⌯ᴍᴀɴɪᴘᴜʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ⌯ | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter One

A few year later, after the events of Loki and the tesseract, Josh was hanging out in his favorite bar in New York City. He after went there to think, and order a beer or two. Sometimes he would have so many the owner would make him stay the night. The owner, a man named Derek in his late fifties, had a soft spot for the boy. He was the only one apart from the people at S.H.I.E.L.D. who knew his story. Derek felt bad for the boy. Waking up in a cell after seventy years trapped under ice only to find out that everyone he's ever know was dead must be tough.

   "Hey kid, how are you holding up?" A females voice sounded behind him. He knew exactly who it was, often have late night conversations after he had a nightmare.

   "I'm okay Nat. I could be better but that won't happen anytime soon."

   Natasha frowned. She could hear the dispair in his voice. She as well as anyone who's ever met him knew he didn't deserve the crappy hand life delt him. He was struggling to keep everything at Bay and the Avengers could tell. He was falling apart and the people who cared about him didn't know if they could help.

   "Come on, Josh. Let's go home. We can work on your fighting or watch a movie. You just need to do something that doesn't involve alcohol. Come and take a walk with me back to the compound."

   Okay, I will. Thanks for the drink Derek. How much do I owe you for the beer?" Josh asked after letting out a long, tired sigh.

   "Don't worry about the bill champ," Derek said with a small smile. "It's on the house. Have a good day, Josh. You too Natasha. Hope to see you back in here soon for different reasons."

   Natasha just gave her m a smile and put her arm around Josh's shoulder, leading him out the door. They walked in a comfortable silence, none of them needing to say something to understand the other.

   "How are you doing?"

   "I'm doing okay, Nat. You already sked this."

   "You know what I mean, Josh. How are you sleeping? Did you at least go to bed before three?" Natasha gave him a look similar to a concerned parent. In a way, she was. She was the one who always cared for him and had the closest bond with the young man.

   After the question, Josh stayed silent. He knew Natasha should be pissed at him for not sleeping all night,.so would Cap and Tony. They all cared deeply for the boy, each seeing themselves in him. For Tony, it was growing up without the help if both parents. For Steve, it was being trapped and waking up in a different century. For Nat, it was being something he didn't want to be.  Natasha didn't asked to be in the Red Room. Just like Josh didn't asked to fall through the ice on that faithful day.

   "Josh! You need to take better care of yourself or you're going to get hurt! Please just try to sleep when we get back. Just try, for me." Natasha shouted at him. She hated arguing with him hut sometimes she needed to be louder to get her point across.

   "Why should sleep? All I see when I close my eyes is ice and snow. I never asked for life to shit on me. I'm a mistake, Natasha. I was never mentioned to live in the time. I should have died under the ice. I don't see why you care so much. I'm a lost cause...."

   Natasha just stopped and looked at him, tears welling in her eyes. She never knew the young man felt so bad about his situation.

   "You're not a lost cause Josh," Natasha's voice cracked, making Josh look at her. "Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. loves you and so do the Avengers. You were meant to live with us and fought along side heros. You are one yourself. You just need to see that bot everything in your life is darkness."

____________Time_Skip________________

   A few days later, Josh was sitting in his room at the compound looking out  the window when he got a call.

   "Is the Josh Edwards?"

   "Yes this is the snowman who is speaking?"

   "Ha ha ha very funny Edwards. I have a mission for you. I need you and the other Avengers in meeting room 310 for debriefing no later than five." The unmistakable voice of the one and only Nicholas J. Fury came through the phone once again.

   "Yes sir. I will get them there right away. Have a good day."

   Josh hung up the phone and got up off of the floor. He made his way to the dining room on his level where he could hear their voices talking.

   As Josh walked into the room, everyone went silent. He knew from that reaction they were talking about him, like they often do.

  "Hey kid. What do you need?" The voice of Captain America asked.

   "I don't need anything, but uh, Fury wants us in meeting room 310 in an hour so, I just thought I'd tell you. Um, yeah. Well bye guys." Josh trailed off his sentence which left room for a very long awkward pause.

   "Wait, before you go, we all need to talk to you about something. We know that you're kind of young and new to all of this, but we want you to be an official member of the Avengers. You can say no if you want-" Josh cut Tony off.

   "Wait really? You want me on your team? Why? I'll just hinder your performance."

   "No you wouldn't kid. Now, common. We have a meeting room to get too."

________________Time_Skip____________

   "Hold on. Let me get this straight. You want us to attack a Hydra base to receive a pointy stick?" Josh asked.

   "Yes Josh," Fury gave him a look. "I want you to go get my that pointy stick. Now suit up and get your asses moving."

   "Yes sir. I'll go get my gloves and I'll be good to go. Remember you still haven't gotten my a suit."

   Fury just left the room after Josh finished his comment. He turned to look at all of the Avengers.

   "Was it something I said?"

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