Leaving It All Behind. {Peter Parker Leaves The Avengers}

{7} does an apology fix all of that?

THE TOWER ITSELF HADN'T CHANGED in the two years that they had been gone.

People still bustled around the base of the building and muttered angrily when Wanda remained still and unmoving, an effective disruption to the flow of foot traffic. The public passed around her, albeit reluctantly and made sure to shoot glares over their shoulders but she paid them no mind- her focus was solely on the building that loomed above her. It felt criminal to stand so close. Both her and Peter had made the decision to stay as far from the Avengers Tower as possible in their two years away and it left Wanda off kilter that only she was suddenly back and Peter wasn't.

As if seemingly having come to a decision, Wanda broke her stare down with the building and stepped inside, careful to keep her expression neutral.

The lobby was crowded with both men and women in suits and uniforms holding official papers or chattering into phones about important meetings. Wanda wasted no time in navigating her way to the Avengers elevator and swiping her pass- the one Peter had convinced her not to throw away- as she went inside in a single practiced movement. Automatically, the doors closed behind Wanda once she was safely situated inside and she released a long breath that was tinged with exhaustion; her fingers unconsciously fiddled with the rings that decorated her hands and she was painfully reminded of Peter's unusual fascination with her rings- he loved to twist them whenever he was anxious and she happened to be within reach.

"Welcome back Miss Maximoff." Came Friday's voice from the speakers.

Wanda tensed and her eyes darted around the small space as if to ensure no one else was there with her. "Hey Friday." she greeted a little awkwardly. Peter had always been better engaging with the AI.

"Will Mr Parker be joining you?"

Wanda made an aborted move to wince before she caught herself; she smoothed out her expression until it was carefully blank. Her eyes dropped to look at her reflection in the doors, drawn by the purpling bruise on her jaw and the yellowing skin beneath her eye- it was a miracle that she had even made it through the lobby without drawing any kind of attention. Wanda suddenly snapped her eyes away from her tired reflection and looked down at her feet while she took a moment to gather herself.

"No. He won't." The words were quiet but Friday caught them just fine. "Can you take me to Stark please?" Wanda asked, forcing the words past the lump in her throat.

Worry pulsed through the AI's programming and she sped the elevator up, sending it straight to Tony's workshop. Friday watched Wanda stare at her reflection in the doors till they opened again.

-

Tony's workshop hadn't been a well-known sight to Wanda when she had been living at the tower full time- she was sure that she had never stepped foot inside of it.

The billionaire had always been kept at a respectful distance because of their rocky start and the initial mutual distrust of one another because of the events of Ultron. They'd only started even attempting to cultivate a healthy relationship because of Peter and their shared fear of upsetting said teenager. Wanda's chest tightened when she caught sight of Tony through the glass windows of the labs- she felt guilty that she could see the man now and Peter couldn't.

He was hunched over his workbench, tools scattered around whilst he was elbows deep in an Iron Man suit, dressed in his usual attire of designer jeans and t-shirt that probably cost more than what Wanda could dream of. Unconsciously, she picked up on the volume of the music as her feet carried her forwards- the doors slid open near-silently curtesy of Friday who watched from the cameras.

"You still keep the music low?" Wanda's voice was loud in the quiet space.

Tony dropped the tool he'd been holding and it clattered against the table before it hit the floor as his head snapped up, making him look like a startled meerkat when he saw who exactly had disturbed his precious tinkering time in the lab. There was a pointed beat of silence where the two of them stared at one another before Tony rubbed at his eyes and then looked again; Wanda's lip quirked, betraying her amusement at the action. Slowly realising that Wanda was in fact not a hallucination that he had conjured with his usual combination of sleep deprivation and his vast amount of caffeine intake, Tony's eyes widened. "Sorry." Wanda spoke again, her eyes dropping to the tool that laid forgotten at his feet; her expression morphed back into its guarded position and she met Tony's eyes again.