𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 ━━━ ❪...

──────────────────

THIRTEEN
𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴
──────────

STEPHEN ESCORTED WANDA back to the New Avengers Facility, on foot it had taken a while but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle.

They entered the hall where Wanda had expected to see Pietro, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Wanda turned around to face him in the empty kitchen, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips, running a hand through his hair.

"I want to tell you something," Her accent was thick and from this, he knew that she was going to say something of importance.

"Go on," Stephen said, looking into her green eyes, they sparkled in the light, "I'm listening."

"I..." Wanda took a breath, "I saw you...Before I met you. I snuck into the Avengers Tower, I managed to see the cradle..."

"You saw Vision?" He asked, he almost felt as if she was warning him of something, that she had a connection with Vision that he didn't know of and couldn't relate to.

"Yes," Wanda answered, "But that's not what I'm talking about. When I touched it, I saw you. B-But you weren't there, you were somewhere...else. And, I guess what I'm trying to say is I think I saw you about to die."

Stephen knew what she was talking about, he and Wong had foreseen an event where he would die. He wasn't exactly sure what Wanda was talking about but he had an idea. Then and there he could have told her what he saw too...

That the real reason he had found her was that he had seen her die, or about to die. That he had tried to train her, fix her, do whatever he could to avoid it. Though, all the sentences he wanted to say to her sounded like it wouldn't go down well so he forgot about that.

"It's alright," Stephen told her, "It was only a vision, I'll be fine."

"Good," Wanda pulled him into another kiss, but she could tell he was distracted - perhaps distant. He gave her a sad smile and she knew what he was going to say before he even did.

"You're going to go again, aren't you?" She trailed a hand up and down his arm.

Stephen felt guilty for leaving her but he knew he had a duty, "You know I have to."

Wanda spared him a low-spirited look, she wasn't thrilled to see that he would be gone for such a long time, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Stephen sighed, "I'll miss you."

"I know," Wanda held his hands, circling her thumb around his palm, "I will too."

"I will see you again, Maximoff," He pulled her head in, his fingers tangled into her hair and gave her kiss,  "Stay safe."

"You too, Strange," Wanda stepped back as he brought out his sling ring from a pocket, "Until next time. Don't be a stranger."

"I can't make any promises, you know it's in my name," He said with a wink before casting out his hands in front of him and the familiar orange sparks flowed into a circle, creating a portal which he stepped through.

As the older man left the room, it suddenly felt smaller, he had been providing her with a feeling that vanished as soon as he exited.

Wanda closed her eyes, still feeling everything about him around her, the feel of his lips, the smell of his aftershave and cologne on her skin. Images of his body, his smile, just his whole aura in her brain...

"Wha..." Wanda's eyes snapped open as she heard the soft sound of a whoosh, she looked to the walls to see a greenish flash of light coming into the room.

She was surprised to see the figure of The Vision form in front of her.

"Vision?" Wanda asked, already knowing the answer. He stared back at her innocently. "How did you do that?"

"It's called phasing," He explained in his clear, British-accented tone of voice.

Vision was exactly as Wanda had expected him to be, there was a certain order about him that she liked.

"Oh, well don't do it again," Wanda told him, explaining how it was creepy and scared the hell out of her. She had seen weird things but she wasn't ready to see Vision going in and out of the walls to creep up on her.

He apologised profusely before offering to make her a cup of coffee but she declined as it reminded her too much of early mornings at the Sanctum...

He wasn't anything like Stephen and their connection wasn't anything close, at least she thought. However, the connection was still there and she felt the same openness to the future she had when she felt when touching the cradle.

Naturally, she found herself walking along the corridors and stairs and heading to Pietro's room.

She pushed open the door to see him lying on the bed, remote in hand as he watched the show playing on the television. Wanda noted that it was in Russian and flashbacks of their childhood circulated through her mind.

They used to crowd around the only TV in the
orphanage and huddle together to watch any overdramatic Sokovian soap opera was on...

"Did you have fun?" Pietro asked and she could hear the cheekiness in his voice.

"I did," Wanda crawled next to him, falling into a hug, "Best birthday present ever. Thank you, Piet."

"No problem," Pietro said, "I knew you were horny."

Wanda wanted to slap him but instead, she just laughed, he was right after all, "Shut up."

"Where'd the old man go?" Pietro asked, looking around the room as if he would appear out of thin air.

"He..." Wanda knew her brother didn't approve of him just from the first sight and she didn't want him to dislike Stephen any further, "He has a job to do. It's important but we're okay, he's not going to hurt me."

"As long as your sure," Pietro said.

Wanda took a glance around the room then noticed that the wardrobe was wide open and completely empty, the tables were bare and none of Pietro's junk was cluttering the floor.

"Where's all your stuff?" Wanda asked.

"It's still at Barton's place," Pietro explained, "The team needed time apart so I went to stay with him and his family. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow."

"Family?" Wanda was almost surprised, "Well, that's good of him. I'm amazed he let you in after I killed his best friend."

"About that," Pietro took her hand, "You didn't kill her. I was there, it was an accident. You can't blame yourself."

"But the only thing is...I can," Wanda sighed, she thought about the day a moment. The images flashed through her mind, the Avengers charging towards her, the streams of red that emitted from her hands as she dodged the weapons firing at her...

