Natasha was right, Wanda liked the farm. It was not like any place Wanda had ever been. The woods around the Hydra base had been quiet, but not peaceful. Insidious machinations that were housed in the cold, gray stone of the fort tainted its surroundings, always keeping the witch on edge. Then the Tower was peaceful to an extent, but it was an anomaly in the bustling, whirling city below. The Barton's farm was quiet and peaceful, the feeling extending for miles across the docile rolling hills and thick glens that comprised the landscape and seeping into the house and into the people that inhabited it. It was a wonderful reprieve, however at the same time it felt unreal to the Sokovian.
This life was never what she had envisioned for herself. When it had been her and Pietro, she had a spark, a drive to do something, to save their country from the men tearing it a part. Then she lost her country and she lost Pietro and she lost herself to the trauma and grief. More and more though Wanda was starting to remember her old ambitions, starting to find herself again. The girl found she still held the desire to make the world a better place. It was not quite the same as it had been, the feeling more cautious than before, but no less noble and it was something. Something not lost rather buried underneath her sorrow making Wanda wonder what else she would be able to uncover. The teenager wanted to keep rediscovering these things, but she felt she would never be able to on the farm, a place of relaxation, of stagnation.
The rural homestead did not fit with her aspirations and in some ways Wanda did not fit in there either. Not that the Barton's had not been welcoming toward her, despite her misunderstanding with Lila that she avidly avoided thinking about, trying to convince herself that she really had simply been confused by the younger girl's loud emotion. The family simply had grown into a loving pattern, easily weaving themselves together while scarcely touching Wanda. They did not mean to exclude her, and Wanda harbored no hurt feelings. It could not be helped, just like she could not help gravitating toward Natasha and Steve and the patterns they created together. She fit in at the farm the way Tasha did, as an escape into this serene plot of land in the middle of nowhere and perhaps getting a chance to briefly live the life of a road not taken. It was not her real life though; it was not who she was.
Despite whatever reservations Wanda might have about it, the farm was fun. Over the past days, Lila invited her to more tea parties, Cooper showed her his racing video game that she was very bad at, Laura helped them bake and decorate Christmas cut-out cookies that Nat was very bad at, she built a snowman with Steve, Cooper and Lila in front of the porch. And throughout, Natasha was nearly always present, making her laugh with her purposely poorly decorated cookies, insisting on taking a picture of them in front of their snowman, allowing Wanda to lounge against her as she read her book on the couch in the soft part of the afternoons, always subtly keeping an eye on her and drawing her in when Wanda felt the need to reestablish contact.
While the visit had been wonderful in many ways so far, it also only solidified her feelings that she did not want to live there whenever that some day came around that Natasha spoke of. She just wanted to stay with her Tasha.
These were heavy thoughts for Wanda to be having this early in the morning the teenager decided. But she had woken up alone, Natasha having managed to slip out of the bed without her noticing and she had the time to think. The little witch knew seeking out the woman would temper her pensive mood, so she rose from the warmth of the bed and changed out of her pajamas. Then taking the iron tablets and other vitamins Natasha left out for her on the dresser with a glass of water, she headed down to the kitchen where everyone met in the morning.
"Morning Wanda." Laura said to her as she walked in. Natasha just smiled at her the way Natasha smiled at her from where she was pouring water into the coffeemaker. The teenager offered her own greetings as she sunk into one of the seats at the kitchen table. While Nat waited for the coffee to brew she came over to the girl, playfully ruffling her messy bedhead.
"Here let me sort you out." She stood behind Wanda and gently combed her fingers through Wanda's tangles, then sectioned off her hair to braid it, somewhat mindlessly peppering her with questions as she did so.
"Did you sleep okay?"
"Yes.. I did not have any dreams." Then she corrected herself, "No, I dreamt of a shark."
"Was it scary?"
"No."
"That's nice then.. Did you take your vitamins?"
"Yeah."
"Good girl."
"Can I go see the horses?" Wanda posed her own question. Another part of the farm she really liked was the animals, especially the horses with their gentle brown eyes and colorful feelings.
"We're going to start making breakfast soon, milaya." Natasha said, finishing tying off Wanda's hair. The girl turned in her seat to look up at the woman as she placed the braid over her shoulder.
