Oneshots... Assemble!

Baby Pictures

Post AoU, but before CW and the Sokovia Accords. Wanda talks to Steve about Bucky.

Wanda knocked on the door to Steve's room. Well actually, it was the wall next to it, because he didn't really have the door shut unless it was night or he was taking a shower in the attached bathroom.

Steve looked up from where he sat on the bed, finally tearing his eyes away from the framed photograph he held in one hand. He smiled. "Hey, Wanda."

"Can I come in?" Steve nodded and she walked in. Sitting next to him, he quickly flipped over the frame so that Wanda couldn't see what it contained. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," Steve said. "I really should be asking you...with Ultron and everything." The name Pietro hung in the air, like an unspoken elephant in the room. Nobody wanted to mention him until Wanda was ready to talk about him.

Although, she'd had a few conversations with different Avengers, all about ways they individually coped with loss and grief. Some of them had shared their thoughts, and it made Wanda feel better. When she'd first met Natasha Romanoff, Wanda thought of her as the last person she'd ever be crying to and having a therapy session with...but that was before Sokovia. Before Pietro had died.

"It's been hard. For so long, my brother was  there for me. He understood both of our pain and sadness — mainly for our parents," Wanda explained, quitely. "The feeling of loss is unique; not necessarily in a good or bad way. H- have you ever lost someone really close to you, Steve?"

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Wanda wished she could stuff them back in. Of course Captain America had lost people. He had been in a war, for gods sake! "I mean—"

Steve stopped her by raising a hand. "No, no. It's okay." He took a deep breath and Wanda could feel his thoughts radiating off of his mind. They must've been strong. "Bucky."

The captain finally showed Wanda the picture before continuing, "He was my best friend, since we were young. Buck fought battles with and for me — both before the war and during the war. I mean, I was a ninety pound asthmatic twig with a lot of bullies." Steve chuckled at the memory.

Wanda carefully examined the photo, taking note of the grainy quality and lack of colors other than black and white. There were two boys standing shoulder to shoulder, an arm hanging loosly around the other. Both of them had a mop of hair, one of theirs looking a little darker. They also had big smiles on their faces.

She wiped away some unshed tears, imagining how much it probably hurt to look at the picture. "What happened to him?"

"It was a mission in '43, with me and the Howling Commandos. We were on a train somewhere in the Austrian Alps, and there was an ambush. Bucky fell hundreds of feet — right in front of me." Wanda gasped.

"I- isn't he...or was he — the Winter Soldier?" Wanda asked. "I've seen reports on the news."

"He'd survived due to previous experimentation. Hydra found him and reprogrammed his mind completely," Steve finished. He smiled sadly at her before returning his gaze over to the photo.

Wanda wondered about how two light-hearted looking kids could turn out this way. One of them was so small and frail — Wanda wouldn't have ever believed it was the very same Captain America sitting beside her. The other was smiling so widely, she would not have been surprised if it'd had exploded.

"Whether it be friends, family, or even just a stranger," Steve started, "nobody will truly leave this world for good. Pietro would want you to move on — just like how my mother told me the same thing. Bucky also told me, 'I'll be with you till the end of the line, pal.'"

Wanda stood and gave the frame back to her teammate. "Thanks, Steve," she said, really meaning it.

"Anytime."

Just as she was about to leave the room, Steve cleared his throat one last time. "And, Wanda? I can guarantee you, that this isn't the end of the line."

Little bit unrelated, but just look at this picture:

THEY'RE SO CUTE THOUGH—