"I think she is doing really well." Natasha said to Clint over the phone as she leaned over a cup of tea at the kitchen counter. She had told Clint a bit about the nosebleed incident, enough that he got the idea without feeling like she was divulging Wanda's secrets. They had been in close contact over how Wanda was progressing, even more so this week as they discussed her little reversion which was why he had called currently. However, it had been about two weeks and the woman felt like Wanda had reclaimed her headway and then some.
"That's really great to hear." Clint said happily, "Because actually Laura and I wanted to see if you could come out for a couple weeks for Christmas."
"Me and Wanda?" Natasha did not know why she needed to clarify with him, of course she would bring Wanda.
"You, Wanda and we thought Steve would come along too. I'm guessing Sam and Sharon are going to go spend time with their families." It was true. Sharon was already in England and Sam was getting ready to go to his sister's.
"I think that could be really good. It might help Wanda transition from the Tower to the Compound. It's going to be ready to move into right after the holidays and I think she is well enough to start training by then." Natasha found herself smiling at the idea of spending Christmas at the farm with Wanda and showing her all the things she loved about the place.
"Yeah, and it would be good to introduce her to where she will be living." Clint added.
"Right." Natasha agreed but felt a spasm of pain as she did so. Ignoring it she asked, "When are you thinking for us to head out to you?"
"We were thinking as soon as the next day or two if you wanted."
It felt fast though nothing was really keeping them in New York City right now. She shrugged, "I'll talk to Steve, but I think he'll agree to come out. I'll text you when we have the quinjet scheduled in the next day or so."
"Great, Wanda can meet Laura and the kids, you can meet Baby Nate." He said, pleased with the plan.
"You mean Baby Traitor. How's he doing by the way?"
Clint chuckled, "Happy, healthy, and still a boy as far as we know."
"Good, I can't wait to meet him." The agent said, unable to pretend like she was not completely enamored with her newest nephew.
"We can definitely use another few months before Wanda moves out here permanently though. The kid has lungs like an opera singer." Her partner sounded both distressed and impressed by this statement.
Natasha replied easily, "That's fine. Wanda can stay with me as long as you need."
"Actually, I hear him now. I have to go." Clint said distracted and Natasha could just hear the robust wail of a two-month-old baby, "Let me know about your travel plans."
"I will. See you soon." The agent just managed to say before the line disconnected. She grinned and shook her head, her thoughts returning naturally to Wanda. The days following her panic attack the girl had been a bit subdued and reluctant to be in a room without Natasha, but she steadily over came that after the first week. Then one day Wanda wandered into the kitchen of her own accord and very quietly informed Natasha that she was hungry. The Black Widow had to temper her enthusiasm as she showed Wanda the pantry and refrigerator full of snacks, telling her she could take anything she wanted to eat if she was hungry, even if Natasha was not around. Though in the end when the teenager had been overwhelmed with choices, she just made Wanda and herself grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup.
They continued to go on walks, though they were becoming shorter as the weather continued to get more bitterly cold. Today they had their first snowfall of the season. But the teenager's activity around the apartment continued to increase as she hung out with the team more and napped less. However she would usually at least fall asleep for a bit in the late afternoon. Natasha had spent the better part of a day convincing Wanda to go down for a physical on the medical level. Wanda let the doctor give her quick exam and draw some blood as long as Natasha stayed in the room. The results were what she had expected, still underweight but getting better, and her blood results showed she was anemic. The doctor said that could account for her drowsiness during the day and prescribed iron tablets for her to take. She also said Wanda could just be a sleepy kid and she did not see anything in her panels to worry about as long as she continued to improve, and it was okay to let Wanda's body set her schedule to get the sleep she needed.
The hardest part of recovering from the episode was getting Wanda back into her bed. The first few nights Natasha let her sleep in her bed with her and neither of them barely woke up at all, if the girl stirred Natasha would simply make some shushing sounds and rub her back and she would calm. But after the third night, she had Wanda back in her own bed, knowing allowing her to continue to sleep with her could set an untenable precedent. Even though she loathed tucking Wanda in her own bed while she looked at her with sad, glassy eyes that next night and felt ready to give into letting the girl sleep with her for a little while longer. But the Sokovian had kept a stiff upper lip and fell asleep as Natasha read the last of The Hobbit to her. When the nightmare inevitable came and Natasha came in to wake her, she asked Wanda about her dream again and she talked about it with little resistance. The teenager began telling Natasha about most of her dreams. They would discuss it and Natasha would point of fallacies or assuage her fears over Hydra coming for her, a fear the agent had been entirely unaware of until recently which made her worried about other things the girl may be trying to deal with on her own.
