Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Sorry about the formatting; I think it's fixed now. Enjoy!

It felt like simply too nice of a day to stay inside. The sun shone down from a cloudless sky and the temperature was perfect-not too cold but not too hot. Wanda tried to read inside for a good twenty minutes before giving it up as a lost cause and taking everything inside. She'd discovered the small grass path that wound its way down the property to a small glade ringed by trees and sporting a pool of water as smooth as glass one of her first days at the new base and she'd been waiting for a chance to go back. It seemed like a nice place to forget things-like the upcoming trip to Washington and whatever they might find there.

As the day began to lengthen into nothing but shadows and bits of fragmented light she gradually became aware of someone else on the path walking towards her. She watched the entrance to the glade curiously, powers on alert-but immediately relaxed when she saw it was only Steve. "This is a nice spot you've picked out." he commented, taking a seat next to her on the soft grass.

She shrugged. "I just wanted a quiet place to read."

"Looks like you found one."

"You could say that. So, why are you here?" He would have expected he'd be sparring with Natasha; that seemed to be all they did nowadays. It seemed like they were preparing for a brawl rather than a diplomatic meeting. She had to wonder if it was some kind of coping method.

"I took a break. Sparring gets tiring after a while-especially when you already know exactly what moves your partner is going to use against you."

"I would have thought you'd never truly know what she'll pull on you." She sparred with Natasha almost every day and the master assassin still managed to find ways to surprise her.

He laughed. "Sometimes she just isn't in the mood to be creative."

Even though he was smiling, Wanda got the feeling he was miles away. "You're worried about something."

"How can you tell?" It was clear he thought she was trying to look into his mind.

"It's obvious. You don't even seem like you're here."

"Sorry. There's just a lot going on-like today's mission. It's obvious we're missing something. That wasn't just some drug cartel. Those men and women were willing to face a lifetime of imprisonment just so they wouldn't betray their employer. All the cartels I've tangled with have never had a level of loyalty like that-it has to come from fear. Which means we missed a major detail. And sooner or later, we're going to regret it."

"Why didn't you push harder? We could have had them all arrested-"

"But that wouldn't have been a good solution either. Those people were scared and desperate-and none of them wanted to be there. They didn't deserve years in prison. No, I think we did the right thing…I just hope we couldn't have done more."

"You second guess yourself far too much."

"I've seen what happens when people aren't careful. People get hurt. Sometimes they even die-and I'm not going to lose anyone else."

"You don't have to do this alone." she said, for a lack of anything better or deeper to say but knowing that she wanted to do something. "You have an entire team at your back."

He smiled almost sadly. "I appreciate that, Wanda-but I'm the leader of the Avengers. Whatever happens, it's my responsibility."

"You might not want to do that where Pietro is concerned."

She actually got a laugh out of him.

They sat in silence for a while, watching as the sun set over the tops of the trees and bathed everything in a golden glow. The day's many events were just starting to catch up to Wanda; the morning ride in the Quinjet felt like a dim and distant memory and the exhaustion was really setting in. She tried not to yawn, but it didn't work. "It's been a long day." Steve replied easily.

She nodded. "You know, I'm sure you'll figure out the cartel. They can't cover their tracks forever. Not from SHIELD."

"Right." The very first stars were beginning to show in the night sky, like it had been jabbed with straight pins to reveal the world of light underneath. "You know, I was never able to see this many stars in Brooklyn. The light pollution drowned out almost all of them. I actually prefer being in the country in some ways; it's quieter, and nothing seems quite as important as it really is-but there's certainly no place like home."

She nodded. She knew exactly how that felt. Unfortunately, her home couldn't be reached by a thirty minute car ride-or even a thirty hour plane ride. Nothing was left of the nation that had once been Sokovia except for a hole in the ground and a few million tons of displaced dirt. "I heard you've been looking for a place there."

"That's the idea."

"Have you found anything so far?"

He shook his head. "It's just not practical right now when the new team is still training. Maybe someday…then again, that kind of life just isn't for me."

"You're not looking to settle down and start a family when this is all over?"

