Chapter 3
Maybe he’d lived here a little longer than she’d originally calculated. There were a lot of books on shelves all around the place. Mostly history, but she spotted a few other genres here and there. There were a few pictures on the wall but nothing very personal, stock photos really. She got down the little hall that led to her room and found him still standing in the living room. He had his phone out and when she took a shallow scan of his thoughts found that he was taking a look at the news. Nothing he didn’t do multiple times an hour.
“Hey,” she was still unused to not having Pietro by her side and it made her feel awkward not having him to lean on. “Should I take my shoes off?”
“If you’d like to. Make yourself at home.”
She nodded and took her slip-ons off by the door, though the space was empty and it just occurred to her that he might not live alone. She reached out with her senses but couldn’t find anybody else in the apartment.
“Are you hungry?”
“A bit, Mr. Rogers.”
“Steve is fine. Any preference, there isn’t much here but I could always order something.”
Wanda shrugged, she had no idea what would constitute an average American dinner or what would be easiest to order. “Anything is fine.”
“Pizza?”
“Sure,” she answered immediately. There was a list of numbers on the refrigerator that he went to and read off of while he dialed.
“What toppings do you like?”
She cheated here and looked into his mind to see what he liked, “peperoni.”
While he was on the phone, Wanda couldn’t help but look around a little more, finally seeing a personal touch. There was a black and white photo of a group of men, and a little notebook with lists of things, some of which were scratched out.
All in all, Steve seemed like a good guy, but she couldn’t forget that he was a part of the Avengers. Their leader, as it were.
“Should be here in about twenty minutes,” he looked a little unsure of himself but Wanda wasn’t certain she had enough control to read his mind right now without giving it away. “How are you feeling?”
She took a seat onto one of the smaller couches, “good, I guess. So much has happened in two days.” Wanda felt her limbs grow heavy with exhaustion but did her best to stay alert.
“I’ve been there,” Steve admitted lightly, though she knew there had to be more.
“Yeah?”
“You know, waking up and finding out everything is so different.”
Wanda knew he was referring to himself, but she didn’t really understand what he meant. They had just met after all, “what do you mean?”
“Nick told you I was Captain America, right?” Steve asked while taking a seat across from her.
“Well, yes.” It hit her, though she never really knew the whole story to begin with. “Oh! You were frozen, weren’t you?”
He gave a tight smile, “yep, that’s me.”
“Sorry, I heard about you but wasn’t sure if it was all real.”
“It is. I’ll be one hundred in just a few years.”
“No, you won’t.”
His eyes shot up to her and she wondered if she had offended him. The words tumbled out before she could really think them through, “I mean sure legally you’re that old. But biologically, you’re what? Twenties?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“See,” she smiled, “it’s going to be a long time before you’re a hundred-year-old man.”
The look he gave her was blank and she wondered if she’d already overstepped her place. She risked a glance into his mind, only the surface of his thoughts and feelings. She expected offense, maybe even dislike to her. What she found was gratitude. Not at all what she was expecting, Wanda began to wonder if her powers could malfunction.
But Steve changed the subject before she could think over it anymore and why he would be grateful that she pointed out his rightful age.
"Fury says you're from Sokovia?"
"Yes, this is actually the first time I've ever been away from home. And my brother." She breathed out the second part, feeling the phantom pain of his absence.
“You two are close?”
“Twins, actually,” feeling self-conscious she began to play with her rings and couldn’t bring herself to look up, “he’s like me… he survived the experiments.”
“Was it like a box?”
“Huh?”
“When you were given your enhancements? Was it a box that sealed up and shocked you all over? That’s what it was like for me.”
“No,” she shook her head and felt a certain familiarity to him now. He was like her and Pietro, she had to remind herself. “Injections, mostly, and some shocks but nothing in a box,” not that she could remember, anyway.
They lapsed into a silence that made Wanda uncomfortable and she spoke quickly, figuring she might as well be honest since he’d opened his home to her. “We wanted to protect Sokovia… and I thought that meant destroying the Avengers.”
Steve tilted his head at her but she still didn’t think she had the control to read his thoughts. She would have to have this conversation the old-fashioned way, then.
“I understand.”
Her eyes widened, “I-you do?”
“There were a lot of frightened people after New York. Fight fire with fire, of course I can understand that,” he motioned behind him to the wall and she saw the famous shield leaned casually against his kitchen counter.
She smiled, as weak as it was, but shook her head just slightly. “It was before New York when the bombs hit Sokovia,” she stopped. She wanted to keep going and say the words, but that day was still so fresh and the wounds raw. Despite his kindness, Wanda knew Steve was teammates with Stark, and didn’t want to share this with him. The Iron Man and Stark had been the first she swore to destroy, the other that followed were equally problematic. After all, who would willingly work with the Merchant of Death? “I am grateful you’ve opened your home to me. Hopefully Fury will find my brother quickly and I won’t overstay my welcome.”
“Don’t worry about overstaying, as long as it takes. Even after your brother is found he’s welcome here as well while you figure things out,” Steve paused and she thought he was debating something when he finally figured it out. “If I had to guess, I’d say Fury wants you to join the Avengers.”
“I couldn’t. Neither would Pietro.”
“Because of the bombs in Sokovia?” he asked despite not knowing the whole story. But he’d picked up on her hesitancy earlier and she felt her stomach flip because of that.
“Yes. I want to help… I want to make the world a better place. But I couldn’t be an Avenger.”
“He must have been impressed by your powers.”
“I think so.”
Wanda knew Steve was probably curious as well. She relaxed her muscles and reached out. Her eyes must be red judging by the way he looked into them more intently. She reached out with her hand and took hold of the famous shield. It was wrapped in the red of her powers before falling gracefully into his waiting hands.
