Becoming Agent Rushman

The Next Morning

Author's Note: !!Medium TW, blood described!! Okay honestly this is just a bunch of SashaEli cuteness - wowww Sasha can write fluff?? - cause somehow I couldn't think of anything else lol 😂Enjoy :)

Eli jolted awake in a cold sweat. It was 4 am, she'd woken up from nightmares about Sasha. She shifted the blankets off and climbed out of bed, pulling on one of Sasha's oversized sweatshirt and short shorts. She walked to the bathroom, splashing some water on her face. She was about to go back to bed when she saw the blood on the floor. "What the hell...?" She got down on a knee, looking at it. She got up again after a moment and paused, before realization set in. "Shit...Sasha!!" She took off towards medical and walked down the row of dividers until she found the space her best friend was lying. She walked in quietly, but was surprised to see the girl awake, her earbuds in. Her eyes flew up as Eli walked in, and she immediately shut off her phone. "Eli...what are you doing here?"
"You weren't injured in training were you..."

"N-no...who told you that?" Eli walked to Sasha's side, and took her wrist out from under the blanket. She felt the bandage and saw the stain of blood that had soaked through. "Sasha what did you do..." Sasha looked down, not answering. Eli sat down next to her, neither met the other's eyes. After a long and uncomfortable silence, Sasha took her phone out again. "Um...what're you listening to?"

"You'd laugh..."

"No I won't! C'mon what is it?"
".....Girl in Red...."

"Ooooh! What's your favorite?" Meanwhile, Eli's mind was going crazy with thoughts, and she inconspicuously slid her hand onto Sasha's arm. "Well, maybe Rue? I'm not sure, they're all great..."

"I agree. So why are you awake?"
"I couldn't sleep...anxiety..."
"Oh, did you take your meds yet?" She shook her head, and Eli got up, taking two out of the bottle, and placed them in Sasha's hand. She filled a glass with water, and Sasha took them. She coughed, and Eli sat back down, rubbing her back. "You alright? Do you...do you wanna tell me why you did this...?"
"I-I hurt you...I didn't listen, and now you're mad at me...why are you even here?"
"Oh Sash...You didn't hurt me! I was...I was a bit sad, yes, but Romanoff warned me you'd get upset, and I just dumped that all on you, it wasn't fair. And I saw the blood on the bathroom floor...and...Sasha I didn't make you do this did I?"
"N-no! I was...I was angry at myself. I wanted to g-go after you but I froze and I was so upset and I thought I'd lost you a-and...and-"
"Hey...it's okay, you didn't lose me. I'm still right here, and I'll continue to be, I promise. I won't let anything happen to me, for your sake, okay?"
"Y-you promise?"
"I promise," Eli took Sasha's hand lightly, rubbing small circles on top of it. Sasha's breathing, which had grown quite fast quite quickly, was slowly returning to normal as she calmed down. She turned off her phone, and set it on the table before turning to Eli. "Do you wanna stay for a bit...?"
"If you make sure to get some rest when I leave, we can't have you recovering slowly because of me!" She fluffed Sasha's hair, and the younger one smiled. "I can't belive it's almost my birthday again...only three more weeks. Maybe I'll get some presents this year!" She joked. Eli chuckled a little, happy to see her friend in somewhat better spirits. "Well with an attitude like that, who knows!" The girls chatted for another hour or so, before the first bell went off. Eli got up and stretched, fluffing Sasha's hair once more. "Damn morning training..."
"Agent Bennet!! Language!"
"Oh please, if we followed the old ways I wouldn't even be able to count the amount of times someone would have needed to wash out your mouth!" She laughed, but Sasha lay back. In the Red Room, they did just that. But with blood, not soap. Eli stopped laughing, and looked down at her friend, concerned. "Sash? What is it?"
"It's just...when we misbehaved, in the Red Room....they did wash our mouths out. B-but...they did it with blood, the blood of enemies....."

"Oh Sasha....I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up!" She bent down, giving Sasha a tight hug. "I wish we could go on about how much early morning training sucks, but now I have to get to it before-" Natasha walked in, Commander Hill right behind her. "-before those two find me. Hiiii!" Sasha chuckled as Eli turned to face them, a large, fake smile on her face. "I still have 5 minutes, what are you two doing here?"

"Agent Bennet, why don't you take a look at the time."

"Oooookay..." Eli turned, looking at the large wall clock, which read 5:02 am. She turned back with a sheepish look on her face. "I'm sorryyyyy! I was just telling dear ol' Sash here that" She turned to Sasha with a serious look on her face. "That she had better get some rest today so she can get right back in the swing of things-" Sasha snorted. "Swing of things? What are you, 50?"

"Yeah, 50 heads taller than you!" She laughed, but immediately her face showed serious regret. "Please don't kill me-SASHA YOU STAY IN BED!!" Natasha walked to Sasha and whispered something to her. Sasha smirked and laid back, and Natasha gave her a hug before going back to stand with Hill. "Okayyyy now I'm scared!""You should be! Now come on Bennet, you have two minutes to meet me and Commander Hill in the shooting range!" She gave Eli a pointed look before heading out and down the hall with Hill. Eli gave Sasha one more hug before pressing her into the bed. "Now sleep!" She turned around, and was about to close the door when Sasha sat up again. "Eli?""Yeah Sash?"You're the best, you know that?""Well now I do. And you're even better!" She ducked out the door before Sasha could reply, and Sasha gave a small chuckle before pulling the blankets over her and falling asleep.