The motel room smelled like take out. After the team was sure that things had calmed down between Jemma and Claire, Natasha and Steve ventured out into the town of San Pedro looking for something for dinner. They returned to the motel with three different pizzas, some burgers, a couple small orders of fries, some bags of various snacks, and a couple litters of soda. They split the food up, each room taking their share, and they all spent the rest of the night relaxing and pigging out.
Claire and Wanda had pushed a small desk that sat against the far wall by the window over between the two beds, creating a table for them to place the food on. All tension evaporated as the three women sat together eating with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, laughing hard at a joke that was said.
"So, let me get this straight," Jemma said, bits of pizza falling out of her mouth, regardless of her covering her mouth with her free hand. "When you get angry, you turn into a giant dog?"
Claire leaned her face into her cup as she lurched forward a bit. A second later, she straightened her back and soda was running down the front of her face and her cheeks were bright red. Wanda shook and wheezed out a quiet laugh as she looked at Claire. Grabbing a napkin, Claire wiped her mouth and threw the now dirty napkin at Wanda's doubled over body.
"Actually, I don't turn into a dog, I turn into a wolf," she corrected. "And it's not just when I'm angry. I can control my wolf and can shift whenever I want, but this power is connected to my emotions, so when I get angry, the likelihood of me shifting is increased, mostly because I lose control and my wolf takes all the control."
"So, kinda like the Hulk?" Jemma asked putting the pizza down and wiping her hands.
"Yeah...like the Hulk." Claire's voice was low and her shoulders slumped. She'd heard that one before.
"So Claire, what's your story? How did you end up here?" Claire's hand froze, holding a handful of French fries inches from her open mouth. She put the fries down and shifted on the bed, moving her left foot out from under her and sitting on her right one, bringing the left on top. Wanda looked at Jemma and shook her head, her eyes big and soft. "I'm—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"No, it's fine," Claire interrupted, her voice strong. She inhaled a deep breath and let it out through her mouth. "I was kidnapped after going out with some friends one night when I lived with my family in Sokovia. I don't know what happened exactly, but when I woke up, I was chained in Strucker's base." Jemma's eyes widened and she looked at Wanda.
"Strucker, that's the guy that—"
"Yeah."
"My story is pretty much like Wanda's; Strucker experimented on me, trying to get me to 'unlock my full potential'," she raised her hands, holding up two fingers, and bent them twice, imitating air quotations. "I was there for a year before he brought in Wanda and her brother. They were my cellmates, and we talked to each other whenever Strucker wasn't around, though we never met until now. We were all friends, but when the Avengers stormed the base, they left me there to find my own way out. I did, and managed to escape back to the U.S., where I learned everything that happened." She paused, looking down on the bed, taking another deep breath.
"A couple of weeks later, Bucky found me after some guys were following my back to my apartment. He scared them off, and afterwards, I tracked him down, and we became friends until I moved in with him and followed him to Bucharest. That's when the whole 'Civil War' thing went down and me and Wanda were arrested in Germany, and she was once again my cellmate."
Wanda leaned her head on Claire's shoulder, playing with the many rings on her fingers. Jemma placed her plate on the desk and looked at the floor, biting the nail of her thumb. Claire reached over and grabbed the remote, turning on the TV and landing on the first channel that came on not bothering to focus on the show; it was only on to fill the growing silence.
A sudden knock on their door brought each woman out of their own thoughts, their heads turning to look at the closed door.
Jemma sighed and got off the bed. "I'll get it."
Opening the door, the three women saw the familiar red hair of Natasha standing on the other side. The ex-assassin was dressed in comfy pajama pants and a loose black t-shirt, while normal for the average person, it was out of character for the redhead. She peered into the room and waved at Wanda and Claire.
"Hey guys, do you mind if I hang out with you? Steve and Sam are in my room with Clint, and they're being normal annoying guys; especially Sam." Jemma giggled, her face turning a bright pink as Natasha leaned against the doorframe rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, you can come in, Nat," Wanda said from inside the room, a big smile plastered on her face and her pale cheeks the same shade of pink as Jemma's. Jemma stepped out of the way, letting Natasha into the room. The two women sprawled out across the bed, Jemma picking up her plate again, finishing her food. Natasha reached over and grabbed a bag of chips off the desk, shoveling a handful into her mouth.
"So, what exactly are the guys doing that's so annoying?" Wanda asked, looking over at Natasha and turning the TV down. Claire snorted and rolled her eyes; having spent the afternoon in the car with two of the three "men", she had an idea of what they were doing. Natasha laid her head in her hand.
"When I left they were in the middle of a 'my horse is bigger than your horse' discussion on how and why they're the strongest on the team, or something like that," Natasha shrugged and piled more chips into her mouth. "I don't know. I stopped paying attention when they said and I quote, 'I didn't count.'"
