Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

            He wasn’t sure how long they’d been there. They hadn’t been to see the sun in what felt like months, years at the longest. There wasn’t any object or device that conveyed what time, let alone what day it was. He looked around the room at the other figures in the cells around him. The design of said cells were basic: the 3 walls were a cold, steely gray with the front panel consisting of bullet proof glass, guarded by thick metal bars.

            Each cell contained a metal cot sticking out the wall with a barely soft mattress and pillow. They all had a metal stool in the corner, for reasons still unknown. The room that the cells themselves were in were in the shape of a hexagon, allowing those who were in the cell to see each other. Clint was the only one awake, with Sam slightly snoring to his left and Scott snoring even louder to his right. His body still ached from the beating he received a few hours earlier.

            “ So are you gonna talk or do we need to go another round?” 
Clint grunted in pain as a fist and then a foot hit him in the ribs. He could feel them crack under the pressure, but he wasn’t gonna give the guards the satisfaction of knowing that.

“I told you... I don’t know where they are. I haven’t seen them since before I’ve been here!” Clint yelled out against his restraints.

“Well then, allow us to jog your memory”, he smirked as he landed a punch to Clint’s face. He coughed out blood as he looked at the guard with a glare that could kill.

The assault lasted for 10 minutes, with Clint unable to evade any of the attack. Clint was handcuffed and led (dragged) back to his cell where the guard roughly released him from the cuffs, allowing him to hit the ground. By the time Clint was able to look back, the guard was already slamming the door shut after him.

            He continued to peer out his cell into Wanda’s, where the girl was currently not; she had been gone since he had come back. Her cell was at the “front end” of the floor, positioned where Sam, Clint, and Scott could see her without strain. “Hey, she still not back yet?”, he heard from his right. 
“I’m not sleeping until she comes back.” 
“But who knows when that’ll be. you should at least close your eyes for a bit,” he whispered with concern.

            “No. Not until she comes back.”
“Fine. Let’s play a game while we wait,” he said as he sat cross cross on the cold floor. Clint didn’t respond but he did gingerly sit on the ground waiting for Scott’s game suggestion. 

“How about animal, vegetable, mineral?”
“What the hell is that?”
“It’s like 20 questions but better. I think of something and the first question you ask is “is it an animal, vegetable, or mineral?” And we take it from there.”
“Yeah, I’ll try it. Ain’t got nothing better to do anyway.”

           After god knows how long, Wanda was dragged back and dropped unceremoniously in her cell. The guards carrying her kicked her abdomen one more time for good measure and snarled at the men shouting at him. 
“Hey! What are you doing? Can’t you see she’s unconscious?”
“Leave the kid alone, she’s had enough!”
The one guard that was known for his brutality, gave the young witch one final kick to her ribs as he bitterly left the criminals to their own devices, not like they had any.

            “Hey kid! Wake up!” 
“Wanda, come on. Get up!”
The young redhead didn’t so much as stir as Scott and Clint yelled with all their might. Clint made sure to stay awake and keep his eyes on Wanda as he was afraid that if he closed his eyes, she’d be gone again.

Chapter Text

           The overly bright lights were the first thing Wanda registered as she slowly came into consciousness. Clint’s striking light blue eyes and Scott’s normally brilliant green eyes were watching her like she was a sideshow attraction; even though they wanted to, they couldn’t take their eyes off her. She let out a soft groan as a small shock, about 15 volts, was sent through her collar, a warning to stay still.
            She let out a deep exhale, afraid that any other sound would cause them to send a bigger shock to her body. The only upside in this scenario was that, from her current position on the floor, she was able to see all 3 of her friends, allowing herself to relax, just a bit. She softly closed her eyes before forcing them open again.
            “Hey kid, you’re up.”
            “Heyyy just in time too. Clint was just about to tell us about his time in the circus”, Scott stated as he smiled like a kid in a candy store. 
            “I think you’re gonna like it,” Sam chimed in.   

            “And so that’s how I kissed a bear surrounded by the ring of fire as the acrobats flew above head.”
            “And why’d you do that again?” Sam asked with a bemused smirk across his face as Scott laughed from his cell. 
            “Hey I was undercover, what was I supposed to do? Tell ‘em no? That would’ve blown my whole cover. Besides it wasn’t all that ba-“

            Clint was cut off by the sound of Wanda’s broken scream as a shock was sent to her collar, forcing her to writhe in pain on the metal floor of her cell. What followed next was a quick series of events- Thaddeus Ross strolled through with guards flanking behind. Cell doors were opened with Sam and Scott being handcuffed and dragged out by some guards as Wanda drew in deep, uneven breaths. “You guys deal with them. This one is mine,” he said as an evil smirk graced his lips.

            “What are you doing?! Let me go!” Scott yelled out as they slapped on the cuffs.               
             “Let me go! You’re gonna regret this!” Sam fought back. They yelled as they were hauled off into the dark corridor, leaving Clint’s view.
            Thaddeus held out a black remote, that fit perfectly in his palm, and pressed the red button in the center. Almost immediately, a ragged scream escaped Wanda’s lips as her body shook again and tears spilled down her face. The metal bars across her cell opened and quickly closed as Ross stepped in. 

            “It seems we haven’t had the chance to properly meet. I’m Thaddeus Ross, Secretary of State, The General.” He visibly sized her up before continuing to speak. “You stand when a man is speaking to you, witch,” he spat out as if the word itself burnt his tongue.
            Wanda looked up with her big, green eyes, still attempting to catch her breath; her body still reeling from the aftershocks of the collar. 
            “I said stand when I’m speaking to you,” he emphasized by roughly yanking Wanda up by her hair so as to look him in the eyes. Unable to fight back with her arms restrained in her straitjacket, all she could do was look him in his dead, blue eyes. ”Mm, now you may not know who I am but trust me, I know who you are.”

            “Hey let her go!” Clint yelled as he slammed his fists against the glass of his cell.

            “You’re the one who’s caused millions of damage to multiple cities, stolen countless innocent lives, just destroying everything as you go. Out there you may have been an “Avenger”, but in here, you’re a prisoner; a monster,” Ross continued coldly.

            He slammed the back of Wanda’s head into the wall behind her. “You’re reign of terror is over cause you’re my prisoner now.” Disgusted, Ross threw a couple of punches to the teen’s body, hitting chest, ribs (which caused her to gasp out in pain), the stomach, and finally her right cheek. A powerful knee to the stomach forced all the wind out her body and made her double over in pain.

            Before he left, he forcefully grabbed her jaw, “you deserve this. Any thoughts of power you think you have... are mine now. remember that,” he sneered as he tossed Wanda aside and landed a swift kick to her back followed by another to her battered ribs. He straightened his suit before turning his head to the right where Barton was still yelling,

“She’s just a kid. I’m gonna kill you when I get the chance!”

            “Oops,” he said as he slightly turned up the voltage and pressed the red button, for the third time since entering the floor. A soft, high pitched squeal exited the red-headed teen’s mouth as her beaten body convulsed on the floor yet again, for a third time. At this point, she could no longer contain her tears and just let them flow free.

            “You son of a bitch,” Clint muttered as Ross held the remote out again, warning Clint to watch himself or else. “Don’t worry Barton, soon you’ll all see what happens to those that go against the power of the Federal Government.”

            Sam and Scott were dragged off to different rooms and handcuffed to a chair sitting in the center.

            “Where is Captain Rogers?!” yelled one of the guards they aptly nicknamed Trainwreck; which is how he left your body feeling after a “session.” 
“I don’t know. How could I be in contact with him if I’ve been stuck in here?!” Sam soon felt a fist collide with his stomach.
           “Have you had any contact with Mrs. Romanoff?!”  
“Again, how could’ve been if I’ve been here?”

   Deciding he didn’t like any of Sam’s answers, Trainwreck grabbed a metal bar from the table behind him.
“I’m gonna ask you more more time, where are they?”

            “I’m telling you, I. Don’t . Kno-“ Sam was cut off as the metal bar made contact with his stomach. Over and over as the bar swang, he tried to stay quiet, not give them the satisfaction of hearing him cry out but eventually, they won out. Eventually, he groaned out in pain as a few tears slid down his cheek and the bar made contact with his legs.

            “Maybe next time, you’ll answer correctly. Take him out of here men.”

            Sam groaned out in pain as he was all but carried back to his cell, blue and green eyes peering over at him. He tried to let out a reassuring smile, but found that far too tiring. 

            Scott was forced into a chair, same as Sam was in the other room. His arms and legs were strapped down, along with his head.

            “Tell me where we can we find Captain America?” asked one of the guards, a female.
            “Oh I don’t know, I had just met them. I don’t know where they would be,” he claimed as he looked up with green eyes. The female guard sighed as she grabbed a long, metal rod from one of her men.
            “I was hoping you’d say that,” she said as she twisted the end of the rod and put it to Scott’s arm.

            His eyes widened as the realization of what was happening hit him- he was being electrocuted, well hopefully just shocked. He gritted his teeth as a scream tried to slip from inside him. After about 3 seconds, the rod was removed.

            “You’re protecting people that barely even know you exist. Look around, you’re the last person they’re coming for.” The rod was placed on his arm again, and then removed after another 3 seconds. 
            “I promise I’m not protecting anyone. They were gone before I-I got a chance to pro-properly meet everyo-one.”
           “Why would they work with someone they barely know?” 
“I was the on-only one available on sho-short notice”, he tried to joke, which only served to actively piss her off.

            She set the voltage higher before repeating her previous actions. “Aw too bad, that’ll prove to be your downfall,” as an evil smile overtook her features. She repeatedly continued to shock Scott, upping the voltage and keeping it longer on his skin until he eventually passed out from the pain.

            “I think that’s good enough for now. Take this piece of shit away from me, I’m done with him.” The other guards complied as they released Scott from his binds and hoisted him back to his cell. He limp body was abruptly dropped to the floor as soon as the guards crossed the threshold of his cell. They left without saying a word, but not before glaring at each “criminal.”

            “They’ll find us. And when they do, ohh boy there’s gonna be hell to pay,” Sam declared as he tenderly placed a hand on his broken ribs.

Chapter Text

                           Quiet.

            The only sounds heard were the sounds of Wanda’s shallow breathing and the slight shuffling of one of the males in the cells. They were far too tired and focused on recent events to do anything else but look at Wanda or their ceilings. Scott still hadn’t gained consciousness, slightly worrying Clint and Sam.

            Before they knew it, the sounds of the door and guards marching were heard at the forefront. 10 guards, including Mamba, the female guard, stormed in with 4 of them carrying trays of food. 2 guards were assigned per cell with Mamba overseeing everything, large magazine in hand. Sam and Clint were given a ham and cheese sandwich, an orange, and a glass of water.

            Scott was given the same basic meal but had to be forced awake, violence was usually the method of choice by the guards. He was stomped and kicked in various parts of the body, until one stomp to the head; and subsequently his eye, had him shooting up and letting out soft whines.

            The two guards tossed his food on the ground as he sat up and held his left hand to his left eye and groaned in pain. “Eat up! Who knows when you’ll get the opportunity again!” he sneered as he turned his back on Scott. Eating slowly, he used the coolness from his glass to bring some relief to his eye as he kept his head down.

            Wanda’s shallow breaths were interrupted as she heard the crackling of the collar come to life and felt the bright, sharp pain of electricity surge through her body. Her scream was cut short as a boot collided with her chest, effectively silencing her. One guard forced her into a sitting position by holding her upper body by the straps of her jacket. The guard holding the tray knelt before her, allowing her to see the contents of her tray of food: a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of water.

            “Open wide bitch. This might be the only thing you get for a while.”

            When Wanda didn’t open her mouth fast enough, the guard behind her grabbed hold of her jaw and forced her mouth open for her. Wanda began to slightly panic; she didn’t want any of this; she didn’t like feeling trapped like an animal in a cage. Guard one, the Gorilla they named him, smirked as he quickly shoved as much food into her mouth as possible.

            Guard 2, Eagle, let her swallow the oatmeal before grabbing her jaw to continue with the feeding process. More food, than what she could hold, was shoved into her mouth again before her jaw was released one more time. As she attempted to swallow, her jaw was wrenched open and more food was shoveled in. Gorilla grabbed a fistful of her hair to tilt her head back and poured water into her mouth, adding moisture to the gray mixture in her mouth. With her mouth already at its full capacity, the water began to dribble down the sides of her mouth as she tried to get the contents to her stomach.

           “Damn, If you look that good with water running down your face, imagine how hot you’ll look with something else dripping down the side of your mouth,” whispered the Gorilla in her ear as he brought a finger to wipe the dripping liquid from Wanda’s lips.

            At that remark, Wanda couldn’t swallow her food fast enough and choked; resulting in the guards taking the remaining food away. Panic and fear were evident in Wanda’s large eyes as she shook her head; at both the statement and at her food being revoked.

           “Don’t worry. We’ll put that pretty mouth of yours to good use, just wait and see,” chuckled Gorilla.

            “Yeah, I’m pretty sure those hands are good for producing other kinds of magic too, huh?” jeered Eagle at the red-headed teen as he caressed her cheek. Wanda jerked her face from his hand, resulting her getting a backhand to her right cheek. The slight humor that was in the Eagle’s eyes before were completely replaced with anger and disgust.

            He quickly grabbed ahold of her jaw, just as he did when feeding her, and squeezed it as he looked her in her fear laden eyes. “you try anything like that again... anything... and we’ll make sure the next time you see us, you’ll wish you took the bullets to the body instead of your brother. you got that?” he growled as Wanda’s breathing increased.

            “you’re our bitch to play with until either the boss says stop or until you’re no longer breathing, which we can make happen right now,” he emphasized by cocking his gun and squeezing her jaw tighter. “Don’t play with me witch, you’ll lose every time.” He strengthened his grip on her jaw and peered into her eyes until he could see the small puddle of tears flooding into her large, green ones and whimpered in pain.

            Sam and Clint tried to yell for the guards to back off but their attempts were futile. Clint was jabbed in the back with he blunt end of one of his guards guns while Sam took a metal bar to the side. They would’ve tried again but Mamba held up the black remote that controlled Wanda’s collar, quickly shutting down any ideas of them fighting back. She was already being abused because the guards felt like it, they didn’t want more of a hand in tormenting her if they could help it.

            When Eagle wouldn’t release her, tears streamed down her face. Scott was sure that they were going to break her jaw to teach her a lesson about “disrespecting” them. He wanted to yell at he guards like his prison mates but found he was far too weak; his muscles would spasm as a result from the electrocution, leaving him feeling exhausted.

            Eventually though, Wanda was tossed aside and scrambled as far away as she could from the two guards and drew her legs into herself. Her breathing was sporadic and out of control as she let her emotions of fear, pain, and panic overload her senses. “We’ll be back for you,” they stated as they finally left her cell with a loud slam.

            “And don’t you worry boys,” Mamba started as she walked to stand in front of all 3 cells, “my men will take real good care of her,” she smirked as they filed out the room.

            “I’m sorry Wanda,” whispered Sam as he looked at the frightened child, huddled tightly in the corner of her cell.

            “Those...jackasses,” was all Clint could say as he shook his head and looked down.

            “It’s okay Wanda, we’re here with you” Scott said jerkily as he softly smiled at her. “We have to hold on together.”

            Wanda softly smiled at that, as she understood that at least they were going through the same thing as her, how ever unfortunate it may be. It was her fault she was here but she knew she didn’t deserve this.

Chapter Text

       “You...up!” Said Trainwreck as he kicked Clint in the side, causing him to groggily rise. “Get moving! Let’s go!” Clint, Scott, and Sam were handcuffed together in a line as they tiredly pressed forward. Wanda trailed behind, being dragged by her upper arm of her jacket by Mamba and Eagle.

            “Pick up the pace!”
“Alright, Alright. We’re moving... we’re moving. See?” Clint quipped sarcastically as he lifted up his feet, to show that he was actually walking.  
“wait... where are you taking her?” Scott quietly asked to no in in particular as he tried to orient himself, the dark hallways being a severe contrast to the overly bright cell lights.

            Wanda shook slightly as she saw that the guys were being led in a separate direction, right instead of left. Her head swung from side to side as her thoughts began to run rampant. She didn’t want to be left alone with Mamba or Eagle, not again. The fear that he would try to rape her while his commanding officer encouraged him was enough to make her sick.

            She wanted to fight back, but her head felt slightly cloudy; most likely from the shocks (she thought) and sleep deprivation, causing her body to lack any usable energy. Her whole body tensed as she felt a rough hand slide down her spine to carelessly grope her ass. Wanda stood in place for a second before she was forcefully shoved forward; a message to keep moving.

            Eventually, they reach their destination; a door at the end of the long corridor. Mamba reaches the handle first, where Wanda was quickly yet brutally shoved against a metal wall, once opened, with Mamba and Eagle towering over her.

           “Now, let’s play a game, shall we? We’re gonna ask you a few questions, You answer correctly or in a manner we like, then we’ll ease up on your punishment.” Wanda showed no visible, outward emotions as she looked up at her captors. 
“However... answer them wrong or failure to answer will result in an added punishment of our choice,” finished Mamba as Eagle nodded. Wanda failed to see Eagle remove his belt from his pants as Mamba asked the first question.

            Wanda didn’t really want to “play”, but the fact of the matter was, she didn’t really have a choice. 
“We’ll start off easy. What is your name?”Wanda stared at the gun in Mamba’s hand as she struggled to speak.
            “Oh. Don’t worry about the collar, you can speak. We’ve turned off the automated function so we could play this delightful game with you. But don’t be fooled,” spoke Mamba in a menacing tone as she held up the little black remote, the source of most of her pain.

            “We still have control here. So once again, what is your name?”
“Wa-Wanda-da Max-maximo-off,” she stuttered, accent heavy and voice hoarse from disuse. 
“See? Simple enough, right? Now next question: what’s your brother’s name? 
“Pi-Pietro Maxim-moff,” she stated as a few tears ran down her slightly hollow cheeks. 
“Growing up, did you and your brother ever steal anything?”
“ye-yes, we ha-had to ea-“

            “Is it also true that before the fight with Ultron, you and your brother hand plans to kill the Avengers?” 
“We no-not the Aven-avengers, just To-“ 
“And is it true that before the battle even begun, you switched from Ultron’s side to join the Avengers?” 
“ye-“       
“So you switched teams to join the man that killed your parents only to switch sides again after the Sokovia Accords were implemented?” Mamba emphasized with a raised brow.

              “Yes but that wa-was-“  
“Would you say that not only are you a monster and a thief, but you’re also disloyal to those that protected and cared about you?”“no.” 
“So disloyal even that Captain Rogers and The Black Widow themselves didn’t trust you enough to provide information about their future whereabouts... especially after playing in their heads?
“n-no, no, they-that’s not-they woul...”

            That was the question that broke Wanda’s determination as a sob rang from her mouth. There was always a part of her that still felt some of the other members of the team still resented for the events that happened with Ultron. She had flipped sides once before and flipped sides again to join Steve, and look at where that landed her.

            “Well,” Mamba said as she kneeled before Wanda, “you answered all the questions except the last one. Which just so happened to be the most important one, at least to us.” She stated, gesturing to her and the facility. “Thank you for playing with us, now lemme tell you what you won.”

            “An all expense-paid trip with... Jackson!” She said, voice exuding false cheer. Wanda’s head snapped to her left to see The Eagle or Jackson as she had found out, smirking down at her with a look of lust in his eyes.

            Wanda’s panic increased ten fold as she saw Eagle reach out for her. She was roughly yanked and tossed across the room where there was a metal cot, like the ones in the boys cells. She cried out as she fell onto her knees, restrained arms unable to catch her. Eagle walked to stand in front of the red headed teen to run his fingers through her hair.

            The teen slightly flinched as her head was angled back to look into the eyes of her perpetrator. Wanda tried to scoot away from the burly man but was stopped when she felt the hot, white pain of electricity course through her body.

            “Look at what you made me do. I told you I’d take care of you so just relax and open that beautiful mouth of yours, okay?” 
Not wanting to look him in his eyes as he stripped his pants, Wanda shook her head and held it down as more tears threatened to spill down her face. However, that respite was short lived as Wanda’s head was jerked upwards by none other than Mamba herself.

            “We had a deal, did we not? You lost the game so take your punishment,” she growled out as she tightened her grip on the teen’s scalp. Eagle had slipped out his black, work issued pants and was now only clad in boxers from the waist down.

            “You’ve done this before right? Surely you’ve had to whore yourself out while on the streets with that dirtbag brother of yours to make a living, hm?” He sneered. 
“le-leave Pi-Pietro al-alone,” she rasped out before being brutally backhanded by Mamba.“Shut it whore and open wide,” she snarled out as she forced Wanda’s jaw open for her.

            Eagle continued to smirk as he pulled down his boxers, releasing his penis from its cloth cage. The panic and fear bubbling inside Wanda burst out like water from behind a dam. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to wiggle out of Mamba’s grip and failed.
“Don’t worry, I’m gonna guide you along. It’s gonna be a little hard without hands but you’ll be great,” he smiled at her. The smile alone almost made her vomit up her oatmeal.

             “Now just put it in your mouth and suck.” Wanda held her breath as she felt a knee collide into her back as the presence of a penis was shoved into her mouth. Wanda wasn’t a stranger to the basic male anatomy: she knew the two major functions of a penis were to reproduce and to pee. Unfortunately, this...this was something she didn’t completely understand.

            On the streets of Sokovia, she was ogled at a lot as there were no adults to protect the twins; many strange men would attempt to touch her whenever Pietro would run to the market to steal food for them to eat. Wanda tried her best to either fight back or just run somewhere safe to wait for Pietro to come back.

            However, Pietro was quicker than that; taking on any man  who tried to assault his younger sister while he wasn’t looking. He would pull her away to somewhere a bit safer and make sure she was okay; hugging and kissing her head as she whispered her affirmations. They would spend an exorbitant amount of time locked in each others warm embrace before-

           A deep groan pulled Wanda from her ruminating thoughts. Her eyes shot opened as she remembered where she currently was; being taken advantage of by a government official while trapped in an underwater prison. She tried to frantically pull away from the intrusion in her mouth and was met with a swift tug of her scalp. She began to whimper softly but stopped as she saw that Eagle was getting more aroused by her pain. Also, the raised hand of Mamba, caught in her peripheral vision, was another reason for her to keep quiet.

            “Good, good. Now use some tongue and bob your head. If you bit me, we’ll see how well you take a baton up that young cunt of yours, you got it?!” He barked in her face. Wanda nodded with her large, green eyes looking up but complied as she allowed her head to bob back and forth and added tongue to her ministrations. If she did everything he asked and did it correctly ; then she could get this over with and maybe go back to her cell, where she’d be alone.

             “Sh-sh-shit,” Eagle stuttered as Wanda softened her suction on the guard’s penis. Mamba laughed behind Wanda as she saw her subordinates expression as the teen continued her actions. “Are you sure you’ve never don’t this before?” Mamba jeered as she slightly kicked Wanda in the side to get her attention.

            Wanda chose to ignore the commander’s comment as the Eagle roughly gripped the sides of her head and began pumping into her without remorse. 
“Now that you’re all caught up, let’s have some re-real fun,” he ground out as he aggressively throat fucked the teen. Wanda let her tears flow free at this point, seeing as there was nothing she could do to stop the assault on her throat. Eagle pumped in and out with a ferocity the teen didn’t think was possible; she just wanted this to be over.

            The assault continued for a few more minutes, with Eagle letting out soft moans and words of praise: “good girl”, “use that pretty mouth of yours slut”, ‘member... no teeth.” Wanda tried to block out as much as she could but the shocks (and drugs, unbeknownst to her) had taken a toll on her body and didn’t allow her to focus enough to ignore what was happening to her.

            “Fuck!” He screamed causing Wanda to look up in fright, “I’-I’m gonna c-“. Wanda was taken back at how fast the pumping became as his breaths quickened, as well. “Fuck!” He yelled one more time as he held Wanda’s face to his groin, forcing her nose full of pubic hair. She could feel the penis in her mouth twitch as the bitter, slimy, and slightly acrid taste of semen exploded in her mouth, resulting in her gag reflex to activate.

             With her face pressed against his crotch, Eagle’s penis was as far into her throat as he could possibly be; effectively chocking the tear ridden teen. “Ahh... ahhh...SHIT! You sucked my dick like a pro!” He exclaimed as he pulled his now flaccid penis from the abused teen’s mouth. Almost immediately, Wanda could feel the bile rising in her throat the whole ordeal made her physically sick to her stomach.

            A heavy boot slammed into Wanda’s back as the young witch started to dry heave, not having any food left in her system. “Next time, you’ll pay for that. You got that?” Mamba announced as she yanked Wanda’s head back by her red hair, bringing her into Mamba’s line of sight. For fear of punishment, Wanda didn’t respond, only to meet the back of Mamba’s ring-clad hand again . “Speak!” She whispered through gritted teeth.

            “ye-ye-yes.” 
“Yes what?!” She punctuated with another slap.
”ye-yes ma-ma’am?”  
“Ugh, slightly better”, she scoffed as she forced Wanda to her feet to be placed back into her cell. The second she met the cold, unforgiving metal floor she was used to, she loosely curled into the fetal position and let her tears overtake her.

            She didn’t think she deserved any of this; locked in an underwater prison, having part of her innocence stolen by members of the government. Yet, the more she reminisced, the more that small part of her that thought she might actually deserve this seemed to overtake every other logical belief that she didn’t deserve this. Eventually though, she came to one conclusion:

                          I deserve this.

Chapter Text

            Trainwreck came in first, yelling “wake up, get moving!” kicking  Clint in the side to ensure he was up. They were cuffed together in a line and slowly shuffled out the door as Wanda was dragged behind them with Mamba and Eagle following suit. Trainwreck yelled at them again, this time it was to pick up the pace. Scott looked back and saw Wanda going to the left instead of to the right with them and quietly asked where she was heading. He got no response.

             Stood before them was a bathroom with stalls and urinals. The guys were unchained from each other, hands still cuffed, and brought into separate stalls to relieve themselves. 
“You get 5 minutes, so make it quick!”
Clint relieved himself as he let his thoughts wander on the Sokovian teen. Maybe she was in a separate bathroom, seeing as she was a female, they might want to give her privacy. Sam let himself think back on the interrogations and the beatings; even if they did reveal the whereabouts of Cap and Nat, the government legally couldn’t do anything.

            Scott, on the other hand, had to focus his attention enough to even sit; his ribs and eye were still in pain and trying to sit down only exacerbated that discomfort. After about 3 minutes though, he was finally able to find a position that didn’t cause him too much pain.

            “Let’s go.” 
He guys shuffled to the sinks to wash their hands, although they struggled a bit as their hands were bound. 
“whe-where’s wanda? sh-she was ri-right behind us” He questioned as he looked up at the guard beside him.
“Worry about yourself.”
“We-well I have eno-enough wor-worry for the both of us,” he lightly joked.
“The fuck did you just say?!”

            “hey calm down tic-tac. We can’t afford to lose another guy okay?” Sam urged from beside him. Scott wasn’t sure if he could take another beating just yet so he nodded and kept his mouth shut. Once all the men were done, they were chained back up and led into another room. There were chains hanging from the ceiling along with metal rods and shock sticks lined up on the walls.

            “Great... a torture room” Clint thought to himself as his arms were chained above head. The chains were pulled taut and forced the Sam and Clint off the ground while scoot was barely on tippy toes. 
“Why don’t we leave you in here for a bit. Might teach you a lesson,” snickered Rhino as he touched something by the door. The increasing of a thermostat went unperceived by all three men as they tried to get comfortable.

            During the first hour, the men talked: about Wanda, about the raft, Cap and Nat, and about life outside of their hellhole. Clint and Scott had children to get back to and Sam had family waiting for him. The temperature went up by 2 degrees every 20 minutes cutting off any verbal interactions within the first two hours. Sweat was forming on Scott’s face and all their mouths were dry, with no water in sight.

            “Hey Clint, how you holdin up man?”“Ehh not too bad, I’ve experienced all of this separately on multiple occasions... I’ll be fine.”“Hey tic tac what about you?”
“Oh, I’m great, just great. This position is killer on my ribs making it difficult and painful to breath, the heat is killing me, and I’m thirsty. But I’m doing great, at least I’m alive right?” he joked flippantly as he looked at his friends.

             “how long do you think they’re gonna keep us here?” 
“Until we give them something they want,” Clint answered with a sniff. 
“do you think wanda is okay?” Scott asked after a beat.
“Probably not.” Sam started as Clint and Scott turned their attention towards him. “They don’t like us but Ross and some of those guards really seem to have it out for her.”

            “yeah. I like wanda, she seems pretty great,” Scott slightly smiled. 
“yeah, the kid’s pretty cool.” 
“Is it true that she was the reason the Hulk rampaged on that one city? 
“Unfortunately, she was,” Clint sighed.
“but she didn’t mean to though right? like it was an accident?”
“no she didn’t mean too. Her mind powers still need a little work, but she won’t use them now.”

             “why?” 
“She feels guilty. I’m not gonna tell you everything though, that’s Wanda’s right to tell you her story. She’ll tell you when she’s ready”, he grunted out as he shifted his sore arms slightly.
“Why do you hate her then Sam?”
“I don’t hate her or even dislike her. I may not agree with all her actions but come on, she’s a teenager. Of course I’m not gonna agree with everything she does. I just didn’t agree with her opinion on the Accords, but I’m starting to change my mind on that”, he whispered out as his sweating became more profuse.

4 hours later

            Clint was holding strong, for how much longer, he wasn’t sure. He was used to being hung by his arms during missions, however, he was usually more well fed and alert. The banter died out long ago, so did Scott, leaving the room quiet except for the soft rattles of chains. The temperature gradually stopped increasing each hour, yet just when they got comfortable, it was raised by 5°.

            “th-they... when are th-they getting us out-outta here man?” Sam asked, panicking just a bit. 
“I just hope Wanda isn’t going through the same thing... I don’t think she’d make it.” Clint gritted out.
“we ju-just have to ho-hold on. Cap will get us,” Scott whispered.
“y-ye-yeah,” they agreed in unison.

             Eventually, a few guards stormed through the metal door which would’ve woken a troop but did nothing to stir the “ex-avengers”. 
“Time’s up. Boss says to cut you lose now.”Groans were heard all around as sore and dead limbs were forcibly moved. The tops of Clint and Scott were drenched and the heat caused their skin to be red and splotchy. Sam’s shirt was also coated in sweat and his skin was warm to the touch.

            Handcuffs hung free as the men walked, the guards believing that handcuffing them would just be an overkill; and they didn’t have time for that right now. Once inside their individual cells, each man let out a deep sigh. Sam opted to sit on his “bed”, criss- crossed as he rested his head against the wall, eyes closed. He let out a steady breath and let his thoughts run amok.

            Sam let out a small sound of affirmation as Clint spoke out into the silence. The girl was alive, thank god he thought. He didn’t resent the child for anything, he knew she was just doing what she was told and what she felt was right. She’d learn how to judge a situation after being trained and getting more field experience. They’d have to keep each other going until Cap got them.                 
             Clint chose to lean up against the glass section of his cell wall, keeping eyes not only on Sam and Scott but also Wanda, who was on the floor, as usual. He was always in a leader head space; he had to have all eyes on his team whenever possible. Clint could barely make out the rise and fall of the teen’s breathing, but it was there.

            Scott on the other hand, just laid on the floor of his cell, much like Wanda. He used part of his blanket to cover his eyes as he laid on his back and took soft, concentrated breaths. “she’s breathing”, Clint whispered loud enough for the men to each of his side to hear. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he saw Wanda in her cell, even if he couldn’t see her face. He really liked Wanda, despite the fact that they hadn’t  spend more than 10 minutes with each other.

            She kinda reminded him of Cassie, opinionated yet quiet. Sometimes he could feel her guilt radiating off her body in waves, which kind of hurt his heart a bit. She was a teenager, she shouldn’t be harboring  that much guilt around. But then again, not many teens were Avengers; responsible for providing justice and also for human lives. Scott silently sent her good vibes, hoping that somehow, her mental abilities allowed her to her it.

Chapter Text

                     2 and a half days later

             There hadn’t been a single guard to show up in what felt like weeks, but the group knew better. Time was only an allusion here but the guards wouldn’t wait weeks before they tortured them again. It was just a waiting game at this point to see when they’d come and what they had in store for the troublesome quartet.

            Sam and Clint were showing Scott some effective ways to stretch his sore arms as he watched on carefully. They had to take into account his cracked ribs, but with Sam’s knowledge from being a pararescuer, that was an easy issue to combat.
“Good job Tic Tac.” 
Scott snorted at the name, which he tended to do from time to time when in a good mood, “thanks.” 
“how is she?” Scott asked as he tapped his glass to get Clint’s attention.
“huh?” he asked being pulled from his thoughts. “Oh, I’m not really sure man. She’s breathing but I don’t know... I don’t know how she’s holding up.”
“Hey... hey little red... can you hear us?” Sam called out as he looked towards the teen.        

            Wanda made no sounds or movement, the only reason they knew she was alive really was because of that collar. That god forsaken collar- it still sent electric shocks, causing her body to slightly lurch forward whenever it happened. They weren’t as strong as before, being reduced from body convulsions to jolts.      
            “Why do you think they want Romanoff so badly? She was technically on Stark’s side, so why would it matter if she left?” Scott questioned out loud.
“To be fair, they were always looking for a legal reason to detain her. I guess they can use her letting Cap and Bucky go as their chance.”
“However, even if we knew where they were and told them, they would still have to let her and Cap go free.” Sam chimed in.
“Why’s that?” Scott asked with genuine confusion.
“Any intelligence gathered through “enhanced” interrogation is legally permissible. If they beat us to get that information, they legally cannot use it to capture Cap or Widow.” Sam stated as he looked around the room.

            “Well, we see how strict about laws they are here”, Clint quipped as he looked at the knotted mass of hair that was currently Wanda. 
“You know all this time together and I don’t know any basic stuff about you guys, like what’s your favorite color, show, hobby; stuff like that.” Scott said as his green eyes shined slightly.
“I’ll go first. My favorite color is blue, my favorite food is paella, and my favorite hobby is playing guitar hero with my daughter,” Scott stated as he looked at the others expectantly.

            “My favorite color is red, I like to run, and my favorite flower is an orchiidd”, Sam drawled out for comedic effect; which worked as he got both men to chuckle. 
“Alright fine, I’ll play. My favorite color is purple, my favorite book is Heart of a Dog, and I’m deaf.” Scott and Sam looked at Clint like he had lost his head.
“Whaddya mean you’re deaf bird eye?”
“I found out when I was in circus. We thought it happened when we were practicing shooting people from the cannon. There was an explosion, and when I finally came to, I couldn’t hear out of my right ear.”
“So if it didn’t happen from the circus, how did it happen?”
“Turns out it was genetic; the explosion only exacerbated the situation, I was already gradually going deaf but didn’t realize it. I just thought it was normal.”

            “Why don’t you wear hearing aids then?” Scott asked with the innocence of a small child. 
“I do, Tony engineered some really compact ones for me to wear, they fit just inside the ear canal. It’s been about 6 years, the ones I currently have crapped out on me.”
“Oh, do you know sign language too?” Sam asked with quiet wonder.
“Yeah but besides Nat, nobody else on the team knows or is fluent enough to hold a conversation.”
“Oh... that’s kinda cool,” Scott smiled.

            “Can you teach me one day?” 
“Sure Scott, when we get outta here. I’ll teach you.”
“What about Wanda? Do you know any facts about her?” Scott redirected, trying to get back to the main topic at hand.  
“Well contrary to popular belief, her favorite color is actually green, not red”, Clint smirked.“She likes to read, you can usually catch her curled up with a book somewhere. And she’s a sucker for pancakes, likes hers topped with strawberries and whipped cream and smothered in syrup”, Clint smiled. It was nice being able to talk about the positive (and childlike) aspects of her personality; which showcased how much of a normal teenager she actually was.

            “Why red then?” Sam asked as he walked around and stretched his atrophying legs. 
“She says it makes her eyes pop,” Clint laughed.
“That’s... such a female oriented response”, Sam quipped back with a bright smile on his face.
“Yeah but I have to agree. Red tones really enhance the natural beauty of our green eyes”, Scott stated as he made his eyes go as wide as possible.

             The men sat around and laughed at their dumb statements and behavior. Scott, semi- forgetting about his ribs, would laugh and have to breathe as the movement aggravated his ribs too much, but for the most part, he didn’t care. It was very few times where they had moments to genuinely laugh about, so he would take it even if it brought him pain.

            Long after the laughter died down, a soft groan permeated through the air. Slow and deliberate moves of the head alerted the men that she was now alert herself. At one point she fell asleep but not for long, if the collar had anything to say about it. 
“hey, lil red, you with us?” Sam called out. Another soft but quick groan rang out, which they took as a yes.
“good, cause we missed you,” same quietly declared as he smiled at the young woman.“mm”, was all Wanda could muster up, which they took as “thank you. Missed you too”.

            However, any sense of playful banter and amusement was quickly sucked out of the room as none other than Thaddeus Ross himself stepped into the building. “Witch, it seems you and I have some affairs to get in order”, his voice boomed throughout the cells. His black, Oxfords were silent as he crossed the floor to Wanda’s cell. She laid on the floor, body trembling slightly, as Ross approached. She knew he hated her and was petrified to be anywhere with him alone.

            Wanda was forced to her feet by the top straps of the jacket. “Come. And I won’t repeat myself”, he stated as he took the lead. Not trusting herself to not fall, Wanda stood in place as she tried to gain her bearings. A quick and sharp hand struck Wanda across her left cheek, knocking her back to the ground. Forced to her feet again, she compelled them to move; her legs felt like dead weight but eventually she got them to comply.

            As Wanda left the room, Clint had a suspicion that they were being watched which was only made evident by the fact that Ross was here as soon as Wanda was conscious. Scott looked on with fear and sadness, mouth agape. He didn’t want Wanda to go with Ross, but he couldn’t stop him. Not from his cell. Not with his ribs like this.

             They knew that fighting back would only prove to be disastrous for Wanda right now. The sooner she left was the sooner she’d get back, was the best option she had at the moment. However, any ideas of them helping her were cut short, as guards walked into the large room.

“ah great, not the goon squad again”, Clint whispered. They were definitely being watched he thought as they were all dragged out, one by one.

            Ross led Wanda to that room at the end of the corridor, the one she was in the first time she was sexually taken advantage of. Her eyes watered slightly as memories from that night flooded her mind. Nothing had changed, that same metal cot was in the corner of the room and the faint odor of vomit could be smelled. Wanda stood, planted in the middle of the room, the same place where she was on her knees a few days prior.

            Ross roughly pushed Wanda towards the bed and forced her to sit. Her lips trembled as she kept her head directed downwards, away form Ross’ scrutinizing gaze. He gently took his shoes off and  placed them to the side as neatly as he could, along with his suit jacket folded on top.

            He stood about an arms length away as he spoke, “lay down.” 
Confusion set into Wanda’s features and got the best of her as she looked up at the man before her. Wanda saw stars as the back of Ross’ hand made contact with her right cheek. Sometime between him telling her to lay down and between the slap, he removed his tie and white dress shirt and stood in only his black slacks.

            When she didn’t comply, Ross produced a black remote from his pocket and turned up the voltage before shocking the Sokovian teen. Wanda gasped as her body convulsed on the metal cot beneath her. Ross used this opportunity to gag the teen with his tie and removed his belt from his pants. He procured straps from somewhere around the edge of the cot to secure Wanda’s abdomen and head.

            “It’s people like you. People like you who feel that they can break laws and regulations... because you “ save people .” You guys are nothing but monsters and freaks. The government has been protecting you for far too long. But like I said... you’re my prisoner. I make the rules, I punish you how I see fit.”

            At this point, Wanda had a general idea of what was going to take place, although she hoped it wouldn’t. She closed her eyes to try and escape the burning hate in Ross’ eyes and was met with something else. The feeling hit her before the sound. Wanda thought the belt would be used for restraint, not abuse. It was as if he were a feral animal; his attacks vicious, not well thought out.

            Each time the belt collided with her indigo polyester sweats, she let out a yelp. She squirmed against the metal bed, trying somehow, to outrun the leather of the belt. At long last, the swinging of the belt ceased as cold, blue eyes looked into innocent, fear-laden greens. “We’re just getting started witch”, the harshness of his voice was enough to make Wanda cower into herself.

            In one swift motion, Wanda’s pants were across the room. Her breathing picked up as the thing she feared most seemed to be in her very near future as opposed to the distant never she once thought. Once again, the belt was raised high in the air and whistled as it kissed the skin on Wanda’s pale, bruised thigh. The sting of the belt on her bare skin was a stark contrast to when she was clothed.

            Left, right, thighs, abdomen, and everything else in between, was subject to the effects of the belt. At some point during the barrage, Ross flipped the belt around so the buckle end was out instead of wrapped around his hand. The belt buckle bit into the angry, red welts and bruises on her body, causing her to squirm uncomfortably on the unforgiving cot. Dripping with sweat, Ross took a step back to admire his work.

           Her legs and thighs were littered with raised welts, some the color of her skin but most were a crimson color, scarlet even. He reveled in the way that her alabaster skin was now the same shade as her “magic”, dark and glowing under his gaze. Her cheeks, which fell prey to the attacks, were covered in long, heavy bruises. Most of them were a deep red, just starting to form. However, there was one rather thick one that he marveled at the most.

            It started at the apex of her cheek and stopped at the base of her jaw. Both ends of the lashing were beginning to turn to a deep reddish maroon. But his favorite part was the middle. The middle that was such a deep wine color mottled with curious specks of blue dancing around the edge. Ross could feel himself swell with power.

            The man, now completely filled with power and overconfidence, removed his last two articles of clothing before standing before the terrified teen avenger. “I’m gonna break you the same way you break the law”, he stated, voice dripping with bravado. Wanda’s eyes widened at the scene before her, this was only the second penis she’d ever seen and already there were differences.

            Ross was slightly thicker and longer than the Eagle, a fact that terrified her to her core. She fought and squirmed as much as she could, she couldn’t let him do this. She just couldn’t. Knuckles met bruises as Ross back slapped her across the face, causing a whine to erupt through the tie in her mouth. Ross lined himself up with Wanda’s entrance and smirked as he snatched the make shift gag from her mouth.

            “I want.. to hear... you scream”, he whispered before forcing all of himself into Wanda. A scream. A ragged and broken scream, loud enough to break even the Hulk, echoed in the room. Ross pumped away with all the fervor of an alcoholic with his favorite drink, only spurred on by the screams of Wanda. It was her loss of hope, her finally conceding to the fact that she was a monster and that she was his, that made him keep going.

            Wanda came to the conclusion that Ross didn’t want parts of her, he wanted her. All the things that compromised Wanda, he wanted for himself. This wasn’t a lust thing, it was a power play. He was letting her know that he had all the cards and that he was doing this because he was able to- nothing more, nothing less. With all the other thoughts bouncing around in her clouded mind, she wasn’t sure which one made her more uncomfortable.

            Ross’ movements picked up as what Wanda thought could only be the point of climax, as Eagle’s body reacted the same way when he violated her. She prayed he was quick so she could escape this trapped hell she was in. She tried to leave, dissociate somewhere else but her body wouldn’t give her the freedom. Ross’ calloused hands roughly gripped Wanda’s hips as his thrusting became more jackhammer like.

            Where was he going to finish she suddenly thought. She didn’t want it to be inside her because then it would all be too real, Ross would have complete power over her. But if he took it out and finished on her, then all her friends would know what happened. Neither scenario was ideal to her but both were very plausible.

            In less than a minute, the grip on her waist became vice like as he let out a loud grunt. Wanda could feel his penis twitch before the warmth of his semen filled her insides. She would’ve thrown up right there if she had any food in her system. Ross stayed buried inside Wanda for about a minute as his orgasm subsided before he removed himself from her vagina and stood up.

            The young witch’s body shivered as she looked anywhere besides Ross’ face. 
“Look at me whore!” he seethed against gritted teeth.
Reluctantly, Wanda’s eyes drifted up to meet The General’s eyes. Ice cold baby blues peered into wide, green ones; any semblance of innocence completely obliterated, leaving them bleak and lifeless. He started to redress and let his smirked deepen as he took in how Wanda slightly flinched when he reached for his belt.

            He let out a repugnant, boisterous cackle when Wanda’s eyes were quick to shut close as the belt was raised high above his head. Short, shaky breaths rattled inside Wanda’s abused chest as she was redressed herself. 
“General to first command”, he radioed into his wrist.
“First command to General, come in.”
“Your services are needed. You know where.”“Copy. I’m on my way.”

            The General turned all his attention back to Wanda, hand reaching into his left pocket to grab something. After a blink, the small black remote was produced and held high into the air as the red button was pushed. Wanda’s muted wails along with the sound of the electricity cracking in the steel room filled Ross with a sense of accomplishment; he had completed what he set out to do.

             Green eyes opened in bewilderment just as the collar sprang to life. During this whole ordeal, she forgot about the collar that was her daily source of punishment. As the electricity circulated around her bones, Wanda had to bite her lip to stay silent (and failed), splitting it open in the process. 
“I’m here sir.” 
“Good. Get her out of my sight while I finish doing what I need to do.”
“Yes sir.”

            Releasing her from her chest bind, Mamba said her farewells to her superior and began to haul out the witch. As they made the tedious journey back to the cells, Mamba began to speak in a derisive tone. 
“Ugh, just look at yourself. You’re just used to being a slut, aren’t you?”
Wanda stayed silent as she was loudly berated, too many things happening at once in her mind; trying to process what just occurred.

            “A slut and a traitor, that’s all you’ll ever be” were the last words she heard as she greeted the familiar concrete and steel walls of her cell. Her legs were wearily drawn close to her chest, to hide herself and preserve any ounce of warmth she had in her body. Her head came to rest on top of her knees as a tear slipped out.

            As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t push it out. She couldn’t forget what happened back there, that was now apart of her memories. She’d always remember those cold, unforgiving blue eyes.

Chapter Text

            Sam was dragged out first to a room he hadn’t been in before. There were cuffs dangling from both the wall and ceiling in the middle of the room and a drain directly below. Sam slightly lagged behind as the guards moves him to the middle of the room. 
“Your nigger ass better get to movin!” shouted one of the guards behind him, tired with how slow he was moving.

            Sam lashed out a bit at the insult but was quickly subdued with a vicious kick to the back of his right shin. A grunt escaped his lips as his arms were yanked into the cuffs on the wall and the guards moved back. 
“Since we can’t get any answers from ya on the Captain and black widows whereabouts, we’re just going to punish you for going against the Accords.”
“I mean... isn’t that the whole reason we’re on this raft?” Sam questioned sarcastically as he gently tugged at the cuffs on his wrists.

            “Shut it monkey boy. We’re in charge here.” 
“Come on, leave the nigger baby alone. Let’s get back to business.”
“Right.” 
The two guards, Bear and Goat as he dubbed them, lowered their weapons and stood at the far end of the room. The shorter one produced a hose from somewhere within the room and aimed directly at the retired pararescue airman.

            Before Sam was able to piece together what was happening, a harsh stream of freezing water hit him in the face. He would’ve been knocked off his feet if it weren’t for the wall chains holding him up. The big one, Bear, let out an obnoxious howl of laughter as Sam struggled to stand his ground. The water stopped after 20 seconds, leaving Sam panting and barely able to breath.

            “That was fun. Let’s try it again, shall we” smirked Goat, the smaller guard. His beady eyes couldn’t contain all his sadistic pleasure from watching the man struggle to breathe. The hose was turned on again, water blasting at his no longer toned chest as Sam tried to fight against the violent turbulence.

            Clint was tossed into what looked like a highly technologically advanced medical room. A large metal table sat positioned across from a clear tub of water; bullet proof glass walls reinforced with steel along the seams. A man in a white lab coat, one Clint recognized from when they had testing done when they first arrived, stood at the far end of the table. Trainwreck and another guard, Cannon, forced Clint to stand between the table and the tub.
            “Hawkeye, is it? We’re gonna run some tests on you today”, spoke the white coat.
“What for?” He gruffly asked.
“Just to test the durability of a highly trained spy/ assassin. Gentlemen, you may begin.”
Clint didn’t have a chance to question the doctor as his head was roughly plunged into the tub behind him. He struggled in the guards grasps and also to find his breath.

            Black spots started to dance around the edges of his vision as consciousness slipped away from him. He was tossed on the table and resuscitated by the doctor, who was  more than prepared for this. Clint gasped back to life as he tried to hold onto the few, small breaths of air he had. 
“2 minutes and 15 seconds. I expected better from you”, tsked the doctor as he scribbled down his data onto his clipboard.

            The doctor glanced up from his file to reset his stop watch before looking between the two guards

“Again.”

            Scott curiously looked around the small room where he stood by himself.
“What are you guys doing?”
“You just never know when to shut the fuck up do you?”
“Well I... I just want to know what’s going on.”The guard groaned and punched Scott’s jaw in frustration. 
“You wanna know what’s going on huh? I’ll tell you what’s going on. You and your little treacherous freaks you call friends have torn apart the country. Just cause you can go supersize and that thing can throw red balls, you think that you’re above the law. The United States government?! You and your dirty little freaks are gonna repent for your sins. I promise you that.”

            Scott had a mask of confusion mixed with quiet fear as he listened to the guard rant. He knew the amount of damage he caused was significant, never mind the Avengers. However, they didn’t think they were above the law, there was just things that they could do that government wasn’t able to do themselves. What was wrong with that? 
”Wanda’s not a thing... she’s a person like me. She’s great and doesn’t deserve any of what you guys are-“

            The guard stepped outside the shower room, cause that’s basically all that was, and made sure to lock the door behind him. Water cascaded from the ceiling as soon as the door locked in place. Scott covered his face as the temperature of the water finally hit his skin, it was like the devil rained fire on Scott himself. The water was hot enough to hurt but not enough to boil him alive, the guard made sure of it.

            They couldn’t risk the prisoners dying of something stupid like that; the world would be up their ass if word got out. Scott tried to escape the water but there was no where to hide, it came down from everywhere, leaving him helpless. His screams were that of a trapped animal; pained and wounded. The torment continued for another 30 seconds before the water was shut off. He couldn’t breathe, he could only feel his nerves on edge, stinging and prickling.

            “Got nothing to say now, do you?” sneered the guard as he let a smirk grace his lips. He let Scott catch a gulp of air before pummeling him with the steaming water again. The guard happily stood back and watched as the one who called himself ant man squirmed and writhed in pain at the power of his hands. Scott gasped for air like a fish out of water, which was ironic considering his current predicament.

            Wanda had knees pulled under her chin with her head resting on top. Her tangled mop of red hair concealed her face yet didn’t obscure her vision. She carefully listened as each man was deposited into his cell with a loud sloshing sound. She could see the bruise that marred Sam’s right jaw and the black eye forming around Scott’s left eye socket.

            Sam’s teeth and body were shaking so hard that Wanda was afraid that he’d throw up, the way he was disturbing his stomach. He stripped out his wet clothes, clad only in boxers, and wrapped himself in his thin sheet to fend off the incessant chills that coursed through his body. All Sam could think about was how the icy water was bone-deep at this point, and any attempts to get warm would be futile.

            Clint didn’t say a word as he quietly took respite upon the somewhat inviting ground. The cot in the cell reminded him too much of the metal table that was used to revive him. His clothes stuck uncomfortably to his body, making him feel as though he was still underwater. A shaky breath escaped his abused body before silently evening out. He intently focused on his breathing as he looked into Wanda’s cell.

            Scott, on the other hand, wasn’t like his other two counterparts. He wasn’t a well seasoned vet or a highly skilled spy versed in all sorts of torture techniques; he was just a guy who stole a shrinking suit and is now a superhero. The heat of the water left his skin red, raw, and hypersensitive. The bite of the cool air left his skin stinging all over, adding to his discomfort. He gently sat on the floor with his legs crossed and breathed. 
            For the first time since arriving, all the cells were full but quiet.

Chapter Text

            Deep, heavy breathing was all that was heard throughout the floor. Sam was quietly still enveloped in his thin, cotton sheet on the floor, eyes squeezed tight. His body still shook with the lasting effects of the ice traveling through his veins but he wasn’t cold anymore, just numb. The ends of his toes and fingers were beginning to freeze, turning a light shade of purple. All his body could do was shiver to try and force it to warm up internally before focusing on his exterior shell.

             Scott, on the other hand, was experiencing the opposite of what Sam was. His nerves were tingling and sensitive, leading to anything touching him causing extreme discomfort. His back had experienced the brute force of his torture, only serving to aggravating his ribs and other injuries he accumulated since being on the Raft. Even though his skin was hypersensitive, if his back didn’t touch anything then he’d be able to breathe and get through it.

            His eyes momentarily locked on Wanda’s, who was watching intently. He tried to send her a small, reassuring smile, that came out more like a grimace, as he searched her eyes for something. Her skin was pale, save for her lips, which had a slight bluish tint to them. Her eyes looked haunted and distant, innocence no longer evident. He gave her a sad smile as he leaned his head back and let his eyes close.

            Wanda’s position hadn’t changed in the day that she was left in her cell. Her chin still rested on her knees as she looked at the cells beyond her. Sam’s eyes were closed but she could tell that he was awake from the way his body involuntarily shook. She looked over at Scott’s cell, who gave her what he thought was a smile. His eyes stayed locked on her eyes as he appeared to be looking for... something. A real smile eventually crossed his face as closed his eyes.

            Clint was the only one who was on his feet. He knew laying down after a near fatal drowning would only serve to exacerbate any symptoms he acquired from the water entering his lungs. He already vomited twice, once inside the testing room and then once again a few hours after he entered his cell. He was tired but he couldn’t quite pinpoint if that was from the nearly drowning itself or from just being on the Raft.

            He surveyed the room and let out a deep sigh. He wasn’t sure how much more his team would be able to handle before they...
Wanda was pale and he could tell she was losing weight at an exorbitant rate, even under that thick jacket she was trapped in. Scott was acquiring more bruises by the hour and Sam was freezing to death. Things were not looking good at all, at all.

            “Ahh there she.. is!” hiccuped one of the smaller guards, Goat. Sam quickly recognized the voice from when he was verbally assaulted with racist remarks and tortured with frozen water. He opened his eyes to watch the stout man approach the youngest Avenger’s cell. Wanda made no physical movement that proved she heard him besides cautiously moving her eyes to like up at the man.

            “I-I’ve been inf-formed th-that the boss wants to see y-you. Said it’s gonna be a fun night-night,” he chuckled as he made his way into the cell. Wanda was hoisted by her straps into Goat’s arms as he stumbled his way out the room. 
“What ar... what are doing? Leave her be!” Clint called out as he rested his head on the glass door of his cell.

            Goat, who was annoyed that his journey was being interrupted, dropped Wanda to the floor where she closed her eyes and winced in silent pain. 
“Wanda...” Scott softly whispered for the child. She opened her eyes and met Scott’s concerned green ones. He studied her face for any signs of emotions and found none. He could practically see the fear and sorrow falling off her body but her face and eyes didn’t show it. Her tired green orbs didn’t even water as they heard a crack and Clint’s strangled cry.

            “Let’s go, we’ve got a lo-long night ahe-head of us,” he drunkenly smirked as Wanda was back in his arms again.
“Clint?! Arrow guy! Are you okay man!?” Scott shouted from his on the floor.
“Yeah,” he grunted, “he just broke my arm is all. Nothing I can’t... handle.”
“clint...” Sam said above a whisper.
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” he expressed as he wrapped his arm in his sheet.

           “Come on gorgeous. She’ll be happy to see you,” he said as he stroked Wanda’s hair as he twisted and turned down the many corridors that led to his destination. Wanda weakly jerked her head away from the hand threaded in her hair as he chuckled softly again. 
“Shh... shh. Save you-your energy babe. We got a lot in st-store for you,” he gingerly hiccuped. She was too weak to squirm out of his grasp and far too weak to fight, that wasn’t even a question.

            She was deposited in a room that was modeled after every other room she had been in, except more homely. There was a small couch in the corner of the room propped in front of a decently sized tv, a round table with soft wooden chairs covered in beer bottles and cans, and a rectangular metal table smack dab in the middle of the room.

            Her eyes shifted up to see 4 guards,  taking refuge at each corner of the table, eyeing the teen hungrily. Mamba sat at the round table with a half drunken glass bottle of corona in hand. 
“There it is...” she stated as her lips straddled the mouth of the bottle, “go crazy boys.” That was all they needed to hear before hands began to ravage the abused girl’s body.

            Wanda cried out as hands aggressively roamed over her figure and her pants were ripped off and strewn somewhere across the room. Mamba cackled as she witnessed the scene in front of her unfold. Rhino was the first to indulge himself between the pale thighs of the Sokovian teen with a satisfied grunt. 
“I knew you’d be a good fuck,” he strained out as pleasure overtook his senses.

             Wanda continued to softly verbalize her discomfort and discontentment before the all too familiar feeling of something being shoved in her mouth made her stop for a minute. Gorilla took over her, eyes gazing into soft greens with pure contempt. 
“Jackson told me about his time with you. So let’s see what that little mouth of yours can really do”, he stated as he slapped her across the face. He shuddered as his cock meet the back of her throat with a forceful thrust. The tightness of the collar added extra pressure to the girl’s throat, which the guard found absolutely delightful.

            Goat and Mamba spurred their friends on as they gaily tossed beers back in their little corner. Each man got more than enough chances to have one of Wanda’s holes as she laid vulnerable on the table. She softly begged and pleaded, as much as her voice would allow, for them to stop; that she didn’t want them to do this but it all fell on deaf ears.

             Trainwreck and Cannon were both equally as aggressive when it came to their sexual gratification. They took sick pleasure in listening to the young girl whimper; whenever her hair was roughly yanked, when their hips met her bony ones, and especially when they physically assaulted her. Cannon liked to kiss the girl hard, his tongue roughly demanding entry into her mouth by biting her bottom lip, causing her to bleed.

            Trainwreck overzealously mauled her breasts through her jacket, not caring that he was hurting the thin woman. After releasing his spunk in her vagina, he used her auburn locks to wipe off any residual semen and blood left after pulling out. 
“Mmm, that little mouth of yours can do wonders but that cunt.... woohoo... is even better”, he asserted as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

            Mamba, in the haste of everything going on, quietly stalked over to the metal table where the girl was laying with a beer bottle in hand. She paced before stopping between pale legs and lining the bottle up with Wanda’s entrance. 
“no... please,” Wanda squeaked out as Mamba’s disdain filled eyes looked her once over before settling on just her face. 
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing you can’t handle. After all, you’re a superhero,” she seethed as she gave the bottle one good shove, leaving the room in uproarious laughter as the little witch writhe in pain.

            Wanda wanted to cry but physically could not; she was far too dehydrated for that action. She couldn’t look Mamba in the eyes knowing she orchestrated this whole thing. Her vision got hazy as she swam in and out of consciousness. 
“Wait, don’t let her-“
“Ahh it’ll be fine. If it wants to go, it can go,” she hummed.

            “Wanda... Wanda... can you hear me kid?!” Clint whisper- yelled out his cell. Wanda found herself on the floor of her cell again, cheek laying on the floor. Her hair, now a knotted and tangled mess, covered most of her face once again. 
“hey, I think I see her. Wanda, are you with us?” Scott- Wanda vaguely pointed out in her head. She groggily blinked the haze from behind her eyes as a barely audible groan escaped her lips.

            “Hey lil red, we’re here. we’re...we’re with you, got it?” he mumbled as he still gingerly shook in his sheet. Wanda mentally cried as she surveyed her injuries: both sides of her lips were busted and swollen, her head faintly ached as it had been repeatedly yanked,  and she figured there were bruises littering her chest and thighs. The lower half of her body hurt, the pain something she couldn’t describe in words.

            Wanda lay, not making any physical movements, besides her chest rising and falling. As she lay there on the ground, the feeling of something cold and slimy ran down her thighs. She wanted to cry, she wanted to burn this place to the ground, however; most importantly, she just wanted to go home. She wanted to be back in the tower training with Steve and Nat, playing games with Sam, and Clint teaching her how to build her own birdhouse.

            One thing was for certain: they were all positive that if Cap didn’t get them soon, then they have to be carried out the Raft in a pine box.

Chapter Text

            Heavy lidded eyes encompassed all the prisoners. The overhead lights overly saturated the entire prison block with temperatures almost close to freezing in most cells.

            Clint sat with his back propped against his wall cot, arm in makeshift sling. His breathing was slow and shallow, becoming more difficult when he was lying flat on his back and extreme fatigue. He figured it was something serious, but without proper medical attention or nutrients, there wasn’t much he could do about it. He looked out beyond his cell, surveying his team.

            Sam was still shaking but moved from his position on the floor. Instead of being curled up on the floor in the fetal position in his blanket, he was now performing small exercise movements. Breathing in deeply, he would flex fingers and toes at the same time while slowly bending his arms and legs in and out, all while still wrapped in the blanket. His movements were clumsy and a bit uncoordinated, but it was something. However, Clint’s eyebrows slightly furrowed when he noticed that Sam’s lips and extremities were still tinged a light blue.

            Scott was quiet in his cell, propped up against his wall, staring at nothing and at Wanda. His hypersensitive skin stung as the below cool temperature of the cell danced along exposed skin. He took small breaths to compensate for his ribs but otherwise, sat still.

            Wanda lay with her cheek to the ground and hair covering her face. If Scott strained his eyes enough, he could faintly make out a dark purple impression on her cheek. It was unclear whether or not if it was just a bruise or something more, so Scott let it go for now. He didn’t want to make her more uncomfortable by leering at her injuries, especially the one on her face.

            “When we get out of here, the first thing I’m gonna do is get a big vat of cookie dough ice cream and go wild,” he whispered to no one in particular. 
“Yeah, we’ll the first thing I’m gonna do is take a long drive down the coast, to nowhere specific”, Sam rasped out.
“Wanda and I were talking about taking a trip to the beach one of theses days, maybe we’ll join ya Sam. Right kid?” He asked not actually expecting an answer, it was just his way of acknowledging her.

            Wanda couldn’t respond, yet she felt if she could, she would smile. They still included her into their conversations knowing full well that she couldn’t communicate back, but it made her feel like she still had a piece of humanity left. 
“ooo we can even make s’mores and just watch the ocean,” Scott added as the edge of his lips barely quirked into a smile.

            The shuffling of the door alerted the ex avengers that someone else was in the room. 
“You have a visitor.” Mamba made to turn on her heels as none other than the famed Tony Stark stepped into the prison for the second time ever. His smug expression dropped as his eyes fell to the curled body on the cell floor directly in front of him. He cautiously took a step forward, eyes never leaving the figure.

            Wanda internally flinched as Tony stepped into her line of sight, her vision may have been blurry and unfocused but she knew who knelt before her. His brown orbs dissected every inch of her physique; taking into account that she still had on the same jacket as the last time her saw her. He let his eyes roam further down her body, stopping on her feet. The bottoms were dirty as if she didn’t have any shoes and her toes were turning blue. His eyes shifted back up to hers before he stood up to walk away.

            Something in his body language caught her by surprise though. She could feel and see what she thought was....guilt...in his eyes? Or maybe she just wanted to see that in him, wanted him to feel something for what he did. He surveyed the room before slightly stumbling over to Sam’s cell, eyes never leaving Wanda. 
“Sam, please,” he softly pleaded. He subtly knocked out the audio on the floor, allowing anything they said to be between them.

            Sam was taking a risk to protect his teammates and friends. He still wasn’t sure if he could trust Tony but if this was the only way to get them out of here, he would do it. Tony listened intently as Sam revealed the whereabouts of his ex- friend Captain America. 
“I’ll get him Sam. I promise.” Sam didn’t believe him but there wasn’t anything he could do at this point. He was taking one for his team.

            Tony didn’t say anything as he exited the room, glancing at all the cells one final time. Hopefully Cap would get them out, at this point he just had too.

            Untrusting of the exchange that took place with Stark and the prison vigilantes, Ross has his men storm each cell. Wanda subconsciously curled into herself as she heard the deafening sound of footsteps and felt the collar come to life. Her muscles tensed as she writhed in pain on the cold floor beneath her. Although she was “used” to the intensity of the shocks, the current ones overtaking her body were on a different level. They left her grasping for air she couldn’t reach in addition to blurring her vision.

            Mamba stood before her, black remote in hand as she sneered at the girl laid at her feet. 
“Not so powerful now, are you?” She softly jeered. Wanda could only breathe as the button was continuously pressed, clouding her vision. The pain and exhaustion eventually won over, darkness engulfing her in every sense of the word. And she welcomed it with open arms, no pun intended.

            “Hey wha-“ Scott was cut off with a swift punch to his left jaw. Punches and kicks hit different parts of his body. He heard it before he felt it, the cracking of the bone. Fresh blood spilled out after, staining his lips and teeth; his Cupid’s bow doing little to nothing to catch the fallen liquid. Another set of ribs cracked under the heavy pressure of Cannon’ fist, drawing out a pained gasp from the newest Avenger. The beating didn’t stop, not even when he put his hands up to protect the rest of his face, asking them to stop.

            He was lifted from the front of his shirt only to be viciously thrown back to the ground, where his skull cracked against the surface. Scott stopped moving then, unconscious from the blunt force trauma to the head. Clint though, was faring a bit better than his former companion. He was able to fend off his attackers for a little bit, even with only one fully operational arm.

            He met his match when Rhino hit him in the back from behind just as Bear’s foot reached out and made contact with his solar plexus, not hits effectively knocking the wind out his lungs; doubling him over. Clint lost any advantage he had when they had him on his knees. He carefully cradled his right arm to his chest as his body slumped down against his cell wall, all the fight left in him, gone. He took deep breathes as his vision slightly clouded over, blocking his attackers from his sight.

            Sam made no sudden movements as the two guards stormed into his cell. Goat and a guard he had never seen before slowly stalked their way over, quietly watching their prey. Sam reciprocated the action; his eyes never leaving theirs, as if he was going to do something. With a blinding swiftness, a hand was forcefully gripping his neck while Goat stood before him, door hovering in the air. It happened quickly, the crunch being the only evidence that something took place.

            Sam’s body jerked forward to try and stop the steel- toe boot, only to be yanked back by his neck. He was left on the floor in pain, fighting every natural instinct telling him to move, to scream out. A year slipped past his eyelash as the guards made their way out the cells, leaving the Ex-Avengers to wallow in indescribable agony.

            “Can’t form a revolt if they’re not conscious,” Ross stated to himself as he watched the events take place from the security room. He didn’t trust Tony but he especially didn’t trust the four prisoners trapped with him.

Chapter Text

            Steve gathered all his equipment, going over everything they may need. Bucky had his guns, fully loaded with extra ammo if need be. Natasha had her dual batons, her glock, and her widows bites. It was hard getting her out her to Wakanda, with her separately being on the run from the government; but Steve managed to do it. Tony had civilly reached out to him to inform him of what was currently happening to the rest of his team.

           Him and Bucky had been in Wakanda for 5 months trying to deactivate HYDRA’s brainwashing program installed in Bucky’s mind, with successful results. All the while Steve never stopped searching for his team, the people that stood by him as he fought for those he cared about. Now was finally the time to get them back.

            “We move out in 5,” he declared, voice ringing loud with strong emotions. The Raft would be breaching surface in 2 hours, enough time to fly in and get them out before it submerged again. T’Challa lent them a quinjet with Okaye flying the highly advanced aircraft; they wanted as many people on hand to be able to move efficiently.

            “Vision is going to meet us on on top as soon as the Raft makes contact with the surface. He knows his part of the plan; to get to the security room and download all the footage on the Raft. As for us, we get in and get out; stun only. If you do need to take someone out, that’s your prerogative. We meet back here in 20 minutes. Everybody understand?”

            The occupants of the airship nodded as they prepared themselves for the worst. Tony didn’t give much information regarding the Ex-Avengers conditions besides the lines of “it’s worse than you think” and “they need to get out now.”

            They touched down within 2 hours, leaving 10 minutes to spare before the Raft began to rise. As promised Vision was up in the air, ready to greet his fellow rescuers.“Captain, it is good to see you”, he stated as he phased through the jet’s walls.
“You too Vision. You understand what you are to do today correct?”
“Yes sir. I am to collect as much downloadable data regarding the raft as I can.”
“Correct. You will also watch out for security, giving us a heads up on how many people we will have to face.”

            “Yes, I understand sir.” 
“And Vision, you can join in too when the coast is clear. But be forewarned, if this gets ugly, you’re going to have to do things you don’t normally do.”
Vision could understand what the Captain was referencing. Even though he had a strong moral compass, he knew that killing someone today would most likely be morally and ethically justifiable.

            The rumbling below alerted the passengers of the ship that the prison was beginning to break through the water. Steve have his team one final nod before they took a deep breath and jumped. This was it.

            For the most part, the guards never knew what hit them. Vision was quick to make his way to the security room to fulfill his part of the mission, checking the monitors every now and then. Steve, Natasha, and Bucky swiftly made their way through the prison floors, quietly knocking out any guard that crossed their path. They came across many empty rooms, some consisting of medical equipment and others just being plain empty.

            A room with a giant tub in the middle of the floor made Natasha silently flinch, water play being one of the few punishments she was weakest at in the Red Room. Along the walls of one room further to the right was chains and shock devices, causing a shiver to run down Steve’s spine. He couldn’t imagine some of the abuse that took place under the governments supervision.

            Finally, after a long trek, they made it to their destination. The steel doors sliding open, bright lights slightly blinding the three Avengers. The sight before them was ghastly. Sam and Clint were the first ones to react, though not by much. Clint’s arm was in a very basic sling, his body covered in bruises and he could barely stand. Sam was on the floor, leg twisted in an unnatural manner.

            Bucky made his way over to Sam, strands of hair falling over his eye. 
“What’d they do to you?” He whispered, not hoping from an answer.
”Tony came to visit... they attacked us after,” he gritted out as Bucky put an arm around his shoulder.
“Yeah... they beat us good,” Clint wheezed out as Natasha checked him over and helped him stand up.

            “They knocked out lil red and Tic Tac too,” Sam forced out as he and Bucky slowly made it to the middle of the room. 
“Get them first,” Clint pleaded as Natasha propped him up against his outer cell wall. “Hey Vision, how are those data files coming along? We may need some help down here,” Steve asked as his comm sprung to life.
“Well if my calculations are correct, then I should have just about everything we will need.”
”Okay. Meet us on the 4th level. We gotta carry Scott out of here.”

            As Sam stated, Scott was laying unconscious on the floor of his cell. Dried blood coated his nose and lips along with a small puddle underneath his head. Scott didn’t move, but the shallow rise and fall of his chest was enough indication that he was alive; Vision carefully cradled Scott to his green chest as Steve placed him in his arms.
“Be careful now, we don’t know what other injuries he might have.”
“Yes Captain,” Vision nodded as he stood off to the side, watching as Steve quickly made it over to the youngest avengers’ cell.

            She was most definitely unconscious, most of her upper body being covered by a thick jacket. Confusion and curiosity over took his senses as he approached the passed out teen, hands reaching to flip her over. He took note of how tangled her hair was and how her toes had begun to turn to a pretty cyan color. He frowned, body parts weren’t supposed to be a pretty cyan color.

            Upon flipping her over, he nearly gasped at her condition. The jacket was a straitjacket and there was a thick black collar engulfing a large portion of her neck. Her face was covered in bruises of various sizes and her lip was busted in two places. The rather thick, line shaped bruise on her cheek is what sent Natasha into a spiral as she could figure what weapon caused that kind of mark, “О, Боже”, she bit back.

            The collar steadily blinked as he wrapped his calloused hands around the back of it, forcefully prying it off the young Sokovian’s neck. The sound of crusted blood ripping off of skin was heard throughout the floor as the collar was tossed across Wanda’s cell. Parts of her neck, especially by the nape of her head, were black and discolored; severe burns causing her skin to peel. The other parts of her neck were less burnt with dried blood all around, with visible needle marks on 3 different points of her neck.

            “It’s a shock collar,” Clint announced to the room as he swayed on his feet a bit.“the needles were probably used to drug her,” Natasha murmured from Clint’s side.
“Hey Buck, can I borrow your shirt? We’ve got get this shit off her,” she whispered as he turned her back into her stomach. Nobody took it upon themselves to call out Cap’s use of the work shit. Compared to the other words they wanted to use, shit was the most mild term for the time being.

           Steve began releasing the straps of the jacket, only to be met with pale, bruised skin. 
“they didn’t even give her a shirt,” he said to himself as Natasha made her way over to switch positions with him. She gently took Buckys shirt from his metal hand and quickly stripped the girl of the jacket, noting how she could see just about every bone and rib in her chest.

            They had to admit Natasha was fast. Wanda was stripped and dressed in Bucky’s shirt before they even had the chance to properly blink. 
“Steve, you carry Wanda. Be careful with her okay.”
“I will do my best Nat,” Steve stated as he began to lead the group out the room with the unconscious girl in arms.
“Did we get them all?” Steve asked Vision as he turned a corridor.
“Unfortunately, Former Secretary Ross and a few others left on a life raft. Almost as if they knew we were coming, sir.”

            “It’s... we’ll deal with that later. For now, we gotta get these guys into the quinjet.”
The rescue team made their way back to the quinjet as quickly as they could, given the current situation; they made it with one minute to spare. Okaye had the jet up in the air less than a minute later, flying fast among the clouds.

            “Lay down,” Bucky softly prodded Sam as he led him into the back with the gurneys and got to work hooking an IV to his hand and to the other former prisoners as well. “There’s morphine and another sedative in there....rest,” was all Steve could tell his team as he went to sit in the front of the plane. Steve let out a deep sigh as he kept his gaze fixated on the floor beneath him. He had no idea this is what they were going through.

            “We should kill them all. burn that place to the ground,” Natasha seethed from her seat next to Steve. 
“We’ll get ‘me Tasha. I promise.”

Chapter Text

            Okoye flew faster than she thought was possible, understanding how dire the situation was without being told. The airship was eerily quiet, save for the shallow breathing of their friends in the back. Many of the ships occupants were lost in thought, wondering how they were going to get Ross and what the specifics of their teammates torture were.

            Leaves colored a vibrant emerald with splotches of chartreuse cut across the horizon, indicating they finally reached their destination. As soon as the airship touched down, medical personnel flooded in to remove the fallen Avengers. Okoye slowly led the remaining occupants of the ship onto the port, with intentions to lead them back to their floor. 
“As of right now, the best course of action is to let the medical professionals perform their job. They will alert you when you are able to visit your friends.”

            “I would advise you to get something to eat and maybe rest. It may be a while before you see them again,” she stated as she pushed open the doors leading to their floor of the building, leaving them alone. They all took residence in the living room, spaced out on the various furniture littering the common area.
“I... it was almost like picking up a piece of paper,” Steve stuttered, referencing Wanda as he looked at the intricate rug on the floor.“Starved, beaten, and who knows what else”, he stated as he stood up, pacing around the room.

            “I won’t be able to sleep, so I’m gonna shower, get the smell of that place off me,” Natasha stood to head towards her shower. The images of Clint with a broken arm, swaying on his feet made her furious. He was a trained spy, some might even add assassin, he was more than used to various forms of torture techniques. She couldn’t imagine the things he had to endure while trying to defend his team. She let the water run down her body as her thoughts ran rampant of the worst case scenarios.

            Steve and Bucky may have only worked with the Ant based superhero once, but they were beyond grateful for him, nonetheless. He did his part in protecting Steve and Bucky as they made their way to the quinjet hangar. Seeing him as anything other than a happy, smiling face was unnerving for the duo.

            It was about 5 and half hours before the small group was called down to the medical wing. Anxiety and fear rolled of the group in large waves as they cautiously trudged down the narrow hallway. Once there, they were greeted by a young, thin woman dressed in traditional, yet somehow modern, Wakandan attire, who stood in the middle of the room. 
“Hello, my name is Shuri. I am King T’Challa’s younger sister, the Princess of Wakanda. My brother told me about the situation. I am... very sorry.”

            The question slipped out before Bucky had a chance to process it, “how old are you? You look like a child. 
“well. If you want to get technical, I guess I am. I’m 18.” 
Steve, Nat, and Bucky’s eyes slightly widened at the revelation: a child overseeing pertinent medical procedures. This place was nuts. 
“I designed most of what you see here in this lab,” she emphasized with a hand flourish of the room, forcing them to look around.

            Everything they saw was way more advanced than anything they had ever seen back home, including Stark’s technology. They immediately turned their attention towards the Wakandan, putting pure faith in her. She led them to a separate floor of the medical unit, before addressing them again. 
“All 4 of your friends have been placed on the same floor to allow for easier access in visiting. The first room on the left belongs to Mr. Wilson, next door to the right is Mr. Lang with Mr. Barton directly across form him, and Ms. Maximoff off to the right.

           “If you’ll please have a seat, I’ll let you know the extent of their injuries, staring with Mr. Wilson first.” The group quickly occupied the seats in the lobby with Vision opting to slightly float off the ground. 
“Mr. Wilson is current being treated for mild hypothermia. His internal body temperature was about 35° C (93°F), which is low but not life threatening. His left fibula and tibia were completely shattered, requiring an internal fixation device. 4 of his ribs were broken who he we stabilized for the time being. He is slightly dehydrated and underweight, at about 72.5 kg (160 pounds), with cuts and bruises covering different areas of his body.”

            “Mr. Lang’s condition was a bit more serious. His nose was broken and he suffered a closed skull fracture. The blood around his head was a result of his nose breaking, not from the head injury itself. He’s suffering from from 7 broken ribs, with two ribs fractured in different places. One of his ribs caused his right lung to collapse, a chest tube was set in place to drain the air from the surrounding area. His skin was red and over sensitive, likely from scalding hot water, but we’re not exactly sure. He was also covered in multiple bruises and contusions and weighs in at 68.9 kg (152 lbs).”

            The 4 Avengers patiently waited for Shuri to continue as they took some time to take deep breaths, mentally preparing themselves for whatever else was to come.“Now Mr. Barton had some fluid in his lungs, not naturally occurring; the foreign substance resulted in him developing a pulmonary edema. We placed him on oxygen and are administering diuretics to help decrease some of pressure caused by excess fluid in his lungs. His current weight is 74.4 kg (164 lbs). His right arm was practically bent in half, his ulna and radius suffered complete breaks. He too had an internal doctor in place to stabilize his bones to allow them to heal correctly.”

            Shuri sighed as she looked at Wanda’s files, willing herself to continue. 
“Ms. Maximoff... uhh Wanda... suffered the most severe injuries, at least physically. She currently only weighs 36.4 kg (80.3 lbs). In terms of bones, she only suffered about 5 broken ribs, which missed all her vital organs. Minor injuries involve a busted lip in two places and a whip mark on the cheek. Now...for her more serious injuries,” Shuri announced as she swallowed thickly.

            “The front of her body is covered in bruises and whip markings, most of them got infected from her uh... “living” condition. We cleaned up a large part of the infected areas but there were some sections that we couldn’t get to, so we put in a stent to drain the remaining infection. Her neck...”
“There was a collar around her neck when we found her. Clint said they used it to shock and possibly drug her,” Bucky chimed in.

            “Mmhm that adds up. We did find high concentrations of Lorazepam and Zolpidem in her system. We cleaned and treated the burn marks on her neck as much as we could since it was quite severe. She was found to be extremely dehydrated resulting in kidney failure. She’s currently getting fluids delivered through an intravenous line until she shows signs of improvement. We put them all in medically induced comas until their bodies show significant signs of healing.”

            “When can we see them?” Bucky asked as they rose form their seats.
“Right now if you would like. However there is one more thing,” Shuri announced, stopping the group in their tracks.
”Wanda seems to have experienced extreme sexual trauma to her genitals. When the medical examiners were removing her pants, they found that she had on no underwear and that there was a trail of dried blood and semen on her inner thighs. A rape kit was performed and the system recovered 5 different sets of DNA... they left her clothes on so that she’d be more comfortable when she comes to...” Shuri finished, her voice becoming strained towards the end.

            “I’m sorry,” she offered with tears pricking the corner of her eyes.
“We’ll alert you when we find anything new,” Shuri said as she dismissed herself. The tension in the room became palpable as heavy sighs and held breaths were released.
“FUCK!” Steve’s shouted as he punched a wall before rubbing his face. It all made him physically ill.
“We looked for months and couldn’t find any signs of them. We... what.... what were we missing?” He cried out as tears fell out his baby blue eyes.

            “Hey, hey, not right now,” Natasha said as she cupped his face in her hands, wiping away the fallen tears. 
“We can cry tomorrow, but right now, we have to stay with the team. They’re here now and so are we. I’ll stay with Wanda, Steve you go with Scott, Vision you will be with Clint, and Bucky is with Sam. If anything happens, we alert each other, okay?”
Bucky and Vision solemnly nodded as Steve continued to stare into Natasha’s eyes.
“Alright Nat,” he wiped his eyes before clearing his throat, back straight as he headed towards Scott’s room.

          Natasha gingerly opened Wanda’s door and peered over arch the girl resting in the bed. Her skin was beyond pale, almost resembling the white hospital sheets covering her body. They stayed true to their word and let her stay in Bucky’s shirt and the worn out prisoner sweats; the tee was practically eating her alive. Natasha wouldn’t have known that that the person lying in front of her was a teenager, if she didn’t already know the young Sokovian. The deep red lashing on her jaw was a stark contrast to the wan skin it rested on.

            A drop of water fell from above. Natasha curiously looked around to find the source of the water droplet, knowing that this place was far too up to date to have leaky pipes. She stared at Wanda as she figured out where the drop had came from- her eyes. More tears slowly made their way down her cheeks before she fiercely wiped them away. She told Steve he couldn’t cry, not yet, so she couldn’t either. She couldn’t cry, no matter how much it physically pained her heart to see Wanda in such a condition.

Chapter Text

           Vision wasn’t entirely sure why Mr. Rogers paired him with the bird based archer, not after their last encounter together. He had a feeling that it was more of a symbolic retribution, although; he didn’t see it as a punishment, per se. However, he would much rather prefer to be with Wanda. He gazed down at the broken man in front of him, not fully comprehending how someone as ordinary yet strong as he, could end up in this position.

           “I am terribly sorry about the previous issues we had during our last interaction with each other. I was just doing what Mr. Stark instructed me to do because he believed it was the best solution to our conundrum. I now see that there was a deeper issue at hand. I understand that there is nothing that I can say that could possibly appease you. Hopefully, just my being here will allow you to see how I truly feel,” he finished as his eyes scanned over Clint’s features.

