Natasha Romanoff: Killer of men, Lover of women

33

I found Iris in our bedroom, sat on the floor with her back leant against the bed. She had her knees tucked up to her chest and was sobbing into her hands, her body shaking with each shallow breath.

My heart broke seeing her hurting like this.

I rushed over to her, falling to my knees and wrapping my arms around her. She cried in my arms, her tears soaking the sleeves of my hoodie, but I didn't care.

"It's ok." I repeated over and over, rocking her back and forth in my arms to try to calm her.

"She's gone, I made her leave."

Iris looked up to me, her eyes not shinning like they usually did.

"I never wanted to think about what happened to my parents again. I'm scared the nightmares will start again." she sobbed.

"It's alright Sweetheart, If your nightmares come back, I'll be here to help you through it. You're not alone anymore." I whispered, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I really didn't know, about Taura. I thought I was safe, but it was all an act. If I'd known, maybe I could've stopped it, but I guess Yelena was right, I was stupid, and naive."

"No no no no no. Don't think for one second that you are dumb. I have never met anyone so smart and so damn strong as My Girl. Don't let anybody tell you you're anything less than what you are. Perfection." I cradled her in my arms, combing my fingers softly through her hair.

"But,"

"Ah ah. No buts." I interpreted, placing a finger to her lips, shushing her.

I felt relief wash over me when I finally felt her relax into my arms, her sobs becoming softer and her breathing calming down.

We stayed within each other's embrace on the floor, sharing warmth and understanding feelings.

Eventually, Iris lifted her head from my chest and gazed up at me, her eyes red and puffy from crying, probably matching my own.

"Natty, what are we gonna do about Scorpia?" She whispered, so quietly, it was as though she was worried they'd hear her.

"I think we both know what we have to do. We can't hide, they'll just keep finding us." I sighed, loosening my grip on the girl in my arms a little so she could sit up.

"I wish we could just live our peaceful, quiet little life together." She hummed sadly.

"Me too Sweetheart, but we will, soon, I'll make sure of it." I promised, kissing her head softly.

We enjoyed our roast dinner together, desperately trying to take our minds off things. Iris had made a traditional English trifle, something I'd never tried before, but it was incredible! I may or may not have made a few jokes about lady fingers, but how could I not?

I think having dinner together, and her sharing her English traditions with me, really helped cheer her up, the light in her eyes returning. I was overwhelmed with relief as she seemed to be more her usual self again, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she laughed at all my goofy jokes, even the really terrible ones.

Shortly after eating, we both climbed into bed, exhausted from the day we'd had.

But I didn't sleep. I couldn't.

My mind was working at a million miles an hour trying to formulate a plan for the next few weeks.

We were going to take down Scorpia and kill them all.

***

The next morning, I made us both pancakes for breakfast to lighten the mood of what was going to be a very complicated day, just a taste of the difficult weeks to come.