“My brother is a fast runner, so fast you wouldn’t be able to see him.”
“And you have telekinesis?”
She nodded but would not reveal that her powers extended beyond that. There was the mind reading, and there might be more she could do. Everything was still too new to know for sure, but Strucker and the doctors all agreed that there may be more to the success of her enhancements.
He was busy looking at his shield and she was trying to reign in the sudden energy she felt burning from her palms when there was a knock at the door. They both turned to the noise, neither particularly startled but both reluctant to pull away from their thoughts.
Steve motioned to her eyes, “they’re uh, still red.”
“It takes me a minute to get them under control,” she admitted, looking opposite of the door so that he could answer it.
The pizza boy seemed to recognize Steve, and certainly the shield on the couch. He was a professional, though, and collected the money and wished them a good night before leaving. Wanda thought she could feel his excitement, though, and the way he was already texting his friends.
Steve passed her a plate with two slices on it. It wasn’t until she got a whiff of the food that she realized how hungry she was. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
They ate in a semi-comfortable silence, and it was into her third slice that she felt how heavy her eyes were.
“You look exhausted,” he commented lightly.
She ate every last bite and nodded, “thank you again for everything, but I think I need to go to bed.”
“That couch in your room folds out, my friend Sam sleeps in there sometimes. The bedding on it is clean.”
“Do you want me take your plate?” she asked, planning to wash her own. He reached out and took her empty dish from her hands.
“You just go to bed.”
Wanda felt warmth in her chest, warmth from his kindness and how welcoming he had been to her, a complete stranger.
“Goodnight, Steve.”
“Night, Miss. Maximoff.”
“Wanda, just call me Wanda.”
The bed was much more comfortable than her cot had been in the lab. The blankets were warm and the pillow fluffy and soft. She must have slept for hours, but it was still dark outside when she woke up. Wanda rubbed her eyes and thought about going back to bed but she was to awake to really settle back into sleep. Jet lag, she realized with annoyance. The clock read just a little before three in the morning, what that was in Sokovian time she had no idea.
There was a small bathroom just outside of her room and, much to her delight, the shower water was just as consistently warm as the New York hanger had been.
She changed back into the sweats and t-shirts she had found in one of the boxes before going to bed, thankful for something clean.
But now that she was awake at an ungodly hour, clean and full from dinner, she figured she might as well go through the boxes Fury had left for her.
The clothes she had picked out on the long ride from New York were all there, much to her happiness and uncertainty. For the last two years, she’d mostly worn lab issued clothing, usually frumpy dressing gowns or scrubs. What she had now were a variety of modern outfits and comfortable lounging attire. Despite the closet space, after taking a look at everything she’d picked, Wanda folded it up and left it in the big box before pushing it into the corner.
The next package was toiletries, and the young Sokovian put everything on hold when she finally came across a toothbrush and toothpaste. With fresh breath, she finally felt a bit more like herself.
Fury really had taken care of all of the basics when he ordered for her. She was gleeful and felt indebted to the one-eyed man when she realized the extent he’d gone to. But neither she nor Pietro would join the Avengers, that much she knew.
When Wanda had a pretty good stock of everything in the boxes, she settled back on her bed and took a look at the phone. No calls yet, but Fury probably wasn’t even back in Europe.
She ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath. She wouldn’t let herself think too much about everything that happened, but she still felt the fresh absence of Pietro. It was like he was just down the hall and not another continent.
Eventually, Wanda was done with her pity party and got under the covers. It was still comfortable, but a little too big and too new for her. She stared up at the dark ceiling, illuminated by the city lights. Sokovia was never this bright at night.
She laid there for maybe an hour before giving up. She sat up but wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. She peaked at the phone but sat it down. She was far too anxious waiting for Fury’s name to pop up with an incoming call.
Instead, she tiptoed out into the living room. It was dark but she found a book about cults in the sixties before she returned to her room. Reading in English was much slower than her native tongue, but it was a nice way to kill time.
When she finally fell asleep, she had just enough good sense to push the book away to avoid getting her drool on it.
When she finally woke up it must have been pushing well into the afternoon. Her hair was tangled up but she felt rested and ready for whatever may come.
First, though, she washed her face up in the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She changed into some of her new clothes, a pair of jeans and a comfortable blouse and combed her hair out.
With some butterflies in her stomach, she went into the living room.
She heard voices before she exited the hall that made her hesitate in her steps. She reached out with her powers and felt the second presence. Warm, like Steve was, but a little more open.
Wanda rounded the corner but then stayed close to the wall, unsure if the new person knew about her or if she should have stayed hidden. Too late, both he and Steve stopped speaking when they saw her.
She cleared her throat, “good morning.”
“Good morning.”
“Morning!”
“Sam this is Wanda, Wanda this is Sam,” Steve introduced them.
“Hey, nice to meet you,” Sam walked over and shook her hand.
“You too,” she smiled shyly, her voice still husky from sleep and her accent a little more prominent than yesterday.
“So, you’re friends with Fury? How’s the old man doing?”
She shrugged and leaned against the wall. “I only met him the other day. He seems like he’s doing ok…”
“Wanda, are you hungry?” Steve asked from his seat. She just noticed the laptop on the table and the stress rolling from her host.
“A bit,” she admitted, feeling like a parasite in his home, especially since he seemed busy.
Sam was watching her but she was unsure of herself to read his mind inconspicuously, “you know, I’m pretty hungry too. Mind if I grab a bite, Steve?”
“You don’t have to ask,” Steve shrugged, eyes glued back to the computer screen.
“Come on, Wanda, I’m sure we can scrounge up something here.”
The gesture was transparent, but very much appreciated.