            Vision uncomfortably sat down in the one, plain but soft, hospital chair in the room. As he patiently waited, he opted to phase out the room for a brief minute to collect some books on human thoughts and emotions; deciding that the best thing for him to do in this moment was to better his knowledge about said topic, or lack thereof. He phased through the room 10feet away, the one containing Sam and James.

            “Mr. Barnes, I wish to acquire some reading materials. Is there anything I can get for you to help with the passage of time?” 
“Just bring me whatever you can,” Bucky softly responded to the synthezoid.
“Maybe some dumbbells would be nice too. Can’t have Sam kicking my ass during sparring.”
“Yes sir,” Vision nodded.
“I prefer if you called me Bucky, but James would be fine too.” 
“Yes sir,” Vision responded once more before departing for Mr. Rogers and Mr. Lang’s current living quarters.

            “Mr. Rogers, it there anything I can get for you to ease your stay in here?” 
“Case files and informational folders. I want to know everything there is to possibly know about the Raft and all those involved,” he quietly fumed from his seat next to Scott.
“Will do, Mr. Rogers.”
Vision floated through the wall once more, heading for his last destination.

            Steve sat with his hand under his chin, staring intensely at Scott, trying to decipher his thoughts. Scott’s wide green eyes filled with awe and respect didn’t catch Steve by surprise the first time they met. He was used to children and adults alike responding to him in that manner; he was Captain America, after all. He was a physical representation of the country’s views on what hope and justice should resembled. What he wasn’t used to however, was other people with superhero advancements or abilities, looking at him with such emotions.

            Others in the field knew that they had a duty to the people they were protecting and were heroes in their own right, not really phased by the sight of meeting new heroes. His childlike innocence and enthusiasm when meeting Steve disclosed just how genuinely human Scott was, a regular guy who had the ability to perform large (and small) feats. He wasn’t sucked into the snobbish air of superheroism just yet. Ross and the few others involved may have gotten away this time but given the opportunity, it would not happen again.

            “Ms. Romanoff, I have already alerted the others of my soon to be departure and have asked them if there was anything they would like in order to occupy their time and their minds. Is there anything that would make the duration of your stay more tolerable?” 
“How about getting the bastards that did this,” she poorly joked as she wiped away a fallen tear before Vision noticed.
“I-I’m sorry but I cannot do tha-“   
“I know... i know. Can you just bring me some books?
“Sure, is there a specific genre you have a preference for or...” 
“No, just bring me whatever.”
Vision solemnly acquiesced to the Black Widow- Natasha’s soft request as he made his way up to procure the items his friends?, requested.

             Time slowly passed as the 3 and a half people waited for some signs of life from the beds they were currently occupying. King T’Challa and a handful of his royal advisors stopped by the next day, inviting the group to the lobby. 
“I come baring gifts. I understand how grave the situation is and want you to feel comfortable while we wait for your friends to heal. I brought each of you enough clothes to last a week, along with a toothbrush, towel, and wash cloth. There is soap and toothpaste in the bathrooms for your use. We also have brought you lunch, although, if you do not feel up to eating, that is fine. If you need anything else, please feel free to ask me or my royal advisors. We will try our best to accommodate your needs,” he declared as they distributed the clothes and toiletries amongst the 4 individuals.

            “Thank you, King T’Challa. We appreciate everything you have done for us so far,” Steve stated as he placed a hand on the King’s shoulder. 
“Of course, it is the least we can do,” he and Steve nodded to each other.
“Well, my friends, my royal advisors and I must be on our ways. We will stop by to visit again soon.”

            Bucky, Steve, Natasha, and Vision did not see each other again afterwards, all too anxious that someone would wake up and find themselves alone. Steve adamantly studied everything in the files that Vision obtained for him, front to back and inside out. If there was any information to as where may have retreated to, he would find it. Bucky stretched and exercised as he patiently waited for Sam to wake up. He would read books and sift the internet when his muscles became too fatigued, exhaustion evident but him strongly fighting against it.

            Vision took to phasing through each room, to check on the team every now and then. He had become a pseudo- caretaker, making sure if they didn’t eat, then they at least stayed adequately hydrated. He also served as a distraction from thoughts, if you will. He would engage Bucky and Steve in idle conversation, hoping to draw their minds away from their ruminating thoughts, at least for a few minutes. Natasha was a bit harder to engage but he still kept persisting.

            A nurse, Adaego, Natasha had learned after seeing her for 3 days, would come and change Wanda’s dressings twice a day. She had come in to replace Wanda’s dressing for the second time that day when Natasha turned her attention towards her, catching her off guard.

            “I wanted to ask you something. There’s no chance that she could be pregnant right?” Natasha asked as she continued to gently stroke the back of Wanda’s hand. 
“It’s highly unlikely considering the... extent of her abuse along with the fact that she was constantly denied hydration and nitrino. Her body could not possibly support another living thing,” she continued, not stopping her ministrations on Wanda’s neck.

            At that, Natasha nodded. She had a strong feeling that what Adaego had said was true. However, with all of HYDRA’S experimentation, Natasha wasn’t quite sure just how far they went to ensure that Wanda became the ultimate weapon. 
“Alright and. Romanoff, I’ll be back in the morning. If you need anything, just press the button, I’ll be here.”
Natasha gave her a small smile as she the kindhearted nurse  exited the room, leaving just her and Wanda again.

            The beeping of the heart monitor provided calming white noise and also let Natasha know that Wanda was still alive; that she was here. Vision knocked, attempting to incorporate the newfound knowledge about common American decency he learned from his book, to the test before completely phasing through. 
“You’re supposed to wait for someone to invite you in first.”
“Oh,” he said as he looked towards the door and back at here, “ I was... it was something new I learned.”
Natasha quietly hummed her response, eyes not leaving Wanda’s face. Natasha was still dressed in the out dirt she wore before coming to the medical wing: comfortable fitting jeans with a stripped shirt and loose cotton jacket over it. Her hair was left free, hanging around her shoulder.

            He glanced over at the little wooden hospital table, the books she asked for were still stacked in the same position as when he brought them to her, 4 days ago. 
“Ms. Romanoff-“     
“How do you address Steve?”
“Mmm I’m sorry?” Vision asked as he cleared his throat. 
“How do you address Steve?” She asked slowly, punctuation every word. 
“I address him as Mr. Rogers.”
“And Bucky?”
“He prefer that I refer to him as James or Bucky.”
“Then just call me Natasha.”
“Yes Ms. Rom- I mean Natasha.”

            Natasha nodded her head with a huff as Vision awkwardly fidgeted across from her.“Maybe you should do something to ease your mind for the time being, read some of the lively books I brought you”   
“No. I dropped the ball once. Not gonna happen again, she shook her head, red hair flying from side to side.
“I’ll ease my mind when she’s awake and she knows she’s safe.”
“Yes well, how about a warm shower?”
“Nuhuh, no.”
“At least make sure you’re eating and staying hydrated, keep up your energy. Wanda would want you to be healthy”, he whispered afraid he was crossing the line.

            “I’ll eat but I’m not leaving her again. I... just can’t,” she stated with a soft but firm voice, determination in her eyes. She was going to wake up with somebody by their side, they all were. And if that meant Natasha had to sit in the same worn out clothes, not moving, just to be by Wanda’s side, then she’d do it.

Chapter Text

            After 2 more days, Sam was the first one to be removed from his coma, to every ones surprise. Steve and Natasha thought Clint would be first, then Sam, Scott, and finally Wanda (or Wanda and then Scott, that one was up for debate). 
“Mr. Wilson has shown significant improvement in terms of increasing his body temperature. We will begin to reduce the amount of drugs he is receiving and he should come around in the next few days,” stated the doctor to the group who were patiently waiting in the lobby.

            Steve let out a deep sigh before Bucky began to speak. 
“1 down, 3 to go,” he spoke as he looked around the room. Determination was set on the faces of everyone in the lobby as they all turned back to their designated partner. Vision had taken to telling Clint about his current team members and how they were faring in this situation. He also verbalized his own thoughts and feelings, trying his best to express these newfound experiences and emotions. It worked well for him because he didn’t have anyone to judge his opinions, which normally wasn’t an ordeal he strongly cared about, but not when he was trying to formulate his thoughts. The idea of being embarrassed about having to convey his emotions made him feel a bit more human though.

            In Scott’s room, Steve would tell stories of his childhood and what it was like growing up in the Great Depression, first hand. When he got tired of talking, he read the government files slowly. He read between the lines, ensuring that he didn’t miss one little detail; anything could be important. Vision would have to coax him to put down the files and take care of himself- eat, drink some water, get a quick nap. He hadn’t said it yet, but he was extremely thankful that he was here. If not for him, Steve would consume himself in his guilt and might have never come back.
     
            Bucky, on the other hand, was a different story altogether. He happily partook in putting down his weights in favor of completing basic life functions. He had enough guilt in him from his previous actions to wash over the city of Manhattan; he didn’t need to bask in any more of it as of right now. With Sam out of the woods, Bucky could relax a bit. They had fought each other and alongside one another for their beliefs, they were friends. Partners at the least. He had to keep his body in peak physical condition, so that he could focus on assisting Sam when he got out the hospital.

            Whenever he visited Wanda and Natasha, Vision made sure he brought a cup of tea and a bottle of water. The water was to keep Natasha hydrated and the tea was supposed to relax her nerves. He would tell her of the new book(s) he read and all the intricate details about them. Vision was an intelligent sentient being but what he knew in knowledge, he lacked in human behavior. Natasha wouldn’t say it, but she enjoyed that Vision took it upon himself to learn how to be more like a real person. Not that he wasn’t, just that there were times where he was unintentionally cold and callous.... reminiscent of a robot, much like Ultron. He was currently describing an incident that took place with him and Tony before he left for Wakanda.

            “Do you feel my interpretations were incorrect in that situation?” 
“No Vision, your thoughts and feelings were valid in that moment. It’s just now you have to see it from his point of view, from his perspective. You were both correct, just a bit stubborn. There is no right answer, you just have to reach a place where there is an understanding.”
“Ah I see. We both expressed our feeling towards the situation, so the only thing left was to reach common ground. Is that correct?” 
“Yes.”  
“I understand. Thank you Natasha.”

            Natasha gravely nodded as she turned back to Wanda, blandly tapping the top of her hand. “Natasha, Wanda is strong. She persevered through the bumbling of her family, through HYDRA’s testing, the death of her brother and the destruction of her country. She will... bounce back better than ever,” he encouraged as he smiled at her.
Natasha smiled back as she stood by Vision’s side. 
“Yeah Wanda is a warrior, she’ll be fine. I’m just... I feel that there was more we could have done to prevent this... all of this,” she said referring to the Raft and the Accords. 
“Yes. However, the past has happened and we can only move forward. There will be repercussions for those accused.”

            Clint’s coma was reversed the next day, approximately 15 hours after Sam. His ribs were set, his lungs were cleared of fluid, and his arm was reset and casted- purple of course. 
“I bet Clint will be the first one to come around,” Natasha quietly joked to Bucky. 
“You’re on doll,” he whispered back with a small smile across his face. 
Steve silently rolled his eyes from Bucky’s right side, those two always have some kind of competition going on. 
“2 more to go,” Bucky smiled.

            On the 7th day in the hospital, Scott was cleared to be relieved from his coma. Steve was a bit apprehensive at first, seeing as how Scott was the only one who suffered head injuries. However, the doctors and nurses assured him that the skull fracture had healed up nicely and should have no long term lasting effects; he might be drowsy and confused when he came to though, nothing permanent. Clint and Sam were both showing signs of coming to: finger twitch here and a toe wiggle there. The bet about who would open their eyes first was still on, with Natasha betting $50 on Clint and Bucky having $60 on Sam. Unfortunately, both men came to around the same time, with both assassins rushing to tell the other.   
“Sam woke up first.” 
“No, Clint was up first. 
“How would you know? You weren’t there?” 
“Steve texted me and then I came out here to tell you.”

            Bucky frowned as Natasha told her side of the events. Sam was up first and he wouldn’t be convinced, otherwise. To settle the score, Vision had both assassins divvy up the pot, with the last $10 being split evenly.” 
“There. Natasha makes a $5 dollar profit while James has experienced a $5 loss. Fair and square,” he stated as he gave each participant their correct amount of money. 
Steve rolled his eyes at his two closest friends, they really had some problems, he thought.

            Wanda, as everybody predicted, was the last one to be cleared from her medically induced sleep, on day 9. Her skin didn’t look as gray and pale and her lips were no longer blue. Her kidneys were slowly responding to the hydration fluids being administered through the IV. Things were slowly looking up for the auburn- haired Sokovian. By the 8th day in the hospital, Clint and Sam were the first two Avengers awake with Scott being awake on the 10th day.

            Natasha carefully crawled into Clint’s bed after getting Steve’s text, her legs softly straddling his waist as she gently brought his head to rest on her chest as she held him close. 
“Hey Tasha, what’d I miss?” his voiced cracked as he struggled to push the sentence past his lips. 
“Clint Barton, you jackass! thank you for keeping them alive” she whispered in his ear, loud enough for only him to hear, as she nuzzled her face in his hair.
“Clint, it’s good to see you buddy,” Steve declared as his hand went for Clint’s shoulder. 
“You guys look like shit,” he jokingly murmured as he tried to sit up. 
“Yeah, well you should see yourself birdbrain,” Natasha retorted, slightly scooting back so Clint could sit up.
“Is... did... is everyone okay?” He questioned, all traces of humor gone from his voice.
“Yeah everybody’s safe now. You guys were all placed in comas, doctors orders, so everyone’s slowly coming around,” Steve informed him.  
“Sam’s awake too, let’s go visit,” Natasha said as she removed her legs from Clint’s waist. Steve rolled Clint’s IV across the hall to Sam’s room, where he was sitting up with Bucky’s assistance.

            “Clint! It’s good to see you again,” Sam smiled. 
Clint returned the gesture as he sat in the chair  next to the bed.
“How ya feelin, Sam?” 
“Trust me, better than I was before,” he gave the occupants of the room a tight smile.  
“Scott and Wanda had their drugs reduced and should be joining us in the next few days,” Natasha stated. It was at that time that Vision knocked on the door. 
“Come in,” Natasha called out.

            “I heard that Mr. Barton and Mr. Wilson are officially mobile again.” 
“Yes, Vision you heard correctly,” Bucky remarked.  
“I just wanted to congratulate the team.”  
Vision turned to Clint, afraid that he still resented him for the fight between them and Wanda. 
“Sup Vision,” he waved to the android.
“Mr. Barton, I am terribly sorry for all the trouble I have caused-“ 
“Don’t worry about it.” 
“What?” Vision asked incredulously. 
“I said, don’t worry about it. What’s done is done, we’re here now. If we’re going to be apart of the same team, the first step is forgiveness. I don’t hate you, so there’s nothing to worry about. No hard feelings man. Vision nodded his head in concentration as he processed Clint’s speech.

            “Okay, Mr. Barton from now on, I’ll do my best for the good of the team.” 
“Good,” Clint nodded.
“Uhm Mr. Rogers, I do have one question about the fate of the team. When everybody wakes up and is well enough to leave, where are we going to go? Surely, the States are out of the question.” 
Everyone in the room turned to Steve, that was a rather important question. They could stay here in Wakanda but traveling together as 8 could prove to be dangerous.

            “I’ve been putting a lot of thought to that. I will see what I can do for us in terms of the distant future, for now, we need to make sure every member of his team is back on their feet before we worry about what’s to come. And when that times does come, we’ll be ready.”

Chapter Text

            A pained groan softly filled the air. One then two. Soon, the rustling of sheets accompanied the sound before a slightly hoarse voice cut through the symphony.“Ughhh, where am I?” He whispered out, carefully opening and closing his eyes, barely adjusting to the brightness that was the room.“Scott... It’s good to see you buddy.”
 “Captain America... Steve... what’s re you doing here? Where are we?” He ground out, trying his best to rub the confusion from his crystal green eyes.

            “We’re in Wakanda. We broke in to the Raft to break you guys out,” Steve simplified. Scott nodded as he took in the information.
“What-what... are... the others okay? Arrow guy... Birdman. What about Wanda? is she okay?” He slowly forced out as he laid his head back onto the pillow, eyes shut.“Everybody suffered extensive injuries of different severities. Sam and Clint are awake, and Wanda is... alive. Your rooms are all in a square so you’re not far from each other. You suffered a skull fracture along with some other injuries,” he stated.

            “Ah man, I remember them ripping me a new one just after Stark left. Did he... send for you?” Scott looked up innocently, hoping that Tony did something morally sound other than for his benefit. 
“He did reach out to me in hopes that I would get you out of that situation,” Steve confirmed.
“oh okay... okay,” Scott nodded once again.“Well I’m glad you did,” he warmly smiled at Steve. 
Steve returned the gesture as they sat in peaceful silence, allowing Scott’s mind time to get up to speed.

            “Wanda... can I see her?”
 “She’s not awake yet, but yeah, if it’ll ease your mind, you can see her.” 
“It will,” Scott said determinedly. 
Steve carefully help him into his feet as they made the short journey to Wanda room. Steve hesitantly knocked on the door before letting himself in, Scott in tow.
“Hey Nat, Scott wanted to see Wanda for himself,” he slowly spoke as Natasha looked up at him from her spot across from Wanda. She silently nodded as she moved to stand at the back of the room with Steve, arms crossed against her chest.

            Scott tenderly peered down at the young Sokovian woman as his hand reached out for hers. It was mostly cold but there was some warmth to it; she was alive. 
“hey lil red. you did good back there, I’m sorry that we- that I, couldn’t do more to keep you safe. you’re a great kid and an even better person, no matter what they said to you back there. you might think you’re a monster but you’re not, Cassie would love to meet you. I’ll stop to see you again when you wake up. you’re great, don’t you forget it.”

            Steve and Natasha did their best to give Scott and Wanda some privacy, but the room was only so big, so they elected to  just tune out the conversation. However, there were bits and pieces that drew back their attention, against their better judgement. Steve was curious as to what Ross and his subordinates had to say towards Wanda, knowing for a fact that none of it was positive or pleasant. The mention of Cassie snapped Natasha out of her trance.

            She knew what is was like to label yourself as a monster and the fear that came with it. Natasha never believed that she could be anything but a cold, calculated killing machine but Clint and Laura changed that for her. They graciously allowed her to be around their kids with no fear or hesitation; something Natasha never would have expected. They saw her for more than what she saw herself as and it was all thanks to their goodwill and generosity that allowed her to change how she perceived herself.

            People usually say that children and animals are a great judge of character. If Scott felt that Cassie would like her, then maybe Wanda would see that she wasn’t as bad as she, and many others, had led her to believe.“I’m going to get some much needed rest. Thank you for letting me see her Natasha, I just... I needed to see her with my own eyes.”“I understand Lang. You go get some sleep, we’ll get you if she wakes up.”
“Thanks,” he smiled.
“Well Lang, let’s get you back to your bed,” Steve declared as he placed a supporting arm underneath Scott’s armpit.

            “Call me if you need me,” he mouthed as he turned to close hospital door. Natasha nodded with her arms crossed as a small smile played across her lips.

           Bright. Sterile were the first things she registered as her eyes peeled open. She didn’t move and barely blinked, afraid that her consciousness would alert the guards, forcing them to storm into her cell. Again. 
“Wanda..” the voice was soft, not like the ones she was used to hearing on the Raft; it sounded vaguely familiar. Yet, she still didn’t react, it could all just be a ploy to get her to let her guard down and strike hard. She continued to stare at the ceiling and its bright white lights, hoping that whoever the voice belonged to would go away, just leave her alone for once.
“Wanda...” they tried again.
“it’s me... Nat.”

            Nat. As in Natasha Romanoff... the red headed Russian spy- her friend and mentor. Wanda’s breathing and heart rate accelerated slightly as she got excited. No, no, this could all still be a trick. Nat wasn’t really here, she couldn’t be, she thought. Wisps of fiery red waves danced along the edges of Wanda’s vision as she continued to deny reality. 
“hey... Wanda.... we’re in Wakanda now. you're not on the Raft anymore, you’re safe,” Natasha whispered out as she moved to completely stand in Wanda’s eye line.

            Wanda’s dull, emerald eyes scanned Natasha’s face for a few seconds, before she shifted her eyes to the wall, refusing to hold Natasha’s gaze. Embarrassment and fear clouded her sight, along with the residual drugs in her system, as Natasha spoke. 
“Me, Steve, Bucky, and Vision recovered you guys from the Raft a little over 2 weeks ago. The medical staff did the necessary medical procedures and placed all four of you in medically induced comas. Sam was removed first, followed by Clint, Scott and then you,” Natasha informed her.

            A lot of information had to be processed and the sooner Wanda found out, the easier all of this would be. Wanda’s eyes displayed a faint shimmer of understanding as Natasha went to reach a hand out, presumably to touch her, before stopping short. 
“The straitjacket and col-lar....” she trailed off, voice cracking on the last word.
Wanda tentatively let her eyes drift downwards, the fact that she was able to see her pale hands proved that she was no longer restrained, no longer on the Raft. She kept her eyes trained on her wan limbs for a few seconds, the fear of being shocked in the forefront of her mind.

            Natasha carefully watched as something along the lines of relief flashed in the teen’s dead eyes as she fixed them back towards the ceiling, yet; she didn’t speak or make a sound. She just continued to stare at nothing, her body slack and her features smooth. 
“I’m going to let the guys know that you’re awake now. this is real wanda, i promise,” she whispered as she glided out the room.

            She knocked on the other three doors, getting the attention of those not bound to a hospital bed. The other two men and synthezoid followed her into the lobby, her arms crossed and eyes brows furrowed.“Wanda’s awake.”
Steve’s eyes softened as Bucky’s mouth went slightly agape.
“That is great. She must have been excited to be rid of that place,” Vision excitedly declared, incorrectly reading the room.
“What’s wrong?” Steve quickly questioned, concern dripping from his voice, as he stepped forward and placed a hand on Natasha’s lower back.

             “I told her where we were and that she was safe, she reacted well to that. It was when I told her about the straitjacket and collar... that was a problem,” she deeply exhaled. 
“She got upset, didn’t she?” Bucky asked. 
“Rightfully so, yes?” Vision curiously questioned.
“She didn’t react at all, not especially. Relief crossed her eyes briefly but other than that nothing. She kept them pointed down at her arms for a couple of seconds before turning them back to the ceiling. Her body was relaxed, in the sense that there was no tension and her face... no emotions.” 
“Nat, there’s a chance she’s still drowsy from the drugs they administered,” Steve stated, partially not believing himself.

            “I don’t know what they did to her in there but she won’t even look me in the eyes, Steve,” Natasha dolefully disclosed. Steve’s hand began to slowly move up and down the spy’s back, trying to softly console her as he faced his team. This was one of the few times that Natasha let such a large group of people see her in such a vulnerable state, the situation to distressing for her to try and successfully hide her emotions.

           Steve let out a sigh as he surveyed the room. Sadness, anger, fear, confusion, sympathy, and a plethora of other emotions were tangible as he looked at the grim faces of those he cared for. The mixture of emotions made him nauseous as he didn’t know what he could do to possibly alleviate his team’s anxieties- his friends, his family. For once, he didn’t have a speech for the moment, he just let the deafening silence say what it needed to say. 

            Steve closed his eyes and inhaled deeply for a minute before setting them back in his friends. He didn’t want to do have this discussion but he knew it would have to happen eventually. 
“I think... we need to watch the footage if we want to know what truly happened.”
“Steve.. we can’t... we can’t do that,” Natasha leaned her head against Steve’s broad chest as she muttered against it.
“It would be ethically wrong to do so Mr. Rogers,” Vision chimed in.
“In order to figure out what evidence we have against Ross, we need to view the security videos. Now, I don’t necessarily want to either but one would argue that it’d be morally wrong for us not to,” Steve concluded.

            The small group quietly debated amongst each other about what they felt was the right protocol for addressing this issue before a soft voice diverted their attention. “When?” Bucky inquired, breaking apart the  somewhat hostile conversation.
“When what?” Natasha asked, knowing what he was referring to but wanting to her it explicitly stated.
“I believe James is referring to the downloaded data,” Vision stated as he looked into Steve’s stormy blue eyes. 
“When would we look at the evidence?” Bucky clarified. 
“We can do it tomorrow, after they go to sleep. Is everybody okay with that?” 
           
            A chorus of “yes” and “mhm” rang through the enclosed hospital lobby as the resolution was made. They were going to watch the videos- no matter how disheartening the idea was for them.

Chapter Text

            Scott, Sam, and Clint made valiant efforts at self rehabilitation. They would leave their beds to walk around the floor, trying to exercise their atrophied leg muscles; with the exception of Sam, who was currently using crutches at the moment to get around. They would lightly joke and banter with each other before going to bed, to do it all over again the next day.

            Wanda, on the other hand, made no such efforts of trying to move around. Natasha would’ve assumed that Wanda was still in a coma if she wasn’t their to experience the girl coming to. Natasha was still just trying to get the thin girl to look her in the eyes and keep her gaze for more than a second. She knew that everyone wanted to see Wanda, but Natasha knew that Wanda wasn’t ready for that. She was barely comfortable enough with Natasha, someone she considered a close friend. Natasha wasn’t going to leave her side though.

           “wanda, I can see you fighting the meds. just close your eyes and sleep, okay? i promise I’ll be here when you wake up”, Natasha sweetly whispered as she tried to coax the young Avenger to go to sleep. Wanda was tired but wouldn’t sleep on her own so Natasha had Adaego drug Wanda whenever she needed her to rest. Natasha didn’t need it to be comfortable however, she just  we’d it to be restful enough to eliminate some of those deep, dark bags underlining the child’s eyes.

            Once Wanda was effectively asleep, Natasha made her way out the room and down the hall. Today was the day that they were going to watch the surveillance videos. She wasn’t sure what she was going to see but she hoped that of all the things they were going to witness today, Wanda’s assault wasn’t    one of them.

            King T’Challa organized a small, makeshift conference room 2 levels across from the medical wing. There were two tv screens, a monitor, a large square table with chairs, and a fridge for drinks and snacks. Bucky, Steve, and Vision were already seated at the table as she entered. Steve sadly stood up to greet her first.

            “Natasha-“
“Let’s just get this over with,” she brusquely cut him off as she brushed past his shoulder. It wasn’t him that she was mad at, it was the situation itself. She was mad at Tony, she was mad at the Accords, she was mad at Ross, and more importantly, she was mad at herself. Who was she kidding? She should’ve been by their side, defending their actions to Ross and the council. Or at least assisted them in hiding, she did have the most experience with that after all.

            Vision started the security footage at the earliest dated time, the day they were all detained. They watched in silence as Clint, Sam, and Wanda, who were all handcuffed, were dragged off the plane and pulled onto the Raft. Scott wasn’t too far behind, his unconscious form being dragged by one of the taller guards by his wrists.

            The 3 male prisoners were placed in one room together, guards surrounding the area. Once together, they were herded into another room, one containing a multitude of shower stalls. Forced to stand feet apart and hands on the wall, Sam and Clint were hosed down with a strong cleaning agent; a disinfectant spray of some kind. As they were sprayed, they were “advised” to remove their clothing and searched for any hidden weapons, a violation that Team Cap made note of in their evidence file.

            Sam and Clint fought every step of the way before essentially being slammed into the wall behind them with such force that their eyes rolled around in their head for a bit. Before Clint knew it, his body was thrown against the wall again, his head cracking against it as it made contact. Black and white dots peppered their vision as two burly guards chuckled at their misfortunes, chucking them into their open cells. Scott, who was still unconscious, was unceremoniously flung onto his cell floor as the cell doors slammed shut.

            Wanda was led to a separate room a little further down the corridor. She was scared, exhausted, disoriented, and most of all, confused. A medium- sized ball of red magic shot across the room, hitting 3 oncoming guards. Another smaller, but weaker ball was seen flying across the opposite end of the room, knocking two more guards on their back. Steve internally smiled to himself as he watched Wanda defend her person. That joy was short lived however, when two of the burly guards she had previously knocked down, attacked the girl from behind, forcibly wrapping that thick, black collar around her unsuspecting neck.

            Wanda clawed and scratched at the foreign object tightly clamped around her neck. The group watched in slight disgust as the the blunt end of a guard’s gun came in contact with the back of her skull; effectively  knocking her unconscious, her limbs going limp. Steve drew in a silent breath as he continued to watch on, if he didn’t want to stop before, now was definitely the time.

            “What a FUCKING animal!” Spit one of the guards, a female. Vision frowned, there may have only been one female prisoner but there should have been at least one more female guard assigned to look after Wanda. 
“Strip her and dress her boys!” The female guard commanded. Wanda was aggressively stripped of her corset and leather pants and involuntarily had her arms placed, yanked would be a better term, into a straitjacket. The tension in the straps indicated that the jacket was pulled close too tightly for the teen but it was obvious no one in the room cared about that little fact.

            Steve and Bucky did their best to avert their gaze when Wanda was being roughly undressed; it wasn’t that they were prudes or the fact that they were from the 1940s. As her teammates, they felt that they needed to give Wanda the same respect that they would give any of their other older and/or  male companions. She was young and didn’t consent for her nude body to be viewed by the team, and even though they had to watch the surveillance footage, they still had to be respectful.

            Wanda’s, now clothed, lifeless body was eventually hauled into one of the cells, front and center of the guys. Clint shouted at the guard as Wanda’s body crumpled to the ground. It was already clear to the group from the early stages of the video that Wanda was already being treated more like an animal than a person. The guard sneered at Clint as he raised his heavy black boot, stomping it into Wanda’s back. Clint let a string of curse words fall from his lips as he watched the guard storm out.

            “Vision..uh...skip ahead during long hours of inactivity,” Bucky scratched out.
“Yes, James,” Vision nodded as he did what he was instructed. The video jumped ahead 13 hours before the small group saw any movement. Wanda’s head shot up from the ground as she scrambled into a sitting position, still disoriented from the day’s  previous events.
“Wha..what hap-“   
Before anyone knew it, a loud, shrill scream pierced through the video as Wanda’s body violently convulsed on the ground.

             Steve turned his head down but still allowed his eyes to focus on the sight in front of him, they couldn’t afford to miss one detail about the abuse endured. Natasha and Bucky stared at the screen with no visible emotions; they knew what it was like to be tortured and abused at the hands of others. They all watched helplessly as Wanda’s toes began to curl underneath herself, the screams never ceasing.

            The slamming of a door signaled the arrival of guards on the floor. Clint shouted through the whole ordeal, confused and angry as to why Wanda was being restrained with a straitjacket and dog collar. The group knew he had to have one hell of a headache, yet Sam was seen on his feet attempting to defend Wanda. 
“Why’s she chained up like that?!”- Clint  
 “She’s just a kid!”- Sam

            Tears streamed down Wanda’s face as the aftereffects of the electricity continued to shake her worn out body. A stocky, but medium sized guard, stomped his way over to Wanda, sneering at the girl as he grabbed at her throat. The foursome watched in vain as Wanda made futile attempts to fight back, her feet swinging in the air. 
“The government was scared of you? What a bunch of fucking idiots,” he laughed as he slammed Wanda’s head into the wall.

            Wanda said down the concrete panel and squealed in pain as a boot collided with her stomach, knocking the wind out her lungs. Kick after kick kept coming until the guard finally decided to exit the cell. Wanda’s face was covered in a mixture of tears and blood as the gash on her eyebrow dripped downwards. She didn’t speak as she pulled her legs into herself, trying to take calming breaths.

            Bucky glanced over at Steve as he saw him exhale deeply before rising from his chair. They had only seen footage from the first two days of captivity-they still had 5 months to get through, and they were already sick to their stomachs. Natasha was beginning  to get a sense of why Wanda was so reluctant to allow herself to feel safe. After what she endured for the last 5 months, it would take a lot more than just comforting words to make her secure in her surroundings.

Chapter Text

            The tape continued to play in the back as Steve gently paced around the floor. Clint’s voice could be heard reassuring the abused teen, advising her to follow his breathing. Tears still streamed down Wanda’s face as she complied to Clint’s request, her breathing eventually steadying out. Bucky’s stood up to take residence by Steve, his metal hand coming to rest on his right shoulder. Steve nodded, knowing what Bucky’s quiet gesture meant and took a quiet seat back in his chair. Bucky chose to stand behind him as they continued to watch the screen(s) at the front of the room. Wanda may have followed Clint’s orders but she didn’t move from her spot in the floor.

            The groggy sounds of Scott eventually made its way through the room. He looked around blearily before licking his parched lips,  attempting to speak. 
“Wha-wha... where are we?”
 “The Raft. A super maximum security prison for those with “enhanced capabilities,” Sam answered from his position on his cot.
“Oh.... how did I get in these clothes?” Scott questioned as he grabbed at the uncomfortable fabric shrouding his body.   
 “They took it upon themselves to dress you in the school uniform,” Clint stated as he eyed Wanda.

            The free four kept their eyes glued to the screen, analyzing each person individually. Save for the few cuts and scratches they acquired the past couple of days, they seemed to be doing fairly well, in terms of their physical physical and mental condition.   
            4 guards stormed onto the floor, forcing each cell open before stepping in. Sam, Clint, and Scott’s hands were forced against their back, handcuffed, and pulled onto their feet.  They watched as Wanda was hoisted up by the jacket straps and dragged behind a muscular guard. They were each led into a sterile, medical room. Natasha’s nose scrunched up when she saw the multitude of equipment and the vast amount of white coats idly standing in the room.

            The monitor split into 4 screens, displaying each ex-Avenger with a medical professional standing before them. The same speech was heard across all 4 screens at the same time. 
“You’re going to be put through a series of tests that will determine your endurance and stamina. And if you choose not to participate... we’ll find a way to change your mind. Understand?”
           
            Clint grunted as his cuffs were removed. Sam let out an annoyed scoff as he shook his head; both their muscles were tense, but as long as they weren’t harmed, they wouldn’t try anything. Scott surveys the room with extreme apprehension as he listened to the speech being read to him.

            Basic health information about each “patient” was stated out loud such as name, age, blood type, along with other pertinent information. All four of them completed the same standard routine with some variance in Wanda’s case: blood work, basic physical, and stamina determination.

            Wanda’s testing, however,  went a bit differently.  Not trusting the teen enough to not lash out, they kept her in the jacket as they performed their tests. They modified their procedures accordingly: they drew blood from the top of her foot and checked her heart  rate with a stethoscope. After extensive testing, the men were able to return back to their cells. They watched with surprise as Wanda had a needle shoved in her face by the guard that led her to the testing room.

     “Now for the final portion of your exam,” stated a nerdy male doctor. Everyone looked on in disgust as Wanda’s pants were once again yanked off her body as she was slammed onto an exam table that was connected to a monitor in the back of the room. She struggled against the guards and table but was quickly quieted with a strong punch to the face, resulting in what would soon be a black eye.

            They all feared for the worst as Wanda was left hurt and vulnerable in a room with too many people that had other interests at heart. Bucky and Steve grimaced as a probe looking device was shoved between the teen’s legs, who squirmed uncomfortably from the intrusion. 
“Natasha... what are they doing to her?” Vision asked, not quite sure what exactly was happening to his friend.
“I... I don’t know,” she honestly answered.

            There was a small part of her that was relieved that Wanda wasn’t going to be raped on her third day in prison. However, there was another part of her that was still just as outraged as she didn’t know what they were currently doing to her. The lack of knowledge was pissing her off. The medical team conducting the experiment nodded to each other and recorded the appropriate data on their clipboard before removing the probe-looking tool. The long but thin needle was plunged into her thigh as a clear liquid was injected, Wanda grunting out in the process.

             Now everyone in the room was confused; the mysterious liquid didn’t sedate Wanda or even knock her out. She was redressed and led to a corner of the room that contained cages of multiple sizes and was shoved into one of the larger ones. For the next 11 days, the series of tests progressed with Wanda still being isolated from her friends and injected with a clear liquid. Halfway through testing, on day 5, Wanda was injected with another liquid, in addition to the one she was already forced to take.

            Wanda was consistently being monitored for any side effects or changes, the only major symptoms were nausea and a large skin rash around the injection site. On day 13, Wanda was injected with another medication, for 3 total, as doctors paced around her, marking their boards once again. There was no significant movement so Vision skipped the video ahead 36 hours, where they witnessed Wanda being sedated and placed on an exam table again. The procedure was essentially the same as the first time, with the teen’s pants removed and legs placed in stirrups.

            The main difference however, was that there was a different device being used. A very fine needle like apparatus with a clear tube attached was gently guided into Wanda’s vagina. The needle was displayed on the monitor in the testing room, along with it was Wanda’s ovaries. Test tubes connected to the clear tubing were beginning to fill with a reddish- pink liquid before being replaced by another tube. A total of about 6 tubes were filled before the doctor were satisfied.

            “What are they doing?” Bucky questioned as he stared at the screen in wonder. 
“It seems as if-“ Vision started.
“they took her eggs!” Natasha gasped out as her eyes grew wide in realization.
“Those fucking bastards stole her eggs!” She announced as she rose to her feet.
“I- but what reason would they have for that?” Steve asked, looking puzzled as he paused the screen.
“It’s the government. If they fertilize her eggs with another enhanced individual, let’s say a super soldier,” Natasha’s started, “then-“    
 “Then they can create their own fully enhanced army, filled w people with extraordinary abilities.” 
“Owned by the government and free to work under government law.”

            The realization shifted the tone of the room to one of unsettlement.
“Steve, did you find anything pertaining to their testing and/or experiments when you were going over the case files?” Natasha asked as she placed her arms on the table to steady herself, though, the others didn’t know.  
 “No but there were some encrypted data files. I’m sure with Vision’s help, we should be able to unencrypt the data,” Steve declared as he looked at the the screen, dumbfounded. Natasha nodded, heading towards the door to leave.
            “Hey Natasha, where are you going?” Bucky asked as he reached out to grab her arm.
“We’ve been in here for 9 hours. I promised Wanda I would be in the room when she woke up and that’s a promise I intend to keep,” Natasha stated as she peered into Bucky’s ocean blue eyes.

            She gently slipped her arm out his grasp so she could go be with Wanda. She was still sleeping quietly when Natasha entered the room. Natasha ran a hand through her hair and lazily scratched her scalp, tears forming at the edge of her eyes. They now a little over the first two weeks of captivity and they didn’t know what to do. Every time they thought they were prepared, something new blew that expectation out the water for them. Natasha’s strong, green eyes raked over Wanda’s body, sadness and anger rising in her throat.

            She did what she did best and compartmentalized those feelings somewhere deep inside herself. She wasn’t sure if Wanda would, but she didn’t need her seeing that in her mind, not yet. When the time came, they could talk about it, but for now; she would let it simmer. Natasha quietly wondered if Wanda knew or remembered them performing that procedure on her, it was invasive in both senses of the word.

            If they didn’t have to see the rest of the footage, then Natasha would be happy. But even she knew that wasn’t an option. They needed answers and they needed proof of Ross’ inability to conduct government business legally. Natasha reluctantly let her eyes drift close as her eyelids began to droop. She had been neglecting her health since, well forever, but more so since they’d all been in the hospital. As long as she was in the room with Wanda, she wasn’t breaking any promises, she reassured herself.

            After what felt like minutes but was more likely two hours, Natasha heard a heavy knock on the door. She groggily straightened her back and rose  to answer it, noting that Wanda was awake and had probably been for some time now. To no ones surprise, Sam, Clint, and Scott stood on the other side, waving as they met Nat’s eyes. She had been trying to keep them out for the past few days, figuring Wanda didn’t want to see any men just yet.

            “Hey Nat,” Clint smiled as he kissed her cheek and gently pushed past her, widening the door for the rest of his friends.“What do you want Clint?” She bit back, not intending to sound so harsh.
“We’re here to see Wanda. Hey kid,” he greeted as he walked up to her with a warm smile.
“And you two?” She questioned, arms across her chest.
“We’re here to see Lil Red, too.” Sam grinned as he hobbled behind Clint. 
 “We just wanna make sure she’s okay. Or... as okay as okay as she can be in this situation. We just missed her,” Scott stated endearingly.

            Wanda wouldn’t want to see them, not after everything, right? Natasha questioned as she took a seat in the back corner of the room. Oh how wrong Natasha was. Even though there was no frigidity in Wanda’s body, she still seemed to visibly relax when either Sam, Clint, or Scott were nearby. Natasha’s eyes hardened and the corner of her lips barely turned downwards as she watched the interaction in front of her. She wasn’t sure what emotion she was displaying but Clint would be able to, if her were paying her any attention.

            The ghostings of a smile danced on Wanda’s pale pink lips as she listened to her friend’s animatedly tell her a story. She didn’t have to speak or respond, they just seemed to know what she was saying. Natasha longed for the days when she was Wanda’s comfort; especially after Pietro’s death or after a terrible night riddled with nightmares. Natasha stayed in the back, letting the 4 have the room.

             She quietly listened as they conversed about things of little value, but that didn’t seem to be an issue for the ones engaged in the conversation. In fact, they seemed to welcome it by continuing to expand on the mundanity of the discussion. Wanda’s eyes jumped from person to person, her eye contact being the equivalent to her participation. But then something happened: peridot eyes meet emerald greens. If only for a brief second. Natasha perked up slightly at the interaction, waiting to see if she did it again.

            One would assume it was by accident. That Wanda just so happened to glance at Natasha while trying to make eye contact with Sam, who was physically the furthest away form her. If she were a regular civilian, she would’ve missed it; but she was Natasha Romanoff, deadly assassin and spy, she didn’t miss anything.

Chapter Text

            Two days later, a strange male, that neither Natasha nor Wanda had never seen before, entered the room. His skin was a alluring deep mocha color which beautifully paired with the magenta scrubs he was currently adorning. His light brown hair was fashioned into dreadlocks, his eyes seemed kind and he didn’t appear to be any taller than 5’10. If Natasha was a regular person, she might even think he were cute.

            Wanda nervously flicked her eyes towards Natasha once, indicating that she didn’t trust this new person in the room.“Hello. Where’s Adaego?” Natasha inquired, subtly placing herself between Wanda and the man.
 “Yes, hello. My name is Einraig and I will be replacing Adaego for the week; she is assisting in the Imbeleko of the River Tribe. It is a sacred tradition and only the most trusted nurses are allowed to attend. I won’t be here long. She told me to change your neck bandages and relay some important information to the both of you,” he warmly smiled from the door, his accent dripping with comfort.

            Natasha hummed a response as she let her spy training kick into gear. They were in Wakanda, so if the government were trying to hurt them then they couldn’t do it here; not with King T’Challa in charge. However, if it were a disgruntled citizen looking for revenge... they could easily slip into the hospital. Natasha wouldn’t say it but... any of these scenarios were definitely plausible.

            She turned her attention towards Wanda, thoughts and scenarios still running rampant as she focused on her protégé, effectively placing her body as a barrier between Wanda and the new visitor.  
“Ванда, я позволю ему сделать свою работу. Это нормально? (Wanda, I’m going to let him do his job. Is that okay?)” she whispered, falling back into her mother tongue for privacy. Verdant green eyes searched for large pale, virescent ones.
“Я буду здесь. Ты не обязан мне доверять, а просто вери, что мои намерения верны. (I’ll be here. You don’t have to trust me but just believe my intentions are true.”  
 With the furrow of her eyebrows, Wanda cast her expression up towards Natasha, holding her gaze for a lingering second.

            It was all Natasha needed to know before continuing. 
 “She’s ready, just... be gentle,” Natasha implored. Einraig held his smile as he nodded at the two women. Natasha watched over his shoulder as he performed his ministrations, eyes bouncing to Wanda’s every minute or so. He performed his job with ease, his fingers barely ghosting along the sensitive skin that was currently Wanda’s neck, being gently like Natasha requested. A kind smile graced his cheeks once again as he completed his task, turning back to face the woman that was breathing over his neck the whole time.

            “Her neck seems to be healing quite well. However, in time with the proper care and nutrients, it should heal with minimal scarring.” 
Natasha nodded as she stood by the head of Wanda’s bed, desperately wanting to reach out and stroke the young women’s hair. For her ... for Wanda’s comfort. 
 “Now,” he clapped, “on to more important things. Since you’ve been here, you’ve been making small strides towards regaining your health. Adaego feels that if you can start walking around and use the restroom free of catheter, then you’ll have a chance of being discharged soon,” he informed Wanda. 
 “We know that currently, time is not your “best friend” as they say,” he stated, directing that statement towards the spy.

            Natasha’s jade eyes enlarged in realization; they could leave. Not that she wasn’t appreciative for everything King T’Challa and all the Wakandans had done for them; she just didn’t like that they had been sitting ducks for weeks. She turned to Wanda, easily picking up on the anxious expression in her doe eyes. Natasha gave her a reassuring smile as Einraig exited the room.

            “I feel that’s very feasible. Do you think that’s something you want to attempt today?” She questioned in an even tone, although her eyes conveyed the slightest bit of hopefulness, against her better judgement. Soft green eyes blearily blinked back with no discernible emotion. 
 “Uhh how about this. Blink once for “yes” and twice for “no”.
A minute passed with no changes in either woman’s expressions; Natasha hopeful for something beyond and Wanda fearful of what was to come.

            Natasha internally was ready to sit back, giving the teen as much time as she needed, when a quick blink caught her peripheral. 
 “Are you sure?” She asked, voice laced with concern.
Wanda didn’t make eye contact but she did blink again, answering the woman’s question. Natasha’s ear visibly perked up as she saw the slow, deliberate twitch of Wanda’s muscles as she forced herself to sit up.
 “Do you want some help?” Natasha inquired with her arms out, trepidation evident in her statement. She internally berated herself for outwardly showing such a strong negative emotion; Wanda didn’t need pity so she wasn’t going to give it.

            The foreboding feeling that she would be shocked for unlawful movement or that she was about to be bum rushed by guards radiated in the forefront of Wanda’s mind, briefly halting her actions. The young Sokovian swayed on her feet a bit, her legs shaking like that of a new born baby deer. She lightly gripped the metal frame of the bed as she walked away, her movements messy and sluggish. She rapidly blinked twice at the question as she steadied herself, refusing Natasha’s awaiting arms; touch was something she was didn’t want for the time being. The bathroom was only 20 steps away, however, Wanda only made it to 10 before her muscles gave out and she collapsed in on herself, falling to the floor. Natasha was by her side, concern momentarily flashing across her face.

            Wanda’s breathing was heavy as she stayed on the floor, Natasha kneeling with her. She made no attempts at touching her or trying to help her up which Wanda was more than grateful for. They stayed on the ground until Wanda’s muscles stopped screaming at her for overexerting herself. When ready, Wanda faltered back into bed, slightly laying on her right side, gaining a better view of the door. Natasha gave an encouraging smiles as she pulled the blankets further on Wanda’s thin frame.  
 “You did a great job. Maybe we’ll get out of here sooner than we think,” she beamed at the tired teen.

            For the first time in weeks, Wanda fell asleep without the use of drugs, her body overtired from all the physical exertion she forced upon it. Natasha watched the young Avenger sleep for a few minutes before stealthily slipping out the door, wanting to speak with her other friends residing on the hospital floor. She knocked on the other three doors and patiently waited in the lobby for everyone to greet her.  
 “Nat, what’s going on? Is everything alright?” Steve groggily inquired as he rubbed the sleep from his face.
 “Uhh... Wanda has a temporary nurse who informed us that if she can complete a few small tasks, then she’ll be cleared for discharge,” she announced to the semi- large group.

            “That’s great,” Steve brightly smiled as he wrapped Natasha in a bear hug, kissing the crown of her head, earning a chuckle form the red head. 
 “If I may ask, what kind of tasks?” Vision politely inquired, raising a hand in the air.
 “Being able to move on her own and using the bathroom without assistance,” she replied as a tiny smile danced on her lips.
 “Well then that brings up that important question: What are we going to do when she’s well enough to be discharged?” Sam asked as he looked around the room.
 “Yeah, what’s the plan Cap?” Clint called out from behind Scott.
 “We’ve been fortunate so far in that we’ve been able to wait at the hospital until everyone’s gotten better. But I don’t think we’re going to be lucky for much longer,” Bucky declared, his hips rocking from side to side.

            “I agree, we have been lucky that we’ve been able to stay concealed for as long as we have. With that being said, you should have a definite answer at the end of the week. Nat and I will work on organizing a few plans for our next move, now that our stay here is coming closer to the end,” Steve disclosed as he gauged the room for reactions. Everyone seemed to be on board as they said good night and headed for their rooms, save for Steve, who was pulled back into Natasha by his wrist.

            Unease creased his brows as azure eyes peered into emerald orbs.  
 “Are you okay? Did I upset you? You don’t have to help with-“   
 “Wanda communicated with me today,” she brightly answered as a giant smile painted itself on her face while she danced on the balls of her feet.
 “She spoke to you?” He asked as he scratched his head, confusion entwined with his words. 
 “No, she didn’t communicate verbally. We kind of established a system; when asking her a question, one blink of the eyes means yes and two means no. I asked her three questions and she responded to each,” she quietly beamed, aware that the others were trying to sleep. 
 “It’s not much but it’s more than what it was before,” she gently whispered.

            Steve pulled her in for a hug as he tenderly kissed her on the lips. Natasha happily returned the gesture as she rested her head in his chest.  
 “It doesn’t matter if it was grand or not. She’s starting to open up to you again, that’s amazing,” he enthusiastically broadcast as he tightly squeezed, making Natasha giggle.
 “She’s asleep right now, but we can discuss what to do next tomorrow. Sleep well Rogers,” she whispered as she pulled away from his grasp.
 “You too, Romanoff,” he sweetly smiled as he headed back into Scott’s hospital room.

            Natasha crafted a mental checklist as she lay in the small hospital cot that fashioned as her bed, for the time being. Wanda currently needed to focus on walking and using the bathroom without help from a catheter, that she would be able to do. However, there were a plethora of other things she would eventually have to work through such as eating and communication, for example. Natasha had momentarily ignored the way Wanda froze in place as her feet came in contact with the ground. She also didn’t fail to notice how the teen’s arms stayed wrapped around her midsection as she staggered forward. Wanda still wasn’t holding Natasha’s eyes for more than a second but she was now effectively communicating back with her, so for Natasha, it was a win all the same.

Chapter Text

          Natasha sat in the uncomfortable medical chair tapping away on a tablet. It had been two days since the nursing staff said that if Wanda accomplished those two small goals then they could be released. Natasha was working hard with Steve to figure out what everyone was going to do once they left Wakanda, seeing how close that opportunity was approaching. Natasha and Clint had a few safe houses established in various countries around the globe, the main issue arising was trying to figure out which one to occupy first.

            As for the surveillance watching, the group unanimously agreed to place that on hold as their primary objective was to focus on securing new fake identities, with a little silent help from Fury, to travel with. Natasha and Steve had their set identities, a husband and wife with Wanda playing their teenage daughter. As for the other 4, nothing was concrete as of yet.

            With the sun setting in the sky, Steve found himself wandering the medical hall, checking in on his friends as he liked to do often. He stopped at a door, knocked 2 times and waited for the appropriate response before entering.
 “Hey Clint, what are you up to?” He calmly asked, stealing a seat against the wall.
 “Man, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought and I think my journey with you guys has come to an end. Ive decided to go back to the States- take a plea-bargain.”
 “Clint...”                                                   
 “I don’t know how long we plan to be on the run but my wife is pregnant and due any day with our third child. I should use this time to be home with my family,” Clint remarked, stretching his limbs as he conversed with Steve, who encouragingly nodded as a way of assuring he was listening.

            “I’m hoping they put me on house arrest. I could do some work around the farm, be with the kids and Laura... it’s not gonna be too bad...” he trailed off. 
 “As much as I hate that you’re leaving us, I agree you should go be with family while you can. You did your part with the Accords and I appreciate that. I just want to say thank you and best of luck,” giving a tiny lopsided smile.
 “Yeah looks like I’m officially going into retirement,” he sighed. “Cap, if you ever need me for the kid or for anything else, I’ll find my way back,” Clint warmly smiled. Steve sadly returned the gesture, understanding Clint’s need to be with his family in such a crucial moment.
 “So when are you planning on leaving?” Steve questioned.
 “As soon as they get this cast off me...I can do “therapy” at home,” he brushed off.
 “So about two weeks time?” Steve clarified, wanting to get a rough estimate of when Clint would split away form the group.
 “Yeah. And don’t worry, I’ll tell the kid myself,” Clint stated, reaching for a book to read as he got comfortable in bed.
 “I’ll leave you to it then. I’ll see you later, rest easy Clint.”
“Will do Star-Spangle,” Clint dismissed with a nod.

           Steve made his way to Scott’s room next, his mind still lingering on Clint’s decision.
 “Hey Cap, don’t be mad at me but I’m going home. Don’t get me wrong, all of this... I appreciate you for rescuing me but this is too much. I know I technically signed up for this when I agreed to fight against the Accords but I... I wanna be home with my daughter,” he softly ranted, apprehension becoming visible in his expression.  
 “Hey, hey, hey,” Steve started, “I’m not angry. As a matter of fact, Clint decided that he was going to take a break from this superhero stuff to go home and be with his family too. I know we got you guys out of the Raft but it’s also our fault that you were stuck there in the first place, don’t feel obligated to stick around just because of that. If you have prior obligations, go ahead, go be with your family. This isn’t for everyone and you shouldn’t have to choose. Just know since you fought with us, you’re an official Avenger. If you need us for anything, call and we’ll be there. You’re a part of this team and we won’t let you forget it,” he finished with a satisfied smile.

            Scott warmly beamed before dropping his head down, his expression quickly morphing into one of anguish. 
 “I- what about Wanda? How’s she gonna take it?” He whispered, feeling selfish and guilty for leaving her unexpectedly.
 “You and Clint should go together, tell her at the same time to make it easier. She’s already gone through a lot, we can only try to soften the blow at this point,” Steve attempted to rationalize.
 “I want to tell her today... if only- just to get it over with.”
 “You should discuss that with Clint. I’m going to talk to Sam and Buck to get a visual of their headspace. If you need anything, you know where to find me,” Steve disclosed reaching for the door knob.

           As Steve migrated from room to room, he let his thoughts run rampant and intertwine. In a matter of 10 minutes, they went from trying to find security for 8 people to 6. He would never admit it aloud but it would be easier to move around with fewer bodies, they were walking a fine theoretical line attempting to travel with a large party. As he entered his third destination, Bucky and Sam were together, making the conversation easier to conduct. 
“So, I’ve just been informed by Scott and Clint that the two of them plan to split away from the group to be with their families. Natasha is currently trying to secure at least 2 safe houses within the same vicinity so we have easy access to one another. With all they being said, are you two still on board with traveling together as a group?”

            Bucky was the first to jump at the question, exhaling deeply as he felt the cool metal of his hand brush against his scalp. 
 “I’m gonna stay here in Wakanda for a little while longer. I think it’ll be good for me.”   
 “How come? Wasn’t the HYDRA brainwashing program successfully deactivated?” Sam curiously inquired.
 “Yes but... I’m not ready yet to be out there where there’s a chance I could still be manipulated. I don’t trust myself to not hurt those around me. I want to stay here for a while until I’m sure I’m cured and when I’m ready, I’ll meet up with you guys,” he responded surely.
Steve nodded as he felt the faint tingling of tears threatening to pick the corner of his eyes.

            “I understand Buck. You have to do what you have to do,” Steve tenderly patted his shoulder, acknowledging that Bucky needed to feel comfortable enough with himself so he could enjoy his freedom, however limited it was. 
 “What about you Sam? You have any qualms about being on the run?”
 “Well seeing as how I can’t exactly run right now, I don’t mind being stuck with you and the Widow and witch for a while,” he smirked as he hobbled around the room.
 “How long before you get your cast off?”
 “They say about another 4 weeks but I think I can get it off in 3,” Sam slyly grinned.
 “You keep telling yourself that Sam,” Bucky playfully rolled his eyes.

            “Now about this being on the run thing? Who am I gonna be in relation to you? Cause we can’t be brothers, I think I’m too handsome for people to believe that,” Sam easily joked. 
Steve and Bucky couldn’t suppress a chuckle they sat back in the cold, unforgiving medical chairs.
 “I think Nat has a plan for that. You just focus on getting that leg well enough to walk again. Not that it matters, you’ll still be slower than me,” Steve quipped back as he made his way over to Wanda’s door.

            Steve politely entered the room kissing Natasha’s left cheek who passively dismissed him and greeted Wanda, who was practicing standing on her own by the bed.
 “Hey Nat, can I speak with you privately? It’ll only take a moment,” he patiently questioned as he stared down at the redhead. Natasha hummed a soft response, quickly holding the tablet close to her chest.
 “Wanda? I’ll be outside, I’m going to keep the door ajar so I can see you. Is that okay?” She softly questioned as she watched Wanda’s legs tremble slightly.
Wanda blinked once, eyes directed to the white sheets on the bed.

            Natasha followed Steve into the hall, perfectly positioning herself in front of the door, giving herself the perfect vantage point to view Wanda. She studied her for a moment before turning most of her attention towards Steve, carefully eyeing Wanda with her peripheral.  
 “I had a very insightful conversation with the guys, everyone except Vision. Clint and Scott intend to return back to their families while Bucky wants to stay in Wakanda for a little longer. That just leaves Sam.”
 “So only 4 of us will be traveling together? Well that makes this a bit easier,” she mumbled as she pulled her tablet away from her chest to examine what she had on file already.
 “Yeah as of right now. Buck says he’ll join us as soon as his ready.”

            “Also, Clint and Scott are gonna stop by to tell Wanda about their intentions later today.” Natasha quirked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow his way.
 “I suggested it to them. Hopefully it’ll take the sting out of them leaving.”
Natasha shrugged as she pulled Steve into a comforting hug. This was all too much for her and the others, let alone how much it would be for Wanda.  
 “How’s Wanda doing?” Steve segued, wanting to focus on something else for a moment.
 “She’s doing well. She’s slowly getting used to using her muscles again, they don’t shake as much from exertion. She’s reached the bathroom but hasn’t used it yet since she still has a catheter in place but we may ask Adaego to take it out tomorrow or so. I’m also concerned about her nutrient intake. She hasn’t eaten any physical food yet and doesn’t exhibit a desire to want to eat so I don’t know how we’re going to break her out of that habit. But overall, I think we’re slowly building trust, just a bit,” she whispered gazing at the scrawny teenager.

            A hand on her shoulder pulled her back to reality. 
 “Nat.”
 “Clint.” She swiveled on her heels. “Scott. “You’re here for...”   
 “Mhm,” Scott solemnly nodded as he looked anywhere but at Natasha.
The four gravelly entered the room with Clint, Steve, and Natasha successfully masking their emotions.
 “Hey kid, we need to chat for a minute, alright?” Clint announced taking residence upon the edge of her bed. Wanda just barely gave the semblance of a nod as she turned her gaze towards the two men at the fore center of the room.

           “So apparently Clint and I both decided to be with our families when it’s time for us to be discharged from the hospital. He leaves in roughly 3 weeks time, give or take, and I’ll be gone in a few days,” Scott divulged nervously. 
Natasha quietly sat in the back, gauging Wanda’s reaction to the news. Wanda briefly averted her gaze, choosing to focus all her attention on her nails.
 “Look, this has nothing to do with you. This isn’t your fault and we’re not abandoning you,” Clint sternly expressed tapping the bed to grab Wanda’s attention, ocean blue eyes locking with gaunt, peridot greens. “Nat and Steve and Sam are gonna care for you and they’re gonna do a great job at it.”
 “Yeah, I only just met ‘em and I trust them to protect everything I care for... including you,” Scott affectionately beamed.

            “We may not be physically there with you but we’ll be there nonetheless. When you need us, we’ll be there. Laura and the kids have experienced life long enough without me and it’s time that I join them.” 
 “I-uh...yeah,” Scott uncomfortably stuttered, unable to form a coherent statement. “I-just... Cassie needs me... so yeah,” he finally sighed, gazing back at the teen.
With a slow but sure nod of the head, Wanda looked past Scott and Clint, choosing instead to eye Natasha and Steve. Green held onto loving greens and caring blues, conveying a sharp flash of sorrow before abruptly turning away.
“We’ll make sure to say goodbye and we’ll continue to check in before we leave,” Clint stood, heading for the door alerting Scott to do the same.

            As trained spies, Clint and Natasha causally caught the others eyes in passing. Understanding, confusion, doubt, and animosity swirled together, the other not knowing which emotion belong to whom. The next several days would be filled with emotional torment for almost everyone but they all had to move on to the next phase of survival. They were all getting out of Wakanda, one way or another.

Chapter Text

            “Hi Adaego,” Natasha smiled as she wrapped the nurse in a friendly hug,” you’re back. It’s nice to see you. How was it?” 
 “It was nice,” she smiled back, “the Imbeleko went well. The River Tribe is gently but powerful. The celebration of bringing a new person into the world is powerful , the whole tribe, ancestors and living, are welcome to Mrs this new little person. Very spiritual,” she all but smiled as she told her friend about the ceremony. 
 “Now,” she clasped her hand, “how’s my favorite patient?” She greeted Wanda with a caring smile.

            Wanda didn’t do anything extraordinary but the lack of tension in her body language and the ever faint quirking of the lips let Adaego know she was happy she was back. 
 “I’ve missed you, you know? So how’s she progressing mama?” She questioned turning towards the former Russian spy. Natasha was momentarily caught off guard but quickly regained her composure as she swallowed thickly before speaking. 
 “Uhm, yeah, she... we’ve created a very basic system for her to communicate with. One blink for “yes” and two for “no”. She’s also been moving around on her own a lot more without assistance and she’s made it inside the bathroom but hasn’t used it yet since the catheter is still in place.”

            “Yeah, I believe she’s built up enough strength to remove the catheter today. It should take about 15 minutes. Is that something you would want to do?”  
 Natasha watched with bated breath as Wanda contemplated the offer. She hoped Wanda was  on board with with the idea of “change” and therefore getting out of the hospital. It was when she looked Adaego in the eyes and strongly blinked once that confirmed Natasha’s theory.
 “yay! Alright so the first thing we have to do is wash our hands first and then we’re gonna empty your bag.”

            Natasha watched and listened as Adaego told Wanda everything she was going to do while sprinkling some stories about the Imbeleko. Adaego’s professionalism and personable disposition made conducting the removal effortless so far. 
 “Now here comes the hard part sweetie. In order to me to continue the process, I need you to remove your pants so we can get to the rest of the catheter. Are you willing to do that?”
Natasha’s eyes nervously jumped from Wanda to Adaego, of course she would have to remove her pants, how else would they get the catheter out?
 “If the thought makes you uncomfortable then maybe... I can have Natasha do it for you?” She sweetly suggested.

            Wanda blinked twice, successfully declining the offer and also blinking away the tears that welled in the back of her eyes. She looked towards Natasha, hoping she could get her message across. 
 “I think she just wants to get it over with. If that’s alright with you Adaego.” 
 “Yes yes that’s fine. You can take your pants off when you’re ready.” 
 The slight movement of Wanda’s arms from the side of her body to the waistband of her prison bottoms alerted Natasha to face the wall, giving Wanda some privacy. 
 “Okay. I just need to drain the balloon which keeps the catheter in place and then I’ll gently slide it out. There’ll be some discomfort but you shouldn’t be in any serious pain.”

            Once again, Adaego loudly narrated her ministrations for both Wanda and Natasha.  
 “We’re at the last part, Wanda!” She cheerfully announced,” now just take a deep breathe... good... and while you exhale, I’ll gently pull it out. On the count of three...1...2...3.”
 Natasha patiently waited, on alert in case she had to force Adaego to stop.”
 “We’re all done. I’m so excited for you,” Adaego beamed, clapping lightly, as she discarded the used equipment in the waste bin.
 “You can turn around now mama. We’re all done here.”

            Swiveling on her heels, she turned to see Wanda laying in the bed with her pants securely around her waist as she took quiet, calming deep breaths. 
 “She’s going to have to drink plenty of water to flush out any bacteria that may have accumulated around the catheter and to ease any burning that she may have as a result. We’re gonna keep you here overnight to monitor for infections, otherwise you’ll be released in the morning. You did a fantastic job Wanda, I’ll see you off in the morning,” she beamed again as she dismissed herself, eyes slightly misty at the thought of the teen being discharged.
 “You hear that Wands? You’re gonna be outta here by morning. Is that great?” she excitedly questioned, glad to experience the progress Wanda was making.

            She didn’t smile or nod but she looked happy, or at least Natasha thought she did. 
 “Here sit up. Drink some water,” Natasha directed as she adjusted the bed into a more suitable drinking position.
Natasha removed the cap, handing Wanda the open bottle as she texted the others. Natasha watched from the corner of her eye as Wanda gave the slightest grimace she could muster as she brought the water to her lips. Natasha froze for a second- it concurred to her that this was the first time since take out of her coma that Wanda would mechanically be taking in nutrients, without the assistance of an IV. She made sure to make a mental note of how Wanda handled the situation and if she would be able to get the liquid past her battered throat.

            “The guys say that they’re happy you’re doing well. Same, Steve, and Vision plan to stop by tonight to check on you, if you don’t mind?” 
Wanda blinked twice to convey that she didn’t mind their future presence at all. As a matter of fact, she was excited to see them especially Vision who had been busy with Stark work for the past few days. 
 “I’m going to continue working on our new aliases. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, I don’t want... you to get sick.” I don’t want to force you is what she really wanted to say but refrained, unsure what traumas she endured on The Raft. Wanda blinked as she lifted herself from the bed, gradually pacing around the room at a steady rate while Natasha tapped away.

            “Hey kid, we heard you were getting discharged in the morning. Congratulations,” Steve beamed as he barged through the door, addressing Wanda with a winning smile. 
 “Yeah lil red. To think you’re getting out before me. Visceral,” Sam joked as he and Steve made themselves comfortable.
 “Hello Wanda... Natasha,” Vision nodded as he phased through the room,” it’s a pleasure to see you all again.”
 “Hey stranger, long time no see,” Natasha greeted with a gently smile.
 “Vision. Everything good my man?” Sam amicably questioned.
 “Yes, I just had some... business matters to attend to,” he replied, carefully choosing his words.
 “It’s all good man. We were just gonna hang out for a bit,” Sam soothed.

            “Hey, let’s watch a movie,” Sam suggested as he scrolled through the tv channels.  
 “How about Maleficent? Angry fae curses a baby,” Sam tried.  
 “No. No. I see Catch Me If You Can. That’s a good movie,” Steve contested. 
 “How would you know it’s a good movie? You were frozen in ice for like 100 years,” Sam joked as he stole the remote back from Steve. 
 “Well, I believe that Now You See Me is a better movie. Let’s watch that,” Natasha interjected. 
 “No. I got it. Pulp Fiction. Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta, an underrated duo if you will,” Sam cut in. 
 “I hear Inception is a fascinating movie,” Vision chimed.
 “Mmm, no one knows what it’s about and anybody that says they do is lying,” Sam countered back, shaking his head.

            “SHREK! Everybody loves SHREK. That smelly big, green ogre,” Sam fondly smiled. 
Wanda reclined back as the group settled into the various chairs littered around the room. Natasha sat cross-legged on the edge of Wanda’s bed, far away from any of the teen’s limbs as she multitasked between watching the film and securing Sam’s credentials. She did as Natasha asked and randomly took sips from her water bottle throughout the film until her eyes began to droop close. Natasha didn’t force anybody to leave, instead letting them depart when they felt like it. A small part of her enjoyed the time they had spent together.

            The joking and playful banter was reminiscent of all the wonderful times she spent with the team together back at the Avengers compound. During a large portion of the movie, Natasha even abandoned the hand held tablet to focus more on the film and friendly ambiance.

            “Morning Wanda, Morning Natasha. I’m very busy today but I wanted to see you guys off,” Adaego softly greeted the next morning as she eyed the pair.
 “Oh Adaego. That’s so sweet of you,” Natasha smiled as she wrapped her arms around the darker woman’s waist.
 “It’s my pleasure. Wanda is an amazing kid. don’t be scared mama, you’ll do great by her,” she whispered into the redhead’s ear just as she was pulling away.
 “Now my little butterfly, I want you to keep up the great work and make sure you listen to your mama. She’ll keep taking great care of you. I brought you a wheelchair because that’s long trip to your floor. If you need me for anything, just let me know.”
 “Mmm. Thank you for everything Adaego,” Natasha hummed as she waved the woman goodbye.

            “bye Wanda.” 
 Wanda’s right hand twitched at her side as she watched her former caregiver leave. She wanted to wave goodbye, even if it was a simple side to side motion, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. The fear of a shock rested at the front of her mind, halting any actions she wanted to carry out.
 “Are you ready? It’s time to go,” Natasha tenderly announced. Wanda blinked as she rose from the bed, wrapping her arms around her midsection.
 “Would you prefer to walk for right now or use the chair? Option 1?” Wanda blinked once.
 “Or option 2?” Wanda blinked twice.
 “Okay. If at any point you want to use the chair, just... just let me know.”

            “So that makes the mitochondria the powerhouse of the cell, understand?” Natasha spoke as her and Wanda slowly made their way up to their living quarters. Back at the tower, Natasha and some of the other Avengers took it upon themselves to “homeschool” Wanda after she was denied the opportunity for an extensive education due in part, to the bombing of her country. While Wanda was in her coma, Natasha would spout random facts in hopes that she would be subconsciously learning. Wanda on the other hand, ogled the fine paintings draped in flecks of gold and ivory that lined the palace walls.

            Everything was so ornate including the tall mahogany doors.  
 “This is it. It’s like the compound in the sense that we all share the common area but each sex has their own side. We’re on the right while the guys are on the left” Natasha stated as she pushed the door open, showering Wanda in warm, sunbeams.
Natasha walked past 2 doors before stopping at one on the left hand side.
“This is your room for now. My door is on the right, just in case,” she shrugged as she barely guided Wanda into the room. A king sized bed clad in black and gold colored bedsheets with a multitude of pillows was situated in the far corner of the room. A bathroom was tucked into the upper left corner with the fluffiest towels and robes one could imagine.

            Wanda gazed into the bathroom then at Natasha.  
 “You can take a shower if you want,” she nodded with crossed arms. After giving Wanda a small tutorial on how to turn the shower knobs, Natasha sprawled out on the mattress, content to be on a real bed again. Wanda eyed the shower head while she stripped herself of her shirt; it was a strange feeling to have autonomy of her own body again. She let the warmth of the water beat against her skin for a minute before she started scrubbing herself clean. Once she reached her thighs, she stopped, examining the thin, discolored body part. She aggressively scrubbed and scrubbed as memories from the Raft flooded her mind; the way the hands felt, rough and unwanted, gripping and biting into her without resolve.

            Her cheeks were wet, but she couldn’t differentiate if it was from the water or the few tears that dared to escape her broken eyes. She eventually turned off the water and silently gasped for air, not having enough energy to even wash her hair. She wrapped herself in a towel, wrapping a robe over that, as she shuffled into the bedroom. Natasha sat legs out as the tv played in the background, a nearty folded pile of clothes to her right.  
 “Here’s some clothes for you. King T’Challa has been offering me them since we were at the hospital,” she delicately hummed as she slid the clothes over to Wanda, who graciously accepted.

             Natasha directed her eyes elsewhere, not wanting to leave Wanda alone but treating her with enough respect to give her some space. Wanda turned around herself and quickly dressed in the clothes Natasha provided for her- a light long sleeved shirt with loose fitting pants. 
 “Are you hungry?” Two blinks.
 “Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?” One blink as Wanda crawled onto the bed, on top of the comforter and curled up.
 “Do you want me to stay... with you?” One blink.
 “Okay,” she softly muttered with a slight smile as she cloaked Wanda in a beige, woolen blanket. It might’ve been too much but she remembered how low the temperature in those cells had been, how Wanda’s lips and feet were in the beginning stages of freezing when they found her; pale and blue.

            “I’ll be here when you need me. Get some rest. Я... горжусь тобой (I’m proud of you),” she sighed as she saw the sleepy flutter of Wanda’s eyelashes. Natasha didn’t fail to notice the vague red rim around Wanda’s hopeless green eyes or how she was in the shower for 20 minutes but didn’t wash her hair. Asleep, she resembled the girl that Natasha once knew; the one who would laugh with Clint and Sam after a long day, the one who scrunched her nose whenever she found something adorable or when she was lost in thought. She was starting to favor her old self but they all knew it would take time for her to truly feel and act like Wanda again.

Chapter Text

            It had been an 48 hours: Wanda had been officially cleared for discharge yesterday and would be leaving the medical wing in the morning. Last night went extremely well in my opinion. I gracefully tapped my fingers against the tablet, selecting and dragging important bits of information to their appropriate files. Creating new aliases and identities for 7 very different people proved to be tough, only deciding which safe house to stay at first was harder. With such a diverse group of individuals, the right country consists of an easy to grasp language and culture seeing as how not everyone was as well versed in the skill of multiple languages such as Clint or I.

            SHIELD might’ve been compromised but I’m still grateful for them. If not for them, I never would’ve met Maria, Fury, Clint, or even Steve. Fury still had access to classified information, making this process semi-easier, if a little. Eventually though, I secured a plausible family dynamic for 3 of us- Steve, Wanda, and, I. Steve and I would be married, not too far off, with Wanda being our daughter; it works in any scenario.

            Needless to say, everyone was making great strides these past few days. Based on my personal judgement, Clint and Sam would be out of their casts in a few weeks time while Scott could be out tomorrow’s he truly wanted to, he just doesn’t believe he’s ready. Wanda, on the other hand.... she’s been a joy to watch so far. The Raft.... that prison ... the things they did to them- to her... they were gonna rot in hell for it. Wanda’s always been strong, especially for some as young as she is, but there are things that no one, no matter how young, should have to endure.

            She’s been doing well, given the hospitals stipulations. She hadn’t eaten any solid food yet or uttered a single sound, but she began maintaining eye contact with me for brief periods (before focusing on something else) and was communicating with a rudimentary system but she was doing it. Wanda was still lying in bed while I performed my team duties, content to do nothing for the time being. I gazed over towards her bed, my heart breaking a bit as I saw nothing behind those once shining green eyes. Eventually though, she rose up on shaky arms and legs, mentally encouraging herself to stand.

            I opted to keep my focus on the tablet in my hand, subtly eyeing Wanda out of my peripheral. Before I knew it Steve was in the room pecking my cheek, which I waved off with a meek hand as he greeted Wanda. 
 “Hey Nat, can I speak with you privately? It’ll only take a moment,” he patiently questioned as I hummed soft response, quickly cradling the tablet to my chest chest.
 “Wanda? I’ll be outside, I’m going to keep the door ajar so I can see you. Is that okay?” I asked out loud, turning my head to gaze at Wanda, watching her legs tremble slightly.
Her eyes were downcast, drinking in the white bed sheet with far too much interest, but she blinked back, effectively answering the question. I followed him into the hall, standing in front of the door so I had the most optimal viewpoint of Wanda.

           “I had a very insightful conversation with the guys, everyone except Vision. Clint and Scott intend to return back to their families while Bucky wants to stay in Wakanda for a little longer. That just leaves Sam.” Oh.  
 “So only 4 of us will be traveling together? Well that makes this a bit easier,” I  mumbled as I pulled the tablet away from my chest to examine what we already had on file.
 “Yeah as of right now. Buck says he’ll join us as soon as he’s ready,” he stated. “Also, Clint and Scott are gonna stop by to tell Wanda about their intentions later today.” At that, I sent a perfectly sculpted eyebrow his way.
 “I suggested it to them. Hopefully it’ll take the sting out of them leaving,” he nonchalantly replied.
I just shrugged as I pulled him into what I hoped was a comforting hug. If this was feeling like too much for us now, who knows how bad it would be for Wanda.  

            “How’s Wanda doing?” Steve segued, wanting to focus on something else for a moment. 
I told him about how well she was doing with her movements; they were still shaky but she wasn’t getting as winded from the motions. How she’s made it into the bathroom but not actually used it due to the catheter being in place. I also informed him about Wanda’s lack of appetite and hunger; a habit we’d have to break with time. Despite all of that, she still managed to trust us, at least a bit more than she did when they were first rescued.

            The firm but gentle grip on my shoulder released me from my stupor. It was a hand I was familiar with, a hand I’d known for years. 
“Clint.” I spun on my heel. “Scott. You’re here for...” I trailed off, not really able to finish my statement. They nodded, forcing us to enter Wanda’s room to get to over with. For three of us, our faces were the beauty of neutrality; versed in the way of schooling our outer emotions so that one never really knew what exactly we were feeling unless we showed it. Steve and I stayed towards the back corner of the room, as the “leaders” of the group, we had to make sure we were always in the mix of what was going on. Clint perched himself on the edge of the bed, setting the much needed conversation in motion. I watched as Wanda averted her gaze towards her nails when she heard what both men were planning to do.

            Clint went in about his need to be active in Laura and the kids lives again while Scott talked about his daughter, the one who would love to meet Wanda, Cassie. They made it clear they weren’t abandoning her, basically stating how none of this was her fault. She made a show of slowly nodding, looking past Clint and Scott, at me and Steve. Those eyes. Those once innocent, caring, pale green eyes. For the first time in the last few days, they showcased something- despair?, before turning away again.

            After staying what had to be said, the duo headed for the door, not before Clint and I’s eyes met. Reading underlying emotions was easy for us trained spie- and we both had a lot apparently. Desperation, fear, anger, chaos, and a mixture of other strong emotions melted together, so much so that I couldn’t differentiate which emotions were mine or his. A look of understanding was all we needed to let the other know that everything would work out- in time. Wanda stayed in bed for the rest of the day, from exertion and the earlier conversation. Steve made sure to say good night to her before leaving, hugging me and subtly whispering in my ear to get him if I needed anything. I nodded- I knew that, he always made it explicitly clear, I appreciated it.

            I put Wanda to “bed”, at least trying to get her on a basic sleep schedule, even if she didn’t fully sleep through the night yet. While she may not have gotten exactly 7 hours of sleep back at the Compound, she at least slept for a few hours before being plagued by a nightmare. I added that fact to my list of horrors- the little bits of trauma that exposed themselves to what Wanda experienced on the Raft. The next few days went on more or less the same: Steve and I trying to keep everyone safe while they were in their healing period. Everyone’s body was physically healing well, save for the casts. Wanda gained the ability to lap around the room with no issues; trembling legs a thing of the past, however, her arms still tended to either stay loosely wrapped around her stomach or at her sides when not in use. Once again, in due time.

            As Einraig stated, Adaego returned almost a week later. I smiled, a genuine smile as I wrapped my arms around her back, “Hi Adaego, you’re back. It’s nice to see you. How was it?”  
 “It was nice,” she smiled back, “the Imbeleko went well. The River Tribe is gently but powerful. The celebration of bringing a new person into the world is powerful , the whole tribe, ancestors and living, are welcome to meet this new little person. Very spiritual,” she all but smiled as she recounted her cultural experience.
 “Now,” she clasped her hand, “how’s my favorite patient?” She directed to Wanda with a caring smile.
In true Wanda fashion, the slight upturn of the edge of her mouth let us know that she was glad to have Adaego return to us.

            “I’ve missed you, you know?” She announced to Wanda. Her next statement left me totally unprepared. “So how’s she progressing mama?” I pushed my momentary shock aside, quickly regaining my composure as I thickly swallowed, “Uhm, yeah, she... we’ve created a very basic system for her to communicate with. One blink for “yes” and two for “no”. She’s also been moving around on her own a lot more without assistance and she’s made it inside the bathroom but hasn’t used it yet since the catheter is still in place,” I coolly confirmed, hopeful that neither noticed my brief stumble.

                “Yeah, I believe she’s built up enough strength to remove the catheter today. It should take about 15 minutes. Is that something you would want to do?”  
 That was my cue to glance over at the little witch. After everything we’ve been through at this hospital, I just wished she trusted Adaego enough, us enough, start a new journey together. And there it was, one of the most confident responses she’s given since employing this new communication system. 
 “yay! Alright so the first thing we have to do is wash our hands first and then we’re gonna empty your bag,” Adaego cheerily replied. Hanging in the background, I listened as Adaego explained the removal process while also detailing her time performing the Imbeleko. She, just like I, was far too efficient at her job, making the removal process easy and painless.

            Until she mentioned that Wanda would have to lower her pants to get to the rest of the catheter. I felt slightly nauseous as my eyes bounced between Wanda and Adaego. It made sense, the catheter was inserted into the bladder, which was located inside the vagina- how else would they get it out. Her option to have me remove it went with a dismissal from Wanda as she also used the opportunity to blink away the tears she thought no one noticed. She declined due to  wanting to get it over with, not because she didn’t trust me I quietly assured myself as Wanda looked at me.  
 “I think she just wants to get it over with. If that’s alright with you Adaego,” I relied, hoping I got the right message across.
 “Yes, yes that’s fine. You can take your pants off when you’re ready,” she patiently responded back. The slight movement of Wanda’s arms from the side of her body to the waistband of her prison bottoms alerted me to turn around, proving some soft of privacy in the enclosed room.

            I listened as Adaego continued explaining the rest of the removal process, on the pads of my toes in case I had to force Adaego to stop, for Wanda’s comfort.  
 “We’re all done. I’m so excited for you,” Adaego beamed, clapping lightly, as she discarded the used equipment in the waste bin. “You can turn around now mama. We’re all done here.”
She used that term of endearment again, causing a slight hitch in my breathing, not that the other two noticed. I turned back around to catch Wanda taking quiet, calming breaths with her pants secured around her waist again. According to Adaego, Wanda did a fantastic job and would need to drink plenty of fluids to flush out any bacteria that may have developed around the catheter and that she would be staying overnight so that they could monitor for an infection. Otherwise, she was set to be discharged in the morning.

            “I’ll see you off in the morning,” Adaego beamed again as she dismissed herself; I could see her eyes mist as she walked out the room. 
“You hear that Wands? You’re gonna be outta here by morning. Is that great?” I giddily asked. I tried but I just couldn’t contain myself, I was here to watch Wanda’s progress; it warmed my heart how far she’s made it. She looked happy, as far as I could tell, as I adjusted her bed into a more optimal drinking position. I watched Wanda’s reaction to the water from the corner of my eyes as I shot the guys a text; she seemed disgusted or maybe in pain as she brought the water to her dry lips. That was when the thought occurred to me: this was the first time since being here that Wanda was taking in nutrients non-intravenously.
“The guys say that they’re happy you’re doing well. Sam, Steve, and Vision plan to stop by tonight to check on you, if you don’t mind?” I asked behind me, waiting for a response. She double blinked, allowing me to tell the others to come on when they were ready.

