"I honestly doubt he'd even wanna come but sure, whatever, give him an invitation."
Lucy hadn't been able to get out of Politics quick enough and was cornered by Olivia and her gang. They were doing their annual New Year's party and apparently preparing the guest list. Lucy was obviously on it, but they wanted her opinion on inviting Peter. She didn't know how he did it but especially the girls seemed to be doting on him – it must have something to do with his puppy looks. He'd settled in Columbia better than Wanda. Not that the other girl cared, she was quite happy just being there with her family and it wasn't that any of them actually had friends in the school besides their own trio.
She shrugged her shoulders again. "If you really want him to come, I can convince him."
Olivia smiled gracefully but Jane's eyes grew and she nodded enthusiastically, with a dumb smile on her face.
"Oh, if you could do that, it'd be great! We really wanna have him there and –" Catching Olivia's look, Jane stopped babbling and contended with just the dense smile.
The ringleader turned to Lucy with a smile that anyone not having been to school with her for nine years would think sweet. Lucy wasn't fooled – Olivia was being about as fake as Kylie Jenner's lips.
"I'm really sorry, but Peter fills all the spots."
Lucy had to admire her, she was a great actress. But then – they'd all been trained since the moment they could walk in the art of superficiality and intrigue.
"We can't invite Wanda." Olivia seemed so genuinely sorry, Lucy almost believed her.
She only smiled tiredly. "You can be honest with me, Liv. I know why you don't want to invite her."
Olivia swallowed but didn't lose her composure. "Well, you've got to understand us. She's not exactly... one of us, is she?"
Lucy shrugged and Tabetha continued.
"She's just weird, you know? Being from that dingy place in Europe, I'm amazed she can actually read."
"She did have to catch up in the beginning of the year to join our classes, so who knows," Jane chimed in.
You're one to talk, Lucy thought. She wasn't sure how that girl made it into an academic school like Columbia, but it was probably due to green paper. Lots of it.
"That girl isn't normal, and I know she's your friend and living with you or whatever," Olivia went back to her apologetic business voice that banished any emotion. Lucy could definitely recognize her own mother in the girl's mannerisms.
"But we just can't have her at our party. Peter is normal but she's been here for months and she's only gotten weirder."
"I heard she used to be a guinea pig for some scientist during the Cold War," Jane thought necessary to add.
Lucy only shook her head in resignation. "Do you know when the Cold War happened, Jane?"
Olivia sighed. "Anyway, we don't wanna have weirdos at our party and I highly doubt she'd know how to hold a Merlot glass properly."
Lucy grinned while the others started snickering.
"Give Peter his invitation and RSVP by Thursday," Olivia finished before giving Lucy a friendly hug and walking off, with her gang in tow.
###
Wanda was about to walk up to Lucy when she saw that the other girl was cornered by Olivia and her superficial friends. She snorted. None of them liked the girls at Columbia and she couldn't really understand why Lucy was even talking to them. But she hadn't grown up on the Upper East Side so she assumed there were customs she just wouldn't get behind – ever.
When she got a little closer, she could make out the topic of the conversation – the stupid New Year's party. Another thing she didn't understand. Why were all the girls here so obsessed with throwing fancy parties, masque balls and stuff like that? She was stunned when she realized that they were inviting Peter. Maybe the others were actually about to take a few steps towards people like her, but her optimism was cut short when she heard Olivia continue. Wanda didn't really let her talk get to her, but she was waiting for Lucy's defense of her. When the other girl didn't say anything, but Wanda instead saw her grinning with Olivia, she had enough. She knew she shouldn't let this gossip get to her, she had no desire to go to Olivia Waldorf's ridiculous party anyway. But she thought she'd arrived at this school, on the UES and in New York but she again felt so betrayed. With a huff she turned, waiting for Happy to pick them up in front of the school. She knew Lucy wouldn't understand but if she didn't even think it necessary to stand up for her family, then Wanda couldn't help that stupidity.
