Hello, all; back again. Sorry for the wait, but I had company over last weekend and then I went to see Civil War again yesterday, so I held off on posting until I could get a better visual and some of the lines back in my brain. My friend and I went to see it in the middle of the day and had the entire theater to ourselves; it was great! We got to give commentary the entire time ;)
Also, one of my guest reviews asked about seeing some of Tony's POV, and I do want to put some of that in. I definitely sympathize with him in the movie; he's not really the bad guy, he just has a terrible time dealing with guilt, and with acting on emotion alone. I was going to have a bit with him this chapter, but it started getting super long, so that will be next chapter. You'll get the prison scene from his POV.
Another small thing, Nathaniel's (Clint's youngest kid) middle name is Pietro, as shown at the very end of AoU on his bib. So when Pietro says, "my namesake," that's what he means.
Anyway, on with the chapter!
Chapter Four
"We're landing in about ten minutes." Clint called out. "Get ready."
Christy gave a long, shuddering sigh and hugged Wanda hard. "Don't die."
Wanda would have laughed, but the girl's tone was deadly serious, so she just said, "Don't worry, dragi, I'll come back. I promise."
Christy shook her head. "No, don't promise. Nobody can keep that promise, 'cause nobody knows what'll happen. Just…promise to try."
"I promise to try." Wanda repeated solemnly. "Now you promise to listen to Pietro and Laura, and not to worry so much. It is not good for you."
"I promise the first one. The second…I promise to try."
Wanda sighed. Well, I suppose that's fair. Almost everyone she knows and loves is fighting each other.
After giving Wanda one last hug, Christy went and plopped down in the co-pilot's seat that Pietro had vacated.
Pietro glanced at his sister. She was strong and smart and capable; this much he knew. But seeing her in the dimmed light of the 'jet, looking tired from lack of sleep…
She looked small. Fragile. Vulnerable.
No. He thought firmly. She can take care of herself.
But… another part of him protested, but that's my job. Tata told me to look after her, and what if…?
"Am I doing the right thing?" he whispered.
Wanda rested her hand on his shoulder. "You have to do what you think is right, Pietro. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. Christy…" Wanda glanced toward the front of the plane and lowered her voice. "As much as she thinks she can, she can't. Not yet."
"We were older than her…" Pietro started.
"And we had each other. Besides…Steve and Sam will be able to fight this fight if they know she is safe. Not to mention Bucky."
Pietro nodded. "I know. But still…" He grabbed Wanda's shoulder. "Please…come back to me."
Wanda swallowed. "I'll try."
"That's all I ask. V-volim te, moja sestra." Pietro squeezed her in a huge embrace.
He could feel Wanda's tears soak into his shirt as she whispered back, "Volim te…
Clint had come in from the living room wearing his 'mission face,' and Laura had known immediately that something was up. After he'd given her the run-down on everything, she'd known he had to go.
The Avengers were even more of a mess than usual. And they were still Clint's mess, retired or no. That just came with the territory of having family.
Granted, most people's "family incidents" didn't involve terrorists trying to resurrect super soldiers or government registration, but the principle was the same.
It was late, nearly eleven, when the sound of a plane touching down filled the air. She was on the couch with Cooper and Lila (she'd known there was no hope of getting them to bed before Christy showed up), Nathaniel already asleep in his crib.
"Where did Dad get a plane from?" Lila asked.
"He's Dad." Cooped scoffed. "He can get a plane from anywhere. He knows tons of people."
"But where?"
Cooper shrugged. "We're probably not allowed to know."
It had started raining heavily earlier and Laura hastened to the door as soon as she heard the knock; determined not to keep anyone out in the storm. Yelling, "Coming!" she flung open the wooden front door…
And there, standing on her porch, were a very sopping wet Pietro and Christy, complete with duffel bags.
