Natasha shuffled to the kitchen, black sweatpants and an oversized gray sweatshirt. "Hey Nat," Steve greeted. Gosh why, how, was he always so cheerful. Natasha mumbled an incoherent response. She grabbed her tea which had finished steeping and went back inside her room. Steve stared after her, concerned. Bucky walked up behind Steve and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.
"I'll check it out." Bucky went to Natasha's bedroom door and knocked. Thinking it was Steve, Nat reached up to dry her tears but stopped when she heard a different, but no less welcome and familiar, voice. "Natasha? It's me, Bucky. I'm coming in ok?" The door knob slowly turned and the door cracked open revealing the outline of the man. Natasha looked up from her lap, tear marks still on her cheeks. After a few seconds of assessing the situation, Bucky turned to leave, "I'll be right back Nat. Stay there."
Bucky quietly shut the door and hurried off to his room. Within minutes he had returned, holding a small plastic case. He placed it on the bedside the table before turning to look at Natasha, opening his arms. She immediately leaned against him, and he hugged her tightly. "Hey, Nat, shhh. Tell me what's up, yeah?"
"I can't-I can't stop thinking, a-about earlier. Gods, they were kids Buck and th-they shouldn't have to be dealing with this stuff. I wasn't supposed to let this happen to anyone else." Of course it was yesterday's mission that had affected her, why hadn't he though about it sooner. Natasha could easily slip into these dark places even though she hid it well. "It's my fault..." The last part she said was barely more than a whisper, but Bucky still heard it.
"No. No, Natasha, this was not your fault, and you had no way of preventing it. People will never stop being cruel and inhuman, but that's why we're here. To stop them, to make sure they can never do such horrendous things ever again. But we're only human Nat, so we can't prevent everything."
Natasha chuckled softly, "How do you always know what to say Barnes?"
"Don't know, I just let it happen. But, I did bring some nail polish." Bucky grabbed the small container and opened it, revealing base and clear coat, and some various other colors. "Which one would you like today?"
After thinking, Nat picked out a soft periwinkle, "This one."
"I think it's beautiful," Bucky smiled softly and picked out a Navy blue. For the next several hours the two painted each other's nails. Laughing and talking. And though some of the others might make fun of them for doing it, somehow, it made them feel a little more human.
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Authors note:
I hope this turned out to be a really sweet story. Tell me what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading!
Lots of love,
Siri