Chapter 11
Your heat lasted another three days. You were never alone throughout the entire time either. Then again, you supposed you’d never wanted to be alone, but a part of you had been sure that Wanda and Nat would get bored of looking after you after a couple hours maximum and ditch you to suffer through the rest of the heat alone, but no. They’d left for short amounts of time, but the other always stayed by your side, whispering words of comfort that the other was coming back soon and that they were just going to the bathroom or getting food or water.
When you woke up on the morning of the fourth day, you felt monumentally better, and hungry. You never really ate much whilst in heat, so when you came out of it, you were always starving. You were still in the nest, Natasha leaning against where the walls met, asleep, with Wanda’s head in her lap. Wanda, in turn, had her body wrapped around yours, and in the near darkness, you struggled to identify which limbs were yours. You tried to move away without disturbing her, but the moment you shifted, her eyes fluttered open. She smiled softly, tilting her head. The movement made Nat stir.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” you apologised, looking down.
“Don’t worry about it love,” Nat said, stretching languidly. Your cheeks coloured at the pet name. “Should we go grab some breakfast?”
You hummed in agreement, and the three of you headed to the kitchen. After making toast and such, you headed into the dining room. As Nat flicked the lights on, you headed over to your usual seat next to Natalia’s. You stilled slight as you saw a pillow laying discarded on the floor between your two chairs. Evidentially Tony had been kneeling there.
“Are you okay, Y/N?” Nat asked, resting a hand on the small of your back. She followed your gaze. “I can move that if you want.”
“No, no. It’s fine,” you said.
Natasha looked at you sceptically, as if she could hear the cogs turning in your brain. Slowly, tentatively, you approached the pillow, and then you deliberately lowered yourself to your knees, kneeling there. You swallowed nervously, looking up at Nat and searching desperately for her approval.
“Are you sure, Y/N?” Nat asked gently. “You don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable.”
You relaxed a little at her concern. Concern was good. Concern meant she cared. Caring meant she didn’t want to hurt you, but you already knew that didn’t you? Still, the reassurance of the fact was welcomed.
“I’m okay,” you replied, tilting your head in silent invitation for her to come closer. She moved towards you cautiously, surveying every miniscule movement you made for any resemblance to discomfort. She sat slowly, meeting Wanda’s gaze. The other alpha had a faint smile on her face. You looked over at her, only just able to meet her gaze from your position on the ground.
You jumped a little when you felt a hand brushing your hair, but before Nat could pull away, you were leaning into the contact. You rested your forehead against her thigh, sighing contentedly. This… this felt strangely right. Strangely safe. Like for once you could lean on someone, rely on someone, and not worry about getting hurt as a result.
Natalia tugged on your hair gently to gain your attention and you look up at her, resting your chin on her leg and looking up at her innocently. She held a bite-sized piece of jam covered toast in her hand, and after a moment’s hesitation, you took it between your teeth. The sweet taste was almost drowned out by Nat’s scent. You smiled up at her, proud of yourself for making her as happy as she was.
No alpha had ever fed you like this. In the Red Room, you’d be forced to kneel on the had floor as the alpha girl sat at tables, sneering down at you. You’d have to sit there motionless as they threw food at you and jeered at you. At first, when you’d first presented, things like that had forced you into stress drops, but with time, you’d learnt to simply tune it out. To disassociate from the real world and escape into one of your imagination. You’d be broken out of your own little world when a metal bowl clanged with stone in front of you. You were then expected to eat the food without your hands like an animal. Once or twice, you’d made the fatal mistake of trying to use your hands when you thought no one was looking. You still had the marks from the lashings that caused.
“Y/N? You still with us?” Natalia asked, combing her fingers through your hair again.
“Yeah,” you murmured, “I just…” you leant your forehead against her leg again, effectively hiding your face from her view. “Sometimes I feel like I’ll never really escape from there, y’know?”
Natalia softened, and her hand trailed down to stroke between your shoulder blades. You shivered at her touch, a pleasant tingle running down your spine. “Yeah… yeah, I know. I remember this omega in my class. At mealtimes they forced her to kneel on the hardwood floor. And that wasn’t even the worst part, though I suppose you know all about that. Is that why you froze up when you saw Tony kneeling for the first time?”
You nodded. “Maybe… I don’t know.”
“Y/N,” you looked over to Wanda as she spoke. “We can take it as slow as you want to, okay? We’re not going to force ourselves onto you. That’s your decision to make. And if you need anything from us to help you get there, just let us know.”
“I… I need to test my boundaries. This is… this is new territory for me,” you explained quietly. “So- so can you just… be there?”
“Always,” Nat promised.
You blinked away tears at her sincerity, nodding. “Okay. Okay.”
“Hey, you two,” Carol yawned as she entered the training room to see Nat and Wanda without Y/N in sight. “Is Y/N feeling better?”
“Yeah, she’s upstairs reading since she didn’t feel up to training,” Nat said as she held a punching bag for Wanda, who continued striking it rhythmically, just about ignoring Carol’s entrance save for a short nod and a small smile. “Keep your wrists straight Detka,” Natasha murmured patiently.