###
Peter had been surprised when Lucy gave him his invitation, but she could tell it stroked his ego to be considered by Olivia Waldorf and her friends.
Lucy explained the party situation to Nat in rational, calm terms – she really didn't want to have a repeat of the situation back in October – and didn't take permission to go for granted. They had a mini conference with Tony and Peter and Lucy told them how important the party was to her in terms of the Upper East side social standing and Tony supported her. Peter also seemed eager to have his first high-class high school party and Tony seemed more comfortable with him attending in Lucy's presence – she'd been to these kinds of get-togethers countless times. When Nat threw her a long, probing look, Lucy held her gaze until the older woman nodded.
"Alright. You can go, but there's some ground rules."
Lucy hadn't expected anything else and continued to look at Nat with a serious expression. Her mentor threw a glance at Tony who nodded so she continued, eyeing both teenagers sternly.
"You can stay until 1am, then we'll have Happy pick you up, no later."
Lucy and Peter nodded and Natasha's face relaxed a little.
"You can have a drink but that's it. I don't want either of you to get drunk or anything worse than that."
Peter's eyes grew and Lucy couldn't believe her ears either. "We're allowed to drink?"
Tony smiled. "Don't you think I know how these parties go? Completely forbidding alcohol wouldn't work and both of you have been pretty good in the past few months. So, we're putting our trust in you and allowing you one. Don't push it."
The kids looked at each other and smiled.
After their conversation, it was already dinner time and when the four got to the dining room, the others were already present and Sam and Bruce were carrying pots out of the kitchen. In that moment, Pepper strolled in from the elevator, taking her heels off as she walked in and Tony got up to greet her and give her a quick kiss.
Dinner was normal, except Wanda seemed more on edge than usual. Lucy threw her some concerned glances but the other girl evaded her gaze every time. Even Peter who was usually pretty oblivious to these things noticed her behavior.
He frowned. "Are you ok, Wanda?"
She looked up in surprise and just nodded.
"You're not upset that you didn't get invited to the party, are you?" Steve asked concerned.
"They were gonna invite you, but all the spaces had been filled," Lucy tried to console her before the witch could respond. "I didn't think you'd wanna go anyway."
Wanda finally looked at her but with dangerously sparkling eyes. "No, it's fine. You're right, I wouldn't wanna go, these parties are full of snakes."
Lucy just stared at her in confusion, but the redhead didn't avert her eyes and stared back. After moment, she just shrugged her shoulders and sighed. If Wanda didn't wanna say what was wrong, she couldn't help her.
Peter's eyes darted back and forth between the two girls and even he could feel the tension brewing. Staying out of it was the best call – he really didn't wanna be caught in between the lines with these two – and quickly started a conversation with Bruce.
The adults looked at each other but in unspoken disagreement decided not to intervene. This was the girls' issue and as long as they didn't break any rules, they could sort it out themselves.
###
Lucy couldn't understand Wanda. The young witch had never been passive-aggressive, but it suddenly felt like a switch flicked and she couldn't use any other way of communication – with Lucy that was. She was fine with everyone else except Lucy. She wasn't a genius for nothing, she realized that Wanda had a problem with her but every attempt at talking to the girl led nowhere. She blocked her completely and so Lucy just gave up and dealt with it. Steve seemed slightly concerned but, thankfully, all adults stayed out of it.
A few days and incidents later, the morning of the party and Lucy was in the kitchen trying her newest recipe. She loved baking as much as Wanda loved cooking, but it was harder to concentrate with Wanda around, angry at her for some reason.
Skimming the recipe again, Lucy hummed softly.
"Could someone pass me the sugar, please," she asked no one in particular.
A jar with white powder was handed to her and she grabbed it. Sinking the cup into it, she added it to the eggs and mixed it together. Lucy tested the mixture and almost spit it out immediately.
She spun around and angrily glared at Wanda who gave her a perfectly innocent look back.
"That was salt," Lucy snapped and everyone else in the kitchen became silent. "What is your problem?"
