Cold Wake-up Call (Black & Red)

[Super Chick]

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"I think you are being a bit melodramatic," Natasha replied after Ava asked if she wanted her to date Jack. She further insinuated that whatever Nat was doing shouldn't be work-related because they were on vacation. Natasha would have been offended if Ava's perception hadn't been at least part of Nat's motivation. The other part was more practical. "I just want you to have fun on vacation. You know the word even if you aren't terribly familiar with it and having fun with a man does not constitute dating."

Her lighthearted attempt fell flat as Ava's demeanor changed from teasing Nat to more introspective. Her protege then began to spill what was on her mind. She was thinking of those she'd lost and wished they were here. Natasha wasn't immune to such longings. She had loved and lost many along the way. Losing Alexei hurt a lot and that one was more recent history, and that had hurt both of them. Ava had internalized her feelings differently than she had, but just because Natasha didn't see echos of ALexei as if he was still alive didn't mean she didn't miss him and mourn him all just as much. Tash had just learned to do it differently. She was actually glad that Ava had not.

Moving up behind Ava, Natasha slid her arms around her shoulders and looked at Ava in the mirror. SHe didn't say anything for a long moment and just hugged her sestra. The pain she was feeling was very real and the elder Widow would not dismiss it. She was not blind to the electriity building in Ava, but it didn't matter very much if Ava blew the electric on the whole mountain right now. Natsha would not deny Ava this moment. So, with that thought in mind, the only thing Natasha replied was...

"It's OK. Everything's going to be OK."

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Gummy

[Gummy]

She had scoffed at the 'melodramatic' statement. She was a teenager. A teenager, like all others feeling as if the whole world rested on their shoulders only in her case it literally almost was. Ava was glad to have layers between her and Natasha's hand, skin contact, even slight, would have been one more too many. Her head looked up at the mirror and then focused on Natasha. There were times when she just wished to have her life changed to be that of a normal teenager but then she would still be stuck in Russia if that were the case.

No, she was going to make things better but how could she do that when every five minutes she needed to fix herself. The words had dried up at least. There was probably more brewing but that was all she could say. The lump in her throat was far too great now for her to talk. She also wasn't going to cry, at least not that much. That left only one other release and she fought it deeply not to do it. She needed to keep control just this once, needed to make sure she was good. The hug though... that helped. She closed her eyes once again tears did spill as she closed them tighter just desperate to bottle it. Her watch was beeping like mad.

Opening her eyes she looked at Nat in the reflection. She knew the storm was going to explode, her watch was whistling. She had to hold it together but just doing so was giving her a headache. Her fists clenched tighter. Why did she have to be like this? Why hadn't Simmon's figured it out yet? Was there something special that meant she was destined to be in that machine? Where her parents really hers or was she some kinda experiment?

Pain filled her body, it was never a true pain, just as if she had clenched all her muscles for a long period of time. Her hand reached out for the tap as her watched stopped whistling and she tried to pull away from Nat. Just before she did she tried to send Nat an image of what Nat saw as she fell down the slope. Then that was it. The scream from the pit of her stomach as primal as it came, her blue lightning travelling down to the tap and sparking off onto the mirror as she tried desperately not to let go too soon. Her own suit was doing some of the grounding work but the power that came from her was just as strong as it always was. At least Eugine had taught her different grounding techniques.

She hated this, for she knew what was to come next. Her body arched as she involuntarily let go but at least her suit combined with earthing herself early had allowed the worse to happen. Her primal scream ended, as the storm ended with her normal lapse into unconsciousness. Her watch started to beep at a normal volume once more. The release was not just the power but a lot of raw emotions. Sometimes, the pair didn't co-inhabit but that moment it did. At Alexia's funeral was one time but she had been very guarded and had spent time outside just allowing herself time to cool because none there could know that she wasn't just a girl he had met for the end of his life. No wonder Dante blamed her. She blamed herself too.

[Super Chick]

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Natasha had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as she hugged Ava. As much as she wanted to help her adopted sister, the girl usually refused it. In this case, Ava had not refused the embrace, but the alarms sounding from her protege's SHIELD-issued watch proved a hug was very likely not enough to calm Ava's emotions. The girl had wound herself up, though for the life of her Natasha had no idea what had spawned it. Perhaps it was simply that Ava lived in a perpetual state of grieving agony: the grief that she did not understand her origins; the grief that she had powers she could not control; the grief that she grew up in isolation; the grief that she lost a good friend; the grief that she watched Alexei die. Maybe even grief that she was attached to Natasha at all. It was an ever-growing storm cloud over her head that gathered electricity and usually found the worst possible times for release.

