Time: To relax and Unwind
Place: anywhere but the compound
Clint and Natasha had headed out to one of the bars downtown, with Nat having a real need to escape the confines of the compound and get some space, Clint figured a drink would do her some good.
They sat together in a quieter corner of the bar enjoying some beer as they talked.
"How's Laura and the kids?"
"They're good, Lila misses you a lot though and Nate don't even get me started on him. The two weeks I was at home everyday he'd asked the same thing,always 'Can I see Aj yet?' he's desperate. Oh yeah and Laura's is planning a girls getaway for you,Pep and her, she said something about Italy, I tried to tell her that Italy wouldn't be your first choice and you'd much rather go somewhere like Greece but she wasn't having any of it. Apparently she knows you better then I do, even though I'm the bestfriend, she's just the bestfriends wife"
Natasha smiled as Clint filled her on his family, watching as his eyes glistened with pride as he did so, it reminded her of Steve when he talked about her or the girls. She was really missing Steve's presence.
"First of tell Lila I miss her too, I'll send her a text and catch up with her. And tell Nate that Aj won't stop asking about him either and I'm sure they'll see each other soon. As for the girls get away, tell Laura to count me out" Natasha chuckled.
"How comes?" Clint asked.
"Because as much as I love them, Pepper and Laura stress me out as much as my kids do"
Clint laughed, "Yeah. I think I'd feel the same way if I was invited on a boys getaway, Thor and Tony would drive me crazy, Sam would be so annoying, Buck and Steve would be alright though. Maybe I'll have to book a holiday with them when Steve's better"
"I don't think he's going to get better Clint"
Natasha told her friend truthfully.
"Don't say that Natasha, as much as it's frustrating that nothings changed, at least he's not gotten worse" Clint pointed out, his voice laced with hope.
Natasha shook her head as she sighed,
"At first it was a good thing but he's not making any progress and if he doesn't in the next week, Dr Cho said that the possibilities won't go in his favor" She took a long sip of her beer when she finished talking, hopeful the alcohol would help her feel better about everything but it didn't .
"I'm sorry Natasha, I know it's hard"
"I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't pull through, I'm already falling apart and he's still here"
"You're not falling apart Tasha, you're upset and you're hurt. You're going through a real shitty time right now, nobody expects you to be okay"
"I owe it to the girls to at least try and hold myself together" Natasha argued.
"The girls don't expect you to do that either Natasha. Right now they probably understand what you're going through more than anyone else, you don't have to act strong for them, they get it." Clint spoke wisely, Natasha was grateful he always knew the right thing to say.
Nat let out a shaky breathe,"I just want Steve back"
"I know you do and you'll have him back soon, I know it. He's so strong" Clint reassured her, he hadn't lost hope, he knew Steve could pull through.
"Come on, I'm gonna smash you at darts"
Clint smiled as he got up from the table, dragging Nat with him.
Natasha laughed, she knew he was gonna loose on purpose to make her feel better despite his comment."you're going down Hawkeye"
———-
Wanda had managed to quietly slip out of the compound, with Kate having gone home hours ago and Tommy and Peter being far to distracted with Peter's new Lego set, meant she could leave without being questioned.
The last few weeks Wanda had snuck out the compound often, she couldn't exactly light up a joint on the ground of the compound, her mom would most certainly have a fit if she found out. Though Wanda knew that Natasha had her suspicions but she hadn't questioned her on it yet and until she did Wanda would continue.
It helped her. Wanda knew the drug wasn't anything to heavy, it wasn't like she was doing coke or heroine, it was just marijuana that helped her wind down and get to sleep when she otherwise would lay awake for hours. She'd found herself struggling to get a decent amount of rest at night since she had been home from the red room. So far this had been an effective solution, bad or not, Wanda was getting some sleep and that's all she wanted, just a decent nights rest.
Wanda finished of her joint for the night and began her brief 5 minute walk back home, the relaxing sensation coursing through her as she walked,along with a slight feeling of detachment that came from the drug that she had actually grown to enjoy.
When she arrived back to the compound she was surprised to see Bucky sat on the front steps watching as finny played around on the greenery. She was starting to wish she used the back door instead, wanting to avoid talking to Buck given her current state.