            I grabbed the tablet, intending to get our identities approved, making sure to let Wanda know she need to be drinking plenty of water. The idea of force feeding her made me uneasy, although, I’m not sure why. She complied though, steadily strolling around the room as I tapped away. Of course that was short lived when the guys entered the room. Everyone greeted each other but mostly directed them towards Vision who we haven’t seen the past few days as he was working on “Stark Business”. It was agreed that while we were at the safe houses, he was free to visit but most of his time had to be spent back in the States with Tony.

            A small section of the night was spent arguing disagreeing about what movie we should view together as a group. There were some good suggestions but nothing was better than my idea to watch Now You See Me. With all that being said, we eventually settled on Shrek. I utilized my skill set to multitask- diverting my attention towards the film and between securing Sam’s credentials. Near the beginning of the movie, I disregarded the tablet, comfortably sitting back onto my elbows to enjoy the film and time with friends. It remind me of the good times at the Avengers compound; movie and game nights spent eating the junkiest foods, playful banter in the air.

            Wanda did as I previously told her: taking small sips of the water as the movie progressed before ultimately falling asleep. I let the others filter out on their own, basking in the warmth and contentment they stirred within me.

            “Morning Wanda, Morning Natasha. I’m very busy today but I wanted to see you guys off,” Adaego softly greeted us the next morning as she stood in the doorframe. 
 “Oh Adaego. That’s so sweet of you,” I grinned, wrapping my arms around her waist.
 “It’s my pleasure,” she stated as reciprocated the gesture.
 “wanda is an amazing kid. don’t be scared mama, you’ll do great by her,” she whispered in my ear as I pulled away. There was that term again, it just freely rolled off her tongue with no qualms. She had brought a wheelchair for Wanda, her little butterfly as she called her, in case the walk proved to be too far for her tired limbs, she was always beyond thoughtful.
 “Mmm. Thank you for everything Adaego,”  I hummed as no one would’ve been a better fit to take care of Wanda while in this predicament. Wanda’s right hand lightly twitched at her side as Adaego was leaving. I internally sighed, she mostly likely wanted to wave goodbye but couldn’t bring herself to do it. When we were ready to leave, she rose from the bed, wrapping her arms around her stomach like she always did.

            I gave her either the option to walk or use the chair, which she denied. During our trek, I spouted off random facts, today’s topic of choice was biology. “And that’s what makes the mitochondria the powerhouse of the cell.” 
Wanda’s attention was focused elsewhere, mainly on all the exquisite pieces of art adorning the halls, dripping in gold and regality.
 “This is it. It’s like the compound in the sense that we all share the common area but each sex has their own side. We’re on the right while the guys are on the left.”
I pushed open our mahogany front door, bathing Wanda in sunlight pouring form the open curtains. I told her where my room would be as I gently guided her into her temporary bedroom.

            She silently toured the room before her eyes stopped on the bathroom. 
“You can take a shower if you want.” I plopped onto the bed after giving Wanda a rough rundown on how the water knobs worked, satisfied to be on a real mattress after weeks of suffering back pain on psuedo-beds. I sighed, the realization that we were finally out of the hospital was hitting me hard. I grabbed the remote, turning the tv to some random channel as I kicked my feet while humming. I procured a set of warm loungewear for Wanda, her body was still to malnourished to hold any actual body heat for long. She emerged 15 minutes later, wrapped in both a towel and a robe, body clean but hair unwashed.
“Here’s some clothes for you. King T’Challa has been offering me them since we were at the hospital,” I delicately hummed again as I slid the clothes over to her.

              I turned away from her to give her enough space to get dressed. Based on the shuffling I heard behind me, Wanda also probably turned around to put on the clothes. She knew better than to turn her back on an enemy, but then again, maybe she didn’t consider me to be that. 
“Are you hungry?” I asked as we both turned back around. No.
“Are you tired? Do you want to get some sleep?” Yes. She answered, crawling on top of the bed and curling up tightly next to the wall.
 “Do you want me to stay... with you?” I tentatively asked, knowing that she didn’t need me to linger around as we weren’t surrounded by medical equipment and strange people. Yes.

            I draped a wool blanket over her severely underweight body. Some might consider it overkill considering she was wearing a long sleeved shirt and pants. But I remember how she looked when we first entered her cell: her skin was colorless, she looked near death with Tiffany blue lips and toes. I... I couldn’t let that happen to her again.

            “I’ll be here when you need me. Get some rest. Я... горжусь тобой (I’m proud of you),” I sighed as I watched Wanda’s sleep laden eyes flutter close as she slightly relaxed. For a minute, she mirrored her old self, the smiling, energetic kid that slowly wormed her way into our hearts. The rims of her eyes were red, she had cried. Good. I knew what happened in that floating hell; the kinds of terrors Wanda faced, mostly alone. It was amazing that she still had the ability to trust people after everything in her life that had happened. Time would be our friend and Wanda would heal, for the most part. I texted Steve, letting him know we were in the palace getting situated.

            I wanted to cook some dinner, I had enough time. Being with her for weeks helped me discover that Wanda only napped for approximately an hour and half to two hours at most, a consequence of the Raft I inferred. I could whip up something before she even noticed I was gone. She couldn’t exactly eat solids yet so I settled for making soup, setting aside some plain chicken broth for Wanda. 
 “Hey doll.” I rolled my eyes, Steve and his pet names.
 “What did I tell you about that Soldier?”
 “That you hate it, but I know that’s a lie,” he joked, slinging an arm around my shoulder as he placed a kiss on top of my hair. “How’s Wanda been?”
 “She’s handling everything better than expected. She chose to walk all the way here from the medical wing without the assistance of a wheelchair and is now sleeping on a real bed after having her first shower in god knows how long."
 "Really? he questioned, interest apparent in his beautiful features.

            “Oh. Luckily, she cried a bit too." 
“And that’s a good thing?” he scratched his head.
 “Yeah, it means she’s not completely gone yet; she still feels something, even if it’s negative. We can still help her, get her back.”
 “You know, I’m usually the one telling people to look on the bright side,” he quipped, leading me to smile.
 “I know. Crazy how things can change in a short period of time,” I digged.
“In other news, everyone’s identity has been safely secured. Jobs, personalities, and safe house are all set. Now we just have to wait until our scheduled plane ride to take us to our new home,” I stirred the pot.
 “That’s great Nat. You know... Scott’s leaving in two days,” another one of his successful segues.
 “I know. Wanda knows. She’ll... take it in stride when the time comes,” I looked into his loving blues.
 “So what are you planning on doing until we’re ready to leave?” He politely conversed, sampling the soup I held out for him.

            “There’s a flower garden and vegetable garden tucked safely in the city. I wanted to take Wanda down there to get some fresh air. It has a stream, you know she likes being out in nature.”
 “Yeah. Oo, you can take her down to the kitchen to watch the bakers work and eat some cake.”
I chuckled at his enthusiasm. “Slow down Cap. We need to start off small, she’s going to have to work her way up to consuming solid foods again.”
 “Yeah but it’ll still be fun for her to watch,” he brushed off, following me back into Wanda room with the bowls in my hand and water in his.
 “There’s also a nice observatory. You can teach her a little astronomy while we’re here.”
 “That’s not a bad idea, I suppose. Wanda can decide when she’s ready to get out. For now, she needs to rest and regain some strength.”

            “I agree,” he smiled as he took a seat adjacent to the bed. We quietly ate our soup, discussing what was happening in the show while Wand slept.  
 “You know if we’re gonna play a family, we need to look the part,” I randomly interjected during a commercial break.
 “Where are you going with this Nat?” He skeptically questioned.
 “How do you feel about dyeing your hair brown?”

Chapter Text

            Steve and Natasha joked around for a bit about random things after Steve agreed to dying his hair brown. “Nothing too light Romanov. If we’re going brown then it has to be brown, got it?”
 “I understand soldier,” she smiled, running her hands through his dusty blonde locks as she scrunched her nose at him. While watching the screen, Wanda noiselessly stirred to their left, eyeing the couple as she regained her bearings. She was on a bed, a real bed, in a somewhat homey room looking at Steve and Natasha. She wasn’t on the Raft, she concluded, all of this was real. Her breathing stayed even as she internally repeated her mantra.

            Ever the spy, Natasha noticed Wanda wake but chose not to acknowledge it until Wanda appeared more lucid and relaxed. Natasha waited for Wanda to make the first move, to demonstrate any sign that she was awake but it never came. She just laid there, staring at her and Steve.  
 “Hey Wanda, did you sleep well?” Natasha asked before turning her attention to the person in question, not wanting to make her uneasy by calling her out without eye contact.
Wanda blinked back, although it wasn’t a lie. Her body seemed to know that it was supposed to get the most energy and rest out of her short naps, accustomed to how infrequently they usually came uninterrupted back at the Raft.

            “Do you want something to eat? Natasha made some soup for us and set aside some broth for you,” Steve mentioned from his spot behind Natasha. At this point Wanda inches up into a sitting position, her back just barely grazing the wall behind her. She nervously blinked as she agreed to the statement. She didn’t feel hungry anymore, didn’t have an appetite; she had long grown acclimated to the sharp hunger pangs that afflicted her body, ones that were never fulfilled. However, she also knew that if she wanted to gain weight and control of her body, she would have to start somewhere. Steve re-entered the room with a bowl in hand and concentration adorning his features.

            Wanda watched the interaction with wary fervor, the mixed feelings of hesitation and trepidation swirled in the bottom of her stomach, gnawing at her reserve. Steve handed the bowl off to an awaiting Natasha who kindly accepted it with a warm smile, which she presented towards Wanda when she turned to face her.  
 “I know you haven’t had solid foods yet so the broth is to prepare your stomach and digestive system to start accepting food again,” Natasha informed as she attempted to hand Wanda the bowl.
She slightly frowned, refusing to take the ceramic dish-ware; she didn’t care what was in the contents of the bowl, she just knew she didn’t want it. Wanda made no moves as Natasha patiently waited for her to take the bowl.

            Natasha carefully slid the bowl onto Wanda’s outstretched thighs, maintaining eye contact as she did so. Wanda’s breathing was rough as she stared into the bowl of broth seated in her lap. 
 “You don’t have to eat it all. Just take a few bites to get used to eating again,” Steve said as he leaned over Natasha’s shoulder.
 The fear in the teen’s eyes were palpable as she reached a shaky hand hand out, careful to not let anything spill as she opened her mouth enough to slip the spoon inside. She grimaced at the taste but still forced the liquid down her throat, breathing as it successfully reached her stomach. She peered up to see Steve and Natasha staring at the tv, their attention divided elsewhere which she was grateful for.

            Natasha kept her peripheral focused on Wanda, watching as she shakily shoved another spoonful of broth into her mouth. Wanda gently dropped the spoon into the bowl with a small clink, wanting to take a minute to breathe and situate herself. She repeated her ministrations: a shaky hand reached out for her spoon, slowly guiding the food into her mouth.  
 “Do you want some help?” Steve politely questioned, not realizing the harsh implications behind his words.
 Wanda froze, dropping her spoon in the process, abandoning the bowl in her lap as she crawled backwards, her eyes bouncing from the two other occupants in the room and now empty bowl laying to the side. She brought her knees to her chest as she slammed back into the corner of the wall behind her, curling into herself to appear as small as possible.

            It was during her first feeding at the Raft when she couldn’t feed herself that the guards decided to “help her out” the next time she was scheduled to be fed. Wanda was sitting against the wall, forehead resting against the metal when the raucous sound of footsteps were heard in the hallway. Her friends were given simple sandwiches and fruit, not enough to satisfy them but enough to keep them alive until the next feeding, as long as the torture didn’t kill them first.

            Wanda never received what they did, instead all she got was hot cereal, today’s choice was cream of wheat, and water. She curiously watched as two guards entered her cell, stalking over with malicious grins. Wanda felt the panic rise in her chest as one of them roughly pulled her away from the wall, entrapping her in his arms as the other one brought a spoonful of the mushy oats to her lips. Before she had time to protest, the guard behind her aggressively jerked her jaw open, allowing guard one to dump the contents in her mouth.

            Wanda kept her mouth open as fear coursed through her body. The guard didn’t release her as she continued to obediently swallow the spoonfuls presented to her. When she slightly choked, he tightened his grip on her jaw, silently commanding her to keep going. 
 “yeah don’t worry,” the guard 2 whispered from behind as his free hand trailed from her hip to the inside of her thigh, “we like ‘em messy,” he chuckled in her ear as his hand slipped below her waist band.

            Wanda involuntarily jerked as the guard’s hand brushed against her most intimate center, accidentally knocking the water on the tray over. Guard 1 glared as he harshly slapped her across the face before beginning to retreat out the room with the half empty tray as his companion continued to molest her. His fingers danced around before embedding themselves inside their marked destination, earning a strangled cry and slight jerk from the Sokovian. Guard 2 continued his ministrations for a few minutes, softly mumbling hurtful taunts before withdrawing his hand, moving it to angrily grip her hair as he forced her face to hover above the water she spilt.

            “Drink it,” he cruelly commanded as he brought her face closer to the dirty water. Wanda shook her head as her breathing came out in short spurts, “no.... no.”
She wasn’t a dog regardless of what they thought of her so she wasn’t about to behave like one for their pleasure. Guard 2 just laughed as he tossed Wanda to the side, stepping over her as if she were nothing.
 “One of these days were gonna treat that pretty little body of yours right,” he jeered as the cell door slammed shut behind him.

            Wanda crawled back until she was sitting back against the metal wall. She hotly stared at the puddle of water, angry tears threatening to fall from her eyes. The others pounded on their glass, shouting empty threats at the guards when they breezed past their windows. Their venomous smirks did nothing to quell the prisoners outrage.

            Her heart thumped a mile a minute while her breathing became heavy and sporadic. The thought of someone else feeding  her fucked with her anxiety to the point she couldn’t breathe. She violently flinched when a hand reached out to touch her but almost instantly recoiled back. 
 “Wanda... Wanda, it’s okay. I’m sorry, it’s alright,” Steve stammered as he defensively raised his hands up.
 “Follow my breathing Wanda... just like me,” Natasha muttered as she positioned herself in front of Wanda’s bed, scanning her features for any signs of recognition.

            Natasha sighed as she mentally racked her brain for ways to calm the witch down; touch was something they hadn’t performed with Wanda since she’d been back from the Raft so she couldn’t use that to anchor her back to reality. So she opted for mumbling encouraging words and phrases in hopes that Wanda would find one reassuring enough to pacify her emotions. Wanda’s breathing gradually calmed down to what Natasha and Steve deemed an acceptable rate. She was doing as instructed when she glanced down at the bowl she knocked over. Her breathing picked up again as she expected a hand to reach out and strike her for creating a mess. She expected nothing but Pain.

            “It’s okay. We’re in Wakanda. You’re no longer on the Raft,” Natasha tired.  
 “It was an accident. They happen and it’s okay,” Steve chimed in, emulating Natasha’s soothing tone.
 15 minutes later, Wanda’s breathing had calmed considerably. She still had her trembling body tucked as far as possible into the wall, putting her head in her hands.
 “Do you want us to leave?” Steve softly questioned, his eyes never leaving the still quivering teen. Wanda hesitantly raised her head, nodding as her breath hitched in her throat.
 “Okay. We’ll leave. We’ll be back to check on you later, okay? Just keep taking deep breathes for me,” Natasha consoled as she retrieved the bowl and headed out the door with Steve.

             Natasha wasn’t too fond of the idea but she wasn’t sure what else they could do besides give her space. Wanda remembers that day, how they had no problem treating her as nothing privately and in front of her peers. She was sure what hurt the most at that moment wasn’t being hit or threatened but the fact that everyone... they all saw what happened to her.... how she was touched. She promised herself that wouldn’t happen again but inside she knew that even she couldn’t protect herself from the hell that was the Raft.

            The enhanced duo left Wanda to herself for the remainder of the day with Natasha periodically checking in to provide water and comfort. Wanda hadn’t moved from her spot against the wall and seemed to decide that that was where she was going to stay until morning. Not wanting to frighten her more, Natasha left a water bottle on the nightstand as she defensively maneuvered her way around the room, trying to appear as least frightening as she could.

            “I know we agreed to take a break however, I feel we need to continue watching the tapes again... for Wanda’s sake,” Steve gently pleaded with Natasha as he crawled into the space next to her. “After what we saw today... we need more information,” he strongly affirmed.
Natasha bunched how the sheets in her hands, nodding as she gazed into Steve’s eyes. “We could start tonight, right now, or tomorrow when Scott leaves,” she declared, not one to primarily beat around the bush.

            “We do it tonight. It doesn’t seem as if Wanda’s coming out of that room for the rest of the night anyway. So we begin while we have the ability to not be disturbed.” Natasha only nodded as she followed Steve through expansive hallways and corridors until they reached their targeted location. Natasha flopped into one of the many empty chairs while Steve booted up the video footage. The last time they were in this room was when they discovered Wanda’s eggs being robbed. That was about a week ago. Every time they assumed they knew everything, the Raft documents proved them wrong.

            The footage started up from where they paused last. It had been maybe 72 hours since Wanda’s procedure had taken place and she was still in the lab holding cell. For half of her captivity in the sterile room, she was unconscious. When she finally regained her senses 36 hours, she was hailed onto tired feet  only to be forcibly dragged down the hallway by the female guard. Wanda submitted to the action, trying to keep up with the brutal tugging on her upper arm.

            Steve’s breathe caught in his throat as Wanda was suddenly viciously slammed into the wall, the smack of her head clearly audible in the footage. The guard had her forearm pressed into Wanda’s throat as she snarled in her face. 
 “I can’t believe they let a freak like you live. I’ve seen what you can do... that’s not magic. That’s pure evil you little devil,” she spit in Wanda’s face. Natasha kept a hard neutral expression, but if one looked hard enough they’d notice how her eyes betrayed what her face was exemplifying.

            She pushed her arm in further, applying more pressure to Wanda’s collared windpipe as a knee collided with her cramping abdomen, expelling the air in her lungs. She gasped as her face turned red and her throat burned hot from lack of filtered air. They watched as the guard leaned close to Wanda’s ear, “I’d kill you myself at this very moment if Ross didn’t have future plans for you and your friends,” she sarcastically muttered, the vengeance coating her words made Wanda’s skin crawl. Black and gray spots danced around Wanda’s vision as her consciousness slowly slipped away, only returning when Mamba decided to unceremoniously release her hold, leading Wanda to slide down the wall.

            Another smack, this time the back of a hand, was heard when Mamba’s connected with Wanda’s left cheek. 
 “I’m going to make your life hell on Earth. So much so that you’ll be begging for me to take your life when it’s all over,” she smirked before dragging Wanda back onto her feet and down the hall.

            Steve sighed as he added the physical and verbal abuse to their ever growing list of Ross’ Raft failures. Natasha didn’t say anything as she glared at the screen. She didn’t like that woman especially with the knowledge that she strongly had it out for Wanda. 
 “Steve... did you finish decrypting the lab data?” She exhaled searching for her tablet.
 “Vision and I were able to get most of them but there’s still a large portion we’ve yet to touch.”
 “We should’ve never taken a break from the tapes,” Natasha admitted, the pain and fear in Wanda’s eyes replaying constantly in her mind. “We took the easy way out.”
 “Yeah I guess we did. Unless we have a legitimate reason not to, we’re going to keep watching the footage. The sooner we finish, the easier it’ll be to convict Ross and his subordinates,” Steve agreed as he rolled his chair over by Natasha.

            They made themselves as physically comfortable as they could, knowing that the rest of the footage would be as rough for them as it was for those that personally experienced it. 

Chapter Text

            As they expected, Wanda didn’t leave her room for the remainder of the day or even make so much as a peep for that matter. They had viewed the equivalent of a week’s worth of footage in the long hours of the night. They documented the various forms of torment Wanda experienced from the guards which for now included: verbal abuse, extensive force, physical abuse, and illegal (and unknown) experimentation. The pair sighed as they realized that this was just what Wanda was experiencing; there were still 3 other people they had to create cases for.

            “What do you have so far Romanov?” Steve called out from the other end of the table, seriousness set in his features. 
 “So far, we’ve viewed about a 3-4 weeks worth of footage which showcases major discrepancies when compared with the Raft’s files. It was stated that occupants of the Raft would receive two meals a day, which as we’ve seen has been a lie thus far,” she debriefed. In the past 4 weeks, the guys were given one meal every 3 days while Wanda was yet to be offered anything.
 “We have multiple counts of staff members physically harming Wanda without provocation. And there’s also the issue with her eggs,” Natasha finished, looking exasperated, or as exasperated as she would let on.

            “Yeah I decrypted some more files however not enough. I’ll have to stop by Clint’s room later today to recruit more of Vision’s help while it’s still easily available,” Steve yawned as he ruffled some papers around. 
 “We’ve made it through a month,” Natasha roughly sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Are we continuing for the night or would you like to rest?”
 Steve exhaled as he tiredly looked around at the loose files scattered on the table, “we’ll get some sleep and reconvene at a later time today. That sound alright with you?”
Natasha opened her mouth, most likely to protest, before she simply nodded.

            They shuffled out the conference area back towards their shared room. Once back,  they crawled into bed next to each other with Natasha idly staring at the ceiling and Steve curling away from her. For the next 5 hours, the pair laid in bed, knowing that the other wasn’t asleep. The look of fear in this tormented pale, green eyes plagued Steve’s mind; Wanda may have been strong but she was still just a kid. He internally obsessed over the experimentation files, the knowledge of Wanda being intimately violated in such a way made his stomach lurch.

            Off to his side, Natasha wasn’t faring much better in her mental blitz. So far there was more than enough substantial evidence of the guards, Ross’ subordinates, committing acts outside their jurisdiction, which Natasha could accept. What she couldn’t accept was that out of all the data they currently collected and viewed, Ross had yet to implicate himself in the torture of her friends, leaving him slightly blameless in the matter, at least from a legal standpoint. Mindlessly, Natasha’s thoughts drifted over to Wanda who was alone in her room right now, terrified over something that should’ve been a basic right but was treated as a privilege.

            The two watched as the pinkish- orange glow from the sun peeked through the curtains, Natasha being the first one to exit the bed.  
 “I’m going for a walk before I meet up with Vision,” Steve gently announced as he peered into Natasha’s eyes.
She didn’t need to speak or nod, understanding that this was Steve’s way of processing and rationalizing his emotions before they got out of hand. They quickly dressed for the day, splitting off in the hallway as Natasha went to check online on Wanda. She wasn’t surprised when she received no response for her request to come in, eyes drifting to see Wanda in the same position, curled in with her head tightly tucked between her legs. She could tell that Wanda at least was staying somewhat hydrated, her water bottle from last night half way empty.
 “Wanda...” she treaded lightly, “I’m stepping out for a bit. I have to discuss some important matters with King T’Challa and Okoye so I’ll be back later,” she easily lied. “I’m going to put some food and water on your table. You can eat it whenever you want.”

            Natasha held back a sigh as Wanda’s body stayed deathly still. She placed a smaller bowl of broth on the bedside table angling with another water bottle before softly closing the door. Peering down, Natasha quickly changed into some workout gear before darting to the closest gym. For the next 3 hours, she aggressively punched and kicked any and every bag she could find. Natasha saw nothing but scarlet as tears spilled down her flushed cheeks. She was angry at the Accords, at Ross, at herself for allowing something like this to happen to Scott, Sam, and Clint. The tears that cascaded down her face were for Wanda- not out of pity, but out of pure anguish. She had lost so much before coming to America: her parents, her country, her brother. When she joined the team, she only expected the Avengers to provide basic necessities (food, water, shelter) before eventually trusting them to actively take care of her- to keep her safe.

            Sharp, ragged gasps escaped Natasha’s dry lips as she fought to breathe. She may not have wanted to at first but she agreed to protect Wanda after everyone accepted her into their little family. That’s not the way you care for family, Natasha bitterly spat as images of the Raft flooded her mind, merging with her thoughts of Wanda. With a deep huff, she stood, returning the gym to its rightful state before exiting back to her room to shower. The boiling water stung her knuckles, cut and beat up from her extensive use of the gym equipment, bringing her some internal relief. She felt numb when standing in the gym, not registering her surroundings or the influx of emotions she felt at the moment. It was all too much for her to internalize, painting her nerves in a strong coat of adrenaline and anxiety.

            The rest of the day was spent the same as the day before. Natasha calmed her emotions enough to re-compartmentalize them before visiting Wanda. She glanced down at the relatively untouched bowl of broth she had left for the teen earlier in the day. Natasha retrieved the bowl, leaving a fresh bottle of water for her to drink. 
 “Good night Wanda... i’m sorry,” she whispered back as the door closed behind her. She wasn’t specifically sure what she was apologizing for in this instant: could it be that she was apologizing for Wanda being taken to the Raft? Her experience on the Raft? Or just the way Wanda’s life played out thus far?

            Letting her thoughts dissipate, Natasha trekked down to the conference room, agreeing to meet Steve and Vision there earlier in the day. When everyone was seated, they began discussing some of their most recent findings: that Wanda was the first person those “doctors” ever performed the procedure on. Natasha visibly tensed at the statement. At least the Red Room had licensed medical professionals conducting the “graduation ceremony” to ensure that their surviving Widows would heal properly without any negative lasting effects.  
 “Natasha, Mr. Rogers, I have searched the internet data base and it has come to my attention that the perfect number of eggs to extract ranges from 8-14.”
 “Okay,” Steve replied, slightly confused.
 “According to these medical files, the doct... medical staff slightly exceeded the optimal number of eggs one should take.”

            “For Wanda’s age and egg count, 10 eggs would be a sufficient amount. However, it seems that twice as many eggs were retrieved,” Vision informed as he drank in the pairs expressions. 
 “So 20 eggs. What does that mean for Wanda?” Natasha gently seethed, slamming her hand against the table.
 “Wanda may have been experiencing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. It is an exaggerated response by the body to excess hormones from the fertility treatment. At its mildest, it may cause nausea, bloating, and abdominal pain. At its most severe, symptoms may include: blood clots, severe nausea and vomiting, kidney failure, etc.”
 “What’s the purpose of taking more eggs than needed?” Steve chimed.

            “Well, more eggs for them means more experiments. It should also be known that the more eggs acquired reduces the quality of said egg,” he further informed, as he scrolled through the medical files. “Lower egg quality reduces the number of live births possible.” 
“so let me get this straight: the government not only stole Wanda’s eggs but took an inappropriate amount which could result in the loss of a possible fetus? What about the ones that survive?” Steve asked neither person in particular.
Natasha rubbed her eyes in frustration, “the ones that make it to see the light will most likely be experimented on and who knows what else... like Wanda and Pietro. These people are just perpetuating the cycle of abuse, huh?”
 “That seems to be the correct analysis,” Vision affirmed.  

            “Okay. All that information has to be added to the case file. Vision, can you store a secure digital copy with remote access? We need to protect all the information we have.”
 “better than we protected Wanda at least,” Natasha discreetly grumbled, crossing her arms.
 “Thank you for your help Vision,” Steve genuinely smiled as he shook the androids hand.
 “Thank you Mr. Rogers for allowing me to be a part of something bigger than myself,” he offered with a tight lipped, red smile.

            “Of course. If you’ll excuse us, Natasha and I have some other business to attend to tonight,” Steve kindly dismissed as Vision phased through the floor.  
 “Night 2,” Steve grimly declared as he and Natasha bunched around the monitors.

            The next morning saw Steve and Natasha up bright and early, wanting to be prepared to send Scott off, but not being afforded the opportunity as they had initially  planned for Wanda to say good bye, as well. Natasha texted Clint the night before in the wee hours of the morning, when taking a short reprieve, about the situation. Clint took it upon himself to briefly inform their other hospital bound companions with as little information as possible about Wanda’s current predicament. Milling around the kitchen, Natasha cut an orange into 8 slices while Steve wordlessly stared through the counter. Last night’s surveillance viewing had been more emotionally taxing than the previous ones.

            Wanda was hauled off to some dark room and left to defend herself (restrained) against 3 guards and the collar. The unnamed guards tossed the underweight Sokovian teen around for 15 minutes before deciding to use her as a punching bag. Wanda reflexively curled into herself to protect her vital organs from the barrage raining down, biting back her yelps of pain, although they tended to escape as distressing whimpers. Seeing her body jerk reflexively upon being hit was difficult, but to physically hear the sound of knuckles and steel- toed boots colliding with her limbs was damaging. The assault lasted for 30 minutes, with the 3 men stopping periodically to make sure Wanda was conscious, by use of the collar. Unfortunately the audio to the video feed was extremely crisp as they were able to make out the hum of the collar sparking to life before Wanda’s piercing cry of pain drowned out everything.        
 
            Steve didn’t make it through the end- bolting out the room to keep the contents of his dinner inside his stomach. He had to take a calming breath before re-subjecting himself to the footage. A small whistle blew from Steve’s lips as he brought himself back to the kitchen. Natasha nodded as she rubbed his shoulder reassuringly, too drained herself to offer encouraging phrases of comfort. A gentle knock on the door made them give pause. Besides them three, everyone else should’ve been situated on the tarmac, saying goodbye to Scott. Natasha made the unanimous decision to see who it was.

             Much to their bewilderment, a grinning Scott stood on the other side of the door. 
“Morning!” He waved.
 “Scott. What are you doing here?” Steve calmly questioned.
 “You’re supposed to be on a quinjet heading home to your daughter,” Natasha firmly stated.
 “Well, yeah I was supposed to be. But it didn’t feel right to leave without saying goodbye to Wanda. We spent 5 months together, well not together together since we were in our own cells, but we were you know, in prisoner together,” he rambled on as he expectantly looked to the duo.
 “Scott, she’s not-“ Natasha started. 
 “I know. Arrow guy told us. That’s why I came to see her. Just... at least let me say goodbye,” he softly pleaded with wide, hopeful eyes.

            “Okay,” Steve finally acquiesced as he shifted his body for Scott to enter.  
 “Oooo oranges! I’ll be quick, I promise,” he shouted back, taking the sliced citrus to Wanda’s room. Natasha and Steve patiently lingered around the living room, waiting for Scott to make another appearance. 30 full minutes passed by before they heard the soft click of a closing door.
 “Alright guys, I have to be on my way,” Scott announced as he handed Natasha an empty plate. “She ate 3 by the way,” he stated, his tone dripping with nonchalance as he forcefully wiped his sticky hands on his jeans.
 “Scott... how... what’d you do?” Steve asked after a beat, confused as to what Scott did in order to get Wanda to eat something.

            “Hey you know how kids are. They tend not to listen to their parents,” he brushed off, patting Steve on the shoulder. “We had a nice conversation, well I talked and she nodded. I gotta admit... this is new for me too but I think you guys are handling it well,” he beamed. “I gave her one of Scott Lang’s good ol’ fashioned pep talks so she should be out later today.” 
“Oh,” they muttered as their gaze dropped towards the wooden floor.

            Scott pulled each of them into a friendly hug, “Okay bye Cap, bye Natasha.”  
 “thank you Scott,” Natasha whispered as her voice wavered from emotion.
 “We appreciate all your help Scott,” Steve hugged back.
 “It was no problem. Remember you guys are doing a great job and Wanda will be fine. You’ll get through it together, if you need me you know where to find me,” he concluded as he strolled out the door.
 Natasha and Steve weren’t sure of what to do next as they looked at the empty plate and then each other, dumbfounded. They lounged on the couch, figuring the best course of action would be to wait for Wanda to merge from her room.

Chapter Text

     “I still don’t know how he did it,” Steve whispered as he tenderly stroked Natasha’s knee. “Do you believe the ideology that there’s a reason for why everything happens? If that’s the case, we must be doing something wrong. I mean, we can’t even get her to eat without a breakdown,” he softly stated as he dropped his head in his hands. “What do you think Romanov?” He softly bounced back as he slightly peeked over his hands. 
 “No. I don’t think so. It’s just... this is different than the life at the Tower, this additional trauma wasn’t present yet so we had less to deal with,” Natasha tried to convince Steve, or maybe herself.
 “So what do we do?”
 “Mm follow my lead Rogers,” Natasha declared as she abruptly rose up, detangling herself from the blonde super soldier.

            Natasha had crossed the area so fast that Steve’s eyes didn’t have enough time to register the fact that she was in Wanda’s room and he was right behind her.  
 “Wanda... are you feeling better?” She softly implored from her position against the door jamb. 
 Wanda’s head was still neatly tucked against her knees, her red hair carelessly spilling over her exposed legs. At the sound of the voice, her head raised, coming to rest atop the arms wrapped around her legs.
 “You have to get out this room, we think you need to have a change of scenery. You’ve only seen the hospital and these four walls. The walk here doesn’t count either. Maybe some fresh air will do you good,” Natasha stated, trying to do what she did best; pushing without damaging.

            If Wanda heard her, she gave no distinct indication. Tired, green eyes were transfixed on a spot near the TV, blinking in tandem with her nerves. Catching on to what Natasha was attempting, Steve chimed in next, “We’re going to watch a movie in the living room and want you to join us. Is that something you’d be up to doing?” He gingerly inquired. Green eyes shifted to look at him before shifting back down to their original point of interest. Steve held his breath as Wanda sat still, he went to move out the room when the sound of a body shuffling caught his attention. The teen peeled her back off the wall, the natural sweat of her body and the pressure of forcing herself into the corner  causing her skin to stick where it made contact with the ivory colored structure.

            She moved stiffly, her limbs beginning to lock up from lack of use and proper stretching. Her arms subconsciously loosely wrapped themselves around her stomach as she quietly followed 3 steps behind Steve and Natasha respectively, keeping herself at an arm’s distance from the pair if the situation turned into something more aggressive. Steve and Natasha stopped behind the couch, Natasha thoughtfully gesturing to the open seating area of the living room for Wanda to pick her seat first. Wanda stood in place, eyes casted downwards as Steve walked around the sofa, snagging the remote off the arm.  
 “You know, you’re always free to sit anywhere you’d like,” he politely smiled as he began scrolling through the movie catalog.

            Wanda timidly glanced around, gingerly setting herself down on an oversized, olive green accent chair, curling into herself a bit as she watched Steve’s ministrations. Natasha took it upon herself to be useful by making some snacks for the night’s festivity, seeing as how Wanda wasn’t preoccupied with her at the moment. She popped two pieces of bread in the toaster with intentions of giving it to Wanda with some peanut butter. It was 6:30 at night, technically dinner time, but Wanda couldn’t handle a normal sized meal yet so she would settle for supplying the malnourished teen with some needed protein.

           For her and Steve, she made something simple and easy, spaghetti with mixed vegetables. She quietly watched Wanda as she maneuvered around the kitchen; the girl still hadn’t acknowledged her presence since the incident yesterday. She didn’t want to be offended but couldn’t help it as she was just trying her best to be there for Wanda now. Natasha easily carried the two bowls of spaghetti, the plate of sliced toast, and drinks with graceful ease, placing everything on the coffee table. She nudged Steve as she took a seat next to him, directing her eyebrows towards the unresponsive teen.  
 “This is Wanda’s plate,” she stated as she handed it to Steve, “can you give it to her?”
 Not wanting to question her actions, he did as asked, placing the plate next to Wanda, whispering so softly that Natasha couldn’t make out what they were saying.

            The movie of choice was Robots, goofy and outlandish but light enough for the atmosphere. A quarter of the way through the film, Natasha draped Wanda in a blanket, a silent offer as the girl continued to ignore the red haired Russian. Wanda didn’t uncurl herself as she watched the film play out on screen, absently reaching for a slice of toast. She nibbled at her food, afraid that large bites would crunch, alerting the other two that she was eating; somewhere deep down, she knew she was hungry but wanted to avoid another incident like yesterday.

            As the credits rolled up the screen, Steve quietly clapped his hands together as he rubbed Natasha’s back.  
 “That was a nice movie but now it’s time for bed kid,” Steve declared with a groan as he rose out his seat. Wanda’s head slowly turned towards the super soldier, nodding as she shuffled out the room, blanket dragging across the floor. Natasha made herself busy by cleaning off the coffee table.
 “Hey Nat, you coming?” Steve questioned from the hallway. He was confused, even if she didn’t sleep, he and Natasha always put Wanda to bed together.
 “I’m just going to clean up and meet you down in the conference room,” she stated without stopping her actions. “You should probably treat her neck too if she’ll let you. I’ve been neglecting it since she’s been discharged,” Natasha dolefully expressed as she abruptly left for her destination, leaving Steve and Wanda alone.

            “Nat,” he sighed upon entering circular room. 
“It’s fine. We can talk about it later,” she brushed off. “Is Wanda okay?”
 “Yeah,” he sighed as he stared at the files scattered on the table below, “I-she allowed me to tend to her neck. Actually, I’m glad you brought it up... I don’t think she’s been cleaning it herself. It almost got infected,” he nervously announced.
Natasha scoffed as she looked through case files, “of course cause why wouldn’t it be?! Can’t get her to eat or sleep and I can’t keep her neck from getting infected! If we can’t do that... then how is this supposed to work?!” Natasha snapped as the edges of her eyes glistened.
 “Nat-“   
 “Not now Rogers... just... not now,” she bitterly sighed as she used the back of her hand to  scrub her face.

            In her line of work, waiting was imperative but for some reason, Natasha found it harder and harder to do in this specific situation. Steve deposited himself in the seat directly across from Natasha instead of taking his usual seat right next to her, studying her expressions throughout the night as they settled into a silent work groove. He didn’t mention Wanda’s behavior for the rest of the night, after all, everything had already been said and done.

            It was unanimously decided that Steve was in charge of Wanda’s “routine”, not that he had much of a say in it. Wanda was no longer ignoring Natasha’s presence but was ignoring her instructions. She wouldn’t bathe if Natasha told her to but with Steve it was a different story. If Natasha asked her if she wanted company, Wanda wouldn’t even look her way. This constant back and forth went on for 3 long days before they noticed a switch in Wanda’s behavior. It happened mid-morning of the third day after Natasha requested that Wanda come join her for a walk in the flower garden. Wanda, almost robotically, migrated to  her dresser, pulling on a simple solid navy blue quarter sleeve shirt and black leggings.

            Natasha was halfway out the door when she looked back, detecting the lack of featherlight footsteps behind her. She turned her head to see Wanda standing on the other side of the threshold, head down and shuffling from foot to foot.  Wanda didn’t have any shoes. Natasha mentally berated herself for not realizing sooner. If she didn’t have shoes on when we found her, how could she have shoes now? Natasha quickly grabbed whatever loose pair of shoes that were kicked off by the couch, handing them to Wanda as she offered a tight-lipped smile. “I’m sorry. Are you ready to go?” 
 Accepting her slight nod for confirmation, Natasha nodded herself before swiveling on her heel.

            The trek to the garden was quiet, the only sounds heard were sneakers squeaking against the floor. They didn’t run into anyone as most citizens were spaced out somewhere in the city completing whatever tasks they had at hand. Once they were where they wanted to be, Natasha’s eyes widened at the prismatic burst of colors; vibrant cobalt Gerbera daisies, cherry red roses, and dusty pumpkin orange chrysanthemums billowed happily in the breeze. The spy pressed forward, eyes never leaving the sashaying verdant stalks, finding the scenery titillating in a way. The Wakandan sun vivaciously peeked through the sparsely scattered clouds, drowning the garden in a ethereal glow. Wanda’s peridot green eyes jumped from flower to flower, drinking in the vivacity of the newly blooming plant buds.

            Birdsongs filtering through the wide old, Marula tree roots whistled in Wanda’s ears, transporting her somewhere beyond her physical self. Natasha exhaled, the fresh air tightly wrapping around her lungs like a boa constricting it’s prey. Natasha returned to Wanda not having explored even a quarter of the garden, even though her legs felt like she had been walking for miles. There on the fertilized soil was Wanda sitting down cross-legged, feeding a young baby rabbit a blade of fresh grass. Upon seeing her enter, Wanda peered up at Natasha, a small but warm smile playing on her lips. Natasha’s heart melted at the sight along with the gesture.

            The redhead gingerly placed herself next to the young Sokovian, replicating her position as she mindfully kept a few inches of space between them. The two stayed like this for an unknown amount of time, listening to the wind whipping against the feeble, spring green sprouting stems. The serenity of the atmosphere invaded Wanda’s pores, lulling her into a deep sense of relaxation when the soft rasp of Natasha’s husky voice caught her off guard.

            “I know this is difficult for you... it’s difficult for us too. I just want you to know we’re trying, we really are. It’s just that... this dynamic is unfamiliar in the sense that not only do we have to convince others that were a genuine family but now Steve and I are solely responsible for your health and development and it’s just... something we’ve never had to do before... not alone. I don’t know if you forgiven me yet or if you’re even on your way to doing that but... what I’m really asking for is for you to be patient with us. We’re bound to- let’s face it, we have fucked  up and will continue to do so, accidentally of course. We just want to be there for you now seeing as we weren’t before. I think that’s attainable, don’t you?” She finished, finally turning to gaze into Wanda’s pale green eyes.

            A flash of hope and understanding shined in Wanda’s large, doe green eyes as her head evenly moved up and down.  
 “Good,” she smiled,” We can stay here until you’re ready to head back inside,” she exhaled as she laid out, closing her eyes with her hands resting comfortably behind her head.  
 Wanda sat back, blinking rapidly as she looked back and forth between Natasha and the bunny in her lap. Natasha was more than genuine she thought, she never willingly divulged her thoughts or feelings li as easily as she just did. In the deep recesses of her mind, she did forgive Natasha and Steve for everything that happened, it wasn’t necessarily their fault; they were just standing for their beliefs and shouldn’t be penalized for that. She did the same thing at one point with Ultron and Hydra and they forgave her for that.

            It was just that with everything going in, it was easy to confuse anger and sadness for distrust. She would tel Natasha and Steve how she felt, she declared, when she was ready. It would serve to help put the past where it belonged while also allowing Wanda the right headspace to heal from her traumas. She would do it, she thought, when she’s ready.

Chapter Text

      Morning rolled around with Steve and Natasha smoothly scrambling around the kitchen, setting down plates of food and beverages as Wanda patiently sat around the table. Her usual routine consisted of taking a shower at night but today she decided to shower in the morning, her hair brushed back and damp from the warm water. Steve happily smiled to himself as Wanda ate a sizable amount of her breakfast, clearly taking more to his cooking than Natasha’s. 
 “Drink your juice,” Natasha authoritatively stated, pushing the glass closer to the teen who accepted it with both hands. Wanda drank about a quarter of her apple juice before sliding it back over to Natasha when a knock on the door drew the pseudo family’s attention.

            Steve opened it this time, a few plates in hand as greeted the guest on the other side. 
 “Morning Shuri. Would you like some breakfast?” Steve asked stepping aside.
 “No thank you, sir,” she declined, entering their temporary domicile.
 “Shuri, are you here to discuss the lab results?” Natasha tried.
 “Uhm no ma’am. We haven’t been able to identify any of the DNA samples yet. I’m actually here to see to Wanda, if that’s okay,” she stated, gently gesturing to the teen.
 At the mention of her name from the stranger’s mouth, Wanda immediately tensed up, her breathing catching in her throat as her current thoughts mixed with memories from the Raft. This was usually how most of the guards summoned her, although, they rarely used her given name and weren’t nearly as cordial.

            “I mean we could say yes but ultimately that’s Wanda’s decision to make,” Steve relayed as Natasha handed him a few more dishes to deposit in the sink. 
 “Of course. This was really just a formality,” Shuri diplomatically acknowledged with a gleaming smile.
 Taking the seat directly across from, “hi Wanda, my name is Shuri, Princess of Wakanda. Can I ask you a question?” her voice dripped with nervous expectancy.
 Wanda wasn’t sure what to make of this new person, she was the Princess of a country so as someone in a high position, she couldn’t be bad. However, past experiences proved that statement wasn’t always reliable. Either way, Wanda nodded, mentally entrusting Steve and Natasha to defend her if Shuri inevitably decided Wanda was a threat, well she was but she also wasn’t in this situation.
 “Would you care to accompany me in my daily ministrations today?”

            Taking Wanda’s skepticism for confusion, Shuri tried again. “Let me rephrase that,” she calmly reiterated, “would you like to hang out with me today?” she offered a small smile as a finish. 
 Steve stopped for a minute, looking thoughtfully between the two teenagers as he did so while Natasha didn’t stop moving around but she did pleasantly quirk an eyebrow up at the statement. Wanda’s doe eyes widened slightly, as if searching inside Shuri’s person, gauging whether or not her intentions were hostile. When her search results proved futile, the girl anxiously moved her head, barely signaling her response that she would partake in the kind gesture.

            Speaking for the second time since Shuri’s arrival, Natasha took 2 steps closer to Wanda, voice soft but strong, “are you sure Wanda?”
 The teen’s eyes hardened with determination as she nodded her head with more fervor, attempting to mask her anxiety with the simple action. 
 “Тебе не нужно идти, если тебе неудобно (you don’t have to go if you’re uncomfortable),” Natasha whispered in Russian, conducting a private conversation in a full room; she was always so perceptive Wanda thought. Looking over Natasha’s shoulder to peer at Shuri, Wanda shifted her gaze back towards the Russian before nodding, hopefully conveying that she was confident in her decision.
Natasha smiled as she stepped back, allowing their quiet conversation to dissolve completely.
 “You’re joining me? Wonderful!” Shuri clapped, widening her smile as Wanda gently rose from her seat.

            “We’re gonna have a nice time.”  
 Wanda quietly followed behind Shuri, stopping to turn on her heel when Shuri did the same.
 “Ms. Natasha, where are you going to be later? Just in case you’re not here when we get back,” the Wakandan politely asked.
 “In the medical wing, visiting Clint and the others,” she briefly stated.
 Shuri accepted her answer, getting ready to turn to leave before Wanda diverted her attention to Steve, staring expectantly. He hesitated briefly, floundering under her intense gaze as he scratched the back of his head to gather his thoughts. “Uhh, I’ll be working out with Bucky and Vision in the gym and then we’re going to run laps through one of the gardens.”
 Wanda nodded, satisfied with his response as she began to follow Shuri out the room.

             Steve sighed as he pulled Natasha close to his chest, her head laying perfectly over his beating heart. “This is the first time she’s been out the palace without one of us. Think she’ll be okay?” 
 “Yeah. If Wanda agreed to it then she’ll be fine. If she’s going to heal, then we have to help establish boundaries but we can’t set all of them for her. She’s going to have to do that herself,” Natasha informed as if she’d dealt with this a hundred times over. Natasha’s left hand gently grazed across Steve’s chest in a loving manner, eliciting a quiet purr like hum from deep in his chest.

            “And how do you know this Sam?” he digged.
 “I know more than you think,” she quipped back with an airy chuckle. Maybe not on how to be a parent she thought but so far she thought she was doing a decent enough job.

            Bright, vivid paintings of powerful royals dressed in expensive agbadas and long flowing dresses lined the palace walls, high and low. Wanda trailed a half a step behind Shuri, there were many questions bouncing inside her head, but she refrained from gesturing to anything as it would draw attention herself, her actions still very much so prudent. 
 “I don’t have much to do today. As the Princess, any serious delegations fall on my brother to handle,” Shuri smirked, a mischievous yet playful gleam in her chocolate eyes. “So I thought I could show you around my lab.”

            Every nerve and muscle in Wanda’s body protested as she worked against them. Labs weren’t safe and the people who owned them weren’t safe so therefore she shouldn’t willingly be walking towards one. Yet, she found herself freely following Shuri around the multiple hallways and corridors that led to the main floor of the palace, the duo stopping at the triple elevators settled to the left of the main entrance. Wanda internally inhaled as the elevator doors opened, tentatively stepping inside after Shuri. She maintained a strong distance, 1 foot, as she stood safely tucked into one corner of the elevator and Shuri in the other. Relief quickly washed over Wanda as the elevator dinged, it was the fastest and smoothest elevator she’d ever been in but the fact that she was trapped alone in a metal box with a stranger didn’t sit right with her stomach and mind.

            “This is my lab. I designed everything in here,” Shuri proudly and dramatically affirmed with the wide gesture of her arms, her accent thicker but lighter as happiness washed over her. Light, verdant eyes enlarged at the classy yet youthful ambiance of the lab. With the lab being underground, rocks and dirt were reinforced to form the base of the lab’s structure; the floor was comprised of a sleek, black porcelain with white lights cutting through to create random geometric patterns. It was overtly bright, adding to that sense of high modern class. The velvet animal paintings filled in with a mix of bright complementary and secondary colors solidified that the lab belonged to someone who was far too young for the knowledge they possessed.

            “You like it?” 
 Wanda could only nod as she drank in everything the room had to offer.
 “Great. We’ll be hanging down here if you don’t mind,” she tossed back, walking down the spiraling steps with a grace only Natasha could possess.
 Wanda followed Shuri to a long table, robotic wires and pieces she didn’t know the name off, strewn about. She watched as Shuri easily welded together two seemingly non related parts, her tongue sticking out in concentration as she did.
 “Let me tell you about myself,” she declared as she glanced up at Wanda.
 “I’m 18. How old are you? 17? 16?” Her brother had told her Wanda was young, although he didn’t know her specific age. Wanda nodded her response at the mention of her age.

            “Oh 16, that’s pretty cool, I wasn’t too far off. I see you’re staying with Mr. Rogers and Ms. Natasha. You have a brother right?” Shuri was just reciting the bits of information she heard from her brother and the Americans. Again Wanda nodded. 
 “Is he older than you?” Wanda’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Technically Pietro was older but they were would have been the same age, she just didn’t know how to properly communicate that with the nod of her head. So she shook it instead.

            “Is he younger?” No. 
 “Okay. Not older or younger so the same age, twins right?” Yes. 
 “Where’s he? Why’s he not here with you guys?”
 Wanda bit her lip, feeling the rush of tears in the corner of her eyes, pulling at the fabric that hung loosely on her malnourished hip. Reading her somber expression for what it was, she spoke again, “oh… he passed away didn’t he?” Yes.

            Speaking softly, Shuri proceeded, averting her gaze back to her project, “I understand. I’m sure Ms. Natasha told you what happened with our Baba. Brother was so angry at Mr. Barnes for what he thought he did before learning that it wasn’t really his fault. Then we lost Zuri, our family friend and royal advisor. I’ve known him since birth, he was supposed to be there for everything just like Baba but now neither of them are here. There was a short period of time where we also lost our country to our cousin, who we didn’t know existed, N’Jobu. He was angry at the world, at us for what happened to him and he should’ve have been… he had every right to be. My Baba messed up while wanting to protect Zuri and N’Jobu suffered. We could’ve helped… maybe… but we didn’t know until it was too late. And then there was brother,” she paused, glistening eyes gently probing Wanda’s.

            “I-he-he was dead for a while, body preserved in the snow. I think what hurt more was the fact that I had no men left… Zuri and Baba were gone. I relied on T’Challa to be there when they couldn’t but then we lost him. I know it’s not the same as your story because I got T’Challa and our country back but there’s still a part of the story that counts. I’m sorry you lost everything at such a young age. Nobody deserves to suffer that much loss and if they do, then it definitely shouldn’t have been you,” she finished as she sniffled a bit, turning her eyes back to Wanda. A small but appreciative smile graced her lips as she digested what Shuri was saying; maybe she didn’t deserve everything that happened but only time would tell.

            Shuri abandoned her little side project, opting to show Wanda some of the other completed gadgets and gizmos on display. A small, velvet elephant- like robot sat on the edge of the table, quietly moving around a small velvet black ball. An experimental hand reached out, registering how soft the tiny elephant was before withdrawing, Wanda coming to realize that it was her hand. She stopped, arm outstretched as she expected a hand, one of Shuri’s nimble ones, to strike her for interacting with her environment. When that didn’t happen, she released a held sigh as she turned to look back at the woman in question.

            Peering at her were delicate, chocolate orbs filled with nothing but playfulness and mute adoration. With barely contained excitement, she asked aloud, “He’s cute isn’t he?” 
 Wanda nodded as she turned back to stroke the elephant’s tiny head.
 “Almost everything built here is to better the country or its citizens in some way but this little guy was made just for the fun of it,” she winked at Wanda as she continued walking, wanting to show her more stuff. Wanda tenderly settled the elephant back on to the table, delivering one final kind pat to his head, as she shuffled behind Shuri.

            Natasha wasn’t back at the shared palace floor when Wanda and Shuri concluded their hang out session for the day. Natasha kindly thanked her, observing their final interaction. 
 “Thanks for being there today, I hope you had as good of a time as I did. I’ll see you again in a few days,” she lightly treaded, hoping that she didn’t misinterpret their time together.
 Almost as quickly as she finished, Wanda was almost a bit too eagerly nodding her response, not that she cared.
 “Cool. Bye Ms. Natasha, Mr. Barton.”
 Both agents waved with Clint calling out, “night kid, have fun with your princessly duties,” he smirked.

            Wanda offered the archer a small, kind smile as he greeted her. 
 “Well long time no see kid. How ya holding up?” he chuckled, fighting the urge to bathe the teen in physical affection. Wanda made a show of easing both thumbs high in the air as Natasha invisibly guided her into a chair.
 “That’s great. Nat here was just telling me about that garden you guys went to. You want my tomatoes?” He offered, making Wanda frown and causing Natasha to stifle her laugh with a smile. He laughed as he placed the tomatoes back onto his plate, offering her jello instead.
 “Hey I’m just teasing, I know you hate tomatoes, just wanted to pull your chain a bit.”

            The trio settled in front of the tv, Natasha practically curled into Clint’s side with Wanda watching in a chair. She sent Clint a glance as Wanda removed the lid of the jello, wordlessly spooning the red jiggly, concoction into her mouth, silently referencing their earlier conversation. With Clint’s input, Natasha was able to deduce that Wanda didn’t have a problem with food itself but rather the implications that came with it such as other people staring and attempting to provide assistance. When presented with food and left alone to her devices, Wanda would eat without any issues; her helpings may have been small but that would be an issue to fix later down the road. The other half of their conversation involved improving Wanda’s sleep schedule.

            “We put her to bed at a reasonable time every night,” Natasha informed him as she sat down next to him on the bed.
 “But is she actually falling asleep?” He questioned back. 
 Natasha exhaled in thought before narrowing her eyes to respond, “we’re actually not sure. I would like to say yes but I’m sure the answer is leaning more towards no. Sometimes when we wake her for breakfast, she’s already up while other times she’s just opening her eyes.”
 “Hm. Is she taking any naps during the day?,” he countered, trying to get a complete understanding of Wanda’s sleeping habits.

            “If she takes a nap, because she doesn’t take one every day, then she could be asleep anywhere from an hour to two hours.”  
 Clint pinched the bridge of his nose as he exhaled in frustration and anger, “yeah, it was that shitty ass collar. When they let her sleep, when they let her sleep,” he reiterated for emphasis, “it was brief. She wasn’t allowed too much sleep as they needed to keep her weak and feeble. And they never woke her themselves, no that was too much work for them. It was more fun to just use the collar and watch her scream and writhe around in pain until it was over,” he seethed remembering all the times he had to sit there and watch a disoriented Wanda forcibly awakened with electricity.

            “Why don’t you spend the night with her?” he perked up.
 “I’m trying to set boundaries. I want her to associate her room as somewhere that she’s allowed full privacy- that people won’t just barge in against her consent.”
 Clint harmlessly chortled at the statement, “boundaries? Who taught you that? Sam?” 
 “No, you and Laura did when you first took me in,” she hotly challenged back. Most of what she was saying was true, who cares if she discussed the same topic with Sam discreetly a few days ago in the middle of the night asking for his opinion. He was a professional and she needed professional advice. 
 Clint pulled Natasha close to his chest as he cradled her the way he did his children, “I’m not saying you’re wrong, it just sounds like you took a page out of Sam Wilson’s book is all.”
 “Yeah, well that’s what it sounds like,” she mumbled against his chest.

            “Try it and see what happens. It’ll give you some insight on whether or not she’s sleeping and if she is at least you’ll be there to help with the nightmares cause let’s face it, she’s totally experiencing nightmares to some capacity.” 
 Natasha nodded against his chest, loose tendrils of red hair brushing across his lips as he smiled. She grumbled as she removed herself from the comfort of his chest, “thanks Clint. I’ll try it and let you know,” she softly stated as Shuri knocked on the door.

             “Hopefully I didn’t spoil your dinner there kid,” Clint reached out. 
 “No, she’ll be okay. Just know the next time I see your kids, I’m stuffing them full of dessert before dinner,” she quipped back as Wanda let the spoon dangle from her mouth.
 “Yeah like Laura would allow that,” he scoffed.
 “Anyways, we’re going back upstairs for the night. Thank you, I love you,” she pecked his cheek before handing Clint the empty jello cup, scrunching her face in a smug like grin.
 “Night kid. I’ll be out soon so make sure you visit,” he waved back, not expecting anything from the teen in question. However, to both their amazement, Wanda waved back with a warm smile playing on her lips, almost reaching her eyes.

            The rest of the night went well with Natasha telling Steve about her plan to spend the night in Wanda’s room during dinner clean up.
 “It’s just for tonight… to help with her sleeping patterns. Clint suggested it,” she trailed off as her nerves got the better of her.
 “Hey, if it’ll help then by all means, go ahead. I’ll stay on the couch in case you guys need something,” he smiled.
 “Okay,” she grinned back. Natasha wasn’t one to let her nerves get to her quite so easily yet ever since being thrust into this position with Steve and Wanda, she found her nerves and emotions started bubbling to the surface with the slightest thought of either them. “Alright, let’s put her to bed.”
 Natasha and Steve went through their nightly routine- ensuring Wanda was showered, teeth brushed, neck wound cleaned, and that there was plenty of water nearby.

            Pulling the blanket to lie on top of her stomach, Steve brushed some hair behind Natasha’s ear, “did you have a nice day with Shuri?” Wanda enthusiastically nodded, a smile gracing her features as she thought back to her day out with her friend? 
 “That’s great that you’re making friends. Are you ready for bed?”
 Again Wanda nodded as she comfortably shifted in her sheets as Steve warmly smiled before whispering a soft good night, kissing the top of Natasha’s head in the process of leaving. Confusion crossed Wanda’s features as Natasha didn’t follow behind Steve, nevertheless, the redhead was quick to remedy that for her.
 “So I was thinking we do something a little differently tonight,” she treaded lightly.

            “I’m going to stay here in the room with you… to ensure you get some decent sleep, if that’s no trouble with you?” 
 Wanda cautiously eyed Natasha as the woman slowly moved to cut off the lamp.  
 “I’ll be asleep on the floor over there,” she pointed a few feet away from the bed. “You don’t have to get me, but I’ll be here for company,” she finished, grabbing a spare pillow and blanket from the closet to set up her makeshift bed. Wanda nodded to herself as she turned to press her back against the wall, staring into the dark at Natasha’s supine body. 
 “Night Wanda, sleep well,” she whispered into the darkness.

Chapter Text

                         Natasha’s POV

            The night was relatively quiet with only the sound of our breathes being heard. Wanda didn’t shift at all through the night, staying relatively still and silent as she stared me down; that all too well-known feeling of eyes on me all night. I wanted to provide words of comfort but found them dying on my lips every time I went to offer them. I was just supposed to be observing her natural sleeping state anyways, interfering would be counterproductive, so I just continued to stare at the nothingness that was the ceiling.

            It wasn’t until around 4:15 am that I heard Wanda’s breathing mellow out as she drifted into sleep. I stayed laying supine, my fingers gently grazing the back of my scalp as I thought about Wanda and our current situation. For someone who barely had a moment of pure solace in her short lifetime, she was blossoming well with us; a testament to her trusting nature. She’s overcame a lot of small feats, nothing anyone else would praise her for but we did. Yet I couldn’t help the anxiousness over our soon to be departure to Greenland. She was adjusting well here; it was where she was gaining familiarity with her temporary environment and where Clint and the others were close by. Forcing her to leave just to live life under false identities for an unknown specified amount of time seemed detrimental to her healing, even to the Black Widow.

            But we had to keep moving. We had to keep her hidden away from the US government until this Accord situation was better handled. It was around 5:50 am when Wanda jolted awake with a barely audible gasp, her left hand instinctively reaching to wrap around her neck. As not to frighten her, I gave her some time to collect herself and bearings before sitting up to speak, “Morning Wanda. Did you sleep well?” I cheerfully asked, choosing to ignore her panicked reaction. Her hand mindlessly clutched a handful of the front of her shirt as she simply nodded, her eyes and mouth wide, her body frigid. She remained tense for 3 minutes, looking as if to be waiting for something. When it didn’t come, she silently exhaled as she shifted out from underneath her covers. She looked into my eyes, carefully stretching a hand out to point towards the bathroom.

            “Yeah,” I nodded as I stretched, “I’ll see if Steve is awake so we can make breakfast and get the day started,” I feigned indifference. Wanda seemed to accept my response as she made her way into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I, on the other hand, did as I stated, strutting over to the couch to see if Steve was awake or not. He was sprawled out on the couch, his right leg hooking over the back of the couch with his left hand practically cradling his pec. His mouth was slightly open, soft snores escaping with each inhale; I couldn’t help the coo that felt out my mouth at the sight. I kneeled next to his supine positioned body, delicately scraping my fingers along his scalp, just the way he liked.

            He gently roused, smiling softly when he saw my face, “hey Nat,” his voice raspy from sleep. “how’d it go last night?” he yawned, rubbing away any excess sleep from his crystal, blue orbs.  
 “It went. Not much happened, she was awake until about 4, where she slept for almost 2 hours before waking up at around 6 with a jump. So she basically took a morning nap instead of actually sleeping.”
 Worry graced his face for a second as he sat up, stretching his tired limbs, “oh. Did she jump because of the collar?”
 “I believe so. She was reaching for her neck the second she was conscious…”    
 “Damn… so what do we do?” He peered up at me, soft eyes piercing mine.
 “We make breakfast,” I smiled at him, pulling him onto his feet.

                        End of POV

            The pair meandered through the kitchen in comfortable silence, mixing ingredients in various bowls as pans warmed on the stove. Natasha noticed how Steve was staring off into space, slightly burning the eggs he was supposed to be scrambling.  
 “You know I can hear you thinking. What’s on your mind soldier?” Natasha playfully prodded.
 “I think you should stay with Wanda again tonight. Well I think you should stay with her for the remainder of the week.”
 Natasha’s head snapped over to the war veteran, “Steve! It was only supposed to be for one night so we could learn her sleeping habits.”
 “Yes I understand and I don’t mean to overstep but how well did that work out? All we found out is that she catnaps during the wee hours of the night and maybe during the day. If you want an accurate reading, you’re going to have to observe her for several days,” he scholastically countered.

            Natasha was ready to dispute his claim, but decided against it, attempting to look at his argument from a logistical standpoint. He was right; one night of data wasn’t enough to make an astute hypothesis regarding Wanda’s sleep schedule. 
 “Well what about the Raft footage? We promised we wouldn’t take another break unless it was necessary?” She warmly bickered back.
 “Wanda’s lack of sleep affects her already low mental health. If you’re with her during the night, then we’ll watch them during the day when Wanda is out with someone. We’ve made some leeway with the footage and deciphering a large portion of the lab files; a small shift in routine won’t affect that. Wanda’s needs are our main priority now, whatever it takes,” he finished, gently rubbing her arms up and down.
 “Whatever it takes,” she parroted back as Wanda graced them with her presence.

            “Morning Wanda, are you hungry?” Steve asked, beginning to plate a smaller serving of eggs and pancakes for the teen. Steve deposited the plate in front of Wanda with a half filled glass of apple juice, nodding when Wanda happily reached across the table for the syrup. The pseudo-parents sat directly across Wanda, eating and engaging in small talk. 
 “You sleep well last night kid?” Steve skillfully weaved into the conversation.
 Wanda nodded, quickly shoveling medium sized amounts of pancake in her mouth. Pancakes topped with fruit, whipped cream and an overabundance of syrup were her favorite, especially when Steve made them for her.

            Natasha peered over the rim of her mug of coffee, gently tapping the table to get Wanda’s attention, “hey… slow down. You’re gonna make yourself sick,” she stated with unease. Wanda nodded, complying with Natasha’s request to slow down, although, she still scooped larger amounts of food than necessary into her mouth. Steve shot Natasha a questioning glance before shrugging his shoulders, dismissing Wanda’s overeagerness for now. Despite Natasha’s little admonishment, breakfast was an easy affair with warmth and light laughter filling the expansive area. When everyone was full and content, Natasha took it upon herself to begin cleaning up the table as she shooed Wanda and Steve away.

            “Well Wanda since we’re not wanted in the dining room, I guess we’ll have to slum it in the living room,” Steve joked as they made their way to the couch, Wanda gently flopping down at the other end, crossing her legs. 
 “We don’t have any prior plans or engagements so is there anything you wanted to do today?” Steve implored. 
 Wanda fiddled with her fingers, her jaw grinding back and forth as she contemplated whether or not to respond. Slowly, she pointed to the television in the center of the room, her eyes never leaving Steve’s as she “asked.”  Steve failed to show any hesitation as he snatched the black remote from it’s place on  the edge of the couch, flipping through the TV guide, “yeah, yeah, we could do that. Anything specific you would like to see?”

            Wanda smiled when Steve began scrolling through the various channels, stopping every now and then when he saw something of interest to the both of them. It wasn’t until after a few hasty head shakes that Steve just gingerly dropped the remote in Wanda’s lap, “how about you find us something to watch while I get us some drinks and snacks?” 
 Wanda nodded as she perused through the vast collection of shows and movies available, deciding that a selecting a specific genre would help reduce the overwhelming amount of choices she was presented with.

            Natasha happened to walk in as Wanda pressed play, a grin dancing across her features when she saw what was selected: a nature documentary; they were among Wanda’s top three favorite type of documentaries after medical and autobiographies. 
 “Great choice,” Natasha praised as she went to hand Wanda a blanket.
 Steve joined them shortly after, contently scanning as he pulled Natasha into his side. The documentary played through with Wanda drifting asleep within 25 minutes of the first episode and Steve and Natasha following behind shortly after.

            An unspecified amount of time had passed before Natasha scoured the room, alert as ever as Steve groggily awoke to her side. Raspy, hoarse whimpers sounded from the other end of the couch- Wanda. The girl was tucked impossibly far into the arm of the couch, her arms tightly secured around her legs with her eyes scrunched tight under the LED lights. Natasha didn’t know what had her so spooked, that was until she turned to view the tv. Apparently during their light slumber, footage of a hunter shooting large game appeared on screen, the pops of the gun loud and crisp. Natasha swiftly spring into action, having the slightest idea of what to do. 
 “Steve, you get the tv and I’ll handle Wanda,” she quickly delegated as she cautiously stalked towards Wanda, hands up in a defensive position.

            “Wanda… it’s alright, it was just the tv. You’re no longer on the Raft, you’re here in Wakanda with Steve and I. you’re safe…” she whispered, hoping that it had some effect on her unlike last time. And to her surprise, it did. Wanda’s body continued to timidly rock back and forth but to a lesser degree as she cracked her eyelids open to reveal glistening, green orbs. 
 “It’s okay. What you heard was sound from the tv. there’s no one here to take you away, I promise,” Steve joined in, kneeling behind Natasha.
 Wanda tried to force her breathing back to normal, intently listening to Steve and Natasha’s mantra.

            It helped to ground her to her settings but did nothing for her increasing internal hysteria. Natasha held out a shaky hand, remaining in Wanda’s eye-line as she spoke, “Wanda, is it okay if I put my hand on your back?”
 Wanda was about to nod when she felt the contents of her stomach rising in her throat; a combination of her heightened nerves  increasing her nausea mixed with the fact that she ate too much too fast. She quickly turned over the side of the couch, forcefully expelling everything as it came up, her nose and eyes burning from the sheer force. A small trash can was placed in front, catching the remaining odorous liquid as it aggressively flowed out of her.

            Making an executive decision, Natasha closed the small gap between them, situating her hand on Wanda’s back, rubbing small comforting circles to help aid in the projection. What was first an involuntary reaction became voluntary as Wanda assessed the situation; this was the biggest mess she’d created since the “soup debacle” a few weeks prior. She didn’t get struck then but she might this time, her body grew rigid, tears pricking her eyes,  anticipating their reaction. 
 “Mmm, do you feel better?” Natasha questioned, not stopping her ministrations on the teen’s frail back.
 Wanda shakily nodded her head as Steve craned his head to look Wanda in the eyes.

            “This is quite the mess. Why don’t you go on? We’ll clean up in here,” Natasha softly announced. 
 “Mmhm,” Steve held out his hand, “it’s okay. Let’s get you cleaned off first and then we can do something a little bit later. Maybe take a walk to the planetarium or visit the others?” Steve offered as he patiently waited for Wanda. She gazed at the hand in her peripheral before directing it back over to the chunky puddle in front of her. In the past few weeks, she could feel her trust re-blossoming with Steve and Natasha, in spite of recent events. Hesitantly, Wanda slid her hand into Steve’s, exhaling at the contact. He didn’t tighten his hold, instead just comfortable enough with Wanda’s loose grip before guiding her to her feet.

            Steve took the lead to navigating them to Wanda’s room, “you’ll be okay, accidents happen. Why don’t you shower and get one of us when you’re done okay?” he stopped against the door jamb, his voice conveying nothing but care and comfort as he referenced the small amount of vomit covering the front of Wanda’s shirt. She released her grip, tears still falling from under thick eyelashes as she trudged into her bathroom. Steve rejoined Natasha for reinforced cleaning efforts, beaming in contempt of the somewhat sickly sweet, sour odor assaulting his olfactory senses, “she held my hand.” 
 “I told you she was eating too fast,” Natasha tsk’d, a smirk widening across her face.
 “I kind of think it was worth it dont you?” He gently bumped her with his shoulder.

            “If you think so, why don’t you finish cleaning up the rest of this while I go talk to Sam and Clint? They informed me that they wanted to show me something.” She stood.  
 Steve couldn’t help his furrowing eyebrows, “why can’t you talk to them after we clean this up?” 
 “Because you didn’t listen so now you get to deal with the repercussions” Natasha shrugged.
 “I was just trying to do something nice for her,” he mumbled as he dabbed at the rug. Natasha went to cup his cheeks before stopping with a grimace, “ugh vomit hands,” she muttered as Steve laughed out loud. She pecked his cheek, before heading towards the door, “and a nice thing it was. Did you see how her face lit up when you gave her the pancakes? She was ecstatic. But maybe next time you’ll listen to me to prevent…. all of this,” she gestured with her hands at the slowly decreasing pool of vomit.

            “Yeah, maybe not,” he joked as he quickly tried to remove the last remnants of vomit from the room. 
 “I’ll be back Steve. Please behave,” she joked with an underlying sense of truth to the request. As she was leaving for the door, Wanda re-entered the room, dressed in an extremely oversized gray long sleeve and simple loose navy sweats. She shuffled back over to Steve, her sock clad feet resting in his view.
 “Wanda, I’ll be back sweetie,” Natasha announced as she sauntered back over to Wanda, gazing into her eyes. “It’ll be really quick,” she smiled reassuringly at Wanda.

            Natasha had taken 3 steps when she felt the fabric on her left sleeve tighten. She peered over her shoulder to see Wanda lightly holding the fabric in her hand, her big green eyes silently pleading for Natasha. 
 “Hey now, don’t do that. I’ll be right back, I’m just going to see Clint and Sam. They said that they had something they wanted to show me. I’ll be back when I’m done. Steve’s here for anything you need, I’ll be back. I promise,” she assured one final time before Wanda reluctantly let her go.

            “What’d you guys want me to see?” Natasha questioned as she entered Sam’s hospital room. 
 “Look at what we found for Wanda,” he excitedly explained as he held up the item: a medium sized stuffed Owl plushy.
 “That’s adorable,” Natasha stated matter of factly as she grabbed the plushy and held it close.
 “We would’ve gotten you a Captain America one but they didn’t have any life sized models,” Clint jested as Natasha gently thumped him upside the head.
 “Funny. Is this all boys?”
 “No we also wanted to talk,” Sam shook his head, “how’s Wanda doing?”

            “Better than we could’ve hoped. There was an incident that occurred today that we thought would’ve set us back but it did quite the opposite,” Natasha informed, not wanting to divulge too much of Wanda’s personal life, “mother” or not. 
 “What happened?” Clint asked, concern for Wanda evident. 
 “To make a long story short: there was a loud noise that scared her but we were able to comfort her enough to get her to let us help. She allowed me to put my hand on her back and grabbed Steve’s when he held it out for her.”
 “Oh that’s great. It seems you guys have been doing a great job re-establishing trust between the three of you,” Sam affirmed.

            “Yeah she’s still skittish and way too scared to freely engage with her environment but it’s a start. She… she reached out for me to stay when I tried to leave earlier,” Natasha proudly exhaled. 
“Aww look at Mama Widow getting all sentimental!” Sam loudly exclaimed as he pulled Natasha into a side hug.
 Clint joined in the congratulations, patting Natasha’s shoulders as he did so, “see? All of the hard work you guys put in is slowly paying off. That’s the second best part of being a parent.”
 “What’s the first?” She quizzically retorted.
 “You’ll know when you get there,” he grinned as he tapped Natasha’s thigh.

            Natasha smiled as she rose to her feet, with the plushy in hand, another thought weighing heavy on her mind.  
 “Hey, I have a question for you guys. During the incident, Wanda whined… she whimpered and I just want to know… is it wrong that I liked it? I mean not in that sense but… like… it was the closest we’ve been to hearing her voice,” Natasha genuinely implored, her voice fading out at the end.
 “No. Not in the slightest. Wanda’s been pretty mute since she’s been discharged right?” Sam inquired.
 “Yes, most of the time you wouldn’t even know she’s occupying the same room as you,” Natasha promptly answered.
 “Yeah… you just miss her voice. We all do. Just keep establishing trust and setting boundaries, incorporate a little routine in there, and she’ll feel secure enough in her self and you guys to speak again,” Sam professionally advised.

            “Don’t feel bad for wanting something as small as her speaking or even making sounds again. She’s been traumatized and needs to relearn that there are people that care for her. Just keep being the same old Steve and Nat and she’ll come around. Now go get back to your husband,” Clint quipped. 
Natasha scowled at the comment, “He’s not my husband.”
 “On paper he will be soon,” Sam inserted with a sly smirk.
 Natasha huffed as she stormed out the room, the duo uproariously laughing behind her, “the sooner you accept it the better!”

            Natasha made it back to her shared home, kicking off her shoes and falling into the couch with a plunk. Wanda who was sat on the loveseat, quickly deposited herself next to Natasha as Steve read Alice in Wonderland aloud. Wanda shyly reached for Natasha’s right sleeve again, having a slightly tighter grip than last time. 
 “Hey I told you I’d be back. Look what the guys bought for you,” Natasha whispered as she pulled the owl from her side. Wanda gently ran a finger along the fur surrounding its green eyes, gazing up at Natasha with a spark of playfulness before cradling it in her lap. She stroked the soft fur, relishing in the fact that she had something soft, that was hers, to hold on to for the first time in months.

Chapter Text

                        Steve’s POV

            Wanda stood in place with her arm outstretched, desolation evident in her body language as Nat walked out the door. She quietly let it drop to her side as she stared longingly at the door. 
 “Hey kid, it’s okay. Why don’t you take a seat while I finish cleaning this up? In the meantime, think of something else you wanna do okay?” I politely instructed as I dabbed at the rug below. The smell was quickly dissipating and hopefully the fabric wouldn’t stain, but it was clean and that’s all that really mattered. Wanda hesitantly did as she was told, eyeing the former puddle of body fluid and me, waiting to see if I’d do… something.

            “I promise… you’re not in any trouble. If anything it was my fault.” 
 That line caught her attention.
 “I should’ve listened to Nat and tried to discourage you from eating too fast. It happens and I’m sorry.”
 Big, green eyes peered at me owlishly before her facial features visibly relaxed, her nodding in response.
 “Let me wash my hands and then we can continue doing what you want to do.”
 She nodded as I swiftly exited the room, making quick work to wash my hands well before returning back to the couch.

             “Did you find something you wanted to do?” 
 She nodded again, with a bit more enthusiasm, as she pointed to the bookshelves behind us.
 “Oh, which book?” I questioned as I perused the section for any familiar titles. 
 I watched as she gently rose to her feet, walking over to stretch and point to a book slightly overhead. I carefully excused myself as I reached over her, grabbing the book in question and handing it to her: Alice in Wonderland. 
 “Is the one you wanted to read?” Yes. 
 However, as I was about to walk away to watch tv, Wanda shyly slid the book back into my hands, wide green eyes gently pleading.
 “Do you… want me to read to you?”
 She bashfully nodded as she looked away.

            “Okay. I’ll read to you. Make sure you’re drinking enough water and Gatorade to replenish your electrolytes,” I informed as I perched myself on the coffee table, book in hand. Wanda deposited herself on the loveseat as I began reading, sipping at her water as she relaxed into the cushions. It had been maybe 15-20 minutes at this point since Nat had been gone and Wanda seemed to be doing fine as of now. When Natasha did grace us with her presence though, Wanda quickly moved to sit next to her, gripping at her right long sleeve as she settled.

            “Hey I told you I’d be back. Look what the guys bought for you,” I heard Natasha whisper as I saw her pulled something fuzzy from her side out of my peripheral: an owl. She used a finger to gently caress the area around its eyes as she playfully looked up at Natasha, making my heart skip a small beat. It was beautiful to see her progressing the way she was with us, with Nat especially, since they had a rocky start at the beginning. Wanda continued to cradle her new plush as she kept Natasha close. I didn’t stop reading until Natasha suggested we sit on the balcony to get some fresh air.

            Dinner was a learning affair. Natasha made seasoned chicken with mashed potatoes on the side; Wanda’s plate had a bit less seasoning as not to further disrupt her stomach. We ate slowly as she timidly stared at the plate of food, her thoughts seeming to race faster than she could process them. 
 “What’s wrong. Are you hungry?” I tried to ask, receiving a small nod in response.
 “You won’t get sick again. Just eat slowly this time okay?” Natasha reassured as she gingerly nudged the plate closer.
 With a little bit of persistence from us both, Wanda did eventually begin to eat her dinner, moving slowly as to gauge whether or not it made her stomach upset.

            When dinner was finished, Nat and I conducted business as usual; I cleared the table and cleaned since she prepared dinner while she walked with Wanda to her room. Taking three water bottles with me, I made my way to Wanda’s bedroom, helping to sanitize her neck wounds before settling her in for the night.  
 “Alright Wanda, if you need anything, Nat will be here with you and I’ll be close by on the couch. Sleep well, kiddo.” I dismissed as I pecked Nat’s forehead goodnight and left.

                        Natasha’s POV

          Steve and I put Wanda to bed a usual, with her holding her owl close to her chest. This night she fell asleep around 1:30 am and slept soundly until about 3:30 am, the most sleep she’s gotten since being released from the hospital. As Steve stated, in order to gauge her sleep schedule, I had to observe; no outside interactions should be taken place while I stayed with her. This fact proved to be difficult when all I wanted was to wrap her in my arms to shield her away from everything she’s already experienced. When morning came around, she was up and by my side, just like yesterday, as I did everything. She held me close but at a distance as I plated today’s breakfast, omelets, and took a seat with Steve joining right after.

            For a while, only the soft clatter of silverware on dishes could be heard as we enjoyed our breakfast before Steve shot me a knowing glance. I sighed as I took a swig of my coffee, “hey Wanda? There’s something we have to tell you.” 
 “At the end of the week, we’ll be heading to a safe house in Greenland,” Steve announced, clearing his throat in the process.
 A frown crossed Wanda’s face as her thoughts clicked together.
 “We already have our aliases: a married couple with a teenage daughter,” Steve eased in. Wanda’s eyes searched around the room as she tried to compose her emotions, holding out a lock of her hair.

            “Yes, uh, in order to play up the family role we were going to dye our hair. We were thinking brunette,” I slid in, just wanting to get this over with. With each of our hair being drastically different colors, it was plain to see how Wanda was able to come up with that question. With a similar hair color, we could maybe get away with the lack of familial resemblance by random passerby. Wanda didn’t finish her breakfast as she continued to frown and cross her arms.  
 “You can be dismissed from the table if you’re done,” Steve offered, which she happily took as she quietly stormed away to her room.

            “I don’t blame her. We should’ve told her a few days ago when we solidified everything,” Steve declared as he began collecting plates.  
 “I agree. Just another parenting fail on us,” I poorly joked as I joined him in his actions.
 For the next two days, Wanda avoided us, rightfully so as we started packing up our belongings. She came out to eat her meals but otherwise stayed in her room. At night, I still occupied the floor with her, mentally logging when Wanda slept and for how long, and jotting it down in a notebook to show Steve. She did come back around by day three after I dyed my hair with the intention of doing Steve’s.

            She watched intently as I bleached his hair, filled in the color, and eventually dyed it to our decided color. Overall, the process lasted about 6 hours, with me wanting the color to look as natural as possible. 
 “You did a great job Doll,” he complimented as he kissed my temple. I laughed as I styled it to his liking before cleaning the area. Wanda still didn’t seem content with the idea but she seemed to accept it as she walked away.

            The next morning, after breakfast was completed, it was Wanda who sat in a chair with me gracefully bustling behind her in the bathroom. I calmly explained all the products/ chemicals and what the purpose of them was as we started her dyeing process. As I ran my fingers through her locks, I could see why she was upset with what we planned; the shade of her hair was definitely unique, dark, wavy auburn tresses naturally falling into place as I combed through it. The end result was amazing through. Her hair was a shade and a half darker than mine and Steve’s but it worked to enhance the charm of her face.

            Wanda gawked in the mirror, unable to pull her eyes away from this new change. She ran her malnourished fingers from her scalp all the way down, in disbelief that she was actually looking at herself. 
 “For what it’s worth, I think you look gorgeous no matter what,” I mumbled as she mindlessly rose to her feet. “You should show Steve, I bet he’ll like it,” I grinned as I restored the bathroom to its former glory. Wanda didn’t have to venture far though as Steve knocked against the door frame, patiently waiting to be allowed entrance.
 “You can come in Steve!” I hollered from the bathroom.
 “Wow kid. Your hair looks fantastic,” I heard as I rounded the bathroom corner, catching the small smile and light blush dancing across Wanda’s cheeks.

