It first happened the night after they'd left Wakanda.

He supposed she'd probably had nightmares before — who amongst them hadn't? — but at both the Avengers Compound and in King T'Challa's palace, their rooms had been too far apart for him to have heard. But now they were in a safehouse in Eastern Europe that Nat had so graciously lent him, and their rooms were right next to each other, making it impossible for him not to hear her whimperings.

It was just the two of them.

After Steve had rescued everyone from the raft, Sam had stayed with Bucky in Wakanda (Sam insisted it was so that he could continue annoying the other man, but Steve knew they'd become friends), and Clint and Scott Lang had taken deals to go back to their families. As for Natasha, Steve infrequently communicated with her through secret channels she'd set up for them, but that could only happen whenever one of them got the chance to send a message safely, so he didn't know where she was at the moment or when she would be able to join them.

One of Steve's own nightmares had just woken him up a few minutes before, and he was staring into the darkness above him when he heard the tell-tale whimpering that indicated the young girl was having a nightmare of her own. It was a sound Steve was far too used to, having frequently heard it from Nat when they were living together in Avengers Tower after the fall of SHIELD, and later on in the Avengers Compound after Ultron.

Quietly getting up, he walked out of his room and knocked gently on the door to Wanda's room — it wouldn't do to startle a telekinetic in the midst of a nightmare. The noise was apparently enough to wake the girl up though, as she called out groggily a second later, "Steve, is that you?"

"Yeah, its me," replied Steve as he softly pushed her door open, and walked inside. "I heard you whimpering, and figured you were having a nightmare," he continued, crossing the room and sitting down on the edge of the bed next to her.

Wanda simply nodded her head, her arm resting on the bed next to Steve. Steve took her hand in his, and began rubbing light circles with his thumb soothingly.

Steve could feel her still trembling slightly, so after a while he asked, "Do you want me to stay in here?"

Wanda nodded again, shifting over a little and whispering, "Thank you."

Steve crawled under the covers next to her, lying on his back, and Wanda turned over on her side, wrapping one arm around him and using his chest as a pillow.

The following morning, having not been awoken by any more nightmares during the night, Wanda awoke to an empty bed, an actual pillow replacing where Steve's chest had been when she'd finally fallen back to sleep. But she didn't have to wonder long where he'd gone, as she quickly smelt coffee drifting in from the kitchen just outside their rooms, as well as the sound of bacon sizzling.

Getting up, she didn't bother throwing anything on over her tank top and sleep shorts before walking out into kitchen. Mostly she just wasn't thinking about it, but if she had, she would have excused it as they'd already shared a bed, and if they were going to be living in this close proximity for the indeterminate future, they might as well get used to seeing each other in less than formal clothing, as it was bound to happen from time to time. But mostly, this was simply always what she wore around her room in the morning, and it just didn't cross her mind that maybe she should put on more clothes before going out into the common area.

Walking out of her room, she found Steve making breakfast, and a cup of coffee waiting for her on the counter. She padded over to the counter, picking up the cup and taking a sip.

Steve had heard the door to Wanda's room open, but as he was making sure the bacon didn't burn, he didn't immediately turn around. So it wasn't until a minute later, after he'd scooped all the bacon out onto a plate, that he finally turned around to greet his housemate. But his greeting died on his tongue as soon as he saw her.

Yawning, sipping her coffee, bed hair sticking in random directions like she'd just woken up (which she had, he reminded himself), in a thin tank top and shorts that really concealed nothing, was his nineteen year old teammate and housemate, looking completely content, if not quite entirely awake yet. He didn't mean to stare, he really didn't, but he'd never denied that she was an attractive female, and the just woke up look suited her quite well.

It also left him wondering what exactly it was with women these days not wearing any clothing. Nat had been exactly the same way when she'd taken over his couch in the Tower after the fall of SHIELD, and eventually commandeered his bed as well. Although after they'd gotten together he'd assumed that was all because she liked him and was trying to flirt with him, which certainly wasn't the case here. Which must mean it was just a modern female thing he wasn't used to.

Fortunately she was staring off into space not really paying attention to anything, so he was able to snap his brain back into gear before she noticed him staring at her.

"Morning, Wanda," he said, bringing her attention back to earth as he handed her the plate of bacon to take over to table, as he grabbed the plates and silverware and the plate of pancakes.

As they fell to breakfast, neither of them mentioned the night before, and they spent the day exploring their new location.

~A~

It was several nights later before it happened again, but this time it was Wanda who heard Steve having a nightmare.

