The closest thing to a daughter

Season 1 Episode 22

When Abigail returned to school the next day, she and Natasha had not really spoken to each other. She had also kept her distance from the other residents of the tower so as not to be a burden to anyone. Everyone, even Clint, with whom she hadn't really had anything to do, had tried to talk to her or at least make small talk. But she blocked more and more often. Just as she was lost in thought, someone pushed her down the stairs from behind. Of course, once again it was Sadie and her best friend Elisha, which she could tell right away by the catty laugh, "Watch where you're going, Abigail." Danny watched the whole event suspiciously from his locker, while he considered whether he should intervene. However, doing so would soon mean becoming a victim of their outrages as well. Abigail winced under the pressure on her ribs and groaned in pain, "Oww." When Sadie and her girls finally disappeared, Danny approached to check on her. "Abigail, are you okay?" he asked honestly concerned and tried to help her up but she slapped his arm away and tried to stand up on her own. "I'm fine, DINSONO, just leave me alone..." Unsure and a little scared because he had witnessed her powers during her last outburst, he took a few steps away from her. Somewhat gripped with guilt, she whispered a sincere, "Sorry," before disappearing out of the school building.

Outside the building, Natasha was already waiting for her in her black Corvette Stingray. She had decided to pick her up again today because it had taken so long for Abi to get to Tower yesterday. Her gut had just told her it was better to pick her up from school again at least the next little while. "Hey Abigail, what took you so long?" she greeted the tired looking redhead as she got into the car. "What is it? I'm just a little late," she snorted with a laugh, but an excellent spy like Romanoff was immediately recognized how nervous she actually was. "Where did you get that bruise?" she continued to ask as she spotted the dark marks under her pulled-up hoodie. "In gym class we played soccer, and I'm very ambitious, so..." Still Natasha found this explanation very vague and it sounded to her more like a stupid easy excuse than anything else. But she thought it better not to ask about it directly anymore but gave her a subliminal offer: "You know you can talk to me if you ever have a problem, right?" Her hope was that she would confide in her now but she knew Abigail well enough by now to actually know better. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind if I ever have a problem." As the two exited the elevator Abigail went straight to her room without even turning to look at those there. "Abigail, dinner will be in half an hour," Nat called after her quickly before Abi could even close the door to her room. "I'm not hungry," she yelled back, wanting nothing more than to be alone. "Abigail, you need to eat something," Natasha said worriedly but in a loving tone of voice, which made Abigail turn around and reply in a tone that was not loving at all, "No, you're not my mother." With this harsh statement, she turned on her heel and now really ran to her room. Natasha looked after her perplexed. She just couldn't explain her sudden behavior. They had just become a little closer again and now they were as far apart as they had been in the beginning. Her words had hit her, probably even more than she wanted to admit. But why? Because maybe she would like to be like a mother to her? She couldn't answer it for herself.