Copper Feather

3

"We need to talk, Miss Romanoff." Evie swallowed nervously as Peter disappeared into the kitchen. "What about?" she asked, worried. "Several things. Your father, a few complications, a new team member..." he said with the signature 'Stark Drawl' that you either loved or hated. Evie was on the fence about it. "Okay, why don't we start with the team member." Tony sat down next to her on the couch.

"She's not new, just returning. Wanda Maximoff... You may have heard of her..." Evie's eyes went wide. "Wanda? What? Why? What happened to Pietro?" she asked, worried about her friend. "He passed last year, a week before your mission in Paris." 'Oh no..." said Evie softly. Her hair lost its bounce, straightening in sadness. "Hey, curls, bounce back." chided Tony. "Wanda rejoined to help us all, but more specifically, you." Evie laughed at the nickname but choked on it when Tony revealed Wanda's reasoning. "Me? Why? I'm nothing special! I'm my mom's mistake!" Evie was working herself into a panic attack.

Tony grabbed her shoulders, motioning at Peter to come into the room. "Hey, curly, calm down. You're okay, you're here. We've got you." He comforted, holding Evie close. She relaxed into his arms, breathing deeper and slower. "Jesus kid, calm down. You cannot do that every day." Evie nodded, eyes opening. "I know. I didn't sleep much last night. The sleep I did get was riddled with nightmares, sorry." Tony's eyebrows furrowed. "Nightmares of what?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know. It's just stuff you guys don't think about, and I don't want you to think about. I already do, and I do it enough for everyone." Tony could see the image clearly in his eyes. Evie, holding the weight of the world's problems on her shoulders, shielding the rest of the team. He could picture it, the way Evie shouldered the huge burden of Steve's footsteps, wings wrapping around the globe as if to protect it from the dangers of the universe. It wasn't fair, the torture this 17-year-old put herself through to save the team. "Go take a nap kid, you'll feel better." But Tony knew the damage was already done. Evie would never be okay again.

Peter led Evie from the room, watching the girl who normally had the bounce in her step walk into the elevator with her... friend? He'd need to look into that.

***

Peter tucked Evie into bed, laying a soft kiss on her temple with a whisper of 'sleep tight, sunshine," as Evie left consciousness, her hair curled slowly, Evie sleeping off the distress. He walked to his room, glancing at the clock. 5:30. Dinnertime. Clint was already in the kitchen pulling homemade french fries out of the oven. The lights were dimmed, the light from the sunset bathing the room in a colour oddly reminiscent of Evie's hair. "Oh, good. How is Feathers?" Peter exhaled, exhaustion showing through.

"Post panic attack." Clint felt the itch to go check up on the girl, but he reasoned against it. She's strong, she'll live. "Jarvis, dinnertime." Everyone walked in over the next ten minutes. Thor had returned to Asgard, he was expected to return in a week. Dinner was quiet, everyone eating then retiring to their rooms early. Clint went into his room, sitting on the perch in the corner. It was over the door. He sat there for about an hour before he decided to go and sleep. He jumped off the perch, changing quickly into pyjamas.

He crawled into bed and was nearly asleep when he heard the horrified shriek, so high-pitched it could only be Evie's. He was up and out of bed faster than he thought he could move after being so close to sleep, grabbed one of the 17 bows he had easy access to and sprinted down the hall.

The door to Evie's room had been flung wide, and Evie was nowhere to be seen. Clint turned slowly, loading an arrow. A crowd formed around the doorframe, consisting of Natasha and Peter. "She's gone. Jarvis, playback the security footage of the last ten minutes." A large screen popped up in front of them, playing Evie asleep, Peter entering her room, and... Evie waking up. Her head whipped around faster than should have been possible, and her wings appeared. There were tears in her eyes, and she looked around, frantic like a trapped animal. Evie's wings flapped of their own accord, flying Evie out into the hall. Evie screamed as it happened, terror flooding her eyes. Clint had seen that before, that fear. He knew it was a fear she shouldn't have. The footage shined brightly in the darkness, blinding them for a second when the screen disappeared.