She'd just woken up from her own nightmare when she heard him. She walked out of her room and over to his, where the door had been left mostly open, she supposed in case she needed him during the night for some reason, so she wouldn't be scared to come in.

He was still dreaming when she walked in, so she walked over to the side of the bed, and shook his arm gently. Steve startled awake, causing Wanda to jump back and throw up an energy shield in case he tried to attack her not knowing who she was; in hindsight, she supposed she probably should have thought of that before she shook his arm to wake him. But whether by his enhanced ability to see in the dark, or the red glow of the shield she'd conjured, he quickly recognized that it was her, and she dropped her arms, the shield dissipating with it.

"Did I wake you?" he asked concernedly, clearly more concerned about possibly waking her than he was with his own nightmare.

"No," Wanda replied softly, shaking her head. "I'd already woken up before I heard you."

She sat down on the edge of the bed like he had with her the first night they'd been there, but was too shy to take his hand like he had hers. So he did it for her, rubbing light circles on the back of her hand.

After a few minutes she worked up the courage to timidly ask, "Do you mind if I stay?"

Something in the back of Steve's mind warned him that this was setting a dangerous precedent, especially when Nat did finally join up with them, but he ignored it and pulled the covers back, shifting over slightly so she'd have somewhere to lay.

When Wanda awoke the next morning to sunlight streaming into her eyes, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her pillow hadn't walked off this time. Instead, it was gently stroking her hair in a most pleasant manner.

She sighed contentedly, prompting Steve to say, "Morning, sleepyhead. I was beginning to think you were never going to wake up."

"I'm not," she mumbled into his chest in response, snuggling impossibly closer. "Just ignore the talking, I'm totally still asleep."

Steve chuckled lightly and let her lie there for a few more minutes, still gently stroking her hair, before eventually forcing them to get up and go make breakfast, and start their day. Walking into the kitchen together a few minutes later, Steve couldn't help his eyes from briefly trailing over his companion's skimpy clothing.

It had been the same way ever since the first night they'd been on their own, even though this was the first time since that night that they'd shared a bed. Every morning when Wanda walked into the common area for breakfast, she wore nothing but the tank top and shorts she'd slept in, and every morning, Steve couldn't help his eyes from occasionally glancing her way. He didn't mean anything by it — she was just an attractive girl showing a bit more skin than normal, and he was just a regular guy who couldn't help but appreciate beauty when he saw it.

Steve had eventually gotten used to Nat parading around in next to nothing when she'd usurped his floor in the Tower, and had eventually come to assume that it had been due to their budding relationship, he now resorted back to his original thinking that it must just be how modern women were, and that it wasn't his place to say anything about it. And it's not like he was bothered by it, other than feeling a little guilty about enjoying it and not being bothered by it more.

For Wanda's part, it really wasn't a conscious decision — it's not like she was trying to flirt with him or anything, the thought hadn't even crossed her mind yet. It had just been natural to her when she'd been in her own room at the Compound, and since they'd been on the run together Steve hadn't said anything about her choice of clothing that might make her question whether it was okay here or not, so she just kept doing it without thinking about it.

~A~

Over the next several weeks, they continued this routine of joining each other in bed after nightmares, dangerously similar to how Steve and Nat had done after the fall of SHIELD if Steve was being honest with himself — which he resolutely refused to do.

During those weeks, in addition to joining each other in bed more often than not, they had picked up a few more habits that to any outsider who didn't know them might have seemed less than platonic. And Steve did nothing to dispel the notion, because if he'd learned anything from Nat it was that 'pretend couple' provided a better cover from overly nosey locals than 'just friends' did.

So what started as Wanda pecking Steve lightly on the cheek whenever they woke up together, eventually became both of them giving each other short kisses on the cheek when they were out in public with other people around. After all, as Nat had taught him on their run from SHIELD, public displays of affection, even something that small, really did make people stop paying as much attention to you. And as two of the world's top ten most wanted, anything to dispel attention could end up being the difference between freedom and capture down the road.

Steve also started taking her out to local restaurants for lunch or supper, so she wouldn't have to suffer through his cooking all the time — even though she insisted he was a wonderful cook, and even taught him how to make some dishes from her homeland, though he did admittedly have more troubles with those than with his normal American fare.

But there came an evening after a particularly exhausting day of rescuing several young girls from traffickers, which had left her mentally exhausted from using her powers, as well as scraped, cut, and bruised in several places, when Wanda decided she really didn't want to have to wait for one of them to have a nightmare; and while this wasn't the first time she'd thought this, it was the first time she was enough beyond caring what his response might be to actually ask him.