            Sleep that night was interesting considering that by this time Saturday, we’d been in a completely different country. Wanda on the other hand, slept for another two hours during the middle of the night, something of a small feat since she would usually sleep for way less than that. She was up and moving with the sun, most likely to compensate for the fact that we were leaving in 26 hours.   
 “Wanda, later today we’ll be stopping by the hospital to say bye to Clint, Bucky, and Vision,” I divulged as she spooned cereal into her mouth.
 A knock at the door alerted us to a visitor, although I had a clue as to who was behind the door.
 “Morning Ms. Natasha, Mr. Rogers!” She cheerily greeted us.

            “Morning Shuri. What are your plans for today?” I lightly engaged.
 “I heard from my brother that the Americans were leaving so I wanted to spend time with Wanda before you guys left,” she smiled as she leaned over my shoulder to wave to Wanda.
 “Okay. Steve and I will be here when you guys are done,” I smiled as I let Shuri through.
 “Okay thank you Ms. Natasha.” She strolled over to Wanda, beaming down at her, “Wanda, is that alright with you?”
 We watched as she earnestly nodded, shoving a few more bites of cereal in her mouth before sliding the bowl over to Steve. Wanda briskly moved towards her room, leaving Shuri situated outside her door while she got dressed before the duo darted out the front.

            “Wanda’s hanging out with a friend…” Steve cautiously brought up leaving me to sigh as I knew what he was implying, “yeah, I guess we can resume our least liked pastime.”   
 We quickly made the trip to the conference room, with the hope that what we saw wouldn’t be too heart wrenching. At this point, we had seen a month’s worth of footage, reviewing some of our older notes and data points for memory before resuming again.    
                        End of POV

            The footage began with guards storming into each cell, plastic trays of food in hand as their stoic expressions didn’t drop. The men received sandwiches with a cup of water and an apple while Wanda had a bowl of grits and water with a straw off to the side. Wanda looked inquisitively at the bowl, unsure of how she was supposed to eat without the proper use of her arms. She sipped at the water as she stared at the bowl, deciding to leave it alone as there wasn’t much she could do with it. She watched as her fellow male friends/ prisoners ate their portions, leaving nothing on their plates the glass and apple core as the guards stormed in again. 

            “You didn’t eat,” one burly guard directed at her as he grabbed her tray. The female guard was with him, slapping Wanda across the face as she snarled at her.  
 “Don’t worry about it. Next time my boys will ensure you’re getting just enough of what you need,” she sneered one final time before kicking Wanda away.
 “I want us to find her first,” Natasha ground out through gritted teeth as they added ‘deprived subsequent meals’ to their data list.  
 “Makes sense why she was skeptical to eat.. and of you…” Steve trailed off as he pieced together bits of information. “Can you believe another woman would perpetuate something so heinous?” He innocently questioned.

            “Yes. Yes I can,” Natasha dejectedly answered, loosely referencing Madame B. and her teachings. 
 “Can I ask you something?” Steve hesitantly implored.
 “Uhm sure,” Natasha replied, reading his energy.
 “Do you think she, this guard, is as bad as Madame B?”
 Natasha stiffened at the name before forcing herself to relax enough to answer the question, “if we’re being honest… I think she’s worse.” 
 Steve turned to look at Natasha as she continued, “At least Madame B. had a reasoning behind every method she presented to us as she worked towards her end goal; to produce the world’s deadliest and most skilled assassin(s). This guard gets a sick thrill out of abusing Wanda, a minor. I understand that she’s angry at Wanda for everything she’s done but none of her intentions were malicious, but hers are, and that makes her a sadistic, manic who shouldn’t live any longer on this planet.”

            Steve didn’t refute her argument as they watched 3 guards drag Wanda off to a secluded room, once again. Her anguished yelps of pain coursed anger through their blood. She was being beaten again for doing absolutely nothing, just sitting in her cell, breathing. One thing they knew for certain was that once they found these guards and Ross, they were gonna pay a toll worse than death.

Chapter Text

            Steve and Natasha viewed a bit more footage, organizing files and date before transferring it to a secure flash drive, courtesy of King T’Challa and Shuri. 3 hours of video footage revealed nothing they hadn’t already known, making it feel as if this trip to the conference room was a waste of time. Once they reached their temporary home, Natasha headed towards their room, safely hiding the flash drive within their luggage, leaving Steve to his ruminating thoughts on the couch.  
 “The guards. I… what are they doing with her eggs? We haven’t seen any data relating to it,” Steve bounced the question off of his girlfriend.
 “Maybe it’s in that encrypted date file. Were you and Vision able to unencrypted everything before the flight tomorrow?” She authentically enquired as she gazed into his eyes.

            “Yeah, we did. It’s 22 pages long, not including the 3 we already unencrypted a few weeks ago. It’s… a lot but hopefully it’ll give us more information,” he finished with an exhale.  
 “We’ll worry about that later. I’m going to make us a snack so Wanda can eat before we say goodbye to everyone,” Natasha smiled, lovingly pecking his cheek.
 The pair quietly watched tv after deciding that they had all the essentials they needed for Greenland. Natasha had all their important information in a Manila folder: birth certificates, passports, medical history, and whatever else they would need to efficiently travel from country to country.

            “I think that’s everything. We don’t really have a lot of stuff,” Steve frowned a bit as he counted their collective luggage. 
 “No we don’t,” Natasha grunted as she shoved Wanda’s owl into her carry on bag, “but we will. Whenever they figure out those Accords,” she earnestly smiled as they carried the luggage into the living room. A knock on the front door made them smile sadly before composing their expressions and demeanor. Steve hastily sped to the front door, not wanting to make them wait any longer than they had to.
 “Hey Shuri, did you guys have a nice time?” he beamed his dazzling smile as Wanda strolled inside to find Natasha.
 “Yes. We had a lovely time. It’s unfortunate that you guys must leave but I understand,” she solemnly stated as her eyes glistened a little.

            “We want to thank you for everything you’ve done Shuri. Especially at the hospital… it wasn’t easy but we appreciate you for it.”  
 Shuri shook her head, horribly failing to keep her tears at bay as she continued speaking, “yes well, it… you’re welcome. It was nice having another teenager around who… just gets it. Wanda’s a great person. I hope we’ll meet again Mr. Rogers,” she smiled behind wet eyes, outstretching a friendly hand.
 Steve obliged, gripping her hand with power as he shook it, gently squeezing as an act of thanks before Shuri left.
 “Oh, can you tell Ms. Natasha the same thing for me? I have to attend to duties that only a princess can handle,” she joked, finally leaving the trio alone.

            Steve turned on his heels, heading to his room to search for his little family, finding Wanda showing Natasha something black resting in her palm. 
 “What’s that?” he asked, eyeing the mechanical little elephant.
 “Shuri gave it to her. From understanding, it doesn’t do much but it is cute,” Natasha chuckled as the elephant let out a tiny trumpet at her petting.
 “Hmm. Kind of like a pet,” Steve jested as he stroked its velvet head.
 Steve shook his head from side to side, handing Wanda a pair of shoes, “anyways, are you ready to say goodbye to everyone Wanda?”
 The teen nodded with dejected fervor as placed the elephant on the dresser, slipping the shoes on and following the adults to the hospital wing.

            “Hey kid, I like the hair. You kind of look like Laura,” Clint beamed, pulling Natasha close to his chest. Wanda blushed at the compliment, knowing how much the archer’s wife meant to him. 
 “Bye birdbrain, we’ll see you again soon,” Natasha declared as Clint held her tight. Everyone had gathered in Sam’s room, figuring it was the best place to meet up since his leg was still in a cast.
 “Alright Buck, you’ll meet us when you’re ready right?” Steve asked as he lovingly hugged Bucky who reciprocated the action.
 “Yeah Steve, I promise. I just need to spend more time learning about myself before I join active society,” Bucky digged, patting Steve on the back.

            “Ms. Natasha, I once again would like to thank you for everything that you have allowed me to be apart of. I hope one day my efforts prove to be valiant,” Vision’s slightly robotic voice announced as he floated towards Natasha. 
 “I hope the same Vision. And I hope life fares well for you in all your endeavors,” Natasha friendly wished, shaking his synthetic hand. “You’ve grown a lot as a man, maybe you can teach Tony to do the same,” came her snarky remark that left Vision perplexed. “What I mean is… you’ve learned quite a bit regarding human emotions and thoughts. Hopefully by spending enough time around you, he’ll learn to better process and categorize his feelings.”

            “Mmm,” Vision’s red face contorted in thought, “do you believe that’s a possibility?” 
 “I never thought I’d have to save the world from alien invaders, a homicidal robot bent on the annihilation of the human race, or be the pseudo-mother to a teenage witch with capabilities we don’t fully comprehend,” she coolly expressed. “So I guess anything’s possible,” she finished with an impish smirk.
 Vision smiled, a friendly one, “Yes, I suppose it is. Thank you.”
 “Bye Vision, safe travels,” she finished as he glided elsewhere with a nod. The spy searched the room, her bright green eyes falling on the person she was looking for.

            Lazily but with purpose, Natasha sauntered over to Wanda who was listening to Sam explain parts of a plane via tablet.  
 “Hey Uncle Sam, showing Wanda the most effective ways to down a plane?”
 “Yeah right. Like I’d teach the-“ he paused, quickly recovering as he started again, “like I’d teach Wanda anything that’d get me in trouble with you,” he grinned, sliding the tablet over to Wanda.
 Natasha only quirked a playful eyebrow in the air as she shot a curios eyed Wanda a wink, drawing a small smile from the teen. 
 “Yeah. Don’t worry about that for now, you’re somewhat valuable to the team. I wouldn’t purposely take you out… yet,” she playfully deadpanned, choosing her words carefully as not to set off Wanda.

            “Anyways with that being said, we have to go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us,” she sighed.  
 “Okay Natasha. I’ll see you guys soon,” Sam eagerly waved them out.
 Wanda returned the gesture knowing that in a weeks time, she would see Sam again. Natasha and Steve made sure to say another round of goodbyes and we’re almost out the door when Clint stopped them with Wanda waiting by the door.
 “This is going to be the first time you guys are raising her alone. It’s going to be new and challenging but also exciting. She’ll have to be a first thought in most decisions you make-“

            “Clint-“ Natasha went to interrupt, stopping when his hand came up, “I’m serious Nat. Whether you like it or not, you’re technically her parents now and you’ll have to act like it. She may be 16 but there’s still a lot of growing for her to do, mentally and emotionally. It’s your job now to keep her safe, the hardest thing you’ll probably have to do. Sam will be there to assist but everything will fall on you two. If you think you can’t do it, you can. I trust you guys with my life… and hers,” he stated, hardened determination leaking from every pore in his body. The harsh shift in his demeanor and brashness of his tone would’ve caused both Avengers to recoil if they weren’t trained professionals.

            “Okay Clint,” Steve whispered, wrapping  a loose arm around Natasha’s shoulders, “we’ll try out best. Cause that’s really all we have.” 
 “That’s all I ask. Land safely. I’ll let Laur and the kids know you say hi and will visit when you have the chance,” he hopefully smiled, pouring as much care and love he could muster into it.
 “Thanks again Clint,” they mumbled as they exited the room, meeting up with Wanda who was discretely searching through the medical staff for someone. When she caught a glimpse of the brown haired beauty, her eyes lit up as she grabbed Natasha’s sleeve, silently insisting her to follow.

            As confused as she was, Natasha didn’t stop to ask Wanda questions, although she was surprised at how much strength she was utilizing to pull her along. Wanda happily pointed to a woman in turquoise scrubs, a familiar face in a crowd of unknowns. 
 “Adaego,” she breathed as the woman turned around, beaming as she saw the pair.
 “Hey Mama, how have you been?!” she wrapped her up in a bear hug.
 “We’ve been doing well, we’re taking everything in stride. We’re leaving the country in the morning. We just came to say good bye to everyone,” Natasha shrugged.
 “Oh,” she sadly whispered, “that’s okay. It’s what you guys need. How’s my little butterfly?” she smiled as she turned towards Wanda.

            The teen bounced on her feet as Adaego lovingly peered into her eyes; she gave her a thumbs up to indicate that she was doing well. 
 “I guess Wanda just wanted to say goodbye to you,” Natasha interjected.
 “Bye sweetie, love you. And by the way your hair is lovely. Your natural color is beautiful but this one suits you as well,” she finished as she all but cooed at the Sokovian.
 “We’ll meet again. Bye Adaego,” Natasha waved as she turned on her heel to leave, feeling the pressure in her sleeve lighten as Wanda pulled away. Making a quick decision, Wanda wrapped her arms around the Wakandan’s midsection, briefly squeezing tightly before releasing her to wave.

             “Bye my little butterfly, you’ll be great,” she cried as she wiped away a few fallen tears. Natasha reigned in her shock as Wanda planted herself right back by her side, gripping her sleeve as she offered a warm smile. Natasha nodded, aware of the unspoken significance between the teen and the nurse.

           The quinjet took air early the following morning, flying high in the air before the sun itself made an appearance. They traveled to Cape Town , South Africa where they would take a layover flight to Glasgow, Scotland. From there, the plane would take them to their final destination, Tasiusaq, Greenland. Wanda was sandwiched between Steve, who sat against the window and Natasha, who was in the aisle seat; protection if need be. Wanda spent a large majority of the trip staring out the window since it was her first time being in a plane. She didn’t count riding the quinjet to New York because she was too heavily preoccupied with other matters to even register being in the jet.

            As they entered each plane and settled in, Natasha and Steve would glance to each other, breathing a sigh of relief; their worry that Wanda wouldn’t take to planes and flying was quelled almost instantly when the teen’s head popped up when the airline’s window cover rose, her eyes shining with curiosity and wonder as she stared beyond. She somehow snuck her velvet elephant through the airline’s metal detectors Natasha noticed as she pet its head every so often. The adults were also relieved to find that reading to Wanda also kept her entertained during the times she didn’t have the opportunity to peek out the window.

            They touched down in Tasiusaq, Greenland at 3:42 am. It was a small settlement with a population of 62, a nice and quiet place to hide until it was time to move to the next one. Natasha ushered Steve and Wanda to stand back as she scoped the place out with her handgun, where she procured it from, the duo had no clue. She circled the outside of the building, disappearing behind the back before returning with the gun at her side, “it’s all clear. Welcome to our temporary home,” she smiled. Wanda gazed up at Steve with a curiously confused look as he lightly chuckled, leading them through the front door.

            The house was nicely decorated and felt cozy compared to icy chill of outside. Steve and Natasha left the suitcases by the door with Natasha laying on the couch and Steve on the intricate rug, both worn out from the constant travel of the day. Wanda stood behind the couch, looking between the pair, unsure of what to do. Steve cracked his eyes open first, glancing over at an uncomfortable Wanda, “sorry kid. We’ll show you to your room in a minute,” he groaned from attempting to rise into a sitting position. Wanda ran her hand over the fabric of the couch, disliking how the leather marginally stuck to the pads of her fingers.

            Steve quietly watched as Wanda rounded the couch, delicately laying next to Natasha as she curled into herself for warmth.   
 “I’ll be back, there’s some sheets and blankets in the hallway closet,” Natasha stated, darting around the corner before disappearing.
 “A sleepover, ay kid?” Steve teased with a wink, Wanda sheepishly smiled back. Natasha entering the room again 4 minutes later, “you better had not been talking about me. I know my hair is a mess,” she joked as she distributed a thick blanket to each person.

            “Only when you wake up. You’re not much of a morning person,” he freely expressed.
 Natasha snorted at Steve’s quick remark, “so I’ve been told. And Wanda, I’ll show you around in the morning,” she finished as she draped an extremely thick brown comforter over her curled body.
 “Oh, I snagged this from your carryon. I hope that was okay,” she whispered as she handed Wanda her owl who just snuggled it and her elephant close under her blanket.
 “Night everyone, sleep well,” Steve wished as he closed his eyes.
 “Night Steve, Night Wanda. until the sun rises,” Natasha responded with the reassurance that tomorrow would be okay.

Chapter Text

            The crisp summer air, filled Wanda’s lungs as a baby blue blur zipped by. She couldn’t contain the giggle that escaped her lips as Pietro pulled on a lock of hair that fell from her ponytail, “Piet… stop,” she spoke in between giggle fits. Wanda was seated a few feet away in the garden, crafting beautiful flower crowns  with the help of her magic. 
 “Look Piet,” she called out as pale, crimson swirls hovered the crowns above, “just like mama used to make,” she reminisced, concentrating as she delicately crowned Pietro’s brown locks.

            Barrel rolling out the sky, Sam laughed as he released his wings, “hey do I get one? I want to look as pretty as Poison Ivy over there, he jested, stealing a spot next to Wanda. 
 “Sure Sam. Watch,” she slightly demanded as she plucked a handful of colorful cosmos, artistically bending her fingers to manipulate her magic the way she wanted to.
 “Done!” She beamed, placing the crown on Sam’s head.
 “Ahh beautiful, thanks lil’ witch. I’ll keep it forever. I’ll hang it up next to my wings or let Redwing nest in it,” he excitedly rambled, causing Pietro to dramatically roll his eyes, Wanda laughing at the two.

            “Ugh, we get it. Can you just move on already?” Pietro sarcastically quipped, amusement peeking out from behind his accent. 
 “Hey man, I don’t know about you but in America we respect our elders,” Sam playfully shot back.
 “Then why do you not listen to Clint? Surely he is much older than you,” Pietro teased with a smirk. Before they could get into any more petty arguing, Steve calls out for lunch, stealing everybody’s attention. Once inside the trio see that they are being joined by Natasha and Bucky as well. Natasha arms are wide, ready to receive her and Pietro who all but jump into the hug. Wanda closed her eyes, melting in the warmth as she nuzzled into Natasha’s loving embrace.

            When she opens them again to regale Natasha of her afternoon, the room is pitch black and she’s by herself. “Pietro?! She yelled into the nothingness, eyes frantically searching for a sign of light,” Steve?!” 
 The tears dance around her doe eyes at the prospect of being alone, “Tasha?” she tried when the sound of far away movement caught her attention, leaving her feeling exposed. “tasha?” her voice shook, barely raising above a whisper. Wanda shuddered, running deep along her spine, at the feel of hot breath beating against her clothed shoulder, her stomach lurching as a hand grazed the shape of her back. She turned with a jump, getting into a defensive stance.

            The figure cackled as it stepped into view: “ Wanda Maximoff,” he punctuated with each breath, “I’m so glad you could make it.” 
 Wanda stared at the figure, moving her fingers in that graceful way she did to outwardly express her magic, frowning at the lack of power surging in her veins. She tried again, facial features twisted in effort as nothing but air danced around her fingertips. The tears fell from her eyes as she struggled to produce something, anything, to fight back against the suited man. 
 “You seem to be… struggling… good. I had some contingencies set in motion for times such as these. Allow me to demonstrate,” he smirked as he stalked closer. Although she wore no visible straitjacket, handcuffs, or rope around her arms, Wanda found that she could not move them from her sides, try as she might.

            The man’s smirk deepened as he practically teleported to the teen’s side. His hand strategically wiped away a fallen tear, leaving Wanda’s head reeling afterwards; the backhand was felt before it was heard. The  calloused fingers pads of his right roughly caressed her chin, yanking it up upwards to stare at him as the left slid down her body to rest against the top of her bottoms. Dead, apathetic, ice blue eyes filled with nothing but contempt and disgust bored into terrified, wet, pale green ones as he cackled some more- Ross. Wanda’s chin trembled as she shook her head, frozen in place while Ross continued his ministrations, desolately whispering one word, “… tasha.”

            Wanda bolted straight up, ragged breaths wracking her body as she surveyed her surroundings. She had to reassure herself: she wasn’t in that white room on the Raft, she was in a safe house in Greenland with Steve and Tasha. “I fell asleep but the nightmare is over now, I’m safe,” she internally repeated her mantra until it no longer physically pained her chest to suck in air. When she went to draw her legs in to sit cross legged, that’s when she felt it; there was a big, warm, damp spot in the middle of her bed. The tears sprang in her eyes when she realized that her pajama bottoms were damp also. Wanda hurriedly stripped her mattress of its sheets, deliberately balling them around the wet spot as she raced towards her door. Tentatively poking a head around the corners, Wanda quietly tiptoed to the other side of the house, where the washer and dryer were situated.

            She made it as far as the kitchen when a voice groggily called out her name, “Wanda? what are doing up this late kid?” 
 Wanda blinked hard as she turned on her heels, attempting to hide her soiled linens behind her back as her bottom lip wobbled. She just shook her head, taking small steps away from Steve, who cautiously inched closer as he rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes, “hey, it’s alright. what’s behind your back?” his voice softened, easily soothing her nerves a little. Wanda nervously presented her blankets, avoiding eye contact with the blue-eyed super soldier as he began to speak again, “your sheets? Did you- oh,” he cut himself off in understanding.

            “It’s okay, why don’t you give them to me to wash while you clean up?” he kindly offered, gently extracting the sheets from the teen’s hands. Wanda nodded before barreling out the room, fear and embarrassment guiding her actions. Steve moved fast, dropping the sheets into the washer before settling on the couch to wait for Wanda. When the teen did re-emerge, her eyes were red, filled with hot tears as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. 
 “You wanna sit with me?” Steve threw out, already knowing Wanda would partake in the gesture but also knowing she needed a push sometimes. She vigorously nodded, simply plopping into the seat next to Steve, self soothing by rocking back and forth. Not knowing what to do in this situation, he brusquely inquired, “do you want me to get Natasha for you?” rising to his feet as soon as he was done. Not wanting that, Wanda frantically shook her head no, desperately clutching his sleeve with wide, imploring orbs.

            Steve calmly assuaged her fear, sitting back down as he nodded, “okay, okay… I won’t leave… I won’t leave. I’m sorry,” he whispered as Wanda continued to hold his arm hostage. She relentlessly rocked back and forth, her breathing normalizing slowly. She felt safe with Steve but it wasn’t enough, she needed more. Timidly, she crawled into his lap, pulling her knees under chin as she did so. His heartbeat was like a peaceful anchor, tethering her to reality and letting her know he was actually there. 
 “Can… do you mind if I hold you?” Steve asked, doing so when Wanda consented.
 Together, they sat in frigid silence, with Steve on edge from Wanda’s new behavior and Wanda on edge from the influx of emotions.

            Sun beans littered through various openings in the curtains, coating the duo in superficial warmth. Wanda’s breathing stabilized substantially in the middle of the night to the point where Steve wasn’t sure if she was asleep or dead. Wanting to know the circumstances of Wanda’s nightmare, Steve took a chance, “can I ask you a question?” to which Wanda languidly nodded against his chest.  
 “What happened last night?” his voice was draped in a veil of concern and curiosity. 
 Wanda bristled at the question, her breathing catching slightly as she clamped onto the front of his shirt. Thinking ahead, Steve held Wanda tightly against his chest with one arm while he used the other to snatch the pen and notepad they kept by the phone for Wanda’s use.

            Shakily, Wanda scribbled down one four letter word, igniting the fire in the pit of his stomach- ‘ Ross’.  Steve sharply exhaled, biting back the tears in his eyes, “it’s okay kid. it’s okay,” he soothed, resting his chin on top of Wanda’s brown locks. The sun beams grew lighter and a tad bit warmer before the pair saw Natasha; she was usually the first one up, waking with the sun and rising before 6. However, the night before, Steve had no choice but verbally fight with Natasha to get some decent rest, knowing that even though she was administered a weakened version of the super-soldier serum; she was still very much so human and needed sleep before her body shut down. Walking into the room, Natasha’s eyes widen minutely as she caught a glimpse of Steve seated on the couch, “Steve, are you okay?”

            “Yeah… yeah,” he sighed, his eyes trailing Natasha’s semi-rested form as she rounded the couch. 
 “Wanda?” She incredulously questioned, kneeling in front of the two.
 “Bad dream is all. We’re okay,” he responded, Natasha nodding in acknowledgment. She then shifted her gaze to the sleepy teen, “Wanda? Are you tired? Do you want to try to lay down?”
 Lazily dragging her eyes to Natasha, she nodded, detangling herself from Steve’s loose grasp as they both watched her leave for her room. Wanda trudged along, stopping by her door jamb as she chastely pointed inside.
 “Oh yeah, your bed. I can make it up for you really quickly if you-“   
 Natasha hastily cut Steve off, pointing to their bedroom instead, “you can sleep in our room for now. We’ll get your bed situated for you in the meantime,” she extended, figuring Wanda needed a change of scenery for the day.

            Wanda peered back, apprehension drenching every inch of her features as she shook her head. 
“If you want, I’ll join you in a minute. I’m just going to make us some tea,” Natasha offered, though it was more of a statement. Yet, it seemed to placate Wanda who gave a hesitant nod, departing to the room as she did so. Natasha sighed, reluctantly trekking into the kitchen with Steve tailing right behind.
 “Wanda wet the bed last night. I’m assuming from a nightmare,” Steve informed Natasha who was leaning against a counter after having set the tea kettle on.
 “I asked her what happened last night and she wrote this,” he announced as he slid over the wrinkled note paper.

            Natasha’s grip on her mug tightened, producing micro-fractures and cracks along its handle, gritting her teeth as she spit his name out, “Ross.” 
 Steve gently removed the mug from Natasha’s hold, replacing it with a new mug as he prepared her tea for her, “what do you want to do?”
 Natasha waved him off with a passive hand, “we can discuss it later, I guess. Wanda’s probably waiting for me… maybe when she’s sleeping,” Natasha valiantly tried to propose an alternative option.
 “When she’s asleep,” he agreed, “I’ll rewash her sheets then re-make her bed.” Steve pecked the top of Natasha’s head, holding her close for a few seconds, “I’m here if you need me.”
 “Always,” came her automated response as she breathed in Steve’s scent- a combination of lavender and hickory. She stood secured in his grasp, not wanting to let him go but also wanting to be there for Wanda. A woeful smile graced Natasha features as she pulled away, taking her mug with her down the hall.

            As she suspected, Wanda had laid on the bed, onto it the freshly set comforter, anxiously yet patiently waiting for her. “I’ll leave this on the bedside table so you can drink it at your leisure,” she said as she laid on the floor directly across from Wanda. The room was silent, neither woman moving, listening to the natural white noise of the house. As she used to do back in Wakanda, Wanda gazed down at Natasha, reading her face and body for any visible emotions only to crawl out of bed when she found none. Surprising Natasha, the Sokovian gently laid down on the floor, scooting closer until her left hand freely brushed against the older woman’s.

            “I think we’d be more comfortable on the bed, let’s go,” Natasha ushered the girl gently, directing her to the mattress, laying down after her. Natasha was NOT going to let Wanda get used to sleeping on the floor again, even if it was for an hour or two. Her body was slightly curled up, facing the door with Wanda’s malnourished body contorted into a loose fetal position, her head nestled under Natasha’s chin. Silence over took them as Natasha pulled Wanda close, clearing her voice, “I don’t think I’ve ever told you about my sister, Yelena. The two of you have very similar tendencies: curious and emotionally brave being two of them. There’s a 4 year difference separating us, but we grew up close. It was clear from a young age that Yelena was brilliant, she was dubbed a Robotics prodigy at the age of 7,” Natasha stated, the pride that was swelling in her chest bleeding into her words.

            “I was the one who taught her the proper way to execute a sweeping windmill,” she chuckled at the memories of Yelena falling on her back before getting it right. “I haven’t seen her in 3 years, I’m not even positive if she’s alive anymore. The last I heard of her, she was in Brazil learning a new form of robotics programming,” Natasha tapered of at the end. After another quiet moment of longingly staring out into nothing, she glanced down at Wanda, who’s hands steadily rose to her neck, gripping her scar with terrified eyes. Removing them gently to the front of her shirt, she continued with her story, “I defected out the KGB before she turned 18, never stopping to look back. I worry about her but she can handle herself. If she ever needs me, she’ll be able to find me. But even that knowledge doesn’t stop me from thinking: I should’ve gone back for her. I want her to be safe but I can’t truly know because I left her… just as I did you.,” she whispered, tears twinkling in her own eyes.

            “After Yelena, I promised myself I wouldn’t let anyone I cared for be forced into a position or situation that I could prevent. I failed her… and you… and myself. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself for letting the Raft happen to you but what I can say is I’m sorry and for as long as we have you, Steve and I are going to make sure you’re as safe and loved as possible. I… love you Wanda,” she muttered, kissing the top of her hair. She pulled away slightly, gazing down at the girl who still had the front of her shirt tightly balled in her fists with silent tears streaming down her face as Natasha’s own tears trickled down her face. The spy didn’t have to say anything else for the time being, she said all she needed to; knowing her vulnerability was something Wanda needed.

            When Steve came in an hour later, Wanda was still twisted around Natasha, tried tears coating flushed cheeks. 
 “What time did you find her last night?” She lowly spoke, comfortingly tapping Wanda’s back.
 “Approximately around 2:40 am. Why?” he inquired, sitting in the chair they kept by their bedside table.
 “When I went to check on her at 11 pm, she was sleeping,” Natasha replied. 
 Steve ran a hand through his hair, “3 hours of sleep? She hasn’t done that before, right?” he questioned.
 “No. Of course it serves that the one time she naps for more than 2 hours, she has a nightmare,” she rolled her eyes at the bitter irony.
 “Could be why she only napped. Anything longer than 2 hours results in nightmares and flashbacks,” Steve reasonably provided. 

            “What do we do about tonight?”
 “Well I don’t want her to rely on one of us being with her in order to fall asleep. How about if we give her some techniques to use for when she does have a nightmare? Breathing techniques, physical techniques, and auditory techniques of the sort,” Natasha replied. 
 “I’ll stop by the shops, either today or tomorrow, to purchase a notebook for her to write in. Talk therapy won’t do her any good right now but maybe writing down her thoughts and feelings might help her feel better,” Steve shrugged. 
 “Hey Steve?” Natasha called for his attention, “theres a strong chance she won’t be sleeping tonight. If that happens what do we?”
 “Fresh air always does her good. We’ll talk a walk together. With that, I’m going to make some breakfast to get started for the day. Her bed’s already been made so you don’t have to worry about that,” he lopsidedly smiled.

            “Thank you Steve. Have I told you I love you?” She smiled. 
 “Only after you’ve had your coffee,” he joked as he warmly kissed her on the lips. “If you need me, I’m here,” he threw over his shoulder as he walked out the door.
 Wrapping her arms around Wanda tighter, she sighed, “always.”

Chapter Text

            Sleep Wanda did not. The trio eventually went about business as usual when Wanda inevitably awoke from her nap. Steve, being in charge of meals for the day, made a standard American dish for breakfast, waffles and fruit, as Natasha floated into the kitchen with Wanda trudging behind, latching onto Natasha’s sleeve as if she’d disappear any minute. And to Wanda, she might; just like in her nightmare from the night before. Natasha gave her an encouraging smile as she guided her to her usual seat at the table, plates of food set before them, her verdant eyes conducting a conversation reminiscent of the way Wanda’s tended to.

            She knelt across from Wanda, keeping in her eye level as she spoke, “you can let me go. I’ll be right by your side, I’m not going to leave… I promise. We’re just going to eat breakfast. Then afterwards we can spend as much time together as we want, that sound okay?” she calmly pressed as she slowly pulled out of Wanda’s grasp. The teen unwillingly warranted the action with meek eagerness as Natasha stole the seat to the left of her, a supportive smile dancing across her face as she made a dramatic show of eating her waffles. Wanda’s green orbs raked over her face, drinking in all her features before decidedly becoming transfixed on Natasha’s plump lips, following every bite she took.

            Whenever the former redhead took a bite, Wanda did the same, forcing the juicy fruit past her lips as she and Natasha performed the same actions. It was weird but it was Wanda’s way of mentally telling herself that Natasha was real; they were at the same table, eating the same meal, doing the same thing- together. Wanda reveled in this little aspect as she continued to watch Natasha, that was before Steve spoke, diverting her attention between the two. 
 “Hey kid, this notebook is for you,” he gently announced, holding up the standard green composition book while she patiently kept listening, “it’s so you can write down your thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc.   
 Anxiously, Wanda toyed with her fork, fingers trembling a touch whenever she tightened her grip.

            “You can treat it like a diary,” Natasha interjected around her big bite of waffle. 
 “Or like a journal, it’s your choice to do anything with. You also don’t even have to use it if that’s another route you want to go,” Steve logically reasoned. “But whatever option you do choose to go with it, we’ll respect. We won’t read anything you write unless you give us permission; you’re a person too so you’re entitled to your privacy,” he nodded to himself sliding the book over to the teen. Blankly staring at the book, the taciturn woman thought about it before promptly ignoring it, choosing the option of eating her breakfast while blocking out the two adults in the room. Wanda became lost in her own tumultuous thoughts, hearing Steve and Natasha’s voices droning on in the background, although it felt like someone had forced water into a phone speaker causing the sounds to be present but muted.

           “Hey Wanda… kid…” Steve tapped the table, effectively drawing her eyes up again, “are you done eating?”  
 Glancing down at the barely eaten waffle, Wanda bit her bottom lip, sliding out her seat to grasp Natasha’s sleeve again. Natasha mirthfully tutted to Steve who began collecting plates, piling food into containers to save for later as he shuffled over to the sink, “hey Soldier, cleanup can wait. Come spend time with Wanda and I,” she aloofly waved him over. Settled on the long couch, Wanda sat restlessly pressed against Natasha’s left side, eyes bouncing between the woman and her boyfriend every few minutes, with the belief that if she kept them in her view that they would stay with her forever. Natasha and Steve didn’t protest or challenge her behavior, a nonverbal, mutual agreement taken place between the two to just let Wanda experience whatever it was she was internally processing.

           When night fell, Steve and Natasha were still with her, taking Steve up on his suggestion of going for a walk. Unlike Wakanda, Wanda had yet to venture out the safe house to explore on her own accord. They’d been in Greenland for over 3 days, approaching 4, and so far only Steve or Natasha traveled out the house, mainly to the shops and to show face to the neighbors. Natasha assisted Wanda in getting dressed in her ‘oversized’ parka, bundling the thin girl with a chuckle at her expression of moot interest along the way. Living in Sokovia, Wanda learned to love snow, however, growing up on the streets forced her to despise the cold. Breathy laughs continued to escape Natasha’s lips as she held out her sleeved arm for Wanda, the girl grasping it as well as she could with her gloved fingers.

            The bundled trio happily trekked into the frozen weather, instantly bunching together during their hike. Conversation between the two adults flowed easily, with either one occasionally attempting to include Wanda by mention of her name or with a question. The teen, who was still caught up in her late feelings of abandonment and anxiousness produced from her previous nightmare, crunched the snow in tandem with her head down, securely boxed in by the two people she yearned for the most. She squeezed Natasha’s sleeve tightly when an unexpected gasp sounded in the crisp air, “look kid,” Steve announced with a point, “sheep.”

            Slowly peeling away, Wanda pushed forward, coming to lean heavily against the wooden split railed fence containing the fluffy barn animal. Watching them move in amazement for a minute, Wanda whipped her head back around towards her pseudo-parents with a light smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. 
 “You can touch them if you want. The Olsens are a very sweet family who gave us permission to play with their animals whenever we want,” Natasha softly stated, watching Wanda excitedly bounce on the lowest rung of the fence. She giddily but patiently waited as Natasha opened the fence, running to the closest sheep, nuzzling its head with caring interest.

            Steve stood off in the back, quietly observing the scene laid before him: Natasha was calmly stroking the top of smaller sheep’s head, pointing to various parts of its body as Wanda intently listened, nodding every so often, eliciting a proud grin from the former assassin. The super soldier always found it perplexing how, despite how well she handled children and animals; Natasha still had this horribly skewed perception of her character, classifying herself as nothing more than a cold-blooded monster. Steve, with the help of Wanda of course, would rectify that situation in due time. As for the remainder of the night, the trio spent a large majority of their time with the sheep’s, and goats, heading back home when the sun began to rise. As they traveled back home, Wanda felt that looming sense of dread lessen, finding that being with Steve and Natasha in nature proved to quell some of her anxieties.

            It took 4 days for Wanda to return to her normal self, slowly weaning off the incessant need to have Natasha or Steve around in order to ensure that they were still alive and present . And it was over these past 4 days that she didn’t grant herself the relief that came with a decent night’s sleep in fear that she’d be plagued with a flashback, only resorting to napping for about an hour and a half before forcefully arousing herself awake for the next 22 hours. She couldn’t verbally detail her experience upon the Raft but maybe she could take Steve and Natasha’s advice to write it down in her notebook. Warily eyeing the book, Wanda inched over to the desk it was resting on top of, snatching a pencil from the pen holder in the corner. She had a lot to express, the issue was where to start.

                      Wanda’s POV

           After long contemplation, I decided to write about my nightmare involving Ross. I started at the beginning: where Pietro and I were in the garden, him zooming by and me creating flower crowns for us to wear; it was a happy memory at first, even if it never did occur. Pietro never met Sam but I know he would’ve loved him, they would probably pull pranks on everyone in the compound and play video games together in their down time, if they’d gotten the chance. I continued to writing from memory, the nightmare still fresh in my mind. I was watching Sam and Pietro playfully bicker with one another, giggling in the back at both their comments and appearance, both of their heads adorned with colorful flower crowns.

            That’s when Steve calls us in for lunch and we see Bucky and Natasha have decided to join us as well. Sam and Bucky went to serve plates as Tasha held her arms out for me and Pietro to run into with us almost knocking her down in the process. She didn’t mind, easily absorbing the additional weights as she held us close, my eyes closing at the comfort. That’s when it turned. When I opened my eyes again to tell Natasha about our afternoon, there’s no one there and the room is black, almost as if I didn’t just open my eyes. My first instinct was to call for my other half and then for Steve when Pietro didn’t answer. My body stiffly stumbled forward, searching for a light as I called out for Tasha. I didn’t want to be alone and the sound in what I assumed it be the corner didn’t help my mental state.

            I called out for Natasha again, receiving no response just as before when I felt his breath on my shoulder, hot and rancid, as I involuntarily released a halted breath. His hand danced along my back, tethering me back to reality as I jumped into a defensive stance like Tasha taught me. He stayed in the shadows, punctuating my name as he spoke. I tried- I tried to expel my magic, moving my fingers in that way that had become second nature to produce it as nothing came out. The tears that I had been holding back, spilled down my face as I repeatedly tried to make my magic, something to fight back against Ross. This only seemed to amuse him as his lips quirked into a malicious smirk before speaking, “You seem to be… struggling… good. I had some contingencies set in motion for times such as these. Allow me to demonstrate.”

            It was at that point that I realized that my powers failed me and now I couldn’t move my arms. Or more so, I failed myself and would have to suffer the consequences of my decisions. I stood frozen in place, practically watching from beside myself as Ross transported himself next to me, wiping away a single tear before backhanding me across said cheek. Ross took the opportunity of me regaining my composure to wrench my face back towards his, his left hand sliding and caressing the length of my abdomen until it was situated on top of my jeans. I wanted to fight, to scream, hell to even simply cry to gain false semblance of control in the situation but my body wouldn’t comply.

            I was stuck, everything I tried- failed, as I was forced to look into his eyes- those unforgiving, merciless blue eyes the color of ice with the sharpness of daggers. My chin wobbled as I shook my head from side to side, a plea to push back my tears and also for Ross to stop, a way of saying I didn’t want this. He only cackled in my ear, his hands moving further south, growing more aggressive with each touch to my skin. Meanwhile, I only wanted one thing, one person as I whispered out their name helplessly- tasha.

                          End of POV

            Wanda pulled away from the book, breathing deeply as she scratched the last word onto the lines paper. She lazily examined her writing, figuring it was good enough before tiptoeing into Steve and Natasha’s room where she saw Natasha propped up with her back resting against their wooden headboard reading a book under the lamplight as Steve snoozed away with his head resting against Natasha’s lap, small pools of drool accumulating under his bottom lip. The spy gently smiled at Wanda before frowning at the teen’s somewhat frazzled appearance, “are you okay? Did something happen?” she whispered, moving to rush towards Wanda.

            The teen shook her head no, holding out the notebook with wide, cautious eyes.  
 “Is that your notebook? Are you trying to give it back?” she continued, remembering how unimpressed Wanda was with its initial presentation.
 Shaking her head no again, she opened the book to its first page, letting Natasha see the writing on the paper before closing it and depositing it in her lap, “are you giving me permission to read it?”
 Wanda nodded yes, pointing to Natasha and Steve before pointing to the book, indicating that she wanted both of them to read it.

            Natasha nodded in understanding, shifting gently as not to wake Steve, “we’ll read it in the morning when Steve’s awake. If you need anything else for the night, I’ll be up okay? I love you,” she mumbled, watching as Wanda’s eyes shined for a minute at the sentiment before departing from the room. Natasha let out a heavy sigh, peering down at the drooling super soldier, dragging her fingers through his dark locks. She was glad that Wanda was utilizing her resources and taking their advice to alleviate some of her more unwanted thoughts and feelings yet, the suspicion that whatever Wanda wrote was most likely a negative experience had her momentarily rejecting the idea of reading the book.

            As much as she wanted to, Wanda had trusted them enough to explain her time on the Raft, something she was very much still uncomfortable and struggling with. As Clint stated, Wanda would have to be a first priority, meaning however unpleasant this would be, they would have to read the journal and deliberate on the best way to handle what it was they were about to read. “for Wanda’s sake,” she whispered to no one in particular, just a subtle reminder of what she willingly agree to sign up for.

Chapter Text

          The night was long, Natasha kept thinking to herself, as she twirled Wanda’s composition book in hand. Her nerves were getting the better of her logic, jumpstarting her natural physiological system, in turn causing her hands to messily shake and her breathing to grow ragged. Using Steve, she calmly pulled her fingers through his disheveled locks, smiling at the way he unconsciously leaned into her touch. She reluctantly pulled away, picking her book up to occupy her mind until he awakened, her thoughts always trailing back to Wanda.

            The Sokovian had been through far too much for someone who had only just turned 16: losing her parents to a bomb, her brother to a battle, and her country to a hell bent AI robot. And that’s not even including the time she spent at HYDRA or locked away in the Raft with Ross and his subordinates. Natasha hoped that they could use this time in the run to do some much needed healing, for Wanda and each other, but of course traumas had a way of changing everything. Around 5 in the morning, Steve started to shift in his sleep, sleepily groaning with each movement before cracking open his blue orbs open.  
 “Hey doll,” he drowsily croaked, a half smile adorning his face as he leaned in for a kiss. Natasha quickly reciprocated the action, pecking his lips lightly with hurried fervor, “Steve.”

            “What’s wrong? Did something else happen to Wanda last night?” he questioned, moving to rub the rest of the sleep out of his eyes. 
 “No. Last night while you were sleeping… she-she gave me this,” Natasha punctuated, holding up the classic, green marbled book.
 “She gave it back?” he inquired, leaning back against the headboard.
 “Actually she wrote in it,” she opened the book, “and is giving us permission to read it.”
 Steve’s eyes widened in surprise, “really?” I didn’t think she’d let us read it this early.”
 “I gave her a few weeks… you know how stubborn she tends to be,” she shook her head.
 “Just like someone else I know,” he dryly breathed. “Did you read it yet?”
 “No, I wanted to wait for you… for us to do it together,” she blankly nodded.

            “Okay, together,” he nodded back, taking a deep breath as he adjusted his position. 
 “I’ll read it aloud,” Natasha whispered, flipping the book open to its first page. The writing was sloppily scrawled across the lines, a very uncharacteristic trait for Wanda they both thought.
‘The dream starts with Pietro and I playing in the garden, I was making flower crowns with my magic while he darted through the trees, looking as free as he felt. I couldn’t help but laugh as he pulled in the loose strands of hair that didn’t make it into my ponytail, asking him to stop as he did. He stood still for a minute, allowing me enough time to place a flower crown on his brown waves, “just like mama used to make,” I breathily sighed. Sam then gracefully plummeted from the sky, joining us with jokes we were unfamiliar with. He wanted a flower crown too, which was easy to craft using my magic.’

         “Mmm, this was definitely a dream, Sam never met Pietro,” Steve factly declared as he glanced over towards Natasha. 
 “Mmhm, I’m gonna keep reading okay,” she pressed, her attention mainly focused on the words adorning the page.
‘They playfully bickered back and forth, smirking and goading each other with natural ease. I sat back, listening and giggling as the lefty arguing continued, before Steve called us in for lunch. Once inside, we see that Natasha and Bucky are joining us as well, a large smile plastered on Natasha’s face when she sees the two of us. Her arms are opened wide, expecting a hug which we readily agreed to by jumping into her arms with strong determination, her scent and embrace inviting and warm… just like mama’s was. We melted into the embrace, our eyes involuntarily shutting at the feeling…’

            “She hasn’t called me Natasha… since she first moved… into the compound,” she disclosed, leaning back into the frame.  
 “This part never happened either,” Steve lamely argued. 
 “Steve, do you think she saw us this way before the events of the Raft or could this be a new development?” 
 “It’s hard to tell. Maybe Sam would have a better idea when he gets here,” Steve shouldered.
 “Yeah maybe.”
 Picking the book back up, Steve cleared his throat to begin reading, ‘… but when I opened my eyes, there was nobody there, no arms comfortably wrapped around me- no Pietro, no Steve, no Natasha, and everything was black. I yelled out for my other half and then for Steve when I received no answer from him. My body awkwardly bumbled forward, searching for a light in the darkness, as I called out for Tasha. I heard a sound in what I assumed to be a corner, I really didn’t want to be alone and the sound wasn’t helping my nerves. I called out for Tasha again when I felt his breath on my shoulder, hot and rancid, as I involuntarily released a halted breath.’

            Listening with bated breath, Natasha leaned closer to Steve, her green eyes wildly scanning the page and the former blonde’s face as he continued. 
 ‘His hand danced along my back, tethering me back to reality as I jumped into a defensive stance like Tasha taught me. He stayed in the shadows, punctuating my name as he spoke. I tried- I tried to expel my magic, moving my fingers in that way that had become second nature to produce it as nothing came out. The tears that I had been holding back, spilled down my face as I repeatedly tried to make my magic, something to fight back against the mysterious figure. This only seemed to amuse him as his lips quirked into a malicious smirk before speaking, “You seem to be… struggling… good. I had some contingencies set in motion for times such as these. Allow me to demonstrate.’ 
 “I don’t like where this is going,” Steve voiced as he shook his head, opening his mouth to start again.

            ‘It was at that point that I realized that my powers failed me and now I couldn’t move my arms. Or more so, I failed myself and would have to suffer the consequences of my decisions. I stood frozen in place, practically watching from beside myself as he transported himself next to me, wiping away a single tear before backhanding me across said cheek. He took the opportunity of me regaining my composure to wrench my face back towards his, his left hand sliding and caressing the length of my abdomen until it was situated on top of my jeans. I wanted to fight, to scream, hell to even simply cry to gain false semblance of control in the situation but my body wouldn’t comply.’ 
 Attentively focused on what was happening on the pages before them, the duo took a determined breath, noticing that they were almost at the cutoff.

            ‘I was stuck, everything I tried- failed, as I was forced to look into his eyes- those unforgiving, merciless blue eyes the color of ice with the sharpness of daggers. My chin wobbled as I shook my head from side to side, a plea to push back my tears and also for Ross to stop, a way of saying I didn’t want this. He only cackled in my ear, his hands moving further south, growing more aggressive with each touch to my skin. Meanwhile, I only wanted one thing, one person as I whispered out their name helplessly- tasha.’  
 “That sick fuck,” Natasha fumed as hot tears trailed down her face.
 “Nat, we don’t know if it actually happened though,” he once again disputed.
 “Shuri said there was evidence of extreme sexual assault when they were examining Wanda. Are you saying she’s lying?” she testily baited with a deadly glint in her eyes.

            “Nat, I know what you’re doing and I’m not going to bite. That’s a dangerous game you’re trying to start… one that has no winners,” he challenged back with cool composure. “What I was trying to say was that maybe it wasn’t Ross that assaulted Wanda. There were 5 different DNA fragments recovered from Wanda’s rape kit, correct? Maybe it was one of those guys and her brain’s mixing trauma with facts.” 
 Natasha responded, that glint in her eye still present, “Then why Ross?” She crossly implored.
 “Well we could argue that since she’s afraid of him and being alone, her mind just morphed her two worst drafts together, incorporating elements from her time trapped in the Raft,” he rationalized.
 Falling back from her initial defensive, Natasha simply nodded, the gleam in her eye rapidly evaporating with each breath.

            “You’re right, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet,” she calmed, running a finger through her brown tresses, “we still have that evidence and the rest of the security footage to finish reviewing.”   
 “We could just scour them for what we need, you know,” he suggested.
 “We’d have to skip ahead to nearly the end of the tapes,” she shook when Steve lifted a puzzled brow, “in order for a rape kit to be effective, it has to occur within 72 hours of an assault. So Wanda’s assault had to happen within the last few days of us rescuing them, a week at the latest.”
 “I get it now. Follow me,” he rises, holding out his left hand for Natasha to grab.
 Taking his hand, Natasha copied his actions, “what are we doing?”
 “If we want clarification, we need to ask Wanda and see if she’ll divulge anything.”

            Natasha followed behind her boyfriend, letting him take the lead as they walked throw the house searching for Wanda. Expecting her to be in her room, they were surprised to see that she was already sitting at the dinner table, nervously twiddling with her fingers while biting her lip. Upon hearing them enter the room, Wanda’s head peeked up, gazing up at them with large, greens that held a silent conviction to them.  
 “Hey kid, did you get any sleep last night?” Steve inquired, sitting across from her.
 Wanda rigidly nodded knowing what conversation was about to take place.
 “Do you want something to drink? Some water?” Natasha started, making sure to pay attention to Wanda’s responses, naming other beverages before Wanda nodded at he mention of apple juice.

            “Here you go,” she patiently handed over the glass, sitting next to Steve who sighed deeply, “Wanda-“      
  “Where do you wanna start?” the Russian began, giving Wanda the option to start wherever was more convenient for her.
 Wanda rose exiting the room with a confused Steve and Natasha in her wake.
 “What is she-“   
 “Just wait,” Steve paused, “give her a minute.” 
 Wanda returned a moment later with 3 writing utensils in one hand, a pencil and 2 pens, a red one and a green one and paper in the other. She handed Natasha the red pen and Steve the green, standing in between them as she used her pencil to shakily underline a portion of her book: I really didn’t want to be alone. 
 “I’m sorry it went down that way. I know the others were there too but their treatment wasn’t akin to yours. I’m sorry you were by yourself on the Raft and that you also woke up in the room alone after experiencing that nightmare. We really are here for you,” Steve emphasized, all while gazing into Wanda’s eyes. She softly patted his shoulder, easing some of his sadness.

            “Is there anything else you want to discuss?” Natasha continued. 
 Nodding again, Wanda moved her hand to mark a word instead of a sentence: Ross, looking between the two with muted confidence. 
 “Ross….yeah. Can we ask you a question?” Steve tried. Wanda hesitated before consenting.
 “While on the Raft did-did Ross ever… touch you in a sexual manner?” Steve stuttered, finding it hard to formulate the sentence when Wanda, the 16 year old, was on the answering end. Wanda picked up her pencil, pondering whether or not to respond when something inside her told her to go for it. She nodded, writing something down on her paper, stepping aside to let them clearly view it.
 ‘Yes. Most of them did.’
 Natasha drew in a sharp breath, catching a glimpse of Steve in her peripheral, the super soldier looked… broken at the revelation.

            The unease that came with revealing such information settled heavy within Wanda’s bowels, dressing her nerves in upset and relief. Shifting into interrogation mode, Natasha mentally steeled herself for the next line of questioning, “do you happen to know any of their names?”
 Wanda shrugged whilst scribbling against the paper, ‘not really. we named all the guards after animals.’
 “Animals, makes sense. Do you feel comfortable sharing those names with us?” Natasha’s voice rose an octave at the end.
 Wanda shook her head, immediately clamming up, she didn’t want to answer any more questions; the fact that she honestly answered the previous questions exemplified how much she trusted the two of them.

            Natasha took notice of the behavior change, deciding that her closed off reaction meant they were done for the day. 
 “It’s okay. You did great, why don’t we eat some breakfast? Are you hungry?” she smoothly transitioned, moving to find the appropriate ingredients. The teen shook her head, shuffling away towards her dinner chair, with a small pout. Steve was first to comfort the girl, “no really, thank you for opening up to us a bit. I’m gonna leave your book on the table, grab it whenever you feel. Is there anything you want to do?” he slightly smiled.
 Wanda nodded, writing down that she wanted to go play with the Olsen’s farm animals with permission, of course.

            That garnered a smirk from the duo as Natasha went to cutting up some fruit. “I know you say you’re not hungry but if you’re going to be out there all day at least have something light,” she softly commanded, setting the bowl down in front of Wanda’s pouting face. 
 “You’re adorable, now eat please,” she softly but authoritatively demanded, smiling wider when Wanda plopped into her seat, annoyedly eating the fruit. She served her and Steve some as well with coffee on the side before dismissing herself to assist Wanda in dressing in her thick winter attire. Steve went out to the farm with Wanda, his overwhelming desire to be with her overpowered his other logical thought processes.

            Natasha, on the other hand, stayed inside performing common domestic activities such as cleaning up the kitchen and some light reading while the stew reduced on the stove top. When they came back, Natasha helped Wanda shuck off her parka, the girl keeping her long sleeve top on as they ate dinner. It was a “happy” affair, clear conversations exchanged between the adults and head nods and shakes occasionally occurring from the mute teen. After dinner, they sat around the tv, lazily watching the sitcom playing on the screen. When it was Wanda’s “bedtime”, the trio performed her usual nighttime routine, cleansing her neck wounds with practiced ease.

            Nestling into the warm covers, Wanda gazed at her two pseudo-parents with an unreadable expression. 
 “Okay kid, I’m gonna leave your book on your desk tonight. It was nice out, the animals were really friendly today, right Wanda?” Steve called out, waiting for Wanda’s response. The girl, in return, offered a small smile as she nodded, glancing at Natasha’s skeptical look.
 “Anyways… night kid,” he waved, dipping off into the dark hallway.
 “Heyyy… I just wanted to reiterate how well you handled everything today,” Natasha smiled, putting Wanda’s owl in arms reach, “thank you for talking with us about the Raft. Do you think writing it down helped?”
 Wanda had to think, ‘talking’ to Steve and Tasha did relieve some of her previously believed anxieties, so to the question she nodded.

            “Ahh great. Do you think it’s something you’d be willing to do again? Not now or even in the near future but possibly?” Natasha stumbled. Wanda nodded again; it made her sick to her stomach to tell some of the closest people she cared about what those guards and Ross did to her against her will but as stated before,it really did help her mental state, just a bit. 
 “Alright,” the older woman smiled, “we’re down the hall if you need or want anything. Don’t hesitate to come get us. Good night, I- we love you,” she corrected herself, reminding Wanda that both Natasha and Steve only had her best interests at heart. Wanda’s eyes gleamed bright before returning back to their normal state, Natasha pulling the blanket up to her shoulders as she cut the lights.

            Releasing a breath she didn’t know she held back, Natasha finally let the day’s concerns and worries wash over her as the tears fell down her face. From a legal standpoint, there wasn’t much they could do for Wanda. They may have had the results from the rape kit, but Wanda wasn’t talking and their wasn’t enough sufficient evidence revealed in the security footage (yet) to put Ross and his bastard dogs away. The fact of the matter was even if Wanda were to talk, explaining how everything went down on the Raft, Ross’ whereabouts were extremely unknown, tossing in the fact that the three of them were still on the run, as well.

            It was these legalistics that made Natasha want to punch every member of the government smart. Wanda needed more, she deserved more than what she was getting. Natasha walked into her bedroom saying nothing, shamelessly crawling into Steve’s open arms to sob. Wanda’s nightmare had weighed far heavier than they anticipated, yet Wanda still chose to wake up everyday and do something; it didn’t seem like much but considering that she could have went a different route, a darker more suicidal route, it was more than enough. Steve held Natasha close, kissing the top of her head while whispering soothing words in hope to pacify her emotions.

            “Wanda’s fine, she’s doing fine. She has us right Nat?” He tenderly inquired, nudging the woman he loved for an answer.  
 “she has us. I’m sorry for trying to pick a fight with you earlier. It’s just that… I…” she mumbled back, fat tears treading down her face.
 “It’s okay. I get it, these feelings are hard to process and as for Wanda, she’ll live eventually. Until then, I love you and you’re doing well,” he breathed, kissing her head once more as he pulled her even closer, the beating of his heart thunderous and aggressive.
 “you too Steve. you’re always so gentle with her,” she complimented, smiling into his eyes.  
 “We do what we’re best at. Now what do you need from me?” He hummed, knowing that approach worked well for her.
 “Just… just don’t let go,” she strangled out, still having issues asking for what she needed and having to deal with strong emotions.

            Steve didn’t say anything as he shifted their position, laying big spoon with Natasha’s head resting on his chest, wrapping them both up in the thick, warm comforter, “I’m here if you need me…”
 barely louder than a whisper, she responded back, “always.”

Chapter Text

                       Natasha’s POV

            It’s been a few days since Wanda disclosed the information regarding her nightmare and experience on the Raft, approaching 6 days now; 6 days since I broke down in Steve’s arms at the revelation. And in that time, neither Steve nor I mentioned either event, probably because we were both still deciding how to appropriately proceed forward in terms of Wanda’s health and how this information related to the case files. However, while we were struggling internally , Wanda’s struggle was beginning to grow more visible.

            The morning after reading her journal, Wanda’s gait was different; lighter, not so heavily burdened by guilt and trauma, just minutely so. Her movements were filled with less trepidation, more precise, as she shuffled about the house, that was definitely a positive. The major downfall to all this though was that even with this positive growth, Wanda was still walking on eggshells and crumbling inside herself due to anxiety and other factors. We hadn’t ventured out the house in those 6 days, well not including the two times we headed down the street to the Olsen’s farm. If Wanda asked then we usually never protested against the request; the farm, or at least the animals on the farm, did wonders at easing Wanda’s nerves.

           Staying inside was nice but that couldn’t be the case everyday. Honestly, I’d be more inclined to staying in the house if a certain super-soldier wasn’t here as well. Wanda’s serving portions were still on the smaller side but seemed to be enough for her as of right now and I ate what would be considered a regular sized portion for every meal but Steve… Steve nearly ate three times as much as that and still needed snacks to keep him going throughout the day. With Sam arriving later today, having no food in the house was not a viable option especially for Wanda’s sake. So I had the brilliant idea of suggesting something… different today.

            As of right now, I was in Steve and mines shared bedroom, dressing for the day: simple but warm. I strolled into the living room, a small smile gracing my face at how Wanda was sitting on the edge of her seat on the couch watching a nature documentary, something about organisms in the ocean, with Steve reclining in the loveseat, silently scribbling in his sketchbook. They were relaxing as breakfast had came and went with little dramatics, Wanda had half a portion of a normal serving but only ate about half of it before politely requesting to leave the table. Sashaying my hips, I made my way over to Steve, plopping down next to him while running my hand through his hair, pecking him softly on the lips. He happily reciprocated the action, slyly attempting to deepen the kiss before I pulled away with a knowing smile, “Well hello there Ms. Romanoff. What’s our plans for today?” he chuckled.

            “Sam touches down today and we don’t have enough food for 3 people and a super-soldier,” I joked as he playfully nudged me, “so we have to go down to the shops to get more,” I finished, raising my eyebrows at him. 
 He shot back an understanding expression as we glanced over at Wanda to see if we drew her attention, knowing what game we were both attempting to play. Looking over at us with a stoic expression that held doleful eyes, she seemed to piece together what we were getting at. She peered down at the coffee table, thinking hard as her breathing got a bit quicker, twiddling her fingers.
 “I’ll get ready,” I heard Steve announce from my side, shooting one more glance my way as he walked down the hall to our room.

            Holding out my right hand, I rose to my own feet, slowly approaching Wanda with a small, encouraging smile, “Come on Wanda, I’ll help you get dressed,” I sing-songed, gaining a tight smile from her. The task that was usually pretty simple turned into a sport as Wanda’s fidgeting increased exponentially from the time we made it from the couch to her room. Getting her in long sleeves and her parka was hard but manageable; now getting gloves over those fidgeting hands was probably the most daunting duty I’d ever endured in my long life. Wanda blankly stared out into nothing as I completed my ministrations, leaving a sinking feeling in my stomach; maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all.

            Assisting Wanda in her pursuit to avoid other people besides Steve and myself wouldn’t be beneficial down the line, especially when we moved to cities with larger, bustling populations. I steeled my feelings as I pushed my doubts to the furthest box in my mind; we were going to break this habit which meant completing everyday tasks and errands away from the house. Offering her a kind smile, I softly clicked my tongue to bring her focus on me, which she did with a little jump. Not wanting to be too cruel, I granted her my left arm, which she promptly hooked herself onto as we exited her room to meet up with Steve.

            He beamed back, guiding us in the direction of the car. The shops were situated in what the local citizens lovingly called ‘town’, it was where most of the shopping stores and entertainment such as the movie theater and the bar. I heard Wanda’s breath catch in her throat a bit when she saw we had arrived, that we were actually committing to this. She gripped my arm tighter when I climbed out the car before almost leaving her behind me as her anxieties had her trapped in a slow stupor. I surveyed the shop, trying to decide which aisle to start in first while Steve left to grab a cart that was only a few feet away.

            I calmly leaned down a bit, just low enough to allow me to whisper in her ear, “you’re safe. I’m here and Steve’s here, there’s nothing to be frightened of and no one is going to take you,” I affirmed with the hope that little speech would be enough to soothe a handful of Wanda’s emotions. We walked down each aisle, perusing every item with Wanda in between the two of us, pressing her body extremely close to ours almost as if being this close together would meld us into one person. As we had a meal planned for tonight, we made sure to get those ingredients first before anything else on our grocery list, the trip had to count for something. We also had Wanda select a few items for herself, Steve reaching the high shelves while I made sure that there were some healthy options in the pile.

            After checkout and friendly conversation with the cashier, I handed Wanda  one of the reusable totes, provided by the store, to carry before offering her my arm again. It was clear that she was nervous, she almost dropped her bag multiple times due to her constant shaking and I could feel (and hear) how difficult it was for her to breathe yet she was still alert; so while she may have been panicking at least it wasn’t a panic attack. Halfway through our walk in the town, Steve turned to face me, shoving his hands in his pockets as he did so. I nodded, knowing what this conversation was about, both of us bouncing looks off each other with seasoned precision. We had decided that it was imperative for us and Wanda’s health to figure out what else went down in the Raft but watching the security footage was out of the question, for now.

            Wanda’s nightly appearances were too sporadic to predict: sometimes she slept through the night or at the very least stayed in her room, there were nights where her socked feet could be heard softly scuffling across the floor (her best attempts at not making too much noise), and then there were the nights where sleep wasn’t penetrating the stronghold she formulated. Steve wasn’t a big fan of the notion but those times where Wanda would not sleep, I permitted the use of all night television, settling next to her as we silently watched whatever movie or show that was being broadcasted that night. Furthermore, Wanda’s daytime naps also occurred intermittently, either 5 times a week or not at all. But with all that being said, the main statement is that planning anything around Wanda’s sleep schedule was more hazardous and tiresome than it needed to be, so it never went down that way.

            As Wanda unknowingly interfered with our surveillance viewings, Steve and I figured the next best course of action in terms of the case was to read the 22 long page medical report that he and Vision successfully decrypted before leaving Wakanda. Using any technological device might’ve produced more problems than solving it and with physical paper copies, if push came to shove, we could always just burn the evidence. Steve had been the one to find the Kinkos like store when he was out for a morning jog one day. We’d agreed to print 2 copies of the file, one for each of us to freely annotate; now what we had to decide was who was going to do the printing. We didn’t want all three of us in there together, there was still more shopping to do, but the way today’s events were playing out….

            Initially, it was decided that Steve would print the pages for us, Wanda liked him but wouldn’t physically attach herself to him if he tried to leave. But, I also didn’t want Wanda to rely on us too much physically as it would be detrimental to her development in future years, making me want to be the one to head into the store. Steve’s baby blues and my vibrant greens fought an unseen battle of who would do it before he grinned at me, calling Wanda’s name, “hey kid, I’ll be back. I have some documents and other files from Fury to print. I’m going to run into that store across the street, you stay with Natasha, I’ll be back.” 
 For a few seconds, Wanda seemed offended at the statement, reigning it in quickly as her eyes returned back to normal. She nodded and I waved Steve off, focusing back on Wanda.

            Her behavior was similar to that of Florida rain; fast and unexpected. Her squirming was more pronounced, her breathing fastened, and those green eyes I loved so much shifted around the area far too frequently, giving me a headache from just watching her.  
 “There’s a book store a few doors down, why don’t we go take a look while we wait for Steve hm?” I hummed, wanting to distract her for a bit. She shakily nodded back, holding onto my arm for dear life as we traipsed down the street. By the time we were done, Steve had brought the vehicle outside the building, happily smiling at us as Wanda crawled into the back seat. I told him about some of the books we had purchased, 4 out of the 7 were Wanda’s picks, as we headed home.

            Once we reached the house, I traded Wanda the groceries for her books and sent her on her way while Steve and I prepped dinner. Sam would be over in 2 and a half hours and I can say with all the breath I could muster: I was relieved he would be in Greenland with us. We were doing well by Wanda but even then it still felt like we weren’t doing enough for her. With every action or decision we made, there was a minuscule amount of doubt mixed with regret that seeded itself into our minds; mines was growing and so was Steve’s. Sam’s background in working with PTSD veterans paired with being a former pararesucer meant that we would receive the best professional advice we could get. And it also wouldn’t hurt to ask him to detail his experience on the Raft when possible, maybe it could provide more answers.

                        End of POV

            Sam had arrived earlier in the day, when the trio was out retrieving food for his dinner invite. They knew what time he was coming in but Natasha felt it would be more convenient for him to settle into his house before they bombarded him with their presence. Steve didn’t hold back the childishly wide grin that adorned his face when he heard the strong knock on the door; he merrily threw his arms around the man, laughing without constraint, “hey man, it’s good to see ya buddy!”  
 “Come on man, now I know you’re lying to me,” Sam chuckled back.
 Natasha excused herself from the room, letting Wanda know that Sam had arrived and dinner was also ready. The teen had wrapped herself around her owl while she used her other hand to gently pet her elephant as it jumped into a pile of paper clips resting on her dresser. She glanced up at Natasha, nodding as she detangled herself from the plushy.

            Wanda’s stony expression faltered as she laid eyes on Sam who ran up to her with the energy of a small child hopped up on sugar, “lil red… I’ve missed you! How’ve you been?” he loudly questioned, being mindful to keep his distance. Wanda didn’t fail to notice and only smiled a bit bigger as she nodded, sitting in her usual table seat. The occasion was light and cheerful, happy stories and laughs being passed around as wonderful food was consumed by all. Wanda ate more than a quarter but less than half before she was dismissed to get ready for bed, the day and her nerves catching up with her. Steve cleaned up, something some food in a container for Sam to take home while Natasha opened the fridge, holding out a couple cold ones. They migrated outside to catch up, finding the chill air comfortable as they sat around the porch.

            They conversed for a moment before Natasha rose to her feet, setting her beverage on the ground as she headed inside, “I’ll be back. I’m gonna check on Wanda,” she declared, leaving them to do what they will with the information. Knocking softly, Natasha announced her presence, smiling at the squeaking of the opening door. She hummed a tune while cleaning the teen’s neck, smiling to herself at how nicely it was healing, the cold weather was treating it well. The spy tucked her in, loving eyes roaming over her features as she pressed owl close to Wanda’s chest, “Steve and I are catching up with Sam outside. Remember if you need anything, just come get one of us, yes?”

            She waited for a response before resuming with the nightly routine, “we love you. Get some rest,” she finished, shutting off the lights and leaving the door ajar behind her. Natasha jumped back into the guys conversation as if she had never left, sipping at her beer while reminiscing. An hour and Alf went by before they saw themselves quietly rocking on the porch furniture. 
 “And remind me why it take you so long to get here again?” Natasha spoke aloud.
 “The citizens of Wakanda are very thorough… had me doing a week and a half of physical therapy before they released me,” Sam informed.
 “So the leg’s better now?” Steve chimed in.  
 “Better now that it was before actually.” Steve’s eyes widen in surprise.

            “Yeah they’re great people,” Natasha breathed.
 “How’s Bucky?” “How’s Wanda?”  Both men questioned at the same time.
 “I saw that she didn’t eat a lot at dinner,” Sam carefully brought up.
 “Wanda’s doing… well,” Steve cleared his throat, “she has her days where she regresses but overall we thin-“ a soft knocking on the other side of the door pulled their attention as timid, brown locks peeled around the corner.
 “Hey kid, what you still doin up? Can’t sleep?” Sam chimed. Wanda chastely nodded as she pointed at Natasha, “well boys that’s my cue to leave. It was lovely seeing you again Sam, maybe we can do something tomorrow,” she offered as she waved goodnight.
 Natasha smiled at the last part of the conversation she heard as she trailed inside behind Wanda, “Bucky’s getting there. He says he misses you guys and that he’ll join us in a few months time… give or take.”

            Wanda stood awkwardly in the middle of her room as she shifted from foot to foot, pulling on the sleeve of her shirt as she did anything but stare at Natasha, who patiently waited regardless of how long it was taking Wanda. After the beat of a few minutes, Wanda walked over to her desk, pointing at a piece of paper, ‘I’m sorry…. I was trying to wait until you were finished.’   
 “Oh, it’s okay baby, you don’t have to do that. Thank you for being polite but if you wanted one of us, you could’ve came outside. Sam would’ve understood,” she tenderly stated, not truly caring if Sam had a problem with it or not. If Wanda wanted her or Steve, they would be there.
 Wanda apologetically smiled as she pointed at the line below her previous sentence, ‘will you sleep with me tonight?’
 Natasha looked up at Wanda with a happy sigh, “of course малышка (baby). I’ll stay with you tonight. Let me just brush my teeth so I can crawl in next to you.”

            Wanda’s eyes and ears perked up at the answer, her anxiety dwindling a bit at the prospect of having someone next to her tonight. Wanda crawled into bed, laying on her stomach with owl tucked under arm when Natasha made it back after brushing her teeth and washing her face. She pulled the covers back, laying in the bed in the same position as Wanda, leaving them staring face to face. Wanda tiredly blinked back at her with an unreadable expression which was saying a lot as Natasha was the Black Widow, she was more than trained in reading other people’s emotions and body language to extract information.
 “Would you like to hear another story about Yelena?” as intriguing as Yelena was to the Sokovian, she didn’t want that tonight.
 “Or…how about a lullaby?” wand nodded at that.

            Natasha grinned as she adjusted herself. Singing softly, the sweet scratchiness of Natasha’s natural voice paired well with the tone of the Russian lullaby she was currently crooning. Her right hand slithered up Wanda’s body, tapping rhythmically against her bony back as she remembered how it helped Wanda fall asleep the last time she had her curled into her body… after her nightmare. Wanda didn’t move any closer to Natasha, enjoying the distance but also loving that she could see all the features of Natasha’s face. Begrudgingly, Wanda’s eyes began to droop close from the heaviness of sleep, her eyes constantly fluttering from trying to overpower it.

            Natasha quietly huffed a light chuckle at Wanda’s behavior, “it’s okay малышка, just sleep. I’ll be here while you’re sleeping and when you wake up. I promise.” 
 Wanda’s eyes bucked one final time before a hand groped the front of Natasha’s shirt, holding it tightly out of care, not fear. When she tired of singing, Natasha hummed the same lullaby as her soothing technique settled Wanda into a serene sleep. She wondered why Wanda couldn’t always have these moments: to be oblivious to the dangers of the world while being wrapped firmly in her and Steve’s love. Wanda would get there, they all would, so Natasha let herself fall asleep to the knowledge that one day Wanda would have this all the time.

Chapter Text

                       Steve’s POV
            Unbeknownst to Nat, while I was waiting for her and Wanda to finish up at the bookstore, I purchased a camera. Wanda only had 4 pictures from her earlier life, different ages but the oldest picture had been when the twins were 5. There were no other physical documentation’s of her life besides countless manila files, and that was no way to live, especially for a 16 year old. She was technically our child now, so maybe she’d appreciate the sentiment down the line.

            As for Nat, she’d definitely kill me when she got the chance. The position I captured them in was one of extreme vulnerability: both of them facing each other as they dozed on while Wanda’s owl was tucked under her arm and Natasha’s right hand gently rested against Wanda’s back. I snapped a few more pictures, about 10 in total, before Nat’s bedridden brown waves popped into view, a suspicious yet welcoming smile playing on her lips as I stepped further into the room. I happily smiled back, strolling up next to Wanda to reach over and place my lips against Nat’s, the softness overpowering her morning breath, “morning.”  
 “Morning soldier,” she tiredly yawned, “what’re you up to?”  
 “Oh just taking pictures to document Wanda’s time with us for future reference… like we discussed,” I grinned seeing the tinge of adoration flashing in her eyes.

            “I also had some other ideas on how to fill up storage,” I mischievously smirked. Nat playfully smacked my chest but I didn’t miss the way her eyes darkened for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. I couldn’t help myself; there’s just something about the way her usually pristine brown waves looked right now, messy and sleep ridden, her eyes and features soft with the grogginess of sleep- she was beyond gorgeous. I chuckled as she rasped out my name with the shake of her head, “steve..” 
 “I know doll, I know. Did Wanda sleep through the night?”
 I watched as she shifted her upper body onto her left forearm, resting her head against her open hand, “yes surprisingly. I checked on her every 30 minutes. She only woke up once,” she adorably yawned, “but I got her to fall back in about 15 minutes, so over all it was a great night.”

            The smile that I wanted to smile had no business being as large as it was at her just talking about Wanda but it was; maybe we aren’t doing as horribly as we thought.   
 “What are the plans for today?” she eventually questioned as she rubbed her eyes one final time.
 “I was gonna hang out with Sam… see if I can get anymore information from him pertaining to the Raft”, I exhaled. “What about you? Got anything big planned?”
 The uncertainty in her emerald eyes was unmistakable, that was before she pushed it down to reveal their usual softness, “I don’t know. We haven’t really been alone together since the events of the Raft… I’m not sure what to do.”

            I could sense the underlying message concealed in her tone: she was scared. With all the progress Wanda was making, it would be easy to mess up since there’s still too much we don’t know about the Raft and any other triggers she would have, because she definitely had more.  
 “I haven’t read to her in a while, maybe suggest that. Or play a board game. We have those puzzles too,” I listed off, trying to offer her mental reprieve.
 “Those could work,” she smiled gratefully. “Also if you stop by the shops, can you see if they have 4 dry erase white boards?” she smiled hopefully, despite the questioning look I was surely giving her.
 “Sure doll. Anything else?”
 “No that’ll be all thank you,” she half smirked as she reached forward to place a soft kiss on my lips- the amount of love and adoration stemming from it made my heart flutter.

            “Alright I’m off,” I stated as I stood completely up, giving me the perfect view of the two of them, “there’s coffee in the pot and water on the stove, in case you prefer tea instead. I’ll be with Sam but I’m here if you need me,” l recited to which she tenderly responded back, “always,” as I left for the day.

                         End of POV

            Natasha sighed at Steve’s fleeting form, glancing down at the girl sleeping across from her. She couldn’t stop some of the guilt she had from raising in her chest, about her true intentions for the day. She wanted to ask Wanda more questions about the Raft,  knowing Steve would have major objections seeing as how Wanda clammed up immediately last time when it became too difficulty for her to answer any more questions. It would work as long as Natasha treaded lightly. Glancing at her watch, she exhaled when seeing that it was only 7:30, not necessarily too early but still later than her and Steve were up but she’d let Wanda have it. This was the longest she’d slept since a little before the Raft, when Tony was “protecting” her at the compound, her anxiety had made it hard to sleep for long periods of time.

            Natasha formulated her questions and some do the expected responses in her head while waiting for Wanda to awake, she’d decided that she’d get to work after they’d had their breakfast and some time to relax. It was some time after 8 that Wanda silently stirred, her hand holding onto Natasha’s shirt tightening before loosening as gentle green eyes peered open at Natasha, “morning malyshka, how’d you sleep?” 
 Wanda smiled, using the hand that was gripping Natasha shirt to rub away the sleep in her eyes, “it’s just going to be you and I today, Steve is with Sam, of course. I had some ideas for us but you know you get a say as always,” the spy affirmed with a calm smile to which Wanda nodded.

            The duo lounged around in bed for a few more minutes before Natasha parted ways  so that they both could take a shower and she could prepare breakfast. She served breakfast with a mug of coffee for herself and a glass of apple juice for Wanda, a newfound love as it seemed, softly humming to herself. Wanda joined not long after, her now brown locks hanging wetly from her scalp while she engaged with Natasha. When breakfast was over, Natasha took to cleaning up as her and Steve frequently did, leaving Wanda at the table with her juice. The older woman dried her hands on a loose towel after setting the last plate in the drying rack, turning towards Wanda who had just finished writing something on the pieces of paper they left at the table.

            A breathy chuckle escaped Natasha’s lips as Wanda gazed up at her with childlike hope beaming in her eyes, “sure, I’ll tell you another story about Yelena. Can I braid your hair for you?” she politely asked. Over the course of the past several months, Wanda’s hair had grown extremely long, hanging towards the middle of her back, the longest it’s ever been. Wanda happily nodded, expecting the woman to narrate the story while she did her hair; Natasha crossed over to stand behind Wanda, tenderly raking the girls hair back as she started her ministrations. Beginning with hesitance, Natasha asked what she needed to, “Wanda before I talk about Yelena… is it possible that I can ask you a few more questions pertaining to the Raft?”

            With reluctance evident in her body language, Wanda nodded, curious and terrified to see what questions Natasha had come up with. Wanda’s main thought process for allowing the questioning was that based on what happened the first time Steve and Natasha came up to her: discussing it helped last time, so doing the same today would be fine. 
 “Can you tell me what it was like in there?”
 Wanda picked up her pencil, scrawling out her answers at a decent speed, ‘Cold. They beat me and let me starve,” she pointedly declared.
 “Yeah, did they feed you at all? Do you remember how many meals you were given?” Natasha asked gently, peering over Wanda’s head to see her response.
 ‘…3… or maybe 4 times.’

            The answer shouldn’t have been new to Natasha, they had seen about 2 and a half months worth of security footage and in that whole time, Wanda had only received food once. A part of Natasha felt that maybe the treatment would change in the following months and that the deprivation of food was a simple punishment and power tool: starving her let Wanda know that she wasn’t in control.  
 “So out of the 5 months you were there, you only received food 4 times?” she questioned incredulously. Wanda confirmed with a plain shrug. Natasha held onto that answer, moving on to her next line of questioning, “did all the guards beat you?” she wistfully voiced.
 ‘Yes…,’ the teen wrote out, “some of them more than others though.’ 
 Sighing, Natasha threaded strands of Wanda’s hair together as she slowly but expertly moved through her hair.

           “And Ross… I know he was involved in other matters but did he ever join in? With any of the beatings I mean.” 
 Wanda nodded again, a bit more sternly than the last, ‘…only a couple of times.” 
 The blithe atmosphere of the morning was quickly waning as Natasha pressed on, both women no longer in jovial moods. Natasha cleared her throat, forcing her anger and unease down while staring at the top of Wanda’s head, “You also mentioned that most of the guards touched you in a sexual manner… how often did that occur?”
 Wanda knew the exact answer, it was one of the only things to keep track of while locked away, but Natasha was firing at her too fast, leaving no time for her to say, not that she wanted to anyway.

            Her arms lamely gripped her midsection, similar to when she first arrived on Wakanda and her straitjacket was removed. Her arms rested had been forced to reside at her sides, unwillingly, for 5 months. In the darkest times, Wanda would convince herself that the cloth she was involuntarily trapped in wasn’t a restraining device but rather a hug- a hug from someone who loved her, something she needed and desired most on the Raft, besides freedom. She stumbled at Natasha’s question, the sexual abuse was still too fresh in her mind, she didn’t want to divulge anything too serious just yet. She shakily reached for her pencil, willing her hands to stop shaking and the tears to stay at bay as she attempted to scribble, ‘…um…”

            Natasha tied off Wanda’s braid, hanging it off her right shoulder as she fired off more questions, “Ross too right? What about him? How many times did he “accidentally” find himself into your cell?” Natasha angrily fumed, too caught up in her emotions to pay attention to Wanda’s. The questions began feeling more like an interrogation, bringing back a surge of memories Wanda was content to plug into the back of her mind, passively resting where she couldn’t relive them. The only time she had ever been interrogated was on the Raft, which led to her first official assault when she replied in a way the guards didn’t like. Rocking slightly in her seat, warm and salty tears cascaded down her still hollow cheeks as Natasha’s voice became fuzzier but her emotions grew hotter.

            Her pulling her legs into herself was the first sign that would have made Natasha pull back, if she had been attuned to Wanda’s reactions. It wasn’t until Natasha heard a high pitched whine emanating in the kitchen that she realized where it sounded from- Wanda. For the first time in years, Natasha’s lifelong honed skills in stealth and reading body language failed her, in turn, failing the girl she was supposed to protect. Natasha quickly dropped to her knees, scuttling to position herself in front of Wanda, “Wanda sweetie, I’m sorry, малышка. I’m sorry… I don’t mean to push,” she frantically rushed out, reaching to cup Wanda’s cheeks. Tears endlessly streamed down Wanda’s face as she continued her self soothing behavior, Natasha at a loss for words, “did-do you still wanna hear about Yelena?”

            Wanda subtly nodded leading Natasha to swiftly delve into a story about the time Yelena brought home a stray cat that also happened to be pregnant. Wanda didn’t stop crying but did welcome the story as it provided distraction from the raging beast that was currently her mind. She made no efforts to respond to Natasha who was asking if she was alright or if she wanted or needed anything. She only craved two things- reprieve from her memories and a hug. As much as she would’ve liked, Natasha couldn’t subtract the first one but she could supply her with a hug. Wanda wanted it, she did, more than anything in the world but like the Raft, she would deny herself that basic privilege. Instead, she would let her negative thoughts and emotions from the Raft and her life in general, consume her very being. She wouldn’t wallow in the pleasantries life had to offer, it would just get taken away in the end.

