Wanda had decided she was just going to go about her business as an Avenger and damn the torpedoes. She had been reading a lot of Steve's military history books lately as both distraction and education. She was working to expand her mind and her powers. Dedicating herself to training had yielded some palpable results. A recent action in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan had allowed her to demonstrate her new control of kinetic energy when she had saved a group of fleeing citizens from a terrorist bombing by sending the explosion into the atmosphere.
The news coverage of the event had been almost uniformly positive, even if Natasha had taken her aside to mention the potentially deadly effects of such action to any planes passing above. It hadn't been a reprimand so much as a warning not to get cocky regarding her skills. Wanda had responded by learning as much as she could about flight paths and cruising altitudes; she had been spending a lot of time with Vision on the borders of the Avengers' complex determining the best altitude to allow explosive energy to disperse.
Bucky had been avoiding her as much as possible. She was pretending she didn't care. Luckily for her personal life, global issues were on the rise. The team was on its way to their third call of the week.
Antiaircraft fire rattled against the quinjet as they flew through the rebel defenses over Kamenka, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Natasha had been particularly edgy since they had been asked to intervene in the uprising of surprisingly well-equipped 'peasants' that had begun a few days ago. The Russian Army couldn't account for the surface-to-air missiles and high-powered weapons that had prevented them from retaking the town, prompting them to ask for the Avengers' assistance. Intelligence indicated that Hydra involvement was almost assured.
They landed with minimal damage in a small town square. They had been going over the map and their assignments for the past thirty minutes, but Natasha stopped them on the ramp. In spite of the fact that they were short a few degrees longitude, she declared, "Nothing good ever happens above the Arctic Circle. Everybody stay alert."
She was wearing her usual catsuit even though the temperatures were well below zero, worse with wind-chill. Wanda raised the hood of her fur-lined parka and stepped into the deserted streets of the town, thankful she had chosen it. Even Sam had sleeves today. He spread his wings and took off, heading south. The rest of the team moved into their prearranged quadrants; she and Vision traveled eastward, clearing the section of town least impacted by the fighting. They were responsible for moving any remaining civilians out of harm's way. She could hear gunfire in addition to the chatter on comms, but she forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Several groups of people were systematically reassured in her halting Russian and guided toward safer shelters. When they were reasonably sure their quarter of the town was clear, she shot herself into the air with Vision to join her teammates in the fight she could hear raging a mile away.
She landed beside Bucky and raised an energy shield to protect them both from flanking fire. He paused to jam a fresh clip into his gun. "You get the civilians out?"
"I believe so."
"Good. Think you can handle some more in those two houses on the corner if I cover you?"
She didn't hesitate before answering, "Of course."
"Three, two, go." They moved down the street under heavy fire as she held her force field. She didn't stop until they were safe behind a concrete traffic barrier. He emptied his clip into the opposing positions and reloaded. "Ready?"
"I will take the people southeast."
"Yeah, get 'em outta here." He thrust his chin toward a barrier across the intersection. "I'll be over there."
"Okay." Without any telekinetic protection, she ran to the first house. No one was on the first floor, but she spotted an open door leading down to a cellar. "Hey! Hello! I'm here to help!"
Her call produced nine wide-eyed faces ranging from adolescent to elderly. She inquired about the neighbors and found there were probably fifteen people in the house next-door. Leaving the first group crouching in the pantry with instructions to move on her signal, she made her way to the second house. She managed to convince a second group of people to follow her out the area, eventually leading everyone back to the square and toward safety.
Bucky was still firing on an entrenched position when she returned twenty minutes later. "What can I do?"
"I dunno. Kill those guys?"
She stood to send an energy wave at them, but dropped to the ground a moment later with a bullet in her arm. "Damn it."
"Stay here," Bucky shouted, looking slightly wild-eyed, before jumping over the barrier. All gunfire had ceased within thirty seconds. Why did he need her when he could do that? She nearly took his head off with a burst of energy when he reappeared unexpectedly. "You okay?"
"Fine."
He glanced doubtfully at her arm, but said, "Good. Let's find everyone else."
She was about to argue, but ended up following him toward the sound of more fighting. She felt she hadn't done anything when Sam was flying her back to the quinjet a few minutes later. "I can help," she protested as a medic tried to force her up the ramp.
"It's okay, Wanda. We got this." Sam took off into the smoky air.
An injection muted the pain in her arm while the medic muttered about the bullet nicking to her brachial artery. Wanda ignored the occasional odd pressures as the medic worked, instead trying to follow what was happening in the battle. The team had found the Hydra stronghold and now it was just a matter of clearing it. She flinched at the sound of an unexpected explosion that was audible even without her earpiece.
"Did that hurt?"
"I don't know."
The medic looked at her strangely. "You don't know if your arm hurts?"
"What? It's fine." She covered her ear to try to pick up everyone's voices over the static and chaos. It didn't take long to realize the base had been destroyed, probably via a self-destruct system, and that the team was had been close when it had happened. At least they were all alive. She could hear Rhodey calling for medics. "We need to go help."
"You need to sit still and let me finish bandaging your arm. The Russians are providing ground support and they're on the way over there now. As soon as I finish with you, I'll take my kit and go find the team while you stay here not bleeding out. Understood?"
She was about to argue, but she was hit by a sudden dizzy spell. "All right, but hurry."
Waiting was torturous, but she couldn't even stand. Trying to make her way to the team would just put her and anyone who helped her in danger. She made herself sit and tried to distract herself from the pain in her arm as the local anesthetic wore off. She was feeling slightly woozy an hour later in spite of fluids still dripping into her IV line when the rest of the team finally arrived.
"We have sustained some casualties," Vision said, helping Sam up the ramp although he also seemed to be carrying three of his own severed fingers. He had once told her that he was usually quite thankful for his inability to feel physical pain. Sam clearly felt could feel pain as he collapsed into a seat, clutching his ribs.
Rhodey seemed to be moving stiffly, but was not visibly injured as he boarded the jet and stepped out of his suit. Bucky had bandages wrapped around his arm and torso, blood already beginning to seep through in the area of his stomach. He sank heavily into the seat beside Wanda with a tired grunt. She hesitated for only a moment before asking, "Are you okay?"
"Took some shrapnel in the explosion, but I'll live. How are you?"
"I'm…oh, God."
Steve had just limped into the jet, cradling Natasha in his arms. There was blood everywhere. Wanda could barely believe how pale she looked when he set her on the cot. In spite of her condition, Natasha was conscious. She mumbled something quietly that made Steve smile. He turned to Wanda. "She said girls' night is cancelled this week."
He stepped back to let the medics work. Wanda had the feeling that everything would be all right, but it may have been due to blood loss. She leaned against the solid body beside her. She didn't have the energy to think about how she felt about Bucky right now; she just needed a little support. He didn't shrink away from giving it.