"Hi, Aunt Laura." Christy said. She was smiling and probably running on large amount of adrenaline, but Laura's "mom eyes" caught the exhaustion and sadness lining the girl's face. Pietro gave his trademark cocky grin, but there was worry hiding behind his smile as well.
"Come in, get out of the rain." Laura said, hugging them both (and not caring about the wet clothes). "The kids are excited. Not happy about…you know; but they're excited you're here."
She would ask Pietro about his presence later, after the two were dry and warm.
"Pietro!" Cooper called, dashing off the couch. "How come you're here? Aren't you gonna go fight with Dad and Wanda and Uncle Steve?"
"Don't you wanna beat up the bad guys?" Lila echoed.
Pietro let his bag sink to the ground and ran his hand through his hair, as though thinking.
"Guys!" Laura chided. "They're barely in the door!"
"Sorry." both kids muttered.
Pietro took a deep breath. "Your dad will fight better if he knows you are safe. That's why I'm here. Same for Steve. You…will understand, when you grow, that there are things sometimes more important than 'beating up bad guys'."
Like keeping people sane.
Cooper and Lila didn't look like they quite understood…but at that moment, Christy gave a huge yawn.
"Christy, honey, go get out of those wet clothes." Laura said firmly. "Have you had a shower already?"
"Nuh-uh." Christy mumbled. "I forgot…but I'm too tired."
"I know, but you should. You'll feel better when you're clean. Go on, the kids' bathroom is open. You too, Pietro—go in mine and Clint's bathroom."
Pietro grinned. "Yes, mom." he said, with just the tiniest amount of sass.
Laura shook her head and smiled back. "Go…crazy boy."
After showers, they all sat in the living room. Cooper was showing Pietro his newest Lego set (Star Wars themed) and Christy was actually sitting still, letting Laura braid her hair while Lila talked about what had happened in school that day.
Eventually, though, the kids started yawning and rubbing their eyes.
"Alright, bedtime for all small children." Laura announced.
"Not small…I'm tall for my age." Christy said sleepily.
"Well then, bedtime for anyone under twelve."
"Rats…"
"Is Christy gonna stay with me, mommy?" Lila asked.
Laura glanced at her 'niece' (who had definitely grown quite a bit), then at her daughter, and contemplated the size of Lila's bed. And the fact that they still had only one guestroom.
"I think you both are a bit too big…maybe you can sleep with me, Lila, and let Christy have your room like last...?"
"No…" Christy whispered, almost like an involuntary reflex. She was quickly silent, though.
Laura frowned. "'No' what, sweetie?"
Christy looked down. "It's nothing."
Pietro gave her a sharp look. "So you are going to start lying, now?"
Christy's eyes flashed with anger, and the emotion gave her enough energy to look at Laura and say:
"I…I don't wanna be by myself right now. I know I'm okay, but...sometimes I wake up and…get nightmares. Please. We can make it work. I'll stay with Lila."
Laura felt her heart ache at the vulnerable tone of Christy's voice.
When all this is over, I will have words with Tony Stark…and that idiotic general…and anyone else responsible for this mess!
Lila frowned. "Then why don't you just stay with mom? She's the best at keeping bad dreams away. She even helps dad, and he has really bad dreams."
"I can do that?"
Lila nodded. "Sure. I don't mind sharing."
Laura tucked Christy back against her chest. "And neither do I, sweet girl. Lila's right; I'm used to handling nightmares." She looked at each of the kids. "Alright, bedtime. Say goodnight to Pietro."
Goodnights were dutifully said and all three children tramped back towards the bedrooms. Christy glanced back briefly. "Th-thanks, Aunt Laura."
"No problem, baby."
As Christy disappeared out of sight, Laura turned to Pietro, still fiddling with Cooper's Legos. "Alright, mister. I'm very happy to have you here, but what's really going on?"
Pietro shrugged. "What I say. I want to stay. You alone, with four children…"
"I'm perfectly capable of handling four children."
