Within the following weeks, things went back to normal for the young couple. Claire went back to her job and by the end of the first week, handed in her two weeks' notice, deciding it was better for everyone and not just herself if she removed herself from Brad's person.
After hearing of her struggle to find a new job that paid well, Tony Stark made her an offer she couldn't refuse and asked her to work at Stark Industries. She tried to refuse his offer, doing her best to keep her dislike for Tony out of her decision-making, and even went to Wanda and Jemma for outside counsel and advice, but ultimately she accepted. Like her old job, she was only a secretary for Tony (which she was 90% sure that he made the position up just to take her) and in her free time took classes online provided by a local high school to help her work towards her GED. Though she never thought she'd say it, she missed being in school. She had missed so much while she was stuck being experimented on in Sokovia, and she was glad that she had the chance to return to some normalcy of her former life, regardless of the fact that she was a few years too late.
Wanda smiled at Claire as she sat at the other end of the table in front of her laptop with textbooks and notebooks sprawled out and open. Five different colored highlighters sat uncapped in different books and Claire chewed furiously on the cap of a blue pen as she tried to concentrate on her assignments. Wanda took a sip from her cup of tea and returned her attention to her own book and continued studying. Once they had settled into their apartment, Steve carefully reminded them that Wanda still wasn't a citizen and said that it would be in their best interest if she applied for citizenship.
The material wasn't particularly difficult for her to understand, but it was just...a lot. She wasn't yet eligible to apply for citizenship, but she figured she'd get a head start on the studying so when the time came, it would be easier for her to understand it. Claire was a big help and often helped her study and took time out of her schedule to practically homeschool her. Wanda never really had any formal schooling in Sokovia before her parents died, and after they did, she and Pietro lived on the streets. She knew basic math and grammar, but that was the limitations on her knowledge, but she prided herself on being "very street smart, resourceful in survival situations, and having above average common sense" (her words).
Claire let out a loud groan as she laid her head down dramatically on her open textbook. Wanda rolled her eyes, laughing at Claire. Every so often, Claire would "die of boredom" which screamed at Wanda to help stimulate her interests again to get her working. Claire was very smart—much smarter than she let on—and whenever she got bored with her work, Wanda would think that it was because it wasn't challenging enough for her.
"Wanda!" Claire said into her book, drawing out her name in an annoying whine.
"What is it, Claire?" Wanda asked, trying to continue studying.
"I'm bored." Wanda looked over at the other end of the table, meeting Claire's eyes and closed her book of U.S. history. She pointed the cover over towards her and raised a brow.
"Wanna trade?"
Claire groaned again, defeated and lifted her head and stared at her computer screen.
"It's so boring, Wanda! Help me!"
"What are you working on now?" Wanda asked. The book sat on the table and she got up and moved to the seat next to her, pulling her laptop over so she could read the screen.
"Stupid math."
"Claire, you're good at math," Wanda said looking over at her and back to the screen, studying the algebra equations. "You know this already. What's the problem?"
"That's the problem. I know all of this stuff already! Why do I have to learn it again?" Claire gestured to the books around her and rested her hand on her cheek and frowned. Wanda sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I know you're frustrated, baby, but just think; they wouldn't tell you to study it if they didn't think it was important. You need to know it, and there's nothing wrong with a refresher."
"It's not important, Wanda. It's redundant and unnecessary. Like listen to this problem: 3x+4=2x+6? Literally, when will I ever use this?"
"But you know how to solve that."
"It's not the point, Wanda," Claire whined again. Wanda laughed and stood up and walked behind Claire. She rested her hands on her shoulders and started rubbing them. "It's the fact that I won't need to know this in my life. There's no circumstance that I'll find myself in where I would need to know that the answer is x=2."
"Why don't you take a break for today? We can order pizza and watch a movie?" Wanda asked, laying her head on Claire's shoulder and pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.
"Yes, please!" Claire exclaimed jumping from her seat and closing out of her assignment and shutting down her laptop. Wanda giggled as she helped Claire close and gather her textbooks, notes, and highlighters and stack them up in a neat pile on the counter. Wanda's giggling grew louder when Claire quickly grabbed Wanda by the waist and placed sloppy kisses along her face and neck, ending at her lips. Wanda melted into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Claire's neck. Claire pulled away too quickly, much to Wanda's disliking, and ran into the kitchen, grabbing the menu for Marco's Pizza and dialing the number.
"What kind of pizza do you want?" she asked before she pressed the green button to make the call.
"Just get the usual," Wanda said. Claire nodded and made the call.
