#whumpee!natasha

[goldenempyrean]

Rekindled Love

Oh my god. This fic. I love it so much. Lil bit of angsty ex’s to lovers. It turns so soft at the end though! Hopefully everyone enjoys, please let me know what you think ;)

Summary; Natasha Romanoff was your ex. The mere sight of her on its own was enough to piss you off but after finding her alone, it became obvious that maybe your love for her hadn’t ever truly gone away.

Wordcount: 2550

░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░

Your relationship with Natasha was well… It was rocky to say the least. The both of you could silently sit in a room together and yet still find a way to piss each other off. That’s probably why your previous relationship with her had ended with a hell of a lot of screaming and tears. You supposed had felt love for her at one point but now, even just looking at her was enough to cause a pit of anger to boil in your stomach.

You would’ve been more then happy to have never spoken to her ever again. Not after what happened. But it wasn’t just like you could get up and leave. Your friends were here in New York and more-importantly so was your job. You were still an Avenger after all.

It was that your role as an Avenger which had resulted in you meeting Natasha in the first place. You’d been sent on a mission together all those years ago. The mission which had started everything. The mission which had set a train track for your love. There had once been a time where you two had become inseparable. Soulmates. And through the blood, sweat and tears, the pair of you had fallen hard for each other along the way, going on to morph into the Avengers greatest strategic fighting duo. What was that old saying again? The bigger they are they harder they fall? Well you’d both fell pretty damn hard alright, the painful-irony of your situation wasn’t lost on you either.

The team had done their best to keep the two of you separated for the main part but alas. You lived in the same building, you were bound to run into each-other in one way or another. There was a constant overhanging tension whenever the pair of you had to be together, it was suffocating. Your fuse was at its end. That was probably why you had snapped so hard at her that day.

You hummed as you walked through the hall down towards the training room. You had been completely in your own world when suddenly you felt the stumble of a body knocking straight into your chest. You scowled, recognising that fiery hair anywhere.

“Fuck Natasha, watch where you’re going.” You hissed aggressively as she stumbled backwards, looking stunned. She had sweat dripping down her face, obviously having just finished a workout of her own.

Natasha scoffed snapping back around to look at you with angry eyes, “How about you watch it. It’s not my fault that you’re in the way.” She grumbled before turning her head away to discreetly clear her throat.

Her statement infuriated you, “Get over yourself Natash-“

You were just about ready to rip into her when she had interrupted you, turning her as she muffled a chesty painful-sounding cough into her upper-sleeve. If you hadn’t had been so pissed at her then maybe you would’ve been slightly concerned for her.

Though you were mad, you couldn’t quite force yourself to lay into her for simply coughing, instead you gave a loud huff and continued, “Get over yourself, it was your fault Romanoff. You walked into me. Accept it. Now go shower or something.”

“Get out of my way then.” Nat growled as she shoved past you, however to your surprise,, her shove had been weak. It was barely enough force to move you aside, certainly not a show of strength from the ‘Black Widow’. Plus you had been pretty sure that you’d seen her stumble afterwards from the corner of your eye. Weird…

Whatever. It was none of your business, not that you cared anyway. You had a workout to attend too. You simply rolled your eyes and reached into your pocket to pull out your headphones before making your way towards the training room.

And roughly an hour or so later you had finished your workout. Punching things had always made you feel somewhat better, it was something about the release of pent-up energy that calmed you down. All you needed now was a shower and a good lunch to fill you up. Maybe then you’d be able to enjoy the rest of your day in peace, especially with tonights movie night.

The Avengers held movie nights weekly, Tony thought it was something which brought the team together and well he wasn’t wrong. It was the one time where all problems were left at the door and people were able to fully enjoy their night. Of course there was always tension between you and Nat but it always seemed a little less on these nights. To keep things fair, movies were picked by a different team member every week and tonight was your night.

You had been lost in thought, trying to think of a good pick as you made your way into the changing room. You lifted up your arms and pulled off your sweaty vest-top, throwing in onto a bench before going over to your locker and pulling out a fresh towel and a clean pair of clothes which you laid on the bench ready for when you returned post-shower.

You hurried took off the rest of your gym clothes and make your way into the shower. Stepping inside, you almost jumped out of your skin, dropping the bottle of shampoo which you had been holding loosely in your hand.

Slumped on the floor, leaning against the wall of the shower was that familiar redhead. Her eyes closed. The shower above her had gone off but her body was damp and pale as it leant limply against the tiled wall, her redhair hanging in wet curls aside her face.

“Shit-“ You swore as you fumbled with your hand and rapidly brought it up to cover your eyes.

You looked away, keeping your hand over your eyes, totally unsure of what to do. Why was she there? Had she fallen asleep? Just how long had she been there? Your head was filled with about a hundred different questions as you called her name, however no response came, infact the entire changing room was silent aside from the rhythmic drip of a distant tap.

What were you meant to do? You couldn’t just leave her there but you really didn’t want to violate her privacy. Especially considering the two of you weren’t exactly civil at the best of times. You may have hated her publicly but you still held some respect for her. Thinking fast, you tried your best to keep your head turned away from her as you knelt down and took the towel which you had previously had been used to wrap around yourself, instead using it to cover her with.

Once you were positive that you had properly covered her. You turned back to face her and now that you were able to get a proper look at her, you realised that she looked dreadful. You quickly ran out to get yourself some clothes, pulling on the sweats you had left out on the bench before rushing back in.

“Romanoff.” You said shakily, as you got onto your knees beside her, your voice was barely loudly then a whisper.

No response. She didn’t even stir. You huffed and gently raised a hand and shook her shoulder lightly, raising your voice this time, “Natasha. I need you to wake up.”

You shook her again for a moment before a garbled groan came from the woman beside you as she slowly came too.

You released a breath which you hadn’t realised you were holding as she woke.

“Jesus Romanoff. You scared the crap outta me.” You sighed with relief as she blinked wearily, “What on earth are you playing at?”.

“Im fine.” She grumbled, rubbing her fist against her eye.

You couldn’t help but scoff in disbelief, “For a trained spy, you’re a shit liar Natasha. Passing out in the shower isn’t the behaviour of somebody who is ‘fine’.”

She sniffled and pushed herself upright, “I just got tired ‘n’ dizzy, that’s all.” She mumbled as she pulled the towel tightly around her.

You were shocked at her honestly. You wanted to scream at her for her irresponsibility, all while wanting to throw aside your feelings and pull her into your arms. To your heavy displeasure, you were finding it increasingly difficult to stay pissed at her in that moment of time.

“Well, dizzy or not, taking naps on the floor of the communal showers isn’t beneficial for anybody.” You smirked at your own joke and pushed yourself up from the floor, thinking for a moment before offering her your outstretched hand.

Natasha looked up at you for second , seeming to think about it herself before accepting your hand. Allowing you to pull you from the cold tile floor. You looked away as she stood, turning your back on her.

“You need to get some warm clothes on and dry that hair. You’re gonna get ill otherwise.” You instructed, before stepping back into the locker room as she slowly padded behind you.

“HI’TSHHUIEW!” A sudden loud sneeze made you jump from your skin for the second time that day.

You turned to see Natasha’s nose twitching as her eyes fluttered closed as she hovered her hand infront of nose expectantly, “Hh’iiTSHIEW!”

“Bless you.” It then finally hit you as to why she had seemed so weak earlier and to why she was so out of it. Still, blessing her felt good. Hell acknowledging her as something other then somebody you hated felt good. And you’d be lying if you said you didn’t crave her touch in that moment.

She gave you a nod, her own way of saying thanks as she pulled open her own locker to look for some clean clothes. Only afew moments later you heard her give a congested groan, it seems she only had 2 pairs of spandex and a sports drawer stuffed in there.

You groaned and thought with you feelings. You hesitated before opening your own locker up and taking out your spare pair of joggers and an oversized band t-shirt accompanied by a baggy sweatshirt, “Wear these” You said bluntly, throwing them onto the bench beside her.

Nat went to reach for them but stopped, retracting her hand. “I don’t need help from you.” She tried to snarl but the effect was lost as she broke off into a fit of deep rattling coughs.

“Oh cut the crap Nat, I know you’re sick.” You rolled your eyes as she stifled a sneeze into her arm, “That’s not good for you.” You added, a hint of concern slipping into your words.

“Im sorry.” She sniffled a reply before reached out for the offered clothes, not bothering to turn around as she pulled them on, still sniffing as she did so.

You sighed and reached back into your locker to see if you had any tissues for her. Sometimes you kept them in there incase of emergencies. Luckily for her, you had a small packet of those travel ones.

“Blow your nose or something, that sniffling is getting on my nerves.” You lied as you came over to her and pressed the pack into her hand.

It seemed you had done that in the nick of time, just as she had pulled a tissue from the pack the incessant itch in her nose made itself known again.

“Hhi’tshhiuew’ hH’ii’hhtshoo!” Natasha sniffled into the tissues before turning away from you to blow her nose. Her face blushing a deep red as embarrassment seeped into her cheeks.

“You really don’t feel well, do you?” You asked quietly once she had finished, the concerned words came pooling from your mouth.

Nobody could’ve expected what had happened next though. Wordlessly Natasha turned back to you and fell into your chest, wrapping her arms tightly around you.

“I miss us.” She whispered, her voice barely audible. You could feel the fever burning its way through her body as she held onto you.

