The closest thing to a daughter

Season 3 Episode 22

"You're not selfish, just hurt. It's no wonder how you reacted after everything you've been through," Steve objected, escorting Abigail back to the couch so they could talk at eye level. Meanwhile, Natasha had disappeared into the living room, where she met Pietro, who was lost in thoughts. Anyway, she already wanted to talk to him, on the one hand because of his well-being in connection with the death of his sister, and on the other hand about the past encounter with Abigail. She couldn't really imagine Abigail ever starting anything with her best friend's brother, but how did he see that she wondered.

"Can we talk for a minute," Natasha inquired, coming to a stop a few steps behind him. When Pietro turned around, she spotted her old jacket in his hands. The red and black leather jacket had been worn by Wanda at the time, and even if at first she wasn't entirely convinced that now she would be wearing her jacket. But quickly enough she had forgiven her that misdeed and now it was probably the only thing that reminded her of Wanda. "Sure," he replied in a clearly broken voice, even if he tried to cover it up as best he could. With a quick wave of his hand, he wiped his suspiciously shiny cheeks and put on a fake smile.

"To start, I'm sorry about your sister. We're all here for you," Natasha assured him, settling down across the coffee table from him. "But we need to move forward and here's what I noticed," Nat exhaled once before continuing, giving him an apologetic look. "About Abigail and you. What are your intentions with her?" Pietro raised her eyebrows and this time the corner of his mouth lifted without mustering a fake grin. The thought of Abi and him made him smile.

He had never thought about it that way before and now that he did he couldn't imagine it by a long shot. Abbi had been his sister's best friend and he could only imagine the chaos this would have made in a normal life. "I want to get to know her. We're going through a similar hard time right now and I want to help her get over it, plus she reminds me of Wanda." He quieted down towards the end, breaking the previous eye contact by looking down at the floor to keep his composure at the thought of his sister and her best friend.

Natasha just compassionately put her hand on his to express her sympathy when the door opened behind them and Steve stepped into the room along with Abigail. The scene gave a false impression to an outsider, this became clear to Nat as she looked into the both disappointed and shocked faces of the newcomers. The previously exchanged caresses of Steven and her immediately fell under the table and lost their specialness. But not even to that could he say anything. He couldn't accuse her of cheating when there was supposedly nothing between them.

But why was he so incredibly jealous of a man much younger than him, who was holding hands with his best friend, while he still felt the heavy metal of the compass, including Peggy's picture, in his right pocket? For him there was no right to be angry, yet he was tremendously so. Angry at his naivety in believing in more between them. Maybe he was more hurt, hurt by the fact that Natasha had been practicing the same affections on others for who knows how long, while he thought he was at least special to her as a friend. And in spite of the fact that he was not able to show any reaction, he decided not to fight against it and to leave the room.

"What were you thinking?" Natasha had instantly removed her hands from Pietro's and was now on her way to rush after him, but Abigail held her and turned her back to face her. "What am I supposed to have been thinking? There was nothing," she refuted the rhetorically meant question, while Pietro headed in the same direction as Cap and left the two alone to let them settle their discussion in private. "Was there nothing there any more than there was between you and Steve?" laughed Abigail wryly, letting go of Natasha's hand again to gesture with them.

"What happened was I cheered him up. Nothing more, nothing less. We really have bigger problems right now." Abi didn't believe her, she saw that immediately when she looked at her little one. Had she been mistaken and Abigail possibly wanted more from Pietro and that's why she reacted so irritably? Or was she simply on Steve's side again for the first time in a long time?

Normally she would be happy about this, but not in this situation. Wanda and her brother were five years younger than her and even if this was not very much, she looked at them more like her siblings. Especially Wanda and so that included Pietro. What was Steve thinking? That she was actually so insensitive to start something in such a situation? When all she wanted was him. And that already for so long time only she could not admit this to herself.