blackwidow_nat (blackwidow_nat) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-02-16 08:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !log, [plot] relationship confusion, ~2017 february, ~25 points, ~~cassie holmes (crappyartist), ~~natasha romanoff (blackwidow_nat) |
WHO Cassie & Natasha
WHAT Post-Nightmares
WHEN: Wednesday 15th February
WHERE: Cassie's room -> Kitchen
WARNINGS: Low/None
STATUS: Closed/Gdoc continued in comments
She'd been sober for six months already but it was nights like this that made her want to pick up drinking again, if only to make the nightmares more clear. Maybe if she understood what she was seeing better, it wouldn't be quite so terrifying. Cassie had woken up in a cold sweat, shaking and afraid even though she couldn't remember exactly what it was that she'd Seen. That happened sometimes, too.
She climbed out of bed as quietly as she could and went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. Sometimes all she needed was to just watch something mindless on TV before she could think about going back to bed and tea always helped, so once that was fixed she settled on the couch and turned the tv on. Cassie made sure to keep the volume on low as she surfed, settling on some kind of cooking show. It didn't really matter which one it was.
***
Natasha knew when Cassie had a nightmare, she always woke but generally didn’t disturb her unless Cassie made enough noise that it was obvious she wanted company. Natasha was a light sleeper though, it was ingrained thanks to her years of training. This night she woke up and decided to see if Cassie was okay, she knew her young ward had been doing well with not drinking lately and didn’t want to risk a slide backwards.
“Hey” she said softly, sitting on the other end of the couch, “You okay?”
***
Lately, her visions had been about death and pain. The faces were never clear. Cassie couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not, but for now it seemed like a blessing in disguise. When she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, she turned to see that it was Natasha. For as much as she didn't want to disturb either of her adoptive parents, she was always grateful for their quiet support.
The other end of the couch was a little far though, so Cassie moved so that she could curl up next to Natasha. "Something bad is going to happen," she admitted. "I don't know when, but I can't- I can't get it out of my head." She really wanted it out of her head.
***
Natasha never pushed anything on Cassie, she let her decide for herself what she wanted for the most part so when she moved to curl against her Natasha immediately wrapped her arms around her. It warmed Natasha’s heart whenever Cassie sought comfort or reassurance from her.
“We’d never let anything happen to you” Natasha promised her, “No matter what the visions show you, I will always protect you. But we’ll keep an extra eye open for a while okay? Just in case something happens” She knew better than to dismiss the visions without some investigation.
***
"I know." She did, and she believed them when the promised to keep her safe. Cassie appreciated that Natasha wrapped her arms around her in return, just like she appreciated everything they did for her. "I hope it's nothing. Or that it's something from my world." She wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to Bruce or Natasha just because of her. That held true for all of the friends she'd made in Madison Valley, even if none of them were younger than twice her age.
"Could we add another day of training for the next couple of weeks?" she asked after a few moments. Cassie'd gotten better at defending herself, felt more secure in the knowledge that she could if she need to. She didn't need to be afraid the next time a Bleeder came at her. Or Division. The training Natasha gave her helped her focus and kept her thinking about other things. She could use more of that right now.
***
Affection wasn’t something Natasha could claim came to her easily but with Bruce and Cassie it came easier than most. So when Cassie needed a hug she wasn’t afraid of tugging her close and holding her tightly, her adopted daughter was her priority and Natasha would do anything for her.
“Of course we can” Natasha said, “We’ll start working on some new techniques” she added, knowing that it helped if Cassie had something else to focus on and that when she was tired the visions didn’t tend to take hold of her as easily.
***
Cassie appreciated that neither Natasha nor Bruce made a big deal of the times when she got a little needy. They'd accepted her with open arms and gave her what she needed even when she hadn't known what that was. Every time they pushed, it was with a gentle firmness that was just shy of making Cassie want to rail against them. They were honestly the biggest reason for her giving up drinking. She wanted to do them proud.
"Think I'll be able to take Uncle Phil one of these days?" she asked, half seriously. There was no way she'd ever be able to take on Phil, but it was kind of fun to think about.
***
Needy was understandable and neither Natasha or Bruce were the type to deny or overplay those moments. After all most people had them even if they didn’t admit it. It was Bruce really who had led the way with Cassie, somehow knowing they needed a firm but reasonable hand with her. Natasha was just glad it had worked and they were both very proud of her.
“You never know. Can you imagine the look on his face? As he stares up at you from the floor of course” Natasha smiled, Cassie might never be able to take Phil but she was determined that her daughter would hold her own. And she was a good student.
***
Cassie grinned and gave Natasha a soft squeeze of thanks. It felt like a vote of confidence, and that was all she'd ever really needed. Without her mom to guide her, she never had those boundaries and being on the run from Division meant she didn't trust adults easily. She'd trusted Suit and then Melinda, and her relationship with Bruce and Natasha had somehow worked out even if it had started a little rocky.
"I don't even know if he can make the face I'm thinking of. Melinda says she can beat him, and I know you could totally kick his ass." Because of course in her mind, Natasha was the best there was. "Maybe when I'm older and so is he." Cassie grinned at that, since Phil being old could be both an advantage and a disadvantage.