(A/N: not me posting ch 3 on AO3 and completely forgetting to post on FFN)
Natasha was a simple person, it was just kill or be killed when it came to the Red Room. That was until she got her soulmark. That day, Madame B sliced the area where her soul words were and told Natasha that soulmates are useless, they only get you killed. And she believed it. But when she saw Clint and Laura, her perspective changed. Clint helped Natasha see that a soulmate is a person who is perfect for you. At first she disagreed saying that she didn't deserve a soulmate. Over time and the more soulmates she saw, Natasha thought that maybe she could have a soulmate and have someone to care for.
When Natasha got her soulmark, "Are the Avengers trying to capture me now too?" she was confused as hell as to what the 'Avengers' were. Then when she became an Avenger herself, she hoped that she would finally meet her soulmate.
••
Natasha and Clint got an alert from Tony about a very small Hydra base located in Houston, Texas. They were currently in the process of staking out the Hydra base and taking it down if possible. The pair of them were on a roof of a building watching a Hydra van. It left the facility and was currently parked outside of a local bar.
Clint being his impatient self asked, "Are you done yet?"
Natasha responded, "I'm not a magician, Clint. Hacking takes time and silence." with annoyance lacing her tone. "Got it! Connecting to their feed now."
"How long is she gonna be in there for?" Was heart over the hacked comms.
A response said, "Don't know but it looks like she just punched a guy."
Both Natasha and Clint looked at each other with confused looks.
The voice then informed, "She's coming out now, start the car."
Clint, still confused, asked, "Are they going to kidnap someone?"
Natasha responded, "I don't know, but it looks like we're going to find out."
Just as Natasha said that, a young woman walked out of the bar. Then a Hydra agent got out of the van and walked behind the woman. He then lifted his arm and was holding what looked to be a syringe. Not even a second later the woman walking went limp and the Hydra agent brought her back to the van.
When the door to the van closed they heard, "That's the enhanced ex-shield agent?"
"Yeah, gotta be careful with this one though. Rumors have it that she can cause earthquakes. Not to mention that SHIELD is also after her."
Clint immediately shut the laptop closed and stared at Nat with wide eyes. "The fuck..?" Clint cursed, very confused. "SHIELD is still active?"
Natasha, equally confused, but recovered much quicker, said, "That's what you noticed? It's Fury, his secrets have secrets.. If Hydra is after this enhanced, that means we have to get to her before they do."
"They kinda already have her." Clint commented.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Natasha huffed, annoyed at Clint.
"I suppose we're going on a rescue mission now."
Clint and Natasha then continued to follow the van back to the small Hydra base. By the time they arrived they had already come up with a plan. As they already knew the base's layout, Natasha was going to find and rescue the enhanced. During this, Clint was going to scavenge any files or USBs he could find for info as to why Hydra wants this ex-shield agent.
The second Natasha and Clint barged through their doors an alarm started going off. Hydra agents then started blasting their guns. Natasha quickly grabbed her pistol and began shooting while advancing forward while Clint shot his arrows left and right. The Hydra agents quickly dropped dead one by one. A few minutes of searching later Natasha opened a door to find an unconscious woman on the floor with her head bleeding. The same woman Hydra had kidnapped. As Natasha picked up the woman, bridal style, Clint came rushing in.
"There's nothing here," Clint said, "Although Hydra's got backup on the way. We gotta go!"
Clint and Natasha started making their way back when more Hydra agents showed up. "Shit!" Natasha exclaimed as a stray bullet hit the woman in the left shoulder. She then rounded a corner and went to set the woman down when the building started shaking. Remembering what one of the Hydra agents said about the enhanced having earthquake like powers, she looked down, and sure enough the woman was stirring awake.
••
Daisy woke to a throbbing pain in her left shoulder and a sting coming from her temple. Quickly realizing she was shaking the building, she stopped it. Daisy then opened her eyes and saw a beautiful red headed woman crouching over her. As her vision cleared she also saw a man with a bow to the right of her. "Are the Avengers trying to capture me now too?" Daisy asked after she realized who the people were.
Natasha's face paled and her heart skipped a beat. Not even a second later she was able to compose herself and responded, "What? No, I'd never hurt you."
Daisy's eyes widened and her immediate response was to push her soulmate away but didn't as her shoulder hurt too much. So instead Daisy just seethed, "I don't need your help," as she stood up.
Natasha then slightly angry, argued, "I'm not going to let my soulmate bleed out. No matter if you think you need my help or not."
"Fine," Daisy huffed, knowing this wasn't the place to argue.
Clint then came up to them saying, "Hydra rigged bombs, they're set to blow in 3 minutes and 42 seconds."
Natasha then grabbed Daisy's (uninjured) arm out of instinct and began running. At 2 minutes and 17 seconds they reached the quinjet. Daisy stopped for a second and hesitated. Is going with her soulmate the best choice?
"What the hell are you doing?! We have to go!" Natasha yelled.
Daisy then decided she didn't have much of a choice and began once more towards the quinjet. She was already bleeding quite heavily and she doubted she'd be able to treat it in time if she had to fight off Hydra. Daisy entered the quinjet, took a seat and pressed her hand into her shoulder to slow the bleeding. A loud explosion was heard in the distance as the aircraft took off. Her soulmate then went up to the man flying and said something to him that made him widen his eyes and look back at Daisy. She then made her way to Daisy with a medkit in hand.
