Wanda leaned over the stovetop in the kitchenette off the main lounge, wondering if she had developed the control to boil the water without instantly converting it to steam and exploding the unsuspecting kettle. She opted for patience and put the thought from her mind. The morning workout had been especially exhausting, given her lack of sleep and the freezing rain whipped by a vicious wind. She was hoping a nice, hot cup of tea would finish the job of warming her that a steaming shower had failed to complete. Her annoyed glare did not affect the kettle.

A moment later, she flinched as a flash of red shot through her peripheral vision. She blinked and realized the kettle was still safely in place on the stove. Natasha, however, was seated on the countertop, looking far more refreshed than Wanda felt with her hair a mass of damp red curls pulled to one side of her neck. She crossed her legs in a full lotus and sipped from a cup of coffee she'd somehow not spilled during Wanda's flailing moment of terror.

Her voice was deadly calm, but it was her sparkling green eyes that proved more menacing as she leveled them at Wanda and asked, "Is it some kind of fetish or are you just nosy?"

Wanda considered intentionally exploding the kettle and maybe a few other items in the small space to cover a speedy tactical retreat, but found she was frozen by Natasha's gaze. She managed a weak, "Excuse me?"

The eye-roll was intimidating, but at least it ended the glare. Natasha sipped her coffee then sighed. "You may think you're discreet, Maximoff, but you can't expect to spy on a master spy and get away with it."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"No? How about now?" Wanda jumped at the unexpected sound of her native language spoken properly. "Can you understand me now?"

"You…you speak Sokovian. Most Russians can't be bothered and treat it as an afterthought of a dialect."

"Most Russians didn't train in the Red Room. Besides, I don't fall into any category that starts with 'most.' But my impressive language skills aside, you're still avoiding the subject. You were in our heads again last night and I was willing to let it slide until you grew enough backbone to come talk to me yourself, but you're getting so obvious that Steve knows something is up. You need to get it under control or come up with an excuse for me to move that doesn't let him know what you've been doing."

The sick feeling that had been growing in Wanda's stomach abated for a moment. "Then Steve…?"

"No. He just knows something weird is going on. I decided to talk with you first, give you a chance to explain why you initiated a psychic threesome without our consent."

"I…" There was no point scrambling for denials if Natasha was that clued in to…wait. "How did you find out?"

She frowned, brows knitting together over her nose the way Steve liked, which Wanda knew she shouldn't have been thinking. Natasha continued to frown. "The more intrusive…wait, that's not the word. Greedier, perhaps? Anyway, the longer you've been joining in, the more you've been opening yourself up. You're projecting back at us. No idea why Steve is just starting to pick up on it, but it probably has something to do with how much he trusts his friends not to spy on him." Her legs abruptly unfolded as she leaped off the counter in one fluid motion. Although not tall in her own right, she still managed to look down at Wanda. "The opposite comes naturally to me. I expect other people to spy, manipulate, use me for their own ends…"

"That is not what I…"

"You're an asset to the team and Steve trusts you in the field. He's generous with his trust, sometimes overly so. It's going to be very hard for him to trust you again."

"I will do wh-whatever it takes. I will prove I can be trusted."

"It's not just about trust, though. He takes things personally. That's what makes betraying him such a cruel thing to do. This is going to hurt him." She leaned into Wanda's space. "Do you think it's okay to hurt Steve?"

Wanda felt a tear streaking down her cheek and found herself unable to brush it away with Natasha so close. "I never intended to…I didn't think…"

"No. You didn't." The threat suddenly left Natasha's posture as she stepped back and leaned against the counter, calmly taking another sip of coffee. "So, how are we going to fix this?"

