❝Fury's wrong. He'll figure it out eventually.❞

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Natasha

"Ria... I'll be back in a couple of days."

"A couple of days alone with Aurora... you really think it's a good idea?"

"I dunno... she seems to be alright... at least in a professional manner."

"It's not exactly gonna be professional for the entire time you're on the mission. There's night time, and morning, and any time in between."

"What happens then won't affect the mission. At least not from my side. And I'm pretty sure it won't from Aurora's side either. She made it pretty clear in Fury's office that she wasn't going to let our... personal differences get in the way of the mission."

"Yes, I know that, but she can be really harsh when she's mad. And if she loses it at you... I know you want to keep some sort of friendship with her, but it's not up to you anymore. Aurora has the power to make or break your friendship."

"And she hasn't done anything to ruin it," I stated. "That was my doing. And I feel guilty enough for that. The least I can do is try to make our time alone a little less unbearable."

I heard silence from the other end of the line.

"She doesn't want anything to do with you Nat. I know her better than you. And I know that you should just let her do what she wants, as long as she isn't doing anyone or herself any harm."

The door of the hotel room opened, and the blonde agent entered, carrying a bag on her shoulder. Without looking at me, she shut it with her foot and locked it, before making her way towards the bedroom.

"Just get the mission done as best as you can, try not to think about Aurora."

"Okay. I've got to go now, I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, I love you Tasha."

"I love you too Ria."

I took the phone away from my ear and hung up, before putting the phone in the back pocket of my jeans.

"That Maria?" Aurora's voice rang out from the doorway.

Turning, I saw her leant against it, eyebrows furrowed slightly. I nodded.

"Cool," she muttered, nodding slowly.

"Has Bobbi spoken to you recently?"

The Swede scoffed.

"Barely. She told me not to die on the mission-"

She caught my surprised look.

"We always do it, it wasn't a spiteful thing or anything."

I nodded.

"And... yeah. She's starting to trust me again, but I don't think things will ever be the same as they were before I..."

"Went to the Red Room?" I asked, earning a cold stare from Aurora.

She turned away and went back into the bedroom. I followed behind.

"Your stuff is on the bed next to the wall," she told me, keeping her back to me as she went towards the bed beside the window.

I chuckled slightly.

"You took the best bed, huh?" I commented with a small smirk. "What's that saying... 'you snooze, you lose'. I guess I snoozed a little, which is ironic."

"Stop trying to be friendly Natasha," came the cold response. "You don't want to be here any more than I do. Fury set us up. He thinks he can solve something by doing this, but there's nothing to solve."

"Come on Aurora, Fury wouldn't do something like this if he didn't think there was something to fix."

"Fury's wrong," Aurora replied. "He'll figure it out eventually."

I sighed as Aurora unzipped her bag and began to unpack the few belongings she had brought with her. I wasn't getting anywhere, I might as well give up.

♡₊˚ ⴵ・₊✧⋆⭒˚｡⋆

The sound of metal on metal awoke me. A harsh clanking sound that brought back unpleasant memories. The room was doused in darkness, and I couldn't see anything apart from where a single shaft of moonlight penetrated a gap the poorly shut curtains.

There the sound was again - this time accompanied by a panicked whimper. I stopped shuffling and listened intently. I held my breath, and soon enough the sound of rapid, shallow breaths came to my ears. I looked over at Aurora's bed, however I couldn't see much. Suddenly, she cried out, and the horrible sound of metal hitting metal came to me ears again.

Brain still fuzzy from being jolted awake so harshly, I scrambled out of bed and groped my way through the darkness to Aurora's bed - which I walked into, hitting my leg and hissing a curse into the darkness.

"Aurora!" I said, reaching and turning on the lamp beside her bed.

When I saw her, I gasped, stumbling backwards. The clanking sound was coming from her. The girl had a pair of handcuffs - one attached to her right wrist, the other to the metal bedposts. She was tugging at it, flinching in her sleep as she did so. Whatever she was dreaming of - dreaming being the wrong word, at it was most definitely not pleasant - was intense and real to her in her unconscious state, causing this movement.

"Shit shit shit," I muttered, looking around desperately for the key to unlock the handcuffs.

I found it knocked onto the floor just beside the bed, and picking it up, I unlocked the cuffs and threw them down on the floor. Her wrist was red and raw, new and old scars, cuts, fresh cuts, what looked like friction burns. I ran into the bathroom and wet a rag with cold water, before running back into the bedroom and wrapping it around her wrist. She yelped in pain as I did so - how she was still asleep was insane.

"Why, why?" I hissed under my breath. "Why did you have to bring these here?"

I could see that whatever Aurora was experiencing wasn't going to wake her up. The nightmare gripped her mind too strongly. I couldn't help the feeling of regret and pain as she cried out again. 

I carefully pulled back the covers and sat on the bed, resting my back against the headboard, and gently pulling the girl's body over my lap. I kept my arms wrapped around her, hoping to provide some sort of comfort that would help ease her out of the nightmare that kept her in it's strong grip.

When she started crying out more frequently, I gently hushed her, tracing patterns on her bare bicep. Although tense with worry for the Swede, I felt myself relax a little as I held her. Slowly, she quietened, and her harsh and rapid movements seemed to subside. Her erratic breathing slowed down, almost matching mine.

And soon, I found myself falling asleep, Aurora curled up beside me, my arms wrapped around her.