Make You Feel My Love
~Book III~

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers nor do I own the plot of Age of Ultron. All rights go to Marvel.
All I do own are my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 18~
Mending

Maria stood awkwardly by the bed, looking at the two bags she had placed on it. She herself had packed them before the mission, in case they for some reason couldn't return back to the Avengers Tower and they were filled with clothes and other supplies they'd need to stay under cover for a while. One bag was for Steve and one was for her and her mind was re-living the moment she had packed those bags. It was seeing and feeling the affiliation she had felt back then; the proud feeling of being able and allowed to open Steve's closet and grab things from it in order to take care of him.

Now, Maria barely dared to look at Steve. She didn't want to hurt him, though she was pushing him away and she knew it. Each time she looked at him and he looked back at her, her face would fall down into a glare automatically and there wasn't anything she could do about it. In that moment, it would feel alright and like the right choice to make. After all, she didn't want Steve to be stuck with her; though at the same time, a part of her wanted to cling onto him; to feel the happiness and the love that he used to pass onto her whenever they were together in the same room. And most of all, make him feel her love for him. But then that haunting part of her mind; that part Wanda had awoken, took over and it was so strong that it felt right whenever it was in control. Afterwards, however, she'd feel sad and regretful.

"It's a nice room," said Steve from where he was standing by the window, his back to her. His voice sounded off, distant and cold. And all Maria replied was a small hum of agreement.

"I – uh – packed everything we might need for a situation like this before we left," replied Maria quietly. "Your bag's the larger one."

"Why's mine so big?" asked Steve as he walked over to the bed.

"I used to feel an obligation to take care of you," said Maria before she could stop herself; the haunted part of her mind taking over again.

Steve stared at Maria, an unreadable look on his face which pained Maria. She wanted to know how he felt; so why was she acting this way?

"You don't anymore?" he asked with a monotone voice, grabbing the bag and opening it, beginning to inspect what she had packed for him.

Maria didn't reply. She could feel the insults bubbling up to the surface, but this time, she fought against them. Swallowing them back down and biting down hard. Instead, she turned and headed for the doorway, though Steve's voice hindered her from leaving.

"What did she make you see?" he asked in a sigh, causing Maria to turn her head towards him.

She wanted to spill it all out, just tell him and hug him, make it all be over. But she couldn't. And it made her furious.

"The truth," was all she said before leaving the bedroom they had been assigned by Mrs Barton.

As she walked down the hallway, she thought she heard a noise coming from her current bedroom; like someone throwing something against the wall or harshly punching it in frustration. It made her pause and turn around again. Though she figured it best to not go back. Not until she had fought against that dark part of her mind more so it was under control again.

Had she decided to mend their relationship again? No. Not at all. In fact, she was leaning more towards the option to actual break of the engagement. What she had told Steve that she had seen wasn't a lie, after all. She had seen the truth; the truth about herself in a marriage (amongst other things).

And Maria loved him too much to put Steve through that sort of misery.

It was lunchtime when Maria walked outside again. To the right of the farmhouse, there was a large green house to which she headed and where she supposed they grew their food; vegetables and stuff. She hadn't been mistaken and the warmth and humidity inside was a nice relief compared to the stiff and cold atmosphere and tension between her and Steve. Little did she know that she had been followed and soon, the red hair of Natasha was seen through the large bushes of plants.

"Hey," said Maria, offering her a smile which she doubted was a very good one.

"It's a nice place, isn't it?" asked Natasha, walking over to stand next to Maria. "Cozy, big, away from society."

"We talking about the farmhouse or this green house? 'Cause I like green houses as much as any other-"

"No, the farm," replied Natasha with a smirk. "I helped him pick the spot."

"Are you saying SHIELD built this place?" asked Maria, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, I suppose this place has always been a farm. They just gave it a bit of a make-over," said Natasha. "Made it inhabitable."

"Well, I kinda wish I still work for SHIELD now," said Maria. "If this is what they do for their 'employer of the week'."

Natasha chuckled, the two women beginning to walk around the green house, commenting on different plants and vegetables, trying to figure out what some of them were without googling; and laughing together as they got it wrong. All in all, they were having a good time and it almost made Maria forget about the tension between her and Steve.

"Wow, how do they do this?" asked Maria as they began heading towards the exit. "Whenever I buy a house-plant – a house-plant – it dies within two days."

"Do you give it water?" asked Natasha, earning a 'are you for real' look from Maria.

"Yeah, obviously."

"And you put it somewhere where there's sunlight? Not too much but not too little?" asked Natasha.

"What!?" exclaimed Maria sarcastically. "Plants need sunlight!? Why, oh why, did no one ever tell me this?"

"Hilarious," snapped Natasha, earning a chuckle from Maria.

