After Wanda's accident and recovery in Wakanda, Claire rarely left her side, afraid that Wanda might experience another sort of attack. Steve, Sam, and even Bucky made the effort to visit her and spend time with her, with T'Challa coming occasionally. After Wanda explained to Claire what happened in the grove, she relayed it to the doctor who looked into it and diagnosed that it was some sort of PTSD attack that mixed with her anxiety (to be honest, Claire couldn't remember because of the medical jargon).

Wanda was discharged a few days later, once the doctors were sure that she was fine. The redness in her neck died down and returned to its normal color and the small cuts started to scab over. Mentally, Wanda was also doing better. In addition to spending time with Claire and the guys, she saw a therapist who helped her talk out her various traumas. Wanda made Claire and the guys promise her to not mention anything about this to Jemma saying, "When she freaks out, then I freak out." They reluctantly agreed and promised not to say anything to Jemma.

The rest of their stay was uneventful, and after what happened with Wanda, they were all thankful for that. They spent the rest of their week kicking back without the threat of running hanging over their heads, attended festivals and explored the cities. Wanda marveled at the beauty of the hand-made woven rugs, clothes, and jewelry as she walked through the stalls of the marketplace.

She paused at one stand in particular, marveling at the different rings, necklaces, bracelets, and pins that they sold, gazing a little longer than she should have. Claire crept up behind her, watching as Wanda glued her eyes to a tray of necklaces, smiling softly. She continued walking, not stopping at the stall long before she moved onto another stall, felling the fabrics of the shawls that were being sold, chatting with the old woman who ran the stall. Claire joined her a minute later, shuffling a small bag into the of her jeans, and pecked Wanda on the cheek. Wanda smiled and looked over at her as her cheeks turned a light red.

The old woman behind the stall smiled at them and picked up two small scarves, one red and the other purple, and handed them to the two young women.

"For you," she said in her thick Wakandan accent as she folded her hands and bowed slightly. Wanda and Claire looked at each other, blushing some more, and tried to hand the scarves back to her.

"Oh no, we couldn't take this," Wanda said, but the old woman shook her head, not accepting the scarves. She smiled as she pointed at them, her bony finger shaking a little bit.

"No, you keep them. May Bast bless you both with happiness and peace and may you both live long and happy lives."

"Please, we couldn't," Claire pleaded. The woman pushed the scarves back at them, giving them a stern look that quickly turned into a smile.

"Take them! As a gift. I have been around for 90 years I do not need these. Take them and humor an old woman." She reached out both her hands towards theirs, the both of them placing a gentle hand into each of her open ones. "Do not let people's fear and bigotry trample out the love you two feel. Make your love stronger, brighter and louder than their hate." She leaned down and placed a small kiss on their hands before releasing them. They thanked her for her words and the scarves and continued on their way.

○○○

The Quinjet soared quickly through the air, hidden in stealth mode, as it flew back home to the safehouse. The three of them enjoyed their time in Wakanda and Wanda and Claire promised each other that they would go back at some point. Claire was a little sad to go because she would miss Bucky terribly, but she knew he'd be okay with T'Challa there to watch him, and she knew that she'd be okay with Wanda her to keep her from missing him too much.

Once again, the two women sat next to each other, almost snuggling against each other, watching episodes of The Office on Claire's phone. They were grateful for the Quinjet rides because it was the only time when they could snuggle with each other around the other members of the team without it looking suspicious and having them question it. Except, this time turned out to be not like the other times. Sam, who was sitting in the cockpit, turned on autopilot and got up from his chair and walked to the back, standing in front of them with his hands on his hips. The two women looked up him, confusion evident on their faces and Claire paused the episode, taking the earbud out of her ear. Wanda copied her.

"Can we help you, Sap?" Claire asked, shooting the Falcon and sassy smirk. Wanda bit her lip to keep from laughing. A frown grew on Sam's face as Claire's smirk grew.

"Actually, you can help me with something. Tell me what's going on between you two." The smirk disappeared from Claire's face and Wanda's face paled a little at Sam's demand. The bluntness of it was enough to give them both pause, but Claire recovered and frowned, standing from her seat, getting in Sam's face.

"What makes you think there's something going on?" she asked folding her arms over her chest. Steve too stood up and moved to stand close to them, ready to jump in in case a fight broke out. Wanda shifted uncomfortably in her seat and cast her eyes downward. She knew that they were being as discreet as they could've been, and she appreciated Claire for trying to cover it up, knowing that the thought of being outed just yet unnerved the brunette.

