Newfound Family

I Promise

"Come on, Wanda. You can do it."

It was two weeks later, and Nat was nearing the end of her break. She and Wanda spent the last week developing a routine, which consisted of catching up on schoolwork and training.

Wanda sat cross-legged on the gym floor. Nat sat behind her. In front of Wanda were three steel boxes, and her goal was to stack them all on top of each other.

When Nat said they were going to start training, Wanda was excited. However, she didn't imagine it would be this hard.

Ever since she discovered her powers years ago, she's had absolutely no control. HYDRA always wanted her to be as reckless and violent as possible, and back then she had quickly learned to only do what they say. Because of that, she had only thought that the purpose of her powers was to inflict harm on others.

Nat had shown her that wasn't true. At first, she believed her, but the belief was quickly fading. Wanda realised it was easier to throw someone against the wall than it was to stack three boxes on top of each other.

She lost focus, and the boxes fell with loud thumps. Wanda covered her ears.

"Sorry, Nat." She sighed, frustrated. "I lost focus again."

"It's okay, milaya. Let's try it again but with these."

She grabbed 3 cardboard boxes and replaced the metal ones.

"This was harder than I thought it was going to be."

Nat put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know, but you'll get there. It just takes practice. Try these boxes instead."

Wanda concentrated. Her outreached hand glowed red, and so did the first box. It shot off the ground with so much force it hit the ceiling.

Wanda groaned in irritation. She tried again with a little less power and managed to stack all three boxes.

"I did it!" Wanda cheered. Her hand shot up in victory, and a ball of red flew out. Little bits of drywall fell from the ceiling.

"Oops." Her powers were so much harder to control after she'd been practicing for a while.

Sam poked his head in from the office next door. Nat hadn't realised they were making so much noise.

"Everything okay in here?" Sam asked. He had an overnight bag slung over his shoulder.

"Yeah, we're just practicing control, right Wanda?" Nat asked. Wanda nodded.

"Where are you going?"

Sam leaned against the door frame. "Rhodey and I are going away for a few days. Apparently, there's a warehouse in New Mexico storing illegal weapons. We're going to check it out."

"Alright, well good luck. And keep in touch, alright? Let us know if you need back up." Nat clapped his shoulder.

Sam waved. "I always do. But I don't think it's anything too serious." He turned to Wanda. "See you soon, baby witch."

Wanda waved back. "Bye Sam."

Nat disappeared into the storage room, and Wanda followed close behind. It was still rare to see her leave her side.

"What are you looking for?" Wanda asked. She picked up a basketball and bounced it once.

Nat rummaged through an assortment of gym equipment. It had been almost all unfamiliar to her until Wanda came to live with her. Alongside the regular things like weights and dumbbells, were sports equipment, skipping ropes, and frisbees. Where they came from, she had no idea, but she did know they hadn't even been used since she had been here.