Sea of Words

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America, The Avengers
Characters/Pairings: Natasha Romanov/Maria Hill, James 'Bucky' Barnes/Steve Rogers, James 'Bucky' Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, Nick Fury, Phil Coulsen, various MCU characters
Rating: Mature
Length: 04:21:03 (41,322 words)
Content Notes: Graphic depictions of violence, abuse of children by the Red Room, recollection of past pet death
Creator Links: Quietnight on the Audiofic Archive, Quietnight on AO3, notcaycepollard on AO3
Themes: Female relationships, Action/adventure, Families of choice, Time travel, Fix-it

Summary: The fall is longer than Natasha expects.

It’s tears cold on her face, teeth bitten all the way through her lip and the taste of copper in her mouth; she’s falling and falling and then, bracing for impact—she wakes up.

Reccer's Notes: This is one of my favourite podfics by one of my favourite podficcers, and it's a tour de force. It's a long story by notcaycepollard that puts right Natasha's death with the soul stone - instead of dying she's sent back in time to the moment in her Red Room training she most regrets, and from that moment lives her life anew and, with her knowledge of the first time around, is able to fix the worst, most tragic disasters and losses of canon. It starts with Natasha rescuing her sister trainee black widows from the Red Room, plus Bucky the Winter Soldier who's there as well. There's a lovely, slow-burn relationship with Maria Hill in the story, but the key relationships for Natasha are with her sisters, aged from a four-year-old to teenagers when they escape, and the podfic's centre is the found family they create. The fix-it aspects are enormously satisfying and Quietnight's reading is, as ever, nuanced and fluent, beautifully performed - including all the Russian names and words, and a pleasure to listen to. An epic story and a wonderful podfic, stirring and heartwarming, and infinitely better than canon.

Fanwork Links: when i die i’ll sacrifice (more than enough for the afterlife) on the Audiofic Archive, and on AO3
(the fic is the first in a series of three stories)