────── ✼✼✼ ──────

────── ✼✼✼ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟕
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐔𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓

────── ✼✼✼ ──────

Sun shined through the curtains and hit the pillow on the bed. A small sigh passed over Charlie's lips as she rolled over, only for the sunlight to hit her eyes. The Barton woman couldn't help but groan as she reached for Pietro, only for the sheets to greet her fingers. Confusion flowed through her veins as her eyes flashed open to find the empty bed beside her. But that puzzlement soon faded when the smell of pancakes and bacon greeted her. A smile soon appeared on her lips as she forced herself out of bed before heading downstairs.

The grin on Charlie's face did nothing but grow when she found Pietro in the kitchen. He was singing along to the song on the radio as he flipped a pancake. Both of them had been plagued with nightmares for the last five years. It was a miracle if they were able to sleep through the night. While the Maximoff man repeatedly saw his sister disappear in front of his eyes, Charlie was left with watching her family suffer thanks to Thanos. She thought she'd be used to the nightmares by now, especially after going through them after losing her mother and brother and even Pietro. But they were always different and they always terrified her. This was the first time in a long time that she was able to get a good night's sleep. And this was also one of the rare instances when he truly looked carefree and the Barton woman always enjoyed watching them.

Charlie just stood in the doorway for another moment before finally walking into the kitchen. As soon as she was close enough to the speedster, she wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head on his shoulder. They let the silence surround them as they swayed to the music while Pietro continued to cook breakfast. It wasn't long before everything was done cooking and they sat down at the table to eat. Charlie couldn't help but laugh at the mountain of food in front of them, but she knew nothing would go to waste. Pietro had a fast metabolism after all.

"So, what're our plans for the day?" the speedster asked before taking another bite of his pancake.

"I was thinking maybe we could clean out the shed. We haven't touched it since we got here and I know for a fact that my dad never did it," Charlie responded with a sad smile then quickly shook off her emotions and continued speaking, "after that maybe we can see if any new movies are streaming. We haven't done that in a while and I'm in the mood for a lazy afternoon."

Pietro simply nodded in response as he continued to eat. That was enough to make confusion flow through the Barton woman's veins. Usually he would fight her on chores until she bribed him into helping her. She never minded as it would tend to lead to something they both enjoyed, like a trip into town to grab their favorite desserts. There was never a time that he would simply agree to do farmwork, which was all it took to make Charlie realize something was going on.

"Unless there's something you had planned," the Barton woman said after swallowing her mouthful of food.

The Maximoff man instantly tensed as he looked away from his plate to meet her gaze. The two of them just stared at each other for a long moment before he let out a long sigh. It wasn't long after that when he slid her phone across the table. Charlie's confusion did nothing but grow as she looked down at her phone, only for her blood to run cold when she saw the notification on the screen.

"Natasha texted you this morning. Took her four years, but she finally reached out," Pietro announced while pushing his food around his plate with his fork, "it went off right when I woke up so I saw it was from her. I didn't read it...even though I really wanted to."

Charlie hesitated for a moment as she continued to stare at her phone. She didn't know how she felt about Natasha texting her. Before she would've answered it without a second thought and responded without a care in the world. But so much time had passed since she last spoke, not for the Barton woman's lack of effort. Charlie tried reaching out to Natasha numerous times, she even went to the Compound to see her. But for the last four years, the Romanoff woman shut her own for reasons the archer and the speedster couldn't explain. It hurt Charlie more than she thought possible. Natasha was the last person left in the world that the Barton woman had known since before her time at S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of the last people left that she considered family. Charlie would be the first to admit that she still wasn't over what Natasha did, but she moved on. And now all those emotions were flooding back.

What felt like an eternity passed before Charlie found himself looking over at Pierto, who already had his eyes on her. It didn't take a genius to know they were thinking the same thing. Both of them were prepared to ignore the message and go along with their daily lives. After all, that was what Natasha did four years ago. Yet they were both curious about what the message said. And at that moment, their curiosity outweighed their anger toward the Romanoff woman. So after letting out the longest sigh of her life, Charlie grabbed her phone and read the message.

NATASHA:
We need both of you
to come in.

The Barton woman read over the text a few times before shutting off her phone and setting it down on the table. Silence filled the farmhouse until Charlie looked up at Pietro and broke it. "She needs us to come in."

Pietro instantly scoffed in response as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "So she ignores us for four years and only contacts you now because she needs something? Yeah, I think I'll pass."

Before Charlie had a chance to respond to the Maximoff man, her phone went off again. Her eyes instantly flashed toward the screen before confusion began flowing through her veins.

NATASHA:
Just open the door
so I can explain.

Charlie's entire body tensed once again as she read over Natasha's most recent message. It wasn't long after that when she let out a long sigh and got to her feet. Pietro watched with confusion in his eyes as she walked out of the room before he quickly followed her. However, before the speedster could question anything, the Barton woman opened the front door, revealing Natasha Romanoff standing on the other side. And she wasn't alone. Beside her were Steve Rogers and Trina Felicity. But standing behind them was someone neither Charlie nor Pietro thought they would see again. Someone they thought disappeared with the other half of Earth's population.

"Scott?" the Barton woman said in a tone just loud enough for them to hear. Her eyes stayed glued to him for a moment longer before her attention moved toward Natasha and Steve. "How is he here?"

"We have a lot to talk about," the Rogers man told her with an emotion in his voice that Charlie couldn't place.

