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Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The first place they went once they boarded the helicarrier was the med-bay. Nadia's lips were still blue and she was shivering violently. Thor was trudging along, his soaked scarlet cloak dripping behind him. The corridors leading to the med-bay were packed with injured people from Ultron's attack, some slumped against the wall, pressing towels to their bleeding wounds and others were lying on gurneys, clutching the hands of their loved ones while medics stitched them up. Every person there was covered in dirt and mud, their clothes ripped and stained. Nadia saw a little boy of around four years old, patting a tiny ginger kitten as it gulped down clean water from a small dish.

'I'm going to see Fury. We need to start coordinating relief efforts.' Natasha said, glancing at Steve with a pointed look before slipping away.

Steve escorted Nadia into an empty exam room, Thor trailing behind silently. A doctor came in quickly, wearing a scrub top and army pants, her hair covered in a surgical cap. She looked to be in her late thirties, her eyes sharp and serious.

'Why are you all wet?' she asked plainly.

'They fell in the lake. I think they may have mild hypothermia.' Steve replied. The doctor frowned, looking between Thor and Nadia.

'Okay, I'm going to need you to come with me.' She said, gesturing to Thor. He got to his feet, eyes drooping a little. 'While I'm gone I'm going to need you to strip off and put a hospital gown on.'

Nadia just nodded jerkily at the doctor's instructions, still shaking terribly. The doctor escorted Thor from the room, and Steve pulled the curtains around the bed. Nadia pushed forward from where she'd been leaning against the bed, her fatigue redoubling at every movement. She let the blanket tumble from her shoulders, and reached up to unstrap her knife belts, letting it fall to the floor with a dull thud. Her hands shook as she tried to undo the straps on her breastplate, but the knots wouldn't budge. Steve stepped forwards, brushing her hands aside.

'Let me.'

His fingers deftly undid the knots at her breastplate, pulling the soaked Kevlar from her chest. He then sank to his knees, pulling her boots from her feet, along with her socks. Her breaths were terribly loud as she stood there shivering, Steve rising from the floor to slide the zipper of her suit down. The wet fabric clung to her like a second skin and pulling it off her took a lot of tugging and pulling. When she stood there in just her tank top, bra and panties, her shivering redoubled and Steve quickly divested her of them.

'You did that fast.' Nadia quipped. The corner of Steve's mouth turned up in a smirk.

'Lots of practise.' He said, easing the hospital gown onto her arms and tying it up in the back tightly, the fabric swimming on her.

'Have you been checked out yet?' she asked, sitting on the bed again. Steve quickly pulled the flimsy hospital blankets over her legs and she leaned back against the pillows gratefully.

'Just bumps and bruises mostly. I'll be okay.' He said gently, his eyes finding hers. The concern there was palpable. 'I'm more worried about you, to be honest.'

Nadia had sustained various lacerations and a number of burns from the fight, her skin mottled with bruises. She looked so fragile in the starched hospital sheets, and he felt more than helpless to see her there. Vaguely, he wondered if that was how Bucky had felt all those years Steve had been sent to the hospital after his horrible asthma attacks and during his bout with tuberculosis and pneumonia.

'I'll be okay. I've had worse than this.' Nadia said, finding his hand and giving it a squeeze. He smiled thinly at her attempt to comfort him.

'When you dropped from the sky…and the sky went dark with dust and you weren't answering your comms…Doll. I felt like my heart stopped.' Steve's voice was hoarse even to his own ears.

'Now you know how I feel when you run off into the fight without a second thought for your safety.' Nadia replied lightly. She shifted a little closer and covered the hand she was holding with both of hers and lifted it to her lips, pressing a small kiss to his bloody knuckles. 'I'll try to be more careful.'

'That's all I ask.'

There was a small knock and then the curtain around the bed was pushed aside slightly. The same doctor from before entered. She had a clipboard with her and latex gloves on. She didn't waste time with pleasantries, taking Nadia's temperature, checking her eyes for signs of a concussion and asking questions along the way. She cleaned and dressed all of Nadia's wounds, which were more numerous that they had suspected. Only one of her cuts had to be stitched, and it was after all this that Nadia was hooked up to a warm bag of saline to raise her core temperature and was given antibiotics to stave off any infection that may set in.

With Nadia taken care of, the doctor turned to Steve with a look of determination on her face. He had seen that expression on his own girlfriends features often enough to know that protesting would be futile. So, he pulled off his uniform and boots, sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair while the doctor poked and prodded him, stitching up his lacerations and winding gauze around a particularly nasty cut on his arm. When she was done, Steve dressed in the white t-shirt, grey sweatpants and socks that were provided and after padding into the bathroom to wash his face and hands, took his seat again at Nadia's bedside.

