Natasha worries the first time they take Wanda to the Avengers compound. The girl is grieving and strange and she's very dangerous.

She doesn't have control and Natasha who's been trained since childhood to control every aspect of herself sees it immediately. Wanda is still too wounded, too young perhaps. . . still too full of trauma.

She watches her for the first few days but for the first few days it's quiet. The Avengers are tense since Ultron, they're trying to get along but they're not as friendly as they once were. It's probably a strange environment for Wanda to be introduced into.

The girl stays in her room for the most part. She cries sometimes but if the others have heard it too, they haven't said anything.

Wanda is a foreign object in the compound. She doesn't have a place yet and they're all hesitant to put her in the field. They don't understand her powers and she doesn't even really seem to herself.

Natasha hears the television going a lot at night, see's a faint fluorescent glow from under the door when she passes in the evenings.

Tony is the most worried. He thinks he's sitting on a time bomb, they all are in a way but the same could be said about Dr. Banner and no one say's it except the doctor himself.

He thinks they forget what he is but she never has.

The days pass and Wanda doesn't come out except to eat.

The tv runs endlessly and Natasha goes on missions and comes back, showers and then goes on others.

After a while she tells Tony she wants to train the girl. It's better than waiting for her to blow up a building or something worse.

Tony gives her a skeptical look. "We don't even know how her powers work." He say's shaking his head.

She shrugs. "I can teach her to fight."

He shakes his head again. "Just be careful, Nat."

"I think it's a good idea." Steve say's. "Maybe it'll help her."

Natasha hopes it will. All this time sitting in one room in front of a television can't be helping the kid and so she goes to find her, finding the girl as ever, in her room.

When she knocks Wanda calls out that she can come in. It's kind of strange, as much as she's noticed the television and the crying and the light she's never been in Wanda's room.

There isn't much yet but the girl is on the bed in sweat pants eating Bugles out of the bag. She looks like she hasn't combed her hair in more than a few days and Natasha thinks she's probably smart to do this sooner than later.

"Did you need something?" Wanda asks.

Natasha hesitates, weighing her words. "Not exactly, I've come to make you an offer." She say's. "You've been spending a lot of time couped up here since you arrived. If you want I can teach you how to fight. Get you ready for field work."

Wanda looks uncertain or maybe she's imagining it. She finds her hard to read sometimes. "Field work?" She asks. "Stark won't even let me leave the grounds."

"Well, let's give him a reason to."

A small smile. "Alright, I have been in this room for a while." She looks towards the television for a second and Natasha see's a man walk into a black and white living room. This is what Wanda watches all day? She hadn't actually considered what she'd been hearing.

"Meet me in the training rooms tomorrow morning?" She asks.

Wanda nods again. "Okay." She say's and she gives another small smile.

Natasha wonders if anyone else has come into her room. Stark probably so he can lay out the ground rules. It's not great but it's realistic. Wanda is dangerous, no matter how ordinary she looks eating chips in bed.

"Thank you." Wanda say's as she leaves, making Natasha stop.

She looks back at the girl and finds herself somehow surprised. She doesn't know what she expected but Wanda actually looks hopeful and after so many nights hearing her cry she's kind of glad to see it.

Glad and worried. She doesn't want to take on too much responsibility with this kid. Wanda is a bomb, Tony is right and they don't understand her or her powers but she's also a girl and she can read grief and hope in the young woman's face.

She gives her a nod. "You're welcome." And departs, feeling a little rattled. Wanda is still young. She's still healing but then they all are. Training doesn't stop for anyone. Neither does healing and they're all still healing after Sokovia.

She meets Wanda the next morning in the smaller training room. It's more private and the girl is late.

"I had trouble finding you." She say's, still wearing the same sweat pants when she enters.

Natasha wonders if she's bought any other clothes or if maybe she just doesn't see a reason to get dressed any more.

"It's alright." She say's. "You know your way now."

Wanda hugs herself self-consciously and nods. She looks young and Natasha swallows that. She's never felt young in her life.

"Do you have any experience in hand to hand combat?" She asks, pushing the wide eyes and youthful face to the side. She's helping in the best way she knows how.

Wanda smiles crookedly and and shakes her head. "No."

That's not great but they can start small. "Fire arms?"