The world around them fell silent once again as the archer's attention returned to Scott. They just stared at each other for a long moment before Charlie looked over at Pietro. She wasn't surprised to find him leaning against the doorframe with an annoyed look on his face. The Maximoff man had been irritated with them for a very long time, even before Natasha cut off contact with them. He always said that they were only called upon when they were needed for a mission and ignored when there wasn't any danger. And if Charlie were being honest, she'd have to agree. The last time any of them came just to visit her was when Steve stopped by after Sokovia with Sam. And that was only to convince her to talk to someone about what happened.

But despite knowing that Pietro wanted nothing to do with them at that moment, Charlie let out a long sigh and stepped aside, allowing the four of them to walk into the farmhouse. The Barton woman was about to follow when the speedster stopped her. He waited until their company was out of earshot before turning his full attention toward Charlie. The two of them just stared at each other until the Maximoff man broke the silence.

"After four years of being ignored, you're just forgiving Natasha just like that?" the speedster questioned just loud enough for Charlie to hear.

Even though she knew it was strange, the Barton woman couldn't help but smile. Pietro's confusion instantly returned as she stared down at her, unsure of what to make of her reaction. It wasn't long after that when Charlie let out a long sigh and began speaking. "Who said anything about forgiving her? I just wanna hear them out. But if what they have to say is ridiculous, then they're gone."

Pietro knew he agreed with her words, but he didn't know how he felt about the look in her eyes. At first glance, they appeared to be emotionless, like she was feeling nothing at all. But he knew her better and was able to see past her walls. He saw the anger mixing with the uncertainty in her eyes. The speedster knew she had a million thoughts bouncing around in her head and, if they had more time, he would ask her about them. But he knew that with four heroes sitting in their living room, they didn't have much time to spare. So instead, Pietro simply nodded in response. It wasn't long after that when Charlie took his hand and led him into the living room.

The couple sat down on the loveseat across from the couch that their allies settled on. No one said a word for what felt like an eternity, letting a somewhat awkward silence settle over them. Charlie and Pietro both knew that they had nothing to say, the heroes came to them after all. So they waited for one of the four to speak first. On the other hand, Steve, Natasha, Scott, and Trina didn't know where to start. The information they had was a lot and couldn't be unbelievable. They just needed to find the right wording for it to make sense. Unfortunately, they knew they didn't have a lot of time by the looks on the young couple's faces.

So Scott began explaining everything. His story started with how he was trapped in the quantum realm for the last five years and ended with how he arrived at the Compound. Charlie couldn't help but let a wave of confusion wash over her as she listened to his tale, which didn't seem to be helpful to their lost friends and family in any way. After sharing a confused look with Pietro, the Barton woman was about to question the four heroes in front of her and their sanity. That was until Scott started explaining his plans to save everyone by traveling through the quantum realm.

Charlie and Pietro couldn't help but stare at the Lang man with uncertainty in their eyes, neither of them fully believing what he was saying. They let the silence surround them for another moment before the speedster finally broke it. "So your brilliant plan to save everyone is building a time machine?"

"If you wanna simplify it, then yes," Scott responded, completely oblivious to the annoyance forming on the young couple's faces.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Charlie questioned without even bothering to hide the irritation in her voice. But as her eyes scanned over the four people sitting in front of her, she knew they were nothing but serious. "So you want us to believe that you four can build a time machine?"

"It's gonna take more than the four of us, Charlie. That's why we're here. We need your help," Steve declared, earning unconvinced looks from the couple sitting in front of him.

"You don't need us. If you needed us, you would've contacted us a long time ago," Pietro retaliated, causing guilty looks to appear on Steve and Natasha's faces.

It wasn't long after that when the Rogers man found himself exchanging a look with Natasha. The two of them just stared at each other for a long moment before Steve let out a long sigh and continued speaking. "We also know you've been keeping in contact with Tony. We were hoping that you could help us find him."

Charlie couldn't help but laugh while Pietro simply rolled his eyes at them. A phony smile soon appeared on the Barton woman's face as she opened her mouth to speak. "I knew there was something else to this visit. And I can save you the trouble. Tony's not gonna join your little mission based on false hope. Just like how we aren't."

"Come on, Char. We could really use your help with this," Natasha said, drawing the woman's attention toward her. The Romanoff woman wished she could say she was surprised to find Charlie staring at her with sadness and anger and her eyes. But she wasn't. Not after what she had done.

"You shut me out for four years, Natasha. Four long years when I needed you the most. So forgive me for not jumping at the chance to help you," the Barton woman retaliated while trying her best to fight the tears threatening to escape. She let the silence surround them for what felt like an eternity as she studied the red-headed woman, who still held a blank expression on her face. But it wasn't long after that when she decided to break it. "Give me one good reason why we should help you. One that doesn't revolve around this 'quantum realm.'"

A million thoughts bounced around in Natasha's head and she wanted to say them all. But one stuck out more than the others. She knew that if she just told Charlie the truth then she would help them without a second thought. However, something was holding the Romanoff woman back and she couldn't explain what it was. She wanted to tell the Barton woman the truth, but she couldn't. Luckily for her, Trina had nothing to hold back.

"Clint's alive," the Felicity woman announced, making all the color fade from Charlie's face as she looked over at the raven-haired woman, "he's alive and Rhodey's looking into where he's heading next."

The Barton woman kept her eyes glued to Trina for another moment before looking over at Pietro, who was just as stunned as she was. It only took one look to know they were thinking the exact same thing. So after letting out a long sigh, Charlie turned her attention back to the four people sitting in front of her.

"So when do we leave?"

────── ✼✼✼ ──────

────── ✼✼✼ ──────