Archive of Our Own ^beta

Astraea could always go and bother Vision, if she wanted to. Or Rhodey. 

But Rhodey was probably busy with some political scenario, and Vision?

Well, he gave Astraea the creeps. 

It wasn’t that she had anything against the synthezoid, so to speak, but his bad habit of phasing through walls made her uncomfortable. It was only a matter of time until he walked in on her getting dressed. 

Plus, she’d seen the way he looked at Wanda.

She recognised that look.

She’d caught herself wearing it a few times, too. 

In a bid to push the thought out of her mind, Astraea flipped back several pages to visit a slightly older entry. 

It was dated the night of Sokovia.

✦✦✦

"So," Astraea said, gazing at Wanda. She was worried about her. The girl had been so… detached from reality, per se, in the hours since Pietro’s death. Upon their arrival at the tower, she had allowed Astraea to guide her to the communal living area, complete with the largest television Tony’s money could buy, a number of gaming consoles (at Clint’s request), sofas and a coffee table.

But after Wanda had taken a seat, she had also taken to staring at the wall. 

For hours.

"We’re in the process of moving to a compound upstate, so we aren’t all that able to prep a room for you… But you’re welcome to share with me," Astraea offered. 

Wanda pried her eyes away from the wall to meet hers. She smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes. "I wouldn’t want to trouble you any further." 

"It’s no bother, really. I can take the couch."

Wanda looked uncertain. Her eyes were hollow, lifeless, the emerald in them dulled to a somber grayish green. 

✦✦✦

"You are fond of astrology?" Wanda asked, shifting on the balls of her feet as she stood in the threshold of Astraea’s room. 

The latter offered up a small smile. Her room was wallpapered in an array of constellations against a midnight-blue sky. 

"You could say that," she shrugged. "My name means ‘star’ - ‘to burn’. I always found that the sky, the stars, the moon, they were always present. I could always count on them being there, if not always visible. Even when everything else around me was changing, they were constant."

Wanda smiled a little at the sentiment, which only made Astraea’s own wider. Wanda deserved to feel happiness. She’d lost so much at such a young age. 

"Besides," Astraea went on, her voice playful. "I have an aesthetic to uphold. What with light and all that."

Astraea watched as a small giggle escaped from Wanda’s lips. 

"Here," she said. "You can borrow my clothes while you’re here if you need to as well."

Her closet, a dark oak piece with ornate carvings on its doors, stood against the wall opposite her bed, a floating style piece with vines and little star lights woven around the head. 

An illuminated cloud ceiling overhead sparked with light every few seconds. Bookshelves lined a good portion of her walls, her desk settled between.

"Consider it yours for as long as you need it," Astraea said, her voice soft. 

✦✦✦

She smiled to herself as she let the words of the entry wash over her. The team had been exhausted - Ultron had taken quite the toll, mentally and physically. But they’d gained three new teammates. 

In some way, three new members for their dysfunctional family. 

Speaking of family…

Astraea hesitantly flipped back to one of her earlier passages. 

It was the day she’d met Daisy.

✦✦✦

"Hey, Lincoln? Raina said you were in here with my mom?"

Astraea stopped dead in her tracks. 

Lincoln was there all right.

Jiaying too.

But Cal was there, too.

And a girl, who looked to be a few years older than Astraea. 

Lincoln turned to face here. "Astraea? What are you doing here?"

She met his eyes, confusion etched on her face. "I was looking for you. What’s going on?" 

Lincoln sighed, his blue eyes never leaving hers. Astraea’s gaze flitted over to her parents and the girl.

They were sat around a table, eating dinner together, a bouquet of daisies by the girl. Her parents, Cal in particular, were engaging with her eagerly. 

"… Here’s to twenty-six," Astraea’s father was saying. 

And that was when it hit her. 

Daisies. 

"Daisy?" She asked. Lincoln nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder sympathetically. "I wanted to tell you, but Jiaying wouldn’t permit it."

"Of course she wouldn’t," Astraea scoffed. 

She’d been compared to her missing older sister all her life, made to feel as though she’d never be good enough.

For twenty. Fucking. Years.

And she was so, so, tired. 

They’d found Daisy. Here she was, casually dining with her parents as though this was a normal occurrence. And Astraea hadn’t been included. 

Astraea had been neglected by her parents, who preferred to waste resources and time searching for Daisy, guiding other Inhumans. 

And they hadn’t even the decency to let her know that her sister had been found.

Thank you, Jiaying. 

And thank you, Cal. 

She blinked away rapidly-forming tears as she started for the door. Lincoln caught her wrist. His voice came across conflicted as he spoke; torn between his loyalty to Jiaying, and the friendship he’d nurtured with Astraea over the years. 

Lincoln was her only friend. 

"Look," he said, gesturing to Daisy. The older girl’s gaze had landed on the duo. Astraea saw Daisy ask Jiaying something that she couldn’t hear, before Jiaying beckoned her over, ill-masked irritation playing across her face. 

"Daisy," she said, once Astraea had joined her mother. "I want you to meet Astraea… your sister." 

Daisy’s eyes went wide as she started scanning over Astraea. "I have a sister?" She asked. The latter could practically see the curiosity and excitement mingling within the other. 

Astraea waved. "Hi," she said. 

Daisy smiled at her. "How old are you?"

Astraea looked to Jiaying. Her mother gave her a curt nod, a sign to continue. "Twenty," she said. 

Daisy’s eyes lit up. "I’m an older sister?"

Astraea wasn’t able to help a smile of her own. 

✦✦✦

The sound of a door slamming pulled Astraea out of her recollections. The team was back, then. She rose quickly and brushed down her skirt before sliding through her door. 

Sam and Steve were in the hall, talking in hushed voices. 

"Hey, Cap," she grinned. "How’d the op go?" 

It was Sam who answered: "Not at all as well as we’d hoped. Rumlow set the weapon off. Your little witch tried to contain it. It didn’t go so well." He sounded defeated. 

"That bad, huh?" She asked. 

"Maybe Wanda could use some comfort? We’ve gotta debrief the rest of the team with Romanoff." Steve suggested. 

Astraea nodded and quickly made her way over to Wanda’s room. The soft murmur of a television drifted through the door. She knocked several times and waited. At Wanda’s lack of response, Astraea gingerly pulled on the handle. 

It wasn’t locked. 

"Wands?" She said, stepping quietly into the room. 

The girl was sitting on the edge of her bed, her face dark. She was wearing a short black dress, its contrasting green sleeves pulled over her palms. One hand rested in her lap, while the other supported her head. The news was playing.

"They are operating outside and above the international law," a reporter was saying. "Because that’s the reality, if we don’t respond to acts like these. What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeria?"

Astraea walked over to Wanda. "It’ll all blow over soon, don’t worry."

Wanda smiled lightly. Astraea tried not to look at her lips, how red they looked, how soft they looked, how-

Before she really had time to register what was happening, Wanda had climbed off of her bed and pressed her lips against Astraea’s. Her eyes widened as she felt Wanda close in the space between them, before she relaxed into the kiss, bringing one hand up to hold the younger girl’s waist, and the other rose to play with her hair, now highlighted with several lighter streaks. Astraea was quite sure she had turned into a beetroot as Wanda deepened the kiss, her tongue encircling Astraea’s.

Astraea drank in her scent, cherry and sage and exotic spices that drove her excitement further. God, Astraea thought, she tasted so intoxicating. 

Wanda pulled away, smirking at Astraea, her worries seemingly forgotten. Her eyes trailed down to the bed, then over Astraea’s chest. 

Her gaze sent shivers down Astraea’s spine, as though somebody had slithered over her grave. 

Wanda grabbed Astraea’s hips and pushed her down, onto the bed, before climbing on top of her. Her weight felt pleasant atop Astraea, Wanda’s breath hot against the older woman’s neck as she unbuttoned her blouse, a hand snaking underneath it. 

✦✦✦

Astraea groaned as she curled further into the sheets, her body clinging to the silken linen. "Wands?" She asked, vision blurred as colours and shapes danced into view. Her brain was swimming with recollections of the previous nights’ events. 

Pulling the sheet up slightly so that it covered her barren chest -her bra lie discarded on the floor by her blouse - she swivelled her head, searching for her partner in crime. Wanda’s pillow was fluffed, propped up against the headboard, and very obviously unoccupied. 

Astraea frowned in confusion, having not thought she’d woken all that late; her body was well-adjusted to wake at seven-thirty of a morning of its own accord. Sighing, her lips pursed, Astraea slid out of the bed, shivering at the sudden chill. She reached for her phone, lying face down on Wanda’s nightstand, when a note in slanted red ink caught her eye: 

Gone to prepare breakfast for the team; Secretary of State coming over later. 

You looked far too adorable asleep and I didn’t want to disturb you. 

-W

Beneath which, a post-script had been scribbled hastily:

Last night was fun ;)

✦✦✦

When Astraea reached the kitchen, Wanda was still bent over the stove, a pan cooking on heat and several bowls to her side. She assumed they contained whatever aspects of the dish Wanda had already finished preparing. 

Astraea smiled as she approached Wanda.

"Need any help?" She asked. 

The younger girl turned around and beamed at her. 

"Can you take these over to the table?" She asked, grabbing hold of two bowls. Astraea nodded eagerly and took them from her grasp, their fingers brushing and sending a jolt of electricity into Astraea’s palm. 

Failing to uphold eye contact, Astraea hurriedly turned away and started toward the table. Natasha was already seated, her red hair tied into a braid cascading down her shoulder. Her eyes were narrowed, tracking Astraea’s movements, her painted-red lips pulled into a smirk, yet allowing a hint of curiosity to shine through. 

Astraea raised a brow as she approached, placing down her bowls. "Something wrong?" 

Natasha shot her a Cheshire grin. "I didn’t hear you come to bed last night."

Astraea could have sworn that her heart stopped in that instant. Her eyes flicked back to Wanda. She was still busying herself in the kitchen. 

