Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 82 - Chasing Memories

"Hey, hey, hey! Easy! Easy!"

"I'm being very careful."

"No, you're being very Hulky!"

Keira leaned back against the wall, silently observing as Bruce tried to insert one of the vials of Pym Particles into Scott's suit. And considering the sheer size of Bruce's hands in this form, she couldn't say she blamed Scott for being a little on edge.

"I'm being careful!" Bruce tried to defend himself, his voice rising slightly at being accused.

Scott held up the vial he had just taken from Bruce. "These are Pym Particles, alright? And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more." He was rambling faster and faster, his nerves clearly more on the outside than on the inside at the moment.

"Scotty, calm down. Take a breath." Keira gently suggested, placing a hand on his shoulder when Nebula backed away from his side, done with whatever tinkering the suit needed.

"Sorry." He apologized shortly. "We've got enough for one round-trip each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus, two test runs." Scott then proceeded to shrink down until they couldn't see him anymore and then pop back to his normal size. "One test run." He said sheepishly, looking around with a slightly guilty face.

Rhodey barely contained his scoff at the little accident. The odds were really in their favor, weren't they?

"Alright. I'm not ready for this." Scott continued, swinging his arms back and forth by his sides.

"I'm game."

They all turned around to look at Clint, who was leaning against the doorframe. He had changed out of Steve's old clothes and instead pulled on a tank top, revealing the tattoo sleeve he had acquired during the five years he had been gone.

"Like hell you are!" Keira shook her head vigorously, ignoring the surprised looks she received at her little outburst, and stalked over to Clint. She grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him along the corridor until they were out of earshot.

Arguing in front of others was not something she preferred.

"Keira, do-"

"No." Once again, she shook her head, the braid Natasha had plaited just hours before almost hitting her in the face. "We don't know how this test run will go. I trust Tony, I do, but in the end, we're testing something for the first time ever. And should something go wrong, you got more to lose." She sighed, running a hand over her face as she tried to calm herself down.

The painful look that flashed past Clint's eyes was unmissable.

Clint grabbed her by the shoulders, a determined look on his face. "Keira, please. I need to do this. If I don't... then I don't deserve- I just- Please." He pleaded, his voice cracking as his eyes glazed over.

"Clint." Keira placed her hands over his, giving them a gentle squeeze. The desperation in his voice made her want to give up immediately, but she would never forgive herself if something went wrong and she could've stopped it. "I understand, trust me, I do. You feel the need to justify your actions, to feel some redemption. To feel worthy of seeing them again."

Judging from the way his lower lip was trembling, she was on the right track.

She placed a hand on his left cheek, feeling a minuscule scar under her thumb. "Listen to me. You are worthy of your family. You don't need to risk your life just to prove that. How do you think Laura would react if she found out you died while she was gone? Or how Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel would feel without a father? They would be devastated, Clint. I won't risk that, I simply won't. I wouldn't be able to live with myself."