Wanda kept glaring back and didn't say anything. Lucy could feel her temper rise and was close to throwing the unfinished dough on the floor when Wanda finally opened her mouth and exploded.
"Why would you care about a weirdo?"
Lucy stared at her on confusion. "What is wrong with you?"
Wanda huffed angrily. "Oh, you know, I didn't think it mattered to you, since I can't hold a Merlot glass properly." She said the last part in a high-pitched voice, a pretty good exaggeration of Olivia's usual tone.
With a sinking feeling Lucy realized what Wanda was so angry about but she still couldn't understand her.
"Geez, that's what's been bothering you?" She shook her head. "That's just Olivia, you know she's an idiot."
"But I didn't see my teammate stepping up for me," Wanda spat back and her tone of voice only hardened Lucy's stance. It wasn't her problem that the other girl didn't understand the Upper East Side.
"I have to be nice to her, she's a future business partner and I need to be civil." Her voice was raised but she still had it under control.
Wanda pulled a face. "Right and being civil includes selling out your family."
"Oh please, you're being dramatic! I didn't do that!"
"You grinned!"
Now the two were actually yelling. Steve was about to step forward, in between the girls, but Nat and Pepper held him back.
"That's something the two need to work out themselves," Pepper whispered to him.
Lucy threw her arms up. "It's not a big deal! Have you never seen Gossip Girl?"
"No, I haven't," Wanda snapped. "And it's a big deal for me."
As she responded, Lucy couldn't hide sarcastic tone in her voice. "I didn't know you had such sensitive feelings."
Wanda's breathing got heavier and her mouth formed a thin line. She turned, stormed out the kitchen and slammed the entrance door on her way to the elevator.
Lucy held her head up and as soon as she heard the elevator door close, she also left the floor.
After both girls had exited the kitchen, Nat dared to breathe again.
"Well, at least we now know why Wanda has been so off the past couple of days," Pepper said after a long pause.
Steve frowned, clearly upset that the women didn't let him intervene. "Are you sure we should just let it go on? I mean this seems like a misunderstanding and it's really not that serious –"
"It is to them, Steve," Pepper interrupted him. "They're teenagers, some things are just a bigger deal to them than to us."
Nat nodded in agreement. "I can't exactly say I was ever able to be a real teenager, but this seems familiar. We've gotta let them work it out. You're gonna go more damage than good."
Steve nodded in resignation, but he really didn't like his family fighting. The airport fight was almost exactly a year ago and ever since he'd come back, he was trying to keep the tower as harmonious as possible. The girls' argument seemed silly but then – didn't all great conflicts start with a small incident?
The women went back to preparing dinner and so did Steve, deciding to ban all dark, looming thoughts from his mind. The girls would work it out, he knew it. They were Avengers after all.
###
Lucy didn't understand the girls in Columbia. If you had asked any of them whether they'd ever even consider a guy from Queens, they'd laughed in your face. Lucy knew Olivia's attitude and one specific guy rom Brooklyn a few parties ago that Olivia said she wouldn't be around without a tetanus shot. Not that Lucy echoed these sentiments – just the thought of Nat and Steve's reactions made her cringe. He would probably be unable to believe his ears and she was pretty sure she'd earn a slap from Nat.
But it was true – there was a definite hierarchy in the borrows of NYC and the Upper East Side stood firmly at the top. Apparently, the girls decided that Peter was indoctrinated enough to become one of them. As soon as Lucy had led him to the Waldorf's penthouse – not without reminding him countless times of how he was supposed to behave – the girls in their year gathered around him, cooing, and led him to a bunch of sofas. Lucy shook her head and made her way to the bar. She might as well use her allotted drink allowance immediately.
As she ordered a Red Russian, she felt Olivia slid up next to her and place a collegial hand on her shoulder.
"Interesting choice. I see you're ordering the Russian but didn't bring her."
Lucy sighed. "She's Sokovian."
