Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait, I had some stuff to take care of.
I hope you like this new chapter!
In which: Natalia gets out of her hospital room, and meets the team and Fury. Meanwhile, Peter isn't feeling so good. (Get it? Get it? Sorry but I had to.)
Without further ado...
Clint wheeled Natasha around the Stark Tower's medical wing, letting her take in the sights. She seemed particularly taken by the scientists rushing around the labs, working on blood samples, and whatever else Stark had tasked them to do.
Clint raised an eyebrow at the unusual behavior. Natasha hated labs. She hated scientist, she hated doctors, she hated everything that had to do with them.
Tiny Natasha seemed quite taken with the world of science and medicine.
"You like that?" Clint asked her with a huge smile on his face. He knew that when his Natasha got a little older, she was stripped of all her hobbies, likes and dislikes, and desires. A perfect weapon did not preferences, and therefor did not have a personality. It turned them into unhuman killing machines, and thus, perfect assassins. When his friend explained that to him one day, with cold detachment, when he asked her what her favorite food was, he was more than taken aback.
He was very glad that he could help Natalia develop her own personality. He wanted her to be as human as possible. He wanted her to live. He wanted her happy.
He also figured that if Natalia seemed attracted by some things, then she hasn't been experimented with, or tortured yet. He found himself immensely comforted by that thought.
She looked a bit embarrassed. "Kind of."
She didn't offer any other explanation, and he didn't ask. He felt that the trust she put in him was fragile, at best. He had to work his ass off to earn it, and strengthen it. But he wasn't worried. He has wormed his way into her heart once, he can do it again, no problem. He was Clint Barton, after all, known charmer, with his characteristic smile, and his boyish, endearing demeanor. That's what got her the first time -that, and she probably considered him a dumb kitten following her around, completely enamored with her. She wasn't wrong- and he was sure it would work a second.
He rolled her to the elevator, and pressed the call button.
He figured he could whip up a quick sandwich for her, since the doctor deemed it safe to let her ingest solid foods. She had bewildered them with the amount progress she had made within a couple of hours. Her wounds were already closing, and the burn on her arm that she got when she tried to shield her chest was almost invisible.
They waited for the elevator together, while Clint whistled a random song.
Natalia looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. "How do you do that?!" She asked, excited, almost looking like a normal kid- if not for the bandages on her torso, and her arm. He also noticed that she had a missing tooth. He almost melted into a puddle. She was just so freaking adorable.
He winked at her, and wanted to answer, but the elevator dinged, and opened, revealing the Avengers, Pepper, and Nick Fury inside.
Clint suddenly didn't feel very confident in his decision to get her out of bed.
The heroes, meanwhile -minus the people who've already seen her- were shocked beyond words.
It was Fury who snapped out of it first, and crouched down on the floor to be at eye-level with Natalia. He had such an open expression on his face that Clint did a double take. And were those… tears in his eyes?
He had always known that his best friend and the director had an… uncanny relationship. He just didn't know to what extent.
He didn't know that Natasha called Fury 'Pops' when no one was around. He didn't know that Fury called her his little sunshine, as much as that annoyed her. He didn't know how much she secretly loved it. He didn't know about the late nights playing scrabble, or discussing the team, or working together in a comfortable silence. He didn't know about the cooking lessons they took together, following some tutorials on YouTube, or how Natasha was the only person Fury refused to wear his eyepatch around.
And he would never know. Fury had made sure of that. But seeing her like that… he didn't know if he could keep up the facade of the cold, serious director any longer. His little sunshine. In pain. Burned. Her chest carved with blasts of pure energy. She could've died. She could've died.
His teeth gritted, and he took a deep breath. He would kill Stark later. He thought that he had his anger under control, but seeing her like that-
He shook his head, and smiled a little when he saw her fiddle with a device in her lap, bringing it up to her ear, and fixing it there.
"Hello," she said, although with a little apprehension. She seemed to gain a bit of confidence, when Clint put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
Nick smiled a watery smile, and presented his hand to her. "Hello there, little Natalia. I don't know if you remember me, but my name is Nick. I'm your… Friend. Your friend." The words seemed to actually hurt the older man, and the heroes had to bite back cringes and winces of sympathy.
Natalia simply smiled back at him shyly, and shook his hand.
She then turned her attention to Tony, who was standing in the back, trying to look as invisible as possible.
"I- uh…" She wrung her hands in her lap, and the Avengers simply found her to die for. The girl, be it in her adult or her younger form, seemed to have the gift of seduction.
The Avengers, especially Pepper, Fury, and Peter, weren't immune to her charms.
Her chubby, rosy cheeks contrasted against her pale skin. Her fiery red hair fell like a curtain around her face, in wavy, long strands that nearly touched the base of her spine. She actually had freckles, for god's sake. She was the epitome of cuteness.