Chapter Text

                       Steve’s POV
            Hanging with Sam today had been… eye opening, to say the least. Along with the physical, mental, and emotional abuse they all endured, Sam had the added bonus of racism and prejudice sprinkled in his assaults. Growing up in the 1940’s should’ve been enough to desensitize me to these types of atrocities, at least that was the theory. Sam claims it was nothing new, it had been occurring ever since he could talk and comprehend diction. That may have been so but that didn’t take the sting out of it- the pain of being viewed as less than a person, especially in these more ‘modern’ times. But as Captain America, I was viewed highly, above that of a human but below that of a God, so I couldn’t personally relate.

            In spite of all that, our day went swimmingly. We went for a light jog around the the neighborhood, traveling along the back roads for ‘safety’ reasons, before we made a quick stop at the shops as Natasha had asked earlier. The reason for the white boards was beyond me but I did purchase them along with a few dry erase markers for obvious reasons. We had made it back to my temporary home and I can honestly say, as nice a it was spending time with a friend, I missed my doll and Wanda. I waved Sam off, telling him we’d meet up again later in the week if he wanted as I walked through the door with a smile. Immediately I could tell their was something off. The house was quiet and nobody was in the living room leaving the place feeling eerie and causing a pit in my stomach to form.

            I left the white boards on the coffee table, hurriedly rushing into the kitchen to see if maybe they were having lunch together, that wasn’t too far out of the realm of possibility. Seeing Nat seated around the kitchen table by herself almost made a smile appear on my face until I saw the look on her face- one that was solemn with pieces of intense concentration and fear dashed in. She didn’t look at me as I rounded the table, I know the worry was evident on my face too as I stood next to her when her jumping back caused me to stumble back a bit.

            “Steve,” she exhaled. The tone in her voice sounded panic, if just slightly so, as she knocked her chair over to stand in front of me, “I…”
 I pulled her close to my chest, her head falling gently on top of my heart as I asked the hot question, “Doll… where’s Wanda?”
 “I got her to go in her room…” I felt her mumble into my chest, “Steve I fucked up.”
 Whatever she’d done couldn’t be as bad as she stated, Lord knows we’ve done far worse as heroes than most people would ever imagine. She carried in when she noticed she had my full attention.
 “I asked Wanda some questions and ended up pushing her too far… I don’t know how to get her back,” she finally whispered.
 Like burning metal, the heat- a combination of rage and irritation intertwined inside my chest, boiling over without a second thought. I pulled Nat away from me, letting her see the emotions in my eyes as I ground out my question, “You. Did. What. Nat?!”

            She just shook her head, opening and closing her mouth as words failed her.
 “I’m sorry Steve. It happened and before I could rectify the situation, Wanda had retreated into herself. There wasn’t much I could do.”  
 “Not much you could do!? What you could’ve done was leave well enough alone,” I slightly yelled, beyond my control- the anger inside swelling to insurmountable levels.  
 Natasha didn’t speak, only pulling away from my arms with a deep huff, taking the lead to our bedroom, “lets go in the room please. I don’t want Wanda to hear the yelling,” she gloomily decreed, clearly not expecting a verbal answer as she walked towards our bedroom. I flexed the fingers on my right hand, hoping to relief some of the tension in my body to help our conversation flow more smoothly. With a deep breath, I trailed behind Nat, glancing at Wanda’s closed door with bated breath. Nat closed the door behind me, making everything all too real.

                            End of POV

            Steve was the first to continue the conversation, exploding as soon as the door clicked close, “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING NAT?! WE HAD A MUTUAL AGREEMENT- we’d let Wanda come to us and no matter what, we wouldn’t push. AND YOU KNOW WHY?! FOR EXACTLY THIS REASON!” He shouted, tossing his hands in the air before placing them on his hips, pacing up and down to give his body something to do. 
 Taken aback by his unusually loud tone, Natasha continued without a hitch, “Steve I’m sorry. And I mean it- I didn’t mean to push. I had a few more questions and-so I took a shot and decided to ask her.”
 “We had a plan Nat but you grew impatient and jumped the gun,” he expressed behind gritted teeth, “We have a kid now! A traumatized one! We can’t afford to behave so impetuously anymore, not when it involves her!”  
 “I thought I could do it… get the answers out of her without any lasting damage… I mean, it’s what I’ve been trained to do my whole life. I really thought I could do it…” her voice dropped at the end while she simultaneously plopped on the bed, as graceful as ever.

            “You may be trained in espionage and can kill a man in 25 different ways with a single pen but this…” he grandly gestured, “we’re not trained in this parenting shit. As Clint told us, we’re going to have to stand on the same front with Wanda- we don’t deviate unless we discuss it beforehand. She needs stability and to know that any trust we’ve established with her won’t falter from the slightest mistakes we’ve made. She can’t handle it and neither can we,” Steve concluded, his voice dropping a few decibels by the end. Words didn’t leave Natasha lips as she silently sobbed into her hands.

            “I love you and I will forever but we need to do better,” he whispered, gathering some clothes to take a shower. The rest of the night was met with prickliness and unresolved tension as the duo completed their nightly routine- auto mode piloting their actions. Wanda was to be left alone, there wasn’t much they could do for her anyways. Steve didn’t look at Natasha as he pulled back his covers and climbed into bed, remnants of anger still radiating from his muscular build. Natasha didn’t argue, directing her head back towards the thick, mini book of medical information resting haphazardly in her lap. Although her sobbing had long subsided, the tears persisted, coating her cheeks in wet tracks.

                          Wanda’s POV 
            My body bolted straight up as if pulled forward by an unknown force. Oxygen was a foreign object- something I couldn’t grasp if my gasping was anything to go by. I tried to employ Nat’s 5-sense technique to ground myself starting with sight. The walls were white- too white, and the lights were overtly bright, it was doing more than burning, searing would’ve been more appropriate. Glass panes lined the gray concrete walls from front to back. The floor was was white too, dingy yet clean at the same time. The last thing I saw was navy blue with black lines that held hers but not enough- the jacket.

            I could hear the faint sound of static- the sound emanating from my ears form the loud silence. If I concentrated, I could make out the muffled voices of 3 people- men, angry men. The disembodied voices started out reedy, growing thornier and gruff with each passing moment until they inevitably plateaued between rough and stentorian. A fourth voice, vengeful but obviously more feminine rang loud above the boisterousness of the others. My brain appeared to be foggy but I could make out a few small words and clipped phrases: “look at…. what do we do…. fuck it…. hold it down.”  
 A heavy blanket of dread engulfed every cell that had the audacity to function, and if possible, my breathing got tighter. What was fresh also felt like a far away dream, I knew where I was- back on the Raft with those guards , Mamba guiding the way.

            I don’t know what I did this time to land myself back here- my magic was hiding, watered down and muted until it was nothing more than a minuscule scarlet wisp, buried deep within the chambers of my mind and soul. With it there, any major damage and destruction found throughout the globe wasn’t my doing- I wasn’t responsible so I shouldn’t be here. Maybe Steve and Tasha had grown tired of my silence act, giving me up to the government to rid themselves of the burden that was me. I wouldn’t know and couldn’t ask as the familiar feeling of electricity- hot and spiteful hotly glided against my veins- too fiery and passionate to handle without releasing a scream.

            Brown eyes, that would be classified as distinguished if not for the pent up aggression behind them, glowered at me with hate and hostility. Her hands threaded in my hair as she yanked me to my feet, tossing me into her trio of men with dispassionate care, “it’s yours to do whatever you want boys. just make sure it’s breathing,” she sneered at me. The sobs wanting to escape didn’t have time to before a pair of unmoisturized, crack lips swallowed mine whole. The laughter in the room was anything but joyful- it was loud and filled with veiled disgust and contempt. Their hands were everywhere, touching all the skin they could- groping my butt and breasts when nothing else was available. It was too much… too much.

            The taunts and jeers (gypsy whore, Sokovian slut, “we’ll put that pretty mouth of yours to good use,” “good girl”), the never ending threats, both sexual and violent in nature (“I’d kill you myself at this very moment,” “ bite me and we’ll see how well you take a baton up that young cunt of yours ), and the overall touching… I couldn’t do it. I can’t do it.

                          End of POV

            During Wanda’s nightmare induced haze, Steve and Natasha had burst through her door, frenzied concern and uncertainty forcing them to take action. Eyes clenched tight, one of Wanda’s arms was firmly wrapped around her knees, the other scratching at her neck, at the scars of where the shock collar used to reside. Moving cautiously, Natasha held her hands out in a defensive, calmly muttering Wanda’s name as she advanced, “Wanda… it’s Nat. We’re here in Greenland… you’re just having a nightmare. You can wake up,” the spy tried, side-stepping closer while Steve crossed the other side of the room, reaching for Wanda’s lamp. The super soldier successfully managed to accomplish his job, bathing the room in a dim white light, highlighting Wanda and Natasha’s facial features.

            Wanda, on the other hand, had managed to open her eyes just a fraction, fear-laden peridots sweeping the room for any threatening enemies.
 “Wanda…” Natasha tried again, tenderly aligning herself in Wanda’s view only to pull Steve back with her when the girl flinched a horrible flinch when the spy drew too close. The muscles in her right arm, the one wrapped around her leg, rung taut as her grip turned hard, white dancing around her knuckles. The left, that was initially scratching was now clawing at the damaged skin below, angering the wounds further. Steve and Natasha advanced once more as Wanda’s ragged breaths became alarming- something of an immediate emergency for them when it happened.

            The once muted wails escaping from Wanda’s mouth gathered together at the base of her throat, morphing into a broken sob- a raw, powerfully mangled lament, devoid of sadness and hope. The signs of fractured times. Steve stood tall, clutching his loose hands into heavy fists- his throat bobbled fast with emotion, his top jaw grinding away at his bottom as tears unabashedly fell to the ground. The moan of anguish Natasha released was for her and no one else. As Wanda physically fought herself, trapped in her own mind, one factual statement made itself present: the situation was falling apart and it was all Natasha’s, unintentional, doing.

Chapter Text

          The night, already torturous and grueling, hung high as Steve and Natasha’s attempts to pull Wanda from her own mind bared fruitless results. Wanda’s clawing eventually ceased but that was on her own accord, the pair had nothing to do with that. Natasha cautiously stalked over to Wanda, her pained green eyes dissecting every inch of Wanda’s neck- the burns near the nape of her neck had been healing slowly so therefore they were always more prone to damage which Wanda’s nails did a number on. What was originally scabbed over was now languidly trickling copious amounts of crimson blood and littered with superficial lacerations.

            Wanda’s eyes were screwed shut but that didn’t stop her from flinching when the bed dipped, Natasha’s hand barely grazing her neck. As much as she wanted to clean it, the Russian left it alone- Wanda was traumatized enough for the night, she shouldn’t have to continuously suffer at their hands. So Natasha rose up and left it and her, alone as did Steve. Doing all they could have done, they exited the room, shutting the door behind them. No words were uttered as they headed through the kitchen to the back, unlocking an inconspicuous door to their left as they stepped inside, Natasha cutting on a tv perched in the middle of the room. As divided as they currently were, their minds and strategies still ran along the same wavelength- they had to watch more footage.

             The last thing they remembered viewing had Wanda punished for not eating food she clearly needed assistance with and then being dragged to a secluded area only to be beaten by three burly guards. There was no comfort as they watched and documented as much information and data they could process from the 3 week equivalent of surveillance footage. In that time frame, Clint, Scott, and Sam had been shuffled into random rooms to be interrogated about Steve and Natasha’s whereabouts. Every now and then the Winter Soldier was mentioned but he was known to be elusive, evading every governmental agency that tried to take him out, so he was quickly dropped out the line of questioning.

            It was amusing at first to hear the replies their friends came up with: Scott’s were clueless and never pertained to the questions, Sam’s were a mix of seriousness, and Clint was just as sarcastic as ever. For now, nothing negative came from the transactions, when the guards grew tired of them, they snarled but deposited them back in their cells. Steve deeply exhaled as he jotted down some notes. The fight with Natasha, the incident with Wanda, and watching security footage after months of leaving it alone was an enervative task and tonight Steve didn’t think he had the energy to keep going. Officially, they’d seen 3 months and one week of footage which meant they were nearing the end but by other peoples accounts, that’s when the Raft really went to shit.

            It was Wanda’s second time being served food when Steve and Natasha could sense the shift in the guards demeanors- what was once veiled stoic aloofness was now undisguised disgust and malignancy. Wanda had been resting her forehead against the metal cell wall when they heard the guards storming in, trays of food in hand. 2 had entered her cell with smiles that made Natasha growl; their intents were anything but friendly. Wanda was yanked away from the wall where one of the guards held her between his legs as the other shoved mushy oats against her lips, the guard behind her wrenching open her jaw to allow the other to dump the contents in her mouth. Force feed- they were force feeding her and she couldn’t stop it.

            Steve ground his jaw, there couldn’t be anymore anger brimming within him and yet here he was, staring at the scene unfold. Wanda was obediently eating each spoonful presented, fear blown wide in her green eyes, as her jaw was held open the whole time. She faltered slightly, choking about in the process which resulted in the grip on her jaw tightening. Natasha’s skin crawled when the guard sitting behind Wanda leaned in close, his breath dancing along her ear, “ yeah don’t worry,” guard 2 whispered from behind as his free hand trailed from her hip to the inside of her thigh, “we like ‘em messy,” he chuckled in her ear, slipping his hand below her waist band.

            Wanda’s body reacted naturally, jerking at the hand playing below her belt, knocking over her only source of hydration. The guard feeding her scowled, raising his hand high to brutally slap her across the face before beginning to retreat out the room with the half empty tray in hand, leaving behind his friend who continued to molest Wanda without any remorse. It was clear when he found his intended destination, going off the strained yelp and jerk from on-screen Wanda. Words and taunts of a lewd and lascivious nature were mumbled into her ear the entire time as he did what he wanted to with the teen’s restrained body. Savagely snatching Wanda’s hair, he forced her to hover over the split liquid, cruelly commanding her to drink it as he pressed her face closer. Wanda’s fire shined through as she shook her head, protesting against the command, “no…no.”

            Natasha pulled her fist in at the laugh the guard cackled out as he tossed Wanda aside as if she were a piece of used garbage taunting out one final line, “one of these days we’re gonna treat that pretty little body of yours right,” before letting the door slam shut. The guards smirks were venomous as they left the traumatized Sokovian behind, her friends pounding and shouting against their glass panes. Steve hastily paused the footage there as the reality of their situation sunk in. They had made it through the night, the sun’s warm rays bursting through the curtains, “I’m going for a run. I’ll be back,” he curtly stated, leaving no room for discussion as he was already out the door.

            Natasha sat by herself in the room- the previous day had her baffled, call it the influx of emotions bombarding her every sense but her stomach was doing somersaults, flipping and landing with no regards for its owner. She rushed into the kitchen, throwing up in the trash can in the nick of time as she used the sink to rinse out the foul remnants residing in her mouth. She peered around he kitchen, sighing to calm her stomach as she was left to her own devices- Steve already departed from the house and Wanda wasn’t going to present herself anytime soon. Taking a seat at the table, the spy threw her head in her hands, it had never been this discombobulated before. The first time Wanda was trapped in her feelings and memories pertaining to the Raft, Scott had been the one to talk to her, he was the one that pulled her out and Steve and Natasha still didn’t understand what he had done or said to make that happen.

            On shaky legs, Natasha rose out her seat to stride into the living room, pulling a brown hardcover book from the shelf to tuck under her arm as she walked down the hallway. Stopping at Wanda’s room Natasha carefully tested the handle, unlocked, but she wouldn’t barge in, that’d do no good. She sat outside the door, legs crossed with her back propped against the frame as she turned to the first page of the book, speaking clearly and concisely as she read the dedication page, “To Haley, who heard the story first. Chapter 1: I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher. Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood. If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now,” she started. Self imposed isolation after traumatizing or life changing experiences was not healthy, Natasha knew that all too well thanks to Clint and Laura so while Wanda needed to be by herself, Natasha wouldn’t let her be alone.   

          Natasha read until it was 12:30 pm, their “lunch time”, as Natasha had been trying to regulate an eating routine for the past few weeks. She dog-eared the page, a habit she didn’t normally do but knew Wanda would appreciate when she came across it, and made quick work of making something small, something that wouldn’t be extremely wasteful if not eaten. She carried the plate- a peanut butter and jelly (strawberry jam) sandwich cut in half with some grapes on the side and a bottle of water with her, gently setting them down on the floor next to her as she picked up the book, the other half of the sandwich in her hand.
 “Wanda, I don’t know if you can hear me or if you’re even listening but I brought you some lunch, I’ll leave it out here so you can get it whenever you want,” she softly spoke, her voice a few decibels lower than when she was reading.

            Time silently passed, neither woman moving from where they resided. “It’s okay Wanda, I’m gonna keep reading though if that’s okay with you,” she lightly breezed past as she picked the book up to start reading again. Another break commenced at 5:30 when Natasha went to prepare dinner. She sadly hummed to herself as she stirred the creamy, white contents in the big pot, sometimes Wanda would stand by her side and quietly but happily listen as Natasha recounted some crazy tale of her youth. Other times, Wanda would either sit propped in the living room with a documentary or in her room, playing with her elephant. Natasha didn’t realize how accustomed she’d gotten to her and Wanda’s time alone together… making the gravitas of this situation weigh down her heart.

            Her stupor fell apart when she heard the opening of the front door and hurried footsteps, “steve?” she called out, ready to fight if it wasn’t him. The man in question speed walked into the room, dropping his bag on the floor without care as he pulled Natasha into his chest and held her there, “I love you doll and I’m sorry. Yelling at you for something you strongly believed in goes against my better judgement. I’m sorry for leaving you alone today especially after the footage we viewed last night. My anger has been misplaced recently leading me to take it out on you as you’re the only one around. Nothing I say will ever make that right or okay…. I just want to let you know I’m still here for you. We’re in this together so we’ll pull through just as we always did and will continue to do. I love you and I wish I could take back everything wrong I did these past few days,” he mumbled into her ear.

            “Steve… I get it. We weren’t properly equipped to handle a situation of this caliber actually we’re still not but we’re improving everyday. I guess we both have a lot to apologize for, I’m sorry for letting it get this bad, it just feels like we’re starting back at the beginning again. When we had no clue what to do,” Natasha solemnly divulged from within Steve’s embrace. 
 “It wasn’t your fault. As much as we try to help Wanda, the truth of the matter is that her emotions and feelings are her own. If she doesn’t want to talk about it then she won’t, which will only make them fester over until something like this happens. I was talking with Sam today and he told me that maybe what happened the other day was a good thing, as unfortunate as it is, it forces Wanda to actively deal with some of the more deeper memories and emotions from the Raft that she’s been suppressing. Now we have to supply her with the tools she needs to work through it,” he declared as he finally let Natasha go.

            Natasha hummed a response as she got back to dinner, her thoughts and the new information mixing. Her and Steve at dinner at the table together, a slight tension still between them as they came to terms with their current placement relationship wise- between the two of them and Wanda also. When dinner was finished, Natasha did as she did earlier, she left Wanda a small plate outside her door. She took a fast shower, glancing at Steve as he readied himself for bed, slipping into the hall to sit outside Wanda’s door. She didn’t want to read more from the book, she had grown tired of relearning Greek mythology for the last 5 hours so she went with a fan favorite- a Yelena story. The one she would be telling this particular night featured Melina and Alexei, people she wanted Wanda to know about if they were to ever meet.

            It was a simple story, a cute one about how Melina was teaching Yelena how to ride a bike for the first time and how Alexei mothered her when she inevitably fell and banged up her knee. Natasha deliberately drawled out the story, stealing as much of the night as she could before telling Wanda good night and heading her way to bed where Steve was leaning against the bed frame, waiting up a bit. 
 “Do you want discuss the footage we watched last night?” A pensive look about his face. “yeah…,” she crawled into bed next to him, “where do you want to start?”  
 “Were there any noticeable signs in the guard’s demeanors between the last few surveillance weeks? I mean it felt like one minute they were disgusted with even the idea of Wanda being alive and then the next they couldn’t keep their greedy, malicious hands off her,” he frowned.

            “It was always there…that small gleam in their eyes behind their abhorrence for her. It was there, the only difference is that they had a clear directive from… someone to act on it,” the spy reasoned. She’d known that look, she often saw it on honey pot missions or when consulting international world leaders- the look of want. Given the opportunity, there were many that would abuse the opportunity- and her, for the chance to say they broke the Black Widow. It was a loveless cycle and unfortunately Wanda experienced it first hand like Natasha had at one point. 
 “How could we possibly help her cope with any of that?” Steve hotly inquired.
 “I don’t have any answers Steve,” Natasha honestly answered with the shake of her head.

            Cause the truth of the matter was, she didn’t. She had barely processed her own trauma successfully and now she was responsible for helping a 16 year old with hers? Steve turned his head slightly to look Natasha in her green eyes, “how did you do it? It takes time, I know but… how?” he melancholically quizzed, needing answers that Natasha most likely couldn’t provide.  
 “Clint and Laura. They were the most stable people in my life and as much as I fought against them, they wouldn’t back down. They provided encouraging words, actions, and advice. i wouldn’t have made it this far without them,” she whispered sincerely.
 Steve nodded as he listened to Natasha’s words and the meaning behind them, “what did you want when you were Wanda’s age?” 
 Freedom, she wanted to say. “Wanda and I aren’t the same person.” 
 Gazing into her eyes, he continued without a misstep, “Humor me Nat… what did you want when you were 16?” he staccoed.

            “Besides the chance to leave… I just wanted someone I cared about to tell me that it was going to be alright, even if it was a lie. At least I could trick myself into believing it was true when I needed it,” she shrugged.  
 “Let’s try that,” he shot out.
 “It’s not that easy… it can’t be,” Natasha disapprovingly shook her head.
 “Well it’s a start. Maybe some reassurance will do her well. We should try it,” he fought.
 Needing to be on the same page, Natasha nodded thoughtfully as she cut her light, “we’ll try it,” she sighed. Steve did the same, pulling Natasha close as he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, “once again, I apologize for my actions these last few days. I love you, I always will no matter how angry I let myself get. Nothing will ever change that fact and I need you to know that,” he mumbled against her forehead.

            “I know. I love you too. Get some sleep Steve,” her voice rang in the cozy, dark room. 
 “Night doll.”

            Very little changed over the course of the next 3 days- Wanda remained in her room, both Steve and Natasha letting her have her privacy while at the same time trying to encourage her to come out. Small plates of whatever they were eating were left by the girl’s door jamb with a bottle of water for her to grab at her leisure. With nothing to do besides read the lab reports, Natasha took to mainly sitting outside Wanda’s door, reading books during the day and telling Yelena stories at night. Steve let her take the reigns, making sure Natasha was taken care of, handing her snacks and water or sitting by Wanda’s door when the older woman needed to relieve herself. It was an efficient little system that they hoped would yield positive results.

            On the other side of the wooden barrier, Wanda’s resolve was quickly breaking. It had been 4 days since she last ventured out her room so at this point she was starving. In Sokovia, there were times where her and Pietro went without food for weeks at a time, surviving on scraps and morsels of molding foods without any strain. But here, here with Steve and Natasha, Wanda’s body had gotten used to eating on a somewhat consistent feeding schedule, and 4 days without was long enough. It was well into the early hours of the morning, 5:32 am to be exact, when Wanda cautiously twisted her brass colored doorknob, bathing her room in artificial light. Her anxieties and dread about what was going to happen next overflowed inside her chest as she reluctantly reached for the small bowl of food sitting on the hallway table.

            Steve, who had been getting ready to do his morning activity, was situated at the front door, tying his shoes when he spotted Wanda. Approaching slowly, the hardened look of conviction was a stark contrast on his gentle face, “Wanda you’re up. Can you meet Nat and I in the bedroom? We have something to give you,” he announced, gazing down at Wanda expectantly. He didn’t miss the harsh jump Wanda did at the mention of her name but he swallowed it down as there was more pressing matters. Wrapping her arms around her midsection loosely, Wanda curtly nodded as she turned to her right, heading towards the open door with her head bowed. Steve dipped off for a second before returning to his original spot behind Wanda as she led the way.

            Natasha stood when Wanda crossed the threshold into her shared bedroom, Steve trailing right behind her. Wanda didn’t look up as her worse thoughts poured into every crevice of her mind. She hadn’t come out of her room in 4 days, hadn’t been sleeping or eating, and lost control of herself the day prior- when Natasha asked her one question too many. On the Raft, anything Wanda did that they deemed “dangerous” or “recalcitrant” behavior was swiftly beaten out of her, until it turned to something more sinister in the end. If that’s what Steve and Natasha were gonna do, she wouldn’t struggle or complain- she would condone it if it meant they wouldn’t send her back to the Raft; she would rather it was them than any of the guards she had previously been in contact with anyway.

            A nod took place, one of common understanding at the sight of a sliver of lime green in the white light, between Steve and Natasha. This needed to be done. Natasha stepped forward, eyeing the teen she hadn’t seen in days; she couldn’t get much of a read on her well-being as her face was turned towards the ground like a circus animal afraid of its abusive trainer. Natasha knew what to do first: starting with unwrapping Wanda’s arms from her sides. She always hated this behavior, she knew it was a lingering habit from the Raft but it was also too close to self soothing- hugging herself when no one else would. Wanda didn’t need that, she had her and Steve who were more than happy to give one if Wanda didn’t have qualms with tactile interaction.

            Natasha meant it as a small gesture but the little witch’s mind didn’t see it as such. Wanda bit back her flinch at being touched, it would do her no good anyways. It’s probably easier to strip me when my arms are down she thought. It made the reality of everything that much harder. Maybe it was just going to be Natasha but Steve was still in the room too so maybe it would be them both. It wasn’t a new experience for the girl, at this point she had seen it all- women weren’t exempt from acting on their own sexual whims and desires just like men. She’d just hoped they did it fast so she wouldn’t remember.

            Natasha was slow in her movements, using her thumbs to rub the tops of Wanda’s hands in a caring manner, moving them gently onto her face to cup her cheeks. The flinch Wanda did there was a strong one, her head drawing into her chest like a frightened turtle hiding in its shell. Her eyes were wretched tight in anticipation, a handful of tears slipping from each eye as Wanda fought against her natural instincts. Natasha used her thumbs to brush away the slipped tears, her touch so light that Wanda’s nerves didn’t register the behavior. This was it- they were gonna backhand her and get started, using her for their own pleasure. A mind-numbingly gut wrenching thought that made bile rise in Wanda’s throat as her breaths came out in halting exhales.

            Natasha solemnly sighed a sound so quiet she wasn’t even sure she had taken it. She removed her hands from Wanda’s face, her left hand cradling Wanda’s head as the right pulled her body into Natasha’s. The air around them was electrically charged with a mixture of hope, terror, and the unknown of what was coming next. Wanda’s body was awkwardly positioned against Natasha’s, taut and rigid, from the range of emotions it was internally processing. The Russian didn’t wait too long, softly speaking as Wanda came to terms with what was happening, “we’re not them. I’m sorry Wanda, honest to god I am. There wasn’t a day that went by while I was on the run that I stopped thinking about you. Steve and Bucky searched endlessly for months to get to you guys, we just couldn’t get a solid lead.”

            Wrapping his strong arms around the two women, Steve continued, “we searched high and low for 5 months with nothing to show for it. Every time we thought we were close, it turned up to be a wild goose chase. But no matter what they did to you in the Raft, you are loved. You are not what they think you are, they don’t matter, we do. You are loved and wanted,” his voice cracked from the tears hiding in his throat. 
 Wanda’s eyes watered at the sentiment, shaky sniffles sounding out as she tried to steady her composure to no avail, “Sam loves you and Adaego and Rhodey.”  
 “Bucky and Shuri,” Steve tacked on, “Clint and Scott.”  
 “Laura and her 3 kids that look up to you,” Natasha smiled proudly against her scalp.
 “Vision.”
 “And don’t forget Pepper. God that woman couldn’t get enough of you,” Natasha wetly chuckled, “but I don’t blame her. You’re a kind, caring soul who’s faced far too much at your age.”

            “Whether you willingly chose some of those options or not, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re only 16. You’ve been forced to mature in a world that couldn’t care less. But we care Wanda, we always did,” Steve’s voice crisply vibrated against Natasha’s chest. 
 “I love you and Steve loves you. We love you. You don’t have to believe it, we can be the believers for you. But you have to trust that we’ll figure it out in the end… all three of us are learning together which is hard when some of us are clearly more stubborn than others,” she self-referenced. The hug was a simple gesture, one that had Wanda sobbing into Natasha’s shoulders as a catharsis took place.

            Wanda sobbed, broken and ugly, into the spy for an unspecified amount of time, fumbling to wrap her arms around her waist. Natasha and Steve did nothing except hold the crying girl, melting into the ground with her when her legs consequently buckled from the amount of energy her body was exerting. Natasha unwrapped her right hand from around Wanda, the left still cradling her head, as it found new residence upon Wanda’s back, small soothing circles wringing out any left over emotions, “it’s okay. do what you need.”
 Gradually, Wanda’s tears subsided and her breathing stabilized, however congested it was, both adults considered it a great thing. Wanda’s body feebly fell slack onto Natasha’s clavicle, her fingers warily threading into the older woman’s shirt.

             A comfortable quietness engulfed the tightly wound trio, unspoken words festering in the recesses of each individual mind, but that would wait- Natasha and Steve’s concerns were elsewhere. 
 “Hey kid, are you still hungry? You want to eat something?” Steve gently questioned. Wanda smally nodded, eliciting a befuddled expression from Natasha.
 “Really malyshka? You’re not tired? You wouldn’t rather sleep?” she incredulously digged. The girl had burned through a large amount of energy, sleep should’ve been the first thing she wanted. Wanda nodded at Natasha’s question too. Natasha worried that Wanda wasn’t actively listening so she pulled her away to look her in the eyes.

             “Malyshka, which one would you prefer?” she tenderly tried again. 
Wanda wanted both but the yawn that escaped her lips answered the question for her.
 “Okay,” she tenderly smiled, “sleep it is,” she decided for hem, tapping Steve’s bicep to alert him to rise. He hoisted them in his arms, gingerly placing them on the bedspread, Natasha pulling back the covers to settle Wanda in. Wanda tiredly reached out for Steve, who had been turning to leave, with docile doe green eyes.
 “I’m just getting an additional blanket. I promise I’ll be right back,” he placated her with a reassuring smile and wave of his hand.
 Natasha pulled Wanda close while Steve tended to his own affairs, safely tucking her into her chest with a sigh.

            “I love you. You’re safe with us,” Natasha muttered into the air.  
 The red rims and puffiness of Wanda’s face only served to reduce the age of her facial features, creating an aura of juvenescence about her; maybe because she was younger than everything life had already dealt her. 
 “Shh shh, sleep malyshka… just sleep. Мы тебя любим (we love you).”
 Steve crawled into bed a few minutes later, pulling Natasha into him so that his chest was resting against her back, handing Wanda her owl. From their current position, it was hard to tell whether or not if this whole chain of events had any positive effects for Wanda.

            In the haste of being cuddled in Steve’s chest, the shirt fabric sitting on Natasha hip rode up, exposing a small section of her lower stomach. Taking the initiative, Wanda’s fingers timidly ghosted above the smooth skin, a mental war blocking her decision. With a bit more confidence, her fingers tenderly dropped to officially touch the revealed skin, a deep shuddering breath beating against Natasha’s chest at the sensation. The skin to skin contact further grounded Wanda to the two adults, enshrouding her in a secure blanket of protection. Monitoring Wanda’s emotional output and response to external stimuli would be vital for the next few days, a task both former Avengers were headstrong to see through.

            Once comfortably settled, Steve leaned forward, his warm breath tickling the edges of Natasha’s ear, “i’m here if you need me,” he whispered before speaking aloud, “I love you Wanda, g’night.”  
 “always,” she retorted back in the same volume of voice, “night Steve. Night Wanda. Love you,” she affectionally announced, seeing that the teen had already fallen asleep. The other occupants in the room followed suit shortly after, unknown distresses and dread swirled together harshly into the morning as the forethought of what to do next made itself known.

Chapter Text

             The shared bedroom was characteristically quiet as 2/3 of the super-powered trio soundly slept on, the former redhead the only one awake. Her and Wanda were still wrapped in Steve’s arm whilst the teen witch slept softly against her chest, the steady rise and fall of her breaths a comforting sensation of sorts. The past 5 days had been an absolute train wreck, with Wanda suffering the most as a result. The circles that presently resided under her olivine orbs, that were in the beginning stages of lightening, were once again dark and bold; the paleness of her skin was becoming more prominent from lack of appropriate vitamins and nutrients, all their hard work slipping away.

            Where they were gonna go from here was anyone’s guess and the thought made Natasha uneasy. After a while, Wanda naturally stirred awake with a little fight, pushing back against the strange arms she was trapped in with a small whimper and tiny pout forming against her lips, her eyes still not open yet. Natasha released her arms gently, as not to frighten the sleep riddled teen but also giving her the comfort to pull away, “morning malyshka. how do you feel?” she gently probed as she gazed down at the young Sokovian.

            Wanda blearily cracked open her eyes, using her left hand to roughly scrub away the remaining sleep for a clearer picture as recognition flashed in her eyes as she stared back at a smiling Natasha.  
 “how do you feel?” she gently questioned again, her eyes conducting minute scans of Wanda’s face for any signs of fear or discomfort.

            Cautiously Wanda placed her hand back on Natasha’s hip, responding to the question with a simple nod as she fidgeted around a bit.  
 “You know… at some point… we’re gonna have to talk in detail about the Raft,” Natasha carefully stated, “but it doesn’t have to be today or even tomorrow. Just know that it’s something we’ll have to do okay?” she tenderly finished, watching as Wanda’s face fell even more if that was possible.
 “Let’s get some food in you. Are you still hungry?” she switched up, smiling a bit wider as Wanda nodded yes.
 “Okay, shhh let’s go quietly… don’t wanna wake the old man,” she joked as she and Wanda scooted off the bed as softly as they could.

            Natasha didn’t utter a word as Wanda staggered behind her, eyes downcast as she took her ‘assigned’ table seat.  
“You want some apple juice?” Natasha asked over her shoulder before grabbing a glass and turning back to face Wanda who shook her head no.
 “Coffee?” Another shake of the head.
 “Mmmm, maybe some tea?” she tried hopefully, earning a yes in response.
 “Perfect. I was gonna make some tea for myself anyways,” she smiled, turning back to her tasks as Wanda’s eyes bored into the wooden table. Natasha took a seat across from Wanda, listening to the sounds of the quiet humming coming from the tea kettle and the dripping of the coffee into its pot while she gazed at the girl.

            Clearing her throat to get Wanda’s attention, the spy spoke coolly, “Steve purchased some whiteboards from the shops the other day. We have 4, one in each major room: the living room, kitchen, our bedroom, and your bedroom. It’ll be easier to communicate with these instead of using loose leaf paper,” she emphasized by grabbing the board resting against the stem of the table, “that sound good to you?”  
 Wanda nodded before stopping short, reaching out to take the board and marker from Natasha to scribble a shaky ‘yes.’ 
 “Okay malyshka, hear you loud and clear,” Natasha smiled, excusing herself when the kettle started to sing.

            She poured Wanda’s mug first, adding the correct amount of honey and sugar that Wanda preferred before handing it off to her, fluttering around the kitchen to get breakfast prepared for the day. Wanda sipped quietly, a pensive look about her face as she battled against her thoughts, she had a question- more like one question and a series of statements pertaining to that question- and as much as she wanted to convey it to Natasha and Steve, the belief that the question would become a reality was more terrifying. But last night…last night was different, something she’d never experienced before especially not with her mama and papa. Eyeing Natasha subtly as she lightly pranced around, Wanda carefully jotted down her first line of inquiry, holding it against her chest until she had Natasha’s attention again.

            “Morning kid,” Steve yawned with a stretch, “morning doll,” he greeted with a peck on her cheek, “did you guys sleep well?”  
 “Mhmm,” Natasha hummed, stirring the eggs in the bowl without looking up at him instead tilting her head to the left, “I made you some coffee Soldier.”
 Reaching around her into the cupboard for a little bit, he pulled his hand back, a mug resting snuggly in it as he appreciatively beamed, “thanks doll.”
 “Breakfast will be ready in say… 15 minutes,” she estimated, focusing her attention back on the stove, leaving Steve to occupy Wanda.
 “So you get some decent sleep today kid?” he questioned behind his mug. Still holding her board to her chest, Wanda supplied the veteran with a simple nod and barely there smile.

            Glancing at the arm wrapped around the thin board, steve spoke again, “Nat talked to you about the whiteboards I see. Do you like them so far?”  
 Wanda opted to just nod her responses for the time being, if she erased her question to answer Steve’s questions, she wasn’t sure she’d have enough confidence to scribble it down again.
 “And breakfast is served,” the Russian singsonged, serving everyone’s plate before taking her seat at the table, both her and Steve digging in almost as quickly as they could. Wanda stared past the table, the aroma of cinnamon and syrup filling her nostrils but her head was already filled with something else.

            Concern dripped from Steve’s words as he swallowed down some coffee, “kid, are you not hungry anymore?”  
 Wanda nodded, holding out the whiteboard for her pseudo-parents to see what was written upon it : ‘I have a question.’ 
 “You have a question? Go ahead” Steve clarified which Wanda distractedly nodded to.
 “Go on… take your time malyshka,” Natasha encouraged. Taking a deep breath, Wanda grabbed hold of her marker, willing her nerves to calm themselves as she scribbled again, pushing the board towards Natasha and Steve when she was finally done. The pseudo-parents took their time in reading what Wanda wrote, masking the chinks in their facade as they contemplated her thoughts: ‘the Raft. Are you gonna send me back? please don’t… I don’t want to go back there…’

            Steve roughly cleared his throat as Natasha moved to kneel in-front of Wanda, caressing her cheeks while the girl attempted to look away, a few tears slipping onto Natasha’s fingers every now and then, “no malyshka, we love you… we’re not sending you back,” Natasha inhaled.  
 “Yeah. We’re not sending you back or letting them get you. We never wanted you there in the first place,” Steve solidified, using a strong hand to pat Wanda’s brown locks. 
 “It’s a hard concept to grasp but we’ve protected you for the last few months and we’ll continue to do so until we know for sure it’s safe and maybe even then…” Natasha trailed off, swiping away left behind tear trails.
 “You don’t have to worry about that or them. As long as you’re with us, you’re never going to see the inside of that floating hell again. You just worry about eating your breakfast, yeah?” Steve hopefully smiled.

            Wanda blinked away any more tears threatening to fall, a shaky hand reaching out for her fork; she ate everything that was on her plate, a true testament to how hungry she had been these past few days. Soaking a rag under the kitchen sink and ringing it out, Natasha softly padded over to Wanda, offering a tender smile as she knelt before her again, “come here, let me clean your face for you.” Wanda nodded even though what Natasha said was more of a statement and subconsciously lifted her chin in the air so Natasha could have easier access. Deliberately yet affectionally, Natasha gently wiped Wanda’s face, paying extra attention to her triangle zone, ridding her eyes, nose, and cheeks from the physical history of last night’s emotional release.

            Instinctively, Wanda leaned into the spy’s tender touch, earning a wider smile from the older woman as the girl closed her eyes during her ministrations, clearly loving the gentle hand taking care of her, “there we go,” Natasha happily huffed, tossing the rag into the sink, “now we can see your face for all the beauty it has to offer.” 
 For the first time in about a week, a smile, although sheepish in nature, crept up on the teen’s face as Natasha guided her into the living room where the rest of the day went by uneventfully. After a few long minutes of asking questions and scribbling responses, Natasha finally set out a puzzle to keep Wanda occupied, one that predominantly featured a visual cacophony of overtly colorful hot air balloons against an equally vivid sunset gradient.

            The tv played on in the background as Natasha opted to read a novel silently while Steve sketched a drawing in his book, the atmosphere slightly tensed but overall exuding a relaxing tone. The small pseudo-family spent roughly 2 hours together in the living room when Wanda scribbled out on the living room whiteboard: ‘I’ll be back’, passing the board over to Natasha who smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

            “Hey Nat… where’s the kid?” Steve asked aloud as Wanda’s puzzle was at the table but she wasn’t. Glancing over her book, she dog-eared the page as she spoke, “uhh she said she’d be right back… but that was about 15-20 minutes ago.”
 Almost frantically, Steve shot out his seat, “something couldn’t have happened to her right?”
 “No, Steve, Wanda’s really quiet, maybe she decided to hang out in her room instead,” she attempted to placate with negative results. “We can go search for her if you want.”  
 “I do want. Come on doll,” he rushed, quickly but gently pulling Natasha to her feet as she giggled behind him.

            “Am I missing something?” He fiercely bit back, although there wasn’t any real anger behind it. 
 “You’ve turned into such a papa bear,” she giggled again, stepping in front of him to lead the search, the first stop being Wanda’s room, obviously. When they find her there, Natasha quickly moved to their room as to keep Steve from freaking out.
 “Well I don’t think I’ve been, Wanda’s just been through a lot and a little bit of…” he rambled which was cut short by Natasha’s hushing.
 “look soldier, she’s sleeping,” Natasha whispered as they spotted Wanda curled up in the fetal position in their bed, owl safely tucked into her chest.
 “ohh,” Steve cooed, his anxiety dropping at since locating Wanda.
 Patting his chest, Natasha pointed to their bedside table, “you should get your camera,” she fawned.

            Steve nodded, snatching the camera off the drawer as he quietly snapped a few pictures of their sleeping child.  
 “You know, she probably won’t be able to fall asleep tonight if we don’t wake her up now.”
 “Oh let her sleep. Just an hour,” Natasha humored with a nonchalant toss of her hands. 
 “Fine. But if she can’t sleep tonight, you’re staying up with her,” Steve playfully argued. 
 “oh please. wanda’s got you wrapped so tight around her little finger that you’d steal the sun if she asked you to,” Natasha lightly jested.
 “We’ll maybe not the Sun,” he mumbled as Natasha kissed his cheek.
 “Come on papa bear, let’s eat some lunch and enjoy some time together,” she winked, pulling him along behind her.

            Much to their surprise, after lunch and dinner, Wanda did manage to fall asleep at a decent time in her own bed; only after constant reassurance that she’d never see the Raft again, otherwise the nighttime routine was practically the same. Once cleaned, the damage to her neck wasn’t as bad as it seemed, however, they would have to work harder to heal the more sensitive parts of her neck, the nape, for the next few days. But Steve and Natasha weren’t complaining as Wanda’s emotional output so far was being well received by both adults. As for her behavior, thanks to the whiteboards, Wanda was communicating a bit more efficiently, writing out longer sentences now than when they were using just paper and a pencil. Her behaviors stayed the same, though they weren’t as anxiety riddled as they once were and her eye contact improved immensely. It had only been a week but clearly a drastic shift had fortunately occurred for the small family.

            “Hey Nat, Wanda and I are going to go for a walk before breakfast, do you wanna join?” Steve asked one morning, dressed in his snow attire.  
 “Mmmm, no thank you. I’d much rather cook breakfast than trek through mini mountains of snow,” she smiled over her shoulder.
 “You’re no fun,” he laughed, kissing her left cheek with childish fervor. 
 “Oh trust me, I’m fun in more ways than you can imagine soldier,” she winked, her voice dropping an octave as she pulled Steve in for a passionate kiss, which he happily reciprocated by placing his hands on her hip and lower back. A huff from near the entrance interrupted the slightly intense make out session, green and blue eyes gazing towards the sound. Wanda bashfully smiled at the duo, shaking her head as she stepped further into the kitchen. Her face wouldn’t show it but quite frankly, Wanda was disgusted if the look in her eyes was anything to go off of.

            “Morning malyshka, sleep well?” Natasha questioned a bit breathlessly. Wanda nodded as she pulled her boots on, leaving Steve to ask his question next, “alright, you ready to hit the road kid?” She nodded with more energy as she finished tying both of her boots, rising to her feet with a wide grin.  
 “Okay malyshka, be careful and take care of Steve yeah? You know how rowdy he gets,” she playfully jeered, caressing Wanda’s cheeks as she placed a loving kiss to the top of her brunette locks.
 “We’ll be fine, see you later doll,” Steve and Wanda departed with a wave.

            Eventually Steve and Wanda strolled inside much later than when they initially left; what usually took Steve about an hour or so by himself, took nearly 2 and half hours with him and Wanda, much to Natasha’s chagrin.  
 “Hey guys, how was the walk?”
 “Oh not too bad, we took our time- stopped to see some farm animals, built snowmen- things of that sort,” Steve sighed, depositing his heavy winter parka on the floor for the time being.
 “Ahh well luckily for you, breakfast wasn’t done that long ago so it should still be warm,” she announced, rubbing his shoulders before draping herself over them, her chin coming to rest comfortable in the nape of his neck.

            “Do you want to eat first Wanda or shower?” Natasha offered but Wanda had already wrote something down on the whiteboard: ‘Can we talk first?’  
 “Sure, we can talk first. What do you want to talk about?” Steve kindly extended. 
 ‘The raft’ she nervously peered up. 
 “Oh sweetie, like we said you never have to go back there again, we promise,” Natasha firmly confirmed which only garnered a shake of Wanda’s head before she wiped away her sentence to start a new thought. 
 ‘No, not that. You said we would have to talk about the Raft eventually. I-can we?’ she politely asked. 
 Sitting up straighter, Natasha and Steve changed their demeanor to one that was more befitting for the conversation about to take place.

            “Yeah kid. What did you want to discuss?”  
 Shrugging, Wanda’s face contorted to one of deep thought as she tried her best to un-jumble her thoughts.
 “Well how about this… tell us about the last thing you can recount from the battle and the first thing you removed about the Raft?” Natasha eased. Wanda nodded as she jotted down what she was told.
 ‘The last thing I remember from the fight was holding up a cement pillar for Steve and Bucky  but then my ears hurt… Rhodey hit me with a sonic blast and I dropped to to cover my ears. I wanted to see if they were okay but I couldn’t… I felt nauseous and I could feel my heartbeat behind my eyes. I think I screamed but I don’t really remember. Vision came to help me and then Rhodey fell out the sky but I… I don’t know how…’

            “Vision shot a laser, that was meant for Sam, but hit Rhodey, leaving him disabled,” Steve added. The reveal left Wanda wide eyed and stunned, frozen for a second as she wiped away her previous paragraph to say ‘Rhodey’s paralyzed?! I didn’t mean to.’  
 Natasha cupped Wanda’s hand, using her thumb to rub soothing circles as she spoke, “You didn’t have anything to do with it. The laser was supposed to ground Sam with no damage as he would’ve glided with his wings but as we know, many things from the battle got out of hand. You didn’t have anything to do with that, understand? What about the Raft? What can you tell us about that?” Natasha segued.

            ‘I was brought into a really bright room but I don’t remember much right now. I used my magic though and I hit 3 people at first and then I did it again and hit two more. But that’s all I remember.’  
 Natasha and Steve silently lined up Wanda’s information with the timeline established from the Raft footage. Two guards did force the shock collar on her neck from behind before using the end of their gun to knock her out so it made sense that there was gaps in her memory.
 “Anything else you remember or feel comfortable talking about?” Steve comfortably probed.
 Thinking hard, Wanda shook her head no as she wrote one more thing down, ‘can I shower now?’

            “Yeah, you can go now, you did a great job malyshka,” Natasha encouraged with kind eyes. Wanda smiled back as she left the table, although it was hard to discern what emotion was being portrayed behind it. “She did great, Nat… opening up like that,” Steve finally said after Wanda was well in the bathroom. 
 “Yeah, she did amazing. How was your walk?” Natasha sadly implored. 
 “Good. Her stamina is really low though, we had to stop many times for her to catch her breath. I thought you said guys walked a few miles back in Wakanda,” Steve confusedly questioned.
 “Yes but mind you Wakanda was flat, she didn’t have to work so hard to walk like she does in the snow now,” Natasha explained.
 “We’ll have to work on that then. Let’s have some breakfast in the meantime, okay doll?” Steve gestured, rubbing her shoulder in a calming matter.

            She wouldn’t easily admit it but some of the information Wanda was currently divulging and would also do at a later time would take a toll on Nat, so the sooner Steve acted he better. Pulling Natasha into his lap, Steve cradled her head close to his chest, “I’m proud of the kid, she’s a tough fighter. Don’t you agree Nat?” he gently nudged with his arm, “it’ll be okay.” That statement was more so for Natasha’s benefit than his or Wanda’s seeing as things were probably about to get a bit trickier in terms of Natasha’s past history.   
 “I know Steve,” she mumbled into his chest. 
 “I’m here if you need me?” He tried.
 Letting a wistful smile settle across her face, Natasha responded with the appropriate call, “always.”

Chapter Text

             Operating on a similar vibration, Steve and Natasha continued doing their best to aide Wanda in her journey of opening up and becoming comfortable in her surroundings with tried efforts. The teen was still jumpy, flinching at loud, sudden noises and/ or movement and unexpected touch. Proper sleep was a constant issue along with eating enough to sustain herself yet that didn’t matter to them as Wanda was making great strides regardless of the minor setbacks. Something new that Natasha did enjoy however was Wanda’s new interest in what they researched to be associative play- engaging with or next to others doing similar activities- while usually seen in normal preschool age development, made logical sense in Wanda’s case.

            Due to the Raft’s physical conditioning, whenever Wanda previously did anything besides silently sitting such as watching tv or making a puzzle, she tended to do it by herself, away from Natasha and Steve. Breathing in the cell, she had grown accustomed to being alone with no verbal interactions or free will of her body which translated to the behaviors that she exhibited in the free world. Yet now, even if it was primarily only with Natasha, there was a clear effort on Wanda’s part to include others while simultaneously engaging in what would be considered her own space- progress .

            On this particular evening, Steve was settled on the far end of the couch, as far away from Natasha and Wanda as he could be while he sketched in his book. The tv was playing in the background quietly seeing as how only one person, Natasha, was currently viewing the program with interest as she and Wanda (and elephant) sat at the coffee table, completing the obnoxious puzzle she handed the teen a few days ago. Wanda sat off to Natasha’s left, her chin resting comfortably on the table below as her face was fixed in a frown of concentration, green eyes scanning for the piece she was meticulously searching for. Wanda’s frown deepened slightly as Natasha absently placed another piece in its correct spot. Steve eyed them carefully, discretely snapping pictures with his well hidden camera.

            He got a whole portfolio of candid shots when Wanda’s face lit up, one of her hands gently reaching out to shake Natasha’s gaze away from the tv as she excitedly held up the piece she had been searching for the last few minutes for the woman to see. The former Russian spy released a raspy chuckle as she grabbed the piece from Wanda and placed it in its correct spot on her side of the puzzle, “thanks for your help malyshka,” she smiled at a beaming Wanda, “it’s greatly appreciated.” 
 Elephant happily trumpeted about the completed pieces as Wanda gazed down with a bashful smile, fidgeting with a random puzzle piece.

            Yawning with a serious stretch, Steve stood first, helping Natasha up from the floor quickly after, “come on kid, it’s getting late. You guys can finish the puzzle later, let’s go to bed.” 
 “Aw what’s-a matter soldier? Can’t hang with the big dogs?” Natasha playfully jeered with a sarcastic pout.
 “I haven’t been able to hang with the big dogs since 1945,” he retorted, earning a snort from Natasha and a giggle from Wanda, “so let’s not break that cycle today. Bed,” he instructed Wanda, who slid away with a warm smile.
 “You’re so old,” Natasha laughed, swatting Steve’s chest as Wanda turned into the bathroom.
 “Well I was born in the 1910’s,” he stated a matter of factly, a blonde brow raising in accordance. 
 “Yeah but technically your only physically 33 and you have the super soldier serum, you should be able to run days on end without the need for sleep,” Natasha shot back.

            Staring back at Natasha with a stoic expression, he replied back, “we have a 16 year old girl,” he playfully argued back.  
 Surprised at the quick quip, Natasha quirked a well sculpted brow, “ohhh touché, papa bear,” she smiled. Steve smiled back too, clearly this time he won the argument.
 “Enough about that, sleep… let’s go do that,” he prodded, dragging Natasha behind him so they could shower. Once they were both showered and freshly dressed, Steve and Natasha headed into Wanda’s room to get her settled for the night. The teen was settled on the bed, writing something on her whiteboard, the squeaking of the dry erase a dead giveaway.
 “Ready for bed?” Steve called out from against the door frame, receiving a nod in response from the teen.

            “Alright, you know the drill, let me see that neck,” Natasha gestured, Wanda tilting her head forward in anticipation. Steve, who was by the door, had ducked out the room in search for something. 
 Dabbing gently on the skin on the nape of Wanda’s neck, the abrupt raising of a white board caught Natasha off guard. 
 ‘HYDRA and the people on the Raft… they’re bad right?’ read the question scribbled. 
 “Yes, malyshka… they’re bad people,” Natasha answered, although she was confused as to why Wanda was asking. 
 Scribbling quickly, the three letter word further stumped Natasha, ‘why?’ 
 Mouth agape, Natasha could only stare at the top of Wanda’s head while she formulated her thoughts; what the hell was going on?

            “Everything HYDRA did to you and Pietro along with everyone else they experimented on only for them to toss aside when they didn’t achieve the ‘proper’ results… and then there’s the Raft… just depraved individuals,” she shook her head in frustration, “I don’t know the extent of everything they did but of the little I do know… they treated you and the others as if none of you were people, humans, and all for their own enjoyment. Regardless of what you guys may have done in the past, there’s a just way to handle things and neither group seemed to understand that. They’re bad, for lack of a better term, because of the things they did- they’re monsters, plain and simple okay,” she finished, forcing the trickle of emotion back down her throat.

            The conversation was effectively over when Wanda didn’t show any signs of wanting to ask further questions, the slight tension in the air ceasing everything.  
 “Alright I’m done with your neck malysh, get some sleep. If you need anything, you know where we are,” she exhaled while pulling up Wanda’s comforter as she laid down.
 Moving to cut out the lights, Natasha’s attention was drawn to Steve who came bumbling in the room with a closed first, “wait, here’s Elephant. Thought you might want him next to you,” Steve shrugged as Wanda offered a small smile in return.
 “Night kid, love you. Sleep tight,” he grinned.  
 “Yeah love you malysh,” Natasha tacked on, leaving the room for the night.

            After finding a comfortable position in bed, Steve finally addressed Natasha’s quiet behavior, “what happened doll?”  
 “When I was cleaning her neck, Wanda asked if HYDRA and the people on the Raft were bad and then proceeded to ask me why. For some reason it just caught me by surprise.” 
 Pulling the comforter a bit closer to his chest, Steve just stared at his significant other, “strange. I mean Wanda should know why, it’s not exactly new information. Maybe it’s like her thing with us sending her away, after everything that’s happened, she could just need reassurance in her beliefs,” Steve attempted to reason, even if he was at a loss himself.

            “Could be. It’s was just… it’s nothing,” she sighed, “let’s go to bed,” she finished as she snuggled up to Steve’s chest.  
 “Night doll,” he said into the dark, kissing the top of her head.
 “Night papa bear,” she whispered back.

            The next morning found the former spy and super soldier in chirpy moods, the sleep from the night before had done well on their bodies. They padded into the kitchen with nimble feet, not wanting to wake the teen they assumed to still be sleeping as she wasn’t in the main area. Idle chatter and immaterial conversation combined with light flirting enveloped the small kitchen space, the gentle clanking of metal silverware on sturdy ceramic and soft slurps of liquid were the only other sounds heard. The two stayed like this until 9:12 am when Wanda finally made an appearance, right fists rubbing away at closed green irises and hair disheveled from sleep.

            “Morning kid” “morning malyshka” the two said in time.  
 Wanda smiled in return, a steady hand reaching for the mug of tea that was prepared in advance for her. Sliding over a plate of toast and eggs to the girl, Natasha cleared her throat to speak, “so papa what’s the plans for today?” she leisurely sipped on her coffee.
 “Sam wanted us to go over to his place for dinner tonight. And I think that’s all we have planned for the day,” Steve responded.
 “Oh does that mean he’s cooking or is it a potluck?” Natasha smirked.
 “He’s cooking fortunately. All we have to do is be there,” he playfully winked.
 “All good with you Wanda?” Natasha checked in, a thumbs up a suffice enough answer for her.

            Until 6, the Romanov-Maximoff-Rogers household did whatever to occupy the free time they had before they had to leave. Steve and Natasha flittered between working out, reading and painting, and laundry respectively. Wanda, for a short time, just watched as the two did their workout regimen, with peculiar interest. She deduced that it had to have been roughly a year since she last worked out herself- she was on the Raft for 5 months, on compound lockdown for 2 months, and had been on the run for about 4 months, give or take. There had been a small part of her heart on the Raft that missed the routine of getting up to train, of building up her abilities but that was no more; there wasn’t a single part of her that wished to engage in that sort of stuff anymore.

            It was a painful reminder so reading with Elephant was the next best distraction, getting lost in the carefully crafted worlds that authors chose to disclose with those who considered themselves fans. It was a simple task but it killed time and provided her mind the reprieve it needed from her damaging thoughts. Before long, the family dressed in the appropriate attire to head to Sam’s house, comfy causal, an excited energy buzzing about. The walk there wasn’t long, probably about 25 minutes, the positively charged energy guiding pushing them along. With a robust knock from Steve, Sam opened the door wide to greet the trio, “well if it isn’t my favorite pseudo-family! What’s up big dog!” He greeted Steve with a manly hug.

            “Hey Sam, thanks for having us over,” Natasha warmly greeted followed up with a friendly hug. Wanda amicably waved as she moved into the house, the cold wind that had been nipping on her cheeks was starting to bother her.  
 “For dinner tonight I present, a rump roast with homemade gravy accompanied with sautéed carrots, onions, potatoes, and peas,” the pararescuer dramatically flourished, “everything should be ready in about 20 minutes. Until then, make yourself comfortable.”
 Wanda made her way into the living room, reading all the titles of the board games Sam seemed to have. She was eventually joined by Natasha and Steve, who were politely kicked out the kitchen, after incessantly trying to offer unneeded assistance.

            By the time dinner was ready, Sorry had become Wanda’s new favorite board game, it was something she didn’t have a chance to play, even when she was back in America. Out of the 4 games they played together, Wanda had won 2, which was one more than both Steve and Natasha. She was bouncing on her toes as they moved to the dining table to eat.  
 “Sam, this looks amazing,” Natasha complimented as Steve pushed in her chair, Wanda nodding in agreement off to the side.
 “You can thank my sister Sarah for that, she thought me most of what I know now,” Sam genuinely beamed.

            Dinner was a light affair, the clanking of silverware drowned out by friendly conversation. Wanda didn’t participate much, every now and then she would nod her head at a question or remark sent her way, but other than that, she just kept eating. Her enthusiasm from earlier had died down and was replaced with a feeling of unease. Being around Sam invoked unwanted thoughts and memories about her (their) time in the Raft, but it wasn’t his fault; the two hadn’t spent much time together before the Raft so those were really the only memories she had with the charismatic man. He was going on about some  show he was currently watching that discussed creatures and monsters from different cultures around the world with enthusiastic fervor but Wanda’s mind honed in on the word monster.

            Verbal assault had been nothing new to the teen, while it increased tenfold on the Raft, it was still something she had experienced before, in Sokovia and then in the labs with Strucker and HYDRA. However on the Raft, there had been a few slurs and insults that especially stung deep, maybe because she knew them to be true. Stuck in her wild thoughts, the rest of the night went by in a blur. She didn’t notice the worrying glances everyone was passing around or the sound of dishes clattering in the sink or even the squeak of the wooden chair legs against the wooden floors indicating that the night’s festivities were over.  
 “Wanda… kid… it’s time to go. Get ready,” Steve gently spoke, tapping the table a few times as to not frighten the teen lost in her world.

            Wanda quickly bounced back, and from a far away perspective, it would appear as if she was paying attention to everything around her. Yet the robotic movements of her actions were a dead giveaway that something was out of the ordinary. Steve drifted back into the kitchen where Sam and Natasha were wrapping up the last of their conversation and some food to go, “…great. This is for you guys, I’m not a super soldier, I can’t eat all this by myself,” he chortled, sliding multiple Tupperware’s into the assassins arms.  
 “Once again, thanks for dinner Sam, we have to hang out again soon,” Steve awkwardly smiled.
 “Yeah it’s cool, thanks for coming over. Keep taking care of lil red for me okay?” Sam replied, bringing Steve in for one more hug and then Natasha.

            Taking about half the containers, Steve followed Natasha out the kitchen to the front door where Wanda already had on her coat and boots, “we will buddy. See you later.  
 “Bye,” Sam waved one last time, watching them fade into the snowy background. The walk home was faster than the walk to Sam’s house, a slight relief as the two parents thoughts about Wanda were beginning to grow big. When the front door opened, Wanda shucked off her shoes and parka and immediately headed for the bathroom. Steve sighed, taking the rest of the Tupperware Natasha was handing to him and placed everything as neatly as he could into the fridge. When he walked back to the living room, he could see Wanda’s parka hanging on the hook and her shoes organized by the wall.

            Once glance into the others eyes told them that tonight was going to be an early night so the next best option was to shower so they could get everything over with. After one quick shower together, the duo filtered into Wanda’s room slowly, letting the atmosphere gauge everyone’s feelings. Wanda was perched near the edge of her bed, cross legged with a whiteboard and marker in hand. Tonight was Steve’s turn to dress Wanda’s neck which he did slowly as Natasha sat across from Wanda on the floor. A minute or so passed before Wanda held the bard up for Steve to see and then Natasha.

            ‘Am I a monster?’ 
 Steve started first, trekking carefully, “no Wanda you’re not a monster, why would you think that?” 
 Scribbling quickly, she displayed the board again, ‘you said that HYDRA and the people on the Raft were monsters for what they did.. but they didn’t kill any of us. In Lagos, I killed hundreds and in Sokovia, I let Pietro die. And then Johannesburg too when I let the Hulk out. Thousands of people died’   
Scooting closer to look Wanda in the eye, Natasha spoke gently, “minus Johannesburg, you saved more lives than in Lagos and Sokovia than you realize. There would have been casualties regardless of how careful or strategic out plans were because that’s just how life works, nothing is foolproof. However, if you weren’t there to offer help and assistance, you can bet that there would have been more lives lost. And Johannesburg was an accident… how could you have known? You were only 15, there were very few choices presented and you had to choose and accidents happened. The main difference between you and those monsters is that you never intended to harm or kill anyone and felt remorse when you did. But them, they intended harm and pain and would do it again when presented with the opportunity,” Natasha firmly explained.

            Wanda nodded in acknowledgment but not necessarily agreement. 
 ‘do you trust me?’ 
 “We trust you, yes,” Steve answered next. 
 She held the board up fro him to see, ‘then why didn’t you tell me where you were going after the battle?’ Is it because I’m a traitor?’ 
 Natasha could see that based on the tears in Wanda’s eyes, this was an answer she needed to hear the most for some reason.
 Huffing in thought, Steve proceeded as honestly as he could, “it’s not that I didn’t trust you. I didn’t tell you where we were going as it would’ve been more dangerous to you. Ross, the government, whoever it may be, didn’t need more of a reason to mistreat you. They already had their beliefs and prejudices about you and the others, so the less information you held, the safer I assumed you to be. I’m sorry if I made you feel any way but that. You’re not a traitor… I don’t think you are,” he trailed off, attempting to read Wanda’s body language.

            She pulled away slightly, the tiny sniffle almost went unheard as she scrawled out one more thought, ‘if you say so.’  
 “If you want we can continue this conversation later?” Natasha weakly smirked on her haunches but Wanda was already curled into the fetal position absentmindedly stroking owl’s fur. A shake of the head ‘no’ on Wanda’s front ended the conversation.
 “Okay. Well good night. We love you,” Natasha whispered, Steve moving to stand next to her with a nod.
 She bit back the emotions about to escape at the lack of a sparkle in the Sokovian’s eyes when she muttered the phrase, “we’ll see you in the morning,” she dismissed, cutting off the lights as she and Steve exited the room.

Chapter Text

           A small gasp resonated throughout the bedroom, ricocheting off the wooden floors and furniture corners, bouncing against the plushness of the simple patterned bedspread and carpet, tracing back to the lips it fell from. Natasha sat with her back against the varnished oak headboard, her breathing, while not necessarily sporadic, coming out in faster bursts than usual for her. Her left hand wiped incompletely swiped at the seat forming on her brow, little droplets still embedded within the finely threaded hair as she quietly shuffled out of bed. As she moved, her left had absentmindedly reached underneath the bed, fingers tapping lightly against the frame until they brushed against what she was searching for, cold and metal- her gun.

            Her eyes danced down to gaze at a still sleeping Steve. While she may not use these skills as frequently as she did before, stealth would always be as natural as breathing or her- once a spy, always a spy. Tucking the gun into the waistband of her sweatpants, Natasha moved to the bathroom, turning on the tap to run water against her face. Nightmares came frequently with her, all her life, but tonight had been exceptionally worse than others these past few months. She’d been fighting against it, her mind and therefore her memories, but it proved to be futile as she rested her hands against the bowl of the sink, bowing her head as the nightmare played over in her head.

            13 year old Natasha, ragged and disheveled with a bloody knife in hand, stood over the mutilated body of Katerina, a formidable blonde haired, blue eyed opponent. But she was her friend first, a friend turned enemy. Only one person was allowed to walk out the room alive, it was either her or Natasha and for some reason unknown, Natasha had made up that it would be her. In another life, they could’ve really been friends, could’ve went to the same school and played Kolechko (Ring) together in the streets while their parents cooked dinner. In another life, they wouldn’t have been here, training together, suffering together only to die at the hands of girls they should have considered friends. But it wasn’t. It was just an ordinary day- Another life lost to the Red Room- monster.

             “Natalia, your cuts are still too jagged, they need to be cleaner! More precise! If the jugular is too difficult to locate then any other vein is as effective,” Madame B. angrily admonished, “more anatomy classes are in order,” she definitively declared causing a slight frown to grow across Natasha’s maturing face- monster   
 “Natalia, you should be grateful. If it were anybody else, they would be the one strapped down and sliced open against the table, so you understand?” she calmly spoke behind gritted teeth. Obediently, Natasha nodded her head, “Yes Madame B.”

            She was allowed to clean up before dinner, a privilege she appreciated as she took her seat at the dinner table next to a certain blonde, “Natalia, I mastered my straddle leap today in class,” she giggled. 
 Natasha smiled wide, glancing over at girl she really considered a sister, “that’s great Yelena! Maybe you’ll learn how to do a Russian switch leap soon,” she softly praised. She had perfected her straddle leap at 11, shortly after returning back to to the Red Room, Yelena was progressing faster than she had.
 “Mmm I don’t know. Those are pretty difficult, maybe just a switch leap first,” Yelena reasoned as she took a bite of her food.
 “Yeah maybe,” Natasha shrugged with a half smile.

            The next day Natasha was in a room alone with a big male soldat, who was equipped with a gun and knife, while Natasha fought bare handed. 
 “Natalia, you mustn’t be afraid of any weapon. You should be able to take him down regardless of what you’re fighting against!” critiqued Madame B. from a far corner in the room. Natasha absorbed the critique, carefully eyeing the Soldat as he surged forward, blocking a swing from the gun as her first collided with his solar plexus. While he caught his breath, Natasha kicked a leg up, effectively knocking the gun from his hand, leaving him with only one weapon.

            The fight ensued for 15 more minutes, Natasha blocking blows as he traded them. Eventually she was successful in getting the knife away from him, stabbing the outer portion of his thigh in the process. She was about to continue when the harsh voice of her trainer called out ,”enough!” She crossed the room, a smile that was a bit too eager for Natasha liking crossing her face, “Natalia that was amazing. You were at a disadvantage and still managed to succeed… just as you’ve been taught all these years. You didn’t let them break you… you are made of marble,” her smile widened, Cheshire Cat like. 
 “You are starting to understand… you. are. ready.” she punctuated, confusion crossing Natasha’s face as the air seemed to shift.

            Madame B. Rested her hands on Natasha’s shoulders, her smile and blue eyes piercing into parts of her she didn’t know as the older woman waved a hand in the air. “For this next lesson, you just remember just how strong you are. made of marble…” she whispered as the door opened to reveal another soldat, except he had no weapons.  
 “Made. Of. Marble…” she punctuated once more, gliding out the room without looking back at the girl she left alone. Natasha stood her ground, ready to fight- to kill - if need be but that’s not what happened. The two soldats smirked at her, one staling her like prey while the other’s hands rested on his belt.

            The one behind her, grabbed her arms, pinning them to her back as the other Soldat, the brown haired one, viciously attacked her. Natasha bit back her yelps of pain as she fought back against them, her training doing little to help. The one holding her, curly hair, tossed her onto the ground, whipping her with his belt as tiny whimpers escaped the young teens lips. “I am made of marble” she thought, getting her teeth as the long leather left welts in her pale skin. “I am made of marble,” she repeated. After that ordeal was over, Natasha rose to her feet, bloody and bruised, using the wall behind her to steady her heavy steps.

            “Now little spider, Madame says you’re here to play,” curly grinned, the tone in his words making her skin crawl, “so let’s play.” 
 Before she knew it, she was stripped of all her clothes as curly approached. He used his hips to pin her to the wall, his hands caressing her cheeks as a few tears slipped out. He paid no mind to them as his eyes trailed down her nude body, excitement and lust vibrating inside him as he licked his lips. He pressed his bulge further into Natasha’s thighs, the cloth of his pants harsh against her skin. He stepped back, allowing brunette to stand in front of her, naked as the day he came into the world. Rough hands and kisses littered her body, groping what it could as he prepared himself.

            “I am marble,” she repeated in her head, “I am mar-“ the scream she released scared even her as the pain was nothing like she felt before. She endured what she could for 2 hours, biting her lip until it bled and pushing back until her arms tired. When they finished, redressing in the corner, Madame B. entered, looking at Natasha with sadistic glee, “You did it Natalia. They did not break you because you are made of marble. You have passed this lesson but there will be more.”  
 Natasha quickly learned how to mask her emotions and turn of her feelings during those times, the mantra doing its intended purpose. These learned behaviors eventually trickled into everyday Red Room life, during ballet training, combat training, during times she was supposed to feel emotions like the day she left Yelena behind. Instead, the mantra allowed her to leave her sister without the inkling of looking back, of returning for her- monster.

             But she wasn’t a monster she was just made out of marble- everlasting, unbreakable, and the Red Room wouldn’t break her, except it did.

            Natasha shook herself out of her reverie, her tear filled eyes staring back at her in the mirror. She peered back, putting on her metaphorical mask as she cut the lights out in the bathroom as she left. She expertly walked down the hall, passing Wanda’s room, into the kitchen. A small part of her mind insisted that she peek into Wanda’s room, to make sure the teen was sleeping well but she wrung that thought out; that was something Laura would do and she wasn’t Laura, not in the slightest. Making it into the kitchen, Natasha pulled out some chicken breasts from the bottom shelf of the freezer, there were leftovers from Sam’s house but warm chicken soup sounded nice for breakfast. There were two open packages of chicken breast as one had been contaminated with salmonella, unfortunately thanks to Steve’s findings, so Natasha just hoped she chose the right one for breakfast.

            The task provided a tiny reprieve from her clamorous thoughts, callously making themselves known. Natasha bit her lower lip in anger, they just wouldn’t stop coming, recounting her dream- the nightmarish memory. The Soldats, she remembered them, they would continue to visit her (and Yelena along with the other Widows) until the day before the graduation ceremony, taking what they wanted until the Widows were officially trained in seduction. But that wasn’t really the part that was stumping her, she had long grown numb to those feelings. In this case it was the scream, it felt like hers but didn’t sound like it, it was particularly Wanda-esque more specifically, it sounded like the scream from the security videos when Wanda was beaten by those 4 guards.

            And that’s when it occurred to her, in that nightmare Wanda was her. Or maybe she was Wanda. Or perhaps it was a mesh of both of them. She was Wanda and Wanda was her- they were one, they were the same. It was this fact that cracked her marble, spidering until she essentially resembled a broken porcelain doll- monster- the dam would’ve broken free but Natasha had more control than that. She was the Black Widow, red room trained, she didn’t cry over inconsequential matters. Bubbling up with a thick pop, the soup made its completion known, Natasha glanced down uneasily. Pouring herself a medium sized bowl of soup, the Russian ate as if it were going out of style, she had a few suspicions with plans in place if they were correct.

            Wanda’s curious green eyes glanced around the kitchen at the empty seat across from her before momentarily scanning the living room: nothing. Though both Steve and Natasha tended to wake up fairly early in the morning, Natasha was typically the first to rise from the bed and start the day, however; today was not the case, at least as far as Wanda could tell. Natasha was nowhere to be seen as the teen ate her breakfast, Honey Nut Cheerios, courtesy of Steve. 
 ‘Where’s Tasha?’ Wanda wrote on her whiteboard. 
 “Nat had an extremely early start this morning and is stretching in our room, she should be joining us soon,” Steve placated with a gentle smile. Wanda only nodded and she shoveled a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

            His estimate appeared to be correct as Natasha came meandering out the room 15 minutes later, hair damp from the warm shower, “morning everybody,” she addressed the room, grinning at Steve as he slid a bowl over to her. 
 Greeting her back, Steve spoke without looking up from the tv, that was broadcasting some sitcom, “hey, was your run nice this morning?”
 “It was great. The temperature was a bit lower than it has been these past few days but the cold reminded me of Russia,” she fondly smiled, still not physically acknowledging the other female in the room.

            “Might have to stay inside today then,” Steve declared. 
 Natasha hummed a response as she dug into her cereal, stealing a quick peek over at Wanda. The popping of gunshots peppered with the screams of agony were muddled in her ear- monster- but very much so present as she analyzed Wanda’s features, light green eyes turning to look at her. Natasha offered a small smile, which turned into a grimace as the teen looked back towards the television. This was only the first attempt so she would ignore it for now. Breakfast ended some odd 20 minutes later as steve collected all the dishes and placed them into the sink to wash. Wanda, as always, quietly moved to sit in front of her puzzle, watching tv but mainly focusing on finding the correct pieces while Natasha took a seat upon the couch.

            She kept her emerald eyes glued to the vibrant, moving colors on the square tv up front. Her thoughts were rambling far too much but she could push them aside as long as she focused on the tv and solely on the tv. Steve joined the pair not too long after, grinning as he plopped next to Natasha who leaned into his side. The atmosphere was light and warm as the family continued to relax together. Natasha discretely eyed Wanda from her peripheral, the calm look of concentration on her young face doing nothing to appease the nausea Natasha was currently feeling in the pit of her stomach- made of marble. Standing on her feet, Natasha cleared her throat as she made her way to exit, “I’ll be back, I’m gonna go lay down for a few minutes.”

            “You feeling okay?” Steve asked with concern heavy in his voice. 
 “Yeah I just feel a little nauseous,” she admitted, “could be from the cold weather. It’s been a while since I’ve been out in temperatures this low,” she brushed off. Wanda sat on the floor, watching with concerned interest at the interaction taking place when a half smile drew its way upon Steve’s face as he nodded his understanding, “okay, I’ll check on you in a bit I guess.”
 “Thanks papa bear,” she thanked with a weak smirk as she anxiously strolled out the room.

            Natasha tossed herself down on the bed with an almost silent grunt, her suspicions had been correct and now she didn’t know what to do, a first in a long time. She pulled her legs into her chest, laying fetal on the bed as she willed the nausea to stop and the beginning pains in her abdomen to go away. After an uncomfortable 30 minutes, Steve finally went to check on Natasha, his face dropping in worry as the woman he loved later atop of the sheets, clutching her stomach and drenched in sweat. 
 “Nat, you okay?” His volume dropped as he stroked her wet cheeks.
 “ha, yeah,” she sickly chuckled, “just a little under the weather is all.”

            Steve frowned as he took in the sight of her, “I’m going to get you some water and see if we have any medicine. Try to get comfortable in the meantime,” he instructed, helping her shift under the blankets as he pulled them under her chin. 
 Natasha nodded as another abdominal cramp twisted within her body, forcing her arms to tighten around her tightly. Steve closed the bedroom door behind him with a tight sigh before walking over to where Wanda was watching tv.
 “Alright kid, it’s just gonna be you and I for a few days,” he stated, earning a lost look from Wanda. “Nat’s sick so it’ll be just us two doing things for a while. Since she’s sick and your immune system is still building itself back up, I don’t want you in the room with her okay? I’ll make sure she’s taken care of while still tending your needs.”

            Catching the momentary gleam of sadness in her eyes, Steve responded to the unasked questions, “hey I get it, I like spending time with her too but like I said give her a few days and she’ll be back to it in no time. Until then, stay away from the room okay?” 
 Wanda nodded as she wrote on the whiteboard, ‘okay Steve.’  
 “That’s my girl,” he smiled, earning a genuine smile from Wanda at the unnoticed claim that she was his.
 “I’m gonna get her some water and try to find some medicine and then we’ll let her sleep. We’ll find something to do together,” he finished, heading into the kitchen to complete his tasks.

            Wanda peered over the couch at the closed room door. The feeling of uncertainty that was surrounding her in regards to Natasha’s health was making Wanda a little fidgety, Natasha normally didn’t get sick so Wanda felt a small cause for concern was appropriate in this situation. But Steve’s reassurances did help a bit- Natasha would be fine, everyone gets sick. Except her Wanda thought, no she would be fine. Natasha would be fine. She would take her medicine and sleep and come back in a few days. Until then she had Steve and while he was no Natasha, he was great in his own way. Yeah, she would be fine, Wanda would be fine.

Chapter Text

                           Steve’s POV

           I sighed as I closed the bedroom door behind me, leaving Nat alone in the room while I went to talk to Wanda. 
 “Alright kid, it’s just gonna be you and I for a few days,” I told her which only gained a lost look from Wanda. “Nat’s sick so it’ll be just us two doing things for a while. Since she’s sick and your immune system is still building itself back up, I don’t want you in the room with her okay? I’ll make sure she’s taken care of while still tending your needs,” I firmly yet softly declared, my tone leaving no room for arguing.    

            I could tell Wanda had thousands of questions as I had caught the flash of sadness in her eyes, it was a ‘blink and you’d miss it’ look but one that was there nevertheless; I admired her will to be strong but she didn’t have to be at the moment, I did. My eyes softened as I continued speaking, “hey I get it, I like spending time with her too but like I said give her a few days and she’ll be back to it in no time. Until then, stay away from the room okay?” I reiterated one more time, not that I really had to as Wanda didn’t do much .

             She nodded back at me as she wrote on her whiteboard, ‘okay Steve.’   
 Wanda was truly a great kid so I couldn’t help but smile at how compliant she tended to be at times, it would make this taking care of Nat situation easier, “that’s my girl.”
 Then a smile, real, genuine smile graced her face as she sat leaned back a bit, her body making contact with the front of the chair while I rose to my feet to get everything I would need, “I’m gonna get her some water and try to find some medicine and then we’ll let her sleep. We’ll find something to do together,” I tossed over my shoulder, quickly grabbing a deep bowl, bottles of water, and fortunately acetaminophen as well, before darting into our bedroom.

            Aside from the added flush to her cheeks, nothing had changed in her posture while I was out- she was still sweating profusely and clutching her stomach with a grip that was sure to leave bruises in its wake. I crouched down next to her, softly combing over he damp tresses, “hey Nat… hey doll, how you feelin?” I asked. It’s obvious she wasn’t feeling well, I just needed to ask her questions to gauge just how unwell she felt.  
 “Like shit,” she croaked out behind a chill.
 “I expect nothing less. I’ve brought some medicine and some chilled water,” I started as I reached for the bowl, “and a bowl in case you feel the need to-“

            In a flash, I watched as natasha jerked to the edge of the bed, hanging her head low as chunks of both digested and undigested cheerios made themselves visible. Fortunately I already had the bowl halfway out so I didn’t need to move it too far to catch the clumpy liquid that tumbled out of her mouth. She kept going, throwing up two more times before her stomach decided it was empty, dry heaves leaving her mouth as I rubbed her back, “all done babe?” 
 She feebly nodded with her head still hanging over the bed. I nodded back as I walked into the bathroom, ran two wash clothes underneath some lukewarm water and made my way back to her. I gently wiped the areas around her mouth and chin before rolling her away from the edge of the bed, making sure to keep her in the fetal position so she didn’t choke on her vomit if she just happened to do it while she was asleep.

            Once I was satisfied with how she was positioned on the bed, I took to carefully wiping away the sweat that accumulated on the upper part of her face, cleaning off all the forehead sweat with the barf towel before I just tossed it aside on the floor. I sat her up enough to allow a few sips of water to slide down her throat, not wanting her to become dehydrated on top of the illness she was already feeling. The second wash rag went on her forehead to combat against the chills, hopefully. I gazed down at her as I got on my knees, softly stroking her warm cheek with the crook of my index finger- she always looked so human in vulnerable positions like these, I’m glad that I’m one of the rare few in her life that could view her like this.

            I stroked her cheek until her eyes, those emerald greens, fluttered sleepily, shutting close as a soft sigh escaped her lips.  
 “I’ll be back to check on you in a bit,” I whispered into her ear, giving her cheek a small peck as I tiptoed out the room. I smiled to myself as I heard her gently croak out a final sentence as the door was closing, “thanks papa bear.”

            The first day of Nat being sick, Wanda and I did nothing. I suggested to read a book to her to which she shook her head no. I then suggested that we could do a smaller puzzle together, an idea she promptly shot down. Finding activities to do in the house proved to be difficult when Wanda disagreed with every option but I wasn’t angry at her; Wanda’s concerns about Natasha’s health caused her anxiety to spike and pushed her nerves too far to the edge to the point where she didn’t want to do anything. So for the first day, we just watched tv together in silence. I would leave periodically to check on Natasha, occasionally helping her to the bathroom or dishing out medicine that wasn’t really effective due to the weakened super soldier serum running through her veins but we still tried.

            Surprisingly, the first night went well without Natasha. I cleaned Wanda’s neck but decided to leave it unwrapped to allow it to breath which didn’t bother Wanda at all. I reassured her that Nat was fine and slowly getting better as she snuggled further into bed. And as always, I informed her that she could get me if she needed as I would be on the couch while her and Nat slept in their rooms. Suffice to say, besides the occasional getting up for Natasha, Wanda did relatively fine throughout the night. My only issue with everything was how I was possibly going to keep Wanda occupied with activities that involved us staying in the house (to stay near Nat) when she totally declined everything I could think of.

