Grogginess was an understatement as to what she was feeling right now. Confusion? No, although she was very confused in this unfamiliar setting. Disorientation? The room did seem to be spinning, and she couldn't quite see clearly. Obscuring? Unsettling? ...Disturbing? She felt all of this and more as she found herself falling from a soft surface onto a hard floor; pain ramming into her body as it felt as if her shoulder had exploded. For some reason, she felt comfort in the fact that she was now on a familiar surface, a hard floor. That meant she knew where she was, her cell that she shared with Natasha, her mother. But this floor felt...clean; and she was warm. No, she flipped back to confusion and then came the fear. She was usually so much better at controlling her emotions, but all of a sudden her memories slammed into her like a two ton truck. Avoiding the unknown softness behind her, she scooted over to another hard thing and leaned against it, finding comfort in yet another familiar feeling. Her injured ribs screamed at her but she tried to use the pain as a focal point.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down," a muffled, female voice sang out as sounds of shuffling moved towards her.

Her head hurt, and the cobwebs in her mind were making it hard to focus which was making her panicky. "Mom?" she called out in hopes of a familiar embrace to help clear her head. When hands gripped her wrists and pulled her closer, she knew immediately that it was NOT Natasha who was in the room with her right now. The dimness was making it hard to see but the little light in the room was also making her squint. The light was hurting her eyes to the point that she was almost blinded.

"Let her hands go." a second voice called, "Move, i've got this."

The air around her moved and she tried to shrink back further into her pathetic excuse for a hiding place, which really was just a corner. She would be damned if she made it easy for The Triad to drag her out of there. She sensed the first woman move back, but the second woman moved closer. Her hair was then gently pushed behind her ear and she found herself violently flinching before striking out blindly, only to catch air. She was panicking, she needed to ground herself. Remember your training... All her training seemed to be going out of the window after what she had been through. After her lives on the run, she learned that The Black Widow was her mother, The Winter Soldier was her father, she was loved by a God, she was the result of a twisted science experiment run by a monster who tortured her mother, she was captured by a monster who was the son of another monster who planned to torture them both, she was separated from her brother and daughter, she was experimented on, chased, tortured...stop spiraling! All of a sudden she realized that there was a hand on her leg, which just seemed to stay there. It was light and not firm, so she focused on it. She heard the body that the hand belonged to breathing, so she focused on the breaths, in and out, almost at a rhythm designed for her to focus on. So far, the woman was seeming safe, nothing at all like The Triad. When she caught a whiff of strawberries, it made her relax more and she felt her shoulders drop. She instead moved her arms from defending herself, to cradle herself while she worked out who exactly this woman was. Evil people didn't smell like strawberries. When the hand gave a gentle squeeze, she felt the body in front of her move, and the warmth from the woman sat beside her, boxing her in but also protecting her from the open space of the room. She felt the woman cautiously put her arm around her as if to pull her to her chest, but she didn't force it. Once that arm rested around her shoulders though, she lost it when she remembered what had happened to Natasha. The dagger that cut through her mother flashed through her mind as it exploded in red. She curled into the woman's chest and prayed that she was safe in this vulnerable place.

"Shhh," she woman whispered, which made her cry even more. She was safe...but what about Natasha? "You're okay, we've met before..."

Met before? She couldn't remember. Who was this woman?

"My name is Bobbi, you handed me your little Juliette a few weeks ago, she's safe too."

Juliette? "Juliette! Where is she, where is my baby?" She looked up and made out a trusting face who looked back at her with kindness and concern.

"She's safe, I promise you, but you can't see her just yet," the blonde said soothingly.

She wanted to get angry, but this woman had saved her child. As she recalled the snowy woods on the day she was taken, she saw the promise in the woman's eyes the moment that she took Juliette to hide in her coat, that she would keep the baby safe. She had only just met them, but if her mother trusted them, then she felt as if she could trust them right now. "Why can't I see her?"

"It's a lot to explain, but I promise you that I will once you've gotten some rest. Thea, you've been through a lot."

The room as well as her mind was becoming a lot more clear now and she jumped when the other woman in the room moved into her frame of view. She recognized her, but her name was escaping her now.

"Im sorry," she was saying. "Im Darcy, Natasha's best friend and..."

The way Darcy's face fell in despair told her that she knew that something had happened to Natasha...but how? Loki? "That was Loki that got me out of there, wasn't it?" She didn't listen for the answer as the scene replayed in her mind once again. It was Loki, the same man...god...who told her to trust Natasha in the first place. This was the man who Natasha had once loved. When she was getting lost in her thoughts again, Bobbi gently shook her to draw her back out. Dang, she really knew what to do in this sort of situation.