It’s fine, Astraea told herself. She should have realised that Natasha would cotton on to… whatever it was that she and Wanda were to one another. 

After all, Natasha was a literal spy, and her room was right beside Astraea’s. 

Plastering a fake smile on her face and laughing humorlessly, she replied, "Oh, I was in the library. Reading. And I just… crashed."

Natasha leaned forward. Her eyes sparkled. "The library, huh, маленькая звездочка?"

Astraea frowned as Natasha shook her head fondly. "ты ужасный лжец."

"You know I don’t understand you when you talk in Russian," Astraea scoffed.

"Just humour me for a second," Natasha requested. "And tell me why, if you were in the library, FRIDAY pinpointed you as being in Wanda’s room?" 

Astraea groaned. Her voice was low when she replied.

"You cannot tell anyone, okay? It was a one time thing, I promise," 

She thought it was, though she couldn’t entirely say for certain. Then again, Wanda hadn’t said anything about their sex, other than that it had been fun. 

And technically, she’d written that down in a note.

"Fine," Natasha conceded. "But fifty bucks says you’re wrong." 

Astraea gritted her teeth. "Fine."

✦✦✦

Well, Thaddeus Ross was…

Boring. 

His hair was thin and greyed, his face taut and eyes hollow. 

And did she mention boring?

Astraea felt as though he were drilling a hole into her brain. 

"… but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the term… ‘vigilantes’." Ross’ monotonous voice flooded the room. She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. What did it matter if the public decided that they were vigilantes? They did what they did to protect people. To save the world. 

"And what word would you use, mister secretary?" Natasha intervened. 

Ross’ eye twitched ever so slightly. Astraea caught Nat’s eye. They exchanged a smirk. 

"How about ‘dangerous’?" Ross said. "What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" 

"I wouldn’t say enhanced," Astraea supplied. "Look at Tony. Natasha. Rhodes. Or Sam. Do they look enhanced to you? And I’ll bet you the government has no idea how the rest of us came across our enhancements."

Ross’ eyes fixed on her, his gaze icy. Astraea gave him an equally challenging look. "Well? Am I wrong?" 

The other Avengers murmured in agreement. Ross’ cheeks flushed. "Fine," he snapped. He turned to Steve first - "Super-soldier serum," - and then to Bruce. 

"Gamma radiation exposure in an attempt to recreate said super-soldier serum. Let’s not forget the alien god from space."

Ross gave Wanda a brief once-over as the words "oh, and of course, the HYDRA experiment," left his mouth. Astraea glared at him as Wanda shrank back in her seat. 

"Please, enlighten me, mister secretary," she started, her voice housing all the venom she could muster. "What’s the point of this little visit?" She batted her eyelashes at him imploringly before continuing with, "other than to insult us in our own home?"

Ross’ scowl deepened. "I suppose we can skip the…" he trailed off, and, for a lack of better words, decided on "pleasantries, Miss Johnson. For the past four years, you’ve operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That’s an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." With that he produced a thick document and placed it on the table. He slid it over to Astraea. 

"The Sokovia Accords?" She frowned. "Explain." 

"Approved by one-hundred-seventeen countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organisation. Instead, they’ll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only if and when that panel deems in necessary."

✦✦✦

Steve shot them a curious look, but Natasha didn’t falter. "Is that a new shirt?"

Astraea’s eyes followed Nat’s gaze.

She winced.

It was Wanda’s, oversized and black with  the lyric "all I think about is Karma" printed on it. She blushed, sinking lower into her chair.

Fuck.

She’d thrown it on after she’d woken, intending to run into her own room and grab a fresh shirt. 

Clearly, she’d forgotten. 

"Something like that."

Steve gave her a brief once-over. "I think I’ve seen Wanda wearing something similar." His words were kind, but his voice detached. 

Tension had risen since Ross’ visit. They’d argued - half of the team pro accords, the other anti. It hadn’t been mentioned since. 

Nevertheless, the avoidances they strove so far to employ did little for the icy atmosphere that had overcome them.

Astraea met his steely gaze, his blue eyes tired, hidden beneath heavy lids, a speck of green shining through his irises. 

"I’m just borrowing it," she lied, as she grabbed a carton of orange juice from the table it pulled it towards her. 

Does it really count as a lie? she wondered, as she poured the juice into a glass. She was, on a technicality, borrowing it. 

Steve nodded curtly and resumed eating. Astraea made eyes at Natasha, silently pleading with her not to push the topic any further. 

Sighing, she placed the fifty dollar bill on the table. "For you," she mumbled.

Natasha beamed at her, batting her eyelids in false innocence, a glint in her eyes. 

"Thank you very much, маленькая звездочка."

✦✦✦

She was standing on the balcony, elbows perched on the glass railing, drinking in the sunlight. The wind ruffled her hair, loose and flowing around her shoulders. 

"‘She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together’,"

The corners of Astraea’s lips perked up. She shook her head fondly. "A girl I knew? I didn’t take you for a classics kinda girl, Wanda."

She heard the younger woman’s footfalls, soft and delicate, as she approached. Arms wrapped around Astraea’s stomach, pulling her into a hug. 

"‘Do I dare

disturb the universe’?"

She laughed as Wanda spun her around so that they were facing and planted a ginger kiss on her cheek, hands placed on Astraea’s hips.

"You can’t just go around quoting random pieces of literature, witchy." 

Wanda smirked at the nickname, pushing herself closer against Astraea. Her hand slid down to Astraea’s thigh, her tone sultry when she spoke again, a pout playing on her lips. 

"You say that as though you don’t love it."

Astraea merely winked, her gaze travelling down to Wanda’s lips. "‘The curves of your lips rewrite history’."

Wanda cocked a brow. "The Picture of Dorian Grey? Who’s into the classics, now?"

Astraea’s eyes were slit with humour. "I suppose your beauty is quite classic."

Wand blushed and laughed, pulling her hand away to lace her fingers through Astraea’s.

"I have something for you," she said, producing a small black box from an inner pocket of her red sweater. Astraea tilted her head quizzically. "I do have the date right, don’t I? April twenty-first? Because the team didn’t say anything this morning and I-"

Astraea gripped Wanda’s hand tighter and lent forward, pressing her lips against the latter’’s and stopping her mid-sentence.

She smiled lightly as she pulled away, Wanda’s green eyes staring into hers. "You’re good, I swear. The team doesn’t bring it up because I don’t really like having a spectacle made out of it," she said. 

"Oh," was all Wanda said. Her face turned a richer shade of scarlet. "Anyways, I got you this," she mumbled as she held up the box. "I saw it and thought of you immediately."

Astraea took it in careful fingers, clutching it in her palm. "I’m going to need my other hand, Wands." 

She loosened her grip as Wanda slid her hand out and brought her other hand to the box, prying it open. 

A gasp escaped her lips.

Nestled among the velvet interior was a silver chain, off which hung an eight-pointed-star inlaid with garnet; it looked expensive. Her eyes found Wanda’s. "Help me with the clasp?" She asked, pulling her hair to one side. 

Wanda took the pendant from its box and moved behind Astraea, draping it around her neck. The metal was cool against her skin, the heat of Wanda’s breath a stark contrasts as pleasant shivers ran up her spine.

"You know," she said, an idea forming. "I was thinking of taking a shower, if you’d care to join me?"

✦✦✦

"They’re sleeping together."

Tony looked at him, befuddled, nursing a cup of coffee and a hangover. His face was taut with confusion, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Sam. 

"What?" He spluttered. 

Sam shrugged. "Raea. She’s sleeping with Wanda."

Tony sipped his coffee, frown deepening. "Who the fuck gave you that idea?"

Sam’s eyes twinkled. "Redwing did."

✦✦✦

Water cascaded down her back, droplets sliding over every pore of her fair skin, her brown hair soaked and green eyes sparkling. Steam was rising overhead in small, charismatic spirals. 

She was beautiful. Astraea - wet in her own right - could only stare as she lathered conditioner into her hair, her hands soft and caressing each fibre with care. A surge of adoration coursed through her body as her heart hammered in her chest. 

"You’re so addicting," Astraea mused, breathing in her all-too-familiar scent, letting it consumer her, highlighting her pleasure centres.

How had she gotten so lucky? 

✦✦✦

"What’s this?" Wanda inquired, pausing in the middle of towel drying her hair. 

"Hmm?" Astraea murmured absentmindedly, rummaging through her wardrobe. She’d picked out a top already - a black tube with a mesh crop over covered in stars - but couldn’t find a decent bottom to match. 

She flicked a glance in Wanda’s direction and saw what she was looking at. She frowned and made her way over. A letter, folded neatly and adressed to her, sat atop a silken lilac garment. She picked the letter up, turning it over in her hand. 

Happy birthday, Raea! Hope this finds you okay (and on time). So sorry I couldn’t be there with you in person but you know how life in the field is. Never a dull moment in S.H.I.E.L.D. :p

Fitz mentioned something about wanting to send along a sandwich? With aioli? I’m not sure. 

Simmons’ had intervened in loopy writing, barely legible (as any good doctor’s should be):

Prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella with a hint of pesto aioli. X.

Before it continued. 

But Simmons reasoned that it wouldn’t keep. And I agreed. (Although with that ingredient composition, who can really say?)

(Don’t let on to Fitz that I said that.)

Enjoy the dress ;)

And let me know how it goes with your girlfriend.

With love, 

Daisy. 

Wanda, who was reading over her shoulder, wrinkled her nose. "Girlfriend?"

Astraea’s heart lurched in her throat. "It’s my sister, she’s just…."

Wanda laughed. "You forget that I grew up with Pietro. Siblings like to tease."

"Right," Astraea said, shifting her attention instead to the dress. The fabric was supple in her fingers. "What exactly do you suppose we are?"

She was met with a heavy silence as Wanda pondered her words. "You’re my best friend," she said finally. 

"I’m not sure friends go around having sex," she quipped, struggling to keep her tone light.