"I'm sorry I attacked you, mister…" She whispered, obviously ashamed of what she did. "I couldn't- remember? And I felt… s-scared. I-"
"Hey, it's okay, Firecracker," Tony said, the nickname rolling off his tongue in a natural way. "I did something pretty bad too. I'm sorry I… blasted you. You're just pretty spooky when you want to."
He felt the compelling need to comfort her, though he didn't know exactly why. She was just so- ugh. It was just guilt, he reassured himself. He just felt guilty for nearly killing her. He wasn't falling in love with the little girl. He definitely wasn't. Nope, nuh-uh.
Then, she smiled a little brighter. Crap, I'm totally a goner.
"It's okay. It wasn't very painful." She shrugged in a way that made the rest of them shudder. If that wasn't very painful-
"What do you mean, Talia?" Clint kneeled in front of her, taking her hands in his. She seemed to like it when he rubbed them with his thumbs slowly, so he did just that, and she relaxed a fraction.
"Water… is worse." She fell silent, her gaze dropping to the floor. They didn't know what she meant by that, but they felt like they would find out soon.
There was an awkward pause, everyone either looking at Natasha, or at Fury, who was wiping his eye as quickly as he could.
Then, a loud grumble echoed in the hallway. Their heads all turned towards Natalia, who merely blushed, and hung her head.
Clint laughed. "I was on my way to make her a sandwich. Shall we?" He nodded to the vast elevator, more than capable of holding all of them, and then some.
A few minutes later, they were all seated in the lounge on the main floor, some sprawled on beanbags, others hogging couches, or even laid down on the carpet.
Natalia was still in her wheelchair, stationed just next to Peter.
Noises of cutlery and cupboards snapping open and shot were heard from the kitchen, signs that Clint and Pepper were hard at work preparing dinner.
Peter kept glancing at Natalia out the corner of his eye, while she preoccupied herself with a Rubik's cube she found on the coffee table, in the middle of the room.
It was Bruce's, but the Doctor didn't have the heart to deny her when he saw her look at it curiously. He really wanted to finish it on his own. He had been craving a challenge for a while, and this cube -a gift from Tony- came as exactly that.
The little girl didn't seem to find it all that challenging, and she grasped the concept quite quickly. She was well on her way to solving it.
Thor and Tony were even placing bets. The doctor was slightly inclined to join them.
Peter gave up on trying to look subtle, and started to fully stare at Natalia. She was worlds away from becoming Natasha, his Natasha, his spider mom. This kid didn't even know him.
He felt his heart constrict at the thought. Who would make him breakfast every morning, and drive him to school in her super cool car now?
They had developed a kind of routine, Natasha and him. Her schedule at S.H.I.E.L.D coincided with his, so they agreed that she would drop him off at school every morning, instead of bothering Happy every time, or taking the bus. That, and Peter hated the yellow, hellish vehicle with all of his being.
The fact that Natasha drove a Corvette was a plus, too.
He thought of all the sparring sessions they weren't going to have, and the dance lessons that she had promised him. His heart clenched further.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, and bolted to the elevator, quickly going up to his room.
Natalia's head snapped up in curiosity. "Why did he go?" She asked aloud, but only got shrugs from the team and an 'I don't know, kid' from Tony.
She continued working on her cube.
Tony leaned towards Bruce, worry etched on his face. "Do you think I should go after him?"
Bruce sighed. He knew that Natasha's… predicament wasn't going to be easy on Peter. "I think he just needs some space. Don't worry about him, he'll come around."
He understood Tony's worry, especially after the kid's aunt had to travel to Canada for a job, leaving him with the heroes. He wasn't very shaken because of her sudden loss, as they communicated every day via texting and frequent facetiming, but the loss of another mother figure apparently did not sit well with the teenager.
Tony just nodded, and was about to say something else, but was interrupted by Pepper calling them for dinner.
They all settled around the table, Natalia between Fury and Clint. The silverware and the porcelain plates started clinking around as they were passed from a person to another.
Pepper smiled gently at Natalia, who looked up at her through her eyelashes shyly.
"What would you like, Natalia?" The strawberry blonde asked gently, convinced that Natalia wasn't going to lash out at her like she did before.
She looked confused. Pepper suddenly felt a little embarrassed, but she didn't understand exactly why. She just felt like she shouldn't have asked.
Clint winced visibly, confirming Pepper's fears. She definitely shouldn't have asked.
"You really should try some salad, it's really good," Pepper encouraged with an easy smile, masking the discomfort she felt.
Clint had to give it to her, she was very clever. Saying that was neither an order, nor an open question. It was a suggestion, only meant to encourage the indecisive child. She figured that Natalia never had the opportunity to choose something for herself before- she was used to being ordered around like a robot.
Letting her choose something out right was maybe a bit much for her, so suggesting something and letting her agree seemed like the smartest choice. She was right.
