Chapter Seven
Wanda had not been particularly religious since she was ten. Yet she found herself standing in front of a church and debating whether to go in. Her parents had been religious and had said that God had funny ways of testing faith. She had been baptised as Serbian Orthodox. Yet after her parents died, Wanda's faith had been shattered because if God thought it was funny to take her parents then he or she had a cruel sense of humour. So much for omnibenevolence.
Wanda took a deep breath and walked into the building. She walked to the front and sat down. She looked at the cross and sighed, "God, tell me I am doing the right thing. I am not putting myself before my needier brother. I'm happy that have him home but I feel empty. And with that, I feel guilty for that because I know why. I'm in love with a kind and generous man who loves me back. I want to be with him but I can't just lose focus on Pietro when he has a long way to go."
"I say that you can have both. You can still look after your brother and pursue your feelings for this man," the Father said sitting beside her.
"I just don't want a situation where I end up neglecting one for the other."
"Well, I can understand your reasoning, but my dear, you are unhappy."
"Not all decisions are meant to make you happy. I nearly lost my brother and he doesn't really have anyone but me."
"It's not easy to fall out of love. Before I was ordained, I loved this man. However, I had a harder choice: God or this man. I chose God because I thought it was the right choice."
"Was it?"
"Well, I always have this feeling of what could have been."
Wanda nodded and looked at the cross. Maybe this was a sign from God that her happiness should not be compromised for someone else's.
-o-
Later, back at the Tower, Wanda found Pietro and Clint engaged in some sort of competition. There was a target set up at the other end of the balcony while Clint prepared to shoot and arrow and Pietro prepared to roll his wheelchair.
"What's going on?" Wanda asked.
"Clint bet that Pietro was not faster than his arrow," Laura answered.
Wanda rolled her eyes as she watched Clint release the arrow and Pietro zoom towards the target. Pietro just about won the race. He lifted his arms as he declared victory despite his disability. Wanda clapped her hands rather unenthusiastically. "Is this really a wise way to spend your time?" she asked.
"As opposed to?" Pietro asked.
"I don't know." Wanda looked down at her feet and Clint and Laura made a quiet but mutual decision to leave the twins alone. "I guess you could have gone to a physical therapist to see if you can get you walking again."
"I think you need to accept that I am not going to walk again." Wanda sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I'm worried about you Wanda."
"You always worry about me."
"You are so unhappy. You put on a brave face yet you look so distant."
"It's nothing Pietro." She looked up at him. "Okay, I'm not. I'm in love with Steve, and I rejected him because I didn't want you to feel neglected as a result of me pursuing my own happiness."
Pietro rolled toward her and lifted himself out the chair to sit beside his sister. He took her hand and squeezed it.
"Does he love you back?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Is he good to you? Will he treat you well?"
"Yes."
"Then I say you go to him, tell him you're an idiot and that you want to be with him."
Wanda looked at her brother as though he had lost his mind, "You serious?"
"Yes. You should not have to compromise. I'm not forcing you to choose. I would rather see you happy."
Pietro kissed her on the forehead and Wanda nodded. She had to find Steve.
-o-
It was dark before Steve arrived back the Tower. He was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. Only when he switched the light on, he jumped at the sight of Wanda curled up asleep on his bed. Part of him did not want to wake her up, but clearly she was here to speak to him.
"Wanda?" he asked softly as he shook her awake. Her eyelids fluttered awake and she sat up sharply.
"Sorry. I was waiting for you to come home. I must have fallen asleep."
"Clearly." Steve sat down on the bed and looked her in the eye. "Everything okay?"
"Yes. I just really think you and I need to talk."
"About?"
"You and me. Pietro told me that I should not compromise my happiness for his sake. Seeing me happy is what would make him happy. I suppose being stuck in the same place for weeks can make a person notice a lot of things."
"So…"
"I really want to be with you. I'm truly sorry for giving you mixed signals. It was wrong of me because you deserve better, and if you can never forgive me then I will understand."
Steve pushed her tousled hair from her face and sighed, "You are a hard woman to read Wanda Maximoff, but I love you."
He smiled at her and Wanda grinned back. Steve leaned down to kiss her. Wanda reciprocated gladly. Her fingers threaded through his hair and she pressed her body closer to his. Steve's hands caressed her back and clutched the material of her dress. Wanda pulled out the kiss for a moment and removed her dress.
"You sure you want to do this?" he asked.
"Yeah," she whispered. She kissed him again and they both fell onto the bed.
-o-
Wanda was the first to wake the next morning. She rolled over to face Steve and smiled. Steve looked so peaceful in his sleep and she gently traced her finger over his nose and lips. The night before had been pretty magical. She could still faintly feel it between her thighs, and she could still feel the ghosts of his lips and fingers on her skin. The way they had clung to one another and caressed every fibre of each other's flesh. Their hot breaths mingling and panted onto each other's skin.
It was slightly painful between her thighs. She had yelped slightly when she slid down his thick member which alarmed Steve. After a minute or so of adjusting to the feeling, they carried on. It was like flying. Steve had come first and Wanda did not think she had seen anything as beautiful as Steve's glazed blue eyes. Wanda followed not long after, gasping and whispering in Sokovian.
She looked over Steve trying to find some sort of flaw with his body. She found what looked to be a scar under his eye, and another on his stomach. Another on his side and one on his leg. The man got into a lot of scrapes by the look of it. Slowly, Steve woke up and Wanda's heart clenched at the sight of unfocused blue eyes. He blinked a couple times and shuffled closer to her.
"Morning," he whispered. It was still early and people were still sleeping. Wanda quite liked the clandestine nature of this moment. They probably would not get a moment like this for the rest of the day.
"Morning," she replied. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Best night of sleep since I arrived here." She shuffled closer so her milky skin was pressed up against his copper-like skin. She kissed him softly and traced the scar on his waist with her finger. "How did you get this?"
"Some HYDRA goon stabbed me back in the forties."
"And this one on your leg?"
"Shrapnel got caught."
She looked at the two fresh ones on his stomach and eye socket. They looked to have occurred at the same time, "And these?"
"Bucky shot me then punched me in the face multiple times. He was heavily brainwashed."
There was a pause between them.
"You'll find him," she told him.
"Hopefully."
Steve looked over her body and found several scars. The angriest was a jagged scar that was on her waist. "That was when I had my appendix removed. It had ruptured so the doctor - who later turned out to be an intern - just cut like there was no tomorrow." She exposed her thigh to him. "These are the shrapnel from that missile that blew up my home."
Steve leaned down and kissed the appendectomy scar, and then the scars on her thigh. Wanda giggled and stroked his hair. Steve shuffled up and kissed her on the lips. Steve moaned at the taste of her lips and Wanda cupped his face.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too."
End of Part One
Civil War plot spoilers starts next chapter.
