Hey all! Here's chapter 16! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. We get more Steve/Wanda moments because I love writing those two. I don't know whether I'm heading for a father/daughter relationship or brother/sister one, but there definitely isn't any romantic feeling between these two.
Anyway, I own nothing.
X_X_X
"Steve," came the stiff call of Natasha.
The man turned and saw her walking up to him.
"Nat," he said.
"We need to talk," she said, walking past him and into an empty room. With a sigh, Steve followed her and shut the door behind them.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Wanda knows James," she said.
Steve straightened up.
"What makes you say that?" he asked.
With a sigh, the Widow went to sit by the window.
"When I was in the Black Widow program we were trained by the best there was at the time. He was a HYDRA Soldier and was the perfect teacher, having been stripped of everything that made him human," she said.
"Bucky," Steve muttered.
Natasha turned to face him and nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Steve asked, not bothering to hide the hurt he felt.
"Steve, I couldn't. You didn't give me a chance to, you were too focused on finding him," she said.
Steve went to sit next to her by the window.
"What does that have to do with Wanda?" he said.
"James and I dated," she said, trying to ignore Steve's shocked face. "He was the Winter Soldier and I was the best Black Widow, we were often paired up together for missions. Being together for long periods of time brought up feelings we were taught to ignore, but when you're far away from everyone, it's hard to remember why you were supposed to ignore them in the first place.
"He often teased me as being his killer ballerina because he saw me during training, dancing along with the other Widows in our tutus. One day I went and got a tattoo of a ballerina with a knife. He loved it, of course," Nat said, taking in a deep breath.
"Nat," Steve said, urging her to get to the point.
"He was the only one who saw that tattoo. I always kept it covered up when I was with other men," she said. "But somehow, Wanda knew about it. She keeps having these memories of a redhead in a bed with someone else. They called me Natalia and the tattoo was on display. Somehow, someway, Wanda saw that. She saw me with James and I'm willing to be it was because she was with him and looked into his memories."
Beside her, Steve drew in a deep breath.
"When we were caught, we were forced to forget. But I've had enough hits to the head to gain most of my memories back," she said with a humorless laugh.
"You think the same thing happened with Buck and Wanda?" Steve asked.
She looked at him.
"Don't you?"
Steve stood up.
"It's a possibility. But I won't hurt her to confirm my suspicions," he said.
Natasha thought about how she could accidentally knock the Witch out during their practice and see if that brought anything back.
"And neither should you," he added. "I trust that if she remembers anything, she'll come to me as soon as she does."
Natasha flinched at the accusation in his voice.
Steve turned around and walked out of the room. He began wondering if Wanda's dreams about Bucky had more to do with her own suppressed memories rather than fears over failing Steve as a friend.
Unknown to the two Avengers, there was a young girl with glowing red eyes listening from the room next to where they were talking.
X_X_X
"Vision," Wanda called out as she stormed into his room.
The man quickly flew over to where she was.
"Wanda, what's wrong?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.
"I need you to hurt me," she said.
Vision jerked back from her and took in her shaken appearance. Her hair was messy, as if she had been running her hands through it or tried pulling it out. Her eyes were glowing red and that was enough warning for the man to take careful steps around the upset witch.
"The Mars rover sings happy birthday to itself on the anniversary of its arrival," Vision said.
Wanda's eyes stopped glowing and she seemed rooted in place. He took that as a sign that it was okay to get near her.
"Why would you say that?" she asked.
"You told me-"
"Actually, I'm sure I can convince Tony to do something about that. Maybe do like a video call with the little guy? Or we could join the rover in Mars! Wouldn't that be cool?" she said, suddenly lighting up.
"Wait, no, stop," she said, shaking her head.
Vision watched in apprehension.
"I mean I need you to physically hurt me. Punch me really hard on the head," she said.
"Why?" he asked.
"I think I've been robbed of my memories and I want them back. I overheard Nat and Steve talking and she said head trauma helped," Wanda said, glancing up at him.
Vision shook his head and reached over to grasp her shoulders.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Wanda. You'll have to look somewhere else for that kind of help," he said.
She pulled out of his grasp and stormed out of his room.
He could only watch in amusement as she left a trail of red mist along her path.
X_X_X
"Steve, we need to talk," were the first words out of Wanda's mouth as she walked into his office.
"Sure, what's up kid?" he asked, turning in his seat to face her.
She plopped down in one of the chairs in front of his desk and closed her eyes.
"I think Nat is right," she said.
Confused, Steve only stared at her.
Opening her eyes, Wanda sat up straight and tried to ignore her insides twisting with nerves.
"I think my memories were taken from me. I think I might have known your friend," she said, her voice shaking but her stance strong. A cooling sensation spreading over her mind made her sure of it as soon as the words were out of her mouth. It felt right.
Steve admired how she sat confidently even as her nerves threatened to take over her body.
"Wait," he said, suddenly understanding her words. "You were listening?"
Wanda shrunk in her seat and broke her eye contact.
"I didn't mean to, I promise. But sometimes my mind wanders and I can hear conversations other people are having. It's just so hard to keep my mind in check all the time," she said, sounding oddly timid.
Steve sighed.
"You should have told me, Wanda. I could've helped you control them. Going around listening to what other people are saying, what they're thinking, that's not okay."
Wanda looked up at him and saw the apology in her eyes.
"I'll let it slide this time, but please be more careful in the future," he said.
With a nod, she shot him a small smile.
"So… What do you plan to do with that?" she asked.
"Nothing," he answered. "You heard what I told Nat, I'm not going to hurt you just to uncover a few Bucky moments," he said.
"But what if it helps us find him?" she questioned.
Steve shook his head.
"I don't care if it leads us straight to his door, I won't risk hurting you," he said with a sense of finality.
