Hey. It’s not as bad as it looks.
Who: Nat, Stahma, and two of the Finches What: Nat brings home a couple of strays When: 4/2 Where: Stahma's house Rating: Pg Status: Complete
Even with the augmentation the Red Room had given her body, and the healing she’d been given by the girls in the FSB program she’d disrupted, Natasha’s recovery wasn’t going to be easy or quick. As it was, it was a struggle to come home to Stahma without looking like death-warmed-over.
That she was accompanied by two of the five surviving girls probably wasn’t going to help matters. While the Welsh and French girls had gone with Neena and the Chinese one with Logan, she’d taken the Russians. Because of course.
Kisha was as dark as Catriona was light. It was rare, but genetically possible for twins to wind up like that. Natasha still wondered what the plan had been for them. She’d find out when she went through the files, but twins were risky enough. Rare twins with a noticeable physical quirk? Extra risky.
She punched in the code for the door, speaking in Russian. “Just...help me to the couch.”
Stahma had been worried while Natasha had been gone, but she’d kept it to herself, as she always did. She’d passed the time by focusing more on figuring out how to get her business back. And when she wasn’t doing that, she chose to knit just to try and occupy herself.
When she’d gotten Natasha’s texts, she made certain to put her human disguise on. The twins did not need to be greeted by an alien, even if she could pass for an albino human, but even then. That did not need to be the first thing they saw of her.
Hearing someone arrive, Stahma went to the door, wearing a floor length dress, and her dark eyes and dark hair were a very stark contrast to their natural colors. “Natasha,” she gasped as she first caught sight of her. She’d been right to worry.
Natasha almost didn’t recognize her, and it took her a moment before it registered that was actually Stahma, “Hey. It’s not as bad as it looks.”
Kisha rolled her eyes, “It is exactly as bad as it looks.”
Shooting a dirty look at the fourteen year old, Nat responded, “I’ve had worse.”
It was better this way, even if Stahma didn’t like pretending to be human, but she needed to wear the disguise any time she left the house, so it wasn’t completely out of the ordinary.
“You are going to sit down and rest,” she spoke in Russian. There was a gentle firmness to her voice. She wasn’t going to take Natasha claiming she was fine. She showed the way over to the couch. “Let me see,” she said. She needed to know if she needed to dress the wound at all. Which she most certainly could. She wasn’t a doctor, but she’d done her share of sewing up wounds and bandaging them.
The girls smirked at Nat as Nat leaned back on the couch and unzipped her spy suit. The bullet had hit a little to the right of her heart. “The girls are surprisingly good at this. But they had some really good facilities.”
Stahma carefully inspected the wound and the bandaging, then she looked at the girls. “This is your work?” She asked, meaning the bandaging. “It is very good.” Though even as she spoke softly to the girls, she turned a pointed look at Natasha. “And you are lucky, but I am glad that you are home.”
Natasha smiled sheepishly, “I admit, I was a little too soft. I trusted the wrong people a little too far.”
“Her sisters,” Kisha explained.
Smile fading, Natasha nodded, “Our handlers wanted us eliminated, and the girls we found there.”
“So they were attempting to tie up loose ends,” Stahma commented. She looked at the girls. “I am glad you all made it out of there.” And she was, even if she had no idea how to raise girls. She’d had a son who’d grown up to hate her in both of her lives. Would these girls hate her as well?
Natasha wasn’t the one that brought home strays. The cat was the exception. Stahma was an exception. Her line of work was too dangerous, and yet she didn’t think there were many people who could understand what they’d been through.
“Da.” Nat closed her eyes, leaning her head back on the couch. “One day, they’ll try again, new girls they’ve stolen. I have to do something to prevent that.”
Stahma would take exception to the stray thing. She didn’t consider herself a stray. She’d just needed help when she’d woken up stabbed and ran into Natasha. “And you will, but you aren’t going to do anything more than researching it until you are healed.” Again, that gentle firmness entered her tone. Stahma could put her foot down when necessary.
Natasha eyed Stahma, and decided in that moment that while she was never getting married, if she did, she’d marry Stahma. “You’re lucky I love you.”
Catriona looked at Stahma, having seen Natasha at work she was suddenly a little worried about how scary Stahma must be to keep Nat in line.
Stahma smiled. “And you’re lucky I love you.” She turned her attention the twins, noting the differences in their appearance. It was intriguing. Human genetics had such a wide variety. Castithans didn’t have much variety, except in their eye color. “Forgive my manners, would either of you like something to eat or drink?” She then glanced at her girlfriend. “How about you? Do you want anything? Painkillers, perhaps?”
“I’ll take a nice steak,” Nat joked, before she leaned back again and closed her eyes, Or maybe death. Death sounded really good right now.
The girls looked at her, then at Stahma. Then back again. That kind of relationship wasn’t exactly favored in Russia at the moment, and they’d both been pretty young when they’d been taken from an orphanage, so this was all really new.
“I had a cheeseburger once,” Kisha said. “When I was little.”
Stahma shook her head a little at Natasha. It was definitely a good thing they were not living in Russia. Otherwise, their relationship would be a lot harder to fully maintain. Not to mention they both had a lot of enemies in Russia. She then looked at the girls, smiling gently at Kisha. “I could certainly make a cheeseburger for you, if you want.”
“Please?” Kisha folded her arms, trying to not stare too hard. There was something almost unsettling about Stahma. She was really pretty, but there was something different. Strange.