"Please, just until breakfast?" She asked with a pleading expression. Normally she would stay and help with breakfast preparations. Then Clint would come in with Nate and Steve would return from a morning run or chopping firewood. And finally Cooper and Lila would come down to complete their little group and they would tuck into breakfast, sometimes quietly, sometimes noisily. However, Wanda craved a moment of solitude, finding she had not been alone for practically the entire visit so far, this was mostly due to the fact that she orbited around Natasha and then Steve when the woman was otherwise occupied. Today she felt okay, better than okay. The prickling discomfort at the thought of being away from Tasha was absent having confidence that she would be there when Wanda returned.
Natasha studied her and finally with a fond, mockingly stern tone said, "Alright, but make sure you bundle up."
Wanda jumped from her seat and eagerly agreed as she went to the foyer to put on her boots and coat and gloves, Natasha stopping her from walking out the door to pull a knit cap onto her head. With a sheepish grin, the teenager stepped out the front door into the crisp, cold morning.
The sky was already a dazzling blue with perfect fluffy clouds ambling across it. She went down the small set of stairs off the porch, pausing to look at the snowman they had built with its crooked stick arms, red and green striped scarf, and rocks pushed into the head to create its eyes and smile. She plucked the long, orange carrot protruding proudly from his face and shoved it in her coat pocket as she made the trek to the horses' paddock. Once there she climbed onto the fence and swung her legs over the top rail and rested her elbow on a post for balance to sit and watch as the horses stretched their legs from spending the night in the barn.
Ripley meandered over almost immediately. The horse nickered at her in greeting as she approached, and Wanda reached to touch her velvety nose. She breathed in deeply and huffed into Wanda's hand, most likely smelling a familiar scent on her as an image of Natasha flashed in her mind, but it was not one she'd previous had of the woman. It was from the horse's gauzy memories, Tasha with longer hair in a flannel and cutoff shorts enticing her over with an apple, a happiness and trust attached to it. Wanda grinned big at this, showing the mare her own picture of Natasha that elicited similar emotions in her, the woman smiling at her tenderly as she pushes a steaming mug across the counter towards her. The horse snuffled at her hair, her warm breath tickling the skin of her neck, as Ripley showed her a new vision, the memory from the first day she had met the horse.
It was strange seeing herself in this way, tucked up against Natasha and the woman wrapped around her protectively while she offered the horse her own apples. Then it was not just that memory as it became overlaid or maybe underlaid with the memory of younger Nat, the two images and feelings becoming entwined. Wanda scratched behind her ear the way Nat knew to do, and the strong images faded to a pink contentment as the animal simply enjoyed the touch.
Suddenly Wanda wanted a carrot, so much so she could practically taste the strangely sweet vegetable in her mouth. She laughed as Ripley's lips moved against the fabric of her coat pocket. Breaking off the tip, Wanda fed the horse a bit of the carrot she had grabbed, however then thought of Nox and about sharing the carrot with him.
Ripley turned away from her to look behind where Nox hovered a few feet away from then. When both of their eyes landed on him, he pawed at the snow with his front hoof. The mare ambled over to the black horse, brushing her nose against his in a comforting gesture. Whenever they had gone out to see the animals, Wanda tried to reach out to the stallion, but he had been stubborn and elusive, unlike Ripley, Daisy and Indiana who were curious and eager to communicate in this new, strange way. Now when it was just her, he was closer than he had ever been. Before she could properly reach out, he projected pain and fear onto Wanda- a fetid, cramped stall he was stuck in, people with whips and angry, loud voices. It was nearly enough to have Wanda jumping from the fence and running back inside into Natasha's arms. However, she stayed put and showed her own pain-filled memories to the horse- the cold loneliness of her glass cell, electricity clawing into her veins, man ordering her in German to go again despite her exhaustion.
Nox shook his head and snorted as if trying to dislodge the thoughts. He started to back away when Wanda then switched to one of her first memories of Natasha when everything still felt tentative and terrifying, the woman tucking a comforter around her and gazing down at her with gentle concern even when she had no reason to. Then another moment of Tasha peeling an orange for her, of falling asleep against Steve to a black and white film, Sharon helping her dice a pepper while Sam said something to make them laugh. She showed him that even though she had been hurt by people that did not mean that none of them were worth trusting. Wanda sent over the feeling of Natasha holding her and stroking her back as she fell asleep. Nox returned the emotion with a brief, shimmering glimpse of standing with a mare that looked almost exactly like him in a quiet, green field, more than a feeling and barely a memory of his mother.
