"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.
Nat pulled out a huge tote bin bigger than Wanda and dragged it out onto the gym floor. She dumped it over, revealing a few dozen medium-sized dodge balls.
"Alright. Your next challenge is to use your magic to put every ball back into the bin. But before you do that, I want to talk to you about something." She motioned Wanda back onto the bench, where they both sat down.
"You've probably noticed now that everyone has had their well-deserved break after Ultron, that things are starting to go back to normal."
Wanda gulped. She knew where this was going.
"Very soon, I'm going to have to go back to work, you know that, right?"
Wanda nodded, refusing to meet Nat's eyes.
"Most missions I go on will only be day ones, but that doesn't mean that once in a while I'll be gone for a night or two."
"I can come with you for those. I'll try harder with my training, I can do better."
Nat sighed. "It's not about that, milaya. You could have the best control ever, but I still wouldn't put my child in danger. You don't deserve that. And I'll always come back, you know that."
Wanda nodded. She knew, but it didn't mean she was okay with it.
"Who will I stay with when you're gone?"
"Whoever is home with you. Steve, Pepper, and maybe you could even stay with the Barton's on the overnight missions." Nat tried to sound enthusiastic. She hated having to leave Wanda. But it was her job, duty, and obligation. Tony had given her more than enough time to get Wanda settled, and she was a strong girl. She could handle it.
"When do you leave?" Wanda still refused to meet Nat's eyes.
Nat sighed. "I don't know yet. But I am on call for available missions. I'll try to start with a day mission, but I can't promise anything, milaya."
Wanda felt a ball in her throat. She couldn't cry. Not right now. I
Nat touched her shoulder, and she shrugged it off.
Nat bit her lip. Normally, Wanda was starving for physical comfort.
"Everything okay, Wanda?"
No response. She threw another dodge ball.
"Wanda?"
Wanda stood up, tears rimming her eyes.
"I don't want you to leave me! You promised you'd stay" Her voice cracked. Wanda instantly regretted what she had said. Nat had never promised she would stay. She had just promised that when she left, she would always come back. Wanda knew that.
Regardless, it was a stab right to the heart for Natasha, Wanda saw it in her face.
Wanda wanted to run away, but she couldn't. She tried to blink away the tears. She'd shown too much weakness this past month. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her hands starting to glow. Wanda balled her hands into fists and put them behind her back. She couldn't let Nat see the real her. A monster that was created in the lab out of pure evil.
Wanda took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
Nat took a hold of her hands.
"Wanda, you're allowed to be angry with me. It's not your fault, you can't control the way you feel."
"I'm not angry, I'm just..." She looked away. "Scared."
Nat sighed. "I know. But you're the bravest person I know, too."
Wanda's head snapped back to Nat. She had not expected that.
"I am? Why? You live with the Avengers."
"Because you've been through so much, milaya. More than all of us combined. And on top of that, you still find a way to keep going."
That was mainly because of the innocence of a child's mind, but Nat obviously didn't tell her that.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you before." Wanda looked down, staring at the ground. She took a moment to think before she continued. "I'll be okay when you go back to work. As long as you promise to come back."
Nat pulled her onto her lap. "You don't have to be sorry, milaya. And you know I promised I will always come back to you. I will never leave you forever. Just a day or two at most."
Wanda leaned into her shoulder. "I know."
"I know you're not happy about me going back to work, but it will only be for a few more months. Once you go to school, you'll barely even notice I'm gone."
Wanda completely forgot about school. A real school, with kids her age, teachers, and books. Just like on TV.
"In the meantime," Nat pulled her up off the bench. "I have something, or someone rather, to show you. Let's take a break from training for today."
She tilted her head in confusion.
"What do you mean who?"
Nat reached for Wanda's hand. "Come on, I'll explain on the way."
They ended up at Tony's workshop.
"I'm sure you heard Tony talk about his new 'intern.' A kid whose got spider-powers or something, I don't really know."
"Spider powers?"
Nat scanned her key card. "Yeah, apparently he's all over the news in Queens. A teenage kid who can swing from building to building, like a spider."
Wanda blinked. She didn't know what an intern was. Or where Queens was. And she'd never heard Tony talk about a teenage spider once.
"I'm just as confused as you are, Wanda. But he'll be spending more time here at the compound, getting training from Tony, so Tony wanted us to come and meet him."
Wanda shifted from one foot to another. She didn't like meeting new people.
Nat squeezed her shoulder.
"I know you don't like strangers, but Tony thinks you'll have fun with him. He's only fourteen. Just a kid, too."
Wanda's mood lightened a little. If Nat trusted Tony and this new kid, she guessed she did too. Plus, he was only a teenager.
When they opened the doors to Tony's workshop, it was definitely a scene of chaos.
Someone was on the ceiling, shooting strings from his fingers, while Tony was hovering above a few feet off the ground in his Iron Man suit. It was definitely not something Wanda expected when she walked in.
The boy dropped from the ceiling to the ground with very little grace. He brushed off and extended his hand.
"Hi, Miss Romanoff. I'm Peter Parker! It's so nice to meet you, I'm a huge fan." Peter rambled, his voice cracking.
Nat laughed, extending her hand out as well, although she was surprised. It was very rare to see such a young kid so polite.
"Please," She said, shaking his hand. "Just Natasha is fine, Peter."
She turned to Wanda, who still held a death grip on her other hand.
"This is Wanda."
Peter held his hand out to Wanda, who hesitated to shake it.
With some encouragement from Nat, she did, although weakly.