"Hey, we can talk about all of this later. I just want you to know that you are in Avengers Tower, surrounded by people who would rather die than let The Red Room get ahold of you again."

"Why?" she asked defiantly, feeling a little like her old self again, "because Natashsa is my mother?"

Bobbi smiled and gently put her forehead to hers while looking into her eyes. "Yes, because you are Natasha's daughter... and because The Red Room are a bunch of assholes."

That got her to laugh, but then her face fell again. Is that all she was to The Avengers? The daughter of The Black Widow?

Bobbi drew back and then shakily stood up, which struck a chord of concern through her. "It's not just because of your heritage, Thea, and I hope you understand that. The Avengers protect the innocent against the evil of this world, you just get bonus points for being a Romanoff."

With a wink that caused her to smile again, she accepted Bobbi's outstretched hand with her good arm and shakily stood herself. "My name isn't Thea anymore, call me Ksenia."

"Hell yeah," Darcy growled before coming closer and brushing a glob of crusted blood from her face. "How about we get you cleaned up and back to bed before we start working on our next move."

Suddenly becoming self conscious, Ksenia looked herself over and then went back to holding herself. She had to stop doing that, damaged people did that, and she was not damaged. Deflecting their concerned stares, she looked around the cozy room and found herself enjoying how nice it was. Darcy was now disappearing into a side room, presumably to grab some fresh clothes, and Bobbi busied herself with rummaging through a trauma kit and pulling a few things out. When she noticed the blonde sway, she swiftly scooted closer and steadied the woman. Bobbi gripped the bedpost until her knuckles turned white and then as suddenly as she had noticed it, it was over.

"Are you okay?" she asked her in concern.

Bobbi let out a deep breath and shut her eyes for a moment before snapping out of it and pretending like nothing had even happened. "I will be," she responded, just as Darcy had walked back in with fresh clothes in hand.

"You will be what?" the brunette asked as she dropped the load of clothes onto the bed next to the trauma kit.

Ksenia was about to tell her until Bobbi jumped in, deflecting the conversation. "Nothing, lets get Ksenia into the shower and patched back up before the adrenaline wears off."

Accepting the answer, Darcy disappeared into the bathroom and Ksenia cocked her head in question at Bobbi. "What the hell was that?" she asked.

Bobbi's eyes shot to the bathroom and then back to her. "I'll explain everything later, but im hoping that whatever that was, was a good thing."

Wait, Ksenia thought suddenly, Natasha had said that Bobbi was connected to her somehow. Oh my god, THIS is Bobbi! "Wait..." she began until a fierce glare from Bobbi shut her up.

"Dont," she threatened as she shook her head and shot her gaze back to the bathroom. "Don't have hope right now, because I have NO idea what that was. It's probably nothing; a guy almost, well he kind of did, killed me last week and I have NOT recovered from that all the way yet. So don't."

Her hope was indeed squashed because of the
uncertainty in the blondes tense eyes. She was looking for hope where there wasn't any.

When Darcy emerged from the bathroom, she passed them with a curious stare. "Okay, who stepped on whose toes?"

They were both snapped out of it and they carried on like nothing had even happened. "Come on," Bobbi called with a smile, "let's get you cleaned up."

"Thanks, I've got it though," she promised as she headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. When she looked into the mirror, she didn't even recognize herself. Her burgundy hair had all but faded out and she was left with her natural, deep red color that matched Natasha's perfectly. How had she never noticed before how much she looked like her? When she went to remove her grime covered shirt though, she ran into a problem, she couldn't. Her body was just so sore, and her shoulder was still immobilized by bandages that made it hard to even move. The dizziness was also returning and every time she moved her head, her body threatened to throw up. Shit, she thought weakly, she needed help. With a sigh, she moved back to open the bathroom door and was startled to see Bobbi and Darcy both leaning against the doorframe as if they anticipated this moment.

"Told you, Deja vu, much?" Darcy uttered to Bobbi with a small laugh before letting herself in with Bobbi right behind her.

"What?" Ksenia asked as she moved to let them in.

"Nothing," Darcy said with a smile as she recalled this same scenario with Natasha...no, Natalia, several months before.

Quickly becoming uncomfortable in the small space, Bobbi sensed her unease and sent Darcy from the room to update the guys on Ksenia. When the brunette had left, Ksenia relaxed slightly and let Bobbi remove some of the bandages that she couldn't quite get off.

"Thanks," she said in relief when Bobbi seemed to be doing everything right.

"It's no problem, really. I've been trained for this sort of thing, and admittedly, ive been through some of this before so I sort of know how it feels." Bobbi gave her a small smile through the mirror before helping her remove her shirt.

