The rest of their time in Wakanda was spent with Wanda and Claire glued to computers and their phones as they searched for the perfect place for them (within their price range). Tony offered to pay for whatever apartment they wanted as a peace offering and apology for what happened in Germany and the Raft, and though the two women were still wary of Tony Stark, they appreciated the offer but ultimately declined.
Eventually they found a good enough place—after Wanda had the brilliant idea of searching for available apartments in the same complex that Jemma lived—in Manhattan. They were excited to move in, especially when they learned that Jemma kept paying the rent on her old apartment, so they would still be together, just not as close. Wanda felt a little guilty about leaving Jemma all alone in that big apartment, knowing that sometimes the memories of her and Lily living there could become too much for her, but Jemma assured her—many times—that she was fine and would be fine on her own. Wanda only let the subject go because she figured that if anything happened, she and Claire were close by and could go see her.
The first few weeks after they moved in were by far the hardest for them. Surprisingly, neither of them considered that the apartment was unfurnished and that furniture (and literally anything else they needed like toiletries and food) was even more expensive when you rent an apartment in New York. Jemma was gracious enough to let the two of them crash in her apartment while they both got jobs to pay for furniture, and to help make up for the fact that they were eating her food, Wanda would often cook the meals for them when she got off from her job at a local grocery store.
Between the both of them working, they were slowly making the money they needed to furnish their apartment. Within a few months, they had a bed, two bedside tables, a small couch, dishes and silverware, a microwave, a less than decent coffee machine that Wanda was wary of using (Claire found it sitting out on the street with a sign that read, "take me" and decided to bring it home), and a stocked pantry of minute-ready meals.
Wanda was glad that their apartment wasn't as big as the one she shared with Jemma, this one was cozy with just the two of them, and it was less space to fill with furniture. At night, when both of them were home from work and after they ate dinner, they would curl up on the couch together with Wanda's laptop that she found in Jemma's apartment and watch either reruns of The Office, Friends, or a dumb romantic comedy.
Unlike Wanda, Claire got a job in an office working as a secretary/assistant to the higher-ups, and she hated it. She hated how she had to get dressed up in clothes that weren't jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket. She hated that she had to put make-up on every day to "look presentable" and how she had to use it to cover her scar. She hated how almost everyone in the office took advantage of her and showed her no mercy when they needed something done, not caring that she was already in the middle of another task. She hated that she was never really listened to because of her work status; but the one thing that she hated more than all of those things combined was one of the managers, Brad Matthews. No doubt Brad was the child of a well-off asshole who owned the company and employed him to get him out of the house and some "work-place experience". She hated everything about him, from his greasy slicked back brown hair to his cocky grin. His whole aura practically screamed "I was a frat boy in the alpha house in college".
Because he was only a co-manager, he wasn't in the office every day, but he was there much more than Claire would've liked. Brad was one of those guys who was way too narcissistic and tried to make everyone get onto their level. He was a slacker who diverted his work to lower people like Claire and then took the credit when it was completed, and whenever he was in the office, he openly flirted with all the female employees, Claire included. And for some reason that Claire could only think of it as the fates messing with her, Brad paid particular attention to her.
Whenever he was there and saw her, he would drop whatever he was doing and stop any conversation he was in the middle of and run over to her and start flirting with her, trying to use his "charm" to make her fall for him. And every day, Claire bit her tongue and plastered on a fake smile and politely decline any offer of a date or hook-up that he threw her way; she didn't need to get fired. The thing that she hated most about him was his complete lack of understanding for "no means no".
"Hey, Claire. How's it going?" Claire internally groaned at the sound of Brad's voice behind her. She put on her fake smile and turned towards him.
"I'm fine, Mr. Matthews. Can I help you with something?" Her voice was strained as she suppressed the snarl that vibrated in her chest. Brad flashed her his signature cocky grin and stepped forward, closing the distance between them, causing Claire to take a step back into the wall.
"Hell yeah, you can help me with something." He lifted his hands that held several manila folders and handed them to her. "I need you fill out the rest of the paperwork for the Johnson account. Some dumbass screwed up their order, so we gotta redo everything. Have them on my desk when you're done." He then walked away, leaving Claire with bitter thoughts racing through her head.
She sighed and took the folders to her designated work station and began getting to work. As she read through the reports and documents that had the mistakes, she could only think of how Brad was definitely the one who screwed up the order since he couldn't pay attention to anything of importance for more than two seconds. She did the best she could to right the wrongs that had been made, and when she was done, she returned the folders to Brad's office and left before he could talk to her again.
