Marvel: I'm a Symbiote

Symbiote 0263: A Suppressed Desire

Thousands of feet in the air, Natasha and Xialing were sitting in the back of the Quinjet as Alex flew away from Wenwu’s base.

“You are a very daring woman, Xialing,” Natasha said with praise in her tone. “Not a lot of people can trust a complete stranger like you did for me.”

“I know it is a risk,” The girl looked up at Natasha with pure unblinking eyes, “But I had to take this risk.” She seemed to want to say more and opened her mouth, but seemingly hesitant, she closed it again.

“You can talk to Natasha in Mandarin, Xialing,” Alex spoke up from the front. “While she may not be able to speak it, she can understand it well enough.”

“Is that why you aren’t speaking much?” Natasha spoke up.

“Yes,” Xialing nodded, seeming much more comfortable with her native language.

“Would you like to eat something?” Natasha asked. “I should have some MREs stashed in the jet.” Unlike Natasha, whose sustenance was taken care of by Alex, Xialing needed real food.

“Yes, please, Miss … what do I call you?” Xialing asked Natasha just as the widow stood up, “Calling you Black Widow every time seems like a mouthful.”

Natasha smiled a little at the girl’s mannerisms already loosening up a little as she was allowed to speak in her native tongue, “Just call me Natasha. Or Nat for short if you want.”

“That’s not appropriate,” The girl shook her head, “You said that you will teach me your skills and expertise. At the very least, I should call you laoshi … no, shifu would be more appropriate.” The girl mumbled to herself.

Natasha couldn’t help but smile and ruffled up the girl’s hair, “You can think about how you want to address me and I’ll get you some food.” Xialing seemed a little startled and quickly fixed her hair while giving Natasha a narrow-eyed look.

The girl curiously looked around as Natasha seemed to go into a hatch that led to the underside of the jet. Coming up to the cockpit, she poked Alex on the shoulder, “Mister …” She called out.

“Apex,” He spoke to her before asking with a little smile, “Do you want to sit in the co-pilot seat?”

Xialing didn’t say anything and quickly shuffled herself into the seat before looking through the window. She didn’t realize it, but as she leaned forward, her hand was about to press a button that would release the air pressure inside the cabin. Alex quickly grabbed her hand, “Careful, Xialing.”

“Sorry …” The girl was polite and quickly understood her mistake. “Can I play some music?” She then asked Alex. She would’ve done it herself, but she couldn’t make out any sort of media system in the jet’s console.

“The media system is back there,” Alex gestured behind his seat as a screen behind his seat turned on, “You can play anything from the library.”

“Cool …” The girl quickly shuffled away from the copilot seat and started fiddling with the media console.

“Okay, we don’t have a lot of food stored in the jet, but I found some candy and an MRE that should last you until we reach —“ Just as Natasha climbed up the hatch, loud music started playing that reverberated through the entire cabin. Natasha wasn’t familiar with the song, but it sounded like Chinese Punk Rock. She sighed and walked up to the console, quickly lowering the volume.

“You have to be considerate of other people as well, Xialing,” Natasha said as the girl quickly looked at her with a hurt expression. “Come, we will eat first, then you can play as much music as you want.” Xialing seemed like she was about to throw a tantrum, but she took a deep breath and controlled herself.

“Okay, shifu,” The girl said, making Natasha raise a brow. The self-restraint of this twelve-year-old girl impressed her.

Xialing quietly sat beside Natasha, curiously looking at the woman preparing the meal and heating it. Soon enough, the tray was filled with warm food and placed in front of Xialing.

“Aren’t you eating, shifu?” She asked.

“My circumstances are a bit special,” Natasha spoke, briefly glancing at Alex, “I’ll tell you about it some other time.”

“I see,” Xialing quickly dug in and ate certain things while methodically picking out certain other things.

“You should eat everything when it comes to meals, Xialing,” Natasha gently pushed the girl’s long hair back and gathered it behind her ears before gently parting it.

