Reinforcements
NATASHA POV:
Dinner went over well and soon it was time for bed. Wanda had gone back to attaching herself to my side and I was waiting to see how that would go tonight. I needed to shower and I knew that in the past, it never went over well. I guess we would see soon though.
"Wanda, I have to take a shower baby. Can you get ready for bed and then I'll come straight back as soon as I'm done?" I asked, trying to gauge her reaction.
"I wanna stay with you," she whined, holding onto my arm.
"I know, I will shower quickly, I promise. But I haven't showered in a while and I'm starting to smell," I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
"I don't smell anything," she told me. "You smell fine, please," she whined again. I could tell that she was getting teary by her voice but I really did need to shower.
"Honey, you'll be okay, do you want me to get Sam?"
"No, I want you!" She turned in my arms so that she was hugging me from the front. I sighed but wrapped my arms around her, swaying slightly as we stood there to try to ease her mind. I had hoped that after the incident with Sam earlier, she would be more open to leaving me, but apparently not.
"I know, but I have to shower. Who would you like to sit with while I shower?" I asked, being gentle but also letting her know that she needed to stay by herself for a little bit. I didn't want her to get as attached as she did before. "You could sit with Sam or Steve. I bet I could even get Pepper or Tony down here if you want."
"No," she whined, holding on tighter. I heard her start to sniffle too which meant that the tears were coming. "I wanna stay with you, please mama." I had noticed that she had been calling me 'mama' a lot recently. I didn't mind in the slightest, it was just something that I had picked up on once I had gotten back from the mission. Before, she would only really call me 'mama' if she was stressed, upset, or when she had a nightmare, but lately, she would call me that in normal conversation as well. It warmed my heart each time, knowing that I finally got the chance to be a mother, something I never thought was going to be possible.
"You're going to be okay Wanda, I promise honey," I told her as I rubbed her back, shushing her gently. "Let's call Sam down here and you can talk to him again, okay?"
"No! I don't want him."
"Why not baby?"
"Because I don't want him to see me cry again, it's embarrassing."
"Oh honey, I bet he doesn't think anything of it. He's a therapist, he sees that kind of stuff a lot."
Wanda pulled away from me slightly to look at my face. "I really don't want him to see me like this." I didn't remind her that he had seen her earlier like this.
There were tears in her eyes but none of them had fallen yet. "I will see him for the other stuff but I don't want him to see me like this, it makes me feel like a baby. I also don't know him super well yet," she mumbled at the end and I nodded. I was happy to hear that she was willing to see him for therapy but I also understood her reasoning. It was true that she didn't know him super well, he was probably one of the ones who she knew the least on the team. She had only had minimal interactions with him so it made sense that she wasn't the most comfortable around him.
"Do you want Steve or Pepper instead?" I asked, knowing that she was more familiar with them.
"I want you," she returned to her previous whining, pulling herself back into my arms.
She didn't object to me calling one of them so I figured I'd try them first. "FRIDAY," I spoke, knowing full well that Wanda could hear me. "Are Steve or Pepper available right now?"
"Mr. Rogers is currently in his room and Ms. Potts is in boss' lab."
"Could you have one of them come up here?" I asked.
"Of course Agent Romanoff, I will notify them that you require their assistance."
"Thank you FRIDAY," I said, moving to the bed to hold Wanda until one of them got there. Wanda whined slightly but didn't say anything as I moved her to sit next to me, her upper body still holding onto me.
"Shh," I told her as I stroked her hair, trying to get her as calm as possible before I handed her off to Steve or Pepper for a few minutes.
A light knock sounded throughout the room. "Come in," I called out, rubbing Wanda's back when she whined.
Steve poked his head into the room. "Is everything okay?" he asked.
"I need someone to sit with Wanda while I shower," I explained and he understood the unspoken reason.
"No," Wanda whined, trying to crawl onto my lap.
I knew that there wasn't much that I could do to convince her to stay calm so I detached her from me slightly so that I could look at her as I told her, "I'll be back soon baby. You and Steve can hang out. You'll be okay, I promise."
I felt my heart clench as her face crumpled as she tried to climb back into my arms. I gently held her away from me though, letting Steve grab her before I headed out of the room to quickly take a shower.
"Mama!" I heard her cry for me as I closed the door behind me. I knew that Steve had her but I hated that I had to leave her again. I didn't want her to reform her separation anxiety to make it worse this time. I knew that she had already reformed the separation anxiety to a certain extent but I was hoping to prevent it from getting too bad.
I walked down the hall to my room, guilt filling my entire body. I wanted to go scoop Wanda up as I could still hear her crying from down the hall. I knew that Steve had her though and I continued to repeat that to myself as I climbed into the shower, letting the warm water fall over my body. I let it clean the gunshot wounds, hissing slightly as it ran over the infected wound. I should probably take some medication for that.
I showered in record time, quickly changing as I rushed back down the hall to Wanda. When I opened the door, Steve was pacing the room, holding Wanda in his arms. I was slightly surprised. I had expected them to be sitting on the bed but Wanda was resting her head on his shoulder as she cried, her arms wrapped around his neck while her legs wrapped around his waist. The sight made my heart melt.
She lifted her head as I walked in.
"Mama," she wailed and Steve set her down, letting her come to me. I held my arms open for her to collapse into, letting her sob into my shirt.
"It's okay baby, I'm back," I told her. I had only been gone for about 5 minutes but she was sobbing as if I had been gone for weeks. I moved us over to the bed, laying down so that she could lay slightly on top of me.
'Thank you,' I mouthed to Steve and he nodded, quietly leaving the room before closing the door behind him.
I patted Wanda's butt with one of my hands while the other one cradled her head. "Shh, you're okay baby," I told her, trying to get her to calm down. She gripped onto my shirt with one hand while her other hand rested on my shoulder.
Eventually, she calmed down, her eyes fluttering closed. I was kind of happy that she didn't argue with me about sleeping tonight. I had kind of wanted to talk to her after her meltdown but I didn't dare move in fear of waking her up so I let her fall asleep on my chest, continuing my ministrations of patting her butt to get her to sleep.
I went to grab my phone when I remembered the promise that I gave to Steve about trying to sleep. I knew what would happen if I didn't get a full night of sleep tonight and I wasn't itching to deal with Laura and Clint, so, with that thought in mind, I shifted slightly, letting Wanda stay sprawled over my chest, as I closed my eyes, drifting to sleep.
