𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 ᴺᵃᵗᵃˢʰᵃ ᴿᵒᵐᵃⁿᵒᶠᶠ ²

¹⁵. ᴮᵉʰⁱⁿᵈ ᴹʸ ᴱʸᵉˢ

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 || 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘺 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴

WHEN NOVA HAD MANAGED TO PEEL HER EYES OPEN FROM THE POUNDING HEADACHE, SHE NEARLY VOMITED. Half her face pressed into a pillow that did not smell anything like Natasha's or her very own. She could make out in the corner of her eye some specific belongings ranging from trophies, clothes, pictures, and what seemed to be military medals.

So, when she tried to sit up, everything around her lurched forward. She had to grit her teeth and clamp her eyes shut to subdue the scream that bubbled at the bottom of her throat. The pain is so blinding that white blooms across her vision with a lingering sting once it settles. She fell forward on her stomach with a silent cry falling from her lips. Her eyes tearing up with her bottom lip trembling. A painful shiver ran down her back that felt ice cold compared to her clammy hands.

Nova wanted nothing more than to drift into the murky waters of the afterlife in her little cocoon. Oblivion just beyond the sunrise to which she would forget all thought and sensation. Forever lost within the emptiness inside her chest that heaved. The idea of it sounded so pleasing in comparison to this pain.

Turning her head to look behind her, Nova felt her entire silent facade collapse when Natasha lay soundlessly beside her. Gentle scratches scattered across her beautiful features. She was so at peace. Nova had never been able to see it up close.

But the tears twinkling along the brim of her eyes made her carefully pull herself toward the older woman. Shimmying until she could find solace in the crook of Natasha's neck. Hands faintly grabbing the sides of the woman's shirt. Her hot tears dropped and ran across Natasha's jaw with her body shaking against the woman.

It must've been enough to wake the older woman because she shifted with a gentle hum. "Hey, you're okay." Natasha's arms curled around the woman's lower back, pulling her flush against her. "I'm with you."

Nova exhaled shakily, eyes still clamped shut with tears slipping from the slits. "What happened?"

"We're at a safe house, so to speak. A friend of Steve's. You suffered burns from the missile and have lacerations along your arms." Natasha licked her lips, exhaling softly. "You scared the shit out of me."

Natasha can still remember finding Nova under all the rubble. The jacket she wore charred with her back a foul grime from dust and rocks combined in the sensitive flesh. Skin littered with air pockets. Ooze leaking from them like zits. But she remembers the tears that soaked the woman's cheeks and her screams.

Stop it! It hurts so much!

She doesn't want to go through that again.

The air they shared was enough to heal their already fractured minds. The air they breathed together was enough to make them feel safe. Able to relieve themselves of such simple festering thoughts just by being within arms reach of one another. And Natasha doesn't understand how she's managed to survive as long as she has. Ever since their minor falling out after the attack on New York, Natasha felt like she was missing her lucky charm. Her girl in the sky always looking out for her. The girl who held her down when she might've been acting out of turn.