She shrugged it off, Kisha and her sister had had strange lives as it was.
“Of course,” she said with a smile, then looked to the sister. “What would you like?” Stahma had noticed Kisha looking at her, and she wondered if she suspected something about her nature. Stahma did move a little differently than humans typically did. Her eyes tended to move before her head did, which was more animalistic than human, and so forth.
It was fascinating. Catriona had noticed it too but she was a lot less obvious about it than her sister. “May I have the same without cheese?”
Kisha stuck her tongue out at her sister, and Catriona stuck her tongue back.
Stahma nodded. “Of course you may.” She then looked at Natasha. “Painkillers for you?” Of course, she’d bring something back for Natasha to eat as well, but she was concerned about her girlfriend.
She gave Stahma a thumbs up, without opening her eyes. “Get the good stuff. I feel like indulging.”
That probably said a lot, since Nat wasn’t the kind of person to take good painkillers.
Heading into the kitchen, Kisha took a look around. It was huge. Bigger than the orphanage, though smaller than the facility had been. They could get lost in this house.
They’d have to!
That was definitely telling and only worried Stahma more. “I’ll be back. Rest now.” Stahma headed into the kitchen to start making the burgers. She saw Kisha looking around and had to smile a bit. “What do you think?”
Stahma grabbed a pan and set it on the stove, turning the burner on and letting the pan heat up as she went to get the hamburgers out of the fridge. It wouldn’t quite be the same as grilling, but they had all summer to grill.
"You're house is huge." Was it just the two women? The twins exchanged a look, as if discussing this particular. Catriona took a seat at the table while Kisha came over to watch Stahma cook.
“It is, isn’t it? But I suppose that makes it all the more fun for you both to explore?” Of course, the girls may have been teenagers, but they seemed to still have that child-like curiosity of exploring new places.
They exchanged a look, and then grinned. Kisha, who seemed to be the one that spoke the most, said, “Maybe after we eat.”
She kind of hoped she got her own bed. That would be a first.
It was intriguing to see the differences between the twins. She certainly didn’t mind one talking more than the other. “Of course. Did Natasha tell you we have a cat?” The cat should be around somewhere. Maybe greeting Natasha by now.
Stahma put the finishing touches on the burgers, one with cheese and one without. She then served the twins with a smile. “Here you are, eat up!” She would then turn to making Natasha some soup, assuming liquid would go down easier right now than solid food with her injury.
Considering both their names were variations on cats (as opposed to birds like their ‘sisters’), a house cat was probably a net positive. Kisha tore into her burger, though her sister was more polite.
Nat could smell the burger from the couch and made a frustrated sound. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be having one of those.
Stahma smiled at the girls, then turned and made some soup for her injured girlfriend. She did at least add some meat to the soup. Probably not enough to satisfy Natasha, but it was better than nothing. While the soup cooked, she went to grab some of the good painkillers for Natasha, then grabbed a bowl and filled it with soup. She placed the bowl, a spoon, pills and a glass of water on a tray and carried it into the living room setting it down on the coffee table as she sat down beside her girlfriend.
“I did add some meat to the soup, but probably not enough for your liking,” she commented.
Nat gave Stahma a smile. “It’ll help.” She rolled her head and looked down at the food. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect it to go sideways or… to find them. Some of my intel was out dated, and the bastard responsible for them is still alive.”
She tapped her chest, “The one responsible for this isn’t.”
Natasha didn’t sound happy about that.
Stahma listened, nodding a little. “Sometimes things go sideways regardless of how well one has prepared.” She picked up the bowl and the spoon, not certain if Natasha could hold the bowl and feed herself with her injury.
She heard that Natasha didn’t sound happy and a slight frown crossed her face. “I’m sorry. Though I am glad that you are alive.”
“Her name was Antontina. She, myself and Kseniya were the only ones left from our cohort. She didn’t know that she would have died there anyway. That they were using them to purge the project, and if they somehow survived they would have been eliminated anyway.” She reached for Stahma’s hand.
She took Natasha’s hand and squeezed it gently. “That is the way of such people who use others like that. Those being used seldom realize what is truly in store for them. Though I am sorry you had to see them like that.”
Natasha made a tchting sound. She tried to east the soup, glad there was something solid in it. “It’s not over. They won’t be happy with what we did. Or that I’m alive. Or the girls.”
“Then we will be ready for whatever comes.” Stahma didn’t know if those people would make a direct assault on their home, but she would do her part to be prepared for such a thing. Perhaps they would need to upgrade their security even further to help keep the girls safe.
“We’ll have time.” Stahma was too far, but there wasn’t room on the couch for both of them to really cuddle. Nat hated it, but she was feeling needy.
Although she absolutely couldn’t resist saying, “Why don’t you put the kids to bed and then take me to bed.”
Stahma chuckled softly at the comment about going to bed. “You eat the soup and take the pills. I’ll see if I can find the girls and get them to bed.” For all Stahma knew, the girls were off around the house already, getting lost. Or maybe they were choosing bedrooms for themselves. Before she started her search, Stahma got up and leaned in to give Natasha a very deep welcome home kiss.
“I love you,” Natasha whispered, her eyes closed. “I never say that enough.”
“I love you, too,” Stahma whispered back, lifting a hand to gently caress Natasha’s cheek. She leaned her forehead against Natasha’s. She was glad to have her back home, and Stahma would do her very best to take care of her and help her recover from her injury.