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o
A scream tore through the room. I immediately woke up, looking for danger. Wanda hadn't moved from my arms so she had screamed near my ear, making it louder than normal.
"Baby, you have to wake up," I told her, sitting up with her to try to wake her up. "C'mon Wanda, it's just a dream," I told her, shaking her slightly. I stole a quick glance at the clock and internally groaned when I realized that we had only been asleep for about 2 hours. Somehow, I was more tired now than I was before I had gone to sleep.
"Wanda," I tried again, bouncing her slightly in an attempt to get her to wake up. She hadn't screamed again but she was whimpering as her face was scrunched up in what looked like pain.
"Baby, wake up, c'mon sweetie," I tried, shaking her again.
Finally, her eyes shot open as her entire body went rigid. She almost immediately burst into tears as she tried to curl in on herself.
"Honey, shh, I'm right here, you're okay."
"Mama?" she questioned as she turned to face me. She hadn't noticed me before but now that she did, she leaned into my arms. We were already relatively close, her sitting in front of me, so she was able to just slump into my arms, me wrapping my arms around her as she sobbed.
"Shh," I told her, rocking her back and forth. "Mama's got you, you're okay."
She took gasping breaths as she cried, her tears soaking through my shirt.
"I've got you honey, deep breaths." I had to blink heavily a few times to keep myself awake. I was absolutely exhausted and for some reason, I was only just realizing it now. It made sense, I hadn't gotten much sleep for the past week so my body was running purely on adrenaline. I would just have to drink more caffeine tomorrow and do a better job at hiding the exhaustion.
It felt as if it took forever as Wanda's cries pulled on my heartstrings, but eventually, she was calming down, taking deeper breaths as her tears slowed.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled as she turned in my arms slightly.
"Don't apologize sweetie," I told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"But you're exhausted and I'm keeping you up," she said, her voice hitching.
"Don't worry about it, I promise Wanda," I told her. "How're you feeling?"
"I'm okay," she whispered.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I felt her head shake against my chest so I sighed but leaned back slightly, letting her lay across me again. "Okay, that's okay, try to go back to sleep baby," I coaxed, rubbing her back.
"No," she whined. "I don't want to sleep." I figured that that would be her response but it wasn't even midnight yet, she needed more sleep. We had ended up going to bed a little bit earlier than normal which meant that we still had a long way to go before it was morning.
"I know honey, but it's only 11:50, you need some more sleep."
"No," came her response, but her whine was longer and more drawn out.
I felt bad but figured I could use my own exhaustion to my advantage. "Wanda honey, I'm exhausted, it's not your fault that you had a nightmare but I need sleep. Do you think you could sleep for me?"
"I'm sorry," she told me and I heard her voice shake. Damn it, she reacted in the way I hoped she wouldn't. I shouldn't have brought it up.
"It's not your fault baby, it's okay," I soothed, feeling as her new onset tears fell onto my shirt. "Shh," I tried. "It's okay, we don't have to sleep, it's okay." Fortunately, that caused her to calm back down. I had told her that we didn't have to sleep though so now I was kind of stuck. I figured I would just try to get her to fall asleep from boredom but I wasn't sure if it would work. If we laid here for long enough though, she may fall back asleep and then I could get some more sleep. If she needed to stay awake though, I would for her. I knew that she had to be getting tired too though as we had had an early morning.
About an hour passed with us lying silently in the dark room and she still hadn't fallen asleep. It was now almost 1 in the morning but she was wide awake, her head still laying on my chest.
"Wanda," I said quietly and she jumped slightly at the surprise from my voice. "How're you feeling?" Her body had stopped trembling a while ago but she was still awake. She usually didn't fight staying awake this hard if it was a small nightmare, especially when she was already so tired. I also found that keeping my eyes open was becoming difficult and I didn't want to fall asleep and leave her awake.
"I'm okay," she whispered into the dark room. "You can sleep," she told me and I smiled. My girl was so sweet.
"I know, but I want to stay up for you," I told her, kissing her head. "Can you at least close your eyes for me? I'll be here in case you have another nightmare, I promise."
"I don't want to," she said but she was so quiet I had to strain to hear her.
"I know baby, but I also know you're exhausted. We got up early yesterday morning to come to the compound," I reminded her, leaving out her nightmare being the cause for our early wakeup.
"I'm okay," she replied and I sighed softly, shifting her into a more comfortable position for the both of us.
"Close your eyes sweetie," I tried, gently patting her cheeks in an effort to get her to close her eyes. She did but the second I stopped patting her cheeks, she opened them again. I tried again but she moved away, bringing her hand up to rub at her cheeks, effectively stopping me.
"Can we watch movies?" she asked.
"If we get up now, you're taking a nap later," I told her somewhat firmly but staying mostly gentle. She needed her sleep though.
"Okay," she sighed. I knew it would probably be an argument later but for right now, I didn't really care. I sighed but did sit up, letting her take her time as she crawled off of me, grabbing my arm instead.
We moved into our living room as she seemed to want to get out of the room. She knew that if we stayed in there, she may fall back asleep, so the living room had always been the safer bet for her.
I plopped down on the couch, letting Wanda curl next to me, while I picked a movie. Wanda tended to like Disney movies when we woke up early in the morning so I put on Aladdin, while I relaxed against the couch.
We made it through that movie and I was finding it even more difficult for me to keep my eyes open. I went to get up but forgot about Wanda's attachment issues so when I stood up, she whined and quickly hurried to stand next to me.
"Sorry baby," I told her, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her into my side for a side hug before moving into the kitchen.
I made myself a large cup of coffee, knowing that I would need it if we weren't going to get any more sleep tonight. My body had been fine running on minimal sleep while on the mission as it was fueled with my worry for Wanda but now that I was home with Wanda in my arms, my body was ready to sleep.
After getting my coffee, I shut off the machine, heading back into the living room with Wanda trailing behind me, her hand grabbing onto the back of my shirt. When she did that, it reminded me of a small child needing reassurance from their parents, but I thought it was adorable, not minding in the slightest.
I turned on another Disney movie as Wanda cuddled into me, letting it play while I sipped my coffee.
