summary: after a mission gone wrong, you and Natasha are forced to lay low in a small safehouse somewhere in the countryside of England. It’s small, uncomfortable, and you’ve never been able to really connect with Natasha during your time on the team. what happens when you and Natasha are basically forced to connect?
pairing: Natasha x teen reader
a/n: I would like a standing applause for the fact that I am posting another fic in the span of a month. it has happened. the apocalypse has struck
also, have I written this trope before? yes, yes I have. will I be writing this trope again? yes, yes I will
You do not have my permission to repost, copy or translate my work
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The silence is unbearable. It’s not like you were against the quiet, on the contrary. You liked a calm, quiet environment to work and relax. No, it was the quiet with Natasha that you couldn’t bear.
You and Natasha never were the best team, mainly because it seemed Natasha just didn’t want anything to do with you.
You didn’t blame her, truly, you didn’t. You weren’t afraid to admit you were a pretty odd kid. You liked stuffed animals, cartoons, and sometimes, when you were certain no one was watching, you’d open your drawer and take out your dolls.
It wasn’t like you got to have any fun things when you were a child, and something as simple as a doll would have been harder to acquire than literal gold.
You weren’t shy about admitting you had a fucked up childhood, and you weren’t shy to be watching Winx Club in the living room of the Avengers compound. It was funny, really, how at first Sam made fun of you, yet slowly started to get more and more invested to the point he would ask you when you were going to start the next episode.
He was a total Winx Club fan now.
The rest of the team seemed to pretty much ignore your childish side. Not in a rude manner, but rather in an uninterested manner. They didn’t think you were weird, and you liked it that way.
Natasha, however, wasn’t at all holding back when she saw you watching a cartoon or coloring at the table.
It wasn’t like she’d get angry, but she would walk away, or give you a look like you were vermin.
You never quite understood where her disdain for you came from. She was your favourite superhero, yet she treated you like dirt under her shoe. She wasn’t gentle when making her comments, either.
Sometimes, when you were drawing, she’d make a comment about how you were far too old for such things, and while you were watching a cartoon she’d scoff like you were insane.
It was a literal cartoon, not the end of the world.
You had gotten pretty good at ignoring her antics over the past year, but you couldn’t deny that they still stung. Why did she despise you breathing so much?
At the moment, Natasha was caught up in writing her mission report while you were curled up on the couch, which doubled as the bench for the table and the bed you would be sleeping in.
Tony was fucking loaded. Why the hell was this safehouse a literal trailer?
You were reading Rainbow Magic; Ruby, the Red Fairy. Occasionally, you’d glance up from your book, and you’d catch a glimpse of Natasha’s disapproving stare before she’d continue working.
Okay, fine, maybe bringing the Rainbow Magic series wasn’t the most strategic plan with such a fairytale hater, but who could blame you? Those fairy books were actually very enjoyable.
You ignored Natasha’s judgement, finishing your book before you got up, walking to the small cupboard and pulling open the doors.
Expecting for some form of entertainment in this trailer was clearly too much to ask.
The cupboard didn’t hold much, safe for a few spiders and a bucket of cleaning supplies that looked to be at least two-hundred years past their expiration date.
And then, at the far top shelf, you could see a chessboard peeking out amongst the shelves.
You had to stand on the tips of your toes to reach it, but you got it.
By now, Natasha had finished her mission report and was studying your every move. Of course, you caught up to her staring almost immediately, and you turned to face her while holding up the chess board.
Natasha frowned, before sighing and giving you a singular nod. Well, more excitement was clearly too much to ask.
Natasha leaned forward, clearing the table of her papers and reaching for your book. She half expected her to just throw it on top of your bag in the corner, and you were more than surprised when she picked it up gently and handled it with much more care than you thought her to be capable of.
When the table was cleared, you put the chess board down, handing Natasha the box that the white pieces were stuffed in.
“I’m always black,” Natasha said while frowning at the colour of the pieces in the box.
“Sure.” You passed the box with the black pieces to Natasha while arranging the white pieces on your own playing field.
Once all the pieces were put in place, Natasha made the first move, to which you immediately responded by putting her piece back in its place.
