A Different Type of Speaking
The reason I put a hold on Redemption on Earth 38 was because I got a request from Keybearer001 to write an MCU Wanda/OC story as a series of one shots for an OC of his named Xander and I agreed.
To alleviate concerns, I will not be focusing solely on this story but jumping back between this one and my main story until this one is completed. After that I will focus mostly on my original story. I've had plenty of thinking time and I feel very pleased with what you'll see in the future.
However for now whether you're one of my regular readers or this is your first time reading my stories, enjoy!
Chapter 1: Learning the Ropes
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Avenger's Facility, New York
The sun shined through the window and woke Wanda from her uneasy sleep. She turned to look at the clock and saw that the time wasn't even 5:30. She sighed and lay back in bed trying to go back to sleep. However her attempt was shattered by the sound of commotion in the main lobby. Hearing the sound of something Natasha had called a lightsaber swinging around, Wanda guessed that the boys were playing videogames again.
Knowing that she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep with both her incessant nightmares and the boys making noise bothering her, she decided to get up and get food. Wanda stepped out of the bed in her oversized shirt Steve had given her. Because her hometown had been destroyed along with everything she owned, Wanda didn't exactly have a large plethora of clothing to choose from aside from her old and torn black dress and Natasha's red jacket. Hopefully the redheaded Avenger was here today. She had promised to help her get a new set of clothes in order to fill her closet so that she wasn't wearing the same thing everyday.
Looking in the mirror, Wanda sighed as she noticed the bags under her eyes. Sleep had become harder following Pietro's death. Nightmares of his death, her torture under HYDRA, losing her parents had haunted her for days and they weren't going away no matter what she tried. At first she wanted to tell someone but she didn't know who to speak with. She had wanted to ask Clint first since he reminded her of her father but he had retired. Steve had his own nightmares, Sam and Rhodes were too unfamiliar to her, Natasha was still grieving over losing Bruce Banner and Vision despite his wisdom had no experiences to draw on in order to help her. Sometimes she wondered with all the shit the Avengers saw daily why Stark hadn't hired a full time psychiatrist.
Running her fingers through her hair to try and remove her bed head, Wanda walked out of her room and into the main lobby where to no surprise was Sam and Rhodes were playing same videogame that she couldn't name but both flyboys seemed to get quite a hoot out of it. They were throwing a series of well-intentioned insults at each other before Sam cursed, evidently he lost.
"Damn, Rhodes. How the hell you killing me." Sam complained.
"You know maybe if you flew something real instead of that jet propelled bird suit then maybe you'll get the upper hand on me at Starfighter Assault." Rhodes smiled as he leaned back into the couch.
"Bird suit? Are you kidding me? I can fly rings around you Rhodes." Sam complained back.
"And still cant manage to hit me." Rhodes chuckled.
Wanda smiled as she listened to their banter. Those two men always seemed to make her laugh. As she turned away walking to the kitchen, she got sight of Vision, Natasha and Clint gather around the kitchen. As Steve looked up from what he was cooking, he noticed that Wanda had entered the room. "Morning Wanda."
Everyone's eyes turned to the new arrival as she walked into the kitchen. Looking at how everyone was fully dressed, Wanda started to feel subconscious about only wearing a shirt even if it was as long as her dress.
"Wanda we didn't notice you come him." Sam commented.
"That's cause you were busy getting your ass handed to you." Wanda snarked, something her brother would have done.
This caused Rhodes to laugh and Clint to smirk. "Steve, our little girl just said a bad language word. Should we wash her mouth out with soap?"
Steve sighed. "That's what I get for hoping that joke got old."
Wanda meanwhile looked confused. "Wash mouth out with soap? I don't get it."
Steve, Clint and Natasha looked at her with wide-eyed expressions before chuckling. Natasha explained it. "It's an old joke from Steve's time. Parents would threaten to wash their kid's mouth out with soap if they started cursing. Of course it was a much bigger thing back then."
"And nowadays apparently it turns you into a joke if you ask someone to watch their language." Steve retorted. "As if that's such a bad thing."
"Yeah but it was still funny." Clint laughed.
Finally understanding where they were coming from, Wanda laughed alongside Clint before noticing the interesting food on Clint and Natasha's plates. "What are you too eating?"
Clint looked surprised. "Have you never had waffles before?"
"My family didn't have much growing up in Sokovia. Food was this was luxury good." She explained.
Natasha silently nodded and gave the girl a soft rub on her back while Steve gave her soft smile. They all they what it was like to grow up in poverty so the idea of having food like this daily still seemed unreal to the Sokovian girl. Steve threw a waffle down on a plate for her as Clint passed down the syrup and butter.