Eventually, the sun rose, signaling that I had gone another night with barely any sleep.
"FRIDAY," I spoke once I realized that Steve would probably be waking up soon. "If Steve asks, please let him know that I got a full nights rest." Wanda picked her head up at that statement and looked at me. I had wanted to have this conversation in private but I knew that Wanda wouldn't let me leave so in front of her it is.
"I cannot lie to Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff," FRIDAY told me, sounding slightly confused.
"Override," I tried, knowing that I had some privileges when it came to the AI.
"You cannot override that command," she returned.
"FRIDAY, I need you to keep it from Steve, I promise I'm fine. But if he asks, just tell him that I did get a full 8 hours of sleep. That's all I'm asking. If you really can't lie, just say I had 8 hours of rest." That technically wasn't a lie, I had been resting for 8 hours.
"I will attempt to twist the truth but if he demands a response, I may not be able to avoid the truth," she replied and I nodded, understanding that.
"Thanks FRIDAY." If I had my phone with me, I could have worked on hacking into her but I also knew that I had minimal time left before Steve woke up. That reminded me to get a new one later today.
"Why are you lying to Steve?" Wanda asked me innocently.
"Because he is worrying for no reason. You aren't to say anything to him either, got it?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
"Okay, but are you going to sleep?"
"Yeah, I'll nap later when you nap," I told her and she seemed to accept that response, falling back into my embrace. I just hoped that FRIDAY kept my secret. I knew Wanda would so I wasn't too worried with her.
We only had to wait another 15 minutes until Steve got up, passing us in the living room on his way to the kitchen. "Good morning," he greeted us and I noticed as he looked at my face for a second longer than normal. I knew I probably looked exhausted but I schooled my expression, trying to make myself look as awake as possible. "How'd you sleep?" he asked as he made himself a protein shake.
"Good, we had a bit of an earlier start this morning but we slept okay," I told him, catching Wanda's confused glance at me.
"Oh really, so you both slept for at least 8 hours?"
"Yeah, we got around there," I replied with ease. He looked at me with skepticism.
"FRIDAY?" he asked.
"Agent Romanoff got a full 8 hours of rest last night," FRIDAY replied, understanding the unasked question, and I had to bite back a smile at how convincing that sounded.
He looked like he didn't believe me but he dropped it, moving to grab his finished protein drink.
I took that as my cue to get up with Wanda. I still wanted to make myself look a little bit more awake.
We headed to our room, Wanda grabbing her phone before following me into the bathroom. "What're we doing?" she asked after I allowed her to follow me into the bathroom.
"Getting ready for the day, brush your hair," I told her, handing her her hairbrush.
While she brushed her hair, I pulled out my makeup bag. I usually didn't use too extreme of makeup, sometimes opting to not put anything on. I usually reserved makeup for specific missions but right now, I needed to hide some of my exhaustion.
I started by applying a solid base of foundation, watching as Wanda looked at me with a suspicious glance out of the corner of my eye.
"What?" I asked her after she had stopped brushing her hair to watch me.
"Why are you putting on makeup?" she asked, her head tilting slightly.
"I thought it would be fun," I lied swiftly, not needing her to be more concerned. She had spent the last several days panicking because she thought I was dead or injured, she didn't need to worry more.
"Oh, can I wear some?" she asked. I nodded, passing her the bag. I hadn't seen her wear a lot of makeup since she first came to stay with us. When we first met her, she wore very heavy makeup in an effort to make herself look older but then her brother died and she didn't leave her room, let alone put on makeup. Then it kind of just ended. The most I had ever seen on her was some light mascara or lip gloss when she went to school.
That reminded me that I needed to contact her school and let them know that she definitely wouldn't be coming back. I had been getting emails from them but I hadn't responded since before the mission. I was slightly surprised that no one had come looking for her.
I put on a full face of makeup but Wanda just put on some light eyeshadow, mascara, and a clear lip gloss. I watched as she admired herself in the mirror.
"You look pretty," she told me after I finished.
"So do you," I told her, pulling her into a side hug as I smiled at her in the mirror. "But you always look pretty so that's nothing new," I laughed and smiled wider as her smile grew.
"Thanks mama." I smiled at her before putting away the makeup, heading to the kitchen. I had done a pretty natural look but I had applied a lot so that I didn't look exhausted but we would see if Steve noticed.
"You ladies look nice," he said as we entered the kitchen.
"Thank you Steve," Wanda told him politely while I nodded my thanks, smiling softly.
I prepared two bagels for both Wanda and me, setting them on plates and slathering them with cream cheese before cutting up a peach for the side. I also poured myself another large cup of coffee, I needed my caffeine if I was going to make it through the day. We both sat down to eat right as Tony and Pepper entered the kitchen. It was still slightly early but it was definitely a more acceptable time for people to get up.
Soon, the entire team was there. Steve, Sam, Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Vision, Wanda, and I all sat around the table, engaging in light conversation while we ate.
"What are your plans for the day?" Pepper asked Wanda and me.
"Well, I need to get a new phone," I told her.
Tony overheard me and spoke up, "I've got that covered Red. Both you and Stevie here have a new phone, courtesy of me of course." I rolled my eyes but was glad that he had gotten that taken care of for me.
"Thanks Tones," I told him, trying to be sincere after our recent incident. We had made up but I could still sense the tension between us.
"I was going to go to the farmers' market today if anyone wanted to tag along," Pepper said, mostly aiming that towards Wanda and me. I knew that the guys probably wouldn't be super into that.
"Wanda needs to take a nap today but maybe," I said, wanting to get Wanda out of the house.
"Mama," Wanda exclaimed, blush painting her cheeks.
"What?" I asked but it only took me a moment to realize what was going on. "Oh you're fine," I told her, keeping my voice low. "No one thinks anything of it."
"But that makes me sound like a baby," she pouted and I laughed lightly, not pointing out that the pout made her look more like a child than me announcing that she needed to take a nap did.
"Okay, I'm sorry, I won't bring it up again."
Pepper, who had been watching this interaction, spoke up again. "If you decide you two do want to go, let me know and we can go. They're open until 4 so we've got time."
"Will do," I told her. Wanda and I both finished our breakfast but we stayed at the table, enjoying the family environment. We didn't have meals all together too often so this was nice.