As Natasha gently braided the girl’s hair, she could see her stabbing her fork into a piece of beet. Xialing reluctantly put it into her mouth and instantly felt like gagging. The girl weathered through and ate the piece despite the nauseating feeling that threatened to overwhelm her.

“All right, stop,” Natasha stopped her before she could repeat the process with another piece, “The texture doesn’t suit you, and if you force yourself to eat it, you will vomit everything out.”

“It’s fine, I can eat it,” The girl seemed stubborn. Natasha gently took the fork away from her hand and calmed her down.

“I understand that I’m a stranger to you and you want to impress me,” She looked into Xialing’s eyes as the girl seemed to be on the verge of tears, “But you are just twelve years old. I don’t expect you to be the epitome of discipline. That’s not even saying that your current age is very volatile. Your hormones are slowly peaking and you are prone to mood swings.”

Natasha wasn’t sure if the girl understood her words completely but she knew how she wanted to deal with her, “Come here,” She pulled the girl into her lap and held her in a comforting embrace. It didn’t take long for the girl to end up asleep in Natasha’s arms. Having been deprived of any warmth for the past few years since her mother died, Xialing clung to the slight source of comfort that she received.

Soon enough, Alex left the plane on autopilot and came up to Natasha to sit beside her, “You planning to adopt her?”

“Don’t joke about this, Alex,” Natasha’s sharp tone left Alex unable to refute as he shook his head and sighed. He sat on the seat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“I don’t have any problem with you raising Xialing with all the love and care that she needs, Nat,” Alex spoke after a while as Natasha naturally leaned on him. “But you don’t have the kind of time necessary to raise her while also dealing with the shitload of other things that are needed to be dealt with.”

“I’ll make do, Alex,” Natasha said the conviction in her tone clear. “This child clearly needs some nurturing. She needs someone who would guide her in life.”

Alex sighed, understanding Natasha’s mindset. He was, after all, intimately aware of her desire to have a child. It was a desire that she’d suppressed to an endless extent, but seeing Xialing’s current state, she couldn’t help but melt. “I’m glad I didn’t keep you with Yelena and the Widows to manage the Sanctuary.”

“Why?” Natasha asked.

“Because you would end up adopting all of the helpless children in that settlement that we’ve established ourselves in,” Alex shook his head.

“I’m not that weak-willed, Alex,” Natasha felt a little affronted, “Xialing is different from some typical child.”

“I know,” Alex sighed, “But you clearly can’t raise her while running all over the planet. Not to mention, with how dangerous everything is, there’s no telling how long it is before some kind of catastrophe befalls this planet.”

“What is it that you want to say, Alex?” Natasha asked with a small frown on her face. “You’re beating around the bush.”

“I know that you don’t wish to meet my other hosts, but the best course of action would be to move to Gaia,” Alex said. “You can raise Xialing in a safe environment without running around all the time. With the time dilation factor that Gaia sports, a decade will pass on those two planets before the end of the week. Once Xialing grows up enough, you guys can come back to Earth. Either she can join the Widows, or she can take over her father’s empire.”

Natasha looked down at the peaceful expression on the girl’s face before sighing, “I need a few days to think about it,” She said.

“Take all the time you want, honey,” Alex said endearingly before kissing her hair. “I was just laying out the facts in front of you. If you don’t agree with my idea, then I will fully support you in raising her on this planet. I will use both keys to pinpoint the location of the entrance and the time that it is going to open.”

“Where are we going currently?” Natasha asked.

“Shanghai. We can refuel the jet and wait until the entrance opens. In the meantime, You and Xialing can hang out in the city for a few hours. Get to know her, try to let her be comfortable enough to open up with you.”

Natasha nodded without saying anything and made herself comfortable, nestling against Alex as he tightened his arm around her shoulder, “Thank you,” She said in a small voice and closed her eyes while holding Xialing securely in her arms.

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