Later that night, Natasha was laying down on Kate's bed staring at the ceiling silently, lost in thought. The sun was long gone, the moon lightly illuminating the otherwise dark room. It was a hard blow to learn that not only she was a decade ahead of her time, but also that her team, her family, were a priori unknown to the battalion. She didn't know what to think, what to feel.
Natasha should have known that she was going to be robbed of her life choices again, even after so many years. She had learned to be a weapon, used without remorse. The Red Room manipulated her, making her do the dirty work and staining her hands with so much blood that she could hardly remove the red stains. After escaping from this hell, she had finally managed to accomplish something good, something that helped her make amends for her sins. Helping people through S.H.I.E.L.D., risking her life with the Avengers...
Natasha was used to finding herself in unfamiliar territory and was very good at building a character to get what she wanted. But it was not a mission. Her instincts had always been her greatest ally and had saved her life many times but here she didn't know what to do. She didn't feel threatened at all, rather comfortable on this bed covered with soft sheets to the touch.
She was in a world that didn't knew her, where she never did anything wrong or bad. Maybe this was what she was looking for all along.
A soft knock on the door interrupted her line of thoughts, Kate's head popping inside.
"Hi. Can I come in?" the blonde whispered.
"Well, it is your room." said the redhead softly. Kate entered and closed the door behind her, the mattress sank a little when she lay down next to Natasha. They stayed in silence for a few minutes, the only noise being the steady breathing of the spy.
"Are you hungry?" asked the blonde.
"No." chuckled Natasha. "Are you?" she asked, turning her head to the side to watch the blonde.
"Why, you feel generous?" smirked the vampire. Natasha smirked back.
"Do you see me like a big squirrel or something?"
The blonde laughed. "Nah." Then added with a suggestive raise of eyebrows. "Not that you don't look good enough to eat, though."
Natasha turned on her side to face the vampire and playfully punched her shoulder. Kate turned to her side too and flashed her a smile, the redhead had to fight her own smile in response. They stayed like that for a while, just gazing in each other's eyes. Green lost in dark gold. The teasing smile had slipped from Kate's face, a satisfied one taking place. The spy raised a hand and let the tip of a finger trace the vampire's jawline, her cheekbones, forehead, her nose. She traced the soft lips who parted under her finger, finally stopping on the blonde's chin. She could feel the burning of Kate's eyes trying to catch hers but she kept her eyes down.
"Why do I feel like I've known you for all my life?" she whispered, not wanting to break the bubble they were in. Kate moved closer, took her hand in hers and placed a kiss on it.
"We are soulmates. Your soul recognizes mine even if your stubborn brain doesn't completely trust it." she said, smiling teasingly. "I know your heart beats faster when you see me. I can hear it speeding up when I smile at you, or when you tease me. I can hear your breath hitch when I'm close to you." she purred.
Natasha rolled her eyes, not phased at all by the poor flirting. "Yes, Kate, you are irresistible. I'm literally melting. Can't you see?" she said, flopping her arms around. A smile appeared on her face.
"Mm. Well, it seems I succeeded at making you smile at least." The blonde laughed.
"At what cost?" scoffed the redhead. Kate patted her on the arm and rolled her eyes.
"It wasn't that bad." she smiled. Natasha noticed how close they were, their nose almost touching. The vampire's eyes were fixed on her lips and she could swear she was leaning in. So, she hit Kate in the face with her (too long) sleeve and the blonde scrunched her nose, pushing the offending arm away.
"What was that for?" she whined.
"You were getting too comfortable." smirked Natasha. The blonde scoffed but didn't respond.
After a few minutes of silence, Kate got up on her elbows. "You should get under the covers, it's getting late." The redhead didn't argue, the long day had exhausted her. She slipped under the sheets and hugged a pillow to her head, breathing the sweet cinnamon and orange scent. Casting a glance at the vampire, she saw her look attentively.
"Comfortable?" the blonde asked.
"Mm, very." she whispered. Natasha's eyes were closing, weakly trying to fight the sleep. The mattress dipped when the vampire got up and Natasha felt cold lips on her cheek and a soft murmur that sounded like "Goodnight, my love." then, sleep took her.