"Yeah, whatever," Olivia waved to the bartender. "I'm glad you didn't decide to do anything stupid."
"I would never." Lucy's sweet, fake, casual voice still worked. Since living at the tower, she didn't need to employ it on a daily basis anymore, so she'd worried that it might've gotten a little rusty. It hadn't; something engrained since childhood seemed to stay with you forever.
"I remember very well what happened at the soiree in June with Millicent and Barbara."
Olivia pulled a face. "Oh, that was horrendous." She threw a casual glance to the sofas where a bunch of girls where gathered around Peter, including dumb Jane. "Seems he's fitting in well."
Lucy threw the other girl a serious but slightly amused glance. "You can't tell me you actually like him. Normally, you wouldn't be caught dead around someone like him. You barely make it to the West Side."
Olivia looked back at her with measured countenance, judging whether Lucy would use any material she trusted her with in intrigue. It was useless though, Lucy had never taken any other part than observer in their little games – she was too busy. Olivia seemed to recognize it, so she sighed, grabbing her Martini from the bartender and taking a long sip.
"I don't want to, you know what I think about Queens." She actually managed to make it sound like an insult. "But I can't deny that there's a certain level of… mystical attraction."
Lucy looked back to Peter and turned to Olivia again, with a skeptical look on her face. The older girl smiled generously but slightly unbelieving – as if she couldn't believe her own feelings.
"You don't see it, because you're living with him. He's just your annoying roommate."
Lucy sighed but admitted that Olivia was probably right. On top of that, she also didn't have time for these kinds of thoughts. The girls grabbed their drinks and made their way to the others.
The night passed quickly and Lucy didn't want to risk anything so she got Peter out of the clutches of the girls at ten to one and they were downstairs and picked up by Happy right on time. He smiled back at them as they climbed into the car.
"You guys had fun?"
Peter's eyes shone. "It was really cool… but kinda scary." He turned to Lucy. "This is what you've been doing your whole life?"
Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "The alcohol didn't enter until high school, but yeah, same energy."
They got to the tower pretty quickly and Happy wished them a good night but not before reminding them that they should be quiet on the way up since everyone else was already asleep.
Not everyone that was. When Lucy entered her floor, she could hear Nat in the living room, so she joined her there. The spy was sitting on the sofas and smiled at her when she walked in.
"How was it?"
Lucy dropped down next to her with a sigh. "Pretty good. Every girl in my year is all over Peter but I don't get it."
Nat just giggled. "What drink did you have?"
"Red Russian, of course," Lucy grinned and her mentor laughed, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.
###
Wanda didn't calm down and Lucy was far too stubborn to be the bigger person, so tensions only grew. Peter wisely avoided both of them, scared to be caught in the crossfire, and so were Tony, Bruce, Happy and Clint.
Little incidents got blown into full-scale arguments, Wanda was passive-aggressive and Lucy pretended nothing was wrong. The following week was strenuous on everyone but Nat and Pepper were still convinced keeping out of the girl's business was the right way to go and May supported their decision over the phone. Nothing seemed to change over these days, the tension gradually became stronger, but no real conclusion came.
The girls were in the training room with Nat, Sam and Rhodey, while Peter was working in the lab with Bruce who finally had a free slot in his calendar and no choice but to give in to the pestering teen – not that he minded. Peter's work was a lot more lighthearted than the other projects Bruce had going on.
Lucy didn't wear complete armor but one of the thin suits she'd been working on that allowed her to utilize more of her fight training but still included blasters and bullet protection.
The adults put Lucy and Wanda together to fight against Nat and Sam while Rhodey was supervising their movement. Even though the two girls still weren't on good terms, teamwork was so engrained by now, they didn't need words to communicate. Back to back, Lucy was firing blaster shots at whoever came closest while Wanda did her magic and waved her hands towards the other team.
Suddenly, Lucy saw a flash of red, barely an inch from her face. She spun around to face Wanda.
"You're not supposed to go this way! You know how close that went by my face?"
