"This is unbelievable." Sapphire murmured, her and Peter were now alone in her apartment. Liz and Ned had blown them off after all of that convincing they did for a party that one of Liz's popular friends was throwing. "Just relax, Saph this means we can hang out." Peter smiled weakly. He was a little upset about the missed outing but on the bright side...maybe it was just the right time for his friends to blow them off, because he wanted to tell Sapphire exactly how he'd been feeling since the day he first laid eyes on her.
The four words somehow carried so much meaning in them. You feel yourself about to utter them and then just like that...it gets hard to breathe and your head starts to hurt as your heart beats a thousand times per minute. Then anxiety kicks in and with it all of the panicky thoughts of "oh..." "well, I don't really feel that way just yet..." Peter had all but ran through every scenario in his head over and over again, and somehow it had gotten worse every time. But the feeling never changed. When he was around Sapphire he was so happy he could barely breathe, he was so happy his stomach fluttered and his heart pounded as his head grew cloudy. But in that sense...it was good, he'd rather feel that way forever than to not feel that way at all. Which was why he had made himself say it, because why keep it inside, it had been a year already, it was time to confess the truth. And if it didn't work out...well then he'd work it out from there.
Sapphire had started to rant a little more about the situation at hand. Something about how she was sick of being abandoned and that's when Peter tuned back in again. "Wait, what?" He asked. That's when he realized that Sapphire's eyes were now watery because she was crying, trying to hold it back. "Peter, I know this sounds so totally random and stupid but in my life... I was born into tragedy. My mother was taken from me when I was a baby... if it wasn't for me being incredibly smart then I don't know what would have happened, I wouldn't have remembered her at all. Would I have even cared about getting her back if I wasn't so smart, if I didn't remember her? It just keeps me awake at night sometimes and then... then I remember that I'm literally alone. I have all of these people around me and yet... I'm so alone that I just wanna die." Okay, so maybe it wasn't a good time to tell her how he felt... or maybe it was.
"Sapphire, you are not alone. You have Natasha and the other Avengers who treat you like their the most important thing on this planet. You have me and Ned and Liz who suck at time management and being there when they say they will but nonetheless, they're here and then there's me, you'll always have me. Even if you don't get your mom back you have all those memories of her to hold onto." Sapphire smiled but Peter could tell it was a lie. Still, she snuggled into him and smiled a little harder, as if she were trying to convince herself that she was in fact, happy to be in his arm, which made Peter pull away. "My um... I forgot that my aunt needed me to take out the chicken from the freezer so I better do that before she gets home." Peter said, jolting up. Sapphire couldn't tell that anything was wrong so she shrugged and let Peter leave, regret in his wake. Sapphire then reached over to her phone and dialed the most recent number which was Natasha's.
"Hello?" Natasha asked from the other side. She let go of the phone and pressed it against her cheek with her shoulder as she used her right hand to open the big wooden doors to the Sanctum. "Hey Nat." Sapphire said as the happiness returned to her voice. "Did you um....did you find anything?" Sapphire asked. The nervousness navigated its way through the phone onto Natasha as she looked back at her fellow Avengers as they left the Sanctum. "No. Sorry Saph. Dr. Strange thinks he knows what's blocking her from coming back but he has some research to do." She lied. "Wait so she's alive, right? There's just something blocking her way from coming back?" Sapphire asked excitedly. Natasha pursed her lips and looked back at Sam as they all piled into Tony's car. "Um, yea kind of. Why so curious?" She asked. Sapphire kind of laughed. "What do you mean? She's my mom and I want her back I'm just curious." Natasha then shook her head and rephrased her question. "Right no, I meant to say that curiosity isn't what's going to bring her back, Saph." "Curiosity is exactly what's going to bring her back."
"Sapphire."
