The Winter Wraith

Chapter 19

"So, she really was dead?"

"They checked her for a pulse, and she had none. But..."

"Go on, Wanda."

"I did reach out to her mind, to see for myself. I didn't hear any of her thoughts, but one memory of hers was being projected to me."

"What sort of memory?"

"It was from when she was younger. She was being tucked into bed by an older lady with brown hair and blue and green eyes just like Adina's, her mother presumably. Her mother spoke about some trip she and the father had to go on before she left the bedroom. That's where the memory ended."

"Okay, thank you, Wanda," Steve replied, already mulling over and dissecting the new information. "Let's go join the others before they destroy the Compound."

So Wanda and Steve met the rest of the team and Adina in the living room area.

"Wanda, be on my team! You can stop the bullets with your powers," Pietro said upon seeing his sister.

"Actually, we will not be playing Nerf tonight or ever again," Steve announced and was met with a considerable amount of groans and discontent.

"Why not?"

"Do you not remember last time?"

"It was just one window, Captain. It was necessary!"

"Jumping out of a window for a Nerf fight is not needed."

Pietro mumbled under his breath something about it being for dramatic flair while giving his captain a glare for ruining the fun. He was about to retort when a beeping sound went off. Dinner was ready, so the heroic group and Adina headed over to the dining area.

"This is wonderful, Vis," Wanda swooned when she saw the large dining table.

The table was adorned with a deep red tablecloth that none of the team recognized. The menu tonight would be a feast to any normal family, but not to the group of enhanced soldiers and a certain speedster. It was just the right amount needed for their high metabolisms.

As everyone took their seats, Pietro made sure to sit at the open seat next to Vision before his sister could. He only had to take one glance to see that the food the android had prepared was conveniently all of Wanda's favorites. He made sure to send a few glares to Vision throughout the dinner. Hopefully he got the message, his little sister was off limits.

On the other side of the long table, Bucky was sitting next to Adina, making sure she ate enough. He had noticed what little food was in her backpack from when she was on the run and was concerned for her.

Though the dinner was lively and slightly chaotic for the majority of the time, everyone seemed to truly care for each other. There was only friendly banter and no high tensions. Not once did someone get in trouble for slightly raising their voice. It was nice. Adina even got to have a second roll. She could tell these people loved each other, although they had a weird way of showing it in some cases. Adina was beginning to feel a bit more at ease; however, a dull pang of sorrow grew in her heart, as she did not know where her own family was at this moment.

After everyone had cleared their plates and were about to head to bed-dinner had lasted longer than expected-Steve announced that someone else will be joining them tomorrow for a training session.

"Not bug boy," Sam groaned, knowing exactly who it was, while Bucky rolled his eyes, sharing in the distaste for the boy.

"Hey, you guys be nice to him. He's still learning," the Captain advised, with a hint of a smile on his face.

He wouldn't say it out loud, but he had to admit that Bucky and Sam's 'rivalry' with the younger boy was a bit funny at times. Plus, Steve could tell that the two were just playfully messing around with the nervous teen; they didn't mean any true harm.

"Yeah, maybe once he stops getting his webs stuck in my wings. Do you know how many hours I've wasted getting all that stickiness outta there? Too many, and still more to come!" Sam complained.

Steve just shook his head, the smile finally appearing on his face, as the three men took a turn to go to the stairs that went up to their wing. Left in the hallway were the twins, Adina, and Vision. Natasha had wanted to get in a short exercise before bed, so she was in the gym. Clint, the wonderful man who made her mac n' cheese, left the Compound earlier in the day. Apparently he had his own family. Funny how so many people have those, Adina bitterly thought.

Now that so many people weren't around, Adina chose then to ask the question that had been on her mind.

"Who is the bug boy?"

"He's around your age and has superpowers. I also do not like him very much," Pietro responded.

"He's only saying that because Peter refuses to go along with Pietro's dumb pranks. The kid does not want to risk making Mr. Stark upset," Wanda added.

Peter. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it. Adina didn't dwell on it too much because just then the small group arrived at the stairs Wanda and Adina would take. The Compound had an elevator, of course, but Steve insisted that the team used the stairs to stay in shape and help their endurance. The girls started to climb the stairs.

All was fine until Pietro noticed Vision was not walking back to the boy's wing with him. He sped back to the stairway, only to see that Vis was floating over the stairs in step with his sister and having a nice conversation about their respective dream houses with her. Since when do androids have a dream house?

"Hey, where are you going, Vision? Our wing is the other way," he said once he had stopped in front of the group on the metal stairs.

"I was walking Wanda back to her room," Vision stated, unsure why Pietro would stop them.

"Well, I need a walking buddy. Come on, let's go, Vison. Down the stairs, back to our wing," Pietro replied, grabbing his arm and trying to hurry the synthezoid along.

To Pietro's luck, Vision actually let himself be dragged away from Wanda as she only sent him a sympathetic smile, as if the situation was anything normal.

"Good night Wanda, good night Addy!" Pietro called as he and Vision quickly made their way down the hallway.

Wanda sighed at her brother's overprotectiveness, although she was not actually bothered by it that much. He just could really let it be known at times.

"Come on, Adina. Let's get to bed."

Published: 6/10/22

A/N: I just realized the meeting takes place right after Adina and Steve's morning run, and then all of a sudden they are having dinner. (I will fix this small error later when I edit)