Here We Go

6: Now You're Younger

[THE NEXT DAY]

There was a light tapping at the window that could only be heard between claps of thunder. Bruce was the first to notice it, so he went to investigate.

Hovering outside of the window was the Norse god of thunder, an android named Vision, and a young witch with scarlet clothing. All three of them were soaking wet.

The scientist quickly called for Jarvis to open the window (none of the windows were able to open manually) and ran off to grab towels. On his way back he was in too much of a hurry to even think about getting any of the others. Luckily for him, the others were too distracted to notice Bruce running about.

Tony was still asleep, Steve and Natasha were making food and watching Peter, and Clint and Pietro were on the couch. Well, technically Pietro was on the couch and Clint's arm was on the couch.

Pietro had lain himself across the whole couch in just boxers and a shirt with a blanket draped over him and  earbuds shoved in his ears as he tried to focus on anything but the thunder. Clint, who had previously been sitting on the couch, was on the floor with his arm draped across the cushions, playing on his phone.

"Are you guys okay? How was Fiji? Thor, how did you find them?" Bruce was bombarding the trio with questions while they dried off.

"Where is my brother?" Wanda asked sternly. "He is alive, no?"

"Yeah, he's alive. I have no idea how, but he's fine. He's actually on the couch with Clint. It's in that room." Bruce pointed her in the right direction and she took off. He engaged in conversation with the android and the god to pass the time.

"Pietro!" Wanda shouted happily once she saw her brother. Clint shot up, a huge grin on his face.

"Wanda!" he exclaimed, trying to hug her. She pushed him away and stormed over to the couch, shaking her brother violently. Pietro sat up in shock and took out the earbuds, his eyes starting to water as he smiled.

"Hey little sister," he said softly, enveloping her in a big hug. She cried into his shoulder and hugged him tightly.

"Now you're younger than me," Wanda said with a teary laugh.

"Just because I died doesn't mean you're older," Pietro joked, squeezing her.

"Yes it does you idiot." They were laughing and crying but they were together and alive and happy. Pietro spun her around and she laughed happily. After a few minutes of warm embracing, Wanda turned to Clint.

"Do I get that hug now kiddo?" She smiled and leapt into his arms.

"It's good to see you again, Clint Barton."

"And you as well, Miss Maximoff," Clint said bowing. Pietro rolled his eyes and wrapped himself up in his blanket. The thunder rumbled and clapped loudly along with a flash of lightning. Pietro squeaked and completely covered himself in his blanket.

"You're brother's a wimp when it comes to storms," Clint said with a laugh, sitting on the couch beside Pietro. Wanda nodded and sat on the other side of her brother, rubbing his back soothingly. "You guys wanna watch tv or something?"

"Yes please," Pietro squeaked, voice muffled by the blanket. Clint rolled his eyes and switched on the television, settling for National Treasure.

Pietro shared his blanket with his sister and she snuggled up next to him, his arm around her shoulders protectively. Wanda ended up falling asleep against him and Pietro ran his hand through her hair lovingly.

"I honestly don't know how two siblings can be as close as you guys are," Clint admitted, smiling at the two.

"When you go through what we did, you learn to stick together," Pietro replied with a sad sort of smile. Clint reached over and ruffled his hair before getting up and walking over to Thor, Bruce and the Vision to talk about Fiji. He had been there once before, quite the while ago, so he wanted to hear about how it's changed.

In the kitchen, Steve and Natasha were baking cookies. They were also covered in flour, but that's not important. Peter was sat on the counter, playing with his bear and watching his dad and aunt (fail at) making cookies. Steve's phone rang so he handed the spoon to Natasha and wiped the dough off his hands before answering it.

"Hello?"

"Hey man. I got some news," Sam said from the other end.

"Good or bad?"

"Bad."

"How bad?"

"It's about Peggy," Sam said slowly. Steve stiffened and excused himself, walking into the other room.

"What happened?"

"It happened the other day. They tried, but she was just too old. The funeral's on Friday. I'm so sorry Steve." Steve's breathing hitched and tears started to form at the corners of his eyes. He did however, appreciate the way Sam avoided saying the word "died" or "dead" as he knew how much more that would break Steve on the inside.

"I'll be down by tomorrow," Steve said quickly, ignoring Sam's apology and just hanging up. He slid down the wall, face in his hands. Steve was only able to think of one thing - the very thought that haunted him for weeks after he woke up from the ice.

I never got that dance.