Like now in a public restroom at a ski resort.

The scream accompanied a shove from Ava to push Nat clear of her electrical release. The lights flickered on and off erratically, sparks coming from glass bulbs over the sinks as the glass shattered and lights were extinguished. All the while, Ava screamed at the top of her lungs as if she were being slowly disemboweled. Natasha had not heard her scream in such a manner before, though she was quite used to being shocked just from being in her sister's general vicinity. Thankfully, the suit had done much of its job and curtailed the waves of electricity that would have come from Ava and possibly killed Natasha. Instead, most were directed down into the floorboards where they met with the coated wires of the building's electrical system. Some escaped into the room, of course, and Natasha had been thrown back into one of the stall doors. She looked up from where she sat on the floor.

Well, this was going to be awkward.

"Ava," Nat said into the darkness. "Are you OK?"

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Gummy

[Gummy]

As all things considered, it felt better allowing it out more. She hated what she now was fighting off. The deep slumber her power demanded after such an expulsion but she had been working on her stamina and for once it was paying off. As things broke she felt something sharp hit her, it didn't matter. Not at that moment in time. At that moment her body was doing one thing and that she couldn't stop. The fall was not graceful and as the lights went out so Ava had only a brief moment to get her body working but that brief moment was only enough to cause her to catch the corner of the sink and knock her sideways. The sharp pain was felt once more as she landed on more broken glass.

Her throat hurt but her head hurt more as she opened up the wound once more on her forehead. She was barely holding conscious as she lay there. It was Nat's voice that gave her enough strength to keep awake a little longer.

"No.... Cover story. Concussion. I fell into mirror... Pain!... Adrenalin wearing off.... Power shorted as I tried to grab something as I fell onto glass."

She wasn't making much sense but then who would if they had just fallen onto a load of glass. Luckily her suit had stopped most of the bits from penetrating. There was still a few areas which she couldn't tell if it was how she had fallen or the glass. She couldn't really pinpoint where the pain was coming from, she needed to get up. She needed to move. She tried to push herself up, it was working. Then pain shot through her mind as her head pounded.

"Siesta? Are you ok?"

Using the sink she pulled herself up into a sitting position. Sound of the glass moving tinkled in accompaniment. Her mind was working a little more.

"I came in feeling ill. When tending wound, bulb popped. I fell hitting the mirror. You found me trying to get up and pointed out injury. I screamed as more bulbs burst... faulty wires? I need an aspirin!"

Just then the lights came back on and for the first time Nat could see Ava's injured head had opened back up and Ava's face had new cuts and a few bits of glass lightly tucked in. Ava looked like she was barely holding onto consciousness. Despite this she tried to smile at Nat having seen her in the toilet cubical. Most of Ava's wounds were superficial, her head injury also looked worse than it really was. The beep of her watch was only sounding intermittently.

"I'm fine!"

She laughed as she knew it was not entirely true.

[Super Chick]

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Ava sounded as confused and groggy as Natasha expected. The last time she went off the rails with her power (and every other time before), Ava passed out. The few times she didn't, her head was always scrambled and it took her some time to put coherent thoughts together. SO, as Ava began speaking in strange phrases and words that didn't entirely make sense, Natasha chalked it up to a normal consequence of her protege's recurring episodes. This time, thankfully, she was making more sense than usual. That meant, the suit was truly working better than anyone, including the engineers, had foreseen.

When the remaining emergency lights kicked in, Natasha noted the broken glass from the iridescent lights. She saw Ava attempting to gather herself even as she presented options for explaining this away. The Widow's mind went to work. Ava's screams started before the power outage, so it couldn't have been that she screamed because of that. She could have struck the mirror and gained a concussion, but what would have caused her to slip and fall into it? Natasha looked for water on the floor but saw none. She would remedy that quickly.

Pulling herself up off the floor, Natasha at first ignored Ava's inquiry as to her health. She moved quickly to the sink and started it, cupping her hands to spread water around and make a mess with water. She dumped some on the floor near Ava, then turned off the water and wiped her hands on her pants. She then moved to Ava's side and knelt beside her. The story would work if Ava didn't attempt to overexplain in her confused state.