By the end of their conversation though, Wanda would be more at rest and seemed little by little was becoming unburdened with the night terrors. Of course, there were still a few nights when she would only cry and want to be held, Natasha gladly providing that for her too. Natasha sipped her tea, thinking about going to find the girl to talk to her about their now upcoming trip when as if summoned by her thoughts Wanda wandered into the kitchen, a National Geographics magazine with sharks on the cover in her hand, one of her fingers between the pages holding her spot. "Tasha, what's for dinner?"
Looking at the clock on the microwave, she saw it was already a little past five in the evening. "I was thinking something easy. You liked that green curry from the Thai place, right?"
Wanda nodded with a small smile forming. Natasha smiled back, "I thought we'd order from there tonight."
"With the spring rolls too?"
"With the spring roll too." The woman confirmed then said. "I have some good news. I just got off the phone with Clint, we're going out to the farm in the next couple of days."
Natasha told her with an excited grin, but she was surprised when the girl did not return her enthusiasm. Her contentment gone, she stared blankly at her for a moment then proclaimed, "I don't want to go to the farm."
"The farm is really nice-" The spy furrowed her brow in confusion to the response.
Wanda cut her off and began to actually glare at her, saying sharply, "I don't care about the stupid farm. I'm not going, I'm staying here."
"Hey, watch your tone with me." Natasha now met her anger with a little of her own, though she was still more puzzled by Wanda's behavior than anything. Still she said firmly, "It's unacceptable. It will be unacceptable with Clint and Laura too."
Suddenly the lights flickered then glowed brighter as if there were a power surge. Natasha looked at the bulbs above the island then back to Wanda, now even more surprised to find red magic swirling from her fingertips. The girl glowered, "I'm not going, and you can't make me."
"Wanda, whatever this is you need to calm down right now or there will be consequences." Natasha admonished her. She genuinely did not understand where this would be coming from, and it was the first time she had even seen an inkling of her powers since she dropped the glamour when she first arrived. While she was a little taken aback by them, Natasha found she was not afraid of Wanda's display. After all the time they spent together, she knew Wanda never really wanted to hurt anybody. She had been angry with no one there to guide her and her brother except people who were angrier and filled with ill-intent. Wanda was a sweet kid who was probably a bit fearful of her own powers. This was grandstanding, a little flash and show but no real threat behind it. She just needed her to calm down so they could talk but the lights flickered again and now her eyes glowed red as well.
Natasha said with sufficient edge to her voice to demonstrate she was serious, "That's enough Wanda. Stop right now or there will be a punishment."
The red faded from her quickly and the room became quieter as a high-pitch whine of electricity stopped. Wanda looked startled, "Punishment?"
"Yes, punishment. If you-" Natasha stopped short, realizing a half-second too late something else was wrong now. Wanda had not simply withdrawn her magic, she had receded into herself entirely, frozen like a deer caught in headlights. Her chest moved up and down rapidly and pupils were blown with panic. Natasha slowly started again, "Wanda, sweetheart, what's wrong?"
But her words did not register with the girl, instead she just backed away a couple steps from the woman and she began gasping more desperately to try and get air into her lungs. Natasha instinctively started towards Wanda when she saw her distress but that only caused the girl to try and retreat quicker from her. In her haste, Wanda stumbled, falling onto her backside with an uncomfortable thunk. She tried to scramble away and a frantic chant of no came fell from her lips. Even though it was nearly physically pain to do so, Natasha forced herself to stay still as to not frighten the girl further.
"Malyshka, it's okay. You're safe." The woman made her voice purposefully softer, the voice she used so many times before to successfully soothe whatever nightmare, or insincerity, or painful memory ailed the teenager. And she could see it working as Wanda's eyes finally recognized that it was Natasha in front of her and not whatever terrifying visions her mind was imagining. Her breathing came out in raspy bursts and her face was twisted with fear, but her eyes pleaded for Natasha. Taking it slow, the spy started to ask if she could approach her, "Wanda, is it alright if I-"
However her words were cut off by Sam, half-shouting as he walked from the hallway into the kitchen, "Hey, Nat, I'm taking off."
As he came in, Wanda's head whipped in his direction to the sudden, deep sound and let out a strangled yelp. And before the cry could completely pass from her lips, Wanda vanished in a cloud of red smoke. At first all she could do was stare at the place where the girl had just been, magazine lying on the ground where is dropped it. Sam was staring with a dumbfounded expression on his face too, his duffle bag slung over his shoulder still from preparing to leave. He broke the stunned silence, "Nat, what just happened?"
"Wanda?" She did not bother answering his question as she called out for the girl, "Wanda, are you here? Milaya?"
When she did not hear any response said called FRIDAY to attention, "FRIDAY is Wanda on this floor?"
"No Agent Romanoff, I don't detect her in the residence."
"What about the rest of the building?"
"Miss Maximoff isn't anywhere in the building, ma'am." The AI informed her with programmed regret.