"Mom, this is as important to me as it is to you. I'm just curious is all, wanted to know what happened." She said. Natasha sighed but nodded. "We didn't really find much but we'll keep trying, I promise. Love you." She said. "Love you, too." And then the line went dead. Natasha made sure to double check that the phone called had ended before she burst into tears. Sam reached up from the backseat next to Steve and rubbed her shoulder supportively. Tony looked over and sighed. "Any particular reason you lied?" He asked, knowing that's what they all wanted to know. Natasha wiped her face and looked back up at her teammate. "Am I a weak person, Tony?" She asked, her tone cold. Tony paused before answering. "No." He said. Her gaze returned to the front of her as she contemplated her response. "Then believe me when I tell you that it even hurts me to be wonder. I have so much hope and part of me wishes I didn't, because knowing she's alive only makes me want to search every book and every manuscript to try and find a way to get her out. Imagine what a teenager with hormones and over reactions with impulse control would do with the simple information that her mother is alive and in a magical realm that we have no idea how to get her out of."
After she finished Sam picked up the conversation from a different topic. "So Sapphire's powers." He started. Natasha sighed again. "Honestly there is so much going on right now." She admitted. Everyone in the car nodded. "But I do think she has them, if anything some form of super intelligence." She added. "But she can read emotions, I mean she read yours back at the tower." Tony added. "So mind control?" "Not exactly, she didn't read my mind she read my emotions, what I was feeling which related to what I was thinking but then afterwards it was blatantly obvious." "What?" "My point is, I don't think she's a physic, I think she can read emotions."
...
"I'm a what?" Sapphire asked. "An empath." Natasha said as she slammed down a selection of dust covered books Sapphire had the strange suspicion she was going to have to read. "You have the ability to read other people's emotions. Although, it goes deeper, you can not only read other peoples emotions but you can share them, take them and exploit them." "So why can't I do that now?" Sapphire asked, pulling her newly straightened hair to the side. "Well probably because you're just figuring out your powers." "So that doesn't explain why I'm so smart." Sapphire added. "Way to be humbled, kiddo. But as an empath you can take other people emotions or use them, I think that you've been subconsciously taking knowledge from the people your around. As a baby you were always around your mom and her friends so I think that you were using their knowledge with your powers, thus why you were so evolved."
"So I made them dumber? Oh my god, am I doing that now?" She asked, a little panicked as she grabbed her head. "That's not how it works. "You see, you can only take on strong emotions or feelings. If someone is having a panic attack you would be able to take away their panic or share it, the panic would then transfer to you regardless." Natasha laughed as her daughter stopped panicking. "So I wasn't taking their knowledge I was just using it but it was never gone." Sapphire explained more to herself then to Natasha. "Exactly." The spy responded anyway. "So that brings us to why we're here also, you need to train." She revealed. Sapphire moved to the other side of the table and grabbed an apple before taking a bite. "'Thought you said training wasn't a good idea?" She questioned. Natasha sighed. "Yeah well, a little birdy convinced me that not training you would be more of a disservice than anything else." She smiled as she swatted at Sapphire to put the apple down and follow her to the training hall. "By birdy do you mean, Sam?" She asked, curiosity filling her tone.
Natasha rolled her eyes as they turned a corner. "First off, before you even go there, I've been working with Sam for awhile now, we're friends." Natasha coaxed. "Yeah, and Peter and I were bestfriends before we started dating." "That's different." Natasha argued. "How exactly?" Sapphire countered. "...It just is. Sam is...he's great, he is but dating him would be like betraying..."
"Mom?" Sapphire guessed. Natasha didn't answer but Sapphire could tell without her powers that she was right. "Nat, you know that it's okay to move on, right? It's been 15 years it would be wrong for you to just sit around and wait." "I know that, Saph but it just doesn't feel right, it never has." "Do you mean moving on or moving on with Sam?" The teenager raised an eyebrow as her mother sighed and moved a punching bag over to the other side of the room. "We really shouldn't be having this conversation." She said as she realized it was getting too personal. Sapphire threw her hands up. "Fine, I get you don't wanna talk about it with your teenage daughter but at least talk to someone, preferably Sam. Mom is understanding from what I remember, you can't live your life from the perspective that one day she'll be here and everything will be the same again, even I've come to terms with that." Natasha stopped moving and looked down at the floor. A chime went off and Sapphire reached down to check her phone. "Oh, I forgot. I promised I'd help Ned at his dad's restaurant today. We can train later though, right?" Sapphire asked, already on her way to the door. Natasha snapped out of her trance. "Wait, what, no. Can't Peter or Liz help?" She asked as Sapphire continued walking. "Oh they'll be there, but it's more of a five person job, sorry mom!" She was gone before anymore words were shared.
