Chapter 12
"No matter who wins or loses, trouble always comes around."
Wanda strode into her room, slamming the door furiously on the agents who were assigned with keeping an eye on her. Night was creeping up outside, and she'd heard nothing from Sharon since the ex-agent had left eight hours ago. She snatched her laptop off the couch and instantly booted it up, stopping abruptly when the desktop picture flickered to life. It was her and Natasha together, heads touching and large smiles plastered over their faces. Wanda's eyes lingered on Natasha; it was one of those moments where she really got to see the assassin as who she really was. Not an Avenger, an Agent, or SO. Just Natasha. It was right after Wanda had broken her wrist during a mission, and Natasha had showed up to her room that night while the boys were getting debriefed. They stayed up late watching random movies and chatting, and when Steve sent Sam up to her room the next morning to check why they hadn't come downstairs, the Avenger arrived to find them passed out on the couch, snacks littered on the ground and the television still on. Sam left them alone, but that didn't stop him from snapping a picture of the scene to blackmail Natasha with. It wasn't really much of a surprise when Sam woke up the next day with his phone in the toilet.
A smile covered Wanda's face as the memories flashed by, but she became increasingly frustrated as she scanned through various news reports; most of which contained headlines like: Avengers Cause Mayhem in Africa…Again, Destruction Follows the Avengers, as well as, Will the Avengers Ever Learn? All of them talked about the horrible things that the Avengers did, as well as mutterings of whether they should even exist.
Wanda felt anger building up inside of her like fire. It burned her and left the taste of ashes in her mouth, and the scary thing was, she couldn't make the feeling go away. It had been there ever since they'd left Africa, and now it was eating away at her. Feeling like a bomb seconds away from blowing, she slammed the computer shut and was about to just collapse on her bed when she heard a faint knock at her door. She stayed silent and wished whoever was there would just go away, but to her dismay, another knock followed. Sighing, she walked to the door and wrenched it open, ready to yell at whoever was on the other side when she suddenly stopped short. Standing there, in the midst of a pile of knocked out agents, was The Vision.
He gave her a small smile and noticed her staring at the limp bodies.
"They wouldn't allow me to pass through."
Wanda's eyes wandered back to his still smiling face and he asked, "May I enter Wanda?" She gave tiny nod and he followed her to her room, his golden cape floating behind him. Scratching the back of her head, she flopped down on her bed as he stood by the doorframe.
"What's up?"
The Vision contemplated her demeanor with a somber expression on his face, his blue mechanical eyes melting from their usual sharp structure into a softer appearance.
"You're angry."
Wanda didn't say anything but he saw her eyes harden.
"Wanda," he said, "I know this a difficult time, but -,"
"But what?" she interrupted. "I'm just supposed to go along with it? Roll over and frown because I made a mistake?"
"Let me help you."
"I don't need your help!" It would've sounded more convincing if her voice hadn't cracked at the end, and The Vision could tell that she realized that as well. He slowly approached her and sat down on her bed next to her.
"There's something else bothering you Wanda." His voice was soft and soothing, and Wanda felt a lump rise in her throat. She clenched her hands and tried to control her breathing.
"Wanda…," he started, and that's when she lost it. Tears started streaming down her face, and in an instant, she was wrapped up in Vision's arms. She buried her face into his shoulder while he tightened his grip on her, and he rubbed his hand soothingly up and down her back.
"I've got you," he whispered. "I've got you."
He let her stay there, not moving an inch. After a while, when Wanda was able to quiet down, she slowly removed herself out of his comfortable grasp. He watched her closely as she rubbed at her eyes.
"You know you can always talk to me right?"
She chuckled as she nodded, and The Vision loved the way her eyes would brighten whenever she looked at him, and he felt that elated feeling that usually overcame him whenever he was able to make her laugh. It was odd, really. He was an android; something created to just do things. Get the job done and make pure factual decisions. When he'd first been 'born' he'd never thought he'd actually have been able to make a connection to these people, to his team. And yet, they'd accepted him, laughed at his cunning remarks, and praised him on his skills.
All this ran through Vision's mind as he watched Wanda, and something suddenly dawned on him.
"It's Natasha isn't it?" he asked
Wanda's smile faltered. "You know I want to find her."
"It's not just that. You're feeling guilty. You're not angry at everyone else – no that's just a part of it. You're angry at yourself. For thinking that you left her behind."
"I did leave her behind Vision."
"She made her decision. What would have happened to you, not to mention Sam, if you had stayed?" he insisted.
"You don't know the whole story. The only reason we couldn't get out ourselves was because Natasha was basically on the brink of bleeding to death." Wanda swallowed. "She killed everyone in that room. Just because they hurt me."
He paused before saying anything. "Natasha's a complicated person Wanda. But from my experiences with her, I've realized that she always does something for a reason. When she makes a decision – its set in stone, and nobody's going to stop her from doing it. Honestly, she can sometimes be more stubborn than Tony. And you know what he's like."
Wanda stared at him intently and opened her mouth to speak when suddenly her phone beeped. She fished it out of her pocket and narrowed her eyes at the screen.
