"You can stay there." Natasha told Wanda as she walked into her bedroom carrying the boxes with her new clothes and a peach smoothie packed with protein powder balanced on top; a precarious move for anyone except the Black Widow. Wanda who had been moving to get up fell back against the pillows with a gentle whump.
It was the morning, pushing into the afternoon the next day and Natasha had allowed the teenager to sleep in longer than she had been after the day she had yesterday. The agent had ended up letting Wanda sit downstairs with Pietro for too long. The girl had stayed awake the whole time, so by the time Natasha came down to collect her for dinner Wanda was beyond exhausted. She made it up to the little table in her room and managed about two bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before she started gagging on the sticky, sweet food. Jumping to action, Natasha helped her drink some water to get it down then told her she could brush her teeth and go to bed if she wished. When Wanda came out of the bathroom, she had been swaying and the woman had to help her get into bed she was so dazed. Needless to say, she would not be letting Wanda stay with him for quite so long if she asked to see him again.
Natasha lowered the boxes to the floor, scooping up the smoothie and handing it off to Wanda. "You can drink this in bed, try to finish most of it."
Wanda placed the straw between her lips and experimentally drank the concoction while the woman went on, "I had FRIDAY order you some clothing. I'll go through them with you, and you can decide what you want to keep."
"Keep, for good?" Wanda asked with the straw still in her mouth, tilting forward ever so slightly.
"Well, you could give them to Steve when you're done with them. He likes tight shirts." Natasha said wryly. The girl simply blinked at her in mild confusion. Tough crowd, the spy thought as her joke would have definitely hit with the guys. She explained more appropriately, "Yes, they will be yours to keep. Until you grow out of them and then we'll get you new ones."
As Natasha started opening the boxes, she realized it would probably be a difficult concept for someone with so little permanence in her short life to grasp, that things could be hers and she would be somewhere years down the road. She hoped that she could help change that for Wanda.
A lot of what the AI had ordered were lounging clothes, sleepwear and workout gear in neutral blacks, greys and navy, which made sense because she would not be needing anything too fancy spending a lot of the time in the tower or compound. There were some dresses though, similar to the style of the one she already had, nicer sweaters and shirts still mostly in neutrals but also with some mossy greens and reds and burgundy, as well as distressed jeans and thigh high stockings. FRIDAY had even remembered some coats and shoes- new boots to replace the tatters ones, running shoes, and black flats. Most things were one the generic side of stylish, but some of it were a little more fashionably alternative with a little more punk-flair Wanda had seemed to prefer before.
The girl had accepted most everything, just nodding along as Natasha held up items, though she did turn down a canary yellow blouse and a blue one with white polka dots. The spy got the approved clothes hung up and put away into drawers, telling Wanda where she was placing things so she could hopefully find them later. When she finished she turned to find green eyes watching her carefully and the smoothie gone, "Would you like to take a shower?"
The agent risked to ask her. She wanted Wanda to be able to start setting boundaries and making her own choices, even for something as small as having a shower. The risk being Wanda could say no and not take one, leaving Natasha to decide whether to respect her answer or order her to get into the shower. Fortunately, the girl nodded and clambered out of bed without any further prompting. "Come grab some clean clothes."
Pulling open a newly filled drawer, the Sokovian peered down into it uncertainly. After a moment that went a little prolonged, Natasha swooped in to pull out a pair of black leggings and a maroon sweater, handing them to her with a quick smile before ushering her off to the bathroom. One step at a time, she thought, taking her seat at the table to wait for Wanda to finish.
When the girl emerged once again, she looked bit better in clothing that actually fit her and at the same time reminded Natasha of how much of a kid she was. "Do you want to sit up and watch some television or would you like to rest more?"
At Natasha's proposal, Wanda slid back into bed without a word. The woman withheld a sigh and let her take solace back in sleep, telling her softly that she would be back later with dinner.
The rest of the week progressed slowly and much the same.
The next day after breakfast she did require Wanda to sit up for a while in front of the television. Natasha put on nature documentaries, figuring the animals in their habitats with the soothing, British narrator's voice speaking over it would be inoffensive at least and relaxing at best. The girl sat curled up, with her head resting on the back of the couch, but Natasha could see she was engaged in the program from the subtle shifting in her eyes.
The following day Wanda had to pick flowers for the gravesite, white gardenias and dusty blue hydrangeas, then was she allowed to sit with Pietro for two hours before coming back up to nap before dinner.
The day after that Wanda watched another nature documentary, this time about the rainforest, while Natasha made decisions about a headstone, unable to bring herself to make Wanda decide. Now that Fury and Hill were looking in the correct year, they had found the twins birth certificates by then so she knew his birthday and it could always be replaced later should Wanda want to change something.