"Is this ever really going to be over? Natasha says I should go on a few dates and test the waters before I make any definitive decisions-she has a whole list of people picked out-but I just don't think it's possible to have that as a reality anymore. After a while you just need to realize that things aren't going to work out. I'm about seventy years past the wrong decade."

"What about Sharon Carter? Everyone says you'd be good together."

He laughed. "You're starting to sound just like Nat. Sharon has other boyfriends-and besides, she has too much of her grandmother in her. Every time I see her I see, on some level, the Peggy Carter I used to know. I worry that I would only fall in love with her because she reminds me of the person I lost."

"Depressing."

"It's not so bad. You know, you should meet Peggy sometime-I told her about you when everyone assumed you were dead. I'm sure she'll be happy to know that you're a part of the team. But enough about me. What about you? Have you ever been romantically involved?"

She shrugged. "A couple of boyfriends here and there, but nothing serious."

"You're young. You'll find somebody."

She had to laugh at that. Sure, she had her entire life ahead of her-but she was also a twenty one year old with the power to pick apart grown men's heads like cotton candy and make them cry. Yes, she was totally going to find her significant other. "It's not for me."

He took her hand, incredibly gently. "Then that's fine too." She loved the way he made her feel normal for a while, like she was more than a freak of nature.

She yawned loudly and leant her head against his shoulder; surprisingly, he didn't pull away. "This is nice."

"Yes, it is." he replied, shifting against the bark of the tree he'd been sitting against so she would be more comfortable. "Have you ever gone stargazing before?"

"I can't say that I have. I can pick out the Big Dipper and maybe Orion-but other than that my knowledge of astronomy is very limited."

"Lucky for you I'm a little bit of an expert."

"Just a little bit?"

"Well…maybe I'm being modest." He pointed to a cluster of stars right above his head. "That's Cygnus, the swan constellation…" He started to talk about the story behind the myth, his voice soft and even and utterly calming.

She felt she could have stayed there forever, safe under the stars.

~V102~

Steve had just finished explaining the legend behind Cassiopeia when he realized Wanda was no longer listening. Somehow he'd managed to put her to sleep.

He didn't really mind-she was obviously exhausted-but it left him with a dilemma. She obviously couldn't stay out here in the gathering darkness but he was also hesitant to wake her up. She was sleeping peacefully for the first time in at least a week but probably more. She looked completely relaxed; the worry lines that seemed to reside permanently between her eyes had finally smoothed themselves out and she finally looked calm. He wasn't sure exactly what he should do-so he ended up picking her up as gently as he could possible manage and carrying her bridal style as he re traversed the path that led back to the base.

The den was empty as he passed through, for which he was grateful. This wasn't exactly the kind of thing he wanted to have to explain to people. Unfortunately Natasha was sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee; obviously his luck couldn't last forever. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw them but she didn't say anything-just jerked her head toward the doorway as if to say We'll talk later. He didn't meet anyone else as he reached Wanda's bedroom door and gently set her down. She woke up on her own, blinking the sleep from her eyes and looking around in blatant confusion. "What-"

"You fell asleep." Steve explained almost sheepishly. He'd never been good at this sort of thing. "I figured you probably wouldn't want to spend the night outside, so…"

She seemed to cover from her initial disorientation quickly enough. "Oh. Thank you. That was…very kind of you."

They stood in somewhat awkward silence for a while until Wanda cleared her throat as if gathering all her thoughts. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Of course." he replied quickly. He turned to leave, but she called him back before he could.

"Steve?"

"What is it?"

"Thank you for telling me about the stars. I'm just sorry I fell asleep on you. I didn't mean to-"

He laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'm so glad you enjoyed it." He gave her one last smile and left, ignoring the fact that his heart seemed to be beating just a little bit faster than normal for no reason he could discern.

~V102~

"So." Natasha said casually as soon as Steve came downstairs to make himself a cup of tea. "You finally took my advice."

He blushed profusely. "It wasn't like that. You shouldn't be drinking coffee this late at night. You won't be able to sleep."

She shrugged. "I stopped needing sleep a long time ago. But we're not talking about me."

"We're certainly not talking about me."

She rolled her eyes. "You looked very cozy. What happened? You two never showed up for dinner-Pietro looked like he was about to blow a gasket."

