Death's Weakness (Wanda Maximoff x G!P Enby OC)

Chapter Eleven - New Friend

Few hours later...

Adrienne was now fully moved into their new room in the tower, and they couldn't feel more miserable.

Natasha was the only upside to this moving experience.

Her 'motivation' did boost their mood by only a little.

They were now walking downstairs because of the strong smell of food.

They walked into the kitchen to see Steve at the oven, stirring something in a pot.

"Spaghetti?" They spoke up, walking closer to the man, and sitting on the kitchen counter.

Steve turned around to face them, slight confusion in his eyes.

"Uh, yeah. How'd you know? I just started."

"Good senses," They clarified, looking over to the pot. "Need some help? I know a thing or two..."

"You don't need to do that, you just moved in," The man pointed out, turning down the temperature.

Adrienne hummed with a nod of their head.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Confusion filled Steve's eyes once more.

"Sure."

"How did you adjust... y'know, after the whole ice situation?"

Steve's thoughts about the food were put to the back of his mind, while the thoughts of what happened when he woke up filled his mind instead.

"I don't think I ever did adjust," Steve started, walking over to stand in front of the counter across from Adrienne.

"Waking up after so long and just being tossed into a completely different society from the one that you always knew... it's a hard thing to deal with," Steve crossed his arms, looking at the ground for a moment, lost in thought.

Adrienne nodded.

"Were you ever cryofrozen at all?"

"Yeah," Adrienne nodded, readjusting themselves. "From '67 to '81. I was about 18 when I went in," Adrienne reminisced the distant memory like it was yesterday.

"I'm sorry," Steve said lowly, and Adrienne waved him off.

"It's not your fault... no need for the apology."

Steve nodded, still feeling rather unhappy about Adrienne's past, though they are still strangers in a way.

The blond turned back to the stove and continued what he was doing for a bit before turning around to face Adrienne again.

"How did you get that?" Steve nodded to their cybernetic arm.

"It was 1985 and I was still about 18... physically, at least. They were doing some experiments on me that involved electricity, and it hurt like hell," They stood up, moving to sit on the counter which was next to the stove, watching as Steve poured some spaghetti sauce into another pot.

"Electricity?"

"They noticed that electroshock therapy kept us all in line, so they continued it for decades," Adrienne explained.

"But after a few hours, maybe 10 of them doing that, I just... lost it," They continued. "Killed 60 people that night and attempted to run away, but they just dragged my ass back," They laughed humorlessly.

Steve stopped what he was doing for a second, his hands suspended against the edge of the stove.

"They chopped it off and recreated the perfect formula for nerve cells and attached mine to this," Adrienne held up their cybernetic arm up, twisting it.

Steve held his hand out to touch them but retracted his arm, but Adrienne grabbed his hand.

"You can touch, I won't bite," They whispered and Steve continued his action, touching the cold metal.

"Can you feel anything?"

"It's very faint but yeah, I can feel," They looked to the blond soldier.

"So, if you were to get it removed..."

"Yeah, I would feel it. Ironic since I don't feel anything," They clenched their jaw slightly.

"Don't feel...? Like you've numbed yourself-?"

"Nah," They shook their head, "I was born with it. You could punch me right now, and I wouldn't feel it."

"Are you serious?"

"Do it," Adrienne stood up, tapping their gut, "I want you to."

"I don't wanna-,"

"Do it."

Steve punched them with everything in him, his eyes widening, seeing that they didn't flinch at all.

"See?"

"Holy..." Steve said slowly, analyzing their body.

"Didn't think you had it in you," They hit his shoulder with their hand, making the man retract slightly at the pain that he felt in his arm.

"You're a bad influence on me, Rose," Steve shook his head with a grin, focusing back on the food. "Now, get out of here before I burn the tower down," Steve pointed a spatula at them 'threateningly' and they put their hands up defensively.

"Alright, alright," They made their way to the kitchen exit before stopping in their tracks.

"Steve?"

The man hummed loud enough for them to hear.

"Thank you," They responded, and the blond turned around.

"For what?"

"Giving me a chance to open up despite the circumstances," They made clear.

"Being in HYDRA wasn't your fault. I won't lie and say that I wasn't skeptical of you at first, but I think that you've been dealt many harsh cards that you didn't deserve and that you're more than their soldier. But in the end, you'll fit in just fine and that you'll be a great asset to the team," Steve said confidently.

"Thank you... team member."

"Friend," Steve corrected, "I trust you... more than Tony and I've fought alongside him."

Adrienne let out a chortle at the man's statement.

"I trust you too... friend."