"Wanda…" Pietro sighed. "She tries to atone by fighting this war. Me…I don't feel like I have anything to atone for, now. And I feel someone should stay back. I mean it; Steve will fight better if his child is safe. And Clint will fight better if he knows someone is here with you and the kids. I want to help. You want anything, ask me. I will do it."
There was such earnest frankness in his tone that Laura knew he was telling the truth.
"Okay, then." she said quietly, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Like I said, I'm happy to have you."
Pietro beamed…and then frowned as the soft sound of crying came from one of the bedrooms.
Laura sighed. "Oh, Nathaniel…he must have woken up with all the fuss…"
Pietro stood up. "Let me."
"No, it's alright, I should…"
"No, no; let me take care of my namesake." At that, the speedster zipped into Nathaniel's room almost before Laura could register that he was gone.
She shook her head and followed after him. As she approached the room, she could hear happy baby chatter and Pietro's voice cooing in a mix of Sokovian and English.
"Ej, look at you, mali prijatelju! How you get so big? I miss you, too!"
Nathaniel had a wide baby grin on his face. "Mama!" he cried, upon seeing Laura. "P'e'to! P'e'to here!"
"I know Pietro's here, sweetie." Laura replied, smiling all the while.
Pietro laughed quietly. "He is so big now! How old?"
"A little over a year." Laura said. "I had him pretty soon after the Ultron fiasco."
"Ah, yes; I remember. Clint called Natasha, and she smiled…she really smiled." He balanced Nathaniel on his shoulder, bouncing slowly. "I hope I did not wake him up for good. You should sleep, beba."
"P'e'to here." Nathaniel said stubbornly. "P'ay."
"No, no; it is night, mališa. Time for sleep, not play. I am going to sleep, soon, see?" He gave a yawn that was not entirely faked.
Nathaniel gave a baby frown. "S'eep?"
"Yes, yes; I am going to sleep."
Nathaniel sighed and dropped his head down. "S'eep." he mumbled, closing his eyes. Pietro gave Laura a flashing grin and gestured questioningly with his head at the crib. When Laura nodded, he gently set the infant into the bed, and tucked the blanket over him.
The two adults backed slowly out of the room. Pietro gave another yawn.
"You really should get to bed soon." Laura said. She smiled. "He adores you."
Pietro glanced down shyly and shrugged. "Kids always liked me. For some reason. Maybe my pretty face, yes?"
"No, but really, you're always good with the kids, and with Christy. Did…did you have any younger cousins, or…?" Laura trailed off, uncertain if she wanted to press further.
Pietro sighed. "My…my parents died when I was ten, you know this. Wanda and I…there was no one else. All our relatives, gone. We were sent to an orphanage." He heaved another sigh. "Maybe some orphanages in my country are good ones. But this was not such a place. There was little food and the rooms were crowded. The…the war left many orphans, and there was not enough space. And the caretakers…" he looked ready to spit. "If you could call them that. They did not care. Too many children, I suppose. Wanda and I were older…we helped take care of the little ones. Many times."
Laura was nearly stunned speechless. She'd known the twins' past was rough, but… "How long did you two stay at the orphanage?"
"We ran away when we were fifteen." Pietro murmured. "Thought the streets would be kinder than that place. They were; a bit. But we were very desperate. So desperate that when I heard about a group offering physical enhancements to make a way to get back at the capitalist oppressors…" he almost blushed. "Well, you know the rest."
Laura did. So she simply embraced him and said, "You were young and made a mistake. No less than anyone else does. Don't let the past tell you what your future will be."
Pietro nodded. "I won't. Promise."
Clint rubbed one hand over his face and kept the other on the wheel. Wanda, sitting shotgun, was quietly staring out the window. It was early morning in San Francisco. They had landed the jet in a secure, middle-of-nowhere location and spent the night. Now, they were off to track down and recruit the Ant-Man.
"How do we know he will agree to help us?" Wanda asked.