The door opened quickly and someone rushed inside, pausing quickly as they looked at Ava with minor cuts on her from the broken glass. Jack was at the door along with other curious people in the uniforms of the wait staff. Natasha looked up at them wearing a look of concern mingled with panic on her face as if she was as confused as the rest of them.

"What happened?" she asked.

The woman who dressed as if she were in management looked at her and repeated her own question. "What happen here?" she asked in broken English.

Natasha looked around and back to Ava before answering. "My sister, she slipped and hit her head on the sink. That's why she screamed, but," Natasha paused for effect before asking again, "what happened to the lights?"

The manager looked around and saw the water on the floor then looked at Ava. "Must be water," she decided and nodded to herself. "She slip on water. I get doctor." It appeared the lights weren't a big deal in the scheme of things. Maybe they wouldn't put the two things together.

Natasha blinked and nodded. It would hurt nothing to have Ava checked out. She was far from bursting with electricity anymore. "Yes," she agreed. "Please, help her."

The woman nodded and Natasha continued to kneel by Ava. She pretended to be unsure about what to do. When the manager left, Jack came and stood by them. "Is there anything I can do?"

Nat shook her head. "No, but thank you." Nat looked up at the young man. "I'm sure she'll be OK. The fall just scared her and, well, she's never been very good about pain." Nat pretended to give a small laugh and looked at Ava. "Ever since she was little she screams like a banshee when she so much as scrapes her knee."

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Gummy

[Gummy]

Ava looked at Nat now with the lights on. Her eyes were closing for longer but she kept it together as much as possible. She was frowning at Nat but then understood what she was trying to do. Having been down below the sink she was able to do a little work beneath by loosening the connection just enough for a slow drip to start. Just doing that made her exhausted. Between blinks Nat seemed to suddenly appear next to her. She flinched as someone opened the door.

"I'm fine. Just slipped."

It didn't matter that Nat had already said that.

"Sis?"

She stopped speaking having another sleepy spell. People had moved when her eyes opened but she reached out a hand to Nat giving her a warning glance.

"It's only the little things I scream at. Falling down a ski slope is major! I'm ok though. Just shook up."

Looking to Jack she smiled.

"We're tough Smores! Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside."

The exhaustion was starting to ease.

"Only, at the moment I feel like a pincushion."

She rolled her eyes and tried to smile but both stopped as her eyes closed for a time again.

[Super Chick]

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Ava looked extremely tired. Natasha knew it was from her release of electricity but she played it off like her sister was going in and out of consciousness from hitting her head. Ava's comment about falling down on the ski slopes helped sell the concussion effect and the dripping water provided a reason why. Nat only hoped they sold the lie that her scream was from hitting her head. No normal person screamed like that from a simple fall, even one that caused enough injury to induce a concussion. The seasoned spy continued to look anxiously to the door as if anticipating a doctor while worried for her sister. Jack towered over them and Natasha began to entertain the idea that he could yet be someone there to harm them. He moved, though, and backed away to the door and making him less of a threat.

"I'm glad she's talking," he said. "Even if she thinks she's in the snow or something, it's better than being fully unconscious. I've had concussions before. They make everything a little weird for a bit, but she'll be OK."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," Natasha affirmed. She held Ava's hand while they waited on a mountain medic and looked at Jack with a worried grin. "I bet she scared you off from a second date with that scream of her, huh?"

Jack stood up a little straighter. "Oh no! I wasn't..! I didn't..!" he stammered. Then he seemed to get hold of himself and exhaled. "I mean, I wasn't trying to pick her up or anything. She was just ... there, you know? I was just trying to be friendly." He ran a hand through his hair. "I have a girlfriend."

Natasha smiled. "Oh," was all she said. Her eyes moved back to Ava who now appeared to be sleeping. She inhaled deeply and settled to sit beside her. "I suppose that's good."

"Yeah," Jack agreed uncomfortably. He shifted where he stood. "I, uh, I'm going to go back to the table so no one messes with our stuff. It looks like the medic is coming."

Jack retreated from the doorway and a few seconds later the medic entered with the manager in tow. He knelt beside Ava and Natasha moved to accommodate him. He checked her over and told Natasha that since she was unconscious he suggested they go to the hospital. Natasha shook her head in feigned agreement. "I understand," she replied. "If she doesn't wake up soon, I'll drive her. There's no need to call for a ride."

