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It was good to have somewhere to be. Laura was patient and kind. Her mother would have liked her. She ran her home with grace among the chaos. Watching the children, Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel, flit about like nothing in the world mattered besides one more race to climb the tree or catch the ball or take one more shot at the target, was good. They were children and all children needed time to flourish and grow. The time she never had wasn’t their fault. It was good and the farm was somewhere to be.
But every night she found herself alone. Her thoughts always drifted back to him. Her Vision. Nearly a month since they had their service for Tony and she still hadn’t found a way to think past the look on his face when he said goodbye. Wanda huffed at herself and got out of bed. Trying to force herself to sleep wasn’t going to make it happen. She pulled on a robe and krept down the stairs, trying not to wake anyone else.
The moon was bright in the sky. It shone like it had no reason not to be. Wanda sat on the bench a few yards out from the house and looked up at it. She envied its simplicity. The stars twinkled the same as they did any other night. They would carry on their dance heedless of the prices mere mortals paid.
“You would have been proud,” she whispered, her voice cracking. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and slowly spilled down her cheeks.
“Everyone working together to save the world. And it worked. We won. Defying time and space and against all odds, we won.” She laughed, a broken sound that didn’t travel far. “Would you believe Stark saved us all? I know I never would if I hadn’t seen it for myself. He snapped his fingers and Thanos’ army was dust. Thanos was dust.” She sniffed. “You would have been so proud of him. Of all of us.”
Her chest tightened on her grief, collapsing her to her knees on the ground. Wrapping her arms tight around her belly, Wanda bit down on the sobs trying to force their way out as screams. They rolled through her in waves, leaving her keening silently on the ground.
Just as stars were starting to appear in her eyes, she let out the breath she was holding. It stuttered from her lips in coughs. Slowly the urge to scream faded back to where she trapped it in her chest.
“I miss you.” Wanda whispered to the dirt, rocking slowly back and forth. “Every day I miss you more. It’s not supposed to be like this. I’m not supposed to be like this. I can do this alone but I just don’t want to anymore!”
The screen door she’d used snapped shut. She was no longer alone. Whipping her head up from where she sat, Wanda saw Clint’s shadowed form waiting on the porch for her. She took a deep breath and climbed to her feet. The walk back to the house gave her time to clear her head and dry her cheeks, even if he would still know she had been crying. Climbing the steps to join him, she sighed and took the cup of tea he offered.
“Rough night?”
She shrugged. “We have that luxury now.”
Clint gave her a nudge with his shoulder then wrapped an arm around her in comfort. “We do. But you know what? It doesn’t have to be okay all at once. Trust me, I know where you are right now and you have every right to be sad.”
Wanda leaned into his embrace. He was such a good friend. More brother or father than anyone not of her blood than she had ever know. She was lucky to have him still. “Thank you.”
From inside the house the sharp jangle of a phone rang. Clint shifted to look and grumbled something about the late hour. Wanda had to laugh a little at that. He was still such a grouch.
Laura came out with a phone in hand. She offered it to Wanda with a smile. “It’s for you. Someone named Shuri? She says she found something important.”