"Why don't you count?" Jemma asked, raising her eyebrow. Natasha just shrugged and tilted her head, giving the other women a smile.
"Because I can kick all their asses without even breaking a sweat, and they know it."
"Damn straight," Wanda said reaching over to give Natasha a high-five. Natasha smiled and reached over to meet her, returning the gesture.
"Whoop! Girl power!" Claire yelled as she stood up on the bed, pumping her fists in the air, but soon lost her balance when a pillow came crashing into her, causing her to fall on top of Wanda. Jemma's hands flew up and covered her mouth, her eyes wide and her body shaking as her cheeks returned to their rosy color. Natasha roared with laughter, tears falling from her green eyes as she fell back on the bed, pointing a finger at Claire and Wanda laying on top of each other.
Claire sat up, her body still laying across Wanda's and looked at her, her wide eyes. Wanda's own wide eyes met her, and her cheeks turned a bright pink at their close contact. Natasha noticed them and whistled, settling down from her laughing fit.
"Whoo! Would you get a look at the two lovebirds!" Claire scrambled off her as Wanda's cheeks burned a deeper red. She avoided Claire's eyes and looked down on the bed, tucking a piece of her freshly washed hair behind her ear and playing with her rings. Claire's back straightened as she scratched the back of her neck, also avoiding Wanda's eyes.
"Leave them alone, Nat," Jemma said slapping Natasha's arm with a small smile on her face.
"What? They're cute!"
"I don't know what you guys are talking about," Claire said playing with her hair, her face flushed. Wanda got off the bed and excused herself, walking into the bathroom. "There's nothing going on between me and Wanda; we're just friends." Jemma and Natasha looked at each other before agreeing with Claire. Wanda came out of the bathroom a minute later, the color in her face still evident.
Claire noticed how she changed since their close encounter. Wanda seemed more skittish; flinching whenever Claire moved beside her. Her actions were now hesitant and deliberate, not spontaneous as before. She avoided looking at Claire, only doing so when it was necessary, and when she did, she never met Claire's eyes. Claire knew that Natasha's comment made her uncomfortable, and she cursed the older woman for causing Wanda to clam up. Though they were still strangers, Claire prided herself on getting Wanda to open up about herself and her past, and now Wanda shut her out again.
○○○
The night fell faster than the four women realized, and Natasha had long gone back to her room, kicking out Sam and Steve. Jemma was the first to call it a night, turning out her light in the process. Wanda and Claire stayed up a while longer, having been used to the many sleepless nights that haunted them in their cells.
Wanda was the next one to fall asleep, though she didn't intend on it. She sat next to Claire, laying her head back on the headboard watching some lame late night comedy show, when her eyes started to droop. She fought against it, trying to stay up, until Claire telling her to go to sleep finally encouraged her to do so. She leaned down in the bed, nuzzling into the soft pillow, and pulled the blankets up to her face. It wasn't long before Claire heard the sound of her soft snoring and smiled.
It was after midnight when Claire turned the TV off and settled into the bed, figuring it was time for her to go to sleep. She laid flat on her back, her hands folded across her chest, her eyes pointed at the ceiling; she was accustomed to lying like this because of her little cot in her cell that was barely big enough for her to roll onto her side without her falling off. She stifled a yawn as her heavy eyelids fluttered but didn't stay closed. She sighed, sitting up in the bed and rubbed her tired face with her calloused hands. It was bad enough that she had grown accustomed to not sleeping in her cell, but it seemed a little insulting for this to be the time that her insomnia decided to play up.
Not wanting to wake Wanda, Claire tip-toed out of the bed and onto the little balcony next to where the desk had been hours before. Leaning against the railing, she let out a long and tired sigh as she rubbed her eyes and let out the yawn that tried to come out moments before. She folded her arms on top of the railing and leaned forward, laying her head across her arms. Her right hand dangled over the edge, her fingers fluttering as she traced in the air, following the pattern of the late night breeze.
She didn't want to be out there; it felt wrong, though she couldn't place her finger on why. She furrowed her brows and huffed; her life never used to be so complicated. Her body stiffened when she heard the sliding door open and a presence join her on the balcony. Jemma too leaned on the railing, looking at Claire with soft eyes.
"Everything okay?" she asked, her voice low, almost a whisper. Claire looked over at her, still keeping her head on her arms.
"Yeah, I guess I'm fine," she sighed.
"You guess? What's going on?"
"It's nothing really," Claire said lifting her head and looking straight. Jemma continued to look at her, waiting for her to continue. "It's just...Wanda."
"What about Wanda?"
"We...have this connection. I felt it when we were in Strucker's lab and I felt it again when we met in Germany, and lately...it seems as though it's getting...stronger. I don't understand what it is. It...draws me close to her; makes me want to protect her. I don't know," Claire put her head down, sighing loudly. Jemma smiled and rested her hand on Claire's shoulder.
