Never in a Million Years |N.R|

|44| When will the storm pass?

One month since returning to the compound...

"Come on Nat, it's getting late. You should come to bed" I stopped behind her where she was watching the screen of her laptop intently at her desk, dropping my hands to her shoulders where I gave them a light squeeze.

She hadn't even heard me, and barely noticed my presence at all. All she gave me in return was a light hum of acknowledgment and nothing more.

She had been glued to that thing ever since we got back from taking down the Red Room. Rather than give herself a much needed and well earned break, she was instantly on to the next thing.

Getting the Avengers back together.

Although it wasn't looking all that positive so far. Some people weren't responding, some had gone totally off the grid and others straight out refused to return. Namely Tony and Steve. They'd had the biggest falling out of all, and things hadn't cooled off in the slightest since, regardless of how much time had passed.

So Nat spent her days trying to convince everyone to come back, trying to track down the people who had practically disappeared, keeping her eye on crime reports and checking in with government and army officials regarding any serious security risks. She refused to stop. In fact she wouldn't have slept, eaten, showered or drunk a sip of water in the last month if it weren't for me nagging her to do so. Or in most cases forcing her to.

And this was one of those cases. I'd forced myself to stay up until gone 2 am to give her some more time to work, but I'd had to throw in the towel. I needed to sleep and so did Nat, but if I allowed myself to doze off before she came to bed, she never would.

She still had her eyes focused on the bright screen before her, so I moved my hands to the back of the chair and spun it round so that she was facing me.

When we came face to face she was wearing a less than impressed expression, her arms already crossed over her chest as the first sign of defiance.

"Come on, I'm taking you to bed" I nodded my head towards the door and held out my hand as an invitation for her to take it. She did no such thing.

When I refused to back down she raised a brow, "I'm not going. I've got work to do."

"Nat" I huffed, "that work will still be there in the morning. It's not going anywhere, but you are. To bed. So lets go." I wiggled my fingers on my outstretched hand, but she refused to take the bait.

When my expression remained hardened, with no signs of softening, Nat deflated where she sat.

After taking a deep breath with her eyes shut tight she looked up at me once more, "if I don't do this who else will? What if one of them needs me, or they finally call back whilst I'm asleep? What if I miss it?"

I'd known all too well that her excuse to work was more than she'd been letting on.

I sunk to a crouch and lightly placed my hands atop her thighs for balance, but also in hopes of providing Nat with some comfort. "Hey, if any of them call or message FRIDAY will let us know. Remember? And I'm sure that if one of them bullheaded asses finally decides to respond to you, they won't stop until you pick up. It'd bruise their ego if they caved in and called you but you didn't answer. Wouldn't it?" I paired my jab at the others with a smile, hoping to entice one out of the stubborn woman sat opposite.

Thankfully it worked, and she let one side of her lips curve up with a nod.

"You're right" she muttered, "if they need me they'll call me. And they'll blow up my phone until I pick up."

I'd brought her round, for about the 30th night in a row. I had to convince her and assure her of such things nearly everyday before she finally allowed herself to rest. No doubt the next night would be just as challenging, if not more, since I was gradually running out of ideas. But no part of me minded at all, I was just concerned about her.