Nat's own phone began to go off as a text from Sam called her into Tony's office. When she arrived, everyone was already sitting, everyone being Bruce, Tony, Steve and Sam who she locked eyes with for a second before moving them to Tony and the others. "What's up?" She asked. Tony looked down at one of the monitors and back up at Nat. "Saph have plans?" He asked, being overly nosy. "Yeah, helping Ned, Peter and Liz with something, why is that important?" She asked. Tony shrugged. "Anyways, we're here because Strange found something. He sent over these files today, they contain some more information on the Mirror Realm that Normani mentioned she might be in." Natasha took a seat next to Steve. "Alright, what'd he find?" She asked. Tony pulled up a hologram before speaking again. "Apparently it's this dimension placed somewhere in time filled with crystals and lavender sand. Stephen thinks she's there because when she phased out of existence she never technically died so her soul found a place there, in the Mirror Realm and took her body with it."
"But that doesn't explain why when she arrived people knew of her as some... savior." Bruce added, thinking back to what Normani had said. "Right, Stephen couldn't figure that out but I think it's because in the past someone prophesized that Normani would be exactly that, a savior." "A savior for what?" Natasha cut in, she shifted in her seat before deciding to stand up. "What exactly is this Mirror Realm? I get that it's s dimension somewhere in time that holds people but why? What kind of people are they holding and when Normani phased out of existence why did she go there I- we're still missing so many goddamn pieces." She stopped when she noticed a slight twitch in Tony's expression, and knew they were hiding something. "So who's gonna tell me the missing piece?" She asked, looking around at all of the men in the room she considered to be her best friends, and they were legit lying to her.
"Nat..." Bruce started. "For the lord's sake, someone just tell her what the hell Stephen did. There is no point in hiding it from her, we need to save Normani hiding this isn't gonna help." Sam countered, and with that Steve took the mantle and spoke. "Natasha... the Mirror Realm doesn't just hold random people who happened to disappear one day..." He paused and looked at his bestfriend, Natasha's red hair seemed to hit the sunlight in the window differently in that moment and it reminded him of all of their old times together, before all of this happened and she became the mother she otherwise would have never had the chance to be. He was happy for her, so very happy. "Nat, the Mirror Realm is a prison." He finally admitted. The look on Natasha's face did a continuous back and forth between confused, shocked, sad and angry. The worst one being confused seeing as it just brought on more questions. "I- a prison realm?" She choked out, a sob caught in her throat.
"Why would she be in a prison realm, though?" Bruce questioned. He moved his hair to the side as he looked over to Natasha to see her shake off her sadness... once again. "If you're asking me if Normani was a bad person... take one look at Sapphire and tell me how someone that could be evil and cruel could make someone so beautiful and kind." She was silent for a second as she moved around the room and then in front of Bruce. "Now you wanna ask that question again?" She asked, the offense in her tone evident. "Nat, I- that's not what I meant..." "Then shut the hell up." The two stared at each other for a moment until Tony interrupted it. "Well we don't know what she did or if she even did anything this could just be a mix up. But from what Stephen said, it seems that only the worst of the worst wind up there." "Normal, the worst?" Sam asked, which was admittedly a good question. "Right, this place is a place for the superpowered after they die. Instead of going to Heaven or Hell or wherever you believe we go after death, the bad supernatural go to the Mirror Realm."
