When Spies Collide // WandaNat Spy AU

Interlude

The escape from the underground lab in London was blurred in Natasha's memory. She remembered a gunshot, another, the young scientist slumping motionless, a numbness on her shoulder. Bits and pieces of Wanda nearly dragging her out, Clint ordering Steve to grab the Elvish tech. After a while, she couldn't tell how long, the pain brought her out of her fugue. Her shoulder screamed in duress, and Natasha fought back shouts of her own. She tumbled into the Quinjet, Wanda looking on worriedly. However, Natasha couldn't reach Wanda's eyes, as they were fixed on Clint.

"How could you?" Natasha spat, clutching her wound and almost writhing on the floor. Wanda tried to still her, but the redhead resisted. "She was a kid, Clint!"

"She nearly killed you!" Clint rebuked with surprising ferocity. "I know what I did. And trust me, I feel terrible about it. She didn't deserve that, but I had to. I had to. I'd do it again."

"Would you have done that to me that day? If Coulson hadn't have been with you?"

"Is that what this is about?"

Natasha seethed. "Wrong answer."

Finally, the pain became too much to handle, and Natasha accepted Wanda's desperate pleas to help. Clint retreated in a huff, returning to the cockpit, and Steve shuffled below deck to busy himself with routine maintenance. Wanda reached for the unfortunately familiar first aid kit, leaning down to work quickly on Natasha's gunshot wound.

"This is twice too many times, Romanoff," Wanda joked, though Natasha had none of it.

"Better than what happened to that girl."

"Nat..."

"Sorry. I'll stop."

"No, no," Wanda backtracked, "don't apologize. Why has this struck such a nerve with you?"

The redhead winced, and not just because of the alcohol poured over her open wound. "You know what I told you earlier? About me being caught up with the wrong people?"

"And SHIELD got you out."

"Exactly."

Wanda eyed the bloodied eagle sigil donning Natasha's vest. "You think you could've... gotten her out?"

"I know I could've, I just-" she nearly choked on a sob, causing Wanda to place a warm, gentle, steadying hand over the other woman's. "I fucked it up. That was my chance, and I fucked it up."

Natasha's tears fell freely now, body shaking with cries. Wanda stopped her work for the moment, sitting Natasha up against a plane seat, and cozying up next to her, making sure to avoid her bad shoulder. "Your chance for what?"

"I don't know... redemption? To pay it forward?" Natasha struggled, full body weight resting on Wanda. "I've done so much bad, Wanda..."

"Look at me," Wanda ordered softly, and Natasha complied, staring up at Wanda with watery eyes, faces inches apart. "I don't know who you were, what you did, and honestly, I don't care. I know who you are now."

"Yeah? And who's that?"

"A strong, courageous," a hand slipped to Natasha's cheek, "intelligent, capable," she inched closer, "gorgeous, good," Wanda whispered, though she couldn't finish her accolades, as somehow, impossibly, amazingly, Natasha kissed her. Soft and sweet, just a peck. A split second that felt like years to Wanda, though she wanted it to last for eons. When Natasha broke off, she slumped down, breathing hard.

"That was nice and all, doc, but can you fix my arm now?"

"There she is."

-

After a few days of recuperation at The Oasis, analysis of the stolen sample finally returned, and hopefully with some answers. The team gathered around a lab table to uncover the origins of the sample, which was an enigmatic, almost moving, purple liquid cased in a vial.

"What the hell is it?" Steve inquired of Wanda, examining the Elvish tech retrieved from the London mission.

"Looks like jelly," Wanda mused, head cocked like a confused puppy.

"Jelly with a consciousness," Clint added, "and a shady past."

Natasha strode into the lab, black tank top showcasing her muscular torso as well as her bandaged arm. She swiped furiously on a tablet. "It's a parasite."

"Like a bug?" Wanda asked, stepping back.

"No, like a biological weapon," Steve speculated gravely.

"That's right," Natasha confirmed. "I think our guy is working on a way to deploy that, whatever it is, on a global scale. This isn't just AKs and grenades anymore, folks. This," she nodded to the jar, "is extinction."

"You track the signature? Something that powerful has to radiate a hell of a signal," Clint said, peeking over at Natasha's tablet.

Wanda noted the tension, or lack of, between the two old partners. It would be foolish, really, for grudges to be kept, especially with what was now at stake, but Wanda commended the composure. The blonde was also impressed with the lack of awkwardness between herself and Natasha since the kiss. She almost suspected Natasha had no memory of the event because of pain or blood loss, but Natasha had been more... touchy. Not overtly, and not in a clingy way, but like a quiet cat who will gently bump your hand every now again as if saying, 'hey, I acknowledge you'. Being acknowledged, being seen, by someone like Natasha was all Wanda really needed.

"Oh, I've got a signature all right," Natasha confirmed. "It's about the size of Delaware."

"Where is it?" Wanda asked, moving behind Natasha as well, sneaking an arm around her waist lightly. Surprisingly, Natasha didn't object.

"New Orleans. Pack your bags, people, we're going to Bourbon Street."

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Howdy folks. I only have about 1-2 more chapters left in me. This summer has been the most writing I've done in my life in a very compressed time. School is starting back and all and now I just don't have time.

If the last chapters seem rushed, it's because they are. Thanks for reading. And thanks for reading my other fics as well.