So as they sat around the table of their safehouse eating a late supper, she looked up and blurted out, "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

As Steve slowly looked up at her, she added meekly, "You know, without having to wait for a nightmare…."

Steve exhaled lightly as he studied her and the soft puppy dog eyes she was giving him, half of him knowing this would eventually end badly, but the other half having realized after only a few nights of sharing a bed together, that neither of them had any nightmares when they were together.

"Okay," he replied simply, against his better judgement, before returning to his supper.

From that night forth, they shared Steve's bed from the start.

~A~

A few weeks later, as Wanda lay curled up next to Steve, enjoying the warmth of the morning sun streaming through the crack in the window curtains, she let her mind wander over the couple months she'd been on the run with Steve.

She'd thought for a while that she might be developing feelings for her former Captain, and now fellow rogue Avenger. But despite how close they'd grown being on the run together, she hadn't worked up the courage to bring it up, and she hadn't really been sure it was the best idea to mention anyway, what with them being permanently on the run for the foreseeable future. They certainly weren't in the best situation to have a serious relationship, although if she did tell him, and he actually liked her back like she thought he did, he might at least sleep with her (actually sleep with her, not just share a bed). She'd also had lingering questions about whether he and Nat had been a thing, as they'd seemed really close when they were co-leading the New Avengers before the split. Although she'd never actually heard anyone say they were together, and he hadn't mentioned her since he'd rescued Wanda and the others from the Raft, and even if they had been together back then, it's not like they'd still be together after she'd taken the opposite side on the Accords, so Wanda was almost certain that there couldn't still be anything between them now, if there ever had been.

So lying there in bed that morning, enjoying the comfortable pillow his chest made, she decided that she was finally going to force herself to tell him that evening.

Unfortunately, fate was not so kind.

~A~

Steve and Wanda were returning from lunch in the village near the safehouse a few hours later, when Steve suddenly pulled her behind a tree a hundred feet from the front door of the cabin. Pulling out his gun, he peered cautiously around the tree. Wanda waited until he turned back to her, still on high alert, to mouth, "What is it?"

"Someone's in the house," he whispered back. "Window curtain's pulled back slightly."

Motioning for her to follow him, he snuck off through the woods around to the back of the house. Punching in the security code to open the back door, Steve crept in gun raised, with Wanda right behind him ready to fight with her powers.

But they hadn't made it more than a couple steps into the house when they heard, "Did you drink all my vodka, Steve? I could have sworn I had this place well stocked."

Steve let out something between a breath of relief and a sigh of exasperation. Holstering his gun, he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey soldier," smirked Nat from where she was leaning up against the counter facing them.

The two of them just stared at each other for a long second, before Nat flung herself away from the counter and onto him as he took a stride towards her, catching her as she jumped into his arms, her lips crashing down on his.

Wanda, who'd been surprised to hear Nat's voice, not knowing that the spy had been planning on eventually joining their rogue crew, had been excited for a second to see the spy, as she'd grown to like the imposing woman over the year she'd been at the Avengers compound, before suddenly becoming completely crestfallen as she saw Natasha practically devouring Steve's face, and Steve returning the favor. Her belief that Steve was single was thoroughly shattered. So much for telling him that she had developed feelings for him; although she supposed that perhaps it was better this way — at least she couldn't embarrass herself with him now.

After Wanda awkwardly coughed a few minutes later to remind the amorous couple that she was there, causing Steve and Nat to finally break apart, the three of them spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on what each of them had been doing since the Accords and the airport fight — certain nightly sleeping arrangements left out.

As Wanda watched Steve and Natasha over the rest of the day, it was bittersweet for the young girl. On one hand, she could tell how perfect the two were for each other, how happy they made each other, and she wondered how she ever could have missed it back at the Compound. On the other hand, seeing Steve in love only made her even more sure she was in love with him, and now she was never going to have that with him.

Wanda tried to keep all these thoughts inside her — she didn't want her sadness to affect Steve and Natasha's newly re-found happiness, and she didn't want Natasha thinking she'd been trying to steal her man away from her (the spy still scared her more than a little) — and thought she must be doing a decent job of it, as neither of the other two said anything to her that made her think they might know. So that night as Wanda sadly headed for her own bedroom, instead of Steve's like she'd been doing for the past week, she tried to keep her face as neutral as possible so Steve and Nat wouldn't notice anything.

Meanwhile, Nat had followed Steve into his bedroom. Walking across the room to his bed, she smirked, "Either you've taken to stealing Wanda's shampoo, or she's been sleeping in here."

Steve froze, knowing the inevitable bad end to his letting Wanda sleep with him had finally arrived.