"Sharon's back."
"Sharon?" Vision asked. "Where'd she even go?"
Wanda scrolled through the message and Vision saw her pale.
"Wanda. What did you do?"
"I- uh- I might have told Sharon to go tell Barton about Natasha. And apparently…he came back with her."
An expression of disbelief covered his face and Wanda exclaimed defensively, "He deserved to know! You can't seriously think that I wouldn't tell him."
He sighed but nodded. "We should get down there. Barton's probably going to be pissed."
They hurried to the door, but right before The Vision could open it, Wanda put her hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you," she said. "For being here."
He grinned at her, and together, they hopped over the stirring agents and rushed downstairs before Barton could make the Hulk look tame.
Wanda was jogging down the hallway when she suddenly saw a flash of familiar blonde hair in the midst of black and blue uniforms.
"Sharon!" she called. "Hey, Sharon!" The woman turned around and sighed in relief.
"Oh thank God. I lost sight of Barton when an agent told us that Steve and Sam were in the gym, we should get there soon." Sharon nodded at The Vision and the group of three rushed as fast as they could, skipping the elevator and sprinting down the stairs leading to the training floor. Less than a minute later, the large gym doors finally appeared in their sight, and they came just in time to see them slam close after a familiar individual passed through.
Sharon shoved the doors open and they stumbled after the enraged archer.
"Barton wait!"
Clint didn't even look back but instead, made a beeline towards Steve and Sam, who were at the far end of the large room. The two Avengers glanced over at the group of people heading towards them both and raised their eyebrows.
"Hey Clint." Steve began. "I thought you were -," he was cut off short when Clint rammed his fist into the super soldier's jaw, knocking him to the floor by the force of the blow. A second later, the archer found himself pinned to the floor by Sam.
"Calm down man!"
Clint viciously shoved Sam off of him and stumbled back to his feet just as Sharon, Wanda, and The Vision reached them. Steve, rubbing his now bruised jaw, had an expression of understanding on his face.
"How could you leave her huh?" Clint shouted. "How could you throw her in the dirt just to save your own asses?"
"No one left her Clint."
Clint stared incredulously at Sam. "Oh, then I suppose she stayed behind to have a picnic did she? A cup of tea with Hydra?"
Wanda placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back slightly. "Clint," she began. "Natasha let herself get captured so Sam and I could escape. We wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for her."
"Still-,"
"Clint," Wanda repeated, this time more forcefully. "Stop being such a hothead. You think Natasha would expect this kind of behavior from you?"
Clint snarled and brushed her hand off his chest.
"We instigated a preliminary search Agent Barton. Knowledge of her location was not obtained, but I am certain Natasha is alive," The Vision said in his sharp and to the point way of speaking. Clint's eyes whipped to the purple android and narrowed, but the archer finally seemed to calm down a bit.
Steve stepped forward and said cautiously, "For what it's worth man, I am sorry. You know I care for Natasha, and I would never intentionally let her be injured."
Clint sighed but nodded. "Thank you for saying that. But if she isn't found soon, I don't care if Stark doesn't want it, I'm going after her. And you all better not get in my way."
Wanda saw Sharon's brow lift in concern, and the two women shared a look. Clint trudged off towards the exit, and Steve followed him.
"You know," Wanda began. "When I told you to tell him about Natasha, I didn't mean let him loose like a dog without a leash."
Sharon rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up. As if you could've done any better." Wanda smiled, but there was a sad tinge to it.
"At least if everything does go to hell, we know Clint's still going to try and find her."
"I hope he doesn't."
Wanda looked confused. "Why not?"
"Hey, you know I want to find Natasha as much as yourself, it's just that his family needs to come first." They both began to leave the gym as well, walking shoulder to shoulder. The ex-agent continued. "He needs to keep a close eye on them. When people want to make a point, they'll do basically anything to do it. And I don't want him finding that out to late."
"Well, if there's anyone who can get by on their own," Wanda sighed. "It's Natasha."
They passed by a harried group of agents headed to Communications, and fell silent for a minute. The night was dark; the grounds eerie and sinister. Wanda glanced at her reflection on the large glass window and grimaced slightly. She looked like a zombie that'd been run over by a truck and then slapped around for hours. Sharon observed her expression and asked, "You wanna get a bite to eat? You seem really worn out right now."
"I wish you'd asked me that five hours ago."
Wanda and Sharon entered the dining room and rummaged through the fridge. Pizza had been delivered earlier that day, so they just warmed it up and got out a couple of beers, settling into a comfortable silence while they ate. After a while, Sharon put down her plate and cleared her throat.
"Sam told me about what Stark said this morning."
Wanda's mind zoomed back to the disastrous talk the team had had hours before. "Stark said a lot of things," Wanda stated simply, but Sharon could tell she was a bit hesitant on approaching the topic.
"Look," Sharon sighed, "I know it's been a long day, but-,"
"You want to know if she ever told me, don't you?" Wanda asked.
"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it."