“Nat-“ You stumbled over your words, “We cant do this. This isn’t you talking, it’s just your fever. This is silly. Come on now. Don’t say stuff like that.” You said but still you kept ahold of her, keeping her safe in your arms.

Of course she didn’t mean what she was saying. She was just feverish and sick. She’d go to bed and wake up with that same hate. Nothing could ever happen between you two again, right?

You felt her chest begin to jerk forwards as she began to cough again, Natasha moved to try and pull away but for some reason you couldn’t let her go. God you wanted too, but you just couldn’t make yourself let go. Instead, you felt your hand moving up to rub comforting circles down her back. Your body acting on its on accord.

Neither of you had felt your tears that had begun to spill from both of your eyes until you’d both let each-other go several minutes later.

Well, there was no going back now. You looked at Natasha, glancing over her pale face and green glassy eyes, you found yourself admiring the beautiful damp crimson curls which fell from her head. God, she was still as beautiful as ever. You’re stomach felt like it had been invaded by an army of fluttering butterflies and as you opened your mouth to speak, it was almost as if you’re words came pouring out.

“Natasha. I cant do this anymore. I cant stand here and say I don’t care about you because U do, and it hurts so much to lie to myself about this. Because at the end of the day, I still lov-“

Your sentence was cut off by a sudden movement. Natasha reached up and pressed her lips hard against your own, the memory of her kisses came flooding back as you found yourself reaching up to cup her cheek as she kissed you harder, turning to push you against the lockers.

The moment between you two seemed to last hours, each kiss bringing back tidal waves of feelings which you thought you’d long since buried.

Eventually she pulled away, the taste of her cherry lipgloss still hung on your lips.

“I love you too.” She replied to your unfinished sentence, a small smile spreading across her face. You felt yourself blush red, heat rushing to your cheeks.

“Can we really do this?” You whispered against her cheek, not wanting to break the atmosphere.

“I want us to try.” She replied as she pressed a final soft kiss against your lips.

You smiled and took her hand, “I’d like that, but first we should probably get you into bed. You really don’t look too good.”

She laughed before sputtering off into a weak cough, “Are you saying I look bad?” God. It was like nothing had ever happened between you two.

Smirking, you shook your head and looped an arm around her waist, “You know what I mean. Come on, lets get you into bed.”

Natasha nodded as you lead her to the exit and headed towards the elevator, “What about movie night?” She sniffled, running the sleeve of your sweatshirt underneath her nose.

“Movie night can wait until you feel better.” The elevator dinged and you let her step inside first, “Now more importantly, your bed or mine?”

Natasha smiled, “Yours.”

[bilightningwhumper]

Started watching Violet Evergarden and I love it so far.

Now I'm getting thoughts of Mare being introduced to it by one of her siblings or their friends and relating to Violet. Like, I get really emotional when I relate heavily to a character. Full on sudden burst of tears once the feeling sets in. After all, why wouldn't she? A former living weapon who has trouble understanding and conveying her feelings, as well as understanding the feelings of others.

Mare is a character from my SoaS fic series, so don't worry if you don't recognize the name, lol. Writing them slowly, but I can't wait for you all to meet my characters. I just wanted to ramble for a moment.

[in-love-with-writing-whump]

All of my favorite characters are whumpees & there’s so many different kinds. I personally love sassy AND stoic ones best, so here’s a venn diagram of some of my all-time favorites. Reblog with what you think!

Sassy:

-Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

-Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)

-Arya Stark (Game of Thrones)

-Logan Echolls (Veronica Mars)

-Sawyer (Lost)

Sassy AND Stoic:

-Bucky Barnes (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

-Natasha Romanoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

-Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan, specifically in the prequel OVA A Choice With No Regrets)

-Dean Winchester (Supernatural)

Stoic:

-Aaron “Hotch” Hotchner (Criminal Minds)

-Jon Snow (Game of Thrones)

-Erwin Smith (Attack on Titan)

-David Budd (The Bodyguard)

-Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows)

-Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan, main episodes)

-Leroy Jethro Gibbs (NCIS)

-Castiel (Supernatural)

Stoic AND Nerdy Sweetheart:

-Peter Petrelli (Heroes)

Nerdy Sweetheart:

-Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds)

Nerdy Sweetheart AND Sassy:

-Malcolm Bright (Prodigal Son)

-Shawn Spencer (Psych)

-Steve Harrington (Stranger Things, post season 1)

-Peter Parker (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

All of the Above:

-Ash Lynx (Banana Fish)

-Patrick Jane (The Mentalist)

Overall, stoic and sassy combos are my favorite, but most of the shows/books I like are stoic whumpees. What about you?

[cricket-reader]

When You Walk Away Is When We Really Play (3)

Masterlist | A03 | Wattpad | Recommendations | Inbox

Summary: Peter finds out why Lyla freaked out. Justice is served.

(warnings contain spoilers)

Warnings: use of the word “daddy”, innocent young OFC, bad parents, crying, rape/child molestation (not detailed), fluff and cuteness

Word Count: 1,566

<- Part 2

“There we go sweet girl,” Natasha mumbles as she dries the little child’s hair.

“Thank you, miss.”

“You can call me Nat,” Natasha smiles down at her, picking up a brush to sort out her tangled hair. “This is what we meant when we said that you were going to have bathtime. The others didn’t mean to scare you. They’re really worried about you right now.”

“So… so they didn’t… they weren’t going to do the things daddy does to me?”

She hides her grimace of disgust with an ease that only an ex-assassin can keep. It makes her stomach twist and turn with how she doesn’t even know how wrong what her father is doing to her. “No, they didn’t want to do that, малышка.”

The young girl frowns. She surely thought that they were going to hurt her just like daddy. She even indirectly told her best friend Peter that he wasn’t being friendly. He must be angry with her now. She shouldn’t have said such things! What if he doesn’t want to be her friend anymore?

Seeing tears forming in Lyla’s eyes, Natasha kneels down and takes her face in her gentle hands. “What’s wrong, малышка? What bothers you sweet girl?”

“Does Peter still want to be my friend?” Lyla sniffles, looking at the elder woman with wide glossy eyes.

“Of course he does! I’m sure he’s really worried about his best friend right now.”

“But I was mean,” she mumbles, lowering her head in shame.

“No, детка, no. You weren’t mean at all, baby girl.”

Peter didn’t see his little friend the rest of the night. He barely got any sleep either. The sight of her trembling in fear from him was haunting his visions. It hurt so bad.

Bright and early in the morning he is up and heading to the kitchen to see if anyone is up that can tell him what’s going on with Lyla. He stops in the doorway seeing Natasha, Tony, Wanda, Vision and a strange man wearing red sunglasses. They all look really serious. Besides Wanda, she’s clinging onto Vision like he is her lifeline, just barely keeping herself from sobbing.

His attempt to eavesdrop is immediately ruined by the mystery man, who hushes the conversation and stares at him. The blood in his body runs cold, sending chills through his body. He guiltily comes out from his hiding spot, if you can even call it that and gives them a sheepish wave.

“Peter, good morning,” Tony greets him. It sounds forced. Almost as if it were painful for him to try and sound cheerful. The others don’t even bother trying to bring themselves out of their depressed state.

“What’s going on? Who is this? Why is he here?”

Tony sighs, running the hand that doesn’t hold his coffee mug through his messy hair. Wanda can’t look at him and Natasha just looks at Stark.

“I’m Matt Murdock. It’s nice to meet you, Parker. I was actually wondering if I could ask you some questions about your friend.”

Straight to the point, Peter oddly likes it at this moment. He eagerly goes over, wanting to get answers.

“Murdock, I don’t think-”

Tony is instantly cut off by Matt. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“What’s going on? Where is she? Is she okay?” Peter hurriedly asks.

“Mr. Parker, I am afraid I need to be the one asking the questions.”

Peter shifts in his seat. It feels like he is about to get in trouble. But he didn’t do anything wrong. He would never do anything to hurt Lyla.

“Have you noticed any strange behaviour from her at all?”

“Strange behaviour?” Peter questions, looking around the room as if someone would hint him into what he was talking about.

“Yes, anything weird or out of the ordinary. It can be simple little odd things that you noticed. Anything can help us.”

Peter frowns trying to think of anything that really stands out. He can’t really say that he remembers anything too strange until what happened last night. Well, that is except for the first time he met her.

“Well,” he pauses. It’s a silly thing to bring up. It doesn’t even matter. “Never mind, it’s stupid.”

“You never know, that might help us a little,” Matt encourages Peter to continue. Shrugging, Peter mentions the lollipop incident. It still stuck with him. It was just such an odd interaction. Not to mention it made him feel off, almost like his Spidey-sense, but not really.

Matt nods along to his story, keeping record of everything Peter says in his brain.

When Matt leaves, Peter immediately questions the others who the hell he was and why he was asking about Lyla.

Tony looks at Natasha and Wanda with a despondent expression. He sighs. “Mr. Murdock is a lawyer. I hired him last night upon learning why your little friend was so upset yesterday.”

“What? Why do you need a lawyer? What happened?”

“Pete,” he trails off, not wanting to deliver such horrible news, “her father has been abusing her.”

“What?” Peter stands up, angry that someone would dare harm such a precious little girl.

“Apparently he has been… using her body… for his own pleasure,” Stark grimaces, looking like he’s about to be sick.

Peter’s face pales. He can’t settle on an emotion to feel. It’s too horrible to think about. How could someone do… that… to a child? How could someone be so sick? His stomach churns the more he thinks about it.