            When I woke up the next morning, I still didn’t have any idea as to how I could keep Wanda’s mind preoccupied until Natasha was better, something I hated myself for- what kind of parent doesn’t know how to keep their child entertained? I shook my head, brushing off my thoughts and sleepiness as I headed into the kitchen to make breakfast- eggs and toast would do for today. After breakfast was completed, I stayed in the kitchen, sipping my coffee while I waited for Wanda to come out to see if I could maybe coax her into doing something today. I waited for about 3 hours, till about 9:15, which was understandable as Nat and I tended to wake up pretty early, for Wanda to join me at the table. She glanced at me as she silently took her seat and began eating.

            I stayed positioned against the counter as I spoke to her, “I’ll be back, I’m gonna see if Nat’s up yet,” I gently smiled at her when she rose her head up at the mention of Nat only to duck it back down with a curt nod, peridot eyes no longer meeting mine. Departing from the kitchen, I strolled into Nat and mines shared bedroom to see how my doll was doing. Upon first inspection, her sweating hadn’t ceased which meant I had to change her wash cloth again and her body was still painfully contorted underneath the comforter with her hands gripping her lower abdomen, although not as deathly tight as the night prior.  
 “Hey doll,” I sat on the edge of the bed, “have you thrown up again?”

            She looked up at me with slightly wet eyes, smiling sadly as she spoke, “yeah just a little bit… 3 times… at most,” she trailed.  
 “When was the last time?”
 “Mmm,” she hummed, stealing a look at the clock by the side of the bed, “an hour and a half to two hours ago,” she croaked out. I gently moved her into a sitting position, angling her chin up, “Mhmm, here let’s see if you can keep some water in your system,” I told her as I held the water bottle to her lips for her to sip. She must have been a little dehydrated as she drank a good quarter of the bottle before she wanted to stop which I complied with. I softly crawled into bed behind her, mindful of not jostling her around too much, as I pulled her into my chest, “how long have you been awake?”

            The content sigh she released as I stroked her hair didn’t go unnoticed by me as I smiled to myself. It did take a few more minutes for her to answer the question though, “Uhm since about 5 am?”  
 That tracked since the last time I went to check in her was 4:30 ish this morning and I’ve been up since 6.
 “Well get some sleep. I love you, I’ll be back to see how you’re doing in a little while,” I mumbled into her ear as her body grew slack against my chest. I carefully laid her back down, but not before relishing in the way that she peacefully slept; apparently decent sleep was a difficult concept to grasp in our household. Closing the door ever so quietly, I made my way back into the kitchen to see how Wanda was faring.

            Her anxiety must have calmed down since yesterday as she ate almost everything on her plate and drank almost all her juice, “hey are you done in here?” I asked as I moved to grab the plates off the table. Wanda scanned the area around her, grabbing her glass of juice as she nodded and headed off towards the living room. I wouldn’t be lying if I said Wanda was beyond adorable just sitting on the floor with her eyes glued to the tv and her glass close to her face. Back at the Tower, Wanda and I didn’t get to spend this much time together as Avenger duties often had me busy with paperwork and/ or field missions. With her powers and being an (ex)Avenger, it often slips my mind how much younger Wanda is compared to the rest of the members on the team. 16 years old in a foreign country with no living family members and powers she didn’t completely understand yet- that takes strength.

            I know this situation is temporary with the ability to change any second, but the idea of Wanda possibly being my daughter makes my heart melt. I like seeing her come into her own, however slowly, and the way that her and Nat interact with one another- I just want to be able to hold her and honestly tell her that she’s protected and cared for. Thoughts such as these were popping up more frequently but of course I push them to the back of my mind, no matter how pleasant they are; there’s more pertinent matters to attend to for the time being so my feelings would have to be on the back burner. Washing the dishes as fast and meticulously as possible, I grabbed a bottle of water for myself so I could sit with Wanda on the couch. Squinting my eyes just a tad, I saw that the show of choice was Malcolm in the Middle, one of Wanda’s favorites.

            Shaking my head, I could only tut as the family of boys pursued their outlandish antics, “you know those boys would never cut it in the army,” I firmly stated. I didn’t necessarily expect Wanda to respond especially not with a small snort and a crinkle of her nose- adorable. She jotted down something on the whiteboard and turned it to me to read with an innocuous smile, ‘Francis is in military school.’  
 I glanced up at her with as much seriousness as I could muster, “but he drops out later,” I smirked. I watched as Wanda’s smile transformed into a frown as she scribbled then burst into a fit of giggles, ‘oh you’re right, he does drop out’  
 “See I told you, they just can’t cut it,” I smiled.
 She happily nodded as we continued to watch tv together with occasional laughter filling the open space.

            From my peripheral I could see her reaching for her glass, which was empty, causing a frown to form on her face.  
 “I’m gonna go check on Nat. Why don’t you get some juice while I do that hmm?” I encouraged as I stood to my feet. Wanda, on the other hand, didn’t seem too keen on that idea as she looked at me with nervousness swimming in those big, green eyes.
 “You know where the juice is. I’ll be back in about 10 minutes,” I announced to her as I exited the room. Fortunately Nat was still asleep so all I had to do was swap her forehead cloth and make sure the bowl was empty and clean for usage; overall that roughly took about 15 minutes with me stroking her cheek every now and then.

            When I made it back to Wanda, I could see that she did in fact get more juice although it wasn’t a lot. Yet for some reason, the urge to take a picture of this moment blossomed inside my head so therefore I had to do it in order to satiate myself. Snatching the camera from its hidden area inside the draw in the hallway, I quickly made my way over to where Wanda was and snapped a quick photo of her resting her chin on the table with her apple juice in view; she didn’t notice the camera until after the picture was taken. 
 ‘Is Tasha okay? Why do you have a camera?’ she questioned. 
 I figured the best course of action would be to just tell her the truth, “yeah she’s slowly getting here. And the camera is to commemorate our time together, look back on everything we experienced with one another,” I shrugged, shuffling closer so she could see a few of the pictures I had already taken.

            ‘that’s a nice picture,’ she smiled when I showed her the one of her and Natasha putting together the puzzle. 
 “Yeah I like that one too. Do you want me to take another one of you?” I asked after seeing the interest in her eyes. She nodded a simple yes, offering me a small smile as I took a photo of her. It came out nicely which is to be expected as Wanda is quite photogenic, whether she knows it or not. She smiled at me again, wider this time, as I let her take the camera to view the picture; she was in awe of herself. I then watched as Wanda cautiously set the camera down on the table so she could write something out to me, ‘can I try?’  
 “I don’t see why not,” I shrugged again.

            Apprehensively reaching for the camera, Wanda positioned it over her right eye, pulling it away to point at me while making a smiling face. Thinking I got the gist, I repositioned myself on the couch so I was a tad more comfortable before I gave Wanda a large smile which she quickly snapped. I shuffled over to her left side to peer over her shoulder, quite frankly, not only was she good at having her picture taken but she was also skilled in taking them. The proudness I felt of her overwhelmed my senses as I complimented her, “wow… you’re a natural. It’s simple yet captures me so well. You even worked with the natural lighting of the room,” I beamed at her. Try as she might, the blush from being complimented rose to her cheeks as she shyly ducked her head which I hurried to take a picture of.

            She wrote on her whiteboard with her head still ducked down, ‘thank you.’ 
 “Aww anytime kid,” I brushed off. The rest of the day went off without a hitch, at both lunch and dinner, Wanda ate more than she had previously been eating for the past couple of weeks and didn’t throw up afterwards meaning that her stomach and appetite were being to slowly expand. As for Nat, she was on a constant repeated cycle of sleeping then either vomiting and/or using the bathroom due to diarrhea then falling asleep just to do the same thing over again. I did make sure that she ate a little bit that way she would have food in her system to throw up and that she was drinking water, hopefully enough to replenish what she was losing. The only major win that night was somehow both Wanda and Natasha managed to fall asleep at the same time at the beginning of the night which allowed me to sleep with them as well.

            With a little bit of rest now in my system and our newest discovery of Wanda’s creative talent, I had the perfect idea of what we could do today. After a nice breakfast spent watching tv, I thought I’d bite first.  
 “Hey Wanda I have an idea of what we could do today. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to but I figured we could paint. How does that sound?” I asked her more hopefully than I intended. Her brow furrowed in thought before she nodded at me with enthusiasm. “Great,” I clapped as I went to gather the appropriate supplies from my bedroom, “wait right here while get what we need okay?” Once again Wanda nodded her response. Tiptoeing quietly around the room, I was able to grab a few tubes of paint along with paintbrushes, two 10 x 8 canvases, and a mixer for the kid.

            It seemed that over the past two days, Nat’s system had been completely flushed as she was no longer experiencing abdominal pains coupled with vomiting and diarrhea which meant that she needed to sleep and eat to add the appropriate nutrients to her slightly weakened system. Not that I was happy about that but it did mean that she was this much closer to being back around Wanda, they both needed that even if they wouldn’t verbally express said statement.

            Thinking of everything, I made sure to grab an extra shirt of mine, nothing exciting just a simple gray long sleeve, for Wanda to cover up with as I wasn’t sure how skilled she was with paint, acrylics nonetheless. I gently placed a soft kiss to Nat’s forehead before I exited the room with the intentions of keeping our kid entertained. For what appeared to be the first time in a few days, Wanda’s body language was that of genuine excitement as I strolled into the living room with all the items in hand, “I have everything here that we’ll need. I even brought you a shirt so you can cover up,” I informed her, holding out the fabric towards her to which she quickly tossed on over the pajamas she was currently wearing.

            With the tv playing on in the background, we painted in what could be described as comfortable silence. Paternal instincts had me glancing over at Wanda every so often to guard whether she was alright and if she was enjoying herself. After what had to be the tenth glance in her direction, I could practically see the cogs turning in her head as her forehead creased and her eyebrows knitted together, “hey kid you okay? You know you can ask me anything… if this is about your question- about being a monster then-“    
 She cut me off by holding up her whiteboard which had me furrow my brows in confusion, ‘why does Tasha call you papa bear now?’ 
 Okay, not the question I was expecting at all.

            “What?” I questioned her back.  
 I watched as she carefully erased a small part of her board before scribbling some more down, ‘why is Tasha calling you papa bear? She usually calls you Soldier’   
 I chuckled lightly as I processed Wanda’s questions, clearly I was on a different page in a separate book than her. Her confusion only seemed to increase as I continued laughing.
 “Nat’s been calling me that since that day we found you asleep in our room,” I explained.

            ‘Oh. When I went to go find Owl… but why papa bear?’ she held up for me. 
 “Well,” I scratched my head, “you had been gone for a few minutes and we weren’t sure where you were, I got worried, probably more so than I needed to be but then we found you… asleep in the room, and she’s been calling me papa bear ever since,” I sheepishly grinned at her. She nodded before a smile broke out on her face, airy giggles escaping as she brushed two strokes on her canvas before setting the brush down so she could write to me, ‘you kind of are a papa bear’ she confirmed. 
 “Ahh I just care is all,” I waved off.
 ‘It’s okay… I like it,” she replied, sheepishly smiling back at me.
 “Which one?” I responded, “the fact that I care or the fact that she calls me papa bear?”

            ‘Both’ she scribbled as she followed it with a satisfied hum of sorts, one of the first intentional sounds she’s made besides when she’s crying. The warm feeling, of proudness and hope, I felt the other day were starting to rise back up in my chest like a fire in a brick oven and all I can possibly think is this kid is gonna be the death of me. I showed her my final product, a monkey on a tricycle holding a green umbrella, one of my more eccentric creations while she opted to keep hers hidden. I had no problems with that so I demonstrated the proper way to finalize a painting- adding your signature and date to the corner of the masterpiece. Wanda happily copied me, signing her name and date as nicely as she could in the top right corner- different but it works for her.

            We didn’t do lunch but dinner went well, beef stew is always a favorite and hearty enough that Wanda doesn’t need a larger serving. While Wanda was off taking a shower, I checked in on Nat to see how she was doing. The chills were subsiding and she was able to force herself into a sitting position, albeit not for longer than 5 minutes as it aggravated her sore stomach. We managed to talk for a little about how she was feeling and I got her to drink more water before she drifted back to sleep; I didn’t even get a chance to mention Wanda. I let that slide however as I went to put Wanda to sleep and collect her clothes for the laundry. She was sitting on her bed with her back turned away from the door but even from this angle I could see she had something laying next to her on the bed.

            Leaning against the door frame, I softly called into her room, “I’m gonna do a load of laundry tonight. Do you have anything you want washed?” 
 She didn’t answer me, not even when I approached her silently and stood off by the side of her bed. When I looked down that’s when I noticed her toying with the button on the chest of the shirt I gave her earlier, bouncing and twisting it between her fingers while she bit her lip, pointing to her whiteboard resting on the dresser, ‘I like this shirt. Can I keep it please?’  
 “Yeah it’s yours to keep. I’ll wash it and return it to you in the morning,” I answered. 
 She smiled back at me as she climbed underneath her cover with elephant softly trumpeting on her nightstand, writing something else on the board, ‘thanks Steve, good night!’ 
 I chuckled as I cut the lights off, “g’night Wanda, I love you sleep well.”

            My attempt at holding back my yawn was a major fail as I groggily stumbled into the kitchen; the couch was only pleasant for so long and after 4 days, that pleasantness was fleeting. I yawned once more as I harshly rubbed me eyes only to see that Wanda was already awake, standing at the counters with a mug in her hands.  
 “Morning kiddo, what are you doing awake so early?” I asked her as I reached over her head to get a mug for myself. She didn’t respond so much so as lazily moving her shoulders up and down in a shrugging fashion. Regardless of the silent gesture, I continued trying to engage in conversation, “you made yourself some tea did you? Is it good?” She shook her head no, sliding the mug over to me as she passed me the whiteboard, ‘it’s for Tasha, I made it for her… if that’s okay.’

             Those big doe eyes left me speechless as I grabbed the mug, “it’s great she’ll love it. I’m gonna give it to her to drink while I make her breakfast,” I told her as I walked the drink into our bedroom where the one and only Natasha Romanov was alertly sitting up. “Here’s some tea for you, Wanda made it,” I gently smiled as I handed her the mug. I watched as she took a careful sip, being mindful of the tea’s heat, with a tiny audible sigh, “tell Wanda thank you, I love it.”
 “I’ll let her know. I’ll be back with your breakfast on a minute,” I nodded. By the time I made it back to the kitchen, Wanda was gone, I’m assuming to either go back to sleep or to at least shower. I made quick work of making Nat’s breakfast which consisted of two pieces of toast and a sliced banana, bland but easy on a distressed stomach.

            I pushed the bedroom door open with the back of my hand left hand, stabilizing the plate of food with my right as I shuffled over to the bed. “Here’s breakfast doll, it’s not much but it also shouldn’t make you sick,” I reasoned with her. She sat up just a bit straighter as I placed the food across her lap with a semi-tired heave, “thank you Steve,” she rasped, her voice raw from the constant vomiting.  
 “You’re welcome. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to take a shower,” I frowned which made her giggle.
 “Okay, thanks for breakfast again,” she gently smiled. I leaned forward to kiss her forehead, “it’s no problem really. You just eat,” I passed off. It’s been four days since I was last clean, gross I know, but at this very moment, a shower sounded nice as hell.

             After I was freshly cleaned of four days worth of sweat and grime and fully dressed, I went about collecting all the dishes in the room once I saw that Nat had fallen asleep again. Her breakfast plate was mostly clear save for a few pieces of crust and 2 banana slices while the tea… looked as if it haven’t been touched since her first sip. I grimaced as I poured the remaining tea down the bathroom drain, there was a feeling in my gut telling me that something wasn’t right. Either way, I pushed it down as I shut the door behind me, running into Wanda as she and elephant were coming out her room.

            She looked up at me expectantly, I knew what she wanted to hear, “Nat’s sleeping right now but she told me to tell you thank you and that she enjoyed the tea,” I relayed, hoping my eyes didn’t contradict what I was saying. However my words were enough for Wanda as she happily smiled at me and released a content sigh. I didn’t want to be the one to lie to her but Nat left me no choice as telling Wanda the truth would most definitely make her break into tears. 
 “Do you know how to play chess?” I asked after a while, wanting to mentally move on from everything. When she answered no, I figured this was my chance to distract the both of us.
 “Great, let me teach you,” I offered which she politely agreed to.

            The concept of chess and how the pieces moved in tandem to each other took over an hour and a half to explain, in addition to the 2 hours of practice games we played, we were both tired but for some reason, Wanda still found the game to be fascinating as she didn’t want to stop playing. We went up until dinner time, having cereal as I didn’t feel like cooking and Wanda wanted something easy. We played for another hour and a half before I informed Wanda that it was time to get ready for bed. While she went to brush her teeth and such, I stuck around to wash the dishes and clear the chess pieces off the coffee table. The exhaustion I didn’t know I was experiencing hit me like a ton of bricks as I roughly exhaled, running my hands over my face as I went to put Wanda to bed. As I turned the corner to head towards Wanda’s room, I saw her attempting to silently peek into the bedroom to look at Natasha; the initial reason for why I didn’t want her to see Nat had drastically shifted in the course of 8 hours.

            “Wanda!” I accidentally shouted, causing her to jump back with tears in her eyes. I quickly crossed the room to soothe her, my voice softening as not to do more damage, “hey I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just trying to get your attention… i-“ I stuttered as her bottom lip wobbled. She frantically shook her head from side to side as she backed away and ran into her room. I sighed once again as I was technically by myself. I didn’t let it get to me as I flopped down on the couch, letting the softness of the furniture take away the day’s pain.

            I don’t know at what point I fell asleep, the only reason I knew it happened was because the next thing I heard was muffled sobbing coming from down the hall- Wanda. I sprinted into her room to see her sitting in a corner with her knees tucked tightly into her chest as she violently rocked herself back and forth, hitting her back against the wall in a way that was sure to leave bruises. I kept my hands up in a defensive position as I calmly stalked over to her, maintaining eye contact as I slowly inched closer. When I went to take another step is when she frantically shook her head, angling her body away from me as I stepped back, kneeling to be eye level.  
 “Okay I’ll stay back. are you okay?” I gently prodded.

            She shook her head again as tears slipped out from the sheer force. 
 “Do you want me to stay with you?” I softly questioned. She shook her head again, hiding it behind her knees. The sadness that washed over my being at the prospect that Wanda needed comfort but was denying it was gut wrenching but I would adhere to her request to leave her be. “If you want to talk later, I’m in the living room,” I mumbled as I closed the door behind me. If it wasn’t one thing then it was another; poor kid couldn’t even get one night of proper sleep without being plagued by the events of the Raft. I, on the other hand, went back to rest on the couch as there was nothing else I could tangibly for for Wanda as i drifted between consciousness in case she did take me up on my offer of comfort.

            Eventually morning rolled around, if the warm, golden rays beaming on my face were anything to go off of. I silently stretched, just taking a minute to sit on the couch to gather my thoughts before I started what I could feel was going to be a daunting day. I trudged into the kitchen with one eye open and much to my surprise or I guess disbelief, Wanda was seated at the table with water in hand. Her eyes and head were downcast as she fiddled with her marker cap and I could feel the nervousness falling off her in droves.  
 “Are you okay?” I inquired as I sat directly across from her.

            I patiently observed her behaviors, taking in how she inhaled a calming breath which alleviated the remaining tension lingering in her bones. She slid her whiteboard over to me as usual, allotting me enough time to read what she wrote, ‘I’m sorry about last night. I had a bad dream (kinda) and you were there and I didn’t like it but I didn’t mean to freak out… I’m sorry.’ The fear in her eyes was palpable as she scanned me over, her body cowering into herself ever so slightly.
 “There’s no reason to apologize, you have every right to react to whatever happened in that dream okay? I was just worried about you,” I truthfully replied, giving her the transparency she desired.

            ‘I’m better,’ she nodded.  
 “Do you want to ta-talk about it maybe?” I bumbled (again). 
 She shook her head no, scrawling on her whiteboard, ‘no, thank you. I wrote about it in my journal. Is Tasha better?’ 
 I could tell this was her way of making an effort to create an out for herself- one that I bit to allay her discomfort. 
 “Uhh, I actually haven’t checked on her since early in the evening and I’ve been dancing in and out of sleep all night. As a matter of fact, give me one minute,” I exhaled as I went to see if Nat was up and well. The room was certainly lived in- the sheets were tossed haphazardly on top of the mattress and the drapes were pulled back a bit allowing light to litter in. But no matter how lived in it appeared to be, one thing was evident- Natasha had long flew the coop which meant that I would most likely have to lie to Wanda again.

            Breathing in and out, I adjusted my posture so that it exuded nothing but confidence as I strolled back out to talk to Wanda. The way her ears minutely perked up at the expectance of Natasha told me everything I needed to do. 
 “Sorry kid Nat’s not here. Guessing she got an early start to her day.” Lie number 2 or maybe 3. 
 At the statement Wanda visibly deflated, just a minuscule amount before she sat up straighter, shaking off her negative feelings. I stared at her as she wrote down another question, ‘that’s okay. Do you know how to braid hair?’ it read. 
 I told her no as I really didn’t know how, I only knew the basics and anybody would argue that that itself was questionable.

            She pursed her lips together in thought, grabbing some loose strands of hair to demonstrate a simple braid, pointing to it and then me, before she combed it out with her fingers. Getting the idea, I stood behind her, collecting all her hair to the back to replicate what she showed me. The 3 strands started out nice but as the braid got longer, large ropes of hair began falling out, dangling carelessly as I tied off the end of her hair. It wasn’t pretty but it was a start. She ran her hand down the braid, giving a pleased hum at the finished product, ignoring its physical ugliness. She uncapped her marker, quickly writing off whatever messaging she wanted to convey, ‘thanks papa bear,’ she  appreciatively smiled at me before running off to watch tv in the living room.

            I opened my mouth to call her back so we could digest her nightmare, and any feelings about Nat not being around together but decided against that as I had a lot of information to process myself. Not once in these past 5 days did Natasha ask about Wanda and her well-being while quarantined away from her despite the fact that Wanda asked about her nearly every day. Plus, there was the incident with the tea, Nat had a sip- a baby one- and left the rest to sit out. Really what everything boils down to is that for some currently unknown reason to me, Natasha wanted nothing to do with Wanda and was now avoiding her. The only thought that came to mind after piecing that together is what the hell am I supposed to do now?

Chapter Text

                         Wanda’s POV
            Spending extra time with papa Steve these past few days has been nice; when we were back at the tower, we didn’t get to see each other much because he always had some type of work to do while I was busy with training and other miscellaneous tasks. So alone time with him has been very appreciated but at the same time… I really wanted Tasha. Over the past few months, I know our relationship has changed but into what… I’m not sure. I guess it was still friend and maybe mentor but maybe another term fit too? I just really missed the way she would soothe me to sleep by curling up with me while simultaneously tapping my back in that loving manner she usually did. And I also missed how gentle and tender her touches were- they were always filled with love, never hate like the Raft. And I missed how her voice filtered through the room- her voice, the soft one that she reserved for only Steve and I, and sometimes Clint. I just wanted her to come back home.

            And then speaking of Clint, recently I’ve been re-examining my relationship with Steve in comparison to how Clint used to treat me. At one point, Clint had been a father to me but more often than not, whenever I thought of fathers and such Steve was usually the first one to appear, not Clint- not like he used to. Yet the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Steve’s affections and behaviors were more extreme, radical, in the way they made me feel. It was as if I were a frog in a pond- if I jumped and made it onto a Lilly pad, that was fine but if I jumped and landed in the water, either way I was safe. That was Steve, no matter what risk I took, I knew he would do everything in his power to make sure I was cared for- like my papa used to for Pietro and I when we were small children.

            Days drifted into endless days as Steve constantly found activities, some new and some old with an added twist, for him and Wanda to do, mainly outside the house. The thing was, it wasn’t like Natasha was never home, she was- she would venture into their modern sized house, but as quickly as she entered, she was gone again. This behavior seemed endless- gone long hours of the day to sneak in at night to shower, just to leave again. And despite sharing a bedroom together, Steve was only able to catch glimpses of the woman he loved, never long enough to have a conversation or to even say hi, while all Wanda ever received was the sound of a door closing. As a fearless leader, Steve didn’t dwell on those short coming, instead focusing all his energy on Wanda- doing whatever it took to keep her happy, or at least busy such as taking peaceful walks around the town, playing with the sheep in the fields, reading to her, and whatever else came to mind.

            At around 3:30 in the afternoon Wanda quietly strolled into the kitchen as Steve was drinking his afternoon coffee, lost in thought about this situation as he tended to be nowadays: Natasha would come back the question of the matter was when. A tug on his sleeve brought him back to reality, an inquiring eyed Wanda standing before him.  
 “What’s up kid? Do we have any plans for today?” he asked around the rim of his coffee. To keep interest high, there were days where Steve delegated the task of ‘what should we do’ to Wanda, allowing her the perfect opportunity to make requests that fell into her interests. 
 ‘Can we bake the Olsen’s a pie? To say thank you for being nice to us’ she scribbled on her board. 
 “That’s a nice idea,” Steve smiled encouragingly, placing the mug in the sink.

            Bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement, Wanda smiled wide as Steve shuffled around the kitchen to grab the appropriate ingredients while she grabbed a few bowls. She always loved baking in Sokovia and considered herself to be pretty good at it, having got a job in a bakery after the bombing of their home. It wasn’t something she did often at the Tower though as she felt an underlying anxiousness around Tony and was also wary being around such high tech appliances she had no basic understanding of- so the kitchen was personally off the table for her. She grabbed a few apples, having already decided that they were going to make apple pie, as she started to peel off the red skin.

            Wanda had full control of the kitchen, instructing Steve on what to do and the proper way to do it as she handled her tasks. Wanda laughed as Steve haphazardly tossed the flour into the measuring cup causing tasteless white puffs of the baking powder to fly carelessly in the air, “sorry kid,” he sheepishly grinned. Wanda shook her head but did have a large grin embedded on her cheeks as she continued her ministrations. Steve didn’t miss the opportunity to snap pictures of Wanda in her element, the pure joy radiating off of her almost made him forget the traumas she’d recently endured. He followed behind his kid  as she patiently directed him through every step with positive results as the both of them sat contently around the table as they waited for the timer to let them know that their creation was ready.

            Deciding that now would be a good time to begin leisurely tidying up the area, Steve casually collected the large mixing bowls and miscellaneous silverware, dumping them into the sink. Preoccupied with other thoughts, Wanda’s elbow moved on its own accord, knocking the discarded flour cup to the floor leaving a white hazy cloud in its wake. She kept her eyes averted from Steve as she hurriedly scribbled across her board, cowering away slightly, ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’  
 Steve reached for the cup with a small groan only to stand up with a smile adorning his face, “ehh it’s okay. Accidents happen, we have to clean anyway,” he shrugged as he tossed the cup into the sink. He turned back towards Wanda who was watching him with a wary expression, “you didn’t do anything wrong so you’re not in any trouble,” he simply explained. For Wanda’s part, she tried her best to push aside those memories and expectations from the Raft as Steve gazed at her with loving eyes.

           Wanda stared back at him before her eyes flittered to the white baking substance caking his bare feet. With a deep breath, she drew her board close, carefully crafting a message for the man sitting across from her with nervous anticipation.  
 ‘A guard on the Raft beat me for that once’ she slid over, catching Steve’s blues in her greens. The veteran super soldier held his breath as he read the simple sentence, wondering the best way to ask what happened next. This was a rather audacious act on Wanda’s part, one that held far too much fearful hope, but seeing as how she and Steve had grown closer in the last week, it felt aptly enacted, at least to Wanda. 
 “What’d he beat you for?” He gently prodded as he slid the board back her way. Wanda couldn’t use her hands so what exactly could she have done.

            With trembling hands and an exhale of a shaky breath, Wanda quickly erased what she wrote so she could recount the memory. 
 ‘It was this one guard’s turn to take me to the bathroom… he didn’t really want to do it but did as he was commanded to. I could tell that he was already annoyed so I tried to keep my distance from him as he led me down the hall. It was working until after I finished using the bathroom.’ 
 Silently listening was the smart choice to go in Steve’s case so a nod of acknowledgment passed from him to Wanda was a positive sign for her to know that he was done reading and that she could continue with the rest of her story.

            ‘We went into a stall, I used the bathroom then he pulled up my pants. He was grumbling the whole time but I didn’t hear what he was saying. When he finished pulling up my pants, he forcefully yanked me by my upper arm but I wasn’t expecting it so I ended up tripping over my own feet as I tried to steady myself. But in the process, I accidentally stepped on his foot which only made him… irate.’ 
 Making sure that Steve was following along, Wanda glanced up at him with a discernibly somber expression as he processed what he’d “heard” so far. She was beaten for stepping on a guard’s shoe? Steve knew what those guards wore, he’d seen it on the security footage countless times- those big, black government issued (most likely steel toed) boots that were more than sturdy. Even at her heaviest, Wanda couldn’t apply enough pressure for the guard to feel her weight. This was such bullshit.

            Upon noticing Steve’s blank look of focus, Wanda furrowed her eyebrows as she reached a timid hand out to lay on top of his, jumpstarting him back into reality. 
 “Oh I’m sorry sweetheart, I’m listening. I just got lost in my thoughts for a second,” Steve bashfully smiled at the teen, earning back a sad one in response, “please continue.” 
 Wanda nodded, erasing her previous thoughts to start new ones, ‘when he saw that I had stepped on his shoe, he started screaming and threw me into the bathroom wall. I tried to say sorry but he didn’t want to hear that; he slapped me across the face and then punched me in the stomach. I thought he was done but then he took out his baton and beat me with it while I tried to shield myself as I cried. I don’t know how long he beat me but I do know that besides the bruises…he broke some of my ribs. I never saw him again after that incident though. But it was an accident… I swear.’

            Steve wetly cleared his throat, holding back what he truly wanted to say as he held his arms open instead. Wanda calmly walked into his open reach, nestling her head into his chest as he loosely wrapped his arms around her so that she could easily walk away when she was ready. Steve didn’t say anything as he rested his chin on top of Wanda’s head with a sigh of gratitude; Wanda didn’t engage in physical touch often and when she did, hugs were usually off the table.  
 “You don’t have to tell me that, I know it was an accident. You did not deserve them beating you or being in the Raft. I’m sorry they made you feel anything but human,” Steve whispered just loud enough for Wanda to hear.
 She stayed engulfed in Steve’s arms for 5 more minutes, drinking in the way his heart steadily drummed against her ear before tapping his bicep to let him know to release. At the gentle tap on his arm, Steve let his arms drop, giving Wanda the space to pull away.

            The atmosphere was quiet as Wanda settled back onto her seat while Steve checked the timer- they still had 15 more minutes to go. Steve didn’t know what else to do for Wanda so he was fine with just sitting in silence together, that was until Wanda tapped his arm again. She stood in front of him, holding her whiteboard against her chest, looking younger than her age as she passed it off to the brunette man, ‘can you tell me a story about you and Bucky? Or just Bucky?’  
 A wide, nostalgic smile graced Steve’s lips as he nodded, giving Wanda some time to pull her seat next to him.
 “No problem kid. Do you know about how Bucky and I first met?” He questioned aloud which was met with a shake of the head from Wanda.

            “Well I grew up in Hells Kitchen- one of the lowest, filthiest areas in the city of Manhattan. I grew up a sickly boy- a too skinny kid with severe asthma -basically the exact opposite of the man you see today. I-“  
 ‘You were skinny?’ Wanda questioned in utter disbelief. She couldn’t imagine Steve looking like anything but the way he looked now. 
 “Scrawny really,“ he confirmed with a smile. He’d have to catch Wanda up on his history as that was practically his whole spiel, after the righteous and justice thing that is. “But that didn’t stop me from standing up for myself.”
 Steve continued to describe how there was a group of bullies who required a “fee” to cross into Tenth Avenue but he wouldn’t pay it to which the bullies response was to beat him up. It was then that Bucky jumped in to defend him as he was tired of seeing “thugs” taking advantage of the little guys much like Steve was back in the day and it was from that day on that he and Bucky bonded, becoming best friends.

            Wanda interjected with questions at the appropriate moments, smiling in awe at the soulful connection her papa Steve and his friend shared with one another like her and Pietro. The timer dinging didn’t stop the jovial storytelling and neither did the walk from their house to the Olsens’. The rest of the day went about with relative ease as the two ate leftovers for dinner before heading to bed. Steve politely inquired if he could tend to Wanda’s neck, seeing as how it had been a few days since the last time it was properly cared for, to which Wanda replied with a simple head nod. Although for not having done it in a while, Steve didn’t miss a single step in their self- established routine, completing the task in what was considered faster time than the usual. Tucking in the corners of Wanda’s comforter carefully, Steve gently patted the blanket at the final product, smiling warmly at the tired teen.

            “I want to thank you for today,” he started, “I haven’t seen Buck in so long… these stories brought back great mementoes from our time growing up together, despite the many hardships we endured during said period. Either way, I’m grateful for the memories so I want to thank you for asking and thank you for listening,” Steve sincerely smiled to which Wanda offered her own bright smile. As he reached to cut out her light, he stopped short, pursing his lips together in thought, “hey kid, I have a personal project for you, you don’t have to do it, but I would like if you would think about it first, okay?”  
 Steve continued when he noticed Wanda’s eyes widened slightly, expressing her piqued interest.

            “You’ve asked Nat and I on how we view you as a person and I think you’re slowly starting to believe it. My question for you is have you taken the time to think about how you view yourself ? It’s hard to believe anything positive anyone is saying about you when your mind and heart are in a constant battle, combating all the positive speak with negative thoughts. Basically I want you to do some intrapersonal reflection, mentally breaking down your thoughts, actions, behaviors- everything that encompasses Wanda- to discover who you truly are. If you do it, you don’t have to discuss it with me, same for if you don’t do it. This is just for you to get a better understanding of the person you’ve grown to be in the last 16 years, that’s all. I’m going to go to bed,” he clapped, rising to his feet, “good night, I love you kid.”  
 Wanda nodded in deep thought as Steve closed the door behind him. He wanted her to analyze her person? An odd request but one she would consider.

             When Wanda came down for breakfast the next morning, Steve held true to his word- he didn’t question her on whether or not she came up with an answer instead he just served her breakfast and tea and discussed their plans for the day. Today, they would be venturing to Sam’s house to hang out and play board games. Internally, Steve was grateful to have Sam around as he hoped his energetic behavior would rub off on Wanda cause quite frankly, he was beginning to feel physically tired. Fortunately, Wanda had begun to get over her initial negative feelings towards Sam and managed to relax enough to where they could begin forming a real relationship- whatever that may develop to be.

            The following day, day 12 without Nat as Steve (and secretly Wanda) were definitely counting, the duo invited Sam over to their place as there were minor issues with the car. Wanda got dressed in her coat like she was told to with a small frown on her face, causing Sam to snicker in the back while Steve quietly hushed him.  
 “Come on kid,” Steve encouraged with a wide smile, “it’s important for men and women to know the basics about cars. Sexism can’t help you if you get a flat tire while driving.” 
 “Yeah these are real life skills you’ll always need. Just look at Steve, he learned these skills 50-60 years ago and and still uses them to this day,” Sam teased as he held the front door open for Wanda, who was softly giggling at his very weak joke. 
 “Mmm I’m assuming you know about the external parts of a car such as the tires, windshield, etc so let’s focus on what’s underneath the hood,” Sam groaned as he raised the hood high.

                          Natasha’s POV 

            The Red Room was a piece of shit but sometimes I thanked them for the skills they, unwillingly, embedded in me such as the ability to sneak into a room virtually undetected which is what I was doing now, crawling through Steve and mines shared bedroom window. I watched from a crack in the drapes as Steve stood to Wanda’s left, observing from a small distance as Sam pointed to what appeared to possibly be the engine fan. I yanked myself away from the window as my eyes watered after dropping on Wanda. She genuinely looked happy out there with the guys but for some reason, the happiness didn’t diminish the sickness I felt whenever I saw her. I honestly have no idea why I’m doing this, well really I do, what I mean is I can’t put it into words; all I know is that I just needed to be away from her, for my safety and hers.

            Maybe it’s because I see too much of myself- past and present- in her. I thought Clint and Laura’s extensive love and support would have been enough to help me get over my past traumas so that I could assist Wanda but I guess that was wrong. Her life mirrored mines- the gunshots, the screaming, the pools of blood mottled with my own but mostly belonging to others-friends… family, death and the smell of it- it was all too overwhelming. I forced these feelings down back to where they came as I had other matters to attend to; the only reason I came back was to gather some more food and water and to take a shower. And besides, Wanda needed people that could take proper care of her anyways and people like me - monsters, seductresses, child murderers- can’t provide that, no matter how much we, or in this case I, try.

            Once I finished quickly completing my list of small tasks, I climbed out the window but not before stopping to glance through the drapes one more time to see all 3 of them laughing together as Sam decked Steve in the chest with a snowball- probably one for the memory books I shrugged. As much as I missed Steve and surprisingly Sam, I couldn’t come back just yet, I still needed more time. I heaved my small bag over my shoulder as I shimmied out the window, leaving the house as it was before I had arrived. I’ll talk to Steve which I hoped would muster up enough courage in me to finally look at Wanda so we could have a decent conversation. But until then, I had to stay out of their way- namely Wanda’s.

                           End of POV

            Try as she might, even Wanda had to admit that learning about cars was a pretty practical skill as she crawled into bed with Owl and Steve standing at the door. 
 “You did great today kid, I told you it’d be a well learned skill. But you’ll see firsthand when you’re the one behind the wheel I guess,” Steve lightly chuckled as he crossed into the room. Wanda reluctantly shrugged, as her pseudo- father had been right about that, apparently, Steve was right about a lot of things. 
 “Get some sleep. Tomorrow we’re going to the movies with Sam, it should be relaxing,” Steve declared as he pulled Wanda’s blanket up her body. The question Wanda had on her mind died on her lips, or more so, fingertips as she gazed up at Steve- ‘when is Tasha going to be back?’ She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable as it was clear that he had none of the answers she desperately yearned to know.

            So she just smiled, writing on her whiteboard, ‘good night papa bear. I love you.’ 
 A sweet smile broke into Steve’s face at the sentiment, “night kid. I love you too,” he happily sighed before turning out the light. These past two weeks were probably the most exhilarating, most nerve-wrackingly, exhausting days of Steve’s life since those two weeks Bucky trained him to join the army. He loved Wanda but he also needed Natasha back, he didn’t know how much longer he could go on he thought as he fell onto his bed. Wanda was an easy kid but at the same time it was difficult to keep her mind occupied when his was filled with the worst case scenarios such as was Nat okay alone? How long would it be before she returned? How was this going to affect their next stop as a group? All these negative thoughts bounced around his head at a constant 24/7, even in his sleep, when he was supposed to be at his most peaceful. All Steve knew was that he had been riding on an energy high which meant that the inevitable crash was impending.

            By other accounts, day 13 wasn’t so bad. Steve and Wanda ate breakfast then lounged around for a bit before taking a walk for exercise purposes; he had been trying real hard to increase Wanda’s stamina again which was yielding positive results as a mile walk didn’t tire her out nearly as much as it once had. Once home and showered, they did something they hadn’t done in a while- clean. Wanda was responsible for her room while Steve did everything else- the kitchen, the living room, and his and Natasha’s bedroom. She should be returning any minute, Steve reassured himself as he dusted off the kitchen counters, she wouldn’t leave Wanda like this. Although the house didn’t appear to be dirty, the gradually browning mop water told otherwise. However it wasn’t all bad. Yes they had been living in disguised filth but that also meant that they were having too good of a time to notice- fulfilling Steve’s goal of keeping busy.

            After thoroughly deep cleaning the house from top to bottom, the duo hung out at Sam’s place to kill some time before the movie started. Watching with sleep heavy eyes, Steve languidly grinned at Wanda as she placed Sam’s King in check. Wanda giggled as Sam’s cool demeanor deteriorated as he tried to figure out the best place to move his attacked King, spluttering when he realized that Wanda was being nice as she actually had him at a checkmate. 
 “Well I think the movie is about to start soon so we should head over,” he clapped as he rose from the now discarded game. “You guys ready? I’ll drive,” he announced, noticing how tired his friend was. Steve and Wanda both nodded as they followed Sam out to his car, listening to him tell a story about the first time he drove a girl out on a date only for the car to break down 40 minutes out the city and for her dad to come pick them up. They ended up getting ice cream and burgers afterwards so it wasn’t all bad according to Sam.

            If you asked anybody else, they would’ve said that the movie was fantastic but in Steve’s case, he fell asleep about halfway in, slumping into his seat slightly as he dozed off. As the film came to an end and he and the others filed out, he was grateful that Sam had offered to drive because he knew he wouldn’t have made it home without falling asleep behind the wheel. Upon arriving home, he and Wanda went to their respective bathrooms to wash off the grime of the day. Steve had hoped that the shower water would rejuvenate his energy, giving him a second wind, but all it did was make him more tired. The warm water had a way of kneading the knots out his muscles, draining the small energy reserve he thought he had. Steve collapsed onto the bed, expunged off all energy as he jumped into a deep sleep.

            Tiptoeing quietly into the living room, Wanda sat before her puzzle with Elephant in hand. She’d had another nightmare and wanted to discuss parts of it with someone but Natasha wasn’t here and Steve was practically dead to the world. She heavily sighed as she fidgeted with one of the loose puzzle pieces on the table, petting Elephant’s head softly as she sat alone in silence. Natasha, a woman to her word, returned late in the night, creeping through the window as the front door would’ve also alerted Wanda to her presence. The now brunette frowned as Steve seemed to barely be conscious- the very steady rise and fall of his chest punctuated with light snores were the only giveaways that he was alive. Sitting on the bed, Natasha scanned the room, taking in how tidy it was.

            She felt around for the gun in her waistband, stealthily removing the safety as she stalked down the halls. The only plausible explanation for this behavior was that she was scared, scared that all the hard work of taking down the Red Room failed- that Dreykov and the Soldats would find her at any minute and force her to re-experience the worst years of her childhood. Mentally checking off each room as she went, there was no one else in her bedroom besides Steve, the bathrooms were clear, and the kitchen was empty. The only other main room to check was the living room; it appeared to be empty save for the figure sitting on the floor- Wanda. The gnawing urge to turn away, to walk off as if she hadn’t seen the teen, was an oddly overpowering one- one that she almost gave into- but the voice in her head, one she hadn’t heard in years was telling her that pain only made her stronger.

             And if being around Wanda was this painful, then it was something she would have to face head on. Taking a steady breath, Natasha put her safety back on as she tucked the gun into her pants, biting her lip as she gently approached her direct target, “…Wanda?” 
 The Sokovian jumped at her name, her fear dropping instantly as her eyes fell on the face she hadn’t seen in almost two weeks. However, that relief was shortly replaced with apprehension as she wasn’t sure where this confrontation was going to go. Grabbing her board, she quickly scrawled a message before holding it out for the woman she dearly missed, ‘I’m sorry for making you mad. Are you gonna hit me now?’

            The question quickly shifted the tone of the surrounding atmosphere as Natasha’s face dropped, her eyes softening as she shuffled over to Wanda on her knees, leaving a sizable gap between them as she spoke, “oh malyshka, I’m not angry and I’m not going to hit you, I’m so sorry,” she whispered. At the nickname, the one she hadn’t heard in weeks, Wanda broke down, flinging herself into Natasha’s arms as she did so. Natasha let her tears fall as Wanda loosely clutched onto her shirt as she buried her face in the crook of Natasha’s neck, the tears slowly cascading into the dip of her collarbone.

            Wanda felt like a child, needing comfort like this from the sheer fact that her mentor figure (?), definitely not her mother, had left her behind so abruptly. So overall, it wasn’t the action itself of Natasha disappearing but the feelings the action brought about in Wanda. She just wanted her mother. 
 “I’m sorry Wanda. This isn’t your fault. I have a tendency to run away when a situation frightens me. When I was younger, these actions didn’t affect anyone around me because I really only had myself. I’m sorry for making you feel as if this was you’re doing when it never was. It’s a habit I’ve been, unsuccessfully, working on for years which I clearly have yet to master,” she weakly chuckled.

            Wanda didn’t make any moves to pull away, tightening her grip on Natasha shirt as she let her words sink in- it wasn’t her fault Natasha left and she wasn’t going to hit her. All her mind could focus on was that she had her Tasha back, she was back. The living room was filled with silence besides the sounds of soft sniffling escaping from both women as Natasha cradled Wanda close to her chest, “why are you out here so late? Did Steve not put you to bed?” she whispered into Wanda’s ear. When she received a shake of the head no from the girl in her arms, the Russian let her logic take over. Steve was probably beyond too exhausted to even make it pass their bedroom threshold if the way he was splayed out on the bed was anything to go off of. The discomfort from being in an uncomfortable position didn’t deter Natasha from rocking Wanda back and forth as she hummed softly in her ear.

            “Do you want to talk about it?” Natasha tried. She smiled when she felt Wanda gingerly nod her head yes, drifting out of Natasha’s grip to grab her white board, ‘I had a nightmare. I went to talk to Steve but he wouldn’t wake up.’ 
 “Do you wanna tell me about your dream then since I’m awake?”
 ‘No… but…sometimes I miss Pietro, everything was simple whenever he was around,’ she wrote down, fidgeting with her fingers as Natasha read on.
 Natasha furrowed her brow in confusion, “what do you mean malysh?”
 ‘While you were gone, Steve asked me to analyze my person to discover what I truly think of myself.’ 
 Intrigued at the possible answer, Natasha egged Wanda on, “and what did you discover?”

            Wanda shrugged before writing down her next response, ‘I didn’t really find an answer. I mean I used to think of myself one way. But, after this... after everything … I am something else. I'm still me, I think. But that's not what everyone else sees so I’m not really sure.’ 
 “I understand what you mean. I was raised to view myself as one way- a weapon- and nothing more. But because of Clint and Laura, I began to see myself as something else.. as something more but regardless of how I see myself, people continue to see me only how they want to and that’s not something I can change. Sometimes it gets under my skin, but usually I just keep pushing as I have those around me that see me for my true self and so do you. It’s okay to miss your brother as he was all you had,” Natasha soothed. Wanda nodded as she wiped her eye, writing down more of her thoughts for Natasha’s, ‘what do you honestly think about me?’

            Natasha gently cupped Wanda’s cheeks, forcing her to look into her eyes, “someone once told me that pain only makes you stronger. So unfortunately malysh, that makes you the strongest person I know because after everything you’ve endured, you’re still here with Steve and I, thriving. And though it may not seem like it now, you have come along way with your development and continue to shine everyday. You’re the kindest, most compassionate person I’ve ever met and nothing you do or say will change that. I love you and I hope I can make this up to you someday,” she finished as she tenderly placed a kiss on Wanda’s forehead.

            In the next upcoming weeks, there was a lot that would have to be re-established but Natasha knew at this very moment that this is where she was supposed to be. She still wasn’t sure what exactly was the title of her and Wanda’s relationship but that would come in time as all she wanted to do now was cradle Wanda in her chest and let her know that everything’s was alright. So that’s exactly what she did. She guided Wanda to the couch and pulled her onto her lap as she draped a blanket over her the girl’s body, gently humming to her in hopes of getting her to fall asleep. 
 “Good night malyshka. I love you… everything’s okay. I’ve got you, just get some rest,” she murmured into her ear, staring at Wanda’s tear stained cheeks as her eyes gradually fluttered close.

Chapter Text

        Natasha silently watched as the teen in her arms slept on from the sheer exhaustion of emotions she released earlier in the night. It was never her intention to make Wanda upset and it was also never her intention to be away for this long. It was just that every time she thought about coming back, memories of her childhood- of the brutal, never-ending ballet regimen, the unreasonable punishments and associated traumas, and the overall cruel nature of the Red Room- tempted her to stay far away, as far away from the pain as she could be. Ironically, it was because of her Red Room training that she had gained the necessary abilities and skills needed to survive alone in the cold wilderness- a realization she was neither happy nor grateful about. It’s an old habit- running away- one that she always fell back on. She’s surprised that she hadn’t needed her handcuffs before she went AWOL, they were always around, close for comforts sake, but she hadn’t needed them in over 11 years, since she was 21.

            She glanced down at the girl in her arms again, analyzing her features as she slept. There was a reason she was avoiding checking in on Wanda all this time while the girl slumbered and that was because it would make this all too real- Melina used to do that for her and Yelena when they were children and Laura as well- it was too maternal. She didn’t mind appearing as a family to passerby but at some point the role playing shifted to where her, Wanda, and Steve had become an actual family except there was too many risks involved with that, hey couldn’t have that.  
 What if Wanda was captured tomorrow? - ripped away from the only other family she’d grown to be comfortable with?
 Or what if Wanda got away and either Steve and/or Natasha got captured- leaving Wanda with one or neither of her parents?

            They were a liability to one another- pawns to be used in a game, ones that could cause more psychological harm than any average man could. Yet with this knowledge, a small part of Natasha relished in the fact that she had a family her own. And it was reasons like this that she didn’t succumb to her own personal feelings, this is why she had to be made of marble- these feelings would get her killed. But maybe deep down, she wanted this. An audible, frustrated exhale left the spy’s lips at her contradicting thoughts as she willed her mind to move onto something else of importance. Crooking her right index finger, Natasha gazed upon Wanda’s tender face as she gently glided it against Wanda’s cheek.

            Physically, she was doing well- she was slowly gaining weight which added some color to her skin, and there were places on her neck where her scar wasn’t readily visible unless someone scanned for it. The finger that was once rubbing Wanda’s cheek was now softly tapping it as reluctance washed over Natasha’s being; she wanted Wanda to sleep a little more but there were things she had to do such as shower and speak with Steve. She kept a consistent rhythm as she tapped on Wanda’s cheek- mimicking the thing someone from her childhood used to do for her- warmth spread through her body when she began to catch glimpses of soft greens- yep, just like Melina. 
 “Come, it’s time for bed,” she murmured loud enough for Wanda to hear as she shifted her ever so slightly.
 Wanda wanted to protest, wanted to stay embedded within Natasha’s doting embrace, but even in her tired state could she sense the bit of urgency in Natasha’s body language so she acquiesced to the direction but not before allowing Natasha to gently bring her to her feet.

                Wanda groggily stumbled next to the spy, leaning her head on her shoulder as the woman semi-dragged her into her room. The Russian quickly got Wanda settled into bed, pressing Owl into her arms as she pulled the covers over her small frame. With a kiss on the forehead goodnight, Wanda was asleep again before Natasha even made it out the room. In her bedroom, Steve was still soundly sleeping which made sense since it had only been 2 hours since she made it back home. With a depressed sigh, Natasha trudged into the bathroom for her shower, washing away a few days worth of grime and anxieties. She was dreading the conversation she needed to have with the man, it’s not that he would be mad at her, this was just the first time she ever felt guilty for leaving. Stepping out to get dressed, Natasha twirled a strand of hit around her finger, the color lasted well but would need a touch up before they departed.

           Sitting against the headboard so that her outer left thigh was directly in front of Steve’s face, Natasha began running her fingers through his hair in a calming manner, lightly scratching at his scalp when she reached the top again. She hummed softly as this was more for her than him, if she were being honest. She kept up her ministrations, feeling her nervousness leaving only to be replaced with her usual confidence when Steve finally roused awake. Due to his previous exhaustion, it took him a minute to register the hand running through his hair or the milky thigh laying before him. It was her smell- honey and rose water with a scent of something else indistinguishable that was uniquely Natasha that clicked for him.

            Reaching over himself to wrap his left hand around her left ankle, in one smooth tug, he had the back of Natasha’s head resting on his chest as he inhaled deeply, “doll… you’re back,” his voice groggily cracked.  
 The spy nodded as she melted deeper into Steve’s hold, “yeah, I’m sorry for leaving.”
 “What had you spooked this time?” Steve questioned. There wasn’t a trace of judgement in his voice, which served to only make Natasha feel slightly worse.
 “Wanda. Well not necessarily Wanda per se, but that night… when she asked us if she was a monster… it brought back memories. Memories I thought I was over,” she easily admitted, “the only thing I could think to do was run away… I’m sorry.”

            “I’m not angry that you left. I just wish-“
 “You should be!” Natasha interrupted with bite in her voice, “I just left with no regards for you or Wanda’s well-being. For two weeks Steve! You should be furious with me!”  
 The man only shook his head no, wrapping his arms tighter around Natasha’s waist, “At first, I thought I was but then I realized that I couldn’t be. I can’t expect you to be able to navigate a certain situation when your childhood background dictates you do the opposite. Let’s break it down okay doll? You were faced with a situation right? Whatever that position was made you panic and you’re natural response due to childhood trauma and “training” was to run away from what frightened you. As much as I wish you would’ve came to me so we could discuss it, that wouldn’t have went well either.”

            At the finality of his statement, Natasha rotated her body so that she was face to face as confusion over took her features, “what do you mean by that?” she softly probed. 
 “What I mean is while I would like to think talking it through would’ve helped, once again your childhood made it difficult for you to not only express your emotions but to also explain them. I just feel whatever route was taken, we would’ve ended up here,” he shrugged, “emotional and behavioral self-regulation is not an easy task to accomplish in your adult years when you’ve never been taught the proper handling technique(s).”
 Natasha let her eyes drop to Steve’s chest while she processed what he said, whispering a barely audible, “oh.”

            “So it’s not your fault, not really, so I have no right to harbor any negative feelings about anything that happened recently. I’m just glad that you’re safe,” he uttered as he pulled her close again. 
 “I really don’t know why you’re still with me. You deserve someone better,” Natasha confessed with unseen tears in her eyes. 
 “I deserve you… with all your deadly skills and love to give,” he chuckled, “I see how you are with Wanda and the people you care for, there’s nobody I love and deserve more. I’m more surprised you said yes to me when I asked you out. I wasn’t sure if I could be the person you needed.” 
 Snuggling into the security of Steve’s chest, Natasha continued with her thoughts, “I guess we needed each other. We’re better for it I think.”
 Steve hummed his agreement as he ran his fingers through her hair.

            The room was completely silent as the two cradled one another. Steve minutely jumped at the rasp of her voice, assuming that she had fallen asleep, “I spoke to Wanda last night… she had a nightmare. She told about the question you asked her.”  
 Glancing down at Natasha, Steve brushed it off, “did she? You don’t have to tell me her response. If she wants to tell me, she’ll do it on her own time.”
 “Yeah, she did. We conversed for a while before I put her to bed. You did a great job with her,” Natasha tenderly praised.
 “We bonded,” he nodded, “but it was most likely out of necessities sake for her.”
 Natasha abruptly pulled away, staring hotly into Steve’s baby blues, “don’t do that, not for my sake. You don’t have to be modest or humble or whatever the fuck you want to call it,” she huffed as she laid her head back against his pec, “you mean just as much to her as I do. Don’t downplay that to try and make me feel better, okay?”

            Steve proudly smiled to himself at the ferocity of Natasha’s maternal bite, “you’re right, I apologize,” he kissed her forehead, “we did have a great time even though she missed you.” 
 Time silently passed as the pair lounged around on their bed, “we move out in about two weeks. What do we need to do?” Steve asked into the air, rubbing Natasha arm up and down.
 “Well for starters, we need to tell Wanda and Sam. We’re going to need to touch up our hair and Wanda also needs to take a placement test before we leave,” she answered matter of factly.
 “Mmm a placement test?”
 “Yes, a placement test to determine what level she’ll need to be placed in for her primary subjects. We need to start working on possibly getting her back into school or at the very least solidifying her education,” Natasha stated as if it were common knowledge.

            The laugh that escaped Steve’s body caused Natasha to move along with each outlet. She narrowed her eyes at the unexpected reaction, “why are you laughing?”
 “I’m just thinking about how it going to be moving up Wanda’s favorite ladder,” he smiled.
 “What?”
 “You just got back and the first thing you want Wanda to do is take a test to determine where she needs to be placed in school. She’s gonna hate you,” he laughed with a shit eating grin.
 Natasha frowned, she hadn’t thought of that, “shut up,” she emphasized with a light shove to his chest, “Wanda likes learning. She’ll be fine,” she mumbled as Steve laughed on.

            Natasha hummed to herself quietly while she shuffled around the kitchen, she didn’t know if she could really sing but humming- humming was easy. Sweet Disposition was the first song Clint ever introduced her to outside the Red Room, she was visiting his dorm one night and heard it playing in the background. She liked the sound and the way it made her feel, it accurately explained her life at the time and even now- live life while you can, despite the many hardships it brings. She wouldn’t admit it to him, but being the well seasoned spy he was, Clint knew it was her favorite, as evident by how it always seemed to randomly play whenever they were on the way to a mission. She plated everyone’s breakfast before making her own and then made everyone a drink: coffee for Steve and Sam and tea for herself; she would wait until Wanda was up to ask her what she wanted to drink.

            Taking a seat at the table, Natasha quietly sipped her tea as she waited for Steve to return and Wanda to wake. With a head poke around the corner, Wanda entered the kitchen with giddiness in her step, whether it was at the fact that Natasha was still here or the fact that she had a good nights sleep, the Widow wouldn’t ask; instead she cupped Wanda’s cheeks as she stepped closer, kissing her forehead as she guided Wanda to her seat.   
 “What do you want to drink with breakfast?” 
 Wanda quickly hotted down her response to key Natasha read, ‘coffee please.’ 
 “Sure,” Natasha nods, moving to pour some coffee in a mug then adding one, two pumps of creamer and one spoonful of sugar- the way Wanda preferred, before serving it to the teen. 

            Wanda smiled appreciatively as the mug was placed on the table, leave it to Tasha to remember the little things, ‘thank you.’  
 “You’re welcome. We don’t have to wait for the guys to come back to eat, although, I presume they’ll be here in a few minutes.”  
 Wanda slowly dug into her food, Natasha following suit as few minutes later when the front door opened, “morning, we’re back!” Steve loudly broadcasted.
 “What’s cooking good looking? Glad to see you’re back” Sam greeted as he hugged Natasha and waved to Wanda.
 “Breakfast, now eat,” Natasha firmly but playfully demanded with a small smirk.
 “So what’s with the gathering of kings?” Sam questioned around his forkful of eggs.

              “In two weeks time, we’ll be leaving for our next destination so it’s best to close any affairs you have in the upcoming days,” Steve announced as he looked around the room.  
 “Do we know where we’re going?” Sam interjected.
 “As of now, no. There are two possible places but nothing is definitely decided yet,” Natasha tacked on, “what we do know is that all four of us will be traveling together on the same flights so that’ll be exciting,” she shrugged. Quirking a confused brow at the Widow, Sam thickly swallowed what was in his mouth, “really? Is that safe for us?”
 “Yeah, we’ll be traveling as a family and you’ll be traveling separately. We’ll just be on the same flights, if we keep our distance, nothing will seem strange.”
 “Alright Miss Boss Lady. Your lead we will follow,” Sam mock saluted, earning a less than satisfied groan from Steve, a smile from Wanda, and a smirk from the lady in charge herself.

            The rest of breakfast was met with light chatter and laughter as the four assimilated back into a groove. When Wanda asked to play with Sam, Steve gave an approving smile as he waved them off to clean the kitchen with Natasha behind him. Grabbing the extra plates of the table, Natasha stood a little out of the doorway, watching as Sam and Wanda played chess with a movie playing in the background.  
 “I taught her how to play when you weren’t here, it was the day she made you tea while you were sick. She came out of her room with this expectant look on her face, I lied and told her you liked the tea and then I offered to teach her chess as a distraction. We had a lot of those while you stepped out… but we made it work,” Steve pensively whispered over the dishes. Natasha frowned as there still wasn’t any detectable judgement in his words, all he was doing was stating facts but she was aware of the fact that something was being omitted.

            Still not looking back, Steve continued, “you know she’s open to trying new experiences so we discovered many hidden skills and talents over the past two weeks. I’ll tell you about them later tonight.” 
 It wasn’t an offer or a demand really, more like a “catching up”- Steve was going to get Natasha caught up on all the new things Wanda did because she wasn’t going to be left in the dark, not if Steve had anything to say about it- and he did. Once the kitchen was clean, Steve and Natasha floated into the living room with the former pulling the latter onto his lap. All four watched sitcoms and played games until the Sun burned away, at which point, they had a lazy dinner before Sam departed for his home.

            With her bedroom lights low, Wanda was snuggled low in her blankets, curled around her Owl as Steve and Natasha prepared to tuck her in. Both adults sat right next to each other on the edge of Wanda’s bed as they peered down at her, “alright kid, it’s been a long couple of weeks, get some sleep why don’t ya?” Steve joked as he pulled the blankets under her chin. 
 “Wanda,” Natasha called, drawing the girl’s attention to her, “how would you feel about going to school?” 
 Wanda was clearly thrown at the question as it took her a minute to reach for her whiteboard to share her response, ‘school? With other people?’   
 “It wouldn’t be school in the tradition sense. You would take a placement test to see how well versed in a subject you are and then we would do homeschooling,” Steve chimed in to soothe the teen.

            “Mmhm. And if at any point you do feel comfortable enough, we can put you in a tradition brick and mortar or just stick to homeschooling, it would be your choice,” Natasha finished.  
 Wanda wasn’t sure what her future choice would be but for now she missed the idea of going to school, maybe it would give the impression she was like other teenagers and not whatever she was considered now, ‘okay… I’ll try it.’ 
 “Okay. We’ll get started on that in the next couple of days that way we can try to establish a routine whenever we move to the next country,” Natasha simply explained. Wanda nodded with a yawn, ceasing the conversation for the night as the two quickly said their good nights as they cut off the lights.

            Natasha settled into bed with a slightly nervous charge about her energy, lingering feelings from the discussion she and Steve shared that morning. Steve, on the other hand, entered the room with muted excitement as the corner of his camera rested comfortably against his palm. He sat with his back against the headboard, Natasha carefully leaning into his arm as he started slowly clicking through some of the photos he and Wanda took in the last 2 weeks. Natasha’s hand lightly floated over Steve’s as a way of telling him to pause as her verdant orbs fell on the picture of Wanda smiling on the floor in the living room, “she’s so pretty,” she mumbled in adoration. And she didn’t mean pretty in the sense of standard beauty- the black and white photo had a way of highlighting Wanda’s natural elegance but it could’ve also been the tangible waves of… serenity(?) the picture was exuding. There was a little bit of worry in Wanda’s eyes but overall she just looked… healthy.

            She would have to get that framed or add it to her camera roll, either way Natasha knew she wanted to carry the photo close.  
 “Isn’t she?” she finally heard Steve chirp affectionately. “I love you, I’m happy you’re back but if it’s not absolutely pertinent to the situation at hand, I’m not lying to Wanda. I lied to her 3 times the first few days of you being sick, and each time, I could feel my smile drop as every word passed my lips. I can’t take them back and I can’t do that again, not to her,” he tightly revealed. 
 So this is what he was holding back, she thought to herself. She took his declaration at face value as Steve was more than a man of his word- if he said he wasn’t doing it, then he wasn’t going to do it.
 “I understand,” she told him directly. An apology wasn’t going to do, it would be more of an empty gesture, words coated in a false veil of sincerity- that wouldn’t do for their relationship.

            Steve stared at Natasha, searching her face and eyes to ensure that there wasn’t any miscommunications happening, “okay.” 
 He pulled Natasha closer so that her head rested in the crook of his neck, “let me tell you what we learned while you were away.”
 He wasn’t giving her an easy out or letting her sliding free, he just wanted to be able to hold her close without the negative feelings after spending many nights alone. This was for him- selfish in a sense- but Steve didn’t care as he rubbed Natasha’s back, feeling her relax into his touch like she often did.

            With two weeks left in Greenland, the quartet realized that there was much they had to do and since she’d been gone, Natasha was working her weakened super-soldier serum to its limits. In the first week alone, Natasha had Wanda tested and was already formulating a school plan that would be the most beneficial to her education, the new location was established and all their identities were perfectly studied to the last line; all that was left was to set physical appearances and pack. The touch up process, overall, took about 3 and a half hours to do for 3 people while Natasha also made sure to clean up Sam and Steve’s beards so they looked presentable (Steve had been letting his grow out for the last couple months, not that Natasha was complaining).

            With how much stuff Wanda had accumulated recently, Natasha thought it would be best for Wanda to have her own carry on- a backpack filled with the things she wanted to keep close. Wanda had bounced happily at the suggestion, she finally had things to call her own after years without. She didn’t include the objects and trinkets she received when living in the Tower, she didn’t have any strong personal attachments to them, which showed in how little she actually missed them. Natasha or Steve had saw what Wanda placed in her bag nor did they ask, they just let her have her own thing, it would work out for the best. One thing Natasha and Steve were glad to see that hadn’t changed was Wanda’s easiness with airplanes. The seating arrangements were the same- Steve on the inside by the windows, Wanda sandwiched in the middle, and Natasha on the end. While the three were near the back of the plane (row 28), Sam was positioned more upfront (row 12).

             Flying had been an all day affair that eventually paid off for the group as they touched down in their new temporary home. As they stood before the sharp, geometric cream painted, concrete walls with its complimenting pearl river grey wooden outer paneling, the trio couldn’t resist the inviting feel of their new house. It was a two story and had a lovely built in wall mahogany tinted fireplace, something that would be regularly out to use as none of the house occupants were major fans of the cold. Natasha did a quick house tour, only pointing out the essential rooms for now such as the kitchen and bathrooms, as she lead Steve and Wanda upstairs. Wanda’s room was of a medium size,  the floor dimensions were similar to that of her room in the Tower only slightly smaller- Wanda didn’t need all the extra space anyway. The master bedroom was spacious with a modern style.

            The walls were a gorgeous shade of plum purple with the an eggshell accent wall across from the wall the bed was resting against; the furniture was a mix of natural wood painted a soft grey, the room was sophisticated yet warm. Just like the first night in Greenland, Natasha gathered some blankets and a few pillows and had her troop follow her back downstairs where they would be camping for the time being. Steve and Natasha cuddled up close on the “L” portion of the sectional as Wanda lay with her head adjacent to the other two. It was freezing outside, colder than Greenland had been by 8°, so huddling together to sleep until they were properly situated was a good course of action. Moscow, Russia was going to be a bitch to conquer.

Chapter Text

            With a soft squeal resulting from a nice stretch, Wanda wakes up to find Steve in the kitchen, seated at the table with papers in one hand and a mug comfortably resting in the other. Searching the room for Natasha, Wanda feels the immediate increase of her heartbeat in her chest as she frowns, fearing that Nat left again. Sensing her obvious panic, Steve soothed Wanda with a simple sentence, “she’s out printing some things for your schoolwork. She’ll return in a few,” he gently smiled, earning a hesitant smile back from Wanda.  
 “You want something to drink? We have tea, coffee, water, and hot chocolate,” he diligently listed. Inhaling deeply, Wanda pointed to Steve’s mug, assuming he had coffee but the aroma said otherwise, she liked it but couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly.

            “You can try it,” he stated as he passed the ceramic over to the teen, both of them smiling warmly as she licked her lips after with a satisfied hum.  
 “You like it? It’s hot chocolate and coffee, choco-mocha, my own creation,” he beamed from his seat. Wanda more than enjoyed it, wanting a cup for herself as she nodded at her papa bear. 
 “Let me get you your own,” he said more to himself as he made work of rummaging around the kitchen for the needed items.
 Wanda quietly kept a watchful eye out, observing and absorbing the way Steve made his “signature” drink for future reference, she may never go back to regular coffee and/ or hot chocolate again.

            Setting the mug in front of her, Steve couldn’t contain his excitement at sharing another aspect of himself with Wanda, “this is for you kid. Wish I could pair it with some breakfast but apparently we don’t have any food,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

            Wanda adorably twisted her face up in disbelief, of course they have coffee but no actual food.  
 “I know I thought the same thing,” Steve agreed dramatically, “we’ll go shopping when Nat gets back.”
 Wanda softly giggled at Steve’s antics, sipping away at her new favorite drink as he read off the information to their new identities- a Russian born woman who moved to America where she met her husband and they had a child. However, she decided to move back to her home country, bringing her family with her. By the time Natasha had arrived, Wanda had scooted extremely close to Steve, her thigh just barely hovering next to his as they read their forms together. 
 “Morning,” she greeted, depositing the items in her hand into the open seat across from Wanda.

            “Hi doll,” Steve responded back, looking up at the bundled woman. Natasha smiled as she placed a soft kiss to the top of Wanda’s hair before handing her a breakfast sandwich with a tender smile. Wanda happily ate while Natasha moved to Steve, planting herself on the thigh furthest from Wanda, only to pull him in by the front of his shirt, kissing him deeply yet tenderly. When she withdrew, Steve’s lips were red and beginning to swell and his blue eyes were displaying faint signs of adoration tinged with lust, something Natasha was feeding off of. She pulled out 5 warm sandwiches from her pocket, handing Steve 4 of them as she unwrapped hers with a wink. Glancing over to make sure Wanda was okay, the teen had been watching the two adults the entire time with a face of disgust. When her eyes locked with Natasha’s, she stuck her tongue out to make an exaggerated vomiting motion causing the woman to laugh.

            Scrolling through the various market stalls, Wanda made sure to stay close to both Steve and Natasha as they perused the area. Her hands were latched onto Natasha’s jacket sleeve as she led them around the stalls, explaining everything to Steve really as most of the items were written in Cyrillic. Wanda had a bit more ease in this situation as she could both read and understand Russian, so she took this opportunity to survey her surroundings at her own speed. She was anxious as bodies continuously bustled around her without abandon, there were more people here than in Greenland all together. Following closely behind, Wanda visually inspected some fruits in front of her when her breath hitches in her throat, all the air in her lungs escaping at once. It was a glimpse, just the slightest of them but it was him- well not him as in Ross but him as in of the guards- Trainwreck.

            But it couldn’t be him, why would he be in Russia? Probably for the same reason her, Steve, and Tasha were- he was on the run too. But it couldn’t have been him, it just wasn’t, she just knew it wasn’t. But then he confirmed it- that smirk, it’s intents anything but amicable- it made her skin crawl as bile angrily rise within her throat. She clamped her mouth shut as her grip tightened on Natasha’s sleeve (it would’ve been death like if the older woman’s jacket weren’t so puffy) while her breathing became more ragged. In the time it took to hide her panic, Trainwreck was gone, dissolving into the unsuspecting crowd as if he never existed. 
 “Ana, look,” Steve urged as he pointed to a stall with various chocolates, clearing Wanda’s head momentarily.

            Wanda stayed beside Natasha’s side and occasionally Steve’s for the rest of the day, however, the duo didn’t believe anything to be wrong as moving to a new country with 10 times as many people compared to where they once were was enough to put anyones nerves on edge. Steve and Natasha didn’t mind the close contact, as a matter of fact they secretly preferred it as it provided them physical comfort and Wanda emotional comfort. When they returned home, Natasha was quick to attempt to shower but not before Wanda whined as the woman attempted to pull away- that was a new behavior Natasha thought to herself. Shooting Steve a quick glance filled to the brim with confusion and worry, Natasha pulled Wanda in for a hug, swaying her slightly, “you did great today malysh. I’m so proud you.”

            “If it ever gets to be too much just let us know by….” Steve paused, thinking of what gesture would be most appropriate to use in any situation, “just… rub your nose. Does that sound good? Just get our attention and rub your nose.”  
 Just rub your nose. Wanda liked that idea as she wasn’t able to use her whiteboard to communicate when they were out but the gesture was simple enough that it wouldn’t raise suspicion out in public. She nodded, glancing up to Steve to confirm she heard what he said. 
 “Let’s shower and go to bed. I know it’s still early but I’m pretty sure we’re all still a little jet-lagged so let’s sleep while we can, alright?” Natasha softly whistled to Wanda as she pushed a strand behind her ear.

            Pulling away, Wanda went to her respective bathroom while Steve and Natasha went into their room to do the same. As Wanda stripped and green eyes roamed over nude thighs, the bile from earlier in the day finally made its appearance as Wanda bent over the toilet. It wasn’t possible- she thought as she climbed into the shower. She didn’t want him here- she remembered the way his callused hands, from years of military work she was sure, gripped her thighs, angrily pulling them apart as he forced himself inside her. Wanda scrubbed her skin as the phantom feeling of hands sliding up her lower body- first thighs then hips before fluttering over her belly button to grip her breasts- even the thickness of the straitjacket couldn’t protect her from the lingering touches of Trainwreck.

            She didn’t want him to be here, she didn’t want him to be able to touch her again. She let the heat of the water rain down until her skin was red and raw- it didn’t remove her shame but it did help her physically feel better. She quickly dressed in a loose, burgundy long sleeve and simple gray sweatpants- leaving no skin exposed as she procured Owl from her backpack before laying in bed to wait for Steve and Nat. Softly pulling the blanket high under Wanda’s chin, Steve spoke first, “night kid, I love you.”  
 “You’re doing such a great job even if it doesn’t personally seem like it yet,” Natasha whispered, stroking Wanda’s hair as she maintained eye contact. “Get some rest, we’re here whenever you need us,” she tenderly hummed with a kiss to Wanda’s forehead as she cut out the lights.

             After putting Wanda to bed, Natasha was propped in bed, intently focused on the laptop in front of her when Steve strolled out the bathroom having just brushed his teeth.  
 “Whatchu doing doll?” He questioned aloud as he crawled in next to her. 
 Without lookin up, Natasha casually replied, “I’m securing and encrypting the Raft evidence on the computer to make transporting easier. This way when we have to leave it’s all saved in one spot and also we can watch it whenever we want- not that we necessarily want to,” she reiterated. 
 Steve nodded a hum of response as he snuggled close to Nat, “her eggs. She doesn’t know about it.”
 “Is that a statement or a fact?” Natasha quirked a brow.

            Staring into the distance, Steve continued, “she told me about some more abuse she endured when you were gone, unprompted; she had been beaten for stepping on a guard’s shoe. But she didn’t talk about any of the sexual abuse or being experimented on- she either doesn’t know or can’t remember. She hasn’t mentioned anything about her sexual assault since the first time we sat at the table and discussed it after her nightmare about Ross”, he concluded.  
 Natasha furrowed her brow in concentration, “may I ask what brought this up?” 
 “I don’t know, I’ve just been thinking about it more recently.” Scooching over so that his head rested on Natasha’s left breast, Steve resumed his thoughts. “We’re going to have to push her to even breach the topic… watching the footage is hard enough seeing Wanda go through everything but having to hear her say it, or I guess write it…. I-I can’t doll but I know we need to. I’m not ready,” Steve frowned, creasing his forehead.

            Natasha sighed as she moved the laptop over slightly so she could twist to cradle Steve’s cheek that wasn’t pressed against her chest, “I know Soldier. Fortunately for us, Wanda is still going through the healing process with her physical abuse so we don’t have to touch on her sexual traumas just yet. We’ll work on that as the time comes,” she murmured as one hand found its way into his brown locks, gently grazing his scalp just the way he liked. The motion slowly released the tension in Steve’s demeanor as he settled into Natasha.  
 “Can we resume the Raft footage? We don’t have to but I need it,” he blurted out after a moment of silence.
 Natasha craned her neck to look down at him with an unreadable expression.

            “We’ve seen a little over 3 months worth and they were there for about 5 months, if we round up which means we’re almost done Nat. I just want to get through it so we can start tracking down Ross along with the other guards and possibly her eggs. I need this Nat,” Steve conveyed with desperation seeping through his tone. He wasn’t normally one to beg but in certain situations, he would let himself get close.  
 “Hey… hey, okay. We’ll watch the footage, we can do that,” her voice softly trailed off as she grabbed the laptop from behind her to set up. They both sat cross legged against the headboard, not necessarily comfortable but it did provide support for their backs as they knew it was going to be a long night. They both subconsciously held their breaths as the footage began.

            Wanda had herself pressed into the corner of the wall as her breathing remained sporadic. Clint and the others had been pounding on the glass of their cells at the guards during Wanda’s whole ordeal and after especially when they smirked something evil as they floated by. It took major coaxing from Clint but eventually he was able to help Wanda situate her breathing, allowing her to fall asleep after the amount of energy she exerted.  
 “Hey… hey bird man? Bird man?” Scott called out.
 “To whom are you referring to?” Sam answered with crossed arms and closed eyes. 
 “What do you mean?” Scott innocently rebutted.
 “I’m Falcon and he’s Hawkeye- they’re both birds, so to whom are you referring to?” Sam explained.
 “Oh… both of you I guess. Can either of you tell how long we’ve been here?“ Scott politely asked.

            “Nah. But keeping time and date away from prisoners is a great way to drive them insane,” Clint chimed, his eyes watching Wanda. 
 Pointing at Wanda, Scott childishly asked another question, “I’ve been meaning to ask you Arrow guy, is she technically your daughter?“  
 Clint didn’t hesitate to answer with a tight jaw, “yeah. Yeah she is… she shouldn’t be here. None of us should really,” Clint weakly chuckled.
 “Oh I’m sorry then,” Scott sadly apologized.
 “Don’t be. As super, we chose our fight and it happened to be the wrong one I guess, it happens,” Clint brushed off, ending the conversation.

            For the next two weeks, the footage was more or less of the same. While the others ate, Wanda was denied food but was sometimes given water, they were all dragged out of their cells to another room only to be beaten and/ or tortured before returning, Wanda was constantly shocked, whether it was for moving or just because they felt like it. Everything was being carefully documented when something newish happened by the 4th week. Wanda and the others had been gathered up to use the bathroom- guys in one while Wanda was in the other with a male guard. She was following behind a scowling guard, one that wasn’t previously in any of the footage, with a size-able distance. He led her into a stall, yanking down her pants to allow her to relieve herself. He was mumbling something to himself the entire time but Wanda didn’t seem to understand as she watched the man pull her pants back on before she was jerked out the stall.

            She stumbled over her two feet at the force, righting herself eventually but not before lightly stepping on the guard’s shoe.  
 “This is what she was telling me about,” Steve softly stated as their eyes stayed focused on the screen. They watched as the guard screamed obscenities in Wanda’s face, tossing her into the tile wall behind her. The slap to her face was intense and the punch to her stomach packed a lot of power, causing Steve to subtly recoil. It was when he pulled out his baton that they clenched their jaws again. For over 15 minutes, Wanda was trapped against the wall and the hauling guard as he endlessly bludgeoned her with his baton. For 15 minutes, Wanda was unable to defend herself for a simple accident, that she was not at fault for. The soft thumping against her body mixed with the quiet whimpers that occasionally escaped brought back memories of the Red Room for Natasha and pain for Steve.

            “We’ve been watching for 4 hours. We can stop now if you would like,” Natasha offered. They had went to bed early, which meant there was more hours to kill as they analyzed the footage.  
 Steve defiantly shook his head, “keep going.”
 Natasha didn’t argue as she turned her attention back onto the screen where a crying Wanda was dragged back into her cell. Steve wanted to wrap Wanda in his arms to shield her away from the guards that abused her but what happened already took place, he would just have to try to protect her now while he could. Now 4 months into the Raft footage, Steve and Natasha feared for the worst as they were approaching the end of the prison sentence- where everything (Wanda’s assault, the almost death of their friends) was to occur.

            Wanda had been sleeping on the ground as Sam, Scott, and Clint held a conversation about which tools would be appropriate to fix a mahogany wooden dresser. 2 guards, one stockier and one larger, entered the prison floor, heading straight for Wanda’s cell with condescending smirks plastered across their faces. With a jolt from her collar, Wanda awoke, blearily blinking away the sleep in her eyes when a foot collided with her back. 
 “We have a new toy to show you,” the stocky one grinned as his friend snickered behind him.
 Dragging Wanda into a standing position by use of her hair, the guards ‘escorted’ her down a multitude of different hallways, letting their hands wander across her body to grope ass, thighs, and breasts before depositing her in a completely dark room.

            Curling into herself, Wanda sat with her back against the wall, waiting for what was next to come. 
 Steve and Natasha frowned as they watched the other security screens- Scott was being interrogated in one room, while Clint and Sam were in the restroom. Wanda’s camera was pitch black for two hours when the screen changed colors- morphing into a glowing, bright green color- night vision.
 For 2 days, Wanda sat alone in the dark room, sleeping for an hour at a time before she was awake again. On day 3 as Wanda was sleeping with her head against the wall, a loud slam reverberated through the room, forcing the teen to wake and stare at where the sound came from as her body anticipated for the worse. The room was deathly quiet, Wanda’s increasing breaths could be heard but that was it. The sounding of a crack and a yelp were heard before they were seen on camera.

            Steve ground his jaw as he pieced together what was happening.  
 “Doll…”
 “They’re beating her with a whip,” she stated, eyebrows raised high as everything finally came into view. 
 Wanda’s hunched body trembled as the whip collided with her back once again, causing her to wetly gasp as her body collapsed onto the floor. It seemed to only be one person as the whip rose and fell slowly onto Wanda’s back but they duo quickly realized that was not the case as the whippings eventually picked up momentum. Strangled cries sounded in the room as whip after whip demolished Wanda’s thin frame, kissing her back, thighs, shins, and buttocks. Through strangled cries and yelps, sadistic laughter from various persons could be heard as the torture continued. It ended when Wanda naturally passed out from the pain.

            “Man, these things are amazing!” one guard deeply chuckled.  
 “Right! We can let First Command know that the testing phase was a success,” chimed a second voice.
 “New toys definitely came through,” a third, seeder voice added on.
 Quickly pausing the video, Steve shook his head as he looked at Natasha, “I’ve seen enough for tonight.”
 “Me as Well,” Natasha agreed as she exited out of everything before closing the laptop and pulling Steve to her chest. The question of whether the night vision goggles or the whip was the new toy hung in the air.
 “Are you going to be okay with us being in Russia and the video footage?” Steve asked as this was the country where she took the Red Room but memories still had a tendency to haunt.

            “So far, I’m doing well. My concern for Wanda’s well being has been more overpowering than anything else I have on my mind right now. I don’t think I’ll run this time but  I let you know when it becomes too much,” she combed through his hair.  
 “Just rub your nose,” Steve weakly referenced, staring at the window as they waited for sun to make daybreak and listened for Wanda. They didn’t get out of bed and head into the kitchen until 9:30, late for them as they normally rose with the Sun. They both pleasantly smiled as they saw Wanda had beaten them into the kitchen and was perched precariously on the counter next to the sink with a tiny frown on her lips.
 “Morning malyshka, what are you doing?” Natasha queried, noticing how it looked like Wanda hadn’t slept well. 
 Grabbing her whiteboard, Wanda scribbled down a response, her frown deepening as the two read it, ‘I was trying to make choco-mocha but it didn’t taste the same.”

