Loki's Little Witch [en]

chapter 12. facing the truth

Steve's hand stopped mid-air the second this one stood at Wanda's door as he was about to knock, causing him to sigh. He had spent all morning going about how to tell her of what he had witnessed earlier, but nothing seemed right to say he saw her kissing the alien god who tried to kill him, her fathers and invade his home city fifteen years ago, and who supposedly was dead.

So he simply sighed again, this time, finding in himself enough courage to knock on the door before slightly opening it, finding the redheaded girl sitting on the floor next to a bunch of books and stuffed animals, who simply grinned at him as her eyes met his.

"Hey," he muttered, finally opening the door, "I wasn't sure if you were still sleeping. I heard you coming in pretty late."

"Yeah, I couldn't really sleep."

"Sam and Bucky took Peter out for a run. He wanted to wait for you to have breakfast but I figured you would sleep in late."

Wanda nodded before turning her eyes away from him for the first time back to the mess that surrounded her, picking another stuffed animal and putting it inside a carton box in front of her, while Steve rested on the door frame, gulping as he crossed his arms. He still couldn't wrap his mind around how similar and different she looked at the same time as he remembered her. 

"So, since you're up now, I guess you wanna have breakfast. I could make you something if you want."

"Um, not really," she answered without looking away from the mess in front of her, "I'm actually not hungry," she muttered, this time picking a book from the bunch.

"So what you have going on here?" he questioned, causing her to look back at him, this time, handing him the book she had picked, making him finally enter the room to pick it, unavoidably reading the title of it, "The Fault in Our Stars. Deep literature."

She couldn't help but chuckle, "it feels like my dads set up this place when I was like thirteen or something."

"Fourteen, actually," he replied, making her frown at him, "Nat was the one who set up this room for you," he revealed, looking around, "I helped her with the wallpaper. Daisies were your favorites back then," he continued, sitting down on the bed while Wanda stood up, crossing arms still holding the same frown at him, "both of us were here actually when we got the call for the Lemurian Star."

Wanda's frown faded as he mentioned the last. She knew all about it. She knew everything had changed after that mission. It was soon after that that they found out HYDRA was infiltrated inside S.H.I.E.L.D and it was that what caused the Austria Accords, the reason why Steve left to Wakanda without even saying goodbye.

"You... you talked to her all this time, didn't you? " she asked timidly, although part of her thought she knew the answer.

Steve sighed, "yes, I did, very often actually," he smiled at her, "and with your dad too. Not so often with him," he revealed and that did manage to take her by surprise, "he sometimes sent me pictures of you and Peter. Back home I have the one from your college graduation framed next to the one we took on your fifteenth birthday."

He smiled proudly at her, but she simply couldn't return him with a smile this time. She knew it shouldn't come as a surprise that her dad kept stuff from her, but she never never imagined something like that, not with all the endless nights she spent crying because she missed him, she missed the way her life was before their fight in Siberia. Nothing was the same after that day.

"And... Did you ever think about reaching me?" she asked, barely being able to hold her gaze at him, honestly afraid of his answer.

He sighed, this time being the one who looked away from her, "yes. Many times."