Best friend.

Right.

Had she just been friend zoned?

And by the woman she was sleeping with, no less. 

The woman she was in love with.

Astraea picked up the dress as Wanda giggled behind her. The bodice was set into a deep cowl with thin straps, meeting the layered skirt nicely in the mid-section. It was the type of skirt that would flare around you if you were to twirl, Astraea thought. 

"It’s a nice dress," Wanda said. Astraea could feel her eyes burning into the back of her head. "You should wear it tomorrow; I have lunch reservations."

"You do? Where?" Astraea asked, raising a brow. 

"You’ll see. I need to get going, Vision’s on dinner duty and I’m pretty sure he’s going to burn the compound down if I’m not there to help."

Astraea laughed, though her heart felt heavy. 

The light inside of her had dulled, just a little bit. 

✦✦✦

✦✦✦

She checked her phone again. 

2:38

No new messages. 

With a sigh, Astraea shoved her phone back into her purse and began fiddling with the hem of her dress. It was fine. 

Wanda was probably on her way right now, she reasoned, in an attempt for reassure herself. 

She was just being paranoid.

After all, Wanda was only…

Three hours late.

Whatever remaining breath she had had hitched in her throat, and she soon found herself unable to will her body to take in aid. 

Feeling her heart drop, she told the server she was going outside for a bit of air and would be ready to order soon.

✦✦✦

"Is that paprikash?" Wanda frowned, sliding into the kitchen, where Vision was busying himself with a dish. 

"I thought it might… lift your spirits," he replied slowly, a smile edging onto his face in spite of the uncertainty his eyes held.

She scrunched her nose. "What?"

His smile faltered. "It’s - nothing, I must have a damaged circuit somewhere."

Wanda frowned. "Vis?" 

"Yes?" He asked, failing to meet her eyes. 

"I’m meant to be eating out with Astraea today. Are you not telling me something?"

"That’s today?" He responded, in what Wanda considered a feeble attempt at nonchalance. 

"Vis." She said again, her eyes flashing red in warning. 

"Alternatively, we could order a pizza…" 

"Vision, are you not letting me leave?"

✦✦✦

 Moneybags: Capsicle gone rogue. Sending a private jet to your location.

Glow worm: ???

In a civilian district.

Can’t send a jet here.

Moneybags: How is that my problem?

Better get a move on, kid.

See you at Leipzig.

Got another pickup to make.

;)

He shrugged unapologetically. "Whatever," he said coolly, waving a hand in the air. "You two got the plan?" 

"Asshole." Astraea smiled, shaking her head fondly, hair falling into her eyes.

✦✦✦

"Wow. It’s so weird how you run into people at the airport; don’t you think that’s weird?" 

She would still hear the sass his voice was dripping in two weeks from now, without a doubt. 

"Definitely weird," Rhodey agreed. 

Both men were in their respective suits, gold and hot rod red beside grey and silver, titanium alloy brimming with weaponry. 

Steve stood against them, clad in his typical star-spangled suit, striped as the flag. 

The very symbol that he now stood against. 

"Hear me out, Tony," he started, blue eyes searching for something in Tony’s face. "That doctor, the psychiatrist, he’s behind all of this." 

"Captain," the Black Panther drawled, leaping atop a truck from where he had been hiding. T’challa, Astraea recalled. The prince - king? - of Wakanda. His suit was all black, bar for a necklace of silver teeth; a vibranium spectacle. 

"Your highness," Steve said, fixing his attention on T’challa. 

"Anyway, Ross gave me thirty-six hours to bring you in. That was twenty-four hours ago. Can you help a brother out?" Tony asked.

"You’re after the wrong guy," Steve replied, voice void of emotion. 

"Your judgement is askew," Tony quipped. "Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday." 

"Ah, would you get a load of those two," Astraea mumbled. "Bickering like an old married couple. How the times change. 

She felt the burn of the curious look that Spider-Man was sending her way before she laid eyes on him. The eyes of his mask were drawn into what she could only conceive as a look of confusion. 

"You ready, kid?" 

"Ready as I’ll ever be, Miss Johnson," came his chirpy response.

"Try not to die out there, alright?" Astraea teased. "You seem like a good kid." She offered the little spider a half-smile as Tony’s cry of "Underoos" rang out. 

Well, she thought, here goes nothing. 

Could the happy couple stay happy for one minute?

✦✦✦

"Oh, great. Alright, there’s two on the parking deck. One of them’s Maximoff, I’m gonna grab her. Rhodey, you want to take Cap?"

"Wanda’s here…?" Astraea asked, a tremor of hurt seeping into her voice. So. She’d been stood up because her… whatever they were to each other, if anything, had elected to run off with a couple of fugitives?

"Got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes." Rhodey muttered darkly.

"Barnes should be our priority," she noted. "I can ge-"

But she was cut off by a snarl from T’challa. "Barnes is mine."

"Okay, then," she lamented. "Y’know, there’s quite a few new players on the field today."

"Not the time for sports analogies, Johnson," Tony remarked in her comm. "Aim for Lang - the little guy. I had FRIDAY run an analysis and she couldn’t determine a cause for his powers, nor whatever other party tricks he may be hiding. If you can apprehend him-"

"You’ll give me a pay rise? Got it," she nodded before speeding off.

"I literally don’t even pay you?!"

✦✦✦

Running in heels was a painful experience, she learned quickly. Especially when those heels were two inch tall and silver, with straps that dug into the skin around her ankles at uncomfortable angles. It was fine, really. Astraea had never cared much for heels to begin with, having put them on only because of how nicely they had matched her necklace. She’d simply throw them away after this.

If she were to ever walk again. 

"Look, I really don’t want to hurt you," Lang was saying as she made her approach, sliding among the shadows with ease. Natasha was already there, staring him down. 

"I wouldn’t stress about it," she said, aiming a kick toward his groin. Astraea held back a laugh as Lang winced, clearly striving not to bring attention to the pain he felt, before he regained composure. The next thing she knew, he was gone - miniaturised again, she pondered with intrigue. 

Weird power, but, hey, she figured, it could have its uses. 

Like, say, this instance, where Natasha - the most formidable spy she knew - with full offence to Clint - had been flung, head over heels by the microscopic man. 

She was quick to recover, back on her feet with unparalleled speed. Astraea smiled to herself as she saw Nat raise her fist slowly, muscles clenched as she preparing her Widow’s Bite.

Lang wouldn’t like this very much.

Astraea stepped forward, dazzling light irradiating from her body, at the same time as Natasha made her move. 

Lang was sent flying, his eyes squeezed shut and a pained look on his face, regular sized once more, into a nearby truck.

She could practically hear the dent he made. 

"Stark? We’ve took out Lang. Any word on Wanda?"

✦✦✦

"Well, my plan was to go easy on them," Tony snapped. "You wanna switch it up?"

"This is you going easy on them?" Astraea scoffed. "Come on, Stark. You’re not fooling anyone." 

"Shut up and start running."

✦✦✦

"This is gonna end well," Natasha remarked. Vision had made an appearance, and now the two sides of this… dispute? Were facing each other off.

On one side: Steve, Sam, Clint, Barnes, Lang, and Wanda. Her gaze lingered on the girl with the emerald eyes. They were searching Astraea’s, a look of contempt on her face, her head tilted oh-so-slightly in the way Astraea had seen enough to times to know that it was a clear sign of an upset Wanda. 

She looked… hurt, almost.

As though this were all Astraea’s fault.

Right.

She tore her gaze away, sizing up her own team instead.

Tony, Rhodey, Vision, Natasha, T’challa, the spider kid, and herself. 

They had the numbers. 

"May the odds be ever in our favour," she mumbled, bracing herself for the fight to come, at the same time as Spider-Man said, "They’re not stopping."

The worst of it was far from over.

"Neither are we."

✦✦✦

"You were pulling your punches," Wanda told Clint, a distinct note of disapproval in her voice. Astraea watched the exchange with mild interest. Those two had always been… close, since Pietro died, in a way. She knew Wanda looked up to Clint as something of a father. The archer nodded sheepishly at the younger girl as she pulled him to his feet. 

"Fancy seeing you here," Astraea said. "What happened to lunch?" 

Wanda’s face softened ever so slightly as she spoke. Her eyes were sparkling - she was still upset, then.

She gave Clint a swift nod as though to say ‘go, let me handle this’. Astraea raised a brow. "Something wrong, witchy?"

Wanda stepped closer as Clint turned away, her fingers twitching. With the urge to use her power, Astraea mused. 

"I don’t want to hurt you," Wanda said, her eyes flashing red in warning. 

"I don’t see why we can’t end this here," she said, vying to keep her tone even. Wanda tilted her head again. 

"He’s innocent," Wanda said. 

"Barnes killed people." she snapped. 

"He didn’t kill that man - that king." 

"You’re taking everything that criminal says seriously, now?" Astraea remarked. 

"I’m trust Steve’s judgement," Wanda replied, red tendrils dancing through her fingers. She looked down so that Astraea could no longer see her face.

"Trust mine," Astraea said imploringly. "Wands. Come on. It’s me. It’s us."

The younger girl shook her head. "You don’t understand."

"Don’t I?" she asked. "From where I’m standing, I’ve got a pretty good outlook on things. I’m not gonna let you help Barnes escape."

Wanda sighed, green eyes rimmed in scarlet boring into hers. "Let us make this fast then."

She could taste the bile that rose into her throat as her heart lurched, the familiar tang of betrayal on her tongue. 

She tried to brush off the feeling, focusing instead on the power surging through her veins. 

✦✦✦

Wanda hissed as she clutched her neck, tears swarming in her eyes. Astraea winced when she saw the pale red burn mark spreading underneath her hand. 

Sure, she was used to playing around with a little bit of heat, but… this? 

This is different. 

This was Wanda. 

Her Wanda.

Wands.

She opened her mouth to speak, to say something - to offer words of consolation or comfort, perhaps, she wasn’t sure. 

