The closest thing to a daughter

Season 2 Episode 23

Hours later, Abigail still lay, now in her bed back in Stark Tower, while Natasha and newly turned Avenger Wanda watched over her together. "Thank you for taking care of her," Natasha thanked her after a long period of quiet silent observation of the sleeping redhead. "After everything I did to her but also to all of you, this is the least I could have done," the Maximoff replied in her Socovian accent, putting on a subtle but friendly smile. After Vision rescued her from the falling Sokovia, she immediately rushed to her brother, who was still carrying the petite Novanoff in his arms. Since Natasha had already been carried to safety on the Hellicarrier by Hulk, Wanda, among others, was now exclusively taking care of the little one's well-being. "Did you ever wish for children?" asked Wanda a few minutes later. Romanoff had told her bits and pieces about her past, including her lost ability to get pregnant, and even about what happened with Abigail she already knew something. Nat didn't have to answer her a look to the lying girl next to them gave her the answer also nonverbally. "Where will you go?" she asked instead with interest. "I don't know. I have nowhere to go back to, so I guess somewhere," the female twin replied, taking a sip from her teacup. "You could stay here? Abigail can be a bit of a handful. Pietro, too, of course," Natasha implored her, drinking from her cup as well.

It took another full day before Abigail finally opened her eyes and sat up frantically. Despite her long unconsciousness, she felt not a bit recovered, but rather more miserable than before. Sitting next to her bed this time was Tony, grasping her arms reassuringly as she began to thrash about. "I'm glad you're awake. Our triple imposter was already worried about you," he explained to her, trying to put on a small convincing smile. But the loss of his then intern and in the end even teammate took more out of him than he showed. "Where is she? Is she okay?" Tony smirked. Of course, the little one was worried about Natasha first. After losing Danny, she probably didn't want to lose another important person. "It's all good kid. She's fine and to your question, she's just helping move the last of the stuff to our new home. We're moving to the edge of the city. After all the excitement, it's better if we just make good headlines in the near future," he explained, helping Abigail sit down on the edge of her bed. Only now did she notice that her room was already completely empty except for her bed, and only two boxes found their place by the door. The move made her a little sad, after all she had spent the best time of her life here. But it also reminded her of the appearance of her father and worst of all of the memory with Danny. At the thought of him alone, tears formed in her eyes and she couldn't help but reproach herself not only for his death, but also for the wasted opportunities. If only she had understood earlier that the feelings she had for him were not only friendship oriented, then they might have found each other earlier. She had started making the exact same mistake she had warned Natasha and Steve about day in and day out. So in the end, taking too much time was also the undoing of Danny and Abigail's relationship.

Later, they carried the rest of her stuff into Tony's car and drove to the new Avengers headquarters outside of town. Inside the building, they met Steve and Natasha. The latter, of course, immediately gave her a hug. "Are you okay?" she asked into the hug, holding her for a few seconds longer until she let go of Abigail. "Yes," the latter replied, putting on a fake smile. She had done this too many times in the past, though, and the three standing with her could see right through her by now, even without any spy training. "Are you sure?" asked Tony therefore suspiciously beside her as he joined them from his car. "Yeah, sure, you know what happened," lied the youngest of the bunch, staring at the A glowing in the distance on the white painted wall. "We know," Steve agreed with her, crossing his arms. This was also why they asked in the first place. Because they knew how important Danny had been to her. "Then why do you keep asking me if I'm okay?" Abigail exhaled audibly. All she wanted now was to be alone. She just wasn't used to having someone who cared about her even in times of grief. "I guess we'll wait for an answer we're believing in," Nat replied sympathetically, brushing a pre-fallen strand of hair out of her field of vision. "I'm fine."