Nadia was given instructions not to leave the bed until the bag of saline was gone and her temperature was back to normal. The doctor left with a sharp look at them both, and the room settled into silence.

'She was friendly.' Steve commented.

'I think she very much enjoyed the little strip show you gave her.' Nadia replied easily. Steve shot her a stricken look and Nadia laughed, which then brought a smile to Steve's face. It fell a little when she shivered, her arms wrapped around her chest and her hands still shaking.

Getting up from his chair, he came round to her bedside and lifted the blankets. 'Move over.' He said, and she immediately shifted to the edge of the bed. He got into the bed next to her and lay the blankets over his legs. Nadia immediately settled into his arms, her cheek resting on his chest and arm draped over his midsection. Steve felt his whole body relax at having her so near. He could smell the faint scent of her shampoo and perfume, even through the smoke, blood and oil that lingered.

It was the first real moment of stillness that they had experienced in the last few days. Every second had been fraught with tension and fear. Fear that they would fail, that everyone would die. Fear that they would succeed but would lose each other in the process. Everything was still now, and the beating of their own hearts was loud in the silence of the room. With Nadia safe and well in his arms, the world outside was no longer under imminent threat and Steve felt like he could breathe again.

'I just felt your whole body relax.' Nadia murmured into his skin. 'Are you alright?'

'I am now. It's…been a crazy couple of days.'

She snorted. 'You're telling me.'

He thought about Paris again. How they were supposed to be there right now, eating wonderful food and drinking lavish wine. He knew Nadia would have insisted on touring the catacombs and he would've dragged her to the Louvre, where he would have explained the paintings to her because Nadia has no clue about art. They would have watched the sunrise through their curtain windows, having stayed up all night making love and he would have sketched her likeness as they had a picnic near the Eiffel Tower.

His arms tightened around her, and Steve's keen blue eyes looked down at Nadia. He didn't think it was possible to love someone this intensely, as if his entire being reached out for her. She looked much the same as when they had first met, aside from her dark hair being a little longer and her body lithe and toned. But he thought about how much they had grown together in their relationship. Steve had figured out that a life without a fight is not just possible, but he craved it. Nadia had learned to let go of her fears and open herself up to people. If Steve had known in that first glance, that day in the SHIELD facility, how precious she would become to him…

'Marry me.'

There was a beat of complete silence before Nadia leaned backwards and looked at him with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Steve hadn't even known he was going to say the words until they were already past his lips, but he couldn't find it in his heart to regret them. He had waited months to find the right moment, had planned dinners and picnics and trips but every time something interrupted them. But this moment, this felt right.

'What did you say?'

Steve met her gaze steadily, a grin twisting on his lips before his could stop himself. 'Marry me. Please.'

Nadia could only blink at him, 'I…what…are you serious?'

Steve chuckled, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to her fingertips. 'I've been trying to propose for a while now, and to be honest I couldn't wait anymore. I love you. I want to marry you. I want to build a life with you. Marry me, Nadia. Please.'

Mouth still open, her eyes wide, Nadia looked at him for a long moment, her bright grey eyes taking in every detail of his face. He held his breath without meaning to, waiting.

'Yes.'

This time it was Steve's turn to blink, and he exhaled loudly. 'What?'

'Yes!' Nadia grinned delightedly, placing her palm against his cheek with her eyes shining. 'Yes, Steve Rogers, I will marry you.'

Steve let out a gasping laugh, pulled her close to him and felt his whole heart swell. Her arms were around his neck, and she was laughing into his skin. Pure joy radiated between them, and Steve suddenly couldn't wait another moment kiss her. So he pulled back and pressed his lips to hers hotly. The kiss was all teeth and tongues and lips, clumsy in their delirious happiness.

'Is this what you were going to tell me back when we thought we were all going to die on that asteroid?' Nadia asked, her fingers tangled in his hair.

'Maybe.'

'You really know how to make the end of the world romantic.'

'Shut up.'

They clung to each other like that, unable to wipe the smiles off their faces, their arms around each other. They continued to kiss and laugh and hold each other in their bliss of a promise of a life together.

X

The next month was a whirlwind of activity. Relief efforts in Sokovia were organised by the Stark Relief Foundation and UNICEF. Steve, Nadia and Thor handled search and rescue, Nadia sometimes lifting tonnes of rubble and rock to access people who had been trapped by falling debris. Other times it was simply a body recovery. Those were never easy, but they persisted.