Matt Murdock made sure that Lyla’s father would never see the light of day again.

Now that the ordeal is settled, it’s time to break the news to her. Tony and Natasha walk into the room where she is playing LEGO princess with Peter, Bucky, and Sam. The latter two are arguing over which princess is better: Mulan or Tiana. Lyla just giggles and rolls her eyes, telling them that they’re both pretty and don’t have to fight.

“Lyla?” Tony questions, bringing the group's focus away from princesses. She looks up at Mr. Tony, and she can tell that something serious is going on.

The guys around her immediately snap to attention wanting to know the verdict. Of course, they knew that she would be taken away from her horrible father, they just didn’t know the specifics.

“We have to talk, it’s about your father.”

Lyla grips onto the princess toy harder and her breathing becomes erratic. She thought the nice blind man was going to make him go away. She doesn’t wanna go back. She doesn’t want him to play with her anymore.

Peter sees the tears forming in her eyes and crawls over to her. He holds out his arms for her, and she clambers over to him. Burying her face in his chest she whispers, “don’t let me go, please, I wanna stay, I don’t wanna go, I’ll be good.”

Brushing his hand through her hair, he hushes her.

“Lyla, your dad will never hurt you again, okay? Murdock put him away.”

She sobs in relief, getting Peter’s hoodie wet with her tears. Cradling her gently, he rocks her back and forth giving her little kisses on her hairline.

When she calms down, Tony asks the next question he’s been meaning to ask, “do you want to stay with your mother?”

She frowns and shakes her head. Her mother wouldn’t want her anyway. She only took care of her when she got paid money. Even then, she barely did anything. “Why can’t I stay with Peter?”

Peter’s heart melts. She’s so sweet it makes him want to cry. He would gladly take care of her if he could.

“Peter can’t…”

“Why not?” Lyla huffs.

“He’s not old enough.”

“I can wait until he gets old enough.”

“Lyla, I know someone else that would be willing to adopt you. They have the paperwork and everything.”

“But I don’t wanna leave Peter!” She grips into him for dear life, not wanting to be taken away from her best friend.

Peter furrows his brows at Mr. Stark. Who wants to adopt her with such short notice? How does he already have someone picked out? What if they hurt her too?

“Do you remember Wanda and Vision?”

Her tear stained face looks up curiously. “You mean the pretty girl and the guy with the funny rock in his head?”

They all chuckle a bit. “Yeah, they have been wanting kids for a while and I think you’d be perfect for them. This way you can still hang out with Peter.”

“Really? Oh, yay!” She jumps up from Peter’s lap and crashes into Mr. Tony with a big hug. When she pulls away, her face lights up, “can we have a tea party to celebrate?”

“Sure, munchkin,” Tony grins.

And that’s how the Avengers find themselves sitting around the table drinking tea and lemonade with small snacks.

Bucky and Sam got chosen to wear the uncomfortable fairy wings and flower crowns, and Thor gladly wears the princess tiara. Peter gets to be the knight. Vision is the butler and Wanda is the royal witch. Natasha just got to go as herself. Lyla was, of course, the queen.

Since the nice man, Mr. Murdock, was too busy at work to come celebrate, Lyla drew him into the picture of everyone having tea and sent it to him to brighten up his office.

[quietlyimplode]

leave everything but your bones behind

Whumptober 2022: day 5 - Every Whumpee’s Needs

Warnings: medical procedures or medical talk/seizures

Word Count: 1.6k (gif not mine)

Summary: Natasha becomes unwell and only the Red Room can fix her. The choice is die or go back to the very place that made her.

A/N: in which we find out what’s wrong with Natasha, forgive my medical speak, it’s not my first language. Or second (suspend medical realities for a little bit).

Main Masterlist

Whumptober Masterlist

———-

Natasha hates it here.

She hates that they’re going to know just how fucked she is. She can’t hide it now.

She’s going to have to tell them about Irina, and Sana.

They’ve got her blood.

They’re going to do scans.

They’re going to know.

She wishes she could disappear.

Her attention wavers and she sees Bruce standing at the door talking to the doctor that was in before.

Tony joins them and there seems to be an argument. She’s too tired to read their lips, instead she closes her eyes and sighs internally.

Clint, Tony and Bruce are the only ones that have read her whole file.

Tony because he’s a nosy prick with all the technology and no boundaries, Bruce because of the mission in Bolivia and Clint, well that was a gift; and he knew it was too.

The three men know the workings of her body, the simple changes that make her different and now, the stranger of a doctor will too.

There’s a reason she doesn’t get sick, why she churns through medication quickly, why little cuts; not matter how deep, will heal without scars.

There’s nanites in her blood.

There’s still Red Room poison in her, but up until this point it’s saved her, kept her alive.

Like all her memories, it’s not something she could ever get rid of. It’s part of her.

The doctor looks over to where she sits, then back to Bruce, anger on her face as she says something.

It’s got Clint on alert, and clearly it’s nothing good. He squeezes her hand in reassurance.

She’s not above killing the doctor, Natasha thinks, fists clenching unconsciously, if it would eliminate another person knowing all of her.

Clint might even agree.

Her teeth bite hard into her cheeks.

She’s not running because she knows what this might be.

Death.

The beginning of the end.

She feels it, the dread that washes over her.

Pain spikes as she shivers to cover the flinch.

The headache is dulled comparatively to the morning but the day of tests has been exhausting. More emotionally than anything else.

She can feel her mind slipping.

Clint hasn’t left her side and keeps his hand in hers; even when she tries to pull away. Maybe because he thinks she’ll pull out her IV.

She won’t.

If anyone can fix her, the three people arguing outside her room can.

.

Tony paces.

Bruce is steady.

The doctor frowns.

“What do you mean?”

Tony feels anger, restlessness and thoroughly inept; but he pushes it down, trying to get his head around what her blood work and scans have revealed.

He read her file, but seeing the way it works, the way it’s affecting her makes it real.

Her past is a horror story, to him maybe, to her, it’s real life, and now the horrors are back.

Like they ever really left her alone.

Natasha looks up from her chair in the room and they make eye contact through the door. Tony tries to hold it but she closes her eyes instead.

His anger boils at the unfairness of what he knows.

“Her nanites are failing, they’re dying,” Bruce explains in layman’s terms; trying to make sure they’re all on the same wavelength.

The doctor refers to her pages and nods.

“Why now?” Tony understands most things but he’s not a doctor, this is all so far out of his comfort level of knowledge.

“They’re old,” the doctor says bluntly.

“She wasn’t supposed to live this long.”

They’re all silent in that realisation that the upgrades that came with being a Black Widow meant that they didn’t expect them to live past a certain age.

Bruce crosses his arms, face gaunt with a twinge of green around the ears.

Ignoring it, Tony continues.

“So they’re in her blood?”

He doesn’t understand. If the nanites make up everything, in her blood for repair, healing, he’s sure there can be a simple fix.

“Give her a blood transfusion,” he rationalises.

The doctor shakes her head.

“It doesn’t work that way.”

Bruce is the one to explain further.

“It doesn’t treat the cause,” he says, slowly. “They’re in her, everywhere, even if we gave her a blood transfusion, they’d still be with her, and if we try and get rid of them, her body will shut down, she’s lived to long with it, to not live without it.”

The doctor hands Tony her scans to further the point. There’s grey and blacked parts, and she points to all the places the nanites are.

Everywhere.

Infecting every part of her.

The doctor looks to Natasha.

“Do you know anyone from her past? Anyone that could have programmed the nanites? That could essentially preform a system upgrade?”

Tony understands that, like a computer.

He appreciates the analogy.

“We can do it then?” he asks hopefully. He preforms system upgrades all the time. How different can this be?

“What, you’re experts on nanorobotics and molecular homeostasis?” the doctor shakes her head.

“Not yet,” he says fiercely. For her he will. How hard can it be?

The doctor sighs, a loud heaving of breath.

“I don’t doubt you’d both, but it’s a specialised field, specialised fields…”

Tony scoffs and gestures to the tower. He can do it, he knows he can.

“I’m not saying you can’t..”

But that’s what he’s hearing.

“To save her, we will,” he says defensively.

“I understand, you might, but it just won’t be in time,” the doctor tells him.

“You might kill her.”

Sighing, the doctor rubs her face, tucks all the paperwork under her arms and looks to Bruce.

“Find someone who was there, find someone who understands now and they might be able to reverse it.”

Appealing to Tony, she tries to tell him as it is. He can’t save her. Not this time.

“She’s going to die before you figure it out, tailor it to her, and figure out what works for her.”

“I’ll figure it out,” Tony says fiercely, anger on his face.

“Tony…”

But he pushes past her, entering Natasha’s room, welcome or not, unwilling to hear more.

Bruce wears a face of acceptance and the doctor appreciates his calm. It’s ironic given his reputation.

“Do you want me to tell her?” he asks.

Someone has to. Maybe Natasha can tell them who they can contact.

The doctor looks to Bruce and then Tony who’s sitting on his computer, that’s appeared from nowhere.

“I think we should,” she decides, “I want to run a few more tests.”

Bruce nods.

“What other tests?”

“Maybe a PET scan. It might tell us where the nanites are attacking, what’s been damaged, if anything, find a way to slow it down.”

She starts to walk away, and appeals to him one last time.

“Bruce; find someone who can help, anyone, this isn’t going away, and we don’t have the current technology. Convince Tony. We’ll do what we can, and I suspect that Natasha will trust you more, ask her, she might know more than she’s letting on.”