Wanda just stared at her with a hard, blank face. "Whoops. I guess I just confused the direction."
"Are you crazy?" Lucy took a step towards the witch and pushed her with both hands.
She narrowed her eyes didn't move. "It was an accident."
Lucy snorted. "Yeah, as if I'm gonna believe that. You've been pissed at me for days. Just get over it."
Before Wanda could reply, Rhodey stepped up to them while Nat and Sam made their way over from the other side of the room.
"Both of you, stop it right now. Down here isn't the right place to discuss this."
"But apparently it's the right place to attack me," Lucy responded without taking her eyes of Wanda who narrowed her own eyes and struck out at the blonde girl.
Lucy wasn't prepared for this sudden attack, but she'd been training long enough that she didn't need to think about her response – it came as a reflex. She blocked Wanda's arm and struck out herself, landing a punch on Wanda's shoulder that sent the other girl tumbling back. The redhead caught herself quickly though and as Lucy stepped up to her, she took an offensive stand and moved her hands in the familiar motion. Lucy narrowed her eyes and before Wanda could throw her magic towards her, she kicked the other girl's feet. Wanda was probably expecting that move though as she easily overturned and got back to her feet, now making her way forward quickly and landing a square punch on Lucy chest. There must've been some magic mixed in with the punch because normally, Wanda wasn't strong enough to land a hit this hard. It hurt, but not as much as the betrayal that this fight was happening in the first place. Lucy decided she wouldn't hold back and raised her arm which caused Wanda to raise her hands as well. Before either girl could fire a shot and do serious damage, a stern, angered voice stopped them.
"Stop. Right now, both of you." Natasha walked towards them and as Lucy turned and looked into her eyes, she recognized something akin to fury in them. Nat had never been this angry. She stopped in right in front of them and glared down, both girls averting their gaze.
"You are completely out of line. This is a training room. You are not fighting each other."
Lucy didn't dare look up, but she could feel the disappointed looks from both Rhodey and Sam.
"Living room, both of you, now. And not another move, until I get Steve and join you." Nat's voice was clear and left no room for argument. Not that either girl felt they were in a position to argue anyway.
They scrambled up the stairs and sat on the sofas, heads sunk and not daring to look at each other. As soon as the adrenaline had left Lucy's body, she felt awful. She couldn't believe she'd so blatantly broken the training room rules – some of the most rigorous ones in the entire tower – and most importantly, she attacked Wanda. Lucy knew she had to apologize but she couldn't form any words. Her heart sinking, she also remembered Natasha's face. She wasn't scared of her mentor, but she knew she'd disappointed her gravely and consequences were looming.
They weren't left waiting for long. Soon, Natasha and Steve appeared in the door and their faces were foreboding. They sat on the sofa next to the girls and Nat started.
"Your actions down there were unacceptable. The training room rules are some of the most important ones we have in place and I can't believe you attacked each other. Infighting is completely deplorable."
Her words made Lucy feel even worse than before. She couldn't believe she let her fight with Wanda become physical and disregarded the rules so blatantly. What was even worse was the disappointment and the anger radiating off Nat and Steve. None of this was worth the fight with Wanda, in no way.
"We know the two of you have been arguing for some time but we though that you'd be mature enough to sort it out yourselves," Steve continued. His voice was low and serious. "Apparently we were wrong. You've taken this argument too far and we don't believe you can be trusted to deal with it yourselves."
His words hurt Lucy inside. Not because she disagreed, but because she knew they were true. Risking a glance up at Nat's eyes, she saw the sternness in them and gulped. Steve had a deep frown on his grave face, so Lucy just settled on looking down on her hands again.
She wasn't able to escape facing the adults for long though as Nat cleared her throat in the familiar way that Lucy knew by now and she used all her courage to force her eyes up at the two, as did Wanda.
Nat eyed them with hard eyes. "You will resolve your issues once and for all right now. I don't care how long it takes but you will stay in this room until you come to a conclusion. Is that understood?"