She turned around ready to walk the extra 5 minutes to the back of the compound, but she had already been spotted.
"Wanda?"
"Fuck sake..." Wanda mumbled under her breath before turning back around, "Heyyy Uncle Bucky" Wanda fake smiled over at him.
"Hey kiddo, what you doing?" Bucky questioned.
Wanda shrugged, "getting fresh air?" She told him though it came out sounding more like a question.
"Are you asking me or telling me Wands?" Bucky laughed.
"Huh?" Wanda frowned in confusion, she was way to out of it to figure out what he was saying. She looked at him, "Huh?" She repeated once more trying to comprehend what he was trying to say.
Bucky eyed his niece suspiciously, he got many 'Huh's and 'what's from Aj and Tommy, they were always confused but Wanda was usually pretty quick minded in comparison to them.
"Wands come here a second"
"Why?" Wanda groaned.
"Just come sit down,I wanna talk" Bucky told her as he patted the spot on the step next to him.
Wanda huffed as she walked over sheepishly, she was well aware that he was about to catch her out. Times like this she wished she was the twin to have gotten superspeed so she could just run to her room and avoid this.
Wanda settled down next to Bucky, keeping her eyes on the ground as she did, she knew that her now bloodshot eyes would be a dead giveaway of how high she was.
Bucky sighed,"Wanda look at me"
"Nah I'm good" the girl half laughed.
"Wanda" Bucky spoke more sternly.
"Fine" Wanda mumbled.
The second Bucky caught glimpse of Wanda's red lined eyes, he couldn't refrain from letting out a tiny chuckle.
"Fucking hell! You are stoned!" He gasped.
"No no no no I'm not. No" Wanda spoke defensively.
"First of all you still very much smell of it, second of all your eyes are red" He mentioned.
"First off I don't smell! Second off I just have bad hayfever"
"Hayfever in march? That makes perfect sense"
"Please don't tell my Mom" Wanda suddenly pleaded.
"Don't tell Nat that you have hayfever in march?" Bucky teased.
"No that I'm stoned"
"Oh so you admit it? You are stoned"
"Obviously!"
"Yes I know it is obvious" Bucky's head fell into his hands as he groaned. He wasn't too sure what to say or how to handle this situation.
"It's not that big of a deal" Wanda shrugged.
"That's exactly what your sister says about the time she shot your father and guess what it was a big deal!" Bucky was growing more stressed.
Wanda laughed, "okay well you can chill I haven't gone round shooting people"
"Wow. Thanks Wanda that makes me feel so much better about this whole thing!" Bucky snapped sarcastically.
"Really?" Wanda asked, clearly missing the sarcasm in her uncles voice.
"No! It doesn't!" Bucky raised his voice slightly.
"Come on Buck, it's not that serious" Wanda tried to reason.
"Not that serious? You've got to be joking Wands, I know this isn't the first time"
"How?"
"I just do. This isn't a good path to go down kiddo-"
"No,please don't start with a lecture" Wanda huffed.
"Steve would want me to tell you don't do drugs kid, drugs are bad"
"Ughh I know, I've seen the video of Captain America saying it in my health class about 100 times" Wanda rolled her eyes.
"Yet you choose to ignore it, why?"
"Because Captain America isn't exactly round to tell me not to right now. Is he?
Maybe if he was I wouldn't be doing it, if he was around I probably wouldn't be on the verge of break down right now, I'd probably sleep better if I knew for certain he was okay so I wouldn't need to get high to help me sleep every night. Maybe I just want my dad but I can't have him so this is my way of dealing with it all" Wanda poured out, not intentionally, but once she began to speak she couldn't stop, it all came out.
"You feel better now you've got that of off your chest?" Bucky offered Wanda a soft smile and she nodded.
"Much better"
Bucky pulled Wanda in for a side hug,
"Seriously Wands you really do need to shower"
Wanda laughed, "noted"
"Go shower before your mom gets home"
"You won't tell her?"
"No I won't this time but if I catch you again I will give you a long,tedious lecture"
"Noted" Wanda gave Bucky a playful salute before heading inside, Finny following after her.
———
A/N: Thank you for reading guys🫡