.

Natasha feels it coming, she doesn’t have time to alert Clint.

She’s gone and back and none the wiser of time that’s passed, except wide eyes looking at her saying her name.

“Mmok,” she tells him, wishing she could take the worry away.

“Do you want some water?” he asks, holding up a straw.

The disorientation on waking has her vision blurred, but as it’s cleared she sees Tony on his laptop in the corner.

“Hey,” he acknowledges, and although he covers it, she can see she scared him.

“You had another one, but this time we caught it.”

He points to the EEG that Natasha is still attached too.

“They’re going to do a PET scan, which isn’t as fun as what it sounds,” he continues.

“Your body is trying to kill you,” he says bluntly.

Overwhelmed, Natasha falls silent.

Her head hurts, it’s thumping and she’s so tired.

“Go’way”

Clint glares.

“They want me to find someone from Russia to fix you,” he starts, “they think I can’t.”

It’s like it’s a personal assault on his intelligence.

“But I don’t know everything,” he turns his screen around, and Natasha is assaulted with an image of her own body.

From what she can see, the Nanites are everywhere, but not integrating like they usually are.

They’re stationary, moving slow.

“Tell me the story of Irina,” he asks.

She doesn’t know where he’s got the name from.

“It’s this, or Russians,” he threatens.

Clint frowns.

Her head hurts so much.

“Wrong,” she bites out, sitting up a little straighter, taking a deep breath, pushing all pain down.

“Sana,” she sighs.

“Sana is the one you want to look up.”

This all costs. Spilling her secrets, talking, knowing that he won’t find anything, that she’ll have to say it.

“Sana, got sick. Seized. We tried to hide her. Hide when it happened. But they knew. Punished us. Took her. We thought. We thought they’d kill her. Like Irina. Defective, they said. But. They didn’t. They fixed her. She came back. Not sick.”

Clint squeezes her hand.

“So it can be done,” concludes Tony.

“That was then,” Natasha replies.

She closes her eyes.

“Go away Tony,” but it’s not unkind.

He leaves, with Clint following behind.

Natasha trusts that he’ll fill her in on everything they’ve found, or not found.

She closes her eyes and forces herself to sleep.

.

[chasingmidnights]

Broken Hearts

Title: Broken Hearts 

Summary: You had accepted the fact that you were sick for years now. And just because you had been in remission didn’t mean anything, the cancer could still come back. And sure enough, it did.

Warnings: cancer, specifically Leukemia; character death; mentions of people vomiting; angst; and I believe those are the major ones. I apologize if I miss anything but you are responsible for what you read. 

Author’s Note: A little inspiration might have come from A Walk to Remember, maybe just a little bit. 

Wordcount: 1,173

You knew this time around was going to be different, you weren’t going to make it. You’re not sure how but you just knew. You could feel your body grow weaker every day, no longer able to fight off the cancer spreading throughout your body. The chemo and any other treatments had stopped working long ago, which honestly didn’t surprise you. You’re surprised it didn’t happen sooner. In one of your check up appointments the doctor gave you four months to live. He suggested that you don't take it for granted and live it to the fullest. And that’s what you did. 

In those four months, you spent a great deal of it with your best friend, Tony Stark. When you told him of the news, you could instantly see the sadness in his eyes. He moved you into Stark Tower and wouldn’t take no for an answer. While living there, he introduced you to the Avengers and it didn’t take long for you to become friends with all of them. The only thing that ate at the back of your mind is that you wish you had more time with them and had met them sooner. You were truly going to miss every single one of them. The first one to find out about you having cancer was Natasha. For the briefest of moments you swore you saw tears beginning to form in her eyes. 

“Don’t cry for me.” You insisted, reaching to hold her hand. 

She sniffled a few times before responding. “I-I’m not.” 

Also in those four months, you managed to fall in love. It hit you like a ton of bricks. You definitely weren’t expecting it. It was intense and beautiful and everything that you love should be, it was. At least for a while anyway. Tony actually had to pull you aside and tell you that you needed to tell Steve the truth and tell him about the cancer. Tony said it wasn’t fair to keep something like that from him. You knew Tony was right, it wasn’t fair. You dreaded that conversation but you needed to do it. The two of you had gone out to dinner one night and on the walk home, Steve could sense something was off. He had stopped walking and gently grabbed your elbow to get you to stop as well. 

“What’s wrong sweetheart? You’ve been distant all night.” His tone was soft and gentle. 

You looked down to the ground, you could already feel the tears beginning to form. You took a deep breath before looking back up, your voice shaky. “I’m sick Steve.” You decided to put it simply. 

His face scrunches up in confusion before relaxing again. “Why didn’t you say so? We could’ve stayed in tonight or rescheduled.” 

You had started shaking your head as he was finishing. “No Steve, you don’t understand. It’s not that kind of sick.” 

He looked taken aback for a moment but quickly recovered. “Then help me understand. What do you mean?” 

You took another deep breath, a lump was beginning to form in your throat. “I have cancer. Leukemia to be exact.” 

The air was thick between the two of you as you waited for Steve to reply. He began to shake his head as he looked anywhere but at you. When he finally does, you can see the hurt and the tears in his eyes. 

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He asked, his voice wavering. 

“Because I was scared. The doctor said I should live life normally, as best I could. I didn't want anybody to be weird around me.” You replied, your own voice cracked. 

Steve scoffs at your answer. “Including me?”  

Your mouth fell open for a moment before closing it again. “Especially you!”

You took off running back towards Stark Tower, not once looking behind you. 

After that night, you mainly kept to yourself. Your friends would try to coax you out of your room but nothing they offered worked. You could feel yourself getting worse and worse as the months dragged on. You hadn’t seen or talked to Steve since that night and it broke your heart the most. You had tried to reach out but he never responded. During your last couple of weeks, you put your things in order, not that you had much. One of the things that you had sorted out with your lawyer was that a letter was to be delivered to each one of your friends. One to Tony. One to Pepper. One to Natasha. One to Steve. One to Clint. And one to Bruce. 

The day you were found was hard on everyone. You passed away in your sleep, peacefully as people like to say. You just wish it had been someone other than Tony who had found you. But you really didn’t have any control over that. He was coming to check on you, something he did a lot towards the end. He had knocked on your door a few times and when he didn’t get an answer, he decided to go ahead and open the door. 

“Hey, it’s time to rise and-” He cut himself off, he could tell something was wrong. He noticed the blue-ish tint to your skin and ran over to your side. He began to shake you frantically, saying your name repeatedly. “No, no, no, no. Y/n come on, wake up please! Y/n.” 

He was sobbing at this point. He didn’t need to check your pulse, he could tell by how ice cold your skin was that you were gone. He rested his head on your still chest for a moment before rushing off to the side and he began to throw up. Pepper had come looking for him and when she found him in your room throwing up, she rushed to his side. When she finally realized what was happening an uncontrollable sob escaped her. Tony embraced her and Pepper buried her face into the crook of his neck. That night, after your body had been removed, Tony had called the others to let them know of your passing. Each one reacting in their own way. With each call, he grew more and more exhausted. Repeating the same thing over and over again. When it was finally done, he collapsed into a chair with a drink in his hand. Well, more like the whole bottle. He would take big, long gulps of the amber liquid as he thought back to all of the memories he had with you. He had been through it all with you. From when you found out about the cancer to taking you to your chemo sessions and treating you to ice cream afterwards. He was even there for you on your sickest of days, holding your hair back as you threw up. He took another long gulp of the hard liquor as a few tears slid down his cheek. 

At least it was over now, he thought to himself. At least you were at peace.

[prentissvest]

MAIN MASTERLIST

I write character x character or character x reader

I only write wlw story

I will happily take requests :)

angst 🔥

fluff ☀️

marvel masterlist

Natasha Romanoff masterlist

Wanda Maximoff masterlist

Kate Bishop masterlist

Criminal minds masterlist

Jemily masterlist

Elle Greenaway masterlist

Penelope Garcia masterlist

Jennifer Jareau masterlist

Emily Prentiss masterlist

BAU team x reader platonic masterlist

[sarahsmi13s]

🎃vinny's 2023 whumptober event🎃

hi my darlings!! welcome to whumptober! this entire event is going to be 18+ so minors back off. i'm serious. this event contains heavy topics and i encourage you to read with discretion. if you read the warnings and decide that you can not handle the content, you will not hurt my feelings if you choose to skip it. protect your own peace. if you read something and find a topic i missed please please please reach out to me and let me know. i want to make sure people are properly prepared and know what they are reading!

if you want to be tagged and haven't filled out the form you can do so here -> vinny's whumptober taglist

day 1: bloody knuckles

-> Bloodstained Sandbags - eddie diaz x reader

day 2: overworked / insomnia / exhaustion

-> Off the Clock – charlie young x reader

day 3: overstimulation

-> I Just Need Quiet – jake seresin x sarah grant

day 4: hiding an injury / betrayal / lying

-> Hidden Gems – rhett abbott x reader

day 5: hostage / kidnapping / held at gunpoint

-> This Is How It Feels – beau simpson x daughter!reader

day 6: forced to hurt someone

-> Just a Little Guidance – tim bradford x reader

day 7: disowned by family

-> The Family I Chose - natasha trace x reader

day 8: panic attacks

-> Last in the Flock – bradley bradshaw x duckie bradshaw (twin sister!reader)

day 9: scar reveal

-> When Sharks Attack – evan buckley x reader

day 10: bullied

-> Family Legacy – rhett abbott x sister!reader

day 11: fainting / adrenaline

-> Highs and Lows – charlie young x reader

day 12: character death

-> A Sibling’s Promise - peter parker x sister!reader

day 13: grief

-> Don’t Leave Your Wingman – pete mitchell x kazansky!reader

day 14: bleeding through the bandage / field medicine

-> Rookie Mistake – tim bradford x rookie!reader

day 15: experimentation

-> Pin Cushion – albert wesker x reader

day 16: amputation / hospital

-> tbd – tim bradford x reader (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

day 17: heat stroke / “you look a little pale”

