Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 7 - What Are You Hiding?

Natasha slapped Keira's shoulder lightly. "First of all, I am older than you, so technically you should be my young padawan. And secondly, I am not soft. Don't you dare tell anyone that or it'll damage my reputation." She said, throwing a glare at the blonde, who raised her hands in surrender.

"I doubt there's an age restriction on being a padawan, or maybe not. I haven't watched the movies closely enough for that." Keira shrugged before continuing, "But you are soft. But also, kind of a badass." She laughed at the indignant look on Natasha's face. "So, I can settle for a soft badass." She concluded as she finished her muffin in one big gulp. Meeting Natasha's gaze once she had chewed down the muffin, she saw something else flashing behind the green orbs, and her laughter faltered. "You're off to interrogate Loki?"

The smile that had crept upon Natasha's face when Keira had surrendered vanished at once, and her gaze averted to the floor. "Yeah. Fury needs some answers. We need some answers." She paused and bit her lip. "I need to find out what he's done to Clint."

Keira nodded and gently put a hand under Natasha's chin, tilting her head up so their eyes met. "We're gonna find him. And we will rescue him from whatever magic trick Loki put on him. If anyone can get the God of Mischief to admit his plans, it's you." She whispered softly, leaning her forehead against Natasha's. Both of them closed their eyes, savoring the momentary peace.

Moments like these were necessary. They made you feel human again, it let the stress melt away temporarily and block out the outside world.

Natasha nodded, still with her eyes closed. "We will rescue him..." She murmured quietly, more to herself than anybody else. "Yeah, you're right." She opened her eyes and broke the skin contact, shrugging her shoulders. "So, what are you gonna do, watch the show or?"

Keira gave the redhead a sad smile but shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. I have no doubt in my mind that you'll be able to get some answers out of him, but I'm gonna find the Captain. Need to make sure he doesn't try to strangle Stark. I have a feeling he's up to something." She chuckled, referring to the small disk she had seen Stark place on the bridge.

Natasha only nodded in answer, silently agreeing to the statement that Stark and Rogers were a disaster waiting to happen. As the redhead made no further comment, Keira assumed that she hadn't seen Stark's suspicious movement back at the bridge.

"Be careful with Loki, alright? He might be in a cage, but I don't trust him." Keira quickly embraced Natasha again, who nodded in answer, before stalking off to the lab.

Even through the closed lab doors, Keira could hear the voices of Stark and Rogers. And just like she had expected, they didn't sound happy with each other. As she slipped through the door, neither the soldier nor the billionaire didn't pay her any attention, but Banner gave her a short nod of greeting, which she returned.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve sounded annoyed, his posture stiff and clearly not amused by whatever the eccentric billionaire had said or done, who was fiddling with some sort of screwdriver.

"Do you think I'm not?" Stark retorted, putting down the tool and instead picking up a small plastic bag. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

Walking up to the men, she saw the Captain's face falter for just a second. It seemed like the billionaire's words had created some doubt in him. "You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets." Throwing a couple of blueberries into his mouth, Stark pointed towards Banner. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"