"Don’t," Wanda seethed, drawing her hand away slowly. 

"I-" Astraea started, words jumbling around in her brain and yet not forming coherent sentences. 

"I told you, don’t." The younger brunette cried, sending a crimson projectile Astraea’s way. 

"Oh, come on," she groaned, summoning a wall of light just in time to block it. "You can do better than that, witchy."

Wanda’s frown deepened, her brow furrowed, though she said nothing.

"I haven’t beaten you when we’ve sparred once," Astraea continued. It was true; Wanda had always bested her. Not for a lack of experience on Astraea’s part, but because of the extent of her powers. A fact that left Astraea with the sinking suspicion that the little witch was letting her win.

"You don’t know what you’re talking about, Raea," Wanda mumbled, a layer of ice in her voice. 

"Don’t I?" Astraea asked, striding toward her…

What even were they?

Not girlfriends.

Not lovers.

And after today?

Certainly not friends.

Whatever this was, it was over, or so Astraea figured. 

Wanda was angry, but there was something else, nestled between the lines of her face, the tautness of her frown. 

Something akin to…

Remorse?

It didn’t matter; it couldn’t matter. All that mattered was that she and her team apprehended Barnes and Rogers. And if that meant fighting Wanda, then so be it.

✦✦✦

"Okay, tiny dude is big now. He’s big now."

"What do you mean, ‘he’s big no-‘" the words caught in her throat as she caught sight of what - or rather, who - Rhodey had seen. "Okaaaaay," she said slowly. ‘Big’ was an understatement. Lang was huge - easily fifty or so feet, if not more.

"How the fuck do we handle that?" 

✦✦✦

"Anybody on our side hiding any shocking and fantastic abilities they’d like to disclose, I’m open to suggestion." Tony called. 

She grit her teeth, attention on the shadows around her, her’s, her teams’, the others’. "I might have something," she said. 

"Now would be the time," the billionaire mumbled. 

"You know we’re on comms, right?" 

✦✦✦

They’d lost.

Astraea buried her head in her hands.

They’d lost.

And taken quite a beating. 

Spider-Man? Benched by Tony far from the last stand against Cap’s team.

Rhodey? Courtesy of Vision, hospitalised. And paralysed. 

She shook her head as angry tears flooded her vision, willing them away. 

And Wanda? Barnes?

The former, detained in a high-security facility known as the raft. The latter, a free man. 

"Are… you okay?"

"Fuck off, Anthony." She snapped. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with his bullshit. Not now. She felt bad enough. 

"It’s not mister Stark, it’s Pe- Spider-Man," came his mumbled response.

She snapped her head up. Sure enough the webbed vigilante stood before her. 

"Hey, kid." she said, keeping her tone soft. After the way he’d referred to the Empire Strikes Back, there was no chance he wasn’t on the younger side. "Sorry, I thought-"

"That I was mister Stark?" Spider-Man replied, a thoughtful note in his voice. 

She smiled at him sheepishly. 

"So, what’s the deal, are you his long lost son or something?"

She was sure he made a face behind the mask. "No, no, nothing like that."

"You know," she said, winking playfully despite how heavy her heart felt. "I’ll let you in on a secret. Steve calls - called - me ‘kid’ a lot."

The eyes of his mask widened in surprise. "He does?"

She nodded. Spider-Man hesitated a moment and stepped closer, a hand reaching for the mask. He pulled it off.

She bit back a gasp as she took in his face, the huge brown eyes, the mop of chestnut coloured hair, the bashful expression he wore. God, the kid couldn’t be any older than fourteen, surely?

"It’s Peter," he said, eyes on the ground.

"Astraea," she smiled. "I knew you were a kid."

"You’re, uh, the first person I’ve taken the mask off in front of," he stammered. 

"Why did you?" She inquired. "Take it off?"

He shrugged. 

"Your shadow work’s been improving," he said lightly. 

Changing the topic, she pondered, raising a brow. 

"I’ve read about you," Peter rambled. "I know that your powers include bioluminescence and photokinesis, but, speaking from a scientific perspective, I just don’t understand where the umbrakinesis fits in."

She blinked rapidly, trying to keep up with the words piling out of his mouth. 

"Sure," she said. Astraea thought that perhaps she had heard those terms before, but they felt unfamiliar, at least in the context Peter used them in. 

He looked to her expectantly. 

"Just as darkness cannot exist without the light, there is no light without darkness." She said, hoping it was enough of an answer. 

Based on the way his eyes were sparkling, she guessed it was. 

She heard footfalls, hard, direct, behind her. 

"My god," Tony mumbled, walking over to them and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Something the matter?" Astraea asked.

"You two," he groaned. "Barnes. Steve. Everything."

She nodded in understanding. Mostly she felt surprised at how easily the Avengers had split, but hurt was bubbling beneath her skin, thoughts of Wanda swirling in her mind, the knowledge that Natasha had allowed Steve to leave. 

"I’m gonna kill Nat if I ever see her again," she mumbled. 

Tony laughed humourlessly. "If she were easy to kill, I’d have done it by now."

Peter looked between the two Avengers, uncertain. 

✦✦✦

The very definition of terrible. 

Breaking into a high-security prison in the middle of the ocean? 

Not exactly Astraea’s finest moment. But her team was in there. And they didn’t deserve to be.

Wanda didn’t deserve to be. 

A little shadow work here, a little power outage there, and no one would see her. 

Of course, she couldn’t risk the escape being linked back to her. 

Lest she become a fugitive, too.

If Sam, Clint, Wanda, and Lang disappeared, the circumstances would be all too suspicious. 

If Wanda got out, it would be deemed an escape. 

It would be fine. She had Tony’s backing - he was sore over Steve, the others could be pardoned. He would get them out. The legal way. 

Sighing, she turned off cloaking, and lowered the Quinjet’s ramp.

✦✦✦

Her skin was crawling as she slipped through yet another hall, the shadows slinking around her effortlessly. 

God, she thought, this place is a fucking labyrinth. 

Another turn, a left here….

A gasp escaped her lips as she came face-to-face with a wall of glass cells. The Avengers were in here, all right.

Plus the other guy. 

She stepped forward gingerly, her gaze flicking from window to window, in search of those eyes that held so much, that meant everything to her.

She thought she saw a curious look cross a face here or there as she ran past, cloaked in darkness, but Astraea could hardly care. 

They were traitors, the whole lot of them.

Even -

Wanda. 

Her heart thudded painfully when she laid eyes on her, her breath hitching. The girl was staring blankly ahead, her face void of emotion, in the same way she had been after Pietro’s death. 

Her arms were bound by a straitjacket and a shock collar adorned her neck. There was no light in her eyes.

Astraea wanted so desperately to run to her, to hold her, to take away her pain. 

She pressed a hand up to the glass that stood between them. 

"Wands?" She whispered.

Wanda looked toward her, not seeing her, but through her, as though Astraea weren’t really there. She kept her lips pressed firmly together, her face blanched. 

So, that was a good sign.  

Astraea sighed. Maybe the glass was one-way. "Wanda?" She tried again, a little louder. She watched as Wanda blinked, expression unchanging, before her eyes locked on Astraea’s. 

"Raea…?" The girl asked, tilting her head quizzically. 

Astraea nodded, keeping a firm hand on the glass. 

"I’m gonna get you out, okay?"

Wanda shook her head and looked down, her brunette hair falling over her face. "No," she said softly. "No, you’re not here."

She was muttering now as her breathing grew quick, close to something of a full-blown panic attack. Astraea watched as Wanda squeezed her eyes shut.

"I’m losing my mind," she mumbled. "Seeing things. Hearing things."

Astraea felt her heart shatter. "Hey," she said gingerly, pressing herself against the glass. "I’m real, alright? I’m here."

Wanda bit back a sob as she took in every inch of Astraea, looking at her with something akin to the way she had looked at Astraea as though she were undressing her with her eyes, as though determined to commit her, her body, the vessel she knew so well, to memory. 

Astraea was gonna fucking kill Thaddeus Ross. 

Fuck the accords, and fuck their dispute; what kind of monster could treat a person in such a way, locking them away with only their nightmares for company?

A wave of guilt coursed through her - was the rest of the team this bad? 

No, she brushed away the thought. After Lagos, Wanda would have to have it worse. 

The Avengers were dangerous.

Wanda was lethal.

✦✦✦

"Where are we going?" Wanda asked, biting her lip. She’d stayed quiet for most of the flight, electing to sit and stare at Astraea. She knew very well that the anger she had seen in her earlier lingered, but there was something else. 

Or perhaps she simply stayed quiet to prevent herself from saying something she may later regret.

It made her skin crawl, to see her like this. 

"A guy I know fixed us with a safe house in Madrid," she said, gaze flicking from the controls to Wanda. "How’s your Spanish?"

Wanda frowned. "Yo solo hablo un poco, ¿y tú?"

Astraea shrugged. "Better than my Mandarin."

Wanda scrunched her nose as silent laughter overcame her, shoulders rising and falling in quick procession, posture becoming more relaxed. "Aren’t you-"

"Half-Chinese? Yes."

✦✦✦

"Who did you say rigged this up?" Wanda asked, craning her neck to get a better view, her green eyes wide.

It was a small enough villa on the outskirts of the city, cream in colour with arched entranceways, tall panes of glass filtering in sunlight, two storeys with a balcony overlooking the secluded street, a wrought iron banister perched atop the stonework and tiled in a dark shade of brown.

"Elena Rodriguez, one of the Inhumans on my sister’s team," Astraea smiled. "It’s off S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘s radar, as far as she and I know, so I figured it was a good place to lay low for a while,"

"Right," Wanda said, her tone sharp, precise, cutting through the air.

"Hey," Astraea said softly, turning to the younger girl. "I know it’s not ideal, but you’re recognised as a fugitive of the law across one-hundred-and seventeen countries."

She reached for Wanda’s hand, but the latter turned away. Astraea sighed, lowering her own in defeat. 

