Chapter 1
"Nat, I know you don't exactly like her but," Steve started, trying to appear as understanding as possible, before getting interrumpted by the spy.
"Who told you that ?" she asked in her usual teasing voice, making sure her irritation would remain unnoticeable. She wouldn't let her negative feelings concerning the witch become visible. Staying unreadable had become an habit a long time ago, and she couldn't let go of something so familiar. Nevertheless, the Captain seemed to have a clear purpose, whereas Natasha wasn't currently in the appropriate mood for a little psychoanalysis – to be fair, she never was.
"It's obvious, you haven't been really welcoming," he replied while displaying a forgiving smile. He had seen that Wanda's powers had greatly affected her friend, but he probably didn't realise how much they had, especially on the long term. However, he didn't blame the redhead for keeping her distances, it was only fair.
The spy glared at him, crossing her arms while she threw another question in a tone that was supposed to come off as casual, "What do you want me to do ? Bring cookies to her room ?" Her remark brought an amused grin to Steve's face, because he was sure she didn't mean any harm. She would simply get easily defensive ; work reflex.
"Yes, you should do that to everyone. It wouldn't hurt," another voice which was headed toward the kitchen declared. It was Tony's, of course. The billionaire always had a snooty comment to add, especially when the conversation wasn't centered around him.
"Here he comes," Steve declared, seeming fakely annoyed by the man's attitude. As Tony returned back to his laboraty, some fruits gathered in his right hand, not forgetting to throw a kiss in the air directed to Steve, the latter turned back to Natasha, "Listen, we're a team. You can't let your personal business get in the way, we need to be sure we have each other's back."
"Rogers, I have done nothing to hurt your dear protege. I'm being perfectly professional with her training, I haven't even been blatantly mean to her, but if you think we will become best friends, you can keep dreaming," she spitefully finished before leaving the common area, quite frustrated at her friend's reproaches. She didn't like it when her abilities were questioned. Yes, Natasha hadn't been particuarly kind to the Sokovian, but why would she ? This woman was the reason she hadn't had a proper night of sleep in weeks.
Tony came back to the kitchen, a smug expression spreaded on his face, "Oh Cap, you really aren't great with the ladies." It seemed like not making fun of the war hero's social skills was physically impossible to him.
"Remind me where Pepper is again ?" a Steve who had been lost in his thoughts spoke out, almost immediately regretting his words. Pepper wasn't a subject to joke about, and he should stick to avoiding to bring up the complications their relationship had been facing.
But Tony appeared to be in a light mood and didn't take the offense, thankfully. "Wanna be grounded, laboratory rat ? Keep that up and I'll take your little shield and hide it," he threatened as the look in his eyes was nothing but sweet. He probably didn't even realize it, which was even more touching.
As the two men were staring at each other whilst slightly mocking each other, Natasha returned to the kitchen, holding an empty gourd. Steve turned his gaze to the woman, "Came here to apologise ?"
"I don't do apologies, I stand by what I said. You'll see after a good night of sleep," she replied as a challenging smile made its appearance on her face. It meant that she wasn't mad at her friend, or that, at least, she wouldn't snap at him again. Because she was mad, but not at him. He had a valid point, yet she wasn't willing to admit out loud that Wanda had truly fucked with her mind. After all the witch had seen, Natasha felt vulnerable whenever she would sense her presence, she couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand the idea that someone she barely knew held so many private information on her.
However, she didn't plan to broadcast hatred on the younger woman for the rest of her life, the redhead wasn't this bitter. She had simply decided to maintain a certain distance between them, as a way to protect herself from her own memories, which hadn't work at all. Anyway, Natasha didn't think that not being close to the witch affected her a lot. Indeed, after everything she knew about the spy, the latter merely assumed that Wanda wouldn't want to be near her. How could she ?