Clint shrugged. "Apparently Sam gave him a call, so he should know we're coming. I guess we can't know he's gonna agree, but…when Captain America calls for help…"
"Everybody listens." Wanda finished. She laughed a bit. "A year ago, I would have called that patriotic nonsense. Now I know why it is true. He inspires loyalty." She shook her head. "He does not know how much."
"It's the puppy-dog eyes." Clint muttered sarcastically. "Could get away with murder with those baby blues."
They parked the car that Clint had 'obtained' from somewhere (Wanda knew better than to ask) outside the decent-looking apartment building and made their way up to room 21C.
A rumpled-looking Scott answered their knock.
"Hey, uh…hey. I-is this about the..? Uh, c-come in." he groaned. "Is it a superhero thing to get up so ungodly early?"
"Believe me, if I could have things my way, I'd still be in bed with my wife." Clint snarked. "Not chasing down a Bug-Man at oh-dark-hundred a.m."
"Ant-Man." Scott mumbled petulantly.
"Are you in or not?" Wanda cut in, tired and not ready for verbal sparring. "Cap needs our help."
"Captain America needs my help? Yeah, I'm in!" Scott said, a dorky grin on his face.
"Think carefully, Lang; if you can." Clint said. "None of this is sanctioned, we're off the reservation all the way. You might not see your daughter for who knows how long."
At the mention of Cassie, Scott grew eminently more serious. "I know. But there's no way I'm letting some psycho creep wreak havoc on the world again. Not on my watch. I'd like Cassie to grow up safe and happy; I can't do that if I don't help. I already saw her, she knows."
Clint nodded, one father to another. "You packed?"
"Ah, yup." Scott gestured to a small bag. "Got the suit in there and everything."
"Then let's get outta here."
They arrived in Germany in the late morning, thanks to the time change. Clint actually rented a car this time—a giant, white van. Wanda, used to missions, was handling the time change decently well, as was Clint. Scott, on the other hand, had conked out as soon as they'd gotten in the van.
They got to the airport Steve had told them about, and found the other men in the parking garage. They weren't hard to spot.
"I wonder where Steve found that car…" Wanda mused.
Clint grinned. "How do you know it was Steve?"
"Only Steve would pick a Bug for a getaway car."
"Point taken." Clint craned his neck to study the car. "I wonder who got stuck in the back?"
They parked, and Clint got out of the driver's seat. "Hey, man." he called to Steve.
Shaking hands, Steve replied, "I'm sorry about this. You know I wouldn't have called you in if I didn't need you."
"I know." Clint said firmly.
Steve glanced behind him at Wanda. "Thanks for coming. Is Pietro in the van, or…?"
"He is your insurance." Wanda replied cryptically. At Steve's puzzled frown, she elaborated, "Christy is safe and he will keep it so. He is with her at Clint's house."
Steve's eyes widened in shock, and then he nodded, a grateful look flitting across his face. "Tell him, y'know…" he gestured at her head. "However you two do it. Tell him thanks."
Wanda nodded. "I will."
"She's safe, then?"
That was Bucky. Wanda almost winced to see him; he looked so…haunted.
"Yes." she assured softly. "She is safe."
Bucky nodded and closed his eyes—in gratitude or pain, Wanda couldn't tell.
Steve turned back to Clint. "You get Lang?"
"Yup." Clint threw open the van door to reveal a sleeping Scott. "Might need to put a little caffeine in him, but he'll be ready to go." He tapped the seat. "C'mon, Lang; up and at 'em."
Scott moaned and sat up, scrunching his eyes at the sudden light. "What time zone is this?" he mumbled, stumbling out of the van. He finally managed to open his eyes enough to see who was standing in front of him.
"Ca-Captain America." he stuttered. They had actually met several months back, but meetings since then had been few and far between. The hero-worship was still firmly in place. The two men shook hands
"Mr. Lang." Steve said, desperately trying to keep the smirk off his face as Scott kept shaking his hand.
