Thanks so much for all of the reviews/follows/and favs! Glad Kawherp liked the choice of doll! And, yes, she will let them in and tell them about her past but she has to work up to it. So far she's not sure what to make of all of them and she'll have to trust the Avengers before she starts telling them about her past.
And to answer my favorite question, I am neither a Clintasha shipper not a Romanrogers shipper. I'm a BuckyNat shipper. A couple of years ago I was reading Ed Brubaker's run o the Winter Soldier and he went into detail about their past love lives and I got to say Bucky and Natasha is my OTP, next to Rogue and Gambit. Their whole secret love affair (look it up if you have to) was great and how they still loved each other years later and just the chemistry he wrote between the two made me ship them. Of the other two, I'd have to say Clintasha reigns supreme over Romanrogers for me. I've actually considered having Bucky appear in this story because of their past relationship (he taught her while she was in the Red Room, plus they were in love) but I don't know how you guys would feel about that. If anyone wants it tell me and I'll find a way to work him in! If not, he can stay far away.
The next morning Natasha awoke without the doll in her arms and had a sudden thought that it had all been a dream. She felt a lump form in her throat and sighed, drawling her knees up to her chest. They bumped against something and she lifted the covers to look. The doll was lying face down and forgotten by her. She reached down and grabbed it, plucking at he doll's rumpled dress.
An infinite glow of happiness settled through her and as she got up and got dressed she set the doll on the pillows so she could look at it.
After a moment of indecision she decided to leave the doll in the room while she went to breakfast. She didn't want to risk getting anything on it.
Bruce and Clint were in the kitchen, Clint had tried to make pancakes but a mess had ensued and now Bruce was trying to fix the situation without being too critical.
"You sleep okay?" Clint asked.
She nodded and gave him a smile. "Thank you." She said again.
He laughed. "You already said that."
She looked at him, a small smile playing her lips. Sometimes he seemed simple to her. Not dumb or anything but a little simple.
She took a seat and Bruce distributed the pancakes. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
She ate quietly while Bruce and Clint talked. There seemed to be a lack of communication between them. Natasha noticed it right away. It was like they couldn't find that many things to talk about. She listened to their polite conversation quietly.
After breakfast she went back to her room, made her bed and picked up the doll again, bringing it to the living room and setting it on the window sill next to her. She had little interest in the television but didn't mind it on. She sat for a while looking through an atlas and noting some minor differences from maps she had looked at before. She thought she might ask about them later. The atlas had pictures of different cities in the back. She liked those.
When that lost it's interest she sat back and played with the doll for a while, smoothing her dress and moving the arms.
Bruce spotter her and leaned over the couch she was sitting on. "Do you like the doll?"
She nodded. "Very much."
"That's good. It's a classic doll."
She cocked her head to the side. "What does that mean?"
"Oh, well it's a doll that's been around for a while."
She nodded. "It's a rag doll." She realized that he was probably an incredibly intelligent person and wanted him to know that she was smart too.
He smiled. "Yeah."
"Do you want anything?" He asked, standing back up.
"Could I have something to drink."
Bruce nodded, glad she was asking for things. Over the past few days she had not asked for anything and she was already impossible to read at six years old.
He went and got her some juice and crackers. "Thank you." She said, picking up her box of crayons and pad of paper. She drew for a while more before Clint showed up sweaty from the training room and made her some lunch.
"Guess you're getting pretty board?" He said. He himself had been unable to sit still as a kid.
She shrugged but yes, she was. He tapped his fingers on the table, trying to think of something they could do. "Want to go swimming?"
She looked up curiously.
"We have a pool. C'mon, it'll be fun."
"I do not have a swimming suit." She said.
He faltered, even as a little girl she was always thinking of the things he missed. "Well we can go get one."
She nodded and finished her lunch. "Let's go."
They headed out and took a cab to a department store. All along the ride Natasha had the same reaction to the city. She was totally captivated by the buildings and people but tried very hard not to show her excitement.
Once in the store her reaction was much the same. She was stunned by the pretty clothes and brightly light make up and jewelry counters. She had never been in a department store like this and it occurred to her that she had never really been anywhere. Her life had been confined to the Red Room and the Widow training facilities. A life of utter routine and vigilance. Any time she was not there she was surrounded by hardened soldiers there to teach her to love the horrors of war.
This brightly light shop was another world. Clint had to drag her away from a row of women's coats. She had never seen such pretty clothes.
"Come on, kids over here." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder to guide her. She reluctantly followed.
The kids clothing were less to her liking. They were bright and sparkly and nothing like the clothes she was used to. Clint had bought her plane clothes. She had been used to that. She liked a dark blue coat. It was cut in a retro style close to what she had seen an attractive nurse maid wear once.
Noticing her eyes linger on the coat Clint grabbed it. "You want it?"
"No." She said softly, embarrassed that he had seen her looking.
"Sure you do."
"You don't have to spend your money."
"It's not mine. It's Tony's, he's rich."
She hesitated and then looked down at the floor, not sure of what to say. "I have a coat."
He grinned. "But this one's prettier." Still seeing her troubled expression he knelt in front of her. "Listen Nat, sometimes it's okay to get things you don't need. Especially when you can afford it. It's good to save but make yourself happy once in a while."
She looked up at him, liking the words he was saying. "Okay." It was a huge demand for her to agree. It went against her teachings.
A few racks over they found a bathing suit she deemed good enough and were back out on the street shortly after. "Anything you wanna do before we go back?" He asked.
She shrugged coyly. "This is New York City. Could we see the statue of Liberty?"
