Widow Sisters and Friends (Restoring Our Broken Hearts): Book 2

Comfort is A Two-Way Street

Summary: When Carol comes home from a mission extremely late at night, she finds Natasha in the gym performing ballet. She had no idea that Natasha could perform ballet. She also had no idea that Natasha performing ballet alone was a sign that Natasha was in a horrible mental state. But she quickly figures it out and has to cope with the consequences.

   "Hey, Nat... What're you doing?" Carol questioned uncertainly as she entered the gym, pausing as she took in the sight of the redhead.

Carol happened to be coming in late from a mission when she saw that the lights were on in the gym. She normally would not have questioned it, but it was in the neighborhood of two or three in the morning, so she had a few questions. Especially since she knew that no one would be there that early. Not even Steve, who religiously woke up at five every morning.

So she had come in to check, and that was when she found Natasha.

At the moment, the woman in question was very gracefully, effortlessly, and beautifully performing a very intricate ballet routine. It completely took Carol by surprise since she had never seen Natasha do ballet before, and she actually had no idea that Natasha knew anything about it. Carol definitely did not know much about the subject.

"I didn't know you knew ballet. That's really cool," Carol complimented, speaking up again as she grinned at Natasha. However, her smile soon slowly fell away from her face as she realized that Natasha was remaining completely unresponsive.

"Hey... You okay?" Carol questioned as she came a little closer.

As she approached the woman carefully, she quickly realized that Natasha had a glazed sheen to her eyes, and she did not seem to be overly aware of anything happening around her. Carol immediately felt her guard coming up a bit. Something was not right at all with the redhead, and Carol was not sure what was about to happen.

"Hey, Nat...?" Carol questioned, moving nearer as she risked waving her hand near Natasha to try to get her attention. Natasha stayed quiet, not offering Carol any manner of reaction. Carol swallowed, eyeing her wordlessly.

Natasha seemed almost as if she were having some manner of breakdown. Carol was not at all experienced with dealing with this level of emotional situation unless it was she herself having the episode, but she was quick enough to realize that this must be the signs. And she was not about to let Natasha suffer through this alone. Not after everything she had helped Carol herself through.

Carol braced herself, calling upon her enhanced strength as she prepared to handle this situation the best she could.

"Natasha, hey... I'm going to put my hand on you. I know you probably can't hear me or at least can't respond, but I thought I'd warn you anyway, okay?" Carol told her, and Natasha remained still performing some outlandish pose.

Carol let out a breath before reaching out and closing the distance between them.

Almost immediately, Natasha's gaze snapped to Carol's, her entire demeanor changing as she almost bared her teeth. Carol's eyes widened slightly, and Natasha immediately started attempting to pull her signature move on her as she pounced upward, wrapping her legs around Carol's head as she started trying to pull her down.

If Carol had not been braced already with her strength, the move would have doubtlessly brought her to the ground. Instead, she simply grabbed Natasha, prying her legs off of her as she threw her into the floor accidentally with the force of her grip.

Natasha quickly was back on her feet again, but as soon as she made a move to attack, Carol shot her hands out, grabbing Natasha's shoulders in her hands firmly as she met her eyes. Natasha started trying to jerk herself out from Carol's grip, but Carol remained steadfast, fighting for a strong grip. She grabbed the back of Natasha's neck with a hand, searching for purchase as she grappled with her.