"It's an honor." Scott fumbled out. "I…I'm shaking your hand too long. Wow, this is awesome!"
He turned back to Wanda, still in a sleep-deprived daze. "It's Captain America! And you! You're Scarlet Witch! I know you too; you're great! Oh, wait…I already met you. But you're still great!"
Wanda couldn't help but smile at the man's honest (though rambling) praise. He was certainly in the minority of opinions that she had heard regarding her powers.
"Jeez..." Scott muttered, getting an eyeful of Steve's admittedly ripped chest. He quickly got a hold of himself. "Uh, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super-people so... thanks for thanking of me; uh, thinking of me."
Steve just grinned.
"Hey, man!" Scott said to Sam, giving the man a handshake.
Sam smiled, "What's up, tic-tac?"
Finally, Scott turned to Bucky, who'd been trying his best to disappear into the side of the car.
"So you're the one everybody's after, huh?"
Bucky nodded, staring at the ground. "I didn't do it." he said quietly. "Had an alibi and everything."
Scott gave him a decently lucid, contemplating look. "I called my daughter, after Sam called me. She wanted to know why the news was saying you were a bad guy, 'cause she said, and I quote, 'Mr. Bucky's nice'. And Cassie…well, she's a pretty good judge of character. I told her sometimes the news gets things wrong, 'cause people don't have all the facts."
The absolution in Scott's words hung in the air between them. Bucky nodded again. "Thanks."
"Did he tell you what we're up against?" Steve asked.
Scott nodded. "Sorta. Something about some...psycho assassins?"
"We're outside the law on this one, so if you come with us, you're a wanted man." Steve warned.
Scott just shrugged. "Yeah, well, what else is new?"
Steve gave one of his "Captain" nods. "Alright. Everybody suit up. There's a Quinjet somewhere in this airport, and we're going to…borrow it."
"Uh…suit up where?" Scott asked timidly.
"Wanda gets the van…everyone else…go behind a pole or something." Steve directed. "Not like we'll see anything we don't have."
Clint couldn't resist. "Man, Cap, what happened to '40's sensibilities?"
"They died somewhere in the forests of Germany, Barton. Now, suit up!"
They all suited up and headed out into the airport hangar to look for the Avenger's Quinjet. Sam and Bucky went one way, and Steve and everyone else went the other direction. Suddenly, though, there came the whooshing sound of something flying through the air.
Or, more accurately, someone.
Tony flew down in his Iron Man suit, Rhodey right behind him. Natasha was with them, as well as Prince T'Challa.
"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport." Tony deadpanned. "It's weird, right?"
"Definitely weird." Rhodey chimed in.
"Just hear me out, Tony." Steve tried. He really didn't want to fight. "The doctor, the psychiatrist. He's behind all of this."
Tony just looked severely unimpressed. T'Challa gave the group, more accurately Steve, a brief nod. "Captain."
"Your Highness." Steve echoed.
"Okay, that's it." Tony cut in. "Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. It's been about 24 hours since then. Can ya help a brother out?"
"You're after the wrong guy." Steve protested. "And you know it."
"Your judgement is askew." Tony said bitterly. "You're too emotionally involved. Barnes may not have killed anyone, but the least he could do is surrender himself."
"I'm emotionally involved?" Steve shot back. "And you're not? You are the most emotional man I've ever met! You never think! You always just jump in and never stop to consider all the variables! And we tried the whole surrender thing. Look what happened!"
A tense, angry silence hung in the air.
"Tony, there are five more super soldiers just like Bucky; at the base he was kept at in Siberia. The doctor's headed there. I can't let him find them first, Tony, I can't!"
"Steve…" Natasha pleaded. "You know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna fight your way out of this one?"
There was nothing said for another half-minute, just silence. Finally, Tony sighed.
"Alight, I've run outta patience. Underoos!"
Everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their heads as a blast of some sort of sticky webbing shot down and snapped up Steve's shield, like a mechanical crane game.
A small, thin figure in a red and blue suit was perched on one of the building terraces, the shield in hand.
"Nice job, kid." Tony called.
The figure moved slightly. "Thanks!" he called back, his voice young and high. "Well, I coulda stuck the landing a little better, it's just, it's a new suit…wait, it's nothing, Mr. Stark, it's perfect, thank you…"
Tony cut him off. "Yeah, there's no need to…start a conversation."
"Okay." the figure said back.
Wanda glanced at Clint. "Who is he?"
Clint shrugged. "No idea. Some punk kid Tony dug outta the woodwork, by the sound of 'im." His voice was mildly disgusted. "I thought we were above using child soldiers."
"Uh, C-Captain, Captain—big fan." The figure continued. "I'm the Spiderman…"
"Yeah, we'll talk about it later." Tony said firmly. "Just…"
"Hey, everyone." Spiderman continued.
"Good job." Tony finished.
"You've been busy." Steve commented wryly.
"And you've been a complete idiot." Tony hissed. "Dragging in Clint, rescuing Wanda out of a place she didn't wanna leave, a safe place…God knows what you've done with Pietro, not to mention your own…" he stopped short. Even as furious as he was, he knew that there was one cardinal rule in place since 2012 that none of the Avengers ever broke.
No one outside our circle must know that Steve Rogers has a child.
"They're fine." Clint tossed in shortly. "At the usual place. And I volunteered."
"And how safe is a place you are trapped in?" Wanda added fiercely. "Maybe I wanted to be rescued!"
Tony's face was less angered now, more desperate. "I'm tryin'...I'm tryin' to keep you from tearin' the Avengers apart!"
"You did that when you signed." Steve said, not unkindly, but determined.
Again there was silence.
"Alright." Tony continued shortly. "You're gonna turn Barnes over and you're gonna come with us, now, because it's us. We're a squad of JSOC guys with no compunctions about being impolite."
Sam's voice suddenly came through Steve's earpiece. "We found it. The Quinjet's in hangar five, north runway."
Steve let out a sigh and gave Clint a "prepare for battle" motion. They clearly weren't getting out of this easily.
Well, this has gotta be a new low. Sam thought. Arrested by your own teammates.
The battle had been as big a train wreck as he had anticipated. Apparently Spider-boy (if he was a man, Sam would eat his wings) could shoot some sort of web-stuff, and Scott could get really, really huge.
Steve and Bucky had made it away, but Rhodey had fallen out of the sky, immobilized by a mis-shot laser beam from Vision. And the four remaining members of Steve's "team" were now in government custody.
They had been picked up by the CIA and were now on their way to the stereotypical "undisclosed government location".
"This can't be legal." Scott muttered. "I mean…we're U.S. citizens…except maybe her, sorry kid…but still…"
"U.S. citizens who just basically committed treason." Clint replied tiredly.
"Treason? We were trying to go stop a psycho! How is that treason?"
"They won't see it that way." Clint bent down slightly and whispered to Wanda, who was tucked up against his side, "Do they know?"
Wanda nodded, and gave a choking sob. "They know. Pietro…is furious. I told him to stay. Christy is…not happy. Cooper and Lila are upset. Laura…Pietro said she is trying to be strong."
Clint sighed. "Tell your brother to tell everyone we'll get out of this mess. Promise. And Christy skypes your kid all the live-long time, Scott. She'll tell her."
"But how…?" Wanda questioned despondently.
"You think Steve's gonna leave us to rot in some government slammer?" Sam asked. "Not a chance. He'll get us out."
Clint nodded. "What he said. Don't you worry," he said, almost to comfort himself as much as the others. "no matter what happens, there's one thing you can count on in life: Steve Rogers always comes back for his own."
"What's gonna happen to them?"