"And," she continued, "thanks to you, I am too."

"I didn’t ask for you to come and save me," Wanda hissed, spinning around so that she could glare at Astraea straight on, her eyes narrowed. She was taken aback by the hostility in her voice. 

"I’m not just some fucking damsel in distress!"

"You think I don’t know that..?" Astraea asked, vying to keep her expression neutral; she wouldn’t let her hurt show. 

"Clearly you don’t," Wanda exclaimed, barrelling past Astraea in a haze of red.

Before she knew it, the doors had been slammed open, and Wanda had stormed inside.

Alright, then.

She pulled out her phone and sent Tony a quick text.

Glow worm: W out. Landed in Madrid. Will send coordinates. 

✦✦✦

"You gave Stark our location?" Wanda asked. 

Astraea shrugged, pushing the doors closed. "He’s gonna sort the legal shit, get this all cleaned up. So we can go home."

She noticed the way Wanda’s eyes softened at the mention of ‘home’, but she didn’t comment on it. 

"I thought you and Stark don’t… see eye to eye."

She sighed. "Under normal circumstances, I don’t. Frankly, I think he’s a jackass. He brought  fourteen-year-old kid in to fight his battle for fuck’s sake. But at the same time, he’s willing to fight for what he believes in, and I admire that. I don’t believe in the Accords; not really. But I still think that Barnes is in the wrong, and I agree that someone has to call the shots on what we do, the trail of bodies we leave behind, but…" Astraea trailed off, smiling wistfully at Wanda. "I’ve been treated as an outsider my whole life. But I was still on equal terms with everyone else, under the eyes of the law. I’m guess I just didn’t want to lose that. To lose this… fucked up family I’ve made for myself."

"I get it," Wanda started saying. "More than you k-"

She was cut off as Astraea’s phone began vibrating from its place atop the kitchen island. 

"Excuse me a second," she said.

✦✦✦

"Dais? What’s up? "

Silence.

"Dais?" she said again, her tone ringing with uncertainty.

"I- I’m sorry," a choked sob came through the line. Astraea frowned, biting on her lip. What was going on? She hadn’t ever known her sister to be so rattled.

"Daisy," she said. "Tell me what’s going on."

"I’m sorry," she said again, and Astraea could hear the tears in her sister’s voice. "I- it was supposed to be me. Me."

"You’re scaring me…"

"Lincoln, he-" her sister now broke down into a full on sob.

"Lincoln?" Astraea asked. Anxiety was creeping through her every fibre, seeping into her thoughts. "You need to breathe, okay, Daisy? Calm down a bit, focus on my voice."

Her voice, which was shaking.

"I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Raea. I couldn’t stop him. "

"There was an… incident."

"An incident…?"

Daisy swallowed. "Lincoln’s dead, he- he died a hero,"

Her phone hit the floor before she caught the rest, its screen shattering.

✦✦✦

Her chest felt heavy, her breath would not come as she staggered through the halls of the villa and back to Wanda. 

Her head felt unnecessarily light by contrast, clouded by a haze of thoughts, of Lincoln, Lincoln, her lifelong friend, the only friend she had known for her first nineteen years.

She heard voices, she thought, close, yet distorted, distant all the same. Wanda’s, she registered in a daze. And… another?

She stepped forward again slowly, one hand leaning against the wall for support, the other clutching her chest as she heaved for air. 

Vision, she realised. 

What was he doing here again? 

She shook her head desperately, trying to clear her thoughts. 

✦✦✦

The synthezoid was sitting at the island, hands resting atop the marrble as though he were unsure of what to do with them, his smile tight and aloof. Wanda was tending to a pot simmering over the stove, stirring with a wooden spoon, her shoulders shaking in silent laughter. She turned to say something to Vision, raising her eyes as she looked him over. 

Astraea’s ears felt as though they were made of cotton as a wave of fresh tears covered her vision. 

What the fuck?

Wanda was flirting with Vision.

And on the very same day that Lincoln had-

Her breath hitched in her throat; she couldn’t bring herself to think of it, not again. 

"What’s going on here?" She managed to get out, stumbling fully into the room.

"Miss Johnson," Vision spoke with the air of someone trying to come off as pleasantly surprised, but nevertheless unable to mask his irritation. 

"Raea," Wanda’s eyebrows shot up. She was quick to look away from Vision, eyes flicking back to her cooking. "Nothing’s going on here," she laughed nervously. 

She couldn’t see; she couldn’t breathe; and apparently she couldn’t get the girl either.  

"Raea?" Wanda’s voice asked from somewhere nearby. 

"Fuck you," she said, her voice cracking. "I’m sick of these… these games that you insist on playing."

Each word shattered her heart a tiny bit more. 

"I get it, you’re pissed, but seriously?" Bile rose in her throat. "I just got off the phone with my sister to find out that one of the only friends I have is dead, and the first thing I see is you flirting with a fucking toaster."

She blinked back watery tears, trying to keep them at bay, in time to see Wanda’s face morph into a frown, and then downright crestfallen. 

She brought a hand to cover her mouth, her green eyes wide. "I- I’m sorry, I didn’t-"

Astraea laughed dryly. "That’s the thing, Maximoff." The name felt like a curse, venom sliding across her tongue, and she watched as Wanda shrank bank, pain flashing across her features. "You never know."

"Raea," Wanda said, her fingers twitching with the desire to reach for her.

Astraea scoffed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "You don’t get to ‘Raea’ me, not anymore. I bust your ass out of the raft and risk my own in the process, I try to get you as comfortable as I can, I’ve always been willing to give you a chance, and it all means nothing to you. Whatever this was, it’s over."

✦✦✦

She was a fugitive. 

She was homeless, and she was a fugitive.

Right when things had been starting to work out for her, Astraea had been thrown straight back into the dirt.  

They always were. 

She wasn’t even meant to have this life, these powers…

She wasn’t even meant to survive Terrigenesis, for Christ’s sake. Sure, Jiaying had selected her, but it wasn’t out of love - it was out of spite. The hope the Cal’s human genes would prove dominant, and Astraea would spend eternity as a mound of stone. 

And then Daisy had come into her life, and things had started looking better. 

Daisy.

That was who she needed right now.

And that was also who needed her. 

✦✦✦

"Welcome back to the Playground," Melinda May said, as stoic as Astraea knew her to be. "Daisy’s -" she cut herself off, and Astraea thought the saw a flicker of vulnerability. "It’s been hard for the rest of us to accept, but… Well, you know how Daisy is."

Astraea nodded along. 

"Your sister’s off ‘getting some air’ for the time being. Mind telling me what happened?"

Astraea blinked, taken aback. God, the woman was perceptive. 

Melinda cocked a brow. "You didn’t just come here to mourn Lincoln. It’s more than that. I can see it written all over your face."

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It’s just… Everything’s such a mess right now," she said. 

Melinda fixed her with a look: go on. 

Astraea’s gaze lingered on the ground. "The Accords. Lincoln. And now, Wanda."

"Wanda?" Melinda asked, her voice taking on an intrigued tone. "Your girlfriend?"

"Not anymore," Astraea said, before adding: "and not that we were ever officially ‘dating’, any way."

Melinda stepped forward, arms outstretched to hug the younger girl. 

"Let the girl go," Melinda said, echoing the very words Phil had once told her as Astraea buried her face in her neck, fresh tears running down her cheeks. 

✦✦✦

✦✦✦

"I need you to call Rogers."

"Yeah, I’m gonna have to pass, Tones," Astraea said, frustration lingering in her voice. 

She heard the sigh in his voice, could practically feel it as Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. "I haven’t spoken to the captain in two years. And, frankly, I don’t have any intention to."

"Please…?" 

She bit back a laugh. The great Tony Stark was pleading with her. "Tell me why and I’ll consider it."

"I got… something. Something big. I need to bring him in on this."

"How ‘big’ are we talking? ‘Big’ like your ego big, or ‘big’ like potentially world ending?"

"I don’t have time for more of your bullshit."Tony scoffed. Astraea smiled. 

"Give it up, Stark. I’m not calling. If I can endure my situationship over the course of the last two years, you can talk to yours for five minutes."

Her words were met by incoherent mumbles in a quick procession. 

"Well, if that’s all," she said, "some of us have a day job. That actually pays."

She went to cut the line as Tony spoke again: "fuck, no, don’t do that yet. Call Rogers, don’t call Rogers, see if I care. But I do need you to call Wanda."

"What?!"

✦✦✦

No way was she calling Wanda; Astraea had taken it upon herself to only visit her in Spain when she ultimately had to - to deliver fresh supplies, let her know what progress had been made toward her freedom, that sort of thing. 

Their encounters had been brief and tense ever since that lovely little incident with Vision.

And that was the way that Astraea liked them. 

But no, Tony needed Cap to find Vision, and her to go get her… ex? Back in the game.

She sighed, her shoulders squared, and ran a hand through her hair. So much for her attempt to style it; now it looked an unkempt mess.

But really, that was all she was at the end of the day, wasn’t she?

A mess.

Smudged mascara and wine-stained dresses, procrastination and heartache, suffering, broken, but trying to keep herself from burning out, from dying altogether.

This was her supernova.

And she fucking hated herself for it.

✦✦✦

Wanda kept a spare key underneath a potted bunch of red carnations by the door. 

If you were to ask Astraea, it wasn’t the smartest place to keep a key. 

But, hey, it wasn’t like she had any reason to care if something happened anymore. 

Every single time that she saw Wanda, it was sure to end in a fight. 

✦✦✦

"Wanda?" She called out. This had been their norm for the last two years; no longer was Wanda ‘Wands’, and no longer was she ‘Raea’. Her fingers glided across the metal in her pocket once more, first fine, silver chain, then pendant. 

She couldn’t stand the sight of it. 

But the feel of the necklace was a comfort. 

"You’re early," was the monotonous response she received. "I thought you were here a few weeks ago." 

