Ace of Hearts | N. Romanoff ✓

(6) - Prying

WHEN ACE'S EYES OPEN SHE SMILES, that was the best sleep she has ever had. Surrounded by this warmth and the soothing sound of the warmth's heart beating softly in her ears. Ace nearly jumps up in embarrassment but sees that Natasha is sleeping. She pokes the assassin's cheek and one eye opens.

Her green eyes are bright and Ace can't help the stupid smile that falls on her painted lips. "How'd you sleep Nattie?" She asks as Natasha pushes herself up, Nat's jaw twitches. 

"I slept fine." There's something in her face and voice that betrays her disinterested tone. Her eyes don't have the usual bags beneath them and her voice sounds sweeter than it normally does. 

Ace's lips fall into a pout, and here she thought that their relationship was evolving into something other than pointless hostility and fights. 

"What's wrong?" She asked just as Natasha pushed herself even further from the confused clutz. 

Ace didn't like being treated like this. "Nothing, I'm just not used to... this..." Ace tilted her head in puzzlement.

Natasha shakes her head, "I don't know what to call this..." She tries and Ace takes it.

"Wanna play cards?" Natasha shrugs, Ace gasps and claps her hands. "Wanna see a magic trick?!" She asks like a child and Natasha rolls her eyes, but nods. Ace digs into her pocket and pulls out her tattered deck of cards. "Pick a card, any card, any－ Not that one, that's a joker." Natasha turns it over and sure enough, it's a joker.

Ace's heart pangs in pain she didn't understand. Why would she have an emotional reaction to the word 'joker'? Ace shuffles the deck again and closes her eyes as Natasha grabs a card and looks at it, Ace notices the smirk on Nat's lips but ignores it. "Okay! Put it back in the deck and shuffle it!" She smiles widely as Nat shuffles the cards quickly. 

Ace spreads them out in an even semi-circle on the carpeted floor in front of her. She runs her fingers right above them, she pauses and then pushes the card up. This continues until one is left. "Is this your card?" Ace holds up an ace of spades. 

Nat shakes her head no, "It was an ace of hearts, Rose." Ace is too disappointed to notice that Nat called her Rose and sighs loudly before smiling.

"I see whatcha did there," Nat shrugs. 

"I didn't do anything." Her voice is neutral as Ace reaches behind her ear, she leans up close while holding the ace of hearts in front of the redhead's face. 

"I knew it was ace of hearts, I just wanted to hear you say it." Her voice is low and Natasha pulls away abruptly, leaving Ace confused.

"So, what's your real name?" Nat asks and Ace's jaw tightens. 

"I don't know." 

She lies and Natasha sees right through it, "What's wrong?" This was Natasha, sensing the sudden change in mood between them. Ace shakes her head no and shrugs. 

"What's your real name?" Ace challenges and Natasha suppresses a smile. 

"Natalia..." Her lips curl up into a smile at getting an answer.

She crosses her legs and notices some blood, "You're bleeding." Ace comments and Natasha nods. 

"I knew that, but there isn't much I can do... But as I said, what's your real name? Because I know no one in their right mind would name their daughter Ace." Ace takes offense to this and scoots away from Natasha. 

"Mind your own damn business Widow." Ace snaps.

Nat wasn't expecting such anger from the light-spirited woman and jumped in surprise. 

"Don't ask so many fucking questions." Ace stands up and tosses her jacket at Natasha. "You can use that I guess, but if you ruin it; I will kill you." Natasha doesn't say anything as she watches Ace saunter away. Ace takes a deep breath before she exits the library, not looking back as she walks out of the door. 

Ace hates being asked too many questions about things she literally cannot answer. It wasn't her fault that the past her, Rose, decided her life wasn't worth remembering and committed one-hundred-percent to Ace... She just wanted to know why. Why would anyone risk everything to forget? What monumental thing would have had to happen to cause someone to rip everything about their life apart?

She just wanted why Roseana did that to her, leaving her to deal with a house with no memories in it, cops chasing her, and being looked down upon by older women on the streets. 

Ace wanted to know why she should keep living like this for someone she had never met before. All of these quirks, feelings, this body, and her abilities are all Rose's. She has nothing of her own and it sucks because she feels like she can never be her own person. She will always be the mess that Rose left behind.

And Ace always found herself knowing exactly why she was feeling how she was feeling; she knew the scientific names for everything and it confused her so much. Anemoia is what she was feeling, the nostalgia for a time she had never experienced. She wished she could know who she was before she became this typical cat burglar...

Sure, it would be convenient to know who she was prior to being her... but Rose did it for a reason and Ace wanted to find out as much as she didn't.

Ace sees the flashing lights and hides in the alleyway. The cops have been of little concern to her today, she's annoyed. She's in the mood to steal from some rich asshole and maybe smash some chinaware. Just because she felt like it. The blood was rushing to her head as she begins climbing up the fire escape, some asshole lived on the top floor... She just knew.

When she looks inside the window, sure enough, everything inside is white and marble. 

"Rich bastards..." She murmurs and uses her bobby pin to push the lock on the window open. Ace smirks and pulls the window open with ease. She tosses her leg in and lands inside silently. On the couch to her right is some shirtless man sleeping, she almost gags in disgust at the stench of alcohol drenching the room.

She looks around the house before deciding on taking the cufflinks, they're embedded with diamonds and a few more have jewels in them. Ace holds up the Ruby one next to the blue Sapphire, she didn't know why she loved the colors red and blue, but she did. Shoving the cufflinks in her pockets, she sees an expensive necklace. 

"Ace likes!" She chuckles and wraps it around her small wrist. "Time to go..." Ace sees that the man isn't on the couch anymore, she sticks her leg out around the corner and he trips over her foot. Before he can look up to see what tripped him, she's already out the window and onto the roof.

Author's Note:

Do I hate this chapter? Yes. Am I going to post it regardless? Yes. But anywho! Thank you, everyone, for nearly 500 reads on Ace of Hearts, I wasn't expecting such a good response but it means a lot <3