Natasha Romanoff (comespywithme) wrote in somerealityrpg, @ 2020-01-14 20:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | active: natasha romanoff |
December 30,2019
Natasha Romanoff ✦ Lila Barton
Lila's all grown up PG-13 Complete |
Natasha looked at the beautiful young woman sitting across the table from her and still couldn’t believe that this was Lila. She’d been a child the last time she’d spent any real time with her and now she was grown up. “I’m sorry if I’m staring,” she said. “I keep trying to decide which one of your parents you look like.” She could see a little bit of both of them in her but her personality was all Clint, it had always been that way. No doubt that was why Natasha had always felt closer to her than Cooper. She loved Cooper too of course but in so many ways, Lila had felt like she could have been her child. Nate had been so young that he didn’t remember Natasha who had only seen him in person once very briefly. Lila was different though. “I thought it might be good if we went somewhere else to talk and I seem to always bring new people from our world here, they have good food. The coffee here is actually strong enough for your dad too so that’s another reason I come here a lot,” she smiled. Neither of them had mentioned it but she was certain that Lila and Nate had noticed the change between her and their father. For one thing, even though she had gone to the extra bedroom in the apartment they had been assigned that first night, Clint gave her a look, took the blankets out of her hand and tossed them on his bed. He was never subtle. “How are you adjusting? I know this place is a real mindfuck at first. I kept finding out about alternate versions of myself who were either bitches or dead. Or both.” Lila felt like she was walking through a dream wide awake. She didn’t exactly have the words to describe the fact that she was sitting across from her Aunt Nat, but she figured that ‘dreaming’ was a good enough description. This whole experience was incredibly surreal, and although she didn’t quite know how she truly felt about it yet? A part of her was incredibly grateful for the reprieve. Truth be told? She was tired. So she chose to view this as a vacation from reality. “Have you decided yet,” she asked with a smirk. The girl always thought she looked more like Laura, but that was where the comparison ended. Lila was all Clint, and she wouldn’t have it any other way, but he wasn’t the only person in her life she took after. Somewhere along the way, she had adopted a lot of Nat’s traits too. It wasn’t subtle either. She always viewed herself as this force of nature that was the perfect mix of her dad and her aunt. It was something she was incredibly proud of. This wasn’t to say she didn’t love her mother, because she did and would kick anyone’s ass who suggested otherwise, but she just felt closer to Clint and Natasha. Nat’s death hit their entire family hard, but because of the connection to her that Lila had? It took quite a toll. She wasn’t good at talking about her feelings, to begin with. It was easier just to turn them off. So, yeah, it was difficult for her to put into words what it was like to be here with Natasha now. “I’ll take the coffee then,” she replied- smiling slightly when she talked about bringing her Dad here. Lila had definitely noticed the bit of difference in her dad and Nat’s relationship. It was, of course, obvious but she wasn’t going to bring it up. All she cared about that both of them were happy? Because if anyone deserved it? It was the two of them. “It is definitely a mindfuck. Nate’s older. Dad is younger. You’re fucking alive? Not to mention everyone else here. It’s a lot. But I adapt quickly. It’s a perk of the trade I suppose.” Natasha gave her a grin. “The trade doesn’t have a lot of perks but that is one of them. Nothing really surprises me anymore. That’s also one of the things about being here. Weird stuff happens and the first time it’s freaky and then after that it’s just another day in the neighborhood.” Although sometimes she wondered if there was worse to come but so far nothing had been terribly bad other than the maze which had not been as bad for her as it had been for some people. Breaking her ankle had been pretty mild compared to some things she’d had happen to her in the past. “I told Nate that we had ghosts here a few months ago, he seemed excited to hear that. It’s funny but he’s pretty much the way I imagined him. I’d only seen pictures of him when he was a toddler.” She paused when the waitress came to bring them coffee and after a sip, Nat said “You look like your mother. You always had your dad’s personality though and judging from the number of times you’ve said “fuck” since you’ve been here, you still do.” she laughed. “But hey, who am I to judge, I’ve lost count of the number of times I say it per day or the number of times I think it. I have to watch my mouth when I’m teaching. Little future ballerinas don’t need to be saying “well fuck” when they make a mistake. Their mothers tend to frown on that.” “Shit. I knew the concept of this place seemed too good to be true. I knew some crazy shit had to go down here occasionally. Just another day in the neighborhood,” she said with an echo of Nat’s words. “I’m not surprised that Nate was