Wanda felt warmth spread inside her and had to fight with herself so she wouldn't attack the Captain in a hug.
"So," Steve said, his voice becoming hard in an instant. Wanda blinked at the sudden change in mood. "I hear you're dating Vision."
She felt herself blush.
"Uh, yeah. We've been seeing each other for a few weeks," she admitted.
She felt oddly ashamed under Steve's nonchalant hum as he glared at his computer.
"I don't like it," he said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.
"Why?" Wanda asked, her annoyance shifting inside her, ready to rise and attack should the need be. She had gotten to know Vision enough to know he was kind and innocent. While she still doubted she liked him like that she knew she cared about him as a friend, and she would not let Steve talk bad about him.
As if he could read all of this in her head, he held his hands up.
"Whoa there, kitten, I'm not going to say he's a bad person, because he's not. He wouldn't be here if he was. I just personally don't like it. I don't think he's the right guy for you," he said, lowering his hands. "He's too intense, too… new to really understand his emotions yet."
Wanda huffed.
"Well, then I'll just have to teach him what they are, won't I?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking smugly at him.
She knew she was being difficult but she didn't care. She enjoyed seeing Steve lose his cool.
As expected, a slow blush crawled up his neck as he narrowed his eyes at her, misinterpreting her words just like she'd hoped he would.
"Wanda, you can't… you shouldn't…" he stopped to take in a deep breath and Wanda was disappointed to see his flush begin to calm.
"You're still too new in this relationship to give everything to him," he said, looking pointedly at her when he said 'everything.'
"Even if Vision is the most trustworthy person on this planet, you still need to proceed with caution," he said with a hint of annoyance.
Wanda laughed.
"You're just mad that he was able to lift the hammer," she pointed out.
Steve scoffed.
"He was awake for all of five minutes and somehow the hammer thought him worthy enough to listen to him? Yeah, right. The thing probably thought he was an elevator or something," Steve said, muttering the last part under his breath.
Wanda laughed and stood up, walking around his desk to give him a tight hug.
"You're the best, Steve," she said, crushing her cheek to his as her arms wrapped tighter around the super soldier.
"Yeah, I know. You're not too bad yourself, kid," he said, reaching up to ruffle her hair.
She pulled back with a laugh and made her way to the door, stopping to wave back at him.
"I love you," she said.
Steve and Wanda froze and stared at each other for a fraction of a second before a slow grin grew on his face.
"Yeah, I love you too, Wanda," he said with delight in his voice.
Her face lit up in joy and she left his office, a huge grin on her lips for the rest of the day.
X_X_X
"Why are we doing this again?" Wanda asked after she ordered her tea.
"Because this guy has been hiding for a long time and we need to take him out," Sam summarized in her ear.
"I don't get it. What does this guy have to do with Bucky?" she asked, looking down at the table and picking at her nails.
"He was Buck's handler. If anyone knows anything about his location, it's gotta be him," Steve's voice came from her ear.
Wanda sighed in annoyance.
"Yeah, welcome to the Avengers, earth's mightiest heroes, also part time private investigators and lost persons detectives," Wanda heard Nat tell her through the earpiece.
The waitress came with her tea and Wanda smiled up at the lady, thanking her for her service. She took some sugar packets and added it to her cup before picking up a spoon and stirring. The silence in her ear was comforting, although she knew it meant everyone else was looking at their surroundings. Raising her cup to her lips, Wanda glanced around the small shop she was seated in. The sweetened tea felt too warm as it slid down her throat.
"Alright, what do you see?" Steve asked. She knew automatically that he was asking her, as the newbie.
"Standard beat cops. Small station, quiet street. It's a good target," she answered.
It was weird how she could almost feel Steve's pride at her observations. This was her first mission with Natasha and she knew Steve wanted to prove to the team she was ready for bigger missions other than hunting down his ghost friend.
"There's an ATM in the south corner, which means…" he trailed off, giving her the chance to answer.
"Cameras," she offered.
"Both cross streets are one way," he replied. She felt like she was back in the training room with him, answering his questions like a good student.
"So, compromised escape routes," she added.
"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen, he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out," he informed her. "You see that Range over halfway up the block?"
Wanda cast a glance in that direction.
"Oh, the red one? It's cute," she said, slightly jesting him.
"It's also bulletproof," Natasha's voice cut in. "Which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody, probably us."
Wanda struggled to keep from rolling her eyes and settled for narrowing her eyes as she brought her tea up to her mouth again.
"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" she asked, annoyance laced with her words as she took a sip from her cup.
"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature," Nat instructed.
Wanda looked over her shoulder at the redhead seated behind her knowing it'd irritate the older woman.
"Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" she heard Sam ask.
"Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?" Natasha answered in mock curiosity.
"Eyes on target, folks. This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him," Steve's voice cut through their banter.
Wanda's mind tuned everything else out as she tried to remember why that name sounded so familiar. She'd had the same reaction back at the base when Steve told her of their mission.
Rumlow, she thought, trying to dig through her brain and find a connection to this man. The only thing that came up was the file Steve had showed her on the jet to Lagos.
Suddenly her vision turned blurry.
"We're switching you off to another trainer, Brock Rumlow. He'll help you get an idea of what it's really like in everyday missions for HYDRA."
"Rumlow said you had a situation."
Wanda didn't recognize the first voice, but she knew the second one was her brother's. She would recognize that anywhere. But she didn't remember having either of those conversations, so how could she hear it so clearly in her mind?
"Go now," came Steve's command, shaking Wanda out of whatever trance she had fallen to.
"Why?" she asked, confused.
"He's not hitting the police," Steve answered.
Wanda left her tea unfinished as she rushed to his side.
