Flawed Minds

Chapter Thirty Three

Avenger's P.O.V

***Six months later***

Life had settled back into a regular rhythm for the Avengers- or as regular as possible for a team of heroes. Nova had succeeded in all of her solo missions, including her most recent which was one she took upon herself to complete; She had met a young woman named Faye working in a small café and began to chat with her regularly, soon finding out that she was in a horrible situation. It didn't take long for Nova to persuade Faye to be honest and tell her what was happening, and once she did she saw red. Nova tirelessly worked to find out more about the severely abusive now-ex, gathering evidence against him- before accidentally psychologically damaging him a little... In any case, the man was now behind bars and Faye was free. Nova gifted her an amusing Captain America alarm clock, knowing she had a little crush on Steve since he came into the café she worked at quite often, and helped her move to Hell's Kitchen for an extremely appreciated new start. Nova felt as though she'd found a good purpose, and the first person she shared this story with was Bruce, who was incredibly proud of her for doing this on her own, praising her and letting her know that he was willing to help if she ever found anyone else in Faye's situation.

When not on missions or in communication with Fury, the team had gotten a lot closer, making working together easier and easier as time went by. Tony had independently decided to set aside slots of time throughout each week for 'Talks', because he didn't like the word 'therapy' but realized that after everything that had happened to her, Nova probably needed it. At first Clint joked around during the talks, much to Nat's annoyance and Nova's amusement, but eventually she found it was freeing to share her feelings with the others, slowly working through some problems and feeling the better for it, and over time 'Tony's Talks' benefited every member of the team that joined in- even if they wouldn't admit it themselves. Nova also found herself enjoying spending more time with Bucky, listening intently to his stories as he attempted to remember more and more about his past; Steve often ended up sitting with them and helping jog Bucky's memory from time to time, happy to be laughing and joking around with his old best friend for the first time in what felt like forever. He felt extremely grateful for Nova, as she seemed to bring out the best in both of them.

Another significant change meant that Nova ended up making yet another new friend; Wanda and Vision had gotten back into contact with the team, and about a month after that they returned to the tower, much to the team's surprise...

The door opened to reveal a woman, wearing a red leather coat with long reddish brown hair, standing beside what looked like a man, with extraordinary red skin and a yellow glowing stone in his forehead. Nova stayed behind with Bucky whilst the rest of the team rose to greet them, watching as a few of them embraced and they chatted, until the woman's large eyes found hers. She looked just as surprised as Nova was to find such a large amount of energy in one person; it was almost radiating out of her, and in Nova's mind she imagined wisps of scarlet light surrounding her

"And how could I forget-!" Tony exclaimed. "You haven't met. Wanda, this is Nova, Nova this is Wanda, and this is Vision." Nova glanced from Wanda to Vision as Tony explained to them that her story was a long one and would probably have to wait for later. Vision looked friendly and inquisitive, and felt different from the others; Nova picked up on what he was made of immediately, finding herself amazed as she returned her gaze to Wanda, summoning a nervous smile.

"It's nice to meet you both," Nova greeted, feeling relieved once Wanda returned the smile.

"Nice to meet you too," She responded a little nervously.

"The pleasure is mine." Vision chimed in, happily.

The two had apprehensively reached out with their magic to 'test' the other, both equally as curious, and quickly discovered that neither of them were a threat. The newcomers were eventually caught up on every event since the explosion of the Hydra base where the team had found Nova, including her past and leaving out no details, and after a few friendly conversations it did not take long for Wanda and Nova to befriend each other. It annoyed Stark sometimes when they would use their magic for fun, for example Nova's new favorite game of levitating furniture and stacking one piece on top of the other to see who would make the tower fall first, but Vision was particularly happy that Wanda was finally making a true friend after only really having him for a while after the loss of her brother Pietro. He lit up with joy every time he saw her smile and laugh, happy to see her slowly come further out of her shell, and part of him felt he should have tried to convince her to return sooner.