"Maybe, this connection you feel has to do with you having...a crush on her?"
"I do not like Wanda."
"I'm not saying you do, but I'm just saying that maybe it's a possibility. I mean, it could explain a lot of what you told me." Claire groaned and sat on the ground, her back leaning against the railing of the balcony and her knees propped up holding up her arms. She threw her head into her arms, still groaning.
"I don't have feelings for Wanda. I don't even know if...I'm...into that," her muffled voice said. Jemma also moved to sit next to her.
"Into what, Claire?" she asked folding her hands in her lap.
"If I'm into...girls. I've never had a crush on anyone, so how would I know? How would I know if I'm gay?" Claire lifted her head and looked at Jemma, tears lining the rims of her eyes. "And what if I am gay? Let's say that I do have feelings for Wanda; what if she doesn't like me that way? What if she's not gay? I don't want to ruin what we have."
Jemma moved closer to Claire and enveloped her in a side hug, running her fingers through her curly red hair, smoothing her it down and playing with the ends; something that she would do whenever she held Wanda like this. Claire rested her head against Jemma's shoulder and played with the hem of her shirt.
"I denied who I was for a long time; until I met my wife Lily." Claire picked her head up and looked at Jemma, taking special interest in the newfound knowledge that Jemma was a lesbian. "I come from a very religious family, and for as long as I can remember, I was taught that being gay was a great offence to God. And as a kid who lived in fear of God and didn't really understand the concept of sexual orientation, I worried about becoming gay. In my teenage years, I greatly confused the idea of attraction with infatuation and the idea of being in a relationship, which landed me in a lot of trouble emotionally. No relationship I had with a guy lasted more than a few months because it never felt right." Jemma paused, taking a deep breath.
"It wasn't until I was 18 and at my senior prom when I had...an awakening, I guess. Maddy Harrow strolled into the venue in this red and black gown with a long slit going almost the whole way up her leg, her blonde hair was pinned up in some braid, and her plump lips were caked in red lipstick. To this day, I don't know what it was about her that made me feel that way, but ever since then, I considered myself a lesbian; and yet, it was still a few more years until I fully embraced it. Even after I knew, I still needed convincing, then I met Lily. Seeing her and being with her, I felt the same way I did when I saw Maddy Harrow in her red and black dress. It wasn't until I met Lily that I embraced who I was. My relationship with Lily was the best relationship I've ever been in. I think without her; I'd still be denying my sexuality and feeling ashamed for what I am."
Claire listened, feeling a little bit better though she still had questions. She still wasn't sure how she would know if such a thing was applicable to her, and if it was, she wasn't sure what to do with it.
"How did you know Lily felt the same about you?" Jemma laughed, snorting by accident.
"It wasn't hard; the day we met I was doing an interview of her—this was after the Battle of New York—and she was flirting with me the whole time, and after the interview, she asked out to dinner." Claire smiled at something so pure and chuckled, Jemma joining in. Jemma's face ached as her muscles tugged her lips upwards.
"Lily sounds really cool. I would like to meet her one day," Claire said, settling back down onto Jemma's shoulder. She felt Jemma stiffen under her as the atmosphere shifted, feeling heavy. She heard Jemma sniffle. The older woman fought against the lump forming in her throat and wiped her eyes, stopping the tears from forming. Claire remained quiet, knowing that she crossed some line, but didn't know what to say to make it better.
"She...uh, she died," Jemma said after a moment. "She died in Sokovia; against Ultron. She sacrificed herself to save Wanda from a falling building. That's actually how we met; Natasha called me in to talk Wanda through her depression."
"I'm sorry," Claire whispered reaching around and hugging Jemma to her. Jemma inhaled sharply, and while Claire couldn't see, she gave a little smile to the redhead.
"It's okay. I'm doing much better now, especially since Wanda came into my life."
"You really love her, don't you?"
"Of course. She's like a little sister to me. I'd do anything for her if it meant that she'd be happy." Claire smiled; she felt the same way. A yawn slipped through Claire's lips and her eyelids felt heavier than before. Jemma chuckled as Claire's breathing slowed and grew heavier. Jemma stood up from the ground and reached down, grabbing Claire's arm and hoisted her up. She wrapped the arm she was holding around her shoulders and moved her hands down to Claire's waist, steadying her.
Jemma then opened thesliding door and walked them both back into the motel room. Reaching her bed,she pulled the covers on Claire's side back and laid the sleeping girl onto it,placing her head gently on the pillow and straightening out her legs. Once shewas certain Claire was comfortable, Jemma grabbed the covers and lifted themover Claire's body, tucking her in. She tucked a small piece of hair behind herear and placed a gentle kiss on hers and Wanda's foreheads before walkingacross the room and getting back into her bed and falling asleep.