Be Still My Heart

Alcohol and Pong: What Could Go Wrong?

Y/N POV-

Nat is the only one outside when we show up. I pull into my usual parking spot and turn off the car. "Where did Stark and Steve go?" Nat walks towards us laughing quietly to herself. "I told them you were on your way back so they quit trying to move it."

I place my hand lightly on Wanda's back to get her attention after walking behind my car and towards the building. "I'm going to go find Stark, okay?" She nods her head. "I'm going to move the machine so Stark doesn't throw a temper tantrum. I'll find you later."

We both go our separate ways. Nat follows after Wanda towards the Quinjet. I hesitate with my handle on the doorknob and look over my shoulder to watch Wanda.

She looks like she is laughing at something Nat just said but they are too far away for me to hear. I push my hand into my pocket and pull out the slip of paper before throwing up the door and walking inside.

I find Stark easily in his lab. I push open the glass door, "Hey." Stark lifts his head to look at me. "Y/N." I step across the floor slowly. My steps feel like they are echoing but it is probably all in my head.

"Did you find anything?" I lift up the paper into the air and extend my hand towards him. "A name and phone number. We found it in a secret cubby my parents installed a couple weeks before they died. Can you trace it before we make our next move?"

Stark's eyes seem to hover on my split knuckle before he looks over the name and number. He doesn't comment on my hand. "Yeah, I'll put it into the system to see who the number is linked to then I'll run a background check on them. Probably won't have answers until late tonight or tomorrow morning though."

He seems like he is trying to be more gentle than usual. No jokes or unhelpful comments. "That's fine." Stark walks over to the computer in the far corner of the room and starts typing away.

I turn around and head back towards the door but Stark's voice stops me. "Pepper is going to swing by tonight. Also, Thor said he wants to meet you so he is coming down as well. We were all planning on hanging out and having a couple drinks if you feel up to it. You and Wanda."

The way Wanda was clutching onto my leg this morning, he must have come to some conclusions. I'll still let her tell him outright though. "Thanks, I'll talk to her and see what she wants to do." He keeps his eyes locked onto the computer screen and doesn't say anything else as I push open the lab door and head towards my room.

Wanda POV-

Nat walks with me over towards the Quinjet. "Tony just asked that you place it in the garage for now." Red whisps begin to float around my fingers as I lift my hands towards the machine. I slowly begin to levitate it out of the Quinjet.

Stark's workers cleared out some of the cars to make room for the machine in the garage. "Perfect." I set the box with machine down onto the concrete floor and step back. Nat grabs a crowbar and pries the metal walls apart. They drop onto the ground with a metallic ring.

It makes me so mad seeing this machine, this tool used on young kids. Hydra wanted more weapons of mass destruction. They didn't plan on those weapons of mass destruction to have such a caring personality like Y/N though I would bet. I wonder if Y/N and Drew were the only ones or if there are more.

I step forward and place my hand on the cold metal of the machine. "Wanda?" Nat's voice draws me out of haze. "Your eyes are red again. You okay?" I shake my head slightly and pull my hand away. "Yeah, just thinking about Y/N having to go in here."

Nat puts the crowbar back and walks over towards me. "Is she doing better? I saw her hand, that cut is new." She is always so observant. "Yeah, she punched her steering wheel this morning after visiting her parents' graves."