Hey! Updates are going to be more spaced now that I'm in school again, but please enjoy this 5th one shot! And as always, throw some prompts in the reviews!
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing!
Days after Wanda's birthday, she found herself in the training room, working through some exercises that Natasha had given her to work on the control of her powers. While she normally enjoyed her training sessions with Natasha and Steve, today she had been cranky to find that, in the gym, she was not only greeted by Steve, but there was another person in the gym. Peter Parker. After their first meeting, the team had figured out that the boy was Spiderman, Natasha telling the team that she had knew well before the rest of the boys had figured it out, but Wanda wasn't sure if she was bluffing or not.
When Peter caught sight of Wanda and Natasha sauntering into the gym, he waved, beaming smile on his face. Wanda felt the nerves creeping up her limbs, fingers twining together as soon as her back was deposited on the floor. She didn't enjoy having any new people in the training rooms when she was there, showing off her powers was not something she particularly wanted to do. She wasn't someone who liked to show off by nature.
"It's going to be fun," Natasha rubbed her shoulder on the way by.
Wanda hummed, not ready to agree or disagree.
The quartet adjoined in the middle of the room, with Steve leading them through some preliminary cardio workouts to warm up, which roughly translated to absolute hell for the witch. Running was not her forte, she had always left that to her brother, choosing other physical activities to occupy her time. Of course, Peter took to the training like a fish to water, following along beside Steve like a puppy. Wanda resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his overly eager attitude.
When the cardio finished, Natasha led them in some stretching. Wanda enjoyed this portion, while she wasn't the most flexible person on the team – that was by far Natasha with her years of ballet training – Natasha had found that the young girl had a flexible back, and was helping her to build the strength in order to support it, as well as stretching out other muscles and joints in her body. Of course, there was also a good laugh involved every once and a while when Steve, possibly one of the least flexible people in the Tower, tried basic stretches and complained that his body just didn't bend that way.
The joy was short lived when she watched Natasha continue to peer over at Peter, who was following along with the spy with ease. Natasha had even moved from her spot between Wanda and Steve, to help manipulate Peter into different, seemingly more advanced versions of stretches that Wanda was doing, and Steve was struggling to accomplish. Wanda could feel something bubbling up inside of her, and she was unsure on how to deal with it.
"Okay, well, let's get into some training," Steve clapped as Natasha unwound herself from their pose and gestured for him to take the floor.
"What are we doing today?" Peter's golden retriever like eagerness was grating on Wanda's nerves already.
"Well, I want to see how flexible this kid really is. Steve, do you wanna take Wanda and work on that maneuver you were telling us about?" Natasha jumped in, looking over at Steve.
"But – " Wanda tried to cut in.
"Go with Steve," Natasha smiled at Wanda, trying to encourage the girl.
Natasha was hoping that it wouldn't be an issue for Wanda to train with someone else. She had started to build relationships with the other members of the team, but Natasha was undeniably her favourite, and she worried that, if she ever went on a solo mission, she'd be leaving Wanda to her own devices for the duration. While she was sure Wanda would be able to fend for herself, she was concerned that the girl would have nobody to go to when her nightmares got bad, or she inevitably had a panic attack and wouldn't have anyone to help her through it. Hopefully, Steve could be that someone.
Wanda nodded, but her eyes betrayed her, giving Natasha the sad puppy eyes that screamed 'don't leave me'.
"Take a water break and then we'll start," Natasha ordered.
They broke off for their break, Wanda and Natasha heading over to their bags to snatch up their water bottles. Wanda was quiet.
"Steve thinks this could be something really cool to try, and it would be really helpful on missions and stuff," Natasha comforted. "And, I'll still be in the room, don't worry."
Wanda settled slightly, knowing that she was being ridiculous.
"What does he want to do?" Wanda was sure she had been listening to the conversation when Steve was talking about it but had blocked it out of her memory.
"I'll let him explain it, but I think you'll have some fun with it," Natasha smiled.
When the pair turned to rejoin the boys, they saw that Steve had pulled out all of the crash mats from the supply closet, and Peter was surrounded by different elastic bands and yoga equipment.
"Why do we need all the crash mats?" Wanda asked Steve, her eyes still on Natasha as she went to join Peter in the corner.
"Well, I thought we could try your hand at flying today," Steve teased, nudging Wanda to try to get her full attention.
At the last work, Wanda whipped around, not sure that she had heard him correctly. She had been curious, had even tried it once in Sokovia, which had ended up with her twisting her ankle on the landing and having to have her brother piggy-back her around for the rest of the day.
"Seriously?" she questioned.
"Yeah," Steve laughed, not having seen the girl this excited before. "Nat said you were getting really good at your control, so we figured that, in a controlled environment, we could give it a try."
