Scarlett Johansson | One-Shots (1)

NR - Target Acquired Pt. 5

Request: @SDAMLbookies
———————————————————————
Callie:
I can't breathe. The only sounds coming out of me are wheezes and gasps every time I try. I'm laying somewhere flat and cold and hard. And wet. I look down next to me. Blood. Now I feel it. The pain. Everywhere. It... hurts. It feels so...

Natasha:
"AHHHH!"

I hear an ear-piercing, heartbreaking scream that makes me fly out of bed before my eyes are even fully open. I sprint down the hall and burst into Callie's room not even ten seconds later. I find her sobbing and hyperventilating on her bed. Dammit, the first night we don't sleep together.

"Breathe. Big deep breaths," I instruct softly, climbing in bed next to her. "You can do it. Breathe."

"I–I–"

"Don't talk. I got you."

Callie shakes vigorously in my arms but she doesn't fight me. She puts a hand on my chest and grips my shirt so tight her knuckles turn white. Her cracked sobs break me into a million pieces but I hold myself together. She needs me to be strong so that's exactly what I'll be. Strong.

So when Callie is finally able to ease her breakdown, I lay us down. Her body feels limp when laying on me. I know she's tired. She's had a hard few weeks since she came home from captivity.

"Nat?" she whispers.

"I'm here."

"Can we talk to Tony about merging rooms?"

I smile to myself. It's about damn time we talked about moving into the same room. "Yes. We'll talk to him in the morning. Try to sleep."

"I can't."

"I know it's hard. Just try. I'm right here with you. You're safe."

I lay awake most of the night making sure she's okay, only letting myself doze off when I know for sure she's sleeping soundlessly.

-

As Callie and I get changed in the morning, I glance at her. I catch her knife stab's still-pink scar on her stomach as her shirt falls over it. I look away before she can catch me staring. "Do you wanna talk about last night?" I ask.

She hesitates for a few long seconds. Then she says while staring into her drawer, "It was just a nightmare. I'm sorry for waking you."

"I don't mind being woken up. I just want to know if you're okay."

"Well, no. I'm not 'okay' but I'll be fine. Nightmares are just nightmares."

"It might help to talk about it."

She sighs once, dropping the sweatpants she was holding back into the drawer. I study her face, her eyes glossing over, her throat bobbing up and down, her canine tooth sinking into her bottom lip. Without saying anything, she picks up her sweats again and changes into them. I'm patient, though. I want her to come to me.

"I don't know how to do this," she finally says in a soft voice.

"Do what?"

"This. Be normal. Have a normal life. Since I came home from Hydra all that time ago, I haven't felt one ounce of normal and I don't know if I ever will."

"You will."

"And then that man," she continues, disregarding my comment, "comes and tells me I killed his daughter and he wants me dead. God, Nat, how was I supposed to know I killed his daughter? I was mind-controlled. And yet, I still find myself feeling... I don't even know. Guilty? But who wouldn't feel guilty for killing people? How am I ever going to get my life back together when I will always have countless demons?"