"Hey, Claire, wait." Her plan failed and a small audible groan left her lips. She turned to face him. She had only been at work for a few hours, finishing half of her shift and she was already exhausted. "So, I know you get off in a couple more hours, and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out and get some dinner and hang out at my place." His cocky grin told her exactly what "hang out at my place" meant, and it took everything in her to not throw up her lunch. He wiggled his eyebrows at her, hoping to convince her to say yes, but she once again smiled and declined.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Matthews, but I need to run out after my shift. I have to get home to take care of my sick and elderly grandmother," she lied, but his grin didn't let up.
"How about tomorrow night? I know you have off tomorrow; I could skip out and we can get some food and catch a movie? And then if things go right..." he winked at her.
"I'm sorry, but I have plans." Claire didn't let him respond, walking out of his office and back to her area to finish her work so she could clock out.
○○○
Claire sighed in relief as she walked out of the building at the end of her shift without another interaction with Brad. She walked to the corner and down into the subway and walked the short distance to get to the right train that she needed to take to home. She groaned when she got on the train and sat in the hard plastic seat, pressing her hand against her forehead and closing her eyes, hoping to ease the pounding headache she had. She was stressed and aggravated and in addition to this, her wolf screamed to get out and to claw Brad's fucking face off. All she wanted to do now was go home to Wanda, eat dinner because she was starving, and drink a fucking river's worth of alcohol.
After fifteen minutes on the train, Clair got off at her stop and walked up the steps, stepping back out into the cool night air. She walked the three blocks to the apartment building and then stepped into the elevator, pushing the "7" button. The doors closed and the elevator shook a little as it rose, which should've alarmed Claire more than it did, but at this point...she didn't care. She got off on the seventh floor when the metal doors opened for her and walked down the hall towards Jemma's apartment.
Every day, before going home to her apartment, Claire would stop by Jemma's, letting the older woman know that she was home and safe and to check on Jemma. Claire stood at the closed door and raised her fist, knocking on the door. She could hear the quiet shuffling of Jemma walking to the door, and then it opened, revealing Jemma's happy face.
"I'm home," Claire mumbled. Jemma laughed and hugged her, being careful to not get the face cream that she had on onto Claire. They pulled out of the hug and Jemma stepped out of the way to allow Claire to come in before closing the door. Claire immediately walked over to the island and sat down on one of the stools, hand pressed against her head again. She smiled a little at the feeling of something nudging her foot, and she looked down at Griffon before picking him up and giving him and kiss on his furry cheek. He curled up into a ball on her lap and she stroked his fur, trying to calm down and forget her day. Jemma walked out of the room briefly before coming back with an ibuprofen and a bottle of water. She placed them on the counter next to Claire, who mouthed a thank you and put Griffon back on the floor. Claire popped the aspirin in her mouth and took a long sip of her water and sighed.
"How was work?" Jemma asked after giving her a minute. She knew how much Claire hated her job, and she felt bad for her. Claire scoffed and took another sip.
"About as fucked up as it is every day. You got anything stronger?" Jemma chuckled and walked over to the fridge and pulled out a beer and handed it to her. Claire thanked her and opened it, taking a sip. "That's much better."
Claire slowly drank her beer, being wary of the fact that the buzz could hit her a little faster since she hadn't eaten anything yet and continued talking to Jemma.
"Wanda's not here is she?" Since Claire got off much later than Wanda, Wanda would sometimes spend the time in Jemma's apartment, giving them both company. Claire felt bad that Wanda felt a tad lonely when she wasn't there and only cursed her job for making her stay so late. If only they didn't pay so well.
"No, I think she's at home. She stopped by earlier though." Claire nodded. "Claire, I think you should talk to Wanda about your job."
"Why?" Claire asked, finishing her beer. She never really expressed her hatred for her job to Wanda, not with the intent on keeping her in the dark, but because she didn't want her to worry. She knew that Wanda had her own struggles with her job and that when Claire came home, she could sense that it had been a bad day, and she didn't want to add any more problems.
"Because Claire, she needs to know how unhappy you are."
"She knows I'm unhappy working there."
"She doesn't know how unhappy you are," Jemma said, her voice full of concern. She turned her eyes to the empty beer bottle. "Do you drink around her?"