"I suppose it's my awful singing that kills them or something," joked Maria.

Natasha stopped walking then, earning a look from Maria. "You know," she said, "I didn't come out here to hang out."

"Oh?"

"You see, Bruce told me a little of what you had been talking about earlier this morning… And it made me wonder if, maybe, you wanted to talk?"

"It wasn't his right to say," said Maria, beginning to walk again, Natasha joining her.

"I know, but there's a reason why," she said. "I can't either."

The words made Maria stop in her tracks, her wide eyes looking over at Natasha who was offering her a saddened smile. "I don't want to talk about why I can't. But I can't."

Maria nodded her head, "Then you understand why I can't let Steve tie himself to me."

"No, I actually don't," said Natasha, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know what that witch showed you and I don't know what she showed Steve, but I do know one thing; and that is that Steve already has accepted you for who you are. You think he'd ask you to marry him if he hadn't?"

"But I can't let him tie himself to me when I have nothing to offer him," pressed Maria.

"Although I understand what you're saying, you have to realize that marriage is about more than that," said Natasha. "Marriage is about living with someone that you want to spend your life with. It's not about whether or not you can have a family together. Steve enjoys being with you and he wants to stay by your side the rest of your life. You enjoy being with Steve and you want to stay by his side the rest of your life. Tell me again why this marriage wouldn't work out?"

Maria was speechless, not only because Natasha had literally just fought the war Maria was going to have against that haunted part of her mind for Maria, but also because it all made sense. She had been so fixated on the idea of her not being able to have children, that she was overlooking the actual reason for Steve's proposal.

The question was whether Maria could mend their relationship again what with Steve's probable troubles after Wanda's attack and Maria's sour mood towards Steve.

"Now," continued Natasha, grabbing Maria's arm and linking hers through it; "This is what I want you to do…"

Night had fallen over the farmhouse and Natasha was sitting outside on the porch, a blanket wrapped around her and her eyes looking up at the stars. Her mind was on Bruce; what she had told him and his response. Although she felt saddened about it, she wasn't just going to give up. One thing was for sure; he liked her back.

The door swung open, making Natasha turn her head to look at whoever had joined her out on the porch.

"Didn't think you'd still be up," said Tony as he joined her, leaning against the fence around the porch.

"Well, I have a mission report to give you, haven't I?" asked Natasha with a smirk.

"Did it work?" asked Tony.

"I told her flat out what she wasn't seeing in her crazed, dazed mindset of hers, and I think it made an impact," said Natasha. "Then I told her to strip for him."

Tony spluttered out the word; "What?" as he raised his eyebrows. "That wasn't part of the plan!"

"No, but your plan sucked," said Natasha. "Come on, they weren't going to mend anything by just talking."

"Uh, yeah they were," pressed Tony.

"Did you talk to Steve?" asked Natasha innocently, smirking when Tony looked away from her briefly.

"I did… Well, I tried," said Tony. "Told him to talk to her earlier this morning to ask her what she'd seen."

"And?"

"Well, seeing as things were as cold as ice between them during lunch, I'm pretty sure that failed," replied Tony.

"So, it's all up to Maria now," said Natasha.

Tony sighed, turning around to look out over the farm, at least what he could see of it through the darkness. "Can't stand seeing them fighting…"

"It's a real nice thing you're doing for them, you know," said Natasha, standing up with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "Trying to mend their relationship."

"Just doing my job as a loyal team member," replied Tony, Natasha now standing next to him.

"Almost as nice as you helping Steve to buy the engagement ring," said Natasha. "I took a look at it, must've burnt a pretty decent hole in your wallet."

"I'm Tony Stark," he replied nonchalantly. "An amount of money like that doesn't even make a difference."

"So, why?"

He looked over at her and although the darkness made it hard for Natasha to see the expression on his face, she didn't miss the flash of emotions in his eyes.

"Why are you helping me now?"

"You know why," she replied. "They're my friends. And they accept me for who I actually am."

"We all do," replied Tony before turning away from the railing, beginning to walk towards the front door again.

"You never answered my question," said Natasha, turning around as well, though staying put on the porch.

He stopped in the doorway, only his head turning slightly to acknowledge that he had heard her words before he entered the house again. Natasha stayed put for a couple more minutes, contemplating what Tony's answer would've been had he not been so afraid to talk about emotions, before she decided to do as Tony and call it a night.

Hopefully, when she awoke in the morning, the tension in the team caused by Maria and Steve's fight, would've dissipated a little if Maria did a good job on talking to Steve.

This is a bit of a filler chapter, though it's still important. :) Next chapter is gonna be all Maria and Steve's conversation that occurs at the same time as Nat and Tony talk! :) What do you all think, are they going to resolve it or nah?