sunset. [wanda maximoff]

1.1

6 MONTHS LATER.
LAGOS, NIGERIA

"Any more sugar and you'll get a headache," Scottie Casey teased her girlfriend as she smirked over the table at her. The red-headed girl across from her didn't need to be able to see the blonde's eyes to know that she would have the familiar mysterious glint in them.

Scottie knew this, so she simply adjusted how her sunglasses were sitting on her face to keep the sun out of her eyes. Fiddling with the small leather band on her wrist, she noticed that Wanda was looking at her with a proud smile.

"What?" Scottie asked, her voice soft and light as she saw her girlfriend's reaction to the sight. She knew it wasn't the presence of the band she was smiling at, but rather the lack of presence of her metal training bands.

"I'm just proud of you," Wanda shrugged, a hint of a smile on her lips as she adjusted the hat on her head and raised the cup of coffee to her lips. Scottie smiled gently, feeling content with the words that had left Wanda's lips as she turned her head to study their surroundings a little bit better. "I know it's a big thing for you to not be wearing them, and I'm just so proud."

Scottie returned the smile across the table, knowing that Wanda was right. It was a big step for her, and the past six months of training had certainly beaten her up - but also into shape. She had came a long way since her accidental burning of Sam and while she would never forgive herself for hurting the man, he had long since forgiven her.

She knew her days of missions like these were becoming limited. Her face was more and more recognisable from the fact she spent her days with Tony and Pepper, and now it had became impossible for her and Steve to show their face without some form of disguise. It was only a matter of time before her presence was going to start compromising missions, she was sure of it.

A crackle in her ear reminded her that they weren't here for sightseeing, but rather a mission to stop the infamous Brock Rumlow. She had met the man briefly before the fall of SHIELD when she had gone to visit Fury at the triskelion. But that was a long time ago, and a lot had changed since then.

"All right, what do you see?" Steve's voice crackled through their communication units, Scottie noticing Wanda's finger twitch ever so slightly as she had missed the crackle to signal he was about to start speaking.

The Sokovian girl looked around slowly, her eyes trying to pick up every small detail in order to keep her place on the team. She knew that she was still the rookie here, even if Scottie had spent less time training with them.

"Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target," she noted, seeing Scottie nod ever so slightly from across from her.

"There's an ATM in the south corner, which means..."

"Cameras."

"Both cross streets are one way..."

"So, compromised escape routes," Wanda finished, knowing that she was pretty sure she had scouted the environment correctly. Scottie nodded, her eyes finally latching on to a red car up the street. One look told her it was bulletproof, meaning there was going to most likely be some bullets shot today.

"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen, he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out. You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

Wanda nodded, following Scottie's line of sight. "Yeah, the red one? It's cute."

"It's also bulletproof, which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us," Natasha's voice joined in with the conversation, reminding Scottie that this was a team mission - not just a recon mission.