Wanda hurried to stand in the middle of the large padded mat, eager to get started.
"Now, I don't know as much about your training as Nat, but we figured that I'd be a better spotter if you fell than she would," Steve's blue eyes flickered over to the red head, who was wrapping a huge elastic band around Peter's ankles before sitting down and completing the same actions with her own elastic.
Wanda followed his eyeline, catching sight of the pair and feeling the feeling from earlier come bubbling back up. She shoved it down and tried to focus.
"So, couple ground rules before we start this. One, try not to hit the ceiling. Two, stay over the crash mats. And three, try to have some fun," Steve smiled.
Wanda shook off the feeling and smiled, ready to start.
The first few times she tried were less than ideal. Her first try she barely made it off the ground before she came crashing down, landing on the mats in a heap. She could feel her cheeks burning, but when she looked around, she found that only Steve had been looking, and he wouldn't dare laugh at her. The second time she managed to hover for a few seconds, but her concentration was broken when she heard some squeals and laughter from the corner of the gym. When she came crashing down, she caught a glimpse of Natasha laughing at Peter as he struggled to get into the stretch that Natasha made look so casual and relaxing.
The third try Wanda actually managed to hover and come down without a crash landing. It was anything but graceful, and she had almost landed on top of Steve, who was underfoot trying to make sure he could catch her on the off chance she started falling.
"That was the best one yet," Steve cheered.
Wanda felt warm at the praise, but it fell short when she heard Peter and Natasha joking across the gym. With the bubbling feeling coming back, Wanda felt her determination set in. If Steve noticed it, he didn't say anything.
"I wanna go higher."
"Uhh," Steve looked at Natasha briefly. "Yeah, sure. That should be fine."
With the permission granted, Wanda set herself, ready to try again. With a deep breath, she pushed off from the ground, feeling the familiar feeling of the red magic propelling her higher and higher. She was so focused that she completely blocked out Peter and Natasha, and even Steve calling at her that she was high enough. She felt a rush of freedom being this high, feeling the magic whipping around her hands and feet, the air conditioner was droning on and pushing her hair around in her ponytail. The sensation was addictive.
Of course, quickly, her concentration was broken when she opened her eyes, wanting to see how high she actually was, and right in her line of sight was Peter and Natasha laughing and carrying on as Natasha showed the boy some intricate ballet movements with her foot high about her head. Peter tried to replicate her movements, ending up toppling over and the two of them dissolving into giggles.
Wanda didn't have time to catch herself before she felt the air whipping around her body and heard Steve call out her name. With her mind refocused she felt herself falling, down, down, down toward the ground. The next thing she felt was Steve's arms around her and the sudden impact of them both hitting the crash mats. And while they cushioned the blow, they did nothing to keep the air in her lungs.
Natasha, having heard the commotion and witnessed the end of the event, had come rushing over, and stood over the pair. Peter following closely behind.
"What were you thinking?" she scolded.
Wanda, slowly regaining her breath, struggled up to her feet, feeling the soreness settling into her body already. She knew there'd be some bruises. But she had no response for Natasha.
"Oh that's right, you weren't thinking! Either of you! Do you know how badly that could have ended? What the hell!"
Wanda, and now Steve, were standing, both looking equally scolded by the red head. But the comment coming from behind Natasha made Wanda's emotions flip on their head.
"Oh man, you guys, that was crazy!" Peter wondered, the tone of voice and the way that he seemed to be agreeing with Natasha snapping Wanda's last nerve.
"Shut. UP!" she snapped, stomping her foot on the ground, her hands balled into tight fists.
"Wanda!" Natasha called, but it was too late.
Wanda had whipped around on her heel shortly after her outburst, missing the fact that she had blown Peter 6 feet backwards with her powers, and stomped out of the gym. In her dramatic exit, she left her bag and her sweater on the floor beside Natasha's, and she was gone.
"What the hell was that?" Natasha asked, eyes narrowed at she stared at Steve.
"I don't know, she's your kid," Steve commented.
Natasha ignored the comment about Wanda being 'her kid', she wasn't ready to unpack that baggage yet.
"You were training with her," she snapped back.
Peter stood between the pair, having gotten up and moved back to the stand with the adults, unsure of where he stood in the conversation. Steve didn't have a comment to return to Natasha, so he instead sighed, dropping his head into his hands.
"Well if you're not going to fix it," Natasha huffed, marching herself out of the gym after Wanda.
With the two boys left together in the gym, they stood in silence for a moment before Peter turned to look at Steve.
"Was it something I did?" he asked.
"I don't know, son," Steve sighed, shaking his head.