"I'm Natasha," her soulmate introduced herself.
Daisy responded, "Daisy Johnson," as she shrugged off her leather jacket.
Natasha then continued to extract the bullet from her shoulder and began sewing it up.
"As much as I am grateful, can you drop me off somewhere?" Daisy said.
Natasha then furrowed her eyebrows and responded protectively, "I'm not going anywhere with Hydra after you."
"So what, you're gonna keep me prisoner?" Daisy growled.
"I'll make you a deal. I'll bring you to a safe house and until you're healed, I'll stay with you. Then you can decide if you want to stay or go." Natasha bargained, sad that Daisy already wanted to leave her.
Daisy hissed in pain as Natasha finished patching her up. She then slowly nodded in agreement. She didn't exactly dislike the idea of having a soulmate. It was just, Daisy knew that whoever she gets close to, they always end up hurt in the end. Especially since her powers were tied to her emotions and with both SHIELD and Hydra were after her, Daisy was afraid of getting her soulmate hurt, whether that be physically or emotionally. But she supposed it wouldn't be too bad if she just got to know her soulmate. As long as she left afterwards, right?
Natasha let a small smile appear on her face and stood up to talk to Clint. "Can you bring us to the nearest safe house?" Natasha asked as she put her hand on Clint's shoulder.
Clint looked up at her and then back at Daisy, "What about the mission debrief? They're gonna wonder why the Hydra base went up in flames."
"That's why you'll just be dropping us off."
"But-" Clint sighed. He should've known Nat would want some alone time with her soulmate.
5 minutes later they arrived at the safe house. Before Natasha could follow Daisy inside, Clint stopped her and said, "Keep me updated, alright?"
Natasha just nodded and continued her way inside under the night sky. She closed the door behind her and saw Daisy was already on the computer. "Are you hungry? I can make some food?" Natasha asked, trying to start a conversation. Daisy just grumbled a "sure" in reply and shut down the computer, making her way to the couch.
Natasha let out a silent sigh and went to the kitchen cupboard. Realizing that she doesn't know how to cook, she internally grimaced. So instead Natasha just went for some old fashioned mac and cheese. "Why is Hydra after you?" Natasha asked, trying again to spark a conversation.
Daisy just shrugged and replied, "Probably because of my powers. I can sense and control the vibrations around me."
"Is that why SHIELD is also after you?"
Daisy's eyes widened and she stared at Natasha, "How do you know about SHIELD?"
Natasha just smirked, "Well Hydra mentioned something about SHIELD being up and running, but by your reaction that just proves it."
Daisy groaned, frustrated that she got tricked by the spy. Natasha then showed up next to her with two bowls of mac and cheese and lifted her eyebrow waiting for Daisy to take one.
"That's what we're eating?" Daisy snorted.
Natasha, unimpressed by Daisy's way of pushing her buttons. "What? You think you can do better?" Natasha said with a playful look on her face.
Daisy, being her stubborn self, took that as a challenge and answered, "Of course I could do better!" She then got up from the couch and made her way to the kitchen. Natasha just sat down in amusement and ate her mac and cheese while watching Daisy. Daisy frowned immediately at seeing the amount of food in the pantry, there was next to nothing. So she just grabbed some bread and made a sandwich. When Daisy went to take a bite, she immediately spit the food out. "..It's moldy"
Natasha chuckled and held out the other bowl of mac and cheese for Daisy to take. Daisy gratefully grabbed the bowl and sat down next to Natasha. Once they were done eating, Daisy yawned and announced she was heading to bed. As it was in the middle of the night, Natasha agreed and she headed to the other bedroom to go to bed.
Natasha woke to the building shaking. She then hopped out of bed and rushed into Daisy's room, and sure enough there she was stuck in what looked to be a nightmare. "Daisy! Daisy, you need to wake up!" She shoved Daisy until she shot up, awake and crying. "Hey, hey it's okay. But you need to calm down, you're making the building shake."
Daisy looked around frantically until she saw Natasha's green eyes staring back at her in worry. "I-I'm sorry" Daisy stammered and the shaking didn't stop just continued.
Natasha then sat down on the bed and grabbed Daisy's hands and said, "Can you follow my breathing?" Natasha breathed slowly in and slowly out and then not long after Daisy followed her same motions. The shaking eventually slowed to a stop. Natasha then pulled Daisy to her chest as she whimpered. She tucked Daisy's hair behind her ear and rested her head on top of Daisy's. "It's okay, you're okay." Natasha whispered.
Not long later Daisy's body heavied and her breathing slowed to an even pace. Natasha, seeing Daisy asleep, layed down and brought the girl to her side. Daisy then unconsciously snuggled further into the woman hugging her waist like her life depended on it. Not wanting to leave her alone Natasha lifted the blanket to cover them both. She sighed, wondering how traumatized this poor girl really was.
(A/N: The cooking/food scene was requested by anonymous. 1500 words as promised. 2051 to be exact.)
