NOVI GRAD, REPUBLIC OF SOKOVIA, EASTERN EUROPE
"What do you think mother and father would think of us now?" Wanda sips her coffee, keeping her eyes down. The noice from passersby almost drowns her out.
Pietro looks up at his sister as he closes the newspaper, "I don't know," He pauses, "Why?"
Wanda places her coffee down on the table and turns to look around at the other customers in the small restaurant they were sat in, "We joined the very organisation that they fought against; the same organisation that killed our grandmother. Tortured our birth father."
Her brother leans back and rubs his eyes, "We did what we had to do to survive." Pietro holds his hand up to stop his sister from replying, "Once we avenge our parents, will we also be the ones to avenge our grandmother. We know how they work, so we know how to destroy them."
Wanda finally looks up, "And then? What we will do when this is over? We will be wanted people. There will be know where left for us to go."
Pietro leans forward and grabs his sisters hands, "Our birth father. He has an island, he will welcome us there."
"But, he does not know we even exist, brother! What if he does not believe us?"
"Then we will prove to him that we are who we say we are, and if not, then I know that the Fox will help us."
Wanda pulls her hands away from her brothers, "We have not heard from her in months! We do not even know what side she is on, or who's orders she now follows."
Pietro stands from his chair and moves to crouch next to his sister, he caresses her face gently, like he did when they were children and she had nightmares, "I promised that I would never let anything bad happened to you, sister. And I know that I have failed us, but I will not fails now. I would pull all the stars from the sky for you."
AVENGERS TOWER, MANHATTAN, NY
They are all exhausted when they arrive back at the tower and they all head straight to their private apartments.
Natasha showers and changes in to her more comfortable lounge wear, before exiting her apartment and making her way to Clint's.
He's propped up on his own bed when she enters the bedroom, he's on a video message to Agent Coulson.
"Hey, Phil," She says as she jumps onto the bed next to Clint.
"Hello, Nat." Phil smiles at her. He's dressed down and even has his glasses on, he must have waited up for Clint to call, thinks Natasha as she notices the messed up blankets on the sofa behind the man.
"How's everything going on your end?" Nat asks as she grabs the chocolate bar that Clint hides under his pillows, ignoring his noice of protest.
Phil raises an eyebrow at the archer, very well knowing that Clint wasn't following his diet plan, "It's a bit more quiet on my end, May's taken the kids and the bus out for a couple of days for surveillance, so I've just been here with Lucky, not actually doing anything except watching my blood pressure rise." He sends Clint a pointed look at the end of his statement.
Clint turns to her, "I managed to convince May to force him to have a couple of days off." He says proudly, "So, he grabbed Lucky from mine and went to the farm."
"Where's Barney then?" Natasha asks.
The blonde shrugs back at her, "Don't know, don't care. I just know he's not on the farm"
Phil and Natasha quickly shared a look, Barney was always a sore subject for Clint, and it was always worse when no one seemed to know where the he was, especially since he had disappeared with one of Clint's neighbours/tenants and her two children.
Natasha turned to Clint, "I've got to check in with Tony, so I'll see you in the morning." She turned and waved at Phil as she stood and exited the room, "Goodnight."
She finds Tony in his workshop fixing Dum-E's latest obsession; the Roomba's. She knocks on the counter top when he doesn't react to her entering, which gives him a small startle and prompts Dum-E to whirl around in surprise.
"Jesus Christ, Nat," Tony pants, "You almost gave me a fucking heart attack."
Natasha laughs lightly as she makes her way over to the counter that he was situated at and pulls a stool up next to the man, "Aren't you meant to be sleeping?" She quirks an eyebrow.
Tony throws his head back and groans, "You're like the fifth person to say that to me."
"Sixth, sir." JARVIS interjects.
"Don't get smart with me now, buddy."
"I wouldn't dream of it, sir," replies JARVIS is a dry voice.
Natasha, remembering why she actually came down to talk to the man, places a gentle hand on his arm, "What happened at the base, Tony?"
The shift in his body language is immediate, and his face pales a little. Natasha lightly pushes him down to sit him on the stool next to her, and takes the Roomba out of his hand and hands it to Dum-E who runs off back to his charging port.
"Tony?"
The man sighs and places his head in his hands, "I think, I think, that there was, another, err, enhanced - maybe mutant in the base."
"What did they do?"
Tony breathes deeply for a couple of moments, tears begin to well up in his eyes, "They showed me something, messed with my head a bit."
Natasha strokes his head, "What did they show you?"
"You were all dead," Tony states bluntly, "You were all dead and it was my fault because I couldn't save you." Tony chuckles darkly, "I haven't felt that fucking helpless since fucking Afghanistan."
Natasha finds herself unable to come up with anything in response, she knows that Tony knows it was only a mind trick. "What are you going to do now?"
Tony pulls his hands down his face and stands up to face her, "Bruce and I are going to analyse the sceptre, then I'm going to build some shit, and then I'm going to throw a big fuck off party. You wanna know why?"
Natasha smirks, "Because you're Tony-"
"-because I'm Tony fucking Stark."
Natasha stands and pulls the man into a hug that he melts into, "And Tony fucking Stark doesn't have any time for mind games."
The party is in full swing by the time that Natasha makes her way down to the common area. She smiles and nods at all of the officials and other important people as she passes them, she can't help be relish in the slight look of fear that flashes in their eyes when she does. She passes Sam as he chats to Steve and quickly snatches his glass of champagne, ignoring the 'hey' that follows. She pulls Clint away from the man he was chatting to before he does something he would regret and drops him off next to Maria Hill. She doesn't see Tony or Thor but she can hear them both somewhere deeper in the crowd.
Finally, she reachers her destination. The bar.
She sits down on one of the stools and watches as Bruce stumbles around behind the bar as he attempts to mix a drink. "Tony didn't tell me he hired a model to bartend, tonight." She asks in a seductive voice as she slowly sips her drink.
Bruce's cheeks grow slightly pink as he pours the drink into a glass, "That's because I'm actually a stripper," Bruce laughs.
"Even better," Natasha takes the drink from Bruce, "How have you been?"
"Been better, you?"
"Been better," Natasha smirks, "How's things going with your lady friend?"
A soft smile appears on his face, Natasha likes this smile. "She's currently doing some lectures at Harvard, she's been really nervous for weeks, but I think she's doing well."
"I'm glad, when are you going to start doing lectures again?"
Bruce shakes his head, "No, I'm not good at lectures; makes me nervous." Bruce leans against the bar, "How's your lady friend?"
Natasha stares the man in the eyes for a few moments, "I haven't spoken to her in a while."
"Tell me about her."
The spy looks down at her hands, "What do you want to know?"
"Tell me something nice," Bruce says.
Natasha loses herself in her memories, "One summer, 1976 I think, she surprised me with a trip to Malta. It was the first time that we were both free for two years. We stayed in a private villa that she had brought for me, as a gift. We went out of the boat in the day and fished for food, and in the evening we'd head into Marsaxlokk, to just watch all of the people live their lives."
"Do you miss her?" Bruce asks.
Natasha sips her drink.
