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

{8} always knew you'd be there

BY THE TIME THAT WANDA HAD WORKED HER WAY DOWN TO TONY'S LAB, she had managed to reign in at least some of her anger from the conversation with Steve.

"Gave the old man hell, huh?"

Wanda wandered towards where the man stood in front of a hologram and shrugged with her arms crossed over her chest while she eyed the projection too. "He deserved it." Tony hummed his agreement at her comment without a glance back. The lab was void of anyone else and the witch briefly pondered where Natasha and Bruce had disappeared to before she discarded the thought.

"You guys were okay. Right?" Tony asked out of nowhere.

He was resolutely not looking back at Wanda as her attention snapped to him. For a moment, she watched him with a scrutinizing look. "We were okay." She said finally, her words quiet and sincere.

Despite the nod Tony gave her as he focussed back on his task, Wanda still noted the uncertain look in his eyes before she settled on a stool nearby, content to keep the billionaire company- she didn't fully understand what he was doing since they already knew the location of the base; he seemed to be searching the surrounding areas. "In the beginning we mostly travelled." She started, thinking over the past two years, "After a year we decided that we wanted to help the world again so we got into contact with some of Peter's old vigilante friends. Got work that way."

Wanda pretended not to see the way Tony hung off her every word even as he worked. It was mostly Friday controlling things on the hologram anyway so he could afford to be a little distracted.

"He hated my driving so I taught him after his numerous complaints- he's not too bad actually, though he drives like a grandma." Tony smiled in spite of himself, picturing Peter all long-limbed and hunched over the steering wheel with a look of concentration on his face, similar to the one he wore when he encountered a difficult equation. "We lived off of takeout before Peter asked me to teach him Sokovian delicacies because I said I missed home. Most of the time we just passed the days by driving or visiting monuments. It was almost like a real road trip and not us just running away."

Tony looked at Wanda then. Her eyes were cast downwards at her feet and she seemed to shake herself from her reverie a few seconds later.

"He missed you." Wanda said then and there was no room for any doubt to make its way into Tony's mind when she met his eyes and held their gaze as she spoke. "He would watch your interviews all of the time- I used to have to wrestle the remote from him." Tony couldn't stop the laugh that escaped and Wanda's lip quirked at the teary sound. "He kept this mismatched tool kit in his back pocket, said he got it from your workshop and he carried it everywhere with him except on missions. I think it comforted him, almost like he was carrying a piece of you with him."

A thoughtful looked passed over Wanda's face as she looked at Tony. It was like she could see right through him without even having to use her powers. It left him feeling unsettled.

"He does miss you, Tony." Wanda released a breath. "He won't walk away again if things are different this time around. He'll stay." She didn't admit aloud that she didn't think Peter had the strength to walk away from Tony for a second time. Not when he was conscious and in good enough health to chase the teenager down and drag him back if he needed to.

Tony stared at Wanda as she retreated into herself a little. He didn't know when he became Tony to Wanda, but he couldn't help the warm feeling that unravelled in his chest. "Both of you?"

She blinked in surprise and her eyes darted back to him. Wanda hesitantly replied, "Both of us."

Tony nodded to himself, feeling relieved by her answer and at the prospect of finally having the both of them home again, safe in the tower where he could keep an eye on them.