A/N: ok, I got this baby done today and I swear, I didn't know I could make this song's theme really angsty...so...without further ado, here's day 2!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avengers. They belong to their respective owners. I only own the OC, Madison Murdock.

*Trans Siberian Orchestra (Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24)*

Natasha watched as the team was mingling with one another at one of Tony's extravagant parties being held at the Avengers Tower. She sips on her mixed cocktail that she personally made herself, seeing that she won't want anyone else to mix something for her taste buds. She sighs to herself as her mind wanders from her sparse memories of the holidays...then again, could anyone blame her for not having that many good memories of the Christmas spirit when, for most of the time, she was on assignment for either S.H.I.E.L.D. or with the Red Room?

She can recall the red on her hands and her ledger as faint ghosts of each kill play over and over in her mind, the faces of each assassination while she was a part of the Russian underground spy/assassin group triggering some sort of anxiety that the redhead could feel creeping along on her subconscious. She, at any other time, would be able to bottle them down easily and hold it off for her gym time...but, now? It wasn't going to go away so soon. She gripped the glass in her hand a bit tighter than before, her heart rate increased a little bit ever so slowly, her chest taking a quicker intake of breath rising a bit too.

She was so into her thoughts that she didn't notice anyone coming up to her until she heard her name being called.

"Nat? You ok?"

Nat is brought back to the present moment and looks over to find Madison looking at her with concern. She gave the petite brunette a small side grin and nods her head once.

"Я, немного удивлена. Не волнуйся за меня," Nat replied in her native tongue. [I am, little wonder. Nothing to worry your noggin about me.]

Madison shook her head as she heard Nat call her by the nickname given to the young Avenger by the Russian ex-assassin herself as a contact on Nat's phone.

"You know...one of these days, you're going to have someone talk back to you in Russian and it's going to surprise ya out of left field," Madison said as she leaned back on the bar and took a sip of her Shirley Temple.

Nat raised an eyebrow at the brunette's drink choice, which she only got a shrug back from the other woman.

"I got the short stick on who was going to be designated driver tonight...besides, you know that I hardly drink at one of these parties," the petite woman answered as she played with the glass in her hand. "Inoltre, perché ho bisogno di bere in modo da avere un buon tempo? Riesco a vedere altre persone fanno un ridicolo di se stessi ed è divertente per guardare le loro facce più tardi dopo che ho mostrare loro farlo mentre ubriaco," she added in Italian after finishing her drink in one gulp. [Besides, why do I need to drink in order to have a good time? I get to see other people make a fool of themselves and it's funny to watch their faces later after I show them doing so while drunk.]

Natasha laughed as she nodded in agreement to what the brunette meant with her comment.

"Well, it looks like I gotta start early...feel free to stop by my room later to talk about what's troubling you, Красного. No one should be holding back any suppressed angst during the holidays," Madison said before she walked off to start bringing people back to their floors.

Natasha furrowed her brows a bit before remembering that Madison was renowned for just picking up people's emotions like an open book. She remembered the petite woman stating that it just happens every now and again and that she had no control over that. At least, Madison was able to pick the right words to let others know that she knew of their feelings and would respect them if they so wanted to voice it out or not. Finishing the last of her drink, she placed the glass down on the bar counter and sighed as she made her way to Madison's floor, hoping to get a taste of the expensive vodka Madison had gotten the week before from her usual liquor store. Maybe...just maybe, Nat could drink away the harsh echoes of her past for just one night...let her deal with them another time.

A/N: 2 down, 23 more to go! Wish me luck, folks.