"So... what's our next step? All this information did was beg new answers for new questions. We know what it's called and we know why it exists and who it's holding but there are so many other questions. Like why is Nor there and how do we get her out?" The meeting finished shortly after that question was asked. Natasha was thoroughly disappointed, seeing as she still had no answers to their plight. She was about to take herself back to Strange's Sanctum Sanatorium and get answers for herself, even if it meant reading every book in that library herself. But then a hand gripped her shoulder and she turned, about to break that persons wrist but then she noticed who it was. "Woah, calm down, Romanoff." Sam's soft brown eyes soothed her into listening and she moved her hand off of his wrist which he promptly rubbed. "So, that was-"
"Unhelpful." Natasha finished. Sam sighed. "To say the least, yeah. Look we're trying, but just like even Normani has no idea what's happening, neither do we." He stated. Natasha turned down the hall so she could get to the elevator. "Where ya going?" He asked. Nat pressed a button on the elevator and began her wait. "I'm going back to the Sanctum, I want answers and that's the only place that I'll get them." She said. "Woah, woah, woah. Listen, I get it you want Normani back, but so do we. You cannot obsess , Nat. Dare I say it... I don't think she would want that." She could hear the elevator as it chimed closer. The redness in her cheeks finally resurfaced to a blush that Sam clearly noticed. "Hey um, you okay?" He asked referring to her cheeks. Natasha tried to hide her smile. "I um-" The door to the elevator chimed open and her and Sam shared a look before Natasha finally gave in. "Fuck it." She mumbled. "Sam we need to talk." She said, leading him to her room. She had barely been in there for what seemed like ever. Lately she would sleep outside of Sapphire's door, in there with her or anywhere else she fell asleep at.
The walls remained gray with the exception of the left side which was painted half white and uneven. There were a selection of potoroids on the walls of Normani and Sapphire and then some of Nat and Normani and then one of all three off them together. It saddened her to see the unfinished work of the woman who disappeared out of her life quit literally, so she never really slept in here and if she did it was plagued with nightmares. "This um..." "Is unfinished." Natasha finished. "I feel like that's gonna be our thing." Sam joked. Natasha looked at him confused. "You finishing my sentences." He clarified. That bought a smile to Natasha's face as the redness returned. "Listen, we have to talk." She directed Sam to sit on her bed and he did so she moved to the bookcase on the wall and leaned up against it. "So... lately, I feel like there's been something more to us than... a friendship. And I just need to make everything clear because I have no time in my life for confusion. So I'm asking you, do you see me as more than a friend?" She barely got the words out before her mouth wired itself shut. Metaphorically, of course.
"You've said too much."
Her conscious rang with insults as it begged her to take back her words, but she had trained long enough to ignore them. Sam shifted in his spot before getting up altogether. "This... seriously isn't a good time to talk about this." He admitted. "You don't think I know that? But with this case just bringing more and more questions with no new answers... this is one question that I can ask and get an answer. So, Sam. How do you feel about me?" She asked again. He looked away and then back again before standing up and walking over to her. "You do know, that once I say what I have to say... there is no going back to normal depending on your response after." Sam warned, but all Natasha did was gulp and nod. "Okay... well then. Natalia Romanova, I do see you as more than a friend." The redness in her face subtly returned. "Now, Natalia Romanova, do you see me as more than a friend?" Well shit. She should have seen that question coming. Usually people ask that as a follow up to the question she asked but... what was the answer? Did she feel that way towards Sam, too? Or was he seriously just a friend? Sam was always there for her, before and then even more as of late. But for how long had he felt this way about her? And for long did she, if she even did? More importantly, Sapphire and Normani. Sapphire was a teenager, one minute she's telling you everything's fine and then the next, she's crying on the bathroom floor. But her words seemed genuine and Natasha had given her enough leg room to change her mind or express her feelings towards it, and yet... she had encouraged it.
But Normani... their most recent conversation had nothing to do with Sam, how do you... you don't tell someone something like that. Plus, these feelings hadn't meant as much until now as they did then. Was it wrong... was it cheating? Were they ever even dating to cheat? Or was their connection more of an emotional thing.... would she be committing emotional betrayal? Plus this timing was... beyond terrible. They were just about to get Normani back, imagine if they did and then she saw she was with Sam. But then again... it had been 15 years, she had spent 15 years without her and that just wasn't fair. Most people, normal people, would have moved on by now. Accepted the fact that their person was gone and moved on. For once, Natasha wanted to be normal.