-> Hazed Gaze – walt finnegan x reader

day 18: fever / vomiting / warm soup

-> Mama's Don't Get Sick Days – mickey garcia x reader

day 19: left behind / “why wasn’t i enough”

-> Past Pursuits – bob floyd x y/n rogers (lt. rogers)

day 20: dehumanization

-> tbd – walt finnegan x reader (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

day 21: blood loss / shock / near death experience

->  tbd – bradley bradshaw

day 22: whipping / punishment / stress position

-> tbd – jake seresin x ncis!reader

day 23: begging / forced to watch

-> Chasing Ghosts – eddie diaz x reader

day 24: failed escape / hunted down / too exhausted to keep running

-> tbd – bucky barnes x reader

day 25: stalked

-> Parasocial – mickey garcia x youtuber!reader

day 26: non-consensual touching

-> tbd – rhett abbott x reader

day 27: forgotten / locked away / immortal

-> tbd – pete mitchell x reader (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

day 28: whumpee hair pulling / oxygen deprivation / sweating

-> tbd – bob floyd x reader

day 29: bargaining

-> Don’t Take the Girl – tom kazansky x reader

day 30: coma

-> tbd – nick bradshaw x reader (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

day 31: crying

-> tbd – tim bradford x reader (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

[topguncortez]

WELCOME TO G’S WHUMPTOBER 2023 CHALLENGE:) 

➢It’s that time of year again!!! This year I am taking part in @/ailesswhumptober and I can’t be more excited!

MY RULES:  

One topic/day will be assigned to one character for that day (i.e Jake gets Day 1, Rooster Day 2, Floydsin Day 3). I will not be doing more than one character a day.

ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS. As these topics all fall under the WHUMP category, there will be heavy content written and shared. Fics will be tagged accordingly, but no minors are permitted to interact. If I find you are a minor interacting, you will be blocked immediately. 

During this time I will not be posting any other fics/blurbs/one-shots or taking requests, primarily because I’ll be writing a lot and posting a lot and I don’t need that added stress.

HOW TO REQUEST: 

As I said before, one character will be used a day. Therefore, whatever day and character come in first will be assigned. 

Example: “Jake, Day 27 pls!” 

-Jake will be used as the main character on Day 27. 

Example: Rooster Day 18! 

    Iceman day 18!

-Rooster will be used as the main character on Day 18 because the request came in first. 

You can request what prompt you would like

My normal requesting rules still stand: if you are a blank blog, a minor, a character I don’t write for, or exceed the two-three sentence limit, your request will not be fulfilled

I will update the calendar/character list on SUNDAYS, so you know what days are left.

ALL REQUESTS MUST BE DONE BY: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd  (exceptions maybe made if days aren’t all filled)

THE WHUMPTOBER CALENDAR: (the days are in bold)

1 | PICK YOUR POISON

Drugging | Sick | Poisoned

2 |  SLEEP WHEN YOU’RE DEAD

Overworked | Insomnia | Exhaustion

3 | LET YOUR SENSES GUIDE YOU

Sensory Deprivation | Overstimulation | Isolation

4 | THE SECRETS THAT YOU KEEP

Hiding an injury | betrayal | lying

5 | HELD AGAINST YOUR WILL

Hostage | Kidnapping | Held at Gunpoint

6 | OUT OF YOUR MIND 

Conditioning | Mind Control | Forced to Hurt Someone Else

7 | NOT DEAD TILL YOU’RE WARM N DEAD

Flatline | Restrained | CPR

8 | A BRAIN ON FIRE

Panice Attacks | Dissociation | Seizure

9 | DEAD ON YOUR FEET

Scar Reveal | Interrogation | Presumed Dead

10 | A GIFT TO REMEMBER

Branding | Scarring | Collar

11 | FLOAT LIKE A FEATHER

Fainting | Paralyzed | Adrenaline 

12 | LEFT A SCAR ON MY HEART

Self Harm | Sacrifice | Character Death

13 | A FORCE OF NATURE, AN ACT OF GOD

Earthquake | Flood | Crushed

14 | 9-1-1, WHAT’S YOUR EMERGENCY?

Bleeding through the bandage | Field Medicine | No Anesthesia 

15 | WHO’S THE NEW KID?

Experimentation | Muzzle | Transformation

16 | ONE HALF OF A WHOLE PERSON

Amputation | Chronic Pain | Hospital

17 | INTO THE FIRE

Hypothermia | Heat Stroke | “You Look a Little Pale?”

18 | TAKING A SICK DAY 

Fever | Vomiting | Warm Soup

19 | I’LL NEVER PUSH YOU AROUND

Taken for Granted | Left Behind | “Why Wasn’t I Enough?” 

20 | THE BEAUTY FELL FOR THE BEAST

Dehumanization | Stockholm Syndrome | Master & Servant

21 | WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU

Blood loss | Shock | Near Death Experience

22 | PAIN MAKES YOU STRONGER

Whipping | punishment | stress position

23 |  DON’T TRY TO BE THE HERO

Begging | “Take Me Instead” | Forced to Watch

24 | RUNNING UP THAT HILL TO MAKE A DEAL WITH GOD 

Failed Escape | Hunted Down | Too Exhausted to Keep Running

25 | BAD DREAMS, BAD DREAMS, HERE TO STAY

Nightmares | Flashback | “Why Didn’t You Save Me?” 

26 | THE LAZARUS EFFECT  

Magical Exhaustion or Injury | Curse | Came Back Wrong

27 | NEVER LET GO

Forgotten | Locked Away | Immortal

28 | OUT OF BREATH AND OUT OF TIME

Whumpee hair pulling | Oxygen Deprivation | Sweating

29 | ONE TICKET TO HELL 

“The Easy Way or The Hard Way? | Bargaining | Forced to Choose

30 | YOU’RE MINE, ALWAYS WILL BE MINE

Possession | Mind Games | Coma

31 | A light at the end of the tunnel 

PTSD | Headaches | Crying

MY CHARACTER LIST: 

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin  Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw  Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd Natasha ‘Phoenix’ Trace  Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell  Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky  Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw  Henry ‘Wolfman’ Ruth Beau ‘Cyclone’ Simpson  Rhett Abbott

MY PAIRING LIST:

Jake & Shy!Wifey  Dragon & Rooster Coyote & Val Phoenix & Cerberus  Bob & Bea  Hangman & Athena

Fill out the Form to be Tagged:)

[aceofwhump]

do you know of anything with female whumpee and male caretaker? i feel like this is such a rare pairing but im craving this content lately

Oh umm let me think. I'm not too into female whumpees but I watch a lot of tv shows lol. Here are some characters and shows you can take a look at. Funny enough you can flip most of these and whump either one of them lol. But these are all examples where I know the female gets whumps at least once in their show and is taken care of by the male lead.

Chloe Decker and Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)

Teresa Lisbon and Patrick Jane (The Mentalist)

Dutch and Johnny and/or D'avin (Killjoys)

Fiona Glennane and Michael Westen (Burn Notice)

Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton (Avengers/Marvel)

Buffy Summers and Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Katniss and Peeta (The Hunger Games)

Annie Walker (Covert Affairs)

Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont (Discover of Witches)

Alina Starkov and Mal (Shadow and Bone)

Sam Carter and Jack O'Neill or Cameron Mitchell (Stargate SG-1)

Julia and William Murdoch (Murdoch Mysteries)

Charlie DiMarco and either Paul Briggs or Mike Warren (Graceland)

Maddie Buckley and either Buck or Chimney (9-1-1)

Kara and Mon El (Supergirl)

[chiefdirector]

Whumptober 2022

Whumptober 2022 prompt list

No. 1 A LITTLE OUT OF THE ORDINARY | Caius Volturi x Reader

No. 2 NOWHERE TO RUN | Hannibal Lecter x Will Graham

No. 3 A HAIR’S BREADTH FROM DEATH | Tim McGee x Reader

No. 4 DEAD ON YOUR FEET | Leo Fitz x Reader

No. 5 EVERY WHUMPEE’S NEEDS | Henrietta 'Hen' Wilson x Reader

No. 6 PROOF OF LIFE | Thomas Thorne x Reader

No. 7 THE WAY YOU SHAKE AND SHIVER | Charles Xavier x Reader

No. 8 EVERYTHING HURTS AND I’M DYING | Natasha Romanoff x Reader

No. 9 THE VERY NOISY NIGHT | Thor Odinson x Reader

No. 10 POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS | Spencer Reid x Reader

No. 11 “911, WHAT’S YOUR EMERGENCY?” | Evan Buckley x Reader

No. 12 WHAT COULD GO WRONG? | Alex Karev x Reader

No. 13 CAN’T MAKE AN OMELETTE WITHOUT BREAKING A FEW LEGS | Alastor Moody x Reader

No. 14 DIE A HERO OR LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO BECOME A VILLAIN | Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

No. 15 EMOTIONAL DAMAGE | Remus Lupin

No. 16 NO WAY OUT | Leo Fitz

No. 17 HANGING BY A THREAT | Wanda Maximoff x Reader

No. 21 FAMOUS LAST WORDS | Elijah Mikaelson x Reader

No. 29 WHAT DOESN’T KILL ME… | Mike Ross x Harvey Specter

Masterlist | Buy me a coffee?

