Natasha Romanoff: Killer of men, Lover of women

39

As I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by water in our pool, kicking my feet to stay afloat.

"Race ya?" Iris appeared from behind me, tapping my shoulder making me spin around in the water.

She smirked playfully before speeding off to the other side of the pool, the sun blazing down as we chased each other in the cool water.

As I reached Iris, she pulled me into her, turning around with me in her arms. I followed her gaze to find a young child laughing and splashing around in the shallow end.

The little girl's vibrant purple eyes shone in the sunlight as she called to us.

"Mommy, Mama! Come on, come play!"

Dazed, I paddled over to her slowly, unsure if the small child knew who I was.

She reached her hands out to me and I pulled her into my arms.

"Hey Mama." she giggled, staring into my eyes.

I tried to hide my confusion, letting her go as she bounced over to grab her ball.

As I turned to look for Iris, who was nowhere in sight, the splashing and laughter stopped.

I spun back around, seeing the little girl submerged under the water.

"No!" I cried, swimming as fast as I could to reach her.

However, just as I did, I felt a strong current grip my ankle, pulling me backwards and down. I screamed in the water as I fought for my freedom, my mind only thinking about getting to the small child.

But as I got dragged deeper and deeper, my head became fuzzy, everything around me going black.

"I couldn't save them." I murmured.

I sat upright, my breathing heavy as I frantically searched around the room. My eyes fell upon Iris, lying lifelessly on the bed in front of me.

I leaned over her and placed a gentle kiss on her head, before standing up and running my shaky hands through my hair.

Sighing, I left the room, finding Yelena and Wanda in the kitchen.

"Was that you?" I asked Wanda, my eyes droopy from sleep.

"I'm sorry, I just thought some sleep would do you good." She said, pouring me a cup of coffee which I took gratefully.

"No, I didn't mean that, the dream?"

"Oh. I didn't make one for you, I just took happy thoughts that were hidden away, to try to help put you at ease." Wanda shuffled uncomfortably.

"Well, thank you, that was very thoughtful." I opted not to tell her about the dream-turned-nightmare, not wanting Wanda to feel bad when she was only trying to help.

"Anyways, how have you guys been?" I changed the subject, eyeing my ex sister suspiciously.

"We actually have a few things in common, well except for Wanda's witchy powers." Yelena smiled.

"Good."

"So, where do we go from here?" Yelena asked hesitantly.

"You guys don't have to tread on eggshells around me, I'm fine." I huffed, turning to the cupboard to grab some sugar, however using it as a chance to reset my face.

"You don't have to be Natasha. Your thoughts are deafening, I can't imagine how your sorting through them right now." Wanda approached me carefully, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.