The Eternal Avenger

Chapter Twenty-Three: Fun and Games

(Natasha's POV):

"For the last goddamned time, you two..." Sam entered the room already shouting, waving his arms in front of his face before ramming into the counter with his hip. "Motherfucker," he shouted, wincing. I looked up at him expectantly from the table where I was trying to enjoy my smoothie.

"Did they get you too?" I asked, taking a sip, trying not to smile. Sam looked up at me, his face a cross between anger and humor that was so typical of the team's usual trickster.

"Made me feel like I was flying through a mess of spider webs," he grumbled.

"Which one?" I asked. For the past week, Claray and Wanda had overseen trying to get the team accustomed to what mind control felt like, so we would be better able to resist it if we encountered another telepathically gifted enhanced in the field. They had perhaps taken their mission a bit too far, and instead of in a controlled environment, they had turned it into a prank war, popping up out of nowhere and grounding one of the Avengers for twenty to thirty minutes at a time. While I didn't mind Wanda messing with my head for the sake of a teachable moment, I had been avoiding being alone with Claray on the off chance that she decided to try and compel me. Faking it was getting a bit more difficult, and I hadn't managed to find the right time to tell her yet. The two women were enjoying the experience perhaps a little too much – they had turned into little more than excited children, playing games and pranking everyone they could wrap their magic around. I heard a light giggle from around the corner, and Claray and Wanda entered the kitchen, glancing between Sam and I expectantly. I smirked to myself, masking it behind my smoothie. Sam rolled his eyes at them.

"You have no idea how gross that feels," he grumbled at them, launching another giggling fit.

"You should watch where you're going," Wanda advised, grabbing some cereal out of the cabinet, grabbing the seat next to mine. Claray plopped down on my other side, glancing over at me and smiling.

"Hi," she mumbled softly. I smiled at her.

"Hi yourself," I smirked. Tony sauntered into the room, heading directly for the coffee machine.

"Party tonight, team," he announced. A collective groan rose from the room. Tony and his parties were infamous – and mandatory – and after the week we'd all had, it was the furthest thing from anybody's mind – except, apparently, Tony.

"What are we celebrating this time?" Sam asked, ducking from the lingering vision of spider webs, swatting at the air.

"Our hybrid's safe return, of course," Tony scoffed, indignant that anyone would even question his motives.

"Can't we just..." Claray began, but Tony cut her off.

"Nine o'clock," he called out, leaving the room and allowing no room for further discussion. Wanda jumped up, grabbing Claray's hand.

"I'm picking your outfit," she announced. Claray smiled at me before rolling her eyes and was dragged by the hand towards the living quarters by the young witch. I sat back in my seat, releasing a deep breath. I adored Wanda, and I was happy she had seemingly found herself, but being around her once the mind control/mind reading became habitual was a bit of a strain. I knew I could tell her, but a part of me was haunted by Bridgit's cryptic words. Bridgit had mentioned that it meant something, but I wasn't sure I wanted to know exactly what. I didn't know if I could handle the additional strain right now, so I surrounded myself with other, easier targets for mind games. I couldn't lie – watching the two of them work their magic – literally – on the rest of the team was highly entertaining. I headed down to the training room to blow off some steam and to give myself some time to think. Now that the trouble twins were occupied – probably for an extended period as they discussed wardrobe, I was safe to let my guard down a bit and do something to help take my mind off things.