A Sorta Fairytale

And I Ride Alongside, I Rode Alongside You Then

Natasha Romanoff was not like other girls. She hadn't been raised to enjoy feminine pursuits except as a way to trap targets who were frequently men. She hadn't spent any unstructured time with her peers until she was in her twenties. She knew dozens of ways to kill a person, and more to win in a fight. She knew how to read anyone for intent and how to manipulate their desires to achieve her own ends. She had a malleable moral compass though she liked to think she worked for the good guys. She couldn't have children but she could heal very, very fast.

The place was empty when she woke up. Her night had left her stiff and sore, and she dragged herself out of bed to stretch. That helped. The stitches on her knee needed to be cut out, the gash almost sealed. Inspection completed, she looked around to see if Barnes had left a note or given some indication of his absence. It was unlikely that he'd been captured, since why would they have just left her lying there, but he may have gotten himself into trouble after leaving the room.

Nothing. She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair impatiently as she allowed herself to cycle through angry thoughts about how she hadn't asked for this. The moment passed and she picked up her phone to report in. Maybe Barnes had done the same.

"Fury."

"Romanoff."

"Ah, Natasha, was hoping I'd hear from you."

"Did you get the pictures I sent you?" she asked as she settled down on her bed, rubbing her temples with her free hand.

"Yes. We're working on them. Was Turgenov there?" Nick asked, sounding distracted.

Finding the drive from the night before, she inserted it into her phone to be uploaded. "Not that I know. Sending you all they had now. I'll start going through it as soon as I can. Probably not safe to stay here," she added.

"Probably not," he agreed. "You'll be heading west, then?"

"Assuming I can find my partner, yes." An unfamiliar harshness infected her tone and she considered that maybe she'd lost more sleep (or blood) than previously thought.

Nick paused, concerned, before responding. "What happened, Natasha?"

"Nothing, I just... I got shot. I'm fine. I haven't seen him since I woke up, though his bed's been slept in," she added, glancing over at it.

"Hmm. Rogers didn't say anything about him being a flight risk." He trailed off, clearly reconsidering his decision to send Barnes out without Steve.

The thought came unbidden that he may have had a similar conversation with Clint during her first few unguarded missions, and she reassessed her annoyance. After all she'd been through, how amazing had it been for people to trust her? To care about her and give her a job to do. She didn't know how long she'd been in SHIELD custody, being evaluated and questioned and deprogrammed. Once she finally got out, she finally had a shot at making up for what she'd done... Well, that's when she'd really started to get to know who she was.

"I'm sure he'll turn up. Just went out for breakfast or something," she put in soothingly.

Nick could, no doubt, see through her reassurance, but he didn't pursue the subject. "Well, report in when you get to the next hotel. I'll send your reservations to you later tonight."

"Thank you."

"Natasha? Try not to get too banged up out there," he added, a rare moment of affection.

She smiled. "I'll do my best, sir."

It crossed her mind to call Steve and see if he'd heard from Barnes, but it would certainly make him panic if he hadn't. There wasn't any evidence of foul play, and she didn't want to alarm anyone unnecessarily. Besides, all she really wanted to do was go back to sleep. Frowning down at the bed beneath her, she supposed what she wanted was something to eat and then a nap. But there wasn't time for such things. There were documents to read and packing to do before the mission could continue.