The farmhouse was still quiet, none of the occupants awake yet. There were six people inside, but only four of them were getting pleasant dreams.
With a gasp, the oldest bolted up. This one was used to sleeping lightly; he had years of being an Assassin for hire and SHIELD training under his belt. He looked around, remembering where he was. Home.
Clint Barton had the same nightmare again. It involved a teenager who should have been graduating high school. Instead, the young man grew up in a war torn country, and volunteered himself and his sister for dangerous, illegal experiments to try and help the city. And he did.
Until he got shot.
Pietro Maximoff had sacrificed himself for Clint. As far as he was aware, the young man didn't even know anything about him. But yet, he still took the bullets for him. He must have been incredibly stupid.
Or maybe he was just brave.
Clint's instincts told him that the nightmare wasn't the only reason he woke up. Careful not to disturb his wife, he grabbed a knife out from under his pillow and got out of bed. He made his way downstairs, and opened the front door. Sitting on the steps was a man who shouldn't have been alive.
"Wanda?" A soft rap on the door. Clint.
"What?" She muttered, burrowing deeper under the covers. It wasn't time to get up yet, was it? Living on the streets, she never would have reacted like this, but Wanda trusted Clint. Pietro… Pietro had given his life to protect this man. He owed her, and would never let willingly let harm come her way.
"Breakfast is ready. And," he hesitated, debating something. Clint was guarding his mind, unsure of how to phrase this. "You have a visitor. They're waiting for you downstairs."
Wanda waiting for the footsteps to retreat before rolling out of bed, sighing as she did so. Her feet touched the cold wood, giving her a sense of grounding. She sighed and bowed her head, letting her dark hair hang down. Another bad dream last night. The same bad dream last night. She wasn't sure that it would ever stop. Her time in the Raft hadn't helped.
She made her way downstairs fifteen minutes later, careful not to wake Lila, Cooper, and Nathaniel Pietro. Before she even walked into the room, she was hit with Clint's thoughts- betrayal, uneasiness, and dread. Waiting for her at the breakfast table was Clint, who looked pale, shaky and guarded, and an unfamiliar man wearing a suit, who looked calm and collected.
Wanda was immediately alert, scarlet dancing on her fingertips at will and eyes turning red. If Clint didn't trust this man, then that was enough for her. "What do you want?" She demanded.
"At ease," Clint spoke, raising a hand to calm her. He still looked spooked.
"Wanda Maximoff," the strange man began. "My name is Phillip Coulson. I've come to help you. Maybe you should sit down. We have a lot to discuss."
Extinguishing her scarlet, Wanda cautiously sat down next to Clint, still wearily eyeing the man.
Still at ease, he started picking at his waffle that Wanda hadn't noticed before. "Did you not sleep well last night?"
Wanda picked at her sleeves, refusing to answer. She cautiously reached out to Clint's mind and asked, Can I trust him?
The Archer pressed his lips in a tight line, hesitating. I don't know, he thought. There was a time when I trusted him with my life. He's supposed to be dead, Wanda.
She raised an eyebrow at him, her fingers digging into her palms so hard she almost broke the skin. Almost.
"Having a nice chat?" Coulson asked, still idly picking apart his waffle.
A "ding" from the toaster oven startled the trio.
"That's your waffle, sorry Wanda," Clint said, getting up to retrieve it for her.
She nodded at him before turning back to the Suit, still not looking at his face. "So you're supposed to be dead?"
"I am," he confirmed. "Director Fury pulled some strings for me. I'm not sure if he pulled the same strings for Pietro, though."
At her brothers name, Wanda's head snapped up, аnd for the first time, she looked at Coulson head on. "What do you mean?"
Coulson smiled. "Like I said. We have a lot to talk about."
A/N- Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed this. This chapter is a little short; I promise the others will be longer. If you enjoyed this, please let me know! I should have the next chapter up fairly soon.