Nat's heart dropped to her stomach. It took her a moment to register Peter's rambling.
"Peter, slow down. What do you mean?"
"I turned my back for one second, a-and then Lila came running, saying that Liho ran away, and Wanda ran after him. Lila thought she saw the neighbour run after Liho, too. By the time we ran out of the park, we couldn't see her anymore! I've looked everywhere, Miss Romanoff. And we found Liho, too, but Wanda is nowhere to be found. I'm so scared, what if something bad happened? What if someone took her?"
Peter was crying, and Nat could hear Lila crying through the phone, too.
Natasha's mind was moving in a thousand different directions. Her spy instincts told her to calm down and think of answers, but her motherly instincts took over. She started to think the worst.
She brought her hand up to her lips to think for a moment. She could hear Peter rambling, and Steve kept asking her what was wrong.
Something was wrong. Her little girl was missing.
"Just hold on, okay? Everyone's coming right now." Her voice was low, and it was cracking. Fear built up in her chest, which was saying a lot, because Natasha Romanoff didn't get scared easily.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.
"What's wrong, Nat?"
"Wanda went missing! She ran after Liho, and when Peter caught up he found the dog but not her! Someone took her, Steve!"
"Woah, woah. Don't jump to conclusions, Tasha." Clint appeared in the doorway, the commotion drawing him in. Laura, Tony, and Sam joined him.
Steve reached for his coat.
"We'll find her, okay?"
"We'll split up and look," Tony said. "Where was she last seen?"
"Peter said they were at Breyer Park, and Liho ran down the closest street. They found him, but not Wanda." Nat said, handing him his coat.
Nat felt Tony's eyes on the ring on her hand, and they locked eyes for a split-second. Even he knew it wasn't the time to bring it up.
They took the truck so they could drive down all the streets faster. Nat hopped in the front seat, but Clint stopped her.
"You and Steve get in the passenger seats. You shouldn't drive right now. I know you're worried, and you shouldn't have to worry about navigating the busy streets. It is Christmas, after all, Tash."
She nodded, hopping in the back with Steve and Laura. Tony and Pepper also joined them, driving a separate car.
"Drive fast, Clint."
When they got to the park, it was clear that both Lila and Peter were stressed out. Both were still crying and freaking out, and snow prints littered the park grass towards the streets. It was clear that they tried following Wanda's, however, the streets were plowed, so it was no help. As soon as the park field ended, there was no sign of where she went.
Peter's phone rang, and he ignored it. It was probably Aunt May, and he didn't think he was in the mood to tell her what was happening.
Nat approached Peter, who kept his head down. She wasn't in the mood to try and comfort him right now, but he at least needed to know she wasn't mad at him.
It ended up coming out harsher than she intended it to.
"Peter?"
He shot his head around, staring at her with tear-streaked eyes.
Nat knew she had to be fast, because the longer they waited around establishing their feelings, the less time was spent looking for Wanda.
She put a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched, however, he quickly turned upset.
"I-I'm so sorry Natasha. I understand if you never want to talk to me again. I wasn't paying attention, and I wasn't responsible. If something bad has happened -"
Nat's eyes softened, even if for a moment. She pulled him into a hug.
"Peter it's not your fault. We'll find her, okay? Let's just spend our time looking instead of worrying, yeah?" She gave his shoulder a harsh pat, hurrying to join Steve.
"...yeah" Peter mumbled, wiping his tears as she walked away. She looked more scared and worried than she tried to come across.
His phone rang again. He answered it, walking over to the rest of the team.
'Hello?'
It was MJ.
'Merry Christmas, loser! Why didn't you answer the first time? I have a present for you, I was wondering if I could bring it over later?'
'I-I don't think now is a good time, MJ...'
'Why what's wrong? Peter, are you crying?'
