So I finally started the divorce fic, although I'm feeling horribly insecure about my characterization because I'm not sure how seeing Winter Soldier may or may not change it. (Please don't spoil me; I want Natasha's character stuff to be a surprise, although I do know some of it already.)
But here, have a preview snippet:
Clint misses Natasha’s first anniversary at S.H.I.E.L.D. because he’s on assignment in Las Vegas. She knows because it’s the morning she makes the 365th mark on the page where she’s been counting days since she arrived here, determined never to lose another one to the transience of her memory.
The notebook was a gift--she still can’t even think the word without an echo of mild contempt--from the therapist assigned to her, a place where she is supposed to write down her thoughts and feelings about the lost childhood she refuses to mourn. Instead she records all the bits of information she learns--that Agents Taylor and Martinez are sleeping together, that Agent Coulson collects Captain America memorabilia, Barton has an embarrassing habit of forgetting to pack underwear on missions, and that Director Hill has a soft spot for cafe mochas. All the inconsequential tidbits that might prove valuable someday, might help her ingratiate herself where needed, or might provide a soft spot for her metaphorical blade. She keeps it between her mattress and bedframe, only takes it out when she’s confident that she is alone. Deep down she knows S.H.I.E.L.D. could still take it from her, could crack her simplistic code and use it to compromise her, but so far they haven’t, and maybe that’s the real point of the whole exercise.
In other news, I've been getting asks commenting on/requesting my Steve/Natasha fics, and that feels pretty awesome, if surprising. I'm sure there will be more of that once I've seen the movie too.