            Natasha playfully rolled her eyes as Steve sent her a kind yet smug smile,” I’ll make it for you. The key is to put in fresh pieces of chocolate first and then use the heat of the coffee to melt it,” he stated as he roamed out Wanda’s mug to start the process. As Wanda and Steve turned to face the coffee maker, leaving their backs to Natasha, the woman couldn’t help but let her eyes drift down the expanse of Wanda’s back, legs and thighs included. She wondered if there were any visible scars littering the area and what they looked like. Wanda had been more guarded with her body since the Raft, wearing long sleeves (sometimes with turtlenecks) and pants to hide any exposed skin besides her face. Thinking about stripping her or asking her to strip was a horrendous idea that Natasha didn’t let float around in her mind for long. Overall, she was just curious about the extent of the damage and just wanted to know if everything was healing well.

            Natasha was pulled from her mind  when the sound of Wanda happily giggling with a steaming mug of choco-mocha in hand filled her ears. She watched as Wanda wrote a thank you on her board as Steve handed her some toast, when he made it the sou had no clue. Steve gently shoved a mug of coffee in Natasha’s hands as he kissed her cheek and guided her into chair like the gentleman he was. Wanda chose to ignore the faint expression of bleakness in both their bright eyes as she excitedly scribbled on her board; the look reminded her of when they were in Wakanda, they held it often when they were there. 
 ‘Can we go to the art museum today?’

            Steve nodded behind his mug while Natasha frowned a bit, “I wanted you to start some of your schooling today but we can do that tomorrow. I have to take Sam to the store though. He knows many languages but Cyrillic isn’t one of them,” she smirked. 
 Wanda turned to Steve for confirmation, receiving a verbal yes this time from the man; she hummed in excitement as it was something she wanted to do since they were in New York.
 “Eat your breakfast and then you can get dressed. If you want your hair done, come back down with a brush and a hair tie,” Steve instructed.
 Wanda quickly but cautiously finished her breakfast, depositing the mug in the sink as she eagerly ran upstairs to get dressed. She was nervous that she might see Trainwreck again or any of the other guards for that matter but she was also too excited to worry about that for now.

            “You papa bear,” Natasha whispered, holding Steve’s hand. 
 “She’s expressing more things she wants to do, can’t say no to that,” he brightly smiled before letting it diminish a little.
 “She’ll be safe with you,” Natasha simplified, reading his eyes for every emotion she could think of.
 “I know. I’ll keep her safe, promise,” he said more for himself than her.
 “I’m here if you need me?” She called out, peering into his eyes.
 “Always,” he confidently bit back, kissing Natasha passionately.
 Natasha inspected Wanda’s attire, making sure she was bundled enough before plaiting her hair into two French braids and tying it off. She kissed Wanda’s head then hugged her as she waved them off, “have fun today. I love you both.”
 Wanda smiled large as she nodded, holding onto Steve’s sleeve as the departed.

             Wanda was happy that she suggested to go to the art museum as she was having the time of her life. Steve had provided her with a small notepad to convey her thoughts, something she appreciated as she had grown accustomed to using her whiteboard to speak. She was showing Steve a statue when her eyes caught something from her peripheral- it was him, Trainwreck again, or at least she thought it was. She had been slightly paranoid since yesterday and wasn’t exactly sure if the man she saw as Trainwreck because he was gone the moment she saw him. Wanda sucked in a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, he wasn’t here, he wasn’t here she told herself. She raised her hand to rub her nose but stopped short instead pushing back strands of hair out of her face; she wanted to stay at the museum and she had already dragged Steve here with her so they had to stay.

            Luckily enough however, more people started filling into the museum causing it to buzz to life with chatter and excitement which Wanda used to her advantage. She tugged on Steve’s sleeve with purpose, vehemently rubbing her nose once his eyes landed on her. Discreetly holding out his his arm for Wanda, steve ushered them out of the museum and back to their home. He left Wanda to her own devices as she needed a minute to cool down from the sensory overload, working on lunch in the meantime. He didn’t push or pry into Wanda’s personal space but he did make sure that she ate lunch, before leaving her alone again. When Natasha came home, he gave a detailed report about their day and Wanda’s behavior, stating she handled it better that expected.

            Natasha smiled at him as she was beginning to grow increasingly concerned about Wanda whenever she didn’t have eyes on her, probably how Laura and Melina felt initially. She brushed her feelings off, deciding to tell Steve about it when they were together  in bed that night. Wanda eventually did make an appearance a few hours before dinner where she sat on the couch next to Natasha to read a book while Natasha and Steve watched some cute, animated film. Wanda stopped herself from eating too much at dinner just in case she threw up again from extreme anxiety likes she secretly did the night before. Chalking Wanda’s behavior up to just nerves, Steve patiently tilted his head at the teen as he briefly tossed his chin up, dismissing Wanda from the table. Politely nodding, Wanda scrambled away from the table, fidgeting with her fingers as she walked up the stairs. 
 “I thought you said you guys had a nice day, minus needing to leave early?” Natasha questioned. She wasn’t accusing him of anything she was just astoundingly curious as to what they could’ve missed to make Wanda act this way.

            “We did. I just feel she might be nervous being around all these people. I promise, nothing happened doll,” Steve smiled, kissing her forehead as he went to wash up.  
 “I believe you, I always will… it’s just that…”  
 “You’re scared. And it’s okay,” Steve pacified as he turned the faucet on to wash the dishes, “I’m scared too. But we’ll get ‘em and her eggs. Wanda will be okay, she’s doing better everyday right?”
 “Right,” Natasha nodded.
 “This is one of her down days. It was a long time coming so let’s embrace it that way we can enjoy more of the good days. Cause honestly those are my favorite,” he winked, which made Natasha slightly blush for some reason.

            Snuggled in bed with Owl, Wanda’s fidgeting didn’t decrease as the idea of sleep and being alone quickly approached. Taking two, large calming breaths, Wanda steeled her nerves just in time as Steve and Natasha entered her room a few minutes later.  
 “Well malysh, papa bear here tells me you guys had quite the day. Did you enjoy yourself at least?” She softly probed, earning a tentative nod from the teen.  
 Smoothing out the wrinkles in Wanda’s sheets, Natasha sat on the edge of the bed, “that’s good. Are you ready for bed?”
 Again, Wanda nodded, chasing Natasha’s lips as she pulled away from her forehead.
 “Night then kid. I love you,” Steve announced  as he and Natasha strolled out the room.

            Not wanting to be alone, Wanda desperately grabbed Natasha’s arm with a short whimper and wide eyes.  
 “What’s wrong Wanda?” Natasha frantically questioned, searching Wanda’s immediate body for any signs of injury. 
 The teen didn’t release her hold as she used her right hand to quickly write down her request, ‘will you stay with me? please.’ 
 Natasha wasn’t sure if she had even finished reading the question as she climbed in next to Wanda before the girl had a chance to blink, “okay malysh, I’m right here.”
 Taking it into his own hands to dismiss himself, Steve tucked Natasha and Wanda inI’ll be in the nook if you guys need anything, just call for me.”

            Letting out one more short but more aggressive whimper, Wanda hurried to erase her board before writing again, ‘no! you stay too. please papa bear?’ Wanda pleaded with her words and eyes. Steve couldn’t say no as he pulled up her desk chair to sit at the far end of the bed, facing the door. Once Wanda was satisfied with the layout, she curled her body into Natasha’s side, her eyes periodically jumping the from the door to the window and back again. Natasha hummed a soft tune as she pulled Wanda close, kissing her forehead one final time before cutting off the light.

Chapter Text

         “Wanda, do you want some coffee with your omelet? Or maybe some tea?” Steve called out to Wanda while standing up to stretch. With the amount of furniture he’s had to sleep on in the past couple of months, it’s no wonder why his back felt as old as it did recently. Blearily blinking up at Steve, Wanda pulled her hand away from her mouth as she nodded, making a ‘1’ with her finger as she rested her hand in Natasha’s stomach.  
 “Beautiful. I’ll get started on that. And for you doll?” He kindly asked.
 “Coffee-black” they answered in unison, Natasha smirking at him in the process.
 “Well look at you… you think you know everything huh,” she teased.
 “Only when it pertains to you,” Steve winked as he kissed her gently on the lips before departing.

            Sighing happily, Natasha turned her attention towards the person still curled into the side of her body, “coffee’s great, I would know but you need to start drinking more water again and maybe start taking vitamin supplements too. Alright?” she booped Wanda’s nose.  
 “Mmhm,” Wanda hummed, relaxing into Natasha’s touch slowly.
 “Question: where’s Elephant? I haven’t seen her since we arrived here,” Natasha stated. Pointing to the pillow Natasha’s wasn’t currently resting against, the teen reached back to move the pillow slightly, allowing Natasha to see the sleeping elephant curled under the pillow.
 “That’s new… when did that start?” she attempted to engage with Wanda who shrugged a response.

            Thinking a bit harder, the spy tried to formulate some basic questions that could give her insight on Wanda’s thought processes.  
 “You had a nice time at the museum right but are you enjoying it here in Russia?” she probed.
 She felt Wanda nod against her side and watched as she removed her hand from her stomach to point at her with a pout.
 “I’m fine. I’m also not going to run if that’s what you mean. Honestly I like being back in my home country despite everything that happened here- the language and food remind me of my childhood- the one with Melina and Alexei, so I’m enjoying it while I can. Anyways, let’s go eat breakfast so we can start your schooling for the day,” Natasha ushered as she rolled out of bed.

            Wanda followed behind, making sure to let Elephant as she traipsed behind Natasha. Steve, of course, had everything already prepared and was sitting at the table watching tv, “I didn’t think you two were ever going to join me,” he teased, pulling out the chair for Wanda followed by Natasha.  
 “Couldn’t do that… not when you’re such an amazing cook,” she commented as she pecked his lips.
 “So it’s Wanda’s first day of school, what are you going to do in the meantime? Are you going to go for a run or hang with Sam?” She probed.
 Steve shook his head no, swallowing the food in his mouth before speaking, “no, I’m gonna stick around. Do some light cleaning and brush up on our files,” Steve stilted, placing his hand on Natasha’s thigh in hopes she got the message.

            Natasha’s confirmation was discrete, like most of the things she did, a simple clenching of her jaw was all Steve needed to make sure they were on the same page, “but if you need me, I’m here,” he beamed.  
 For much of the day, Steve stayed out of Wanda and Natasha’s way by first cleaning the living room and a small part of the kitchen before staying upstairs where he began reading over 22 page long medical report, marking the page with comments and yellow highlighter. A little over the first half was easy to breeze through as it only contained medical and basic personal information for each of his friends (Scott’s was teetering on 3 pages, both Clint and Sam had about 4 pages each, and then finally Wanda’s was almost 5 pages long). Page 16 was where Steve suspected he needed to be- that’s where the nitty gritty of what those “scientist” and “doctors” did would present itself.

            While Steve was keeping himself busy upstairs, Natasha and Wanda sat in the dining room, making somewhat large strides. For her English subject, Wanda was taking world Literature, the easiest subject for her as she had a deep love for books. The same could be said for World History and Foreign Language (when they pick one that is); which left math- Algebra 1 and Science- Biology being her most difficult subjects to grasp. As it was only the first day, Natasha made sure to cover all the basics and preformed ‘refreshers’ where they were needed (arithmetic for math and the building blocks of life for science) and praised Wanda for a job well done so she wouldn’t be discouraged from trying again. Homework wasn’t assigned, there wasn’t much for Wanda to do, and even if there was, Natasha wasn’t comfortable with overwhelming her.

            After giving her a small fruit platter and water for a snack, Natasha sent Wanda on her way to do whatever she liked until dinner was ready which meant parking herself on the couch to watch shows. Natasha chuckled softly as she kissed the top of Wanda’s head, “I’m gonna find Steve, try not to mess up the couch yeah?” she tossed over her shoulder, disappearing up the railing. Once past the threshold of their bedroom, Natasha’s rosy attitude diminished completely, “did you find out anything?”  
            Sighing heavily, Steve nodded, keeping his back turned to the spy, “yeah… yeah I did,” he wetly cleared his throat, “ everything we theorized about their intentions was correct. Look at this line here: ‘Subject was near perfect specimen for conducting experiment. With items now extracted, attempts at fecundation can begin once spermicide of other biological sex is obtained.’ 
 This was planned from the moment the Accords were introduced, hell maybe even Lagos! They were just waiting on the perfect opportunity to extradite her to prison,” he huffed.

            It was moments like these that Natasha was glad she had the foresight to shut the door behind her. With the door closed and Wanda watching television downstairs, the teenager shouldn’t be able to hear what was going on up here. 
 “And you wanna know what the worst part of reading this was besides the fact that Wanda doesn’t know? If it didn’t work the first time, they would just try again regardless of what condition Wanda was in at that time. That’s what the file said anyway. So no matter the outcome, they were gonna steal her eggs one way or another,” he trailed off, his voice cracking towards the last few words.
 Natasha didn’t say anything as she walked up to him to pull his head into her stomach, his cheek resting comfortably against her toned abs as she stroked his scalp, “in a way this is good. Now we not only have video evidence but paper evidence as well. We just need to finish scouring the video footage for any final offenses committed. This is a good thing,” she sadly smiled.

          The pair stayed silent with Natasha keeping an ear out just in case Wanda needed anything. It wasn’t until Steve suddenly stood up that Natasha decided to speak, “are you gonna be alright?”  
 Sniffling, Steve gave her a lopsided smile, “yeah, like you said I can cry tomorrow until then one of us should get dinner started.”  
 “God I love you,” Natasha said in an airy voice as she squeezed Steve close to her.
 “I love you too babe. Is it my turn to cook or yours?”  
 “I guess it can be my turn. Take a shower as a breather, we’ll see you downstairs,” Natasha suggested.

            After dinner, Natasha and Wanda showered leaving Steve to clean up the kitchen as they did so. Congregating back in Wanda’s room, Natasha began prepping the space while the teenager in question finished her night time routine. 
 “Oh I haven’t seen you in a get up like that in a while,” Steve retorted as he acknowledged Natasha’s oversized t-shirt.
 Pulling back the covers and promptly plopping down in her “spot”, Natasha nonchalantly replied, “yeah, it’s for a working theory I have. I’ll tell you about it in two days.”
 When Wanda entered her room again, a small smile replaced the anxious look on her face as both adults were already situated meaning all she had to do was lay down. She happily crawled across the bed into Natasha’s semi-waiting arms with a long, happy hum stopping when she gently rested her head against Natasha’s side.

            After cutting out the lights, Natasha kissed Wanda’s head, “g’night Wanda,” she whispered with the hope that Wanda would sleep tonight but she knew that wouldn’t happen. Each member of the trio stayed awake throughout the night with different thoughts in their minds. Steve was worried but more so upset about the well-being of Wanda’s eggs, so he spent the night resisting the urge to 1) bring it up as Wanda didn’t know about it and 2) stop himself from imploding. Natasha’s mind was focused on Ross’ guards torturing her friends and getting away with it, for now. She fantasized about the various ways she could utilize her Black Widow training to castrate and maim every person in the footage when she felt Wanda’s hand drift to her stomach.

            At the point, her mind shifted to all things Wanda- her education, free time activities, eating habits; if it featured Wanda, she was thinking about it. She bit her lip in thought as the topic of their relationship came up- Wanda clearly saw Steve as a father figure if her use of the term ‘papa bear’ the other night was something to go off of but what did she think of Natasha. Not as her mother, hopefully, there was too much trauma there to unpack but just maybe…

            Then there was Wanda. Her mind ran dizzy with thoughts about Trainwreck. Should she tell Natasha and Steve that she saw him? Did they already know he was on the run? If so, does that mean that Ross and the other guards were here in Russia too? What would they do if they got a hold of her? Wanda burrowed her head into Natasha’s ribs at the thoughts. She would be fine as long as Steve and Natasha were around cause they made her feel safe, she didn’t have to worry about those kinds of things, not yet anyway.

            When morning came, everyone’s position was about the same- Steve in the chair next to the bed while Wanda had her hand over Natasha’s stomach, curled into her side. The day was more or less the same as the day before- Natasha coached Wanda through her school work with Steve supplying his input every so often and then they ate lunch before Wanda was dismissed to do what she liked. Grabbing one of her literature books, Wanda headed upstairs with a bottle of water, courtesy of Natasha, to read in the nook. 
 “I’m worried about Wanda,” Natasha spoke behind her shoulder where Steve was, “she hasn’t slept at all in the last two days we’ve been with her and probably even before we started sleeping in there,” she surmised. “I can see the bags forming under her eyes, if she doesn’t sleep we’ll have to drug her and she won’t like that.”

            “One more night. Third times the charm right?” Steve unoriginally supplied.
 That night Steve was surprised to see Natasha in what was essentially a crop top and loose pajama bottoms; he didn’t say anything as he pulled the covers back for her then cut out the lights for the night.
 “Sleep malysh,” she mumbled into Wanda’s scalp as she snuggled her close. She could feel the girl frown against her shoulder at the demand but she was prepared for this. It was a few more minutes before Natasha saw Wanda raise her hand in the dark, hesitantly hovering it over her stomach before gently letting it rest on its destination, the teen’s pleased hum vibrating against her shoulder. She smiled to herself as the first part of her theory was set into action. She didn’t remove Wanda’s hand or reprimand her for having it there instead she used her left hand to softly tap Wanda’s back (the way she liked) as she hummed a nameless lullaby.

            Natasha watched with soft eyes as Wanda’s lashes fluttered, first aggressively as she fought against sleep, and then ceasing as it finally took her under. She eventually stopped humming once she saw that it put Steve to sleep as well but she didn’t stop the rhythmic tapping on Wanda’s back.  
 “Morning malyshka, did you sleep well?” Natasha asked as soon as Wanda opened her eyes. The sun was bright like Natasha’s eyes but Wanda had to admit, it did feel nice sleeping in comfort. She nodded, smiling as Natasha repeatedly kissed her forehead while she giggled.
 “Let’s get up. Today’s the last day of school before the weekend hits,” she informed the teen as she rolled out from under her.

            While Natasha left Wanda to get ready for the day, she strolled into the kitchen, observing Steve quietly as he moved about. She rolled her eyes as she saw him placing chocolate into two mugs then added coffee and milk, “you know she doesn’t need choc-mocha everyday. That’s how you get diabetes,” she quipped as she grabbed his waist from behind. 
 “No it’s not. And besides, you’re just jealous she likes my drink more than your coffee,” Steve poked his tongue out at her, sliding a mug of plain coffee her way.
 “There might be a slight truth to that statement,” she quirked an amused eyebrow, “do you want to hear about my findings?”
 “About the shirt and the crop top? Please do tell,” he exaggerated in a terrible British accent, making Natasha giggle.

            “I’ve deduced, from observations and also small interactions, that Wanda enjoys skin to skin contact, though she won’t explicitly ask for it.”  
 “I’m sure it’s as the name suggests but would you care to elaborate for those if us lacking this knowledge?” he continued in his ‘British’ accent.
 “As the name suggests, it’s contact between two people usually a parent and their baby but older individuals can participate too. The warmth and smell of a loved one supposedly does wonders for the body,” she plainly stated.
 With his interest now piqued, Steve found he had real questions thus dropping his accent, “hmm, did you do research on this topic?”  
 “Ehh sort of,” Natasha shrugged, “Yelena used to liked skin to skin contact when she was younger and sometimes I did as well. But Yelena did it for far longer than I had.”

            “What are you going to do with this newfound information then?” he inquired next.  
 “Use it to put her to sleep. It’s a simple technique that she enjoys and I don’t mind giving so it works,” she smiled.
 “Great, it’s something she needs,” Steve agreed, quickly pecking Natasha’s forehead as he went to set the food on the table.
 “Hey, I meant to ask you, what’s this blank in the Foreign Language section of her schedule?” pointing to the schedule left out in the table.
 “I picked all of Wanda’s classes based on her test results and what I think would be the most appropriate place for her to start. With that being said, I’m giving her the option to pick her own foreign language course- one that interest her. It seems fair.”

            Steve liked that while she was stern, Natasha was also rather reasonable.  
 “She has until this upcoming Monday to make a decision otherwise she’ll be placed in whatever language has seats open.”
 Steve chewed in his lip in thought, “well has she displayed any interest in another language? She already knows 4, maybe she doesn’t want to learn another one.” 
 “The curriculum she’s on mandates that she takes a foreign language in order to graduate, so it’s better for her to be able to pick what she wants instead of being forced to participate in one she couldn’t care for,” Natasha slightly argued. Upon entering the kitchen, Wanda bounced on her feet with an elated hum when she smelt that Steve had made her more choco-mocha, the day was already amazing, this only made it better.

            As she happily ate, Steve brought up Wanda’s incomplete schedule, “hey kid, Nat tells me you still haven’t picked a foreign language yet? Is there any that interest you?”  
 Wanda shook her head, she hadn’t gone through the full catalogue of available languages but what she did go through she already knew.
 “How about we list some and you tell us if you like them or not. Deal?” Natasha chimed from from next to Steve.
 “Okay, so you already know Russian, German, Sokovian, and English obviously… so how about French?” Steve suggested first. Wanda shook her head.
 “Since we’re going the Romance route, how about Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese?” Natasha roughly listed- a no to each one from the youngest household member.
 “Chinese Mandarin? Or Japanese?” Steve tried next to which Wanda responded no to once again.

            They had gone through most of the catalogue and still hadn’t reached an agreement on what Wanda could take and unfortunately, they were running out of options fast.  
 “That’s all the spoken languages I can think of unless you want to take up Morse code or sign language,” Steve flippantly joked.
 Natasha didn’t fail to notice the way Wanda’s eyes lit up at the mention of Sign Language. Truth be told, Wanda always found it mind boggling how Clint and Natasha were able to sign as fast as they could without tripping up. It was beautiful to watch and she would be slightly honored to join them. She turned her attention towards Natasha, nodding overzealously as she pointed to the language at the bottom of the catalogue.
 “Well papa bear, I believe malysh has chosen her foreign language, all thanks to you,” Natasha appreciatively smirked as she marked  down Wanda’s choice to enter into the online school system later.

            “She will be learning sign language, with help from yours truly,” Natasha smirked wider.  
 “Oh, sign language will be another great way for you to communicate,” Steve beamed.
 “Yeah, I didn’t even think of that honestly,” Natasha chirped as she sipped her coffee.
 Wanda was excitedly humming to herself when a thought made her frown- her and Natasha would know sign language but what about Steve? She didn’t want her papa bear feeling left out. She gently tapped Natasha’s shoulder, pointing to Steve with a curious hum. Natasha was pretty good at reading Wanda’s body language and understanding the different sounds she’d been producing and internally melted at what Wanda was insinuating- she was worried about Steve not knowing sign language.
 “Don’t worry about Steve malysh, he’ll be learning too,” she winked.

         With that information, Wanda finished her breakfast so she could get started with school. Placing her plate in the sink, Wanda had the urge to say thank you to both Steve and Natasha for being patient with her all these months; she truly felt loved. Wanda watched as Steve cleared the table while Natasha went to get Wanda’s schoolwork from the living room. She waited until Natasha had rested her books on the table before approaching her from behind. Wanda gently tugged her sleeve, causing Natasha to turn around with minuscule concern, “are you okay?”  
 Wanda nodded, timidly stretching her arms out as she optimistically gazed at Natasha. It caught her but the neck but when she pieced  together what Wanda was requesting, her heart did somersaults- Wanda wanted a hug and she was initiating it first.

            Natasha scooped Wanda into her arms, smothering her a bit to place a big kiss against her forehead. Wanda lightly giggled, drinking in the tender affection while it was presented to her. Steve mentally cursed himself as he looked on- he didn’t have his camera, this was a perfect time to have it around, however; Natasha was mentally cursing herself more as Wanda shuffled over to stand before Steve. She repeated the same behavior, tugging his sleeve, before standing open arms in front of the man as he gained his bearings. He kept his tears at bay as Wanda snuggled further into his chest, into the warmth that was Steve. He embraced the hug just as much as she did before she pulled away to mind her school work, radiantly smiling at him as she turned.

            Steve kept to himself until Natasha needed him- mainly for world history and a bit of math. Wanda was struggling greatly with the math and science portion of her curriculum especially with it only being the first week. He would give her a few more weeks before he grew concerned, after all, she was deprived of an education for 5 years so there was bound to be some difficulty. After school was done, the trio gathered around the couch to have a movie night, each picking their favorite that went with the overall tone of Wanda’s pick- comedy. Wanda lay in the middle with Natasha to her left and Steve to her right. She allowed herself the chance to relax, to feel safe while being sandwich between two of the worlds greatest superheroes, as she watched White Chicks (Natasha’s suggestion). Her head fell against Natasha’s shoulder as her breathing calmly evened out, she wasn’t asleep yet but she wasn’t opposed to the idea.            

Chapter Text

         Natasha sighed to herself peacefully as she watched Wanda from a distance as she completed her school work on Natasha’s laptop, the weekend had officially came and went. It had been a full week now since they had arrived in Russia and it was going better than expected, minor bumps and all. Natasha had herself situated in the living room, with various forms and files sprawled out around the coffee table as her eyes bounced from paper to paper. She had been doing a ‘spring cleaning’ of sorts as they had accumulated a lot of random papers recently, some of which got mixed up with their important files. She’d been extra careful to leave Steve’s copy of the medical report hidden in their bedside drawer as the extensive yellow highlights would’ve drawn Wanda’s attention. And extra cautious in letting Wanda use her laptop.

            She’d let herself get drawn into the mundanity of the words on the sheets before her and to Wanda’s concentrated humming when a soft pull on her arm refocused her mind. Standing off to her right side was a slightly frowning Wanda with a pencil in one hand and a loose sheet of paper in the other, “what’s wrong?”  
 Wanda placed her paper and then pencil on the table, away from the larger pile, as she used her right hand to make a thumbs up and placed it in her left hand that was palms up before bringing the sign to herself in a small arch before using a flat hand to rub at her chest- the sign for help me please.
 “What do you need help with?” Natasha asked as Wanda guided her to the table with paper and pencil in hand.

            She pointed to an equation in her book then promptly scribbled on her white board, ‘I need help. I don’t get it. I did the equation but the system said it was wrong.’  
 Taking a moment to look over Wanda’s work, Natasha was easily able to pinpoint where the girl went wrong, “so for this part of the equation, you didn’t change the sign. When you subtract a negative number, it becomes positive so you have to add those two numbers there,” she simply reasoned. 
 A look of understanding briefly passed Wanda’s eyes as she erased her work to do what Natasha had told her, she had gotten it right afterwards but was still frustrated overall. Natasha hovered for a while longer, providing little input here and there to ensure Wanda was following the correct steps needed to obtain the answers.

            Natasha couldn’t tell if Wanda was enjoying school. She did know that sign language was one of her favorite subjects; she had taught Wanda the alphabet, numbers 0-20, and basic words/ phrases such as- sorry, thank you, help (and help me), please and you’re welcome- all since Friday. She smiled proudly when she would catch Wanda practicing her signs by herself, the way Natasha had shown her, with a tiny smile of her own. It was helping her with her independence and confidence, that was for sure, but in public the girl still opted to nod and point as not to draw negative attention to herself. The other subjects were okay but math and science seemed to irritate her to no end; it just took a little longer to click than Wanda would’ve liked.

            However, Natasha nor Steve were upset with the girl as she at least continued to keep trying everyday and did ask for help more frequently now whenever she ran into a problem. So things were going well, at least to Natasha. As the day progressed, Wanda’s sour mood had not lightened up, not even when she and Natasha went to the bakery to get their favorite desserts or even when they went to the bookstore. In fact, it only exacerbated Wanda’s mood as now she felt guilty and anxious on top of already being agitated. When Steve came home that evening, he was curious as to where Wanda was as he hadn’t seen her in any of the main rooms. He softly padded up the stairs in search of Natasha who had been sitting crossed leg on their bed with the laptop out and a packet in hand.

            “Where’s Wanda?” 
 “I put her to bed early,” she plainly explained, “she was in a bad mood all day after her math class, I just couldn’t take it anymore,” she sighed.
 Steve chuckled as he kissed her temple, “well she is a teenager, you know. I’m going to shower. Did you eat?”
 “Yeah we ate. Your food is in the microwave if you’re hungry,” she smiled.
 “Great. I’ll eat and then shower,” he smiled as he rushed out the room. Natasha nodded after him, turning back to the paper documents in her hand, she only had 6 more pages to go. By the time Steve ate, showered, and cuddled up next to her, Natasha had finished her readings, only to become distraught.

            “So you finished them?” Steve questioned after gazing at her appearance for a bit.  
 “I finished them, it’s a good thing right?” She gazed up at him for reassurance.
 “That’s what you told me,” he stated as he pulled her close for a hug, “all that’s left is the footage… 3 more weeks left right? Do you think we can watch it all tonight or is it going to be too gruesome to finish?”
 “Too gruesome I’m guessing,” Natasha sighed, intertwining her and Steve’s hands, “we already know what happens.”
 “I want to catch Ross. I know that bastard was physically involved in all of this,” Steve declared with an edge to his tone.
 Natasha agreed, she’d mentally concocted a vast amount of techniques to use on Ross that wouldn’t kill him as she deemed death too easy for the General.

            Natasha tapped the spacebar, forcing both of them to tune into what was being played. 
 Wanda’s unconscious form was tossed over one of guard’s shoulder and was being transported back into her cell. Seeing as they were alone (none of the men had returned to their cells yet), the guard took it upon himself to let his hands travel south, cupping and groping Wanda’s ass as he saw fit before roughly sitting her in the corner. His tough hands caressed her face with a venomous smirk before exiting the chamber. Looking at the other screens, the pair kept eye of how scott was heading back his cell (with guards of course) while Clint and Sam were being led to other interrogation rooms.

            “Hmmm, she’s gonna wake up in pain,” Steve softly commented as they watched the guards aggressively interrogate Sam and Clint leading to them beating brutally beaten when they either refused or answered ‘incorrectly.’ 
 “Do you think it left marks? Scars I mean?” Natasha asked next.
 “I don’t know. The jacket was thick but with the amount of whips lashing at her, it’s possible that they cut into her skin,” Steve replied without looking away from the screen.
 They watched quietly as the blood of their friends were spilt onto the floor and table with no remorse before being dragged back to the place they knew as their “home” for the last 4 months.

            They skipped through the long hours of idleness, stopping 6 hours later when they heard the sped up squeak of Scott’s voice.  
 Scott had been leaning against his glass window as Wanda roused, “hey Wanda, it’s me Scott. Are you okay kid?” he whispered. Tears formed in Wanda’s eyes as she came into complete consciousness as her entire back felt it was being roasted over a spitfire. Wanda freely cried as there was no way to relieve her suffering.
 “Wanda, I’m sorry. Do you want to hear about the time I had to work at Dunkin Donuts?” Immediately delving into the story, Scott held a kind smile while Wanda cried.

            Two hours into Scott’s storytelling, Wanda fell forward with a shriek as the collar sparked to life at the sudden movement.
 “Wanda!” Scott shouted over her crying and tears.
 “That seemed intentional,” Steve chirped.
 “Makes sense because look… now she’s laying on her stomach and not on her back where she was recently whipped,” the spy reasoned.
 2 days worth of footage was scrubbed forward as the only thing happening was the constant cycling of Clint, Sam, and Scott in and out of interrogation rooms. Wanda’s cell was left undisturbed the whole time period as the guards had their share of fun with the whips a few days prior.

            Guards stormed into the cells with trays of food- sandwiches, orange slices, and a glass of water for the guys and water and a bowl of hot cereal for Wanda. Trays of food were unceremoniously dropped in front of each man who silently ate without protest for once. 2 guards entered Wanda’s cell with one guard pulling Wanda into his lap while the other forcibly shoved food near her basically closed mouth.  
 “Eat!” the feeder growls.
 “Hey, she’s burning up,” the guard holding her announces, seeing the flush on her cheeks.
 “Ah, pull her over my knee,” the feeder grumbles, pushing away the food that wasn’t eaten.
 Wanda was bent over his knee without much fuss and her pants were pulled down to reveal the upper part of her buttocks with wounds that were hot to the touch whilst leaking green pus with bright red edges.

          “They’re infected. We have to let the boss know,” he gruffed, dropping the teen to the floor and storming out. It was another 2 hours before they came back with a contraption that looked like it belonged in ghostbusters. No words were spoken as the guard stormed into Wanda’s cell, switched on the hose and began spraying the forceful stream against the teen’s back. Heavy breaths punctuated by groans sounded from the teen as the others angrily looked on; the stream pressure didn’t let up as the hose moved down the length of Wanda’s back, buttocks, and legs. The guard stormed out with a final slam as the others called for the teen. 
 Natasha was the one to pause the feed this time, shaking her head with a look of disgust, “I’m done. The infection did it for me.”
 “Uhhh yeah, I understand. I… yeah,” Steve stuttered as he moved towards the bathroom.

            Natasha huffed as she tossed back her comforter off her body to shuffle out the room and down the hall. Carefully, using all the spy training she had acquired throughout her life, she pushed the door open enough to peer in at Wanda with the hopes that she was still sleeping. And as luck would have it, she was- the steady rise and fall of her chest was enough to assuage the apprehension that pooled in Natasha’s stomach during the security footage. Maybe this was why Laura and Melina performed nightly check ups with her and the other children in their care- the comfort of knowing Wanda was sleeping soundly, undisturbed in her bed made her weak but for once, it was a positive thing.

            “Morning everybody, how’s school going?” Natasha greeted as she entered the kitchen. They had agreed some time in the night that they should take turns assisting  Wanda with her schoolwork which Natasha hastily volunteered Steve to do for the next day.
 “It’s going’s. We’re doing Literature right now and then all that’s left is sign language- your department- and Biology,” he affirmed.
 Natasha hummed, pecking Steve’s lips in the process before placing a soft kiss to the top of Wanda’s. She smiled as she observed Wanda’s behavior, the girl was still clearly irritable, probably more so today than yesterday, yet she still followed Natasha’s lips when she pulled away. Making herself some tea, Natasha strutted away, “since it’s your day, I’m going to go do yoga and invite Sam out with us to lunch.”
 “What?” Steve questioned for both him and Wanda.
 “Oh yeah, we’re going out for lunch today!” she hollered down the hall.

            Being out in public, Wanda floated closely by Natasha’s side as now that they were out the house, it was free game. She held her head and eyes straight ahead and didn’t let them wander as they headed into the cafe for the fear that they would land on Trainwreck or someone equally worse, and if she could see them then they could see her. Natasha ordered for everyone in perfect Russian, earning a sneaky grin from Steve who loved it when she spoke other languages (her native tongue especially). When she received her sandwich, she split it directly the middle, handing Wanda the other half as the girl hadn’t been eating as much recently. Conversation was light and airy with Wanda contributing to the conversation by peppering in head nods and shakes whenever appropriate.

            Afterwards, Natasha ushered them into the car so they could go home and just relax for a little while. Sam, who was sitting in the back next a few spaces from Wanda, reached a steady hand out as he pointed at nothing, “can you drop me off at my place for a minute? I’ll meet up with you guys when I’m done.”  
 “Sure,” Steve acquiesced, dropping Sam off before the trio headed inside.
 Wanda removed her outer jacket and hung it up by the door as she gently plopped on the couch, fidgeting with her fingers as she did so. Steve joined her a few minutes later, powering on the tv to find something that they would all enjoy with a gentle smile. Some movie about a big fish was playing, not that Wanda had been paying any attention to it.

            “Hey look who’s back!” Sam cheerily announced, placing a medium sized white box on the dining table, while walking to the couch with a container of chocolate. They watched films and played games for a while sans Wanda before Sam revealed that he was leaving for the night, however, not before he turned his attention to the teen, “hey lil red, I got you something,” the brown eyed man grinned, walking over to where she resided in the couch.  
 Despite all the things she was feeling, Wanda curiously rose her head up as Sam stood before her with a white box. Gingerly taking the box from his hand, she quietly read the words on the box to herself before frowning.

            Steve looked just as perplexed as he faced Sam, “you got her a laptop?”  
 “I got her a laptop,” Sam excitedly repeated, “for school and such. She’s 16, she shouldn’t be using her parent’s laptop.”
 Natasha had to nod in agreement, Wanda really did need her own things but this also meant that they didn’t have to worry about her accidentally stumbling onto the security files while working anymore. As lost as Wanda was she signed a quick thank you, bringing her hand from her chin outwards. And much to her surprise, Sam signed back ‘you’re welcome’ which was just placing a thumb to the chest with an open hand. If she had been paying attention at lunch, she would’ve noticed Natasha teaching Sam a few basic hand gestures.

            “Are you feeling well? You’ve been rather… distant lately,” Steve awkward pointed out. Wanda nodded. She wanted to tell them what she saw- that one of the guards were here in Russia- but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything but there were more important things; Steve and Natasha had enough to worry about.  
 “Okay, you can come tell us anything, at any time, you know that right?” Natasha conveyed.
 Wanda nodded again as she pulled Owl close to her chest, snuggling deeper into her pillow, “alright malysh, love you, sleep tight,” the spy whispered as she kissed Wanda’s temple.
 “Night kiddo, see you in the morning,” Steve tiredly smiled.
 Wanda watched with guilty eyes as both adults left her in the dark for the night.

            Wednesday was also Steve’s day which meant Natasha could go for a nice mike run- something that hasn’t occurred in months. Last night, instead of watching anymore Raft footage, Steve had asked Natasha for help with his sign language. One thing lead to a passionate make out session and Steve learning new words that he wouldn’t want to divulge to Wanda. Nothing extraordinary happened- Natasha completed her run, waved to some neighbors, and took a stroll around a small park before heading home to see Wanda struggling with math. 
 “No, you only add a negative integer when it’s being subtracted in an equation as that changes the sign, otherwise, you do have to subtract it from the positive integer which in this case is 4,” she heard Steve’s voice float as she entered.

            “Hey doll, did you have a nice run?” he called over his shoulder.  
 “Yeah, it was nice. There’s this quaint little park we should visit, there were ducks,” she tossed, the second portion was for Wanda.
 The girl didn’t swivel her head at the mention of the park or the ducks as she was more focused on erasing the work she wrote out on her loose leaf. At the prospect of starting her work from the beginning, tears pricked the edges of Wanda’s peridot eyes while she re-wrote the equation.
 “We’re done for the day,” Steve instructed, closing her algebra text book.
 Wanda frantically shook her head no, she had to finish her work as she was already years behind standard kids her age. Staring hard into Wanda’s eyes, he pulled the book away and closed her laptop, “we’re done. Go wash up… go on.”

            Reluctantly complying with his directive, Wanda darted upstairs to use the second floor bathroom with a few tears on her face. Sitting on Steve’s lap, Natasha drew him into an embrace, “how was she today?”
 “Not great. She was decent earlier, she didn’t need much assistance with her earlier subjects but then science came around and she struggled but made it through. And then there was math, simple mistakes are bothering her. She keeps trying but it’s not out of wanting to do well, it’s more so a hardened determination which only leads to more frustration.”
 Natasha sighed as she leaned her head against Steve’s, “so you think she likes school?”
 “It’s hard to tell,” he honestly replied, “she’d tell us if she didn’t though.”

            Wanda didn’t eat lunch or have a snack but did eat a small portion of dinner before Natasha and Steve put her to bed. 
 “I’ll be back. Sam and I are going for a late gym session,” Steve waved as he walked out the door.
 “Okay, I love you, please stay safe,” she silently pleaded. None of them normally went out at night, especially not this late.
 “We will. I love you too,” he kissed her.
 Natasha stayed up in bed for a while, reading one of Wanda’s novels as she listened for both Wanda and Steve. Glancing at the clock, Natasha frowned at the realization that it was 9:37 pm, 3 hours since Steve left with no alerts about what time he would be back.

            An incessant knocking from downstairs made Natasha frown deeper as it was dark out and they weren’t close enough to any of their neighbors for them to be knocking on their door especially at this time of night but she opened the door anyway. 
 “Sam,” she breathed, a look of conviction schooling her features. “Where’s Steve?”
 “We were ambushed on the way home. My car is totaled… and Steve- Steve stayed back to fend them off. He wanted me to get you guys- get you guys and leave,” he relayed through exasperated puffs. Natasha sprinted up the stairs by the time Sam said “fend them off.”
 “Go home, get what you need and meet me back her in 10 minutes- 15 at the most,” she dictated- now in Black Widow mode, as she went to assist Wanda.

                           Natasha’s POV

            It’s been a while since I’ve had this type of adrenaline rush, and at the moment, I wasn’t too fond of it because of the situation it pertained to. I rushed into Wanda’s room and held my breath as I saw her sleeping form; I didn’t want to wake her but we needed to leave. I gently ran a finger across her cheek, just taking in the way she looked at ease since she’s been on edge these past few days. Tapping her cheek, like I did in Greenland, I patiently waited for green eyes to flutter at me before I started barking orders. She peaked up at me with dazed eyes as I sadly smiled at her, “hey malysh, we need to leave. Pack what you want into your backpack and then meet me downstairs,” I rushed as she sat up. She didn’t hesitate to obey my commands even if there was an air of disorientation in her movements. I glanced at her one more time before heading into my own room to gather everything we needed- the laptop, the medical files, the camera, and the envelope encasing all our travel documents- before shoving them into a duffel bag.

            I did one more sweep of the room to ensure that nothing of importance was left behind as I rushed downstairs to check for Wanda and any other important documents. I collected her books and worksheets from the table, thanking whatever God there was that these few extra items weren’t detrimentally heavy. Wanda, ever the overachiever, was already stationed by the door with her backpack on while she strapped up her snow boots. I quickly helped her into her jacket before schlepping mine on, “did you get everything you needed?” 
 She gave me a thumbs up which made me a bit more relieved as I grabbed my car keys from the nearby table. I stopped for a minute to contemplate my actions before kissing her on top of the head and pushing her out the door. As we approached the vehicle, Sam and Steve were already out there waiting for us.

            “I held them off for as long as I could. We probably have a few more minutes so we need to go now,” Steve rushed out but I was a step ahead of him as I already had all the doors unlocked. I didn’t check to see if anybody was buckled in as I sped off in a semi-random direction. 
 “Where are we going?” Sam loudly inquired from the backseat. Based on the darting of Steve’s blue eyes, he probably wanted to know too but unlike Sam, he wouldn’t question my intentions.
 “I have a place in mind. It’s a bit of a drive but we should be safe there,” I answered back.
 “How far is a bit?” Steve asked next.
 “Mmm,” I hummed, “roughly 4 hours, give or take.”

            We drove in silence for a little over 2 hours before I had to make an executive decision, “we have to abandon the car and walk the rest of the way. It’s just an hour and 45 minute walk, we do that on a regular basis,” I surmised. No arguments ensued, thankfully, as everyone filtered out the car. I surveyed the area for a bare patch of land, or at least a section with less snow, for us to work with.  
 “Wanda will stay with me but what I want us to do is run in different directions from the car to that piece of land over there,” I pointed out, “it has to be at different times though. Steve first, then Sam will follow 2 seconds after, and then Wanda and I will run 5 seconds after you guys. It’ll throw them off our scent for a little.”

            They all nodded at me as they followed through the plan- Steve then Sam and then Wanda and I after. From a distance, it would look as if 3 of us went separate ways which was good enough for me. From here, we would be able to take the back roads to our destination so we had the chance to exhale the tense breaths we were holding. As we trekked through the snow, I made sure to observe our entire surroundings for anything that I classified as suspicious behavior. Our formation, while unplanned, was the best in terms of protection- Steve in the back, Wanda and Sam in the middle and then me in the front, guiding the way. We didn’t speak as we crunched through the snow, it was dark but we were making the appropriate leeway we needed to be.

            Halfway through the trek, I heard Sam and Steve whispering to each other before the crunching of snow stopped and then resumed again. With my hearing and training, I could tell that Steve and Sam had switched places so that Sam was the caboose of our pack while Steve was in the middle with Wanda. I let my head turn behind me under the pretense that I was checking on everyone’s well being; Wanda had her head leaning against Steve’s right arm while she also gripped onto it tightly. I sighed to myself, I could see the faint glow of electric gates from our radius, we could stop soon. It was another 20 minutes before the tell tale smell alerted us we were here. The sheds and greenhouses in the back were strategically hidden by the tall grass and trees native to the area with such efficiency that one wouldn’t suspect to look any further if they happened to be riding along.

            Leading the group down the stretch of stripped grass that flowed from the sheds to the house, I positioned myself in front of them as I knocked twice in the middle of the door, three times near the top, and two times near the bottom. A cacophony of undistinguishable noises and the imperceptible sound of guns clicking on the other side let me know that the occupants were armed and ready. I kept my gaze and posture confident as I knew what to expect. I offered Wanda a gentle smile as I reminded her to stand behind me when she stepped forward on the steps; she moved back behind me but she also grabbed my right sleeve to hold onto. Everything would be set once we were inside, I had to remind myself.

            When the door opened, I wasn’t surprised to see the two faces I had hoped would be on the other side. What I hadn’t expected was the third head that poked out from the hallway behind them. Fuck! This was going to complicate things.

Chapter Text

            “Ahh!” Alexei audibly gasped, “Natasha!” 
 Wanda frowned, stepping further behind Natasha to press her forehead against the older woman’s shoulder blade to hide herself, whimpering uncomfortably at Alexei’s loud nature, a sound that made Natasha imperceptibly clench her jaw.
 “What… what are you doing here?” Melina asked with a curious head tilt.
 “We need a place to stay for a little,” Natasha tersely answered with a tight lipped smile.
 Melina discreetly scanned the faces of the crowd of strangers standing on her front porch before directing them back to Natasha’s green eyes. She searched for any signs of distress, sighing when she found nothing, “Come inside, come, come,” she ushered the group as Alexei buzzed next to her.

            “What happened? Why are you in Russia?” Melina gently tried as she helped Sam and Steve remove their coats to place on the rack.  
 “We’ve been on-“ Steve went to reply before being cut off by the former redhead, “unforeseen circumstances,” Natasha brusquely answered, sending him a look to stop.
 Steve silently nodded in understanding as he went to remove Wanda’s coat after removing his boots. Natasha joined, grabbing her black backpack to hold onto while she and Steve shrugged off the winter coat. Melina silently observed the interaction between the three with muted interest, tapping Alexei’s stomach to gain his attention.

           “It’s late. If you let me set up all the beds, we can go to sleep? We can talk in the morning,” she offered. 
 Everyone nodded their confirmations while Melina walked away to procure more beds and blankets, leaving Alexei alone with the small group, “Natasha, I am so glad you are home,” he beamed as he gripped both her arms. “I show you to your room?”
 Jerking away harshly, Natasha softly placed a hand on Wanda’s shoulder while pushing the bag in Wanda’s arms to carry, “I remember where it is. Thank you,” she curtly smiled, dragging Wanda in the direction of her room. Following behind Melina who waved them after her once she made it back to the foyer, Sam sent Steve a look of utter confusion and shook his when the super soldier sent him back the same one.

           Standing confused in the middle of the room, Alexei looked around at the empty area- Natasha and the little brunette had disappeared into her room, Yelena was no longer peaking around the corner, and the big man and his friend had followed his wife to the guest room. Deciding to go to bed and wait for Melina, Alexei went into his room. In Natasha’s room, Wanda strained to mutely watch the woman from her position on the bed, legs crossed with her bag securely tucked to her chest, as her body sleepily bucked back and forth. Sighing with a tired smile, Natasha gently placed the book bag on the rocking chair next to the wall, pulling Wanda to lie down on top of her once she made it back to the bed. The events of the days must have been wearing on Wanda’s body heavy for her to have been asleep before she even laid head to rest on Natasha’s shoulder.

            In the morning, a light knock on her door was enough to rouse Natasha slightly but the faint smell of hickory infused with lavender and the soft kiss to her lips was what fully woke her up, “morning Doll,” Steve groggily greeted.  
 “Morning Soldier,” Natasha sleepily smiled with a sigh.
 “How was Wanda last night?” he questioned with a flick of his head in the teen’s direction.
 “She went down without a fight. Yesterday must have tired her out,” Natasha yawned with a small stretch. “Is anybody else awake?”
 “Mhm,” Steve nodded, “everyone besides Wanda. They’re all in the kitchen.”
 Sighing to herself quietly, Natasha gently placed Wanda, with assistance from Steve, on the open space of bed to her left so that she could stand in front of the man.

            Wrapping her arms around his neck, Natasha swayed with him a little, content in their little world.  
 “Are you okay? What was that last night?” Steve asked with concern.
 “I’m… fine. It’s just… a lot of memories and feelings I don’t want to get into right now,” she huffed.
 “Okay,” Steve acquiesced, not wanting to get into a fight about things he had no knowledge of, “let’s get breakfast then.”
 Natasha nodded, craning her neck to capture his lips in a loving kiss before drawing away. Tucking the comforter tightly around Wanda’s shoulders, Steve warmly smiled down at his sleeping teen, softly closing the bedroom door behind him as he followed Natasha.

            The atmosphere in the kitchen was inviting if not also awkward as all the occupants were still filled with sleep but attempting to be cordial.
 “Morning, for breakfast we have, uh semolina porridge, syrnikis, grenkis, and, zapekanka,” Melina listed, scooping the last of the grenki out the pan onto a plate stacked with a multitude of already finished grenki.
 Steve pulled out Natasha’s chair before sitting to her right and Sam sitting to her left. Alexei sat to Sam’s left, at the head of the table, while Melina would be sitting to his immediate left and Yelena to her left, directly across from Natasha. Serving themselves food, Alexei waited until everyone’s plates were full and drinks were in front of them before speaking, “we did not formally meet. Who are you people?” he bluntly asked.

            Pointing to the appropriate people, Natasha introduced everyone, “this is Sam and Steve. Sam, Steve… this is Alexei, Melina, and Yelena.”  
 Soft grumbles of hello and hi were heard around the table in tandem with clinking silverware.
 “This food is delicious, thank you,” Steve politely reached out first.
 “Mm thank you. It’s traditional Russian food, the girls loved it when they were younger,” Melina softly smiled.
 Sam, kindly smiled at Yelena, attempting to start a conversation when he was cut off.
 “Ahh I think you’re forgetting someone. Who is the tiny spider in the room?” Alexei interrupted.

            Steve smiled to himself, he wouldn’t tell Natasha today but he kind of liked the nickname Alexei coined for Wanda, probably because it had part of Natasha’s moniker in it.  
 “The tiny spider is named Wanda, she’s 16 and doesn’t speak, she has the ability to but it’s been months since she has. She’s currently learning sign language so she might communicate to you through that but she’ll most likely use her whiteboard to write down anything she has to say,” Natasha answered as she looked at her Russian family.

            “Where are you coming from?” Melina asked, she had questions that needed answers if she was going to let her daughter and friends stay in her house. 
 “We’re on the run. We were ambushed in Moscow and retreated here,” Steve supplied next.
 “On the run from what?” Alexei squinted.
 “Government agents from the Raft,” Sam simply answered.
 “The Raft? What is the Raft?” Yelena spoke for the first time since they’d arrived.
 “A high security underwater prison. We broke some federal laws, for good reason, got sent there and then broke out with help from our friend Cap,” Sam appreciatively smiled as he patted Steve’s shoulder.
 The former blonde soldier reciprocated the gesture before clearing his throat for more questions as he knew they were coming.
 “What is a Cap?” Alexei gawked. 

            “It’s short for Captain America which is me,” Steve shrugged.  
 “Oh no no,” Alexei slightly chuckled with the shake of his head, “I fought Captain America and you are not him.”  
 “That’s what he always says,” Yelena mumbled under breath, causing Natasha to softly exhale before it was leveled with a scowl from the blonde.
 “No, no it’s okay. I tell you story later,” Alexei placated, even though no one asked to hear it. Forks and knives clattered once again as chill conversation filled the room, Natasha and Yelena staring each other down the entire time. 
 “Wait, you say he rescue you from Raft. Did he rescue all of you?” Melina attempted to clarify. 
 “No, Nat and I weren’t arrested just Sam, Clint, Scott, and Wanda,” Steve affirmed for her.

            “My vnuchka was in prison? Oh, she is just like her mother,” Alexei proudly fawned.  
 Natasha rolled her eyes as Yelena scoffed at the statement, “she barely looks as if she can hurt a fly.”
 “Wanda has more power than you know,” Natasha brusquely bit back.
 “Whatever,” Yelena huffed as she placed her dishes in the sink to exit the kitchen.
 Melina held her tongue at both their childish behavior in favor of learning more about Wanda and what was going on.
 “What is this power that you speak of?” Melina leaned in with high interest.
 “I’m not doing this today,” Natasha tersely snapped at the two, “Wanda won’t take easy to you two due to past experiences, so if she doesn’t engage with you right away then don’t feel bad. As for food and such, don’t stare at her as she’s eating otherwise she won’t finish her meal. And if she doesn’t eat a lot then leave her be as Sam, Steve, or I will deal with it. Got it? Good,” she finished with a tight grin as she put her plate in the sink.

            Melina and Alexei silently nodded as they digested everything that was said at breakfast- now they had more questions brewing but they would give it time before they tried asking.  
 “And don’t touch her. She’ll initiate physical contact if she wants to,” Natasha whispered as an afterthought as her, Sam, and Steve filed out the kitchen area one after the other. Natasha didn’t question Sam as he headed down the hall, probably to converse with Yelena seeing as how sociable he was. Her and Steve on the other hand, went into her bedroom to speak and wake Wanda if need be. 
 “What was that? I thought you liked your family?” Steve genuinely inquired, after shutting the door behind him.
 “I do, I just also have some negative feelings underneath,” the woman shrugged.
 Fixing his face with a stern expression, Steve adjusted Natasha’s stance so that she was looking him in the eyes, “are you going to discuss it with them or is it going to stay this awkwardly tense the whole time we’re here?”

            “I’ll talk to them eventually. I promise,” she nodded.  
 Steve stared intensely into her eyes before drawing her into kiss her forehead, “Wanda needs to eat. Do you want to make her plate while I wake her or vice versa?”  
 Natasha quirked an eyebrow, “I’ll make her plate while you wake her?” 
 Steve smiled to himself as he and Natasha shuffled around each other to get where they needed to be, “sounds good to me. We’ll be out in about 5.”
 Natasha strolled out the room with slightly lighter steps, whether that was because of seeing Wanda or talking to Steve, she couldn’t pinpoint. She rolled her eyes again when she saw that Yelena and Alexei were seated around the kitchen with Melina nowhere to be found.

            “Your mother is out with the pigs!” Alexei announced with a full mouth. 
 “not my mother,” Natasha barely audibly whispered while she grabbed a plate to serve Wanda’s breakfast. She placed a decent amount of everything on her plate with a small bowl of porridge on the side and green tea to sip throughout her meal. When she turned around, Steve was guiding a sleep-riddled Wanda to the table, “morning.”
 Wanda glanced up with a tiny smile as she rubbed sleep from her eyes causing Alexei to coo softly from her side.
 Natasha smiled back as she waved a hand at Alexei, “Wanda this is-“ 
 “Hello tiny spider! I am your dedushka!,” Alexei happily gestured to himself, “your babushka is out with the animals!”
 Wanda curled in on herself at Alexei’s outgoing nature, sending Steve then Natasha an uncomfortable glance.

            “His name is Alexei. Melina will be back shortly, and this is Yelena,” Natasha affirmed for the teen, who nodded at Alexei and waved at Yelena. The blonde Russian uttered a simple hello as Natasha settled the food in front of the teenager who smiled appreciatively as she grabbed her fork.  
 “Come listen, I have story to tell,” he excitedly gathered as she shifted in his seat. Based on his facial expressions, both Natasha and Yelena groaned as they knew where this was going. Wanda barely leaned closer into Natasha’s side as she focused on her breakfast and the story, failing to notice the watchful gaze Yelena had her under. She ate all the grenkis, syrnikis, and, zapekanka with no problem, those were her favorite part actually. Using a spoon to poke at the porridge, Wanda twisted her face up as she tapped Natasha’s arm, “but there he is… Captain America,” her and Yelena muttered in unison with their father.

            Wanda tapped Natasha’s arm again, this time with a bit more urgency to garner her attention; Natasha warmly smiled at Wanda as she patiently waited for her to convey her thoughts. Holding out the bowl with porridge, Wanda scrunched her face up again as she placed it in Natasha hands- signing no thank you when her hands were free. Natasha nodded as she knew Wanda wouldn’t eat the porridge but she wanted to try anyway. Sliding the bowl over to Steve, Natasha dismissed Wanda with a slight nod of the head as she, for some reason, continued to listen to the story. Natasha didn’t worry much about where Wanda was going as fortunately for her, Sam was situated in the living room watching television. Halfway through the story, Yelena excused herself to join the other two on the couch in what Natasha hoped was a friendly manner.

            Natasha audibly sighed to herself as she gently plopped onto her bed being mindful not to wake the sleeping teen next to her. After breakfast and Wanda formally meeting Melina, the day slowly declined into something less favorable. Despite her initial thoughts, Natasha soon discovered that Yelena was only being standoffish with her in the way that she was being with Melina and Alexei, but at least she had a valid reason she thought. And then to make matters worse, after her schoolwork, cause neither Natasha nor Steve were going to just to let her breeze by, Wanda started revealing how much she liked everyone especially Yelena which meant that now they really couldn’t leave.

            She was dazing off when a soft knock, one that could only belong to Steve, sounded against her door. And against her better judgement, the Russian melted into a smile as he approached her, “hey.”  
 “hi,” she whispered back, scooting over to allow him to lay comfortably on the bed with her.
 “How was her school?” Steve sighed as Natasha snuggled up to him, resting her head on his chest while his chin found residence on her forehead.
 “She’s getting better at remembering the basic rules the first time through, you know adding a negative number when it says to subtract, etc but she’s still getting frustrated with herself and I’m not exactly sure how to help her. Maybe Sam can teach her a different way to learn.”
 “Okay that’s not a bad idea,” Steve yawned, “we can ask him later.”

            “And correct me if I’m wrong but then she told me how she’s enjoys it here despite it only being the first day we’ve been here. She’s taken a liking to Yelena for some odd reason and she states that Melina is second with Alexei in third. Your doing I feel.”  
 Steve chuckled, using one hand to rub up and down Natasha’s back, “no, no, this is the first I’m hearing of this. I wasn’t even sure if she’d like Alexei with how… exuberant his personality is. But it’s a good thing she likes your family though right? And that they like her?”
 “Yes but now I really have to play nice so Wanda can develop a meaningful relationship with them,” Natasha sighed.
 “You wanna talk about it?“ Steve glanced down.
 “Yeah, I actually kind of do. You remember my mission I had with the Red room when I was 8 and Yelena had just turned 4?” she curiously glanced back up at him.
 “Mmhm.”

            “Sometimes I wish that they took us and ran that way I wouldn’t have had to live the life I’ve already lived,” she sighed.  
 “Well if you were never raised in the Red Room, what do you think you’d be doing right now?”
 “I don’t know. The Red Room was my entire life, almost every skill I learned was from them. I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t the Black Widow,” she honestly revealed.
 “If you never went through with the Red Room though then you never would’ve met Clint and became an Avenger… we wouldn’t be together,” Steve voice broke at the end.  
 “I want the life I have now without living the life I’ve already lived, does that make sense? I want you and Clint and Wanda and everybody else… I just wish I didn’t have to kill so many people to get here.”
 Steve softly gripped her chin so that she was looking him in the eyes, “I don’t think less of you for the things you’ve done and neither does Wanda. I understand wanting a different life, I’ve wished for similar things but I’m grateful that I’m here with you and the kid. I wouldn’t take it back, not now,” he sincerely whispered.

            Natasha contemplated what he was saying- she wanted a different life but still desired the things in her life that made her Natasha. Wishing for something different when all she’s known is this life wouldn’t be fair- not to her or the people she cared for. Tenderly reaching up to place a deep kiss to Steve’s lips, Natasha thought of the teen sleeping behind her. This life was fine but it could be better- she would try and play nice with her family if it meant Wanda was happy.

            Green eyes softly cracked open as Natasha felt the body under her convulse from a strong stretch, “sorry to wake you doll.”  
 Natasha shook her head as she snuggled closer into his chest, “it’s okay,” she groggily husked, “I need to be awake anyway. Is Wanda still asleep?”
 “Yeah, sleeping soundly,” Steve whispered, pulling the blanket comfortably under her chin for good measure. “Food sounds great right now.”
 “That’s because you’re a bottomless pit that’s never satisfied,” Natasha’s joked as she rose on her feet.
 “Please you know you’re the only one that can satisfy me,” Steve winked with a playful smirk as they headed into the kitchen.

            “Morning lovebirds,” Alexei cheerily greeted as the two took their seats around the table. 
 “Morning sir,” Steve greeted back.
 “Mmm Natalia, you have fuck with the little one in the room? That’s bold even for you,” Yelena crassly stated.
 Steve choked on his tea, while Yelena and secretly Sam laughed to themselves in their seats.
 “Yelena, khvatit!” Melina snapped as she turned the corner with breakfast, “izvinis' pered sestroy!”
 Yelena rolled her eyes with an annoyed huff but fixed her gaze towards Natasha, “Natalia, I am sorry.”
 “Yeah whatever you gremlin,” Natasha bit back.

            “Girls!” Alexei yelled over the table.  
 “Don’t make me put you over my knee,” Melina sighed, gripping the bridge of her nose.
 “You didn’t do that when we were kids so I doubt you’re going to do it now,” Yelena challenged. 
 “Either you two behave or you both have to clean the pig pens together!” Melina huffed, exasperation oozing out of every pore in her body. 
 “Both of you, apologize to your mother,” Alexei finally interjected.
 “Sorry Melina, sorry mom,” they muttered under their breaths in unison, allowing breakfast to resume.  
 Steve found it funny how childish Natasha had behaved only to be scolded by her parent, that’s the kind of power only a sibling held.

            “Anyways where is my tiny spider huh? I have something I want to show her,” Alexei paused for a minute.  
 “She’s still sleeping. I’ll wake her up soon if she doesn’t get up on her own within the next hour,” Natasha answered.
 “Let her sleep. No need to disturb her when she is peaceful,” Melina waved off. 
 Natasha groaned, day 2 and they were already on the road to spoiling her kid.
 “So everybody eat. If I catch you two fighting again, it’s the pig pen understand?” Melina directed towards her two daughters. 
 “Yes, we understand,” they replied at the same time again. 
 When Wanda awoke 45 minutes later, she was confused as to where her ma Natasha went as Steve, Sam, and Melina were in the living room.

            Scribbling on her whiteboard, she held it out for either Sam or Steve to take, ‘where’s Tasha?’ 
 “According to Melina, they’re in a ‘Russian time out,” Sam answered for her using quotation marks.
 Wanda looked between all the adults with confusion as that was a phrase she had never heard before.
 “Basically, they stand in opposite corners of a room while Alexei tells them stories of his past. To make it more interesting, they must do wall sits the entire time,” Melina nonchalantly explained as she passed the bowl of popcorn to Wanda who looked at her skeptically.
 “You will never have to do them as long as you follow instructions, my little cherub,” she sweetly smiled.
 Wanda nodded as she relaxed against Steve’s shoulder, what could Tasha and Yelena possibly have done to be punished? Especially at their age?

Chapter Text

            A tender smile graced Natasha’s face as she approached the back of the couch to lace her hand through Wanda’s long locks, “morning malyshka,” she greeted. Yelena followed trudged in after, sitting on the floor with both her arms and legs crossed. 
 “You two need to get along better. You’re setting a bad example for Wanda,” Melina admonished lightly.
 “The little one’s not mine, why should I care?” Yelena indignantly muttered.
 “Cause she’s mine,” Natasha snapped.
 A small smile graced both Wanda and Steve’s lips at the claim of Wanda belonging to Nat; while they knew how she felt, she’d never verbally stated it before. “Behave like a grown up,” she scoffed.
 “Ha! you’re talking! You’re older than I am,” Yelena argued.

            Natasha rolled her eyes, seemingly over Yelena’s sour attitude, however unlike Wanda, Natasha couldn’t just put her to bed.   
 “Enough, can we watch the tv please?!” Alexei roared over them.
 “Sure that’s only if Natalia can keep her big mouth closed long enough,” Yelena silently quipped, earning a groan from Melina and another eye roll from Natasha.
 Leaning in closely to his friend, Steve asked Sam a very important question, “I meant to ask you if you could help Wanda with her math? She understands most of it but still needs help. Nat and I have tried but maybe you know a better way?”
 “Sure man, it’s no problem. I’ll try and help the kid out,” Sam agreed.
 “Thanks, it means a lot,” Steve smiled before turning back towards the tv.

            The rest of the day went uneventfully until some time after lunch where Melina approached Natasha out back, “can I help you with something?” she rudely inquired as she sifted through the piles of wood.  
 “Natasha, your father and I were looking to bond more with the little cherub, is there anything she likes that we can do here?” Melina hopefully asked.
 Natasha audibly sighed, she didn’t want to play into their bullshit idea of a family reunion but after fighting with Yelena all day, she was mentally done so she tossed a little bone in hopes that would get them off her back, “the chemical subjugation? You don’t do that anymore right?”
 “No, no we stopped after you took down the Red Room and we discovered it’s true purpose.”

            “So those pigs out back,” Natasha pointed with her chin, “you don’t control their minds anymore?”  
 “No, they are just our pigs, just pets,” Melina simplified.
 “Okay. Wanda likes animals and she hasn’t seen the pigs yet, maybe one of these days you can take her down there,” she sighed.
 “Ohh okay, animals,” Melina perked up. “How have you been Natasha? We don’t get to see you nearly as much as we’d like.”
 “I already told you before, I’m not doing this. You wanted to ask a question and I gave you your answer, we don’t have to do anything beyond that,” Natasha exerted.
 Melina bit the inside of her lip as she backed away, “okay, I’m sorry. Thank you for your help,” she tightly smiled as she retreated back into the house. Natasha only grumbled as went back to the wood.

            The next afternoon, everyone was gathered around the kitchen with mugs in hand.  
 “You say you were ambushed back in Moscow. We need to do a perimeter check to see if they’ve breeched the area,” Melina calmly announced to the room. “It’s been 3 days with no sounds on the western front but we have to be sure.
 “4 of us will go together- me, Captain America, Natasha, and Yelena. We will leave after dinner today,” Alexei broadcasted out loud.
 Quiet mourners of agreement were heard as bodies shuffled around the room.
 “While we’re out, you’re to focus on your homework with Sam okay?” Steve instructed Wanda who obediently nodded as Natasha pressed a kiss to her forehead.

            Later that night, Wanda sat on the floor of her room, leaning against her bed with her textbooks and papers sprawled between her legs with Sam on the floor across from her. She was finding it hard to concentrate on her math while the unbelievable strength of gnawing guilt and unease ate away at her every nerves.  
 “Ayy good job lil red! I told you you could do it!” She faintly heard Sam praising her. “All you have to do is…” she hadn’t heard the rest of what he said, it sounded like her ears were full of water, yet she offered him a small smile as thanks.
 “Ready to try another?” he excitedly pressed.
 Wanda could only nod a hesitant response as Sam moved onto the next question.

            She was halfway through her next problem when the sound of a door opening made her turn around; Wanda took note of her wet locks and slightly oversized nightwear.  
 “Hey Nat, how was the premise search?” Sam waved.
 “Oh it went great. Except for the part where I had to corral Yelena in which resulted in us both doing pig pen duty,” she sarcastically responded, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance.
 Scrunching up his face in a grimace, Sam paused his homework help in favor of looking at his friend, “ooooo. What’d you do?” 
 “I didn’t do anything. It was Yelena that started it,” she huffed.

———

            The perimeter check had been going well at first. The group of 4 broke into two teams of 2 which which worked well since either way the group was split, Steve would be partnered with someone who knew the area. And as luck would have it, Natasha and Yelena were fortunate enough to be paired with one another while Steve was with Alexei. The two groups walked the same path until they made it to the fork in the road 3 miles out from the barn. 
 “We’ll go left. You girls go right. If nothing is out there, we meet back here in 20 minutes. Got it? Okay,” Alexei instructed as he and Steve went their designated route.

            Both women dutifully followed their directive, taking the right fork and searching for any signs that indicated whether or not Natasha’s fugitive family was followed. Natasha trailed ahead slightly, taking in all her surroundings with a clear scope when the bath slightly diverted again.  
 “We’re going left,” Yelena declared as she approached Natasha’s left flank. 
 “No, we’re going straight. It’s a clear cut route back towards the pig stables,” Natasha sternly stated. She was in no mood to argue with Yelena; itwas cold and quite frankly all she wanted to do was cuddle up with Steve and Wanda. The blonde tossed her a scowl as she tapped her foot, “you haven’t been here in years. How would you know where the path leads?”

            “Because unlike you, I can easily follow a map,” she bit back. “Need I remind you about that summer where you got lost on the way to Tommy Dillinger’s house? The one that was only a block and a turn away?” she sarcastically baited with a quirk of the eyebrow.  
 Growling, Yelena took an angry step towards the former redhead, “that wasn’t my fault. You didn’t give me the correct directions.” 
 “What could be more correct than stating 30° southeast then 45° west?” Natasha smirked. 
 “I was 5! No 5 year old knows the difference between southwest and west!” she hotly argued. 
 “Seems like adult Yelena still doesn’t know it either,” Natasha condescendingly bit as she went to walk the straight path.

            Mumbling under her breath, Yelena went down the left divergence, knife in hand as she quietly stalked the path for signs of intruders. With it getting dark and the snowy tress masking what little light there was left in the sky, Natasha easily mistook her sister for someone else. Pouncing on the back of the unknown figure, Natasha had a knee on their chest with a knife drawn to their neck before they had a chance to properly blink. 
 “Get. Off. Of. Me!” Yelena shouted as she contorted her body in a way that pinned Natasha under her. 
 Thinking quickly, Natasha placed a well intended fist to Yelena’s abdomen, hitting her solar plexus which effectively knocked the wind out of her.

            Ever the widow, Yelena had herself situated in less than 10 seconds with a look of determination as she charged her sister. Natasha was ready for a fight, digging the heels of her boots into the snow to brace herself for Yelena’s attack that never came as Alexei stood between them both with Yelena’s wrist in his hand. 
 “Girls… just wait until your mother hears about this,” he disappointedly remarked, grabbing Natasha’s wrist as well to drag them both home with Steve shyly trailing behind.

———

            “So needless to say, the pig pen is clean and the lecture from Melina and Alexei was delivered swiftly,” she stated. 
 Sam smiled to himself at Natasha and Yelena’s antics, while he and his sister didn’t go that extreme, they did have their fair share of physical fights growing up and still sometimes did now, although they mainly remained verbal. Wanda, on the other hand, couldn’t indulge in the goofiness of her mother and aunt’s behavior without feeling nauseated. She and Pietro never fought like that and if they did, it was verbal and they made up within minutes, after having time to think. Overall, this whole situation only amplified Wanda’s initial feelings she’d been experiencing privately these past few days. She was trying hard to reign in her emotions, she could feel her chest beginning to tighten and her hands were shaking more now, yet there was nothing she could do.

            ‘I’m sorry,’ she signed, a simple closed fist circling her chest. 
 “It’s okay,” Natasha sighed, “truth be told, we were going to have to clean that stable up anyway so why not now,” she lightly chuckled, failing to see that her statement did not help Wanda feel better, if possible, it made her feel worse. 
 ‘I’m sorry. You’re not happy here and it’s my fault,’ she scribbled on her board as she didn’t know the sign for most of the words and didn’t have time to finger spell everything. 
 “Hey, I’m happy,” the spy was quick to confirm for her upset child as she uncrossed her arms and stepped forward a bit. 
 ‘No, you’re not! You and Yelena have been fighting since we got here which means you both get punished and you’re both angry! And it’s my fault!’ she sloppily scribbled, the shaking of her hands was making it hard to neatly convey her thoughts and the tears in her eyes made it difficult to see.

            Natasha was doing her best to patiently wait until Wanda released all her thoughts before consoling the girl but seeing her body tremble this hard was breaking her heart in a way she didn’t understand. 
 ‘It’s my fault, I’m sorry,’ Wanda scribbled one more time as fallen tears turned into crying. She knew crying wasn’t going to get her anywhere but it was the only thing that felt right at the moment. Soft hands caressed her chin, gently guiding her to look up so that she was face to face with Natasha’s, “it’s okay. Take your time malysh,” she whispered with an encouraging smile. 
 After 5 minutes Wanda was able to self regulate her breathing to a slightly less sporadic condition as she composed her thoughts.

            She had to tell Natasha now or she’d never feel better. She picked up her marker only to realize that while she had regulated her breathing a bit, the trembling of her hands hadn’t subsided one bit yet she tried to write down her thoughts regardless of the current state of her hands. The sentence was beyond sloppy, so much so that it wasn’t even legible, not to Sam and Natasha or even Wanda for that matter. Wanda’s breathing picked up again as cries turned into full sobs at the added frustration of losing her two main forms of communication. Hurt, guilt, sadness, and frustration swirled together in Wanda’s nerves, essentially encompassing all her cells as she loosely wrapped her arms around her stomach. Natasha’s eyes widened as she turned to face Sam behind her for some answers, she figured it was a panic attack but she had to be sure.

            The nod of his head was enough confirmation the Widow needed to spring into action. She jumped on the bed, shuffling to the other edge to gently pick up the weeping teen. She shifted herself back until Wanda was situated between her legs, her back pressed tightly to Natasha’s chest as her right hand came to rest over Wanda’s heart. The older woman purposefully took deep breaths in order to combat Wanda’s ragged ones in a physical sense while Sam stood in front of them both, breathing just as deeply to serve as a visual demonstration for Wanda. Rocking side to side gently, Natasha kept her voice low and sweet, “follow our breathing… just focus on our breathing. In and out, just like that,” she encouraged.

            What started out as waterlogged hearing- voices that were present but distorted- and tight, asthmatic breathing from the teen eventually fades into sagging shoulders and the occasional shuddering exhale as her surroundings once again became clear. Tears still rolled down her face but the main focus was getting her breathing to stabilize, which both the Widow and the Falcon succeeded in. 
 “Good job malysh, now just keep breathing just like that,” Natasha lowly murmured into her ear. She brushed a few strands of hair behind Wanda’s ear while she continued to rock her, “Sam, can you get us a glass of water please?”
 “No problem,” he happily agreed, leaving the two women alone.

             Natasha continued to take deep breaths, internally smiling when Wanda would follow suit unprompted. She allowed her eyes to close, only opening them again when Steve approached her calmly, “doll what happened?”  
 “Sam says it was a panic attack, I’m inclined to agree with him,” she muttered, sliding over to make space for the man.
 When Sam returned, she made sure to quietly thank him as she helped Wanda take a few sips of water. With a quarter of the water gone, Natasha transferred Wanda into Steve’s chest, where he instantly cradled the teen close, “I’ll be back. I have something I need to do,” she disclosed as she strolled out the room. Taking one final glance at Wanda and those close to her, Natasha pressed forward- she had to do this.

            A steady knock on their bedroom drew Melina and Alexei away from their giggling as he went to fin out who was on the other side, “Natasha, is everything alright? Is the tiny one okay?”  
 Pushing past the man with her arms crossed over her chest, Natasha entered the room, standing between the bed and door where both of her parents were, “Wanda’s fine,” she shortly replied, glancing at the ground.
 Melina tilted her head, it was clear that Natasha was being guarded- her behavior and body language attested to that- but there was also something else, something hidden underneath. Not wanting to push as that hadn’t worked so far, Melina and Alexei stayed quiet as a way to offer the floor to Natasha to express herself- when she was ready. The room was relatively quiet as Natasha kicked around a nonexistent piece of lint on the carpet.

            “Why’d you do it?” she finally had the courage to ask. She was upset with how her voice shook but she continued anyway, “the Red Room. I know it’s gone but why?”  
 “It’s all I ever knew. I was cycled through there 4 times before you were even born, at some point it became just as much me as I was them. I was never truly given a choice,” Melina answered.
 Alexei woefully shook his head as he stared at Natasha, “I thought I was serving my loyalty to my country. The Red Guardian was a soldier to Mother Russia, fighting under her directive with no questions asked. The Red Room was just another order that I was to follow, regardless of what it was or what it entailed.”
 Fervently nodding her head, a coping mechanism to keep from crying, Natasha surged on.

            “That mission in Ohio… did- did you like being parents?” her eyes were red-rimmed but she wouldn’t cry.  
 “Oh, it was the most fun we’ve ever had!” Alexei loudly exclaimed, pulling Natasha close for a second.
 “And yet, you never made it seem that way. It always felt like you were waiting for the day to get rid of us,” Natasha sadly countered as she glared at both of them.
 “Yes but no,” Melina started, “it was fun, everyday was exciting despite the mundanity that is Ohio. I had never worked with young Widows prior to the mission, I knew they existed however as I was one myself but I never worked with them especially not one as young as Yelena was. We had our days where we struggled but we learned and overcame,” she explained, pulling Natasha away from Alexei to hold Natasha herself.

            “But then as the weeks turned into years, we knew that time was nearing- when the mission would be over and the Red Room would take you both away. So in a way, we were waiting for the day when they took you away but it was not a cheerful day, it was one filled with… a lot of heartache,” Melina sniffled, stroking her hair as her own eyes watered.  
 Natasha bitterly dropped her arms to the side, “why didn’t you just take us and run? We could’ve been together and away from the Red Room and Dreykov.”
 “Mmm the million dollar question,” Alexei wryly chuckled. “We thought of that but it would’ve been no good. So we either live and stay on the run for years or we defect and Dreykov finds and kills us. This was best option,” he sadly smiled.

            “Life on the run meant you never would’ve felt safe. Maybe Yelena would have but at 9, you already experienced Dreykov’s power, you knew the horrors of the world. We hoped that with the Red Room, you would remember us and find a way back like you both did now,” Melina gently swayed from side to side. 
 “Did you try to find us when we were back in the Red Room?” she sorely implored behind a small voice; she was getting the answers she wanted but it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt any less.
 “Everyday until Dreykov had me assigned to a 4 year long mission that required no outside contact,” Melina sharply spit.
 “I was Russia’s weapon so I had to fight its wars. Then I got sent to prison for a few years before they made me a deal that sent me home,” Alexei shrugged.

             “We were your parents. We loved you and missed you. The on ly thing we could hope for was that you kept your hearts and stayed strong to ‘graduate’ from the Red Room,” Melina cried. 
 “We missed it so,” Alexei fondly smiled, “Yelena’s tiny hands and how she had to use both to grab a cup. And the way you and I used to watch movies together after a long day at work, no matter how tired I was because it made you happy.”
 “Oh my favorite was when you and Yelena had a hard time falling asleep. And you would come and we would just sit in the rocking chair until you two fell asleep and we would stay there all night. All night,” Melina proudly reminisced.
 “Yeah, I- I liked that too,” Natasha genuinely stated.

            Melina crossed the room to sit in the rocking chair that was between the bookcase and the dresser, “you know you’re never too old to sit on mama’s lap,” Melina cautiously beckoned.
 Natasha struggled with her inner thoughts for a second, she wasn’t trained to be this vulnerable but she also wasn’t in the Red Room anymore, she didn’t have to follow their exact teachings so with a small smile, she climbed onto Melina’s lap. The older Widow smiled as she cradled Natasha close, humming a tune as she let the chair rock back and forth, “you know, Yelena still comes and cuddles. Don’t tell her I told you,” Melina playfully whispered, pulling a light laugh from Natasha. Alexei soon joined in the humming, laughing manically to himself, “our girls under one roof again. It’s what we always wanted.”
 “But now better,” Melina chimed in.

            “Cause we now have a vnuchka, and uhh syn (son), and a Sam,” he happily counted. 
 Natasha couldn’t refrain from releasing a fit of giggles, “yeah, yeah you do.”
 “We have the prettiest vnuchka too, I’m sure,” Alexei declared with such finality.
 “That’s because we have the prettiest girls,” Melina reminded him as she nuzzled her cheek against Natasha’s forehead.
 “Da. We do,” he brightly smiled.
 Natasha couldn’t help to visibly preen under their compliments, she liked when Steve did it but she always had a hard time accepting compliments regarding her beauty- a Red Room trauma. Basking in the warmth of her mama just a little longer, Natasha pushed herself up to sit, “I have to go, Wanda was upset earlier-“

            “Go, go! What are you doing sitting here? Tiny spider needs you!” Alexei encouraged as he assisted Natasha in getting to her feet. 
 “Good night. We’ll check on you in the morning?” Alexei questioned with soft eyes.
 “Okay good night,” she waved.
 Stepping forward to caress Natasha’s cheek, Melina gently looked her in the eyes, “We love you.”
 “I love you guys too,” Natasha softly whispered.
 Melina gently kissed her between the eyes followed by Alexei pulling her into a big side hug as he kissed the top of her crown, “I love you. Get some sleep huh.”
 Natasha nodded as she walked out the room, “okay.”
 Melina and Alexei lovingly watched as Natasha disappeared down the hall and around the corner, “motherhood looks good on her.”
 “Just like it did you all those years ago,” Alexei praised as he kissed Melina deeply.

            Upon entering the room, Natasha immediately ran to Steve and Wanda’s sides.  
 “Sam left, probably to hang out with Yelena. We got her breathing under control and also figured out what she was trying to say,” Steve clarified.
 “What was it?”
 “Read the whiteboard,” he pointed with his chin. 
 The board was to his right which meant that Sam probably handed it to them before he left the room. Carefully grabbing the board, Natasha silently read to herself, ‘I saw one of the guards the second day we arrived in Russia. His nickname is Trainwreck, I should’ve said something but you guys were already busy. If I said something, we wouldn’t be here. I’m sorry.’ 
 Turning back to Steve, who still cradled the teen to his chest, Natasha sighed softly which snapped Wanda’s eyes to hers.

            ‘I’m sorry,’ she signed with sad eyes.  
 “I’m not upset malysh. You’ve made a ton of improvements these past few months, you should be proud, but facing your abuser isn’t easy especially when you’re just starting to feel sure of yourself. You handled the situation well. The best we can do is keep you safe until we get justice,” she supplied as she stroked Wanda’s cheek.
 “We’re never too busy for you sweetheart, promise,” Steve tacked on as he kissed the top of her head.
 “Ohh but something good did come out of everything- now you have a dedushka and a babushka who’d do anything for you and a tetya that’s a little rough around the edges,” Natasha brightly smiled, kissing her exposed temple.