"I apologize. We got to talking and then lost track of time."

"You were out for about three and a half hours, believe it or not. I'd say you more than lost track of time. So, when are you going to ask her out?"

"It's not like that, Romanoff. We're just friends."

"Maybe I would have believed that this morning. Now…I'm not so sure."

He rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should find a date. Then you can stop matchmaking every couple you see."

She laughed. "I'd be open to that. Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as you-there aren't many people who want to date a spy who can kill them while they sleep. Besides, I'm still holding out for Bruce. He'll come back…when he's ready." Sure, he'd been MIA for months now but the team hadn't been able to write him off just yet. He could still show up. After all, Wanda had supposedly been dead and she was decidedly very much alive. "You're cute together."

"Are you ever going to take my word for it when I tell you we're just friends?"

"Not that I know of."

The tea started to boil and he gladly took the initiative to stand up and pour himself a steaming cup. "You can think whatever you want to, Natasha. That doesn't mean it's the truth."

"You'll come around." she replied. "It might take a while, but you will." She was practically smirking; Steve just rolled his eyes and took his tea out on the back patio where the hot liquid would actually do some good against the slight breeze that could be very persistent even on summer nights."

"Sure, Natasha. Whatever makes you happy."

~V102~

"You're late."

Wanda sighed as Pietro pulled up Netflix on his iPad and sprawled across the couch under the window like he owned it-even though he was in her room. "I wasn't aware I had a curfew."

"Well, you do now. What were you doing?"

"Reading." It seemed better not to mention Steve; no matter what she told him his mind would jump to an insane conclusion that wasn't true.

"That's a long time to spend reading."

"It was a very interesting book."

He looked at her carefully, as if running her statements through his own personal lie detector. Apparently they all checked out because he nodded once and stood up. "Fine. How much longer are you going to be up?"

"Not much longer. Why? Are you controlling that, too?" She hadn't gotten much sleep in the past forty eight hours and she was nothing short of dead on her feet but she couldn't sleep just yet. She was too busy turning everything over in her head-the mission, the flight back, stargazing with Steve…and how he had carried her back to the base. He hadn't needed to; he could easily have woken her up. But he hadn't-and she found that especially kind.

Then again, some things were better left not analyzed. She was probably looking at it all wrong anyway-and she wasn't going to go searching inside his head to find out for sure.

Pietro laughed as he closed the door between their adjoining rooms. "Good night, Wanda."

"Good night, Pietro." She read for another twenty minutes before she got ready for bed and turned out the lights.

She went to sleep almost instantaneously once she'd made up her mind to do so. There was none of the usual lying awake for hours waiting for her thoughts to stoop racing. Night was when usually when her brain became most active, keeping her up until all sorts of ungodly hours-usually, at least.

Somehow she knew she wasn't going to have a single nightmare tonight.

~V102~

She had to be lying to him. There was no way anyone could conceivably read that long-at least, he couldn't believe she could. Something was going on that he wasn't privy to. Pietro had to admit this wasn't a good feeling.

The base was quiet at two in the morning; it provided a sharp contrast to Avengers Tower, which had never truly been silent what with all the beeps and clicks from Tony's various devices. However the base was situated in the middle of nowhere-in what Pietro sometimes called the last bit of unspoiled wilderness in the entire state of New York. It was a perfect place to have a Netflix marathon.

He'd started with House of Cards, forayed into The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad, and had just resolved to catch up on Dr. Who when the overhead lights flickered to life in a sharp blaze of white. Sam stood in the doorway watching him curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Watching television." he replied calmly. "Care to join?"

"Do you have popcorn?"

He indicated the bowl on the table. "There's another one in the microwave."

"Sold." Sam took a seat in the recliner seat next to him and turned the lights back off. "What are you watching?"

"Dr. Who. Ever seen it?"

"Nope. Sounds interesting, from what I've heard about it." He sighed, watching as the opening credits rolled across the screen. "I'm guessing you couldn't sleep either."

"No way." He said, turning back to watch the show. He almost never could-but watching television wasn't too bad a way to ward off the insomnia.

In fact, it was almost starting to feel normal.

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