"Nat?" Sam asked confused. His hands were now on her shoulders and he was slightly shaking her. She snapped out of her thought trance and finally looked him in the eyes. "Sorry I-." She paused, a picture of Normani caught in the corner of her eye...but she just closed them and looked back at Sam.
"I feel the same way."
...
The door slammed shut as Natasha's back was thrown up against it. A slight moan escaped her mouth as Sam breathed heavily against her neck. His hands made their way to her waist and Natasha placed hers on his chest. Their eyes caught each others and they locked for a moment as they stared at each other, breathing heavily. Then their lips attacked each other's. While he was kissing her, Sam moved his hands from her waist and moved them to her shirt where he began to pull the black T-Shirt off of her. Natasha was about to lift her hands up and take it off but Sam just grunted and yanked it hard enough with his hands that it ripped in half.
She asked as the cold air of the Avengers tower hit her bare chest. Sam looked down at her ripped down the middle T-shirt and chest before looking back up at her. He reached for his own shirt and took it off before grabbing his jeans and beginning to unbuckle them. Natasha quickly did the same for hers and Sam quickly grabbed her by the waist and carried her to the bed in the one of the guest rooms that the two had closed themselves in.
The best way for no one to find them.
Natasha laughed as she bounced on the cushiony bed and she caught Sam's smile as he stared at her over top for awhile.
"You sure about this?" He asked, concern trying desperately to mask his want.
"Yes, I am completely sure." She smirked. And that was enough for Sam as he reached for her mouth and began making out while on top of her. As the kisses got heavier, he moved his hand to her heat and slowly entered one finger before adding another.
"Uh-" Natasha moaned before biting her lip. He continued to kiss her though as his hand moved in and out, in circular motions and faster then slower. Nat's kisses began to get sloppier and the underwear that were still on her body were now soaked. Sam noticed and chuckled before taking them off for her and throwing them somewhere with his other hand.
"Sa-Sam." She moaned out. "Stop, I can't-"
"Come on miss assassin, I thought you'd last longer than this." He raised and eyebrow and Natasha grunted. Now her pride was insulted.
Her expression changed as she slid herself up, taking Sam's fingers out of her. She then grabbed his by the throat and flipped herself on top of him. Sam grunted as he hit the mattress and while he got his awareness back together, Natasha still had her hand around his throat as she began grinding up against him.
"Oh shit." He groaned, throwing his head back. He was already hard but Nat could feel him growing in between her thighs. She let out a moan herself as she continued, her legs beginning to shake as pleasure escaped her lips. "Natasha, pl- please. Let me, be inside you." Sam pleaded. Natasha smiled and mocked reluctance, but even the spy couldn't hold back the pangs of excitement and need she had for him to be in her as much as he did.
Sam bucked underneath her, knocking her out of her focus for enough time for him to sit up straight and take her hand off his throat. "Natasha." He grumbled, a look of demand in his eyes as hers grew softer. Before she could respond, Sam lifted her up from her butt slightly as he took his boxers off. They locked eyes for awhile while Sam simultaneously lowered Natasha onto himself.
"Oh my God-" But God had nothing to do with this.
She let out a loud moan and Sam followed suit with a low grumble as she slid all the way down. She gasped as a heavy breath escaped her lips, catching her breath. Her hand made their way onto Sam's shoulders as she steadied herself with the other behind her. A smile spread across her lips as she began to go up and down slowly, riding the fellow Avenger.
"Fuck, Natasha." He moaned out, his head back. Nat began to speed up as the pleasure built up inside her. "Uhn, oh my God." She moaned, something that usually wouldn't escape the lips of the Russian spy. Pleasure was used for a means of information, but this... this was truly just pleasure.
Grunts and moans filled the guest room as Sam grew frustrated of not being on top and flipped himself and a tired Natasha over to take control. Every inch of himself of pumping in and out of her over and over again. Eyes rolled and heads were thrown back. Cries of pleasure ran wild through the air until Sam let out a moan so low that it could only mean that he finished.
The two stopped, sweat dripping down their faces and bodies. Sam then finished off Nat and the two laid down on the guest room bed, breathing heavily as Natasha drifted off into a heavy sleep.
It was so clearly safe to say that they were far more than friends now.