* no ship fics only have the characters name on them with no “x”

Whilst I didn’t complete Whumptober this year, I had so much fun and I highly encourage you to take part or just explore the tags. It’s always fun to hurt your darlings after all. See you again next year.

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

Lethargy/Exhaustion

@sicktember 2022 Prompt #29

Fandom/OCs: MCU Avengers / Sick!Steve Rogers

Title: From the Ice Inside Your Soul

Words: 1547

Inspiration: this post about a stoic whumpee who doesn't complain from @stealthy-sneezing  and this post about a sickie who can’t lie down from @victoriablackrose

Author’s comments: My all-time favorite whumpee, Steve Rogers. This is a purely self-indulgent fever fic with a side of collective caretaking, so basically all of my favorite things. Both the prompts I used are so lovely, so I’ll honestly probably use them again. But they helped flesh this out, so they’ve already been put to good use!

With one last bash from Steve's shield and crushing blow from Mjolnir, the battle ended. The Avengers paused, still in their battle stances, looking around to ensure the aliens were indeed all dead. The street was eerily silent without the creatures’ screeching and clicking, and for a moment the only sound was the heroes' breathing. One by one they relaxed and began to clean themselves off and check themselves over. After making sure everyone was in one piece, each went their own separate ways to examine the alien bodies and ship, decompress (or de-Hulk), and see to the perimeter and casualties. Steve, standing in a sluggish fog, suddenly realized he was all alone, and he wasn't exactly sure how long that had been the case. 

The fight had taken absolutely everything out of him. He had been feeling run-down and tired for days, maybe even weeks now. He had been dreading a call to assemble, and simultaneously knowing it was bound to happen for that very reason. He wasn't sure how he survived the fight, since he was likely operating at less than fifty percent capacity, but the team had pulled them all through. He wasn't going to be able to remain upright much longer, though. With shaky arms he secured his shield to his back, wondering how it had gotten so heavy, and with shaky legs began to make his way to the Quinjet. 

He didn't see any of his team on the way there, and he didn't know whether that was good or bad. He felt overwhelmingly guilty about not helping clean up the fight, but knew he would be useless anyway, as lightheaded as he was. The jet's door sprang open and he staggered inside, closing it behind himself as he collapsed onto the nearest bench. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, falling asleep in seconds. 

A hand on his shoulder shook him awake some time later. Steve opened bleary eyes to find Tony, Bruce, and Natasha looking at him with a good deal of concern. 

"Oh good, you're alive," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "We've been looking for you everywhere. Thank God for the tracking device in your suit. Would you like to explain to the class why you're not using the very expensive communicator in your ear?"

"Oh, right…." Steve pulled out his earpiece with clumsy fingers. "I think it's broken. I haven't been hearing anything in it all day."

He dropped it into Tony's palm. Tony quickly examined it, snapped it open, readjusted the wiring, then closed it again. This time when he spoke into his own com, Steve's responded immediately, along with everyone else's. 

"There. Fixed it. You should've said something hours ago." He tried to toss the device back to Steve, who fumbled and dropped it, and had to pick it up again with shaky fingers. Tony frowned upon watching all this. "Are you okay, Cap?"

Steve leaned back against the wall again, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not sure. I'm not hurt or anything. I'm just… I'm so tired. Exhausted. Shaky. I'm not sure what's wrong with me."

Bruce pushed past the other two right away, giving Steve a quick once-over. When Bruce's hand brushed across Steve's face, he pulled it back quickly. 

"You're burning up, Cap. You feel hot even to me. That's… that's quite the fever."

"That explains it, I guess," Steve mumbled, clearly fighting to stay awake. 

"We're almost finished out there, so we'll be out of here soon. You just rest," Natasha said, squeezing his shoulder. 

"Not sure I'll be good for much else, I'm afraid," Steve sighed. 

"No worries, Cap. We've got it under control. We'll be back in a blink." Tony flipped down the visor of his helmet and flew out the door of the jet, Natasha jogging behind. Bruce stayed, sitting down beside Steve and getting comfortable, but looking equally tired. 

"We'll be home in no time, Steve. Just relax. Everything will be fine."

