The closest thing to a daughter

Season 1 Episode 27

It was already the next morning when everyone said goodbye to each other and disappeared into their rooms. But Abigail still couldn't really sleep, so she went to her mirror again and took off her hoodie to take a closer look at her ribs. "Ouch! Shit!" she gasped as she realized the extent of her injury. Now there was no doubt: this wasn't going to heal on its own. But what was she supposed to do? Nat and Steve had really helped her through enough lately, and she hadn't really been the nicest to the others lately either. When the door opened behind her and Natasha slipped inside, she was pushed out of her thoughts but it was too late to react. "Hey Abigail, it's getting late, you need to go to sleep now," she said in a still cheerful voice until her eyes fell on her ribs. Abigail tried to quickly grab a shirt but it was already too late. "My God, Nat!" She screamed looking at least as peal as Natasha's face looked at that moment. "Omg Abigail! Your ribs."

"What, it's nothing," she tried to play down knowing full well that she had lost the fight before it had even started. "It doesn't look like nothing Abigail." Immediately she was beside her to look at her injuries, but Abi quickly pulled her shirt over to keep her gaze off. "I've had worse, trust me, it'll heal on its own." As Abigail was about to climb past Natasha into her bed, she gently grabbed her arm and gently pulled her toward the door. "No, you're going to Bruce's right now." No sooner said than done. Natasha actually managed to wake the already sleeping Banner up out of his warm bed to look at Novanoff's ribs. "Hey Banner! Come and have a look." The latter wasn't particularly thrilled, but it wasn't a good idea to contradict the Black Widow in her exceptionally strong concern - even if this someone had a Hulk in him. In the lab, Natasha lifted the little girl's shirt up a bit, careful not to show too much for her body. But of course Abigail had to say anything "Hey!!! Do you mind?" she hissed, though not quite as belligerently as she had at the same time yesterday, disengaging Nat's hand from her shirt. "What happened, Abigail?" asked Bruce, startled, his fatigue seemingly forgotten. "It doesn't matter what happened, can you just help her?" saved Natasha quickly, as she was certainly not eager to tell the whole story all over again.

So Bruce examined her ribs and to Abigail's amazement, his diagnosis was nowhere near as bad as she thought it would be with the pain. "They're not broken, just badly bruised and need to heal on their own. But I'll give you something for the pain." As he turned to get a syringe, Abigail tensed and hid behind Natasha. "Hey... hey, it's okay, what's wrong?" the latter wanted to know anxiously, gently placing a hand on a visibly frightened Abigail. "I uhh - don't like needles," she admitted awkwardly, blushing almost as much as her hair. "Oh, hold my hand, okay...it'll just be a little prick." So while Bruce pricked the needle into her right arm, she clutched her hand with her left as tightly as she could without hurting Natasha. It actually helped, because just a little while later the needle was out of her body and Nat was visibly proud of her little one. "Hey, good job! That wasn't so bad." Her fear of needles must have come from her past. There she was subjected to some examinations, of which she didn't exactly have the best memories.