A Home & A Family

By Lord-of-Dragons2007

A/N: I do not own the characters, concepts, and so on, Enjoy. Also please note I know that Friday took over for Jarvis but I love Jarvis and still want him running the show lol, that aside please enjoy! =)

Steve stood in front of the new recruits to the team with Natasha by his side,

"Avengers, assemble!" Steve called out to them, Rhodey, Sam, Vision, and Wanda gathered around their leader and mentors. It was just after the Sakovia incident, Thor was headed back to Asgard to follow up on the vision he had received in the cave, Tony was off to do damage control from the damage the team had incurred when they tried to saved the world, Barton was going home with his family, calling it an early retirement, and Banner was still MIA. Really the only members who were going to stay in the new facility was going to be Steve since he still hadn't truly found a place for himself in the world except for here with this team and Natasha who was still on everyone's radar after what she did during the events in DC. When everyone was gathered around the two veteran members Steve launched into a welcome message and thanking them personally for their invaluable help during the crisis. After which he offered them a place to stay in the facility as it was designed for the now growing team and then started laying out plans for to stay for at least a month to do some basic training, no one really challenged his direction in this, really the only person to really question this was Sam since he figured his best buddy would give him a free pass on it, but Sam knew that Steve was just being fair to everyone when he didn't do that.

After Steven had given the little speech and laid down some foundation for the team he dismissed them, Wanda was happy to be here and that they had accepted her especially given the fact that she started out on the wrong foot with everyone when she and her brother had been on the wrong side of things when they all first met. Things were hard, ever since her brother had sacrificed himself to save innocent lives she often thought about him and missed him deeply. Like she told Ultron when she killed him, when Pietro died it was like her heard was physically ripped from her chest and crushed. It still felt that way, then again the hurt was still fresh, he only died a few days ago and was buried in less time than that.

Sure while Wanda was busy doing other things she allowed her brother to be pushed out of her mind, she was thankful for the brief reprieves she got from the crushing feeling she had in her chest and on her mind, the breaks from her thinking about him, missing him and feeling utterly alone in the world. When Wanda was dismissed she picked an unoccupied room as her own, her room was nice and tranquil. She enjoyed it, she explored it a little bit and found little things here and there on the shelves and all over and found all kinds of things that would help her unwind when not on mission, all of these little touches helped her space make her feel more at home. She closed and locked the door and started to change out of what was deemed to be her suit for when she was on mission, when she went to hang the outfit up in her closet she saw it. Hanging in the closet was the few things she had left to remember her brother from. A few of his sweatshirts were hanging up and there, she hung up her suit and then picked up one of the sweatshirts, she examined it and it was truly his. She held it up to face and took a long whiff of the sweatshirt and then she let a few tears fall from her eyes, it still smelled fragrantly of him. She slowly sank down to her knees and gently sobbed over the garment. For a few long moments the only sound that could be heard in the room was just Wanda sobbing on the floor over her brother's sweatshirt that was until Jarvis interrupted the silence,

"Miss Maximoff, sorry for the interruption, but Captain Rogers is outside the door." Jarvis politely informed her, Wanda wanted to be alone, she didn't want to be thought of as weak and a liability to the team, but she felt so alone, she felt so hurt, so lost. She needed someone,

"Let him in." Wanda commanded as she tried to stem the flow of tears and try to pull herself up from the floor, though she still clung to her brother's sweater,

"As you wish." Jarvis replied as he unlocked the door and it slid open letting the team's leader enter her room,

"Hey Wanda" Steve greeted her as he came in, he was changed out of his Captain America suit and was now in just track pants and form fitting gray shirt. He noticed how red and puffy her eyes were,

"Hi Steve, what did you need?" Wanda asked him curiously and waited for him to answer, that's when Steve also noticed the familiar sweatshirt in her hands,

"Is everything ok?" Steve asked her worriedly, he truly was concerned for her. He didn't care about what happened in the past, the only thing he cared about was that someone close to him right now was hurting and he wanted to try and make it better for her,

"Yeah, everything is fine." Wanda lied to him, she fought with herself in this moment. She wanted to not feel alone, but she didn't want to let someone in only to have them leave her. Steve gave her an almost paper thin smile before he gently put his hand on her shoulder,

"Ok, I just wanted to come check on you and see how you were adjusting with everything." Steve started slowly, he knew things were going to be hard for her after losing someone so close to her, after everything they had all been through with the major battle they were all in a few days before,

