Bonding
Natasha shot up out of bed, gasping for breath, her sleep shirt sticking to her like glue. Natasha ran a hand through her moist hair, her heart pounding against her sternum. Ever since the battle against Ultron, when Wanda got into her head, she had been having recurring nightmares about Madame B. and the Red Room. She glanced over at the clock and sighed, seeing it was almost 3 AM. She knew she wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep, so she hopped out of bed and peeled her clothes off, throwing them into the hamper.
When Natasha finished showering, she threw on undergarments, an oversized black t-shirt (with the AC/DC logo) she had stolen from Tony that went down to the middle of her thighs, and a pair of black spandex underneath. She tied her wet hair up into a messy bun and padded softly down the hall to the elevator. FRIDAY greeted her quietly, asking where she wanted to go. “The kitchen, thanks.”
“Of course Miss Romanoff. Is there anything else I can assist you with?”
“I’m all set FRIDAY. And if Tony asks, you didn’t see me with this shirt.”
“Understood.”
With that, the elevator pinged softly, the doors smoothly sliding open and letting the redhead off. Natasha didn’t make a sound as she walked across the tiles, her stealth coming in handy as she didn’t want to wake anyone. They were constantly on missions, so being in the tower with beds that had comfortable mattresses was a luxury, as was sleep. It’s part of the reason Natasha was so cautious, along with the fact that it had been instilled in her very early on during her training at the Red Room. Natasha shuddered at the thought, grateful that the Red Room no longer existed and that Dreykov was dead, unable to torture and raise any more defenseless little girls to be master assassins.
Natasha reached the kitchen and found the stash of chocolate she had expertly kept secret from the other Avengers, especially Clint who liked to annoy her by eating her snacks. She grabbed a saucepan and filled it about halfway with milk, putting it to a temperature hot enough that it would heat up, but not enough for it to begin boiling. As that went on, she chopped up the chocolate and put it into a small bowl to microwave it. FRIDAY alerted her to the chocolate finishing in the microwave without having it beep so as not to disturb the other residents. Natasha took the chocolate out and stirred. Happy with the result (no clumps) she waited a few more minutes for the milk to finish, turned the stove off, then added the melted chocolate in, stirring as she poured bit by bit into the saucepan. She tasted a small spoon, smiling to herself at the creamy, smooth flavor. Natasha grabbed a mug with a Captain America shield—they had quite a few, courtesy of none other than Tony—and poured the hot chocolate in, topping it off with marshmallows.
Natasha sat at the stool at the counter and sipped at her drink, scrolling mindlessly through the different social media apps on the phone, reading the latest tabloids about the Avengers, including herself. Natasha always found amusement in the articles, even snorting to herself at the absolute absurdity of some. All of the articles were either about Tony and how long his thing with Pepper was going to last, or about herself. Supposedly she was in a relationship or sleeping with one of the other male Avengers.
Many of them suggested she and Steve had some kind of thing, and while they did become friends and have an understanding of one another, they were both interested in other people. Steve was, no doubt, head over heels for his best friend, Bucky Barnes. As for herself, she may or may not have a crush on a certain blonde hair, flying, shooting laser beams out of her hands, space traveler captain.
Before Natasha could delve deeper into her feelings about Carol Danvers, she sensed someone walking towards the kitchen. Natasha subtly reached for the knife she had left near her from cutting up the chocolate, relaxing a fraction of an inch when she saw who had interrupted her peace and quiet, also interrupting her time away from her suffocating thoughts. “Wanda,” Natasha greeted coolly.
Wanda shot Natasha a very weak smile before slumping down in the stool across from the redhead. “Natasha.”
Natasha still wasn’t sure about Wanda, so she had insisted the teenager greet her by her full name until she deemed Wanda reliable and trustworthy. Given what had happened during the events of Sokovia and the nightmares that followed, Natasha wasn’t keen on becoming chatty with the young woman anytime soon. “Why are you up at..?” Natasha trailed off, staring at the clock. “3:27.”
Wanda shrugged her shoulders, her leg bouncing up and down, avoiding Natasha’s piercing gaze. It only took Natasha a second to realize the nerves, the bags under her eyes, and the avoidance meant one thing: the teen was also having nightmares. The more Natasha thought about it, the more sense it made. Wanda’s brother had died, her home country was blown up into smithereens, not to mention being HYDRA’s captive and working alongside Ultron without all of the facts. Now, here she was living with the people who had convinced her to switch sides, all the while nobody had bothered to befriend the girl. Natasha sighed to herself and got up, grabbing another mug from the cabinet along the way. She poured some hot chocolate into the mug, stirring it to make sure it was smooth. “Marshmallows?”
Wanda looked up, clearly shocked Natasha was even acknowledging her, but she didn’t let it show in her response. “Please.”
Natasha threw a few in and wordlessly slid the mug over to Wanda before settling back onto the stool, sipping at her hot chocolate as she picked up where she had left off on her phone. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wanda pick the mug up and bring it to her lips, her eyes lighting up in delight. Natasha smirked to herself, though it disappeared as soon as it had come. The redhead could feel Wanda’s curiosity as she non-discreetly stared at Natasha. Natasha looked up, meeting her eyes. Wanda squeaked in surprise at being caught and ducked her head, her hair hiding her face as her cheeks turned as red as Natasha’s hair.
Natasha let her phone rest on the counter as she waited patiently for Wanda to meet her eyes. “Wanda, if you want to ask me something, just ask. I’m not going to bite.”