excited by the idea of ghosts. He’s a colossal dork, but he’s my dork.” She said that in such a way that indicated that she was the only one allowed to tease him. There were exceptions to that rule however that included family, which Nat was very much a part of. “Good answer. Mom’s looks. Dad’s mouth. It’s my curse. Pretty face and a venomous tongue,” Lila replied with a smirk before taking a sip of her own coffee. “I like it this way though. I’ve never been one to hold back, and it is my favorite word.” She tilted her head as she listened to Nat and couldn’t help but to laugh a little at the thought of an angry mom confronting her about her language. “Little ballerinas, huh? So you’re teaching now?” Natasha nodded. “My skills set didn’t translate well to this place. There’s a woman here who was part of SHIELD back home, her name is Daisy, and she talked to me about helping start a version of it here but I said no. I was willing to help her if she had questions but this is the first time in my life that I’ve had a chance to do something because I wanted to do it,” she paused and took a sip of coffee. “A lot of people from different versions of our world had had bad experiences with SHIELD so it didn’t go down so well when she posted a message asking who might be interested. I’m not entirely sure if she ever did anything with it to be honest.” More than likely if it did exist it was being done quietly which was for the best and was also the way SHIELD had always operated. “I decided to take some classes and maybe actually try out for one of the companies but an opportunity presented itself that was a better fit so I took it.” she couldn’t help the smile on her face as she thought about it. “The only good thing that came out of the Red Room and my time with the KGB was learning how to dance. I used it as a cover a few times and I kept up with training but I never had the chance to really do it. Someone that was here, he’s gone now, bought a venue and was going to use it as an entertainment space and he offered me the chance to go in with him and use it for a dance studio. Of course I said yes and when he left, I took over the whole space, there’s a gym there too, a lot of people had been asking for one so it’s kind of a combo deal. And yes, I do get some snotty little girls but there are people in the building who come too and there are a couple of other dancers who help me. I’ll take you by there on the way back to the building. Your dad actually did the floors in the studio and Wanda helped him with the mirrors and setting the barre up. It’s beautiful, I love it.” It had been a very special gift and every time Natasha walked in, she was still amazed that Clint had done it for her. The mention of there maybe being a branch of SHIELD here caught Lila’s interest. All of the issues she had with Nick and the organization aside, she really did enjoy her work. It was possible that it had nothing to do with the actual missions, and everything to do with the fact that she was good at it. She made a mental note to have a conversation with this Daisy that Nat mentioned. “Understandable. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t had a bad experience with SHIELD.” But for some, like her, it was all they knew. A little smile tugged at the corners of Lila’s lips when Nat began talking about her studio. She really did seem to be thriving, and that was something- even as a child- she never really got to witness. “I’d like to see it,” taking another sip of her coffee, she pondered for a moment before speaking again. “You’re happy here. You and Dad both. It’s written all over your face. I’m glad. You both deserve it after the hell you went through.” Wasn’t that why she agreed to work for Fury in the first place? So her Dad could live a life free of their clutches, and have a shot at happiness? It was good to know that he had it here, even if she didn’t know of Goodland’s existence until recently. It didn’t surprise Nat in the least that Lila was perceptive. She got that from Clint and she wouldn’t be a SHIELD agent if she didn’t know how to read people. “It’s that obvious, huh?” she smiled. “Yeah, we’re happy. It just sort of…...evolved over the time we’ve been here. I’d been here a week when he got here, he came from Vormir, he’d just watched….” she still had trouble saying it to other people but she could say it to herself in her head, she’d said it to Clint but others, she couldn’t. “Anyway, we were both having a rough time, I had found out about some other versions of myself, one who was not a good person and then your dad told me what happened. Neither of us wanted to be without the other so he slept in my floor for a while.” She felt that she needed to explain to Lila that this wasn’t something they had just jumped into, that it was something that had always been there and now it had the chance to grow. “We both missed you, all of you, a lot. The Entity sent Clint an album of photos of all of you. Sometimes if you ask for things, it will do that. Thor had noticed that Clint was down and asked me why and I told him that he missed his family and the next day, we got it. There are even some pictures in it of you and me when you were a little squirt.” Natasha reached over and gave Lila’s hand a squeeze. “I’m really glad that you