But a second later Nat turned back to him and said in a completely serious tone, "Nightmares?"

Steve nodded, unsure what Nat was really feeling.

But Nat stepped up flush with him, and leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. Pulling back a little, she gave him a little smirk and said, "I know the feeling."

The following morning, Steve and Nat lay in bed together, Nat lightly scraping her fingernails up and down Steve's bare chest.

"Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanda has a crush on you."

"What—? No! We just helped comfort each other after nightmares, and have become close from being on the run together for a couple months. There's nothing romantic or sexual between us!" exclaimed Steve.

"Steve…I read people for a living," admonished Nat. "Wanda has romantic feelings for you. She doesn't know that I saw her, but she was absolutely crushed when she saw us practically making out when I returned yesterday, and she spent the entire rest of the day trying to hide how sad she really was. I think she's been wanting to tell you for some time now that she likes you, and knowing her she was just too shy to actually come out and say something, and then I showed up — Although I really don't know what she could possibly see in an old man like you," finished Nat with a smirk.

"Did she think that because we split over the Accords, and fought against each other at the airport, that I broke up with you?" asked Steve in genuine bafflement, ignoring Nat's quip about him being old — although their age difference was a good reason for her not to like him.

"Steve, we kept our relationship a secret. Sure, Tony and Clint knew, because they're nosy pricks, but for someone like Wanda, who always looked up to you as her superior officer and feared me, and would never go nosing around where she shouldn't, she would have never had a clue we were dating. So when you went on the run with her, she had no reason to try to keep herself from developing feelings for you, since as far as she knew, you were single and available, and you were no longer in a boss/employ situation."

"So what are you saying? That I need to tell Wanda I can't date her, that I already have a girlfriend? I think she's figured that out by now," replied Steve.

"No...the exact opposite, actually."

Steve's brows knitted in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but Nat cut him off.

"Like I said — I'm good at reading people. Especially you. And you like her in return. You've never thought about her that way, since you've been dating me since before we met her, but you clearly care for her a lot. So no, you don't tell her that you can't date her; you ask her if she wants to join us — if she wants to become your second girlfriend."

Steve's eyebrows promptly disappeared into his unruly hair that hadn't been cut in far too long. He tried to stammer something out, but nothing intelligible made it past his lips.

While waiting for him to be able to complete a coherent thought, Nat mumbled to herself, "And I might finally be able to steal my jacket back that way."

Seriously doubting that Nat was ever getting her jacket back from the young girl, Steve finally choked out, "You want me to ask her out, as a second girlfriend?"

Nat occasionally surprised him. Often surprised him, even. But this was in a complete realm of its own.

Nat opened her mouth to reply, before suddenly closing it again and pausing for a few seconds, a thought having obviously hit her, before opening her mouth again, and saying, "No…you ask her if she wants to date us. We're a package deal; if she wants to date you, she has to date me as well."

~A~

Ten minutes later, they stepped out of their bedroom into the living room, dressed for the day. They found Wanda sitting on the couch, reading a book she'd picked up in a local bookstore a few days earlier.

Hearing them, she looked up and nodded towards the kitchen, saying, "Morning. I made coffee. Figured after last time, I shouldn't try to make breakfast again." Turning to Nat she added in a stage whisper, "I'm pretty sure the sticks of charcoal in the fireplace were more edible than that bacon."

Nat and Steve both chuckled, before becoming serious again.

"Wanda, Nat and I have something we'd like to ask you," began Steve. "As I'm sure you figured out yesterday, Nat and I are dating — and we have been since well before we met you in the whole Ultron fight. But this morning, Nat informed me that you like me as well. So our question to you is, would you like to join us? You'll have to date Nat as well as me, but if you're interested, we're okay with it."

Wanda stared at them like they'd suddenly turned into Ultron replicas.

When they continued to look back at her seriously, and didn't actually turn into Ultron replicas or anything else just as dangerous, she finally choked out, "You're serious?!"

"Yes, Wanda," replied Steve. "It was Nat's idea, since she's the one who noticed how crestfallen you looked when you saw Nat and I kissing when we saw each other for the first time yesterday, and from the half day she's been here she insists she can tell how much I care for you in return, in a romantic sense, apparently. As for Nat, and I quote, 'while you and I were never super close as Avengers, I don't dislike you.' Which is about the best compliment you can ever expect from her. In fact, anything short of not actively wanting to rip your head off is really positive."

As Wanda continued to stare at them in utter disbelief, Nat slapped Steve lightly on the arm before turning to the younger girl with a slight smirk.

"So, Wanda — want to go out on a date with us?"