We'll Make It Alright

Chapter 1

Wanda felt herself free falling to earth, her feet no longer on the floor of the train as her body floated amongst the wreckage that careened down to earth with the promise of destruction. She shut her eyes and waited. It would be her turn soon to join Papa and Mama and Pietro in whatever afterlife awaited them. She didn't care as long as she could be with her family again.

Piety.. Wanda whimpered in her thoughts on the brink of tipping over the edge to her little self, her mind becoming staticky and confused. She just had hang on a moment longer and they would be together again and he could take care of her the way he always had. Just another minute.

But then the Sokovian was being scooped up in someone's arms. She felt herself being taken from the train car, out into the stronger wind billowing outside from the rapid descent. When she opened her eyes, Wanda found herself in the arms of The Vision, who had come to save her in the last second. He flew them up and she could do nothing about it as she stayed unmoving in his arms from the shock and pain still echoing in her chest from when Pietro had been ripped out of it.

They weaved through the pieces of debris until they gently landed on one of the transport vehicles still ferrying over to the huge helicarrier. There were frightened citizens huddled along the edges and Clint Barton laid out on some of the seats but looking more exhausted than injured and finally her brother lying on the ground next to him, prone and lifeless. As soon as Vision set her down, Wanda collapsed hard to her knees at Pietro's side. All she could do for a moment was stare at him. She wanted to grasp the front of his blood stained shirt and shake him awake. She thought if she could just cry then he would open his eyes, pull her into his arms and rock her to sleep while telling her a story. He'd kiss her forehead and promise that they would be alright in the morning because this surely could only be a nightmare.

She couldn't cry though because she knew it would not wake her brother up and she couldn't deal with that reality. Instead she laid down with Pietro, putting her head on his shoulder and curled up against him. It felt wrong. His arms never came up to hold her and he smelled of copper and gunpowder. But the witch couldn't think of those things as the utter exhaustion from fighting her drop took over. Without thinking her thumb found its way into her mouth, seeking the comfort as her mind drifted off into an in between space.

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They had won the battle, but whatever satisfaction Natasha could get from that was tarnished by everything else. An entire country nearly destroyed, the Maximoff boy gone, Bruce running to the hills away from her. What the hell was that anyways? the Black Widow thought as she stalked across the tarmac of the ship looking for Clint. Had she really thought she cared about the doctor? Certainly she cared for him in the way she cared about the rest of the Avengers, but did she think she could be in love with him? Or did misery just love company, and she saw a person with similar burdens and that was who she thought she deserved.

Nat almost physically shook her head to clear away the thoughts. That didn't matter now. She could move on easily with Banner gone. She could get back to the important work. She would need that work to get her mind right once again. It was subtle, but the Widow still felt out of sorts from the waking nightmares Wanda Maximoff's magic had ripped up in her head, anticipating that the nightmares would be repeating in her dreams for a while. She was tempted to go spend time with Clint on the farm, help Laura with the kids in her last month of pregnancy. As Clint returned to her thoughts he also appeared in her view.

The archer was standing in a transport vehicle with a couple of agents with a stretcher next to him but he seemed to be holding them off. Natasha furrowed her brow curiously and walked closer, "Clint."

She announced her approach and Clint looked up quickly at her, his expression serious, "Nat."

He ticked his head indicating she should come see what he was looking at. The redhead strode forward, having an idea of what she was about to see but upon seeing the scene still found herself entirely surprised, a small 'oh' nearly escaping her lips. Warmth flared in her chest at the sight of Wanda Maximoff laying with a lifeless Pietro and sucking her thumb. It was truly heartbreaking and the impulse to take care of someone had never been stronger in her life, felt like it would never be this strong again. She couldn't help it. Her body moved on its own accord, despite knowing Clint probably meant for them to discuss how to proceed, and she found herself kneeling next to Wanda, gently easing the thumb out of the girl's mouth.

The Sokovian's face twisted in distress, looking like a sharp cry would burst out of her, but the cry never came as Natasha said in a soothing voice, "No sweetheart. Our hands are dirty, we shouldn't put them in our mouth."

There was a moment where Wanda stared at her fuzzily then suddenly gasped and snapped out of whatever space she had been in. She yanked her hand back that Nat had still been holding and she sat up to scoot back from the people looming over her, her eyes flashed red reflexively at them.

"It's alright." Natasha told her evenly but without as much gentleness as she had directed towards the younger woman just before. "We just have to get you inside we're going to start moving."

The witch glanced worriedly down at her brother, "He is being moved too. You can stay with him for now."

"Wh-What a-bout after?" Wanda asked.

Nat did not know exactly what she meant by the question but she answered it none the less, "After we'll make sure you get well. And we'll have conversations about what you want to do going forward."

There were too many avenues to take when thinking about what the future held for Wanda, so the vague answer was the best she could do for the moment but she meant it. They would make sure Wanda was okay and then figure what would be best for her given this recent development. Wanda was Little, something she was sure had not been in her file, probably because when she would have been tested she had been on the streets at that point. Nat ignored the instinct to brush Wanda's hair out of her face and wipe her face smudged with dirt and tears. It pretty much took all of her self control to stay rooted to the spot she was in.

The witch gazed at them distrustfully for a moment before finally nodding and moving to rise shakily up to her feet, careful to not come into contact with Natasha as she did so. The Black Widow suddenly felt the urge to flee, "I'm going to go."

"Oh." Clint joined the conversation and spoke to Wanda kindly, "Yeah, I'll go down with you to sit in medical. Okay?"

Wanda nodded again, walking mechanically towards him as he waved her over to give room for the medics to collect the body. Despite having just declared her intention to leave Natasha stood and watched the men carefully move Pietro onto the stretcher and lift him from the ground. They marched off the transport and Natasha finally looked over to Wanda who was staring blankly downward and Clint who was looking at her as if to ask 'what was that?'

Natasha had always told Clint that during her time in the Red Room her status as Caregiver had been completely conditioned out of her. And she had believed it herself until just a moment ago when finding Wanda in the state she was in- frightened, heartbroken, and alone- had made everything come back with a vengeance. It felt like she had to fight every cell in her body to keep her distance from Wanda.

Ignoring the look she received from Clint, Nat finally departed from them and Clint had to follow along with the nearly catatonic Sokovian who trailed closely behind the men moving her brother. She was glad he could not follow her. The Widow needed some time to get her head right. She couldn't slip up like that again. She would find a cabin below deck to shower and change and she would get her feelings under control. Nat would do whatever to help make sure Wanda got the help she needed, she would just have to do it from a safe distance.

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Hello, I'm Raven. I've been reading some Mama Nat, Little Wanda stories and I could not resist joining in the fun. If you like what you've read so far please let me know if you think I should continue writing. Or if you have any story recommendations with Mama Nat and Little Wanda I would love to read them. Thank you!