When her eyes lingered for a moment too long, Ksenia noticed what she had seen. In the weeks of being a prisoner, she had lost a considerable amount of weight. The deep bruising and taser marks from her recent escape lit up her body like tiny flares and her breath hitched when she noticed it all. Her shoulder wound looked angry, but it looked like the bullet was a through and through, although it still hurt like a bitch. The deep purple over her ribs reminded her of the few cracked ribs that she had earned when tackling Yelena.

Bobbi lifted Ksenia's chin and pulled her gaze away from the mirror to meet hers. "You'll heal in time, don't stress too much about it."

She smiled back at the woman in thanks and then let her know that she had it from there. Bobbi gave her arm a gentle squeeze and then exited the bathroom before letting her know that she would be in the bedroom if she needed any help. It hurt, but she managed to drag her exhausted body into the shower and hissed in pain as well as relief when the hot water poured over her. She couldn't remember the last time that she had a hot shower, and she just wanted to stay there forever. Eventually though, the warm water started to run out so she faced the inevitable and was forced to get out and carefully dress herself. The clothes that were waiting for her were her size, but they hung off of her frame as if they were several sizes too big. She would have to work on building her muscles back up as soon as her body would let her. Once she was dressed, she opened the bathroom door to let the steam out before attempting to bangade herself, but Bobbi knocked softly, asking if she could come in. She met the agents gaze and nodded for her to enter.

"You look like you could use a hand," she said as she took the bandage from Ksenia's shaking hands.

"Umm, yeah. Thanks," she admitted. She hated feeling like this, but she knew that she needed help. So, she allowed Bobbi to assess her shoulder before stitching it up. She told her that it was indeed through and through, so after a good cleaning and stitching, she was good as new. When Bobbi's hand hovered over her cracked ribs, she cut her gaze into Ksenia's, and Ksenia sighed in anticipation; she hated cracked ribs. So, she gripped the edge of the sink with both hands and gritted her teeth before allowing Bobbi to do her thing. The gentle hands did nothing for the pain but she suffered through the 'exam' and then sighed in relief when it was over.

"Good news, you left at least a few unbroken," Bobbi said sarcastically. An annoyed snort from Ksenia told her that the red head was hurting, but she at least found the situation at least a little funny. "I'm going to wrap them, but im sure Simmons will want to x-ray them to make sure theres nothing seriously wrong there."

"Simmons?" she asked with a wary glance.

"Jemma Simmons, the nicest brit you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. Although she can ramble, she's one of the good ones." Bobbi then lifted her own shirt and showed her an old, healed wound than stood out against her stomach. "She patched me up a few weeks ago after I saved Natasha's ass."

Disbelief reflected back in Ksenia's lavender eyes. "What? I saw that when I was chasing you guys, it was definitely fresh, how is it all healed?"

Bobbi looked at her in sadness but decided to keep it to herself for the moment. Ksenia was tired, she could wait for an explanation later. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. We need to finish getting you all patched up and into bed before you decide to pass out on me. Here," she offered as she removed some pills from her pocket. "Jemma wanted you to take these. Antibiotics and some painkillers."

After she said that, Ksenia realized that she was right. Her tiredness was hitting her now and she became aware that she was leaning heavily onto the counter. "Right," she agreed as she swallowed them down along with the water that was offered to her. Not having any more energy left, she trusted Bobbi to finish up her other minor wounds, and before she knew it, Bobbi was gently shaking her shoulder; she had drifted off.

"Let's get you into bed," she said before slipping her arm under Ksenia's shoulders and leading the young girl back to the room. When Ksenia hissed in pain after only a few steps, they took it slower. After standing still for so long, the soreness had set back in and her limbs were feeling like they were full of lead and needles.

As gently as she could, she collapsed into the soft bed and burrowed under the covers. With a start, she recognized the comforting smell and froze. "Who's room is this?" she asked although she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

Bobbi had already made it to the door before turning around and offering her a warm smile. "It was Natasha's." She turned then and made her exit, leaving the young girl alone with her thoughts, though only for a little while.

Emotion flooded through her and threatened to take her into her own pool of misery.  There was a word that explained how she was feeling, but what was it? She remembered Anatoli describing it once, it was "the love that remains." Something about a nostalgic longing to be near again to someone that is distant, someone that has been loved and then lost...saudade. The word was saudade. She took comfort in the fact that she was in her mother's home; not only her home, but her actual room. She also tried to think about what the rest of her team would be like, but the exhaustion took over first and for the first time in a long time, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep that was void of the nightmares that usually plagued her.