Chapter 9 - let's go to the mall
The next morning came around and the twins were still wearing the S.H.I.E.L.D clothes which Clint had gotten for them on their first day at the tower.
Natasha sipped her coffee as she watched Wanda carefully reaching for a slice of bread with her delicate fingers, trying to make a peanut butter sandwich for her brother.
As the brunette placed the bread onto a plate and began to gather up peanut butter from the jar to put on it, Natasha decided to make some tea for her.
Last night, the redhead had come to the kitchen at around two in the morning to get herself a bottle of water from the fridge, when she was met with the younger girl sitting at the kitchen table, just like she was now.
Turns out that Wanda hadn't been able to fall asleep again after a particularly bad nightmare. She hadn't wanted to talk about it so Nat had decided that keeping the teenager company would be a solid next move.
That's when she had found out that Wanda was really into tea.
Surprisingly it had worked wonders with calming her nerves, even managing to stop her twitching fingers as she cradled the mug between them.
After Nat filled one of the cups with boiling water and added a bag of tea, she put it on the table in front of Wanda. The brunette looked up at her, smiling gratefully.
"Thank you.", she said softly, polite as always. "You're welcome, malyshka.", the redhead answered, quite used to the nickname already.
"Are you sure that you don't want to eat anything?", she added, looking at Wanda with concern. It was no mystery that the brunette was a bit too thin for her age, since she had been living with Hydra for quite some time before the rescue.
"Yes, I am sure, but thank you.", she replied, finishing up her brother's sandwich by slicing it diagonally. Natasha snorted to herself. Nick would hate this.
Just as Wanda was about to ask what was so funny, Pietro entered the kitchen, stretching and yawning.
"Mornin'...", he mumbled tiredly, making his sister smile. "Dobré ráno, ospalá hlava. (Good morning, sleepyhead.)", she said as Pietro sat down next to her.
"Morning.", Natasha provided as well, watching as Wanda ran her fingers through her brother's messy hair, pushing the sandwich over to him with her other hand.
As the older twin spotted the food, his eyes lit up. "For me?", he asked hopefully, already pulling the plate closer to him.
As soon as he saw his sister's nod of approval, he dove into the food, hungrily devouring it with just a few bites.
Wanda rolled her eyes. "Slow down, you're going to upset your stomach.", she tried to say but it was too late. The sandwich was gone already.
Natasha sipped her coffee again to stop herself from laughing out loud as she watched the twins interact.
They were still careful around the other members of the team but with Nat they were more playful and relaxed, which was good considering how they had had to repress their emotions for the past five years of their lifes.
As Pietro mumbled what sounded like an apology with his mouth full, Steve entered the kitchen. He had his running clothes on and his shirt was slightly wet, which indicated that he just got back from his morning run.
"Good morning.", he said with a smile, way too cheerful for someone who got up at 5am to go running. At least that's what Wanda thought, but she wasn't one for sports anyways. She left that to her brother.
Said brother looked up upon hearing Steve enter. "You went running?", he asked after swallowing the last of his sandwich. Steve opened the fridge, took out a bottle of cold water and nodded.
"Yeah. Would you like to come with me next time?", he asked, hoping to be able to bond with the speedster while simultaneously learning more about his powers as well. Nat, having had the same idea, looked at Pietro after giving her fellow teammate a quick nod.
"That would actually be a good idea. You're probably the only one who could keep up with Rogers anyways.", the redhead said smirking. While Steve shook his head laughing, Pietro crossed his arms over his chest.
"What, you don't think that I'm faster than you?", the young man challenged, a goofy grin crossing his face. Steve decided to play along. Maybe a challenge was what the older Maximoff needed to participate in the team's activities.
"I don't think you're as fast as you say you are.", Captain America challenged, taking a sip of his water. Nat noticed Wanda sigh.
"You shouldn't have said that.", the brunette muttered as her twin stood up from his chair. "Alright, I'll show you how fast I am! Come on, let's go running!", he eagerly proclaimed, watching as Steve finished his bottle of water.
"I just came back from my morning run, buddy.", he chuckled, glad that he had found a way of interacting with the younger man.
"Aww, are you scared, grandpa?", said young man teased, smirking as Steve raised his eyebrows. "Of you? Not at all.", he answered.
Pietro scrunched his nose. "Alright, that's it. We're going running.", he decided, leaving no room for objections while also physically leaving the room.
Wanda looked after him, an amused smile gracing her lips. "When do you think he'll notice that he's still in his pyjamas?", she asked but before anyone could answer, Pietro re-entered with a look of annoyance on his face.
"Do you have some training clothes for me?"
-
Natasha and Steve had managed to make Pietro reschedule his competition with Steve until after they had gone shopping for the twins.
On their way to the mall, Pietro had been unable to sit still for more than five minutes, making it hard for the adults to keep their cool.
Wanda, seemingly used to her brother's inability of staying still, had looked out of the window as they had driven through the streets of New York.
Now the four of them were currently making their way towards the mall.
Wanda held onto her brother's hand as if her life depended on it, obviously not a big fan of crowded places.
Although Nat had made sure to pick a place and time with as few people as possible, there was still a small crowd. For Wanda it was still too big.
