I would really like to read all your opinions regarding this revision I made. xD

track suggestion to listen to for this chapter: dreams

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( one. accidents )

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Natasha finally finds herself slowly regaining consciousness. Her eyelids fluttered open, blinking a few times to let her vision clear out. As soon as they did, she had to bite back the gasp threatening to spill out her mouth and almost instinctively raised her fists to punch at what's in front of her.

A little girl was watching her in concern and... curiosity perhaps?

She tried to stand up only to end up groaning when she felt a jolt of pain waved past her head. She staggered back to the ground, only managing to sit up and lean against a wall.

"Are you a princess?" the little girl suddenly asked.

Natasha seemed startled at the question. "What?"

Pure innocence crossed her petite face, she was looking at her in awe. Natasha felt weird sitting there while the girl stared at her and she actually took her time to make out the place where she's currently thrown to. It seemed like she was in an alley, of some sort.

"Are you hiding from the evil witch trying to catch you?" Her attention is suddenly back at the little girl. Her face was now filled with horror instead of the awe it held earlier.

She didn't want to be rude enough to hurt a kid, but she was not in the right mood to deal with this now. "I'm not a princess." Her voice wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either. It was simply giving off a vibe that she didn't want to talk.

Clearly, the girl's not mature enough to read people's emotions very well. She smiled at her, still, "You look like one. Are those the clothes you wear so no one will know you're a princess?"

Natasha looks at her, perplexed for a moment before following her gaze. She suddenly realized why she looked so confused, taking a second to observe the clothes the girl was wearing too. She was wearing a dress that she was sure she had only seen from those vintage dolls they sell in the department stores. Her hair was braided into two sections, and she had a ribbon on top of her head.

Her eyes widened when the thought of time traveling crossed her mind again.

Could it be... is it possible?

Did Tony's time machine actually work?

She glances back at the girl, feeling that she'd be wasting her time explaining some messed up story why she ended up wearing this kind of clothing and just decided to go along with it. ''Something like that."

Fortunately, it only excited her more. "I knew it. My uncle always tells me princesses aren't real but they are!"

It was only then she noticed that the girl looked too nice for someone to be wandering the streets.

"What's your name?" she suddenly asked.

Natasha looked shocked, struggling to think of an appropriate name. If this was indeed the 1940's, then she needed to pick a name that wouldn't sound too out of the blue. One that could be forgotten easily, and one that would fit the 40's vibe of course.

As she thought hard to think of a name, her eyes unconsciously drifted down to her wrist, and she finds herself going mute at the sight of the watch on her wrist.

June 12, 1943.

100%

What was once a holographic form was now a real watch. Her fingers traced out the edges of it, brushing just at the top of the brand name embedded on the bottom. "Anne... Klein."

Strangely enough, the name rolled off her tongue naturally.

"Princess Anne? It's a beautiful name."

She really seems so convinced on the thought she was a runaway princess. And she didn't know if she should be flattered or disgusted by the fact she was far from being one. "Yeah, but remember you can't let anyone else know, okay? It's a secret."

"Okay, my name's Ellie."

"That's a pretty name."

She pouted, "Not as pretty as yours."

She soon finds herself smiling. "Aren't you the flatterer?" But realizing her current situation, the smile fell from her face as she let out a deep sigh.

How was she able to survive out in the 1940's like this? And what was Tony thinking, finding his father and romancing him to get her the sources she needs? It was kind of... absurd. Not to mention, how was she going to do that if she didn't even know how to find him? Hell, she didn't even know where she is.

"What's wrong?" Ellie asked, noticing her troubled look.

"I... I don't know where else to go." The words were already out of her mouth before she could even stop it, and the moment she did, regret quickly consumed her features. But it was too late.

Ellie's face already lit up like a thousand Christmas lights. "You can stay at my house!"

Bad call. Bad call. "No, it's okay. I don't... I don't want to cause trouble. Your mama might be mad—"

"It's okay, she'll understand. Besides, it's lonely when it's just mama and me at home. She'll be happy to know a princess is staying with us."

Natasha winced, not liking how that sounded, "Ellie, I told you I can't tell anyone right?"

"My mama won't tell."

She didn't exactly know if she was supposed to be grateful of the fact that this little girl was offering a solution for the problem she's been having firsthand or be worried at all when she's practically going against the foremost condition of being 'incognito' as possible.