"...okay, what about this one?" Kate put the t-shirt against herself to show it off. Natasha eyed her critically. Fashionable clothes in 2005 were not the same style as in 2015, not even close. The jeans were low rise jeans, not high waisted like she liked them and they liked to put on several layers with long sleeves and short sleeves t-shirts of different colors. All of it giving something horrible that the redhead did not want to wear at all. She mumbled a "ugly" and hurried away from the blonde who was already looking for another garment.
They decided that it would be easier for Natasha to have her own clothes and not Kate's because they were obviously too large and not her style. After two days of looking like Kate's doll, they took the car and went to the mall. Natasha couldn't be happier about it but the happiness quickly faded when she saw the clothes in the store. She was desperately trying to find clothes to her liking and avoided Kate and her horrible proposals like the plague. The store was not very crowded, a bunch of teens and a man who trailed behind his wife with a bored expression on his face. The vampire had apparently made it a mission to find her some outfits and she took it quite seriously.
Natasha managed to find a pair of black pants and a simple long sleeved white t-shirt which she liked well enough, she folded the clothes and kept searching. After a few minutes and more items found, Kate came next to her with her arms full of clothes and a big smile on her face.
"You're going to love what I found!" she said with visible glee and Natasha suppressed a groan at the sight. She casted a weary glance at the pile, as if the bright colors were annoying her.
"I see a little too much pink for the "Only black and brown, Kate" rule I gave you." the spy said with a bored expression. The blonde let out a "Oh!", threw the pile on the ground and started digging in it, visibly trying to find a specific item. Natasha had to turn her head away to stop the smile coming on her face, the blonde was annoying, yes, but she was also very cute. Like a little puppy.
Her heart was warming at the blonde after two full days with her and her family, she found herself become quickly attached to Kate, not wishing to be far away from the vampire, thinking of her from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed. It became almost embarrassing with how corny it was. If Clint knew, she would never live it down.
"Got it!" Kate threw her arms in the air in triumph and gave Natasha a black leather jacket, blazer style. The redhead raised an eyebrow, impressed. The jacket was quite long, rather fitted at the waist and had two front pockets. She liked it instantly. "Now this, I like." she smirked. She saw from the corner of her eyes a woman shaking her head with a hand over her mouth in disbelief, moving closer to them. "I'll let you handle the desperate saleswoman and go try everything I have." the proud look on Kate's face quickly faded as she glanced at the pile on the floor, then at the saleswoman, then at Natasha with a scared expression.
"Don't leave me with the angry lady." she whispered and took a step closer to the redhead. The spy smirked and took a step back. "I hope she doesn't kick you out, if we never see each other again..." she laughed and walked away quickly, not wanting to be in the war zone.
She spotted the fitting rooms and as she walked in she saw a young man in his underwear with a white short sleeved t-shirt knocking on the door of his fitting cabin. Casting a frightened look over his shoulder, he whispered/yelled "Hurry up, dude, someone's there."
Natasha smirked at the boy and when he saw her correctly, he had to take a second look, his eyes widening. He seemed to be in his early twenties with short black hair. "A boy or a girl?" said the voice behind the door. The mouth slightly agape, the boy gaped at the spy and muttered lamely. "A-a g-girl. I-I mean, uh, a-a woman?"
The redhead just smirked, clearly enjoying herself. A sound of metal on the floor came across the room. "Oh, shit, I dropped the key in the pile of clothes..." the guy behind the door said, clearly with a laugh. "WHAT?! Are you serious?" responded the other, clearly embarrassed.
Natasha took a step closer to the boy in his underwear and he turned towards her, joining his hands over his groin. "Hi, are you locked out or are you here for fun?" she said with a serious expression.
"Uhhh... No, a-actually, my friend lost the key. H-he licks, uh, looks, for it. He looks for the key." he stuttered. Just a second later, a romantic music was heard from the 'still' closed room.
Natasha had to suppress a smile and the boy looked more and more embarrassed by the second. "Ah, yes, he seems in a hurry to open the door for you." she said, still with no expression on her face. She took a step towards an empty fitting room and asked. "I'm Natasha. And you are?" The boy seemed lost and overwhelmed. "Uhh, I'm Adam." he said, looking at her like he couldn't believe she was talking to him.
"You have very cute underwear, Adam. I love it" she winked and closed the door, leaving a gaping young boy with dinosaurs' briefs staring at the empty space.
Sorry for the wait, I don't have much time to write. I hope you'll like this chapter, don't hesitate to comment, it makes me happy! Xoxo