Wanda looked up at that, still blushing but determined to stare the ex-assassin in the eyes. “It’s just—” Wanda stopped herself from saying anything more and began playing with her necklace.
Natasha raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment, understanding that Wanda was just mustering up the courage to confess to whatever she wanted to confess to.
“I haven’t been able to sleep,” Wanda said, her shoulders slumping at the admission. She curled in on herself and brought the mug closer to her chest, unable or unwilling to look Natasha in the eyes.
“Nightmares?” Natasha asked, though the question was more for Wanda’s sake than hers, seeing as she already knew the answer.
Wanda didn’t respond verbally, just nodded her head slightly.
“How long?”
“I’ve always had them, but Pietro was always there to comfort me, and I to comfort him,” she said, tearing up at the thought of her dead brother. “Now, I’ve got nobody.”
Natasha tilted her head. “You have us.”
Wanda shook her head in disagreement. “Nobody has even bothered to talk to me since I’ve been here. Occasionally Steve or Clint will ask me how I’m doing, and Tony will sometimes crack a joke, but other than that, I’m invisible. They seem to follow your example of not talking to me.”
“My example?” Natasha asked, unable to keep the shock from coming through.
“Yes,” Wanda nodded. “You may not see it, but they respect and trust you. It probably has to do with the fact that Clint and Steve follow your lead as much as everyone else follows Steve’s.”
Natasha took another sip of her hot chocolate as she attempted to form a coherent sentence, her thoughts running amuck. “While that may be true, they don’t follow my example when it comes to you. You may have helped us defeat Ultron, but before you did so, you fucked with everyone’s minds. It’ll take time to earn their trust.”
Wanda nodded, taking Natasha’s advice to heart. “How do I do that?”
“Well, you could start by not hiding in your room every single day. Come down and eat meals with us, show them you’re willing to work on being their friend, someone they can rely on. We all have very shitty and fucked up trust issues.”
“Ok, I can do that,” Wanda said.
“I’ll tell you what, after breakfast tomorrow, why don’t you come down to the training room with me?”
Wanda looked at Natasha with disbelief written all over her face. “Really?”
Natasha nodded. “You can’t always rely on your powers. You should learn other ways to defend yourself, and other ways to attack your opponents.”
“I suppose, though I’ve never fought without them before,” Wanda said, biting her lip anxiously.
“That is the point of training,” Natasha smirked.
Wanda laughed a little. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” Natasha said, drinking the last of her hot chocolate.
“Are you leaving?”
Natasha was about to say yes, it’s almost 4, they should get some sleep, but instead, seeing Wanda’s pleading look, she shook her head. “I’m just grabbing another cup. I was going to head to the living room to watch some tv, you’re welcome to join me if you’d like.”
“Are you sure?” Wanda asked, trying not to sound too hopeful, but failing.
Natasha nodded. “Do you want some more?”
“Yes, please.”
Wanda used her powers to levitate her mug over to Natasha. The redhead shook her head in amusement but filled Wanda’s mug, adding a few more marshmallows than before. Wanda levitated her mug back to herself while Natasha filled the pan with water and soap, letting it soak.
“Come on,” Natasha said, leading the way to the living room, mug in her hands.
Wanda eagerly hopped off the stool and followed Natasha, hesitating as she saw Natasha had sat on the large couch big enough for three people.
“Well, are you just going to stand there or come sit down?”
Wanda scurried over to the opposite end of the couch Natasha was on, surprised when she saw Natasha throw a blanket over the two of them.
“Any suggestions?” Natasha asked as she was scrolling through the channels.
Wanda shook her head. Natasha continued scrolling until she saw Wanda’s eyes light up again. She shook her head, muttering to herself, as she clicked on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
“My father would bring home the DVD’s of comedies he couldn’t sell, and it was a tradition to sit down and watch them together,” Wanda whispered.
Natasha glanced over, the glow of the television illuminating Wanda’s face, including the tears that were starting to fall.
“Come here,” Natasha murmured, reaching over and gently guiding Wanda into her arms.
Wanda buried her face into Natasha’s chest, her tears falling at a faster rate until she was sobbing in Natasha’s arms, clutching the redhead tight. She cried for her parents, for Pietro, for her home country, for what HYDRA put her through.
“That’s it, just let it all out. I’m right here, Wanda,” Natasha whispered, holding back her own tears. Having Wanda in her arms like this reminded her of when she would hold Yelena the same way when she was upset about something.
Wanda continued to cry in Natasha’s arms for what felt like hours but was really only minutes. When she tried to move away out of sheer embarrassment, the ex-assassin’s arms tightened around her. Wanda glanced up at Natasha, and seeing the woman was focused on the television, Wanda allowed herself to relax, her head still on Natasha’s chest, the other woman’s heartbeat calming her.
“It’s ok to break down,” she heard Natasha whisper.
“I know,” was Wanda’s soft reply.
Natasha traced random, soothing patterns on Wanda’s shoulder, lulling the teenager into a trance. Her eyes were fluttering closed against her will, but she was just so comfortable, and for the first time in a long time, she felt so safe, that she gave in to the feeling, falling asleep right there in Natasha’s embrace.
Sensing the change in the girl, Natasha looked down to see Wanda fast asleep, still clutching her tightly. She continued to softly stroke Wanda’s arm, unable to fall asleep herself, but wanting to watch over the witch and protect her. Something about Wanda reminded Natasha of Yelena, and Natasha swore she would do everything in her power to protect Wanda to the best of her ability. Whether it be from her nightmares, a sworn enemy, or even herself, Natasha was going to be there, the way she wished she could have been for Yelena in the Red Room.