Retribution ★ Avengers

Can You Give It A Rest?

Wanda's head ached with a great intensity. Even the coffee she decided to make did nothing to help ease the ache. She was fed up, she was exhausted, and she was absolutely annoyed. Spending three days listening to Bucky and Steve bicker over Marlena's possible whereabouts, on top of Sam's glowing commentary, was a job on its own. For days they'd been stressed trying to figure out where Kellan could've disappeared to with Marlena. So far there were no leads, but none of them knew where to look next. Wanda couldn't look to the twins for answers either. Not only were their young minds sealed much like Kellan's had been, but their father sent them off with Miranda and Greyson to go house hunting in Washington DC. Bucky didn't want them involved any more than they already were, which made things a touch more difficult as they searched blindly for the face attached to the Alena alias. Still, they wouldn't stop. Not until they had Marlena back home where she belonged.

"We've had this conversation twice now, and I'm getting really tired of repeating myself." The sound of Bucky's voice elicited yet another eye-roll from Wanda. "I think we need to look a bit closer to home."

"And I think we need to look a bit farther," Steve replied.

Bucky let out an aggravated breath. "We went through three countries looking for the twins, Steve. I'm sure whoever this Alena person is knows we wouldn't hesitate to do it again for Marlena. We'll waste our time chasing empty leads across the globe and she'll get whatever it is she wants out of Marlena. We can't let that happen."

"He's got a point," Sam chimed in, his mouth full of graham crackers. "Marlena could actually still be here. Maybe you guys should check."

"Where exactly do you suppose we start looking?" Steve asked. His tone was otherwise calm, but it was obvious he'd become annoyed with the conversation. "That's been the issue this entire time. We can't find someone if we don't know who we're looking for."

"Uh, Marlena?" Bucky said mockingly.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about," Steve said with a roll of his eyes.

Sam laughed under his breath, while Wanda simply shook her head. She knew the tension between Steve and Bucky hadn't been the best lately, but she hadn't expected that tension to create anything but brooding silence between the two of them. She figured it would be uncomfortable to deal with initially, but as she sat there listening to them bicker back and forth, she actually wished for the silence. She just wasn't so sure she'd get it.

To drown out the sound of their voices, Wanda reached for the small pile of books sitting on the countertop. She grabbed a random one, wasting no time at all in opening it up. She hadn't been expecting to see it was a picture book, however, and after getting a closer look she could see it wasn't just any picture book. It was her uncle's Army roster from basic training. She'd never seen it before, so her interest peaked almost immediately. It was always interesting to look back on the life of a family member she never really got the chance to know the way she wanted to.

Wanda flipped through the pages, eventually stopping on her uncle's platoon photos. She spotted his picture and smiled to herself, before continuing to gaze around at the other faces on the page. She noticed the image of a woman just a few faces over, and her brows furrowed. She read the name the image belonged to and looked up at the three men still lost in their conversation.

"Hey, guys, can you give it a rest for a minute and come look at this picture?" Wanda asked, her voice loud enough to actually grab their attention. "I think you should see it."

They walked over to where Wanda was sitting at the counter. She turned the book so they could see and pointed to the picture of the beautiful woman just a few faces to the left of Marlena's father.