It was probably the first time that Wanda heard Nat like this, in a non-training context, and Lucy could feel her flinch next to her. Both girls nodded and Steve and Natasha got up and left towards the dining area, closing the door behind them.
For the first minute, neither girl said a word. Lucy sighed. She knew they'd taken it too far and the original reason for the argument didn't seem worth any of the trouble they were in now.
"Wanda…" she started softly and the other girl jerked up and met her eyes. Lucy was surprised to see tears glistening in them.
"I'm sorry. I know you felt hurt that I didn't defend you." Lucy swallowed hard. "I couldn't see how important this was to you and I was also too proud to admit that I should have acted differently."
She sunk her head but suddenly she felt Wanda taking her hand into hers and sniffling.
"I'm sorry, Lucy. I should've told you straight away and not been so stupidly passive-aggressive." She stocked and Lucy looked up. "I'm also sorry for attacking you. I don't understand how I could ever have been so crazy."
Wanda sniffled and an errant tear made its way down her cheek. Lucy shuffled a little closer.
"I would never seriously hurt you, you need to believe me," the redhead almost pleaded. "You're my sister."
Lucy stared at her and couldn't keep her own emotions buried either. The girls flung their arms around each other's necks and just cried for a few minutes. It felt good getting rid of all the pent-up emotion that had been building up for days now.
As they pulled apart, Wanda gave her a soft smile.
"We're good?"
Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "We're good." Remembering the reason why they were here though, her smile quickly vanished.
"We're really in for it tonight."
Wanda's eyes grew and her expression turned panicked. "Why do things always have to blow over before we finally realize that we were being stupid?"
Lucy only shrugged, her stomach sinking further and further. The other girl watched her carefully.
"Is Natasha always like this when you're in trouble?"
She nodded and Wanda raised her eyebrows.
"I have so much respect for you. She's even stricter than I thought… I'd never be able to survive than."
Lucy sighed heavily. "Believe me, I don't know how I get through it. But speaking of, we should probably tell them that we've resolved our issues."
Wanda turned pale but nodded bravely. Lucy got up, walked to the door and stuck her head out, locating their mentors in the dining room. With a quick call, they both got up from the table and came back into the living room.
Nat and Steve's faces had relaxed slightly but neither of the girls wanted to look at them for long.
"You finally talked everything out?"
Lucy knew Nat wouldn't be content with a simple nod – not at this point anymore – so she forced herself to look up.
"We realized how stupid we've been and that we should never have let our fight get this far." Lucy sighed and bit her lip. "We know fighting was wrong, not just because we broke the training room rules but…" She stocked and took a deep breath. "But because we could've seriously hurt each other and we can't do that. We're sisters."
Steve's stern expression turned into a gentle smile. "I'm very happy you both can finally see that. Believe me, it's not been easy seeing the two of you fight and not intervening because this was something you needed to handle yourselves."
"But it should never have gotten as far as physically fighting each other," Nat continued sternly and Lucy couldn't keep her head from sinking.
"Both of you upstairs to your rooms. We'll join you shortly."
Lucy didn't waste any time in scrambling up to her feet and making her way to the elevator, Wanda at her side. As it arrived on Steve's floor, the girls hugged and with a long look silently wished each other luck.
On her own floor, Lucy stepped out and slowly walked towards her room. Her stomach started to turn, now that everything with Wanda was finally settled and she could fully concentrate on what she had coming. Nat was furious and with good reason – the rules in the training room were strict because they used their powers and suits there and were able to inflict serious damage. Her almost attacking Wanda with her suit was one of the worst things Lucy could possibly have come up with and she didn't know how she could've ever taken the stand against her sister. With a sigh she threw herself onto her bed and buried her head in the pillow.
When she heard the knock on the door, she didn't respond or move but soon felt Natasha's hand stroking her back.
"Lucy?" Her mentor sounded gentle but Lucy wasn't fooled. Nat was disappointed in her and this wouldn't be pretty. Nevertheless, she knew there was no point in stalling the inevitable, so she sat up and faced Natasha.
