It was dark and quiet at the compound when they got back. Stark was waiting for them, sitting in the living room area, staring at the chessboard.
"You did your best, kid." Stark had said to Grace as she tried to slip by unnoticed with Wanda. She merely nodded and kept walking. People had died in front of her- she didn't really feel like asking her new 'boss' for a promotion, not now. Now they all needed sleep, especially Wanda. Grace had watched her while she stared out into the endless sea of clouds as the quinjet had flown back to the United States.
Somehow, none of it felt right, not being here, not being there, not being anywhere. Something in Grace didn't want to go back to Washington DC, but part of her wanted to crawl back to the cinderblock 'room' (prison cell) that SHIELD/HYDRA had given her. Somehow, confining herself to a place where she understood what was expected of her felt better.
That was it, she thought, as she turned on the lights for the bedroom that she and Wanda shared.
"If you can't sleep, I'm here." Grace said, patting her friend on the shoulder.
"Thank you." Wanda said, sitting down on her bed, putting her head in her hands. Grace sat down on the opposite bed, her hands in her lap, just looking at the Sokovian girl across from her. Wanda cried quietly, her already-smudged mascara smearing even further.
"We can't always save everybody," Grace remembered Captain Rogers saying, "But we save who we can."
Sometimes it wasn't enough. There were always things that were left behind, like Wanda's brother, Pietro. Grace had never met Pietro, but Wanda had told her everything about him, about his speed, his bravery, his cocky attitude, all of it.
"Not all my type of guy, Wanda." Grace had told her, trying to get her friend to smile. Despite her tears, Wanda had smiled and laughed.
"You're probably right." she had said.
Pietro had been just as much a casualty of war as the people who had died in Nigeria, another slip-up, something else to prove that the Avengers weren't perfect, and that not everyone can make it out without losing something. Wanda had already lost so much- she didn't need to lose her brother, too. That was probably another reason why Grace stayed so close to Wanda- she knew she needed someone to help her cope, to fill the emptiness, inasmuch as Grace needed someone to replace the family she had lost.
Grace got up from her own bed and sat down next to Wanda. Putting her arm around her friend, she held her close.
"It's not fair," Wanda said. "I didn't mean to throw Rumlow into the building, it just happened so fast."
Grace squeezed Wanda's shoulder. They sat there for some time in silence, thinking it over.
"We need to get some sleep, Wanda." Grace said, getting up, going over to her own bed.
Wanda looked at her, nodding. Grace flipped the switch by her bed, and the lights went off. One little night-light on the wall in front of their beds glowed softly in the darkness.
The nightlight made Grace remember something- her mother's face,the way her hair curled everywhere, how her little bedroom looked back in DC, with that old, torn, blanket covering her, the bed creaking, but her mother bending over to kiss her, whispering, "Goodnight, baby girl." before walking away. Wanda saw her too.
"That was your mother? She was very kind." Wanda said quietly.
Some things could never ever be replaced- some things were left behind, boxes of memories in one's mind, the life gone, but the photos are still there, smiling faces, happy times past.
All like ghosts, flittering around in Grace's mind, and in Wanda's, too. Wanda took her back to a memory of her and Pietro's parents also tucking them in at night, speaking in a language that Grace did not understand, but she understood its meanings. The Maximoffs had loved their children very much, that much she knew.
"Goodnight, Wanda." Grace said.
"Goodnight, Grace."
.......
Morning came, and with it came startling news:
The girls were awake around 7AM, got dressed for the day, and went into the kitchen. There, Steve was waiting for them, along with Stark and Romanoff. On the TV in the living room, the news channel was on. Grace hated the news channel, hated how dark and bleak and hopeless it could make everything seem- sensationalist, even, but now, it had her full attention. The reporter was talking about her friend Wanda, how everything that had happened in Nigeria was her fault and Captain Roger's faults.
"There are going to have to be some changes," Tony was saying. "We need to have a meeting, and Ross is calling it. Said something about the United Nations or something like that. It's very, very serious."
"What's wrong now?" Steve asked, his arms crossed.
"Oh nothing, just, well, everything." Tony said, half-sarcastically.
"I'm thinking that sarcasm is your second language, Stark." Grace said.
"Damn well right it is." Tony said.
..........
"I-I'm being charged of what?" Grace said.
"Involvement with the deaths of the Wakandans who were on that outreach in Nigeria. Unlucky you, apparently you were involved, whether there is proof or not. You have to be present when the Sokovia Accords are signed in Vienna in three days. After that, the Wakandan King will decide what to do with you and Wanda, and the US government will decide what do about the rest of us."
"But I'm an American citizen! This can't be happening to me- I didn't kill anyone!"
"That doesn't matter." Tony said. "Frankly, I don't even know if that is really King T'Chaka's motive, but we're gonna find out in 72 hours, so pack your bags. Dunno how many of us will be coming back."
"Oh, so it's that serious, Stark? These girls are just going to pack their things up like carpetbag orphans? Don't talk like that." Steve said.
"I'm just following orders, just as you should be, Cap." Tony retorted sharply.
"Well, that's a first." Steve countered.
"C'mon, Wanda, let's go," Grace said.
"Wait, wait," Tony said, like he had something really important to say.
"I'm not an entirely heartless monster. Breakfast before packing- hope you kids like Eggos and green juice."
"It's been years since I had those, Tony, so thanks." Grace said. Frozen waffles and whatever mystery health juice Tony had in the blender were sitting on the counter. Even Stark had his moments of fatherliness, or bullying-but-affectionate-older brother kind of vibes. The Avengers were the only family she knew.
If she was to leave this behind, Grace thought, she was surely going to miss it terribly.