Peter took a sharp inhale
'Wanda went missing under my watch. I wasn't paying attention and she ran after her dog. Lila Barton, Clint's kid, said she saw some man help her look for Liho. By the time Lila warned me, we went looking and couldn't find her. MJ, we can't find her and it's all my fault.'
The line went silent for a minute. MJ of course, was trying to process his fast rambling.
'Well, where are you? Peter, where did she go missing?'
'Well we were at Breyer Park, and then I guess she ran down the street. I don't know, I didn't see. Clint's kid did though, we're just going off of what she said. MJ this is all my fault! If something bad has happened, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm so scared!'
Once again, silence. The gears were turning in MJ's head.
'Peter, relax. This is not your fault. It could've happened to anyone. But Breyer park, isn't near where we went trick or treating?'
'Yeah...'
'The Red House? That Russian guy? Ever think he had anything to do with this?'
'MJ....'
'No. Hold on, Peter. I'm coming down right now to help look. Hang in there, okay?'
'Yeah, Okay.'
When MJ got there fifteen or so minutes later, she ended up telling the whole search team her theory.
"The red house. The man that lives there. He seemed very interested in Wanda when we went trick-or-treating. I pulled her away when she reached for her candy." MJ stated.
Natasha's eyes narrowed, but she felt Steve's hand on her shoulder, keeping it from absolutely losing it on the pair of teenagers. She instantly regretted it when she took a moment to re-evaluate the situation.
It's not their fault, Nat. They're just kids, too. You seem to forget sometimes.
"MJ, why didn't you tell us?" Steve asked, trying to sound more patient than demanding.
MJ opened her mouth to answer, but Peter interrupted.
"I told her not to, Captain Rogers. I thought she was being overdramatic because she always watches those mystery documentaries. His name is Vasily, I don't know his last name, but I've helped him out as Spider-Man a few times. He was always very nice. I just thought MJ was worrying."
"Peter was just trying not to worry you," MJ reasoned. "He just assumed I was overthinking because I tend to do that sometimes." She rambled, trying not to look Natasha in the eyes. MJ could tell Natasha was trying to hold it together, but she was wearing very thin.
Nat felt bad though. Here there were two fifteen-year-olds, so scared for Wanda that they were crying, profusely apologising for their mistakes. Mistakes that anyone could've made.
Nat was just thankful they had something to lead them towards Wanda.
Her eyes changed from worry to determination. She pointed to the nearest red house.
"This one?"
MJ nodded.
"Let's see if he's home. What he has to say." She turned to walk away, and Steve joined her.
Clint pulled her arm.
"I'm coming with you two, to make sure you don't do anything you regret. Right now, he seems like the main target, but that doesn't mean anything. We remain civil right now, okay?"
Nat shook her head profusely.
"No, you guys keep looking around the streets. Steve and I will go, we'll be fine. We'll call if we need anything." She patted her hidden holster.
Of course, it didn't go that way. When no one answered the door, which Nat didn't expect anyone to, she kicked it open.
Keeping a hand on her hidden holster, she explored the house. Steve followed.
It really did just look like a regular house at first glance. But it wasn't 'homey.' There were no pictures, rarely any decorations. Just the basics. They made their way carefully to the kitchen, where an ID card of some sort was hidden under a stack of electrical bills.
Steve snatched it.
"Dmitry Vasilyevich Kuznetsov. Well, he lied about his name. That definitely doesn't help his cause." Steve said calmly.
Nat's eyes flew over the table, and a familiar logo caught her eye. One that she wished didn't.
Her heart dropped, and she felt a wave of nauseousness wave over. She gripped the table to keep herself upwards, her mind jumbling until she could spit out the words.
"These are files, Steve. Files of the Red Room." She mumbled, just enough for Steve to hear.
Nat's arm reached out shakily to grab the nearest form, written in Russian.
Another wave of Nausea washed over as she read hastily, this one more severe.
She stared at Steve, and he could read the fear written all over her face.
"Steve, these are my files from the Red Room."