Parasite *•.¸♡ 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙠'𝙨 𝘿𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 ♡¸.•*

Friday

After dropping Ariana off with Tony, Natasha walks over to the kitchen to grab Clint and Bucky. Pulling them over to the couches, she notices they give her a confused look. "We need all we can get; tell me everything you two have picked up on," Natasha seriously orders.

"What are you talking about?" Clint questions; Bucky was wondering the same thing.

"Ariana."

"Well, to start with the obvious, she's very jumpy. I noticed it's definitely calmed down, but she's still worse than any average kid," Clint notes.

"I heard her screaming in her sleep one night. She said she was fine and that it doesn't happen often, but whatever it was it really shook her up. She looked terrified," Bucky adds.

"When did that happen?" Natasha questions.

Bucky frowns, trying to recall when it happened, "I'm not sure. It was some time early on... the first week I think?"

Natasha places her chin on her hand, frowning as she thinks. "And you say this never happened again?"

"Yeah, I haven't heard any screaming since that night."

Natasha hums and wonders if she should ask Friday for some information. She hates to be nosy and invade—what she considers to be—her niece's privacy, but they need something to work on. "Wanna take this to your room, Clint?" Natasha questions, standing up. Clint nods in approval, and the trio bid the group–who are in the kitchen–farewell before disappearing into Clint's room.

Natasha plops herself on a hanging net swing while Clint goes to recline on his bed. Bucky takes a seat on one of Clint's bean bag chairs, shifting uncomfortably for a few seconds before getting comfortable enough. "Friday?" Natasha begins

"Yes, Miss Romanoff?"

"Can you tell me about Ariana's sleep patterns?"

As Friday begins her talk, Natasha puts her hand over her chin. Clint grabs a drum stick he found lying by the side of his bed and starts fidgeting with it as he reclines on his pillow. Bucky has his elbows rested on his legs, hunched forward with his hands clasped.

"Miss Ariana usually has difficulties falling asleep. She oftentimes will lie in bed waiting for it to come. Sometimes she asks me to talk to her or to play her some classical ballet music. She has woken up having a panic attack most of the nights she has stayed here." Clint stops twirling his drumstick and sits up with a frown. Bucky's grip on his own hand tightens as he furrows his brows with worry. "She has woken up screaming, yelling, crying, or a mixture of them over half of the days."

Natasha and Clint both snap their heads over to Bucky who now wears a confused look on his face. Before Friday is able to continue, Bucky questions, "why haven't I heard her?"

"Miss Ariana asked me to make her room soundproof after you had left. I believe she may have vomited as well."

Natasha pinches her nose and grumbles something about how Stark really needs to make Friday more like Jarvis; better at reporting things. Sure, Natasha hated when Jarvis would snitch on her, but that doesn't mean she wanted everyone else to be free from that.

"What else can you tell us about Ariana?" Clint questions, now with a small notepad and pen he found thrown on his nightstand, ready to scribble down anything that can help them figure out the mystery of a child living with them.

"Miss Ariana seems to have multiple symptoms of PTSD-" Bucky clenches his fists- "she has panic attacks, flashbacks, and also shows many symptoms of depression."

Silence.

"If I may add, it seems that her childhood trauma is what drives most of her decisions and actions. She has also mentioned a few names to me. Would you like me to tell you them?"

"Yes," Bucky practically growls.

"When she has her night terrors, flashbacks and panic attacks, oftentimes she is saying things like no, stop, please, and I'm sorry. However, sometimes she wakes up screaming about Maurice or her mom."

Natasha frowns, remembering hearing about her mother getting murdered in front of her at a young age. She knows Maurice was important to her, but why was she calling his name out? Clint continues writing the names Friday mentions.

A/N - they're getting closer and closer to discovering the truth. This is just a little chapter before my update where things will really start to pick up. Buckle your seatbelts everyone; this is going to be a ride.