Bittersweet Memories

Chapter 1

"You can wrap your arms so tight, right 'round my shoulders"

The gentle whirring of kitchen appliances almost came as a comfort to Wanda. So much so, that she found herself lost deep in thought about anything and everything. Had anyone been watching her, they may have felt concerned at her current state.

"Staring's weird, you know" a voice laced with amusement pulled her from the rapid speed her brain was moving at. A light heat began to creep it's way up her face at the realisation that she had, in fact, been staring across the kitchen island at her teammate.

"Oh yeah- uh sorry" she stammered, pulling her gaze away from the older woman. Sensing her sudden anxious demeanor, Natasha desperately tried to reassure her.

"It's okay!" She offered the younger girl a smile. In an attempt to avoid any kind of awkward silence, Natasha averted their conversation.

"What are you making?" She asked, placing her book down on the island and making her way round to meet Wanda, the strong scent of home baking suddenly filling her senses, reminding her of the childhood she had always longed for.

"SHIT, MY CAKES" She exclaimed, causing Natasha to jump slightly at her sudden outburst.

Natasha's fear swapped itself for hysteria and amusement almost as fast as it has come. She couldn't hold in her laugh at the sight of Wanda panicking over nearly burning a hard day's work in the kitchen.

Wanda placed the hot tray on the island in front of her before turning to lightly smack Natasha across her shoulder.

"Ouch, that hurts my feelings" Natasha exaggerated in a futile attempt to act upset at Wanda's actions. The younger girl rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly to form a smirk.

"Good, it was meant to" Wanda retorted, sarcasm dancing throughout her voice.

Natasha pouted at her. "Uncool Maximoff".

Wanda returned to her tray of cakes, smirk plastered on her face at Natasha's teasing words. She glanced up at the older woman noticing her sudden closeness. Her side all but pressed up against Wanda's in an attempt to admire Wanda's baking skills.

"They smell incredible, Wanda" her previous teasing tone was replaced with one of sincerity. Natasha had a slight adoration for the girl and the endless amount of skills she continued to surprise everyone with, baking being an older, favourable one amongst the team.

"Thank you" she replied. "It was my mother's recipe" she continued, barely audible, but Natasha heard.

Understanding how hard Wanda found it to share small things like that, Natasha gently wrapped an arm around Wanda's waist and lent her head on the taller girls shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Wanda responded by wrapping her arm tightly around Natasha's shoulders.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, but realistically was no longer than a minute.

"Would you like to help me decorate them?" Wanda asked, turning her head slightly to look at Natasha.

She removed herself from Natasha's grip and made her way to the fridge, immediately missing the warmth their close contact brought.

"Sure" Natasha replied, almost too enthusiastically. Natasha had never had an opportunity to do things like this as a kid, so she would jump at any opportunity she got.

Wanda giggled at Natasha's enthusiasm and returned from the fridge with bowls of premixed frosting in a range of different colours.

"Pick a colour" Wanda instructed, back turned to Natasha as she peeled away the plastic wrap that had been covering the bowls.

She turned back to Natasha to find her pressed impossibly close up against her, reaching behind her to dip two of her fingers in the frosting.

Wanda could feel Natasha's hot breath pan against her slightly exposed neck and shoulders. It sent shivers and tingles down her spine.

Natasha slightly pulled back from Wanda, taking in her exasperated state and suddenly realising the effect she could have on the younger girl. She decided to play on that and tease Wanda more.

She slowly ran her tongue up her finger as seductively as she could, confidently allowing her eyes to close, and a moan to escape her mouth at the taste of the frosting.

"Mmm Wanda, that's incredible" she husked. She opened her eyes and took in the sight of the younger girl, cheeks flushed, eyes wide, knees weak. She had this girl exactly where she wanted her, but she was going to push her further.

"Here, try it" Natasha said, offering her second frosting coated finger to Wanda.

Wanda's face grew redder and redder as she slowly sank further and further into her spot against the island, her eyes growing wider, if that was even possible.

After realising Natasha was being serious, Wanda hesitantly took her hand in her own and slowly brought Natasha's finger to her lips, allowing herself to taste it.

"Ahem" a rough voice sharply pulled both girls from their moment in the kitchen causing Wanda to practically die on the spot.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Bucky asked from his spot by the entry way to the large kitchen.

Wanda could feel herself becoming dizzy at everything happening, whatever that interaction with Natasha was, and Bucky catching them.

"Nope, not at all. I'm just helping Wanda decorate her cakes" Natasha replied innocently at Bucky, before sending Wanda a knowing smirk.

"I'll go with red" Natasha said, turning back to face Wanda, and moving from her current spot, leaving Wanda flustered and confused.

Bucky made his way further into the kitchen, gently, yet nervously rubbing the back of his neck at the scene he had previously witnessed. He made his way to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water.

"So..." He started, unsure of what he actually wanted to say. "How've you been, Wanda? I haven't seen much of you recently" he asked, trying to make light conversation.

"Natasha has kept me very busy" she answered. Bucky spat out his water, choking at his assumption of what Wanda was implying.

Realising what she had said, Wanda panicked and rushed to correct herself.

"TRAINING. Natasha has kept me busy training. She wants me to not have to rely on my powers constantly, so we have spent a lot of time practising hand to hand combat". Wanda kept rambling, trying to validate her excuse and clear up her previous statement.

Bucky looked over at Natasha, amusement spread across her features as he tried to recover from the water incident.

Natasha had only intented to tease Wanda a little, but this had been much better. She was enjoying herself more than she should have.

More voices could be heard echoing around the compound as the rest of the team living there made their way into the common room connected to the kitchen.

"What happened in here?" Steve asked, drawing everyone's attention to Wanda's flustered state, the cakes abandoned on the island, and Bucky being covered in water.

Natasha laughed knowing there was no way Wanda, nor Bucky could work their way out of this one. She made her way past Wanda, heading towards the island to start decorating her cakes.

She stopped, pushing herself up on her toes to whisper something in Wanda's ear to tease her further.

"I was certainly enjoying myself. We should continue this later" her breath sent shivers down Wanda's spine and caused the red shade on her face deepen.

Looks of knowing were cast out upon their team members faces when they realised this was Natasha's doing. She was known for being a flirt and messing with everyone for her own enjoyment.

It had been a bit of an unexpected shock to everyone at first, but they had learned to understand her joking manner, and nine times out of ten, would go along with it.

Wanda appeared to be her newest target, much to the teams amusement. Things were bound to get interesting.