Another feminine voice came from the end of the alley. Natasha could faintly hear it was calling out the girl's name, and her assumption was proven correct when her face broke into a wide grin. "Come on, that's her!" She was suddenly pulling on Natasha's hand, not giving her any chance to refuse because she started dragging her towards the street.

A woman—probably in her mid-twenties—appeared from the corner. Her eyes noticeably landed on the girl holding her hand. "Young lady, I don't know what to do anymore with you always running off and scaring me." 

She had hair similar to that shade of Ellie's. It was curled—vintage style as Natasha would like to call it—and pinned back. She was wearing a blue collar dress hinted with floral patterns.

Yes, it was official, for no woman in her time would care to dress up like this on a normal day.

"I'm sorry, mama. She just needs help."

"Who?"

It was only by then she finally noticed her presence. She looked surprised and apologetic that she hadn't acknowledged her earlier. "Oh, hello." Her gaze lingered on her far too long for her comfort, from the way she tilted her head questioningly at her with eyebrows knitted together in bafflement.

Natasha didn't wither under her stare but she shifted uncomfortably, feeling conscious about the way she looked right now. And she knew it was because of that reason. 

"Uh," Her mind went off with a click that people in this time valued the essence of politeness to a great extent and it sounded so weird saying it, but she did anyway, "Ma'am." 

God, how pathetic she sounded. She always found it ridiculous hearing the words uttered from Steve's mouth, and my, how the tables have turned.

The woman turned to her daughter, scolding her, "Ellie, what did you do?"

"Nothing! I found her behind the store and she doesn't know where to go. She needs help, mama." she replied.

The mother gave her a doubtful look, eyes unsettling and full of suspicion. "Look, sweetie, we can't just take anyone back home. Much less a stranger." She tried to keep her voice as low as possible.

Natasha didn't blame her though, she could understand it perfectly. Honestly, if she was in her shoes, she wouldn't even be bothering to talk this out. Especially at a time like this, at a time of war, apparently.

Ellie pouted, "But mama she's a—"

She stopped her before she could even say it. "It's fine, Ellie." The last thing she wanted was causing another disturbance in a foreign time and place like this. "I'm so sorry for the trouble. I know it's too much to ask and I completely understand. I'm really sorry." She glanced at Ellie more warmly, "Thanks for the help."

She turned around and started walking briskly in the other direction, ignoring the banter between the girl and her mother. She was unwilling to let her go, but Natasha had already caused enough trouble for them by meeting them. She needed to stick to the original plan. 

Lay low, be incognito, find Howard to ask for help, and wait for Tony to come and get her.

It sounded so simple, but she was convinced it was going to be much farther than that.

The cool breeze waved past her arms and she instinctively ran a hand to cover it up, since she was still in the tank top and jeans she was formerly wearing before this incident happened, it wasn't the exact clothing suitable for the temperature outside.

How was she supposed to find Howard Stark in this place? If the man's anything like Tony, then the guy's probably a celebrity around here. He couldn't just see him walking on the normal streets of New York on a daily basis. She didn't even know what part of New York was she in. Everything just looked so different. God, she was so lost. And she felt like hearing things.

Actually, she might be hearing things because she heard someone running to try and catch up to her. 

"Wait!" 

She whipped around and was surprised to see the mother. So she paused in her tracks.  "Wait, alright, fine. We'll help you." Natasha's face turned into a look of surprise and slight relief, but before she could thank her, the woman added, "But... you have to tell me everything that's necessary for me to know. I need to know who am I letting to stay in our house. Understood?"

Natasha contemplated whether this was a good idea, but it would only just be a place to stay right? And she did say that she needed only to know what's necessary for her to know, so that's what she's going to do. At least she has somewhere to stay for the night, temporarily, until she could find Howard Stark. 

"Yes." She answered.

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She was welcomed into their apartment. It was not particularly spacious, but it was cozy enough to be comfortable. It wasn't much different from the apartments they have back in the present, only they have no such thing as electrical appliances and flat screens. What they had were record players, radio, and a shelf full of books.

"I'm sorry it isn't much if that's what you're expecting." The woman said.

Natasha shook her head, her attention turning to the picture frames settling by the shelves. "It's nice. It feels... home."

It earned a smile from her. "Thank you."

Once they settled in, she started asking questions that Natasha already expected her to ask, and it was a good thing she was prepared for it too. 

She told her that she wasn't from around here (which wasn't exactly a lie), and she had lost her job as a caretaker when the foster home she was working for had decided to close down because there wasn't enough funding. Without the job, she lost the money to pay for her apartment and had been trying to look for a job since and that's why she ended up sleeping the night in the alley.