"Waffles, Butter and Syrup?" Wanda wondered. "Do Americans always have such luxuries?"
Buttering up her waffle, Wanda used her fork to cut off a piece and put it in her mouth. Tasting the fluffly waffle along with the salty butter and sweet syrup was almost too much for her. Unaware to herself, she moaned at the delicious taste and began to take more bites of the waffle, this time much faster than before.
They all laughed at her giddiness and glee causing her to blush and slow down her eating. "What? I've never had anything this tasty before."
"That much is obvious." Steve replied.
"Wanda, would you be able to describe the sensation of consuming those… waffles? Without taste buds I'm afraid that avenue of human existence is beyond me." Vision requested.
Wanda stumbled. "Oh umm…. I… I don't know where to begin."
"Waffles are waffles." Clint replied. They taste sweet as pie and put a happy feeling in a person."
"That does not adequately describe the sensation." Vision deadpanned unintentionally.
"I know." Clint smirked.
"So what are you doing here? Steve told me you retired." Wanda asked. "I mean not that I'm not glad you're here. I'm happy you're here. I just didn't expect it."
Clint smiled at her. "Just doing a favor for Cap. Then it's back to retirement for me. Laura will need me to go out and pick up some new baby clothes. Nathaniel keeps growing every day it seems."
"Speaking of clothes, we should go." Natasha said as she handed her plate back to Steve so he could clean it and stood up to leave. "We should get going soon if we want to get our shopping done today."
Wanda's eyes perked as she heard the work shopping. "Let me finish this and get dressed. Then I'll meet you outside." She wolfed down the rest of her waffle at a breakneck pace to the astonishment of Clint and Steve and then she bolted out of her chair and rushed back into her room to get changed leaving Clint and Steve alone in the kitchen as Vision, Natasha, Sam and Rhodes had left.
"I appreciate you coming down today." Steve said. "With how quiet things have been I feel like this is the best time to."
Clint smiled at his friend. "Hey I don't mind at all. Laura knows I'm done Avengering and she's more than willing to let me come here to help out a friend."
"You saw the circles under her eyes?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, looks like the girl hasn't been sleeping much." Clint commented.
"I think she's been having nightmares about what happened for the last few days. Her life's been completely turned upside down. She could use a little stability." Steve explained.
"Laura, the family and I are more than happy to give her the help she needs. Besides, she grew up in Sokovia. Spending some time in the wilderness away from the hustle of New York might be good for her, give her a chance to reflect and properly grieve." Cline said.
"Well, let's just hope she does it. The last thing she needs right now is to continue beating herself up." Steve replied.
"Amen." Clint agreed.
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Manhattan Mall
By Natasha's standards, the trip ended up being a complete success. They had managed to get everything that Wanda needed in terms of clothing, several new casual dresses, all black, a nice form fitting dress for the occasional Stark parties and a few new shoes along with some other amenities.
As the two women walked out of the mall carrying their bags of clothes in both of their hands, Natasha groaned. "We should have called Steve to come with us. That way he could carry everything for us."
Wanda giggled at the mental image of Steve with his arms filled to the brim with their bags of clothing. "You torture the poor man."
Natasha smirked. "Yeah but it's fun. He knows I mean nothing malicious by it. Plus with him, he just makes it too easy to make fun of him."
Making it to the food court, both women dropped their bags down and took a seat. "Can I ask you something?" Wanda spoke.
"Sure." Natasha responded.
"You're from Russia. How hard was it for you to adjust to things here?" Wanda asked.
"What do you mean?" Natasha asked.
"I mean… things are so different here than Sokovia. The people are so different. I mean I didn't even know what Waffles were!" Wanda exclaimed.
Natasha stifled a small laugh but then she turned her face into a sweet smile and wrapped her hand around Wanda's. "I know how you feel. During my training, they put us through everything they knew about western culture but when I first arrived in the US, I still had to deal with culture shock. It will probably be that way for you as well. But if things get too tough of you need help understanding something new, we're all here for you."
"I just wish some of the boys would tamp down the jokes." Wanda mumbled.
"Wanda, that's gonna happen for all of us. I guarantee you'll have a few moments where you can mock the boys for the stupid things they do." Natasha joked. "But if it makes you feel better, I can ask them to tamp down the humor."
"No! No… I don't want them to keep walking on eggshells around me." Wanda jumped in. "Stark has barely spoken to me since I joined the team."
"He's got his issues and he doesn't have the best track record with being able to process and deal with them properly." Natasha recounted her previous experiences with the former playboy billionaire.