It hurt her, but she dug in deeper and recalled a distant past with her mother and father in Sokovia, them smiling and talking over chicken paprikash for dinner, the feeling sepia and warm, but they were gone now too. Nox took a few steps forward to her.
Wanda unfurled her magic toward him, and he froze, tilting his head curiously and distrustfully at it. Snapping off another chunk of the carrot, the little witch used her magic to float it to him. He sniffed the vegetable and the red mist surrounding it before deciding it was safe to munch into the treat. When he finished, Nox refocused his attention to the swirling magic. Wanda carefully ran it across his cheek and down his neck to his chest. He whinnied and shivered but took more slow steps toward her until he stood in front of her. She held out her palm flat to offer him the last of the carrot, which he drew into his mouth with his lips. Cautiously the girl placed her hand on his nose, letting him become accustomed to her touch and scent. He was even bigger than the other horses.
When he prodded into her palm giving her permission to go further, Wanda smiled and ran her hand up to scratch at the star on his forehead, her other hand coming up to rub his cheek. As he relaxed under hands Wanda thought, I'm sorry that happened to you, even though he would not quite understand her words. He pushed his large head into her torso like he returned the sentiment though nearly dislodged her from her seat, but she regained her balance by wrapping her arms around him. His mind turned into a serene pale blue as she hugged his long snout with one arm and reached to scratch at an elusive spot on his neck.
Abruptly though Nox jerked away and turned his gaze away from her, his posture tense and erect as Wanda felt sickly, yellow fear. She whipped around to see Natasha stopped a few yards away. Worry etched on her face, the Black Widow told her calm but serious, "Wanda, slowly climb off the fence."
Her first instinct was to listen to Natasha's instructions and tumble into her arms from the alarm emitting from her and Nox, but instead she recognized it was not her own and managed to remain relaxed, "It's okay."
She said for both the woman and the horse. She tried the trick Ripley had shown her, taking her image of Natasha and embedding it into the one he had of his mother to convey her trust in Natasha. Nox considered it then nickered and tugged at her coat sleeve to encourage her to resume petting him, which she did with a laugh. She looked back to Tasha who steadily approached now and stated again, "It's okay."
Natasha came to stand next to her, crossing her arms and leaning against the fence as Wanda kept petting the stallion. The horse eventually began investigating Natasha who stood respectfully still and watchful. Wanda said softly, "You can touch him."
The Black Widow only hesitated for a second before she unfolded one of her arms to extended her hand out to the horse, Nox meeting her halfway to bump his nose into her palm. Nat stroked it, saying lightly, "Hello, Nox."
Wanda grinned broadly at them. Then Nox decided he had enough and turned to puff hot air into the teenager's face and she patted his cheek with a giggle. He trotted off to where Ripley was wandering around, starting up into a gallop as he passed her; his run inciting the other horse to join him. Wanda loved the feeling of his thundering freedom in her chest as he led his herd in a sprint across the field.
"So.." Natasha drew out the word and Wanda looked back at her leaning against the fence, "You can talk to animals too?"
"Not talk. Animals don't talk." The teenager ducked her head as she tried to explain, "They communicate with smell and touch, feelings and colors, memories.. Their memories aren't as good as ours, so it comes across more like an emotion.. It's like if you could only talk using a book with a set number of pictures in it."
Natasha listened with a small, astounded smile on her face. She nudged the girl carefully with her shoulder, "You have some amazing powers, little witch."
They both turned their gazes to watch as the horses slowed their pace and went back to nosing around the snow. That vast peacefulness settled over Wanda as she took in the beautiful scene and enjoyed the fresh cold air on her cheeks and the steadfast company next to her. She broke the silence as a nagging question that arose after a moment.
"Tasha.. Is witch bad?" Wanda inquired out of the blue with some uncertainty.
Natasha looked surprised at her shy question. She did not answer right away, but finally said in a syrupy, melodic tone, "Depends, are you a good witch or a bad witch?"
Wanda giggled despite herself as the agent did a Glinda the Good impersonation. Natasha then grabbed the girl's hand and continued on more genuinely, "Wanda, nothing is inherently good or bad. And just because something might be considered good by many doesn't mean that it is good for everyone."
The Sokovian thought about this and knew it was true. Not that long ago, while most of the world hailed Tony Stark and the Avengers as heroes, Wanda, her brother and many others considered them reckless villains. She tried not to think of how many people out in the world might consider Natasha an enemy, might consider Wanda herself an enemy. The spy continued, squeezing her hand, "Your powers go beyond anything we've seen, and whether you save the world with them or only use them to talk to horses and get things off of high shelves for the rest of your life, I know I couldn't think of anyone else I would trust them more with than you."