It was a cover-up story, but she felt like giving herself a pat on the back for not sounding half-bad. It sounded fairly convincing enough.

And she felt relief flood in her chest when the woman believed her. She introduced herself as Rebecca or Becca for short. Natasha decided to stick to her previous introduction as 'Anne Klein', reminding herself that it would be her alias for the time being.

Then the conversation was stirred into the direction of her odd choice of clothing. "I've never... seen this kind of clothes before. You're not from around here, aren't you? Because I've never seen a Brooklyn girl wear pants before and uh..." She glanced at her sneakers in the shoe racket, "that kind of shoes."

She still sounded suspicious of her, but then again, she was handling this a lot better than Natasha had expected her to do. 

"Yeah, about that, it's probably the only set of clothes I have, and I don't have any money to buy anything else... I guess I need a job." That was only half the reason though because she figured having a job might increase her chances of finding Stark. "Do you know where I could get one?"

Becca nodded. "I actually work as a nurse at the SSR." This caught her attention, knowing what the SSR actually is and just the best opportunity for her to grab. "And since you already have a background of being a caretaker, maybe, you can apply as one too. Your experience should be enough to be accepted."

Natasha beamed, feeling her heart raced in anticipation and relief at what she just said. She was actually glad about this. "That would be great. I could try applying tomorrow—"

"But Anne needs to go dress shopping tomorrow!" Ellie chimed in, running out from her room and planting herself between them. "We need to change her looks so no one would recognize her as a princess."

Natasha shyly ducked her head in embarrassment. So she did tell her mother after all. She was never going to hear the end of this, would she? 

Fortunately, Becca found it as mildly entertaining as a soft laugh spilled from her mouth. "I think that's a good idea." She approved, looking at her in amusement.

"But..." she protested, sighing, "I can't pay for anything right now unless I have a job."

Becca smiled. "You don't need to worry about that."

Natasha realized what she was trying to say, shock filling her face, "No, Becca. I couldn't possibly... no, this is too much. This would make do for now."

"Nonsense, Ellie's right about people noticing you if you get out there looking like that." She didn't mean for it to sound rude, and Natasha knew that. She did have a point though. With her bright red hair immediately acquiring heads turning in her way, and her clothes... but this was too much to ask. She didn't have any more time to refuse when Becca placed a couple of bills on her palm. "Take it."

She felt warmth filling her heart. Is this how nice people are back in the days? That they just blindly trust a person, in her case, a total stranger by offering a place to stay and giving her money? Goodness, if this was true, now she understands why Steve is just so similar to that. 

"I can't... I can't accept this." she said.

"Take it or else I'm going to be the one dragging you into the first store I see tomorrow." Becca reprimanded.

Natasha smiled, really smiled. "Thank you, Becca. I'll pay you back as soon as I get a job."

"It's fine, Anne." She smiled back.

That night, she was lying alone in the guest room, she couldn't bring herself to sleep. 

So many thoughts were clouding her mind and keeping her awake. She wonders if this was all real. If this were all true, or maybe it was just a hallucination? A dream she hasn't yet to wake up? Because as real as this sounds and looks like, this just couldn't happen to her.

No, she couldn't be stuck in the past.

And especially not in the past where Steve Rogers is.

Recently, she finds the soldier being the center of her mind. But now, ever since this happened, he's been on her mind 24/7. Not even taking a break even for just a damn second. He was all she could think about, and she didn't understand why. 

Maybe it was because of the way he looked so worried seeing her trapped in the machine? The way like he wanted to say something else just before she disappeared.

And now, maybe that's the reason why she couldn't stop thinking about him. She needed to know what those words were. Those unsaid words of his right before the exact moment she'd gone.

It sounds stupid, crazy, and foolish to think that there was a tinge of hope in Natasha's chest when she wonders what those words are. That she hopes it's about her. About them.

God, she was a mess.

Steve Rogers was making her a mess.

And now, being stuck here, in his time, it just made the situation more fucked up.

Time was her enemy. It always has been. It was a four letter word but very well damn enough to complicate her life. And if time remains the same to her, then she knew that time would already be planning ways of turning against her.

Maybe, probably, time would be cruel enough to let her cross paths with the last person she wanted to see right now. And she certainly hoped she was wrong about this.

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Comments?

What do you guys think of Becca and Ellie?