"Fix…" Wanda was still too out of sorts to understand the sudden shift. Was Natasha letting her off the hook with a slap on the wrist? Or was there worse to come? "I…I…"

"You know what? I'll take care of it." Natasha finished her coffee in a gulp and rinsed it in the sink. "Don't breathe a word to Steve and he'll never know the extent of…why don't we just call it a stunning lack of judgment brought on by…"

"Vodka!" Wanda snapped her head around just as the kettle started to whistle, gaping at Sam in the doorway. He shrugged with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, I don't know any other words in Russian and you guys seemed to be enjoying your secret girl talk…"

"Sokovian, Sam, not Russian." Natasha switched back to English and smiled as if nothing were wrong, like he really had interrupted a conversation about the best leather jackets to wear in combat situations. "I'm out of practice and Wanda misses speaking it. What's up?"

"Cap's all gung-ho this morning and wants us in the training room in ten for some hand-to-hand." He picked up the mug Natasha had just washed and poured himself a cup of sugar with a side of coffee as he griped, "Shouldn't you be doing more to tire him out?"

"He's a super soldier, Sam. His stamina is…"

"Nope, nope. Don't wanna know. Much as I enjoy seeing you ladies in your combat gear, I do not need to include Cap in his birthday suit in that mental montage. Bad enough I gotta watch him bench press eight billion pounds or whatever." Sam licked his lips in satisfaction after a taste of his coffee. "Anyway, more punishment on the schedule. Looks like you wasted your showers."

Natasha shrugged a shoulder. "If I did than Steve did, too."

"What'd I just get done telling you?" The piercing wail of the kettle was starting to make conversation difficult. "Uh, I think your tea's ready, Wanda."

"Oh, yes. Of course." Her hands were shaking as made a cup of tea she didn't really want anymore.

Sam and Natasha continued to talk about trivial things. "We should have someone put gravel around the creek. I nearly tore an ACL in the mud today."

"Get some better boots."

"What, like those wedge heels you wear so no one knows how teeny you are?"

"Why would you say something that stupid before hand-to-hand training?"

"Must've hit my head when I slipped. Maybe I have time to talk to Hill about opening an on-base spa before you hand me my ass on the mats."

"If you finally ask her to dinner I'll go easy on you."

Sam dropped his empty mug into the sink. "I'll get my ice packs ready and hope Cap hasn't arranged for us to go over Niagara Falls in barrels this afternoon or something."

"See you in a few, Sam." He waved a hand over his shoulder, leaving Wanda alone with Natasha and a cup of tea she had no idea what to do with. Natasha's easy English conversation switched back to slightly strained Sokovian when she turned toward Wanda. "As I was saying before, I'll handle everything with Steve. You just need to stop. Understood?"

Wanda nodded, not trusting her voice for the moment. It surprised her as Natasha was walking out of the room, piping up, "He is in love with you." She felt emboldened when Natasha paused in the doorway. "You…you should not use him just for sex."

The redhead didn't turn around. "Stick with telekinesis, Maximoff."

Wanda poured her untouched tea down the drain and placed the cup, along with Sam's, in the dishwasher.


"Focus, Wanda!"

She stared up at the high ceiling of the training room, momentarily wishing she could make her tormentor disappear in a flash of pure red energy. The thought disappeared as she propped herself up on her elbows and saw Steve looking at her expectantly. They had been over the importance of developing her hand-to-hand skills on numerous occasions. His philosophy was that powers that could be given could also be taken away and his own training regimen made it hard to argue with his commitment to maintaining his strength and abilities. The fact that he put so much work into being Captain America inspired the team to push the limits of their own potential. She knew the afternoon would be dedicated to developing her telekinetic control, so she pushed herself off the mat and swayed only slightly as she assumed a fighting stance. "All right."

"Are you ready?"

His genuine concern felt like a twist of the knife after her talk with Natasha. She didn't deserve Steve's concern or effort, but there he was, giving his best to an unworthy Avenger. She tried to keep the mental defeat from showing through in her body. "Fine."

"We can take a break if you…"

"I will be better," she shouted, unintentionally calling attention to herself.