Wanda was nowhere to be seen, though her voice sounded close enough. 

"I was." Astraea said, bracing herself for the conflict to come as she stepped further into the house. 

A flurry of red came around a corner.

Green eyes met hers, full of life, of love lost, of pain and of sorrow. 

"You dyed your hair?" Astraea asked, averting her own eyes. 

Indeed, Wanda’s hair had changed from the last time Astraea had seen her. It was styled similarly, but a shocking red colour; not the same scarlet as her powers, and not all that unlike Natasha’s, but a mild, ginger kind of red. 

"Not exactly," Wanda said. "It just… happened. I don’t know why."

"Happened?" Astraea asked.

Wanda shrugged, looking at the ground. "Why are you here, Astraea?"

She ignored the way her blood turned to ice to be addressed as her name, the way it had been doing for the last two years. 

"I nee- Tony needs you." Astraea frowned. "I don’t know what for, precisely, but it’s big. We need you on board. Cap, too. Vision."

"He’s not here," Wanda said. 

She laughed dryly. "What, you got sick of banging the robot?"

✦✦✦

✦✦✦

"New wheels?" Wanda asked, eyeing Astraea’s car. 

"You could say that," she said, smiling despite herself as she slipped the key into the ignition. "But I’m afraid I’m gonna need you to stop checking her out and get in."

Wanda obliged, opening the door of the 720s with unnecessary caution. 

"I’m an Avenger, and you don't think my car’s insured for twice its worth?" 

The worth of said vehicle was high, a few hundred thousand easily down the drain; a soft, metallic purple in colour, a sleek side profile and hood, and integrated air intakes throughout

"I guess that’s true…"

"I didn’t pay for it, anyways. It showed up in the garage a few days after I turned twenty-three." She said.

"Tony?"

"Tony," Astraea confirmed. "Now, you wanna tell me where it is we’re headed?"

"Scotland," Wanda answered with a sigh. "That’s where Vision was headed once he figured out I had no real interest in him."

"One Quinjet’s already prepped, we just need to get to it."

The corners of Wanda’s mouth perked up into a small smile. "Of course. You look good," she said, and Astraea heard the note of uncertainty in her voice, as though whatever feelings there were - had been - were a forbidden topic, star crossed lovers stealing kisses by the moonlight, a book that had been burnt during the reign of Hitler. 

The rest of their journey was made in silence. 

✦✦✦

Vision was living alone in a small apartment in Edinburgh. The curtains were drawn, the lights dimmed, the tiled floor cold when Astraea and Wanda entered. It took her eyes several moments to adjust to the darkness. "I don’t think he’s here," she muttered. 

"Are you certain? He could be sleeping," Wanda pointed out. "I can’t see anything, it’s much too dark."

Astraea shook her head, though she knew the gesture would go unnoticed. "No. I know, but I don’t want to risk powers - I’m getting the feeling something’s off here."

She felt, more so than caught, the piercing look Wanda sent after her as she stepped further into the room. Astraea thought she saw the glint of a door handle somewhere in her peripheral, most likely leading to an  adjoining bathroom.

The air was foreign, ashen, as she neared the centre of the room, Wanda tailing her closely, arms outstretched in a defensive position. 

"Definitely gone," Astraea mused, squinting at the outline of a bed. Her fingers felt for the duvet - it was torn, a hole gaping through the length of it. "Better yet, there’s sign of a struggle." 

"Fuck," Wanda cursed. "What now?"

Astraea’s eyes narrowed as her concentration grew. "I think… yes, I can detect a trace of him. The mind stone, really. It’s not too far, and from what I can tell, intact. But I can’t say it’ll stay that way."

"You can feel it?" Wanda’s eyebrows shot up in surprise; she tilted her head.

"Not in the same way you can." Astraea replied. "But there was always something… magnetic-y, about it. About you, too. I can feel its pull, rather than its presence."

"And you feel my pull?" Wanda asked, as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her middle, sending a feeling of warmth through her body. The redhead’s lips brushed against her neck, kissing her skin tenderly. Astraea shied away from Wanda’s touch, flinching at the sudden feel of skin on hers. Warmth had always been a feeling she had associated with the younger girl, but now… it sent shivers down her spine, made her feverish, her skin crawl.

"This isn’t a good time," she said, stepping away as soon as Wanda’s arms had fallen. 

"If not now, then when?"

"We need to find your lovely little ‘Vis’," Astraea quipped, her tone sharp. "It’s just not a good time."

"Why not?" Wanda demanded. 

"Because I’m a mess," Astraea smiled half-heartedly. "We’re a mess. This is a complete and utter mess, and I’m not ready to get my heart torn out again just yet."

✦✦✦

The silence was palpable.

Until it wasn’t. 

Voices were to be heard from the train station, though what activity could be going down at this ungodly hour was a mystery to Astraea. She locked eyes with Wand; the latter nodded slipped sideways as they made their approach. 

The night would work in her favour, she figured. What could possibly be more morose? 

"…. don’t wanna kill you," a voice was saying; feminine; cool. "But we will."

It was familiar; Astraea knew she’d heard it before. If she listened close enough… yes, there it was: that rasp, the lilted intonation accredited to years spent in Russia. 

Natasha.

She was back.

Which meant that Vision’s assailants were in for a world of pain.

✦✦✦

"You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that," Thaddeus Ross huffed. 

"You could use some of that right now."

Indeed, Natasha was back in action, alongside Rogers and Sam. Her hair had been cut into a bob that framed her face nicely and dyed a pale shade of blonde. She wore a vest that she claimed to have gotten from a sister, though Astraea had never known her to have siblings.

"The world’s on fire, and you think all is forgiven?" Ross said, sting daggers at. Natasha. 

"Pardon me, mister secretary," Astraea said, coating her voice in false honey. She batted her lashes at him - or, rather, the hologram of him - as she entered the room. "But I think that, given the circumstances, it is."

He fixed her with his cold gaze. "Miss Johnson. Always contributing where you’re not wanted."

"I think you’ll find that you’re the one whose presence isn’t wanted here, Thaddeus." She smiled, biting on her lip as she did so. 

He rolled his eyes. 

"Need I remind you that I’m not one of the supposed ‘rogues’ you’re chasing after, sir?" She asked. They never had gotten along, she mused. "And if I may, your efforts are wasted. Why fight the small fight? Why send the Department of Damage Control after these… what’s the phrase again, ‘vigilantes’? It’s as you said, the world’s on fire. And you need us, whether you like it or not. We’ve already lost Stark."

✦✦✦

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can’t get it," Vision reasoned. 

"That’s too high a price," Bruce said, his eyes downcast. 

It seemed to her as though everyone was returning. First the rogue Avengers; okay, maybe Ross wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t going to agree with him. At least not to his face. She heard a chuckle behind her and spun in her heels to find Wanda trying to stifle her laugh. She cocked a brow. Stay out of my head, Witchy.

Wanda obliged, her expression flicking back to that of a serious one as she refocused on the conversation, though Astraea caught the brief smile that dared to cross over for a split second.

How that smile made her heart flutter. She wished she could turn it off. 

Her heart, the attraction, it didn’t matter. One or the other. 

Hell, she thought, I don’t even know that one can exist without the other.

"… if we take out the stone, there’s still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

Astraea blinked slowly; she hadn’t meant to space out quite to long. 

"You want to… take out the stone?" She echoed, her tone perplexed. 

Bruce nodded, a faint pink blush lingering on his cheeks. 

Still sweet on Natasha, then. Astraea had seen them, at the party, and briefly during her time at the Barton Homestead. There always had been something there.

But alas, that’s exactly what it was - a thing. 

And things could crush you, could destroy you, tear away every fibre of your being until only a hollow shell remained.

"Can you even do that?" She asked. Bruce shook his head at the same time as a grumble of "thanks for finally joining the discussion, Johnson," came from the captain. She shot him a quick glance.

They were still sour at each other after Leipzig, the blood still ran cold. And she supposed their years of no-contact had certainly helped. He’d changed in that time - not just the beard, the worn down suit, there was something else about him.

The way his eyes glinted with steely determination, perhaps, or the borderline grim face he had seemed to wear at all times since they had reunited.

"Would you two sort out your shit later?" Natasha scoffed. "This is more important than your lovers spat."

Wanda immediately looked affronted at Nat’s words; Steve’s face flushed a deep scarlet; Astraea felt bile rise in her throat.

"The only person he has a ‘lovers spat’ with is Tony," Astraea quipped. "But really, thank you so much, Natasha. I think I’m going to throw up. No offence, Steve, but you’re not my type. And you’re like a million years old."

He laughed slightly, the tension in the room easing up a little.

"Not me," Bruce was saying to Natasha. "Not here."

"You better find someone - and somewhere - fast. Ross isn’t exactly just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back." Rhodey said. 

"I know somewhere."

✦✦✦

"You will have my King’s Guard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and…"

"A semi-stable hundred year old man."

"No way," Astraea said as he strode forward. "Not Barnes." His hair was still the same length as it had been when she had first seen him, though well-kept, and, like the captain, he had seen the addition of facial hair. His arm, the metal one, glimmered in the sunlight; it looked new. Vibranium? She scowled at the sun. It was supposed to be on her side. 

"He’s reformed, Johnson," Steve said, eying his friend up and down with a glowing smile.

Barnes nodded - somewhat uncertainly - as though to reinforce Steve’s statement. 

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," he said sheepishly, taking a step toward her. He presented his hand, offering it to her. "Bucky Barnes, the White Wolf."

She sighed, accepting it and shaking lightly. "Astraea Johnson, Luminescence."

She turned to T’challa. "So, this is the infamous Wakanda."

The king was watching her with mild amusement. "Indeed." He looked at someone behind him and gestured for them to come forward. "My sister, Shuri," he presented. 

Shuri was similar in appearance to her brother, apart for the obvious matter that she was a female. Her skin was the same shade as her brother’s, her dark hair woven into braids that she had gathered atop her head to form two small buns. Her eyes sparkled with the mischief of youth.