"Do any of us?" Wanda deadpanned causing Natasha to laugh.
"You not entirely wrong." She smirked. "Stark isn't avoiding you because he's scared of you if that's what's on your mind. For all of us, what you did with your powers just happened a few weeks ago. Everyone's just trying to get to know you as a teammate and friend, not an enemy."
"What about you? And the others? They don't seem on edge with me." Wanda asked
"Sam only knows you as an ally, same as Rhodes. Steve sees the good in everyone and Vision is a few weeks old but for me? I'll admit at first I was a but scared of you but now that I know you, I know you're not the monster that Strucker tried to turn you into."
Wanda smiled a small but sincere smile. "Thank you. I really appreciate that."
You are very welcome." She said as she checked her watch. "We should head back soon. The team is planning to have s'mores tonight."
"What are s'mores." Wanda asked her voice confirming her confusion.
"You poor child." Natasha replied.
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New Avenger's Facility
Once they returned to the compound, Natasha had the great idea to get the boys to bring their bags up to their rooms in the compound. Steve, being a gentleman was eager to help, Vision was also willing to assist while Rodney and Sam both grumbled and whined the entire way about how was it possible that girls always bought so much clothing.
"How is it possible that Wanda's been in this country less than a few weeks and she already is shopping like a teenage girl?" Sam complained.
"I don't know man. Maybe some things are hardwired for females." Rhodes complained as well.
"I heard that." Natasha smirked as the boys went quite and continued to bring their armful of bags into their rooms.
As the two came out the rooms having dropped off their bags, they ran into Vision and Wanda who were both carrying a few of her bags to her room. One of the bags she was holding dropped to the ground and Vision went down to the ground in order to help her pick up her clothing, which included a few casual dresses and her new leggings that Natasha insisted she buy. As she started putting her clothes back in the bag, Vision grabbed an article of clothing that he hadn't seem before and pulled it up.
"Wanda what are these? I've never seem you wear them." Vision asked in a tone similar to a child asking for their parent or sibling to explain something new to them.
Looking at the article of clothing Vision held up, Wanda blushed a deep red when she saw that he would holding one of the new panties Natasha had bought for her. She quickly grabbed the underwear out of Vision's hands and shoved them into her bag before grabbing both of the bags and rushing into her room.
Vision stood on his feet, still confused. "Is something wrong? Wanda's face has become red. Is she alright?"
Natasha smirked before turning to Steve. "I'll let you explain the concept of underwear to Vision here."
A few hours later after Wanda's embarrassment about the underwear incident was gone, she exited her room in the new long sleeved casual black dress that she got. It was a little shorter than she was familiar with but she still enjoyed the item.
After dinner, the team introduced her to S'mores and she reveled in them. They were the tastiest dessert that she had ever had. She wondered what Pietro would have thought about this. He probably would have eaten the entire team's s'mores while they weren't looking.
Thinking about her brother brought forth feelings of sadness as she ate her third s'more, Wanda put down her sugary treat and excused herself and went back into the compound.
Clint, seeing her change in mood went inside after her. "Hey Wanda, you ok?"
"I'm ok…" She lied not even bothering to hide it.
"You want to talk about it?" Clint asked.
Clint led her over to the couch and they both sat down. "It's stupid. It's about my brother."
"What about him?" Clint asked though he suspected the reason.
"I miss him." She answered. " I've been thinking about him a lot lately. What he would think of me as an Avenger, funny jokes he would say in situations… What he'd say about s'mores."
By this point tears were breaking out of her eyes. Clint pulled her in for a hug that she reciprocated. The two Avengers snuggled up together as Wanda allowed her feelings for her now deceased brother to come out in silent but constant tears. This wasn't the first time Clint had done this for the Avenger's youngest member. Over the past few weeks, he had returned to the compound to help her through the adjustment process and help her find her place on the team. Because Pietro had died saving his life, Clint felt a strong commitment to helping the young girl recover from the death of her brother and the utter destruction of her hometown but so far it seemed like she wasn't making much progress. That was when he remembered his conversation with Steve.
"Wanda." Clint began. "I'd like to ask you something."
Wanda removed herself from her cuddling position to look at him. Clint continued. "Steve and I have been talking. We known you've been having a hard time since coming here and we want to help. I'm returning home tomorrow morning and I'd like you to come with me."
Wanda's eyes went wide. "To your home with your family?"
Clint continued. "You've a rough couple of years. Maybe it's time you spend a few days being a child again."
"You're ok with me being around kids. Around your kids?" Wanda asked still dealing with the shock.
"You're not a weapon Wanda. You're a person." Clint affirmed. "And after what you did putting yourself on the line for the world against Ultron, I trust you 100%."