When they entered the first shop, Steve and Natasha stopped to look at the twins. "If it's alright with you, we would like to split up. That way we'll get what we need much faster.", Steve said, noticing Wanda scrunch her face in discomfort.
Pietro looked at her and surprised everyone by encouraging his sister to go with Natasha.
"Hey, it'll be okay. If we split up, we'll be able to get out of here sooner.", he told her. Wanda nodded slowly and reluctantly let go of his hand.
Pietro kissed her forehead and waved at her before he followed Steve to the men's section. Wanda stood there for a few seconds, looking after them.
Natasha slowly walked up to her. "Tell me what you need, malyshka.", she requested softly, watching as Wanda finally turned to look at her.
"Can I hold your hand, please?", she pleaded, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. Nat only smiled.
"Of course you can.", she answered, slipping her hand into Wanda's.
While they walked over to the women's section of the shop, Natasha wondered how Pietro's hand had not fallen off because of how tightly Wanda was holding onto hers.
Though the spy was sure that there would be a bruise later, she said nothing about it and let the young woman clutch to her side.
-
The girls spent more time searching for clothes than Natasha had expected.
Usually her and whoever she went shopping with had an idea of what they liked and disliked, which made the finding of new clothes a lot easier.
Wanda had zero idea of what she liked or disliked.
With Hydra she only ever wore the same thing over and over again until someone told her to put on something different. She never got to make her own decisions.
Because of that she had yet to develop her own personal style, which is why Natasha was now, more than ever, glad about having the ability of reading people like a book.
Whenever Wanda put on a clothing item, the spy was immediately able to tell if the brunette liked it or not.
Since Wanda wasn't really vocal about her opinions yet (Nat would have to work on that with her), she more or less relied on this ability when helping Wanda decide.
After nearly two hours in the same store the redhead was satisfied with the selection of clothes they had found for the younger woman. A few dresses, jeans, hoddies and shirts as well as underwear and two pairs of shoes.
They would have to go shopping for more eventually but for now Natasha didn't want to force Wanda to try on more clothes than necessary.
As the first hour had passed, Nat had noticed the other woman starting to fidget and look around nervously. She guessed that it was due to the absence of her brother, though it could have been the noises of the people around them as well.
Natasha paid for the clothes and then interlocked her fingers with Wanda's once again while holding the shopping bags in her other hand.
"We'll meet the boys at the car.", she told the younger girl, before she left the shop and dragged her along towards the mall's exit.
When they were halfway through the shopping center, she felt Wanda tug on her sleeve. "T-Tasha...", the younger girl chocked out between erratic breaths.
"Hey, malyshka, it's okay. Just a few more meters, alright?", she said, trying to calm the younger girl, but failing.
"I-I can't-...", the brunette whispered, tears now running down her pale cheeks.
Quickly Natasha looked around until her eyes landed on a book store, close to where they were currently standing. Wordlessly she started walking again through this time she set a faster pace than before.
Wanda followed her into the book store where it was a lot quieter and where only few people were walking around the many bookshelves.
Natasha dragged her along into a quiet reading-corner, giving Wanda the chance to sit down, which she did.
The redhead put their shopping bags aside and knelt down in front of the younger woman, running a hand through her chestnut curls.
"Wanda, honey, can you look at me?", she requested after she noticed the younger girl struggling to calm her breath. The brunette complied and Nat had to watch as tears rolled down her cheeks once again.
It broke her heart to see Wanda like this.
"Take a deep breath for me, alright? In through the nose and out through the mouth.", the spy instructed while simultaneously demonstrating it.
Wanda tried her best to do as Natasha showed her and was eventually able to calm down. She ran a shaky hand through her hair while Nat wiped away the tears that had been falling down Wanda's cheeks the whole time.
"Sorry...", the brunette muttered, embarrassed of herself. "It's okay, malyshka.", Natasha assured immediately, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead as she sat down next to her.
For a while they both sat in silence. At one point Wanda had leaned into Nat, who had draped her arm around the brunette's shoulders.
"We're in a bookstore.", Wanda whispered exhaustedly after a few minutes, making the Avenger's heart clench once again.
"Yes we are.", the redhead agreed.
"I like reading.", Wanda said after a few more seconds of silence. Natasha turned to look at her. "You do?"
The brunette nodded.
"You can look around and see if you like anything, if you want.", Nat offered, noticing the younger girl's eyes already lingering on one of the covers.
"Are you sure?", Wanda asked, looking at Natasha.
"Absolutely, malyshka."
-
When they made it to the car after another 30 minutes in the book store, the boys were already waiting for them.
As soon as Wanda noticed the familiar platinum hair of her brother, she let go of Natasha's hand and ran straight into his arms.
The redhead noticed Pietro checking his sister for any injuries while she ran towards him, probably out of habit, before he pulled her into his arms. It broke her heart.
While Steve and Nat put the girls' shopping bags into the car, Pietro looked at his sister.
"Are you okay?", he asked concerned as he noticed her slightly red and puffy eyes. She ran her thumb over the wrinkles between his eyebrows while nodding.
"I'm fine. Tasha bought me books.", she said, actually sounding happy for the first time in forever, which made her brother smile.
"That's great, sestra.", Pietro chuckled, kissing his sister's forehead.
On their way back to the tower, Wanda fell asleep in her brother's arms with a tiny proud smile on her face for having survived her first day back in the real world.
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