Then the next day, the teenager rejected all of the suits Natasha showed her for Pietro to wear, until the woman was able to find something she would agree to much to her relief, a white button down with a dark blue sweater over top and gray slacks.
They moved incrementally until finally, suddenly it was the day of the funeral. Natasha woke up early to shower and get herself pretty much ready up to the point of getting dressed then she went to start getting Wanda ready. As soon as she stepped out of her room though she ran into Clint, already in a dress shirt and black tie though his blazer had been discarded somewhere. "Hey, have you seen her yet?"
He asked as he approached and Nat shook her head, "No, I'm just about to get her up. You just get in?"
"Yeah, I stepped off the jet two minutes ago. You think I should go in with you?"
"Maybe to say hello. But I'm going to be helping her get ready. I don't think she'll want you there for that." She told him.
"Yeah, you just go ahead." Clint ran his hand through his hair. "I'll ah…"
"Why don't you go check and see how the guys are faring?" Natasha gestured to the hallway were Steve and Sam's rooms were, and she thought Vision grabbed a room at the end for himself as well though she was not sure if he even needed to sleep.
"Yeah, I'll do that." He placed his hand on her shoulder for a heavy moment and squeezed it lightly before going off to find the rest of the guys. Natasha pressed on to Wanda's room, calling softly, "Wanda, time to get up."
The Sokovian sat up in bed and stared at her with the same terrible, frightened expression from when she had first asked Wanda to leave her brother. She made no move to get up, so Natasha steadily approached her, "Do you need me to help?"
Wanda nodded once and the Black Widow gently took her arm and helped her out of bed and escorting her to the bathroom. She offered to go in with her as well but ultimately Wanda went in to shower on her own, opening the door wrapped in a towel once she was finished. Natasha took one to the table's chairs and placed it in the bathroom for Wanda to sit. She used a different towel to soak up some of the water from her drenched hair, brushed it and added some styling product, then dried her hair the rest of the way with a hairdryer so her waves were neat and shiny. Despite all odds, Wanda had lovely hair, thick and dark with reddish undertones. Natasha brushed her hair through with her fingers once more and said, "Come get dressed."
Wanda obediently rose to her feet following Natasha to her closet to get the black, velvet dress with long sleeves she had picked out. She helped Wanda into her clothing, the girl not quite moving on her own accord however very pliant for Natasha as she maneuvered her. With her little charge completely ready Natasha had to finish getting herself dressed, "I've got to put my clothes on. Clint is here. I can take you out to see him if you'd like."
Wanda spoke for the first time that day, her voice scarcely above a whisper, "I will wait here for you."
"Okay, I'll be back."
Back in her room, Natasha quickly applied some light makeup and stepped into her black dress. She grabbed a pair of low heels for the occasion and walked out into the living room instead of immediately going back to Wanda. She found Clint, Steve, Sam and Vision sitting in quiet contemplation, all in similar suits save for the android who still only wore his uniform and cape. Even in heels they did not notice her until she spoke, "Is everything in position?"
Her question sounded like she could be asking about one of their missions. Steve jumped up to greet her and get her up to speed, "Pietro is in the hearse. It's ready in the garage and the cars are lined up as well. Everyone is here, waiting nearby for departure. Except Thor, he'll meet us there. How are we on time?"
Natasha looked at the small, silver watch on her wrist, "We're fine. Wanda is ready I just have to get her. She's said one thing today so don't expect her to be too responsive."
"Alright." Steve glanced back at the other guys who were listening then back to her, "So we're ready?"
"As we'll ever be." Natasha turned away from him, "Can you finish zipping me up?"
She had not been able to get the zipper up the last five inches or so. Steve reached to help her, asking softly so only she could hear, "How are you doing?"
"I'm- I'm just thinking about Wanda." She sighed, not sure how to quantify her feelings.
"Yeah, me too." Captain America said sadly, his hand smoothed down her back and the woman went to get Wanda. The Sokovian was sitting on the end of her bed so still she might as well have been a statue.
"It's time to go." She announced and walked to Wanda's side to help her stand up. The girl took a few small steps but then Natasha felt her halt, resisting her movements for the first time. Pausing with the girl, she placed her hand at the center of her back and counted to three in her head. When she started to move again, Wanda moved with her once more only stopping to get Wanda into a charcoal gray peacoat that fell to about the length of her dress at midthigh. When the entered the living room, all the guys stood, Clint coming forward with a bouquet of red chrysanthemums Natasha had not notice before. He held them out to her with a muted smile.
"Hey kid. I picked these up for you. I thought you might like to take them today."
Wanda stared at him with glassy eyes for a moment, then took the flowers holding them to her chest a little too tightly. Natasha nodded in thanks to Clint and steadily pushed them forward. They rode down the elevator to the level with the garage access; Natasha and Clint on either side of Wanda, Steve and Sam against the back wall and Vision electing to phase through the floors so the small compartment did not get overcrowded for Wanda.