and Nate are here. It will do wonders for your dad’s disposition. He’s a little grumpy sometimes. Although that’s pretty normal for him so maybe slightly less grumpy.” Lila couldn’t help but smirk. Of course it was obvious. Even if she couldn’t read people like a pro, she would have had to be blind not to notice the way they looked at one another. “It’s pretty fucking obvious. So if you were trying to hide it for our sakes, which is not needed by the way, you both failed.” She listened as Natasha explained their circumstances. The girl wanted to tell her that she didn’t owe her any explanation. That it wouldn’t have mattered if they jumped into it quickly or waited. What mattered to her was that they were both happy, but she allowed her to continue because she knew Natasha probably needed to say it just as much for herself as she did for Lila. “It’s okay, Nat. Really. I’m not angry nor do I feel some twisted kind of betrayal for my mother. You two deserve this, and anyone who says otherwise will get a mouthful of my fist.” “I missed you both. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen dad, and you well...you know.” There wasn’t any need to rehash the events surrounding Natasha’s death, they had done that enough since they sat down at the table. She smiled a genuine smile when Nat mentioned the photographs though. At least Clint had some people here looking out for him. “I’m glad we’re here too. Although now you get to deal with two grumpies.” It was a relief to hear Lila’s words even though she had known that the children accepted the fact that she and their father were together. No matter how much she loved Clint, she would never have tried to hurt his marriage. She liked Laura and she made him happy and that was the most important thing. The family accepted Nat as one of them and she would always be grateful for that. Nat laughed when Lila said there would be two grumpies. “I had a feeling that you got that from him. Do you like your coffee strong enough to walk across the table too? I honestly don’t know how he drinks it sometimes.” She liked her coffee strong but Clint took it to a whole new level. “Although I I’ve been known to spike mine with a little vodka but not when I’m working.” “I drink it black, does that count?” She asked with a laugh, she also typically took it with a cigarette, but that could wait for their walk back. “Vodka spiked coffee sounds like my kind of coffee, and actually kind of brilliant. I can’t believe I haven’t thought of that one myself.” Lila walked a fine alcoholism line, she was sure it went hand in hand with the field she had thrown herself into, but she knew her limits. That was the important thing right? “That counts. He actually has some that comes in a bag with a biohazard label on it. I think it’s got more caffeine in it or something. I haven’t tried it but yeah, I take mine black too.” It was the only way really, it wasn’t like you could carry around sugar and creamer and what have you when you were spying on someone. “I was born in Russia, Lila, my blood is at least twenty five percent vodka.” she laughed. “Probably more that by now.” “I’m going to have to swipe some of his biohazard coffee.” Now she was definitely intrigued. Maybe she could drink a whole pot then hit up the shooting range. Lila smirked again as Nat described her Russian blood that was now a quarter percent vodka. “I think mine is half tequila by now,” she stated with an arch of her eyebrow. “Tequila isn’t bad either. I have no problem with it,” she shrugged. “Sometimes the only way to deal with all the shit we see and have to do is to numb it. Not necessarily healthy but it’s what we do.” She had certainly found ways to numb her pain, and would be the first to admit that she didn’t always take the best care of herself. “As long as you haven’t slurped down too many worms, half tequila should be pretty safe.” This was just another example of why she always felt so close to the other woman. Natasha just understood, without Lila really having to say anything, why she did the things she did. The alcohol, the closed-off emotions, the job itself? Nat just got it. “I don’t do the worms,” she replied- pulling a face. “So half tequila sans the worms.” Downing the rest of her coffee she placed the mug back on the table and fidgeted a little in her seat. Lila never could sit still in one place for too long. “And now I need a cigarette. Let’s go see that studio of yours?” “Sane people don’t do the worms,” Nat replied. “I’ve been pretty drunk on tequila before but never to that point.Gotta draw the line somewhere.” She raised an eyebrow when Lila mentioned needing a cigarette. “You smoke? That’s one vice I never tried. Well, I had to for the occasional cover but that was when I was still in Russia and it would have been noticeable if I didn’t. Wasn’t a fan. I’m sure you’ve already had one on that from your dad at home so just tell him that you’ve already heard it and thanks.” she laughed. “I just want to be there when you do it so I can how far his eyes roll back in his head.” She grabbed the check and stood up. “Okay then let’s go, I’ll show you the studio which still needs a name. Maybe we can figure it out while we’re there. Sometimes I just go there and dance all by myself, it’s nice to be able to do that.” |