Way We Go Down ｡ Natasha Romanoff

22 - PLAYING NANCY DREW

Hours had passed slowly since Poppy Thayer had met with Fury that sad afternoon, the very same day her hope had almost been smashed into a million pieces. Nobody believed her that her brother could be alive. Actually, in fact nobody wanted to believe her. Director Fury had blankly informed her to quit hoping, to quit looking because he would much rather believe he was buried and dead like many soldiers before him. Natasha Romanoff would rather put her energy into something else, a new mission about a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star than believe Poppy. In fact, Natasha had been doing her best for four years to forget about one of the only men that stole a piece of her heart and she was determined to continue trying.

That night Natasha had left the house with a weak smile, promising she would be home very soon. Poppy had been cuddled up under a pile of blankets and pillows, heart empty and her stomach full of ice-cream. Reruns of F.R.I.E.N.D.S had been keeping her mind occupied mostly but she fingered the bracelet wrapped around her wrist still. The gift she had found on the porch.

"You'll be fine alone, right, kiddo?" Natasha had asked quietly, strapping her gun smoothly into its holster. The Russian spy felt terrible about accepting a mission when they had planned a short vacation from all the work drama. They were supposed to relax and enjoy the time they had together but when Fury had called with a new important mission, she could not say no. "I'll only be gone for the night. Tomorrow we could drive up to New York or--"

Poppy glanced towards her, eyes blank. "I'm fine, okay?"

Natasha paused in the doorway, red hair brushing her shoulders. She didn't have experience with parenting and her childhood in the Red Room had never prepared her for teenage angst. Ever since Poppy had mentioned the bracelet and her theory about Alec not being dead, things had been tense, and the poor Russian wasn't sure what to even do. She wasn't Poppy's mother, just somebody that cared about her when nobody else was left in her life to do so. "Poppy..." Her voice was strained with guilt.

"Can we just drop it, Nat? Please." Poppy tried.

Natasha nodded. "Sure."

The two women were family in many ways, the only two people left in damaged family. They could have separated years ago but they chose to be a part of each other's lives, even when that grew complicated. But communication was something they lacked and right now, that thin tightrope they walked together was breaking. "Have fun on your mission." Poppy said, her attention moving back to the television screen. "Stay safe."

With a heavy heart, Natasha was grabbing her car keys and leaving the house. Deep down, she wanted to tell Poppy that she knew about her little visit with Fury, and that she wished she could believe Alec was alive like she could, but it hurt too much. She had grown up with the idea that feelings were meant to be pushed aside and tonight, that horrible training in a place that hardened her soul and created a monster, won out.

When Poppy was finally left alone, she was throwing off the blankets and scurrying towards her bedroom and yanking open her closet door within seconds. A lanky boy tumbled out, a few old coats scattering towards the carpeted floor with him. "I don't really appreciate being left in a dark closet, Pops. It's been nearly two hours, talk about a bad first date."

Poppy was grabbing Samuel Hardings by his shirt and dragging him from her bedroom, a little annoyed by his presence already. "We're not on a date," She snipped out hastily, "Also, don't call me Pops. We're not friends and you've got no right to a nickname."

Samuel paused, "You called me, remember?"

That was something Poppy Thayer was already regretting. When her meeting with Director Fury had proved nothing, she realised nobody was willing to help her find out the truth. Nobody believed her and honestly, she was fine with that. Why would they believe a sixteen-year-old girl who had been suffering through grief unhealthy with not addressing the issue of her brother's death properly? She had wanted to believe she had moved on, but that truly was not the case, not in her heart. "Look, you're the only person I know that has the means to help me and actually would go along with trying to find a dead man because you've got nothing better to do, Sam. If I remember correctly, you've already graduated high school with flying colours and you're just waiting to hear back from MIT about starting there next semester."

The boy who was technically a Stark just grinned, reminding Poppy of his father that he hadn't known about for years. "You've been keeping tabs on me?"

"Shut up, okay?" Poppy rolled her eyes. "My point is, I need your help with finding my brother and you agreed on the phone. So, are you in or out?"

Samuel made a huge display of thinking about it and that surely ticked off Poppy, knowing he enjoyed toying with her. In reality, Samuel had already solely agreed to be her partner in crime as soon as she called him hours ago. "Am I up for playing Nancy Drew with you, Poppy Thayer? Why the hell not."

Poppy nodded, "Good. Now, you can drive, right?"

He frowned, "I didn't pass my test but lucky for us, dad helped me design a more portal J.A.R.V.I.S system that connects with his cars. He pretty much does all the driving for us." The rich boy fished out his stolen car keys, dangling them in his fingertips. "Now, hand over that bracelet Pops, and we'll find out where your brother paid for it and work from there."

"Don't call me, Pops."

As they made their way towards the front door, Poppy locking up before they disappeared into the night without anybody's knowledge, Samuel just winked across at her. He knew every trick in the book to get under her skin and knew sooner or later, she'd come around to the idea of being friends. "Whatever you say, Pops."

***

"How's Poppy? I heard she's back in town."

Natasha was cleaning her gun after another successful mission as the team led by Captain America himself headed home in a S.H.I.E.L.D company aircraft. Ash from the explosion on-board the ship littered her skin and her bones ached just slightly. Steve Rogers was mostly still pissed off with her since Fury had given her a side mission tonight, which he hadn't been aware of. Although, the Captain sent her glares the entire flight home, he still wanted to know how Poppy was dealing with everything.

"She's...a teenager." Natasha noted.

Elliott Mercer who had joined them for the mission tonight, along with Brock Rumlow and a few of his men, dropped into the seat beside Natasha with a loud sigh. Blood dotted her eyebrow and a bluish bruise was forming on her pale skin near her shoulder blade. "She stopped by headquarters today looking for Fury. What's up with that?"

The spy hung her head. "Poppy is convinced Alec isn't dead. A bracelet was left on our doorstep the night she arrived home from boarding school and she believes her brother left it there for her. Fury talked her down today, hopefully it worked."

Steve glanced towards them, face remaining blank. He had never met the man since he had gone missing years before his own recruitment, but he knew stories about him. "Alec Thayer died on a mission, correct? Why would she believe he's alive? Clearly somebody's trying to toy with her mind."

"Have you ever tried telling a teenager that what she believes is wrong?" Natasha asked the man the world considered a hero and naturally, he was already shaking his head, having no experience with raising children. Apparently, they had that in common.

Elliott laughed with his response, "It's almost as risky as telling them about safe sex. They don't believe you and half the time they're pretending you're wrong and they're planning on ways to sneak out of the house to...well, learn all about the birds and the bees on their own terms." Agent 47 had maybe too much experience in raising a teenager, Louise Mercer quite the handful sometimes.

Steve shrugged, "Your sister sounds like--"

"A teenager?" Elliott suggested with a coy smile. "Don't worry, Captain Crunch, you'll know the joys of parenting one day. Well, surely. If you ever get over Agent Carter."

As the conversation shifted around Natasha Romanoff, her friends going back to joking around with each other, her mind turned sour with an odd thought. What if Poppy Thayer actually was correct, what if Alec wasn't dead? What kind of man would he be now? That was something she was about to learn the hard way sadly.