He frowned, thinking about it. "I don't see why not. It'll be a bit of a drive but sure." They took another cab across town. After hearing Natasha speak the cab driver asked if they were tourists.
"Nah. I live here." Clint said. "And she lives here too."
Natasha was eager to take the ferry to Liberty Island. She was intensely curious about a monument so famous. She had heard stories of America all of her life but so far it had been vastly different from what she had heard. And the people too had been kind. It didn't make sense to her.
They stepped off the ferry and she looked up at the statue. "Can we go inside?"
"Sure." They made their way up a spiral stair case and up to the statue's crown. Clint had to hold Natasha so that she could see out of the windows. She stared out at New York across the water and then around at the metal interior. "You like the view?" He asked.
She nodded. "Yes." The truth was that it was a foggy day she she could only barely see the city skyline. But still, she could imagine it was a pretty sight. She had a good imagination. She tapped his arm to tell him that he could put her down. "It would be nice to have a picture." She mused.
He grinned and pulled out his phone. "I can take a picture with this."
She looked at it curiously before pointing to the window. "Will you take one of the city, please?"
"Sure." He snapped two and they made their way back down the spiral staircase. Outside he asked her to stand in front of the statue and he took a picture of her. She did not smile and instead looked directly into the camera, eyes intense.
The intensity of the picture threw him for a moment before he realized that she seldom smiled into a camera, even as an adult. He pushed aside the thought and motioned the girl forward so they could look in a small gift center. She walked carefully, with even strides and her hands between her back, looking at everything and trying to decide something she would like, he had told her to pick something out. She looked at several pretty post cards and a small snow globe. Eventually she brought him the snow globe questioningly and he grinned, saying it was a good pick.
In the cab back she sat and shook the globe, making the snow float up and fall. It almost reminded her of home and she felt a twinge of guilt again.
You should see the statue in the winter, it looks really cool with snow every where." Clint said.
"Does it snow a lot here?"
"Yeah, in New York it does. Places like California don't get as much. Some places in the south it doesn't snow at all."
"I have never been to a place where it doesn't snow. I wonder what it's like."
He shrugged. "Sunny, warm. Nice."
She looked at him and smiled a little. She thought he was funny. "Like a beach?"
"Yeah, like Florida. Parts of Florida don't get snow. At least I'm pretty sure they don't."
She shook the globe again and then looked at the time on his phone. "I think we are out of time for swimming,"
He checked the time too and shrugged. "Well we have a suit so we can do that tomorrow."
She nodded. "You have a pool?"
"It's Tony's house, it's got everything."
She sat back. "I liked the ferry. It was lovely."
He couldn't help but smile. "Great! We'll find something else fun to do another time."
"Did you have fun?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I had a really good time."
"I am glad."
That night when they returned and ate dinner with Thor, who was the only other person to make it back for the night, Natasha was surprised to encounter a very enjoyable meal of pizza. She had not thought she would like it and found herself pleasantly surprised.
Steve returned after dinner and she watched him beadily. She still didn't know what to make of him. When he approached her she grew tense.
But out of all the things she could expect him to do he did the last. He pulled a brightly wrapped box from behind his back. "I got this for you."
She took it reluctantly and fingered the bow on top. "It is a present?" She felt her chest well up. She had never received an actual gift before. Not one with a bow and paper. She almost didn't want to open it.
"Yeah." He said with a smile. "Go on, open it."
With trembling fingers she peeled off the paper, eager not to tear it. Inside was not a box but a book instead. "The Secret Garden." She read. It was in Russian.
"I um. . . I remembered the book and I thought you might like it. Some girls I knew when I was a kid liked it a lot. It's about a little girl who has to leave her home in one place and go and live in another."
"How did you find a copy in Russian?"
"Oh I had Tony order it. I went and picked it up before coming back here."
She was really touched. Not only had he thought of her he had found one in Russian just for her. She swallowed and opened the book to look at the illustrations. They were very pretty and she loved the images of beautiful gardens and shining pools. "Thank you." She said, a slight lump in her throat.
He smiled. "Well tell me what you think when you start."
She nodded, still feeling uneasy. She had never gotten a present before and this was a really nice one. She ran her fingers over the cover and wondered if she was being unfair to Clint. He had bought her a doll and a snow globe but they hadn't come with paper and a bow. That was what made things real presents. She hugged the book to her chest just to make sure it was real.
Steve started to pick up the paper and she stopped him. "Could I keep it?"
He nodded. "Sure. You know, we used to reuse wrapping paper. I think some people still do."
"That sounds efficient." She privately thought that if she ever had anything to give to another person she would wrap it up and put a bow on it just the same so that they would know it was a present.
That night before bed she lay her new things out on the foot her her bed and sat looking at them. The book, the snow globe, the box of crayons, her pad of paper and her doll. She lay them out neatly to look at them. Tucked into her dresser was the wrapping paper and bow. She couldn't believe that these things were hers.
It made her happy and as she set the box, globe and paper aside and curled into the covers she opened the book.
"When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen."
She thought that she would like the story. Mary was a little girl like her. Separated from the world and without friends. But, she also thought, that was changing for Mary and as she turned the page she wondered, maybe it was changing for her as well.
Thanks for reading! If there are any incorrections about the statue of liberty or New York I apologize. I'm going off movies and pictures, i have never been to New York and the closest I've ever been to the east cost was Baltimore two years ago. (Very pretty city).
So anyway, thanks for reading, I'm now off to watch the Daredevil tv show with my boyfriend. I have been waiting months to watch this, I really hope Charlie Cox plays a great Matt Murdock!