Warmth blossomed in her chest at Natasha's words and a confidence peered out, like the tender green seedling first sprouted from scorched earth.
"And if you don't want us to call you that, we won't." Nat added.
Wanda blushed a little, embarrassed she had even been concerned about it in the first place. "No, it's okay.. It's nice."
"Alright, malen'kaya ved'ma." Natasha smiled, then she teased, "You better be good, or I'll have to find something else to do with your Christmas presents."
"Presents? For me?" Wanda cocked her head to the side. She knew the people got presents around Christmas time; Lila had been talking nonstop about being good and Santa coming with a sleigh full of gifts pulled by magically reindeer. She also knew Santa was not real and had known far before the age of six. Her parents had to sit her and Pietro down and explain that there was no Jolly Old Elf that had a naughty and nice list, so they would not think they had been bad when their parents had not been able to afford anything. When hearing Lila and Cooper talk about gifts, the teenager had just assumed that they would only be for the Barton children.
"Of course, milaya. You get Christmas presents too." Natasha said more emphatically than necessary. The woman cupped her cheek to make sure Wanda looked her in eyes shining with honesty, her gloveless fingers cold on her skin. She leaned into the touch anyways. Then Nat announced, "Okay, breakfast will be ready. Laura made waffles. Let's go you."
The Black Widow grabbed the back of her coat and pulled, making Wanda freefall backward. The girl yelped but never really felt afraid as she landed safely cradled in Natasha's waiting arms with a laugh. The woman started walking with her back toward the house.
"Tasha.." She half whined and half laughed.
"Wanda.." Natasha imitated her tone.
"I'm too big." She insisted even as she looped her arms around Nat's neck.
"You don't seem too big to me." The Avenger bounced her a little to demonstrate how secure she was in her arms. Wanda smiled and grumbled and then felt a little disappoint when Natasha set her down on the first step of the porch to head inside and join the others for breakfast.
/
"Clint?" Wanda approached the archer in the kitchen as he poured himself a cup of coffee. The man drank more coffee than Wanda thought was possible.
"Hey Wands, what's up?" He looked expectantly at her searching tone.
"Will you help me get a present?" She asked with a touch of urgency. Since her conversation with Natasha that morning, Wanda was distracted by the fact that she had nothing to offer the woman who had been taking care of her.
He raised his eyebrows at her, "A present? You don't need to worry about getting presents."
"But.." Wanda glanced around even though she knew Natasha was sparring with Steve in the home gym Clint had set up in the basement, though they would be finishing soon. "I want to get Tasha a Christmas present."
"That's really nice kid, but Nat won't expect you to get her anything."
"I will pay you back when I can. Please?" She promised, really want this. It would be difficult to ever completely express her gratitude for what Natasha had done for her, but she felt like giving her a Christmas present was a good place to start.
The man shook his head with a faint smile, "It's not about money.. Alright, I have to head into town anyways, we can even go now if you want."
"Yes.. Now is good." Wanda said trying to remember her confidence from earlier but stepping out into the yard was different than driving miles away from Natasha. The little witch would be too far away to sense the woman's aura if she needed to. Before she could overthink it, she heard Natasha and Steve's voices coming up from the basement. Soon the appeared in the kitchen, lightly panting and laughing with rosy cheeks and a sheen of sweat on them.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Natasha asked, sensing something between the two of them as she took the empty glass Steve handed her to fill it up at the sink.
"Just having a cup of coffee." Clint took a long swig from his mug then went on, "And I was just seeing if Wanda wanted to head into town with me. We're going to decorate the tree tonight and when I went to test the lights they didn't work, so I've got to go pick some up."
"You want to go, milaya?" Natasha turned her attention to her.
"Yes. Can I please?"
"Yes, you can." She smiled. "If you want I can clean up really quick and come with you."
"That's- that's okay." She shook her head but as she said the words she inched closer to the woman.
Clint interjected to make sure she did not come along and ruin the surprise, "I'm sure Laura could use help distracting the kids while she puts Nate down for his nap."
"Yeah, of course." Natasha agreed and if she were not so focused on trying to access Wanda and her comfort level she might have considered it an odd request since Laura was perfectly capable in handling all three of her children on her own.
"Great, I'm going to talk to Laura and then we can head out." Clint finished his coffee in a few gulps then headed upstairs to find his wife.
