt she will open up. I brought her into my room and waited for her to fall asleep, which she did eventually, but she continued to awaken violently, at least three times. Other than that I have not found the girl to be aggressive, or untruthful, in any way. She simply seems to be shy and scared. Though she did keep glancing at the desk drawer in her room, I suspect she might be hiding something. I will investigate and let you know if I find anything. Overall, she seems to be adjusting fairly well. She even spoke to Barton briefly yesterday, I hope she will meet the rest of the team today. I'll let you know if anything changes.
Agent Romanoff.
A few minutes after Natasha had sent her email, Katya was thrashing around again.
She mumbled incoherent words in her sleep. Natasha quickly shook her awake. She sat up in bed, startled. She looked up at Natasha with a confused look in her eyes. Then, she launched herself at Natasha, the training she had received automatically took over, despite what Katya may have really meant to do. Natasha quickly overpowered the girl, and sat on her chest, pinning her wrists to the floor. The girl blinked a few times, the once blurry, distorted vision of Natasha became clearer. Her expression almost immediately changed from focused and aggressive to fearful.
"Where am I?" She asked.
"You're in the Avengers compound. Remember?" Katya looked around the room, while Natasha still sat on her chest, starting to remember the previous night's events.
"Yeah, that's starting to sound familiar." Then, she registered that she was on the floor Natasha, pinning her down, and she put the pieces together.
"I'm...I'm so sorry I didn't mean to attack you. Are you hurt?" Natasha was touched, this girl was no assassin, she had a kind soul that had to be buried while she tried to survive the horror that was the Red Room.
"No, I'm fine. Do you want to talk about your nightmare?"
"No."
"Okay, how about we go get you something to eat?" Katya nodded shakily as Natasha stood up, and helped the girl to her feet. They walked down to the kitchen, Katya hesitantly walking a few steps behind her. Katya became surprised and afraid to see all the Avengers in the space. Though, they seemed rather normal in their pajamas watching TV and eating breakfast. Steve was first to notice them.
"It's nice to meet you, Katya. I'm Steve." They shook hands, and she smiled shyly. Tony quickly pushed Steve out of the way, excited by someone new, another puzzle to solve, another friend to tease.
"Hi, yeah ignore Captain Underpants over there. Tony Stark, billionaire, Iron Man, owner of Stark Industries. Tell me your hopes, your dreams, your aspirations, your darkest secrets." He said all whilst shaking her hand.
"Tony, down boy. Katya, you don't have to do any of that. Tony just wants something to tease you with." Natasha said dryly.
"Thor, God of Thunder. Nice to meet you lady Katya." He said as he shook her hand.
"Dr. Bruce Banner." Was all Bruce said as she shook his hand. Then, everyone went back to their own business. Katya sat at the breakfast counter.
"What do you want to eat?" Natasha asked.
"I don't care." She replied quietly.
"Okay, eggs and toast it is." Natasha turned to prepare the girl breakfast, while Steve quietly tried to converse.
"So, um. Where are you from?" Steve didn't know how to start, but the question seemed harmless enough. Katya pulled her sleeves down so that they covered her hands and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Well, I was born in Russia, though I'm not exactly sure where. They never told me."
"That's cool." Of course Steve already knew this but he wanted to be polite.
"You don't sound Russian." Steve said lightly.
"Yeah, I was trained to blend in anywhere." She said simply, a hint of sadness in her light hazel eyes. The conversation ceased to an awkward silence.
"Here you go." Natasha said as she set the plate in front of Katya.
"Thanks, Natalia." At this everyone around her froze including Natasha. Tony casually slunk over, a vexatious smirk on his face.
"What did she just call you, killer?"
"Natalia." She said, staring nowhere in particular.
"What is that a nickname or something?" Bruce asked.
"No." Clint replied, knowing more about Natasha's past than the rest and how significant the name was. Natasha blinked her eyes and looked at Bruce, making him slightly uncomfortable.
"It's my birth name. Natalia, Alianova, Romanova." Then, she turned and looked at Katya.
"I haven't been called that in years. I go by Natasha now." She explained quietly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"It's fine. I'm gonna go get dressed now." She said as she walked down the hall and into her room, more quickly than she might have normally. Katya ate her breakfast quietly, listening to the dull voice of the news anchor. When she was done, she went over to the sink and washed her dishes, happy to have something to do, something to focus on. She felt guilty about using Natasha's real name, but she didn't know what else to call her. Everyone seemed to call her Nat, which she assumed was short for Natalia. She felt so guilty, as soon as she put her dishes away, she went off to her room and changed. She put on a pair of black leggings, and a navy quarter zip, long sleeved shirt with the same bird logo on the shoulder that Hill had worn. She tied her hair into a ponytail on the top of her head, then rushed down the hall and into the elevator.
"What floor Miss Smirnova?" Jarvis asked in his monotone voice.
"The lowest floor I have access to." Katya replied, knowing she could probably only go to certain places.
"Okay, going down to floor negative 56." Katya took a deep breath as she felt the elevator descend, and the familiar tightening sensation in her chest. Finally, she got off onto a floor, the lights flickered overhead, and there were just shelves upon shelves of boxes filled with files. Katya tried to walk or run her worry, guilt, and fear away. A habit she had formed to stop her nail biting in the Red Room. Madame B. had preferred it because it built up her speed, endurance, and kept her emotions in check. She found the beginning of the isles and slowly snaked her way up and down each of them. She spent the next 3 hours running up a stairwell she found. She began to relax to the rhythmic slapping of her sneakers against the concrete. A sweat began to break out on her forehead, and she took a nearby elevator back to the compound, exhausted and in need of water.