Steve nodded and feinted toward her. She snapped at the bait, landing on the mat again. Huffing with annoyance at herself, she accepted the hand he extended to help her up. "You'll get there. We've all been at this for years. Well, except Vision, but he used to be JARVIS, so…you're doing really well for having to play so much catch-up, is what I'm trying to say."

"Lunchtime!" Sam suddenly proclaimed from across the room. "Nat, if you make a joke about me being full from eating the mats this session, I swear…"

"What? You're gonna kick my ass?" Natasha's comment drew laughter from Rhodey and Vision. She leaned down to help him up. "I was gonna ask you to save me a seat, but forget it."

"Well, if everyone sees us sitting together, maybe we can start some rumors. Eh, Cap?" Sam jerked his chin at Steve before ducking down to hear a whispered comment from Natasha. Wanda didn't need telepathy to catch the name 'Hill' passing between the two as Sam shook his head. He raised his voice to say, "Cheeseburger so rare it's mooing, got it. Can't wait to see the 'Black Widow Diet' in Superhero Monthly."

"It's not the diet that gets you…"

"It's the insane workouts, yeah. I've noticed. This is why you don't see dudes running around in leather catsuits. Not flattering."

She flashed a coy smirk that was clearly directed more at Steve than Sam. "Could be."

"Yeah, well, don't take too long or your burger's getting' burned off this afternoon when I fly circles around Chair Force over there."

Wanda watched Sam and Rhodey tease each other in a good-natured way as Vision followed them out. She realized belatedly that she was standing beside Steve as Natasha approached and excused herself. She didn't leave the training room, however, ducking into the small electrical room that controlled the lights, music and partitions in the space.

She heard and felt an extended kiss before Natasha asked, "Got a minute?"

"Only a minute?"

"Administrative stuff." She pushed Steve's hands off her waist. "Actually, private stuff."

"Oh?"

She pushed his hands away again, though she held them in hers. "You know how…sometimes between apartments there are really thin walls?"

"Uh, I grew up poor in Brooklyn. Sometimes we knew our neighbors better than we knew ourselves. What's this about?"

"Well, even though this base was built with soundproof walls, they aren't…before I tell you this, you have to promise you won't say anything to Wanda."

"Nat, I can't just…"

"Please?"

"You know I can't say no to you."

"Shh." Another kiss interrupted the conversation. "I talked to Wanda today and she…look, she was so mortified it took her months just to talk to me and she would be horrified if she found out I told you…"

"You're killing me here."

"This isn't easy for me, either." Wanda was impressed with Natasha's acting skills. "Okay, as it turns out, the walls in the base are kind of thin for someone with psychic powers."

There was a long pause. "You mean…"

"We've been keeping Wanda up whenever we spend the night in my room. It's not something that's anyone's fault and she was so embarrassed about it that…she only managed to talk to me about it today. For her, it's like there are very thin walls between our rooms and she's hearing…well, everything."

Steve's heavy sigh was audible. "So, first I need to apologize to Wanda."

"No! She can't know I told you. She was so worried about this whole thing…you can't say a word to her. Just play it cool."

"Did you honestly just ask me to be cool?"

"Try?"

There was another long pause as they kissed. "Anything for you."

"Thank you. If you're looking for a way to make things right, maybe you could move my nightstand to your room at some point today?"

"I'll do it now." Steve's running footsteps were audible even after the door closed.

Wanda let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and stepped back into the main room. She was surprised that she had escaped with so little blame. She had basically been let off the hook as an accidental observer; Natasha hadn't made good on her threats about destroying trust between Wanda and Steve, though she certainly could have.

To her surprise, Natasha was leaning against the wall a few feet away. "You obviously didn't listen carefully enough earlier when we had our little chat about spying, but if I catch you again, I'm going to invent new forms of pain to make sure you remember that you need to respect your teammates' personal boundaries."

"Understood." Wanda somehow found herself sitting down to lunch after Natasha, who was refocused on her Sam-Hill mission. She forced herself not to be disappointed as she went to bed later that night, knowing that there was no passive satisfaction to be had in her current situation.