sunset. [wanda maximoff] ✔

3.3

Natasha sighed as the remaining Avengers across the universe slowly started to drop out of the video call. Earthquakes, garbage dumps and killing sprees weren't exactly the hopeful things that she had been praying for.

"How's the kid?" Carol Danver's asked, her and Rhodey being the only ones remaining on the call. Natasha almost jumped, unaware that the blonde had not hung up yet. 

Carol had taken quite a liking to Scottie after meeting the girl. Even Steve had made the comparison that the two of them had slightly similar powers, but Carol was like a more extreme and powerful version of what Scottie had once been. It wasn't unusual for Carol to ask the same question at the end of every monthly meeting, and it also wasn't unusual for Natasha to give her the same reply.

"She's still praying for her powers to reappear. She seems to think still that if they come back she'll somehow be able to change it and bring everyone back," Natasha informed Carol and Rhodey, both who sighed and dropped their heads slightly at the delusion.

Natasha was right, though. Behind closed doors Scottie was obsessed with getting her powers back and despite her attempts to hide it from Natasha, Steve, Tony and Pepper, they all could see how it was destroying the girl from the inside. Steve had tried to get her to come along to his support group in the city in the hopes that it would help her, but she only lasted two sessions before chucking that in. Natasha had given her various tasks with keeping an eye on the planet but none of them ever seemed important enough for the girl to stop thinking about everything and everyone that they had lost.

There was even a brief period of 6 months where they had gotten a dog for the compound, mainly in the hops that Scottie would form some sort of companionship with the animal. Sadly, it just seemed like nothing worked and a few months later the dog would find its forever home with the now teenage daughter of Scott Lang, Cassie. The girl had visited the compound once or twice over the past five years despite her dad not really having known them all that well. Scottie had spoke to her briefly but it was apparent pretty quickly that they were handling their grief much differently.

There was a moment of pause in the room before Carol turned her head to look at Rhodey, wishing his holographic figure luck before vanishing from the room too. Natasha let out a deep sigh, watching as Scottie entered the small that joined on to the study from the corner of her eye. 

Looking up, she noticed that Rhodey was still on the line, patiently waiting for her to continue their conversation. Scottie slowly moved into the room, clutching leftovers from a chinese that Steve had taken her out for the night before. She perched on the edge of the armchair a few metres away from Nat, nodding quietly at Rhodey.

"Where are you?" Natasha asked the man, not knowing if she was about to like what he would say. 

"Mexico. The Federales found a room full of bodies. Looks like a bunch of cartel guys. Never even had the chance to get their guns off."

"It's probably a rival gang," Scottie interrupted, knowing that she was just humouring herself. The three of them all knew exactly who this was that was committing all of these slaughterings.

"Except it isn't. It's definitely Barton. What he's done here, what he's been doing for the last few years... I mean, the scene that he left..." Rhodey said, trailing off before noticing that Natasha had tears forming in her eyes from the state her best friend had reached. "I gotta tell you, there's a part of me that doesn't even want to find him."

"Will you find out where he's going next?" Natasha interrupted, taking a bite of the sandwich that she had quickly made before their meeting had started earlier. Scottie looked between Natasha and Rhodey as she dug into her leftovers, aware that this was only going to end with Natasha confronting the man.