Wanda got closer to Natasha then, stepping into her personal space and resting her cheek against Nat's collarbone, not caring that the woman was too warm and a little sweaty. Tasha's arm wrapped around her waist as she asked her softly, "You're sure you want to go?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Her voice was small but sounded certain for the most part.
"Okay." The Black Widow kissed her forehead and did not push the issue.
Soon Clint was back downstairs, and he and Wanda were putting on their coats and shoes as Natasha and Steve watched them, leaning against entry way between the living room and foyer. The redhead waved at them from the front door as Clint drove them off in his forest green pickup truck. The teenager turned in her seat until she could not see the woman anymore. When she shifted back around Clint smiled at her in a bit of an oblivious manner, "You like country music?"
She shrugged and he spun up with volume dial a bit on the radio as a twangy, melancholic tune sung by a man with a resounding deep voice came through the speakers. Clint hummed along and Wanda listened, trying to decide if she enjoyed it or not. The music was not offensive she determined but not her favorite. She liked the crooning jazz records Steve showed her more and the 90's grunge music Natasha sometimes listened to. She did like the music in the way that it seemed to fit Clint. Like the music, he had a steady easiness to him when he was out here on the farm, like worry and stress from the outside world could not touch him on his homestead. It made the trip into town bearable for her; a sufficient substitute for the sweet calm Natasha exuded for Wanda reminding her that she did not need to be afraid.
"Do you have an idea what you want to get for Natasha?" Clint asked as the song faded out and a radio show host started reciting the weather report.
Wanda thought for a moment but came up blank. She shot him a worried look, "No."
"That's alright." He gave her a reassuring grin, "We'll go look around in some stores. We'll find something."
They ended up in a quaint downtown area with red brick buildings and hand-painted wooden signs, red-bowed wreaths hung on the lampposts and Christmas lights strung between them waiting for nightfall to bring holiday cheer. A fair amount of people bustled through the shops doing their own last-minute shopping. Clint and Wanda first stopped in a general store to pick up the strand lights needed for the tree decorating that night then proceeded onto to a small boutique then a cosmetics store, then a book shop, however with each stop Wanda did not see anything she liked for Natasha. Clint did his best to be helpful, suggesting sweaters, lotions, candles or a particular book. But they were all wrong. Natasha had a closet full of nice sweaters, and Wanda liked how the lotion she used smelled, she had never seen the woman burn a candle, and Nat had read the book last month. The girl wanted to get something Tasha would like and would not think to buy for herself.
"It's okay if we can't find anything today." Clint put a hand on her shoulder as she walked down the sidewalk with him dejectedly. They were running out of stores to try and were now heading back in the direction of where the car was parked. "Maybe you can make her something."
Wanda nodded though was not enthused with the idea. They had to get back soon. None of their stops took particularly long but the amount of time they were gone began to push passed how long simply grabbing some new lights would require. Clint was promising to try and arrange another time to go out, maybe even drive further to the next town over that was bigger and had a mall when they walked by a consignment store.
The big front window had an odd variety of items on display- a doll in a rocking chair, a rack with assorted hats, a jukebox, and the item that made Wanda pause. Her eyes were caught by a small, bronze horse statue, the animal majestically midstride on its platform. She knew instantly it was something that she thought Natasha might like. The woman said the farm was one of her favorite places and the horses held a particularly special spot in that. She imagined it could be a little piece of it she could keep with her when she was away in New York, maybe remind her of Wanda on the farm if the time ever came for them to be apart. She had to quickly choke back emotion at the thought. Pointing to the figure through the window, Wanda asked, "Can we get that?"
"What the creepy doll?" His voice incredulous.
"No," She giggled. "The horse."
"You want to get the horse sculpture for Nat?" His voice still incredulous though less so.
Wanda ticked his head down in confirmation, "Yes."
"Yeah, we can get the horse if that's what you want." The archer led them into the shop and not long after they were stepping back out onto the street with Wanda's purchase placed in the shopping bag the man already carried. When the cashier said $55.85 was the amount owed, Wanda glanced up at Clint as she chewed on her lip. She asked if it was too expensive, and he chortled that was not too expensive compared to other things. He had no issue handing over a sleek, black credit card similar to the one Natasha used for the cashier to swipe.
Wanda walked back to the car with a big smile on her face, "Thanks Clint."
"No problem, kid." He told her, "Now, let's get back. We'll work on our story in the car so Nat's not suspicious of how long we were gone."