Claire sighed. She didn't drink a lot, mostly because she found that she didn't like the taste as much as she thought she would.
"Jemma, there's no issue with my drinking. You know I don't like it that much, and I only really drink wine some nights with Wanda. Me drinking a beer right now, has nothing to do with my lack of happiness with my job. It has to do with the fuck that my supervisor is a fucking idiot who does nothing but flirt with me every chance he gets." She raised the bottle to her lips again, frowning when she remembered that it was empty. Jemma sighed.
"I didn't mean to imply that you had a drinking problem. I just...be careful okay? Talk to Wanda; part of the reason why you're so stressed and aggravated is that you have no outlet. You're letting everything become bottled up, and you have nowhere to dispose of it, and on top of that, you can't shift into your wolf. Believe me, Claire, talking helps. She's not gonna get angry or frustrated when you want to rant to her, though she might be a little upset that you kept this from her. She wants to help you, to make sure you're alright because she knows you're not. She's sense the change in you, and she just wants you to let her in." Jemma placed a hand on her shoulder and used her free hand to wipe away Claire's stray tear from her cheek. She knew that Jemma was right, since she always was. She stood up from the stool, thanked Jemma for the beer and the talk, pet Griffon once more, and left, heading to her apartment.
Since her apartment was only two floors below Jemma's Claire didn't feel like waiting for the elevator and took the stairs instead. She walked down the empty staircase, fishing her keys out from her bag, and when she got onto her floor and to the door of her apartment, she put the key into it and stepped in. The delicious scent of a homecooked meal hung heavily in the air making Claire's mouth water. Wanda was an amazing cook, though she didn't think so which made Claire upset. She walked further into the apartment and closed the door behind her.
Walking into the kitchen, Claire smiled at the sight of Wanda cooking on the stove and humming to herself. All the frustration that she had collected from her shitty day at work melted away when she heard Wanda mumble the words to what she guessed was a lullaby in Sokovian. Claire dropped her bag onto one of the chairs at the table and walked over towards Wanda. Reaching her, she wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her tightly, and kissed her neck and her cheek. Wanda stopped singing and giggled as Claire mumbled how much she loved her while she peppered her skin with kisses.
"Hey, you," Wanda greeted as she turned in Claire's arms and kissed her before turning back to the stove. "How was work?" Claire sighed and pressed her head into Wanda's back, right between her shoulder blades. Wanda placed a hand on top of Claire's, understanding that that sigh was an answer all its own. "I'm sorry, baby. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Later," Claire mumbled, still nursing her headache. "Are you making paprikash?" Wanda hummed a yes and Claire placed another kiss against her neck.
"You came home at the right time; it's almost done."
"Thank God! I'm starving," Claire said as she stepped away from Wanda and opened a cupboard, grabbing two bowls and placed them on the table. When it was done, Wanda dished it out and grabbed a wine glass and a bottle of wine.
"Do you want some?" she asked, offering some to Claire.
"I shouldn't. I had a beer when I stopped by Jemma's."
"You had a beer? Work must've been something," Wanda said chuckling a little, though deep down she was worried. She knew of Claire's distaste for alcohol and how she really only tolerated wine. Claire snorted and moved to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water.
"You have no idea." They both sat down and started eating their dinner and Claire not exaggerating about how hungry she was, scarfed down her first few helpings.
"Slow down before you choke," Wanda warned, giggling at the goofy look of a semi-frightened Claire with her mouth full of food. She swallowed the food in her mouth and ate slower to appease Wanda. She moaned in delight as the spicy taste hit her tongue and exploded in flavor.
"Oh my God, Wanda, this is so good," Claire said as she helped herself to yet another serving. Wanda smiled and her face turned a light pink.
"Did you eat at all today?" Wanda asked as she took notice of how much Claire was eating in one sitting.
"No. I had to work through my lunchbreak and I couldn't grab anything for breakfast because I accidentally overslept." Claire looked over at Wanda with a smirk and wiggled her eyebrows. Wanda coughed on her food as she became flushed.
"This morning was not my fault. I said you were going to be late, but you ignored me." Claire laughed at Wanda's scarlet face, digging into her food.
"And I have no regrets," Claire said as she stopped eating and reached over, laying her hand on top of Wanda's.
○○○
"Claire?" Wanda asked, rolling over in their bed and laying her head on Claire's shoulder. "Are you asleep?" Claire stretched and shifted a bit, letting out a tired groan.
