Chasing Ghosts | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 86: Mother's Daughter

June 29, 2024

A week later, things were looking up even more. After that initial nightly breakdown, nothing significant had happened mentally, and Katya had even gotten her cast off early. The feeling of finally being able to close her right hand again had her cheering, and the first thing she did was run her palm over her wife's smooth, warm skin and properly intertwine their fingers.

The situation between both Russians was amazing, possibly better than before - if that was possible. Natasha had gotten a wakeup call because of the accident, a reminder of how easily she could still lose her wife. That bone-shaking fear she felt that day gave her a kick in the butt. She would not leave Katya's side, her clingy, adorable self asking for hugs and cuddles any given time of day.

It came to the point where they were practically attached at the hip and Maya mocked her mama for being so clingy. That usually ended with Natasha telling her something along the lines of 'shut up' and Maya reminding her that she used to be a badass spy who now couldn't go five seconds without her wife. The girl knew exactly how to get her mom worked up, smirking to herself when Natasha's pout only deepened as she cuddled further into a laughing Katya.

Needless to say, Katya was glad to be back.

Nevertheless, today was already a big day for her so soon after getting her memories back. A very big day. One in the planning for months. And her anxiety didn't agree with it - when did it agree with her?

She woke up trembling and out of breath, having hot and cold flashes underneath her warm covers in her semi-dark bedroom. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried desperately to regulate her breathing, an annoyed but pained groan falling from her lips without her permission, hating the world and her mind for making her life so difficult.

Curling up into a ball, she blindly reached for Natasha for comfort, only to remember that she was long gone, driving Maya to a friend's. Right now, Katya cursed herself for not joining them, retracting her hand towards her chest to attempt to find comfort within herself. Going with could have possibly prevented this. Or help would have been closer than on the other side of a phone call.

It would never be one hundred percent easy to ask for help, to "bother" Natasha purely for selfish reasons. But these days, she didn't hesitate longer than a minute to call her wife for help. Months ago, she'd have tried to fix it herself first - without success - only making it worse. She needed to hear her favorite voice, get it to pull her out of her worries.

It took only one ring for the call to connect, her shaking hand holding the phone by her ear with her eyes closed. The first thing she heard was the classical car sounds, that typical humming and the aircon, though Natasha's voice was clear as day when she spoke. God bless FRIDAY.

''Hey, honey,'' she said cheerfully, a clear smile on her face. Katya's heart clenched at the sound of it. She had no idea her mood was about to crash down.

The brunette's mind had completely blanked. The only thing she could croak out was a shaky, ''Nat?''

A beat of silence fell, one in which she could sense Natasha's face falling on the other side of the call. The spy did not need much more information than that single word to know what was going on and why Katya called. And the next time she responded, her mind had already shot into protective wife mode.

She had a tone of voice for these things. Katya didn't know if she knew that herself, but her voice fell into this certain serene and smooth tone that brought so much comfort and security by itself despite the words being said. Like a warm blanket that pulled her under, or a slow song from a person's favorite singer whose voice simply enveloped them completely.