"Not that either." Wanda say's, looking embarrassed. "I have my powers."

"No good if you can't control them yet." Natasha say's bluntly. "You should at least know how to handle yourself in a fist fight."

Another nod and the girl looks serious. Natasha likes that. It means there's something going on inside her head besides grief and pain.

She decides to start with the basics and see if Wanda has any natural proclivity towards them.

Wanda doesn't however and she stumbles immediately.

"That's alright." Natasha says, recalling the few times she had ever tripped or stumbled in the Red Room. There had been punishments then and perhaps because of that she doesn't punish Wanda.

Instead she helps her up and glances her over. The girl looks frustrated and put out.

They try again with much the same results and Natasha thinks that maybe another type of self defense would be best. Wanda isn't getting this and maybe she's spent too long in her room.

The girl sits on the floor in defeat. "I'm just no good." She says, head hung and shoulders slumped.

Natasha sees sweat on the back of her shirt and fights a sigh. It wasn't completely hopeless. She'd seen some gradual improvement towards the end. "Don't give up just yet." She says. "It's only the first day."

Wanda just shakes her head. "No, I'm no good at this." She insists. "B-but maybe if I tried with my powers I could. . ." She looks up strangely and Natasha considers this.

Wanda's powers are unstable at best and she's not sure she can shoulder teaching her that responsibility. She's not even sure she'd know how to.

"What would you do with them?" Natasha asks. "Have you put any thought to that?"

The girl hesitates, rubbing at her leg thoughtfully. "There are a few ideas I have." She admits. "B-but I don't know for sure if they would even work. I'm probably not good enough yet."

Natasha is getting tired of the pity party but she knows also that the girl has been alone in her grief for a long time now. It's only a little natural.

"Then start with what I'm teaching you and work from there. There's a lot more to learn than just how to blast things." Natasha says, earning a furrowed eyebrow in response.

"I do not blast things." Wanda says, sounding surprised but not angry. "It's something more complicated than just an explosion." She sounds musing now and soft and red sparks appear at her finger tips.

She waves them through the air and Natasha wonders if there's a place for someone like her in the world. She's wondered that about herself but this creature is even more strange, even more alien and there are more and more like her in the world, people popping up and appearing with strange powers. It's the dawning of a new age and Wanda is all the more dangerous for it.

"Perhaps you can learn to channel it into a fighting style one day." She suggests.

Wanda watches her own fingers weave red and nods, eyes transfixed before her expression changes and she looks up, red sparks gone. "But what is the point?" She asks. "Stark does not trust me. . . I do not know why you're bothering to help me either."

Natasha doesn't really either and deliberates on an answer. "You aren't a prisoner here." She says quietly. "But you also haven't been out of your room in a while. You might feel better if you did."

Wanda just shrugs, looking young and small again. "Perhaps." She whispers. "but I do not want to be in the way."

Natasha knows there's more to it than that. Wanda is still hurting and she's in a strange place in a foreign land surrounded by probably the oddest people she can be surrounded by. "Do you have any other clothes?" She asks.

Wanda looks up. "A few." She says. "Mr. Stark bought them when I came here."

Natasha rolls her eyes. "Then that's enough training for today. Why don't you come out to lunch with me?"

Wanda blinks. "You want me to go to lunch? Like in town?" She asks.

And Nat forces a smile. "Yeah, why not? We can stop by a store and find something better for you to wear. Things you pick."

A small smile. "Why?" Wanda asks, tucking her hair back girlishly. "I have some clothes."

Natasha knows what it's like to be a dangerous child. To be half child and half killer. Both parts are real. They don't cancel each other out. "I think it would be good for you." She says and Wanda smiles properly this time, a faint gleam of hope in her eyes. She's been alone for too long.

She does think it would be good for Wanda to get out, out of the house. It'd be good for her too to get out of her head if she can but one step at a time.

She looks down and sighs. "Go get cleaned up and changed. I'll meet you outside when you're done."

Wanda nods and Natasha goes and showers off herself, dipping in and out of her own bathroom and then back to the main room where some of the others have gathered for lunch.

"Tony, I need your card."

"Which one?" He asks.

"Platinum."

"That's a resounding 'no'."

She rolls her eyes. "I won't hurt it. I'm taking Wanda to get her some new clothes."