High in the sky, Steve glanced back at Bucky, sitting behind the pilot's seat. He sighed.
"Whatever it is…we'll deal with it."
Bucky glanced down at the 'jet's metal floor. "I dunno if I'm worth all this to you. If I'm worth all this, period."
"What you did all those years…it wasn't you." Steve said firmly. "You didn't have a choice."
"I know." Bucky said. "But I did it. That still…counts for something. And then…here I thought I was halfway back to bein' fixed, and some jerk with spectacles comes in and rains on my parade!"
"That was a fluke!" Steve protested. "We've been lucky the past couple years! We shouldn't have got so cocky. I…I should have insisted they put a guard down there! Why wasn't there a guard?!"
Bucky sighed. "Because they didn't care. I shoulda known they wouldn't care."
"Yeah, well, that's a mistake I don't plan on duplicating again; trusting government officials." Steve said, rancor lacing his tone. "Not unless they take necessary precautions."
"I just…we gotta come up with some way to get this stuff outta my head. Somehow. Otherwise…all I am is a time bomb, Steve."
The truth of Bucky's words sent shivers of fear through Steve's body.
"It'll be okay." he promised. "We'll figure something out. We always do."
Clint really, really wanted his bow. Actually, he would have settled for not being behind bars.
The three men had been given prison uniforms and confined in similar looking cells. But Wanda…
Wanda had been placed in a straitjacket and had an electromagnetic collar fastened around her throat, probably to control her powers.
Like a damn dog. Clint thought bitterly. Pietro's gonna be pissed if he ever finds out about this.
He could hear her in the cell, two steps away from hyperventilating, and his "Dad" side was crying out in horror.
"I…I can't move! I can't move, I can't… Želim da idem kući! Pusti me odavde! Pusti me!"
"Kid, kid!" Scott called. "Ya gotta calm down! Think…think about something happy…"
"Wanda!" Sam said, in his counselor voice. "Wanda! Can you hear me?"
It took a few seconds, but the girl finally choked back, "Yes."
"Okay. That's good. Now, I need you to listen to my voice. Just my voice. Don't think about anything else. Can you still hear your brother?"
"I…I don't know…"
"Try it." Sam urged, his voice gentle. "You can do it."
There was quiet for a few moments. Then, Wanda reported. "I can hear him."
"Good." Sam said. "Now, just try to focus on breathing. In; out. In; out."
Wanda's breathing grew less shuddery as the minutes passed.
"Good job." Sam praised softly. He sat down on the bed in his cell and buried his head in his hands, as Scott started to tell some story about taking his daughter to a water park.
This was shaping up to be a very long, boring prison stay. And he was nearly sick with worry about Steve and Bucky, not to mention the kid. And feeling guilty about Rhodey.
They needed help. Big time.
He glanced up at the ceiling and, in habits ingrained from childhood, bowed his head into his hands and shut his eyes.
"Keep them safe. Please." he murmured. "Keep us safe. I know this whole thing isn't so black and white, but…we're tryin'." he sighed.
"We're tryin' so hard."
*Cue sobbing*
Yeah, I didn't want to replicate the whole airport battle, because a) that would be A LOT of writing, and b) everyone reading this has probably seen the actual scene and doesn't need me to tell what happened. I'd rather fill in the bits the movie DIDN'T show, or the bits that would be different in my 'Verse.
Translations:
Dragi: sweetheart
Tata: dad
Volim te, moja sestra: I love you, my sister
Ej: Hey
Mali prijatelju: little buddy
Beba: baby
Mališa: little one
Želim da idem kući! Pusti me odavde! Pusti me!: I want to go home! Let me out of here! Let me out!
Tune in next time for "What in the world is Tony Stark thinking," the prison scene, "how to cope with your dad getting arrested/being gone," and probably the Siberia scene as well. With T'Challa's POV (finally! I love him!) In the meantime...
Reviews are wonderful things!
