look after you × winterwidow & oc

VI. guilt

"Why are you crying? What happened?"

"It's nothing," Romanoff said, even though she choked on her words.

Katya opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Instead, she suddenly sat upright and tried to stand up. This was what Natasha was afraid of, it happened before, so she held her tight, knowing she would fall back down the second she tried to stand.

"Easy there, wait a minute." she suggested but Katya shook her head and tried once again "Can't you tell me what you saw?"

"I don't know what I saw."

"Can anyone hand her a piece of paper and crayons?" Natasha asked and got only confused looks in answer. "Now!" she snapped and then added softly. "Please, guys."

Tony was the first to snap out of the shock and the closest one to the table where they left the supplies so he grabbed them. The second Katya got them in her little hands, she started drawing without even looking at the page. She still struggled to keep her eyes open, yet her hands moved like they had a mind of their own. She kept scribbling, adding line after line, covering the whole page. Natasha didn't have a clear look at it, Katya was covering it partly but from what she saw it looked really chaotic, even more than her usual vision drawings.

After a few minutes, both paper and crayon fell out of her hand and clattered to the floor and the girl slumped back in Natasha's arms. She noticed Bruce's worried look, his medical side ready to kick in, but she shook her head. Katya was okay. She wasn't about to lose consciousness, but about to fall asleep. Romanoff changed her position slightly, getting ready to stand up with the girl still in her arms.

"I've got you" she whispered while adjusting her hold on the child.

"Do you want some help?" Steve offered.

"No, I'll manage." Natasha shook her head. "But it would be nice if someone could go first and open the door to her room."

Steve immediately went upstairs and she started following him but stopped and turned to face worried, Bruce and Tony. Clint probably went to check on his kids because she couldn't see him anywhere.

"She'll be okay in the morning" Romanoff assured. "She just needs to sleep it off. If you want you can try to interpret her drawing"

After that, she turned again and followed Rogers who was waiting in the hall. Only then did she realize that she didn't tell him what room was Katya's. She stopped by the door at the end of the corridor and motioned at it. Steve opened it and let them in first. Carrying the girl wasn't hard, she couldn't have been more than seventy pounds. Natasha laid her down on her bed, covered with a lavender-colored knitted blanket. She sat next to her and brushed some hair off her face. Katya still had some blood on her face that needed to be cleaned but at the same time, Natasha didn't want to wake her.

"Let us know if you need anything," Rogers said.

She turned to face him and nodded. She noticed that he stayed in the corridor, not crossing the threshold.

"I will." she agreed.

Steve gently closed the door and Natasha could hear his footsteps on the stairs. After a while, she stood up and went to the bathroom. She left the door open in case Katya woke up and reached for a clean towel. She wet one of its corners with lukewarm water and squeezed the excess out making sure it wouldn't drip on the floor. Natasha crossed the room and sat back on the edge of the bed. With a sigh, she started cleaning red smudges from the girl's face. She wasn't planning on waking up anytime soon.

But she was fine. She was just sleeping. This kind of attack always took a toll on her and Natasha knew it back from their beginning days at S.H.I.E.L.D. when incidents like that would happen even a few times a week, caused by stress and the presence of so many strangers around.