"Romanoff," Steve said and I looked up, surprised at the formal title.
"Yes?" I asked.
"I need to speak with you after breakfast." I squinted my eyes slightly, trying to figure out what he wanted. FRIDAY had told him that I slept so it couldn't have been that. He may have wanted to check on the infection but I didn't think it was that. I hadn't been hostile towards anyone at breakfast so I really wasn't sure what he wanted with me. I wasn't nervous though, it was probably something small.
I nodded, letting him know that I understood. I figured that he would need to talk with me without Wanda so I wasn't looking forward to that, but it was fine.
Soon, everyone had finished up their food and were moving on to their daily activities, so Wanda and I both took our plates to the kitchen, placing them in the sink.
Steve met eyes with me before I left the kitchen and I knew that he still expected me to go talk with him.
'Can I bring Wanda?' I mouthed to Steve, nodding my head towards Wanda. He gave a single shake of his head.
"Meet me in the conference room in 5 minutes," he told me and I knew he had given me time to get Wanda detached from me.
Wanda didn't know yet that she wasn't allowed to go so luckily I didn't have a full meltdown from her. "What do you think Steve wants?" she asked after he had left.
"I'm not sure," I replied. Pepper, knowing that Wanda couldn't come with me, was hanging back after everyone else had left. She knew that she would have to assist and I was grateful for her.
Wanda was following me, still holding onto my shirt, when I stopped and turned around.
"Alright baby," as soon as I said that, I already saw her face starting to fall. "You can hang out with Pepper for a few minutes and then I'll be back as soon as I'm done with Steve."
"What? No, I can go with you," she replied, already grabbing onto my arm so that I couldn't leave as easily.
"Not this one baby."
"I can never go with you for anything," she whined. "Please, I'll be good. Why can't I go with you?"
"You just can't for this one honey," I told her and I watched as her eyes widened in horror.
"Are you going on another mission?" She immediately threw herself into my arms and I could feel her body shaking like a leaf.
"What? No honey, I don't think so," I replied, not actually knowing whether or not I was going on another mission. I highly doubted it though and if I was, I would say no. Wanda wasn't ready for me to leave yet. That didn't mean that something didn't go wrong with our recent mission though. Maybe we hadn't stopped all of them or there was a problem with the hostage. That would explain his tone with me.
"I don't want you to go," Wanda cried in my arms, tears streaming down her face already.
"Woah, hold on baby, I'm not going anywhere. I really don't think it's another mission but if it is, I'll tell them I can't go. It's okay Wanda, calm down sweetie." I was shocked by the force of her cries as she sobbed her heart out in my arms. I hated that this happened because of a mission, especially because I would eventually have to go back on one, it was my job. I tried not to think of that though as I comforted my girl.
"Shh, deep breaths Wanda," I tried, rubbing her back as I looked at Pepper worriedly. Wanda had panicked way faster than I thought. "Shh," I soothed, doing whatever I could to console her. She was going to make herself sick if she kept crying like this. "I'm not going anywhere, it's okay." My five minutes were already long past but I didn't mind, Wanda was my first priority, Steve could wait.
I was only a few steps away from the couch so I awkwardly shuffled over with Wanda in my arms before sitting down, maneuvering Wanda to sit in my lap.
"It's okay baby, I'm not going anywhere, I promise," I repeated, rubbing her back as I tried to calm her down.
"Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers is requesting you in the conference room."
"Tell him that I'm dealing with a situation but that I'll be there soon," I replied, slightly angry that he was calling for me. Obviously I would be in there if I wasn't busy.
"Shh Wanda, it's okay baby," I rocked her, mumbling sweet nothings in her ear to try to calm her down.
Soon, her sobs calmed down slightly and I could feel her body relaxing.
Pepper came to sit next to us so that I could hopefully do a quick swap and then we would be fine.
"Alright Wanda, I'll be right back sweetie, I love you," I told her, quickly detaching her from me as Pepper grabbed onto her.
"No mama!" she screamed, fighting to get back. She managed to break free from Pepper as she flung herself on me. The action pulled at my gunshot wounds and I hissed audibly.
"Wanda!" I snapped slightly, frustrated at the whole situation. I obviously felt for her but my exhaustion was building up and was making me snap.
"Sorry," she sobbed.
"I know, I'm sorry I snapped, but you have to go sit with Pepper for a few minutes, I'll be back soon, I promise, I love you baby."
Pepper grabbed her again, keeping a tighter grip on her as I pulled away, hating the screams that came from Wanda's mouth. A piece of me always broke when I did this, but I had to do it, so I walked out of the room, heading to the conference room to see whatever the hell Steve wanted.
STEVE POV:
Natasha looked absolutely exhausted and I didn't believe her for a second that she had slept for a full 8 hours. When I found both her and Wanda on the couch together, further than halfway through Cinderella, I had a feeling that they had been there for a while. They both looked exhausted and Nat had a large mug that was empty next to her that I was almost positive had previously contained coffee. I may not have been a spy but I was observant.
FRIDAY had confirmed Natasha's statement that she had slept but I still didn't believe it. Nat was smart, she could get FRIDAY to lie, I just had to catch her in it.
My belief was only further confirmed when Nat came out wearing makeup. She didn't wear makeup frequently so she was wearing it to cover the exhaustion. It did make her look less tired but I knew that under that, she looked halfway to death. She hadn't looked that great this morning.
I watched her throughout breakfast and noticed that she had zoned out more than once, not something that normally happened to her. She also mentioned that Wanda needed a nap today which meant that Wanda hadn't gotten much sleep. That meant that Nat didn't get much sleep as she would have never let Wanda stay awake without her. She always wanted to be there to comfort her after nightmares so there was no way that Wanda got less sleep than Nat.
Natasha had just finished zoning out for the third time when I realized I wanted to talk with her more about the situation. She looked surprised at my request for a meeting but seemed to move on relatively quickly.
I was currently waiting in the conference room for her. She was late but FRIDAY had let me know that she was dealing with a situation and I knew that Wanda didn't make leaving easy for her so I wasn't going to push it.
About 10 minutes after our original meeting time, Nat entered the room. She looked pissed but I knew that she was probably just stressed. Pissed and stressed looked similar on her, especially when it came to her daughter. If she was worried about Wanda, she would usually be frustrated with anyone else. I wanted to make this quick as she probably wanted to get back to Wanda.