The girl kept her eyes down as they exited the elevator, relying on Natasha to guide her to the limousine parked nearly right in front of them. The limo was the second in the small line of cars. In front of it was the hearse and behind it was an SUV that Steve, Sam, Vision and Sharon Carter would drive in, behind them was Tony, Pepper and Rhodey in a one of Tony's luxury sedans and bringing up the rear was another SUV with Nick Fury and Maria Hill. Laura had wanted to attend but she was too pregnant to fly in with Clint and besides that, her husband still worried about exposing his family even on the secluded grounds of the compound. Natasha got Wanda into the car and Steve, chivalrously having grabbed her coat, helped Natasha into it before she flashed him a small smile and climbed into the car herself, Clint immediately following. Natasha and Wanda settled on the same side of the car while Clint sat on the bench across from them. The archer knocked twice on the glass partition that separated them from the driver and the vehicle slowly started to creep forward.
It would take about three hours for them to drive upstate. If they had taken the quinjet, the trip would only be 30 minutes, but Natasha felt the quick flight would lack the gravity and deliberation the day required. There was beauty and sorrow in follow your loved one on their last journey and she wanted to honor that for Wanda with a proper procession for her brother. So they drove out of the gray concrete and angles of the city to the softer, winding roads on the New York countryside. Wanda at first peered out the car window with trepidation, especially as the drove through the bustling, noisy city, but as they got out of it she eased back into her seat, slightly pacified by the swaying trees passing by, their leaves just starting to change color for the fall.
Even with the extended drive, they too soon pulled into the gravel road to the Avengers facility. Tony had construction halted for the day and everyone cleared out, so the grounds were vacant, save for Thor who already stood waiting solemnly in the driveway for them. Clint hopped out of the limo first, but Natasha lingered with Wanda, "We're going to walk out to the site. We will sit and people will pay their respects, Steve will say a few words and then you can take your time saying goodbye, okay?"
Wanda swallowed hard and nodded, once again looking frightened. Natasha got out of the car and turned back around with her hand out for Wanda to take, which the girl did, climbing out with Natasha's support. Clint, Steve, Sam, Vision and Thor acted as pallbearers, the coffin resting on their shoulders as they made the long march to the gravesite. The men bore the weight easily though, even as they moved slowly so Wanda could keep up behind them as she and Natasha were trailed by the rest of the group.
As they approached the memorial, Natasha saw all their work from the week come together. There were white chairs lined up in front of the grave, enough for the mourners to spread out but not so many so that the service would appear vacant. The headstone sat in the center of the arc of trees. It was white and black swirled marble and large with clean lines reading:
In Loving Memory of
Pietro Maximoff
September 28th, 2000 – September 12th, 2015
Son • Brother • Avenger
From both sides of the headstone spilled a huge riot of the white and blue flowers Wanda had chosen. Pepper had ordered for so many the air was filled with their sweet scent to beautiful affect. Natasha sat with Wanda, the red bouquet across the girl's lap, front and center in the first row while the men placed the casket on the mechanism that would lower it into the grave under the instruction of an extremely well vetted funeral director who snuck unobtrusively and respectfully around the edges of the group. The funeral director then lifted the lid to the coffin and one by one or in pairs people walked up to silently pay their respects. Clint went first, standing there a while before wiping his misty eyes and taking a seat on the other side of Wanda who watched everything with tears beginning to leak from her eyes.
Slowly everyone else took their turn giving Wanda a somber nod or offering their condolences as they took seats behind them, until finally Steve was the last one to go. He looked down at the boy his lips moving in a personal prayer then did the sign of the cross over himself. They had decided not to include any religious heads to perform a eulogy but as the leader of the team Steve offered to say some words in remembrance. Captain America faced the small crowd and after a poignant pause he began, "When Pietro Maximoff came into our lives we were on opposites sides, but sometimes we have a lot more in common with our enemy than we realize. For me, I could see in him my passion and belief in what you are doing is right thing to make the world a better place. Pietro saw he made a mistake, and he did the most courageous thing, he came to his enemy and admitted he was wrong. Then he stepped up to make it right. He made the ultimate sacrifice, and the world is a better place because of him."
"Pietro is a hero. He was brave and caring and.. fast as hell with decent right hook." Steve gingerly touched his jaw with a ghost of a smile where the kid had gotten in a punch as he was speeding around. "He will be so greatly missed, as an Avenger, as a friend, and mostly, as a brother."
Steve walked to Wanda kneeling in front of her and speaking with deep sympathy, "I'm so sorry for your loss, Wanda."
