And I'm back. New York was fun. Hot and humid (seriously New Yorkers, how do you cope all year round?) but enjoyable. Anyway, back to our regular schedule.
Chapter Six
Sam was wondering whether it was worth trying to get the rest of the group to acknowledge that it was Thanksgiving. He was not expecting some large event but he loved that it did bring people together and they could celebrate with one another. The recent United States Presidential Election left them with very little optimism of the state of the world, no one was really in a celebratory mood.
Since the night of the election, everyone was in a bit of a strange mood, as though any glimmer of hope of them returning home had dissipated in a single moment. The winning candidate's attitude towards the Sokovia Accords was hardly negative. In fact, he wanted to tighten the control over enhanced individuals in the United States, especially Inhumans and deporting those Inhumans who were undocumented immigrants. Since Wanda's citizenship was still up in the air when she escaped from the Avengers Compound, it was likely her application for permanent citizenship had been thrown out of the window. While they had little confidence in the other candidate's position on the Accords (she was supportive of them and was willing to work with the United Nations to ensure that enhanced individuals cooperate with the United States Government), she was a more 'ideal' choice when compared to her opponent.
Wanda thought this over while sitting in the bath the night before Thanksgiving. The water was shifting towards lukewarm but Wanda was too away with her thoughts to care about the temperature of the bath. She was thinking back to the previous Thanksgiving, which happened to be her first.
"Wanda, come on or else we are going to be late!" Natasha called through the hallway of the bedrooms. She turned her head into Wanda's room where the young woman was in the process of unpacking her bag. "What are you doing?"
"I'm not coming," Wanda replied.
"Why not?"
"I just don't feel as though I will be welcome."
Natasha sighed and rubbed her eye, "Stark has gotten over it. All you are doing is isolating yourself."
"I just don't want to go, Natasha! I don't understand the point in being in a room where I am universally disliked."
"What gave you that impression?"
"Maybe because I fucked with everyone's head and no one really wants to speak to me unless it is mission-related."
"To be fair, Wanda, you have not exactly been social since you arrived here. No one dislikes you; we just want to get to know you better. So pack your stuff up and get in the damn car."
Wanda grumbled as she repacked haphazardly. Her flung her bag into the trunk of the car and got in the backseat with Natasha, put her headphones in her ears and turned up her audiobook. Once they arrived in New York City and Tony's apartment, Wanda was still in her funk about her fear of being rejected by everyone. She took a deep breath as she followed everyone to the lifts. Rhodes and Sam were bickering with one another over who was going to win between the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys, Natasha was tapping her foot as they waited to get to the top floor and Steve did his best to give Wanda a small reassuring smile that what was to come was not going to be as bad as she thought. The only one on the team who was not in attendance was Vision on account of the fact that he could not eat food. Wanda secretly envied him.
The lift door opened and revealed a long table with all the Thanksgiving decorations adorning it. "Wow. Pepper clearly went all out," Rhodes commented.
"Table decorations later. Football," Sam said throwing his bag down and moving towards the television where they found Clint already watching the game. Rhodes followed suit and Natasha rolled her eyes.
"I need female company and fast," she said walking in the direction of the kitchen, leaving just Steve and Wanda by the lift.
"So do you fancy watching the game or going to the kitchen?" Steve asked.
"I might get on everyone's nerves if I keep asking questions. I might just go unpack," she answered. Then Natasha's words about her being anti-social rang in her ears and she sighed, "I'll go to the kitchen."
In the kitchen, Natasha was checking on the yams while Pepper was basting the turkey. Laura, Clint's wife, was in the process of warming up the vegetables. After a minute of standing in the doorway, Wanda asked timidly, "Can I help with anything?"
Laura was the first to look up and give Wanda a welcoming smile. She said, "Yes. The potatoes in the slow cooker need seasoning, milk and mashing and returning to the slow cooker to keep warm."
Wanda nodded and went to the slow cooker to retrieved the potatoes. She had a quick taste to assess how much seasoning she needed and immediately grabbed the salt and pepper, testing it every few shakes and cracks.
"Am I okay to heat some milk on the stove?" Wanda asked.
"Sure, knock yourself out," Pepper answered. Wanda could not help but feel awkward around Pepper. She wondered what Pepper must have thought of her but since they had interacted only on one other occasion it was unlikely that Pepper had formed her own opinion of Wanda. "I like that jumper. Where did you get it from?"
Wanda looked down at her grey jumper. It had been one of the manic purchases following her arrival in the United States so she could not remember where she had gotten it. "I'm not sure to be honest," she answered. Wanda knew that it was friendly chit-chat but Wanda had never been good at making friends compared to Pietro. If he was there she would have been far more comfortable with speaking to people. "How is Tony?"
"He's… Tony," Pepper answered. Wanda had stopped reading people's minds so that they would be able to trust her better but she was quite good at reading people. There was a sense of frustration in Pepper's voice that suggested that there had been a recent argument so Wanda decided to drop it. "So I heard you dropped out of school."
Wanda tensed. She had decided to take an adult high school English class and she was doing well for the most part to the point that if she had done well on a test, she could have gotten an A. However, a mission had gone badly wrong two days before the test and Wanda had suffered a panic attack in the classroom. She was given the option of taking it when she was mentally able but she could not cope with the strain of being an Avenger and the pressure of school. She did not tell anyone this in fear that they felt she was mentally unfit to be an Avenger.
"I lost interest," Wanda lied.
"I still think you should have pushed with it. I've seen your grades Wanda; you're clearly intelligent," Natasha argued.
"Well, as with all courses, the books were male, pale and stale," Wanda responded.
Pepper snorted at the comment and added, "I know what you mean. Give us some Charlotte Brontë, not Dickens."