"Nat," I greeted as she walked in. I just wanted the truth. If she was having trouble sleeping, that's fine, we could help her, but she needed sleep. She couldn't go much longer without sleep. She wasn't taking care of herself and I didn't want her to get sick. If she needed to be hospitalized, not only would that be horrible in itself but then we would all have a grieving teenager to deal with.
"Rogers," she sneered.
"Hey, I just want to talk," I said, raising my voice slightly.
"Really? You want to talk? Well can you make it quick? My daughter is having a panic attack downstairs."
"I'm willing to make it fast but that's up to you," I told her.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"When did you fall asleep last night?"
"Oh my gosh, we're going over this again?" she asked.
"Yes, you look exhausted."
"Why thank you Rogers. I fell asleep a little after 9 and woke up around 5:30. Wanda had a nightmare this morning so we had an early start," she told me. It was times like these that I hated that she was a spy. I could never tell if she was lying to me.
"Nat, if you aren't getting sleep, that's fine, just let us know. We want to help."
"I'm getting sleep Rogers. Now, is that all?"
"Natasha, please," I said, still not believing her.
"What more do you want? Even FRIDAY told you that I slept for 8 hours." I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get much more out of her.
"Fine, one more thing and then you can go." She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. "How are your wounds?" I asked, worried about her with that too.
"They're fine," she grit out.
"Is the infection going away?"
"Somewhat," she replied. "I was going to swing by the medbay and get some antibiotics today."
I nodded. "Good, let me know if you need anything," I told her and she nodded, turning around and leaving the room.
I waited a few seconds before asking, "FRIDAY?"
"Yes Captain?"
"Did Natasha really sleep 8 hours last night?"
"Agent Romanoff got a full 8 hours of rest last night," she replied and I tried something else.
"How many hours of sleep did Wanda get last night?"
FRIDAY paused and I wasn't sure why. Normally it didn't take her too long to reply. "Miss Maximoff slept for 2 hours and 7 minutes last night." There it was.
There was no way that Nat didn't get that as well. "What time did Natasha go to sleep?"
Another pause. It almost sounded as if FRIDAY was defeated when she responded, "Agent Romanoff fell asleep at 9:56 pm last night."
"And when did she wake up?"
"Agent Romanoff woke up at 11:48 pm last night." So she had gotten less than 2 hours of sleep. I knew that there was no way that she would have gotten 8 hours last night. "FRIDAY, why did you lie to me?" I asked, wondering how Nat convinced her this time.
"I did not lie Captain Rogers. I told you that Agent Romanoff rested for 8 hours." That's when I noticed the slight change in words from sleep to rest. Only Nat would find that loophole. Technically, she probably had been resting for the full 8 hours, she just hadn't been sleeping.
I sighed, wondering what to do. I had just wanted to talk to her, maybe get her some meds for tonight and take Wanda off her hands so that she got some sleep but she had lied and then gotten angry at me for it. I knew she wouldn't listen to me but I knew two people who she tended to listen to. I pulled out my phone, making a call, hoping that they could knock some sense into Natasha before she got sick.
NATASHA POV:
I finished with Steve and started heading towards Wanda. I got to the elevator to head down for her when I realized that I had only been gone for about 5 minutes. As much as I wanted to rush back down to her and comfort her, I knew that this wouldn't be a successful round of the separation technique so as much as I hated it, I needed to stall for a little bit longer.
If I rushed down to her immediately, that would have given her no chance to calm down by herself. I decided to head down to Tony's lab to get my new phone. I kind of wanted to call Clint and Laura. I should probably wait until I had gotten more sleep though because they would see right through me.
I sighed as the elevator passed the floor that Wanda was on. I couldn't hear her through the doors but just knowing that she was probably freaking out just steps through the doors made me want to press the emergency halt button to run out and get her.
I managed to push through though as I kept heading to Tony's lab. I got there and I headed in, going to stand outside of his lab. He still had a lock on the door for when he was doing important work so that nobody just barged in, distracting him, so I stopped as soon as I got to the door, asking FRIDAY to let me in.
After a few seconds, most likely while FRIDAY got confirmation from Tony, the door unlocked, letting me open it so that I could get in. I walked in, looking around in an attempt to find Tony.
"Back here!" he called and I turned my head, seeing him peek out from behind a large machine that he was working on. I walked over to him, waiting for him to stop before talking.
"What're you working on?" I asked.
"Nothing much, it's just a new update for one of my suits," he replied. "Your phone is over there." I followed his finger to the edge of one of his workbenches.
"Thanks Tony," I replied, pulling it out of the box to set it up. Luckily, since it was Stark's wonderful technology, it was easy for me to just sign back into my old account, all of my old information popping back up immediately.
"No problem, where's Wanda?" he asked, knowing that she was dealing with separation anxiety right now and wondering where she was.
"She's upstairs with Pepper."
"Oh, is she doing better with the separation stuff? She was hanging on you at breakfast," he pointed out.
"Yeah, she's not doing great with it right now and it's killing me but I'm doing the separation technique again. I desperately want to go back up there but I haven't even been gone 10 minutes yet so it won't be super successful if I go up there now."
"Oh, got it. Let me know if you ever need help with her," he told me.
"I will, I really appreciate everything you've done to help me with her," I told him, letting some affection seep into my voice.
"No problem," he told me. We weren't ones for soft and gushy conversations so that's where that ended. He noticed that I wasn't leaving yet though so he switched the topic. "Are you and Wanda going to that farmers' market thing with Pepper later?"
"Probably, she needs to get out of the house more."
"Agreed, that poor girl barely leaves. When is she going back to school?"
"She's not. I do have to email them and let them know that though. I should go do that before I go back to see Wanda," I told him, silently thanking him for reminding me. If I kept pushing it off, I would no doubt receive a personal visit from someone from the school. They all still thought that Wanda had just been in a car accident. They kept emailing for updates but I had mostly just let them go. I haven't been receiving calls for the better part of a week so they couldn't reach me that way either.
"When did you decide not to send her back?" he asked.
"After she got drunk at a party and almost got killed with the kids that she met there," I replied. He knew a little bit but he definitely didn't know everything. He stopped working to look at me.