Temporary housing was built for all those who had been left homeless due to the destruction of Novi Grad and the devastation back on the ground. Donations from all over the world poured in – food, bottled water, clothes, blankets, books and even toys for the children. Doctors and nurses flew in from all over the world to assist in treating those who had been injured, as well as morticians and forensic anthropologists. Some of the dead were too badly injured or burnt from the battle to be identified. It was a grim necessity that nobody liked to speak about.

Pietro Maximoff was buried in the local cemetery with full honours, next to his parents. Wanda sobbed during the entire ceremony, her eyes puffy and red. The entire Avengers team showed up to pay their respects, along with Sokovian officials, and SHIELD agents. Civilians set up their own memorials around what remained of the city, lighting candles and laying flowers at shrines with Pietro's photo propped up. He was being hailed as hero for his bravery and sacrifice, but this did little to ease Wanda's sorrow.

After the chaos in Sokovia was under control, the Avengers retreated back to the states. Clint left immediately to see his family while the others headed for the tower. It was still a mess after Ultron's attack, and they all set to cleaning up glass, broken furniture and dismantling the Iron Legion robots. It was tense around the tower. Monumental things had happened that still needed to be discussed, but no one was willing to talk at that time.

Even weeks later, when they were moving into the new facility upstate, conversations were short and strained. Nobody really spoke to Tony, who retreated to his workshop most days. Wanda was quiet and pale, staring into the distance and avoiding everyone who attempted to speak to her. Nadia kept her distance, allowing the young woman to grieve, but making sure she ate at regular intervals. Natasha threw herself into her work, stoutly refusing to speak about Bruce. They were using all their combined resources to find him, but this wasn't his first time on the run, and for the last couple of years he had been in the company of super spies that knew how to disappear. The silent consensus was that unless Bruce wanted to be found, he would remain on the run.

Nadia had been trying to corner Natasha for weeks, but her friend was proving difficult. A month and a half after Sokovia, Nadia finally got her chance. Natasha was in the communal kitchen, making a cup of coffee, her face carefully blank. Nadia approached quietly and slowly, like Natasha was a wild animal that would get spooked and bolt at any moment.

'How's the house hunting going?' Natasha asked after a moment, taking a sip of her black coffee.

Nadia blinked. She and Steve had been looking at houses since they got back from Sokovia. Now that they were engaged, they saw it as the perfect opportunity to start looking for their own home. They had found a few they liked in the area, so that they could be close to the facility but have their own privacy.

'It's going well. We're going to see a couple tomorrow afternoon.' Nadia replied. She didn't ask how Natasha knew – it was a pointless question.

Natasha hummed in acknowledgement. There was a beat of silence, then, 'You're not going to pester me to talk about him?'

'Not if you don't want to talk about him.' Nadia replied instantly. Then she sighed, and leaned her hip against the counter, her careful grey eyes watching Natasha as she sipped her coffee. 'Trying to force you to do anything you don't want to do is pointless. However, I do want to make sure you're…coping, I guess? You're clearly not okay.'

Natasha put her mug down and sighed. 'I miss him.'

'I know.'

'We weren't together…not like you and Steve or Tony and Pepper. But there was…something. And I hate myself for feeling this way because I know better. I was always told that love is for children, that it is a weakness.' Natasha swallowed thickly and looked at Nadia, her green eyes shimmering with tears. 'But I look at you and what you have with Steve and…a part of me aches for that. I thought that maybe with Bruce we could figure something out…but he left.'

Nadia put a hand on Natasha's shoulder, and found that her friend was trembling. She pulled Natasha into a hug, holding her tightly. Natasha held fast and strong, burying her face in Nadia's shoulder.

'Don't think that he left because he didn't care, because anyone with eyes could see that he did. Don't think that he left because he didn't want to be with you because he did. He left because he wanted to keep you safe. Because he loves you Nat.' Nadia murmured gently, rubbing her back. 'He made the decision without talking to you about it, and that's on him.'

'We did talk about it.' Natasha admitted. Nadia pulled back, cocking her head to the side as she watched the expressions on Nat's face change. 'At the farm. We talked about…getting out. Together. Just disappearing somewhere far away where we could be together…find peace.'

Nadia's frown deepened. If she saw Bruce again she was going to hit him, Hulk or no Hulk. He had lead Natasha on, given her hope and then abandoned her. She could understand why he'd done it, but the action itself was cruel.

