The Broken Ballerina | Wanda Maximoff [slow updates]

chapter five

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Once Clint landed I recognised the safe house immediately and I was slightly excited to see Laura and the kids again. I lagged behind the others, my legs feeling weak from the seizure. Steve noticed, walking towards me, letting me lean on him as we walked up the stairs of the porch and into the house. 

"Honey?" Clint called out once we entered the home. "I'm home."

Laura turned the corner in all her pregnant glory, making me smile to myself despite everything. 

"Hi, company," Clint greeted. "Sorry, didn't call ahead."

Laura walked towards him, leaning up and pecking his lips 

"This is an agent of some kind," Tony quipped. 

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Gentlemen, this is Laura," Clint introduced. 

"I know all of your names," Laura spoke up, waving slightly. 

Tony waved back. 

There was a silence that was broken by the sound of footsteps. 

"Incoming," Clint muttered, turning towards the source of the sound. 

"Dad," Lila exclaimed, jumping into Clint's outstretched arms.

"Hi, sweetheart," he replied. "Hey, buddy. How are you guys doing?"

"These are smaller agents," Tony added, pointing to the scene in front of us. 

"Did you bring Auntie Nat and Auntie Anya?" Lila asked. I stood myself up, moving away from Steve.

"Why don't you hug her and find out?" Nat spoke up, moving towards the girl. They hugged.

"Don't forget your favourite auntie," I joked. 

"Auntie Anya," Lila exclaimed, running into my arms. I lifted her up, hugging her close. 

"Sorry for barging in on you," Steve apologised. 

"Yeah, we would've called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed," Tony voiced, bitterness evident in his tone. 

"Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figure it's a good place to lay low," Clint explained. 

I placed Lila down, moving to Laura. 

"I missed you," I told her. 

"How's little Natasha?" Nat asked, holding her stomach.

"She's... Nathaniel," Laura revealed. 

Nat's smile dropped before she bent down to stomach level.

"Traitor," she whispered. 

We continued our conversation before I watched Thor walk out of the house. I frowned. I moved to look out the front door. I watched Steve stand there as if he were remembering something. He turned around and walked away.

"Steve," I called after him, stumbling to the front door. He turned back towards me. "Thank you for earlier and sorry for being a bit of a bitch. If you need someone to vent to or just sit with or whatever you want, feel free to ask me. I owe you one, or like a hundred," I rambled, glancing down at my feet. 

"You don't owe me anything, Anya," Steve told me, his voice soft. 

I nodded in response. 

"My offer still stands," I responded, before turning and walking back into the house. 

I glanced around the room to see Laura and Clint had left. I frowned, moving up the stairs to find them. I needed to ask about how long we were staying.

I heard voices so I moved towards them but stopped upon hearing my name.

"Nat and Anya seem really shaken," Laura stated. 

"Ultron has these allies, these kids, they're punks, really. But they carry a big, damn stick. And Nat took a serious hit. But Anya, she took the biggest, she had another seizure Laura, she hasn't had one of those since she first discovered her powers," Clint explained, his tone softening towards the end. He was worried. 

"Is she okay?" Laura asked. 

"She's scared, Laura, of herself and she's exhausted all the time. She thinks we don't see it but we do," Clint whispered. "Someone her age shouldn't feel like that."

There was a pause between the pair. I knew I shouldn't have been listening but I couldn't stop. 

"Someone's gonna have to teach them some manners," Clint added.

I moved away from the door, walking back down the stairs, my previous thoughts forgotten. 

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Having showered I sat in the room I was going to share with Steve. My wet hair stuck to my face as I stared at the small bookshelf in front of me. My eyes scanned the many titles before landing on one that I decided to read. 

It was about ten minutes later when Lila located me, begging me to join her for a tea party. I agreed, sitting on the porch as she poured me orange juice and called it tea, passing me plastic food. 

"Anya, can I talk to you for a second?" Laura questioned. I nodded, moving inside to the kitchen where we were alone. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah of course-" 

"Anya," she warned. "No, you're not."

"I'm always okay."

"Talk to me," she begged. I sighed, closing my eyes for a second. 

"I'm tired, Laura, so goddamn tired," I admitted. "I'm eighteen and exhausted. I should be tired because of school not because there's a power inside of me that I can't control and that keeps me up at night."

"Anya, you need to talk to us about this, maybe something can be done to help," she suggested. 

I nodded. 

"On a lighter note: is there something going on between you and Cap? Because I saw you guys talking earlier and I thought something might be there," she asked.

"He's a friend and also like seven years older than me, plus the seventy he was under the ice," I answered, chuckling. 

"So no guys for you?" Laura questioned. 

"Laura, I don't like guys." I paused. "I like girls," I revealed. 

"Oh, okay, so no girls for you?"

"None. I haven't told anyone yet, Nat doesn't even know so could you-"

"Your secret is safe with me," she reassured.