"I think she'll be suspicious regardless."
He sighed, "Yeah, she'll be suspicious regardless."
/
Natasha could not help but peek through the curtains in the living room that looked out into the empty drive for the umpteenth time since Wanda had left with Clint. The Sokovian had sent mixed signals to her about whether or not she felt alright leaving. She did not seem like she wanted to go yet had resolved to put on a brave face. Why the spy could not be sure, perhaps to simply prove that she could. Whatever it was, Nat would not stand in her way to try and step outside her comfort zone. As time passed however it became more difficult to not worry.
The relaxed state of everyone else in the house did not help Natasha keep her cool. Nate napping upstairs, Laura sitting at the kitchen table with a book while Lila colored next to her, and Cooper slouching in an armchair with his hand-held video quietly beeping in the background only made her feel more antsy for whatever reason. And Natasha did not get antsy.
"If there was a problem Clint would call." Steve said from his seat on the couch where he did a crossword puzzle. "Or Wanda would. She has her phone."
"I know." He was right. She knew he was right. "They've just been gone longer than I thought."
"They probably got held up somehow." She knew he was right again. Steve grinned at her knowingly then beckoned her over with a welcome distraction. "Come help me with this puzzle."
She smiled at him, her grin a shade shy as she sat closely next to him to look over the crossword with him. Pressed against his side, Natasha remembered the warmth of the kiss they shared before they left New York. The pair had not spoken about it but in a way it did not need to be spoken about, it just was. She enjoyed the idea as she began looking at the different clues listed on the page, her mind automatically filling them in, "Mitosis.. Edinburgh, saffron."
"Hey, I didn't say solve the whole thing." Steven chuckled; his pen unable to keep up with her.
"You said you wanted my help." She pointed out.
"Well, I thought you'd just come over and be impressed with how far I'd gotten." He jokingly confessed.
Nat looked down at the puzzle a little under halfway finished. In a voice the belied her true acting abilities she said, "Wow Captain Rogers, very impressive."
"You know what Romanoff…" He trailed off with his empty threat.
She raised a coy eyebrow at him, "What?"
Suddenly the front door opened and Natasha quickly turned to see Wanda rushing into the foyer. For a moment, her eyes scanned up the stairs and around with a slight franticness that made the woman worry she was distressed. She was about ready to go to the girl when her eyes landed on Natasha. The teenager cracked a dazzling grin that rooted her to the spot as Wanda hurried over to her. The little witch plopped down on the couch nearly in her lap, throwing her arms around Nat's neck and burrowing her face into the crook of her neck. Not upset, only rather happy to see her. The Black Widow wrapped her arms around Wanda's torso and smiled at her, "Hi, milaya. How was town?"
"Good." She did not elaborate, more interested in relaxing against Natasha than talking about her brief trip.
Clint entered then, catching up with the teen who had ran in ahead of him. Turning her attention to the man, Nat commented with a hint of accusation, "You guys were gone a while."
"The first store we tried was out of lights, so we had to go to a second. Then I thought I'd show Wanda the downtown area where the Christmas Festival is being held and we ran into Mrs. McGrady who will talk your ear off if you're not careful." Her partner rambled the innocuous, plausible sequence of events and yet it felt like Clint was lying to her. She narrowed her eyes at him.
She became distracted though when Wanda tilted her head back so it rested against Steve's shoulder, and she was sort of looking at him upside down in a way Nat could only describe as cute. The little witch greeted him, "Hi Steve."
"Hi Wanda." He gave her a bemused expression, "Do you know a 6-letter word for coastal features?"
The teenager blinked at him, "No."
"Yeah, me neither."
Wanda brought her head back to rest on Nat's shoulder, "Tasha, what's a 6-letter word for coastal features?"
"Inlets." She supplied followed by Steve scratching down the answer.
"How about a 7-letter word for know-it-all?" He gave Natasha a sly look.
The Black Widow huffed, "I'm not helping you anymore."
Wanda giggled at them.
By the time Natasha remembered her suspicion of Clint he had already gone into the kitchen where Lila was enthusiastically showing him the pictures she drew. Slowly she let it go. Nothing seemed wrong with Wanda to indicated anything bad happened while she was away. In fact, she seemed content as she twisted across Natasha lap and Steve explained his crossword puzzle to her. And then she forgot all about it and relished in spending time with her two favorite people, the three of them huddled close together on the couch, before it was time to get dinner started.