"I'm not worried. I'm with the best team in the galaxy," Steve said, even as he drifted back to sleep, hardly noticing when his head came down on Bruce's shoulder rather than the wall. 

~~~

The Quinjet touching down at the Avengers tower didn't rouse Steve, so he had to be shaken awake again when it came time to disembark. He hadn't moved his head from the doctor's shoulder, so it was Bruce's gentle encouragement that finally brought him back to consciousness. He was able to walk under his own power, though very lethargically, but Clint and Thor stayed close at his side to be safe. As soon as Steve stepped out into the NYC sunshine, he inhaled sharply, driving a palm into his forehead with a quiet moan.

 Clint touched his arm. "What's up, Cap?"

"My head is killing me," he mumbled, his eyes still screwed shut. 

"C'mon. Let's get you inside," the archer murmured, giving his arm a gentle tug. He began to move his legs, letting Clint steer him. 

"I really don't feel well," he said, almost too quiet to hear. 

"I know. We're gonna get you looked at," Clint replied, looking at the rest of the team worriedly behind Steve's back. 

They got inside without further incident where Steve collapsed onto the nearest couch. The rest of the team wanted to send Steve to medical immediately, but he quietly asked if they could just have someone come up to look at him instead. 

"I'm too tired to walk all the way there just to have them poke and prod me then tell me there's nothing they can do for a genetically modified supersoldier like always. They can do that here, and I can sleep in the meantime."

When he fixed them with his pleading, blue-eyed gaze, no one could say no, especially when his logic was sound. They made him promise to check into the hospital if the doctor recommended it, and when he did, they had no more arguments. A call was placed down to medical, and after that there was nothing to do but wait.

The team trickled in and out for their own debriefs, showers, and post-mission rituals. Steve didn't care to move until after he was checked over, so the others brought him clothes and food and whatever else he needed, making sure he wasn’t left alone. Mostly, though, he just slept. Curled up in the corner of the couch, his head at an awkward angle, he looked so boyish and vulnerable, especially with the hectic flush over his cheeks. 

At last a pair of doctors and a nurse arrived. Steve was awakened yet again, and they began to run him through a whole battery of tests and inspections as most of the team looked on worriedly. He passed most of the tests. Nothing seemed to be seriously wrong except a fever, headache, and the crushing fatigue. They took a bunch of blood to run his labs, then told him there wasn't much they could do for a supersoldier running a temperature. After giving him advice for general fever care, they said they would call up if there were any abnormalities in the bloodwork, then left as abruptly as they'd come. 

As soon as the door shut behind them, Steve let his head fall back with a tired sigh. 

"Looks like you were right about there being nothing they could do." Tony sighed too, sitting on the arm of the couch beside him with crossed arms. "Sorry about that."

"I wish I wasn't right. I hate getting fevers now. It's so much worse than it used to be. It's like I'm back in the ice… or the ice is back in me. Right down in my core." Steve shuddered violently as he spoke.

"Let me get a cold rag for your face at least," Clint spoke up from the side. "We have to do something." He strode away quickly. 

Thor sat down beside Steve, looking fervent. "Is there anything else we can assist you with, Captain? Anything at all that you need?"

Steve shook his head. "I don't need anything right now except sleep. I'm completely exhausted."

"Then let me assist you to your quarters!" Thor cried, jumping up.

Steve shook his head again. "I'll just stay here for now."

"But you will rest better in your bed!"

"My head hurts too much when I lay down. I'd rather stay sitting up," the supersoldier said quietly.

Thor promptly sat back down, wrapping an arm around Steve's shoulders and pulling the other man against himself. "Then you must rest against me. It will be more comfortable. And perhaps your shivering will stop as well. I've been told I'm very warm."

Steve smiled tiredly, shifting his weight to lean against the demigod and closing his eyes right away. "I won't argue with you on either count."

Clint returned then with a wet rag. He bathed Steve's neck, then let the rag rest on his forehead. Steve sighed in relief at the coolness. Within minutes, he was asleep again and snoring. 

It didn't seem right to leave him alone in this state even when he was asleep, so the rest of the team settled in as well, preparing to keep watch over their sick captain for as long as was necessary.

[cyberneticwhump]

Nᴇᴡ Jᴜɪᴄʏ Wʜᴜᴍᴘ Sᴇʀɪᴇs 🩸

Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

[The story takes place a hundred years from now and features Whump-4-Less, a popular nightclub company. Here, people can work as Whumpees and get paid to get tortured, while visitors pay to watch/do it themselves in the form of private sessions. The main character, Damian, is a man who has lost his job and has to resort to applying to be a Whumpee, as no other places want to employ him. Here, he meets Natasha, a resident Whumper at the club, who he forms a really dysfunctional connection with over time.]

Pʀᴇʟᴜᴅᴇ

The year is 2123.

Everything has changed over the years – the environment, the cities, the people. Cybernetic enhancements have become widespread among humans instead of the occasional accessory, and electronics have melted into organic tissue. But with the improvement of technology, and easy access to any type of media ever created, people have become desensitized to it.

They needed more.

They needed something that makes them feel things.

Violence has become an everyday occurrence. When people couldn’t get off from pleasure anymore, they started getting off from pain. Hundreds of citizens were bleeding out on the streets daily, and there was no way to control it. Security and medical systems were overwhelmed, and society was getting out of control…

Until one day.

The Government issued a law that permitted the use of specifically trained people, called Whumpees, whose sole purpose was to get tortured by anyone who was willing to pay the price. The Whumpees were generously compensated for their services, as their bodies were nearly destroyed during their jobs. Of course, with the technological advancements, medical procedures were much easier and faster than before; in a matter of a few days, any injury could be treated, and people were able to recover from even the harshest of conditions.

After this change in the law, numerous places opened across the megacities of the planet, offering different types of services provided by Whumpers and Whumpees. Anyone could find what they were looking for. There were no limits in fulfilling one’s fantasies – other than the terms and conditions, of course.

One of the biggest corporations that arose was Whump-4-Less, which made it possible for people to access all kinds of pain for a relatively low cost. It changed the lives of many people. On one hand, it helped those unfortunate citizens who had a hard time paying their bills, since being a Whumpee paid better than most jobs. And on the other hand, people who visited, could experience their darkest desires in a controlled environment, without endangering other individuals.

It changed the world for the better. But could it be sustained?

[Tᴏ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇᴅ…]

[NEXT PART]

If anyone wants to be added to the taglist, feel free to message/send an ask/comment!

[goldenempyrean]

hiiiiiii. i know these arnt on your prompt lists but i saw them on other and thought it’s be cute “It’s weird to hear you complain.” with nat and shes all sniffly and tired. Thank youuuuuu 💕💖

A Small Confession

Hey :) I liked this prompt so I hope you like this. Im probably gonna write for Scarlett next :)

I have not grammar checked this yet soooo….. yeah theres gonna be aload of errors in here.

Summary: Nat’s sick and sniffly, and isnt being shy about it.

Wordcount:1134

░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░

When you woke up that morning, you were surprised to see Nat still laying beside you. She had always liked to get her day started early so when you’d woken up to her hand still wrapped around your waist it was an unusual yet pleasant surprise. You gently lifted her hand and carefully got out of bed, making sure to pull the duvet back up so she wouldn’t get cold. After that you silently tiptoed across the room to grab some thicker clothes before sneaking out the door, taking care to close it silently.

You didn’t want to risk using your ensuit bathroom, you had a habit of accidentally being really loud in the mornings so you used the gym changing rooms to get changed out of your pyjamas and into some cosier clothes. You weren’t going out today, infact nobody was. The whole team had just got back from dealing with an incident that had kicked off in Russia. There had been rumours of a new specially engineered bio-weapon being released by Hydra so the team had been dispatched to deal with it. However things didn’t go as smoothly as everyone had hoped. Somehow news of your arrival had been leaked and so when yourself and the team attempted to “ambush” the base, things didn’t exactly go as planned. It had taken an extra 3 days to dispose of all the contaminated rubble and debris. That was way the whole squad had collectively decided that today was to be a day of calm and rest…

That was until somebody turned on MarioKarts. You had heard the cheering when you stepped out of the changing rooms. Following the noise, you were led to the common room. Entering the room you couldn’t help but smile as you saw Wanda, Clint and Thor all sat on the floor laughing as they played MarioKarts. You were welcomed as you sat yourself down on the sofa next to them. For the next few hours you found yourself laughing and giggling as Thor accused Clint of cheating and Clint accused the TV of being biased. Wanda won effortlessly despite the fact it was her first time playing.

Everything had been normal… Well as normal as things could get with a teamful of Avengers living together. That was until you heard a small shuffling behind you. Nobody else had noticed it, they were too absorbed in the ongoing game. Curiously you turned and were slightly taken aback to see Nat. She was rummaging around in the mini fridge at the opposite side of the room, after a moment she took out a cherry gatorade. Weird… She hates cherry gatorade.

Natasha took a swig of the drink, spluttering slightly as she did.

“You alright over there?” You asked as Natasha slowly came around the side of the counter.

You didn’t really get a reply, well not in words anyway. All you got was some sort of incoherent mumble and a sniffle. Wait- Shes sniffling?

It was then that you noticed her appearance. You hadn’t been able to get a proper look at Natasha until now and well… She didn’t exactly look healthy. Her gorgeous red curls now hung damply at the side of her head, and her nose had obviously been irritating her judging from the red rawness which had formed around it and she was quite obviously exhausted.

It was obvious she was sick. It would explain why she had woken up so late too. Wordlessly you opened your arms as you gave her a sympathetic look. Nat’s shoulders dropped in defeat as she shuffled towards you. The sound of her shuffling was only emphasised by the fact she was wearing slippers. Adorable white rabbit slippers.

Natasha slowly sat down beside you, curling into your side as she clutched the box of tissues which she’d grabbed from the counter. Your heart broke. You hated seeing her like this. It was almost too much when she muffled a series of painful sounding coughs into her hoodie sleeve.

“Y/N?” She mumbled quietly as you slowly began to run your hand through her hair, “I don’t feel good.” Almost as if her body wanted to emphasise her point she had to frantically grab another tissue to muffle a flurry of sneezes into them, “Hiiit’ssshiew! Hh..H’tsshiew! Hih’iiishiew!”

“Aw sweetie. Bless you.” You sighed, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, “Yaknow its weird to hear you complain.”

“I feel like shit.” She groaned rubbing her hand against her tired glassy eyes before she closed them and snuggled further against you.

It was then that the others had noticed her arrival. Clint turned and gave you a confused look but after a moment he too noticed her red flushed cheeks and quietly questioned, “She sick?”

You nodded and Wanda gave her a sympathetic look, “Poor thing.”

“She’s really not feeling well.” You admitted as you held you closely.

“Im not surprised shes sick though.” Thor added, getting up from his position on the floor, “She spent the whole 3 days in Russia in a thin bodysuit. Clint, you coming to train?”