Sam asked again, "Natasha, what just happened?"
"I don't know, Sam." The woman snapped at him. "She was- she-"
The superspy struggled to convey the events that had escalated so quickly. Suddenly she demanded, "FRIDAY get Steve to the kitchen now, tell him it's urgent."
"Right away, Agent Romanoff." FRIDAY verified as Natasha walked to the spot Wanda had gone from, picking up the magazine as if it could be a clue. Not two seconds later, Steve skidded into the kitchen with a worried expression on his face.
"What's going on? FRIDAY said you needed me."
"Wanda is gone." The words made her feel sick to her stomach, her heart pounding in her chest. The shock was starting to wear off and adrenaline kicked in. Her body practically vibrating to do anything that would bring the girl home.
Steve looked around as if Wanda were hiding somewhere in the room, that surely they simply missed her and he could find her, "What do you mean gone?"
"We were talking, and she got upset, angry." Natasha remembered, rubbing her forehead as regret bubbled up in her for what she did next. "I told her to calm down or she would be punished. I meant she'd be grounded or whatever, but I think she thought I meant something a lot worse. She had a panic attack, I scared her."
Tears pricked her eyes at the thought of Wanda so frightened of her. Steve came forward and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You didn't know that she would react like that. You couldn't have anticipated that would trigger her."
She knew he meant it and in actuality it was true, but his words felt hollow until she could get Wanda back. He continued, trying to get more of the story, probably not understanding why they were not looking around the apartments for her, "So did she run off?"
"No," Sam interjected, clearly stricken with some guilt of his own, "I came in to say goodbye to Nat, I was loud, too loud. She literally vanished in a puff of red smoke."
"A puff of smoke? Like her magic?" Steve inquired. "She never mentioned she could do that."
"I don't think she knew she could do it." Natasha could feel her anxiety rising again at the thought of Wanda out there somewhere in a total panic, "FRIDAY said she isn't anywhere in the building. If she can teleport, she could be anywhere."
"Does she have a cell phone we can call? She talks to Clint sometimes, right?" Sam asked.
"I hadn't gotten her one yet. She's just been using mine." The woman said, kicking herself as she did. She did not go anywhere and if she did it was with Natasha, so it had not been a priority.
"Right, she could be anywhere but let's start with the city. Hopefully, she didn't get far. Sam, how soon can you get into the sky?" Steve asked.
"Shit, my flight suit is dismantled. Give me 30 minutes tops." The Falcon dropped his duffle bag where he stood and started jogging away.
"Hurry, Sam. And put your comms in." Natasha said after him, but he did not respond already too far gone but he sent a backwards wave indicating her heard her. Fortified by Steve taking action, the Black Widow slipped into mission mode herself, "FRIDAY tap into all CCTV in the city and the police radio for any call that sounds like it could be Wanda."
"Yes, Agent Romanoff. I don't see anything now, but I'll keep you posted."
"We'll start a ground search." Natasha turned to Steve, the man nodding along with her.
"Is there anywhere you think she'd end up?" Captain America inquired.
"Maybe the bookstore? I'll check there and start a grid search going northeast. You take southwest."
"Roger that." Steve looked at the watch on his wrist. "If we don't find her in two hours we'll call in the rest of the team."
"Make it one hour." Nat corrected him and his head ticked down in agreement.
The two Avenger grabbed their comms and headed out, Natasha hopping on a motorcycle to better help her weave through traffic while Steve took a SUV in case her found her he would be able to transport her more easily. Wanda was not at the bookshop, nor in the surrounding area of the Avengers Tower where they would take their walks. Her eyes roved the sidewalks for the little witch's familiar form or maybe some commotion caused by the sudden appearance of a distraught Sokovian, but she did not see anything, and she felt herself becoming more desperate. About 20 minutes later with still no sign, Natasha was ready to ask Sam for the seventh time if he was almost ready to get them an aerial view, when FRIDAY interjected over the comms, "There's a potential match for Miss Maximoff I've detected over the police scanner. Code 5150, an emotional disturbed individual. Subject is a 12- to 15-year-old girl lost in Central Park."
"That's got to be her." Steve said in her earpiece.
Natasha revved the motorcycle making a sudden, danger U-turn in traffic knowing the park was behind her, "FRIDAY do you have a visual?"
"Negative, ma'am. I can send you direct coordinates based off the officers' communication with dispatch." FRIDAY relayed.
"Get me there now." Natasha ordered. "Steve?"
He immediately updated her with his status, "FRIDAY sent the coordinates to my GPS. I'm in route."
Natasha began threading the bike through the cars, making tight maneuvers and eliciting a lot of car horns, but she did not pay any mind to that. She only listened to the voice in her ear hopefully directing her to Wanda.