Revenge Turned Sweet

Chapter 34: Old Friends

•This chapter is a bit of a long one! I had fun writing it and incorporating new people into the story, even if it's just for one chapter! Hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I did writing it!•

The compound is quiet, more so than usual. Before, I would hear the sounds of Sam and...him bickering in the hallways, the night before a mission check-ins with Sam, the sounds of someone cooking or making coffee. It's all been diminished to a drawn-out silence that seems loud in a way. At least to me, it has. It might feel like my world has stopped, but that doesn't mean others are moving in slow motion.

It's been a week.

A week of nothing. He hasn't tried to speak to me, upon my request, of course. I haven't seen him anywhere. He's never in the kitchen, the gym, the halls, anywhere. And it's beginning to drive me insane. Sam told me he's been out looking for my father, going to any known HYDRA base or any supporters. But some part of me is telling me that that isn't true. Maybe it's my own self-induced paranoia, but I feel like there's something both of them aren't telling me.

The words that my father said to me the things he repeated have been playing in my head on a loop. Not allowing me to rest or look in the mirror without thinking my existence is some cosmic mistake. If those words had come from anyone else, I wouldn't have given them such power I have now. But, considering who they had come from, it stings a bit more than I'd like to admit.

It feels silly, but I think I may be more upset over my loss of him. Though on my own merit, I wish it didn't happen. I pull my knees to my chest and listen to the rain pouring down onto the grass outside my window. Dreary fog covers the grass and creeps in from the tree line. The weather reflects my mood of the day; grey. My room has been my safe space for the last couple of days, only leaving it when I absolutely need to. I tuck my hair behind my ears, allowing the trickling pattern of rainfall against my window to calm my racing mind.

Three knocks against my door echo in the room. "Hey, Nadya?" Sam's voice leaks through the door. "Mind if I come in for a sec?"

I clear my throat but don't turn away from the window. "Yeah, you can come in," I call back, raising my voice enough for him to hear.

I hear the door crack open and footsteps thudding against the ground towards my bed. "You okay?" He asks in a low voice, and I hear the side of my bed dip.

I peel my eyes away from the serene landscape and smile briefly at him. "I'm okay," I mumble, nodding. Noting that, I probably do not look okay. I'm sitting on the cushion of my windowsill, still in my pajamas, and I don't even know the time.

"What happened?" I narrow my eyes at his question, and he sighs. "That night, I mean."

I shrug, not wanting to cause a rift between the two Avengers who have finally become friends following their victory over the Flag Smashers. "It just dug some stuff up, that's all," I respond with the most vague information I can give him.

He clasps his hands together, not looking convinced or satisfied with my response. "You know you can talk to me, right?" He smirks at me, and I can't help but smile back. "I know things with you and Bucky are a little rocky right now."

"But?" I ask, knowing he's going to follow up with something I may or may not like.

He nods his head in defeat. "But, we still have a job to do. Missions, if that rings a bell for you."

I chuckle. "Yes, Sam, it rings a very familiar bell," I mumble, "anything good?" My mood picks up at this, maybe getting out of the compound, fixing other things that actually can be improved, and getting my mind off of the whole HYDRA spectacular.