"Fair, let me know if the school needs anything and I'll make it happen," he told me and I nodded.
"Thanks Tony, see you later."
"Bye Red," he told me, already completely immersed in the machine.
I left the lab, taking the back route to our floor so that I didn't pass Wanda on my way to my office. If I had used the elevator, I would have had to cross through the living room where Wanda and Pepper were and that wouldn't go over well so I went through the hallways, weaving through until I got to the back entrance of my office.
I logged onto my computer and saw several unopened emails from the school. As I had suspected, the last email said that I needed to reach out ASAP or that someone from the school would be paying me a visit. I didn't blame them. The last time I had emailed them was almost 2 weeks ago and I had said that Wanda was still healing and that I would reach out with more information soon.
Luckily, the last email was only from 2 days ago so I probably still had time. I sent them an email stating that I was really sorry for my long absence but that I was pulling Wanda out of school due to the accident. I also told them that they could let me know whatever they needed for me in order to make this happen. After I sent the email, I figured I should probably call them as well. It was a school day so hopefully, they would be open.
I dialed the number that had been in all of their emails, waiting for someone to pick up the phone.
"Hello, this is Caitlin from Mills High School. How can I help you?"
"Hi Caitlin, this is Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff's mother."
"Miss Romanoff, we have been trying to reach you for quite some time!" She sounded surprised. "How is everything going with Wanda's recovery?"
"She is doing much better but due to the trauma that was caused by the accident, I am pulling Wanda out of public school. I responded to the emails sent from the school and told them to let me know whatever they need in order to pull her out so that I can get that for them."
"Okay, I will get you connected with the people who can handle that. I am required to ask where you have been for the past 2 weeks though. We understand that things have probably been chaotic with recovery but the safety of our students is our utmost concern."
"Her recovery was touch and go for a while and so the school was the last thing on my mind. Then we had an issue with our devices and so I wasn't getting calls or emails. Everything should be fixed though so I should be accessible now. I'm sorry for my absence. Wanda is doing much better though and I honestly hadn't realized that it had been so long since last contacting you," I told them, trying to stay calm but I really didn't have much patience for this woman. She had always gotten on my nerves with her peppy voice. If she was trying to insinuate something, I would shut that shit down quickly.
"Of course, we understand. I'm glad that she is feeling better! Let us know if there is anything that we can do to help but someone should be in touch over email about paperwork and all of that."
"Great, thank you," I replied, ready to get off of the phone and go find Wanda.
"Have a great rest of your day."
"You too," I replied, hanging up as she said 'bye bye.' I immediately shut off my computer, heading to find Wanda after deeming it long enough from when I first left.
As I got further down the hall, I could hear Wanda's crying. It always broke my heart and I could only imagine how she felt. I had never gone through severe separation anxiety. When I was younger, I had wanted to stay with my pseudo family but that option was ripped away from me so I had never had to actually deal with it. The only other time I ever had something even remotely similar was several months into living with the Bartons. Laura and I had connected and I was scared that I would be given to the Red Room so I had a few panic attacks whenever I was away from Laura but it was very short-lived and I mostly kept it to myself.
I rounded the corner and saw Wanda sobbing into Pepper's shoulder, Pepper doing whatever she could to console her. My sweet girl. She still hadn't seen me so I walked around the edge of the couch, sitting down next to her as I placed a hand on her back. Her hands were slightly tangled in Pepper's hair and I watched as she spun her hair around her fingers, trying to calm herself down.
"Wanda," I said softly. She whipped her head around so fast I was scared she got whiplash as she jumped out of Pepper's arms and into my own. I was slightly worried that she had ripped some of Pepper's hair out but she had been able to untangle her fingers remarkably quickly. She liked to play with my hair when I held her and that's where her hands went the second she was in my arms. I wondered if it was something that grounded her or if it just made her feel more connected to the person holding her. Whatever the reason, it was adorable.
"Shh baby," I told her, rocking her slightly. "You're okay. You did so good, shhh."
In response, she continued to sob in my arms. Pepper stayed there, watching Wanda with affection and worry in her eyes.
"Are you leaving?" Wanda cried into me.
"No baby, I'm staying right here. I don't have another mission. I promise I'm not going anywhere," I told her. That visibly calmed her down, her body now sagging with relief as she started to wrap up her crying.
Soon, she was done crying, her voice hitching occasionally while she sniffed. I rubbed Wanda's back for a few more seconds before I felt her pull away slightly to lean against me differently. "Do you want to go to the farmers' market?" I asked her.
She nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.
"Are you sure baby? We don't have to, we can stay here and rest if you want," I offered when I saw how tired she looked.
"No, I want to go," she replied, pushing off of me slightly to sit next to me, still gripping onto my arm.
"Okay, then let's go get changed into something a bit more appropriate and then we'll head out." We were both still in sweats and t-shirts from sleeping so we needed to change before we left. "Does that sound fine Pep?" I asked and Wanda turned to look at her, just now realizing that she was still there.
"That sounds perfect, I'll go grab my bag," she smiled gently at both of us. "I'll meet you in the garage in 10?"
"Perfect, we'll see you down there." I grabbed Wanda's hand and we both stood up and headed to our room to get changed. "You may want to take your makeup off honey," I told her once we got to the bathroom. She had some mascara streaks down her face. She blushed but nodded, grabbing a wipe to wipe off the makeup.
I stood next to her but didn't remove mine as I still needed it to mask the exhaustion. I did brush through my hair though as I quickly brushed my teeth, Wanda doing the same, never letting go of my arm the entire time.
"Time to get dressed honey," I told her, not wanting to fight through this but knowing that it probably would be a fight. She knew that we had to separate in order to get changed. I didn't mind changing in front of her but I didn't want her to be embarrassed.
"I wanna stay with you," she whined, moving closer to me.
I sighed but decided I wouldn't argue. "Okay, c'mere," I told her, pulling her with me to the dresser so I could grab new clothes. I grabbed some black jeans and a red top, pulling my sweats off before slipping into my jeans, Wanda holding onto my shirt the entire time.
"I have to change my shirt sweetie," I told her, looking at her vice-like grip on it. She moved her hands down to grab onto the belt loops on my pants, blushing slightly. I pulled my shirt off, replacing it with the red top, which she quickly moved her hand to grip onto again. It was like a security blanket for her, gripping onto whichever shirt I was wearing.