“What’s the deal with her anyway?” Carol asked, leaning against the wall. “She’s not like a normal omega.”
Nat chuckled, “You can say that again.”
“How come?”
Nat looked at her for a moment, as if considering what to say. The redhead figured she’d figure out Y/N was from the Red Room eventually, so she said, “Y/N’s from the Red Room. She wasn’t exactly raised normally.”
Carol’s brows furrowed in a rare moment of seriousness. “Seriously? The Red Room as in Hydra and spy kids and shit.”
“Do you know any other Red Rooms?” Nat asked tersely.
Carol didn’t answer, but changed the topic, not wanting to irritate Natasha further. “So she’s a part of the pack now?”
“No,” Natasha grunted as Wanda surprised her by hitting the bag particularly hard. The witch smirked and Natasha playfully batted her upside the head, causing the witch to scrunch up her nose in silent complaint. “She made it clear she didn’t want Steve or Bucky as her alphas.”
“Hm, that’s fair.”
“You gonna join us?” Wanda piped up as she stepped away from the bag, chest heaving a little.
“Absolutely.”
You were in your room at midday, reading a book Wanda had loaned to you. She and Natasha were training last time you’d checked, and despite their offer for you to join them, you’d opted to stay here, still feeling a little too worn out from your heat to do so much physical exercise. You looked up at the sound of a knock on your door.
“Come in,” you offered, shutting the book as the door opened.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Carol asked, entering the room. The blonde looked around the room the moment she stepped in, finding it – unsurprisingly – barely decorated. Part of her had expected it to be as such, after all, according to the others, you hadn’t been here all that long.
She didn’t bother closing the door as she stepped into your space, immediately going to search the place curiously – picking up an item of clothing off the dresser to see if anything was under it before discarding it in a completely new location; wandering over to the window, opening it and sticking her head out; before finally coming over to you and draping herself over the chair adjacent to yours.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw you raise a brow, and waited for you to say something. She had to admit, she’d been curious about you ever since you’d snapped at her in the park – few omegas had the balls to do so, much less in a public space. She could already tell that Natasha and Wanda were going to find that fire in you a lot to handle, especially with Natasha’s hesitancy for things to be out of control – after all, you didn’t seem like the type that liked to be controlled.
“I’m better,” you admitted. “And you?”
“Same-same,” she replied nonchalantly, plucking the book from your hands to glance at the cover. She scoffed. “To Kill a Mockingbird? Is this what Wanda’s chosen to fill your head with?”
You narrowed your eyes, snatching the book back. “Be careful with that.”
A smirk quirked the corner of Carol’s lips up, only adding to your irritation at the woman. It wasn’t the same irritation that you usually felt towards alphas – it wasn’t like she was taking away your freedom like you were so used to people with her bearing doing – but it was that cockiness that you’d seen bits of earlier coming back into play. You didn’t mind it though. It was a friendly irritation, if that made any sense.
“Aren’t you bored?” the blonde asked. “I mean, it’s almost lunch and J.A.R.V.I.S said you hadn’t come out of here since breakfast.”
“What, are you stalking me now?” you raised an amused eyebrow.
“No, I’m just curious,” she replied frankly. “You’re new here and I know nothing about you.”
“Uh, I’m an omega, I like pumpkin soup but despise the vegetable itself, my favourite colour is purple but unlike others I’ve met, I don’t feel the need to make it my main personality trait,” you listed with a grin. “There, basically my entire personality right there.”
Carol snorted with laughter, and somehow you weren’t surprised. You could add ‘dignified’ to the list of things that she was not.
“You wanna come grab lunch with me? Maybe we can get to know each other.”
You brightened up a little at the idea of getting out for the first time in days. “Yeah, now?”
Carol grinned at your obvious enthusiasm and nodded. “Come on, I know a good place.”
You and Carol were just about to step into the elevator when you heard a familiar voice ask, “Where are you going?”
You turned towards Natasha with a sigh. You’d been hoping to get out of the tower just once like a fully grown, capable, adult. “Out.”
“Out where?” she pushed.
You held back a scowl. “Why do you need to know? I’m a fully functioning adult. I shouldn’t need to tell you where I’m going and when like I’m some tween with overprotective parents.”
“Come on Y/N, don’t make it like that,” Wanda argued, clearly trying to mitigate between the two of you. You knew neither of them wanted an argument, but just the other day, you’d spoken about boundaries, and now it felt like they were encroaching on yours. “It’s for safety, nothing more.”
“And yet you don’t have to tell me where you’re going.” You stopped glaring briefly to glance at Carol, silently asking for some backup, but the blonde raised her hands in mock-surrender as she took a step back, clearly refusing to get involved with what very clearly was none of her business.
“Because like it or not, this world is built for alphas, not omegas. We just don’t want you to get hurt,” Natasha said firmly.
“I can look after myself,” you glared. “Or do you forget how we met?”
