Risk

Ten

When they finally reached home, it was late and both were exhausted from the ups and downs of the day. They stood together in the bathroom, mix matched as Natasha wore an oversized T-shirt that more more like a dress, and James only wore some sweatpants on his legs. He winked at her through the mirror while brushing her teeth, noticing her admiring him from where she was perched on the edge of the bathtub while brushing her own. She winked back in response, standing to spit in the sink and rinse her mouth.

Once she had wiped any toothpaste from her lips, and he had done the same, they both tumbled into bed. She got herself comfortably cuddled around him before they both fell deep into an instant sleep that was peaceful and quiet for a few hours, until the ringing of Natasha's phone interrupted them. James groaned, turning away from her as she grumbled and got up to answer it.

"Hey, Wanda." She mumbled sleepily, her eyes opening as she heard her friend's distressed voice on the other end of the line. "Woah, slow down, what's happened?"

The silence from Natasha encouraged James to turn and open his eyes, watching her face pale even in the darkness.

"Okay, sit tight. I'll come over now." She managed to hang up the phone, exhaling heavily as she rubbed her head.

"What's wrong?" James asked, resting a hand on her knee.

"I've got to go. I need to get to the hospital." She said, climbing out of bed as she undressed and redressed in her clothes.

"Hey, take a breath. I'll drive you there." He pulled himself from bed, watching her worriedly. "You're going to need to tell me what's wrong, you're scaring me a little."

"It's my friend Pietro. Wanda's brother..."

"Is he alright?" James asked after some hesitation, knowing full well the answer wouldn't be a good one.

"He's been shot."

**

Natasha jogged through the quiet corridors of the hospital, the eerie silence and dim lighting increasing the tightness of anxiety in her chest.

"I'm looking for Pietro Maximoff? I was told he would be here?" She asked a nurse sat behind a small desk, fighting sleep as she wrote in the files of patients on the ward.

"I'm sorry, it's family only that can see him at the moment. The doctors are still working on him." The nurse apologised, standing up. "You're welcome to come back once -"

A bang as a door was swung open echoed down the corridor, followed by a hollow cry of anguish and anger that disrupted the silence. Natasha could make out in the gloom a figure holding her head in her hands, gripping at her hair tightly as she paced, lost and confused. She ignored the nurse who tried half heartedly to stop her, running towards Wanda who looked up with tears already streaking her face when she heard her approach. Natasha grabbed her in a hug before she could collapse, holding her close while Wanda sobbed into her shoulder mercilessly.

She didn't have to tell her a thing.

Natasha watched through the window to the room behind Wanda, a team of nurses and doctors cleaning up equipment, blood smeared across their gloves and scrubs making them look paler as they came down from the shock of the late night emergency. On the bed before them lay Pietro, staring straight ahead at the roof, eyes glasses over and no longer moving or breathing.

**

When she woke in the morning, she was in Wanda's bed with her passed out beside her, her long brown hair tied up in a bun while Natasha was down and messy from their late night trying to sort things out.

Wanda and Pietro has no family other than each other, so the responsibility fell on Wanda to handle his apartment down town, his will and his belongings. Natasha had helped with what she could, mostly making a plan for them to handle another day and made sure Wanda ate and drank something before coaxing her to try and get some rest. In the end they just lay side by side while Wanda cried softly and Natasha comforted her, uncharacteristically holding her tight and stroking her hair soothingly as she angrily ranted and sobbed over her loss.

She sighed as she got up, the reality of last night setting back in and the nausea returning to her gut like it had when she had realised it was all real. He was really gone, just as quick as snapping your fingers. The shock hadn't really left her system that she would never have him to tease her about the time she dyed her hair blonde, or when he beat her in a race or simply send a text to say happy birthday and buy her beers bigger than her head and force her to drink them without stopping because he knew he competitiveness would make her.

She ran her hands across the bed in search for her phone for a distraction, frowning when she couldn't find it and had to leave the bed to search. It was on the coffee table in the living room, displaying a few messages from James checking in on her, asking if he could drop her things off in the morning. It was 5:06, and she replied in agreement, heading off to make some coffee since she was awake anyway. Barely half an hour later he appeared, her few bags in his arms.

"I didn't know if you needed you laptop for anything important." He said, stepping in as she greeted him and took the bags. "How is h-"  he stopped as she set the bags down and pulled him into a fierce hug silently, which he returned immediately with a kiss to her head.

She stood there in silence for a long moment before lifting her head up to look at him. "He's dead. Too much blood loss, burglary gone wrong." She sighed, letting him rest his forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He said sincerely, rubbing her back gently. "Can I do anything for you? Or Wanda? Do you guys need food or...like, um anything?" He tried his best to think of anything to make the situation better, failing like she had but making her smile faintly all the same at the effort he was putting in.

"We can manage, but thank you. That's very sweet." She kissed him softly, "Obviously we won't be in college today, but I'll keep you updated."

He nodded, "Of course. Take your time, let me know if I can help."

"Do you want to stay for some coffee?" She asked, giving him a look that made it almost impossible for him to say no.