"I don't know. Dickens was a revolutionary for his time especially when he talked about the struggles of women," Laura countered.
"At least you two got that, I ended up with Lolita," Natasha pointed out. "Nothing says progressive than a man leering after a twelve-year-old girl."
Wanda was relieved that she managed to break a social barrier and at least engage with a conversation with these three women that did not involve the need to talk about her brother, Ultron or any of her past.
Half an hour later, everyone was gathered around the table. Tony took the honours of carving the turkey, while the others instantly helped themselves to the sides. Wanda only took a small amount of everything and listened as the conversation between everyone. She was sitting between Clint and Sam, who were bantering on about the fact that the Dallas Cowboys lost and that Clint had to pay Sam $50. Wanda had no idea what they were talking about to even contribute. Steve was sitting opposite her and gave a small smile. Wanda smiled a little back and sipped her wine. It seemed she was the only one drinking rosé since she found red wine too heavy and white wine was too dry. She did appreciate that they did accommodate for her even though they did not have to do so.
She looked around everyone and the realisation dawned on her: this was her family now. It sounded so strange to her. Six months ago, she would have thrown up at the thought of spending a holiday with Tony Stark. She could not say that she and Tony 'got on' but they were at least civil enough that they could bear to be in the same room together without causing an argument.
A lump formed in her throat and had to excuse herself from the table, taking her glass with her. Steve and Clint looked to one another questioning whether they should see if she was okay, but they hoped that she just needed the bathroom. However, Wanda had gone to the balcony to get some fresh air and peace to start crying. It was not the hysterical sobbing she had done in the past. It was just soft tears. She tried to down the wine but then someone interrupted her by coming onto the balcony. Wanda wiped her tears with her sleeve and tried to compose herself. Not that it helped.
"Wow, I thought Thanksgiving with my father was hard enough," Clint commented. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Wanda lied. She did swig down the rest of her wine and felt the rush of alcohol go to her head. She kind of liked it and it took the edge away.
"Nat said you didn't want to come today. She said you think we all hate you."
"Well, Laura and Pepper seemed okay around me. I guess they don't dislike me."
"Honestly, everyone is a little worried about you. Sam and Steve said you did not want to acknowledge your birthday."
"I haven't had to for the previous fourteen birthdays so why should number fifteen be any different?"
"Fair enough. Listen Wanda, it's always been you and Pietro against the rest of the world, but you don't have to do that anymore. You're making yourself lonely and depressed for no reason."
It was after Clint said that Wanda had another realisation: she was seeing this as a punishment for everything that had happened that year, and that was why she was isolating herself. Yet everyone was trying their hardest to make her feel included. Combined with her realisation that this was going to be a new family and Natasha's words, it made her have the epiphany that she had to try to make an effort.
"I guess you're right. I don't think it is entirely for no reason. I'm not sure how anyone can forgive what I did." Wanda took a couple of deep breaths. "I think I am ready to go back inside."
Once inside, she found that the conversation around the table had moved towards a trip to see the latest Star Wars movie next month. Wanda liked Star Wars. She had watched all six movies a couple months ago so maybe this cinema trip would be the perfect opportunity for her to socialise.
"Can I come with you guys?" she asked, though it was more of a blurt.
Wanda snapped out her memory when she heard a banging on the door and Natasha yelling, "Wanda, you've been in there nearly an hour! Are you okay?"
"Yes. Just away with my thoughts," Wanda replied. The bath water had gone cold so Wanda escaped to the warmth of her fluffy white towel.
When she was dried and dressed, she went to the living room where it looked like Chinese takeout had been ordered. She smiled as she snuggled up to Steve and grabbed her kung pao chicken. Natasha had chosen Star Wars: The Force Awakens as their movie for the evening.
"It feels like such a long time ago since we have watched this movie," Natasha commented.
"I know," Wanda replied. "It's hard to believe it is only a year since this came out. It's great that there is more than one female character who is dominant through the series. I love Leia, but she was being surrounded by a bunch of sausages."
"Well, at least there is more than one black person in this galaxy," Sam commented. "I give it until Episode IX before they reveal that Finn is Lando's son."
"Well, Forrest Whitaker's is going to be in Rogue One," Steve pointed out.
"My god, three black people in Star Wars. What is the world coming to?"
The four of them laughed at this. It was then that Wanda realised how close the four of them had become over the last few months and they deserved to know about the reason she quit school.
"Guys, can I be honest with you about something?" Wanda asked.
"Sure, what's up?" Steve replied.
"I did not drop out of the English class because I thought it was boring. It was after the incident in Buenos Aires, and I had a panic attack." Steve, Sam and Natasha looked between one another, remembering what happened in Buenos Aires. There was a leak that Rumlow was hiding out in the country, but the result was an ambush where they all just managed to survive. Wanda was snuck up on and had a knife pressed to her throat. "I just kept imagining the knife on my skin and I freaked out. After I just could not cope with it all."
"Why did you not mention this before?" Sam asked.
"I thought I would be seen as mentally unfit, and I just did not want to be thrown back into therapy again."
"To be honest, we probably could have all done with some therapy after that mission," Natasha commented. "I knew it had to be something else that caused you to quit school."
"Well, I'm not going to be able to go back anytime soon so… I'm quite happy with what we have at the moment."
"See and I thought we would not have something to be thankful for this year," Sam commented.
"Well, here is to a dismal Christmas and a crappy New Year," Natasha added.
Clint will be back soon.
Next week, prepare for some Christmas music (yes I know it's September but I saw Halloween stuff in JCPenny so...). Speaking of Christmas, since the last chapter of the Infinity War plot will be coming on Christmas Eve, would anyone be up for something more fluffy to balance out the doom and gloom?