Wanda slowly walked down the stairs, feeling like someone on the way to their execution. She entered the kitchen and saw Natasha sat at the kitchen table with her arms firmly crossed across her chest. Wanda looked at the stern woman before dropping her eyes to the floor.
“I’m sorry Mama,” whispered Wanda, she pushed her toe into the floor, making it circle as a means of distracting herself.
“Come here Wanda,” stated Natasha. She pushed the chair out further away from the table, and beckoned the teenager closer. As soon as she was within reach the older woman pulled the girl down and sat her in her lap.
“Mama, I’m not a little girl,” moaned Wanda, but she still accepted the affection. Natasha chose not to respond to that.
“What are you sorry about?”
Wanda groaned, why did Natasha read all those parenting books. “I’m sorry I was rude and disrespectful to you.”
Natasha raised an eyebrow at her, “And…”
“I’m sorry I’m smoked when you told me I wasn’t allowed too,” muttered Wanda, “but I think that’s a silly rule.”
Natasha decided again not to respond to her outburst knowing it would just rile them both up. “Ok, so you understand there are consequences?”
Wanda nodded from her place on the older woman’s lap. Natasha rubbed the teenager’s back, “You are grounded Little one, and you are going to write some lines for us. I think writing 100 times, I will not be rude or disrespectful should help remind you.”
Steve was bustling around the kitchen, heating up some milk, he mixed in the cocoa powder and started whisking the solution. He poured it gently into a mug and then set it on the table in front of Wanda.
“I still get Hot cocoa?” questioned Wanda innocently.
“Of course you do, “ replied Natasha with a smirk, placing a kiss to her head. “We aren’t dictators.”
Wanda smiled, but got up out of Natasha’s lap, she moved casually into the seat next to her. Steve went and retrieved some paper and a pen from the kitchen drawer, and placed it in front of her.
Steve also placed a kiss to the crown of her head, “We will leave you to get started. Have you got any homework?”
Wanda shook her head. “No, not yet. I have a homework diary though that has to be signed every week by a parent.”
Steve nodded, “Ok sweetheart, Your Mama and I will be in the living room. We will check on you in 20 minutes.”
Natasha stood up, “each line needs to be neat and tidy Wanda or it won’t count.”
“I understand,” replied Wanda earnestly.
……………………………………………………
Natasha shut the living room door behind them, “Did you notice anything suspicious on your run?”
Steve shook his head, “No, we seem clear, though I set the cameras as you requested. we have full CCTV of the whole block and the main route to the school.”
Natasha breathed a sigh of relief, “Do you think they will really hunt us?”
Steve shrugged, “I’m not sure, i think if we stay out of the public eye we can probably live normally.”
Natasha looked at him with concern, “Do you think you can actually do that? It’s not in your nature to hideaway, could you turn your back on the world if it was in danger?”
“We will deal with it as when it occurs,” replied Steve diplomatically, “Hopefully Tony will sort it before then.”
“Are you sure Tony is working for us? Things did all end a bit sour.”
Steve grimaced, “he still knows what is right, i think it’s best that Wanda doesn’t know what happened in Siberia.”
“I agree,” said Natasha. “It will just confuse her. Good work with her earlier though, you even got her to apologise.”
Steve smiled, “I just reasoned with her, she is very similar to you. If i didn’t know any better I would say she is biologically yours.”
Natasha smirked, “That’s what Clint and Laura said as well.”
“Come on we better go check on her.”
……………………………………………………….
Writing lines wasn’t incredibly taxing, though she made sure she was writing in her best cursive. Wanda wasn’t sure why she was being so careful with it, but with every stroke of the pen she felt herself feeling better. Though a small modicum of guilt remained in the pit of her stomach, she knew how angry they would be that she left the campus. Ignorance is bliss, she justified it in her head by thinking she would not do it again. Wanda honestly hadn’t considered the danger of her actions, and it was only Natasha’s words that made her realise it. That in itself concerned the witch she was street smart. Growing up during a war meant she was savvier than most, had she forgotten those skills? Was living with pseudo parents making her soft.
Wanda put the pen down, as her mind spun with thoughts. Natasha reentered the kitchen, and started to cook dinner, putting some pasta onto the boil before turning to face the witch.
“How are you getting on?”
Wanda looked up from the paper and picked up her pen again, “I’m nearly done, Just a couple more left.”
Natasha moved over to the fridge and retrieved the tomatoes and basil, and started to chop them up to make the sauce.
Wanda scrunched her nose up, “Are we having pasta again? Can’t we have something more eastern European?”
Natasha laughed under her breath, “We are going to need to ease Steve in gently, he’s a Brooklyn boy.”