"I want to come with you," Wanda told him, "Tomorrow when you go and get your things from Clint's place. I want to go and apologise."

"Wanda...I don't think that's the best idea," Pietro warned, he knew that Hawkeye wasn't exactly best friends with him yet and he didn't think he would be considering getting buddy-buddy with Wanda.

"I didn't ask," Wanda said, "I'm coming."

════▣◎▣════

"THANK YOU FOR letting me in," Wanda Maximoff spared Clint Barton a meek smile as she entered his humble farmhouse.

"No problem," Clint let out a little chuckle, "I let in fugitives of the law all the time. Just a regular Tuesday for me."

"She's not a fugitive," Pietro corrected, being careful not to be too harsh, "Not anymore."

"Oh, I know," Clint led them to the sitting area, where he gestured for them to sit down, "Any drinks? I've got some Capri-Sun. Fruit Shoot?"

"We're twenty," Pietro reminded him, getting comfortable in his favourite spot on the couch, kicking his legs up onto the back pillows, "Not children."

"Understood," Clint nodded, chuckling at Pietro, "I'm joking."

Pietro brought out the phone he had in his back pocket, Wanda looked him up and down as he did.

They never had phones or anything growing up so it was a surprise when he started to type on its screen meticulously.

Clint tutted, "Ever since Stark gave him that thing he's been on it non-stop."

There was a knock at the door leading to the inner house, their heads all turned to see Laura Barton, "Um, hey. Piet, I have all your stuff ready for you on the upper floor. I can't carry it all down here by myself."

"Oh, thank you, Mrs Barton," Pietro sat up straight, in a blink of an eye he was standing next to Laura, "You two get to know each other."

He gave Wanda and Clint a cheeky wink before zooming off, past Laura, she rolled her eyes, "He's worse than the kids."

When Laura Barton chased after Pietro, Wanda and Clint were left in the room alone. The awkwardness that went silently exchanged between them was almost deafening, she felt the anger he had for her, she felt it.

"I wanted to thank you," Wanda's voice cut into the silence, "For...taking in Pietro, he can be stubborn. I wouldn't have expected you to want to."

"Don't I know it, the quick little bastard has got on my nerves many times," Clint tried to joke before seeing the straight face Wanda had, letting out an awkward cough, "Sorry, he's great. He's really good with the kids."

Pietro had become close with the Barton family during his stay, part of Wanda was conflicted about what she felt but she knew that Pietro was charismatic...to some extent.

Pietro had spent most of his time running laps around the field to 'race' Nathaniel, attempting to help Lila with her homework and conducting manly talks with Cooper, against Clint's will.

"You're still angry," Wanda didn't need to ask, she knew exactly what his thoughts were.

"I..." Clint had to brace himself from tears, "I am."

"Do you want me dead?" Wanda asked. She was slightly scared he did, the tremble in her voice making it obvious.

"I did," Clint said, honestly, repeating himself, "I did. I was very angry, I didn't want her death to be...I wanted you to pay but I understand now that it wasn't your fault."

"You do?" She cocked her head, "I'm surprised."

"I realised that we sort of pushed you to throw her..." Clint took a breath, he covered his face but Wanda could still see he was crying. She picked up the box of tissues she spotted on the table, placing them gently on the pillow beside him and he waited for the glowing red band to disappear before picking some up. "Thanks..."

"I'm sorry," She knew it wouldn't mean anything to him, "I know it's late but I am. I blamed myself...I still do."

"You shouldn't, it wasn't your fault," Clint got up, Wanda watched hesitantly as he sat right beside her, "You're part of the team now, Maximoff. You didn't deserve what happened to you."

"Neither did she," Wanda looked down to the creases in the airy fabric of the flowing dress she was wearing, trying to get lost in them, "I take responsibility and I blame myself. I'm trying to become different, I hope I'm getting there."

"You will, someday," Clint smiled and chuckled as he watched Wanda force a small curve at the end of her lips, it only took a bump on the shoulder to make her laugh along.

"So you two became best friends while I was gone?" Pietro's smug smirk was on his face as he leant against the doorway, arms crossed, luggage strewn out in front of him.

"I understand what you mean by bastard now," Wanda shared a laugh with Clint and they watched Pietro's face present a half-offended glare. The two rose from the couch as Pietro grabbed the rest of his things from Mrs Barton and roll it to the door. Wanda turned to the man, "See you at work?"

"No, actually," Pietro turned to Hawkeye as he heard him speak, unaware of what he was talking about. "I have decided I won't be returning to the Avengers. I am...retiring."

"I knew you were old but I didn't know you were that old," Pietro abandoned the task of moving his things, he walked up to the sitting area, stepping over a toy train to face the marksman, "Is this a final decision? This isn't for any particular reasons, is it?" His eyes shifted over to Wanda.

Clint shook his head adamantly, "No, of course not. I have a family to take care of and I'd like to see my children grow up before I die."

"Oh," Pietro didn't hide his disappointment, "Thank you for everything, old man." The blonde-haired young man took him in his arms, causing his to groan as he caught him off guard with a tight squeeze.

"No problem, kid."