"Hello," she greeted, eyeing the group of newcomers with anticipation. Her eyes found Banner’s. "Come." The biologist stepped forward, Vision in tow, casting awed glances around the Vibranium city.

"You as well," Shuri said, nodding at Wanda. She stiffened from her place by Astraea’s side. "You are to destroy the stone, no?"

Despite herself, Astraea slid her hand into Wanda’s. "You need to go, alright? We’ll be okay."

Wanda trod forward slightly, her agile feet covered in supple leather. "It’s not them I’m worried about."

She didn’t say, ‘it’s you’.

She didn’t have to.

They both knew it.

Astraea leaned in closer to her and pressed her lips to Wanda’s cheek. "I know how to handle myself. You just worry about that stone."

✦✦✦

"Requesting confirmation, my king - you said open the barrier?"

She couldn’t blame T’challa’s soldier for his disbelief; much as the king may have a death wish, she didn’t.

Well, actually she did.

But not like this.

Astraea didn’t want to leave like this, when everything was so messy. She wanted to kick herself for kissing Wanda - even if it was just on the cheek, to boost her confidence - just as much as she wanted to do it again. She couldn’t get the images of Wanda’s body out of her mind, the feel of her skin, but all the same she saw her pressed up against Vision, his stupid vibranium head nestled between her legs as she lay there in pleasure. 

"On my signal," T’challa spoke. 

She shuddered as her gaze landed on one of the Outriders. No eyes, thick skin - predominantly black, though accented in yellow - and four arms each equipped with fingers that came to a sharp point, large, offset snarling jaws. They gave her the creeps.

A glance to her left confirmed that Natasha thought much the same. 

"Did you miss the fight?" Astraea asked, the corners of her lips perking up into the smallest of smiles.

Natasha shrugged. "Wouldn’t you like to know,  маленькая звездочка?"

"I’m gonna take that for a yes."

"Wakanda forever!"

✦✦✦

"Why was she up there all this time…?" Okoye asked incredulously. 

"Why, indeed." Astraea mumbled, pulling Natasha to her feet. "What the fuck were you thinking, Wanda?!"

A scoff sounded from behind her. "What was I thinking? I wasn’t just going to stand by and watch you die, Raea!"

"I could have handled it," she insisted. "You’re meant to be protecting Vision."

Astraea sighed as she buried her head in her hands. "They’re going to be headed for him right now, you’ve left him without any protection."

"He has Shuri…" Wanda trailed off, her own voice holding guilt and uncertainty. 

"Proxima already made it past your defences once."

✦✦✦

Her body was numb, a tingling sensation shooting through her legs. They were unsteady; she had the vague idea that she might fall, as though something were trying to pull her.

But to where?

Away, under, away from Wanda.

Wanda, who was crouching over Vision’s body with tears in her eyes. Pale, a gaping hole where the mind stone had been, the synthezoid’s eyes rolled over and revealing only an eerie white.

✦✦✦

✦✦✦

Raea’s soft smile was the last thing she saw before she was gone.

✦✦✦

Loss.

Lítost. 

These were the emotions that flooded through Wanda as she truly registered the weight of what had just happened.

Thanos had won.

He’d done it.

They were gone.

Half of the population was gone.

Raea was gone. 

Gone like the wind, the ashes carried in the air. Her ashes.

Because that’s what she was now. 

Ash, and dust. 

All that was left was the necklace, the stupid necklace. Wanda hadn’t even known she’d kept it. She’d maxed out Tony’s credit card a little, sure, but it served the bastard right. And Raea deserved the stars and the moon that she loved so much. 

Her chest heaved as she sat there, nestled among the remnants of Raea, her hands blackening as they grasped for the ash as though it were a lifeline. 

In a way, it was.

✦✦✦

The necklace was now clasped around her own neck, a reminder, a tribute.

She didn’t deserve it.

She didn’t deserve her. 

I never did.

"Who else?" She asked. Her voice was weak, hoarse, barely above a whisper. Steve placed a hand on her back, offering a gentle smile. He too had been crying; Wanda could see the tear tracks running down his cheeks.

"Everyone." He sighed.

"Everyone?"

"Sam, Buck, T’Challa, Groot, and  the Raccoon. The princess. Most of the Dora Milaje." 

"I’m sorry," she mumbled. "‘M sorry. I shouldn’t have - I shouldn’t have left Vision."

"You didn’t know," Steve replied, pulling the young woman closer to him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You didn’t know."

"No one did."

✦✦✦

Everyone was both wrong, and yet no where near enough to cover the losses all at once. 

It wasn’t only in Wakanda. 

Scott Lang. 

The Bartons. 

Lila, Cooper, and Nathaniel.

Nathaniel Pietro Barton.

Laura.

Nick Fury. 

Peter Parker, the spider kid; Raea had loved him. It would have pained her to see him go.

Thor had disappeared as soon as they had left Wakandan soil.

Stark, maybe.

They weren’t sure.

Last reported MIA, pursuing one of Thanos’ spacecrafts.

Pepper was a mess.

"Because I’m a mess. We’re a mess. This is a complete and utter mess, and I’m not ready to get my heart torn out again just yet."

Raea was a mess.

And she was gone.

✦✦✦

"Hey," a feminine voice said softly. She looked up from her book. Carmilla; one of several that Raea had leant her. "How are you doing, kiddo?"

She blinked slowly as a figure came more into view, before her eyes caught on a strand of strawberry-blonde hair. "Pepper?"

She nodded and stepped into the light. 

"What… are you doing?" 

"Your da- Steve asked me to check up on you. Said you could use a friend, and since Nat’s busy, I volunteered to come and see you. Are you okay?"

"I’m-"

And with floating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, ‘You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever’.

"Not really."

Pepper grimaced. "I thought as much. The tears are kind of a given." 

Wanda blinked, surprise playing across her face. "I didn’t even realise."

"It’s a lot, isn’t it?" 

She nodded. Pepper was looking at her with an odd expression; it wasn’t stoic, but it wasn’t easy to read. 

The older woman breathed in, breath shuddering: "I don’t even know if Tony’s still…."

"Oh. I’m sorry," Wanda mumbled. 

"Sometimes I don’t know if I’m truly enough for him. We were together before this whole Avengers thing, but it was always obvious he saw something in Steve. He inherited a lot from his dad, more than he cares to admit. I suppose a seventy-year situationship came with the deal too."

"I didn’t know you two were struggling," she said. Her town was soft, filled with remorse. There’s a reason she’s telling me this. I’m Tony in this story. 

"I have the ring. But it’s so easy to see how… hurt he is, even still. He loved Steve, maybe even still does. I’m expecting, and I haven’t even been able to tell him yet. He felt so betrayed - it was almost as though Steve cheated on him, if you can believe - when he ran off with Bucky."

"I get it. I- I did the same, to Raea." And I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.

✦✦✦

✦✦✦

"Oh! Hello, dear, I’m Agnes, your neighbour to the right. My right, not yours."

"Forgive me for not stopping by sooner to welcome you to the block; my mother in law was in town, so I wasn’t."

Wanda eyed the newcomer as she sauntered into the house - her house?

It had been a day, and she still hadn’t been able to fathom what had happened. 

But Raea had been there - was there - in the same room as her.

Alive and breathing, her beautiful lips drawn into that smile that made Wanda’s whole body flutter. 

Looking at her with soft eyes full of love.

She had never seen that look in her eyes before. 

Maybe she could have, if she weren’t such a screw up.

As with the house, she, too, was dressed like a 1950’s trophy wife.

Dark curls framed Raea’s face - god, she had missed that face - her eyes accentuated by pale blue shadow and winged eyeliner to match. Her necklace was gone - Wanda had it now, so she supposed it made sense. 

She wore a pale lavender bustier dress with a flared skirt, puff sleeves and a square neckline. It had been paired with a set of white heels, a small ribbon and two pearls perched atop the toes. 

Raea scarcely wore heels. 

"…hello?"

She blinked; the voice pulled her from her train of thought. "Hmm?"

"I was saying, I’m Agnes, your neighbour to the rig-" the brunette offered a coy smile.

"Of course," she said. "Wanda."

Her eyelids felt heavy. Her brain was cloudy.

The lack of sleep was starting to get to her.

Perhaps she’d simply imagined she had seen Raea.

It wouldn’t be the first time - the first had been in the raft. 

Then after she had left Wanda alone in Madrid.

And after the blip, the hallucinations had become suffocating. Raea was everywhere - the wind, the water, each stranger she passed on the street. 

Most days she couldn’t even breathe, any way.

"Wanda, charmed! Golly, you settled in fast. Did you use a moving company."

Something in Agnes’ eyes summoned a pit of unease in her stomach. They were clear as day, a piercing blue. Her hair waved its way into a bob that fell just above her shoulders; it was darker than Astraea’s.

"I don’t-"

"Never mind that, what’s a single gal like you doing rattling around this big ol’ house?" 

"Oh, I’m not sure single is exactly the word I’d use," she mumbled. "Astraea is… somewhere…"

In truth, she didn’t know where. The house was large, and foreign. Wanda had spent the night on the sofa. She hadn’t seen the older woman since she had allowed sleep to claim her, however fleetingly it may have been for.

“Well, I’d love to meet her,” Agnes gushed, pushing a small pot containing a fern into Wanda’s hands. “It’s not too often you see two women living together. My husband Ralph’d throw a fit at the mere thought.”

Somehow, she didn’t strike Wanda as the married type. 

“Your husband?” She asked lightly - anything to get the conversation away from Raea.

Agnes’ grin widened, if possible; she chuckled. “Yes, dear, his name’s Ralph. God awful partner, even worse cook.”

✦✦✦

Two storeys, painted a modest shade of lime, with four windows and a hip-and-gable roof on the upper level. Double oak doors were set into the frame downstairs, a window offset to either side. A wooden fence isolated this house from the remainder of the street. 

