Two Ghosts

Chapter 21

-Hey, angel.-Bucky's voice makes me look up from the book I am reading. My cheeks blush a little because of the nickname he gave me a few days ago.
-Hey.-I smile and wave. He leans on the white fence of the front yard of my house.
-Rogers and I are going to a party tonight, you comin'?-I look around for Steve, but I do not see him. Bucky will probably go to his house and drag him to this party.
-Where is it?-I ask, shutting the book.
-Rob's.-I stand up and walk up to him, batting my lashes and smiling slightly. He likes it when I play flirty, I doubt he would like it if I told him I was serious.
-They don't sell drinks to sixteen-year-old kids in there, Buck.-I put a string of hair behind my ear and hold the book close to my chest.
-They'll sell them to me.-he winks and smirks.-C'mon, let's get Steve.
-Let me leave this inside.-I smile and go into my house to put the book away, where my dad is smoking his 7 p.m. cigar alone in the sofa.
-I'm going out with Steve and James.-I tell him, and he coughs a little.
-I'm guessing the Barnes boy will bring you back here.-I nod and grab a jacket.-Jade.-he calls, so I stop and turn around with only stealth on my feet.
-Yes?
-Please, be careful with who you're seen with. A girl out with two boys is not...
-Normal. I know, dad.-I roll my eyes and sigh.-They're my only friends, and they take care of me. I thought you liked them.
-I do like them. I'd like Barnes better if he proposed to you already.-I frown and cover my face so he cannot see my red, red face.
-Dad!-I hear his laugh.-Don't say stuff like that. Bucky is my best friend, he doesn't...
-He does.-I uncover my face and ask for an explanation with my eyes.-A boy that hangs out with a girl is always cuz he likes her.-I lifts a finger and raises his eyebrows.-It's a fact.
-Goodbye, father.-I turn around and walk out of my house heading to the house next door, where Bucky is waiting for me.
-Jon's taking us.-he opens the door of his parents' car and I climb into the back seat.-I'll have my own car someday, I promise.-he thinks that having a driver is embarrassing, I only think it is neat.
-Dream on.-I mock him.
-My birthday is coming up, who knows...-he sits next to me and touched Jon's shoulder.-Steve Rogers' house.

I hit the sandbag with regulated strength so I do not break it, it has happened before and I do not want to cause any more trouble. The sound of me punching the sandbag was almost hypnotizing, which caused me yo drift off in my memories. It made me look for Bucky in my mind. I hear footsteps coming to the gym section, they seem cautious and slow, like they do not want to be heard. When they are close to the door, I grab two of the weights I have near me and throw a punch with them in hand. I never intended to actually hit whoever it was, and thank God Wanda stops walking as soon as she enters. The weight is right in front of her horrified face.