The medic looked as if he was going to protest but Nat held up her hand. "Ava has a history of passing out from a fright, and this scared her enough that she screamed like her hand was cut off. So, I'll wait and see if she wakes up first." The medic nodded and then sat down beside Natasha. Apparently, he was also going to wait and see.

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Gummy

[Gummy]

Ava dozed, it took her a little to start stirring. Her head hurt as she was waking up. She was definitely going to need to sleep it off. Having Nat close to her helped her focus on something to come back. As she came round she chuckled.

"At least I'm not the one trapped in snow!"

Opening her eyes she frowned at the doctor.

"Sis? Can we go back to the lodge now please?"

She pushed herself up a little only to have the doctor try to push her back down. Ava frowned at the doctor who proceeded to look at her eyes with a torch, check her pulse and other basic checks. Ava was trying to keep her cool but she was tired and now all she wanted to do was just go back and curl up with a movie and popcorn. Or maybe something else.... ohhh she had just the movie she wanted to watch as well. One that always made her laugh. Watching it at the YMCA really was good fun as it worked no matter what language you watched it in.

"I'm fine, just a headache. I've had worse!"

That unfortunately was true, especially when doc oc tried to pull her limbs off and throw her through the air. At least the suits did help with those type of falls and stress on the body.

"Besides, there should be a good hot chocolate waiting for me. At least I hope Sis had remembered to order it?"

[Super Chick]

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Natasha looked at Ava carefully as she stirred, assessing if she was cognizant of her situation. She knew Ava was going to be fine because she had seen this before. Her sister would have what felt like a hell of a hangover for the rest of the day and she would probably want to go back to their vacation house, but after the morning Natasha already had she was not planning to argue. Ava's outburst about her not being the one trapped in the snow only proved her point.

The groggy Widow went on to ask if they could go back to the lodge and Natasha assumed she did not mean the one they were already in. So she replied, "Of course, we can but you did order a lot of food off the menu right before you came in here and fainted so I think we should at least pay for it and get it to go."

When the paramedic attempted to restrain Ava from getting up, Natasha took her sister's elbow in her hand and took her side. "She is fine enough to go home and sleep off any concussion she may have caused herself," Natasha affirmed in his native language. "I'll take full responsibility and if she has any unusual pain or any other problems, I'll take her to the hospital myself." The paramedic relented, seeming to believe that Natasha was at least not a tourist who would not know where to find a hospital in the area. As Ava was talking about hot cocoa the paramedic picked up his things and waited to see Ava rise.

"You'll get lots of hot chocolate. Promise, but first, we need to walk to the table. Can you do it on your own? I'll be right here to steady you."

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Gummy

[Gummy]

Ava got up with a little help. She knew that the effects of the fainting hadn't worn off yet and that the headache still present was a sign of more to come but she had to control it.

"I can get to the table."

She also replied in Russian, she held onto Nat's arm desperately trying to keep things together. Focusing on her breathing was definitely helping. After a few steps she let go of Nat's arm, she didn't want to share anything with her Siesta unless she could help it.

"Food to go would be great. I don't think I have had much to eat today. I think food might do some good."

With that Ava finally got to the table. Her head was pounding more but she kept her breathing steady.

"Perhaps we can come back another day? We have time."

Sitting down she smiled.

"See I'm fine now. I just really don't like the sight of blood. Could we have the food to go please?"

Her voice was calm and steady. Her training was really starting to pay off in the art of deception. At least the drink had arrived at the table and she drank it happily as she tried to ignore the glares from other guests.

"I really must thank you for the care you have given me. I'm sorry about the scream."

She blushed looking down at her watch she sent a quick message to Nat.

"5- 10 mins b4 "

At the same time as sending she looked to the door.

"Perhaps some fresh air? I'll meet you by the door? There's a nice seat there I can wait for you on."

Grabbing her bag as the food was being delivered in containers to go she made for the door. She just hoped that her snowmobile had auto pilot or follow included. Once at the door she sat down with a sigh putting on her outfit for the snow. A familiar smell and sound came from next to her and she smiled.

"It is pretty."

She looked over the landscape. The pounding in her head was getting worse to the point of it nearly making her want to curl up in a dark hole. Especially with all the light reflecting off the snow. Hopefully Nat would be there soon with all the food and they could go. Some vacation!