“Americans,” Wanda muttered under her breath with disdain.
“Hey watch it you!” joked Steve. He glanced over to Natasha, “white or red?”
Natasha looked thoughtful for the moment, “red, will go better with Pasta.”
He grabbed the bottle opener out of the drawer and started attempting to coax the cork out of the bottle.
“Can I have some?” asked Wanda.
Steve looked over to Nat questionably who answered for him, “You may have one glass with dinner.”
Natasha learnt a long time ago that if you make something taboo it just makes you want it more. Alcohol was a substance that concerned her with Wanda, but she knew hiding it away or banning it would just make it all the more enticing.
“I’m done,” stated Wanda, as she gently placed the pen down next to the sheet of paper filled with words.
Natasha moved away from the stove in order to peruse the document after seeing that it met her approval she responded, “Good Wanda, now why don’t you go get changed out of your uniform? You may as well put on your PJ’s as you will be going straight to bed after dinner.”
“Really Mama?” groaned Wanda.
“Really,” replied Natasha. “You know the rules if you are grounded, early bedtime is in effect.”
“I really wish you would stop reading those parenting books,” stated Wanda dryly.
“Oh no, that’s a Laura Barton special.”
Wanda stood up, “One day you are going to have to tell me some of these stories.”
Natasha laughed as the teenager left the room. Steve walked up behind the woman and wrapped his arms around her waist resting his chin on her shoulder, “I love hearing you laugh.”
“That bodes well for you,” She replied as she sunk back in his grip. “Are you happy Steve?”
“I’m with you and Wanda how could I not be?”
Steve’s words appeased the Black widow, as they both knew they wouldn’t be living this domestic life if it wasn’t for the teenager. They would probably both be out fighting crime, moving from safe house to safe house. Natasha continued to stir the pot of sauce.
“You two are so cute,” stated Wanda as she walked back into the kitchen, now dressed in the Pyjama bottoms and a tank top. She walked over to the oven and put it on before going to retrieve the garlic bread from the fridge.
Steve looked at the teenager, “I was about to do that.”
Wanda snorted in response, “that would require you removing your hand from my Mama’s ass.”
Steve blushed at the words. “Don’t be mean to the fossilised gentleman Wanda, you know he can’t handle your modern jip.”
“Jip?” asked Steve.
“Means she is being a little jerk,” replied Natasha with a smirk. “Can you set the table please Wanda?”
“What did your last slave die of?” responded Wanda with sass.
“Do you want to find out?” stated Natasha without missing a beat. Wanda giggled but retrieved the cutlery and place mats. The group were soon sat down and eating together. Wanda couldn’t help but smile as she glanced over at the two parental figures in her life. She could not ever remember feeling this safe. “Wanda your dinner will get cold, stop staring off into space.”
“Sorry Mama,” replied the witch before digging into the plate. she then lifted up the small glass of wine by her plate and took an experimental sniff before sipping at the dark red liquid. She crunched her face up slightly at the bitterness. “You like this?”
Natasha laughed at the teenager, “Yes, you generally prefer Red wine as you get older and your taste buds develop.”
“Or it’s like a case of the emperors’s new clothes and you all tell yourselves that and secretly no-one actually likes it, but no-one will admit it.”
Steve snorted in laughter, “You have got spunk kid.”
“Don’t we both know it.”
After dinner was finished and the dishes had been successfully washed and packed away. Natasha turned to the teenager, “Go on you, brush your teeth and to bed.”
“You can’t be serious? It’s not even 9pm yet.”
“I’m being very serious, go on.”
Wanda huffed slightly but followed the instructions though she stomped slightly to show her displease.
Natasha turned to Steve, “Weather forecast says there will be a thunder storm tonight.”
“No sex for me tonight then,” Joked Steve. Fully aware that a thunder storm meant at the some point during the night a teenager was going to end up in their bed.
“That’s why I made sure we had sex this morning,” replied Natasha with a sultry smirk.
“We could always have a quickie down here once she’s in bed.”
“Yeah I would rather not risk mentally scarring our teenager. No-one wants to see their parents going at it.”
Their playful banter was interrupted by the sound of a Nokia ringtone. Natasha looked at Steve in alarm, “is that Tony’s phone?”
Steve nodded before reaching into the drawer and retrieving the phone. He answered the phone with no greeting he just went straight to the point with, “What’s wrong?”
………………………..
Wanda sat cross legged on her bed, surprised that one of the adults had not been into her room yet. She was sat with her laptop in front of her, Wikipedia was one of her favourite things. she could spend hours just trawling through different subjects each link taking her to another one. She always ended up so removed from where she started. The knowledge at her fingertips was intoxicating, even though she knew wikipedia was not the most reliable of sources.
