Chapter 10
The avengers were currently gathered outside, near the compound woods, in accordance with Steve and Natasha's orders. The sun was barely shining as it was hidden by dark clouds, threatening to bring a downpour.
Sam had assumed the meeting point remained a temporary spot by which they would go somewhere else, so he was simply wearing a white shirt. “Guys, are we really going to train here ? It's freezing,” he complained, knowing that he was speaking on behalf of Wanda and Steve as well, since they seemed chilly but didn't want to bother the plan.
“Train hard enough, and you won't feel so cold anymore,” Natasha answered in an almost sadistic tone, a playful smile plastered on her lips. It was quite fun to be in control and boss him around. As he didn't talk back, she breathed in some glacial air that she had missed, low temperatures had never bothered her. “Okay. First, we need to test Maximoff's hand to hand combat skills. Sam and I are going to attack her. Not too much,” she added, her voice sounding rather threatening whilst she stared right through Sam's eyes. “Steve will observe the fight and see what her weaknesses are.”
It was difficult for Wanda to not throw scarlet balls at her opponents, however, she remained as careful as possible, anytime she launched a punch. She knew Natasha was going easy on her, which was rare, but it was only because she was facing two assailants at once : it was new for her. As she quickly turned around, Wanda immediately noticed a punch from Sam coming closer to her stomach, which she tried to stop, but failed to. He had taken a lot of momentum, since he had been slightly carried away by adrenaline and had taken off before flying back in her direction, Tony had added some new fonctions to his wings. So their fist's collision felt pretty – really – violent.
Wanda witnessed her wrist turn into an odd position in disgust, but she didn't even have time to process it, as she felt a wave of intense pain crash over her body. A pain that caused her to let out a small scream. It was now taking a lot of energy to not let her magic explode off of her, so much she missed Natasha's insults thrown at her teammate who seemed completely shocked.
As soon as she collapsed on her weak knees, she sensed Natasha walking closer to her, and felt her worry invade her mind as well. The Sokovian didn't exactly enjoy it when she engendered this emotion in other people.
A thousand questions were overwhelming her train of thoughts, but the spy chose to only formulate one, “Can you move your wrist ?” Natasha felt instantly relieved to hear that her voice sounded even, she had already lost her calm when she had warned Sam that she would hurt him in his sleep.
Wanda was starting to feel dizzy from the pain, although she attempted to seem composed. Getting injured in front of them was a bit embarrassing, she would have to get used to it, since she was now an avenger. “It's fine,” she articulated as she tried to rotate her wrist, which earned a groan from her. It truly hurt, and she couldn't ignore it.
Natasha's brows furrowed while Sam kept apologising and asking what he could do to help. “Stop talking, Wilson, and bring her to the medical aisle,” she ordered, not wanting to be near the aching woman anymore. Something about this was extremely wrong, she didn't understand why she felt this upset, nor why she wanted to punch Sam more than she had ever did – and there had been lots of times. She had been so focused on trying not to harm Wanda that she hadn't paid enough attention to her other teammate. What was wrong with her, these days ? She usually had her eyes everywhere, her trained body ready to attack if something didn't go as planned.
“We're lucky Dr Cho is there to help Tony with a weird project,” the redhead casually stated as an attempt to gain back her impassiveness whilst the Falcon and Wanda left. She somehow felt relieved to no longer be able to see the Sokovian who was seriously injured, she couldn't stand the idea of Wanda being in pain, which was why it was easier to be away from her. It was easier to repress what she was feeling when the witch remained too far to be visible, as if she was only a nightmare, or worse, a fantasy.
When she turned her face toward Steve, she could only see a victorious expression, which caused her to rise her eyebrow. She wouldn't ask, he would explain what made him grin like an idiot.
“You're already getting protective of her,” Steve said, walking away from her before she could have a chance to contradict his affirmation.
Wanda had received the proper help, leaving her with a splint that avoided her from moving her still aching wrist. Showers remained a challenge, but other than that, everything was okay. Sam felt incredibly guilty, but thankfully, instead of constantly apologising, he had moved to another tactic : watching sitcoms while proceeding to explain the Sokovian how the incident was actually a part of a plan to witness how Natasha would react. She had laughed it off, pretending that she didn't regularly replay the fear in the spy's eyes when she heard her scream.
Unfortunately, their moment of peace was interrupted by two people who seemed overly serious. Steve remained clad in his suit, as well as the Black Widow. He placed his hands on a chair, the way he always did before explaining a mission's purpose. All sets of eyes on him, he spoke out, “A guy from the police I know requested our help. A huge robbing organisation has took politicians and civilians in hostage during a conference. We think they're trying to steal money from the biggest bank of Washington by going through the sewers.”
“A lot of people are in danger, we have to go as soon as possible. They're sending a negotiator in a few minutes but we all know how it goes,” Natasha declared in a harsh tone, making sure to share her negative opinion of the police. As she stared at Wanda who seemed very invested, she added, as if she could read her mind, “Of course, you're not going with us.”.
Wanda felt like the words had materially hit her, but she shouldn't have been surprised. She waited for Sam to head to his room and Steve to prepare the quinjet so that she could negotiate her inclusion in the mission. She knew her help would be valuable when it came to these kinds of dangerous tensed situations.
“I can come, my wrist is healed.” Silence. “And you could really use my help,” she added, referring to the moment Natasha was almost shot. It wasn't a good idea to provoke the spy, especially by implying she couldn't handle something on her own, Wanda fully realised it when the redhead replied to her.
“First of all, your wrist is far from healed, and if you break it again, there will be life-long consequences. Second of all, this isn't a game. If I – we – think you're not up to a mission, you don't get to disagree. And seriously ? It's not smart of you to brag in front of me to get what you want. I don't need help, and certainly not yours. Now rest, while we safely complete the mission.”
A normal person would have backed away, lowered her stare, but Wanda didn't care about angering the former assassin. She wanted to keep her mind busy, and staying home alone whilst the rest of the compound inhabitants were risking their lives would surely not be useful.
“I thought we were a team,” the Sokovian started, walking closer to Natasha as she slightly tilted her head, causing the redhead to take a step back. “And yet, you're trying to exclude me. I'm sure Steve believed I could come. Why are you getting in my way ?” Her accent had wrapped itself around the words she had thrown, and if Natasha hadn't felt so furious, she would have let her mind go where it desired to.
“You could die, Wanda,” she managed to put her appropriate thoughts into words, already sensing like she was gaining her composure back.
“And why do you care ?” Wanda asked, her voice sounded immensely provocative, which was unsettling. Her body was only centimeters apart from the Russian's, she could feel her shaky breathe.
“Because it's you,” Natasha finally admitted, no sweetness nor fondness lying in her cold green eyes. “Idiot,” she added, in Russian, as she pushed Wanda away from her, leaving the room to join her teammates on the quinjet who were waiting for her.