Natasha searched around for twenty minutes before resulting in asking F.R.I.D.A.Y. where Wanda was.
"Miss. Maximoff is currently in the closet in her rooms," the AI responded.
"Thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y.," Natasha responded, already making her way toward the elevator to head up to their floor.
When she arrived at Wanda's room, the door was shut, but when she tried the handle, she found that the door was, thankfully, unlocked. Pushing the door open, Natasha peered into the room, noticing that the door to the closet was opened just a crack. Natasha approached on quiet feet, knocking on the closet door lightly.
"Wanda?" she called, not wanting to completely startle the girl.
She was met with a sniffle from the other side of the door. Pushing the door open, she saw Wanda, curled in the back corner of the closet, knees up to her chest, head resting on her knees. Natasha could see her heaving unevenly with her breathing, periodically breaking up the silent sobs with a sniffle or a cough. Natasha came and sat beside her.
"G-go away," Wanda coughed, feeling Natasha sit beside her.
Natasha made no move to leave, instead settling herself beside Wanda on the floor.
"You want to tell me what that was about?"
"No," Wanda mumbled.
"Okay."
The pair sat in silence for a second, Natasha waiting for Wanda to start talking, knowing that she would eventually start talking. It took a few heartbreaking minutes, with Natasha having to listen to Wanda sniffle. The sad sniffling from the girl simmered Natasha's anger until she was more concerned for Wanda than upset about her actions in the gym.
"'M sorry," Wanda mumbled a few moments later.
"For?" Natasha prompted.
"Not thinking," Wanda sniffled.
"Not the route I would have gone, but I'll accept it. Want to tell me why you decided to act like an entitled child?" Natasha pushed, knowing exactly what to ask to get Wanda to talk.
Wanda lifted her head from her knees to look at the older woman. Her head tilted to the side in question. She didn't realize what she had done after her temper tantrum.
"You pushed Peter across the gym," Natasha explained.
That hit a nerve in Wanda's gut, and the anger came rushing back up to the surface.
"Of course you take his side."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing," Wanda huffed.
"Oh no, we're not playing the sulky teenager game, kid. Spill it. Now."
Wanda huffed out a breath but made no move to explain herself, instead just glaring at the floor, refusing to make eye contact. Natasha cocked an eyebrow.
"Wanda."
The girl knew that tone, that was the tone that meant she was in trouble. Her mother used to take that tone when she had Pietro would get into something they shouldn't have been in.
"Fine," she huffed.
It was quiet for a moment before she continued.
"You like Peter more than me," she mutters, still refusing to make eye contact.
Natasha was stunned, unsure on how to respond to the statement.
"You wanted to train with Peter today in the gym. And I saw you. You were laughing. And having fun. We don't laugh like that when we train," Wanda continued, she seemed to be speaking without knowing. Now that the floodgates were open, there was no stopping the word vomit.
"Wanda," Natasha's tone was softer now, gentle.
Wanda finally looked up, eyes locking with Natasha's as she stopped her chattering.
"You are definitely my favourite person, kid," Natasha started, shuffling herself over to sit beside Wanda again and tuck the girl up against her side. "And, unfortunately for you, you aren't getting rid of me that easy."
"But-" Wanda furrowed her brow.
"Just because I was training with Peter, doesn't mean that I'm getting rid of you. And yeah, we were laughing, 'cause Peter was telling me a funny story about Tony from the other day. So, the jealousy can stop right here. I'm not replacing you, I'm not getting rid of you, and I don't think you're getting rid of me that easy either. You're mine, kid," Natasha pulled Wanda into her side, hugging the girl close.
Wanda, feeling the relief sink in at Natasha's reassurance, felt herself melt into the woman's side. After a few minutes of silence, with Natasha running her hand up and down Wanda's arm, she broke the silence.
"So, you need to go and apologize to Peter," Natasha ordered.
"Yeah," Wanda agreed.
The two rose from the floor, heading out of the small closet and into the hallway. They found Peter and Steve in the kitchen, both sitting at the table, laughing. When the pair entered the room, they slowly dissolved into silence.
"So," Natasha started. "Wanda has something to say to Peter."
When Wanda didn't start speaking on her own, Natasha nudged the girl with her elbow.
"I'm sorry for pushing you," Wanda mumbled, sounding like a petulant child caught with their hand in a cookie jar.
"Oh, um, thanks," Peter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "It's cool, it didn't hurt or anything."
"Okay!" Steve cheered. "Now that that's all sorted, who wants lunch?"
"Me!" Peter cheered, throwing his hand in the arm.
"Peanut butter sandwiches?" Natasha smiled, nudging Wanda with her hip.
"Yes please," Wanda smiled, looking up from the floor.