darker_london | Alexei / Tasha - Visiting

One good thing about travelling was that it taught you to find your way easily around unfamiliar places. So it was without too much trouble that Alexei located Regent's Park Children's Hospital, and the accompanying psychiatric ward. It felt so strange walking up to the desk and asking to see Natasha, explaining that he was an old friend from her homeland of Russia. She would be seventeen now, and had been only fifteen the last time he had seen her. How much would she have changed? From the sound of her shenanigans, not very much. But at the same time, he'd certainly never expected to find her in an institution like this...

A nurse led him down a long corridor lined with open rooms. Some were empty, others housed lone patients, some multiple occupants who appeared to be socialising. A few were wandering around the corridors. But the nurse led Alexei past all these, and through a heavy, locked door to the isolation wing.

Here, all the doors were locked, and there was nobody wandering the corridors save for doctors and guards. Each door had a small window through which the room beyond could be viewed. Alexei shuddered inwardly as he peeked through one of them into an austere room where a patient was strapped to his bed.

"Here we are," the nurse called, and he moved across to join her. "We have to keep Natasha constantly sedated. She won't be the girl you knew. Your visit might be good for her, but it could be very difficult for you. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Alexei knew he did. Looking into the room, he could see Natasha's pale, drawn features, the drip still attached to her arm. The straps holding her down on the bed. He set his jaw and nodded. "I want to see her."

The nurse nodded and opened the door. "I'll come back in a little while. She needs her rest, this one."

Alexei nodded and took up the chair next to Natasha's bed. "Hey Natasha. It's Alexei. Remember me?"

No response. Natasha's eyes just stared off into space.

"Hey," Alexei said a little louder, and clicked his fingers a few times in front of Natasha's face. "Wakey wakey. Rise and shine. Or at least, stir and ugly fluro light."

This time, Natasha did stir at Alexei's persistence, and slowly turned her head to face him. As he watched, her eyes gradually focused on his face. "Nnn... Sasha?"

That brought a slight smile to Alexei's features. She knew he hated it when she called him that. "My name's not fucking Sasha," he replied softly. This was their ritual.

A soft smile touched Natasha's lips as well. "Hey, Aleksander."

"It's not Aleksander, either, Tash," he said, reaching out to stroke her hair.

"Mmmm..." It seemed like she wasn't going to say anything else, and for a moment, Alexei wondered if she'd fallen asleep. He was about to say something when Natasha spoke again. "Name's not Tash," she finished.

"You're still a cunt." He said it quietly, but at the same time, he meant it.

Natasha's face shifted into what probably would have been a frown if she weren't so out of it. "You're an arsehole, Sash."

"Funny how I can be an arsehole and not give a shit," he returned. "What the fuck are you doing, babe?" he asked, pain and disappointment evident in his voice. "I thought you were over this."

Natasha turned her head once more to give him a weak smile. "You thought you could change me? You know I'm... Mmm." She closed her eyes for a long moment, and then opened them again. "Least you'll talk to me."

"What do you mean?" Alexei frowned. "I've always talked to you."

"They don't." Tasha's gaze moved past Alexei, in the direction of the door, but it wasn't focused there.

"Who?" he asked carefully.

"Sitting next to you," Natasha frowned. "Pierre."

Alexei knew the name, but had never met the boy in person. Still, unless his alias was the Invisible Man, he was pretty sure that Pierre wasn't in the room right now. "No one here but us DJs..." Alexei told her slowly.

"Thought you'd understand..." Natasha murmured, and then closed her eyes, turning away from him as much as she could when all she could really move was her neck.

"Oi," Alexei growled, poking her in the stomach. "Don't do that. I'm gonna help you. You're being a right bitch and I'm not gonna watch you waste yourself on that. You hear that?" he demanded, poking her harder.

"Fuck off," she moaned, the most forceful tone she'd taken thus far.

"I could just poke you until you promise to play nice," he suggested, poking her once more for good measure. "Help me help you?" Natasha made a small sound of fear, and Alexei cocked his head in confusion. "Babe? You hear me?"

"Scarlett..." she moaned, and twisted her neck hard, as if trying to escape some terrible vision.

Alexei leaned over and clicked his fingers in front of her face once more, but got absolutely no response out of her. This was worrisome... He got up and pounded on the door until the nurse returned and opened it.

"Help her?" Alexei said with raised eyebrows. The nurse nodded and checked her watch before producing a syringe and injecting something into Tasha's arm.

"Sedative," she explained simply as she capped the syringe again.

Alexei nodded. "Should I go?"

"Unless you want to watch her sleep."

Alexei sighed, leaned down to kiss Natasha's forehead, and followed the nurse out of the room.