While Claire ordered the pizza, Wanda walked into their bedroom and grabbed a few pillows and Claire's weighted blanket that Bucky dropped over the week before and carried them into the living room and to the couch. By now they had an actual TV, courtesy of Jemma after she bought a new one, and while they liked snuggling on the couch, watching off Claire's laptop, they were so glad to finally have their own TV.
Wanda turned the TV on and searched through a pile of movies they had on DVD that they got from friends, flea markets, yard sales, and clearance racks, looking for something lighthearted and funny. Claire came over to her and helped her look through the different movies.
"What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking maybe a comedy. I'm kind of tired and don't really want to pay attention to something heavy," Wanda said. Claire nodded and discarded all the action and dramatic movies, and she smiled when her fingers grasped a favorite of hers: Ferris Bueller's Day Off. She cleared her throat and handed the box to Wanda, who smiled also and opened the box and put the DVD into the old VCR—which they also found at a flea market.
The pizza came about half an hour later, and the two spent the rest of the day eating and watching movies. When night fell, they turned off the TV and entered their room. Wanda walked over to their shared closet and took out her uniform and hung it up against the outside of the closet door so it would be ready for her tomorrow. As she took her uniform out, her hand brushed against the pocket of one of Claire's old hoodies and she frowned curiously when she felt the hardness of a small object. Hanging her uniform, she reached into the pocket and pulled out a small old flip-phone that was so out of date that it could only be considered a burner phone. She turned the small device in her hand, studying its purpose in relation to Claire.
Wanda assumed that since it was pushed into the pocket of a sweatshirt that Claire hadn't worn ever (since she met her), the redhead had completely forgotten about it. She held it up and turned to Claire who was lounging in the bed, ready to fall asleep.
"Hey, what's this?" Claire looked over and her eyes went wide as she catapulted out of the bed and grabbed the phone from Wanda's hand, studying it also.
"I haven't seen this in so long," Claire muttered to herself as she turned it on. It still had a full charge surprisingly. She opened her contacts and stared at the only name and number listed: Blackout. Wanda peeked over her shoulder and smirked.
"So who's Blackout? An old girlfriend, maybe?" Claire froze and looked at her. A light blush rose to her cheeks.
"N-no, she wasn't—we never—I only saw her once, a few years ago. I helped her with...an issue over in Hell's Kitchen. She's just a friend. If you can call her that."
"Have you been in touch with her since?"
"No. Almost immediately after I met her, all the shit with the Avengers and Bucky happened. I only had time to buy this and input her number into it. I gotta admit, I kinda forgot about her with everything happening. I wonder how she's doing."
Wanda placed a hand on Claire's shoulder and smiled.
"So, why don't you call her?" Claire snapped her head and looked at Wanda. She became flustered again and a light sweat broke out against her forehead.
"C-Call her? I-I-I can't call her! Are you insane? She probably doesn't even remember me. And besides, I don't want to make you feel weird and have you get jealous."
Wanda folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.
"When have I ever gotten jealous? And you don't know that she doesn't remember you and you won't know unless you call her." Claire stared back at the phone, debating her options. "What if she's been wanting you to call and waited all this time? Just call her Claire. What's the worst thing that could happen if you did?"
Claire didn't have an answer. Nothing terribly bad would happen if she called and Blackout didn't remember her, and if she was honest, she wouldn't blame her if she didn't. She did a very poor job keeping contact with her, and for that she felt guilty. What if she hurt Blackout's feelings by not calling? Despite her sometimes cold exterior, Claire was very sensitive when it came to the feelings of people she liked and was close to. She sighed and turned the phone off and placed it on her bedside table.
"I'll give her a call tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll have more confidence after some sleep."
Wanda smiled and gave her a kiss before the both of them got into bed, turned out the light, and went to sleep. Wanda fell asleep much faster and easier than Claire, who stayed awake a few hours agonizing over making this call. She didn't understand why it was stressing her out so much, but yet, here she was, laying awake at 4:00am thinking of all the possible things that could go wrong with calling her old vigilante friend.
"God, what the fuck is wrong with you? It's just a phone call! To say hi and catch up! It's not that deep! Stop being a fucking coward. You always do this; you always overreact and overthink everything. You've faced scarier things than making a phone call. Remember fucking Thanos? That guy was much scarier than this. Us almost dying was much scarier than this. Stop being a coward."
Claire sighed softly and shut her mental linkwith her wolf and rolled over, draping an arm over Wanda stomach. She watchedas Wanda let out a sleepy groan as her hand grabbed Claire's. She smiled andclosed her eyes, finally feeling sleep come to her.