"Now you have to get changed babes," I told her, waiting to see how this went over. She nodded, opening the dresser before pulling out jeans and a striped shirt.
She managed to pull her pants down with one hand but pulling them on was serving to be more difficult as she held onto me. "How about I hold onto your arm and you can pull up your pants?" I suggested and she blushed again but nodded. I gently placed a hand on her arm, following it down as she pulled up her pants, buttoning them before grabbing onto me again.
Her shirt required her to completely let go of me for a second but she managed to do it after only a second of hesitation. Soon, she was dressed and we were both ready to go. We had only left the compound a few times so we would see how she did with it.
Before we left, I needed some more coffee so I quickly brewed a cup while we pulled on our shoes. Once I had my travel mug of coffee, I grabbed my phone and credit card, tucking the latter into my phone case, before leaving. I also made sure that Wanda had everything she wanted which turned out to just be her phone.
"Can you sit in the back with me?" Wanda asked as we headed down to the garage.
"Sure Wands," I told her as we arrived at the garage. Pepper was already there, standing in front of one of the many cars that Tony owned.
"You good with taking this one?" she asked. The car in question was one of the more subtle, less flashy cars. It helped us to blend in more. I nodded, climbing into the back with Wanda.
"Have you ever been to a farmers' market before Wanda?" Pepper asked as she started driving.
"Um, I'm not sure, I don't think so," she replied.
"That's okay, they're kind of fun," Pepper continued to explain. "Basically there will just be a bunch of stands with different things you can buy. Some of them will have fruit, some have vegetables, bread, nuts, soap, jewelry, art, stuff like that. It's fun to browse."
"I think I actually have been to something like that," Wanda explained. "Pietro and I would go to them when we were on the streets of Sokovia. It was easy to steal," she admitted quietly and I squeezed her a little tighter. She didn't tend to talk about her old life too much so I was slightly surprised that she opened up. I was glad when Pepper didn't say anything about it though, smoothly moving on.
"Do you think you can help me find a new bracelet? Maybe we could find you one too," Pepper exclaimed and I shot her a thankful look in the mirror. She winked at me as she continued driving.
"Yeah, I can do that," Wanda replied, a small smile on her face.
We made it to the farmers' market in less than 10 minutes, Pepper parking the car so we could all get out. It was busy and I was slightly worried that it would overwhelm Wanda, again, we had barely been out, especially since the accident.
"If you get overwhelmed, let me know and we'll leave," I whispered in her ear when we got there. She grabbed onto my hand and squeezed it in response.
I held her hand as we walked into the market. I had only been to a few in my entire life and I rarely bought things, usually I just looked. I had a kid now though who may want something.
"Let me know if you see anything you want," I told Wanda as we perused through the tables.
"I will," she replied with a smile. We went through several tables that had different types of vegetables, fruits, and berries. Then we got to the baked goods tables. There were breads, cookies, brownies, slices of cake, mini cakes, and so many other treats. Right after that were the nuts and popcorn. There were large tubes of kettle corn that you could smell from everywhere in the market. Bags of colorful cotton candy hung up at one stand. I noticed Wanda staring at it.
"Have you ever had cotton candy?" I asked her and she shook her head, looking away. "Would you like to try some?"
"No, it's okay," she told me. "I don't need any."
"I know you don't need any but do you want some?" I asked.
I watched her hesitate before responding with, "No, I'm okay." I laughed slightly as I watched her large eyes go back to the colorful bags.
"C'mon," I said, bringing her over to the table.
"Which color do you want?" I asked her. She looked surprised and slightly embarrassed and I made a mental note to take her shopping more often.
"It's okay Nat, I don't need any."
"What if I want some?" I asked with a smile and she smiled back. "What color should I get?"
"The blue one looks kind of cool," she replied and I told the lady running the stand that we would take one bag of blue. The lady nodded, grabbing us a bag as I paid. As I handed her the money, Wanda went back to gripping onto my shirt as both of my hands were occupied but as soon as I was done, I grabbed her hand again, squeezing it gently.
I handed it to Wanda. "You can try some now if you want," I offered.
"I'll wait," she replied, carrying it in the hand that wasn't holding mine.
Pepper had moved a few stands down to look at the different assortment of honey so we moved over to her. "Cotton candy huh?" she questioned with a laugh.
"Hey, it's good," I joked and Pepper smiled at both of us.
We continued browsing, moving to the soap and jewelry stands. There were also some clothes stands but Wanda didn't seem as interested in those. She was drawn to the jewelry stands though.
Pepper stopped at one that had a large assortment of all kinds of jewelry and we followed, Wanda looking through the rings. She didn't touch them, mostly just moving the price tags that were attached to them so that she could see the ring.
"What size ring are you?" the lady running the stand asked Wanda. I felt Wanda jump next to me and I squeezed her hand to calm her down.
"I don't know," she mumbled.
"That's okay, you can try some on to find the right size. It starts with size 3 over here and then goes all the way to size 13 which is over here," she said, pointing to either end of the table. I nodded and Wanda followed suit, still not touching them. The woman moved over to help Pepper and Wanda seemed to relax.
"You can try the rings on," I told her, grabbing the cotton candy bag from her so that she could try them on. "I would start with a size 7 and work your way up and down from there."
"Why a 7?" she asked.
"Cause I'm a 7 so you're probably pretty close to that," I replied, showing her my fingers, making her laugh lightly.
She picked up a 7, sliding it onto her finger. Perfect fit.
"I told you," I said, knocking my hip into her.
"Wow, congrats, you're a perfect ring sizer," she laughed, setting the ring back down.
"Do you like any of them?" I asked.
"They're pretty," she nodded, pointing out a few specific ones.
"You can get some, which ones do you like?"
"Oh no, it's okay, I don't need any," she replied, quickly backing away from the table.
"I want to get you some. How about you pick out three?"
She looked hesitant but moved forward again, pointing to three that she liked.
"You like those?" I asked, picking them up out of the display. She nodded.
"Perfect, do you like any of the other ones?" She shook her head so I paid for the three, watching as Pepper bought a bracelet after asking Wanda's opinion. Even if the bracelet was ugly, Wanda would have told Pepper it was beautiful but the bracelet Pep got actually was beautiful and expensive, perfect for her.
