Winter's Widow

Chapter 14: New Enemies

Natasha and I watched from around the corner eagerly as clint took his position on top of the refrigerator. The bucket had been perched precariously enough that heavy enough footsteps should dislodge it. If not, the string threaded from the handle and clutched tightly in Clint's hands from his perch would do the trick. "Here he comes!" Natasha whisper-shouted, waving at Clint wildly to get down. He complied, pushing his back into the wall, waiting patiently. We all collectively held our breath as footsteps began moving closer. I peered around the corner, freezing in horror when I recognized the figure that was approaching. I saw events unfold in slow motion. I lurched out from around the corner, waving at Clint, yelling at him to stop and to not pull on the string. He misread my message, because he jerked hard on the string before jumping off of the top of the refrigerator, yelling at the approaching figure who, understandably, froze in panic in the doorway. Just in time for the bucket of home-made slime to tip, making impact with the top of their head before oozing messily evenly around their body.

"Wanda," I gasped in horror. The witch was wiping her eyes, staring at the ground and willing the continuing flood of ooze to stay away from her face. I saw her eyes glowing red and she glared up at me from hooded eyelids.

"Oh Shit." Natasha's whisper beside me encapsulated all of our thoughts perfectly.

"Wanda, I'm so sorry," I murmured, rushing towards her, grabbing a roll of paper towels on the way.

"What. The. Fuck. Winter." Wanda hissed at me as I gingerly dabbed at her forehead, apparently making things worse.

"We thought it was going to be Steve," Clint gasped, backing away from the angry witch like the intelligent man that he was. I looked to my other side expecting to see Natasha, but she had backed away as well, leaving me alone in Wanda's line of fire." Wanda tilted her head.

"Do I look like Steve?" She whispered. For some reason, the quieter she spoke, the scarier it was.

"N...no..." I mumbled. I started backing away, but for every step backwards I took, she took one step closer. I moved to wet one of the paper towels. Movement, however, was a mistake, and I slipped on the slime that had made its way to the floor, grabbing onto Wanda for support and causing both of us to fall onto the floor in a heap. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed again, attempting to lift myself off of the woman's chest where I had landed. I could feel my face burning, and when I glanced up at Wanda, I found her staring at me. To my surprise and slight dismay, she had a smirk teasing the corners of her mouth.

"You're kinda cute, Winter." She smirked, crinkling her nose at me. I blushed so hard; I was a little afraid that my face was purple. I heard Natasha chuckle behind me and I climbed to my feet and flipped her off.

"I said you needed to hit ON her, Winter, not tackle her." The Russian smirked at me and I flipped her off again. "You wish," she called over her shoulder as her and Clint scurried away before Wanda could catch up to them. I helped Wanda to her feet and she laughed as she looked down at her slime-covered clothes.

"Give me your hoodie," she demanded. I raised my eyebrows but obediently pulled it over my head. Instead of using it to help clean her off, however, Wanda merely slipped it over her head, covering the slime, pushing the oversized sleeves up on her arms.

"What are you doing?" I giggled.

"Oh, I just liked that hoodie," she smirked at me before gesturing towards the coffee machine. "Make me a cup to make it up to me?"

...

I woke up in the morning to find Yelena already awake. She was staring at the ceiling, her fingers lightly twirling one of my thumb rings absentmindedly. I turned on my side towards her, smiling at her. "Morning," I mumbled, stretching out.