-What is your problem?-she is outraged, I understand.
-Sorry, bad habit.-I put the weights back to their place and go back to punching. I do not say more because I thought she was just coming down here to work out, but she has a cup of tea on her hands and is looking at me kind of funny.-Can I help you?-I stop hitting the sandbag and turn to her.
-Can I ask you something?-in the three days that I have been here we have not shared more than two words, I do not even know what is exactly what she can do, so I am curious...
-Sure.-I punch the bag a few more times.
-Who is Bucky?-I look at her, and judging by her expression she really does not know who he is, she is not gossiping or whatever.
-Why ya ask?-I mumble.
-That name repeats too often in your head.-she answers and blows my mind.-And the feelings that come with the word are too strong not to be for a person. So I guess Bucky is someone important for you.-Wanda sits down and drinks her tea as I catch my breath. Her telling me this took my breath away faster than this work out.
-He's my...um...-I sit next to her and try to find word to put together to explain our situation.-It's complicated.-I simply say.
-Look, I didn't mean to intrude, but I saw something and I felt like I needed to say this.-she moves closer to me to whisper.-It's okay to feel like it's unfair.
-How did you...?-I scan her face and I swear I her eyes turned red for half a second.
-I'm sorry, we haven't had the time to meet properly.-she sips her cup before talking.-I have abilities, mind abilities. I can do stuff like, uh...-she looks at the weights I almost threw into her face and, right after that, some red little clouds seem to take them up and bring them to us. My eyes are about to pop out of my face.
-Wow...-she giggles and the red things put the weights back.-Was that you?
-Yep.-she nods proud of herself. I can see pain in her eyes, after a lifetime of having those kind of eyes I can see them in everyone else.-I also can read minds when I really focus, but I'm still working on that.-I blink a thousand times at once, I am so impressed by her. This is awesome.-But the name Bucky kept coming back, your mind is really loud.-she drinks tea.-Anyway, last night I was feeling curious and, well, I searched more information about this Bucky in your head.-my eyes open widely and almost threaten her when she says that.-I'm sorry, I promise I won't say a thing...
-What do you know?-I modulate every word perfectly clear and I see the fear growing slowly in her face.
-That you hid him in Rumania.-I stand up and walk around, gathering all my energy not to break her bones. I cannot lose my temper now.-I won't tell anybody.
-If you're not going to, why tell me? Why not just keep it to yourself?-my hands make fists without thinking, and I think Wanda notices but does not panic or get scared. She actually relaxes.
-I though you might want to talk about it.-her voice is sweet, and in her tiny smile I can see the honesty. I exhale in frustration and sit back down beside her.
-I...-my eyes go to the ceiling, looking for answers, I suppose.-I don't even know how I feel.-I shrug in surrender. Her hand travels near my temple, her fingers move in a peculiar way and I see the red...smoke cloud there again.
-Stressed, anxious, angry, frustrated.-every word she says makes sense in my head, so I nod and look at her.-You miss him.-I press my lips together, of course I do. I wish I never left him.-It's okay to feel all this, you know?
-I doubt it. I had to leave him so he could get better, but it only worries me more and I don't know if this was the best idea.-I let it out, all the things I could not tell him.
-Did he ask you to do it?-I stay quiet and nod again, I am afraid that if I speak, I will start crying.-You did your best. Maybe this was the best for him, but that doesn't mean you have to be happy about it.
-I guess.-my elbows rest in my knees as I hide my face between my hands.
-Believe me. I know the feeling.-I lift my face a little so she could see my frown.-My, um...-her eyes fill up with tears and her voice slowly breaks.-When we fought Ultron, my brother, Pietro, gave his life to protect someone else.-a silent tear leaves her eye. I sit up straight and put my hand on her shoulder to give her support.
-Who?-I heard something like this, Nat was telling me about the fight with Ultron, but she barely gave any names.
-Barton, I think.-she swipes her cheek to dry the salted drop. Her brother saved Clint's life.
-Wanda.-her eyes, now redish because of the crying, look up to me.-Your brother is my hero.-I smile, and her expression tells me she does not know what I am talking about.-Barton is a dear friend of mine, and I wish I could thank Pietro for what he did. So I tell you instead: he is a hero.-now the tears are slipping down her skin with no shame, like they were meant to fall. She rests her head in my shoulder and I let her cry and sob until she lets it all out.-I can only imagine what you're going through.-I say, thinking about the day when they told me both Bucky and Steve were dead.-The closest thing I had to having a brother was having Steve as a friend. And I thought I lost him long ago, when he crashed into the ice. But he's here now, so...-I shrug gently, to not disturb her.
-But at that moment, you thought he was gone.-Wands sits up and I reconsiderar my words.-He was dead to you. To everyone.-huh, she is right.
-Yeah.-I look up and nod slightly.
-So you do know how it feels.-I think I see a little hope in the color of her eyes. I mean, I get it. It is nice to talk to someone who has been through the same crap as you.

After an hour of chatting, I tell her to go to sleep, knowing Steve, they wake up very early to train or whatever, and it is already quite late. She hugs me, like a girl who has been missing a good, old fashioned, tight hug for a while, and then she leaves. Of course I asked her not to look into my head again, God knows what she will find.