Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 80 - Put Aside Your Differences

Scott, Steve, and Natasha were all waiting by the car, the redhead casually resting her arms on the edge of the open car door.

As Keira walked over to the car, she received puzzled looks from the two men, but Natasha's eyes held an understanding gleam. Of course, she had already figured out that Keira wasn't coming with them, which was exactly why she brought up the subject of where they would go next.

Since Tony proved unwilling to help them with their hypothesis, they had to go to the second smartest person they knew. Banner.

"Who would've thought that Captain America himself appreciated fidget toys, huh?" Keira couldn't help but chuckle and sent a meaningful look at Steve's hand, which held her car keys. Being the easily bored creature that she was, nearly every key chain she owned had some sort of fidget toy on it. And in this case, her car keys were adorned with a fidget cube.

Steve's cheeks turned a light pink at the notice and his fingers stilled. "Yeah, well. Gives me something to do." He shrugged, avoiding Keira's glittering eyes.

She didn't judge him, not in the slightest. But for a man who was born in the 1920s, she was pleasantly surprised to see that he had grown to appreciate some of the more modern inventions. It had taken her about five years to convince him to try any other shoes than Converse, considering that the brand had been one of the few things he recognized after coming out of the ice.

"Just so you know, I'll notice if you scratch it. Tasha has traumatized me." Keira narrowed her eyes in playful pretend at the supersoldier, who held up his hands in surrender.

"Promise, you won't spot a thing."

"Hey! It was one time!" Natasha exclaimed indignantly, her mouth open in offense at the jab. "And to my defense, we were getting shot at. Not scratching your car wasn't exactly on my priority list so to speak. Considering the fact that you're still alive and breathing, I'd say my mission succeeded, although I don't know if I'd call that a win."

Now it was Keira's turn to look offended. "Uh-huh. Sure, blame the crooks. And yes, we both know my presence is a blessing, so you're welcome." With a playful smirk playing on her lips, she did a mock bow. In the corner of her eye, she saw Steve shaking his head in amusement at their theatrics. Rounding the car, she wrapped her arms around Natasha in a hug. "I won't hold you any longer. Good luck with Banner. Hulk. Bulk. Whatever he's called these days."

"Bulk? That's the best name you could come up with?" Natasha chuckled quietly but returned the hug without protest. "And thanks. Don't you dare stay away too long though."

Rolling her eyes, Keira broke the hug with a smile on her face, her hands still on the redhead's shoulders. "Hey, don't judge me. I'm bad at names. But I have no doubts you'll succeed, you always do." Even if she knew that they would see each other again soon, she couldn't help the way her stomach twisted at the farewell. Whenever she was away from Natasha, she always had a lingering feeling of unease in her bones.

It had intensified during the later years, so perhaps she had developed a bit of separation anxiety.

"Try not to miss me too much, yeah?" It was a weak attempt to try and cover this fact up, but don't they say that humor is the best coping mechanism?

"No promises." Natasha winked and leaned her cheek against Keira's hand on her shoulder. Just like the blonde, she didn't like being separated from her best friend. But a part of her was just happy that some parts of her broken little family still kept in contact.

To see the people she called friends and family be ripped apart by the consequences of their failure had been one of the toughest things she had experienced.