"No, it's completely fine." Wanda took a deep breath. "The truth is, Natasha never actually told me that she…had a relationship with Barnes. Of course, after I became an Avenger, she filled me in on about what happened in Washington two years ago – The Winter Soldier and Fury and whatnot." She paused. "You know that we didn't really become good friends until a good while later right?"
Sharon nodded and Wanda continued. "Natasha never talked too much about her past. Little tidbits here and there about her training, but never the details. But I know she relives it all every night." She gazed out the window for a moment, as if contemplating on what to say. "A couple of months ago, Steve wanted us to do a night practice outside – a team thing. To help us prepare for various scenarios we could possibly end up in. It was set to start at midnight, so he told us all to get a couple hours of rest so we'd be more aware of what was going on." Wanda took a sip from her bottle. "Ten minutes before we were about to go outside, Natasha still hadn't come downstairs, and Steve sent me up to check on her. Natasha was usually never late, but everyone has those days, so I thought she was probably just tired.
"When I got to her room, I knocked on the door and called her name. She didn't answer, so I knocked again, but still, I wouldn't get a response. I thought maybe she'd left her room before or something, so to check, I used my powers to…do a sort of scan. See if she was there. As I was doing it, I connected with her mind for a second." Wanda saw Sharon's eyebrows rise and said, "Yeah, I know it sounds weird. But anyways, I felt this sudden piercing pain behind my forehead. And I saw these flashes…almost like memories. But they weren't mine." She exhaled a shaky breath. "They were hers."
"What did you see?" Sharon asked quietly.
"Everything was a blur, but there were somethings that stood out. And it was horrifying. I saw a room where the walls were literally just blood dripping down, and flashes of silver – metal and a bright red star. Obviously, I was alarmed, so I immediately unlocked the door with my powers, and I rushed inside to find her all the way in the corner of the room, knees clenched together and holding her head with both her hands. And she kept whispering something over and over." Wanda noticed Sharon staring at her with an expression of utmost concern. "'Let him go, just let him go'." The Avenger rubbed her face in exhaustion and added, "Now I didn't know who she was talking about then, but I suspected that there was someone important in her past that she'd lost. I think for once, Stark might actually be right about what he said."
Sharon sat back into the cushions and stared out the window. "So what happened after?" she inquired. "When you found her like that?"
"I messaged Sam to start training without us." Wanda didn't elaborate, and Sharon left it at that.
"It's weird, Natasha not being here."
Wanda placed her empty beer bottle onto the table and sighed, "It really is."
"You know what's funny though?" Sharon grinned. Wanda sent her a questioning look, and Sharon's eyes brightened. "The thought of what Natasha would've done to Tony if he dared to say that while she was actually here."
A smile lit Wanda's face. "We probably would already have been arranging his funeral."
"Did someone say something about a funeral?"
Wanda and Sharon's smiles only grew wider when Tony sauntered inside the dining room, heading to the bar area and pouring himself a nice scotch. He made a face at the drink after taking a sip. "Cannot even compare to mine," he muttered, and looked up at the two women on the couch. "So, who's funeral huh?"
Sharon glanced at Wanda and cleared her throat pointedly, and the two barely suppressed their laughter. Someone else jogged into the room – Rhodey. He nodded at Sharon and Wanda and turned to Tony with an exasperated expression on his face. "Tony, what the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be meeting with Hill in less than ten minutes."
"I wanted a drink."
"Sure, why don't you just go the nearest bar and get drunk so you'll have to deal with all this shit with a gigantic hangover."
The billionaire shrugged and downed the rest of his scotch. "Sounds like a pretty good idea to me." He winked at Sharon. "You wanna join me blondie?"
Sharon literally choked on her beer and Wanda thumped her back. "Holy shit," Sharon gasped. "Did he seriously just ask me that?" Tony looked highly offended and opened his mouth when Rhodey suddenly grabbed his arm and began to yank him out the room.
"Excuse us ladies."
Wanda raised her hand and gave a little wave at the two men. Tony threw them a dirty glance before Rhodey shoved him out of their sight, and they burst into laughter. The elevator dinged open and Steve entered, dragging a grumpy Clint into the room. "Hey guys," he greeted, and he grabbed a couple of drinks from the bar as well.
Sharon's eyes roamed over the prominent muscles that bulged from underneath his tight purple shirt. She leaned over and whispered to Wanda, "Now there's someone who I would actually go to a bar with."
"Remind me of this moment in five years when your kids are running around headquarters."
Sharon shoved her into the side of the couch. "You took that too far."
Steve raised his hand in a farewell as he walked back to the elevator with Clint, drinks in hand. Wanda rolled her eyes at Sharon. "You know," she mused, "you might want to tone down the obvious staring."
The ex-agent made a sound of disbelief. "I was not staring."
Wanda gave a seemingly insignificant cough, and Sharon narrowed her eyes. "Okay, but even you can't deny that he's got a nice ass."
"I cannot wait to tell him you said that."
Sharon looked mortified. "You wouldn't dare."
Here it is! A last taste of humor before things get darker :)
Hope you liked it and please, leave a review telling me how I did. I'm always open to new inspirations!