Clint accepted his offer and also got up from the floor. “Look after her.” He said as he left in the direction of the gym. As he left however the large door slammed behind him sounding a loud bang through the room.

Natasha stirred against you, being pulled from her sleep. “Mm?”

“Hey. Hey. Its alright. The door just slammed.” You comforted your feverish girlfriend who was curling into your arms, “We should probably get you back into bed sweetheart.”

“You’ll feel better with some sleep.” Wanda added as she too got up to go and train, Make sure to keep hydrated.”

“That’s a good point actually-“ You stopped, noting the rapid rising and falling of Nat’s chest.

“I nee- to… sn.. snee- Hii’tschiew! Huh’tshiew! Hh…Heh’tsshhiew!”

“Oh darling. We’re definitely getting you back to bed.” You cooed, carefully helping Nat get up incase she was dizzy.

You helped Nat walk back to your room, opening the door for her, “Thagks.” She said, her voice brimming with congestion, “Hiiiitsshiew! H..Hh’tshoo!”

“Bless you.” You cooed, instructing Nat to lay down. “Wait, did you leave your tissues in the common room?” You asked as she sniffled against her wrist.

Nat nodded and went to pull herself from the bed to retrieve them, “No, no.” You stopped her, pulling the duvet back over her, “I’ll get them, you just stay here.” You smiled as you left the room, knowing that Natasha would probably be asleep by the time you returned. But that didn’t matter, she was resting that’s all that mattered. At least you’d be able to spend the rest of the day cuddling the one you loved, even if she was all sick and sniffly.

[penpatronuswhump]

WHUMPTOBER 2020

No. 11

Fandom: Avengers

Whumpee: Tony Stark

Caregivers: Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers

Title: You’re Worth the Pain, Peter

By: PenPatronus // PenPatronusAooO 

Peter knew he was being used as bait in a trap to take down Mr. Stark and the Avengers and, somehow, that was worse than the beating he’d taken when he was kidnapped on his way to school. He wanted to be an Avenger, not a burden, and certainly not a pawn. But there he was, trapped in a cell in some backwoods HYDRA base. He listened to the security guards chat as they stood outside the steel prison bars. They kept talking about some new weapon HYDRA had developed – one that could take down an Iron Man suit. Peter almost laughed at the thought. Nothing could take down Iron Man… Right?

 Suddenly, the guards went silent mid-chuckle, and Peter heard the two thumps of their bodies landing on the cement floor. Peter rushed to the bars. “Mr. Stark?”

 “It’s me, Queens,” Steve Rogers said. “Where do they keep the keys?”

 “Uh, I think it’s just a touchpad, Captain. You have to know the code.”

 “Don’t have time for this.” Steve rushed to the bars, wrapped his gloved hands around to of them and, to Peter’s astonishment, bent the steel bars wide enough for him to slip through. “Let’s go, kid.”

 Peter pointed down at his right leg. “The fracture hasn’t healed yet, Sir.”

 Cap nodded. He put his shield on his back and held his hand out to Peter. “Arm around my shoulders. There you go. Every time you hop, I’ll walk us forward, all right?”

 “Where’s Mr. Stark?” Peter asked as they limped down the hallway.

 “Taking out the HYDRA agents with the rest of the team. We’ll meet him at the Quinjet.”

 “Ok. All right.” Peter concentrated on his steps, on hurrying, so that he wouldn’t put Captain America in danger for much longer. “Thanks, Captain.”

 “Anytime, kid. A friend of Tony’s is a friend of mine. And he seems fond of you.”

 “Fond?” Peter’s heart soared. “Really?”

 “Concentrate on your feet, kid,” Cap instructed.

 “Sorry, it’s just, well, I thought I annoyed him.”

 Cap snorted. “He and I annoy each other every day. That doesn’t stop us from being brothers.”

 A door busted open at the end of the hall. A relieved Peter saw sunlight. “Come on, we gotta go!” Clint Barton rushed to them and pulled Peter’s left arm across his shoulders, so that he could be half-carried.

 “Barton, what happened to the plan?” Cap demanded.

 “Plan’s off,” Clint said, breathless. He adjusted his bow and quiver as it kept smacking Peter in the back of the head as they walked. “Iron Man’s down.”

 “What?” both Peter and Steve gasped.

 “They hit him with something. Acid or something. It ate through the suit like it was cotton candy. Tony got out but some of the acid got on him. Cap… It’s bad.”

 “How bad?”

 “Like we need to get him to a hospital NOW bad.”

 Emotion filled Peter’s chest and boiled there. The threesome exited the building into the blinding sunlight where the Quinjet was waiting for them. Clint ran ahead to start the engines, leaving Steve to help Peter up the ramp. The ramp folded upward the second they were on deck. Natasha, Scott, Dr. Strange, and Thor were strapped into their seats while Bruce leaned over a body on the floor.

 “Mr. Stark!” Peter cried. He ignored his broken leg and rushed to his mentor’s side, collapsing onto both knees on Tony’s left. Peter gasped, “Oh my god” when he got a good look at Tony’s body. The acid had left behind the ugliest burns, mostly on the right side. Bruce was furiously bandaging up the bloodiest spots. Tony’s body was trembling, seizing with pain. His eyes were open but staring blankly at the ceiling. His pupils didn’t move at all when Peter entered his line of sight. Peter grabbed Tony’s uninjured shoulder and shook it. “Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark!”

 A few moments passed, and then Tony finally blinked and looked into Peter’s eyes. “Hey, kid.” He lifted his hand and took Peter’s.

 Peter cried fiercely, not caring that he was getting tears and snot down the front of his shirt. “I’m so sorry, Sir. I’m so sorry. I should – I should’ve tried harder to escape, fought back harder. You shouldn’t have com. You should’ve just left me there.”

 Tony snorted softly. “Not an option, Pete.” His brown hair was soaked with sweat. He looked as pale as Aunt May’s china plates. “We take care of each other around here.” Tony’s back suddenly arched right off the floor. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. What had the acid done to him?

 “Easy, Tony,” Bruce commanded. Peter had never seen the doctor so worked up and disheveled. “Try to take it easy.”

 “Can’t… I think…” Tony clenched his eyes shut and did a breathing exercise that didn’t work. “Steve? You here?”

 Cap knelt on one knee. He found a safe spot on Tony’s leg and put his hand there. “I’m here, Tony.”

 “Steve, don’t let the kid see me die,” Tony begged. “Get him – get him out of here.”

 Steve sniffed. He stood back up and grasped Peter gently around his elbow. “Come on. Let’s get you strapped into a seat.”

 “No, Sir, no, I don’t wanna leave. I wanna stay with you.” Peter squeezed Tony’s hand harder as if he could glue them together. “Sir, I wanna stay.”

 Tony’s body suddenly stopped seizing. He went so still that a panicky Bruce put the back of his hand to Tony’s lips to make sure he was still breathing. “Tony, come on, stay awake!”

 “Steve,” Tony whispered, “please.”

 Steve pulled on Peter’s arm with a bit more force and, when the kid didn’t move, used his strength to yank Peter up onto his feet. Peter fought back. He begged again to stay with Tony. Cap obeyed Tony’s wishes.

 “Clint! Fly faster!” Bruce called.

 ----------

 Peter sat in the waiting area with a cast on his leg. Steve sat on one side of him and Bruce on the other. The other Avengers were scattered throughout the rest of the room. All of them were waiting for news on Tony. When the word came that they could see him, Peter rushed towards the room only to be nabbed by Steve. “Hold on, Parker,” he said, pulling him back by the arm. “Take it easy. Let me talk to him first, all right? Settle down.”

 Peter didn’t want to wait again. He settled for standing right outside the door, where he could hear Steve and Tony talking.

 “Hey,” Steve said. “Hey, Tony.”

 Tony’s voice sounded like a chimney sweeper’s. “Hey, Cap.”

 “What did the doctors say?”

 “There will be some scarring, but I’ll recover… Eventually. How’s the kid?”

 “Anxious to see you. He feels really bad about all this. Blames himself.”

 Tony chuckled. “Well, he fits right in with us, then, doesn’t he?”

 Steve chuckled, too. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

 “Always seem to need you.” A beat passed, and then Tony called, “Pete, you can come in.”

 Peter suddenly felt shy and anxious. When Steve passed him, he waited for nearly half a minute, gathering himself, gathering courage he didn’t realize he needed. Then he entered. “Hey, Mr. Stark.”

 Tony was one big bandage. He gave Peter a nod and, with his uninjured hand, pointed at the chair beside his bed. “Have a seat.”

 Peter did. “Mr. Stark, again, Sir, I’m so sorry—”

 Tony rolled his eyes. “Peter. Listen to me. Seriously, really listen to this time. Even knowing what I know now, I still would take down a whole HYDRA base to get to you. Do you understand why?”

 Peter looked down at the fingers he was tugging on anxiously. “Because I’m a dumbass kid who keeps getting into trouble…”

 “Um, well…” said Tony. “It’s because we’re friends.”

 Peter’s head snapped back up. “We are?”

 “Yes, Peter, we’re friends.” Tony was using the same voice he would use with a fourth grader. “Even though you’re a dumbass kid who keeps getting into trouble.”

 Peter nibbled on his bottom lip. He popped a couple more joints in his fingers and then said, finally making full eye contact with Stark. “Thank you… Tony.”

 The End

[quietlyimplode]

Hi there! I love your writing 💕 I hope I'm not too late to send in my prompt. ≣ and ✂ with Nat as the whumpee? Thanks if you can! ☺️

Hi Anon. So i must confess that your prompt was timely, in that I was already writing a Sam & Natasha fic that these just happened to fall into nicely. For those playing at home, these two are droopy eyelids and holding hands. They will feature in the second part of this fic below. 

This fic has been a hard write. I want it to be better, but it is what it is. I love Sam Wilson. I want to see more of Nat and Sam. 

The Way Through

“I can’t see the way through.” Said the boy “Can you see your next step?” “Yes.” “Then just take that.” Said the horse. (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy)

“How’s he doing?” Natasha stands, hating that sitting has now become uncomfortable in her body. She feels like a shark, always moving, feeling the danger in staying still.

“Ok. I think.” Sam replies. She can hear him moving as well, perhaps getting out of earshot.

“Any luck?” She sighs. It’s unlikely. The Winter Soldier doesn’t want to be found.

“Dead ends after dead ends.”

As she suspected. “I tried to say..” Natasha cuts herself off, they probably don’t need ‘I told you so’ especially after a month of nothing.

She can hear Sam scoff, and then pause.“Yeah.. Nat? How are you doing?”

Sometimes it takes her by surprise; others concern for her. She could tell him that it’s not only Hydra but the Red Room have been hunting her. She could say that there’s so many of her bolt holes that are now compromised and she can never return to. Places she cultivated and loved once. She could tell him that leaving the States and coming into Europe was perhaps the best and worst decision ever.

But she doesn’t.

“Yeah fine.” Natasha decides on.

“You safe?” Sam’s voice bleeds concern.

That’s not an answer Natasha is prepared to give. Nothing feels safe. “For now.”

She can hear Sam moving again. “What are you going to do with yourself now?”

Natasha looks to the door, hears a commotion outside. This phone call needs to wrap up and she needs to meet with her contact, “There’s some people I need to go see.”

Sam hums, a light sound.

“Take care him, Sam.” She ends the call without waiting for an answer.

.

She hasn’t slept. She’s left pouring over the copies of the documents she’s given to Steve. It’s better than the alternative and looking into her history. She’s had a thought and joined some dots and whilst she’s unsure, it’s worth a phone call. “Sam.”

She glances at the time.

“Here.” His sleepiness annoys her. It shouldn’t. But it does. How does sleep come so easy for him? (And not for her)

“You awake?” She clarifies.

She can hear him rustling in bed, the noise of the light switch turn on and the apology after, perhaps for making her wait while he gets his shit together. “Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I’m awake.”

“Where are you?” It doesn’t matter, but she does like keeping tabs on them.

“Belarus. Where are you?”

That’s good. They’re safe there and it’s not too far from where she’s going to send them. “How’s Steve?”

Natasha can see him glancing towards their friend.

“Asleep.” He tells her.

She scoffs. “Oh he sleeps now?”

Sam yawns as he calls her out. “Nat. You got a reason for calling at 3am?”

“Yeah. I got you a lead.”

He’s awake now. “What? Where? Nat, where are you?”

“Siberia.” She doesn’t wait for him to reply, “I’m sending some coordinates now.”

“Natasha...” Worry coats his plead of her name. She’s not here for it. Time to move on.

“I gotta go.” She rubs her face, fatigue hitting her all of a sudden. She’s been alone now for almost two months.

“Nat..” She hangs up, cutting off his concern.

Continued.