"It's nice to meet you, Wanda." Peter smiled. He reminded Wanda of an older, male version of Lila. A lot of personality to handle, but fun to be around, nonetheless.
Wanda looked up to the ceiling, where Peter had dropped down from moments before.
"Were you...up there?" She asked shyly, pointing to the space above their heads.
Peter nodded enthusiastically. "I have super sticky hands, like a spider. They don't call me Spider-Man for nothing." He said proudly.
Tony sighed from the workbench. He lifted his helmet to roll his eyes.
"No one calls you that, Parker."
Peter looked offended. "The news people do! I've adopted it as my cool new superhero name."
He leaped up to the ceiling, hanging down by his feet. Wanda laughed.
"He's a bit of a show-off, that one."
"Mr. Stark," He yelled from the ceiling. "No offense, but I know a lot of people who would call you a show-off, too."
Nat laughed.
Tony raised his hands in defense. "I guess your right kid." He yelled back up to Peter.
Tony turned to Nat and Wanda.
"He's not afraid of me, which is weird. Usually, people find me intimidating."
Nat scoffed. "Hardly."
Peter dropped to the ground again.
"That's cool. Strange, but cool." Nat said.
Wanda nodded her head in agreement.
Peter turned to Wanda. "Mr. Stark tells me you have some pretty cool powers, Wanda. You'll have to show me sometime."
She shrugged her shoulders and gave a small smile. She rarely ever voluntarily show people her powers, except for Nat of course, and occasionally Steve or Clint when they happened to be in the room while she was training.
"Maybe." She told him.
Nat put her hand on Wanda's shoulder, ready to say something, but her phone rang, interrupting her.
"Hold, on. I'll be right back, Wanda." She stepped out into the hallway.
"Hey, Nat. We've kind of got a problem." It was Steve.
"Okay," She answered. "And it is?"
Steve sighed. "Sam and Rhodey just called. They need back up from Clint, Tony, me, and you. Apparently, the 'illegal weapons' in New Mexico are actually a secret Hydra base."
Nat's heart dropped to her stomach.
"What do you mean?"
"They've created another base. Sam and Rhodey have only been there for maybe half an hour. All they know is that the base is storing illegal weapons, and there's a lot of people going in and out. This could be bad, Nat. Really bad."
Nat nodded, although Steve obviously couldn't tell through the phone.
"Okay, when do we leave?"
"ASAP. You can't tell Wanda what this mission is about. She'll get too worked up. Besides, we should be back by tomorrow, anyway."
Nat let out a shaky breath. She really wished she didn't have to leave immediately. This was going to be so overwhelming for Wanda.
Steve picked up on her negative energy through the phone.
"Wanda will be okay, Nat. We have to do this. If not for us, then for her."
Nat shut her eyes. "You're right. Why do you always have to be right?" She said flatly.
Steve let out a pathetic laugh. "I just am. Now come on, Clint and I will meet you on the Quinjet in five."
"Five minutes? You're going to give me five minutes to say goodbye to my child?"
"For you, I'll give ten." Nat could hear him smile through the phone.
"Thanks, Steve."
"I'll see you soon." He hung up.
Nat took a deep breath before entering back into the workshop. A moment flashed in her mind about giving up, but she quickly pushed it away. She thought about how upset Wanda would be. But this was her job. No, her life. If anything, she was doing it for Wanda.
She pushed open the door. Wanda smiled, and she tried to return it, but she could tell something was wrong.
"Tony, we have to go. I'll explain on the way."
"What?" Wanda let out pathetically. Peter looked confused. "Come on, milaya. I'll tell you on the way to the Quinjet."
"The Quinjet?" She asked, confused. "Where are we going?"
Nat took her hand and pulled her out of the room. She had to jog to keep up with Natasha's brisk pace. Peter followed behind.
Nat sighed. "We are not going anywhere. Steve, Clint, Tony, and I are going on a mission, but we will be back by tomorrow."
Wanda stopped in her tracks. Peter ran into her from behind. "Sorry."
Wanda ignored him. "You promised your first mission back would only be for the day though, not overnight."
Nat shook her head. "I didn't say that. I said I would try, but I couldn't promise anything."
Wanda nodded pitifully.
They had continued to walk again, well run in Wanda and Peter's case, and they were out back on the runway in less than five minutes.
Nat bent down. "I'm sorry my goodbye had to be so quick, milaya. I didn't expect it to be this way. You can stay with Pepper, okay?" She turned to Peter.
"And maybe Peter can stay here for a few hours, keep you company?" Peter nodded in approval. "Good luck Miss Romanoff."
Nat gave a sad smile. "I told you to call me Natasha."
She turned back to Wanda. "I promise you we'll be back soon, okay milaya? I love you. And be good for Pepper."
She kissed her on the cheek. Wanda gave her a big hug.
"I love you too. Be safe." She whispered. Nat could tell she was holding back tears.
Steve came up behind them. "I hate to break this up, but we really have to go."
He gave Wanda's hair a ruffle. Wanda hugged his waist, taking him by surprise. Steve hugged her back. "We'll be back soon, baby witch. You hold down the fort here while we're gone, yeah? You'll be the only Avenger at the compound."
Wanda nodded.
"Good luck." She breathed.
Nat gave Wanda another hug. She only let go when Tony and Clint called her to hurry it up. She gave Wanda another kiss on the forehead.
"I promise I'll be back, okay? By tomorrow?"
Wanda nodded. She was brave, she could handle it. Heck, she survived awful experiments every day of her life for four years.
But then why did she feel so scared?