"Not anymore," she mumbled, keeping her eyes closed. She loved Wanda, but right now she loved sleep. Wanda bit her lip, debating if now was a good time to ask Claire about her job or if she should wait. She wanted to know more than the usual grumblings that Claire gave when she asked, but Claire never wanted to get into it. It was now or never. "What's wrong?"
"Tell me about your job," Wanda asked and Claire groaned.
"Wanda, you know about my job."
"I want to know more. I know there's stuff you're not telling me, stuff that bothers you, and I want to know why." Wanda rolled over onto her stomach, her elbows holding her up, and looked at Claire's sleepy face. Claire groaned some more, knowing that she was up for the night and blinked a few times to clear the sleep away.
"If we're gonna talk about this now, I need a cup of coffee," she said as she turned on the lamp on her table, flooding the room with light, and got out of bed, heading into the kitchen to make herself some coffee. She returned a few minutes later with a steaming cup. The scent filled the air, and part of Wanda wanted a cup, but she didn't trust the coffee maker since it practically came from the trash.
"I don't know how you can use that thing," Wanda said, scrunching up her face in disgust. Claire chuckled at her, still tired and took a sip.
"Obviously I washed it, Wanda. It's fine. Look, I'm not dead yet," Claire said as she placed the mug on her table and gestured to herself. She got back in bed, pulled the covers over her, and laid back against the headboard. Wanda sat up a bit and laid in Claire's open arm, resting her head on her shoulder. "What do you want to know?"
"How is work?" Claire opened her mouth, but Wanda stopped her. "And before you give me the usual answer, tell me how it really is." Claire sighed and remembered what Jemma said. Talking helps.
"Honestly, Wanda? It's shit. I hate working there. Every day I go in expecting to have a shit day, and somehow I'm let down by how shitty it actually was. I...can feel my wolf clawing at my mind to rip some fucking heads off, but...Everything about that place pisses me the fuck off. No one has any respect for anyone, especially the female workers, and when I'm trying to get my own work done, some lazy son of bitch saunters over to my desk demanding that I do their work." Claire growled, her eyes changing to a light lavender. She started breathing heavy and her voice deepened. She gently pushed Wanda away from her and got out of the bad and paced the floor, trying to calm down, but she had opened the bottle, and now she couldn't close it.
"And don't even get me started on my supervisor, who happens to be one of the managers. The guy's a fucking clueless blowhard who can't understand that no means no. He treats the whole fucking office like it's some sleezy nightclub and constantly flirts with all the female employees, particularly me." She looked over at Wanda, still seething. "You know he once had the audacity to try to touch me? Yeah. I was sitting in on a meeting, taking notes, and this fucking asshole tried to put his hand on my knee. I just...I don't understand why he can't take a fucking clue. He keeps asking me to go out with him, and I have—repeatedly—told him that I'm a) not interested and b) in a relationship with a woman, and he still doesn't get it. I tried to report him to HR, but apparently he's the son of someone in corporate who just happens to own the fucking thing, which of fucking course—"
"Claire!" Wanda shouted at her, effectively stopping her angry rant. Claire looked over at her, breathing heavily and stopped pacing. "Take a breath. You're going to pass out or shift."
Claire looked down at her hands and saw that the transformation had started as her claws had extended and her hands turned into her large black paws. Claire whimpered and ran into the connecting bathroom and stared at her eyes in the reflection. She gasped when she saw how much they were glowing. It reminded her of the time she accidentally shifted in the motel bathroom. Stumbling back out, Claire fell to the floor and tried desperately to calm herself down, but the panic only exacerbated the change. Wanda hopped off the bed and sped to her side at seeing her distressed. She tried to grab Claire's hands to help comfort her, but Claire pulled away, fear in her eyes.
"Wanda, stay away. I don't want to hurt you," she lightly pushed Wanda away from her and backed up into the wall. Wanda crawled over to her slowly, hand outstretched and shushed her, speaking gentle words to her in Sokovian. Claire stopped freaking out and looked at Wanda, listening to her, watching her as she got closer.
When Wanda was as close as she could get, she once again moved her hands onto Claire's. She didn't pull away like the first time, and her claws retracted at Wanda's touch. Claire let out a scared whimper as the fear of hurting Wanda flooded through her. Wanda gently ran her fingers over the soft skin of the pads on her paws, tracing delicate and soothing patterns. She moved her eyes up and looked into Claire's fearful ones and gave her a small smile.