“White starts,” you mention as you make your own move.
Natasha huffs but doesn’t protest, instead moving her own pieces to defend against your attack.
The game continued far into the night, and after playing for nearly three hours, you finally made your last move, trapping Natasha in a check-mate.
“I let you do that,” Natasha says before rearranging her own pieces.
“Sure you did,” you respond before placing your own pieces back on the board.
“Don’t you have to go to bed? It’s far past your bedtime,” Natasha asks, glancing at the clock on the whole.
“I don’t have a bedtime,” you remark, making your move with the chess piece.
“You act like a child, yet you don’t go to bed on time?”
To your surprise, you didn’t hear any judgement in Natasha’s tone. Just pure confusion. A genuine question not meant to insult you. You didn’t expect that.
You look up at her, frowning before shrugging.
“Can’t sleep. Nightmares,” you say, counteracting Natasha’s move by blocking her piece. “And even if I wanted to, we’re sitting on my bed.”
As if the evening wasn’t surprising enough, Natasha lets out a huff of amusement.
“We can share the big bed. It’ll help with the nightmares,” she suggests.
“Why?” you ask, keeping your eyes on the game in the hopes of preventing awkward eye contact.
Natasha shrugs. “I dunno know. Another presence helps with preventing nightmares or something. There’s a study on it.”
“No, I mean why are you so nice? Why offer to share your bed with me when you normally can’t even stand to share the same room?”
At that, Natasha looks up, a hint of guilt mixed into her usual calm facial expression.
“It’s not personal,” she says, moving her chess piece.
“Then what is it? You’ve barely shared one conversation with me since I joined a year ago.”
“You’re a child,” Natasha suddenly says after a moment of silence. There’s venom in her voice, yet you can feel it isn’t directed at you.
“You should be able to play with your dolls without having to feel the need to hide, and you should be able to go to school and make friends and stupid decisions. You shouldn’t live in a compound with superheroes and fight super villains weekly. You are a child, and you should be able to be one.”
You fall silent for a moment, shocked at her revelation of knowing about your dolls, and shocked at the amount of emotion hidden under her confession.
Natasha’s head shoots up, tears glistening in her eyes.
“Hate you? What ever gave you the impression that I hate you?”
You shook your head. “You avoid me, you scoff wherever I’m drawing or watching something in the common room. It feels like you judge me, daily.”
At that, Natasha’s facial expression softens, and her expression turns glum.
“I never meant for you to feel like you were in the wrong, and I am so sorry for that. I wasn’t judging you, I was judging the situation you’re in.” Natasha inhaled a sharp breath, turning back to the chess board and making another move.
“Fury gave you a choice. Either prison, or joining the Avengers. You never even did anything wrong. You were just a child, graced with powers that no one understood and everyone feared. You didn’t deserve prison, and you didn’t deserve the threat of prison. You deserved a family.”
“And in a way, I got a family. The Avengers are nice-”
“They’re not your family, they’re your team. There’s a difference. Sure, they care about you, but if they were your family, they’d want you to live a life, rather than become a superhero.”
Natasha fell silent, and at her words, so did you.
Was she right? If the Avengers were your family, would they want you to live a normal, domestic life somewhere else, rather than the superhero life you were living right now?
“I didn’t have much of a choice. Besides, it’s not like I hate my life. Just the paperwork,” you remark, moving your queen to once again trap Natasha in a check-mate.
“I want to work something out, if you’ll let me,” Natasha then said, pouting when you took her king.
Natasha shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Something that’ll put you off missions, at least until you’re twenty-one or something. Maybe older. Something legal. I mean, you’re not even allowed to drink in the United States. Why the hell are you allowed, or better said, forced, to risk your life daily?”
“We’ll figure something out, I promise,” Natasha states, helping you clear the chessboard and standing up from the bench.
“Now, it is time for bed. Tomorrow we’ll see if there’s a bakery or something in this god forsaken place.”
You snicker, taking Natasha’s hand and allowing her to lead you. Maybe she doesn’t hate you as much as you thought she did.
Bonus a/n: rainbow magic; Ruby the Red Fairy is the first ever book I read in English.
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