Wanda smiled as a tear came out of her eye. With her long sleeves, she wiped it away. "Ok then, I'll come."
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Barton Family Home
The flight over to the Barton's was surprising short and but to Wanda the trip seemed to take eternity. She was worried. This was her first time meeting Clint's family. She had learned from the others that he had retired to spend time with them and live a normal life, something she'd had stolen away when she was 10. She desperately wanted to make a good impression on his wife and kids. She wanted them to like her and not think of her like some kind of killing machine or broken doll.
As she stepped out of the Quinjet with Clint leading the way to the nice wooden house in the middle of nowhere, despite her anxiety, Wanda felt strangely at peace. The place was quite, no city noise like Sokovia or New York and the only backrough noise she heard was the sound of nature. Taking a look at everything around her, she had to admit that as a place to retire, Clint had chosen well.
As they walked into the living room of the house, Clint was approached by two of his kids, a boy and girl both fairly young. They both screamed 'daddy' and rushed into his arms giggling. Clint in turn seemed to melt considerably in their presence and started she could feel through her powers his changed mood. She could feel nothing but pure euphoria off him as he engaged with them.
Hearing the commotion, an older woman about Clint's age walked in carrying a newborn in her arms. She smiled as she saw Clint and they moved to embrace. After they finished, the two turned to Wanda smiling. "So you're Wanda." The woman said.
Wanda tried to speak but somehow couldn't find her voice so she just nodded. The woman broke her embrace with Clint, passed the baby to him and moved to her pulling her in for a hug surprising the young Sokovian. "I'm Laura, Clint's wife."
"Hi…" Wanda mumbled out as she adjusted the grip on her bag. "I hope I'm not inconveniencing you."
"Oh nonsense dear." Laura smiled brightly as she took her guest's bag. "Come on dear I'll show you to your room."
Entering one of the rooms with Laura, Wanda saw a modest but certainly well maintained room with a nice bed and desk. "This room is all yours. Laundry bag is in the closet if you want me to run a load just leave it in the laundry room. They're food in the fridge and the pantry if you're hungry now but I'll have dinner ready in an hour. We may not have the same amenities of the Avengers but hopefully this should be enough."
Wanda took a bit to eye the room as she set down her bag. "Thank you very much Mrs. Barton. This place is beautiful. I'm really thankful that you let me stay here."
"It's not a problem at all. And please call me Laura." Laura smiled. "Mrs. Barton makes me feel old."
An hour later, the family had sat down for dinner. Nothing crazy just a bit of pasta and some bread but it was spectacular. Wanda smiled throughout the entire dinner as she answered question after question from Cooper.
"You're an Avenger!" Cooper asked his eyes wide. "Cool! Do you have powers? How'd you get them?"
"Cooper!" Laura scolded. "Wanda's trying to eat and you keeping badgering her with questions."
"It's ok." Wanda placated. In reality it was ok. Wanda was just happy for a chance to have someone else there who was more in awe of her powers than in fear of them, even if Cooper was only a child. "I do have powers. I can move things with my mind and sometimes I can read the minds of others." Wanda answered with the shorthand version.
Wanda didn't think his eyes could go wider. "Can you use them on me? What am I thinking of now? Can you lift me up in the air?" He said his facing getting one of those cute child serious faces.
"I don't think your mother would want me levitating you at dinner." Wanda said awkwardly. The last thing she wanted to do was make her host uncomfortable even if she sensed no shift in the mother's mood as the topic of powers came up aside from minor annoyance at her son.
"Maybe you two can do it tomorrow." Laura offered her son hoping he'd drop the subject. Clint had told her as much as he knew about Wanda and Laura wanted to make sure that Wanda felt like a normal person that belonged here rather than some human weapon.
Lila then took the time to interject. "Mommy can I have some Nutella marshmallows tonight for desert?"
"Yeah me too!" Cooper yelled.
"Eat your Vegetables and we'll see." Clint offered.
"What's Nutella?" Wanda asked guessing it was some kind of sweet treat.
"Only the bestest desert ever!" Lila explained.
After dinner was over, Wanda helped Laura clean up the table and wash the dishes. After they were done with that, Cooper and Lila both offered Wanda a Nutella dessert and just like the other ones Wanda had fallen in love. Sweets were a rare sight in Sokovia and so Wanda enjoyed every bite that she took of the delicious snack before Laura snatched it away from her son and put it back in the pantry.
As sunset drew over the forest, Wanda went outside with Clint to enjoy the evening. She took a seat next to him in one of the rocking chairs. "Clint, I was wondering something."