"I don't know what came over me, I really don't," she started, wanting to get this out before Nat could say anything. "I'm sorry, I know how important the rules down there are. I can't believe we let this stupid fight escalate so far."
"Neither can I," Natasha said in a low voice, sounding so sad and disappointed that Lucy had to use all her self-discipline to hold her stern gaze.
"We thought you two were mature enough to settle this yourselves but we were wrong. Maybe we should've stepped in earlier to prevent this from happening."
Lucy's eyes grew and she shook her head vehemently. "No, you were right to hope that we'd work it out. I thought we could do it and I can't believe we were this childish. You could never have expected us to take our fight to the training room."
Nat looked at her sternly, with the gaze that seemed to cut threw Lucy. "I'm glad you recognize that."
She took a breath. "I think we've said everything. Unbutton your pants and over my knee."
Lucy's stomach turned as she heard the familiar command although she'd been able to avoid spankings for months now. She didn't hesitate to comply with her mentor's order though and quickly found herself over Natasha's knee with her calming hand on her back.
As Nat pulled down her pants and panties in one fell swoop, Lucy buried her head in her arms. No warm-up meant she'd really messed up and as always, she yelped as the first swat took her by surprise. Natasha worked methodically, covering all of Lucy's bottom until it had an even red color. While at first it only stung a little in places, it soon became a constant sensation that added a burn each time her mentor's hand connected to Lucy's butt. After the second round, Lucy started sniffling and Nat stopped the spanking.
"Why are we here?"
Lucy hickuped slightly and tried to give her mentor a coherent answer.
"Because I broke the training room rules by fighting with Wanda and taking our fight down there."
"Correct," Natasha said gravely and Lucy could feel the disappointment in her eyes. "On top of that, Rhodey told you to stop but you didn't listen to him. You know one of the most important rules in the training room is to obey instantly."
Lucy's heart dropped. She hadn't even thought of that but it made her feel even worse if that was possible.
"The way you behave in training is an indication for us as to how you'll be out on a mission. We need to be able to trust you here if we are to let you come out with us."
Nat's words hit her hard and Lucy couldn't keep the tears from forming in her eyes. Her first mission had been everything she'd ever wanted and she would do anything to keep Natasha's trust.
"I'm sorry," she managed to respond with a quiver in her voice, full of yet to shed tears. "I swear it will never happen again, I promise. I'll do better."
She could feel Nat stroking her back in circles. "Thank you and I believe you will, because I know you can."
Lucy could feel her pressing on her back again and closed her eyes in anticipation of what was coming. When the ruler connected with her already stinging bottom, she couldn't help the small yell escaping. She knew from the second she'd seen the fury in Nat's eyes down in the training room that this would be happening.
Natasha covered her entire backside with the ruler and soon, Lucy couldn't help the tears escaping and she started crying earnestly. As Nat tipped her over and started aiming at her sit spots where she'd feel the punishment every time she sat down, Lucy buried her head deeper in her arms. It took longer than usual for her to completely submit to the punishment but Natasha knew she'd built up a lot of guilt and remorse that took more time to release. Finally, Lucy started sobbing and went limb over Nat's lap and the older woman stopped the spanking and started rubbing her back.
After Lucy's cries quieted down, Nat replaced her clothes and straightened her up, settling the girl in her lap and instantly engulfing her in a tight hug. Lucy threw her arms around the redhead and buried her head in her shoulder, just crying all her emotion out.
"I'm so, so sorry," she sobbed, Nat stroking her back soothingly. "Not just about the fighting but about the entire past few days. I'm sorry our argument had the entire tower on edge."
Nat kissed her forehead and pulled away slightly, keeping a tight hold on Lucy's shoulder and making sure the younger girl looked into her eyes.
"I appreciate your apology and I know you'll improve your behavior. These are incredibly important rules and I do not want to have to correct you for this again. Is that understood?"
