"In the end, I guess we're all left disappointed."
____
Nat eyed the roots of her hair that had begun to grow out, red staining the blonde. She thought that was pretty poetic since she had a hell of a lot more red on her ledger since Thanos...
Would Natara notice the regrowth? Of course she would. Nat chewed her lip, taking in her whole appearance now. She looked tired, she felt tired. God. Natara was coming back in two weeks and she was a mess.
Surely the redhead wouldn't mind? Nat was almost confident her wife wouldn't... but she still felt anxious at the faults she saw.
She got a call and swore softly. It was her new coworker, helping her with her organization.
"Hey, Anne."
____
Natasha was struggling to sleep, so many feelings swarming in her chest and stomach at Natara's approaching arrival. It was in two days time. That stupid smile fought its way onto her face at the thought.
Opening her phone and mindlessly scrolling through her gallery, Nat's breath paused in her lungs at the memory that appeared. It was all the Bartons, together and smiling.
Moving her jaw and blinking, the blonde stared for a moment, thumb hovering over the screen before she swiped away and put her phone aside.
She'd been making use of the boxing bag and gun range these past months and her muscles ached for a distraction.
Leaving her phone behind, Nat got up and headed to the gym.
____
Putting on her clothes for the day, something she'd spent an embarrassing amount of time deciding on, Natasha put on her green necklace and locket. She let her fingers brush over the metal rested on her skin, that familiar loneliness and sadness pouring down upon her.
She then placed her two rings on her left hand. It felt wrong without them now, like the jewelery was a part of her.
Nat found herself submitting to past memories. She did that a lot lately; just lost herself in them. That might be another contributor of her pain. Living in a time she couldn't get back. When she'd been happy.
She hadn't even known how happy, until now. Until she'd lost everything. To both Thanos and after him...
****
"I had a weird dream last night," Nat said. A faint smile tugged on the corner of her lips as she remembered. But most prominent on her features was confusion at the oddness of it all.
"Yeah?" Natara asked. She looked up from the plant in front of her. The one she'd been trying to grow. It refused to live.
Okay, so she had forgotten to water it... a few times... but she'd remembered both now and yesterday.
Yet it still wouldn't give life a second chance. Privileged, if you had to ask the brunette.
Natara noted the look on Nats face and found herself focusing on her partner's words, leaving the suicidal plant alone.
"Yeah..." Natasha trailed off, trying to wrap her head around it all. "It was back before I met you... like 2014. When HYDRA was corrupted and we'd just found out."
"You and Steve?" Natara asked, referring to the 'we' in Nat's sentence; just to be sure she was following.
She received a confirmational hum.
YOU ARE READING
Breaking Free | Natasha x OC
Fanfiction"I don't bend to threats." "I don't want people to bend to them." She took his whole face in, letting him memorize hers. "I want them to break." [Part two to 'The Prisoner'!]
