A Soldier's Life

Chapter 9 - Explosions and PTSD

Scarlett's POV:

I'm not going to lie, I was jealous of the interactions Tom was having with our VIP guests. He seemed so at ease with them both. To be honest, they'd make a cute couple. But it hurt to think that. My heart sunk a little when they sat together at lunch, so I made sure to sit the opposite side of Ava so I could be close with them.

I was so happy after Ava said that Natasha was her favourite Avenger so matter of factly before returning to her lasagne. This kid was so adorable and was already stealing part of my heart. It was out of instinct that I just grabbed the napkin to help clean her up. I could feel Y/n's eyes on me as I did it.

It was a shock to here that Y/n was a foster kid. I can't imagine what that must have been like, to grow up without a family. But watching her talk about it, you can see that she has taken that experience to turn it into something positive. I find myself listening intently to her as she talks, and I just want to know everything about her.

But I couldn't believe it when the one fact that I had been dying to know, would be answered so nonchalantly. "If I were straight, you would be the last man on my list Mackie." Finally, I had the confirmation I had been hoping for. One of the big doubts I had about Y/n was if she was into women. I didn't want to ask her out at the risk of her turning me down because she was straight. Which I know is hypocritical considering, I haven't really addressed my own sexuality myself. Although this is all still very complicated, just having that one small bit of information makes it less so.

After Ava grabbed my hand, we headed off to walk to set. "Come on Little Widow, let's go and watching something fun!" I said smiling at her reaction to the nickname I gave her. The whole way to set she was asking me lots of questions about Black Widow. She is so smart for her age but it's incredible cute when she gets caught on her words.

We finally arrive at set and I'm excited for Y/n and Ava to watch filming today. We're doing some big explosion stunts which are always great fun to watch. Y/n joins Ava and I and runs her hand through her daughter's hair. Looking up at Y/n I notice that she seems more nervous than earlier. Perhaps she's concerned that Ava is going to be scared.

"Ah you must be Y/n." I look around and see that the Russo brothers are walking over in her direction. "I'm Joe, and this is my brother Anthony." Joe reaches out his hand which Y/n gladly takes giving a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. Thank you for allowing Ava and me to come on to set. I don't think she'll ever forget this!" Y/n responded with genuine appreciation.

"It's no problem at all. We're both just gutted that we missed the charity dinner. It sounds like it was a fantastic night. Thanks for taking care of our guys." Anthony said. "Anyway, on to the reason you are here, we will be getting started shortly. We'll get you situated with us over here, and then we'll start the stunts. Oh, and we'll get the ear defenders for Ava." Joe instructs whilst pointing towards the monitors that they'll watch from. Y/n nods whilst bending down to pick up Ava, giving her a sweet kiss on her cheek. They follow the brothers over to the monitors whilst the rest of us stand back slightly allowing them the space to watch the scene.

Tom jogs over to Y/n and hands over a pair of ear defenders. "Here, for Ava. They're the smallest size they have so hopefully they'll fit." He says slightly out of breath. "I'm sure they'll be fine thanks Tom." Y/n placed Ava on the ground whilst placing the defenders on, they were slightly too big but did the job. As Y/n picked Ava back up, Ava gave her Mom a small frown.

"Don't give me that look bug, there are going to be loud noises, so we need to protect your ears as you're still young." Y/n explains to which Ava huffed, frustrated. "Fine, but what about you Mummy?" Ava askes whilst fiddling with the ear defenders. "I don't need any as I'm an adult. Only kids have to wear them." Y/n responds, still looking nervous.