Trigger warning: Mentioning thoughts of suicide.
"Is there any news yet?" Clint asked as he poured himself a morning cup of coffee before leaning against the kitchen counter. He was with Steve, Tony, and Bruce eating breakfast in the tower.
"No, there isn't any news on Wanda." Tony replied as he wolfed down some eggs.
Steve sighed as he picked at his meal. "I know she needs time to adjust to what happened, but it's really worrying. She's barricaded herself in that room for five days, barely eaten, barely spoken…. We need to do something to help her."
Bruce sat down at the table with a plate of food. "The best thing we can do for her right now is give her space. Let her come to us when she's ready, we can't force her to feel better. She just lost her brother, her only family. It's bound to be difficult to adjust."
"Difficult is an understatement," Tony said with half a bagel in his mouth. "Rome was torn down in a day for her, and there's not much we can do to help right now. We can't start rebuilding until we've cleared the rubble. Plus, we're just a couple of middle aged guys who fight crime, and she's just a kid at 17. We're basically strangers and, I don't know about you all, but I'm not sure I'd know how to help."
Silence fell across the room as Tony made a surprisingly good point. The only interaction they had with Wanda was fighting off robots in Sokovia and giving Pietro his funeral. Other than that, they were strangers to this girl they took in. Not to mention that it would be difficult to help her when most of the team barely interact with the younger generation.
"I wish Natasha were here, she'd probably know how to talk to her better than we could." Steve said as he ate a piece of bacon.
"Yeah, too bad she was called away on a mission. Great timing Fury." Tony said laying back in his seat.
After a long moment, Clint put together a plate of food. "I think I'll stop by her room and give her breakfast."
"Not that she'll eat much of it." Tony mumbled as Clint walked into the elevator and went to the floor with Wanda's room.
Since Wanda has been secluding herself, the team took turns leaving meals in front of her door because she refused to open up. They would usually check back in after an hour and find that she ate some of the food, but not a lot.
When Clint reached her room, he knocked on Wanda's door. "Hey, it's Clint. I brought you breakfast." He said and put the plate down in front of her door. But before he walked away, he stopped. He couldn't even imagine how hard this must be on her.
After a moment, Clint sighed and turned back towards the door. With a deep breath he spoke, "You know, whenever you're ready to talk, just let us know. We'll be here."
He started to walk away, but as he did, Clint heard the sound of a lock clicking. He turned around, confused, but slowly made his way back towards the door. He carefully twisted the knob and successfully opened it for the first time. He picked up the plate and slowly proceeded into the room.
Clint saw Wanda sitting cross legged on the bed, back facing him. He put the plate of food on the empty desk. Her room was very bare since she hadn't gotten around to personalizing it.
"Hey," Clint said as he walked over to where she sat on the bed. He sat down next to her and silence continued to fill the room. They both had no clue what to say.
It was a couple minutes before she quietly spoke, "Do you ever feel cursed?"
Clint looked at her, but she had her eyes fixed on the floor. After a second, he looked up, going back into his memory. "Sometimes…. Sometimes."
After a minute, Clint decided to say something he hadn't said to anyone in years. "When my brother and I were kids, we had an abusive father. But even when he and our mom died, we had to live with another man who abused us. At the time, that made us feel as if we were cursed."
Clint didn't like opening up about his past because it was exactly that: in the past. But he felt like he should tell Wanda. Maybe if he opened up, she would too and she wouldn't feel alone. "In what way do you feel cursed?" Clint finally asked in hopes she would open up, at least a little, to let him in. He could only help her if she was willing to accept it.
Wanda didn't speak for a long time, but when she did, it was still in a hushed voice. "I have the power to make anyone see anything, good or bad. But…. I can't use it on myself. I can make others see the loved ones they lost, but I can't even use it to see…. Him."
Clint took a moment to process that. In her situation, her abilities would feel like a slap in the face.
"But even if you had the power to let yourself see him, it wouldn't be your brother. Not really. It would just be a dream."
"But it would be a good dream…." She said, eyes still fixed on the floor.
"I know, it would be." Clint said. "We would all love to live in those good dreams, but in reality we just can't. Life throws us curve balls constantly, and sometimes disasters, but we have to push through them. It sure as hell isn't fun or easy, but it's necessary."
There was a silence before Wanda whispered. "What if it wasn't necessary? It could all end, if I'm willing to let it."
Clint turned to face Wanda, putting a hand on her shoulder. He chose his next tone wisely, firm but not harsh. "Wanda. Wanda, look at me." After waiting a moment, she didn't move her gaze off the floor. "Look at me Wanda."
Finally, she hesitantly looked at him. "That's not the answer. I know I barely know you guys, but I'm positive that your brother wouldn't want that for you. Pietro loved you, and he would want you to fight."
He paused while he looked at Wanda straight in the eyes. There was barely a response from her, as if she wasn't registering what he was saying. As if she didn't want to register it. Clint continued. "You are a fighter, Wanda. You have proven that, and Pietro knew that. I know that he would want you to take the hard route, push through it, because in the end, he knows you will win. Even if he isn't right by your side, he had confidence that you could hold your own in all battles you face."
Finally, something clicked in her head as she was actually trying to register what he was saying. She looked away for a moment, tears starting to form in her eyes. She tried her best to not let them fall, but eventually they did and she broke down in tears for the millionth time this week.
Clint pulled her into a hug. It took her a moment to comprehend his action, but once it did she hugged back. They sat there for the longest time, Wanda gripping onto Clint as she cried into his shoulder, and Clint held her close as if she was his own daughter.
In the few short days they knew each other, Clint had grown attached to these kids. When Pietro died, it still broke a piece of his heart even if he only knew him for a day or two. It also broke Clint to see Wanda like this.
"He might have left," Clint whispered, "But you are not alone. Please, let us help."
There wasn't a response for a while until he felt her nod into his shoulder. He smiled at the fact she was going to try, that was all she needed to do.
They continued to hug, and after what could have been five minutes or fifteen, Wanda spoke. Through broken breaths she whispered, "I miss him…."
Clint placed his hand on the back of Wanda's head and stroked her hair while she continued to cry. "I know…." Clint replied softly.
After many more minutes of hugging and crying, they finally pulled away. As Wanda tried to dry her tears with her sleeve, Clint got up and grabbed some tissues from the bedside table.
"Thank you," she said as he handed them to her. Clint just smiled as he waited for her to finish blowing her nose. He looked over at the desk, seeing the plate of food.
"Whenever you're ready, do you want to go down to the kitchen for breakfast? I'm pretty sure the food I brought up is cold by now. No one wants cold food."
Wanda looked at Clint and gave him a small smile. The first smile she's had in days. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm ready." She said and got up from her spot on the bed.
As they walked out of the room, Clint put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a side hug. They smiled as they made their way to the kitchen.
Rome may have been torn down in a day, and it won't be fixed in one. But at least they were clearing the rubble and soon, they can start rebuilding.
Right now this story stands alone as a one-shot. However, it isn't guaranteed it will stay that way. I might get ideas later on that will continue this story as the team, but mainly Clint, tries to mend the broken Wanda. If you guys want to see more of this story, let me know. But keep in mind that it's not a guarantee I will continue it, it all depends on where my motivation leads me.
Thanks for reading!:)