It wasn't uncommon in the Barton household for someone to wake up for less than pleasant reasons. Nightmares plagued them all.
This night it was Wanda who woke with a gasp.
She sat up, clutching at her chest as she caught her breath.
"Wanda?" Pietro whispered from his bed in the other side of the room.
She winced, having hoped not to wake him.
At least she didn't think she'd projected her nightmare on him this time. That was easily the worst thing she could imagine. It was bad enough she still had nightmares about his near death experience. He didn't need to be subjected to them as well.
"Go back to sleep." she ordered once she could speak without her voice shaking.
She heard him huff as he got out of his bed, "Like that ever happens."
He climbed in bed with her, nudging at her until she moved and gave him room. Now that he was here, she could resist curling into his ready arms.
"Whatever it was, it's okay. I'm here, you're here. Clint and his family are all here and we're all safe." he chanted to her as he stroked her dark hair.
It had become their mantra in the last few months while they stayed with the Bartons.
They were here, they were safe.
Wanda sighed, leaning in to his grasp but not quite ready to close her eyes.
"We are aren't we?" She responded, still unable to believe it sometimes. That they'd made it out of Sokovia, found a family to welcome them, a place to call home.
Clint was a big part of that, and she'd never be able to thank him and Laura enough.
They'd gone from only having eachother to having two adults who didn't replace their parents, but who looked out for them in the way parents would. And best of all, to having having three younger siblings.
Wanda had a big soft spot for the baby, little Nathaniel Pietro, and spent hours a day rocking him. But Pietro? Pietro was wrapped around Lila's little pinky in a manner that resembled his devotion to her.
Pietro hummed, his nose nuzzling her hair.
"We got lucky," he murmured.
She nodded, her eyes finally fluttering shut. Images of her and Pietro dancing in her minds eye.
With their new family, with Clint and Laura, with Lila, Cooper and baby Nathaniel.
She projected the image to Pietro, and the twins drifted to sleep with smiles on their faces.
Neither noticed Lila peeking at them through the crack in the door.
"Uncle Pietro?"
Pietro rolled over, following the tug on his sleeve to a small figure by his bed.
Lila?
A rush of concern flooded him at the sight of Lila, shivering. He was wide awake in the course of seconds.
"Lila?" He whispered, not wanting to wake Wanda.
The female bartonette sniffled.
"I had a nightmare, Pietro." Her big brown eyes bore into him. Expectant.
As if he could somehow solve that.
For a moment he floundered, not sure how to respond to the trust she was placing in him. Her eyes seemed to just get bigger in the meantime, staring at him.
It was her lip wobbling that did him in.
He sighed, "Come here little one."
He sat up, lifting her from the floor and into his lap.
She curled under his chin, her hair tickling his neck. Her tiny hands clenched in his shirt, making his heart contract. Pietro wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head.
"We have to be quiet though, okay?" He whispered, "Wanda is still sleeping."
"Mmkay." She nodded, eager to be allowed to stay.
For a moment they were quiet as she trembled in his arms.
"Will you tell me a story?" She asked, her voice not as quiet as she thought it was.
It made him wince and look over towards Wanda. But she slept on.
He looked back down at the bundle in his arms, casting around for s story to tell her.
Glancing back at Wanda's form, he was struck with inspiration.
"Well, there were two siblings who suddenly found themselves all alone..."
Lila interrupted him, her head shaking vigorously. The movement sent her hair flying, whipping him in the face.
He spluttered, rearing back a little. She didn't notice.
"No, that's not how you start a story." She explained, in that patient voice he was coming to learning to expect from children.
Children explaining to adults what they thought should be obvious.
"You have to start with, 'once upon a time'" she insisted, tugging on his shirt for emphasis.
He felt safe enough rolling his eyes, secure in the knowledge she couldn't see it.
"Alright, alright." He agreed tugging the blankets so Lila was under the covers with him.
"Once upon a time two siblings found themselves alone. Just them against the world. A boy and a girl, with just each other to look after."
Pietro shouldn't have been surprised when she interrupted him again, but he was.
"What were their names Uncle Pietro?"
He cast around from some names, mind racing.
"Paul and Winona," he supplied, mentally wincing as sson as the words left his mouth.
Those were awful names, but the best he could do on the spot.
Lila didn't seem to care, bouncing a bit in his lap.
"What happened next?" She asked, her voice rising in excitement.
Pietro shushed her.
She settled, tucking her head back under his chin.
"I'll be quiet," she whispered, "But you gotta finish the story."
His lips twitched.
"Like I said, one day they were alone. With no mommy and daddy to look after them."
Lila made a wounded noise, but withheld from interrupting him again.
He continued, "But that was okay, because they could look after each other."
His eyes drifted to Wanda, but instead of seeing her current form he saw a vision of a younger Wanda.
About 8, curled in on herself. Her dark hair a halo as she slept on, forgetting her grief in her sleep.
"Winona was the smart one," he explained. "She came up with ways to get them shelter and food."
Lila murmured sleepily, drawing his attention back to her.
Looking down he watched her eyes flutter open and shut, fighting the urge to sleep.
"But Paul was the one who protected them, because her plans sometimes got them into trouble."
"Trouble?" She asked.
He smiled at the memories her question brought. Remembering the times he and Wanda fled down an alley. Someone shouting after them as they escaped with precious food.
"Oh they got into all kinds," he assured her, his voice giving away his amusement. "Just like you and Coop do."
She giggled, "But you and Wanda get us out of trouble. Who did that for Paul and Winona?"
The innocence of her question hit him in the gut, making him suck in a sharp breath.
He took a moment before he answered, keeping his tone light and upbeat.
"They did it for eachother. Paul was protective of his sister. He would do anything for her. Living on the streets the way they did, just reinforced that." He had to pause for a moment, pulling his mind out of the past. A lot of it wasn't pretty, not fit for a comforting bedtime story.
"Until years later, they met a man who took them under his wings." Pietro's voice cracked.
He cleared his throat, "He gave them a family to look after. One to look after them too. Like ours. And they lived happily ever after."
"Okay." She snuggled closer, finally losing the fight against sleep.
He slowly eased back to lying down, being careful not to jostle Lila anymore as he got comfortable.
For a moment he watched her sleep, memorizing her face. She was too adorable sometimes.
He never wanted to forget this moment.
He reached over, tucking her wayward strands of hair behind her tiny ear. She shifted, making him still.
But she wasn't waking, just moving closer to him.
With one last smile he curled more securely around her, following her into sleep.
On the other side of the room Wanda, too, smiled.