"Ever since your little fight or whatever, every time I see you two together, you're so close, physically close to each other; closer than you were before the fight. You're with each other constantly. When Wanda had that attack in the woods in Wakanda, you carried her back and you were so hysterical they had to sedate you. Whenever there is even the slight chance of danger you get overly protective of Wanda, and God forbid anything happens to her, you freak the fuck out and go on a rampage—"
"I do not—"

"Sam..."

"Russia? The HYDRA soldiers? Do you remember that? Does that ring a bell?" Claire looked down at the floor as Sam continued to list off everything he ever caught the two of them doing, and it angered her. It angered her that for a moment she couldn't have some sort of peace without someone sticking their nose into it, trying to demand what was happening. It happened a lot in Sokovia, it happened at the Raft. All her life she'd been demanded of things without one second of a break, of peace, and it was happening again.

Her skin started to burn, heating up as her rage burned in her mind. Her eyes glowed a bright purple and her claws grew longer as Sam continued to interrogate them. He didn't notice as she started to lose control and shift, but Wanda did and in an instant, she shot up from her seat and pushed Sam away, knocking him into Steve, and grabbed Claire's face in her hands and aggressively pressed her lips against Claire's. Claire instantly relaxed; her claws returned to their normal length and the glow of her eyes disappeared as she closed her eyes and brought her hands up and tangled them in Wanda's long brown hair. Wanda pushed Claire back down in her seat and moved to sit in her lap, her added weight keeping Claire from getting back up. Wanda felt Claire's fangs as they kissed, Claire being careful to not bite Wanda's lip. She let out a low growl when Wanda finally pulled away, breathing heavily and blushing a deep red.

She was in no way ready to come out to anyone just yet and she definitely didn't want anyone to witness them making out, but it had to be done. Over the course of their brief romantic relationship and their friendship, Wanda learned that the quickest way to either stop Claire from shifting or to help her regain control faster was for her to come into so sort of contact with the shapeshifter; the best way being physical. She pressed her forehead against Claire's as she caught her breath. She ran her fingers through the redhead's hair, helping to calm her down.

"It's okay," she whispered, feeling Claire's arms leave her hair and snake around her, pulling her close into a hug. "You're okay, baby. I've got you."

"I'm sorry," Claire whispered into her brown hair. Sam and Steve stood in bewilderment as they watched the scene in front of them, suddenly feeling like that were intruding on a private moment. Wanda soon removed herself from Claire's lap, allowing her to stand, and followed her over to Sam and Steve. Wanda took Claire's hand in hers and ran her thumb across the surface. Claire looked down at the floor, standing in front of the two men in shame; she never liked losing control, especially when she lost control at a friend.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have gotten that angry and I should've tried to calm down. I'm so sorry, Sam," Claire said. Wanda moved her hand, letting Claire's drop to her side, and stroked her back. Sam cleared his throat and hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's...apology accepted, Claire. I shouldn't have come at you guys like that."

There was a moment of silence between the four of them before Steve cleared his throat and spoke up.

"So...how long has this been going on?" Wanda snorted a laugh at the semi-unexpected question.

"We've been dating for about two weeks now," Claire mumbled as Wanda giggled beside her.

"And when were you going to tell me?" Steve asked rubbing his forehead, trying to approach it delicately.

"We didn't feel comfortable coming out to anyone yet," Wanda said, her voice turning serious. Steve's eyes softened as he sensed her worry and fear. He stepped forward and pulled the two of them into a hug, accepting them both for who they were.

"You know we wouldn't have judged you, right?"

"It wasn't just that," Claire said into his chest. "It's...this is still new, and we didn't know how to define it really." Wanda nodded and Steve sighed in understanding.

"Who else knows?"

"Only Jemma and Bucky. Jemma sort of pushed us to get together." Steve released Wanda and Claire and smiled at them.

"Well, I'm happy for you both."

"Me too," Sam said, walking behind them and ruffling their hair. He smiled when he heard their laughs and cries for him to stop.

"Listen you guys, can you...not say anything to Natasha? We want to tell her in our own time," Wanda asked, she soft Sokovian accent pleading with them. Sam scoffed.

"Chances are Tasha already knows, but yeah sure, we won't say anything."

"How would she know?" Claire asked looking behind her at Sam. Sam leaned down, becoming level with the girls' ears.

"Tasha knows all."