Natalia nodded slowly, eying the salad with masked -but there- curiosity.
She ate slowly, deliberately tasting and registering the taste in her palate.
'At least she isn't eating quickly and trying to hoard her food. She feels safe with us,' Clint thought with some relief.
He smiled at the child beside him, who smiled back with a bit of green stuck between her teeth. He almost felt the need to take a picture of her. Natasha would probably kill him, but then she would smile a bit, and that was all he needed to take out his phone to snap a quick picture without her noticing. The rest of the evening was spent suggesting some foods they knew the older her liked.
She ate them all with an enthusiasm they've never seen before from her. It made the evening lighter, and before they knew it, they were all seated in front of Stark's plasma tv, watching a rerun of Friends. Natalia was still playing with Rubik's cube silently, sitting unbelievably straight and still in her wheelchair. She was so stiff that Pepper was looking at her with concern. She was probably in pain, the poor thing.
She was very silent for a child her age, but it was understandable. She was still very skeptical of the story she was told. She couldn't believe that it was that easy to get out of the Red Room. And she was right, but they weren't about to tell her that. She hasn't voiced her concerns out loud but they knew they were there.
She kept silent mainly because she feared that she would be brought back to Russia. She was warm, she was fed, and she was relatively safe -at least till now. They were very nice to her, spoke to her in a gentleness unheard by her before. She vaguely remembered her parents treating her that way, but she couldn't remember their names- not even their faces were still engraved in her memory. She definitely did not want to go back to the torturous training, the soups, the cold cell she slept in-
She shook her head, and decided to focus on the task in front of her. Her tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration, she managed to finish the cube in the next ten minutes.
Stark passed Thor 10 bucks silently, before he grinned at Natalia.
"Hey, if you like puzzles and stuff like that, you can always ask Jarvis for some."
Natalia's head snapped up towards him, visibly intrigued.
"I'll show ya," Stark exclaimed, with his usual enthusiasm, before whistling sharply. "Jarvis, my boy, my man, what cool puzzles do you have for our little tsarina?"
Natalia actually blushed a little at the nickname. She looked up at the ceiling, obviously still aware that Jarvis is the A.I she conversed with beforehand.
"Sir, may I suggest Sudoku?" The British voice smoothly suggested, and a hologram of a Sudoku grid appeared in front of Natalia.
Her eyes lit up, and, after Jarvis explained how to play, she was hard at work to complete her first grid.
The heroes were observing her, endeared. She looked at ease, enjoying the puzzle in front of her. They had known that Natasha liked intellectual activities, like reading, crosswords, and whatnot, but they honestly did not expect that from Natalia.
The little girl played on, completing 3 grids before she yawned audibly, making Clint smile.
"You tired, Talia?" He approached her, crouching in front of her wheelchair.
She nodded, and smiled at him softly. "I like it here."
She was very drowsy, and Clint was sure she wouldn't have said it if she was 100% awake, but he was pleased nonetheless.
"Well, we like having you here, Lady Natalia," Thor boomed, and Natalia smiled when she heard him talk.
"You speak Russian?" She asked excitedly, looking slightly more awake.
"No, my lady, that is what we call Allspeak. You hear me speaking in Russian, but the others hear me expressing myself in English," he explained loudly, and Natalia nodded thoughtfully.
"But what do you hear?" She looked at him, her hand supporting her chin. She almost looked like a scholar, which made Clint chuckle. She was a curious little thing, and he was glad the Red Room had not snuffed that out of her yet.
"Well-"
"How about you continue this conversation tomorrow? You're falling asleep, Nat," Clint gently encouraged, already wheeling her away.
She pouted a little, then an expression of pure terror crossed her face. She immediately schooled her features in an emotionless mask, and Clint sighed inaudibly.
He was about to tell her that it was okay to express emotions, that they were not going to do anything to her, but he refrained himself. God knows that enough change happened for her in one day.
Though, her going to bed was a moment he dreaded. Older Natasha's nightmares kept her up all the time- she was pretty much an insomniac. She didn't even try to sleep anymore, she simply stayed behind after everyone turned in for the night, and continued reading whatever book she started the night before. A book never took her longer than two days- three, maximum.
She knew how to conceal the bags under her eyes skillfully, so it wasn't apparent for the rest of the team how little she actually slept, but he knew her better than most.
Sighing again, he wheeled Natalia into Natasha's bedroom.
Here it is! This chapter is dedicated to my sister (yo bro. I finished it, finally. Be proud of me.) and Magda, my awesome friend who deserves the world! Thanks for the support, both of you :3
Next up: Natalia, as expected, has a nightmare. She also finally meets Peter.
Okay, so since we got to the point where the plot is pausing a bit, please suggest scenes and situations to put little Nat in! I would love to hear your thoughts! (Please do, I have no ideas for the next chapters)
Reviews warm my heart :3