"Yeah what's up." He asked still enjoying his chair.
"At the compound, there was a lake nearby that Steve took us to a few times. Is there something like that here?" Wanda asked. The times she had spent by that lake were the most fun for her. Sure she never swam but she loved how beautiful the lake looked at night.
"Sure. There's one just five minutes from here. See that path over by the side of the house? Stay on it and it'll take you to the lake."
Wanda smiled and got up and gave her Clint a peck on the cheek before heading off on the path. As she walked she heard Clint yell at her. "Be on your way back before 9! It gets really dark then!"
Wanda kept walking. "Got it!"
Finding the path and following it to the lake was an easy thing for her and when she got there, she smiled a bright smiled as she stood there in awe of the beautiful lake. Taking a seat, she pulled one of her legs to her chest and began picking up pebbles and skipping them on the water smiling the better that she got at it.
She kept this up for what felt like an hour until heard a noise and turned to see a young man approaching her with a large sketchpad in his hands. The young man looked about her age though maybe a year or two older. He was about Clint's height with short dark brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin. As he approached, Wanda stood up and she could feel nervousness radiating off him.
"Hi..." He said still nervous but trying to hide it. Wanda could hear his unguarded mind. "God she's even more pretty up close." She heard him think causing her to blush.
He started. "I saw you by the shore…. You… you looked so beautiful, I started to draw you…" He managed to ramble out as he held his sketchpad out flipped to the page with her drawing on it.
Wanda had to admit that she found the shy young man was cute as well especially with how nervous he was around her. In Sokovia most of the young men hadn't even paid her a second thought so having someone who clearly though that she was pretty was quite flattering. Letting her take a look, Wanda took a look at the drawing and she was impressed. The picture showcased Wanda as the center of it with her leg up to her chest and a sweet smile on her face. The picture looked gorgeous and Wanda smiled. "This is beautiful work. You're a talented artist."
The young man blushed back at her comment. "She liked it? Oh thank god she liked it!" He thought.
"May I keep this?" Wanda asked. "I know this is yours but I just love this so much."
"It's yours." He offered. "Oh wow I can't believe she liked it that much! I thought she was just being nice."
"I'm Wanda." She said extending her hand.
The young man shook it. "Xander."
Wanda smiled as the young man cleanly ripped the drawing out of his book and offered it up to her. "May I see your sketchbook?"
Xander offered it to her. Wanda then took the pencil and turned to an empty page and wrote down her number on the page along with her name. "I'm staying with the Barton's for the next two weeks if you want to do some more drawings. Oh you should give me your number."
Xander nodded and took the drawing of her and wrote his number and name as well on the back of the sheet before giving it back to her. "I'm staying in the house behind us if you ever want to come over."
"I think I will." Wanda smiled as she yawned. "It's getting late. I should go back before Clint or Laura get worried."
"Goodnight Wanda." Xander said beaming at her as she turned and left.
"Goodnight Xander." Wanda smiled as she found herself walking back with a permanent smile on her face and a jump in her step.
Once she made it back to the Barton's she could see that Clint had probably gone back inside and most of the lights were out. Wanda made her way inside quietly hoping to not wake up any of the kids or the parents since it seemed that everyone was fast asleep.
As she made her way to the stairs, her eyes caught the plastic tub of nutella that was left on the high top. Wanda's walk and talk had made her somewhat hungry so she silently grabbed the plastic tub off the high top and pulled out a spoon and began snacking on it. As she turned around to head back up the stairs she saw both Clint and Laura standing a few feet in front of her. Their sudden appearance startled her so Wanda let out a small scream and dropped the plastic tub letting it bounce on the ground. Clint and Laura smirked as Wanda's face looked surprisingly similar to a toddler caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Clint turned to his wife and said. "I told you she had a sweet tooth."
Wanda dropped down to the floor and scrambled to pick up the discarded tub and spoon that she had dropped. "I'm sorry I didn't know you were still up I didn't intent to wake you both I was just hungry…"
Clint interrupted her by getting down to her level and giving her a kiss on the top on her head effectively shutting her up. "It's ok Wanda. No harm was done. We're all guilty of sneaking off at night to snake on Nutella."
Laura nodded as Clint helped Wanda back to her feet. He then took notice of the sketch paper sheet on the table. "What's this?" He asked intrigued.
He then grabbed the sheet and showed it to his wife. Both of them grinned at her. Wanda gave a nervous laugh. "It's a long story…"
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And so the first chapter of my first MCU fic is done. I will now be turning my attention back to Arrow for the time being but I will get back to this one once the next Arrow chapter is finished.
Once again any and all suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Just PM me or Review.