Here goes nothing.

✦✦✦

She was hunched over when Daisy found her, poring over something that she couldn’t quite make out. Her hair, vibrant red, fell in loose tangles around her shaking shoulders. She looked up when she heard her footsteps; her eyes were red-rimmed, a slight glow to them. Wanda tilted her head quizzically, her fingers twitching.

"Raea…?" She said, and then frowned. "No… she’s gone. You’re the… other one. Her sister. Daisy."

"I am," she confirmed. "You must be Wanda?"

She already knew the answer, but she could see how distressed the girl was. There was no point in… amplifying those emotions, especially given the extent of her powers.

She narrowed her eyes at Daisy as she continued to stare at her. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

She smiled then, and bent down so that she was eye-level with Wanda. "I know what you sacrificed to save these people. And, honestly, if I had your power, I would’ve done exactly the same thing. You have no idea how much I miss her. I never knew I had a sister, but once I found out…" she trailed off. The last few years had been hard. She hadn’t lost her team, but losing Raea, saving the planet, travelling through time; it was all too much. And she had brought her back with her, and if this worked - she had no idea how her sister would take it.

"You realised you couldn’t live without her."

"Exactly. She… seems to have that effect on most everyone around her. I wish that I could bring her back. But, we think there might be a way that we can."

"We?" Wanda’s tone was uncertain, vulnerable. Broken.

"The Avengers. I don’t know much, I was just sent to get you on board. But they think they have a real chance of bringing everyone back. Including Astraea."

Wanda looked away quickly, but she saw the flicker of hope that crosses the other woman’s face, however fleetingly.

"… do they really think that they can bring her back to me…?"

✦✦✦

Wanda couldn’t believe her ears. They had a chance - a real chance, to bring back Raea. To undo what Thanos had done. 

Tony hadn’t been eager to join them at first, having started a family with Pepper. A chance that, if she were lucky, she may still get with Astraea. If it’s not too late. 

Natasha had come in with Clint an hour ago; Rhodey, Scott and Bruce were chatting quietly to one another in a corner. Thor had evidently seen better days; he looked a mess. Then again, so did she.

Raea was never a mess. Not like she was.

The Quinjet had dropped her outside the compound. Steve had been the first to greet her, fixing her with a strange look. She’d missed him.

She’d missed all of them. 

✦✦✦

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir." 

"What is Vormir?" Natasha looked up from her notepad, a vague look of interest playing across her face.

"A dominion of death," Nebula answered, "At the very centre of Celestial existence. It’s where…" she trailed off. "Thanos murdered my sister," she said finally. 

The room was cast into silence as she finished, each Avenger sharing an uncomfortable glance with the next. Natasha quickly returned to scribbling in her notepad, writing down Nebula’s words. 

"Not it," Scott announced, his attempt to defuse the tension. 

The others were quick to nod in agreement, their lips pursed.

"I’ll do it," Wanda said.

Steve looked at her incredulously, blue eyes locked on green. "What?"

"I’ll take Vormir," Wanda said. That was why she was here, wasn’t it? To help? And it didn’t seem that anyone else was eager to go to this… pathway into hell.

"Are you sure?" Natasha asked her. She nodded.

"Then I’m coming with you."

✦✦✦

"I bet the raccoon didn’t have to climb a mountain."

"Probably not," Wanda agreed. Her mind was swimming with possibility, what if after what if."This is a long way from Sokovia."

"Probably about as far as you can get." Natasha offered her a wry smile. Her hair was braided and fell over her shoulder; it framed her pale face nicely. "You know, under different circumstances, this would be totally awesome."

✦✦✦

They proceeded in silence for the next twenty minutes, trekking up the side of the mountain. A path had been laid down, though tears of disuse and erosion had led to the ground at their feet becoming unstable. Fragments of rock and debris lingered on the sides as the duo took each precarious step closer to the top.

"Welcome."

The sudden addition of a male voice was enough to make her jump, her hands poised to attack before she knew it. Red tendrils danced between her fingers, her eyes aglow. Natasha responded similarly, her hands already clasped firmly around her batons, and Widow’s Bite active, ready to fire.

"Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Wanda, daughter of Oleg."

A chill ran down her spine as she stared at the figure. It floated several inches off the ground, a hood shading the larger part of its - his? - face, though Wanda could see red, a skeletal jawline.

"Who are you?"

"Consider me a guide. To you, and to all who seek the Soul Stone."

"Oh, good," Natasha said. Wanda nodded in hesitant agreement. "You tell us where it is. Then we’ll be on our way."

The hooded figure sighed. "Ah, liebchen - if only it were that easy."

✦✦✦

"What you seek lies in front of you… as does what you fear."

The guide had let the duo to the very top of Vormir - a sharp drop onto the stone dozens of feet below. Deadly.

"The stone is down there," Natasha said softly. 

"For one of you. For the other…" the guide hesitated. "In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul."

"So you’re saying-"

"One of us has to… has to kill ourself? In order to get the Soul Stone?" Her eyes were wide. She couldn’t - could she? Raea needed Natasha more than she needed her, the woman was like a sister to her, but…

She loved her. More than life itself. And Raea had loved her, too, she knew that.

"Is there no other way?" Natasha frowned.

"Fuck this," Wanda snarled. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. "And fuck you. I already lost the woman that I loved, and she took my damn soul with her. I don’t have time for your little games and I’m not about to take that leap. The light of my life is dead and the only way to bring her back is that Stone."

The guide paused, and tilted her head in a very familiar way. He closed his eyes as though contemplating. 

"I can accept this exchange," he said slowly.

Thank whatever god is listening right now.

✦✦✦

"Did we get them all?" Bruce’s voice asked. She removed her helmet, stomach churning from the second time jump.

"Seems that way," Wanda said. 

"You telling me this’ll actually work?" The Raccoon mumbled. "Question is, who’s gonna snap their freaking fingers?"

✦✦✦

"Nat!" The widow was rushing toward her, batons in hand. She beamed.

✦✦✦

"I don’t know how you’re gonna get through all that…" Peter murmured. 

He’d been gone too, she guessed; he still looked like the fifteen-year-old kid from Queens that she knew, his same hazelnut hair unkempt. 

"Don’t worry," she winked. Okoye was beside her, and a blonde she didn’t recognise was clutching the gauntlet to her chest, her suit adorned in hues of red and blue with yellow accents. 

"She’s got help."

Lips brushed against her ear, the voice sweet and gentle. She didn’t need to look behind her to place it. She’d recognise that accent anywhere.

"Wanda…?" She said. 

"I’ve missed you." 

She laughed. "I’d hope so."

Fingers caught her wrist, nails a crisp black. "Raea, I…"

"It’s okay," Astraea said. "Five years is a long time to think about things."

"You didn’t have five years." Wanda muttered. 

"No, I suppose I didn’t."

"If you two are done flirting we need that help over here!" Okoye called. 

✦✦✦

"And I… am… Ironman…"

✦✦✦

"We did it, Mister Stark; we won." Tears flooded Peter’s own eyes as he spoke, his suit pressed up against Tony’s.

God. How could she face Pepper? How could she face Peter ever again?

✦✦✦

"Alright," Wanda grinned. "You win."

She smiled. "I always do."

"That’s only because I care about you too much to hurt your ego if I won."

"Keep telling yourself that, Wands, keep telling yourself that."

✦✦✦

America had dark brown hair and wide doe eyes that stared into hers uncertainly, and Astraea loved her immediately. Her skin was tanned, her fists balled in what she assumed could only be either frustration or anxiety.

"Hey," Astraea said. Wanda waved from beside her, each wearing a welcoming smile.

America glanced at Stephen, then waved back. 

"I’m Astraea, and this is Wanda," she continued. "Strange thought it would be best for you to stay here, at least until we can sort out who- or what- is after you."

The young girl nodded. "I’ve made some food, if you want to come in. You’re welcome to stay for lunch too, Stephen."

✦✦✦

"This cooking reminds me of my mamas," America said. 

"How long has it been since you saw her?" Wanda asked.

"Them," America corrected. "Mamas. I have dos. Years, maybe? It’s hard to keep track."

✦✦✦

You have 47 missed calls from Peter.

✦✦✦

A habit that she assumed America had picked up after she lost her mothers, in fear of losing anyone else.

She was alone, in a strange world.

And downstairs, she was vulnerable.

They wouldn’t hear if something happened.

Darkness finally embraced her in the early hours of the morning, though it was short-lived. Her slumber was fitful, her eyes fluttering beneath her lids. It was when Wanda’s mass lifted from behind her that she woke fully.

"Wands?" She groaned. The younger woman didn’t reply. "Come back to bed, it’s too early."

Still Wanda stayed silent. Astraea pulled herself from her pillow slowly. It was dark, she couldn’t see. "Wands?"

A hand reached out to stroke her hair gently. Wanda’s fingertips felt cold. The gentle hum of Sokovian words filled her head before she knew what was happening.

dom naf fuden gniezdo;

Bez ve’del do kude jitfil.

She drifted back to sleep. 

Just as she had the first time they’d slept together. 

And yet, when she sauntered into the kitchen there was no sign of her witch. 

She didn’t know when she’d started thinking of Wanda as hers again. 

It simply happened.

It felt natural.

It was.

Astraea pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to the red head. 

Light Rae: Hey, just woke up and you don’t seem to be home? WYA? ♡

It scarcely even seemed like she’d been there at all. There were no dirty plates in the sink. The table was clear. 

Her phone buzzed in her hand, her home screen lighting up to show a poorly taken selfie of herself, Wanda, an Natasha.

You have two new missed calls from Peter.

Wanda had read the message. 

And ignored it.

Astraea groaned. “Come on, Witchy, what the fuck?”

Had she left when she’d gotten out of bed earlier? But where would she go?

✦✦✦

“Strange, it’s Astraea. I’m worried. Wanda’s gone, America with her - it seems. She’s not picking up the phone.”

✦✦✦