We Will Say Hello Again

Nine

Yelena had managed to hide Wanda from SHIELD for two weeks before Val came knocking on her door. And it was less knocking, and more opening the front door and inviting herself in.

Wanda was in the backyard under the shade, seated at the table with a glass of lemonade. She was reading Yelena's book on Sylvia Plath, and her magic was floating just off to her side, collecting the slobbery ball Fanny brought back to her and then tossing it away.

Yelena was in the kitchen preparing chicken breasts with herbs and spices. The grill outside was warming up. So when Val barged in, Yelena couldn't react in time to reach a knife. Even if she did, the juices from the chicken would have slicked up the handle enough for her to not even have a good grip on it.

When she saw Val's face she relaxed, puffing air out of her mouth. "Lisus, you scared me."

Val stares at her sternly. "I should have. What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Making lunch," Yelena replies, hands flourishing at the chicken.

"Uh-huh. Just for you?"

Yelena points out the back door. "And Wanda. Maybe Fanny gets lucky and has some."

"Do you have anything to say for yourself for housing a government asset that has been reported missing?"

"How can she be missing if she's right here?"

Val clasps her hands, closing her eyes. "What are you doing with her, Belova?"

"I offered her a place to stay after she blew up the one in Sokovia."

"And that sentence doesn't scare you?"

"Why should it?"

"What's to stop her from blowing up this one?"

Yelena rinses her hands in the sink. "She was alone there. Nothing to do all day but her magic. Here she has company. I know the feeling of loneliness. It's why I got a dog."

Val glances outside, catching Wanda reading at the table. Yelena clocks her watching her, eyes narrowing.

"What do you want with her?"

"I want to bring her in and keep her at SHIELD. She's a risk being in the real world."

"You'd put her in a cage," Yelena says, knowing.

"No. I'd give her assignments. Keep her hands busy."

"You'd work her to death so she doesn't have time for herself."

"You're putting words in my mouth."

"Because you're not saying them." The two of them share a challenging look. "Let her stay here. With me. She's good here."

"You want to be her handler?"

"As long as you never call me that to her face, deal." Yelena picks up the plate with chicken breasts. "Would you like to meet her?"

Yelena sets the chicken breasts on the grill, letting them sizzle. She also stokes a skillet of chopped peppers and onions in oil. Val sits across from Wanda, Fanny still running back and forth with the ball.

"You want to recruit me?" Wanda asks, unsure.

"I do. I think you'd be an incredible asset." Val leans forward, uncharacteristically friendly. "We'd be able to give you a family again."

Wanda looks up to Yelena, who tends to their lunch. She knows she's listening, but she's pretending not to out of respect. Did Wanda want another family? The three she's had before have been torn apart, killed, desecrated. Yelena seems steady, stable. But then again so did her Avengers. The strongest force on Earth. And look at them now.

"We'd also love to work with you on finding your boys. I know you've been searching the multiverse, and we know nothing on the topic since Strange hasn't revealed anything to us. We have the resources to help you."

Wanda sighs, looking up at Yelena. "Chto ya dolzhen delat'?"

Val furrows her brow, glancing between them. "What is that?"

Yelena turns to her, crossing her arms as she holds the tongs. "Drugoy vybor."

Wanda hums.

"Chto ty chuvstvuyesh' v svoyem serdtse?"

"Ispugannyy."

Yelena smiles. "Togda ty znayesh'." She turns back to the grill.

Val raises a brow at Wanda. "Well? What did you two just mumble?"

Wanda takes in her surroundings. Yelena cooking, Fanny chomping on her ball, the big backyard, the lemonade sweating in front of her. This was already home. She already felt like she had her family. But she knows one thing more than anything else in the world. Families stick together. And what more does she have to lose?

Wanda turns to Val, a soft smile on her face. "I'll join your team."

Val had left hours ago, practically immediately after she got her answer from Wanda. Now the girls sit inside, Yelena sprawled on the floor with Fanny, tugging on a chew toy. Wanda rests on the couch, infatuated with her Sylvia Plath.

"Have you read Dickinson?" Yelena asks.

Wanda looks up. "Charles?"

"That's Dickins. Dickinson is Emily. The poet." Wanda shakes her head. "When you finish Sylvia I'll give her to you. She's good."

Yelena sits up, stroking Fanny. She wants to ask Wanda something, but she doesn't know how.

"What is it?" Wanda asks, knowing her look.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"If you... Could you see other people's lives when you were searching through the universes?"

Wanda sets the book in her lap. "I mainly focused on the boys."

Yelena nods. "Right, right."

Wanda tilts her head, an encouraging smile on her face. "You want to see Nat, don't you?"

"Could you find her? Any life, I don't care which. I just want to see her again. I want to know she's happy in another world."

"I can already tell you she is."

"I know." Yelena looks down, twirling a lock of Fanny's hair.

Wanda sets the book to the side, positioning herself on the couch straighter. Her magic unfurls from her hands. Her red swirls swoop around the room, painting them in scarlet.

"I've gotten better since you last saw me. I can hold us there a little while," Wanda tells.

Yelena sees flashes of Nat's face surround the room. Different hairstyles she could never stick with, mouth smiling and smirking and frowning and laughing, eyes closed and squinting and wrinkled and teary. She sees her sister throughout her many years and many lives.

"This is a good one," Wanda smiles.

And she pulls Yelena in with her.