The Eternal Avenger: Book Two

Chapter Nineteen: Trust Fall

(Claray's POV):

Despite the unexpected events of the night, both Natasha and I woke up well rested and ready to go. We made our way into the cabin and Natasha bumped into me when I stopped short in the doorway, staring at the scene in front of me, wondering if I was imagining it.

"What?" She asked, trying to see around my shoulder. Yelena was lying on the couch on her back, and Wanda was curled into her chest. One of Yelena's hands was resting on Lerato and the trio were sound asleep. I moved aside slightly so Natasha could see, and the smile on her face spoke volumes. Lerato raised her head when she noticed our approach, which triggered a chain reaction of wakefulness in all three women. Yelena woke first, looking down at the redhead and then back at us in a panic, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, Wanda began stirring at that moment, and the situation rectified itself. Wanda sat up, smiling at Yelena before noticing Natasha and me. I caught her blushing slightly. They were adorable. I moved towards the kitchen to give the pair some space and started pulling stuff out for breakfast. Natasha approached, wrapping her arms around my waist while I started chopping up ingredients for omelets. "Can I help," she whispered into my ear, giving me goosebumps. I elbowed her lightly in the side.

"Do you want breakfast to be edible?" I teased. She growled and lightly nipped my ear. I jerked in surprise, almost dropping the eggs. I pushed the bowl back further on the counter and spun to face her, my eyes glowing red. Hers matched. "Natasha," I warned. She smirked at me.

"You're going to have to wait and see if we get the tent alone again tonight," she smiled. I rolled my eyes, turning back towards breakfast.

"Tease," I grumbled, earning a chuckle behind me as she rested her chin on my shoulder, watching.

"Disgusting," Yelena's voice snapped us out of our own little kitchen world, and Natasha and I turned our heads towards her in unison.

"No one said you had to watch, сестра," Natasha chided her gently. Yelena smirked, looking at us both.

"It's kind of nice," she admitted, staring down at the tile. I grinned, thrilled to see her relaxing more.

"Morning," Wanda mumbled sleepily, walking into the kitchen to join the rest of us.

"How'd you sleep, witchy?" I teased. Wanda rolled her eyes at me.

"You're not allowed to tease me before coffee, принцесса" she grumbled. I laughed.

"cò am bana-phrionnsa (who's the princess)?" I teased, gesturing towards Yelena and earning a rather large blush from the witch, suddenly shy.

"I'm going to go brush my teeth," she mumbled, pushing past Natasha and I as we both did our best to stifle giggles.

"So Yelena," Natasha started.

"Don't." Yelena sat crossed-legged on the counter, eyeing her sister.

"Don't what?" Natasha wasn't fooling anyone with her innocent tone. Yelena shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it." I nudged Natasha gently.

"Leave her alone, Tasha." I whispered.

"You're ruining all my fun," she complained, but smiled and leaned back against the counter, allowing me to cook. Several minutes later, we all sat around the table eating, feeding scraps of meat to Lerato. Once we had a chance to sit for a few minutes, Wanda leaned forward.

"How do you want to do this?" She asked. I looked at Natasha, who nodded.

"We're going to have some fun." Yelena looked between all of us and grinned.

"Cool."

(Natasha's POV):

"Again!" Wanda called from her position about fifty feet away. I shrugged my shoulders, focusing back on Claray as she jumped off of the rock cropping above us. I winced and grit my teeth as I extended one hand towards Wanda, the other moving urgently towards Claray. I saw red magic tendrils flow from my fingers, catching the hybrid in mid-air before she even came close to hitting the ground. The hybrid grinned at me, giving me the thumbs-up sign. Then Yelena bumped into my shoulder causing me to lose my focus, sending Claray tumbling and landing on the ground with a loud thud.

"Yelena!" I glared at her as Wanda flew over towards Claray. Yelena shrugged.

"Sorry," she looked over towards Wanda, and I followed her gaze. Claray was sitting up, laughing. I released a breath, happy that she wasn't hurt.

"She's doing a really good job!" Yelena shouted towards them. I glared at her again, and caught her smirking. Claray and Wanda approached us, the hybrid still brushing dirt and grass from her clothes.

"Sorry," I smiled up at her. She grinned.

"It wasn't your fault," she laughed. "Besides, it was a bit of a rush." I rolled my eyes at that remark.

"You think everything is a rush," I teased. She nodded.

"Guilty." Yelena scoffed, drawing our attention.

"Big deal." She shrugged.

"Want to try?" Claray asked her, looking at her expectantly. Yelena returned the stare.

"Why not? But I don't want the second-string there catching me. I want the witch." I raised my eyebrows at her comment, and she blushed when she fully realized what she had said, but Wanda just smiled and nodded.

"I'll catch you." Yelena faked a look of doubt.

"You'd better." I watched as Claray and Yelena headed off to reclimb the path to the cliff. Wanda approached me and we leaned against a bench together.

"So how did you sleep?" I asked. Wanda looked at me, checking to see if I was teasing her. I wasn't. I knew that she had been struggling with nightmares as a result of the events of Westview recently. It was one of the reasons I was so happy to find her with Yelena this morning. She deserved at least a little bit of comfort and happiness after all she had been through.

"Really well, actually," she smiled, folding her arms across her chest as if giving herself a hug."

"I'm glad." I meant it genuinely.

"She has nightmares too, you know." Wanda added, looking at me seriously. I glanced at her quickly.

"Bad ones?" The witch shrugged.

"You should ask her." Before I was able to respond, Yelena's voice drew our attention.

"Are you ready or what?" Wanda smiled, approaching her previous position beneath the rocks.

"Go for it!" She called. Yelena nodded and as I watched, she walked towards the edge of the rocks, grinned at me, spread her arms wide and walked right off. Wanda let her get fairly close to the ground before catching her securely. I could see the smirk on her face from my position by the bench – she was playing her on purpose. Yelena let out a shuddering breath once her feet returned to the ground. She glanced at me, before the smile returned to her face.

"That is a rush," she said, the grin spreading. "Can we do it again?"