Claire had long made peace with her wolf and the two of them, for the most part, were on the same page. But there were times when the severity of her wolf's primal nature terrified her, and it usually came about when Claire was losing the battle for control, in which her panic only sped up the change. Wanda knew this—along with a chosen few which included Bucky, Jemma, and Natasha—and had practically perfected the easiest way to calm her and her wolf down.
She adopted the Avengers' "lullaby method" that they used on Bruce whenever he "Hulked out", and simply adapted it to what calmed Claire down, which consisted of Wanda physically touching her.
So, she continued tracing on the pads of Claire's paws, trailing her fingers down to her wrists and up to the tips of her little toes. Claire slowed down her breathing at the soothing touch and breathed deeply. Before long, her paws transformed back into Claire's hands and Wanda moved her touch up her arm. When Claire wasn't as skittish, Wanda slowly moved to sit in her lap. She moved her hands over her shoulders and massaged them, working out the tense knots. Claire groaned and wrapped her arms around her back, burying her face into Wanda's hair.
After several minutes, Claire was completely calm and her eyes had returned to their normal color. She continued to sit on the floor, holing Wanda against her, sobbing. She always hated it when she allowed herself to get so worked up that she either almost shifts accidentally, or does it, resulting in her wolf taking full control and Claire blacking out with no memory of what happened. That hatred only grew deeper after she met Wanda and they started dating because she then began to fear for her safety.
Wanda held her tightly as she cried into her shoulder, rubbing her back and speaking to her in Sokovian.
"It's okay, љубав (love). Волим те. Сте безбедни. У реду је (I love you. You're safe. It's okay)," Wanda cooed in her ear, placing a kiss on her head. Claire picked her head up and looked at Wanda, anger filling her.
"I'm a monster," Claire growled as her paws reappeared and moved to her face, trying to claw at the skin. Wanda's hands flew up and grasped her paws, trying to pull them away from her face.
"Yes, this one is ready." Claire gasped and growled as Strucker's voice popped up in her head.
"Shock her again. And don't stop until you have results."
"You are nothing. Worthless. You are an instrument made to bring forth HYDRA's vision, nothing more."
"Again! You're holding back! Unleash the beast."
"Make sure to lock it up tight. We don't want it getting out."
"Show no mercy!"
Claire suddenly stood up from the floor, knocking Wanda off her and stumbled around the room. Black fur sprouted in patches on her skin and her hands grasped her face. She growled in pain and roared in anger as she fought the change though her wolf clashed against her for dominance. If Wanda hadn't been in the room, her wolf would've won, but Claire was determined to not shift in front of Wanda. Her clothes ripped as her forearms changed into the arms of her wolf. Her bones painfully broke and repositioned themselves, changing from her wolf structure to her human one, confused as to what to do, leaving Claire in immense pain.
Wanda sat against the wall frozen, half from fear and half from having no idea how to help her now. Claire always warned Wanda that if she was ever shifting—accidental or otherwise—to stay out of the way. Frantic, she looked over at Claire's bedside table. She crawled over to it and opened the drawer, praying that Claire had something in there to help her. Her prayers were answered when she pulled out a small glass bottle and an individually packaged syringe. Reading the label, Wanda understood that it was a sedative, and remembered Claire once telling her that she kept it in case she lost control. Wanda gulped and opened the package, taking the syringe out, pierced the needle through the lid of the sedative, and once it was full, stood up and slowly advanced towards Claire's struggling body.
She was once again on the floor, twitching and writhing in pain as she continued to fight. She looked up at Wanda's stalking figure, and seeing the syringe, her eyes held a pleading look. Tears formed in Wanda's eyes as she knelt down in front of Claire's face. She lightly caressed her furry cheek and whispered an apology as she pierced her skin with the syringe, pushing down on it to expel the sedative into Claire's body. Within moments, Claire's groaning ceased and was replaced with a small whimper and whines. Claire's body shifted back and she slipped from consciousness. Wanda leaned her head against Claire's sleeping body and cried, her body shaking from fear.
She wasn't afraid of Claire or herwolf—something that Claire was grateful for—but sometimes the things her wolfdid scared her. And watching her wolf tear Claire apart for dominance, thatscared her the most. Wanda curled up on the floor against her and willedherself to go to sleep. She would call out of work tomorrow and spend the daywith Claire, making sure that she was calm and relaxed.