            A small smile broke out on Wanda’s face as Natasha pulled away, “so there have been positives that have outweighed the negatives, everything’s going to be okay. Are you tired, do you want to go to sleep?” 
 Wanda shook her head no, pointing to the floor where her work was as she clapped her hands together- the American sign for school.
 “that’s fine, you can do your schoolwork, make sure you’re drinking your water too.”
 Wanda nodded again as she shuffled off the bed onto the floor, gently pulling Steve to sit with her. This was good for Wanda she thought, she got over the hill with her parents so all that was left was Yelena- a formidable task.

Chapter Text

          Idly on standby, the rest of the night consisted of Wanda sitting with Steve as she completed her work while Natasha watched overhead from the bed. The conversation with her parents was well needed- the residual resentment she felt towards them all these years finally dissipated as she received the answers she so desperately desired. Only person left was Yelena, and that conversation would be like opening a pack of sausages in a hungry tiger enclosure; there was no part of Natasha that wanted to handle Yelena’s childish tendencies but maybe it’s what she needed too. Noticing how tense Wanda seemed to be, Natasha leaned over the edge of the bed to kiss Wanda’s scalp, pouring as much love and encouragement she could physically muster into it with the goal of getting Wanda to relax. Much to her efforts, it did have some effect she figured as she watched Wanda’s shoulders subtly roll back.

            Steve sent her a warning smile, adoration for the woman he loved teeming over as she was re-solidifying strained relationships for the girl they considered their daughter. Natasha smirked in return, stretching her body to kiss him on the lips before settling back near the edge of the bed. She was pleased to just sit back to watch the two interact, highly doubting that this was now her life; she had never imagined she deserved all this. Dark came and went, with all three still awake as Wanda finished her work before 7 in the morning. She was going to move onto this week’s work, but Steve being the old school, religious man he was, stopped the teen as it was Sunday- she could take a break. And being the easy going person she was, Wanda went along with it, humming as she neatly piled her work in the corner.

            “You did great. Now how about some breakfast?” Natasha politely suggested. With the sun up, now was the best time to get their day going. Steve gently guided Wanda to her feet by extending a helping hand with a warm smile adorning his features- it was one of Wanda’s favorites. The trio calmly strolled into the kitchen together with Natasha placing gentle kisses to Wanda’s head as she murmured reassurances in her ear that she wasn’t upset with her over her late night confession and the girl was also safe and loved. Steve ruffled her hair in agreement before hesitantly kissing the top of her head and smiling when she hummed in satisfaction at the gesture.

            “Hello family,” Alexei happily greeted, placing a plate stacked with food in the middle of the table. 
 “I cooked! Come enjoy!” He excitedly gestured.
 Melina and Yelena didn’t need to be told twice as they filled their plates, leaving their American counterparts to stare unimpressively. Everyone (Sam, Steve, and Wanda) sent Natasha a skeptical look as they glanced back towards the food, it didn’t look very appetizing so their skepticism was well warranted. 
 “It might not be visually appealing but it tastes better than it looks,” she shrugged, shoving some of it in her mouth.
 The lack of disgust across Natasha’s face was enough to satisfy as everyone else dug in, smiling at how tasty the food was compared to how it looked.

———

            Standing in the kitchen alone, Natasha nudged Steve’s shoulder with her elbow, smiling softly at him, “I spoke with my parents last night.” 
 Smirking happily, Steve nudged her back, “Im assuming it went well based on the fact that Alexei cooked today and not Melina.”
 “You say that as if you didn’t like my father’s cooking,” Natasha chuckled.
 Steve laughed too, pulling Natasha into him as he kissed her, “Oh, it was delicious. Just wasn’t expecting it doll.”
 “Everything went well,” she surly chuckled, “and food holds a special place in my father’s heart and cooking is his way of celebrating any major event. He would’ve cooked the day he met Wanda but Melina had already beat him to it.”

            “Does this mean Wanda can form a relationship with them?” Steve inquisitively implored. 
 “I mean yeah, they’re her babushka i dedushka. And it’s clear that it’s something Wanda wants. I’ll give them a little push to get them started,” she hummed, swaying along with Steve.
 “Good. I love you Doll,” he beamed, peppering her face in kisses as she attempted to push him away.
 “Soldier let me go, I have to go help my father with property patrol,” she giggled as she finally escaped his grip.
 “Ooo,” he grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck, “bummer. Be safe,” he murmured with a kiss to her temple.

            Meanwhile, Wanda had procured a chess set from underneath the coffee table, silently playing with Sam as her thoughts raced. As she moved her bishop 3 spaces forward, her eyebrows came to furrow together, though not in concentration. Seeing her thoughts before she vocalized them, Sam allowed his eyes to float up at Wanda’s semi-distressed expression, “Lil red, what’s on your mind?”
 Shakily exhaling, Wanda nervously fidgeted with the marker of her whiteboard, deciding whether or not she should tell Sam. She bit her lip as she wrote a message on her board, ‘I have a problem. None of the signs I come up with for Steve and Tasha fit.’
 “Oh,” Sam muttered, “if you want some help, we can figure it out together,” he cordially offered.

            Wanda huffed with a shake of the head, erasing her board with her sleeve as she wrote something else, ‘no, I have a sign. But I don’t know if it’ll make them angry,’ she frowned.  
 Now it was Sam’s turn to frown as he went to sit by Wanda’s side, “why would it make them angry?”
 ‘What if they don’t feel the same way I do? I really love them… I don’t want them to resent me,’ she slid over to Sam with wide, sad eyes.
 “Nah they wouldn’t do that, they love you too much. But let me ask you a question, are the feelings you’re experiencing new or have they been around for a while?” Sam firmly asked, getting into “counselor mode.”
 Wanda thoughtfully shook her head, scribbling another thought, ‘no. I’ve had these feelings since Greenland but they’re becoming more prevalent now.’
 “Well I think the best thing to do is speak to them about it, have them verbally establish y’all’s relationship. And then once you do that, you can figure out the best course of action to move forward,” Sam encouragingly smiled.

            “It’ll work out. However what you need to be focusing on right now is this game because… checkmate!” the brown eyed man exclaimed, loudly slamming his piece on the board. “You lost, ha!” 
 Wanda’s pout deepened at the revelation, ‘you cheated!’ she signed.
 “I didn’t cheat! How did I cheat?” he questioned between excited pants.
 ‘I was distracted! That’s not fair!’ she half wrote, half signed.
 Upon hearing the loud commotion, Steve poked his head through the door jamb, politely scanning the room for any clues of what had happened, “what is going on?”
 Almost instantly Wanda started signing, angrily motioning to Sam the entire time, ‘we played a game and Sam cheated!’

            “I didn’t cheat. She was distracted which won me the game. Your kid’s just a sore loser,” Sam lamely argued. 
 In the heat of the moment, Wanda childishly stuck her tongue out at the man who reciprocated the action with just as much infantile fervor he could muster.
 “Sam, she’s 16. You’re fighting with a child,” Steve pointed out, grabbing Wanda’s marker and whiteboard.
 “So? I still won,” he countered as the teen and her father walked out the room.
 Wanda, still feeling very juvenile, scrunched her face up, sticking her tongue out one more time at Sam as she trailed behind Steve.

———

            Yelena was in search of Steve and ended up in Natasha’s room with the belief that the the brown haired man would be with his family, her face dropping when she only saw Wanda sleeping on the bed; not at the child but at her assumption being wrong. She could’ve woken up the little one, causing great irritation to her older sister, but decided against it as she just wanted to start her game with everyone. Giving the room a once over, Yelena heavily sighed as she went back to searching for Steve. Her exit would’ve been as as silent as her entry, however, the sight of something obnoxiously bright residing in Wanda’s arms pulled her focus. Carefully stalking closer to the dozing teen, Yelena leaned over her with silent interest, a curiosity and desire to know, brimming deep within her. She rid herself of her questions, gently pulling the door behind her.

            “What are you doing?” Natasha abruptly asked with arms crossed over her chest, subtly peering over the blonde’s shoulder to ensure her child was still asleep; she wasn’t in the mood for any of Yelena’s games so figuring out why she was in her room was a huge must. Tilting her head to the side slightly, resembling a confused puppy, Yelena couldn’t help but to ask, “she sleeps with a teddy bear?” her voice was soft, nothing like Natasha had heard before. 
 The older widow quirked a brow in question, a hint of edge in her voice, “yeah. Is that a problem?”
 “Jeez, I didn’t say it was Natalia. It was just a question, no need to be so rude,” Yelena scoffed, the softness that was once coating her voice now replaced with annoyance.

            “Once again I ask, what are you doing?” Natasha retorted with a mask of disinterest.  
 “Well first I was looking for your husband,” Yelena sarcastically answered back, “not you. And second, Sam and I were going to play a game, we wanted Steve to join.” 
 Looking her sister up and down for a second, Yelena pursed her lips, “you can come to if you’d like.” Her attempt at keeping her voice steady, making sure her eagerness didn’t leak out, was successful as Natasha was none the wiser of her sister’s hopefulness.
 “Sure I’ll join. What time?” the former redhead shrugged.
 “Mmm it was now. But we’ll wait till the little one wakes up otherwise you won’t join us ” Yelena explained.
 Natasha wasn’t bothered by the statement as she knew Yelena was right; she was going to wait till Wanda was awake and oriented before leaving her alone, “that’s fair,” she simply offered.

            Yelena drifted away with a small smirk and quiet hum of satisfaction, leaving Natasha to look into her shared room with relief, Wanda was luckily still slumbering on, undisturbed. When the teen awoke an hour later, it was Natasha’s electric eyes that she gazed into, all loving and warm. She softly smiled back, rubbing at her eyes with an even softer yawn. She let Natasha lead her into the living room where everyone was currently situated- Yelena and Sam were dressed in their winter attire and standing by the front door while Steve sat between Melina and Alexei with his camera in hand, showing them the pictures he (and Wanda) had taken together. Their eyes were filled with quiet love and fondness, not once leaving the digital screen as Steve explained the context behind every photo.
 “Oh great lil red is up. Now we can go play that game Yelena proposed,” Sam announced to the room.

            Steve finished his explanation, handing the camera over to Melina as he rose from the couch to put on his winter coat.  
 “We’re going to be outside, playing a game Yelena and I used to play as kids. Do you want to join?” Natasha courteously asked Wanda.
 The teen shook her head no, she didn’t want have the energy or will to play any game Yelena proposed as the chance of it being violent was extremely high.
 “Okay, we’ll see you guys later,” she shouted towards her parents while putting on her boots.
 Natasha pulled Wanda in close, “those are your grandparents, get to know them,” she mumbled in the teen’s hair as she pulled away from the kiss. Steve quickly kissed the top of Wanda’s head next as he walked out the door, leaving Wanda and her grandparents alone.

            She walked into the kitchen, it seemed most of their conversations took place in this area, sitting down at the island where her whiteboard was.
 “Tiny spider tell us about yourself,” Alexei bit first, kissing Melina as a thank you for the tray of vegetables she placed in front of them.
 “I’ll go first. My name is Alexei Alanovich Shostakov, I like tattoos and Ranch dressing,” he wisely smiled. “Melina, my fox, you go next.”
 Melina pursed her lips in thought as she stole a carrot from the platter, “okay, okay. My name is Melina Vostokoff. I like champagne and caviar… and I dislike slouching, just ask your mother,” she teased.

            Her mama’s words rang strong in her head as she neatly wrote on her whiteboard, ‘My name is Wanda Marya Maximoff. I’m 16, my favorite color is green and I’m a twin.’ 
 “Twin…. There’s more of you?” Alexei gaped in wonder.
 “What is their name?” Melina chirped from his side, just as interested.
 ‘I had a brother. His name was Pietro. He passed away when we were 15,’ she wrote down for them.
 “Oh Peter. A strong name. We must do something special for him,” Alexei insisted, searching the room for anything that would be of proper use.

           Wanda frantically shook her head, pleading on her whiteboard that they didn’t have to do anything. Alexei waved her off with his hand as he searched the kitchen drawers, “nonsense, he is our vnuk.” 
 “We must honor him in some way,” Melina gently fought with a kind smile.
 Wanda relented with a sigh. She watched as the two scrambled around the house, coming back with hands full of popsicle sticks, a hot glue gun, and, sharpies and markers.
 “We will make him something. Tell me what was his favorite color?” Melina firmly asked. It wasn’t harsh but asked in more in a “business” tone. She signed the word for blue- the alphabet sign for the letter ‘B’ waved sided to side, “like how a princess would wave at a parade,” Nat told her. She repeated the sign before writing the word on her board, ‘blue.’

            Alexei copied the sign in tandem of saying the name while Melina searched for the appropriate color. Wanda nodded with a smile as Melina handed her the marker. 
 “What else can you tell us my little cherub?” Melina inquired.
 Wanda thought hard about what they could make that could represent Pietro, a lightning bolt could work except she wasn’t sure she had the skill for that, so she reverted back to their childhood. She had to think- something that was explicitly Pietro but easy enough for her to accomplish. With a light gasp, she scribbled two simple words, ‘we’re Jewish.’
 Melina and Alexei both took that into consideration while grabbing the popsicle sticks and arranging them into a Star of David. Alexei glued the pieces together, giving it enough time to cool them handed it to Wanda, “decorate how you like.”
 The Sokovian took her time coloring the sticks, alternating between a cobalt blue and a sky blue with every other stick until it was colored to perfection.

            Using an ultra fine point sharpie, she transcribed his name in the top stick, followed by more words as she went along the design until it was completed. She handed the trinket to Alexei who handled it with great care. 
 “I know just the place to put it,” Melina stated, pulling Alexei along as Wanda carefully followed behind. They stopped at a hutch that was positioned on the wall at the end of the hallway, equidistant from her grandparents room and the guest room. Adorning the hutch was what Wanda assumed was no ordinary book, based off its stem, covered in tiny pink and yellow cosmos, a red Guardian action figurine, and a black widow hourglass pin. The top of the hutch had two glass doors, which is where Melina reached into, letting the Star of David lean against the wood.
 “To Pietro Django Maximoff.
Son• Brother• Grandson• Avenger.
Forever young, Forever cherished,” Alexei read out loud as Melina closed the case. Wanda held back her tears as she mentally recited the El Malei Rachamim- this wasn’t necessarily his tombstone but it was close enough, she thought.

             Sniffles escaped Wanda as she wiped away her fallen tears, giving Melina and Alexei a watery smile with a thumbs up. They sadly smiled in return, heading back towards the kitchen to retrieve Wanda’s whiteboard. 
 “We will cook his favorite foods tonight. But enough about our vnuk. Come met the pigs,” Melina beckoned towards the coat stand with camera in hand. Alexei animatedly snorted whilst putting on his jacket, eliciting a round of giggles from Wanda.

———

          That night as Wanda was preparing for bed, Natasha had been lounging on the bed, resting her worked bones. The game of Ambush, a childhood favorite, exercised muscles Natasha hadn’t used in months but however atrophied they were, Yelena and Steve had not been able to keep up with her and Sam. Natasha joyfully hummed to herself as her body relaxed into the bed. She craned her head at the opening door, smiling mischievously at Steve as he entered the room. 
 “Great game today doll,” he complimented, leaning down to deeply kiss her lips which held a growing smirk. As he laid next to her, one of her hands found its way under his tank-top while the other mindlessly stroked his chest, “that’s what losers say Steve.”
 “No, that’s what good sportsmanship looks like. Not that you would know,” he jested.
 “Cause I never lose. Plain and simple,” she retorted.

            A hearty laugh rumbled low in his stomach, shaking Natasha who was trying to snuggle into his chest. The sound of his laughter caused Wanda to poke her head out the bathroom door, a wide smile forming around her toothbrush. She hurried to finish her nighttime routine, grabbing her whiteboard as she climbed over Natasha, who had rolled away from Steve to peer at the energetic teen while she moved around the room faster than she could’ve imagined.  
 ‘Are you staying tonight papa bear?’ she scrawled into her board.
 “Yeah, I’ll stay tonight. What’s going on?” he gazed into Wanda’s large, green eyes.
 ‘Can I tell you guys about my day?’ she wrote.
 “Sure, we’d love for you to tell us malysh,” Natasha whispered, her melting heart making it impossible to speak any louder.

            Settling into the space between Steve and Natasha with a happy squeal, Wanda gleefully recounted her day, incorporating both sign language and her board whenever there was something she didn’t know. They both listened patiently as she recounted everything from the board game with Sam, making sure to let her mama know about how the man duped her out of a win without revealing the contents of their conversation- to speaking about Pietro and meeting the pigs. Natasha brushed back a strand of her hair that fell into her face when she was vigorously signing about meeting Alexei, the pig, not her grandfather. 
 ‘They even made his favorite foods!’ Wanda revealed causing Natasha to laugh as she guided Wanda to lay back.

            “That’s great malysh but it’s time to sleep now. You can tell us more in the morning,” Natasha yawned, cutting out the lights. Wanda huffed with a dissatisfied pout as her mother laid her down. Kissing Steve’s cheek gently, making the man blush in the dark room, Wanda rolled into Natasha’s side to rest her head against her chest. Wanda’s hand snaked under Natasha’s shirt to rest on her stomach, the woman kissing her head good night as she tapped on her back.

            Wanda’s brows furrowed as she read the spines of the multitude of books adorning the living room wall. Wanda knew her babka liked to read but this surpassed even the library at the Tower which in a way made sense as the Tower was bigger, meaning more space to place more books. She was stalling time before she had to read her world literature book, she took today off from school but wanted to do something peaceful and quiet, the issue with that was that she didn’t have any other books to read besides her school books. Well she did but she wouldn’t read the two in her backpack as her parents were reading them to her, it had been a while since they’d done it but still, it was their thing.

            Her fingers delicately brushed across the worn spines, touches so light that it didn’t disturb the dust resting in the pits of the woven yarn. So entranced with her current ministrations, she didn’t sense the other person in the room until they were breathing down her neck, “curiosity from a young age should be discouraged,” their signature Russian lilt offsetting Wanda. 
She jumped back with an indiscernible look while the person in question sported a Cheshire like smile, eyes shifty like a cat. Wanda obstinately stared the woman down as honey- green eyes stared back with the same intensity. Clicking her tongue, Yelena tilted her head, smirking on an exhale, “the Red Room would have killed you for this behavior,” she tsk’d.

            The stare down continued with unwavering determination as Yelena looked for a response, anything that indicated that she got under the Sokovian’s skin- a lip twitch, tightening of the jaw, anything. But as Natasha’s child, her features were smooth and unreadable until it briefly happened; the quickest glimpse that internally had Yelena questioning what the hell was happening. Wanda’s irises, usually a soft greenish- grey in color flashed red- a crimsonish, scarlet that was unnatural in every way she could envision it. She didn’t flinch, only smirking wider as the teen wrote something on her whiteboard, ‘this isn’t the Red Room,’ she huffed as she stormed out the room to read one of her literature books.

            That night, Wanda didn’t tell her parents, or anyone, about the incident that took place with her aunt, choosing to just forget it as she crawled into bed. She listened as her parents each recounted their day before she recounted hers, only the more “exciting” parts that is. She kissed Steve’s cheek again before curling into Natasha’s side with her head resting atop her chest. Yelena had upset her earlier, that was true, but laying between her parents was enough to help her sleep easy. 

            Wanda didn’t know what it was about today, this Tuesday in particular, but for some reason she couldn’t seem to focus on any of her work. She was situated at the island, reviewing her work for the week when her vision split into two, forcing her to blink hard to reorient her eyes. She huffed in frustration as she was only on the third page of her World History textbook when she had started reading an hour ago; her brain wasn’t comprehending anything and on top of all that, she felt unreasonably tired despite the decent sleep she received the night prior. She scanned the room, a small pout forming on her lips at no one being around as she “encouraged” herself to get back to work. After a some undetermined time, the sound of commotion near the front door hallway made her swivel in her seat. 
 “Hey kid, we’re going to go spar in the snow. Are you joining us?” Sam asked first.

            Wanda shook her head no, pointing to her schoolwork with a disjointed expression.  
 “Oh that’s right, you have school,” he laughed in a playful manner.
 Normally, Wanda would give into the winged man’s antics but she just didn’t feel up to it today, instead giving him a melancholic half smirk as she nodded. Natasha made her way over to Wanda, grabbing her cheeks to plop a big kiss on top of her head, “we’ll be back. If you need anything, just ask Melina and Alexei, they’re in their room for now, okay?”
 Wanda closed her eyes, leaning into the calming nature of Natasha’s palms. The spy in turn furrowed her brows at the slight warmness of Wanda’s cheeks. There was an uncomfortable feeling settling in the bottom of her stomach, one that she pushed down for now.

            Wanda waved everyone goodbye as she turned her attention back to her books. It took another 15 minutes for her to actually be able to read, getting through two paragraphs when Alexei loudly marked his entrance, “look tiny spider. I have something to show you!”  
 Wanda turned in her seat, a short laugh escaping her lips at Alexei’s getup. He somehow managed to fit all of himself into his old Red Guardian suit, helmet and all. Melina stood by his side, clapping with a larger than life grin at her husband and his old relic of a suit. Although her muscles ached and her head swirled when she stood up, Wanda carefully walked into the room to procure the camera, snapping pictures of the two with a tiny smile.

            That night when preparing for bed, Natasha frowned at Steve. The sparring session was well needed on all fronts- Yelena to blow some off some steam and the other three to get back into their regular work out routine. It had surprisingly been fun with no negative quips from either Red Room spy, no broken bones (or egos), and no serious loss of blood- overall, a great day. Except Natasha couldn’t fight the nagging feeling hanging around her all day about Wanda’s behavior. The girl didn’t eat much at dinner, taking 4 bites of her ham-free Olivier salad before outright refusing to eat anything more. Fortunately with some convincing on Steve’s end, 4 bites turned into 7- not much but it was something, Natasha praised.

            Which is how they found themselves climbing into bed around the sleeping teenager, leaving her in the middle like they had been for the past two days. 
 “Has Wanda’s behavior seemed off to you today?” Natasha whispered, tucking the blanket around Wanda’s shoulders.
 “Yes,” Steve quickly answered, leaning on his left elbow, “when was the last time she fought us over something as inane as food? Hasn’t been since… Wakanda maybe?” he replied in the same hushed tone.
 “Something has to be bothering her right? There’s no reason for her to have been fine and then turn a 180° in less than a day. Something’s wrong but I don’t know what,” Natasha divulged to him in a panicky shake.
 Reaching out, Steve trailed his right arm up and down Natasha’s side in a relaxing gesture, “don’t worry. Remember, there’s up days and down days- this might just be a down day. We can ask and talk to her about it in the morning. For now, she’s sleeping peacefully so we should do the same.”

            Siding down under the covers, Natasha squeezed Steve’s hand in a reassuring gesture, softly kissing it as she burrowed to sleep. For a good portion of the night, until around 1 in the morning, the only sounds heard in the room was deep breathing paired with the intermittent snore from Steve. That was until pathetic, little whimpers sounded from Natasha’s left. Groggily reaching a hand out for Wanda, Natasha pulled the girl into her warmth, tapping her back as she gently shushed her. She felt a hand overlap hers to join in the tapping, one that was roughy yet smooth at the same time. A dry hum escaped Natasha’s lips in appreciation, she still woke up first whenever Wanda experienced nightmares but she would admit that Steve was getting faster in responding to both their needs. Without waking their child, the two settled Wanda down, soothing her back into sleep after what they believed were the beginning throes of a nightmare.

            That assumption was proven wrong when early in the morning, at around 7:15, Wanda rolled over into Steve’s side with a depressing whimper while simultaneously reaching a hand out to grip onto Natasha’s shirt. The action has them both awake, immediately scanning the teen over in response. They noticed that she wasn’t actually awake, and if she was her eyes were shut tightly. 
 “She feels a little warm,” Steve commented, using the back of his hands to feel around her forehead and cheeks. He placed his lips on her forehead to truly gauge her heat index, “yeah warmer than usual. Do you have any thermometers around?”
 Natasha rubbed her eyes, thinking hard, “ I believe in the kitchen somewhere, I’ll be back,” she declared, softly prying Wanda’s fingers from her shirt.

            She hurriedly stumbled into the kitchen to begin rummaging through the drawers for the thermometer she swears she saw the other day. 
 “Morning Nat, how’s it going?” Sam softly husked from the table, sipping some tea.
 “Wanda’s sick,” she cut to the chase, leaving no time for niceties as they needed to check Wanda’s temperature.
 “Lemme know when you need anything” he whisper-yelled as Natasha darted around the corner. He assumed the spy heard him as he wasn’t going to get confirmation, not when she was in this state. Entering the room made Natasha’s chest warm at the sigh in front of her; under different circumstances, Steve cradling Wanda’s head as it rested on his chest would’ve been cute and made for a great picture.
 “I got the thermometer,” she whispered while crossing the room.

            With some light coaxing by softly tapping against Wanda’s cheek, they were able to insert the thermometer under the girl’s essentially deadweight of a tongue while anxiously waiting for results. 
 “It’s okay if she’s sick. I was always sick when I was younger and you probably were too, we can take care of her,” Steve reasoned, looking at Wanda’s semi flushed cheeks. 
 Natasha sat across from him, her eyes surveying Wanda’s face as well, “I don’t mind her being sick. My concern is how she’s going to communicate her discomfort. Prior to being with us, she was speaking, so she could verbally express her symptoms. Now she uses a whiteboard and sign language. Writing is going to be the last thing she wants to do and then with signing; she doesn’t know all the signs for the symptoms she’s experiencing so she’s being limited and I don’t like that for her.”

            Steve released a sound between understanding and frustration, Natasha made some fair points that only added onto his anxiety about the whole situation. He stayed silent, waiting for the thermometer to beep, then abruptly removing it from the teen’s mouth when it did. He read the numbers then held out the small device for Natasha to read. Her temperature wasn’t high but it wasn’t low either, meaning this next few days were going to be challenging for an entirely different reason.

Chapter Text

            “102.8 °F. That’s not so bad,” Natasha muttered.
 Steve sent her an incredulous look, back when he was younger, a fever this high was an automatic death sentence. Catching his look, Natasha quietly chuckled, “oh, don’t look at me like that. It’s not the 1920’s anymore Soldier. She’ll be fine, she’ll be uncomfortable but live. You don’t have to worry about that anymore,” she whispered, brushing strands of hair from Wanda’s sleeping face.
 Steve knew she was right, while he did get sick a lot in his youth that all essentially stopped once he was injected with the super soldier serum, not having been sick since. Switching his concerns over to Wanda, Steve gently glanced down at her, “should we wake her?”
 “No, no let her rest. We’ll take care of her when she wakes up on her own,” Natasha whispered while rolling out off her side of the bed.

            Natasha had more recent experience with sick individuals than Steve especially ones on the younger end of the spectrum- the Barton kids being the first ones that came to mind, so he would go along with her intuitions for the time being. His attempt at carefully placing Wanda on the mattress below was thwarted when her grip on his shirt tightened slightly followed by a protesting whine. He was quick to stop, pulling her closer to him at the heart pulling sound, “looks like I’ll be staying here for a while,” he whispered to Natasha with loving eyes. Natasha nodded in response, throwing her hair back into a low ponytail before reaching for the doorknob, “it’s okay. I’ll get breakfast so we can eat it in here.” Steve let his head gently drop to the side so that his cheek was resting on Wanda’s overly warm forehead.

            Her mind had been worrying about Wanda when her mother cheerily greeted her, drawing her stupor, “morning Natasha.”  
 “dobroye utro mama,” she replied in response, taking a seat at one of the stools situated at the island; she hadn’t been paying attention so naturally she fell back on her mother tongue. Melina’s smile faltered slightly at the reply as normally Natasha only stuck to speaking English when back home, “Natasha, are you alright?”
 “Mmhm…. Wanda’s sick. I thought Sam would’ve told you,” she peered up at her mom.  
 Melina breathily laughed, shaking her head in amusement as she went to stand by Natasha to cup her face, “no. I haven’t seen him all morning. He must be out with your father or Yelena. How long has the little cherub been sick?” 
 “I guess today,” she answered uncertainly, “although yesterday when I went to kiss her goodbye, her cheeks were a tad bit warmer than they usual are but I had brushed it off, just assuming it was a natural thing.”

             Melina wrapped her arms around Natasha’s shoulders where her head fell to rest on Melina’s stomach as she swayed them back and forth, “sickness is common. I’ll make breakfast while you get her what you need,” she encouraged, kissing the top of Natasha’s head, “Stiven khotel by kofe ili chay? (Would Steven like coffee or tea?” 
 “kofe, pozhaluysta (coffee please),” she answered, moving around the room to comply with her mama’s instructions.
 Since they already had the thermometer in the room, all that was left was to grab water, medicine, and some light foods that Wanda could munch on; water was the easiest to acquire but the other two items she needed turned into a treasure hunt with no end in sight, “you don’t have any medicines do you?”
 Melina sadly smiled behind the stove, “no, I’m afraid we don’t. Your father and I no longer get sick… Red Room,” she sheepishly expressed.

            Natasha mentally kicked herself, she knew that information as it was the same case for her as well.  
 “Take a breathe,” Melina soothed, carding her fingers through Natasha’s brunette locks, “I will finish breakfast and have your father run down to the store. Make sure you take care of yourselves while taking care of her.”
 “khorosho mama (okay mama).” Fortunately, Natasha didn’t have to wait long, Melina and put a rush on cooking, resulting in steaming buckwheat porridge topped with honey and strawberries with tea for Natasha and draniki, syrniki, ham and fried eggs with coffee for Steve. Melina helped Natasha carry the food into the room, stopping herself at the doorframe to hand her daughter the other plate of food with a supportive smile, “I’m sending your father out now. Do you need anything else?” 
 “I believe that’s all for now,” Natasha whispered back. She was about to close the door when another thought hit her, “can you get liquid and tablets for the fever reducer please? I don’t know which one will be less difficult for her to handle.”

            “Yes, yes we’ll get them both. Go focus on the little one, we’ll return soon,” Melina relayed, waving bye to her daughter and Steve.  
 Once back in the room, Natasha pulled the rocking chair to Steve’s side with his plate, stabbing some ham on the fork before extending it out to her boyfriend who shook his head, “no, you don’t have to do that. I’ll eat when she wakes up.”
 “Shhh. Let me do this for you, she’s comfortable so let’s not disrupt her sleep,” she surmised.
 With an appreciative smile, Steve opened his mouth to allow Natasha to carefully shovel the contents of the fork in there. She hummed as she took a spoonful of her food before repeating her actions with Steve; this back and forth persisted until both of their plates were empty and their bellies were full. Poking his lips out to ask for an appreciative kiss, Natasha obliged, pecking him with a small laugh.

            “What’s your definition of a high fever?”  
 “What?” Natasha questioned in response.
 “You said her fever wasn’t high. So what do you consider a high fever?” he clarified.
 “Mmmm… 104 or higher. But in Wanda’s case, if her temperature increases to 103°, then I’ll worry.”
 Steve didn’t need any specific number to worry; Wanda’s temperature was close to that, not needing to rise more than half a degree to chart dangerous territory, so he was worried for his child… or maybe it was something more. He brought his lips to her forehead again, drawing back with a look of discontentment, “her temperature feels about the same but now she’s sweating a bit,” he informed his significant other, tossing the blanket away from his and Wanda’s conjoined bodies.
 The sleeping teenager continued to do just that, sleep, until 40 minutes later where she stretched against Steve with a disgruntled sound.

            A tiny smile appeared on Natasha’s face; Wanda’s eyes were glassy and bloodshot from the illness but at least she was awake now, “hi malysh. how do you feel?” she questioned in a calm voice. 
 Wanda blankly stared, blinking tiredly as she processed the question. She gave Natasha a thumbs down which resulted in the woman laughing a bit- that wasn’t the official sign for bad but she got the gist.
 “Yeah, we know you’re a little under the weather. Can you tell me what hurts or doesn’t feel well?” she continued in that same tone; part of her felt as if she was infantilizing the teen while the other part told her that she was just being gentle. Steve and Natasha patiently watched as Wanda’s brows furrowed slightly in thought before she slowly pointed to her head, “a headache. What else?” Steve pushed.
 Next, she placed a hand on her chest indicating congestion and then held up a balled fist and shook it- the universal sign for cold.

            “You’re cold because you’re running a fever. Do you want to take a cool bath?” Natasha politely asked. 
 Wanda didn’t like that suggestion, so she tightened her grip on Steve’s shirt with a protesting moan; she just wanted to stay wrapped up in her papa’s arms for a while.
 “It’s okay, it’s okay. We don’t have to get up yet, we’ll just lay here for 20 more minutes,” Steve soothed, using his free hand to stroke lazy patterns up and down Wanda’s back.
 The two stayed like that for another 30 minutes with Steve talking about nonsensical topics in a low tone while Natasha cleaned up, washing their used dishes in the kitchen. When she started coughing into his chest, Steve’s face twisted into a grimace; not at the behavior that many would deem disgusting but at the way Wanda’s body shook with each one and how compacted with phlegm they seemed to be. The hand that stroked her back then turned into gentle tapping, to assist in expelling any unseen irritants bothering her throat. He was proud of himself when the rough hacking ceased only to look on in horror when Wanda abruptly sat up straight, projectile vomiting on herself and her surrounding area. Pulling her hair back, Steve rubbed large circles on the crying teen’s back while he shushed her, “get it out kid… you feel better?” he questioned when Wanda finally finished.

            She was still crying, using her right hand to exhaustedly rub at her eyes while attempting to calm herself down. She was going to nod yes when another bout of nausea struck her from nowhere, forcing her to vomit again. 
 “Nat! I need a bowl! Quick!” Steve yelled out, doing his best to keep his voice calm while also simultaneously helping Wanda. As a matter of fact, he was so caught up in Wanda that he didn’t notice when Natasha had slipped in, placing the bowl in front of her to catch any remaining vomit spewing from the girl. When it was all said and down, Natasha took a minute to observe the scene- vomit had been sprayed across the length of the bed, soiling the comforter and sheets below and also coated the front of Wanda’s shirt and part of Steve’s left leg- before dumping the vomit in the toilet.
 “Just breathe… deep breathes just like that,” he encouraged, sending Wanda a trying smile. When Natasha returned, she patted Steve’s chest with a grimace like smile, “it’s my turn to be with her, you go shower.”
 Steve nodded, rubbing Wanda’s back for a few more minutes before gingerly sliding off the bed, carefully hobbling out the door to not spread any vomit on the floor.

            Natasha’s hands quickly replaced Steve’s, taking residence where his hands once rested, “Steve’ll be back. Why don’t we get you washed up in the meantime?” she hummed. With the way everything was going, Natasha was sure that Wanda wouldn’t agree to a bath but maybe the warmth of regurgitated food sitting on her chest and abdomen made Wanda more compliant because to Natasha’s surprise, the girl readily agreed. She guided Wanda into the bathroom, leading her over to the shower, “I’m going to get you some clean clothes while you get in the tub.”  
 Wanda moaned in acknowledgement while Natasha left her, closing the door behind her so that Wanda could do what she needed in private. In the bedroom, Natasha sighed to herself, wondering where the best place to start cleaning would be. She focused on the bed, stripping the fitted sheet, the pillowcases, and comforter and tossed them in the floor, leaving the bed bare.

            Fortunately, the mattress below remained unsullied due to her mama’s desire to line every mattress with an old blanket, for extra comfort and protection. As she placed a new (old) blanket on the mattress to begin making the bed, her eyes drifted over to the doorframe where she heard two distinct voices speaking in a hushed tone. 
 “Woah… that’s so-“ 
 “Gross.”
 “I was going to say cool,” Yelena shrugged, “look at the distance.” 
 “You and I have very different definitions of the word cool,” Sam protested. 
 “Ehh. It’s subjective,” she heard them say as they finally walked away.
 Natasha’s lips quirked into an amused smile, much to her chagrin, at the other adults in the house. With the bed now complete, Natasha went to toss the dirty bedspread in the washer, taking note of the medicines sitting on the kitchen island.

            On her way back to the room, she made sure to carry them back with her, setting them on the bedside table as she went into the bathroom. She frowned upon seeing Wanda sitting on the toilet seat with her eyes closed, still dry in her filthy clothes. Wanda’s eyes opened a crack when she heard the door squeak open, a strange shimmer of emotion Natasha had never seen from the teen glowing in her eyes; almost instantly Wanda pointed to the tub then made the sign for help in a small gesture.  
 “Okay. A lukewarm bath should help,” she stated as she ran the tub. While that was happening, she made her way over to Wanda, gently French braiding her hair out of her sticky face before kneeling in front of her.
 “I’m going to take off your shirt now okay,” she announced. While Wanda had grown more accustomed to touches from her and Steve over the past few weeks, she figured the girl still had an issue with baring more skin than necessary as she always sported pants and long sleeves. Wanda was pliant in Natasha’s grasp, letting her strip her down before assisting her with getting in the tub.

            Wanda released as soft cry when her achy body came in contact with the cool water causing Natasha to coo. She let Wanda stay in the water for 10 minutes, using a wash cloth to purposely run water over her face, neck, and chest to cool her down. Wanda stood up but could feel her whole body ache as Natasha wrapped her up in a warm towel. Natasha quickly searched Wanda’s black backpack for underwear, mentally grateful that Wanda was smart enough to pack a couple pairs of them before they had to leave the house in Russia. She also pulled out a gray long sleeve Henley shirt that looked vaguely familiar- she had stole it from Steve years ago but now it seemed to be in possession of the little witch. She dressed Wanda as quickly as she could with one arm as the other was supporting the girl who was heavily leaning on her while releasing dissatisfied whimpers every few seconds; Natasha could see that it was taking all of Wanda’s strength just to be upright. When she finally did get her dressed, Wanda all but collapsed on the freshly made bed below her, curling up with a congested sigh.

            Natasha smiled to herself, it was only 11:30 in the morning yet the day felt as if it had been dragging along an anchor on hot sand with no breaks and she was beginning to feel the effects of caring for a sick child. She sipped some water, wondering what she was going to do next when Wanda whined, making grabby hands at her while she tossed and turned a bit. Natasha’s heart warmed at the gesture, no one besides Nate and he was a baby, that’s just what they did, ever reacted to Natasha that way. She slid in next to Wanda where the teen shuffled close to her chest, sticking a hand under her shirt to rest on her abdomen while Natasha snuggled her close. Cuddling would be doing the exact opposite of reducing Wanda’s fever so they would have to forgo a blanket for now but the teen didn’t seem to mind as she drifted off to sleep, Natasha as well.

            “Nat…. Nat… doll wake up…”. 
 Natasha roughly blinked herself awake with a groan at the calling of her name and the soft push on her shoulder. She groaned again when she realized it was Steve and her mama standing by the door with two trays of food with her papa right behind them, looking down in awe.
 “We brought some food. Come sit and eat up, it’s good for you,” Melina spoke in a hushed tone. She had Alexei bring the rocking chair over to Natasha’s side while Steve went to sit at the foot of the bed.
 “I am going to leave, I just wanted to check on the tiny spider and my older baby huh. Steve tells me she throw up twice,” Alexei declared in a surprisingly sweet voice.
 Rubbing her eyes, Natasha propped herself up on the headboard, moving Wanda’s hand back to her stomach when she felt it slid off from her movement, “I’m alright. It’s just been a long day. She threw up and I managed to get her into a cool bath but it doesn’t feel as if it helped,” she yawned.

            Grabbing the thermometer, Alexei quietly crossed the room to stand behind a sleeping Wanda, “let me?” he asked.  
 Natasha nodded, gently tapping her finger against Wanda’s cheek to get her to open her mouth which she did with a tired yawn. Alexei slipped the thermometer in, humming to himself as he and the others waited for the results. He handed Natasha the thermometer when it beeped, not looking himself as it was more pertinent for the parents of the child to know the results first rather than the grandparents.
 “102.9°… it went up,” she announced to the room.
 “That is alright,” Alexei reassured, “sometimes these things fluctuate. Food, medicine, and sleep and she will be fine. Mother, you stay and help, I will feed Сэм and Елена then keep them busy. Oh, a spar, they would love that,” he rambled a bit, kissing all three women’s head before exiting the room.

            Kissing her teeth, Melina chuckled as she stirred Nat’s food, “that man… he is something wonderful,” she smiled, holding out a fork for Natasha to bite.  
 Natasha’s eyes darted to see Steve smiling adoringly into his food, she was the Black Widow, she didn’t need to be fed so she put up a protest at her mother’s actions, “mama, it’s okay I can wait-“
 “Ah!” she silenced her, “let mama take care of you hmm?”
 The beginning effects of overflowing emotion were beginning to take effect inside Natasha, her eyes watering from the immense feeling of care her mother was exuding. She ate the rest of her food without any words, listening to Melina tell Steve about the time that Natasha stopped a bully from picking on Yelena, who had a bad day at school, when they were walking home. Steve could see that past Yelena’s prickly exterior, she cared deeply for her sister and probably needed reassurance that she wasn’t leaving again like how Natasha needed reassurance from her parents about the Red Room and their feelings about being parents.

            Some work clearly needed to be done but at least everything wasn’t as messy as when they first arrived. When the meals were finished, Steve collected all the empty plates to do the dishes, leaving mothers and daughters to be together. 
 “Thanks mama,” Natasha thanked as she rubbed her nose.
 “Oh Natalia, the little cherub is awake,” Melina happily cooed, her eyes falling on Wanda’s waking face. The teen gave a stretch with a frown, groaning as the action exacerbated her achy joints.
 “That she is,” Natasha agreed. She shuffled around until she was sitting with her back completely resting on the headboard as Wanda looked up at her with sad eyes. “It’s time to eat,” she whispered to the sick child which deepened Wanda’s frown. She didn’t want food.

            With a little bit of effort, Wanda rose to a sitting position, gazing between her babka then mama as a tray with a bowl of soup was transferred her way. 
 “You know the spiel- you only have to take a few bites, we’ll give you some medicine, and then you can go back to sleep if you want,” Natasha iterated but Wanda was having none of that.
 She handed Natasha back the tray, shaking her head no while backing away slightly. Natasha could already feel her frustrations growing, this and giving her medicine, would be the hardest part of Wanda being sick but stuck to her guns, handing the tray back to Wanda with a firm look, “just a small amount so the medicine can work better.”
 The illness was making Wanda more resistant, as this time she grabbed the tray and instead of handing it to Natasha, she gave it to Melina who was shocked at Wanda’s behavior- she always seemed to listen to her parents.

            Wanda crossed her arms over her chest with defiance- she wasn’t going to eat the soup and she definitely wasn’t taking any medicine. Natasha took the bowl, placing herself directly in front of Wanda as she spoke, “Wanda, you need to eat. You’ve thrown up twice now which means you have nothing in your system which will only make you feel worse. Just a take a few spoonfuls, please,” the former spy pleaded. 
 Truth be told, all Wanda wanted to do was be wrapped in the comfort of her mama’s arms but she was also uncomfortable from the fever, congestion, and the repeated tensing of her stomach from throwing up and lack of food so all she could do was fuss.
 “If you sit still long enough, maybe we can feed you and then we’ll be done,” Melina suggested, not understanding the gravitas of her words.
 Natasha’s head snapped in Wanda’s direction, who at this point, burst into panicked sobs while vehemently whipping her head back and forth.

            “I- I am sorry. What did I do?” Melina quizzically implored. 
 Pulling Wanda into her lap so that her head rested against her chest, Natasha just gazed at her mother, choosing to calm Wanda down over answering her mother’s question. The sobs were never ending as Natasha rocked the teen from side to side, muttering soft reassurances in her Russian into her scalp while alternating between kissing her head and temple. Loud sobs eventually dissipated into broken hiccups and rough coughs as Nat tapped Wanda’s back to draw out any more coughs hiding within her chest. Pulling the girl way, Natasha had Wanda in a position to where she could look her in the eyes, “let’s try again. No one will feed you if that’s not what you want, okay? Never that, I promise. But you have to eat and take some medicine before you go back to sleep. We’ll wait her until you feel up for it but it’s going to happen,” she sternly enunciated.

            They’d been sitting for a little over an hour when Wanda finally fell back into Natasha’s chest, snuggling her head into the crook of her neck as she wetly coughed. It didn’t matter that they weren’t biologically related, if you could see the identical looks both Widows donned on their faces… if it were anybody else, this situation would’ve been over as soon as it started but this was Wanda- both women had a soft spot for her. Natasha knew she was stubborn, it was essentially her birthright, but she also knew Wanda could be just as stubborn if not worse when it all came down to it. Nervously, as if treading dangerous waters, Wanda slid her hand underneath Natasha’s shirt, waiting to see what she’d do and as if it were an automatic response, Natasha began tapping lightly against Wanda’s back. After relishing in the comfort for a few more minutes, Wanda tapped her hand on Natasha’s stomach, gaining her interest with a curious hum.

            She performed a simple sign, pinching all her fingers together then bringing them to her mouth, the sign for eat; she repeated it again, just to make sure Natasha was paying attention. 
 Sitting up a bit straighter, Natasha glanced down, “you’re ready to eat now? Okay. Mama, can you pass me the bowl please?”
 Frowning, Wanda handed the bowl back to Melina when it made its way into her hands, she would eat but only if Natasha held her. She signed eat then pointed to Melina then pointed to Natasha while singing hold.
 “You want me to hold you while she feeds you?” Natasha verbally clarified to which Wanda nodded, furrowing deeper into Natasha’s body. “That’s only if your babushka agrees.”
 Melina perked up at Wanda’s request, situating herself directly across her daughter and granddaughter, “oh, I would love to,” she almost squealed in delight.

            When Wanda made it to 10 bites then pushed the spoon away, Natasha exhaled a sigh of relief, she wanted the girl to eat at least 5 bites before giving her fever reducer and she superseded that. 
 “Pills or liquid?” Melina asked, holding up the two for Wanda to see. She pointed to the pills, swallowing them down with water much to Natasha’s desires. The spy laid Wanda on her stomach, tapping her back rhythmically to get her to fall asleep now that there was food, water, and medicine in her system. With all that in mind, it didn’t take Wanda long to drift back into a semi-comfortable sleep.
 “Oh dear. That was a task… you handled it well,” Melina praised with a tender smile. Natasha preened at the compliment,” thank you. Steve and I have been… figuring it out. Sometimes it feels like we’re not doing enough to help her though.”
 “The tribulations of being a parent,” Melina countered.

            “Now that she’s asleep, I’m going to shower. Rejuvenate myself,” Natasha said as she shook her limbs. 
 “Okay love,” her mother caressed her cheek, “we’re around if you need anything, do not hesitate.”
 “We won’t. Oh and to answer your question: you did nothing wrong. Wanda was force fed on the Raft. She struggles with the idea of people helping her eat unless she proposes the idea.”  
 “I apologize. I didn’t mean to escalate the situation,” Melina casually apologized.  
 “It’s not your fault. Thank you for your help,” she smiled, looking on as her mother collected all the dishes. Placing Owl in Wanda’s arms, Natasha headed into the bathroom to cleanse herself and her mind of the troubles of the day.

            The shower did much for Natasha’s mind, putting many things into perspective for her as she had time to herself to think. Glancing towards the bed, Natasha was happy to see that Wanda was still sleeping as she got her own self dressed. Simple loungewear would do, she thought to herself, heading into the kitchen to eat dinner with the others. She took her spot next to Steve, who rubbed her thigh as soon as she sat down, “Wanda’s sleeping. Hopefully through the rest of the night too,” she told him. He nodded his response with a sleepy nod, she understood too, caring for a sick, mute teenager was a lot of work. Conversation around the table flowed easily, there wasn’t much to recount as there was a lot of back and forth with Wanda but the tiny distraction was needed. After dinner, everyone dispersed: Alexei and Melina heading into their room to shower, Sam in his room, and Yelena in the living room.

            “Doll, Sam wanted to talk about something. When I’m done, I’ll stay with Wanda,” he yawned. 
 “Yeah, yeah okay,” she yawned back, his yawn triggering her urge to yawn. She stood at the island, leaning on her elbows when her ears picked up tiny sniffles. She rushed into the room, scanning Wanda over when she saw that she had knocked Owl on the floor. Natasha gingerly placed the stuffy back in Wanda’s sleeping arms, closing her eyes briefly when Wanda quietly went back to sleep. She silently traipsed out the room, leaving the door ajar behind her when she ran into the person she needed to see, “is the little one okay?” the blonde questioned while attempting to peer over her sister’s shoulder to look into the dark room. Natasha’s face set into a look of hardened determination, “you and I need to speak now!” she demanded in a harsh whisper. The concern on Yelena’s face morphed into a look of hard conviction as she scoffed at her sister’s statement.

            She crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant scoff, “and if I say no?”  
 Yelena allowed herself to be forcibly dragged behind Natasha, who tossed her coat at her before putting hers on, then slamming the front door just a bit when Yelena finally exited. She stalked over to the back of the house, where the forest of trees were, giving the idea of open space but also still guarded from public eye.
 “What has been your problem? Ever since we arrived here, you’ve been nothing but rude and catty to not only me but to Steve and Wanda as well. What did we do?” she angrily questioned. 
 “They didn’t do anything Natalia but you did!” the blonde snapped, “the day you brought down the Red Room and disappeared without me! In Ohio, you said we were sisters… that we’d always be together but you just left!” Yelena seethed, her voice breaking at the mention of being sisters. “We were free but I didn’t know what to do. I just wanted my big sister but you weren’t there! Where were you!?”she cried, aggressively scrubbing away the tears on her face.

            “I-I tried but I couldn’t turn back. I did want you with me which is why I fought so when I first go out- taking missions in foreign countries in hopes that you joined a similar agency, doing what I was doing but.. then it was too much. The missions, the traumas, and the ever developing duress that I wasn’t cleaning my ledger fast enough to be a good person, to be someone you needed. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t go back but it’s the one decision I regret everyday.”
 Sniffling, Yelena continued, shaking her head at her sister’s assertions, “yeah right. And then you bring that girl in here with- with your happy family that you didn’t run away from… rubbing it in my face. It’s not fair!” she wailed.
 Natasha’s heart broke in a different way for her sister, she had just chalked Yelena’s negative behavior up to sibling rivalry when all this time she was emotionally hurt just as Natasha felt with their parents.
 “It’s… not fair,” she cried with her head down. “I wanted that too… I want that too. I want to sleep with a teddy bear, oblivious to the world outside, while my sister checks that I am still asleep when the minor of sounds threatens that peace. I probably don’t deserve it but I want that… I wa-want a teddy b-bear,” Yelena tapered.

            Natasha kicked at the snow piled at her feet, all Yelena wanted all these years was to feel love and protection from her, the same type of affection Wanda was receiving. It was a simple wish, one that could’ve been fulfilled years ago if Natasha would’ve just pulled her head from her ass. She took a step closer to her sister, pulling her in for a quick embrace to which she reciprocated. Yelena’s body shook with each cry, but Natasha didn’t say anything, instead opting to let her sister physically pour out whatever emotions she needed to release- it had been a long time coming. When she felt sane enough, Yelena pulled away with a pout, embarrassed for crying like a whiny child. 
 “It’s okay. Wanda frequently cries and sometimes Steve and I do as well,” Natasha tried to placate. 
 Yelena scoffed again, almost making Natasha roll her eyes at how much of a teenager Yelena was sometimes, “what does she have to cry about?”

            “There’s so much about Wanda that you don’t know,” Natasha sadly sighed, fidgeting with the lint in her pocket. 
 “Like what?” Yelena challenged, needing more than vague statements in this situation. Natasha sighed one more time, chancing a glance at Yelena, “Wanda’s 16. Her country was ravaged by war which resulted in the bombing of her family home when she and her brother were 10 years old. They lived on the street until they were picked up by HYDRA and forced into involuntary experimentation which resulted in them gaining abilities. He was fast and she’s… she can do a lot. Her brother died when they were on the cusps of turning 15. Then she was with the Avengers for a while, training and honing her abilities until the events of Lagos happened… I’m sure you’ve heard of that?” Natasha paused to which Yelena silently nodded in agreement.

            “Then Secretary Ross proposed the Sokovia Accords which divided the team and lead to an interpersonal war where half fought to sign the accords while the others fought in the opposite direction. Wanda was on the side against signing the Accords- fighting with Sam, Clint, Scott, Steve, and Bucky. Steve and Bucky managed to escape to Serbia before the federal authorities came while the others were detained. I was turned in by someone on my own team so I went into hiding on my own. They were in the Raft for approximately 5 months before we were able to break them out and… things haven’t been the same since,” she breathed. 
 Leaning in closer with childlike interest, Yelena brought her hands to rest in her jacket pockets, “what does that mean? Was the Raft that bad?”
 “Mmmhm,” Natasha hummed, kicking her feet to compose her thoughts, “more so for Wanda than the guys. They were all beaten multiple times but Wanda’s always pushed the boundaries.”

            “She was forced into an electric collar and straight jacket to keep from using her powers. With every minute movement or sound she made, she would be shocked. She was restricted food and when they did feed her, it was through force because… she couldn’t use her hands. She was whipped, verbally berated, constantly drugged, and the reports even said that…” Natasha couldn’t finish as she remembered everything that happened to Wanda. She heard the reports and read the files but nothing prepared her for the footage- listening helplessly as Wanda screamed from the electricity or fists beating against her small frame. She didn’t even want to get to the end where they would be witness to Wanda’s rape, her heart throbbed painfully for the sick girl sleeping away in her room and all she had endured so young. 
 “What reports? What did they say?” Yelena pushed, shuffling closer to Natasha as she looked into her watery eyes.

            “The hospital reports… when we rescued them.” She turned her head to gaze into Yelena’s olive green eyes, her voice careful as she spoke, “do you remember the soldats?”  
 Yelena snapped her head in the other direction, her voice hard as she spoke, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
 “Yelena please,” Natasha begged, she needed her sister to be on the same page with her… to understand with as little words as possible, “the soldats. Do you remember them?!”
 “Of course I do,” Yelena growled with tears in her eyes, “sometimes I’ll be sparing by myself and can feel their hands trailing over my body. It is the one thing I wish to forget but can’t.”
 “The soldats…” Natasha whispered, holding her hand out for Yelena to take. With much repudiation, Yelena placed her hand in Natasha’s, smiling softly when her sister gave her a firm squeeze, “it was like that. The guards and soldats are all the same, just different titles.”
 Gasping, Yelena lightly pulled at Natasha’s hands, “two?”

            Her face dropped when Natasha shook her head no, “no. I don’t know, it may be more. We haven’t gotten that far in the video yet”, she nonchalantly shared. 
 “They recorded it?” Yelena asked with a mask of disgust.
 “Video surveillance of the Raft. We’re formulating a case against the government and needed evidence. Wanda and Sam don’t know we have it, we’ll tell them after we finish surveying the video,” Natasha explained.
 Yelena was jealous of Wanda, believing that she never suffered the way her and her family have but according to Natasha, Wanda may have had it worse. She didn’t wish anything seriously bad on the child, she just liked to get on her nerves.
 “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you sooner Yelena. I made a promise to myself that I would never let anyone I care about fall into a situation that I could prevent- so that’s what I’m doing with Wanda, and Sam, and Steve. You’re the reason I made it… I’m sorry,” Natasha sincerely apologized.

            “It’s okay. It’s… I’m okay. I spent so many years being bitter and angry when I could’ve reached out to you too Miss Big Hero Avenger, I’m sorry. Let’s go home now, it’s freezing,” Yelena joked, pulling Natasha along.  
 Wiping away her tears, Natasha wetly chuckled behind her sister, “ha, tell me something I don’t know.”
 “The little one sees you as a mother,” she bluntly tossed.
 That made Natasha stop with a dumbfounded expression, “what?”
 “You said tell you something you do not know, so I did- the little one sees you as a mother,” Yelena repeated.
 “Yeah but what would make you say that?” Natasha rushed out, trying to catch up with Yelena.
 “They way she looks at you is the same way I looked at mom Melina when I was a child,” the blonde soberly stated.
 “Oh… it’s late. We should get to bed,” Natasha deflected, reaching for the door handle.

            Yelena pulled her back with a head tilt, “are you sleeping in your room?” she inquired with a scrunched up face of repulsion.  
 “Yeah. I’ve been in there for a better part of the day. Why?” Natasha questioned back.
 “You can’t sleep in there! It’s full of icky germs, you can sleep in my room with me,” she proffered with wide eyes.
 “I can’t. What about Wanda?”
 Yelena brushed her off with the flourish of a hand, “let Captain America be daddy for tonight. And I don’t mean yours,” she cheekily grinned causing Natasha to blush.
 “Yelena!” she somewhat admonished with a slap to the girl’s arm who just laughed at her sisters unintentional revelation.
 “So you do call him daddy?! That’s hilarious,” she cackled.
 Natasha shook her head as she ran inside to get away from her sister’s pestering. She quickly removed her jacket, stealthily moving around the living room and kitchen furniture to check on Wanda.

            Her heart sunk into her stomach when she saw that Wanda wasn’t in the bed or in the bathroom; it was an irrational fear but she couldn’t help herself form thinking that Ross somehow got to her family while she was having a heart to heart with her sister. Darting down the end of the hall to Sam’s room, Natasha breathed deeply at the sight before her. Sam had his legs extended, crossed at the ankle with his hands behind his head resting against the wall while Steve was in the rocking chair with Wanda wrapped in a thin blanket, curled into his chest- they were all asleep. Steve probably transported Wanda into the room at the sound of a whimper or whine so that he could finish his conversation with Sam.  
 “See, I told you Captain would play daddy role while you slept. It’s fine, come now,” Yelena whispered into her ear, letting the other three sleep.

            Natasha laid down first, nudging Yelena to lay next to her with a beckoning hand as her sister was just staring down at her shyly. 
 “I don’t bite, just ask Steve,” she playfully winked.
 “Eww, it’s gross when you make jokes,” Yelena whined, plopping next to Natasha as she rolled to turn off the light. They laid in relative silence as Yelena fiddled with her fingers and bit her lip, she had a question on her tongue but wasn’t sure how to ask. After mentally flubbing her line for the 3rd time, she took a shot, “Natalia? Will you-“  
 “Sure detka,” she acquiesced, drawing her sister into her chest.”
 “the lullaby too?” she asked in a tiny voice, barely audibly in the dark.
 “Yeah the lullaby too,” she whispered, clearing her throat.
 The lullaby was an old one, where Natasha had heard it, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it was from Melina or Alexei or from one of the hundreds of cartoons they watched as children, either way, it worked well to ease Yelena into a deep slumber.

            “yeda (food),” Yelena murmured against the dip in Natasha’s collarbone, resulting in a groggy chuckle from the older widow as she came into full consciousness.  
 “You’re really papa’s child, you know that?” Natasha joked, poking Yelena in the side.
 “Mm so I’ve been told,” she shrugged, rolling out from Natasha’s grasp, “are you going to eat?”
 “Yeah,” she stretched, “I need to check on Wanda first. I’ll be out after.”
 Yelena nodded, heading into the kitchen while Natasha went the opposite direction, to Sam’s room. Her face morphed into a look of confusion when she saw that the room was empty. She made her way into her bedroom, her confusion deepening at Steve pacing around the room, “did something happen last night?” apprehension bubbling in her throat.
 “Her temperature went up again… look,” he exhaled, holding the thermometer out, “103.3°.”
 “We gave her medicine yesterday, I don’t know why it hasn’t taken effect,” she pressed.

            “So what do you want to do?” He tried. 
 “We should-“ she began to respond when Wanda sat up with her eyes closed and lurched forward, vomiting into the large bowl they kept on standby that Natasha instinctually placed under Wanda’s chin. When she was done, Wanda fell back with a heave while Steve went to wipe her face and empty the bowl.
 “I want her to sleep for a bit longer until we find a feasible solution,” Natasha whispered, rubbing at the crinkles in Wanda’s forehead.
 “We’ll give her another hour or so… until we come up with something better,” Steve agreed, sitting in the rocking chair with Natasha in his lap. They softly rocked back and forth, listening to the stuffed breathing emanating from the bed while they got lost in thought. They had finally decided that when Wanda woke up, they would enlist help from Melina who had more experience dealing with sick people.

            The teen slept for 20 more minutes uninterrupted when agonized whimpers reached the parent’s ears. The teen lethargically thrashed from side to side with her eyes closed, incomprehensibly signing one or perhaps two words over again, it was hard to tell when she clearly didn’t have enough energy to properly execute the signs she wanted. Wanda mindlessly swatted at nothing as more distressing whined escaped her tired lips. Steve held her arms down, briefly, just long enough to roll Wanda into her stomach so he could rub giant circles in her back, “I think it’s a fever dream. I had them a few times.”  
 “I’ll ask mama for help cause I’m at a loss,” she honestly yet fretfully supplied, leaving the room in search of her mother. She passed by Alexei, Yelena, and Sam eating food while watching tv, “where’s mama? I need her for something.”
 “She is out back, feeding the pigs,” Alexei answered, “I will go get her,” he sprinted, sensing the urgency in Natasha’s voice: Sam and Yelena stayed where they were as not to overwhelm the already stressed Russian spy.

            “I’m here. What is going on?” Melina frantically questioned, wiping her hands on her shirt.  
 Natasha led her back to the her bedroom, out of range from the other’s earshot, “Wanda hasn’t kept any fluids down since she woke up yesterday and her fever is worrying. Can you do anything?”
 “I will have to check her vitals but I believe there is something we can do,” Melina definitively declared.
 She left the area to procure all the items she would need to check her granddaughter over. She was proud to say that her heart and lungs were beating strong, although she could hear the congestion built up within the cavity. Melina’s eyes took notice of the discolored lattice marks adorning her granddaughter’s back during the check up but said nothing. Another positive however was that Wanda’s eyes and ears were clear. She frowned as she felt around Wanda’s arm for a vein, finding that they were all too weak from dehydration.

            “I have some IV lines in storage. I will set one up to administer medicines and fluids that should reduce her fever and alleviate her symptoms. Just give me a few minutes to get everything,” she professionally informed. Within 10 minutes, she rolled in a portable IV stand with one hand while using the other to pull a metal cart that held a saline bag and other small medicines. Steve and Natasha enduringly watched as Melina flittered about Wanda, hooking the saline bag to the IV line before turning to the duo, “can you turn her over? I will need to attach the line to the top of her hand due to vein dehydration.” 
 Steve excused himself around Melina to gently roll the teen onto her back, giving Melina full access to her hand. While Melina began the process of inserting Wanda’s IV, she fixed her lips in a straight line, not stopping her ministrations, “may I ask a question? You do not have to answer if you do not want to”  
 “Okay,” Natasha took at face value.
 “Those marks on her back… where are they from?” Melina’s voice tilted up at the end.

            Natasha deeply sighed as she punched the bridge of her nose, there was too much happening in these last two days. Sensing her tiredness, Steve obliged an answer, “the Raft. They were abused quite often but Wanda was the only one whipped and due to poor living conditions… some of the wounds got infected. At the hospital, they cleaned what they could and placed a stent in what they couldn’t,” he dejectedly disclosed. Melina hummed a response, securing the needle in Wanda’s hand with clear tape. Melina loved her granddaughter, even if it had been less than two weeks since they’d known each other, and wouldn’t want to have her any other way. But with all the new information she learned regarding Wanda’s past life, she wondered how the girl was still able to open up herself to new people and remain effervescent despite it all. The child was far from broken but that didn’t mean she wasn’t damaged- a fissure, that with love and time, would heal into something better than she had been.

            She adjusted the pressure of the drip before righting herself, looking over her handiwork as she held up a syringe, “the IV will deliver nutrients and fever reducer. The syringe is filled with a mild pain reliever, do you want me to administer it?” she respectfully asked. 
 Both parents nodded yes, unanimously agreeing prior that if it would help allay Wanda’s displeasure and uneasiness, they would give her anything Melina prescribed. Injecting the syringe into the IV line, Melina cleaned up, stopping to caress Natasha’s cheek and pat Steve’s chest in a supportive manner before departing. The super soldier went back to sit in the rocking chair, watching Wanda with his chin resting on top of his hands while Natasha just stared down at the restless teen.
 “It’s killer isn’t it doll?” he spoke after a beat.
 “Yeah… poor kid’s so out of it. Damn that fucking Raft,” Natasha cracked, letting a few tears slip down her cheeks.

            “I know. These past few days have been a learning curve but I think we’re doing well. Trust me, it doesn’t seem like it now but she wakes up feeling better, you’ll see,” he speculated, with proper assumption. 
 “How Clint and Laura’s hearts don’t break every time their kid’s come down with the flu is beyond me,” she wetly but mirthlessly laughed.
 “It’s just the price of being a parent… you gotta do things despite how much it makes you want to cry,” he resigned.
 Natasha could agree with that statement as that’s how she currently felt staring down at the teen in bed. Unfortunately for Wanda, the effects of the medication were not instantaneous as the girl started thrashing around again, whimpers of pain passing through every few second. Natasha had tried speaking to her in hopes of calming her down but nothing seemed to be working.

            Steve couldn’t sit by as Wanda struggled but, he too, did not know what to do then he remembered something Nat told him weeks ago and hoped would do the trick in settling his sick girl. His eyes softened when Wanda’s peridot eyes peered back at him, hazy and unfocused, her hands sliding up her chest to sign. It took Steve a minute to understand that she was signing “mom” with tears streaming down her face. 
 “Nat, I have an idea. Do you trust me?” he asked with resolute conviction.
 “With my life,” she answered before he had a chance to finish the question.
 “Lay down and take off your shirt,” he gently commanded to which Natasha followed suit, laying clad in a semi- nude colored bra. Since she’d been around her family, Natasha started wearing bras more often throughout the day, though she opted to go bare at night.
 She trusted Steve but she did cock her head to the side when she saw him going to Wanda’s side of the bed, “what’re you doing?”

            “Skin on skin. You said being close to a loved one does wonders for the body, maybe it’ll help Wanda,” he suggested, gently picking her and the IV line up. He placed the IV line on the floor next to the bed, looking down with expectant eyes at Natasha. While she was fine offering small amounts of skin to skin, she wasn’t sure if it was completely appropriate to have Wanda laying on her topless chest. But when she made the sign for mama then reached out to Natasha with the grabby hands again, her mind was made up. She stretched her arms out, allowing Steve to transfer Wanda onto her chest with bated breath. She squirmed around for a bit in order to get comfortable leaving the parents to wonder if this was the right choice but Wanda’s deep exhale stated otherwise. 
 “Hey, it’s okay,” she murmured wrapping her arms around Wanda, drawing her even closer to her body, “mama’s here. Mama’s here, I’ve got you… it was a bad dream…shhh.”

            Natasha whispered the phrase in hopes that Wanda wouldn’t remembered anything she said. Natasha considered herself to be Wanda’s mother, and based of off earlier conversations, the members of her family felt the same way too yet Natasha didn’t want to overstep her bounds. So she would hold these feelings in her heart and let Wanda establish any parental titles, if she felt they were necessary. But she did like how it sounded rolling off her tongue- mama. Tapping Wanda’s back the way she knew the teen liked, Natasha began to hum a lullaby low in her throat so Wanda could feel, more than hear, her loving gesture.

            The fever was affecting Wanda’s body in more ways than one. She vaguely remembered Steve getting her to fall asleep but now her dreams were being plagued from the excessive heat radiating through her veins. It wasn’t bad at first, she was in a quiet, bright room by herself reminiscent of her cell on the Raft except she wasn’t restrained in a shock collar and straightjacket this time. She kept her limbs to herself, observing the blank walls with a bland expression. She jumped with a slight yelp when invisible doors loudly slammed against the walls with an unidentified figure stalking towards her, “hello?” 
 Strucker smirked down at her with contempt and vengeance, “mmmm. You’ve been gone for too long. But now the experiments can begin again.”
 Wanda shook her head, forcing herself into the wall, “no. I don’t want to do the experiments again… please. I don’t want to,” she fearfully pleaded. 
 Strucker laughed, a dirty and tainted laugh at Wanda’s fear, “you get no choice! Come!” he yelled, yanking Wanda by her wrist. His grip was tight and bruising but he didn’t let up as he dragged her down the hall to a sterile room with a metal table in the middle.

            Her chest and arms were strapped down as she fought against the binds while Strucker disappeared behind her to retrieve a syringe except when he can back into few his face morphed from his own into General Ross’. Unforgiving icy blue eyes stared down at her as she squirmed around, willing her magic to free herself with no avail, “n-no…no!” 
 “You’re mine witch!” he seethed, snatching his belt from his waist.
 She cried as she wanted everything to stop… to be with mama and papa. He gripped her thigh, roughly wrenching them apart so he could reach his destination. When he raised the belt high over his shoulders, the scene transformed again, his body dissolving and molding into 5 different figures.

            “We got her right where we want her boys,” Mamba sneered. 
 Wanda sobbed, frantically pleading, “no stop! Leave me alone! Mama! Papa!”
 “There’s no here to help you! Mama and Papa don’t exist. They don’t love you!” the guards taunted.
 Wanda didn’t believe them, she couldn’t, so she kept fighting, “no! Mama! Papa! Mama!!” she screamed emitting a crimson wave, knocking the guards against the walls. She cried and cried, trapped on a table with guards that would awaken any minute. She shut her eyes waiting for the inevitable when two pairs of hands began undoing the straps. She kept her eyes closed to force herself to believe that it was anybody else besides Mamba or Ross.

            The first pair of hands brushed loose hair from her face, kissing the top of her head. When they were finished while the second one pulled her close, into a strong broad chest. With a little concentration, she could make out their smell- hickory and lavender- just like Steve. She dared herself to open her eyes, to look up, “papa?” 
 “Hey kid. I’m sorry, I’m here,” he whispered holding her close when another set of arms engulfed her, “mama?”
 “Malyshka, mama’s here. We’ll keep you safe, I promise. We love you,” she tenderly whispered.
 Wanda let the love of the two people she needed most cradle her in a blanket of security. She needed to experience it physically, she just… needed… to open… her eyes…

———

            When she opened her eyes, oceanic blues were staring back at her- Steve; Papa was here now she just had to get mama. With more strength than she liked to let on, she made the sign for ‘mom’ knowing her papa would get it. He picked her up and the strange metal pole, she couldn’t tell what it was in her feverish cloud but it didn’t look dangerous, especially not in papa’s large hands. She felt movement, they were moving somewhere, maybe to where mama was she hoped. There were words exchanged, none she had the energy of deciphering because she didn’t care, she just wanted needed her mama. So with the little energy flowing through her, she signed ‘mom’ to papa and reached out for the brown blob on the bed. Her warm cheek internally sizzled at the coolness of the skin below it, the contrasting temperatures relaxing her in a way. The skin below was familiar, if she concentrated enough, she could easily identify it, but not with this fever.

             She was already feeling her spirits rise, she just needed to get comfortable now. She wiggled around, trying to find that sweet spot and exhaled with comfort when she found it. 
 “Hey… okay… here… mama’s here… bad dream,” she heard sweetly whispered in her ear. Her eyes drifted close, she was in mama’s arms, enveloped in her warmth, everything would be okay now. All she had to do was sleep.

Chapter Text

        While Wanda did remain asleep for the rest of the day, it was between the stages of REM sleep and deep sleep, so she was never fully conscious, unaware of everything happening around her. This revelation didn’t faze the parents because they knew the cocktail of medications swirling in Wanda’s veins were doing a great job of keeping her under, something they took advantage- using the opportunity to sleep as well. Natasha fell asleep with Wanda still resting soundly on her unclothed chest while Steve unintentionally fell asleep in the wooden rocking chair, snoring away after consuming a full dinner and taking a quick, but hot shower. Natasha pretty much went out the same way, having Steve watch the sleeping teen while she showered, scooping her back onto her chest with a thin blanket when she was done.

            It was late when Steve was roused from his dreaming slumber, so late so that he couldn’t discern what time it actually was. Blinking slowly, he could feel his discombobulation fading away and found the source of how he came to breach the other side of sleep. 
 “hey, are you awake or still sleeping?” the voice sleepily husked. 
 Steve was going to respond when the voice continued speaking, “ahh… you’re still sleeping malysh which is okay. Today or well earlier yesterday I guess, you signed mama while reaching out for me but that was after a fever dream so I don’t know if you were really reaching out for me or your actual mama…. the one that raised you before she passed away” she solemnly whispered. “But he thinks otherwise. But I’ll be honest with you… when you signed it, my heart swelled inside because I never thought I would be a mother. I wasn’t sure if it was something I ever desired really after we broke you out from the Raft and you and I spent more time together and I pushed past my feelings of uncertainty, I realized that it was secretly something I wanted too,” she looked down with a small smile.

            Steve feigned sleep, listening to everything his girlfriend had to tell their knocked out child. A tender smile broke out on his lips when he caught Natasha’s hand delicately tracing the features of Wanda’s face, starting at the eyebrows and drifting downwards.  
 “You’ve been so sick these past few days,” she pouted, holding back the emotion that wanted to pout forth, “we didn’t know what to do. You should’ve seen papa bear’s face when he saw your initial temperature… I would tell you do something like that again but we’ve both been so scared for your health that I would definitely advise you not to. Your papa bear’s an old man and while he may not be wrinkly, his weathered heart can’t take the stress,” she jested.
 Steve felt like that part was tossed in there specifically for him, like she knew he was hearing every word she said.

            “I love you malysh, whether you refer to me as your mama or not,” she sighed, kissing the top of Wanda’s head. “Papa bear loves you too,” she tacked on, wiggling her shoulders against the mattress as she fell back asleep. 
 When morning came, Steve was up first, never truly falling back asleep after Natasha’s early morning love confession. It was mushy and he loved how it made his heart feel on cloud 9. He gently placed a kiss to Wanda’s temple, taking note of the fact that she wasn’t as hot as she had been the day before. He stumbled into the kitchen, where everybody else was already gathered, with confusion evident across his face.
 “Oh, big man sleep in late,” Alexei chuckled, handing Yelena a slice of bread from his plate.
 At that, Steve glanced at the nearest clock with a trite sigh, it was only 8:30, early to some but late to everyone else in the house except Wanda.

            “Yeah. One thing they don’t tell you in the parenting books is how to care for a sick, nonverbal teenager,” he sardonically quipped.  
 Sam and Yelena held back laughs as Alexei stared back at Steve, “funny. Ah he’s a funny guy,” Alexei chuckled, “how’s my tiny spider?” he easily moved on, handing Steve a plate filled as high as it could go without toppling over.
 “Woah hey, yeah she’s good,” Steve nodded, “she slept through the entire night without waking up once and her forehead felt a bit cooler today too,” he relayed to the table.
 “Yes, well, she should wake sometime within the next two hours or so. Make sure when she does, that she’s drinking plenty of fluids and mechanically taking in nutrients,” Melina reminded him as she rounded the kitchen island, placing a few strawberries on his already large plate.

            “Yes ma’am, we will,” Steve brightly grinned, enlisting Sam’s help to carry the drinks while he steadied the food. He pushed through the door, kissing Nat on the lips before placing the food on the side table then gesturing for Sam to enter.  
 “Sorry I didn’t have time to get you a shirt Doll,” he sheepishly grimaced as his eyes gazed down to her topless trunk.
 “Eh, it’s alright,” she shrugged, besides with both Wanda and the blanket on top of her, Sam couldn’t see anything worthwhile.
 “Sorry, sorry. I’ll leave now,” he acquiesced with hands in the air, “just helping my man with some drinks.”
 A hum escaped Natasha’s lips causing her to worry her bottom lip as she used her free hand to reach out to her friend, “Sam. I have a question for you.”
 Turning on his heels with interest, Sam shot her finger guns, “and… I might have an answer for you.”

            “This,” she largely gestured to her and Wanda, “this is appropriate right?” 
 “Mmm,” Sam pursed his lips in thought, “yeah. It’s just the skin-to-skin method and there’s no cut off age for that. The most important things is that you’re both okay with the idea. And I must say, you two look quite adorable,” he smirked, relieving any residual apprehension Natasha was internally processing. 
 “Aww, you jealous you’ll never be this cute?” she sarcastically cooed.
 “Nah, I’m more jealous about where Wanda’s laying her head right now,” he smirked back.
 “You’d be so lucky,” she husked with a tiny chuckle.
 Biting his lower lip seductively, Sam replied in a smoldering tone, “yes, I would.”
 “That’s enough of that,” Steve playfully cut in, pushing Sam towards the door, “she’d take you out before your brain even registered it happening.”
 “Oh. But she can’t. Not with baby sleeping on her chest,” he pushed out, just barely ducking the pillow the spy threw across the room.

            “Don’t be like that papa bear,” she chuckled a bit harder, “Sam could never.”  
 Steve sent her a goofy expression after walking over to her dresser to pull out a v-cut tank top and dragging the rocking chair with him. He wasn’t bothered by what others would deem as a transgression against his relationship, that was just how her and Sam joked with each other and quite frankly, it had been months since they had a moment like that. He cautiously spooned some food in her mouth, being mindful of that fact that she was lying completely flat- a choking hazard. She happily hummed as he served her another bite, “I forgot to tell you. Melina says that she should wake within the next hour and a half. She needs to eat and take in plenty of fluids so that she can eventually remove the IV.” 

 “Sounds reasonable enough,” Natasha agreed, “ooo strawberry, strawberry!” she excitedly called for.

            They ate their meal with light laughter, leaving behind a small portion of fruit for Wanda to consume when she woke up, the shared stress over Wanda’s declining physical health dissipating like smoke in the air. Natasha dressed in the shirt Steve brought over for her, more so for the principle of the situation than anything else. And as luck would have it, Wanda woke up roughly 15 minutes later when Natasha was complimenting Steve on the magnificent beauty that was his thick beard. She was content to just be there when a deep exhale triggered the need to cough, which she did into Natasha’s chest with no shame, “shhh,” the older woman soothe while tapping her back to coax out anymore phlegm. 
 “Mmm, there’s that face we love so much,” Natasha crooned as Wanda used her chest as a napkin.
 “You hungry kid? We have some fruit if you want,” Steve chimed with a quiet voice.

            Pushing her body up so that it was in a half seated position against the headrest with Wanda was situated between her legs, Natasha reached for the thermometer cause whether Wanda said yes or not, she was going to get some food in the girl.  
 “Open your mouth for me sweetie, so we can take your temperature first,” Natasha gently instructed, tapping her finger against the slightly warm cheek. When the thermometer beeped, Natasha showed it to Steve with a semi-neutral expression though he could see the gratitude shining in her eyes, “102.3°. Still higher than we’d like but it’s decreasing. Another day of food and good sleep should do the trick. With that being said, here’s your fruit,” she finished, using one hand to hold the bowl while the other stroked Wanda’s spine. In all honesty, she was ready to have Steve feed Wanda while she held her, if it meant food entered her system.

            But with a weary moan, Wanda reached her hand into the bowl, ignoring the fork sticking out, to shove a plump strawberry in her mouth the way a toddler learning to eat would. While concerned with the regressed behavior, the parents speculated that eating this way used a different set of motor skills that Wanda wasn’t capable of using if she went with the fork but the important part was that she was eating with no fuss. Wanda continued to messily eat the fruits until the bowl contained remnants of juice and swirling fruit bits at the bottom. Steve headed off to wash the dishes while Natasha made work of pulling Wanda away from her body to examine her feature- her cheeks had a pink tint to them even though the rest of her face was pasty in color, her face was sticky, and her nose was beginning to resemble Rudolph’s from the irritation. Yet, when she looked into the teens eyes, she could see that while still unfocused,  there was a tinge of awareness swimming in those doe, green eyes.

            “We’re going to get you into another cool bath and then take it from there,” Natasha announced, guiding Wanda into the bathroom like she’d done the day prior. The task was the same as the day before except this time Natasha washed all the sticky, fruit juice from Wanda’s lower face with a warm smile, the girl smiling contently at the action. After 25 minutes Natasha removed her from the water, dressing her in one of the shirts and shorts she no longer wore, the top hung large on her small frame but the shorts just barely fit (with help from a drawstring). She maneuvered both child and medical equipment back to bed with relative ease, spending time down in the Avenger’s Medbay did that to a person. Natasha changed her shirt, wiping off her chest with a warm washcloth before running a secondary rag under the sink faucet, dousing it in cool water.

            Wanda had surprisingly stayed awake that whole time, glossy eyes watching her with high interest. She didn’t have time to question her while she gently laid the wash rag across Wanda’s neck, rising to her feet as Steve made his way back, kissing her lips with energetic fervor. 
 “What’s gotten into you?” she teased, playing in his beard.
 Smirking, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close, “I’m just glad to be here… with you Doll.”
 “Ever the charmer you are,” she blithely joked, climbing onto the bed. “There’s no tv in here… entertain us,” she snobbishly commanded in a voice indicating she was joking.
 Thinking a little on his feet, Steve did a (terrible) rendition of Mission Impossible with poor executions of stunts and character voices, “Would you consider the cinema of the Caribbean? Aruba perhaps?” his accent a mocking excuse of a posh British accent as he dramatically bowed to his audience.
 Wanda didn’t look pleased but Natasha clapped for her boyfriend, “wow…. That was horrendous! Acting is not your forte Mr. Rogers, stick to saving the world.”

            “Wanda liked it so that’s all that matters. Right kid?” he pointed. 
 In an act much like her healthier self, Wanda simply shrugged, her answer non-definitive in any direction. She sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand then began to sign, ‘papa, read’ with wide eyes. Upon inspection, Steve saw some of fuzziness in her eyes slowly dissolving with each passing minute, after today she would be golden. 
 “What book do you want me to read?” He questioned while searching the room.
 “Look in her backpack, she has two books in there I believe,” the widow divulged. 
 Rummaging through her back, he found a book he hadn’t seen since they were in Wakanda. Selecting the dog-eared page, his voice, either subconsciously or not, fell into a softer vibrato, letting the words float across the room, “It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged; the only difficulty was, that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it; and while she was peering about anxiously among the trees, a little sharp bark just over her head made her look up in a great hurry.”

            Steve closed the book with a silent smile, it took him reading 2 entire chapters for Wanda to drift back to a peaceful sleep. Noticing Natasha’s drooping eyelids, Steve shuffled to her side of the bed, “take a nap doll. You deserve it. Who’s to say we’ll get another chance to sleep in this early and wake up late?” he reasoned.
 With that argument in place, Natasha let Steve position her on the bed next to Wanda with a sound he’s never heard before. Peeking up at Steve with one eye open, she tiredly smirked, “she called you papa. You’re papà now. Good night papa,” she rushed out, closing her eye. 
 Draping a blanket over the two, Steve shuffled out the room to take a much needed walk.