Silence. You supposed it was hard to forget when the skin around her burn had only just finished healing a few days ago. You turned and strode into the lift, Carol behind you. You didn’t turn back to the elevator doors until they’d pinged shut and blocked you from Wanda’s and Natasha’s sight.
“You hate that, don’t you?” You turned your head to look at Carol, confusion tinged with left over irritation clear on your features, encouraging her to elaborate. “You hate being micromanaged by them.”
“I’m not helpless,” you growled, beginning to pace the small space.
“I never said you were. I get where you’re coming from.”
You sighed. “It’s irritating. I know they care, and they’re just trying to help but…”
“You value your freedom,” she finished for you.
“Yeah.”
Lunch with Carol was a welcome break from the world. The woman may have the scent and personality traits of an alpha, but she did something that no one else had ever done before – she treated you like a person. Not an omega, a person. You cared for Nat and Wanda, yes, but you knew, just as everyone else in the world did, the first thing they saw when they looked at you was an omega. Someone they needed to protect, to look after. Carol was – unexpectedly – different.
“So, where’d you grow up anyway?” you asked Carol before returning your attention to your milkshake.
Carol tilted her head and chuckled, stirring her own drink with a straw. “That is a long and complicated story.”
“Eh, I’m sure we have time. The only thing I have to do when we get back is sit around and listen to the lecture that Nat and Wanda have undoubtedly prepared for me.”
The woman smirked. “Well, I had a pretty normal childhood, but my time in the air force, that’s when it gets interesting. Long story short, I was abducted by aliens because I was exposed to tesseract energy when the engine of a light-speed jet exploded. That was… noteworthy. I didn’t remember much from Earth – still don’t really, not even my childhood – but the Kree used that and turned me into a weapon for them, basically. After a failed mission, I ended up back on Earth, met Fury and… well, a lot of shit happened, and then here I am, I guess.”
You nodded, “Huh. That actually makes a lot of sense.”
“Oh, and why’s that?”
“You don’t act like an alpha.”
She raised a brow, “Well the Kree didn’t really have that whole thing,” she gestured broadly. “It’s still weird to me – treating people like crap because their DNA is different.”
You shrugged a little, tilting your head, “Imagine being on the other end of it.”
You met her gaze briefly before looking away and forcing a smile onto your face before looking back. “Wow, that took a grim turn. How about we go get ice-creams?” You stood when Carol nodded, taking the money she’d placed on the table up to the counter.
Carol watched you as you retreated. She had a feeling that being an omega affected you much more than you let on. It was unfortunate, she supposed. Back in the argument with Nat and Wanda, she could see you fighting yourself as you tried to figure out how to best react. If the limited knowledge she had on the topic itself was correct, fighting them consistently like that was against your very nature, and yet you chose to do it. Why you did so was a question she felt would be answered in time. Perhaps it had something to do with the Red Room; Natasha had mentioned that you were raised their briefly. She and Nat had talked about the Red Room before of course – being partners in being kidnapped and brainwashed, only to turn against the people who did so and all – but she’d never once mentioned an omega Widow. It couldn’t be that common if she’d never spoken about it, and if it wasn’t common then that would’ve made the training even harder.
There was no question that you’d seen things, done things, and been victim to things that no one should ever have to experience. It was undeniable in the very way you carried yourself, the way you were constantly glancing over your shoulder, keeping an eye on the exits. She hadn’t missed the way you’d sat so you could see both the entry to the kitchen and the entry to the café, meanwhile being able to watch the windows without being too close to them. Even now, as you waited in line at the cashier, she recognised your stance as one that you could easily go into a fight with – your feet shoulder width apart, weight balanced evenly and more on the balls of your feet than the heels. You didn’t even appear stressed, as if this pose had become second nature by now, and that in itself was sad.
“You ready to go?”
Carol snapped out of her daydream and nodded, standing.
“I gotta admit,” you said as you and Carol strolled down the sidewalk, ice-creams in-hand as the sun tried its hardest to melt them. “There is one pro of always having an avenger-alpha by my side in public.”
“What’s that?”
“I haven’t been catcalled once this entire outing.”
“We’ve only been out for an hour, give it time,” Carol joked with a wink.
You laughed. That was another thing you liked about Carol. Where Nat or Wanda would get serious about a statement like the one, you’d just made, Carol made it into a joke. She didn’t treat you like glass. I mean, sure, you were glad that Nat and Wanda were respectful about your situation given that they could never understand, but respectful got so boring after a while.
“So if there are no dynamics on that Kree-planet-place, does anyone just get with anyone?”
Carol shrugged, “Basically. I mean, we don’t have soulmates, so it’s kinda free picking. Well, it’s still looked down upon to say, hook up with your boss, but that’s similar to here.”
“So anyone can catcall anyone?” you continued. Carol nodded, and you tilted your head with a smirk. “Have you ever been catcalled?”
“Oh, constantly,” she said dramatically. You grinned. “In all seriousness though, I was catcalled on my ship once, and threw the guy against a wall so quickly that he went through it.”
“Good to know this planet isn’t the only one with douchebags,” you muttered.
“Yeah, well unfortunately that’s just people. People suck.”
“Amen to that.”