"I just wanted you to know, that you can always come talk to me about anything." Steve finished as he gave Wanda's shoulder a little squeeze, Wanda stayed quiet for a moment before she finally made eye contact with Steve,

"Thank you." Wanda thanked a little sadly with her voice cracking ever so slightly, Steve could tell she wanted to be alone. He gave her a little nod of his head and then turned to leave her to what she was doing before he intruded on her, to Wanda, watching Steve leave felt like he was moving in slow motion, if felt like it had taken a month for him to just take one step. In that time the side of her that wanted to not be alone, to just cling to someone finally won out. Wanda's eyes felt like they were being stabbed again in pain as her face contorted slightly and her eyes welled up with tears and fell from her eyes once again,

"Steve." Wanda croaked out to him to get him to stop, he turned around and saw how much pain she was in, how hard it all was for her and he quickly stepped closer to her while she practically jumped at him and just wrapped her arms around him with her brother's sweater still in hand and started to cry freely into his chest. She was no longer truly standing, she was more leaning into him and putting all her weight on him, she just felt so unbearably distraught and so lost that she didn't feel she had the strength to stand any more. Steve held her close in his arms, he kinda had some idea of how she felt having been through it when he thought Bucky had died, Bucky was almost like a brother to him. He gently guided her to sit on the edge of the bed with him, he never let go of her, he knew she needed this, she needed him. For a long while they sat like this with Wanda crying into his chest and Steve just holding her close and gently rubbing her back to try and help soothe her, after a while Wanda's crying slowed and stopped, she was out of tears, at least for the moment. She lifted her head slightly and looked up at Steve, for the first time since he had come to see her she looked up and saw him, he gave her a small smile that said everything was going to be ok,

"I'm sorry Steve, I-" Wanda started to apologize to him before he interrupted him,

"No, you don't need to apologize. You can always lean on me when you need to." Steve told her gently as he continued to gently rub little circles in her back, Wanda was going to try and apologize again and opened her mouth and then closed it again and then just gave him a sad little smile,

"Thank you." Wanda thanked him gently,

"It's just, it's been so hard without him." Wanda told Steve, everyone needs a friend, someone to talk to when things get hard and right now that's what Wanda needed, she needed help to get through this, get though losing her brother,

"Even when our parents died, we still had each other. I just feel alone without him, I feel lost without him." Wanda told him, she was starting to get to the heart of everything now, as much as she wanted to be closed off she knew it was killing her to keep it inside,

"I know." Steve replied to her gently as he continued to hold her close to him,

"I miss him so much." Wanda added after a second or two, she was hurting, she wanted to cry again, but she couldn't.

The two sat and talked liked this for what felt like all afternoon, evening, and into the night. Most of the conversation was about Wanda remembering her brother, the good times with him and the things he did that really made her feel like he was really a big brother and just a twin,

"Wanda, I know your brother is gone, but you're not alone. You have people right here that do care about you, you do matter to us here. Family isn't just about blood, family is about more than just that. No one could or even want to replace your brother, but we're here for you, I'm here for you no matter what happens, no matter what you need, I'm always here for you." Steve spoke softly before he pulled her in for another warm embrace. Not since her brother and her family had she felt so close to anyone, so welcomed and maybe even loved. Maybe after everything that's happened she can make a fresh start here with this bunch of strangers, strangers with good hearts,

"Thank you Steve." Wanda thanked thin again softly before she gently patted his back, they both pulled back from the embrace and Steve gave her another little smile that said that everything was going to be ok, she was going to be ok and Wanda returned his smile with of her own that said she was going to be ok now that she felt like she had found a brother if not father figure in her life,

"Hey are you hungry? I know it's a little late, but you should really eat something." Steve asked her curiously, what not many people knew about Steve was that he was a nurturing type of person, he tried to take care of everyone around him as best he could and that's exactly what he was trying to do for Wanda, he was trying to look after her wellbeing as best he could,

"Not really, and I know I should." Wanda answered Steve back, she really didn't want much of anything to eat, she was still hurting a little bit, but she didn't want to be left alone right now. Steve was about to tell her that she should eat something, they were going to start having some long days in the next couple of months for training, but she beat him to it,