She looked over at her bedroom clock and saw the 9:30PM flashing at her in red. Wanda was very surprised that no-one had been to tuck her in yet, as much as she moaned about it she found it very comforting. She closed her laptop up and left the room heading towards the stairs, stopping at the bottom when she heard hushed whispering.
“What are we going to do?” asked Steve.
“We can’t say no Steve, we would want them to do the same for us,” explained Natasha.
“How are we going to explain it though?”
“We will say he is our nephew coming to stay for a while,” stated Natasha firmly. “We need to do this.”
Wanda pushed open the door to the kitchen, “What are you talking about?”
Natasha and Steve were sat at the table, “You should be in bed little one.”
Wanda crossed her arms trying to look stern, “No, what are you talking about?”
Steve sighed, but Natasha replied, “It’s not your concern, you need to go back to bed.”
“Don’t do that, don’t treat me like a naughty child. I need to know what is going on, I deserve better than that,” replied Wanda keeping her tone even.
Natasha sighed but pulled out the chair next to her. Wanda nodded and went and sat next to the older woman. Her measured response finally paid dividends.
“Peter is in trouble,” explained Steve. “he has been caught up in the accords, or more correctly Spiderman has been caught up in the accords. Tony doesn’t want him to get compromised.”
“What does that have to do with us?” asked Wanda her tone reduced the harshness of her words.
“Tony wants him to come into hiding with us,” stated Natasha.
“What about his Aunt though?”
“He thinks Ross has already figured out that Peter is Spiderman. I mean Tony doesn’t exactly have a lot of interns does he? It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that the Spiderman who turned up in Berlin may be the the only intern that Tony has.”
“Then what are questioning?” asked Wanda, “Surely we will take him?”
Wanda looked curiously at the two adults and saw the slight trepidation on Steve’s face. “You think it’s a trap,” she stated.
Steve reached over and grabbed Wanda’s hand. Neither adult said anything so Wanda continued to talk. “Why would we not take the risk though? it’s for Peter.”
Natasha exhaled heavily, “we want to but we will not put you at any risk.”
“Ohh,” said Wanda sadly.
“You are our number one priority, we will always want to help others, but you always come first.”
Wanda tried to discreetly wipe her eyes, as she felt the tears build up. “I’ve never come first.”
“You do with us,” said Steve firmly, “We will do everything in our power to help Peter. I’m going to go and try and meet them. You and your mama are going to stay here.”
Wanda nodded, “But wouldn’t my powers be helpful if it is a trap?”
Natasha shook her head, and pulled the teenager into her body from her position on the chair. “No, Steve can handle it. Wanda we are trusting you by involving you in this discussion, but you can’t influence the outcome.”
Wanda nodded, “but what if you get caught?”
Natasha and Steve looked at each other sadly, “if I get caught, then I’m caught. You and your mama will continue without me.”
Wanda shook her head, “No, we will rescue you.” She appealed to Natasha hoping she would agree with her. Wanda was saddened when she saw a resignation on her face.
“Wanda, we got lucky on the last rescue we had the element of surprise, we will never have that again. This is why we have to be so careful,” explained Steve gently.
“When are you meeting them?” asked Wanda.
“Tomorrow,” replied Steve.
“What are we going to do?” questioned Wanda.
Natasha interrupted the conversation, “we are going to go to school as normal.”
Wanda’s stomach turned considerably, “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You are not going to, I promise you I will be careful,” stated Steve.
Natasha stood up holding Wanda’s hand, “now come on you, it’s bedtime.”
Steve released the hand he was holding and Wanda got to her feet. she leaned into the older woman, “Ok…”
Steve stood up as well, and followed them up the stairs. Wanda crawled into her bed, Natasha sat on the bed next to her with Steve the other side.
“I won’t be able to sleep,” exclaimed Wanda as Natasha ran her finger’s through her hair.
“Don’t worry about it now,” replied Steve. “Don’t worry about something you can’t control.”
“But I could control it if I was there,” said Wanda pulling her hand out of the duvet, and showed them the red wisps of energy flicking from her fingertips.
“No,” stated Natasha firmly. “I’m not playing around Wanda, we have trusted you with what is going on. You need to trust us. This is your opportunity to show your maturity.”
Wanda retracted her hand and buried it back under the duvet. “No I understand Mama.”
“Does being mature mean I can’t be scared?”
“No sweetheart you are allowed to be scared, just don’t act irrationally in your fear,” explained Natasha, she leaned over and kissed the teenager’s forehead.
“Everything is going to be fine,” stated Steve, who mimicked Natasha’s action.