[Super Chick]

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Natasha's vacation with Ava was about to become a "stay-cation" which wasn't all bad despite it not being in her original plans. Plans changed with the circumstances and no one knew that better than a master at espionage. So she rolled with the punch of Ava losing control and knowing her sister would be down with a headache for the rest of today and possibly tomorrow. It wasn't easy to tell at this point.

They arrived at the table again and Nat ensured Ava was comfortable, taking obvious pains to show concern even though she knew Ava didn't really require all of the fuss. The point was to make sure Ava was safe and comfortable, certainly, but more so to keep the facade of two regular vacationing sisters who fell on some unexpected water in the bathroom causing one of them to get hurt. It was a facade Ava jeopardized slightly by speaking Russian in front of the staff but not one anyone seemed to particularly notice. Still, Natasha remained vigilant for threats. Who knew if the avalanche was a purposeful attack or one of happenstance? The Widow was loathed to believe in coincidence at the best of times.

Once at the table, Ava politely asked for the food to go, to which Natasha agreed. Then Ava wanted to go sit by the door. The elder woman's jaw tightened but only at the glimpse she'd caught of Ava's watch. She would have to get Ava up the mountain and out of sight before sliding her onto her own snowmobile and setting the other to automatic pilot.

She got Ava to the door but didn't let her sit down. "Can you walk to your snowmobile? I'll grab the food if it's ready. If not, you'll just have to settle for my hot cocoa at the cabin." Natasha had barely let go of Ava's arm when a tote filled with hot food arrived next to her. In perfect English, the manager of the restaurant handed it to Natasha and told her it was on the house. There were no drinks, but that was perfect.

"Thank you," Natasha replied and hurried to get them both to their rides. Once beside Ava, Natasha spoke to her. "We need to crest the hill before you pass out. Can you make it?"

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Gummy

[Gummy]

The churning and headache was getting worse but she was going to fight it. As Nat propped her against the door she nodded and walked steadily over to the snowmobile. Sitting down on the machine, she fought her vision going blurry. Whispers flitted through her mind. She looked at Nat with a frown. She moved one hand up onto her shoulder as if holding something that was there. Looking back at the crest of the hill she tried to calculate what she needed to do. Breath, slowly was the first.

Starting up the snowmobile she smiled to Nat.

"First to the top?"

Then she made sure she was fastened into the surge breaker on the bike. Placing her helmet on and cliping it in place with a smooth flip the visor was down. Then she was off. One breath at a time, driving without blinking incase her eyes didn't open again. From what Simmons had got on her body recodings at least they had a base line for her. After a few seconds driving she sent the readings to her visor. So if Simmons was right then she had about 6 and a quater minutes. Quick calculating and she had the speed set to get her over the hill and a little way down before black out. That was if all was correct. The storm inside her was awake and not settling.

She blinked for a little too long and had to manuver to avoid a slightly hidden log. Her pulse quickened before she calmed herself once more. At least her training was starting to pay off on that side. Moving round some of the trees she then saw the top. She was moving but to her it was painfully slowly. When it was actually her mind starting to shut down.

More whispers floating, this time louder telling her to stay awake. Encouraging her to keep going. To just breath.

The top of the hill and over she went. Stopping just past it, out of view. Now she could let go. Her hands shook as the power surged out of her once more. This time channeled into the snowmobile. Sweat had already drenched her but she didn't scream. Her outfit worked perfectly. With that last bit of energy she slumped onto the snowmobile, blissful darkness was within grasp. Her vison was recording it all. The last thing she saw made her shiver all over. Then darkness.....


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The rest of her holiday well, the next couple of days were spent gaining consciousness, drinking hot chocolate, and eating food. There were a few good movies on too. The second half was spent enjoying the area around the site, healing from the bruises, and to her surprise laughing. From time to time she still had moments of quietness and looked at her hot chocolate whilst the marshmallows melted. She missed her friends. People her own age... even though she would eventually catch up to the age Nat looked she still missed the youth. Some of the time though she spent bragging about Nat's records she broke or finally getting to grips with Wakandan history and politics. That was definitely a headache but she was there. She spoke of looking forward to some of the tests and dreading others but she knew she would ace them all. She was Ava... A Red Widow.

~ FIN