"But I'll come with you, I- I don't want to be alone right now." Wanda said quietly as she seemed to find it hard to maintain eye contact with Steve, He smiled gently at her, he knew that if she wanted to come out and not lock herself in then it was a good start and that eventually once she smelled the good smells of him making food then she might just gent hungry after a bit,

"Sure, come on." He said as he lead her out of her room and into the kitchen, when they got there he sat on a stool with her next to him and he started to think about what he could make that they both would like. He thought and thought, and then an idea came to him,

"I know you said you weren't all that hungry, but if you could choose something to eat what would you want?" He asked her curiously, he knew she wasn't going to much but he wanted her to at least have something so that she wouldn't be sick tomorrow when she needed to train with the team,

"Well, Goulash doesn't sound too bad I guess." Wanda said thinking out loud, Steve had had some a long time ago, but it wasn't exactly his thing, but he could deal with it,

"Great then let's get started then." Steve replied quickly without giving Wanda a chance to back out as he looked at a readout out curtesy of Jarvis and then went to the fridge to get all of the ingredients they would need to make the dish, he was glad she wanted a soup, he knew that it would help to make her feel better and it would be easy on her system that it wouldn't make her sick. As Steve worked to make the dish Wanda pointed out some inaccuracies and moved to help him, in the end she took over and had Steve helping her, to which he was happy about. Wanda seemed focused and maybe even normal as she worked to make the soup, this made Steve happy and even put him at ease about the state of mind that Wanda was in because he knew she was going to be ok, sure it was going to take a little time, but as did all things of the nature that she was in, but at least she was going to be ok.

After a while the goulash was finally ready and Wanda served two bowls for the two of them, Steve took a spoonful of his, it wasn't exact his thing but he was open to it none the less. The two are in relative silence, the only sounds that could be heard was the clanking of their spoon on the bowls they used for their soup. When they had both had finished eating they started on the boring task of washing the dishes and putting the leftovers away, to Steve it seemed that not even technology could make this task go by any faster. After what felt like forever and some giggles and some lighthearted hijinks they had finished and the kitchen looked like they were never there, Steve walked her back to her too he smiled at her,

"Goodnight." Steve said and then started to turn to head back to his own quarters when he felt a hand on his arm,

"Wait." Wanda called out to Steve to stop him,

"What is it? Steve asked her curiously, Wanda was a little shy to ask Steve what she wanted to ask him,

"Ever since my brother and I were little I would sleep with him, it was a comfort for me, especially after our parents were killed." Wanda started and hoped that Steve would get what she was getting at, since the Ultron incident there hadn't been been much time to sleep for anyone, that is until now. Steve understood what she meant when she finished and he nodded at her words,

"Did you want to sleep with me?" Steve asked her knowing that wash hat she wanted, Wanda blushed but nodded in confirmation. Steve smiled at her gently,

"Tell you what, why don't you get ready for bed and meet me at my quarters, you know where it's at?" Steve asked her curiously,

"Yes." Wanda answered a little sheepishly with a nod,

"Great I'll see you in a bit." Steve said with a smile as he left her to get ready for bed, Wanda stood there for a moment or two to watch Steve leave, Wanda then went to the dresser in her room and chose the pajama set with pants rather than a night gown. Afterwards she went to brush her teeth, when she was done she went to meet Steve in his quarters. She gave a gentle knock on his door, she didn't wait long until he came and let her in, Steve was still in his sweat pants and shirt.

"Ready for bed?" Steve asked her,

"Yes, feels like forever since I slept last." Wanda answered back a little shyly,

"Is there any side you like to sleep on best?" Steve asked her curiously,

"No, do you?" Wanda asked in return,

"Not at all." Steve answered as he picked the side with the nightstand that had a book on it while Wanda took the other side and they both climbed in, Steve thought that he would read a little bit but as soon as his body rested in the bed he realized how tired he truly was. Instead he turned the light on the table off and got comfortable under the covers as Wanda did the same, she snuggled a little closer to Steve and while he wasn't her brother he did make her feel safe enough to fall asleep, and so she fell asleep with her last thoughts thinking about her deceased brother.

A/N: well here is my next project, I started this shortly after civil war ca,r out and I had total feels for Wanda and how much like the little sister role she had among the group. I'm sorry it's take so long to finish this and move on to the other stories you all are waiting for but life really got in the way in the time since civil war came out, some things good and some things really really bad, but I'm still here and I'm taking things one day at a time =) anyway hope you enjoy this new story and as always please read and review!