"She has clothes, I bought her clothes."

"Even more of a reason then."

He rolls his eyes, looking offended but hands it over. He's not stingy and doesn't fight her too hard.

"Don't bleed me?" He asks.

She smirks. "I'll try not to." she say's.

Wanda has changed clothes when she meets her by the garage. She's a little late but her hair looks combed and she looks actually excited to be going out. "I hope this is okay." She say's, gesturing to her clothes and Natasha nods.

"You look fine, feel like taking the Charger out? It's a little more inconspicuous than the Maserati."

Wanda just smiles and nods. "That's fine." She laughs and Natasha steers her towards the right car.

Inside it the girl looks awkward and still drawn up on herself. It's kind of pitiful in a way except she's more powerful than she has any right to be. Possibly more powerful than any of them.

Natasha ignores that fact and slides in the drivers seat. "There's a town a few miles from here that has a descent strip mall." She say's and Wanda gives her a small smile, evidently glad to be getting out of the compound.

She see's her watch the trees along the road as they drive. Wanda is quiet but she's breathing easier here.

Natasha feels a little relieved.

"Is there anything you particularly want to buy?" She asks nonchalantly as they go. "There isn't a huge selection where we're going but there should be something."

Wanda gazes out the window a moment. "A new dress or some boots." She say's.

Natasha nods. "Those I think we can get."

They reach the strip mall on the outskirts of the closest town and park. It's hot away from the trees and grass and she can feel the heat coming off of the asphalt through her shoes.

They look for a while and she indulges herself, holding up outfits she think's Wanda might like until the other girl smiles.

It's good to see she can smile properly.

"What about this?" She asks, holding up an ugly, rhinestone studded purse.

Wanda actually laughs and takes it, putting it over her arm and smiling. "It's bad." She say's. "Very bad."

Natasha smiles too. "I think if we bought that Tony might really never let me have his card again."

Wanda smiles a little more shyly and puts the bag back. They have enough really and the girl isn't greedy, she doesn't ask for much. The few pieces of clothing that she found she had really wanted. Tony would be relieved, not that he had anything to worry about in a strip mall. They weren't going to break the bank that easily and they stop for lunch, arms laden with plastic bags.

"You know, I've never bought so much at once." Wanda say's, face a little flushed from her excitement. "I have three bags of clothes now."

Natasha understands. "Well. . . we're in the land of consumerism and as the saying goes. . . when in Rome."

Wanda laughs again and they eat cheap tacos under an awning outside. "There was a store my mother liked near where I grew up." She say's. "But it's been gone a long time now. She used to take us there, my brother and me. We'd get in trouble for playing under the clothing racks."

Natasha smiles a little sadly because it's a happy story that's only remembered by one person now. All the other characters are dead.

She sighs. "I didn't see a real clothing store until I was maybe eight." She say's. "I thought it was so much crap but I wanted all of it."

Wanda laughs and stirs her drink. "We always had trouble getting things in regularly." She say's. "In Sokovia. If you found something really good you were lucky."

It was a different world here and Natasha wonders if Wanda has taken the time to see just how different.

She's been in her room too much. Probably not.

They finish eating and head back to the car, loading the trunk with their bags and cranking the AC when they get in.

Natasha takes the long way back and drives slowly, giving Wanda some time. She think's that there's hope for her. Wanda is grieving but she's got a chance. She's with good people, some of the best Nat knows and if she can learn to live again then she'll be okay.

When they reach the compound Wanda looks better, sad but better. Getting her out had been the right decision.

"Next time I'll teach you how to survey a crowed." Natasha say's to her as they make their way back inside. "We missed an opportunity."

The promise of next time makes Wanda smile and nod. "I'd like that." And she stops to tuck some of her hair back. "Thank you for today." She say's.

Nat nods. "We all gotta get out sometimes." She say's. "I'll see you for training tomorrow?"

The girl nods and disappears back into her room, leaving Natasha to hope that she's on the right path.

The incident in Lagos is only a couple of months away however and with it, everything will change. If she actually has any plans for Wanda by then, they'll be thrown to the wind and the team will change, the best people she knows will turn against each other but for at least a month or so she has a chance to help someone and she hopes it's worth it. She hopes that she doesn't make things worse.

They're supposed to be a team after all.