Lucy winched at the stern tone but kept her eyes locked with Nat's. "Yes, ma'am. Understood."
Natasha's expression softened and she smiled at her protégé. "Good. I also think you owe an apology to Rhodey, since you disregarded his order completely."
The girl nodded enthusiastically in response and Nat tightened her arms around her again and the two just sat in silence.
After Lucy had calmed down completely, her mentor pressed another kiss to her forehead.
"You ready to go to dinner? Maybe we can help set the table."
Lucy agreed and as the two got downstairs, Bruce and Rhodey were bringing out the plates and cutlery.
"We'll take care of that," Nat called out to them and walked up to the table.
Before Lucy helped her, she made her way into the kitchen and pulled Rhodey aside. Without breaking eye contact, she started.
"I wanted to apologize for not listening to you earlier downstairs. I know it's one of the most important rules and I'm really sorry for disregarding it so easily. I promise it won't happen again."
Rhodey's expression at first had been stern and serious but quickly softened as Lucy talked. When she finished, Rhodey took her shoulders and proudly smiled at her.
"Apology accepted. I know this was a one-time incident, you're better than this."
Lucy grinned. "Nat said the same."
Rhodey also engulfed her in a hug and then sent her out with the salad bowls.
Everyone else had arrived downstairs as well and Lucy plopped down next to Wanda. Peter, sitting opposite them, just stared across the table but Lucy giggled and leaned in to hear what the witch told her.
"So, what's Gossip Girl about then?"
Lucy turned and gave her sister a disbelieving look. "I can't believe you've never seen it. It's a drama show but it's pretty fun."
Wanda grinned. "Watch tonight?"
"Sure!" Lucy smiled back. "It's one of my favorite guilty pleasures."
"You look very skeptical," Wanda addressed Peter suddenly.
He still eyed the two girls warily. "Why are you sitting next to each other? And why are you talking to each other?"
Lucy grinned. "Why wouldn't we?"
"Yeah, exactly," Wanda said in perfect deadpan. "We're sisters. We're supposed to talk to each other."
Now Peter's mouth dropped open.
They couldn't keep it together anymore and just exploded into giggles, attracting attention from the other people around the table a well.
Tony frowned. "Aren't you two on non-speaking terms?"
Wanda tried to keep the laughter in. "Why would you think that?"
Lucy exploded again and slowly, the rest of the table loosened up again. The past few days had been tense for everyone because of the girls' argument so no matter the reason why they made up, everyone was glad.
Peter just looked like he couldn't believe his eyes or his ears. "So… I don't have to tiptoe around you two anymore?"
The girls smiled and shook their heads.
Peter let out a long breath. "Thank god! That was a really long week."
"I think everyone is glad that we can finally have a normal family dinner again," Pepper said satisfied.
"Speaking of dinner," Wanda intervened. "What's for dinner?"
"Eggplant and zucchini casserole," Bruce explained and all three kids instantly pulled faces.
Lucy groaned audibly. She didn't like casseroles much and the only thing worse than zucchini were eggplants. Peter opposite her didn't look too happy about the dinner choice either.
"Do we have to eat that?" he complained slightly.
"Just try it, maybe you'll actually enjoy it," Pepper responded gently.
Lucy was about to open her mouth and let out a whine when she caught Natasha's glance which shut her up instantly. She knew immediately that Nat didn't care one bit that she didn't like it and she wouldn't get out of eating with the family, even if Peter was allowed to grab Mac and Cheese, in case he didn't like the casserole. She didn't need any more trouble with her mentor today anyway, so she just filled her plate. It wasn't as bad as expected – not good, but not disgusting. She grinned at Wanda who'd caught a similar glance from Steve and decided it wasn't worth inviting more upset from him today over food. Lucy only admitted it sometimes but these were some of the moments that made her life now so much better than the one she had a year ago. In school, no one cared what she ate and she never had to worry about being in trouble with anyone. It seemed more difficult now that she had to answer to Nat but it made her feel safe – even the eggplant was worth it.