All the Colors of Earth (Natasha Romanoff)

1.5

I woke to the steady beeping of my heart on a monitor. Keeping my eyes closed I let the sound show me the room. It looked like a normal infirmary but not the one at Atlas. This layout was different, smaller, more intimate.

So where the hell was I?

The beeping also showed me Romanoff, sleeping on a chair next to my bed. Opening my eyes I looked over at her and gasped in shock- her hair was not the color I was expecting. I was expecting brown, not dark red.

I moved to try and look at her better but her eyes snapped open and found mine, and I was once again surprised at the color. Emerald green.

When she saw I was awake she sat up in the chair and looked like she was struggling with what to say. "Where am I?" I asked, saving her from starting the conversation.

"Avengers HQ, in New York."

New York? Atlas was hours away from here. "How'd I get here?"

"You collapsed," she said cautiously. "Do you not remember?"

I thought for a second, "I remember my head hurting and then... nothing."

"They said you asked for me before you collapsed," she said bluntly.

Oh. Oh shit. Had I? I must have because here I am and here she is. The stories of the Broken Bonds must be true then because the pain in my head was gone. This was not how I wanted to tell Romanoff, but who was I kidding, I didn't want to tell her at all. But now I had no choice. Taking a breath to center myself I started, "you know I'm not human, right?"

"Yeah the double iris kind of gives you away," she said in a less guarded tone. "Thought you never opened your eyes."

"Yeah," I mumble as I bite the inside of my cheek. "My people, we have this... genetic thing. We call it the Bonding. Basically, when we meet someone that has compatible dna to ours, we become, well, Bonded. We can feel each other's emotions and we know when the other is hurt. And it's never been done cross species and the only way to trigger a Bond is by looking into someone's eyes. And if the Bonded pair are, for some reason, separated before the Bond is... cemented, then they experience a slow build of pain until it becomes too much and they get sick. Which is what happened me to I think." I was rambling, this wasn't how I wanted this to go. I hadn't even considered the Romanoff would get sick, but then again she's human, so maybe the Bond wouldn't affect her like it did me.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked slowly.

I look into her eyes, "I think you know why," I tell her softly.

She nods slowly as realization settles over her, "you Bonded to me."

I look away, "it wasn't my intention. It's my genetics, I have no control over it."

"And now you'll get sick if you're away from me?" She shifted in her chair uncomfortably.

Swallowing hard I managed to get out, "only if we don't complete the Bonding. I'll get sick until I die."

"Die?" The word came out of her sharply.

"It's only happened a few times in our history, when Bonded pairs were separated before they completed it."

"And how does one complete it?"

Breathing deeply I say, "they have to... consummate the Bonding."

She freezes like a deer in the headlights, "consummate? As in...?"

"Sex, yes," I confirm. "And I know how it sounds, but believe me I would not be telling you this if it wasn't true. This is the last thing that I want, I have actively been avoiding peoples eyes since I landed on this planet."

She stands suddenly, sending her chair skidding backwards. "Excuse me," she said before she rushed from the room.

I'm surprised she didn't leave sooner and as she left I was also surprised that she did so as politely as she did. If someone had dropped a bomb like that on me out of the blue I probably wouldn't have reacted as calmly as she did.

For the next few hours I tried to sleep but the constant beeping was not letting me. Since I felt better I decided that I didn't really need all the machines that I was hooked up to, so I ripped them off of me.

Instead of the silence I had been expecting, a sharp screeching came from the machines and I had to cover my ears. It only went off for a few seconds before someone rushed into the room and turned them off. Removing my hands I looked at the man who was now looking at me with concern, "thanks for that," I tell him.

"Why did you take off your monitors?" He asks as he wheels the machines away.

"Don't need them."

"And how do you know?"

"Because I know what's wrong with me and your machines aren't going to be able to help," I tell him as I get up. "Now, where are my clothes?"

He looks at me confused, "if you know what's wrong then why did you request Natasha when you passed out?"

"Natasha?"

"Agent Romanoff."

"I didn't know that was her name," I said softly. Natasha, it suited her. "I needed to tell her something. Something that isn't any of your business. Now, again, where are my clothes?" He points to a chair a few feet away from the bed and I get dressed, grinning when his face turns red when I drop the hospital gown. When I'm dressed I ask, "so where am I staying?"

"Here," he says confused.

"No I'm not. I still have business with Agent Romanoff and I imagine it'll take a while to resolve so I'll need a room."

"Well I haven't discharged you yet. So you're staying here. And Fury has to approve you staying longer."

"Fine, I'll stay here for now." I smirk at his surprised expression, "but tomorrow I'm moving into a real room."