"Do you want any food?" I asked. We were now at the part of the market where there were food stands. There was a snow cone station, bbq, a classic American stand, some Thai food, and other random snacks.
"No, I'm not hungry," she replied quickly. I checked my phone for the time and realized it was almost lunchtime.
"Do you want food here or at home?" I asked her. "Because you have to eat either way, it's time for lunch." She looked at me with big eyes but I wasn't going to be lenient on this. She had been eating relatively well lately but she still needed food.
"We could get you a pretzel and a snowcone if you want?" I offered. "Or we could get sandwiches, chips, burger, whatever you want sweetie," I told her, watching as she started to look slightly overwhelmed.
"Have you ever had a big pretzel Wanda?" Pepper asked. She shook her head, moving slightly closer to me.
"What if you get one and if you don't like it, I'll take it. Or we can split it?" she suggested and I knew what she was doing. She was trying to show Wanda that it wasn't that much food if they split it, making it more likely that Wanda would eat it.
"Okay," she mumbled. She had been doing really good with not arguing with me over food but she still had her moments.
We got one large pretzel with cheese before going to the side where there were a few tables set up. We all sat down, Wanda and me on one side while Pepper sat on the other.
Wanda took a bite of the pretzel and seemed to like it but she insisted that Pepper and I eat it as well. Between the three of us, we managed to eat the entire pretzel.
"Do you want a snow cone?" I asked her. "Or ice cream?" I added on as Pepper pointed out an ice cream stand.
She shook her head. I gave in, deciding that I could just have her eat more when we got home.
"I just want to go back to one of the soap stands and then we can go," Pepper told us and I nodded, grabbing Wanda's hand as we stood up. Wanda grabbed the cotton candy and we weaved our way back through the people to get to the soap stand.
I was so proud of Wanda, she had been doing great, even through this big crowd. Everything was going fine until we were at the last soap stand. Wanda and I stood back while Pepper got her soap so that we weren't in the way of the stand.
Pepper was just wrapping up when I felt someone bump into us. A man was standing behind us and had stumbled into us after being pushed by another guy who was rushing through the crown. The man was closer to Wanda so he had mostly slammed into her, almost knocking her over. I just got a slight shoulder bump while Wanda took the brunt of it.
"Hey! Watch where you're going bitch!" he said as he whipped around to face Wanda. Wanda dropped the cotton candy as she backed up, bumping into Pepper. That made her jump and I watched as she started shaking. I needed to deescalate this right now.
"Hey, you bumped into her, and don't call my daughter a bitch!" I snapped at him.
"Oh wow, I'm so scared," he said as he waved his hands in the air sarcastically. "Leave me alone bitch," he mumbled, bumping into me slightly. I was tempted to take him down but one look at Wanda told me that that would do nothing to help and that I needed to get her out of here.
"C'mon baby," I told her, grabbing her hand as I led her to the exit. She was hyperventilating and I could feel her shaking under my arm. Pepper followed us closely, trying to form a bubble around Wanda.
We were almost at the exit when Wanda tripped over someone's foot, falling to the ground. Her hand got ripped from mine as she tried to break her fall. That was all it took for her to burst into tears.
I quickly grabbed under her armpits, pulling her back on her feet, as I led her the rest of the way out of the exit, Wanda sobbing next to me the entire way.
"Shh, it's okay baby," I told her, quickly moving to the car. Pepper unlocked it and we crawled in, Wanda and me in the backseat while Pepper got into the front. Pepper locked the doors before turning to face us.
"Are you okay?" she asked, worry painting her face.
"She'll be okay," I replied. "She's overtired too and needs a nap," I explained, knowing that that was also causing a huge part of this meltdown.
"Shh baby, calm down. You're okay. I need you to take some deep breaths." She was sobbing and panicking as she gripped onto me, trying to take in deep breaths.
"It's not working!" I made out through her sobs. That statement only made her cry heavier as she looked at me, her eyes practically begging me to help her.
"Oh honey, shh, I've got you, deep breaths," I tried, looking at Pepper worriedly.
"Do you want me to start driving?" she asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, I think she'll calm down faster once we're there." I didn't even bother to buckle her seatbelt, instead trying to calm her down. She wouldn't let me pull her into my chest as she was still trying to breathe, so she gripped onto both of my forearms, facing me as she sobbed.
"It's okay baby, you're safe. You're in the car and we're heading to the compound. Can you hear me?" she nodded and I felt some relief fill me. If she could hear me, she'd be okay, we just had to get her calm.
"Shh honey, in...and out," I tried guiding her through breathing exercises, breathing with her.
"I can't!" she cried, a new wave of sobs coursing through her.
Her body became weaker and she let me pull her into me. I made sure her face was turned outwards so that she could still breathe rather than shoving her face into my shoulder or chest.
I rubbed her back, letting her lean her head against me, as her entire body shook with the force of her cries.
"Did you hurt yourself when you fell?" I asked, worried that she had rebroken her wrist or that she injured her weak leg.
She shook her head, continuing to cry. Wanda cried until we pulled into the garage of the compound. Pepper turned back around to look at us. She had been shooting us worried glances through the rearview mirror the entire way home but now she turned her entire body around to face us.
"Do you need help Nat?" she asked.
"I think I'm just going to get her inside and then down for a nap. Once she sleeps some more, she should be doing better." Pepper nodded.
"Do you want me to go get someone to carry her in?" she asked.
"I don't know, hold on. Wanda, do you want to go inside?" I asked, turning my attention to Wanda at the end. She nodded, gripping onto my arm as we got out of the car.
"Good job sweetie," I told her, rubbing her back as we walked into the compound, Pepper following behind us.
"Thank you for today Pep," I told her as we got in the elevator for the ride up to our floor.
"No problem, thank you for coming, I'm sorry it ended so crummy."
"It's okay, we'll get some sleep, and then she'll be okay," I replied. I forgot all about getting her more food, my only plan being to get her into bed.
The elevator opened to my floor and I moved Wanda forward. She was no longer sobbing, mostly just looking exhausted as we walked towards our room.
We were almost there when the presence of someone in our living room caught my attention. What the hell was she doing here?