𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 ✘ 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐀 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐅𝐅

{4²} {TEA AND PARANOIA}

∆ {4²} {TEA AND PARANOIA} ∆

ROXI WASN'T SURE why she hadn't told anyone else. Perhaps it was that she was trying to figure out how to process what Tony had worked out, but the pair of them were the only ones who knew - or suspected - the origin of her powers, and the cause of the headaches, and it wasn't something that she wanted to think about any time soon.

Her friendship with Tony had developed steadily over the past year, to the point where they would sit in the living area of either one of their rooms and drink, either alcohol or tea and coffee, respectively. Roxi was still in complete control about how much she drunk, even if she did like having the alcohol to distract her. Her childhood had taught her what someone under the heavy influence of alcohol could do, and she'd told herself many times that she wouldn't allow herself to be like that. She'd promised herself many things over the years, and persuaded herself that she would stick to those ideals. Some of them, she had broken.

For one, that her loyalty would always lie within SHIELD, and with Fury. For another, that she wouldn't let herself open up, especially with co-workers. The largest one though, was that she wouldn't tell anyone her name. She had promised herself that the night that SHIELD had found her, and taken her off the streets. It had been a safety net, dictated by her fear of the man she had run from so shortly beforehand.

She had gotten over that, however slowly, during her 13 years with SHIELD. Natasha had been the final step in the process, and had been the first person who she had outright admitted it to. Even Ara, the woman who was buried in the graveyard that Fury was supposed to be in, had found it through her filing. Tony was the second person that she'd ever properly told, and that had been more through the fact that she knew she needed to open up to the team, and try and clear the tension that she'd put in the air between her and Tony. The two of them were relatively close now, and Roxi was proud that she'd managed to turn it around.

Wanda was another matter. The first couple of occasions that they found themselves in the room together, they hadn't said anything, and the air had been heavy between them. Wanda hadn't been sure how to act around her, and Roxi could tell that Wanda was weary of her, of the power she held. The only real display of it that the Maximoff had seen had been at the church in Sokovia, where Roxi had let them explode out of her, and run wild, shredding every robot it came into contact with. It had been pure and raw, and she hadn't tried to control it fully, because if she had, she was sure that it would feel like her body was being ripped apart from the inside out. Her bloody appearance and cold exterior after Seoul hadn't helped either, she was sure.

The nervousness seemed to be backed by curiosity though, and it had been the same look that rested in both Ultron and Vision's robotic eyes. That went back to the second time that they had met, at the shipyard. What Roxi had seen, how she had acted when she was out - that Clint had filled her in on at some point - it had both confused and intrigued Wanda, as far as she could tell. After a couple of days of tense interactions, Wanda had taken the step to speak to her, to ask her for advice about dealing with her brother's death. Roxi had found her resolve weakening when the Maximoff had asked her about it, and had helped the girl as much as she could with her experiences.

Roxi had helped Wanda as much as she could, but as she had told Wanda, she wasn't the best at giving advice in that area, but the girl had been persistent, so Roxi had done her best. Although it wasn't much, Wanda hadn't seemed to mind, and their brief chats in corridors had soon changed into long training and sparring sessions and hour-long talks where Roxi tried to help Wanda as best as she could and the younger of the two tried to get the elder to feel more comfortable and open up more.

And Natasha. Where to start. The past year had been filled with the two of them becoming far closer, and Roxi had even begun to allow herself to loosen, to relax, to flirt. She had settled into place here at the Compound, surrounded by the only people that she had left to love. Whether platonic or romantic, these people were her family, and she often found herself wondering how much worse off she would be if Fury hadn't recruited her for the Avengers back in 2012.