𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 | 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘧𝘧 [✓]

Ch. 5 Make It Up

Word count: 1.06k

Eliza's POV:

"Tell me, Petey, what do you need when fighting Hydra?" I ask, my hand using an invisible pen.

He shudders at the nickname. "All right, Lizzie. I've never actually fought Hydra. Mr Stark only ever wants me on recon missions, so to prevent me from getting hurt."

I pause. "That's actually very thoughtful." I murmur, nodding at my brother. He looks away and his eyelids batter as a fly manoeuvres itself under them. He squeals and cries out, falling off the bed we're sitting on in my room. I can't help but laugh. "What happened to spidey-sense? Doesn't it tingle any more?"

Getting up he let's out a huff and punches my arm lightly. "Will you just quit being so mean!"

"The kid from Queens will always be the kid from Queens." I mutter staring at my hand. He gives me a funny look but doesn't press on. He knows when to stop. He knows when he's about to push me. There's a knock on the door and I smile softly at my brother before getting up to answer the it. Wanda smiles brightly at me.

"Maximoff!" I laugh as she jumps on me.

"Awe, Ellie! It's been so long - you should have come by sooner, you idiot." She says, ruffling my hair.

"Don't do that, what am I, seven?"

She looks at me in that way. "Yes, Ellie. Actually. Hey, Pete." Behind me, I hear Peter laugh, waving, and I roll my eyes. I signal for her to come in, moving away from the door. She closes it behind her. I'm surprised that Pietro hasn't yet followed.

"He went for a run." Wanda tells me. I stare at her confused, then as I realised, my eyes widened. I slap her arm, relative anger making it harder than I had first anticipated.

"Don't do that, Wands."

"Look, you'll be thanking me when I tell you I read Nat's." She shrugs looking at me. She sits down at my desk, her eyes flitting over the papers resting on my desk. Her eyes widen suddenly. "Ellie, what's this?"

I hurry over, realising too soon that Nat's files were spread out across the table. I stuff them all back in to their folder and shove it on to the shelf. I attempt to change the subject. "What did you hear?"

"Ellie, what was that?" She says again.

I look at her, my mouth open, searching for an answer. She stares at me and I know that if I lie, she'll read my mind anyway. But Peter is in the room, and I can't bear the thought of him knowing - if he hasn't already seen them.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. What the fuck are you doing, Eliza. What condoned you to lay them across your desk, open for the world to see?

Yeah, El. What do you have to be so stupid for?

I hiss at Wanda's voice in my head, glaring at her separately. I give her no answer.

Drop it, Wanda. Leave it alone.

She looks offended, and honestly, I'm hardly surprised. She deserves the truth, but that's not what I can give her right now. "So what was Natasha thinking?"

She huffs, complying with my request. Her voice is weary and soft. "She likes you, Ellie. She likes you."

I can't help but laugh. I stop when I realised that she's not. I scoff, still unable to believe her. "Look, you heard the way she spoke to me in the conference room. Steve saw how cold she was towards me in the gym. I'm not calling you a liar, Wanda Maximoff, but you're surely twisting the truth.

"You don't believe me, sure. Be that way. Be your stubborn and unlikeable self." She narrows her eyes in mock anger.

I act hurt and she smiles. "Whatever she did in those files, she told me the full story, in fact, that time impacted her much more than you think. She may have been Hydra's-"

I stop her where she stands. I turn to my brother, who's scared and widened eyes are piercing my head. "Petey, can you let us talk? I'll catch you after, before I go?" I promise, giving him a smile before he stands up and cringes. I wait for him to close the door.

"You have shitty timing, Maximoff."

She rolls her eyes before continuing. "I'll make it up to you." She sighs after being interrupted. "She may have only been Hydra's tool for about six weeks, but that didn't stop them from destroying her sanity. Her breathing lapses and quickens when she's in confined spaces. Any mention yo her past digs deep and dredged along unwanted memories. Love is hard for her, Ellie."

"What's that supposed to do to me? I can't love her like that. I can't even begin to. I wouldn't know where to start."

Wanda sighs heavily, clearly over exaggerating the tired pain in her voice. "She's sorry for what she did. And I'm sure Bucky is too."

"I don't care about what they did. I'm over that. It wasn't her own will, and I know that that wasn't Nat. Not after the stories I've heard and the tales spun. She's not the bad guy. But what I don't is twisting the truth so far that it cannot be reversed. She's taken so many names, where does a relationship with her even begin? I can't out myself through more trauma like my parents - or Sharon. I just can't." I whisper.

"You can't or you won't? Because I've got a plan - a slow burner - that'll guarantee you a girlfriend and a safe relationship. Look, Ellie. I might not know love as well as I should, but I know Nat. When she cares for someone, she'd carry them on a throne if she could. You're the Queen, Ellie. You always have been."

Despite my doubt, I feel my curiosity get the better of me. I bite my lip to stop the words from coming, but even that doesn't seem to work.

I blurt out, not able to hold in my feelings anymore. "What do you have in mind?"

"Infinite teasing. You play Eliza Haley Parker, the hard to get. You're a flirt and and tease, not to mention a player. You, my love, are in love. With. Me."