'It doesn't matter now. It's done.' Natasha said briskly, her carefully blank mask falling back into place. There was a soft pitter patter of feet on the tiled floor and Wanda came around the corner and into the kitchen, stopping fast as she spotted the two women. She tugged on the sleeves of her white cardigan, looking nervous.

'I'm sorry…the Captain told me you wanted to speak.' Wanda said, eyes darting between Nadia and Natasha, taking in their tense postures. Natasha picked up her cup of coffee and turned to leave, but Nadia caught her free hand, halting her retreat.

'You still have me, Nat. And Steve and Sam and Clint. All of us. If you need to talk, or need to hit something or shoot something, you can always come find one of us.'

A small smile lifted the corner of Natasha's mouth and she squeezed Nadia's hand, before making a hasty exit. Nadia poured two more cups of coffee from the fresh pot that Natasha brewed, before scooping them up and gesturing for Wanda to follow her. After a moment of hesitation, she did, following Nadia out onto the balcony.

Nadia handed the coffee to Wanda, who sipped it hesitantly, her dark eyes watching Nadia's every movement. It was a lovely day, and Nadia took a moment to enjoy the gentle breeze that caressed her face and the warmth of the sunshine. Birds sung from the surrounding woods that encircled the property around the compound.

'I wanted to speak to you about your next steps.' Nadia said eventually, and Wanda started, shocked out of her reverie. 'After everything that has happened in Sokovia, the loss of your brother and the nature of your abilities coming to light, you have some choices to make. Steve told me that you've chosen to stay here in the states?'

Wanda nodded. 'Yes.'

'And have you thought about what you'd like to do with that opportunity?'

'I…hoped I might stay here. With the Avengers.' Wanda replied.

'You wish to stay with the Avengers, or become one?' Nadia asked shrewdly, fixing her gaze on Wanda's young face. 'There's a difference.'

'There is?'

Nadia sighed. 'You can stay here, and go to school, or travel, whatever you want. This is a new beginning for you. We kept your involvement with Ultron off the record, so as far as the world knows, you and your brother helped to defeat him by using your abilities. We also kept your involvement with HYDRA secret as well. You won't face any charges or repercussions.

'However, if you want to become an Avenger, you'll have to train. You'll learn to fight, how to use weapons, how to control your abilities and work as a team. You'll go out on missions, where people's lives will be in your hands. If that's something you believe you can do, we'd like to have you.'

'Really?' Wanda's eyebrows went up in disbelief. Nadia couldn't help but smirk in response. The team was changing. Tony had decided to retire from field duty and Clint had retired full stop. Thor would be leaving for Asgard in a few days and Bruce was gone. That left only Natasha, Nadia and Steve. Nadia had expressed her desire to retire from field duty as well, wanting to turn back to her true love, which was medicine. She had a meeting with the New York medical board in a week to discuss the reinstatement of her license to practise.

So, this left quite a few vacancies amongst the ranks of the Avengers. Steve had suggested Sam join, a decision that everyone agreed with. Then, Rhodey was put forth as an option. They were more hesitant to involve him, as he was loyal firstly to the American military and would no doubt submit reports and intel to the pentagon on them. Natasha had been the one to remind them that if Rhodey was around they could control what he knew about them, and thus control what the government knew. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Vision was the next logical member. He was a sentient android that was dedicated to protecting human life. This was perhaps the easiest choice and he had agreed immediately. This left Wanda.

'Really,' Nadia replied, her smirk growing. 'Unlike you I was born with my abilities, and I have spent a lifetime learning how to use them. They scared me and I would refuse to submit to them even after I found a teacher, someone who believed in me and helped me to understand my abilities better. It wasn't until I met these people, the Avengers, that I realised I wasn't alone. That I could make a difference and that I didn't need to be afraid of what made me powerful. If you let me, I'd like to help you.'

'Help me? With what?'

'Training.' Nadia said shortly. Wanda's tilted her head, curious. 'I'm the only one on this team with powers like you. I had teachers that helped me unlock the secrets of my powers. You have so much potential, Wanda. I'd like to help you, if you'll let me.'

'Why? Why would you do this for me?' The suspicion in Wanda's voice was clear. Nadia shrugged.

'We are alike, you and I. You remind me of myself, a little.'

Wanda pursed her lips, looking out across the grounds, watching a s group of SHIELD agents jogged across the lawn in a perfect formation.

'You don't need to decide right now. Take some time, think it over. The offer is open as long – '

'I accept.' Wanda declared, turning to face Nadia, her eyes blazing with determination. 'I want to be an Avenger.'

Nadia smiled.