There was a few second delay, but to everyone's surprise, perhaps especially Steve's, Wanda threw her arms out around his neck and hugged him fiercely. He recovered from his shock and placed his hands over her back, holding her much more gently than how she clung to him as silent tears continued to stream down her face. Natasha brushed away her own tears, Steve's words pulling out her own emotions. She had barely known Pietro, what she did remember of him was how he curled protectively around his sister and stared distrustfully at anyone who looked at them, ready to scoop her up and away at a moment's notice. They were all that each other had. And it was heart breaking that he was not here now, and that Wanda had to be without him.
"Thank you." The girl murmured as she released Steve and sunk back in her seat. He rose back to his feet, picking the flowers that had fallen to the ground and placing them back on her lap as he did so. Steve then sat in the chair next to Natasha, rubbing the tears from his own eyes. The woman pulled a handkerchief out of her coat pocket and gave it to Wanda who tried to wipe her face the best she could.
"Are you ready?" Natasha asked her quietly, her voice rougher with emotion. Wanda nodded and gripped Natasha's forearm as she used it to help herself stand. She kept holding on as she walked to stand next to her brother. The boy had on the clothing Wanda asked for, and as a last-minute addition Natasha asked for a little lightning bolt be embroidered with silver thread on the left side of his chest. She reached out to it, tracing over the small zig-zag shape with her fingertip. Then a strangled sob escaped her lips, and she laid her upper body onto Pietro's chest, bawling harder than she had before, gasping and choking so much Natasha worried she would get sick. But she did not get sick, Wanda just cried until she was spent, staying collapsed against her brother for much longer after that. Finally she stood upright and pressed a kiss to his cheek, speaking in Sokovian, "Goodbye, Brother."
Her hand automatically reached to Natasha to help her walk back to their seats. The funeral director silently came back over and closed the casket, then moved to the operating panel to slowly began lowering him into the ground. Wanda sat transfixed once again, clearly not ready to leave yet. Slowly the others began to filter out. First Fury and Maria left, then Thor walked away to summon the Bifrost. Tony, Pepper and Rhodey departed next then Steve, Sam, Vision and Sharon eventually headed off as well. Even Clint left to go back to the car and call Laura, leaving Natasha sitting with Wanda as the minutes turned to hours.
The wind started to pick up and Natasha knew it was time for them to go as well. "Wanda, honey, we need to leave now."
The girl looked at her briefly then at the flowers she still held in her hand. Standing on her own accord, Wanda slowly walked back to the grave and rested them against the headstone, a splash of vibrant red amongst the grays and blues. Instead of coming back though, the teenager stood there seemingly frozen. As Natasha approached her, Wanda said flatly, "I don't know how to move on without him."
She turned to the woman, looking utterly lost. Natasha sighed, feeling a similar lost sadness but told her gently, "I don't know either. But I'll help you find a way."
Her lip trembled then, and Wanda wrapped her arms around Natasha's neck as she started to cry again. The woman caught her and held her tightly as the girl went limp in her arms, rubbing her back to try and soothe her, hoping it would be enough to ease her pain. When Wanda showed no signs of calming down though, Natasha said in her ear, "Wanda, I'm going to pick you up, okay?"
When she felt Wanda nod against her, Natasha wrapped one arm around her torso and hooked her other arm underneath her thighs to pull her up from the ground. As the Russian looked down at the boy's grave with his sister in her arms she thought sadly, at least I can keep this one safe. She realized then that she had not thought about paying her own respects to him having been so focused on Wanda for the day.
I'm sorry we couldn't save you too. I will take care of her now, Natasha said the words in her head and out loud spoke in Russian an old saying they would say for the dead in her homeland, "Acquire the spirit of peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved."
Wanda clutched her a little tighter as she said it. Natasha started the long walk back to the main drive. The girl was not heavy, and the woman was deceptively strong, but it still not the easiest carrying a child of her size, especially as exhaustion truly took hold of Wanda and she began to fall asleep. And yet Natasha did not feel burdened at all. When she made it to the drive, Clint and the driver were leaned against the car chatting. Clint saw and started to rush toward her to help but she shook her head, "I'm fine, just get the door."
Her partner immediately switched directions and pulled the car door open for them. Natasha gently lowered Wanda into the seat, then tugged at her arms to get her to let go of her neck. Wanda's eyes stayed shut but she seemed to pout as she did so. Pulling away, she told her softly, "It's alright. You're in the car. We're going home."
She was not sure if Wanda had really woken but she settled down against the leather seat, her breathing becoming deep and steady, her cheeks tracked with tears. Natasha carefully wiped them away with her fingers before closing the door as quietly as possible. She turned to Clint as he asked her, "Are you okay?"
He gestured to her face, and she wiped her cheeks surprised to find them wet. The agent had not realized she had been crying as she had been walking them back. She shrugged at her best friend, "I'm sad. But I'm okay. You?"
"About the same." He replied.
She exhaled, "Yeah.. let's get home."